Azanor and Kazius would stop walking by the time they reached the outskirts of the town, sitting down at a cliff that oversaw the valleys and mountains. “There are things I don’t want to talk about, I don’t think they matter… Not those details… But… A fact… Is… I didn’t help the Demons during the war… For the longest time… I’ve been a bit different from the typical Demon…. Back then I lied like any other… But I had a group of friends I would never lie to.” He admitted.

‘I can’t believe he wants to open up to me… I thought I would be hearing a story from Damon today… But I guess Azanor had things to get off his chest too…’

“But… Despite knowing I was different, that isn’t always enough for people… Eventually someone came along and told them something… He said he believed me to be a liar… Plotting against them… The true liar was him… But my friends… They believed what he said.. That I was going to take their souls on a platter to the Demon King… As if I would, I can’t stand my brother… Why would I do that?” Azanor stated bitterly. “After that… not long after… I was sealed away along with the other Demons… Who think I am a traitor… But not like they could do anything to me. Not with my position, only my brother could punish me… ”

Kazius was shocked at what he was hearing. He heard that Demons of noble blood were especially formidable… But Azanor was one? So, once he regained his strength… He might have a chance against an Edict… Being the brother of the Demon King… Kazius understood why he didn’t tell him about it until now… Trusting him as a Demon was hard enough.

“When that happened, I swore I would never again allow myself to befriend mortals and care about them… Nor lie… I hate liars and being called a liar because of it… Though I suppose the term mortal applies loosely to you, since I still have no idea what you are…. But… You genuinely trust me… And know I don’t lie… You are even lending hand to that goof… Even though you’re no saint… I suppose… I suppose… I am happy… To have friends that believe me… Oh I hate this sappy stuff… But… What I am trying to say…Is that… I intend to help you… You and the others… Whether it is against my brother… The church… I hope you keep trusting me… I will follow you.” Azanor admitted with a small grin.

Kazius was shocked, he didn’t think he would ever hear such words from him. “Thank you, Azanor… I appreciate it.” He admitted genuinely.

“Don’t think I will become some soppy push over though… It was already embarrassing telling you this… Alice would never let me live it down…” Azanor warned, “I will still say no to you when I don’t want to do something. You are not Eve.”

“I believe you… And I noticed that… Speaking of… You spoke of not caring about mortals… But you seem to exclude Eve in that… I know Elves are immortal unless killed, but I would think she would be included in that group?” Kazius questioned in confusion.

Azanor sighed, “I suppose I may as well tell you that part… Simply put, Eve is not a mortal… She isn’t even an Elf.”

Kazius would look at him confused, that made no sense. “What do you mean? She is clearly an Elf.”

“You looked human until not long ago, right? Many creatures can shift to look human… Some changes are just more drastic than others… At will even… She is just talented at it.” Azanor explained, looking rather gloomy despite talking about Eve. He usually brightened up when he spoke of her.

“So she is a shapeshifting Demon?” Kazius asked in confusion, being more confused as to what she was.

“She is no demon either….” Azanor explained as he shook his head. “She is something else… I… I met her when…” At this, he would look surprisingly sad. What had gotten into him?

“Are you… Okay?” Kazius would question, his brows furrowing in concern.

“I don’t want to talk about what she is… I… I may never see that part of her again… besides… She always preferred the form of an Elf… I… I won’t force her… to…” Azanor spoke, seeming to be being eaten away on the inside by quite the grief.

“Azanor…” Kazius trailed off, putting a hand on his back.

“She is my wife!” Azanor exclaimed, forcing it out looking grimmer, “Yet… She doesn’t remember me.”

Kazius could tell Azanor adored Eve… But… That was… He knew Eve lost her memories… But he didn’t think…

“Even when I was in the Demon World, I watched over her… To the best I could… I couldn’t communicate with her… Such a thing took me so many years to figure out… I lost track of her for a while when my brother decided to properly punish me for what I did… And when I finally looked again… She was in the church. I managed to talk… But then she thought I was god… And ended up making a deal with me before I knew it… So I went along with it… Of course, I have no interest in her soul… but… I brought up the deal so you and Alice would let me tag along.” Azanor admitted, letting all his emotional exhaustion out.

“I suppose… When you seemed to be there for the big goof… I felt like I could talk to you about this… I hate to admit it… but… Since you’re my friend…” Azanor sighed out, “Please don’t pity me, that isn’t what I want… I don’t like sob stories myself… But… I guess… I just wanted to vent… I don’t intend to tell Eve a thing… Anyway… No more questions on the matter… I just… I suppose… Thank you… For listening to me.” He admitted, sounding exhausted.

‘I think I understand him better… By a lot… He has his pride as a Demon… Alice would likely have coddled him… It was weird… How many people were hurt by the creation of Ratier… The church was created… So humans were enslaved mentally by some cult built around the Oracle… The royal family themselves met a tragic end… The Demons too of course suffered… How many were like Azanor? He says he is unique… But the vision he had… There must be others like him, that I may end up befriending too… The Kingdom of Ratier… It is a mistake I will fix…’

“I think you should be proud… You have more restraint and emotional strength than any I can think of… And if you ask me… I think Eve adores you… I think she will love you again.” Kazius stated with a small smile.

“…I don’t want to hear that from someone as dense as you…” Azanor stated in a matter-of-fact manner, his eyes narrowing in an accusatory manner.

Kazius grew confused, “Huh? Dense?”

“Anyway, we should head back… You still need 3 hours, right? We’ve been out here a while…”

“W-Wait! What do you mean dense? What did I do?”

“…”

“Azanor!”

“…”

It seems the Demon wasn’t slowing down though and instead would head back.

Kazius groaned. How was he supposed to sleep after all that?

‘He calls me smart and dense constantly, I don’t get it’

Once back, Kazius would lay down. Since Azanor ran ahead of him, he was already laying down. Kazius gave the Demon a grumpy look. Kazius really wondered what the Demon meant. He would sigh though, getting into bed. He would struggle but would somehow fall asleep after a while.

The next day, he would wake up around the same time as the others. They would get ready and have breakfast. There was no mention of what the spoke of with Azanor. Just training with an eager Werewolf instructor… That would be his routine for a week… Attempting to climb Mount Cyklon, getting blown out multiple times in the process… Until… One day…