Tired from their journey, Kazius and Damon would return to Remus’ home to unpack and settle in for the night. They were greeted by quite the giddy Alice, who seemed to be acting like it was her birthday or something of the like. She really did seem content to have met Remus. The fact they were surrounded by the undead did not even seem to appear to cross her mind.

Kazius would stay awake for a while, thinking. Considering how little sleep he needed, he had a lot of time alone with his thoughts. He was also waiting for Azanor to return, wanting to talk to him. He would fall asleep before such a thing could happen though.

The next day Alice and Kazius would wake up around the same time at the smell of breakfast. There were few beds considering the size of the house. So Alice got one while Eve was supposed to get the other. There were no signs of Eve or Azanor though. They could note Damon’s bedroll seemed to have been left in disarray on the floor.

“Good morning.” Kazius would state sluggishly as he registered his surroundings, taking notice of the fact that Azanor and Eve had not come back to even unpack.

“Good morning.” Alice stated sleepily with a smile. She would then look at Damon’s belongings. “I hope grandpa doesn’t mind Damon making breakfast.” She stated, clearly concluding that it was Damon making breakfast, per usual.

“I am sure he won’t mind too much… I do also wonder where those two went…” Kazius would add as he got up.

“I hope they’re okay… Azanor looked very upset after talking about what happened to him… The way he looked… If it wasn’t for the horns, I would honestly forget he is supposed to be a Demon…” Alice admitted in dismay as she also got up.

“I think he just needs time… I will go find him after breakfast.” Kazius reassured her, knowing she worried about their friend.

Alice would smile at this, “Hopefully that will help.” She stated as the two walked out to the kitchen area.

They were greeted by quite a curious sight. Damon was slumped over the clay and metal stove, looking like he was focusing quite hard, nodding at every word from Remus. “You would be surprised at how far a bit of salt goes in something sweet, just a little bit. It will make anything sweet you make taste better. My Rose would always go on and on about it. Just be careful to not overdo it, I made her a salty cake one time for her birthday and-” Remus would stop his explanation when he heard the two approaches. “Good morning.” The Lich would state. He was in his true form, but his tone was gentle and grandfatherly all the same.

“Good morning! Buahaha! Kazius, Alice! Look! I am learning so much already!” Damon exclaimed eagerly, pointing at some pancakes he had made. His voice was booming and loud, clearly struggling to hide his excitement.

“Indoor voice, son.” Remus shushed gently yet sternly.

Alice ended up giggling a bit, “Good morning. I am glad to hear that.” She would state with a smile.

“Good morning. You do always usually make us breakfast… Do you enjoy cooking that much?” Kazius asked curiously. He was happy to see his friend so full of energy.

“Yes! I never had anyone really teach me though.” Damon admitted, showing why he was so happy considering up until now he was self-taught. Considering Damon’s childhood, it was easy to guess why he had to learn.

“He is more promising than me than when I was younger. When I retired from adventuring, I was quite hopeless in the kitchen.” Remus admitted sheepishly. “I remember one time I was making Ratier breakfast… I asked him what he wanted and he said ‘not burnt toast’… Kids can be so honest sometimes.” The Lich sighed out.

“You seem to know a lot now though.” Alice reassured him.

“Perhaps, but took me so long to practice… I’d like to think I got better even after I died… I can’t really taste the difference. I lost my sense of taste.” Remus admitted. “I enjoy drinking and eating though, makes me feel normal. Not to mention, it is partly out of habit. It has been a long time since I cooked with or for someone though.”

Alice smiled weakly at that, “Well, you have a bit of a greedy granddaughter. I hope you and Damon can keep making us breakfast. I am sure it will be great.” She stated giddily.

It was hard to see expressions on Remus when he was like this… It was hard to explain, but Kazius could swear it felt like he was smiling. “Of course.” Remus stated, much to the happiness of both Alice and Damon.

With that, the group would sit down and eat. The scene felt almost warm, it was strange. Kazius who never had a family… He couldn’t help but wonder if this was like to have one. He wasn’t sure. He would eat the sweet pancakes with that on his mind, smiling a bit along with the group.

Once breakfast was done, Alice would help with clean up.

“I told Kazius and Damon before… But today I will start training all of you… It will be difficult to do it all at once… So… I will split you all up into two groups most likely… But I noticed half of you are missing…” Remus pointed out.

Alice perked up at this, looking curious. After all, the way handed down in her family was known to be how Ratier did things… The Lich may have a new perspective on how to see their family talent. “I would love to learn from you, Grandpa.” She admitted contently.

“Good… Kazius, could you fetch those two and figure out where they went? Try and be back by time we are done with dishes.” Remus stated.

“Of course.” Kazius assured, “I will be back. I was meaning to check on him anyway.” He added before taking his leave. He did want to talk to Azanor anyway.

Of course, question was, where was he? Thankfully the fogged town was not too big, he had to be somewhere nearby. He doubted he would just up and leave.

So, Kazius would search. Perhaps if he had better dominion of his powers, he could find then faster, but the process took well over an hour. He did find the Demon though. Though surprisingly, he was alone. There was no sign of Eve… So where had she gone off to? It was clear their talk didn’t go well.

“Azanor…” Kazius spoke up to get his attention. The Demon was sitting by a tree near a field area. The decayed remains of a wooden children’s playground scattered around, worn, and rotted. Seems Remus neglected the maintenance of this place. Azanor was just staring at the place, not bothering to look at Kazius. He looked defeated, coming here had likely been harder to handle than what he may have expected.

“Where is Eve?” Kazius decided to ask, the question seeming to earn him a grimace from Azanor.

“I told her to go away.” Azanor would state in a cold manner.

Kazius frowned at this. He felt bad for sending her after him. Now Eve was likely upset about the reaction she had gotten. He should have talked to Azanor himself.

“Azanor… I know for a fact that is not what you want. I know how much you care about her. Why would you do that?” Kazius questioned in confusion and shock.

“Of course, I didn’t want her to leave! But do you know how hard this is for me?! You have a chance to change what will happen! I don’t get any of that! I couldn’t protect her… I don’t even know who fucked with her memories or even what they did to her!” Azanor snapped, a silent stray set of tears running down his cheek.

“I thought it would be fine… But talking about what happened… I have been avoiding thinking about it until now… But… All that happened, it is all my fault. The more I remember, the more I hate myself for trying to save mortals, for what I am, for my pride… If I wasn’t so greedy… Maybe then I could hate Ratier and the others with all my heart… Yet I can’t… I just can’t. I can’t hate those idiots, I resent them, but I don’t hate them… I keep thinking about when I met them… How we played… When I babysat them when they were just brats… I am a shitty husband and an even worse Demon.” Azanor in dismay.

“I wish I was less human. Yet here I am with mortal friends again, just as Remus pointed out… But now no Eve… Not my Eve, not the one I know… I cherish her even like this… I really do… But… I want her back, Kazius… I want to love her as she is, but I can’t help but want her back. I feel like I had a false hope until now, that she would remember… But no matter the time I spend with her… At most, it is glimpses of what she was like… But no memories, this place didn’t even get a reaction from her… Was I… Was our love that forgettable? I feel so guilty for feeling this way… But even when I am enjoying my time with her… I feel so alone.” Azanor would admit, shaking. Before, he acted so certain about being fine about her never remembering him… But perhaps that was a lie he had convinced himself of being true.

He loved her so much he couldn’t allow himself to give up on her, but also loved her so much that it broke his heart to not be remembered. Kazius should have realized how helpless he felt. He had let out his grief when Damon had… He had wanted an excuse to vent back there, which showed Azanor struggled with opening up about his internal demons. Then again, he was an actual Demon… Was he even allowed such weakness? Especially after the torment he suffered at his brother’s hand? Kazius had been so preoccupied with his situation and Alice’s… He would now make up for ignoring Azanor’s issue.