Relax... by any means necessary!

[alexanderthegreat]

Alexander had almost looked stunned at first as Zeke laughed at him, but at the same time he was happy to have made him feel better.

He then yelped as the bird came flying in, watching intently as it dropped its message with Zeke and then taking off. He was curious, though when Zeke passed the note to him his face fell. He'd almost forgotten this whole time they were out that they were waiting for an attack and that things were going to get worse before they got better. Here he was just slapped back to reality and almost panicked, knowing that he shouldn't be out here and that on his way back to the castle he could be ambushed at any moment from traitors or spies who kept hidden within the king's magical barrier.

"...You're leaving," he said, keeping his words short with the hope of avoiding sounding upset, though to his dismay something very obviously heart-broken still leaked in his voice as he spoke.

[Zeke Omoihake]

Zeke looked back and forth between the magic seal and Alex. His eyes eventually fixated on the seal. This is it. If he's going after Profeta, it must be something big. But... A look of determination came over him as he rose from the bench and stretch out a hand to Alex. "I promised you a great day out, and it doesn't end till I get you back home safe. Let's go." Zeke's other hand reached back and pulled his brush free from the fine silken clothes he was wearing. Without a word from him the brush soared off through the tent, once more causing the occupants of the tent to freak out.

"Your chariot awaits sire." He said, looking the smoothest and most heroic Alex had probably ever seen him be.

[alexanderthegreat]

Indeed, quite heroic that it stunned Alexander, his eyes widened as Zeke got up and extended his hand to him, leaving him speechless. He was sure he wasn't the only one who didn't want it all to end, though sadly it was time for them to go back to being serious and getting on with their duties. At least it had been fun while it lasted, and for that Alexander had been thankful for it, though it still left him wishing for a little more time either way, as it would.

"Very well, Sir Zeke," Alexander smiled a little, impressed, and grabbed his hand. He got to his feet and was just about ready to go back to the castle, get final preparations ready for the war and finally say goodbye to his friend.

[Zeke Omoihake]

Zeke pulled him by the hand while the white bird followed them out of the tent and into the twilight sky, realizing it's task was complete. Pulling back the long sheet a few people stood gock-eyed at his brush as it whirled in the air, creating their ride back to the castle. With a final long swipe, Zeke focused and brought it into existence.

The "chariot" was indeed that; a centurion styled cart with it's outreaching arms connected to two white stallions. As Zeke pulled Alex into the cart, he looked around as if checking to make sure everything was there. With a facepalming action Zeke groaned, "Oh, seatbelts. Right." As he took the reins his brush slipped around them, drawing in a restraint belt that kept them fixed to the cart.

"Hope you've flown before Alex." he said with a smirk. Zeke hadn't had much planned out for the day, but this was his ace in the hole from the get go. With a snap of the reins the horses reared back and began to ride through the town square. As they built up speed the two stallions unfurled a pair of wings and began to flap them softly. In a move that would have been cliched to even the most leisure of movie goers Zeke waited till they seemed about ready to run into a building before he pulled tightly back on the leather straps, and took them into the air.

Everything, from the way the winged horses moved to the straps and bindings that kept everything together had Zeke unable to do much else beside concentrate on the task at hand. Flying over the hills and sprawling plains inbetween Lux Lucis and Solar Castle their travel time was much shorter than when they'd left, and before they'd even had much a chance to enjoy the ride the towers and parapets of Alex's castle loomed on the horizon.

"I think of everything, I'm going to miss you the most Alex. More than this world, or my powers, or all the excitement this place brings. You were the best friend I ever had here." Zeke said as he looked onwards to their destination.

[alexanderthegreat]

Alexander had given Zeke a very uncertain look before they even took off, answering his flying question with "...no...?"

Needless to say, the young king was quite startled as the horses launched into the air with their wings--recall that this was also after he'd just had a panic attack thinking they were going to drive the cart straight into a wall to start--now he was up in the air and was even more jittery than before, almost afraid they were going to fall out of the sky.

It was uncomfortable and scary, not necessarily because of the height they were at (come on, the guy sat up in the highest towers of his castle and enjoyed the sight) but the feeling of not being on solid ground and still being so high up. It definitely took him a moment or two to at least settle down and by then the castle showed up before them. His uncomfortable stare at the ground below soon became his usual composed look as he sat up straight and for a moment, actually started to admire the colourful scene around them. Santo-Luce always had nice sunsets, just the right (to Alexander, anyway) oranges and reds, a pale splash of mauve and blue, and a lovely cool breeze that blew over the sea if you were on the beach.

He smiled listening to Zeke, replying shortly after, "It's pretty flattering that you'd miss me more than this world, Zeke, or even your powers--I mean, look at what you can do with them! But it means a lot to me, so I thank you."

"I'll be missing you a lot, too. I can't even tell you how much I've gone through this whole past year, everything from losing dad, becoming the king, leaving the Sumata, the drama in the castle...everything's been so crazy. And just when things started getting really bad you showed up," his smile widened as he continued to speak, "things haven't been easy but it certainly has felt much better to have someone be there with me for it and I don't know how I would have done without. For that I thank you, Zeke. Really. You've been wonderful and it hurts to say goodbye, I sincerely wish you could stay."

[Zeke Omoihake]

The winged stallions reared in the air as Zeke pulled on the reins, drawing them down near the castle walls. The guards were as vigilant as ever, and something as gaudy as Zeke's chariot would draw attention, and perhaps worse arrows. The creatures circled the area as they flew close to the ground below, setting them down a hundred feet or so from the secret entrance they'd used to get out of the castle.

The sudden change of events weighed heavily on Zeke's mind, so much so that he didn't really know what to say. His optimism failed him here, as Zeke could find no sunny side to this turn of events. He couldn't think of a pithy remark, or any way to change this to being anything other than it was, a final goodbye.

In the end words didn't seem to do it at all. Zeke let the straps on the chariot vanish and led Alex back down to solid ground. Pulling him in tight Zeke wrapped him in a tight embrace. This time he didn't care how it came off as he enjoyed holding Alex, his embrace lingering longer than it probably should have. He only let go to reach into his pants pocket and retrieve the teleportation seal. Without a word of farewell or good luck Zeke crushed the seal in his palm, releasing the magic held within it. His last sensation before he vanished for the final battle in their long struggle, was Alex hugging him back.

It was the best goodbye he could have hoped for.

[alexanderthegreat]

Alexander's arms promptly wrapped themselves around Zeke after he'd been pulled in, trying to match the tightness of Zeke's hug. Something about this whole thing seemed to click slightly differently to Alexander though he was still so confused as to what; it was everything from the overly flattering things Zeke had said from the way he hugged him. He was starting to get that weird feeling again, the very embarrassed, light-hearted, silly one and it was annoying now only because it mixed itself in with the hurt of letting his friend go. Perhaps if he held on for as long as he could as tightly as he could things would change and he wouldn't have to go.

Suddenly Zeke's warmth was gone and it was right out of Alexander's hands that he disappeared. That was it. The only thing that he had left was the other man's distinct and comforting scent that soon enough also disappeared on him as he stood there. Alexander sighed heavily as he turned to find his way back into the grounds and into the castle as the sun fully set.

Luckily Holmes was the first person he ran into once inside, whom of which was only too delighted to see the young king until he noticed he'd a.) come back alone and b.) looked even more disheartened than when he'd left earlier that day. Almost as though he were taking on the role of the boy's father Holmes neglected to be his professional self as he put an arm around the blond boy and asked, "Alexander, what happened?" It almost made Alexander cringe, now feeling worse as he picked up on the other man's worries.

"It's not really as bad as you might be thinking. Come, I'll tell you about it--I could really use some tea anyway."


[END Y/N I ASSUME Y]