The Forgotten Zodiac

Arachne quickly calmed down after that, nearly falling asleep. But not quite. They were still in danger; however exhausted she was, she forced herself to remain awake. For that matter, steel bars were not comfortable to sleep on. At all.

Israel ran out of song a short while later, and feel silent. His eyes had begun to glaze over with fatigue and his vision had clouded, but he too knew the danger of losing consciousness. He wondered for a moment or two if the bars might break under duress of an attack in his raven form, but knew that he didn't have the energy for a transformation. He sighed, only hoping that he and Arachne would be found soon.

Aries was leading the way, Rush alongside her. They were the leaders by unspoken consensus, as the group knew that they two of them were possibly the best trackers. Bermuda had pulled out his Cryliliedad tome and was running over the incantation in his mind, not knowing when they would need to fight and knowing he should be prepared. Eve was on her guard as well, scanning the trees for signs of an ambush.

Aries was following the tracks made by the recent passage of a carriage; Rush was following the direction the fuzzy spot of magic was. Verolen was close behind them, looking perhaps a bit angry, but more worried than anything. He was a bit cold, at that; a chill was already creeping into the breeze.

"L'arc was right," Bermuda said offhandedly. "He probably wouldn't have been able to come up here with us."

"Shh!" Eve scolded, pointing ahead to where a large building loomed, situated on the crest of a hill.

"Well, that was easy," Aires remarked, scratching the back of her neck a bit. Without warning, an arrow landed mere inches from her feet.

She and Rush started running almost immediately, Rush taking to the sky and going far to the left, swooping around. "Come on," Aires called over her shoulders. "Rush is making a distraction! If we stick to the trees, we should be able to make it up to that building!"

"I hope he doesn't get hurt..." Bermuda murmured, before hurrying to followe Aries's orders. He flipped open his tome, preparing to use it at a moment's notice.

Eve followed right on Bermuda's heels, motioning for Verolen to hurry up.

Arachne had finally fallen to sleep, resting uneasily in the midst of heat and pain. Finally, after so long in the hot and empty room, someone came in.

Holding a tray of objects that were quite clearly meant for torture. Serrated knives, scalpels, the usual. The man looked up at them and snorted, seeing that Israel was still awake. "Well then, perhaps you'll just tell me - although I doubt it - ...where might I find a certain set of princes? Oceanid, Demon and the Forest prince, all travling together...and since you happen to be the demon prince's servant - and sister - you're bound to know where he happens to be. Tell me, then!"

Israel whimpered, staring at the tray the man held. "Arachne's asleep," he said. "She can't answer your questions," he tried, shying away from the man. "Who are you? Let us out! Leave us alone!" he said, trying to sound braver than he felt.

((Your so much better at the bad guys than I am...))

((Bad guys are cool. o3o))

"Hmm...no. And I think I would be able to wake her up, don't you?" The man set the tray down on the floor, picking up the serrated blade. He took aim for a brief moment, then threw the blade upwards. Arachne screamed as it hit her back, awake in an instant. She reached through the bars and held her hand out towards Israel, desperately needing comforted. But she wasn't anywhere close to getting it as her cage started moving downward as the man lowered the chains.

"You won't tell me, then...she'll pay the price for your silence. Oh, don't worry one bit; I won't kill her. I'll just make her scream enough to make you deaf." He snorted as she whimpered when the cage hit the floor, driving the knife further into her spine. It had been a good throw. And thanks to the damage caused to her nervous system, she couldn't move anymore. Her limbs just...locked up. Tears slid freely down her face in flows.

"St-stop hurting her!" Israel jolted slightly, throwing himself against the bars of his cage, despite the pain he felt at moving. "I don't know where they are! But they wouldn't abandon us! They'll be here, and soon you'll..." he didn't seem to know how to finishe the sentence, so he stopped talking altogether.

"Wrong answer!" The man snorted. He opened the cage, and dragged Arachne out, then picking up his scalpel. He traced a small line all the way around her leg, around the center of her calf; fresh blood welled up from the shallow wound, and Arachne closed her eyes tight as the man picked up what looked like a small hatchet.

The wall exploded only a mere moment too late. Verolen charged in, easily blocking the swing from the axe and cutting into the man's chest. Arachne screamed the entire time, copious amounts of her precious and needed blood spilling absolutely everywhere from the stump that used to be her foot. She stopped pretty quickly, though, as she fell unconscious from bloodloss.

Bermuda trailed in just after Verolen, his heal staff glowing. As soon as he approached Arachne, though, the glow quickly faded. "W-what?" he stammered, shaking the staff over her uselessly. "Verolen, I can't--"

"Master!" Israel nearly fainted with relief. "Verolen, I t-tried... but I... Arachne..." he stammered, looking to be on the verge of unconsciousness himself.

"Calm down," Verolen shook his head, taking hold of the chains and starting to carefully lower Israel's cage to the ground. He opened it at once, then moved over to Arachne. "I know, Bermuda, stop trying," He shook his head, looking at the two of them. "Fire. I need to cauterize the wounds to stop the bleeding..." He said quietly, looking almost sick as he carefully removed the knife from Arachne's back. "Now! Bermuda, I need bandages for the cuts that have already stopped bleeding, and what I wouldn't give for a revitalizing potion right now..." He knew how strung for time they were. It was only a matter of time before Rush was either injured or they realized he was only a distraction, and--

His thoughts were interrupted as the golden swirling tentacles of the Library crashed through the wall Verolen hadn't broken. It grabbed the still-twitching human and slid back out, leaving them to care for Arachne. Verolen watched in shock, though he knew exactly what it was.

Nevermind about the time thing, then.

Israel stumbled over to Verolen, grabbing onto his cape as if being in contact with the demon brought him security. His legs shook badly as he tried to stay upright, but did not speak about his own condition as he watched Bermuda and Verolen hurry to save Arachne.

"Bandages? Where am I supposed to get-- Hold on, this will work," Bermuda quickly undid the clasp holding his cape on, and began to rip the fabric into strips. "Help me out here, Israel, we need to hurry!"

Aries grabbed up what he could find; a torch that had been hanging on the wall. It was enough. She passed it to Verolen. He quickly got to work, bringing the flame to the bloody wound. He was careful not to let the flame lick the undamaged skin, but the cut tissue, arteries and veins needed to be burned. He did so immediately, hardly hesitating for a second. The bleeding stopped thanks to that, though the damage was obvious.

Next was the knife wound in her back. Verolen surrounded the wound with his cloak, leaving just enough space for him to cauterize the stab wound. He gritted his teeth as he and Aries started wrapping her plentiful wounds in the makeshift bandages. Verolen turned to Israel with the last of them, giving his friend a comforting hug.

"Bermuda, we need to get out of here," Verolen said the moment he broke away from Israel.

An ever-so-quiet moan from Arachne distracted him. Verolen said her name, moving forward quickly. He put an ear close to her mouth. "Say it again," He half-demanded.

Arachne did, her voice tiny and breathless in his ear. "The music is so loud..." She merely murmured before coughing weakly and going limp again. Verolen repeated her message to himself, frowning.

"Music?" He was clearly confused. There was no music, just the smashing of the Library's destruction of the building.

Israel whimpered as he listened to the crashes reverberate through the castle. "Can we leave?" he asked Verolen quietly. Bermuda was shaking his heal staff, trying to make it work so he could heal Israel, but knew that such would have to come later - they didn't have time now.

"I don't know." Verolen shook his head. "We don't have Rush, and then there's this music matter...you were with her before, Israel, did she say anything about music?" He asked, turning and picking his sister up. She seemed awfully frail at the moment, and as light as ever.

There was suddenly a scream of pain that shot out through the noise, and the crashing finally stopped. "Music...Verdi plays music, doesn't he? And if the music is loud, he must be nearby somehow..." Verolen didn't noice, starting to pace with his sister in his arms.

Israel watched Verolen pace, a look of worry on his face. Bermuda looked across the room, where a door was. "We could look," he suggested, but it seemed he was leaving the final decision to Verolen.

"We should. But we're running out of time..." Verolen sighed, nodding once. Aires started forward at once.

"What are we waiting for then? You get the transportation spell ready, I'll try and find them!" She called over her shoulder.

"I should...try and help Rush..." Verolen said, shaking his head and setting Arachne down at Bermuda's feet. He charged out through the hole in the wall, prepared for battle.

"I can't transport with--! And they're gone," Bermuda glanced down at Arachne, shaking his staff again. "Work..." he murmured.

Israel whimpered, watching as Verolen ran off. He didn't want the demon to leave, but it wasn't like he could go after him.