Like a magnet they're drawn to him, awed and humble, too shy to approach. His presence alone is dominating, by power. Regardless there is a gentle, loving aura he exudes, and it seems to calm their restless, worried thoughts. Just as when they had first met he is so large, seeming to encompass everything around them, though Cera supposes that in literal terms, that's true. Age has treated him well, though, and the Lord of the Wilds is no longer so massive to him physically. Instead, he is large and spacious in his heart, held in the highest esteem. It may not mean much, to be worshiped and trusted so faithfully by one so insignificant, but for all Cera's doubts, he had never once faltered in his devotion. All the faces of the crowd are just that- faces. Except one; a golden boy with curled horns and a sheepish face. He sings through soil and tree, muscle and sinew, and together they create harmony. Cera was forever jealous of Hototo, but it had numbed into an acceptance that he barely recognized, it hid so well within him. Like a disease.

But the joy and love that swelled inside was just as pure, and it battled that feeling, easily triumphant. Hototo was larger of build, yes, and with age he would far surpass Cera. Still, Cera was older- not that he felt like it, with their differences in personality most days. But...had Cera, too, not changed? He was no longer the same bright-eyed colt that had crashed and burned with Hototo on that grassy knoll with Midas. Was it time he finally assumed the role of an older brother? Would he do it justice, when he was the heart to Hototo's mind? The emotion to his strength? Cera had so many doubts, he had already confessed to it earlier, but this was one of his many larger ones. It plagued his mind constantly, driving him mad with the inability to find the answer.

They were silenced when his name was spoken, and Cera lifted himself from the warm sun-baked earth, endless limbs unfolding like a blooming plant, and he turned to face his treasured brother. So relieved and at-ease with the presence of the Lord not far from their sides, his smile comes easy and warm as the summer orb overhead. "Hototo," he breathes, and it is a lyric so full of love and affection it is like a tidal wave that rushes through every lilt of his speech. Warm, dark nose touches sun-bleached ivory shoulder, and Cera gives a soft, happy laugh as he turns his crown to press his velvet nose to Hototo's cheek. "I as well, brother. It has been far too long! Have you been well?" Instead of the fatherly concern Midas might have spoken this with, Cera speaks in a fashion meant for the two brothers, with curiosity, worry, and a dash of teasing.

Reaching out to lightly tug upon Hototo's mane with his lips, careful not to bite with his teeth, he playfully nudges and pulls at him gently. "Look at you! You're so different! Oh, I've missed you so much Toto, I'm so glad you're here!" and if he throws his wing across the shoulder of his brother, should it be allowed, could anyone blame him? After so long in darkness, and with Midas' disappearance earlier in the season, he did not want to lose another precious person. Hototo was too important to him, if something ever happened to his brother...Cera mentally shook the thoughts away. For now, he would enjoy simply being reunited with his brother.

The moment is broken when Hototo's father calls upon him, and Cera walks beside him, though his shoulder is even with the other youth's flank out of respect to the meeting, to offer his support. Cera knows this procedure well, and Ilaria flicks her soft tail against his spine with a flooding sense of love and affection, because Cera had only ever quested for one thing- her companionship. When Hototo's face became slightly troubled, Cera reached out to press his cheek to the dark blue-chocolate hide of his brother's flank, emerald gazers peering in concern at his familiar caricature. "I will be happy to help you on this quest, if you want it, brother." Nothing would take him from Hototo's side, now that he'd finally found the right path on the spinning compass inside of him to find his way home to him once more.