[Otto's POV]
"NOOO! MOMMY! YOU CAN'T GOOO!" Eva wailed the next morning.
"But, Eva, I'll need to be in the world of the living if you want to be born to me," Otto tried to reason with the girl. She went quiet for a full second before her eyes flooded once more with tears.
"But I'll miss you!" she cried. To her surprise, Annabelle pitched in. Tapping the little girl on the shoulder to gain her attention.
"I will miss her too," she said as she held her arms open for the girl to run into. Little Eva broke out in a new fit of hiccups and gratefully accepted the comfort Annabelle offered.
It could be Otto's imagination, but she thought she'd seen Annabelle blink a tear away of her own.
Next to her she noticed Jack pull Alex in a short manly hug.
"Please don't loose the book of the living?" Alex said a worried frown furrowing his brow. "That's a really powerful tool, if it ends up in the wrong hands-"
"Alex! Seriously! I'm over four thousand years old and you are not my dad anymore. So stop worrying, will you?" Jack interrupted Alex's precautions lecture. Otto chuckled at the annoyed face Alex made.
"Is that so," he said in a menacing tone. "You won't need me to explain how it works then?"
At least Jack had the decency to look ashamed.
"No, I would like an explanation," he said. "But give me the short version anyway."
Alex chuckled and wrapped an arm around Otto's waist as she'd come over to join their conversation.
"Honestly, it's quite simple," Alex said. "I added an enchantment to the book written in Ancient Egyptian. Read it out loud and the book will teleport you to earth. Heck, if you learn the spell by heart, you don't even need the book itself. But remember, you'll be teleported to the exact coordinates on earth as you are here. So if you want to arrive in our little town, you'll have to stand in the same place we arrived in."
"Oh yeah, sure," Jack muttered. "Quite simple, he says. Written in Ancient Egyptian, he says. I haven't freaking read or wrote a word in Ancient egyptian in two thousand years!"
"It's like riding a bicycle. You never forget it," Alex countered.
"But I can't ride a bicycle," Jack complained with a crestfallen expression.
"Getting cold feet are we?" Alex challenged, but Otto stopped him.
"You can still come with us, you know?" she said. Jack instantly flushed bright red.
"Don't tempt me," he mumbled disheartened. It was clear he really wanted to. It made Otto wonder what could possibly be so important that he'd stay behind for it.
"Bless you," she said instead, hugged him goodbye and pressed a featherlight kiss to the side of his forehead. "We'll miss you. So don't take too long, ok?"
This time, a lopsided grin appeared on his face. But just as sudden as it had appeared, it morphed into a pout and he turned away to hide his face.
"Damn it!" he cursed. "I promised myself I wouldn't cry."
Alex patted him on the shoulder and smiled understandingly. Then he took Otto by the hand, turned around and walked a few paces away.
"Has everyone said their goodbyes?" he asked in a loud voice. He was met with someone yelling "Yes!" loudly and others mumbled thing like "Do you really have to go?"
When everyone fell silent, all curious to see what would happen next, only little Eva's wailing could be heard and it nearly broke Otto's heart.
"I'll take that as a yes," Alex said as he looked one last time over the crowd and then turned to Otto. "Are you ready?"
Otto couldn't say anything. Her throat was choked up and tears were burning in her eyes. So she stepped into the circle of Alex's arms and he picked her up princess-style, before unfolding his wings and with a few mighty flaps, they were off.
"Goodbye!" Otto yelled on top of her lungs, as the others faded from view.
Where it had taken Jack and her several hours to walk to the little valley with the inn, it barely took Alex a few minutes to fly back. They landed in the wildebeest-field, Alex tucked his wings away and put Otto gently to the ground.
"Ready to go home?" he asked one last time and when Otto gave him a determined nod, he said: "Great Oak Tree, Keeper Of Gates, please grant us permission to return to earth."
Otto nearly jumped out of her skin when the world seemed to answer: "Permission granted. Start teleport?"
"No, I'd like to change the arrival time."
"Yes, when would you like to arrive?"
"Twenty minutes after I arrived here."
"The new destination has been set. Would you like to start the teleport?"
And as soon as Alex said "Yes." a bright light enveloped them both and she was back in the park, in the exact same spot where she had vanished.