The Forgotten Zodiac

Arachne moved ever so slightly, her hand flicking out and grabbing ahold of Israel's shoe. She was barely conscious, and breathing something desperately. When Israel leaned closer, he would be able to hear her saying, "Carry me home," Over and over.

Israel knelt and wrapped his arms around Arachne, lifting her up slightly and pulling her into his lap. Any feat of strength more on his part was impossible. "Shh," he soothed. "Verolen will be back soon," he said.

"Do you know where you're going?" Eve called, trailing just behind Verolen as they headed further into the building in search for Byrne and Verdi.

((Aires went to find Byrne and Verdi, Verolen went to save Rush.))

Aries glanced over her shoulder. "Not really." She muttered, looking around. The hallways were pretty much empty, albiet destroyed. She opened door after door, finding nothing but more torture rooms and supply closets. "I'm not familiar with this place, if that wasn't obvious..." She looked down one hallway, feeling much as though she was trapped in a half-destroyed maze. Pieces of the ceiling and walls were everywhere, rubble dust billowing up with every movement. Things were eerily quiet since the crashing had stopped.

Eve shifted into her snake form, flicking her tongue out as she tried to sense where Byrne and Verdi were. She turned at the end of the hallway, smelling blood in the air. Her knowlegde wasn't as sharpened as Verolen or Rush's in this area, but she knew a human when she smelled him.

Aries sighed and followed Eve, opening a few doors along the way. "I really don't know if we'll find anything," She sighed, scratching the back of her neck. "I don't know how Arachne heard music, either. I can't hear anything of that sort, and my ears are pretty sensitive..."

"Thisssss way," Eve spoke, turning down one more hallway and stopping in front of a cell.

The cell was fronted with a heavy iron door, a bar padlocked across it to hold it shut. There was a small rectangular slat about halfway up the door, used for shoving in food and water when deemed appropriate. Inside the cell itself - which, too, was all cold iron - there were shackles with short chains attached between them and to the ground, to be clapped on a captive's ankles. Standing in those shakles was Byrne, his arms hoisted above his head by still more chains to keep him standing. There were numerous cuts on his body, and a tube with a strange, purple luquid stuck into his neck, forcing the substance inside. There was a blindfold over his eyes, and most of his body was caked with dry blood and dirt, but still, he was recogniseable as Dysonious's son.

"Byrne?" Aires took one look at the padlock and drew her foil, using it to try and pick the lock. After a few moments of baited breath, the door was able to be pulled open. Aries moved inside without a second thought, carefully removing the tube from Byrne's neck and undoing the chains around his ankles. "Byrne, can you hear me? It's Aries. We're going to get you out of here. Where's Verdi?" She looked around, not seeing the small Moot. He was in a different room, apparently.

((VERDI IS A MOOT, NOT A CHIMERA! hehe.))

((And did she get the ones on his arms yet? I'mma assume yes.))

Byrne fell foreward at once, completely limp. He took a few shuddering breaths, and whimpered loudly as Aries extracted the tube from his neck. He shakily moved his hands to grasp her shoulders. "Aries? Oh... oh thank the gods..." he whispered. He was shaking horribly, but did his best to stay conscious and listen to her second question. "V-verdi? I... I don't remember..." he whispered.

((I was thinking, to continue along this curve a little while loger after this, that that liquid would make... SOMETHING HAPPEN. -gasp-

No, really, I know, but I think I'll keep it a secret. ^^; ))

((I DIDN'T FORGET. xD

And yes, secrets! : D No spoilers~))

"It's alright," Aires removed the blindfold, standing up with Byrne in her arms. "He has to be here somewhere...Eve, do you remember what he smells like?" She questioned, hefting Byrne a little higher into her grip. "You'll be okay, I have you now," She reassured him gently.

Byrne was shivering as if all of winter had gripped him, and he nuzzled close to Aries, trying to get warm. "I don't remember..." he murmured once again, before fading completely.

"I'll see what I can do," Eve nodded, sliding down the hallway and searching for any sign of the Moot. Her toungue tested the air several more times, trying to detect him.

((Where is your character hiding, Bunbun?))

The moot was actually in a room nearby, stuck in a cramped cage along with a number of other animals. He had an thin tube attached to his arm, pumping a clear liquid into his bloodstream; he was twitching and opening and closing his mouth repeatedly, as though trying to scream but unable to. His fur was shaved off here and there, but otherwise messy and dirty. He had a blindfold on, but he wasn't chained. The cage and liquid were plenty to keep him there. The other animals had similar things feeding into their blood; but they were all silent and unmoving. Poor Verdi actually had a large cat stretched out on top of him. The most that was visible was his little hand, pawing the floor just outside the cage.

"Here," Eve stopped at the door, then shifted into her human form. "I'll take Byrne. Open the door," she said. She shifted the human's weight into her arms, then stepped back so Aries could get to work on the door.

Aries nodded, opening the door at once. She blinked in surprise, looking sadly at all the animals. There was no time to help them all...she recognized the black-tipped fingers at once, reaching through the bars and pushing the limp cat off of her friend. She opened the cage door with the same technique she used on the last one, once again removing the tube with the liquid and picking up Verdi. "Let's go," She nodded at Eve, running out the door already.

Eve hurried after Aries, going as fast as she could with Byrne in her hands.

Bermuda, Israel, and Arachne were right where they had left them, as Israel could not move without being on the brink of passing out and Bermuda could barely lift Arachne, let alone help the siren along. "Good, you're back. We need to-- oh, goodness, is that Byrne and Verdi?" he asked, on his feet at once.

"Yeah," Aries nodded sadly. "They had tubes in them or something..."

"Move away from Arachne before trying to heal them, Bermuda," Verolen said, supporting Rush as they stumbled along. Rush was bleeding badly, an arrow in a bad place of his chest. He was barely walking, much less standing. "I...don't know how we're going to get her anywhere, but...if there are any humans left here aside from Byrne, they're hiding like cowards.

Bermuda nodded and stepped away from the demoness as Israel wrapped his wings around her. He had gone quiet - he was, of course, tired, but he also was feeling an ample amount of guilt for all of this. If only he could've protected arachne better...

"There we go," Bermuda finished healing Rush after extracting the aroow from his chest. He had patched up the internal damage, but left the exterior flesh wound, telling the Chimera that he would heal it after he ensured he had enough energy after healing the others.

"I don't know how we'll get out of here, either. Not only with Arachne here, but I'm running out of power, anyways..."

"I have an idea," Eve piped up. She had sat Byrne down for Bermuda to work on him, and pulled an Ether shard from her pocket. "We'd be out of here, at least..."

Verolen nodded thoughtfully. "Yes. It should work," He said, thinking hard. Finally, he just closed his eyes and nodded. "Okay. As soon as you're done, Bermuda, we'll go. It won't be hard to get back, I have my own Ether shard. I can just make us another portal the second we step foot on ground." He said, though he had a terrible feeling in the pit of his stomach. Sure, he could direct where they would land from his world to this world, but getting there could mean problems...

bermuda nodded and hurried to finish up. He turned to Verdi and closed the wounds on him, then nodded once again.

Eve opened a portal at her feet, and slowly she and Byrne slipped in. Bermuda stepped in behind them.

"Verolen?" Israel held out his hand to the demon, asking for his help in standing.

"Of course," Verolen nodded, taking Arachne from him and pulling Israel to his feet. He helped the Siren over to the portal, watching sadly as it started to cut at the weakly struggling Verdi. He whimpered softly before falling limp again, tears running down his furry face.

Israel dropped to his knees into the potral, holding as still as he could. He didn't want to be any more hurt than he already was. He had held on to Verolen's hand, though, and didn't look like he was going to let go.