“Mother… is that true?” A voice-stricken Changjo came into view as the Winter Prince was tending on one of the injured animals caused by humans. The Winter Prince turns around to see a grown ChangJo in his presence. He frowns at the pained expression on her face.

                “What is it, Changjo?” The Winter Prince spoke in a worrisome manner. Changjo’s eyes brimmed with tears.

                “I… I’m not like you… I’m a human…” Changjo said softly and made the Winter Prince froze like ice.

                “W-what are you talking about? You’re one of us, ChangJo” The Winter Prince regains his stand, but his voice falters.

                “I met the muse you hated…” ChangJo said in which it made the Winter Prince flinch.

                “You should not have spoken with her” The winter prince said in a dangerous tone.

                “Why does she know something I don’t? The myths… why do they keep on hurting those innocent humans…?” ChangJo asks, her hearts is tearing…

…

                The Moonfox feels a different kind of pain… all of the sudden, he clutches his chest. He doesn’t know what it is, but it’s causing his strengths to fade.

                “Brother?” The Wind beast or as the winter calls him JunJin asks.

                “I’m alright, young one…” The Moonfox said softly.

                But no… the Moonfox knows it’s not alright.

…

                Hana watches as the peaceful expression on Eric’s face rested on his face. She kepto n sighing, thinking that Eric might never wake up again. Sitting in front of Eric made her feel like she’s in a hospital watching over a comatosed patient. The same worry kept on popping in her head… Though Eric seemed as he’s just sleeping, but… will he ever wake up? Though the other myths kept on telling her that it’s not her fault, she couldn’t help but feel sorry for Eric. It feels like it’s her fault all along and she can’t do anything yet. Aside from the transformation, nothing else happens.

                “Hana? We brought you food” Andy’s voice came to her senses.  Hana looks up to Andy who was carrying a container of food enough for 5 people. MinWoo follows behind but dongWan can’t be seen. The 2 of them were still in their human form… which depresses Hana even more.

                “You might be wondering where DongWan is” Andy said and pouts, “He’s at the border of the plateau… patrolling the skies in case of Myths Chasers.” MinWoo hands her a package of food.

                “Thank you… but… I’m not hungry” Hana said.

                “You should eat something… you haven’t ate anything since you came here—when was that?” MinWoo looks at Andy.

                “Around 3 days ago?” Andy said that made Hana widen her eyes.

                “That’s impossible” Hana said.

                “No… he’s right” MinWoo said. “You see… only a myth can withstand long periods of time without even eating anything. But Hana… we don’t want you to be one of us yet since we’re still in a crisis. We need to figure out how to revive Eric first.”

                “What do you mean being one of you?” Hana asks.

                “Hana, do you recall we told you that you have each of our vital parts?” MinWoo asks and Hana nods.

                “You have each of our vital parts Hana… what you’re now is influenced by our parts” Andy said. “But currently… you’ve shred off something from you… I don’t know if you can regrow it but…” Andy just sighs.

                “Huh?” Hana frowned.

                “The connection between you and Eric is the heart. Human emotions are erratic to us… Eric was the one who decided to take the risk and gave part of his heart to ChangJo. At that time, we never knew it could be this dangerous since we wanted to uplift the curse that bad. We did not consider our actions” Andy said.

                “Is there a way…?” Hana’s eyes plead at each of them. MinWoo and Andy just shook their heads. “But you said the Winter Prince could help him?” the 2 myths just look at each other uncertainly.

                “Like I said… the Winter Prince can never cure anyone” DongWan said bitterly as a portal open from behind. DongWan emerges from the blue portal and enter the room. “He lost his touch… literally”

                “What do you mean?” Hana asks, not comprehending their words.

                “You do know that everything he touches can turn into ice, right?” Hana nods and DongWan sighs “He controls his touch and can unfreeze anything. His specialty is the Cold’s warmth… it’s similar to the mists of the celestial realm where we sleep for thousands of years before coming back to earth. The mists can cure us… and his power is the reason as to why our brother, the wild beast is revived.”

                “Revived? You mean he has gone to a deep slumber too?” Hana asks. MinWoo and Andy nodded.

                “It happened when the muse was able to put a destructible curse on him in which it drained him of all his strengths… the same thing that happened to Eric. But that curse is deadlier… Our younger brother was put to sleep in no time. That was then when the winter prince was able to revive him with his gentle touch and howls a tone every now and then. The healing session took almost a month where it almost drained the Winter Prince’s power” DongWan said.

                “Then… why can’t he come and try to help Eric? Why is he not here?” Hana asks. MinWoo and DongWan exchange dark looks.

                “There’s a ruse between them” Andy said. “They have not spoken to each other since…”

                “Why?” Hana asks.

                “ChangJo—she… died” MinWoo said angrily.

                “The Winter Prince cared for ChangJo as if she was his own. When Changjo died, the Winter Prince was devastated; he blamed Eric for it all. Then… both of them started to unleash their hate against each other.” DongWan said seriously.

                “Their fight lasted too long and I don’t think both of them have rested to recover for these injuries until now” Andy shivers as he recalls the thoughts.

                “Why didn’t you stop them?” Hana asks. “Why did you just let them fight?”

                “We cannot meddle with something like this.” MinWoo said. “And at that time, we were divided because of the new curse that was set upon us. We lost ourselves and went on a… rampage” MinWoo carefully picks his words.

                “As you see, Eric has been too sensitive about his surroundings and can be troublesome, but he’s always there when you need him and the person he cares most out of all the myths is the Winter Prince.” DongWan said. “Same with the Winter Prince… he may seemed cold, but if you rediscover what’s inside the frozen wall is the warm desert flower you’d know”

                “Then… can we convince the Winter Prince?” Hana asks hopefully.

                “Like I said… the Winter Prince… no matter how hard he tries, the curse had already eaten him… and his sanity…” Hana looks down in disappointment. She looks at Eric who is resting behind the veil… is there any hope that they can revive him?

…

                The cold mists scatters soon as the Winter Prince returns to his haven with the young cub who playfully plays with the Winter Prince’s soft hair tail. The winter prince could just chuckle at the naughtiness of the young cub—that he… couldn’t believe that he could feel light-hearted again. But it doesn’t last long as the image of a lifeless Eric passed his mind. He stops and looks at the cub… the cub seemed to be drowsy… the Winter Prince grabs him.

                “You’re sleepy, aren’t you?” The Winter Prince asks. Slowly, the cub turns human again… and the baby cuddles near his chest. The Winter Prince fixes the child’s fringes and pulls him closer to his chest just as always when the Wild Beast is being born… just like when ChangJo was just a child.

                He cradles the child in his arms… one of the few that keeps him sane. After a few moments, JunJin is fast asleep… The winter Prince gently puts him in his icy cradle. The moment the winter prince brushes his fingertips on the child’s hand, dozens of memories flashed back. A particular image froze in his mind…

                “ChangJo…” The winter prince mutters

                “Mother? I… I was wrong…” Changjo’s quivering voice reaches the senses of a shocked Winter Prince.

                “D-Do not speak of it, young one… d-do not waste your e-energy!” The winter Prince feels his trembling voice suffocating.

                “Forgive me…” ChangJo said as she reaches for the winter prince’s hand, but before he could even grasp her hand, it dropped… the winter prince could only feel a small brush of her warm hands on his finger tips...

                “Changjo…?” The winter prince’s pained tone calls her name… “Changjo… no… CHANGJO!!!”

                The winter prince is infuriated… he couldn’t save her, she was just in his arms and yet, he hadn’t do anything to save her. He failed to cure her… he failed. Time travel cannot save her and at that moment when her heart stopped beating, they knew, they could never bring her back anymore. With that… he glides away from the icy haven towards the forest before he suddenly disappears. A lone heartbreaking howl could be heard with his disappearance.

AiMei- this one goes to Jelly beared xD sorry too me too long ^^