The Forgotten Zodiac

Kazue head whipped around, hearing Quinn. "Don't tell me... more?" he asked. He looked around, tensing slightly. His hands formed fists, then relaxed, then clenched again. "I don't like this," he said.

Cancer looked, and instantly drew his sword. He, being the reckless Zodiac he was, charged toward the eyes, not even pretending he had considered stealth as an option. This didn't work out for him.

The body the eyes belonged to jumped forward when caught. One bare hand reached up and gently touched his throat, and he collapsed, writhing. Now that he, for it was a he, was in the light, it revealed a very strange figure. His clothing was mixed and matched, the best pieces he could steal all patched together into the mess that he wore, except for two things, which remained their own. His gloves. Leather, and thick, he wore one on his left hand and held right glove in that hand as well. Once Darius was down, he careful backed back up into the shadows, watching them all in case they decided to try and come after him.

Tyler flinched up next to Rin when he saw the boy, squealing in fright. He grabbed her hand and ran in the opposite direction. "I-It's the d-demon! C'mon, we have to go before it eats us!" Any fear he had shown toward the 'monsters' was nothing compared to the terror of the 'demon'.

"Darius!" Quinn pulled back in terror, eyes wide. "Get up, get up!"

"How dare you?!" Ophile snarled when he saw this, charging forward at once. He stood over Darius protectively, growling threateningly, hackles raised and fur bristling. "You'll pay for that, whatever you are!" He snarled.

Quint watched in shock, pulling Quinn behind him protectively nonetheless.

Rin darted over to Daruis, trying to help him. "Cancer, are you alright?" she asked. "Can you talk? Say something!" she called, touching the side of his face gently.

Kazue turned towards all the commotion with the others, but stayed near Quint and Quinn, just in case.

Lyre smiled, coming up on the group. "They're distracted. Let's get them now," she urged softly.

Libra glanced at Isabella and nodded, then hissed and pulled his hood over his face. His eyes were glowing, never a good thing. He then moved down the trail, creeping up on the others quickly.

Isabella nodded and hurried after Libra, footfalls nearly silent on the path. She slowly pulled a knife out of her bag, a rather long one at that, and continued moving. She didn't have the powers of a Zodiac to protect her (yet), but she was fairly adept with this. After all, she'd had years to practice.

Darius rolled out of the way and stood up again, panting heavily. "Who-who are you?" He gasped. "That felt like..." He stopped, nervously fingering his sword. "Libra. Ophile? This isn't Libra, is it?"

Ophile blinked, looking up at the person again. His senses were confused now; he had no idea who or what this thing was, he was surrounded by Zodiacs already, he knew there were more inbound, and Darius had just suggested that this was Libra. Ophile did the only thing that crossed his mind at that point.

He layed down on his stomach and covered his nose with his paws (his equivalent of a face-palm), wishing that things would start making more sense.

Rin stood alongside Daruis, looking around. "What's going on?" she latched onto Cancer's arm. "What's going on?" she repeated.

Kazue tensed, turning around. He saw the moonlight glint off of a flat, pointed surface, and honed in on it. "Who's there?" he called.

Lyre hung back, so that she could freeze time if it were needed.

Luckily for them, the boy was hugely disgusted by the very idea that he could be Libra. In fact, his entire body twitched at the very mention of the Zodiac's name. "I'm not Libra. I will never be Libra. Freak that he is." His voice was very quiet, almost like he was saying it more to himself than to Darius.

Cancer glared at the creature, wishing he could just lop its head off its shoulders. "You remember Libra's power? The one that made you mad, with the pain-shoving thing? Whoever this is can do that. Whatever that is."

Ophile looked up again. So, this wasn't Libra. Libra was nearby, though...Ophile shook off his confusion to ask, "Why did you hurt Cancer? I do not allow harm to befall the Zodaics, ever! That includes harm from people like you, whatever you are!" He barked.

Quinn was curled up under the covers again, crying quietly. It was still really dark, there were creepy people around, he was horribly confused and terrified that something awful was going to happen at any moment. Quint was still listening to and watching the newcomer, frowning.

Kazue was still staring over his shoulder, the opposite direction of everyone else. He tensed. "Sagittarius? Libra? We know you're around. Which of you has that knife? I see you!" Kazue called.

Igneous went over to Quinn, patting his head. "It's alright," he said. "You'll be safe."

Rin kept a grip on Daruis's arm. "What is he?" she asked.

Darius shrugged. "If I knew, I'd tell you." He looked at the boy questioningly. "What are you?" The direct approach had worked before. Why shouldn't it work now? "You should tell us, you know. It might dissuade me from chopping off your head."

The boy shrugged. "I don't know what I am any more. Ask Libra. He's the one who made me this way." The closer Libra got, the brighter his eyes glowed. At this point, they were fully illuminating Darius and Rin, though the others weren't as showered. Luckily for Libra, the ratio of light to closeness was much smaller on his side, and the hood hid most of the light, though not enough to stop Kazue from seeing them.

Kazue turned away from the 'demon', glaring at Libra. "I see you!" he called again. "Don't come any closer!"

"No, we won't, we're in terrible danger..." Quinn clung to Igneous' arm, trembling.

"Zodiac friends, we're all eager to see you again," Ophile said, very much confused as to why they refused to come out. "What's the point in hiding?" He paused, listening to the demon. "Libra made you that way? Why would he do such a thing?"

Libra rolled his eyes and laughed. "Why not, Kazue? That is you, correct?" He laughed again. "Of course it is, no one else has ever hated me like you, I can practically sense it from here." Whether his comment was taken seriously or not, it bought him time while he kept moving closer.

The demon just stood there, staring into the darkness where he could feel Libra. "Why would Scorpio make you? That is who made you correct? They make us like this to use us, play with us," his voice hardened with anger, "steal from us until they get what they want. Then they toss us aside and never think of us again."

Kazue growled under his breath. "How I feel towards you makes no difference. If you have a knife and intent to harm us, then it's for your own safety that you stay where you are, or I might rip that arm of yours off," he threatened.

Ophile started. "N-no, Sylas made me because he was lonely..." Ophile shook his head. "He didn't 'use' me at all, he treated me like a friend, not a toy! He never forced me to do anything, and I know for a fact that he hasn't forgotten about me." He said firmly, growling slightly. "Now, answer my question! Why would Libra do such a thing to you?"

The demon laughed, harsh and bitter. "Of course he did. He wasn't just manipulating you. Of course not." He glared off into the distance, his harsh squint dimming the glow coming from his eyes. "He did it because he's a Zodiac. By nature they're evil, and he acted according to his nature." He didn't care if his words upset Ophile, they were what he believed to be true, and he certainly wasn't going to lie to avoid upsetting someone. Especially not about that lying freak of a Zodiac Libra.

Libra glanced at Isabella and raised an eyebrow. "He certainly sounds grumpy, now doesn't he? Kazue, I'm not holding the knife. You know perfectly well that if I intended to harm you, I could do so perfectly well on my own. As I'm sure you know, there's a simple human traveling in my company," he glanced at Isabella and grinned, knowing how quips about the supposed inferiority of humans bothered her, "and she tends to be worried about her protection, especially as we have no more idea what is going on in your camp then you do in ours."

"Not from that far away, you couldn't hurt me," he said. Kazue laughed. "I have no idea what's going on over here, either. Now, who else is with you? I know there are three," he said.

"Zodiacs are not evil! While it's true that they act to their natures, that by no means makes any of them evil! Do not think you can turn me against my masters, I shall not be swayed so easily!" Ophile barked angrily. "You who insult and spit on the name of the Zodiacs, you may not go unpunished! Die!" He snarled, pouncing at the demon, snapping furiously at the thing's neck.

The demon simply stepped out of the way, deep into the shadows and probably would have been hard to find, but his eyes were glowing golden. "Libra is evil." He said insitently. "It wouldn't surprise me if the devil stories were related to Libra." He made no move to attack Ophile back, as he didn't believe the wolf to be his enemy yet. It was just... Confused. "I suppose it is possible for your creator to be kinder, but you can't convince me that the Zodiacs are all good. After all, Borealis is a Zodiac, and look what he's done to the world."

"You knew who I was, I'm sure you know the rest!" They had reached the bottom of the hill by this time and were approaching the camp faster now, as they were walking on flat ground. "Lyre and the human, not like you didn't know that."