Hellbound With You

"Whoah!" Kyle rose noisily in surprise when Zeres appeared in the kitchen. His eyes rounded out at the sight of the now short-haired Zeres. Even Lucas who was facing the stove turned around at Kyle's exclamation and was currently looking as surprised if not more than the young vampire prince. "You cut your hair!" the boy exclaimed.

For some reason, even though Zeres now indeed looked much more handsome than before and so fresh to the eyes, the young prince was a slight bit disappointed. Maybe it was due to the thought that he had where Zeres' long and silver hair lent him that fascinating and so magical aura around him, that in his eyes, Zeres was actually an ethereal being which was disguised as a witch. But now that his long hair was gone, Kyle personally thought that his otherworldliness had been dramatically reduced. Of course, he kept that thought to himself.

"Queen Alicia did it," came his short response and Kyle blinked, taken aback at that revelation.

"She didn't force you –" Lucas butted in almost immediately after Zeres explained how his hair came to be that way.

"I was the one who forced her to cut it." Zeres cut Lucas's words off before he could utter more, obviously not pleased at what his red-haired comrade had said about his queen. Kyle observed that and was glad he kept his thoughts to himself. It would be a very bad idea to tick Zeres off.

"Oh, right." Lucas showed both palms to Zeres in surrender and apology before turning around and putting his attention back to the food on the stove. "Now come over and help me out a little here. I definitely can't ask His Highness to wash the dishes and I'm so busy manning the stove, so you do it." he gestured to the sink with his lips and all eyes fell on the stack of dishes that were piled up in the sink.

Zeres moved towards the sink obediently without expression when the young prince blocked him. "I think I should be doing this. I am the youngest one here after all." The boy said, causing Lucas to whip his head towards them.

"Your Highness! Please, just take a seat." The cook exclaimed, his face inexplicable.

"It's fine Lucas. Really. It's even more unacceptable to have Zeres wash the dishes, you know!"

"Your Highne –"

"Would you ever tell Alexander to wash the dishes?"

Lucas was instantly silenced for a while before he answered. "Of course not. How would I dare ask Alexander? Not unless I am looking to die."

"Then how could you ask Zeres to wash the dishes? I'll do it. It's not like washing dishes kills a prince." Kyle started to fold his sleeves up. "I personally think that washing the dishes is an honorable task." He added with quite the conviction as he finally approached the sink, leaving Lucas dumbstruck.

Quietly, Zeres had already walked up to stand next to the young prince's side. "Wait, please –"

"I also want to be part of this honorable task you have mentioned..." The witch stated simply with a small smile.

And thus, the two began washing up. A moment later, something broke and Lucas whipped his head towards them. His brows scrunched together as his face darkened at the sight of the broken glass on the floor.

"I'm sorry," Kyle said sheepishly, as he quickly bent to gather the broken shards.

The next second, another similar sound echoed, and Lucas again whipped his head to look at them. It was Zeres this time who ended up breaking a bowl. Zeres only looked up at Lucas, hands frozen in the air and eyes blinking innocently as he glanced at the red-haired who was now wearing a grim face.

"I'll be more careful with the next one." Zeres said even though the big man did not make a single comment at all. While Kyle was setting aside the broken shards, he accidentally knocked another glass Zeres had placed at the edge of the sink and another familiar crash echoed through the kitchen.

The young prince and the silver-haired witch stiffened. Their heads slowly turning to look at Lucas.

Before they knew it, they were gently but firmly pushed out of the kitchen, the door slamming shut in front of their faces. They could only blink at the door and turned to look at each other, sweat dropping.

"I think I must show more respect towards Lucas from now on." Kyle said and Zeres immediately nodded in agreement. Both silently agreeing in their hearts that Lucas was a warrior above warriors to be able to conquer both battlefield and the dangerous terrain called the kitchen!

…

It was already night in Alex's country when Zeke finally arrived at his destination.

Alex and Abi were in Abi's family house that night, so Alex and Zeke had to bring their discussion outside the house. Zeke quickly brought Alex up to speed on everything that has happened so far.

"So, you're saying there's really no other way out for him? Has he exhausted all other possible options?" Alex asked, his voice grave as he stared at the lights coming from the windows of Abi's parent's house.

"You must not forget that you failed to die even after seeking death for thousands of years, Alex." Zeke replied, leaning leisurely against the tree and staring at the dark space above them. "It's always a given that it will never be easy for an immortal to seek death. And that's why Zeres has decided to resort to that. He knows it's the only way forward. And he has already made up his mind. I don't think anyone can stop him at this point."

A long drawn out sigh escaped Alex's lips. There was a troubled look in his eyes as he remembered the past. He would never, ever forget that time where Zeres had sacrificed himself for him.

"Give me a moment. I have already talked to my wife about this, so I won't take long." Alex then told Zeke and he returned to the small but warm house not far from where they were standing.