The Forgotten Zodiac

"I heard," Kazue said, but didn't make any motion towards the fridge for a while. Finally, he shook his head, going over to open it for the wolf. "Here you are," he said, pulling out a dish. "Take it, pudding's not my favorite," he said.

"Oh, thank you." Ophile took the dish in his jaws, walking over and setting it on the table before climbing up into the seat. He was about to eat when Quinn and Quint finally found them.

"You guys, uh..." Quint started, but stopped, looking at the wolf. He blinked a bit then just stared as Ophile seemed to shrug and started eating the pudding, licking it up happily. He cleaned the bowl in mere moments, then went about licking his muzzle for any scraps.

"I do rather like pudding," Ophile just looked at the others, looking perfectly happy.

Rin ignored the wolf, looking at the twins. "What was it that you had to tell us?" she asked. Kazue looked over, half interested now.

"Er, well..." Quint sighed, running his fingers through his hair.

"Yes?" Ophile tilted his head one way. "Don't beat around the bush."

Quinn was the one who finally spat it out. He spoke quickly, wondering how the others would react. "I have a tracking bug in my chest."

Kazue stood. "Really?" he asked. "Well, someone should get rid of that," he said, sitting back down and going back to looking totally unconcerned. Rin sighed. "Quinn, I could've just gotten that earlier, there were certainly cuts ddep enough on your chest that I could've just reached in and got it," she said, seeming almost angry, an emotion that was not often attributed to Rin. Yule looked worried. "You have what? Oh dear, oh dear," she murmured, hurrying out of the room to go tell Daron.

"Oh." Darius looked up at Quinn. "That's interesting. Can we get it out?"

"No!" Quint shook his head quickly. "It's too close to his heart, if you just reached in and pulled it out, you would have killed him anyways, Rin..." Quinn looked upset, backing up so his back was against Quint's.

"I'm sorry..." He trembled, rubbing his chest. Even though it wasn't really his fault.

Rin picked Quinn up. "It's alright. Don't think that we would hurt you. We just have to think for a moment, I'm sure there's a way to get it out of you," she said.

"How did Borealis get it in without killing you? We can get it out the same way." Cancer shrugged, still not concerned, despite this revelation.

"That's just it, we don't know..." Quint shook his head. "We were unconscious at the time. He told us when we came to...he wasn't lying."

"I would know...I can tell if someone is lying..." Quinn wrapped his arms around Rin's neck, trying very hard not to cry.

"Hmmm..." Cancer turned to Rin. "What kind of surgical equipment do we have here? We could use that... What else did he tell you? Is there anything other than location that would stop it's removal?"

Rin murmured comforting whispers to Quinn while the others deliberated on what to do. Kazue stood. "Someone's coming," he said.

Yule reentered the room, pulling Daron with her. "That one," she pointed to Quinn. "He's the one that has the tracker in him." she said.

Darius glared at Yule. "You say that like he's a thing. He's staying here and we're getting it out. Anything else is unacceptable."

Daron didn't look happy at all. "Why is he still here, then? You can get it out elsewhere, but he has to leave one way or another. You can't keep him here!"

Quinn whimpered. He didn't want to leave, he felt safe here...Quint looked up at Daron, frowning. "He's not going anywhere! I don't care what you say, I won't let you take him."

"He's endangering the lives of thousands, including yourselves!" Yule spat angrily. "He isn't welcome!" she said. Rin gripped Quinn closer, trying to comfort him. Kazue gripped the bowl he was holding until his knuckles turned white, though his face remained emotionless. Was Rin the only one who noticed that even Aquarius was getting irked at the human woman?

Daron strode forward, looking thoroughly annoyed, attempting to pull Quinn out of Rin's arms. "If you lot aren't going to remove him, I will!"

"I would let go, if I were you..." Ophile warned, hackles raised, fur bristling angrily. Daron ignored the wolf, grabbing Quinn by the arms and wrenching him away from Rin, despite Quinn's cries and weak attempts to break free.

Rin jumped up. "You bully! Leave him alone!" she said, appearing near tears. Kazue snapped. "Give him back!" he snatched Quinn from Daron's hands and gave him back to a very grateful looking Rin. His glare returned to Daron, his teeth clenched as his hands shook. There was an odd cracking sound from his jaw, then blood dripped from the corners of his mouth. Rin grabbed Kazue's shoulder and shook him. "Kazue!" she called his name, and he snapped out of it, his hand immediately going to his cheek. "Ahhow.." he murmured. Rin handed Quinn to Darius, taking Kazue's arm and leading him over to the sink. "I told you to not do that..." she murmured softly, wetting her hand and then placing it on Kazue's cheek to heal the tooth he'd cracked. As soon as she was done, Kazue pulled away and left the room, but not before sending another potent glare to the humans in the room.

Darius glared at Daron, then grunted and a clear, though not invisible, shield formed around the two Zodiacs. "You're not taking him. Now, why don't you tell us where your medical supplies are and we'll see if we can get it out. Then I'll take it out of the city and abandon it. Borealis will go there instead of coming here."

"Not if he's already coming!" Daron growled right back, kicking the shield. Quinn hugged Darius, though more out of fear than anything else, still crying. Quint kicked Daron in the shin.

"I told you, Quinn isn't going anywhere!" Quint yelled at him. Daron turned on Quint, raising a hand to slap the 'boy', but Ophile slammed into him a moment later, teeth firmly locked around the human's hand.

Ophile spat him out once Daron screamed. "You happen to be disgusting. I did warn you, though. The Zodiacs are not to be harmed by the likes of you, I won't allow it, human."

Cancer stepped forward and pulled Quint into the shield. "I don't think it matters. Once I have them in here, you won't ever be able to get them out. This shield can take /nukes/." Once he had Quint he began slowly moving toward the main hallway where they had started.