Just after asking his question, Zeres suddenly appeared before all of them. Alex was surprised, seeing that Zeres had actually came out and was now looking a little less broken than how he was when he disappeared with Alicia's dead body earlier on. Though he still looked wretched, somehow, there were little signs of him showing some life within those deep eyes again. What had happened? Something major must have transpired for this kind of change to occur in him. And Alex hoped that it was a really good something.
The thought that this man had just found out something he needed to fulfil came to Alex's mind. He was all too familiar with the kind of pain Zeres was going through right now and Alex remembered the past again. He remembered that after he had buried Abigail's body, he too, went to fulfil her last wish and that was to kill Lexus. If not for his pain of losing her driving him on that time, Alex thought it might not be possible for a mortal like him to kill the dragon back then. His pain had driven him to do the extreme and he only continued living and fighting because of that one purpose.
Looking at Zeres now, Alex suspected that the same thing must be happening to him now. He seemed to have snapped out of his despair much quicker than he had ever expected.
"Zeres…" Alex approached him but before he could speak any further, Zeres' hoarse voice echoed.
"I need all of you to leave the forest now." He said, rendering the vampires gathered there speechless. "Don't worry. I'm not going to do anything anymore." The weariness in his voice was apparent and though his eyes were still cold and a little lifeless, Alex could tell that he was not telling a lie and that he meant what he said.
"You're saying that… you're not going to try and die anymore?" Alex spelled it out clearly to double check, just to make sure if what he heard was right.
Zeres' stared back at Alex for a long time before nodding without any hint of hesitation in his eyes. "Yes. You heard me right." He confirmed and everyone fell silent again.
Now this was unexpected! What a twist. Alex thought. Because he knew that Zeres had truly made his decision. No matter how unbelievable it was, he just knew that this man would never lie about something like this just to send them away.
"Mind telling us why you finally decided to stop now?" Ezekiel's deep voice echoed suddenly, and everyone's eyes flew towards him. He met Zeres' gaze and continued. "Is it because of Alicia?"
Another long silence reigned between them as Zeres and Zeke stared into each other's eyes. No one could tell what silent communication was made between the two as their silence stretched for a while longer.
"Yes, you're right." Zeres admitted after taking a deep breath, "it's all because of her. I will live…" his voice cracked a little before he cleared his throat and continued his explanation, "I'll continue living in this damned god forsaken world… just for her. Just for her…" He whispered the last statement, seemingly like a promise made to himself.
The bystanders could not help but feel sad for him. They realized it was not because he finally came to terms with himself and gave up his desire to die but because he was actually forcing himself and the saddest thing was that he sounded like it was because he did not have any other choice. He was doing this for someone else and not for himself.
And for some reason, everyone felt as though he was saying all those just for Zeke to know.
"I see…" was all Ezekiel replied in his usual calm voice and unreadable expression.
Alex finally let out a deep sigh and he patted Zeres' shoulder. He could not tell him he did the right thing when he knew he was forcing himself. Moreover, Alex knew there was no amount of comforting words that could relief him right now.
But he needed to know the matters about Alicia and her funeral. Aside from the fact that the witch queen had been such a great ally to them and even helped him and Abi in many ways before, Alex was worried about how to bring this news to his pregnant wife. How would Abi react to this news of her friend's passing? He was certain it would devastate her. He could only hope it would not adversely affect her and the baby she as carrying.
"How about… the queen's funeral?" Alex finally asked, "Once my wife hears about this, I am certain she'd be devastated. I must at least bring her to see Alicia for the last time. Alicia's been my wife's good friend so the witches can't possibly not let her come pay her final respects."
When Zeres took another long period of time to form any response, Alex spoke again.
"If you're thinking about not giving Alicia any proper funeral or banning all non-witches from seeing her, forgive me but I'm going to insist, and I won't agree with you no matter what reasons you will be giving. I will still be bringing my wife here to see her." Alex said. He knew he might be being too forceful, but he just believed that whatever the reason, depriving Alicia's friends and even them the chance to see her for the last time is definitely something too inconsiderate.
Zeres stared at Alex mutely. But a moment later, Zeres sighed, as though he suddenly felt an intense wave of fatigue crash over him. He wearily nodded at Alex.
"I know, I know…" he finally said. "But we will arrange everything first. For now, I need all of you to leave the forest first. Just please wait for my message before you barge in here. And this applies especially for you, Alexander."
Alex's expression finally became better and did not take offence to Zeres' pointed warning at the end. "Alright, we'll all leave for now…" Alex then said, "My wife will be in Reigns castle by tomorrow. So don't make us wait long."
