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"A-mu, I think we\'re goin\' about this the wrong way," Sebastian told him. Each face in the group was wore matching grim expressions, their worries compounding for every hour that passed without finding the missing Alka.

"How so?" Artemus responded. He was still calm but it wasn\'t going to remain that way for longer since the sun was setting. A light orange glow appeared in the sky. Seeing it put a frown on the anti mage\'s face.

"Why don\'t we go back and look for clues where Alka disappeared? We can\'t do that when the light fades, A-mu."

Artemus seconded the idea. If Alka had just wandered off then they would have found him already. He crushed the hope he had for catching up to whomever or whatever had whisked his brother away. Even Akida was having no luck despite surveying the forest from the sky.

"Let\'s go back and comb the place."

___

"Oh my god, Alka, just- ugh"

The plant mage\'s creamy cheeks were squished between Qairu\'s fingers. He was attempting to force open Alka\'s mouth as a consequence of the mage\'s obstinate refusal to drink the antidote while starting to show signs of a toxin buildup.

"Please, just drink it. Come on!" Qairu insisted as he pried open Alka\'s mouth. For his efforts, the priest was bitten on his finger. Taking swift opportunity of the gap that appeared when his finger was wedged between Alka\'s teeth, Qairu dumped the entirety of the antidote into his mouth. To his relief, Alka swallowed the liquid and gave him a look that was equal parts murderous and irritated.

"This is why we had to break up," Qairu told him with a sigh. "You\'re so difficult sometimes, Al."

The plant mage was surprised by the priest\'s admission. He hadn\'t realised there were other reasons beyond Qairu\'s ambitions or the fiance that his family had yoked him with.

"You kidnapped me. And you expect me to co-operate with you while I\'m your prisoner? I think not."

"No, that\'s not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?"

"You would rather die than drink the antidote, Alka. Just to spite me. Isn\'t that how it always was when you got mad at me?"

The conversation that they couldn\'t have during the break up was happening right now. Maybe the setting was a bit odd, maybe it wasn\'t wise to antagonise Qairu under the current circumstances of being the man\'s prisoner; but Alka was out of fucks to give.

"Then why didn\'t you just man up and tell me that instead of hiding behind the excuse that you had to marry someone else, you dimwitted priest?" He snapped at Qairu. "You led me to believe that our break-up happened because you were getting engaged!"

"What did it matter?" Qairu retorted, trying to stay level headed in the face of Alka\'s anger. "The outcome wouldn\'t have changed for whatever reason I gave you! Damn it, Alka. I hoped that it wouldn\'t hurt you so much if you thought it wasn\'t the relationship that was the problem!"

The both of them stared at each other. Anger suddenly deflating, Alka just felt sad for the both of them.

"Being separated for so many years made me forget how stupid you are, Qairu," he replied, voice softening as he remembered the fights the two of them had had in the past. His ex-boyfriend had always been very accomodating of Alka\'s demands, going even as far as smuggling the corpse tree seed for him.

"How is it stupid?" Qairu said in an offended way. "The outcome-"

"The outcome isn\'t the only facet of a breakup that should matter," Alka interjected. "You didn\'t even stop to think about fixing the problem."

"I did but at that point in time, there was a lot on my plate and very little time for mending a fractured relationship."

"So..we weren\'t worth the effort. I wasn\'t worth the effort."

It didn\'t hurt anymore, Alka realised. The closure liberated him. And he couldn\'t entirely blame Qairu because the plant mage was self-aware of his various shortcomings. Mistakes had been made and one of them had bowed out of the relationship. He only wished that Qairu would have been more honest about how he had felt rather than just blaming the break up on a third party.

"Al-"

"Untie me," the plant mage wearily demanded. "I won\'t run away."

"It\'s not that you weren\'t worth it-"

"I don\'t want to talk about this anymore, Qairu. Save it for another day because I\'m emotionally drained."

"Sorry," Qairu responded after a few moments of vacillation. "For not being honest with you. And for the kidnapping too."

Qairu hadn\'t intended to keep Alka confined for long anyway. Since the plant mage seemed to have calmed down considerably, he decided to just free him. Dragon\'s Hold was on a wintry mountain peak, accessible only through treacherous mountain roads that had to be negotiated with the right climbing gear. He didn\'t fear the plant mage\'s escape, not that he thought Alka wouldn\'t try it anyway. Qairu hoped that his ex-boyfriend would allow sensibility to dictate his decision-making process when he saw how dangerous the slope looked.

"This is about Artemus, isn\'t it?" Alka asked the priest as he untied the knotted rope around Alka\'s wrist.

"Yeah."

"An enemy of his?"

"I wouldn\'t call him an enemy."

Alka wondered about the person who had called for the kidnapping. Sure, they\'d had a bitter break-up, but Qairu wouldn\'t kidnap him if it endangered either Artemus or himself. But Alka also questioned the feelings that remained after the years they\'d been separated. Maybe Qairu had changed and he didn\'t care what happened to the siblings so long as he benefitted from it.

"Will my brother be okay?" He asked the priest as he rubbed his sore wrists.

"No harm will fall upon either of you. He.. the person who had me kidnap you just wants to keep your brother busy for a while."

Alka raised his brows at the priest. "Busy. Looking for me?" He was a distraction then.Â

"Yep." Qairu hadn\'t intended to tell Alka about it but he was unable to keep his mouth shut. He didn\'t want the plant mage to worry.

"So all I have to do is wait here and you\'ll release me when..."

"When Artemus finds you."

"Then you should have just told me that from the start."