"Oops, sorry!" Bancho covered his mouth, as some kids laughed. "Then, I guess I still have a few more in store."

Morio turned around, still sitting on the snowy ground.

"Morio?" Jyuzou asked.

"Man! Are there any stories we haven't heard of already?" he answered.

"Well... I'm sure there are still a lot of items waiting to be told of. Also, you never know when Mr Bancho sets out for another adventure."

"Heh." Morio giggled. "One day, I'm gonna join him and bring back an item of my own."

"So, another goal?" Jyuzou smiled, awkwardly.

"Like it wasn't one already!" Morio raised his fist.

Despite Bancho's elderly appearance, many older Morians around the village didn't hold on to their youth as well as he did. No one knew his age, some speculated that he was in his seventies or eighties, but still managed to look as if he was in the middle of his fifties. Morians didn't age as fine as the wine kept deep in the basements of the Goldenleaf Castle.

Maybe it was the stories he always had to keep track of to entertain children that kept his appearance young. Still, if you were to look in his eyes, you could easily tell they held hundreds of years' worth of experience.

Bancho was quietly selected to be the leader of Mistwick, as in, no Morian opposed that idea. He organised almost everything important, kept the wrong at bay and always engaged with others. He made sure that no one in town walked around on an empty stomach, and in some cases, he'd be the one preparing a meal for someone who'd be found starving.

Morio stared at the fire, put his knees up and yawned. Gloria, who sat on a chair at the side, smiled, seeing his white, shaggy hair that looked more pinkish under the firelight.

"Glad that he's not bothering you?" Victoria asked, holding a cup of glaska in her hand.

"Don't picture me as that parent, okay?" Gloria huffed. "Did my words cut you that deep?"

"I'm just joking." Victoria put down the cup, lighting a Metho seed and inhaling its fumes. She squinted her eyes at something but then calmed down.

"He's a great kid, despite everything. Feels like he's the only one that understands me," she admitted.

"What about me?"

"You know it's different, isn't it?" Gloria pointed. "I'm talking, mother and son. A bond made with our b-blood."

"We could be blood sisters if we made a pact."

"We're not demons." Gloria laughed. "I appreciate your efforts."

"It's cool, Gloria." Victoria beamed. "I get what you mean."

She looked to the side, with worry. She picked up the cup of cocoa, warming her hands.

"Mama..." Morio muttered, essentially crawling towards Gloria.

"Oh, there's the child." she closed one eye, as Morio sat on her lap, and then put his head against one of her thighs. "Are you tired?"

"Mmm." Morio made a strange noise.

"That's okay, you can sleep here." she put her hand in his hair, brushing through.

"Calms for your nerves. You seemed quite stressed out when you came here." Victoria added.

Gloria shushed her, and the other woman raised her hands, before rolling her eyes, standing up and treading over to Jyuzou, who complained about something.

"Mama." Morio yawned. "Why are my eyes different than yours?" he turned, pointing at her blue retinas, and she opened her mouth, slightly.

"Y-You have your dad's eyes, Morio. They were as black as some of the nights around here, yet, they shone as beautifully." she graced his cheek.

"Your eyes are pretty too," he said.

"Thank you, that's very nice of you." she glanced to the side, as her heart skipped a beat. She ground her teeth, before breathing in.

The Morians stopped their dances, as the fires from the lamps seemed to change directions. The lot walked up the hill and towards the big, wooden building near the hamlet, where a big feast awaited the attendees. Morians valued food, above all else. Some liked to drink stronger stuff, but Mistwick didn't have that, so they focused on filling their stomachs up for the nights.

Jyuzou followed Bancho and Victoria, almost stumbling over a few steps, before fixing his glasses and reaching out for the woman's hand.

Gloria thought about a thing or two, spotting the scene. Most Morians have a great sight, as their eyes are adapted to spotting things in the white snow.

Jyuzou, however, needed to wear glasses to even make out the most basic shapes around Shimori. Bancho had to go to Lignoria to have these glasses made specifically for him. Especially in Yule, his vision was affected.

Yule, being the old Manjuno word for the wintery seasons around Errarion, where most regions experience colder weather, and snow falls in Malikan and Shimori. Yule means 'lack of progress', as in practically no crops grow during the time of the year.

Turning her eyes back to the sleeping Morio, the other differences became apparent. Jyuzou had brown hair, unlike the usual white and blonde typical of everyone else. Except for everything else that made the other, quiet kid, Morio was almost the polar opposite.

Yet, when she focused, she saw herself in his small, immature features. She gasped, before breathing in.

"I'll be going home now, Morio," Gloria muttered. "I think you should go with the others."

"I'll sleep here," Morio muttered, turning around and falling onto the snow.

Morians aren't necessarily known to sleep on snow. Sure, they can do so without much trouble as their bodies are used to the harsher Yule environment, and considering that sometimes travelling through snowy terrain without a refuge for the night meant finding any shelter led them to start a small fire near their bedding, despite its possible dangers. You'd seldom hear stories of travellers going missing with only an unlit campfire left behind, but in towns such as Mistwick, this wasn't necessarily uncommon practice.

"Oh, alright." Gloria kissed him on his forehead, before taking something out of her pocket, as Morio glanced at it with one open eye.

He almost reached his small hand out, but it dropped, in the middle of his mild exhaustion.

Gloria giggled. "If in doubt, remember." she wrapped a necklace around his neck, with an emblem of a reversed triangle with a line going down the middle. "You can always come home, Morio." she stood up and walked away into the darkness. "When the real world gets too scary, or... if something doesn't go your way. Home will always be here, and I'll be there too."

Morio fell asleep.

***

Jyuzou sat on one of the chairs, desperately trying to pour in some of the stew Bancho made. Desperately, as in, he kept getting interrupted by people who'd either bump into his shoulder or unknowingly push him onto the table. After a while, he gave up, sitting down with a pout. He looked around the room and towards the window on the ceiling, as the lights shone in.

Morio woke up, stretching his hands and yawning once more. He put his hand over his chest, scratching around, before feeling something below his brown button-up. He sat up, before digging out the necklace, flipping it between his fingers.

He smiled a little, recalling Gloria's words as he drifted off, for a few minutes there. Rubbing his eyes, he stood up and began marching back towards his house.

With each step taken, the sound of the faraway party grew quiet and distant. The warm lights disappeared, and Morio was left with nothing but the colourful stare from the ones above, playing around in the sky against a starry backdrop. He looked up, seeing Mount Aria, and then those lights, which stared back at him.

...and with a few more turns, he followed a familiar path, one with a tree that inconveniently grew in the middle of the road. Gloria always talked about it, and how much of a nuisance it was that she had to step into the thick snow with the horse to avoid it.

He smiled a bit, before walking down into a valley. He could see his wooden house, with no lights shining inside.

"Mama must be already asleep." he thought. "I'll sneak in, quietly."

Morio blinked, and when the distant blur of the night seemingly became brighter, another light reflected off his dark pupils.

Which stopped gleaming like beforehand.

The house was engulfed in flames. They extended out of the windows and eventually reached the spiky ceiling.

Morio blinked again, opening his mouth in shock, following a loud, painful scream.

Eventually, he ran forward, desperately swinging his hands back and forth. He wanted to jump in, but, following suit, something exploded, sending glass shards, as well as the Morian, further away from the house.

He lifted himself off the ground once more, hands pushing on the unlit wooden bits from the side. He grabbed the stone sword laid near the dummy and smashed through the wood, searching for Gloria.

There she was, on the floor. Unconscious, with a clean circle around all the other fires.

"Mama!" Morio shouted. "Get up, Mama! The house is burning! Mama!" He jumped above the fire, reaching his hand out. He turned his widened eyes towards Gloria, who didn't respond to his words.

He crouched, putting both hands on her shoulders and shaking. A tear dropped from his face before it evaporated with the heat. Without a word added, he tried to lift her.

Suddenly, however, the upper floor collapsed, with some of the logs from above separating the two Morians. More debris kept him on the ground, halting all his movements, and he struggled to breathe.

"Mum... mum..." he kicked his legs around, as some of the fallen floors burned out, revealing Gloria on the ground, as the fires started consuming her body, starting from her hand, up to the decorated, thick dress she often wore, accompanied by a furry, blue coat.

Morio's pupils twitched, and tears went down his cheeks. He yelled at the top of his lungs. "MAMA!" he kept pushing, eventually standing up, but almost losing balance.

As he was about to take one more step through the fires, something appeared, turning from the spinning flames into a broad figure. Its eye flipped and changed shape, before locking onto Morio. Horns grew out, and the demon formed legs and a physical body, which kept burning. It screeched, opening its mouth that was in the place of its stomach.

Morio wept, as he gazed at the demon in fear. It smashed through the wall behind him, pushing him out of the house and into the cold snow.

He coughed out blood onto the whites. "Mama..!" he kept mumbling to himself, pressuring a wound on his shoulder. Finally, the demon stepped out of the wreck, turning its eye to the shaking Morian.

Its mouth started warping, changing into a spinning hole with a black tongue, and fire charged up from the inside.

If Morio didn't stand up, if he couldn't find the strength in his legs, he'd burn to a crisp just like everything else he had.

Morio ground his teeth, yelling out. "MAMA!"

He launched himself forward, almost as if foolishly trying to mitigate its impossible move.

The demon let go of the charged-up shot, as it headed right towards Morio.

It suddenly bounced off in front of him and landed in the snow.

Morio turned his head, falling to the ground with an arm pushing him away.

Bancho stood in the front, holding a red axe, Saxyo, in one hand, opening his eyes and looking at the demon.

He slowly stepped forward, swinging around the weapon, before swiping, trying to hit the creature. It avoided his shot.

A rope crawled out from the axe, attaching itself to the demon. At a moment's notice, it flew right back to Bancho.

He swung the weapon, slicing through its mouth and grinding his teeth, flipping it around. The string snapped, as it flew up, screaming in pain.

"Hoo..." Bancho breathed in, before throwing the axe up to the sky. An eye appeared on its blade, and water poured from its shaft.

Grasping the water stream, he flew right up, grabbing the weapon and moving his hand back, slicing through the demon's body.

With one last scream, its hot blood covered Bancho and its two halves fell to the ground. Its fires disappeared with a windy breeze, and water covered Bancho, as he cooled off, breathing in and out. He dropped the axe to the ground and moved some of the thin white hair that covered his face.

He huffed, before turning over to Morio, watching him stare at the destroyed hut.

The flames spawned endlessly, they kept growing bigger.

The Morian stared in awe, shaking, trembling. When the rest of the wooden structure crushed down, there she was, completely silent.

"Mama..." Morio cried out, before letting out an extremely painful scream. Bancho ran over, putting a hand over his eyes and grinding his teeth, hugging the young Morian from behind.

Bancho stared forward, with the young one's screams echoing into the depths of the night.