The conversations of the bar wavered elsewhere, as a few Paladians either dropped drunk or quieted with the night storming in.

"How did you know?" Jyuzou asked, taking a seat on the opposite side of the table.

The man scratched his eyebrows, presumably, before facing the Morians. "Not all Guardian Demons are created equally, but I doubt I have to tell another Demonear exactly that."

"I knew it, then!" Morio whispered. "I spotted your weapon behind that cloak."

"It's not just any flimsy blade. Its purpose isn't necessarily to fight but to detect a demon's energy first and foremost. Such works for another one of its kind, heh."

Morio squinted, trying to spot anything from under the shadow. It seemed that no matter which light tried to peak through, nothing pierced the murk, and such led him to move back a little. Jyuzou, surprisingly, only tried to dwell further.

"So it's not of any element?" he fixed his glasses. "Is this a fear ability, or..."

The man scratched the back of his head, before glancing around. "No clue what you're talking about, kid."

Jyuzou seemed confused. "How can you call yourself a Demonear to begin with? Can you even fight?"

"Jyuzou!" Morio reprimanded him.

"That was half of the reason why I snuck those glances earlier. Another Demonear might be an answer since the world moved in a different direction." he laid his back against the wooden walls, eyeing the nearby window. "Lots you heard of everyone screaming on and on about how Demonears are like those demons, praying for our safety. I too, much like any other coward went into hiding after I decided it was too much to bear. Lo and behold, though, six months later and you two are wandering in like stuck-out thumbs."

Morio and Jyuzou kept cautious.

"Not a soul here noticed, except the one that was supposed to. Do you reckon other Demonears would be able to tread the same line? Or is it fate? Would you call my... fear abilities, or whatever you mentioned exactly that?"

Jyuzou growled, a little frustrated. "I'm sorry. Where is this conversation going?"

"I spotted something amongst that light. Something deep, dark and brooding. Something my master once taught me before I ran like a coward, never vowing to see him again." he turned to Morio. "Name?"

"Morio...!" he added.

"Not your name. The katana of yours."

Morio blinked, before looking down at his sheath. Without further hesitation, he pulled Gloria out and snuck it onto the empty spot on the table, as the other man moved back, gulping. "It's Gloria."

"The demon's name?" he continued.

Morio slowly shook his head. "No clue."

"Strange. I'd add one if it did the things yours presents."

"What do you mean?" Jyuzou swiftly turned, before the man raised the blade in both hands, and a few drunken glances were snuck across the bar.

He slowed for a moment, as the two inched closer.

"Not every place here in Lignoria moved on from Palski's decreet," he muttered. "Part of the reason why no one was there to handle those cult-like folks back then. Erans, especially. They might be backwards in that sense."

A moment passed before the few who stared turned back to drinking with one of the Sirs pushing through.

The man sighed out, as Jyuzou's glance seemed to paint the whole picture. Someone knew more than they probably should.

"Don't thank me, though. As you saw it yourself, I'm no prime Demonear. Just... trust on this one, though."

He traced the edge with his finger, before meeting somewhere in the middle, where a dent grew. A thin slit across the innards, as it disappeared with some cracks forming beneath.

"Is it broken?" Morio asked, gulping.

"It's cursed," he added. "Its blood is desperately trying to come back. Even if it may seem strong and obedient, quiet and unassuming. Have you ever seen it transform?"

"Transform?" Jyuzou furrowed his brows. "What nonsense are you talking about? Not even in witchtales-"

"Yes." Morio quickly answered, dismissing Jyuzou's turn and the shock present in his expression.

"Flesh, bones, eyes staring back at you." The man whispered, inching closer. "Much like what one mine would do, on the day it stabbed my side. Heh."

The three hushed, and such almost dulled out any other noise in the inn.

"Since then, it became something too much for me to control. A curse, some would say, and digging deeper would've probably revealed a way to dig it out. I was too much of a coward, however. Morian, don't take the same route."

He stuck his hand out from underneath his hood, grasping onto Morio's palm.

"Take Gloria to the Kabun clan. They'll know what to do."

***

The morning came much like the last night ended. Their conversation halted on the few words there and silence followed them into their cosy, sheep-like beds upstairs. Rain poured, as it seldom did in Dear, but the stagnant winds the next day spoke of the same pressure.

The ponies were given back to their respective owners, and Morio wandered around, without a smile on his face. Eventually moving into the quiet paths of Westling, Jyuzou managed to strike up a thought.

"The Kabun clan?" he asked, tugging on the two baskets. "Didn't Bancho tell us that story once?"

Morio scratched his arm. "Wasn't it something about an island not too far from here?"

"You mean Ainakounabi?"

"Think so," he replied. "Big houses, training under some star of an animal and whatnot. That's ridiculous, though. We're not going to swim away from the Mainland for some request I didn't even understand!" he raised both hands, treading forward, while Jyuzou stopped, taking a gander. "Seriously, telling all those stupid stories and here I thought I was the child in the inn!"

The other Morian didn't answer, staring for a while longer. The breeze eventually picked up, although it was too little for it to move through his hair.

"What did he mean by asking if it transformed, Morio?"

Morio stepped back.

"Flesh-like, bones and eyes. Ridiculous, but you said yes." he breathed out. "Don't tell me it was some other dream on par with these ridiculous Frisks."

Morio lightly clenched his fist, before breathing out.

Maybe it was exactly that, after all. He couldn't quite put a finger on everything that happened earlier, but one thing was for certain. He saw Gloria shift into what it wasn't upon facing Shi Hon.

It was as if the demon inside responded to some call, and... even now, upon the touch of whatever saved him from that rainbow prism.

If, such was even real, to begin with.

"Maybe that's exactly what it was." Morio shook his head. "I don't know, I guess I just wanted to hear his story!"

"Really?" Jyuzou asked again. "Or is there something you're not telling me?"

"I could ask you the same thing about that compass!."

"Ah." Jyuzou fixed his glasses, almost snapping out. "W-Well, as I said yesterday, it'd help me find-"

Morio flopped to the rocky ground, almost involuntarily.

That, however, eventually led the two back into the vicinities of Orawood. Treading through Westling took them a good few hours, unlike the days it would with the Klakunhoi, and evening came near the beginning of the Long Path.

With the night cascading over the few willows here and there, and some of the trees stripping themselves off the leaves, Jyuzou took the mentioned compass out of his basket, pointing to the barely visible sun.

"Where did you even get something like this?" Morio crossed his arms.

"One shopkeeper in Taigase. He also offered me this lense today for half the price!" he smiled, and Morio looked up, hopelessly. "It points to the sky and locks into the location of some disturbances, or as he called them, poses, in nature."

Morio groaned. "Can those snishes come any faster, though? I'm getting hungry."

Jyuzou didn't answer. Instead, he focused on the small oval clock in his right hand, as an arrow found itself pointing towards the sun. A shine seemed to reflect off the few shines, and that's when another sharp arm shifted.

Jyuzou opened his mouth, before fixing the object and closing one eye.

"Jyuzou!" Morio raised his voice, pushing him to the side.

"I'm trying to focus!"

"On what?"

"The snishes!"

"Food?!"

"Tomorrow, maybe, if things don't pan out!"

"Gah!" Morio squinted, hands immediately reaching towards the few bags nestled between the log they rested near. Jyuzou halted his activities, for that instance, reaching out to grab the other's arm, but alas, such resulted in nothing.

No food, no nothing, and even the few Silver left from last night turned into just one shining coin.

"J-Jyuzou...!" he spoke through his teeth, taking them out.

The other gulped. "Look, if this tool I bought makes it easier for me to find the-"

"I don't care about your snishes!" Morio pointed, almost throwing himself onto the Morian. "You return that stupid compass!"

The two rolled around in the grass, eventually through the bushes.

"It had a no-return policy!"

"HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO EAT?"

"Scavage!"

"SLEEP!"

"Under the night sky-"

"JYUZOU, BASTARD!"

The two eventually stopped their flimsy argument, before Morio stood up, brushing dirt and a few bits of nature off his clothes.

Jyuzou sat, before reaching into his pocket again, pointing at the sun. Morio rolled his eyes, stepping away.

"Fine, then!" Morio raised his voice, closing his eyes. "I don't care how you do it, but we're getting back to Saphrith on the day we were supposed to. Don't keep things secret anymore!"

"Keep things secret?" Jyuzou asked. "Y-You're not telling me the whole story either!"

"You wouldn't believe me!"

"Yeah, if it wasn't as ridiculous as-"

"Hoping to find some snishes so you can spend your money elsewhere?" he crossed his arm. "Think, Jyuzou, think!"

"Exactly working on that!" he yelled, as Morio stepped into the nearby paths after chucking his bags near the tree.

"Figure it out! I'm going to find something to eat before I starve and die and all the blame goes on your glassy ass!"

"Hmph." Jyuzou sighed, turning away.

Again, eyes were fixated on the tool, even if a few glances made sure Morio was safe. The other seldom looked back, before disappearing behind a few trees.

The Pose Compass, as he briefly explained, pointed towards irregularities. In many beliefs, it was either the sun or the moon which carried a strange energy, and even without a God, it was some hope to look forward to.

One arrow always pointed towards the bigger source, and if a sunray was to reflect off the sides, it would shine down onto the other arm, which would seemingly point towards something with as much energy.

Maybe such could be dubbed as the snishes. Perhaps invisible to the eye or even further away from this one barren tree, on the back of all the other conifers stretching into the sky.

The word barren gave him a strange idea since it meant it'd be easier to climb. The rays reached the tree's peak, and with the setting sun, that meant he had no time to waste.

Halfway up, he took a coated sack of steaming water, with his spear sticking out at the side, creating a wind which flew right inside and took the steam out, creating a geyser for the Pose Compass to fly with, as he rested on a bigger branch and used the lens to spot the moment.

There it was, the sunray hitting the side, and that led to the arrow eventually trembling.

It pointed to where Morio wandered off, before dropping onto the ground with the wind flying back towards his spear.

Jyuzou jumped off, noting something down in a notebook.

"Interesting," he whispered. "They must be right outside the Long Path!"

But as he started running, a noise permeated through the forest. He stopped, and another sound, something resembling screaming, turned everything from the golden brown it once was into what the night left painted.

A mist eventually extended, and Jyuzou took another step.