The scenes inside the crystal continued to shift as Zepar and Edarin watched. Zardeem reanimating the townsfolk as his first undead slaves to hunt down any magical knowledge they could find. Zardeem building himself a tower to isolate himself as he devoted himself fully to the study of magic. Zardeem killing one hero who came to challenge him, then another, and another. Then the scene slowed to show Zardeem, nearly three centuries later, already a lich. He strolled into Grimcrest, transformed to look like he did before lichdom. His eyes were still blood-red and his hair white, but he looked completely human otherwise.
"You're hovering again, Zardeem," a young woman with wavy black hair and green eyes chastised him playfully.
"It's not my fault," Zardeem countered with a chuckle. "Stop being so beautiful."
"Again with the compliments," she said, standing up from the garden she'd been tending to. "You know my father will kill you if he sees us together again."
"I'm not scared of him," Zardeem scoffed.
"I know," she replied before leaning up, placing her hands on his chest and pecking his lips. "But I hate seeing you two at odds."
"He's probably gonna throw a tantrum when he finds out," Zardeem said. "Shouldn't we tell him sooner than later?"
"I'll tell him after," she replied.
"Amira," Zardeem scolded. "We can't put it off, you'll start showing soon."
"I know, I know," Amira said. "That's why I wanna leave for a while. We can go on a romantic vacation, come back after he's born. Once he sees him, I know father will just adore him."
"Or, he'll hate me even more," Zardeem argued.
"Then he'll need to get over it," she said dismissively. "What, is the big bad lich afraid?"
"Of course I'm afraid," Zardeem admitted. "What if I make the same mistakes my father made? Or worse, what if he makes the same ones I made?"
"He won't, because you'll be there to guide him," she said.
The scene shifted again. This time, Zardeem was holding a screaming infant with white hair and red eyes. Amira lay on a bed in the middle of a luxurious bedroom. She looked weak, but happy. Zardeem sat on the bed beside her and chuckled.
"He's got my eyes and hair, but that face is unmistakably yours," he said proudly.
"Zepar," Amira cooed, reaching out a hand to cup the baby's cheek. "Oh he's gonna be so handsome."
"Yes," Zardeem agreed. He leaned in and kissed baby Zepar's forehead. "We've only just met, little one. But I love you already."
"Z-Zardeem!" Amira screamed.
Zardeem looked up at her and his face paled as he realized the problem. Amira's bedsheets were soaked in blood. She began convulsing on the bed as Zardeem handed Zepar to a skeleton, ordering it to protect him before attempting healing magic.
The scene shifted again. Zardeem standing before Amira's father in the rain. He held an umbrella over a sleeping baby Zepar.
"She is dead," Zardeem said quietly. "I tried…I tried to restore her…but I couldn't." He looked at Amira's father with grief filled eyes. "She came back wrong." He shuddered. "Take him. If there is an ounce of compassion in you, raise her son."
"He's your son, too, bastard!" Amira's father shouted.
"I don't have any right to his life," Zardeem replied. "What happened to his mother is my fault. I should have just stayed away."
Suddenly, Zepar was seated across from Edarin again, his eyes glistening with tears. He would never have believed it had he not witnessed it. His father wasn't some monster, he was a very flawed, damaged man who had loved him before he'd done anything but scream.
"My…" Zepar began, sniffling slightly. "My parents loved me." He wiped the tears from his eyes. "I was never unwanted. Not by the people who mattered."
"I must say, knowing Zardeem's history makes me wonder if his reputation isn't entirely deserved," Edarin said thoughtfully, stroking his beard. "He made many mistakes. Allowed rage and grief to dictate his actions for a long time. But at his core, I believe he is still that boy who can't tolerate when the strong bully the weak."
"I want to find him," Zepar said quietly. "He needs to know he was wrong. That I needed him in my life. I needed his guidance to prevent the mistakes I've already made." He sighed. "And that I don't blame him. That I don't hate him for what happened."
Edarin nodded. "I know a few methods that might work," he said. "But tomorrow. You should rest for now."
"Can't rest now," Zepar said. "I've got something I need to do. And I'm not about to wait three hundred years like he did."
"W-what does that mean?" Edarin asked in confusion.
"What else?" Zepar asked with a grin. "I'm off to see a woman."
Zepar used his magic to reach out telepathically to Aya, finding her in a tavern on the edge of town.
'Aya, it's Zepar, I'm back in Gilramore,' he sent.
'Z-Zepar?' she asked, her voice strangely hesitant.
'Yes. I wanna see you. Can we meet at the Crimson Boar?' he asked.
'I don't know Zepar, a lot's happened in town. There's something I have to tell you,' she said.
'Don't worry, you'll have my complete, undivided attention when I see you. You can tell me all about it,' he replied before rushing out the door to head to the tavern.