It had been many days since they left the town Sai and Ra resided in. All that was there to greet them were trees and many rocks and demons. There were always demons. Still, in all of its emptiness, Ari somehow felt filled by it all. Was it the sense of freedom or the possibility of seeing Cyrus and Auovin again that set his heart at ease, Ari did not know. But it was that feeling of the unknown that made him fill with nervous excitement.

Ari slowed his steps to match Koli's small but quick ones. He watched her as she turned her head left and right. Ari did the same, thinking he would be able to notice the things she was noticing, but he did not see a thing. In the next moment, Ari hit the ground as something lunged out from the fog. It tackled Koli to the ground, but she snapped its neck and flung it away from her. Gradually, Ari rose and looked at the demon with its mouth agape and eyes wide open. It was one he was unfamiliar with. However, it had the same look as the others down below in the dark place. There was fresh blood on its mouth. Ari smelled it more than he could see it. When he turned to look at Koli, he noticed her shoulder was bleeding.

Koli did not say a word to him, though. She did not even grimace. Instead, she tore a piece of her sleeve and wrapped it around her shoulder as best she could. Ari tried to go and help her, but her glare kept him away. She was like Cyrus when he had first met him, but worse. Ari knew without her having to say it aloud that she did not approve of his human mannerisms. To her, no, to them, he would never truly be one of them no matter how much he tried to change to suit their tastes. But, still, Ari did not think that was enough reason for her to despise him so much. Even before, when they first met, she was not this awful towards him.

"I want us to be friends... " Ari finally said, breaking their long days of silence.

Koli scoffed away a laugh and kept forward.

"I cannot apologize if I do not know what I did wrong."

"Do you not remember me?"

"I do... from the castl--"

"No, before that."

Ari pursed his lips and shook his head.

"I kept you away from this, from us. For so long, and, still, you managed to find yourself back here."

"Did you know my father?"

"Of course, but I knew your mother well. She died because of you, leaving me with nothing but a burden and loneliness."

Ari's stomach turned.

"I wanted to kill you myself. You were so young and so fragile then." She caressed his face before moving down to his neck. "A simple squeeze was all it would have taken. But look how you have grown... and how you look so much like her... You look like him as well... but your complexion and your nose and cheeks... You may not have her eyes and hair, but you do have her face. "

There was not a word Ari believed coming from her lips in that moment. She could not have possibly known anything about his parentage. She could not have been the one to have left him there near the Khaeo for them to find. Why would a blood demon ever do such a thing to one of their own?

"No matter what you think or anyone thinks... I did the right thing."

"You say that, but why are your eyes so filled with guilt?"

Her eyes widened. She quickly looked away and shook her head.

"I do not believe you. If you had, why did you not say anything sooner?"

"Why would I ever? I tried to warn you. I tried to tell you, but you did not listen to me."

"I do not believe you."

Koli clenched her hands tight into fists and breathed deeply.

"You hate the rain, do you not?" Ari looked at her with wide eyes. "And thunder... and the smell of death."

"How did you... "

"Because I left you there in the rain, in that terrible storm covered in your own mother's blood. You cried for me not to leave you. I remember how you latched onto me so tight, I had to pry your small hands away from me. You clung so tightly to me... because you thought I was your mother, but I was not. I know you were scared. Probably as scared as when you first saw so many of us in that fortress..."

Ari's tongue felt limp in his mouth.

"Truth be told, he did not know a thing about you until that moment. And I could do nothing-- I am sorry, but it was the right thing to do... Your father was there and you were not mine."

"What are you speaking of... He is... dead... is he not? Ylanan and Auovin... "

"He was someone to be revered when he was looked to as a god, but his fall made him into another person who became ashamed of what he was. I was there. I watched him change. Eventually, I thought he would die. He starved himself, after all. And he aged. I did not think he was still alive. To do that to Egil--" she covered her mouth as if she was about to throw up. "I did not think he would treat you so terribly. How he has changed... Had he wanted to be human so badly...?"

"You have nothing to be sorry for," Ari said, hoping to console her. "There was someone that raised me and loved me dearly. He is a father to me, and is my only father as far as I know."

Koli raised her head and looked at him.

"He means everything to me." There was no bitterness to be found with his real father whoever he may. He did not care. He did not care to inquire more because he had a rooted feeling who it might be. The thought repulsed him, but it did not matter. He had Freir. He would always have him and that was the only thing that ever mattered to him.

"Then why are you here and not there? Blood demons are not something you can come to understand in a matter of months. Go back. Just go back before things spiral downward and you may not have this choice again."

"He told me not to hide from it and I will not. When I am finished, I will go back to him."

"What if he is not there when you go back? What will you do then?"

Ari's eyes widened.

"What happens... if you cannot have both Auovin and him. What will you do? Who will you choose?"

"My father... I would choose him... I will always choose him."

She wiped her eyes and looked at him in silence for a moment, dumbfounded.

"Why?"

"Why? Because he has done so much for me and given me so much when I gave him nothing in return. He would give me the world if he could. I know he would. I know he would-- and that is why I had to leave him. The only thing I seem to be able to give him in return is my love and know I had become a burden when I did not want to be. But... I only ever had him... Without him, I would be afraid. And I would feel alone."

"He is human. Eventually, he will die and you will be without him. Humans and blood demons do not mix for that reason alone. They live what we live in a blink of an eye."

"I know. But I love him still, and I will love him even after... "

Koli shook her head motioned for him to follow her. The fog was clearing and giving way to some sun and a few clouds up above. Ari knew those were not the answers she wanted to hear come from him. He knew that and yet he let those answers drip freely from his mouth.

Ari tripped and fell as soon as he took his eyes off the ground. He landed on something soft and wet. When he looked down, he quickly moved away with his heart pounding out of his chest. There was a body there missing its head. When he looked around there were bodies of the Khaeo littered around the bright green field like flies. The smell of iron filled his nose causing him to turn his head, but it did not matter. The smell was everywhere. Koli only looked at him and pointed back to where they came from. There was more back there. She merely made a path for them away from the bodies.

"Freir... and Rein... which way did we go? Did we go back? Did we go forward?"

"We are always going forward... Never backward."

Ari glared at her. "What is going on?"

"Death by thousands is not a nice sight to behold... But there are angry demons thought of once as gods roaming around. One is seeking vengeance; the other a divide. Which are you seeking?"

"That is... I do not know. I just want to know if Freir and Rein are okay... And Auovin... " Ari did not want to bother to look up to see her expression. He already knew it would be a disapproving one. Still, he coaxed his head to rise.

Koli smiled grimly. "You do not know? Are you still trying to play at love? There is no love to be found here. Look around you. This is what becomes of any human that steps in their paths. Can you not see it already? How you are being used and pulled along... "

The large trees up ahead rustled. At first, Ari thought it was because of the wind grew stronger. It carried what little fog was left into the air with it. The trees kept rustling afterward which caught Koli's attention as well. Ari took a wary step backward, but Koli put a hand out stopping him immediately.

"It was the right decision, at the time... but now, this time, I will make a different one. The one I should have done before." Koli looked at him with eyes growing darker by the second. "I am sorry, but I cannot make the same mistake again."

Koli took his arm in hand before Ari could take a step away from her. She pulled down his sleeve and took out a blue blade. Ari grimaced through the searing pain as she cut through his skin, drawing blood. He held his arm when she let go. Her eyes were trained on him, but Ari ignored it. The pain in his arm was only growing worse with time.

"You are better dead than a play toy to selfish demons. That is what I am sorry for."

Each footstep it took shook the ground beneath their feet. Ari saw its horns coming out of the trees first. They were as long and wide as tree trunks. Its face was like a bull but it had a body of an ape. Everything was black but its yellow eyes which seemed to look at him through the distance between them. It walked upright through the large pine trees like sifting through grass, covering more area than Ari had first thought. Never had Ari ever seen a lesser demon this large. When Ari looked to find Koli, she was gone.

Ari stumbled forward as the ground shook more. He balanced himself on one knee and steadied himself. It let out a roar that blew the leaves from off the branches surrounding it. Ari only closed his eyes. Wretched liars, they were. Wretched. Wretched. There was no time to be afraid.

He put his uninjured arm over the cut, but blood only continued to pour out. Quickly, he tore off a piece of his shirt and wrapped it around as tight as he could, but the pain was still there. It sent a blinding pain throughout his body that made his knees buckle from underneath him. He made himself rise and stand on his own two feet using a tree after a moment.

The demon was only growing closer and he did not know what to do. His heart was pounding out of his chest despite him trying his best to calm it down. There was no time to be afraid.

It peered down at him as Ari stared at it as if it were assessing him. Ari knew it smelled his blood and the lessers liked the taste of their blood. However, no matter its size, it was a lesser demon. They were known as lessers for a reason. A mocking smile appeared on his lips. Perhaps, it was time for him to find out why.