The Forgotten Zodiac

"That's okay," Verolen smiled, moving past Quay to put Aires in the infirmary. He returned in moments, looking down at Quay curiously.

Sylas moved towards him to explain. "We were in Oceanica when you were...not...you. Quay got mixed up when we tried to warp back, and we haven't warped him home yet. He's a Selkie, so don't worry. We didn't bring along any Naiads."

"We need you to do the water basin trick," Bermuda said, handing over his sending stone. "See if you can find Verdi." Quay blinked at Bermuda sending stone. "The Moot? I'll try," he nodded, heading into the infirmary. He filled a wide, shallow basin with water and dropped the stone in. He muttered a few words in the Oceanid Tongue, then said, "Verdi, the Moot." Instantly, the water began to bubble as if boiling, then when it cleared, it reflected the sight of...

Dysonius. The sending stone was apparently on his desk; he was flipping through a book, not even noticing the glowing stone on his desk.

"H-he's still alive?!" Sylas yelped. Indeed, Dysonius did look a bit scraped up; his arm was bandaged as thought it had been broken, but otherwise, he was very much alive. Dysonius jerked his head up at the sound, then grinned at the sending stone.

"Oh, good. I was afraid you wouldn't be able to contact me without your little rabbit friend. Glad to hear you're alive and well, Sylas." Dysonius snorted.

"What did you do with Verdi?!" Verolen demanded.

"Sold him. That musical little bunny got me quite the pretty penny. A whole bagful of 'em, at that."

"Sold him? To who?"

"Hey, hey, buyer's-seller confidentiality. I don't have to tell you anything."

"What about Byrne?" Sylas frowned.

"I sold him, too. I don't need such a disobedient son getting in my way." Dysonius shrugged. "Now then, if you don't mind, I'm quite busy..." He picked up a cup and moved to put it on top of the sending stone, so they couldn't look at him anymore.

"Hey!" L'arc shouted into the basin, shoving Quay aside. "What do you think you're doing, you little..."

"He can still hear you," Bermuda reminded. L'arc bit his toungue and grumbled something, Bermuda looked to Quay, and the two seemed to have a silent conversation, and then Quay moved towards the basin, reciting something else in Oceaning. The stone in the water glowed bright, then the image of the interior of the mug vanished, leaving the still peculiarly glowing stone in the bottom of the now clear water. Bermuda pulled it out and stuck it in his pocket. "Thanks Quay, you're been a big help..."

"Of course, Prince," the selkie smiled.

Verolen looked angry. "I don't know who Byrne is, but we have to save Verdi. Who would buy the poor little moot? Oh no, what if they made soup out of him?" He looked up at the others. "How on earth are we supposed to find him?!"

Rush started pacing a bit, frowning slightly. "How to find them..."

((Is your story curve. xD))

"It's alright, it's taken care of," Bermuda said, patting his pocket. "Well, at least, we can find Dysonius. It's another property of the of the sending stone, you can use one to find another," he said. "So I can use this to find exactly where Byrne's father is."

"That'll get us started, I guess..." Verolen frowned, looking at the others. Rush looked exhausted, and Sylas was patting his empty stomach, trying to get it to stop making noise. They needed rest, not more trouble...

Bermuda seemed to notice. "We can leave tomorrow," he said.

Sylas let out a sigh of relief. He wanted to help his friends, surely, but it would be no good if he passed out before they even got there! Rush felt the same way, sitting down on one of the beds and rubbing his arm absentmindedly. The marks were still on his palm, though they weren't glowing anymore. Even though Bermuda had healed him and Eve had dissolved the scales, for some reason...it felt like they were growing back. It was painful. At least it was just his arm...

Aires jerked awake, sitting up quickly the second she realized she was back in her own body. She looked at the others, and frowned a bit. "You guys look like you just fought an army!"

"They did, in a sense," Verolen pointed out.

Bermuda nodded faintly to Aries. Gabe leapt into her arms. "Mommy! Is it really you?" he asked.

Aries hugged her son tightly, beaming brightly. "Yes, yes, it's me. I'm back." She giggled, holding Gabe close.

Gabe nuzzled her shoulder. "I missed you," he said, smiling up at her.

"I missed you too," Aries said, smiling still, though joyous tears were forming in her eyes. Sylas moved off to find some food, while Rush pulled a blanket over himself, sighing heavily.

Bermuda moved off into the hallway, apparently heading for the sanctuary. L'arc leaned against the doorframe, watching Gabe and Aries.

Israel was wandering down the halls. "Verolen? Are you back yet?" he called.

Verolen looked up sharply as he heard Israel. "Israel!" He called back, getting up at once and rushing to greet his friend. "Israel, it's me! I'm not mean and horrible anymore, that was a different guy in my body, but I'm back now!" He said excitedly, grinning widely.

Israel gave a wide smile, though he didn't follow most of what Verolen was saying. "Really? Good! I'm happy to see you!" he said, tilting his head and closing his eyes as he smiled.

Verolen grabbed Israel in a hug, grinning ear to ear. "It's great to be back. Did you miss me?"

"Of course I missed you! Where did you go?" ISrael asked, returning the hug by wrapping his wings around Verolen. "I was worried. I was looking for you, but Minori said you left. So I waited."

"It was terrible! My father tore my soul out and put it in an amulet, then put some freak in my body! Sylas found me and Eve was able to talk to me, and there was a big fight, and now I'm back in my own body!" Verolen grinned, pulling away a bit. "Where is Minori? I need to tell him!"

((Would Verolen know about Kazue's not-alive-ness?

Was that before or after the curse thing?))

((...I don't remember. You decide.))

Israel looked faintly confused, but nodded when Verolen's storytelling time was over. "He's in the throne room. You should tell him," he agreed.