The sun disappeared behind the mountains, and soon enough, the moon came out from beneath the skyline, with a slight wind picking up and revealing the lights above.

Morio stood still, gazing up. "We're closer to Mount Aria than I thought!" he turned to the two, sitting near a campfire. "The view's a bit different than in Mistwick, huh, Jyuzou?"

"I don't know, I don't think I've ever paid enough a-attention." Jyuzou shook his head.

"Really?" Morio squinted his eyes, before sitting down on a snowy log. "Whatever. You have all the time in the world to look at it now!" he crossed his arms, with a smirk.

"I'm surprised the two of you are brushing all of that off," Jyuzou muttered, fixing his glasses. "The star, I mean."

"I think there's nothing we can do about it!" Jeffy raised a finger. "A demon settled in here before us. Maybe they wander around below the trees' roots? Who knows? Maybe they're even darn peaceful when given the chance?"

"Let's not go that far!" Jyuzou stood up, before sitting back down again.

"What else were we supposed to do?" Morio asked, sitting down. "Run back to Magna in a scream? Sitting ducks until it shows up is the better choice."

"I-I agree with Morio here." Jeffy nodded.

"Way too casual...!" Jyuzou seemed frustrated. "Why did I even decide to do this in the first place?"

"I was just about to ask!" Morio clapped his hands. "What motivated you?" he pointed.

Jyuzou gulped, turning to the side. "More plants to see in the rest of this world."

Morio sighed, rolling his eyes. "There's GOTTA be more than that!"

Jyuzou huffed, looking back at the fire. "Animals, too."

"Fine, damn Jyuzou. I'll still be the better of the bunch!" Morio uttered. "...and I'll prove it to you by killing that demon!"

"Surely then, sitting ducks is not the best s-strategy," Jyuzou added.

"If something was coming, we'd know," Morio said.

"Yep! Glad I set all those traps around!" Jeffy uttered, quickly covering his mouth. "Oops, shouldn't have said it that out loud."

"They can't understand us." Morio smiled.

"Most of them can't," Jyuzou added.

"Okay fine. They won't notice a thing, though. Tight little lines that will wrap around their hands when they try to reach for our heads-"

"That's if, we won't leave the camp!" Jyuzou raised a finger.

"...and when they get entangled in all those ropes-" Morio spoke through his teeth. "-then we'll kill them! They won't stand a chance!"

Jyuzou breathed in and out, fixing his glasses. He gulped. "If something goes wrong, it's on you. Not Jeffy."

"Ugh." Morio groaned. "Nothing will happen, Jyuzou! Why are you always so negative?"

"I'm not sure when I can ever trust your words!" Jyuzou said, sticking both hands out. "They're made up half of the time, like. You're refusing to accept that things aren't some fantasy. This isn't a Rodeway's book, Morio. I already told you. Demons are extremely dangerous!"

"When did that happen, huh?!" Morio raised his voice. "When did I ever lie to you?"

"Uhhh." Jeffy put his hands together. "Jeez."

"That story of you seeing a witch was nothing but a dream," Jyuzou said. "So stop saying that she had some important message! Focus on what's here and in front of you!"

"SHE WAS REAL!" Morio stood up. "I SAW HER! I HEARD HER SONG! SHE TOLD ME SOMETHING-"

"That you can't even remember!" Jyuzou raised his voice. "Exactly. It wasn't important if you forgot so easily, so it can't be real. Witches don't exist."

"B-But..." Morio stood back. "No. It was real, I swear," he added.

"She doesn't exist, Morio. I don't want to keep telling you this, but..." he sighed. "...grow up already." Jyuzou stood up as well. "A trap won't hold a demon back, nor will good spirits, if it really sets out to kill you. Luck can't be on our side, all the time."

"Jeepers, creepers." Jeffy put his hands on his knees.

Morio moved, looking down. A frown appeared on his face, quickly changing into a clenched jaw. "I'm glad, Jyuzou."

"What?"

"I'm glad, that when we all pass this test, I'll be strong enough to beat you up for constantly denying every single ounce of joy I have," Morio uttered.

"L-Look, all I'm saying is you need to separate reality and fiction, since..." Jyuzou forgot a word, clenching his fist.

"You constantly push me and my friends down because you think you're standing above everyone else. Why do you want to be someone everyone knows you're not?! Even that thing with Chyuuichi back near the lake, it was you who constantly tried to put him down for one Shin-damned mistake!" he raised his finger. "Like you're any better, you idiot!"

"No, Morio." Jyuzou reached his hand out, and Morio took another step back. "It's not about that..." he spoke through his teeth, and Morio slapped his hand away.

"Forget anything I've said about you changing or being there for me. Forget the people who helped you out, and you can already tell Jeffy to screw off at this point, since the only thing you manage to do, constantly, is push people away!" Morio yelled out. "I don't want to be your friend." he put his hand on one of the lines and climbed out of the camp area.

Jyuzou clenched his fist, before suddenly screaming out, and kicking an empty metal pot. It bounced off the tree and landed next to Jeffy's feet.

"Oh, jeez," Jeffy muttered, moving around. Jyuzou quickly sat down next to him, covering his eyes and ears simultaneously.

***

Morio made his way down a snowy hill and onto an empty valley, where a few small animals ran around, searching for seeds. He looked up, and without much thought behind his actions, grabbed onto a big branch and climbed up the first part of a rather large bark. He kept going up and eventually, the branches grew scarce and weak, before disappearing entirely.

The Tukman Woods had a few trees, which were very different from the ones you'd find anywhere in Shimori. Amidst the junipers or ciders, these were called tuks and were twice the size of the trees which grew around them. Their wood was thick and dry, and you could easily climb to its half, but not to the top.

Morio stopped on one of the boughs and sat on its side, putting his knees up, then resting his hands on them. He blinked twice but kept glancing, thinking about something, while nothing seemed to settle in his mind. A cold wind graced him, but he didn't budge.

In the distance, he saw the many ruins of what once were individual huts in Magna. When Eryk decided that the Tukman Woods were to belong to him, he ordered that the people inside move into Homieo. The huts closer to Magna were completely demolished, with no trace of them ever existing. However, the further you went, the more of the red or grey brick formations appeared, sprinkled around the edges, closer to the White Mountains, or in the direction of Mount Aria.

Much like in a part of Wendigo, they were big and round, but very logical. Their shape resembled the few huts that stood in Kyrkogarde, but in this instance, they were made out of a different stone.

It was because demons that came here tended to ruin the walls or rebuild something else from the bricks lying around.

The sight of a house like that could've indicated a demon was close by. Bancho told such to Morio once, but even when reminiscing over all those stories, only resentment found itself chipping away at those chunks of excitement he earlier had.

In the end, Bancho wouldn't be there anyway. To congratulate him for passing, if that even were to happen. Maybe Jyuzou was right and he was the foolish child, but he was so far from ever trying to admit that the other Morian was right.

Eventually, Morio closed his eyes, strangely, drifting off to sleep.

***

Jeffy carefully ate his food, eyeing Jyuzou and gulping through each bite.

The other Morian took off his glasses and rubbed them against his coat. He breathed out, looking down at the ground. He turned to the blonde that sat next to him, and Jeffy looked away, tapping his fingers against the bark they sat on.

"I-I know you don't know me well. Um." Jyuzou scratched his head.

"No, no. Tell me, I'm curious!" Jeffy bit into his food.

"Do you think I'm a bad person?"

"Huh? Um!" Jeffy raised his voice. "Shuckle nuts, I don't think I should be the darn judge of that!"

"Like, from what Morio said, which was..." he coughed. "True."

"I'm not sure! I mean, Mama and Papa argue like this all the time, I don't know why! It doesn't make them bad people, even if one tells the other they're horrible!"

Jyuzou opened his mouth a bit, in shock. "Do you know why they argue?" he asked.

"I feel like it's about pretty much darn anything! I even heard my name once, but then I saw them hugging at the end of the day. Well, they're good, I'd say cool, even. But nothing changes!" Jeffy stated, playing around with a stick. "So it doesn't make me think any less of you or Morio. I'm used to it, after all." he smiled. "But, here comes my question, why do you two argue?"

Jyuzou stood up, walking around the fire and towards the tree. "I-I don't know. It's always pretty much about anything, too."

"Like, Mama usually does it so she can get answers. So you want to get something out of the shuckled thing too, don't you?" Jeffy continued.

"I don't know." Jyuzou closed his eyes. "Maybe I am just a bad, selfish person, and Morio's right. Or..."

"Hm?"

"Ghh," Jyuzou clenched his fist. "I'm scared for him," he muttered.

"What? Couldn't hear ya." Jeffy said.

"Um." Jyuzou put his hand on the bark. "N-Never mind. I don't think anything will change if we stay here. I think we ought to search for Morio, then."

"Well, okay, after my toast's done firing up!" Jeffy added, and Jyuzou's eyes shrank, as he stared into something that revealed itself from the shadows, in the distance. "Crackers, I love my bread hot and nice, ya know? Jyuzou?"

***

Morio ground his teeth, feeling a sinking pain in his head that woke him up. He pressured his forehead, blinking quickly, through a blurry vision.

He moved back, putting his arms behind him and looking down. The empty moon sat against the colourful lights, which he could barely see from beneath the crowns. When he glanced down, it was darker than usual. He couldn't make out the distant light of the fire.

He jumped down, branch by branch and landed into the snow, standing up and brushing off the excess sleet.

He put his hand on his vest, trying to make out the emblem that hid beneath, but his fingers slid against his silky clothes. He opened his mouth, unsure, before spotting a gleam in the snow, further away. He waddled over, crouched, and picked it up.

For a second, Morio gazed at the reversed triangle, as if expecting answers from an inanimate object. Maybe if he'd focus he'd also imagine a witch flying overhead and pulling him out of this murk. Eventually, though, he put the necklace back where it belonged.

He sighed loudly, before stepping forwards.

"It was somewhere around here. I'm sure of it." A faint statement sounded in the distance, and Morio turned his head towards the noise. It didn't resemble any of the participants' or his friends' voices.

Fearfully, he looked out from behind the tree and spotted a massive figure, moving forward, with its demonic tail swinging with each step it took. Another silhouette followed suit, covered in a dark hood that barely stood out amongst all the other blacks of the forest.

He quickly hid behind the tall tree, and covered his mouth, trying his best not to make any noise.

"Leopold, I'm right, aren't I?" Isak signalled. "Someone was murmuring something here."

Morio closed his eyes in fear, crouching behind the tuks' bark.

"If I recall correctly, I saw them earlier as well. How many were there?" Isak asked, and the other figure didn't respond in words. "Fifteen. Well-spotted." he chuckled. "Lisbeth told us to scout this forest for a clearer path as well, but turns out, the fun is to arrive earlier."

Morio put both hands on his mouth, trying to stop himself from breathing too loudly.

The demons trod closer to Morio's tree. "That's weird, though. From what I heard, no man steps into the forest at night, searching for nothing. I say they're the future Demonears, Leopold. What other answer would any stupid Morian search for here?" he stopped, and Morio started shaking. "That's even more exciting. To slash through that illusion of determination and eliminate the defences beforehand. One Morian is just like an afterthought to me!" Isak raised his voice, before chuckling.

Leopold shook his head, eyes drifting towards the tree. He turned to Isak, pointing forward.

The two started walking again, and Isak's voice grew distant with each step he took. He gave Leopold a specific glance. "Anyways. We need to find them."