Kazius was not only shocked, but unsure of what to even think about the name that came out of Azanor’s mouth. It did confirm one thing though… Azanor definitely knew more than what he was willing to tell about the founding of the Three Kingdoms.
Now that Kazius thought about it, the stranger did resemble the description of Zelphar that he had heard… But it made no sense for Zelphar to be here…
Then again… Elves are a long lived race… Kazius had also heard rumors Zelphar had gone missing 30 years ago… But it was said to just be a lie… But perhaps it may have been the truth.
“D-Demon! D-Damon, w-why did you bring one here?!” The stranger exclaimed in panic, dropping his book and falling over from shock and fear.
“Demon? He is one of those? Are you sure? He was protecting the others, Caleb… I don’t think he is a bad person.” Damon stated in concern, seeming unsure. He looked sad, rather than afraid at the word Demon.
‘Caleb? So, this is Caleb? The one the people want to be Chief?’
Azanor seemed to study Caleb, calming down some, but did look wearily at him.
“No, you’re not him… The eyes are the wrong color.” Azanor tsked out. He seemed upset at the mistake.
“N-Not a bad person? N-No way! He looked like he was going to kill me! My father warned me all about them! He even knows my father’s name. He must have attacked him in the past.” Caleb stated in fear, his tone still trembling.
“Ah so that explains it… Why… You look exactly like that piece of shit, Zelphar... So… Where is he?” Azanor hissed out, looking around.
At the question Damon grimaced while Caleb trembled even more.
“H-he’s dead.” Caleb admitted in fear.
At this, Azanor fully calmed down.
“I see…” Azanor stated bitterly with a sneer. He looked frustrated now that he had no one to direct his anger to.
“Good! Glad there is no hard feelings… I think we should all rest. I am sure there is a way to be friends… Demon or not you are not bad. At least I don’t think. You are a guest… As long as you don’t attack my brother.” Damon reassured with a grin, surprisingly not against having Azanor in his home.
Despite his grin though his warning sounded quite serious.
‘Brother? But they don’t look anything alike! Maybe Damon is adopted? Or maybe they are half brothers? It sounds like Zelphar isn’t Damon’s father though… And Damon doesn’t look like a Half-Elf at all…’
“Fine… It isn’t like he is Zelphar… My grudge is with him… I am not petty enough to take out my anger on someone’s child… And for the record, I never once wronged your father… But he sure wronged me. He is part of why I lost everything I have ever cared about… Tell me one thing at least… Did he ever mention my name? Does the name Azanor mean anything to you?” Azanor questioned, sounding deflated.
Caleb froze, looking surprised at the name. The fear in his expression even faded.
“N-Not to me… He died when I was young… But… I have his books and journals… In one… He mentioned you… He… He wrote… That he regretted not listening to you… And that you were right about everything…. And that he hoped to apologize one day.” Caleb admitted in concern, seeming surprised that the one Zelphar would write all that about was a Demon.
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Azanor frowned at the words. You would think he would be happy, but he looked just downright miserable at the words.
“Dammit…” Azanor hissed out with gritted teeth.
‘Just what is his history with Zelphar? I doubt he would answer my questions… And today has been tough… The last thing he needs is for me to bother him.’
“Fuck! That asshole… How dare he… How dare he write something like that… How dare he die and leave a message like that!” Azanor snapped out, looking quite torn. Like he wanted to cry.
“Please… Watch Eve for me… Please… I… I need to be alone.” Azanor begged Kazius before storming out of the building.
Kazius watched him leave, growing concerned.
“I… I have no words… I genuinely don’t know what their history is… But I am sorry about my friend… He is a good guy… I promise… But I know we haven’t been behaving like the best guests so far…” Kazius admitted as he studied Alice. Despite the yelling she was still out cold. It worried him.
“He looked so sad…” Eve added in dismay, looking confused. She also seemed a bit upset that Azanor left her behind.
“It is okay! I am just glad things are fine! Can they stay, Caleb?” Damon asked Caleb.
Caleb had calmed down by now, picking up his book and fixing his glasses. He frowned at the question.
“You’re the Chief, not me, Damon. You don’t need my permission. This is your house. It does seem like Azanor is not someone to worry about, even though he is a Demon… At least my father thought he was good… So, I have nothing I can complain about…” Caleb reminded Damon.
At this, Damon would surprisingly frown.
“Caleb… You know I-” Damon began before he would have his goofy smile again, dropping the protest he had. It seemed Damon did not want to bicker on the subject in front of guests. Especially after the drama that had already occurred.
“Come on! Let’s get you to your rooms! I will call you in the morning for breakfast. I hunted this really big boar the other day!” Damon would laugh out goofily. He seemed to bounce right out of tense situations. Almost unnaturally fast. Then again… With how the people in town treated him… Perhaps he was just used to doing so.
With that, they would be led into a room with multiple beds. This place definitely was prepared for a massive clan… Yet there did not seem to be a lot of people in the house.
“Thanks again for letting us stay, Damon. Really, thank you… I’m sorry about earlier again as well. We will see you in the morning then. I will fill Alice in when she wakes up and introduce you… Hopefully Azanor will be back by then too.” Kazius stated.
“Buahaha! Sounds good to me! See you then!” Damon exclaimed with a wave before leaving.
“Bye bye new friend!” Eve would exclaim as he left, her words seeming to catch Damon off guard. His smile turned to a more genuine one after hearing them. The man seemed truly desperate for people to befriend and talk to. To some extent, it reminded Kazius of himself back at The Orphanage,
The whole situation piqued Kazius’ interest. He was very curious about the situation with Damon and Caleb… And how Zelphar died. The townspeople talked about Damon’s father dying too… But it didn’t seem like they were the same person. Damon’s father must have been someone else… Damon certainly did not look like someone who was half Elf… The very concept of a Half-Elf was shocking to Kazius in general… The Three Kingdoms had a good relationship, but mixing blood was just not something that was allowed.
Kazius himself was also a mix according to Azanor, but Monsters had no stigma about such a thing… Not to mention Kazius was a mix of Monsters… Caleb seemed like he was Half-Elf and Monster… It is shocking Zelphar would even have a child with a Monster… Then again… It sounded like Zelphar died with a lot of regrets… Saying something about Azanor even being right about something…
This all did confirm on thing for Kazius though… And that was that Azanor spoke of there being 8 heroes… Not 7… And for him to know someone like Zelphar… And the way he had spoken about Ratier to Alice… Meant Azanor indeed must have been an 8th unspoken hero… As to why he was left out of history… It was obvious.
Alice was certainly in for a shock when she would find out about all this once she woke up…
Kazius stared at her as he tucked her in, finally putting her down.
He had a lot of things he was curious about, but dread was also filling his head… After all, were it not for Damon… They would be dead. They were alive by pure luck… And that worried Kazius… He had to get stronger…
Damon was very strong, that much had been clear from his performance against Alex and Leo… And he was starved for friends… Perhaps there was an opportunity there. A way to make everyone happy. To find out more information, get stronger, and even be a friend to Damon. Tomorrow Kazius intended on asking Damon about how he got so strong.