Monkey stared at them in shock. "Padma? Wolf?"

"Are we supposed to know who these people are?" asked Sandy, looking confused.

"I recognise the names," said Pigsy. "Padma was a member of the War Maidens, while Wolf was a forest God. Never met them, though."

"I did." Monkey kept his staff pointed at them. There was a good chance that they weren't who they said they were, and he wanted to be sure. "Prove to me that you're them."

Padma nodded. "I was the one who told Cada about Yue Lao."

Monkey nearly dropped his staff in shock, and couldn't find the words to respond.

"I think it's really them, Monkey," said Tripitaka. "She has the same look in her eyes that she did before."

"Before?" Pigsy looked between them. "How do you know who she is, Tripitaka? You weren't even born back then. Your grandmother's grandmother wasn't even born."

Tripitaka shrunk in on herself a little, and Monkey wanted to whack Pigsy upside the head with his staff for making her look like that. "I've been venturing into Memory Space when I sleep. Not of my own will, but I've been seeing someone else's memories. Padma was in them. I was going to tell you and Sandy at the right time."

"That can wait," said Monkey. He really didn't want to tell Pigsy and Sandy about Cada (though he suspected that Pigsy might have heard rumours, since he knew who Padma and Wolf were), at least not now. "First, you two need to explain how you got here – and how Wolf ended up as a demon."

"Like I said, it's a long story," said Padma. "Our place isn't far. We should talk there."

Padma and Wolf led the quartet further into the forest, and Monkey let his mind race. It was no surprise that Padma and Wolf had perished in the demon uprising that had followed his imprisonment; both of them would have been fighting on the front line. But their return was really throwing him for a loop. Here were two Gods, bound together by the Red Thread of Fate, who had been reincarnated. And despite coming back as a human and a demon, they had found one another again.

The hope that Tripitaka had given him before was reignited. Did that mean Cada was out there somewhere, looking for him?

The pair led them to a recently built house made of logs, which was camouflaged with branches, bushes and moss. It was large enough to house them all, but still small enough to feel cosy.

"We don't really have anything to offer you all," Padma apologised, as they all took a seat inside. "Living in the forest is peaceful, but not very practical when it comes to food variety."

"That's OK, Princess Peony," said Sandy with a smile.

"Please, call me Padma. Peony is a stupid name."

Tripitaka smiled and nodded her approval, though it was a small movement and Monkey was the only one who caught it.

He cleared his throat. "So, where do we start?"

"Where all stories start: the beginning," said Padma. "After you were imprisoned, Monkey, the demons attacked Jade Mountain. The War Maidens fought them – and all of us were slain."

"I sensed her die through our bond, so I attacked the demons myself in order to avenge her," said Wolf. "I was killed, too – but a demon shaman managed to capture my soul before it could depart for Heaven."

"Wait, bond?" Pigsy interrupted. "What bond?"

"Wolf and I are bound by the Red Thread of Fate," said Padma. "When Wolf's soul didn't meet me in Heaven, I allowed myself to be reincarnated so that I could find him. But I could only reincarnate into human forms. I had many, and in each form I searched for Wolf, without realising I was doing it. You see, when we reincarnate, we lose all of our memories of our previous life or lives. But a part of me always remembered. I never married another in all of my human lives."

"Meanwhile, my soul was trapped in this demon form," said Wolf, gesturing to himself. "I too lost my memories, and was made into a slave. Every time I was destroyed, I would be remade by Davari. Until you set me free, Tripitaka."

"I remember," she said.

Monkey remembered, too. He had wanted to destroy the Font Demons, but Tripitaka hadn't let him. She'd said that these demons weren't evil by choice, and that they deserved to have that choice. When Davari's demon allies had attacked and they'd all been forced to flee Jade Mountain, most of the Font Demons had joined their kin, but Wolf hadn't been among them.

"I still couldn't remember my past life," Wolf continued, "but deep down I knew I was never meant to be a demon. So, I started travelling. I fought over demons to make up for all the sins I'd committed. And then I found Padma."

"I found him," she teased, bumping her shoulder against his. "My human life in this form has been difficult. Like I said before, King Rajesh treated me like an object, and none of his courtiers took me seriously because they only saw me as a useless girl. I was tired of being told over and over that I'm nothing, so I trained myself to fight by watching the guards, and every night I would sneak out to defend my people from demon raids."

"And that's how you met Wolf again?" asked Sandy.

Padma shook her head. "No. One day, the Horned Brothers showed up so that they could receive a tribute from Rajesh. And when he asked them to name their price, the youngest brother, Silver, asked for me. And Gold asked for something of equal value. So Rajesh offered to give him the Sacred Scroll; the scroll my family had protected for five hundred years. I was hiding close by, and overheard everything. I was so… angry at him for willingly giving me up to a demon, and ignoring his duty as a protector of the scroll."

Monkey couldn't blame her. He could already feel his angry growing towards the King. What kind of man would do that to their own daughter? "That's why you ran away. And you took the scroll with you."

"This was before I had my memories," she said. "I was just a girl who felt hurt and betrayed by the only family I had left, and wanted to do the right thing. But as you well know, the scroll is the Scroll of Love. The moment I touched it, the memories came flooding back to me. It stunned me for long enough that a guard caught me in the act of stealing the scroll and raised the alarm. I was able to escape the palace, but the Horned Brothers came after me. I was fighting off their demons when Wolf joined the fray, protecting me."

"I didn't know who she was," he said. "I only saw that she needed help."

"When the fight was over, I was wary," said Padma. "But something deep within me recognised him. Which is why I let him touch the scroll."

"And then I remembered, too." Wolf took her hand in his and they both squeezed one another gently.

"Since then, we've been fighting demons that cross into the forest from over the mountains, and protecting the people that the King leaves for dead," said Padma. "I'm sorry again that he set you up to this. Rajesh is selfish and greedy; he only protects his possessions and ignores the plight of his people. If the world was burning, he wouldn't care so long as his palace wasn't burning with it."

Pigsy snorted. "He sounds delightful."

"What about the demons?" asked Monkey.

"The Horned Brothers have tried to get me back," said Padma, "but every one of their attempts have failed. It would be funny if they weren't trying to eat people. We've managed to drive them back every time, but we haven't managed to kill them."

Monkey smirked. "Are you asking me to kill them for you?"

Padma rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. "You and I both know that I don't need to ask you to kill demons. But it's late now. You can all stay for the night, and then we can go demon hunting in the morning."

It wasn't until later that night, when the others had settled in and were asleep, that Monkey was able to catch Padma alone. "Hey. You probably wouldn't know, but… Have you heard anything about where Cada could be? She… she wasn't in Heaven, and after that story you told…"

"No, I don't." She laid a comforting hand on his arm. "I'm sorry. About what happened."

Monkey averted his gaze to his feet. "It was my fault."

"You know whose fault it was, and it wasn't yours," Padma assured him. "And while I don't know where she could be, I have an idea as to how we can find out. We just need to follow the Red Thread of Fate that binds you together."

"The Scroll of Love," Monkey realised.

"Come on." She led him towards another room. "I'll help you, since you still probably don't know how to read the ancient language."

"I learnt the word 'and'!"

"Congratulations. You're on the same level as a child. Actually, lower. They know more than one word."

"Ha, ha."