The Forgotten Zodiac

"Eltanin's...boat? Why were you on a boat?" Verolen blinked. "I was on a boat? Ech...now I'm a little glad that I wasn't actually there. I could have drowned...and drowned. And drowned. And...well...you get it."

Israel nodded. "I liked it there," he said. "I liked the ocean."

"...Oh. Well, um..." Verolen scratched the back of his neck. "Maybe we can go back someday. But we've gotta save Verdi, and this Bryen kid, too. When were we going to do that, by the way?"

"What happened to Verdi and Byrne?" ISrael asked, looking suddenly distressed.

"Byrne, right." Verolen blinked, then thought. "Apparently, Dysonius sold them. So we've gotta go find them both. I hope nothing happened to Verdi..."

Israel looked worried. "Not Verdi! Someone might try to eat him!" The Siren grabbed onto Verolen's arm. "When do we leave? Where do we go? How can I help?" he asked in rapid fire.

Verolen seemed a bit surprised, but he didn't pull away. "Um, I dunno, whenever all the others are ready. As for where we go, I think we were going to go hunt down Dysonius and make him tell us where they are. You can help by coming along?" He suggested, shrugging.

Israel nodded quickly. "Yes. Yes, I'll do that," he said. He flexed his wings once, the looked back into the Sanctuary. "I'll be in there. When the others are ready. I'll be here."

"Alright," Verolen nodded. "I'll go see if the others are ready yet." He turned and raced off, or tried to. He promptly slammed into Manny a few feet away from the Sanctuary. For a plush doll, Manny was firm on his feet. Verolen tumbled to the floor, winding up face-first on the tiles. "...Ow..."

"Oh no! I'm so sorry!" Manny wailed, picking Verolen up and setting him back on his feet. "I-I'm sorry, I just...can't find Eve, and...and...I'm kind of lost..."

Israel went back inside the sanctuary and sat down against the wall.

Meanwhile, Bermuda was coming down the hall, finding Verolen and Manny. "You're looking for Eve? She's not in the Sanctuary?" he asked.

"No," Manny frowned, shaking his head. "I can't find her, and it's bad..." He dropped his arms to his side, pouting still. Verolen jumped back a bit. Manny blinked at him in confusion.

"Can't you like, eat other people's magic? I've died too many times for that to happen, I'd be looong gone." Verolen backed away, shaking his head.

"I don't...eat magic. That's strange." Manny shrugged before looking back at Bermuda. "Please, help me find Eve?"

"All right," the Nereid sighed. "Just don't come too  close, okay?" he said, then started off down the hallway.

"Right," Manny nodded, following Bermuda and Verolen, though keeping his distance like they wanted. Which, he really didn't understand, but...he did it anyways. Because they might not take him to Eve if he didn't.

Bermuda plodded down the hall. "Eve?" he called.

"Mommy?" Manny called too, though he had no idea why he thought to call Eve that. "Where are you?"

"Not in the sanctuary?" Sylas blinked at them as they rounded the corner to find him sitting against the wall, eating his fruit contently.

Bermuda smiled slightly when he heard Manny call for Eve, but said nothing. "No, she's not. Have you seen her?" he asked.

"I can't say I have," Sylas shrugged. "Sorry. Check the kitchen, maybe she's making a cake or something." He smiled a bit at the thought. It had been a long time since he had cake. The last one he remembered was for Verolen's 94th birthday. That had been good.

"Might as well," Verolen shrugged. Of course, that hadn't actually been him at the time, so he remembered nothing of that event.

((VEROLEN MISSED HIS BIRTHDAY. 0.o ))

Bermuda started off down the hall. "Have you ever been here, Verolen? When did you get replaced?" he asked.

"Of course I do," Bermuda nodded. "That was quite a day."