After their chat, Kazius cooked the fish before the group ate.

Eve was still crying despite Alice having long since finished telling her story. The ditzy Elf definitely had a sensitive heart, or so Kazius would figure. She honestly confused him with how out there she was.

“ I will be…. *hic* Your friend… *hic* *hic* FOREVEEEER….” Eve would manage out while eating.

“I am fine, Eve. Really…” Alice tried to assure.

“You heard her, she will be fine.” Azanor assured, as he said this, he was rubbing the back of the sniffling Elf.

It really was strange witnessing Azanor be so caring. He was surprisingly willing to help them, but a lot of times he did act like a Demon… But he also had quite a gentle touch when it came to Eve. There was zero hesitation when it came to her. It stirred Kazius’ curiosity… But he figured Azanor would open up about it when he was ready… Not to mention… Kazius hesitated in demanding others act open with him when he himself wasn’t telling his own story just yet… And if he did, maybe only the parts they needed to know.

Whether Kazius liked it or not, his time in The Orphanage and The Church still left a mark on him. He never had anyone to open up to. Due to this it felt happy to provide his new friends someone to vent to and open up to… Even if he himself wasn’t sure if he would do the same. It was just so natural to bottle everything up… And it wasn’t like it mattered.

He felt perfectly fine…

Totally fine.

That far from meant he did not appreciate companionship though. In fact, the loneliness he had felt before and grown accustomed to now terrified him.

“Okay…” Eve managed out, managing to stop sobbing.

“Good.” Azanor stated contently, looking genuinely pleased that she seemed better.

“Anyway, we ate… We should get some rest, tomorrow we need to try to cover more ground…” Kazius stated, tired and he was sure the others were just as exhausted too.

“I suppose you’re right.” Alice agreed, she probably needed rest more than anyone else in the group.

In agreement, with that the group would go to sleep.

It took some time for Kazius to fall asleep though, a good amount on his mind. Between worries and the new information… He wasn’t sure what to do… He wondered what caused Ratier to rot so much to the core… He struggled a lot and so did Alice… Even Eve had felt so isolated to the point she was more than eager to listen to Azanor…

He felt resentment and concern. Resentment towards Ratier and Humans, but concern for his friends… Hiding out in The Wastelands forever was not a long-term solution and he knew that… Edicts could show up…But there was also the secret he had not informed his friends about…

What Kazius had really seen in his coming-of-age ceremony, was that The Demon King would return. Kazius was certain that even Azanor did not know it would happen… But he did not want to worry them…Specially with everything that they were dealing with… So, he chose to keep this knowledge to himself for now.

It happened some time ago, so it was fuzzy… But he did remember one thing, and that was that he saw Demons and Monsters were on his side… It was one of the main reasons he was so open to trust Azanor and perhaps other Demons he may vouch for.

Still, Kazius doubted they could handle Edicts as they were, much less Demons… He had to focus on the now…

With that in mind, he fell asleep.

In the morning, the group would pack up and head off once again.

They were doing a decent job navigating so far… But if they could find a map, that would be best. Still, where would they even get such a thing, Kazius was not sure.

As they headed South, they found the trees only grew bigger still. Despite it being bright out, the sun was slowly growing out of sight the deeper in they went. It was a good place to hide…But perhaps they were going towards danger rather than safety. They had no choice but to keep going thought.

Kazius felt like he was being paranoid, but if they weren’t careful, he was certain they would deeply regret it.

They kept going, but their surroundings only grew stranger. The foliage was in rough terrain, yet it only sprouted more proudly. Finally, the forest fully blocked out the sun.

Instead of being welcomed by darkness though… The place was far from dark. The sun was gone, but flowers, mushrooms, and all the smaller foliage took on the role of lighting the way.

They all glowed with Mana, the colors being unlike anything any of them had ever seen. An assortment of mysterious ranges of shades that pulsated. Like beating hearts.

If Kazius knew anything about Alchemy, he may have found it beneficial to gather some plants here… But none of his friends seemed to be capable of such a thing.

“This forest has grown bigger.” Azanor would muse with interest.

“You’ve been here before? This place is not dangerous… Is it?” Kazius questioned curiously. He wondered if he could get any information from the Demon. The glowing plants were incredible beautiful even… But it did worry him if they were safe to be around.

“Yes, I’ve been here before… This place is… Safe-ish…Last time I was here, this place was infested with man eating gorgon snakes… The really old ones would grow so big that they would match the size of Dragons. Leviathans is what they were called. Many moved into water after getting that big, but some did remain on land. There was a particular white Leviathan snake that was quite vicious… Word is, no one that has seen it has survived. ” Azanor chuckled out as if he just said some funny joke.

“Eek!” Eve squealed, shaking at the story.

“That sounds so scary! I don’t want to be eaten by a snake! Are there really any here?”

“Oh, don’t listen to him, Eve… I bet he is just messing with us. That story is clearly some horror tale… He is lying… R-Right?” Alice started, trying her best to sound confident, but her nervousness did show towards the end.

“Believe me if you want or not. You know I don’t lie, I tried to warn you. Don’t worry about anything like that though, Eve. You will be safe.” Azanor taunted before reassuring Eve.

Kazius could not tell if he was messing with them or not…

‘Why does he have to be so difficult? Then again, nice or not, I can’t forget he is a Demon.’

“Azanor, come on. Don’t freak us out like that. You could be nicer. We all know you have it in you.” Kazius warned with a frown.

“I could, yes…” Azanor trailed off, having an expression that showed he was a little annoyed. As to why he was annoyed, Kazius was not sure.

“Tell you what… Answer something and I will answer you back.” Azanor stated with a wide grin, toying with his cane as he did so.

“Alright…” Kazius stated hesitantly.

“Just how much did you enjoy the pain of those Knights back at Remus? Is your goal exterminating the entire Church? If so, you may as well take full pleasure in it.” Azanor mused, his grin only growing wider and even a little twisted. His expression was unsettling.

“What the hell? What do you mean?!” Kazius exclaimed, shocked by the sudden callousness he was showing.

“Hm~” Azanor would hum to himself in thought.

“Well… It was hilarious, really… You all had wonderful expressions… Don’t tell me… You weren’t aware of them? I have been thinking of them this whole time, they were great, really. I am shocked you really had no idea what sort of expressions were on your faces… How funny... Anyone could have mistaken you both for my kind back there.”

It was then Alice would start looking upset.

“I am not like that.” She stated defensively.

It was then Kazius began to think.

‘What sort of expression did we have?’

Kazius wondered. It was true he resented and hated The Church… And they would be unable to live peacefully until the Church of the Oracle was gone… They spoke of payback so light heartedly… But that meant they would have to kill many members from The Church. There was no way to sugar coat it.

“Ooh, calm down, Princess… I just don’t think you two should be so halfhearted on the matter… And recognize the kind of people you really are. I hate lies and facades. Righteous talk without recognizing what it means, it sickens me… But… Not as much as people going back on their word… Like a certain Princess saying she would believe in me… Because… Make no mistake, I am no liar.” Azanor stated firmly, his twisted grin turning into a frown. It was then his actions made sense. Azanor was angry over Alice calling him a liar. Maybe it was a big reaction over such a small thing…But Azanor had made it very clear how much he hated liars… And then Alice turned around and called him one anyway.

‘Was this all just because Alice called him a liar?’

“I’m sorry.” Alice sighed out, realization sinking in.

“Stop with the serious look. I am fine… But please… Never call me that again…” Azanor stated with a wave of his hand.

“We need to be friends; you have to forgive.” Eve stated firmly at Azanor.

“I do I do… I… I overreacted. I acted in a way I try to avoid…” Azanor admitted in shame

“Good!” Eve chirped giddily.

“Did… Did we really make such faces back there?” Kazius questioned hesitantly.

Azanor was quiet at the question, looking a bit guilty for bringing the matter up.

“I was angry, I shouldn’t have said that…But yes… You did… But that is just the nature of war and conflict… It doesn’t matter.” Azanor stated with a shrug.

From how he responded, it seemed indeed he was no longer angry… Even if Kazius had a lot on his mind now, thanks to Azanor’s words… He wished he could go back and look at himself… Looked like one of his kind? That was… He didn’t want to become someone twisted… He was an evil of sorts… A bringer of destruction, or so the Oracle had called him… But that didn’t mean he had to be someone who brought ruin to the world… He felt like he didn’t understand himself at all.