Azemo awoke to the sound of growling, at first he thought it was the kittens but then he remembered that he could understand them. He quickly exited the room bag before he heard the noise again, it was his stomach.
After missing so many meals Azemo's stomach was in protest. A relieved but embarrassed Azemo returned to the room bag to begin preparing a meal. As he entered the room again he was startled by a voice, maybe he was just going crazy.
"Find the monster?" The white cub chuckled.
"With a growl that fierce, there's no way he could win." The other cub retorted.
"I see that both of you were afraid, there is no need for fear no monster could defeat me." A sheepish Azemo could only play along. "But how about some food?"
The kittens were a bit famished so they thought better of making fun of Azemo too much. Azemo quickly went over to the storage section to look at his remaining food supplies, they were running dangerously low. He had enough for the three of them to eat at most three more meals and those meals would not be as filling as hungry Azemo would have liked.
For the first meal Azemo decided on the last three mystery meats, hopefully they were not made from tigers.
"Eat up."
"Thanks for the food." The two cubs chimed in before devouring the meat with astonishing speeds.
Not to be outdone Azemo gulped down his portion in two bites. The kittens seemed impressed or maybe they were sad that he ate so much food.
Azemo's stomach seemed to be appeased for now so Azemo decided to learn more about the two cubs.
"I don't think that I was ever properly introduced to you two. I am demon lord Azemo and I have my mind set on revenge these days."
The two cubs snickered when they heard that Azemo was a demon lord but quickly sobered up when he spoke of revenge. It was a goal they could support because they felt some satisfaction that their mother's killer had been slain.
"Monsters don't really have names but the two of us are twin sisters."
"We might look tiny now but in the future we will be huge monsters that are sure to help you on your mission."
The cubs had already grown fond of Azemo, thanks to him appreciating their jokes and of course because he fed them, so they wanted dearly to help him.
"That is very kind of you, I will take you up on that offer because we will be traveling together from this day forward. Do you guys have any names you might like, I don't really want to call you cub one and cub two."
The white one immediately burst out. "Call me Killer Tiger Strongest ever of everything."
The black one looked ashamed before saying. "Umm sis lets allow the demon to come up with our names, it is something that demons are good at after all."
The white cub reluctantly agreed but still seemed to hold out some hope for her original name idea.
Azemo was never good at naming things, whenever he made a name in a video game he randomized it or mashed his keyboard, but he did not want to let the kittens down. He tried to remember names from his previous life but they would still not come to him but then a name came to him.
"What do you think about being called Imagine?" He asked the black kitten, she seemed like the calmer, more collected of the pair.
At first the black kitten did not respond and Azemo was worried but then she quickly nodded her head before burying her face in her paws. She loved the name and when Azemo had given it to her she somehow felt the presence of her mother around her. Imagine would now proudly wear her name until her death.
"What about me, what about me?" The white kitten wanted a name as well.
"How about Bellania?" Azemo remembered that the name had something to do with war or something, so it would suit the white cub.
Bellania felt strong emotions upon receiving her name as well, but they were different from those of her sister. Monsters were rarely ever named and when they were it was because other races feared or respected them. Bellania thought that now that she was named others would fear and respect her.
"Ok Bella, Ima, let's go find somewhere we can get food." Azemo was a little worried they wouldn't like their names so he wanted to focus on something else.
"I thought I was Bellania and she was Imagine what happened?"
Azemo laughed "Bella and Ima are your nicknames, I called you those because I really like you two." Azemo was attached to the sisters, not only had he promised their mother but their sincerity in wanting to help him had warmed his heart.
"I see… it is a name that only those that are close to us can speak… right Az?" Imagine seemed to think that there was more meaning to the nicknames.
"I will only let you and my sister call me Bella." Bellania seemed like she would seriously injure any who dared use her nickname without permission.
"I guess the two of you have gotten the gist of the situation, off we go." Azemo was too flustered to really change the sisters idea, 'it's not like it could cause a problem in the future.'
Azemo showed Ima and Bella how to leave the room bag before casting (skill) Incognito on himself. After all he doubted that they would find anyone who was not hostile to demons that day. As for the cubs they might be monsters but they were kittens after all, everyone loves kittens.
Azemo's appearance didn't really change that much, his fangs turned into human incisors and his horns disappeared. As for his eyes they stayed green but the flame that was usually present was nowhere to be seen.
Human Azemo hoisted the two cubs onto his shoulders before starting the long trek towards civilization. Ima snuggled into his neck while Bella stayed alert ready to pounce at a moment's notice.
Azemo had no idea where to go so he decided to just walk away from the forest; humans were probably the opposite direction of demons.
After a couple of hours the trio saw a small farming village in the distance. As they approached Azemo noticed that all the wooden houses were ramshackle and falling apart. 'Being on the outskirts of the human kingdom probably shows that they are not wealthy.'
Before Azemo could look around more he had to stop Bella from attacking the first person they saw.
"Howdy there folks, how can I help you?" An old man had approached them.
Bella said "Give us food." Of course the man only heard a soft growling.
"Aww, that's a cute one."
Before Bella could process the man's words Azemo quickly spoke. "Uhh can you point us in the direction of the nearest tavern." 'Places like these always had taverns.'
"You look a little young for alcohol but there is an inn right smack in the center of town."
"Thank you so much sir, we will be on our way."
"No problem and you can call me Simon young one."
Azemo hurried towards the inn but Simon's words had reminded him that he looked like a teen human. His demon body was only six and a half after all.
That night Azemo cheated on his bed with the inn's accommodations. Having food cooked for him again, had put him in a weird mood.