“I think… You have a lot you want to tell me about.” Kazius would finally speak up, “You seem more jumbled in your thoughts than before… But… I told you, didn’t I? I am your friend… You keep my secrets… And I will keep yours… And I will promise you… No matter how bad the situation is in the future… Even if your brother is holding a knife to my neck or even has my soul in his hands… I will believe you. I swear that as your friend and I swear that as the King I will become.” Kazius stated firmly, his gaze firm and unwavering.

Some may think his promise to be extreme, but he truly did believe in his friends. He had no room to doubt them. He did not want to create a kingdom built on the suffering of those he cared about. He refused to be another Ratier.

Azanor would look at him finally, their red eyes meeting. He would stare, but Kazius’ firm expression did not waver. He clearly had zero doubts in his mind. Azanor looked a bit happy, but also sad. “You shouldn’t blindly trust a Demon like that… You will get yourself killed.. Or roped into something terrible and hated for it.” He warned.

“Well, I don’t know about trusting Demons, but like I said. I trust my friends… I am not Ratier, Azanor, or anyone of that bunch… So won’t you vent to me?” Kazius stated with a smile.

Azanor was shocked at Kazius’ words, his eyes growing wide for a second before he relaxed. He sighed, “Fine… I will tell you everything… Truly everything… And if you ever have a question… I will answer, no matter what it is… You are the 3rd person to ever believe in me this much…” He admitted.

“Thank you.” Kazius stated with a smile, “Maybe after that, we can figure out how to approach Eve… And if anything happens, I will know what to watch out for.”

“Okay… Well… For starters… I am not like most Demons… Most Demons hate me for it… But there were a few that did like that about me… I doubt after what happened… When we lost, that they are even alive though… And those that are, likely to hate me now… My brother is also not like most Demons… But I will tell you about that later, this story is already long… But he is loved for what makes him different… You should know that much… And… That he doesn’t need a contract to take a soul.” Azanor began to explain, clearly thinking of how to explain himself.

“Demons eat souls, you know that. But the way we consume and absorb their power is different depending on the type of Demon… Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Envy, Lust, Pride, and Wrath. Demons, we embody the worst in living creatures… And our methods are divided by those sins, they embody the kind of Demon we are. Some types are more common than others…” Azanor would add.

Kazius had no idea about anything involving Demon Society and the Abyss, so this was all new to him. The idea The Demon King could just steal souls was a terrifying one though. This wasn’t about Azanor’s brother though, this was about Azanor so he would ask about it later.

“I am the only Gluttony Demon. When I eat a soul, I absorb more power than most Demons… I eat a person’s entire being… And I absorb most of it… Including memories….” Azanor seemed to look uncomfortable at the mention of memories.

“The amount I absorb is random, really. Sometimes it is an hour, a minute… A month… A year… A lifetime… At first… It wasn’t bad… I saw the knowledge I acquired as useful and nothing more… I wanted power… It didn’t matter. I wanted to win the throne. So, I kept making deals… And I kept eating souls… Then one day I started to notice things… How beautiful the sky was during a sunset… How fun the festivals mortals held looked… And then eventually… I absorbed the soul of a man named Theo… I saw all of it… I felt what it was like to be held by his mother’s hand… The days playing with the kids in the village… Growing up on his farm… Falling in love and getting married… Having 3 beautiful children… Losing neighbors to local Raiders… Being scared… Losing his youngest daughter at the hands of said Raiders… Making a deal with me out of desperation… To save my family… His family… So that they too wouldn’t be lost in an attack, his soul in exchange for his family’s safety and to save his community.” Azanor would correct himself before continuing. It is clear there were times where even now it was hard to separate who he was from the memories he ate.

“And finally dying at my hand… Feeling scared yet happy knowing his wife and kids would be safe… When I realized what happened, those memories broke me… I… I hated myself so much… I couldn’t even understand who I was… I felt like I would lose my mind.” Azanor managed out in dismay, his expression pained.

“I felt so many things… Things Demons did not typically feel… Especially love… We feel lust… But not love… Marriage is something of convenience for us… Nothing more than for power.” Azanor stated with a grimace.

“And just when I thought I would lose myself to insanity… I met her… Eve… She… She saw me and had come to talk to me… She talked about how she had never met anyone with such a chaotic mind… So confused and insane. How she found me so interesting… She wondered if I would simply die by looking at her just like everyone else… Or if maybe my mind was just that far gone that looking at her didn’t affect me… And that is when I told her… How beautiful she was… She didn’t expect that… Not at all.” Azanor chuckled out lightly, his expression holding a sad fondness.

“She thought I was crazy. I probably am… But after that, we kept talking… And well… Became friends… Then lovers… And then… I realized… She was my everything… So… We got married, and I asked her to settle down with me… And we moved to this town… I… I felt whole… Everything was perfect with her, the love of my life… We were seen as suspicious at first… But we were eventually accepted. I became friends with Remus, and ran around with him every now and then on his adventures… Babysat his kid… Became friends with his kid… Headed out to save the world with him… And well… You know the rest…” Azanor sighed out.

“So, you were friends with Remus too…” Kazius sighed out, realizing how rough it must have felt… He didn’t realize he had known Ratier for that long… And then he betrayed Azanor… Sealing him away, separating him from whom he cared about most.

“I don’t know what to do, Kazius… I was able to bring myself together because of her… I… I just…” Azanor trailed off.

“I don’t know whether should or shouldn’t… But… If you truly do love Eve… I know you may want her back… And feel hope she will come back… But I think that hope has been hurting you… You are expecting something we don’t know if possible… I know I am a hypocrite… If my vision tells me anything… But… You can’t give up… Get the resolve to love her as she is, if she is truly whom you want to be with… and if she remembers she does… But if she doesn’t, she doesn’t… When you left… You know… Eve was very worried about you… I don’t know if I would use the word love… For how she feels about you… But there is no doubt you mean a lot to her… I do think though, you need to stop being afraid to approach her romantically… When I know I saved Alice, I will confess… I think… You need to start thinking about telling her how you feel about her, the current her.” Kazius suggested.

“I would start by saying sorry to her though… Come on… Let’s go find her.” Kazius would state, getting up, and offering him his hand.

Azanor would look up at him, at this. He seemed to pull himself together, looking determined as he nodded. It seems speaking to Kazius indeed did help.

The two with that would go search for Eve, Azanor finding her with ease considering their bond. Technically, she did make a contract with him.

When the two found her, Eve was sulking, sitting down, hiding by a bush near the cemetery portion of the town. They could hear her hiccupping and sniffling. At the scene, seeing Eve like this… It was clear Azanor felt terrible.

“Eve… Oh Eve… I’m so so sorry… About what I said… I didn’t mean to snap at you like that.” Azanor admitted to her only for her to turn around. She was crying quite a bit, “Y-You hate me now… You are mad at me… I-I… I must have done something… I-I’m sorry… P-Please don’t hate me forever. I-I don’t like being far away from you.” She sobbed out, clearly having taken his words to heart. Of course, he had only told her to go away, but Eve clearly thought hearing that from Azanor was the end of the world.

“I could never hate you… You did nothing wrong… I was… I remembered a lot of bad things… And good things… So, I wanted to be alone… But what I did was wrong… I’m sorry… You didn’t do anything bad. I promise.” He assured, putting down his cane so he could get down and sit beside her. He was cupping her face gently, helping her clean up her face. “So please don’t cry…” He told her softly.

At this Eve did calm down, realizing things were fine. Though it seemed like the woman wasn’t even mad at the Demon. She was just scared of being hated by him. As silly as something like that may sound.

“O-Okay…” Eve stated, cheering up, looking a bit pouty, but that was about it.

Azanor smiled weakly at this. There seemed to be a bit more joy in his eyes as he leaned in and kissed her on the forehead. This seemed to cause Eve to grow quite red.

‘It seems my job here is done.’