Ondine slowly looked at her hands with a very surprised look on her face and she extended her hand out to activate a spell.

“Mirror Wall.”

In an instant, magic particles began gathering in front of her and a few seconds later, it solidified into a mirror that appeared to be attached to a wall. She stepped forward and looked at herself in the mirror, being amazed by how beautiful and tall she had become. Her previous appearance gave her the presence of a warrior, but now it appeared as though she had flipped it 180 degrees and became a fine looking woman.

“This is amazing… Really…” she said as she turned this way and that way to check in the mirror.

The girls watched her in amazement with a very surprised expression on each of their faces. They never thought that the completion of the fusion between the water spirit woman and Ondine would change her this much. Staring at her looking at herself in the mirror was as if they were staring at someone else.

“I have to admit… She’s so… beautiful…” Erza said in a quiet voice.

“Nyaa…” Cantia said with a disgruntled expression on her face.

“Well, on the bright side, this should’ve changed her for the better, right?” Tetra asked curiously.

Venezuela sniffed and she was the first to take steps towards Ondine in a firm manner. She had to admit that Ondine had really become beautiful with that spirit fusion, but what annoyed her slightly was the great difference in height. Previously, the two of them stood roughly around 170cm, but now, she had grown to 178cm, which put her in a considerable disadvantage.

“Are you done looking at yourself in the mirror, beauty queen?” Venezuela asked her sarcastically after reaching her.

“Oh!” Ondine said and she was surprised to see her standing there.

She turned towards Venezuela while waving her hand to disperse the mirror wall away.

“Hello, Vena. Sorry if I ignored you, but I was very busy checking on my new look. How do I look?” Ondine asked her curiously and she twirled around like a dancer.

Venezuela folded her arms and sighed before saying, “Yes… You look great, but what astounded me is how much height you grew. It’s like Lucky disappearing for two years and then coming back looking even taller than before.”

Ondine smiled at her calmly and said, “It’s not the height that matters the most; it’s the level of your heart. The higher it is; the better person you can ever be.”

Hearing such words of wisdom spoken by Ondine totally took Venezuela by surprise. She unconsciously released her folded arms and stared at Ondine with a look of astonishment mixed with disbelief. She was not the only one in the same boat as the other girls walked over to stand next to her or behind her with the same kind of expression written all over their faces.

Ondine looked at each of them curiously for a moment before asking in a puzzled voice, “Why is everyone staring at me with such similar expressions? Did I say something wrong?”

“No, Ondine. You didn’t say anything wrong,” said Lakshman as he was the last to walk over, “but we didn’t expect such words of wisdom from you. I would’ve expected ‘who cares about height’ and ‘I’m superior to you all now!’ Instead, you replied respectfully in a manner filled with elegance.”

“Oh dear Lucky… You shouldn’t praise me so much…” she said with a warm smile on her face. “I am quite surprised at myself. I feel that was how I would’ve normally said, but something in me has changed… My attitude… My behaviour… My personality… It’s all different now… I don’t feel this lingering doubt, fear or the reckless belief I used to possess…”

“It was as if a rotten spirit was cleaned out and what’s left behind was a cleansed soul,” said Venezuela quietly with a suspicious look on her face.

“Vena…!” Lakshman said sharply, but she ignored it.

The reason behind her previous words was to purposefully goad Ondine into becoming angry. This was to reveal whether her previous personality still exists within her or that she really had changed into this wonderful woman that stands before them all.

Much to her and the others surprise, Ondine smiled at her and said, “You’re right. That most likely is the reason I’m like this now.”

“Eh…?” Venezuela said as words failed to express the disbelief she was feeling.

“To be honest, I prefer this kind of feelings, emotions and the level of maturity. I’m no longer a kid and I no longer need to act reckless. Though the sacrifice of my guardian, I have finally achieved the power I always wanted to achieve after feeling hopelessly outdone by everyone else. So, it really pleases me to be like this and to not act reckless anymore.”

Saying that, Ondine showed them a sweet smile that caused sparks to appear all around her.

For a moment, everyone stood there with stunned expressions on their faces as they stared at her. It was Silvera who finally recovered from it and was the first to truly smile at her in happiness.

“I’m glad you’ve changed, Ondine,” she said with a pleasant smile on her face. “Now, you’ve come to realise how it felt like to us faced with your previous behaviour.”

Ondine chuckled lightly and said, “Of course. I have no desire to cause the kind of trouble like I did previously. At the same time, I realise that I have a greater role to play in the future. Besides, strategy beats recklessness any day. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“I certainly do,” said Erza as she also recovered and she smiled at her. “It’s much better to be forming plans, fighting together and celebrating the victory together like a family. We are a family and very soon, we’ll be… um… having kids… uh… So, it’s necessary…”

Erza faltered slightly near the ending of her speech due to becoming extremely embarrassed by the words she used. She was gently patted on the shoulder by Venezuela, who was smiling slightly to hide her own embarrassment due to taking shelter in Erza’s embarrassment.

“Oh right… Pregnancy…” said Ondine in a quiet voice and she appeared to be thinking for a moment, which really surprised them once again. Then, she looked at Lakshman and asked, “You’re not exactly doing us that much in that department, are you…?”

“Ah… Um…” Lakshman began hesitantly and he raised his hands in front of him defensively. “I… I just had been busy… Plus, you’ve been busy training the Manjuvad Demon Clan warriors as well…”

“Now that you mention it, we’ve been so busy that we didn’t have much time for each other…” Venezuela said and she appeared to be slightly surprised.

“Hmm… Well, we’ll have to have a session to discuss our timetable to have some quality time together as family,” said Tetra as a small smile appeared on her face.

“Nyaa~! I’m up for that-nyaa~!” Family, it is-nyaa~!” Cantia said happily and she quickly went to hug Lakshman’s side.

Ondine chuckled when she saw her hugging her and asked, “Cantia… Now, we all should’ve known most about each of our families, but you never spoke about your family? Why?”

“Nyaa~” said Cantia in a low voice and turned to look into space above. “Well-nyaa…  Truth to be told, I don’t really know anything about my parents-nyaa… The elder said I’m the only daughter and that my parents got killed by a horde of monsters during an outing-nyaa. Apart from that, I don’t really know anything about my parents-nyaa…”

“Eh? You don’t know anything about your parents?” Silvera asked in a surprised voice and Cantia nodded her head while making a happy face as Lakshman patted her head gently.

“It’s strange…” Venezuela began with a rather sad expression on her face. “It’s strange that you’re saying all this as if you don’t really care about your parents and all. Is that true, Cantia?”

“Nyaa~!” Cantia said indignantly. She scratched the side of her face with her hand before responding to her question.

“Nyaa… To be honest-nyaa… It’s neither care or love-nyaa… I mean, I couldn’t exactly feel love or compassion towards my non-existent parents that died when I was still just an infant-nyaa.”

She suddenly hugged Lakshman tightly and said, “That’s why-nyaa! I’m love you all and most of all, Lucky so much-nyaa! He’s always said that he’s lucky to have us, but I’m the opposite-nyaa…! Because of knowing about my destiny, it kept me alive and made me move forward-nyaa. Otherwise, I would’ve probably died away without any goals to achieve-nyaa…”

“Is that why you became impatient after my return and you went as far as to break your tribe’s code of conduct when it came to handling the matter between you and me?” Lakshman asked her curiously and she purred like a cat found guilty.

“You are such a silly cat…” said Lakshman before he laughed heartily. He turned to Ondine and said, “Yes. No wonder they came marching all the way to our home, even going to the length of using fog to hide their presence, but it almost became war with Ondine and your elder being very enraged at each other. It’s a good thing I made it in the nick of time thanks to my parents waking me up.”

“Ah… Yes…” Ondine said and she looked a little sad as she remembered that event. “I was very agitated to see so many warriors from the Camdra Beast Clan and their elder said some really rude things about you. With my personality being how it was back then, I really wanted to kill him… I wish I can go and apologise to them now…”

Tetra suddenly walked forward and patted her back because she could not reach her shoulder due to being 165cm tall. Inwardly, she wanted to use her appearance changing ability as a Sacred Spirit to take on a mature form, which would let her grow several centimetres in height. However, she had to put that thought aside due to Lakshman saying she looked cute with her current appearance, which left her feeling both happy and sad at the same time.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“Don’t worry, Ondine,” she said cheerfully. “The past is the past and it’s one that cannot be changed, but it’s something you learn from and move on. It was just a case of misunderstanding and strictness between you and their elder, which had nothing to do with you. So, let it go and let’s move on.”

Ondine nodded at her and said, “You’re right, Tetra. Thank you… I’m now appreciating what it feels like to always have someone that calms the people down within the group. I really appreciate you being with us, Tetra. I really do.”

Tetra chuckled heartily and said, “I don’t think that’s how you thought of me back when Lucky was still just a kid… Always, trying to annoy me, irritate me and finally, push me to the point that we constantly bickered over him.”

“Hahaha…” Ondine laughed half-heartedly before letting out a deep sigh. “Anyway, what now? I think we’ve already achieved the main purpose of being here, Lucky. Why don’t you deactivate Spirit Connection and Spirit Transition now?”

“Mmm!” Lakshman said and be blinked at her in surprise. Them, he shook his head and while smiling, he said, “Actually, I wanted to do something else since we’re here anyway…”

He turned to Silvera and quietly asked her, “Silvera… I’m going to unlock your memories…”

She blinked at him in surprise and said, “Eh? Unlock my memories? Why…?

He placed a hand on his chin as if he was thinking about the response. A moment later, he removed it and gave her a pleasant smiler as he spoke to her.

“Actually, I’ve always wanted to unlock your memories for a while now, but I haven’t had the chance due to being very busy and all. You’re not weak without them, but I feel that you’re not who you truly were… The pure Demon Slayer possessing the true power of darkness. It’ll be good to have that power back and under your control, plus it will solve your question of wanting to know your past.”

“B-B-But…! I was told that I was evil, a chaos bringer, world destroyer and calamity striker that harmed many innocent lives,” said Silvera desperately to him. “Do you really want to unlock my memories and find out just how awful I was in the past?”

Lakshman raised a finger and waved it in front of her quickly to deter her before speaking to her calmly.

“Those were said to you by the Fire Dragon King and Earth Dragon King during our war with the Mardana Kingdom. What they said is clearly about how you were ‘used for evil, but said nothing about ‘you being evil.’ Our answer is right there…! You were not evil in the past, but the people that wielded you used you to cause evil actions, which was why those two meat headed dragons fought me so hard to break our newly established Contract Seal.”

Silvera looked really troubled now and she began fidgeting with her fingers while trembling nervously.

He blinked at her and softly asked, “What’s the matter, Silvera? Why are you so nervous…?”

She looked up at him and he was startled to see her white eyes staring at him fearfully as her hair silver hair streamed behind her.

“Um…” she slowly began in a very nervous voice. “It’s just that… Ten-years-ago, while you were lying unconscious from being beaten up by the Calamity Titan, I, Tetra and Ondine fought him in our attempt to defeat him. During that time, he said something about locking away Tetra’s full powers and… and… he said that I once belonged to him…!”

Once she finished, she immediately covered her face with her hands while shaking uncontrollably for fear of facing Lakshman’s reaction. She took a tentative step back and walked into Tetra and Erza as the two girls began patting her on the back to calm her down.

Lakshman looked at her for a moment in silence before looking at Ondine and asked, “Is that true, Ondine?”

Ondine pondered about it for a moment before nodding her head in agreement as she said, “Yes, that did happen. While fighting, he did say something to Tetra about interfering with her powers or something and then became upset when he learnt that Silvera didn’t remember him.”

She looked down at his feet and quietly said, “I’m sorry that I didn’t say anything about this until now. Truth be told, I didn’t want to exactly think about what he said since both Tetra and Silvera kept quiet about it.”

“I see. That explains why their behaviour was slightly strange, almost as if they already knew about it before I told them,” said Lakshman as he nodded in understanding.

“Wait. You already about this?” Ondine asked him with a puzzled look on her face.

“More than knowing, I had a feeling something like this might happen, but I never thought it would come true,” he said to her with a smile.

“That’s understandable considering that she doesn’t remember to the events beyond the hundred years ago, which was around the same time that the Calamity Titan had been awakened from what you told us,” said Venezuela and she nodded in understanding. “I guess it makes sense to think of it that way.”

Lakshman smiled at her before lowering himself to the floor and looking intently at Silvera, who caught his attention and slowly turned her head to face him. They looked into each other’s eyes for a moment before Lakshman began speaking.

“You see… Four days ago, when I conversed with the Calamity Titan, he asked me to hand you over to him.”

Silvera instantly frightened, causing both Tetra and Erza to apply pressure to their hands.

“I’ll blow him up if he dared to ask me that question again!” Lakshman said fiercely as he continued looking at Silvera.

“Wait… You actually said that?” Venezuela asked him with a raised eyebrow.

“Well… Not precisely in such words, but the intended meaning got delivered,” said Lakshman with a shrug of his shoulders. “I told him I’ll kill him if he dared to think of laying a finger on any of my wives!”

He leaned towards Silvera and said, “Silvera… I standby the words I told him then and I always will. You are my wife…! You are mine, not his! Mine and mine alone…! So, don’t ever think that I will give up on you or you give up on me. Okay?”

Silvera hesitated to say anything for a moment due to feeling very nervous, but she plucked up the courage to nod at him and finally smile.

“Yes…! I’m sorry that I… I was so nervous, but… to be related to that guy… It’s just…”

She struggled to speak properly, but Lakshman heard enough to extended his hand out and pat her gently on the head. Surprised by his action, she blinked at him to see the pleasant smile formed on his face.

“No matter what, you are mine and I am yours,” he said and she finally nodded in agreement. Feeling relived, he asked her, “So… Will you now allow me to free your memory for you? Remember that whatever may have happened in the past is just the lessons that should be taken and applied into the present to make the future peaceful for us and everyone around us. Okay?”

She nodded at him in agreement and said, “Yes! When you’re so confident about it, then I should do the same! Do it, Lucky. Let’s see what lessons I can learn from my memories of the past.”

He chuckled when he saw the sudden burst of enthusiasm from her before getting standing up straight. Extending his right hand out, he placed a hand down on her forehead before looking at Tetra and Erza.

“It’s best you girls keep your distance from us,” he suggested and they nodded before backing away.

Activating his powers, he said, “Memory Chain Breaker!”

In an instant, the two of them were surrounded by a blinding flash of light that almost blinded everyone staring at them. The light was so dazzling that it caused his wives to quickly get away from there to a safe distance, but still had to keep their eyes covered. A few seconds later, the bright light persisted when, all of a sudden, there was a sound of smashing glass and the light exploded into pieces like broken fragment of glass.

“Nyaa~! That light was really bright-nyaa!” Cantia said in an annoyed voice as she rubbed her eyes to bring them into focus.

“I-Is it over…?” Erza asked curiously.

“The light’s gone, so I think it is over,” said Venezuela as she straightened up.

“Yeah, but did it work? I thought I heard the magic breaking like glass,” said Ondine with a puzzled look on her face.

“I don’t know if that was supposed to happen, we’ll find out soon I suppose,” said Tetra in a quiet voice.

All five of them turned their attention towards the spot Lakshman and Silvera stood from earlier.

Lakshman removed the hand off Silvera’s head and looked at her in confusion. In his mind, he appeared to be breaking through sharp clouds of darkness that clouded her past memories. However, he had come upon what appeared to be some sort of powerful barrier that blasted him out of her mind and breaking the spell in the process. Now, he looked down at her in surprise as Silvera’s head hung loosely as if she was asleep.

Things suddenly went completely wrong when Silvera extended her right hand out to her side and summoned a magic sword resembling the sword she transformed into. Gripping it firmly, she brought it forward and plunged it deep into Lakshman’s chest, shocking him and his wives at the same time.

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Author's Note

Thank you for reading the chapter once agian. Trouble strikes once again in the lovely husband and wife relationship between Lakshman and Silvera. Let us see what happened and why did she suddenly attack him like that in the chapter. See you then and have a wonderful day!