Hellbound Heart

"Who is hiding?" The silver-haired man replied with an arch of his brow. "I just got here too, Alex."

Alexander crossed his arms in front of him and stood in a very relaxed posture. "And where have you been all these while? And I see that you're alone... where is Iryz?"

"I can't believe you're immediately jumping at it and interviewing me like this the very moment we met again." The man named Zeres sighed. Just like how she had reacted the very first time she met Alicia, Zeres' out of this world features made Elle unable to help but stare. She knew it might be rude of her doing so, but the visual impact he made was just amazing!

"Well, fine then. Here..." Alexander spread his arms wide at Zeres, causing the silver-haired man to blink at him. Other than his eyes, there was no other movement.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh, stop playing hard to get, Zeres. Didn't you want a hug first and foremost?" Alexander smirked playfully, gesturing at Zeres to jump into his arms.

The ethereal-looking guy just gave Alexander a deadpan look before turning his attention to Elle, completely ignoring Alexander's mischievous goading. It's obvious he was quite used to the man's ways over the long years they have known each other.

"Hey... hey... what's with that attitude now, Zeres? You can stop acting tough in front of Elle. She's family... She'll understand. I know you missed me..." Alexander continued, but Zeres simply tuned out the other man's voice and acted as though he was deaf to Alexander's voice, as he continued looking silently at her again.

Just one look at them both in that moment had Elle immediately felt that both Zeres and Alexander must be really close friends. They exude the air of two men who have known each other for the longest time ever.

"Hello..." Zeres greeted Elle with a beautiful gentle smile. "I'm Zeres."

Elle smiled back before giving him a greeting nod. "Nice to meet you, I'm Izabelle."

"She's Sebastian's wife." Alexander butted in, uninvited. He sounded serious again.

Due to Elle's focused attention on the silver-haired man, she noticed the way his eyes stretched a little upon hearing that she was Sebastian's wife. It was as though that news was utterly shocking to Zeres. Which was something surprising to Elle because no matter how she looked at it, Zeres' reaction was not just the normal kind of surprise. It was like there was more in his reaction that carried the impression that he knew more serious things.

"Oh... I see..." Zeres said, his tone sounding light and natural before smiling again. That surprised look was completely gone now.,

"Uncle!!!" Alexis' voice pulled at everyone's attention. And then the boy executed a perfect landing with only the thump of his shoes hitting the ground. His eyes were bright as he looked at Zeres. "I didn't know you're coming too!"

The silver-haired man looked slightly stunned for a moment before he approached Alexis and fondly ruffled the boy's hair. "How did you grow so fast, huh, Alexis?" he asked. His eyes and smile turned even softer. "You were just a tiny little baby the last time I saw you!"

Alice and Azy on the other hand, made a soft and quiet landing behind Alexis in the next second. Both their grey eyes looked up at Zeres with surprise.

"Uncle..." Alice said and Zeres immediately dropped to his knee, spreading his arm wide towards her in silent invitation. The little girl dashed forward and jumped into his embrace without hesitation.

While Zeres was busy enjoying his reunion with the twins, Elle's attention was pulled to focus on Azy. The boy did not approach Zeres and just stood there, quietly watching the siblings welcome and got all excited over their Uncle Zeres.

Though she could not see even a tinge of expression on his adorable face, Elle could no longer bear seeing him just stand back and watch as though he was not a part of it.

"Hello, Azy. I'm back again." Elle waved her hand at him. The boy looked at her and his face brightened up.

"Azy! Come here." Alexis went to grab Azy's hand and led him to Zeres who now had his attention on the quiet boy. "You were so small when uncle was still visiting. But you still remember him, right?"

Azy stared at Zeres for a long while before he finally nodded, surprising Elle and Zeres as well.

There was a tinge of sadness and regret that momentarily flashed across Zeres' eyes before he lifted his hand and ruffled Azy's hair. "Have you been well, little guy?" he asked. His voice sounded incredibly tender.

When Azy nodded, Alexander spoke.

"We better get going. Everyone's surely waiting impatiently now." Alice immediately ran to him, grabbing her father's hand as they walked ahead of them hand in hand.

"Want to ride on my back?" Zeres asked Azy and Alexis. But the boys both shook their heads, causing Zeres to raise a brow.

"Azy and I will be sprinting ahead!" Alexis said and with just a tacit glance at each other, the two boys disappeared the next second.

"Those two think that they're no longer children." Alexander told Zeres as a wry smile curled one corner of his lips. He then breathed out a long, slightly unhappy sigh. "I didn't want them to mature too quickly... but it seems that I can't do anything about it."

"Well... you always knew your children are different from normal kids, even compared to us both when we were still children. Those two are born with immense power and that's definitely a huge influence on their development." Zeres replied calmly and rationally.

"Right. Makes me a little uneasy every time I think of it." Alexander's voice drastically changed into something almost sullen. "I wish there's a way to at least bind or lessen their power. At least only until they have grown up."

Zeres smiled at Alexander. "Don't worry too much, Alex. I'm sure everything will be alright. They have amazing fathers like you and Kiel after all."

Alexander whipped his head towards Zeres and was about to say something when he belatedly realized that Elle was right behind them, quietly following. Clearing his throat, Alexander turned his gaze ahead again. "Well... I can only hope that Zeke's returning very soon for Azy and Alicia's sake. He's been gone for way too long. That guy..."