Alice and Damon were in an incredible mood thanks to their achievement. All of Vargstam was overjoyed, but Kazius could not find it within him to act carefree in the celebration.

Kazius had began to finally feel like an adequate ruler… And now here he was, feeling like a total imposter. He knew no one knew of his conversation with Vind, yet paranoia began to swell within him.

The Tribe finally seemed happy to have him as a ruler. After his achievement today, he could see the admiration in their gaze. They looked at him not like an outsider, but a Chief blessed by Vind herself… How easy would it be for Vind to change that with just one conversation with anyone. Egil for example was very dedicated when it came to Vind… If he ever caught word of her disdain for Kazius…

Thankfully she was not capable of something like that now, but she spoke to the first Chief somehow…

It took a lot for Kazius to not scowl at the thought. Banning going to Mount Cyklon was not possible and would seem too odd… But the more he thought about it, the more he realized that sometime in the future he may have to do something about Vind.

The person she would be most likely to talk to though was Damon… Which did bring to question… What would he do if Vind told him how much she despised Kazius and wished he spent time with someone else? Would he stop being Kazius’ friend if Vind told him to? Would he turn against him?

Kazius sighed, the whole situation giving him a headache.

“Kazius, are you alright? Everyone is celebrating, but you have been staring at the food and sighing for 10 minutes straight. Are you tired of fish, there is Svinfant in the other table you know?” Alice asked curiously.

“Huh? Oh, sorry, Alice. I’ve just been thinking a lot is all.” Kazius admitted as he ran a hand through his hair, trying to just clear his head.

“Well, I am not sure what is worrying you, but just know I think you’re amazing… I still can’t believe you beat us down. I really thought I won. You should be proud. Leading people is never easy, but if you let only problems in, you will never be able to just relax… You should allow yourself to feel proud and happy. Everyone matters, but so do you. Remember that.” Alice told him with a warm smile, reaching to hold his hand for a second.

“I liked dancing with you last time, want to dance with me again?” Alice would follow up.

Her words surprised Kazius quite a bit, leaving him rather flustered and speechless. She had no idea what was on his mind, but she was quite supportive all the same. Even with such a big issue on his mind, her words made his problems feel just a little lighter.

“Thank you for that… And I would love to.” Kazius admitted with a smile, accepting the hand that she had reached out with, holding it up and kissing the back of it.

Despite this, even now Kazius was in denial about how he felt about Alice. Though at his actions, he could not help but notice he got quite the amused look from Damon while Azanor simply raised an eyebrow at him. Eve herself gave them quite a curious expression, stopping her dancing with Azanor to stare a little.

At the kiss and stares, there was an obvious pink on Alice’s cheeks. He almost wanted to tease her and say that if she got anymore pink, she would match her hair… But he decided to spare her from that.

With that, Kazius began to dance with her once again. Despite how different the music was, the two still danced in a way closely resembling how dancing was done in Ratier’s high society. It contrasted with the wilder music that was played but did not look bad. They were dancing to the same hidden tune that was familiar to them both.

Kazius was not sure how long the two danced together, but by the time their dance finished, Kazius felt a lot better, and the party was beginning to tone down.

It was late, the sun was already gone and replaced by the moon.

“Thank you for the dance… Looks like we got carried away.” Kazius admitted, a bit embarrassed.

“No, thank you… And I think we did, but I don’t mind… Though after all that… I would be lying if I said I wasn’t tired. I think we should head back.” Alice admitted sheepishly.

“I think so too, let’s go. I will walk with you to your room.” Kazius stated, looking around as he noticed Azanor and Eve were not around. Perhaps they had gone ahead. Damon and Caleb looked like they had no intention of heading back yet though. The two were helping clean up after the party with Egil.

As Kazius walked Alice to their home and headed to her room, the two were quite silent and awkward.

Once they got to the actual door, it did not get any better.

Alice seemed to stare at Kazius. She stared at him for a good while, as if considering something, but was hesitating. Kazius could have sworn she seemed to reach out up for him a little, but then quickly stopped herself. She averted her gaze when she noticed Kazius staring back at her.

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“U-Uh… Good night.” Alice stated in embarrassment, practically fleeing the scene.

“Good night…” Kazius managed to say just barely before she shut the door. He did not understand why she seemed so embarrassed or felt the need to run off like that, didn’t they have a good time today?

He shrugged the event off, deciding to go look for Azanor. After all, after his talk with Vind, he needed answers, and he was the only one that could give them. Not to mention, even though Azanor was just as secretive as him, for some reason the two seemed to confide in each other more than anyone else.

It was almost funny to think about the fact that the friend that he trusted with most of his secrets was a Demon. He wondered what he would have thought if someone a year ago had told him such a thing would happen.

With that, he would head over to Azanor and Eve’s room. He did not want to disturb Eve, but he needed to get Azanor to come out. There was no way he could sleep with everything he had on his mind.

Kazius did feel bad for disturbing Azanor, but he had no other choice. He would try and visualize Azanor’s shadow in the other room to get it to motion Azanor to the door. After all, Azanor did not sleep… So Kazius hoped this would work. If he knocked then Eve would be woken up too and that was not ideal.

Thankfully, the door opening and revealing a confused looking Azanor showed that it worked. Azanor quietly shut the door behind him.

“Did you need something? Don’t we normally talk in the morning, why did you come now? You still need some sleep, don’t you?” Azanor asked in confusion.

“I do need sleep, but I would not be able to. I need to talk to you about something important.” Kazius admitted, unable to hide the concern on his face.

Azanor seemed surprised and confused by Kazius’ statement but nodded in understanding.

“Got it, alright, come on. Let’s go. I’m sure you don’t want anyone listening in, let’s head to the valley… Everyone should be still at the party or heading to bed.” Azanor agreed, heading off somewhere secluded to be careful.

The two would slip away without anyone seeing them, going to the valley that led to the mountains. The two made sure not to speak until they got there.

“What did you want to talk about?” Azanor finally asked.

“For starters, Vind really does live in Mount Cyklon, Azanor. I saw her. She spoke to me… And to put it lightly, she hates me and everything about my kind.” Kazius admitted with a frown, gritting his teeth at the thought of what would happen if anyone heard such a thing.

At his words, Azanor perked up, but did not seem surprised.

“I could tell she lives up there, that is why I did not want to go up Mount Cyklon… Well that and there is no point… But I had a feeling there was a strong presence there… Normally talking to beings like that isn’t easy though… How did you even manage something like that?” Azanor questioned, seeming to understand his concern.

“It’s complicated… For starters I should explain something. I have not been fully transparent with you about my powers… I have been hearing The Shadows talk for some time… They can’t hold conversations with me, but they… Tell me things, they warn me… They speak at me, but they don’t ever respond to me when I try and start a conversation, not really. ” Kazius began, deciding to come clean about that.

“They TALK to you and you have tried to TALK back to them? Are you out of your mind?! Kazius, you are messing with things you shouldn’t…” Azanor questioned in alarm, slapping his hand on his face in exasperation at his friend’s actions.

Kazius frowned, he knew Azanor would freak out at this, but he knew Azanor was not entirely wrong to want him to not mess with such power.

“I am a Shadow Fiend, Azanor. Messing with such things is what I am supposed to do! You might not eat souls anymore, but you use your power. Power you probably gained by eating souls, but you need it to be able to defend yourself and Eve. I am no different than you in that! You are teaching Eve Dark Magic! What is even the difference!?” Kazius snapped, his frustration, paranoia, and anger making him act out and take out his anger on Azanor.

“No! It is different! I taught you how to feel for your powers, to use your own ability, but you are actively talking to the shadows! And now you are shouting that name that I told you to keep quiet with! Are you mental!? What if they hear you!? I am trying to spare your soul from corruption you fucking idiot! Dark Magic is just a broad term that mortals use, they are different, do you understand me?! Demon magic is Dark Magic, Necromancy is Dark Magic, Magic that is focused on harming bodies from within is Dark Magic… All of them are harmless compared to the powers you are messing with! Use your own power, but don’t try to speak to The Shadows, why is that so hard to understand!? You will not like what happens when they finally hear you!” Azanor snapped back at him, their conversation devolving into an angry shouting match. It was good they were in the woods alone.

“They can always hear us, whispering doesn’t do shit! There is no point! They are always listening! They just choose to ignore us!”

“HOW THE FUCK DO YOU THINK SAYING THAT MAKES THIS BETTER?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY ARE ALWAYS LISTENING!?”

At Kazius’ words, Azanor looked absolutely terrified. His friend’s horrified expression was enough to make Kazius decide to calm down and be more understanding. He was frustrated and upset about Azanor’s evasiveness and the implications of Vind’s disdain for him, but he should not take out his anger on Azanor.

“Azanor, please. I need answers. This situation is bad and at the very least I want to understand myself and the situation I am in. I need to know who I am and everything at my disposal. Believe me, it is important.” Kazius pleaded.

Azanor frowned, clearly not liking the situation one bit. He did not like Kazius playing with The Shadows to the extent he was, that much was for sure. He was also worried about Kazius’ soul, but Kazius believed that he was being paranoid. Even after all he had attempted, he had only grown stronger… His soul was perfectly fine. He was himself and still cared about his friends… And was determined to stop the possible disaster The Demon King would bring. To Kazius, nothing had changed, or so he believed.

Azanor stared at Kazius in silence. There was almost a look of contempt on Azanor’s face. After all, Kazius still even now was not telling Azanor why it was so important. Still, Azanor had a lot of important secrets himself. If anyone understood where Kazius was coming from, it was him.

Azanor sighed, taking a deep breath in defeat. He looked incredibly frustrated with Kazius.

“Why can’t I make a normal friend? One that doesn’t hate me, but isn’t trying to get us killed? I REALLY, REALLY rather you pick a better Hobby… Like Necromancy or something… Glue corpses together for all I care.” Azanor grumbled half-jokingly before his expression returned to serious. He looked almost limp, like he had given up.

“Fine, tell me everything that happened and I will answer anything you ask. I am already involved in this anyway. Screw it all.”