"I WON'T die," Lucina Morganna said, then she threw the huge ball of Black Flame at her. "I will not let you separate me from my son!"

Tilly let out a tired sigh as a response to the other woman's claim.

Then, she let the Black Flame that Lucina Morganna threw at her "burn" her.

It didn't hurt, of course. The Black Flame only made her body feel warmer than usual. And then, eventually, she absorbed the flame and it made her black wings grow bigger.

Lucina Morganna gasped in shock. "No… how can it be…"

"Why are you shocked?" she asked, the Black Flame that was supposed to burn her was now completely absorbed by her black wings. "I'm the owner of the Black Flame. Did you really believe that you can hurt me with my own power?"

The fear on her face already told her what she needed to know.

"There was a lifetime that you used the Black Flame to hurt Kiho and Winter," she said, confusing Lucina Morganna who didn't have the same past memories as she did. "Let me pay you back for that, my traitorous spirit guardian."

She felt her black wings detach themselves from her back at her will.

Then, the form of the wings changed until it became a black phoenix the size of a regular eagle. Since she hadn't absorbed the Black Flame yet, she could only create a phoenix of that size. But she was confident that it was enough to burn down a village or a forest.

"Let me teach you how you to use the Black Flame," she said, then she looked up and smiled at the black phoenix above her. "Eat the traitor, my lovely bird."

The black phoenix shrieked, then it flew down fast towards Lucina Morganna's direction.

When she turned to look at the other woman, she saw her running deeper in the woods to probably hide. She couldn't outrun the black phoenix, of course. After just a few seconds, the traitor was already caught by the flaming bird using its claws.

The black phoenix carried the yelling and struggling Lucina Morganna back to her. Then, the flaming bird dropped the traitor in front of her. The other woman dropped with a loud thud.

"You can't escape, Lucina Morganna," she said coldly. When the woman looked up at her to glare at her, she just waved her hand. "Burn."

Lucina Morganna tried to protect herself with the Black Flame that she stole.

But instead of protecting her, the Black Flame actually attacked her, making her scream in agony. That didn't stop her from attacking the traitor with the black phoenix. The flaming bird wrapped Lucina Morganna in its wings until the only thing that she could see from the other woman was her head.

Lucina Morganna's cry for help was filled with anguish. She could tell that her body was being roasted slowly and surely.

She could just burn the traitor to ashes, but she wanted her to feel pain first.

"You can't die, Lucina Morganna," she reminded her. "You're not a human being in the first place."

That seemed to hit a nerve because the traitor stopped crying.

Then, she looked at her with a confused look on her face.

Did she seriously forget that she's not a human?

"Lucina Morganna, you're a spirit guardian just like Sentinel, Faline, and Drake," she said. She didn't include Yumi because the White Snake's case was different. Her mother-in-law was a minor god after all. "You were only born from my flame. I don't know why you think that you're a human."

"But she said she'll turn me into a real human…" Lucina Morganna said in almost a whisper. "She promised me that if I steal everything away from you, she will grant me a human body… that I will be free from you forever…"

She was confused at first.

Then, the image of the "young Solenn" that was trapped in the Abyss entered her mind.

It was her, she said to herself. She was the one who made that ridiculous promise with Lucina Morganna.

"You have been tricked, Lucina Morganna," she said and this time, she genuinely pitied the traitorous spirit guardian. "Not even the Sky God could turn a spirit guardian into a human."

Lucina Morganna looked devastated by her revelation.

"You do not have soul and it's the very thing that one needs to be human. After all, a human body needs a soul to be considered "alive,"" she explained. "But a spirit guardian is made of whatever element your master wields. For you, it's flame. The only human about you is your physical appearance."

"Lies!" Lucina Morganna yelled while tears fell down her face. "Do you think I will believe you? You're an enemy!"

"Because that little girl said so, right?"

Once again, the traitor was rendered speechless.

"You betrayed me because you were tempted by her lies," she said while shaking her head. "Why are you desperate to be a human, Lucina Morganna?"

"I want to be a wife," Lucina Morganna said in a whisper. "And a mother."

At that moment, her heart broke for the enemy.

She silently asked the black phoenix to return inside her. The flaming bird opened its wings, then it slowly vanished. She knew that the black phoenix entered her body when she felt a strange warmth in her chest.

Lucina Morganna wants to be a wife and a mother…

She looked down at Lucina Morganna who was now on the ground while hugging herself. Her clothes were already burned to nothing, and her skin was all red from the burn. Even though she wasn't a real human, her physical body was still similar to a real human and thus, she received the same damage as any other person that was literally roasted.

Lucina Morganna's long hair was also burned short. Her cheeks were only a little red because she didn't burn her face a while ago.

This pitiful woman…

Before she realized what she was doing, she already took off her cloak and gently threw it Lucina Morganna.

"I don't need your pity," Lucina Morganna said, then she looked up at her with a glare. "Go ahead. Laugh at me. You already won."

To be honest, she still gets angry whenever she remembered the time that Lucina Morganna laughed at her after she was beheaded. She even made a promise to herself that she would get her revenge and laugh at the traitor in the end.

But she couldn't do that right now.

Not after she realized how lucky she was to be given the chance to have her family back. She had been reborn several times. And she might have taken that for granted.

"I'm also a woman who has always wanted to be a wife and a mother," she said gently, then she squatted down to meet Lucina Morganna's eye level. "I still hate you for every awful thing that you did to me and my family. But I wouldn't laugh at your dream."

"Like I said, I don't need your pity."

"I also hate that I feel this way towards you," she said in a frustrated voice. "But I couldn't help it. I also had a phase in my life where I wanted to be a mother so bad. I understand your pain, and that's why I feel bad for you." Before Lucina Morganna could open her mouth to complain, she beat it to it. "But that doesn't mean I will excuse your terrible actions. You betrayed me and tried to steal my husband and my son from me– in two separate lifetimes. For that, you still need to be punished."

"Do it," Lucina Morganna said stubbornly, then she averted her eyes from her. It seemed like she already gave up after she realized that she couldn't control the Black Flame anymore. But she knew that the spirit guardian lost hope after she realized that she had been tricked– that she couldn't really be turned into a human. And as a spirit guardian, she couldn't conceive or bear a child. "I don't care anymore."

She gently put a hand on top of Lucina Morganna's head. Then, she began to absorb her back to her body. The spirit guardian's human body began to melt as she returned to her original form: a lump of black flame. "I pray that you get to be reborn in a peaceful world, Lucina Morganna," she whispered. Lucina Morganna heard her because she turned to her with a surprised look on her face. "I hope that in that world, you become a good wife to a kind man, and a good mother to a kind child." Since it was the last time that she would ever see her, she smiled sadly at her. "Goodbye, Lucina Morganna."

Lucina Morganna, after her shock subsided, gave back a sad smile of her own. Then, she closed her eyes and she looked like she already found peace. As soon as her tears fell, she completely vanished.

Then, a black marble the size of a ping pong ball.

The Black Flame…

She tried to touch it but all of a sudden, it transformed into the young Solenn with little black wings– the one that she met in the Abyss in the past.

So, she's really the Black Flame, huh?

"If you swallow the Black Flame again, you will once again prove to the gods that you are their biggest mistake," the "young Soleil" warned her with a smile. "I know that you think I'm a bad and crazy person for tricking your gullible spirit guardian. But I have a reason for using her to separate the Black Flame from you."

"I'm not really in the mood to listen to you," she said, tired. "Plus, you won't answer my questions anyway, will you?"

She giggled like a little girl that she was. "My lips are literally sealed. And I want to play with you more."

"We can play all you want later but for now, I need to borrow your strength," she told the "child." "I need the Black Flame."

"You won't regret it?"

"I will probably regret it later but I'll regret it even more if I fail to protect my family this time."

"I understand," the young Solenn said, then she smiled at her as her body began to turn translucent. "Please don't blame me later, Lady Tilly Prescott-Nystrom."

"I won't," she promised her. "I am responsible of my own actions."

The young Solenn transformed back into the black marble that she saw a while ago.

She gently grabbed it. Then, she put it in her mouth and swallowed it without hesitation. As soon as she did, she felt like her heart was literally set into fire– the kind of fire that could hurt a Fire Mage like her.

It hurts…

When she thought she was about to fall on the ground, she found herself leaning against a strong and cold body. She didn't have to look up to know that it was Kiho who wrapped his arms around her.

The coolness of his body helped to lessen the heat of her own.

"Kiho, I'm hurting you, am I not?" she asked worriedly, then she looked up at her husband to see his blank face. He had always been good at hiding his pain, thanks to his poker face. "My body is unnaturally hot right now."

"I'm fine," Kiho said, tightening his hug. "Are you okay, honey?"

"I should be the one asking that."

"I'm fine, really," he assured her. "I'm more worried about you."

"I'm fine," she assured him as well. "I didn't laugh at Lucina Morganna even though I dreamed about doing that in several fake scenarios in my head."

"It's because you're a good person."

"I'm not," she denied with a soft laugh. But she appreciated the fact that she could see in Kiho's clear golden eyes that he really believed that she was a good person. "Lucina Morganna's reason for hurting me all this time maybe simple to other people. But when I heard that she wanted to be a wife and a mother, my heart went out to her. And yet, I still had to stand my ground and punish her. I can't be a good person."

"A good person doesn't equal being a pushover," he said in an attempt to console her. That was so Kiho-ish of him to say so. "You did a good job, Tilly."

That was touching.

Kiho always knew what to say to make her feel better.

She was once again reminded that she was lucky to have him as her lover. He wasn't perfect, but so she was. And yet, when they were together, they fit each other just fine.

"Thank you for being reborn as my lover again and again," Tilly said sincerely. "Please be my husband again in our next lifetime, Kiho."

"Please marry me again in our next lifetime, Tilly," Kiho said gently. "I promise that I will always, always find you."

***

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