Draconius chuckled at Avorna's reaction and said, "A funny thing, how one such as myself, who used to be close to equal rank with the Demon King, has been changed by this one girl. If my younger self saw me like this, I'm sure I would be just as shocked as you. I had been imprisoned for thousands of years and the Gods told me that if I wanted my freedom back, I had to make a contract with Draco, protect her until she died naturally, and I would allowed to roam the world and do as I please. I took them up on that offer since that meant I could cause destruction and chaos wherever I wanted to if I fulfilled the task. When I actually met her she had the strangest reaction. She knew exactly who I was,<span style="font-style: italic">what</span>I was, and she showed no fear. This child who had been bruised, broken, and beaten was able to look a powerful demon in the eye without any fear at the age of 6. It took me 2 years to get her home and she taught me many things without even realizing it. I remember one time she had gotten attacked by someone who was trying to kill her and she managed to talk the man down, despite being a wanted criminal that was out for blood she calmed him, listened to him, even forgave him with a smile on her face. Then he willingly turned himself into the authorities. I questioned her reasoning and she simply told me that just because people do bad things doesn't necessarily mean they're bad people, she even went so far as to say she thought that demons were the same in that regard. I think that was actually the turning point for me." Draconius looked at his hand and said, "It's almost like the Demon of Corruption is being corrupted by the light, I feel like I'm more human than demon now."<br/><br/>Draco and Kurai had been cleaning the workshop for a few hours and were resting on a couch in the lounge now that a few of the extra rooms had been cleaned up and fresh sheets were on a large kingsized bed in one of the rooms she planned on letting Avorna stay in. Draco said, "Kurai-nii, you said you needed to tell me something?" Kurai sighed and leaned back against the couch as he looked up at the cieling saying, "Yeah. It's gonna be a long story and it's probably going to take a while to finish but it's something I feel you need to know about me." Draco scooched a little closer and replied, "What is it?" Kurai took a breath and said, "Well, first of all, I know that you're invested in learning about demons since many of the harder to break curses are from Demonic origin. I'm curious, how many demons do you currently know of?" Draco replied, "I know of a lot of demons, obviously Draconius, the Demon of Corruption, Avorna, the Demon of Hatred and Malice, Oenoinoch, the Demon of Poison and Pollution, there's also Krashath, the Faceless Demon, and a lot more high ranked demons that can be easily found in historical documents if you know where to look." Kurai nodded and asked, "Did you know that Draconius is actually the 12th Demon of Corruption and Avorna was the 58th Demon of Hatred and Malice?" Draco nodded and said, "Even though they age slower than we do, Demons do lose power as they get older and eventually the ones with high ranks need to train younger demons to take on the title they once had." Kurai looked at Draco out of the corner of his eye and asked, "Do you know who the predicessors for some of them are?" Draco nodded and stated, "Avorna's predicessor was known as Garfornel, who had to train several young demons to take his place, he was the 15th Demon of Hatred and Maice and the reason there have been more Demons trained to take on the role of the Demon of Hatred and Malice is because many of them got themselves killed because of their hatred driving them to reckless behavior. I think the name of the Demon of Poison and Pollution's predicessor was Alforn, Krashath is a demon who's rank was more recently created so he didn't have a predicessor, and Draconius's predicessor was called... Keltos, I think?" Kurai then slowly sat up and said, "Alright, let's focus on Keltos. What do you know about him?" Draco replied, "Honestly, not much. A lot of the documents about him were lost or damaged over time to the point that all anyone really knows is that he existed." Kurai replied, "That's because Keltos was banished by the Demon King and branded a traitor before he died." Draco looked at Kurai and asked, "Kurai-nii, what do you know about Keltos?" Kurai chuckled and said, "A lot more than most people do. I figured I'd tell you the story of Keltos if you're interested." Draco nodded and scooted closer to the point that she would be in his lap if she tried to get any closer. Kurai chuckled and said, "Alright. I guess we should start with what got Keltos banished since that's really the only interesting part of the story." Draco nodded in understanding and waited for Kurai to begin.<br/><br/>((Time for a flashback!!!))<br/>------------------<br/><br/><a class="postlink" href="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/16/5c/98/165c98083f1bd3847053e390034ee8c4.jpg">Keltos</a>was frustrated, the Demon King had sent him on a scouting mission into enemy territory to find the Goddess of Kindness, Exphion, and he got ambushed by the God's weakest soldiers when they saw him alone thinking they had a chance to take down one of the Demon King's Generals. It had been easy to take down the soldiers, they were fools to think they stood a chance, but one of them had managed to get a lucky shot in and now he was unable to go report back to the Demon King due to a Sacred Shackle that he couldn't remove. Keltos mulled over his possible options, it was impossible to break it since it was made specifically for trapping demons, he could call for Draconius, the demon he was training to one day take his title when he was much older, he could also cut off his leg, but that one was going to be more of a last resort and Draconius would never let him live it down. Keltos was brought out of his thoughts by the snap of a twig. He growled, "Show yourself and I won't kill you for hiding." Who did he think he was kiding? It was such an obvious bluff, the Sacred Shackle prevented him from using any magic and he could only attack an enemy if the got close enough for him to rip off their head, but nobody would be stupid enough for that. However, he didn't expect for them to obey him, nor did he expect it to be a<a class="postlink" href="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/68/7d/ae/687daed2bad7571b0522196371e6a60d.jpg">young Goddess</a>with golden wings that seemed to have gotten lost. Keltos glared at the child and said, "You better get out of here before I kill you." The young goddess stared at him for a moment before she smiled sweetly and removed the Sacred Shackle from the demon. Keltos stared at her and said, "You know it's not a good idea to free a demon who could kill you, young Goddess." The small girl replied, "Maybe not but you needed help. I'm Exphion, what's your name?" Keltos seemed shocked by the child's reply, he was supposed to locate Exphion and she found him instead, she even freed him despite it being obvious that he was a demon. He simply replied, "Keltos." Exphion smiled and said, "It's nice to meet you Keltos, Demon of Corruption. Will you be my friend?" Keltos had been prepared for many things on this mission to locate Exphion, death, traps, and even finding nothing, however he was<span style="font-style: italic">not</span>prepared for his target to ask for friendship. Keltos was drawing a blank on what he should do but he slowly replied, "Sure..." Exphion seemed excited and proceeded to hug him before saying, "I gotta go, my big brother is probably looking for me. Let's meet here again tomorrow, bye!" Before running off into the woods, leaving Keltos staring dumbfounded after her.<br/><br/>Keltos didn't know why he was there again, he had reported that he didn't find Exphion and that he would go out again to scout further. Keltos had been tempted to tell the Demon King about the fact that Exphion wanted to meet him today but he had decided not to, he was intrigued by the young Goddess's strange behavior. He found himself standing where Exphion had found him yesterday, he was fully prepared for the possibility that it was a trap, but Exphion showed up alone and tackled Keltos with a hug laughing, "You came back! Let's play!" Keltos found himself being dragged to a lake to play in the water with Exphion. He couldn't understand what was possessing him to humor the young Goddess, but he tolerated her presence.<br/><br/>Keltos had continued to meet up with Exphion for years, watching her grow<a class="postlink" href="https://img3.goodfon.com/wallpaper/big/4/59/art-l-l-devushka-krylya-angel.jpg">older</a>and become a beautiful and powerful Goddess. He even began to develop the desire to protect her, often treating her as a younger sibling. However his meetings with the Goddess had been discovered and reported to the Demon King. Keltos had been gravely injured and had a curse placed on him that would ensure his death, not even Exphion would be able to save him. Keltos had met with Exphion and said, "I'm glad I got to see you...one last time Exphion." Exphion began to cry, "Keltos, I may not be able to heal you, but I am able to take your soul and preserve it long enough for me to create a body for you so that you can be reborn." Keltos smiled and said, "Then if that's the case... I want to be born as a human, I want to have the choices I couldn't have as a demon... I know that you plan on becoming mortal to try and break the curse your brother placed on Zeref... So I want to be your elder brother in that life..." Exphion nodded and said, "Very well...But you'll lose your memories of your life as a demon until I am mortal as well." Keltos sighed contentedly, "That's fine..." The next thing that happened was darkness overtaking him as he died and his soul was preserved.<br/><br/>-------------------------------<br/><br/>Draco stared at Kurai in disbelief as he finished his story. Kurai said, "It's been a long time Exphion." Draco was in shock and eventually asked, "You're Keltos?" Kurai nodded and said, "In human form, yes. I've wanted to tell you for a while but I wasn't sure how or when I'd tell you. I felt that you were the only one who needed to know who I used to be, afterall, you're the one who gave me this life. This chance to be happy, one that I wouldn't have as a demon as long as the current Demon King reigns." Draco looked up at Kurai and asked, "Does Draconius know about it?" Kurai nodded and scratched his cheek awkwardly as he said, "Apparently he knew from the moment he saw me. Just like how I got my memories back the moment I saw you in mother's arms." Draco sat quietly for a moment and said, "That doesn't change that we're brother and sister. The past is past, this is now." Draco gave Kurai a smile and he found himself smiling back as he put his arm around her. The Dragneel siblings sat together in comfortable silence, enjoying each other's company without the need for any more words between them in the moment.