Chapter Text
"Dialogue"
Thoughts
“Umm, Lay?” Misa asks. “Sorry to change the subject, but I keep wondering… Do you want us to call you Kanon?” It had been nagging her. Every time Anos called out his previous name, every time Lay made a random comment about the mythical age.
It was easy to forget sometimes, Lay acted so… normal. He was a student just like them. He grew up listening to the same politics they had, and he was taught in the same schools. But there were times when something was different. A dark look in his eyes, a flash of emotion across his faced as he looks at something seemingly mundane (but so different that it used to be), a moment of wisdom that came from years beyond what any of the girls had experienced.
Many had similar thoughts. Should they call him Kanon out of respect? He obviously responds to both of his names, and he hasn’t said anything about having a preference. It just feels strange to call their friend ‘Kanon.’ After all, that is the name of The Hero, the strongest of the humans, the one who killed hundreds of demons, and eventually the Demon King himself. He’s practically a mythological figure. And not exactly an ally to the demon kingdom.
“Hmm, not necessarily. I’m perfectly fine with just being Lay to all of you.” That’s a relief. But…
“Then why do you let Anos call you Kanon?” Actually, ever since Anos found out the truth about Lay, he had only called him Kanon, not once had he ever referred to him as Lay. Even in front of the Seven Demon Emperors, despite the fact that it obviously made them uncomfortable.
“Well, that’s different. We were both reincarnated. I live in this age as Lay, but that doesn’t mean my life as Kanon is irrelevant. It’s in the past, and I hold no grudges against demons or anything, it's just… When Anos calls me Kanon, it feels like an acknowledgment of my past life and experiences, a way of recognizing my past feelings instead of just dismissing them.” He pauses, “…And I feel more of a connection to Anos when he calls me Kanon.” He adds on.
It was a complicated answer, one he usually wouldn’t be able to come up with on the spot, but truth is, he had been thinking about names for a long time, both when he became Lay and back when he needed to make the name Avos Dilhevia.
Flashback (Just Lay remembering, he is not telling this to the group)
After sending out a messenger bird, Kanon had some time before his allies arrived, so he took some supplies from the soldiers and set up a small camp deep in the forest. He also took any documents they had and sifted through them by the fire while he waited for the woman to wake up. She was still running a bad fever, but after a night’s rest, her condition started to improve.
Kanon got up at sunrise and debated his next move. The woman was asleep and vulnerable, he didn’t want to just leave her alone, but the traitors (at least the one’s he knocked out and didn’t outright kill) would probably be waking soon. After some hesitance, he tries waking her.
“Hey,” he says softly and slowly shook her shoulder, not wanting to startle her. Unfortunately, his efforts failed as she shot up and immediately started backing away, her magic flaring.
Anos is woken with a hand on his shoulder. Remembering his last encounter with random humans trying to grab him, he immediately startles. At least he is aware enough to restrain his magic. Instead of lashing out at the perpetrator, it simply wraps around him like a warm cloak.
“Woah, woah, it’s okay!” Kanon reaches forward before realizing that she is probably freaking out because The Hero himself, already clad in armor and Heaven’s Mana strapped to his waist, is trying to grab her arm. He backs up and sits cross-legged on the forest floor. He also raises he arms by his head as a sign of peace. “…It’s okay,” he says slowly trying to make himself seem less threatening. “I need to go back and secure the prisoners- not you!” He quickly corrects.
After a moment of panic, Anos clears his blurry vision and finally registers that the person in front of him is The Hero. He inhales, takes a deep breath, and examines the situation. His magic is still holding his transformation and Kanon isn’t attacking despite flaring his magic, so Kanon does not seem to realize exactly who he is talking to. But he must at least know that the woman in front of him is a demon.
“Those soldiers are traitors, I’m actually still going through their stuff,” Anos follows Kanon’s gaze as he gestures to the pile of documents, “I have to make sure they’re arrested. But not you! I mean you’re a demon so make sure you’re not spotted, but I won’t turn you in! I mean I’m The Hero but you’re a refugee, right? So-” Despite his apprehension, his lips twitch up in a smile as the great Hero stumbles over his words. His smile turns into a weak laugh.
Kanon stops as the woman giggles, he smiles gently. “Anyway, I have to go back to the camp. Will you be okay here for a while?”
Not trusting his voice, Anos simply nods. Kanon nods back and stands, keeping his arms by his head probably to prove that he isn’t a threat. “Okay, I’ll be back in a few hours. There’s a container of water right there,” he points down and takes a few steps back before fully turning away. “I’ll bring back some food,” he adds and, with a flare of magic, The Hero leaves Anos alone in the forest.
Anos waits a few moments, reaching out with his magic sense to make sure Kanon is really going back to the camp. He should leave. This would be the perfect chance. Given Kanon’s assumption that he’s a refugee, he probably wouldn’t give chase.
Then again, they say curiosity killed the cat. He can’t stop thinking about the fact that Kanon let him live, he’s even taking care of him! Kanon already confirmed that he knew his guest was a demon. Why hadn’t he killed Anos when he had the chance? Why risk hiding a demon from his allies?
So, he stays. He casts a quick spell to help with the pounding headache and to lower his fever. He is careful not to go too far, if Kanon came back to too many changes, he would know that the woman he rescued is far more adept at magic than he originally assumed.
He soothes his sore throat with the water and then turns to the documents. Couldn’t hurt to take a look, right?
Meanwhile, Kanon hurries through the camp. The captain, and a few others that he remembers acting like leaders during their battle, get restrained with magic. He cast a sleep spell to keep them unconscious, but he doesn’t bother accommodating them in anyway. They can lay there for a few days for all he cares.
The rest? He kills. It may seem cold, but he doesn’t take treason lightly. And if the dead civilian was anything to go by, they didn’t deserve his mercy. With that done, he grabs more supplies from the camp- food, an empty water container, blankets. He’s careful not to take too much, his allies would easily recognize if there was a significant number of supplies missing. How would he respond? He couldn’t exactly say that it was for a demon that he was nursing back to health. With that, he reaches out with his magic and heads back to his hidden camp.
When he returns, Kanon finds the woman organizing documents, several stacks spread on the ground around her. He realizes that she is still wrapped in his blue cloak. He clears his throat, and she looks up, unafraid, “Umm, hi. I brought supplies. What are you looking at?”
He sees her hesitate for a moment but then she points to the papers to her right, “These are reports.” Kanon immediately reaches for the papers. Should he be concerned that a civilian is looking through their classified military documents? He’s about to say something but realizes most of the reports have been falsified. There were clear gaps and contradictions.
“Umm,” Kanon looks up and she speaks again, “These might be more, um, concerning.” She hands him a different stack. He scans over the various maps. Most of them focus on the boarder between the human and demon kingdoms. One shows general landmarks- lakes, rivers, places to camp. Others show nearby human and demon camps. His stomach drops.
His suspicious are confirmed as the woman speaks up again, voice a little more confident, “I think they were attacking both demon and human villages. They would make sure to kill all the humans so no one would know. And they would let a few demons escape so the demons would know and launch more attacks.” The took what they want from the people they were supposed to protect. And then they attacked innocent demons (he’s coming to realize that demon civilians are no different that human civilians) to enrage the demons and blame them for the attacks on human villages.
Kanon closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. “…I see.” His voice is calm and level, but the papers crunch in his hands. “For them to attack their own in the mist of a war...” he grits his teeth. “And to cause more civilians, from both sides, to suffer for their mindless greed.” His shoulders shake in anger. He can imagine exactly what they wanted from the villages- food, sex… entertainment.
A small hand clutches his wrist. For a moment Kanon thinks she is going to try to confront him, maybe offer some kind words of encouragement? “…Demons can be cruel,” she says. Kanon raises an eyebrow; he was not expecting the woman to insult her own people. “Humans can be cruel too.”
And that’s the crux of it, isn’t it? Kanon has always told himself that there are good demons and bad demons. There are good humans and bad humans. He knew this, but now he realizes he still separated demons and humans into different categories in his mind. Her single comment makes him question if human and demons are really so different. This situation just shows that, in fact, they are scarily similar at times.
Kanon has seen human cruelty. Well, mostly the aftermath of human cruelty- trials and judges and punishments. But, for the most part, the human government wanted to keep him away from that. Now all he can think about is the nearby villages that were “destroyed by heinous demons.” He thinks about the rows of bodies, covered with cloth. He remembers the reports he was given about the investigation. Who was kill first? Who did they take their time with?
And now he knows, it was all done by the hands of supposed allies (1).
He wonders what the government was thinking, shielding him from this. Was it really in his best interest? Or was it for their own greed? If their precious weapon realized exactly how dark humanity could be, would the righteous hero still fight for them?
…Good question.
He takes another deep breath; he can’t think about that now. “Um, so what’s your name?” He asks, then continues, “I’m Kanon,” He smiles softly at her. He places his hand on top of her’s where it rests on his other wrist. She looks at their hands for a moment. Maybe he shouldn’t have introduced himself? She probably already knows his name. Or maybe she just realized exactly who she’s talking to?
“Aia Heldiiva.” (held-eve-uh) She responds quietly.
“Aia, nice to meet you.”
End Flashback
Back then, Lay really had no idea the girl he met had any connection to Anos. The whole situation made him question what he was fighting for, and she helped him with that. He fought for the innocent, he did not fight for the sake of winning a war and he did not fight to wipe out all demons. After their encounter, all he could think about was the kind, innocent refugee. It didn’t matter if she was human or demon.
He also thought about the traitors. Human attacking humans. Though not a novel concept to him, he did realize that there would always be greed, regardless of the race or the situation. And sometimes, humans could be more monstrous than demons.
Knowing that Aia was actually Anos just makes that encounter all the more meaningful to him. When he found out about Jerga’s plan after Anos had sacrificed his life, Lay- no Kanon had made his choice. He would use Heaven’s Mana to cut Anos’ destiny and make a new demon king. One that would settle things once and for all.
And he would need a new name- a name for the demon king that would die to bring peace. Avos had been easy to make up just by switching out one letter in Anos’ name. As for a last name? He though it quite fitting to borrow Aia’s last name, the woman that showed him exactly how human a demon could be.
So, Anos and Aia Heldivva became Avos Dilhevia (2).