The Forgotten Zodiac

"Sorry," Quint blinked at Cancer a bit, shaking his head. "I just...was saying..." He sighed, taking Igneous' hand. "That would be ideal, thank you. Quinn probably needs carried, though..."
"It still hurts," Quinn sniffed, nodding.

"I can carry you," Igneous offered. "After all, I'm the one that knows where we're going."

Cancer finished bandaging Quinn and put the supplies away. "I can carry him. You just lead." He lifted Quinn and and smiled at Quint. "What're you apologizing for? You were just saying, I was just saying. Who's getting mad? I'm too thrilled to get mad right now, I finally found someone else!"

Quinn winced a bit, wrapping his arms around Cancer to make holding him a bit easier. "Thank you," Quinn smiled a bit, closing his eyes and resting his head against Cancer's shoulder. So tired...
"Of course." Quint nodded, grinning. "I'm glad we found you, too. And of course you, Igneous. I'm sorry we had to be found in such a state, though...we barely got out with our lives intact..."

"Oh, that's perfectly understandable. With the world the way it is... Most of the survivors come in in worse conditions than this..." he said. "But anyways, follow me. The palace is in the center of Obelisk," he said, leading the way down the narrow streets. "Obelisk isn't very big, you guys will find your way around quickly. Not that there's a reason you'd have to leave the palace," he added quickly, pausing every few feet to check over his shoulder that they were keeping up.

"But anyhow, people are going to be so happy that you're back! I know I keep saying that, but it's true. Do you know..." he hesitated a moment, but asked the question on his mind. "Do you know if the other Zodiacs are alright?"

Cancer shook his head. "I haven't heard anything about the others until today." He grinned. "Of course, today, it's not like I heard anything anyway. I just got lucky and found you two. One. One Zodaic, two people. Three. I'll just say I found you three."

Quinn was threatening to pass out in Cancer's arms, Quint stumbling every few paces. "No...sorry, Igneous, there's no possible way we could know. And ha-ha, Cancer, we're just two, not three. Two halves to a whole, it's not all that difficult to understand."

"What do we have here?" A tall man stood in front of him, a frown on his face. He was lean and fit, with close-cut black hair and, of course, pale skin. His eyes were blue-rather, eye. One eye was covered by a small black eyepatch. He wore plain black clothing that was trimmed with gold, and heavy boots. A large sword was strapped to his back, his own specially-made sword.
This was Daron, the second-in-command of the entire Obelisk City. "More survivors, Igneous?"

"I think he was including me in the three," Igneous said. He looked up. "Oh, Daron. No, these aren't... well, yes, they are survivors but they're... very... special ones."

"Special? What could you mean?" Yule strode up, looking over the three newcomers. "Are you implying that..." Igneous interrupted the leader of the city. "They say they're Zodiacs." Yule's green eyes widened. She smiled widely. "You are? Well then, by all means, come in. This way," she said, motioning to the path that lead to the palace.

“I don’t believe this. Is it truly possible? That we could be the only ones left?”

“It’s not. There are others. They’re close now.”

“How can you be sure, Rin?”

“You know that I can be sure. I can feel them nearby,” Serenity, or Rin, looked up to the man whom she was speaking to. Kazue paced back and forth, amber eyes scanning the ground. Rin stood, going over to him and taking his face in her hands. She smiled slightly. “Don’t tell me that you actually care,” she said softly, trying to read the expression on his face for some hint of emotion. There wasn’t a trace of one. He pulled away from her, the sudden, quick action causing his ash white hair to fall into his face. He brushed it back with a smooth flick of his hand.

“I just don’t wish harm on them,” he said. “And, it would be to our advantage if they were alright.”

Rin nodded, used to Kazue’s brisk manner. When she’d first met him, she’d found nothing more pressing then to crack his hard outer shell; no one could put up a wall like that if they weren’t hiding something. And, as the Zodiac Pisces, it was just Rin’s nature; she couldn’t stand to see anyone in pain. She had spent many nights sleepless, worrying over things, the well being of her companions… even now, there were dark circles under her deep blue eyes. She’d lost sleep recently over the others. But now, she could just… feel it. There were more. They were close.

Kazue watched the expression on Rin’s face shift into the one he recognized there often. She was thinking about something that worried her. As the Zodiac Aquarius, he wasn’t supposed to care. At least, he didn’t think so. But this was Rin. She was always so worried over others, and their emotions, and how what her actions caused them to feel… It almost made him feel… guilty. He sighed again, watching as she returned to the small pond and sinking her feet back into it, fidgeting with the white lilies in her blue hair. It was what she did when she was thinking. Kazue shook his head, leaving the courtyard of Obelisk's Palace. ‘I have to get out of here,’ he thought. ‘I’ve been spending way too much time with her.’

"No, I wasn't. They are two people, but one Zodiac. Two and one makes three." Cancer glared at Igneous. "We don't /say/ we are. We /are/ Zodiacs." He then grinned and followed Yule down the path to the palace.

Quint blinked in surprise. Were these humans in charge around here? "We are indeed Zodiacs. I would give you proof, but in our current state..."
"Zodiacs..." Daron seemed shocked, but he bowed a bit as they passed, catching Quint as the boy nearly fell over yet again. Daron helped him walk toward the Palace.

"I can prove it." Cancer swung one of his swords out, spinning it around, then aiming it at his stomach and jabbing inward. The blade bounced off harmlessly and he nearly dropped it, then held the sword out to Daron so he could ensure that it was sharp.

Yule smiled. "Oh, I believed you the first time. Igneoues hardly ever lies," she says. "He's a Saggitarius," she nodded, adding that as if it were proof enough. She led them up to the stone doors, pushing her way thrugh the black entryway. The doors opened to a grand hall, with many doors like the one at the enterance (black, but smaller) going off to the side. The room was illuminated by odd glowing crystals, they apparently were florescant or something of the sort, and a few torches provided even more light. There was a large stairway right before the group, made of white alabaster. The floor was covered in white tiles, unlike the rest of the houses in the city, with just made do with the floor of the cave. The room was tall, and it seemed that it had pretty good acoustics; one could hear now, footfalls coming their way from down the hall. Only a few moments later, a figure appeared at the top of the stairway, peering down at the newcomers with his peircing auburn eyes.

"Oh." Aquarius looked down at them. "Cancer. Gemini. Glad to see you in one piece." Kazue's voice was monotone, as always.

Igneous coula hardly believe his eyes. The palace was so opulent and ornate and.... and just plain big! And, who was this at the top of the stairs? Could it be that there were more Zodiacs already here?

Cancer shrugged. "He might not, but we might. You don't know us. Maybe we're terrible liars. Maybe we're cannibals. We could be anything." Cancer turned to Aquarius. "Hello, Kazue. So glad you were worried about us."

"Are you?" Kazue asked, a smirk playing at the corners of his mouth. "You're wasting your gratitude. Rin was worried, though. She's out in the courtyard."

Igneous spoke up finally. "Yule, who is he?" he asked, looking to the leader of the city. Yule smiled. "He's Aquarius," she said. "Pisces is here as well," she added, watching as the human boy's eyes widened. "There are more?" he asked. Yule smiled and nodded.

"We're not cannibals, Cancer." Quint sighed a bit. "Kazue? Rin is here, too?" He smiled widely. "Thank goodness...Quinn, wake up, look at where we are!" Quint looked towards the boy still in Cancer's arms. Quinn was out cold, sleeping peacefully. "Oh. He'll see later," Quint sighed, smiling a bit regardless. "It's good to see you again regardless of whether you worried, Kazue."

"But we might be. Or we might be soul-eating vampires. There's not telling with these things. I make it a habit to always ask for proof of everything."

((Someone should call him on that.))

"Do you now?" Yule asked, looking to Cancer.

Kazue came down the stairs, taking Quinn from Cancer. "Here, I'll take him to Rin. She can patch him up," he said. Igneous was still looking around in an astonished stupor.

"Of course I do." Cancer held his straight face, despite the fact that he asked for no proof for Quinn or Quint's identity, or anyone elses'.

"You didn't ask either of us for proof," Quint pointed out, moving to follow Kazue. He couldn't be separated from Quinn, it would be practically torture for the both of them. They'd been through enough torture already, as it was.