Quoted By:
"I'll, uh...I'll pass too." Tento says, leaving you with just one ride-along.
You grin at Harum, jerking a thumb over your shoulder towards the door. "Alright, let's be on our way then. You kids have fun!" You say, sticking your tongue out at the three that chose to remain behind.
"Kids, huh? You better watch that tongue, or else I'll start calling you da-" Azalea shoots back, prompting you to grab Harum's wrist and shoot off into the sky before she can finish her sentence. Even after all these years, she still knows exactly what to say to make your face go as red as a cherry...
Harum gives you a knowing smirk as soon as the surprise of the sudden liftoff wears off, but thankfully for you he doesn't say anything about it, simply easing some of the effort of flight from you by taking over his own propulsion and pulling away to fly a few feet away from you. Together, the two of you streak across the clear blue skies. If you were going at your max speed, you're certain you could get to Teal Castle in about an hour - but having to match Harum's lesser maximum speed instead doubles the trip's length, taking you a full two hours before you near the familiar mountains.
The sky overhead is cloudy in this particular area, and the snow has built up around the peaks once more. The castle itself is looking fantastic, missing all of the ice trappings it had when you'd originally visited it in your youth. You can see plenty of people moving about in the courtyard from up here, a hustling and bustling life to the castle that gives you a sense of pride and comfort knowing that you're the reason why.
The two of you slow down into a gentle drop right in the plaza's center, a few feet away from the familiar orb holding those heat enchantments over the grounds. Faces both familiar and new look to the two of you in surprise, some of the ones who saw your flight outright gaping at the feat. You can see that a few of them that don't recognize you look ready to panic, but you hold up a hand and smile warmly at them.
"It's been a while! It's me, Honta! Good to see you're all doing well these days!" You exclaim, and the name itself seems to click for everyone that didn't immediately recognize you.
"Honta!" "It's Honta!" "The Hero is back!" "The Demon Slayer has returned!" "Look at the size of that guy next to him!" "He's HUGE!" "I bet he could rip a car in half!" Various voices ring out, Harum shrinking in shyly while you chuckle.
"We're here to see Ahl, everybody! Know where he is right now?" You ask the crowd, and more than a few people point you towards the castle itself. So he's not in the magic shop he used to run, huh? Well, you suppose it wouldn't hurt to say hello to Lord Teal. And...Love Teal, maybe. Alright, that one might actually hurt. You're not sure how ready you are for that meeting, but it'll only get worse if you put it off, so...here goes nothing.
You step up to the castle. Two guards at the door stop you, and one enters alone.
