Silence rung in the air while the group sat around a table.
They had been led to a small town right in the middle of the cemetery. Undead skeletons, zombies, and the like surrounded the area, but they were far from hostile. They went about their day like they lived in a normal town. Though the town was far from normal, while the fog was light now, there was still no sun getting into the place. Above was like a permanent night.
Once in the town, they were led into a moderately size home that appeared to be built for a small family. The table was cramped for the group of 5 plus the Lich, but they managed to sit together. As promised, there really was food.
Now here they were, sitting in awkward silence, the atmosphere tense until Alice spoke up. “W-Who are you?” She managed out.
“You could consider me your grandfather I suppose… I recognize those eyes and hair anywhere… The same as me and him… Ratier… He was my son.” Remus explained, “And that Demon friend of yours, was also his friend.”
Kazius and Alice would both look at Azanor in an accusing manner. The Demon kept so many secrets, even now. Then again, Kazius was already developing secrets of his own, so he could not be angry.
“Is that true?” Kazius would question.
Azanor sighed, “Yes, it is. I was going to tell you eventually, I swear… But… It wasn’t like you would have believed me when we first met anyway… Not to mention I am still angry at Ratier for getting tricked… I would even say I resent him for it… I didn’t want to bring him up…” He admitted in defeat. He ran a hand through his hair, attempting to calm himself down. Clearly the subject was a very sore one.
“I was friends with them all. Thimdur with his attention span of a squirrel, always stopping to examine every damn rock on the floor. Zelphar the smartass, he was so sarcastic and always had a comeback. Ratier the biggest i-“ Azanor began only to stop when Remus gave him a look, clearly he would not allow his son to be insulted in front of him. “Anyway, I was the one who taught them how to seal away Demons.” Azanor admitted with a slight bitterness to his voice. After all, he had been sealed away and lost track of Eve… It was not hard to guess he was betrayed.
Damon’s eyes would go wide. It seems the Demon Caleb had been talking about, the one Zelphar mentioned that would bend over backwards for his wife, was indeed Azanor.
“So that is why you called Zelphar a little shit back then…” Kazius stated, understanding now. Alice looking lost on the matter. Eve and her still did not know about who Eve was to him.
“You heard about the Monsters that teamed up with those 3 ‘heroes.’ Well, that is wrong. There were not just 5 monsters. There were 5 monsters and me, a Demon… My brother wanted to enslave mortals and reduce them to nothing but cattle to have their souls eaten. I am no saint, believe me… But… I couldn’t stand for it. I was already friends with Ratier… We were all friends, all 9 of us. I wouldn’t allow my ‘friends’ to become cattle. We agreed together to stop my brother… We would seal away him and his supporters… Then I would become Demon King and prevent any such future plans.” Azanor trailed off only to frown.
“But then that bastard came along.” Remus would add, the polite Lich looking angry, shaking even. Angry at just the thought of said person, “The founder of that damn cult. Lazne, him and his Church… More than anything in this world, I regret not killing him the moment I saw him.” He growled out bitterly, his voice full of malice, acting like a real Lich for a second there. At least how Liches were expected to be.
‘Lazne… The First Pope of The Church of the Oracle…’
“I see… So Lazne was behind what happened to you as well…” Azanor sighed out.
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“What did he do?” Alice asked, confused.
“The Church, it was founded by Lazne. A skilled Wizard that claimed to become a Cleric after seeing the light of The Oracle... Garbage, every word of it… He was a worse liar than a Demon. He claimed to Ratier, Thimdur, and Zelphar that The Oracle god supported them, that they were The Oracle’s chosen… They ate up every bit of it… I was careful though; I know a liar when I see one… That glowing orb of his looked like a simple magic artifact, nothing more. I tried to gather proof that he was a liar… But all I found was that he hated Monsters and most other races… Bad, yes, but tension was high back then, it wasn’t necessarily incriminating. Still, I had a feeling that he was trying to edge Ratier into doing something idiotic, so I kept snooping… But I wasn’t careful enough. He must have caught me… Because soon after he claimed to Ratier I was working for my brother… That the Monsters were as well. He blamed us for your disappearance, Remus. I laughed in his face. I thought they would side with me, that they would know it was a lie… But…” Azanor trailed off, his expression darkening.
“He reminded them… How I was a Demon that did nothing but lie… That I couldn’t be trusted… And those 3… They believed him.” Azanor stated in dismay. “Then they sealed me away, left me to be tormented by my brother for betraying him. Those that were loyal to me, who thought I should be king… All of us were locked away and tormented for years. CENTURIES! And then-” Azanor seemed to get emotional, only to then look at Eve and then calm down. It was clear he still did not want her to know who she was to him. Kazius knew that being separated from her was what likely had hurt him most…
‘So that is why he hates lies and being seen as a liar… But… If The Oracle is just a magical artifact, just like the mirror… Like how we’ve been suspecting… Then… Whose voice did I hear back then? In my first vision…’
“Azanor…” Alice stated, her gaze holding pity. She would then look at Remus. “The Church… I know they are evil… They… They killed the rest of our family.” She admitted, seeming to recognize Remus as family now.
“I am not surprised… I… I should have done something… But… I am a Lich now… You… My grandchildren… I believed my presence would only put you at risk… They could hurt you if you learned the truth… Not to mention… Who would you trust? A Lich you just met… Or The Church you believed to be righteous and just all your life? I couldn’t just march there with an army of the dead to get you. In many ways, I saw you all as hostages… I regret doing nothing though.” Remus admitted.
“I don’t blame you… I know… I would have not believed you… Unlike now… How… How… Did you die?” Alice questioned. After all, Liches were known to form in very rare occasions. Little was understood about the process since Necromancy was banned in Ratier… But immense hatred and spite was known to be involved.
“I had my reservations about Lazne… I knew little of him… But I always had a good intuition when it came to people, thanks to my younger days as an Adventurer… I knew a snake when I saw one… It seems I suspected him before even you, Azanor… I am almost a little proud…” Remus chuckled out bitterly.
“That day you all came to town with him, Azanor… I knew little about magic, I was a swordsman after all. Still, I wanted to take a closer look at that orb of his. He must have caught on… Little after you all left… His little cult members came by in the middle of the night… Rose… Oh my poor Rose… She never even held a weapon in all her life…” Remus trailed off in dismay, sadness in his eyes.
“With my levitation skills, I was great back in my day… But I was old. Skilled, but old… And there were many of them… All magic users, I couldn’t even get close… They tied us up and buried us alive in our own yard. My poor Rose… Even with the gag on, I could hear her screams. She shouldn’t have died that way, she didn’t deserve that. Those cries hurt me to my very soul… But not as much as when her screams stopped. That is what truly broke my heart…. I expected I would lose consciousness too, suffocate with her…” Remus trailed off, his expression full of rage and sadness.
“But that moment never came. I waited and waited…. But it never came… I wasn’t dead. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t take off the gag… But eventually, they decomposed… Along with my flesh. I don’t know how long that took, the rope was enchanted, not a normal one… All I know… Is… Once that happened… I had to claw my way out from the dirt with my hands… Before I knew it… I was out… By then… The town was deserted, a grave site for those that died during The War against The Demons… My son was long dead along with my Rose… And I had become a Lich.” Remus admitted grimly.
As he finished, Remus would be surprised, getting a hug from none other than Alice. “G-Grandpa…” She sobbed out, tearing up. She was clearly touched by the events, this pushing her to get over her fear over him being a Lich. She was likely now just relieved she had some family around.
Indeed, Kazius too was touched… He related a lot to him… He would speak to him in secret, he wanted to learn from him… Let him know how Alice needed to be protected… Kazius also saw Azanor in a new light, understanding him a lot more.