The Forgotten Zodiac

((I was thinking the same.))

Kazue looked back down at Rush. "It's Lotis," he said. "You're Minori's older brother. Apathy's twin," he threw in. He looked away. "If I couldn't protect you then, least I can do is help you out here and now," he nodded, a determined light in his eyes.

LSO looked up. "As long as he's still breathing," she nodded.

((Great minds think alike, I guess. And yay, you get to make stuff up to answer his questions. :T))

"Lotis...Lotis?" Rush frowned. The name wasn't familiar at all. "Wait, Apathy's twin?! But that..." He shook his head in confusion. Then questions arose. "Do Minori and Apathy know? What kind of Manakete was I? Do I still look at least a little similar to before I was changed? Why did the Phantom take me, anyways?"

VPS looked between Kazue and Rush, listening. LPS sighed, sitting down. "So, are we just going to wait? I don't like it...they could be closing in on us right now. Everyone knows where Rush is, he's like a beacon...Even the most minor function would be able to sense Rush rather easily..."

((I've decided on the order of things, in case you hadn't noticed, and I finally bothered to tell you all about it.

Overseer > Operator > Glitch  > Unit  > System > Function.

Overseers are the most powerful, what they do being the most important and vital for the Library's survival. Operation Overseer would be the biggest, LSO would probably be right under him, AO being a couple steps below.

Operators are less powerful, but still pretty strong, as the Library uses them for important things. WO and KO, for example. They're powerful and the Library, as a whole, would not work without them.

Glitches would be like Lydia and Kazue; not actually part of the Library, but inside it regardless. In Kazue's case, though, he'd be higher than the Operators, but still a step below Overseer. It depends on the Glitch, though, as Lydia is actually below Systems. Yep, she's pretty weak and pathetic, in actuality.

Unit = Militia. We'll see them later. Think like clones. Most of them would be named Primary Law Units, with the exception of the captains/commanders. Those would be Special Law Units. PLU and SLU. Whee.

Systems are used by the Library often for assorted things that may or may not be vital to survival; LPS is more powerful than VPS, as LPS is more important to the Library's survival. There could also be an Absorbtion System or a Library Stabilization System, and they would work under and serve AO and LSO, respectively.

Last and least, Functions. Unimportant to the Library's survival, they've got the least amount of strength and power. VCF is probably the very bottom of the food chain, as he's unimportant to the Library, and not all that important to the Vessel's survival, either. In actuality, anyone here has the power to get Rush back to reality. He's just the only one who knows how to do it.

That's how lucky he is to have gone up against the OO and come out in one piece. I'm gonna go make a chart for this now. You should be able to see a pattern, though; the ones with more use to the Library as a whole and the Library's survival are the biggest and strongest. The Vessel comes second to the Library, as you can see. So just having these many people on Rush's side is pretty big. :T))

"Then I'll take him off somewhere, if that's what you want," Kazue looked to the others, placing a hand on Rush's shoulder to indicate that he would answer the questions later. "So VCF and VPS could rest here in peace," he nodded. "If you would like that, I can protect him," he said.

((my thought on that is that, okay, while LSO is strong, she is expressly forbidden to take sides or fight. It would cause her to lose her focus on just holding the place together. Well, she would only side with whatever was best for the Library.))

((I agree with that. -nodnod-))

VPS looked like she were about to refuse to allow it, but she sighed. "Alright. Watch out for Units. You might be stronger than them, but their strength is in numbers...and be wary of OO, no doubt WO and KO have already gone and told him what's going on..."

"Take him to the Vessel Sanctuary. As long as VPS is alive, no one can get in there but her and the Vessel. I'm fairly certain it doesn't apply to Glitches, though." LPS nodded. "It's dead center of the Library. You'll know it when you see it..."

"Wouldn't they be guarding that area?" AO frowned. "It's too predictable. We shouldn't risk it..."

"I can't think of a place Rush would be safer at, though." LPS pointed out.

Kazue nodded. "I'll see if I can get him there," he said, turning to Rush and motioning for him to follow as  he headed out the way they came.

Rush nodded and stood, waving a bit to VPS as he passed. "Can you answer my questions now, Kazue? I don't mean to be a bother, but...this is the first time I've heard of any of this..." He frowned a bit, watching as the platform started descending again to let them up.

"I can't remember all of them, you'll ahve to repeat yourself," Kazue said. He strode up the stairs, waiting at the top for Rush to catch up with him. "What questions did you have?"

Rush took a breath and tought back, trying to figure out which questions he had asked. "Um...do Minori and Apathy know about me being their brother? What type of dragon was I? Why did the Phantom take me, and how? And...uh...I can't transform into a dragon, can I?"

"Apathy might have figured it out. She's very intuitive, and she may faintly remember you," he answered the first question. "You were like her, a Dark Dragon, same as your mother," he nodded. "The Phantom took you because of my own negligence. And, I doubt your body would be able to handle such a transformation, your blood is so dillute, you don't even need to carry around a dragonstone to survive." He spoke slowly, making sure Rush caught all of what he was saying.

"You never bothered to tell them?" Rush frowned. "I see...what about why? Why did the Phantom take me? It couldn't just have been for me to become his little lab-rat, could it have been? I've been picked at and played with my entire life...like a toy for that wretched 'king'...why did you never try to save me, either?"

"I thought he had killed you," he said. "Why tell my other children about someone who didn't exist anymore?" he mused. "But I'm glad to find that I was wrong," he said, looking down at Rush. He then sighed. "I have no idea why you were the target... I mean, you would've been the crown prince, it was probably something in the Phantom's own personal agenda," he said.

"I see..." Rush sighed. "This is all insane...how am I supposed to tell the others? If I ever get back, that is...I'll just appear unconscious, to them, won't I? Are we really going to try going to that Sanctuary place? AO said it was dangerous...what are Units? How long have you been down here?" He realized vaguely that he was probably asking too many questions, but he was confused..."

In the real world:

"Are we ready to go yet?" Verolen asked, frowning at the others. Rush was still fast asleep, apparently. Sylas was watching from underneath the mat, gradually coming back to normalcy again. Pretty slowly, but he was coming to, at the very least.

"I'm not sure. You have that to figure out for yourself. And, I figure, as long as there's a safe place for you to be, we should try to get you there, shouldn't we?" he answered with a question of his own. "And don't worry about the Units. I've been in here long enough to know that I can take them," he said.

Israel nodded up at Verolen. "I've been ready for a while," he said. Bermuda finally sat up, rubbing his eyes. "What? What are we doing?" he asked.

"I suppose you're right...I guess I just have to trust you, huh?" Rush smiled a bit up at Kazue. "Thank you, by the way. For answering my questions, and helping me..."

"Good." Verolen nodded at Israel. "We're getting ready to go, that's what. We're putting all these Selkies in danger just by being here, we need to clear out. We can rest more when we get back to the Manakete Palace."

Kazue smiled. "YOu're welcome," he said. "My son."

Bermdua picked up his staff. "Warp away?" he asked, prepared to do so.

Rush blinked a bit, realizing that he'd never been called that before, that he could remember. Ever. It was strange, being called that now. He wondered vaguely if Kazue was telling the truth, but he couldn't think of a reason for Kazue to lie... "How do you know?" He asked, tilting his head a bit one way. "How do you know that I'm really your son? When did you find out?"

"No, not yet, not everyone is ready..." Verolen shook his head. "Rush! Get up!" He nudged the Chimera thing. No reaction, of course. Verolen frowned.

"When I got here," he said. "Your entire history is recorded down here, you know. I was interested, so I read," he said.

Ashkii tapped his foot impatiently. "We don't have time for this," he said. "Let's just go on. He can transport while he's sleeping," he said.

"Oh." Rush blinked. "So you know what happened, with the Naiads..." He shivered a bit, putting a hand on his chest. "That wasn't fun...a-anyways, that reminds me, I was in here before. Why didn't you come then, before all this started happening?"

"Fine." Verolen frowned, sighing. "Fine, whatever. Let's just get back to Minori and maybe I can sleep without something bad happening."

Kazue put a hand on Rush's shoulder. "Well, I hadn't exactly decided what I was going to do," he said. "I mean, what I would say to you."

Ashkii nodded, instructing those in the group to get as close as possible so that it would require less focus to trasport them all. Israel jumped slightly. "Wai--!" he started, but by then they had already warped. They arrived in front of the palace. Israel sat there was a stupified look on his face. Slowly, he unfolded his wings from around him, to reveal what he had been holding; a newly startled awake Quay.