As Kazius’ anger began to cool with Luna gone, a part of him expected to be told off any minute now. After all, he had threatened Damon’s sister… And despite having zero authority, he practically banished her…

What he had done was not even a long-term solution. Whatever shred of right Luna had to be upset about what happened to her mother and father vanished the moment she acted so unhinged… And someone that unhinged would likely not leave Damon alone… And now Caleb as well, not with the betrayal she felt due to his actions.

Kazius had not known Luna for that long, but even he knew better than to think that someone with her level of obsessiveness would just disappear quietly forever.

Despite that, Kazius felt it was a necessary action for his friend. They could not have someone like Luna running around Vargstam. She was a menace, especially to Damon’s mental wellbeing.

Rather than scorn or anything of the like, he got a grateful look from both brothers. It seemed Kazius did them a service by doing something necessary that the brother did not have the resolve to do.

Tears continued to silently fall from Damon for a bit before he managed to get himself together. Caleb and him remained quiet for a while before they managed to gather their thoughts.

“I’m sorry… I am such a coward, Damon… I… I never should have allowed things to get this bad… I am a terrible older brother…” Caleb admitted in dismay before looking at Kazius.

“I am sorry to you as well… I feel like you were forced to fix my mistakes and do my job for me… Maybe if I had acted like a proper older brother… Maybe things would never have come to this…” Caleb added in shame.

Kazius shook his head at this.

“I overstepped my boundaries… But as Damon’s friend I couldn’t stay still…” Kazius assured, relieved his actions were not seen in a negative light.

It was almost like he had acted unlike himself… Yet, concerning enough, Kazius had not felt more like himself than at his moment of rage. The thought itself was more than worrying… But Kazius decided to attribute that feeling due to the fact he had been defending a friend and nothing else.

“Thank you, Kazius… I…” Damon began, unsure of where to even begin. He had gone through a lot, to say the least. Still, he was surviving. It seemed like Damon was finally allowing himself to feel more at peace with himself. Luna had tried desperately to drag him back down with her words. In the end, while she did manage to make him crack and cry, she failed. He was still standing.

“I won’t let her win… I am not alone like how she wants… I… I will be happy… I… I won’t even let her ruin today for me. I won’t let her ruin another day for me ever again.” Damon assured, a more determined look forming on his face. He seemed to realize that since Luna wanted him miserable… He would get back at her by being happy.

Azanor had looked a bit out of it until now… Then again, he had admitted to Kazius about how Damon’s grief reflected on his soul… And the temptations that came with it, as horrible as that sounded. Still, he was trying to be better. He was likely just trying to keep himself calm this whole time. It even somewhat showed on his face. He looked like he had eaten a lemon. Slowly, his expression was relaxing though, along with Damon’s mood.

“I… I think that is the best you can do.” Azanor admitted with a sigh finally, now that his head was clear. After all, considering how he spoke of Zelphar, Ratier, and Thimdur… Those that he might have wanted revenge against were long gone. That was probably how Azanor was getting his own revenge as well…

Kazius wanted to agree with Azanor, but he honestly was not sure if he had the right to. He could not take the high road like that. Sure, Luna was Damon’s sister, so his situation was a little different… But Alex was the closest thing he had to a brother growing up…

Kazius had been full of grief when he saw him again… But now all that remained was resentment. He wanted to protect his friends more than anything, but he had every intention to kill him and Leo. Of course, they were forcing his hand due to their persecution… Thankfully, they even met Damon due to them doing that… But they had hurt him… They had hurt Alice… Kazius knew that even if they suddenly stopped searching for him… Once he was strong enough, he would search for them himself.

Kazius’ thoughts were interrupted by Damon taking a loud deep breath. It was then followed up by an even louder sounding smack to his own face. He shook his head after that, as if shaking something off.

“Buahaha! Okay, I am good! Now how about breakfast? I don’t know about you, but I am starving! We will need the energy for some mountain climbing!” Damon beamed with a wide grin. It was a bit forced, but he genuinely was doing his best to have a good attitude. He seemed determined to have a good day as normal…

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Kazius wanted to tell him to relax, but he refused to spit on his resolve like that.

“Breakfast sounds good to me.” Kazius agreed contently, just happy he was alright.

On another hand, there was an issue that was pressing and obvious that they had yet to resolve… And that was the fact that now they knew the entire population of Vargstam was essentially zombified to think how Luna wished. Kazius knew better than to assume Luna would be kind enough to undo her spell before she left… But that was an issue for later… And something Caleb could do with the help of Azanor or perhaps just Azanor could even manage on his own.

Still, there was no rush. They had been in this state for years, an extra day or two was not a big deal in his opinion. A part of him wondered if Damon would also be able to find it within himself to forgive them… It had been against their will, but they had still treated him very harshly. Then again, he supposed he would find out in time.

With that, Kazius helped Damon work on breakfast.

As this occurred, Azanor had gone back to their shared bedroom so he could be there when Eve woke up.

Caleb on the other hand, staid, looking awkward as he watched them cook. He seemed quite upset about everything still.

Damon had more practice brushing things off… This was all newer to Caleb… And Caleb had a lot to process about himself, more than about Luna. Caleb for starters had voiced his displeasure with his own cowardice.

Perhaps he was staying out and about so he could prove to himself that he could do more than just lock himself in his room…

Then again, maybe he was not even in the mood to study.

Caleb spent all his time studying magic… Yet Luna, who didn’t do anything like that, was so much more skilled than him… To the point that she could control the whole town and hide the spell behind it. She was so skilled that even Azanor couldn’t tell that she had casted the spell or what the spell even was. Such a thing had to be very demoralizing.

Kazius decided to just let him be and think while he watched them.

Soon enough, Eve and Alice were up, Azanor returning with them.

From Alice’s expression, Kazius could tell that Azanor had filled her in on what happened. She gave Damon a pitiful look, clearly upset, but did relax when she saw how cheery he looked.

As for Eve, well, she always had her usual giddy expression, so it was hard to tell what she was thinking… If she was thinking at all… Azanor may have not even filled her in on things.

“Good morning!” Damon beamed cheerfully.

“Good morning.” Kazius told Eve and Alice as well.

“…Uh… Hi.” Caleb managed to say, waving awkwardly considering he truly did not see any of them very often.

“Hello!!!” Eve exclaimed happily, not realizing at all how unusual it was for Caleb to be there.

“Good morning.” Alice responded, smiling a little awkwardly considering what she had just been told. She looked over at Kazius with confusion. At this Kazius simply subtly nodded.

After all, Damon’s way of dealing with things was nothing new to them. It was something they had seen from day one. Kazius and her wanted him happy, so they would just act like this morning did not happen unless he brought it up.

Realizing it was best to not bring it up, Alice decided to bring up something Damon enjoyed.

“Are we going back to Mount Cyklon today?” Alice decided to ask.

“Of course we are!” Damon beamed.

As he spoke, he began motioning them to follow him to the table before serving the food. It was clear that Damon truly intended to carry on as if everything was normal.

Then again, he had expressed his intention to not allow Luna to ruin his day, much less his life… But was this the healthiest way to deal with it?

Not like Kazius had any room to judge, he was well versed in the art of ignoring reality himself and he knew that.

“I am sure we will make it farther up this time. Who knows, maybe we will make it to the top today.” Kazius mused, despite being aware that he was by no means close to pulling off such a feat.

“Buahaha! That’s the spirit! Now let’s eat!” Damon exclaimed with a heartier laugh that was so exaggerated that it was as if he was trying to convince himself he was in a good mood.

After his invitation to eat, they did so. Despite the awkwardness… They managed to have a pleasant meal… And Caleb was even able to take part in it, even if he himself wasn’t sure how to fit in… And whether Azanor intended to or not, there was some clear discomfort in him.

The table they sat at was a massive one. It was mostly empty, clearly made with the massive family that used to live here in mind… Considering the size of the table, they all usually sat towards one corner so they could be in proximity. They treated the table like just an ordinary table, but in order to stay in close proximity to one another, Kazius tended to just sit at the Head of the table. Then Alice sat to his left, Damon to his right. Then, beside Alice was Eve and across her was Azanor.

Perhaps it was because he wanted to be near his brother… But since there was no spot to sit next to Damon, Caleb instead sat beside Azanor. While Azanor clearly did not blame Caleb for what Zelphar did… Sitting next to someone that looked exactly like Zelphar likely was stirring up some emotions that he would have likely rather have left alone.

After breakfast, the group said their goodbyes… Rather than have Azanor leave alone with Eve though, Caleb ran after him.

‘I wonder what they are going to talk about..’ Kazius wondered, curiosity killing him.

Still, despite his curiosity, he did leave with Alice and Damon.

Despite his happy front, Damon was not as talkative as normal… But that was honestly expected. He probably had a lot he had to get out of his chest… Luna had dumped a lot on him… But he refused to talk… Again, Kazius had no room to judge there.

Kazius knew after all… He already kept many secrets, one of them even concerning an issue that affected fate of the world… Yet he could not bring himself to spill half of it... He did not want to worry his friends… Or scare them away… He would shelter them from things as long as he could… He would deal with everything himself… They had plenty of time… And his friends had enough worries of their own…

But…

He knew he couldn’t keep quiet forever.