The Forgotten Zodiac

"Hush now," Aries chided him gently. "We mustn't speak bad of the dead. He was your dad, after all...you would not be here without him. And that would be sad for all of us."

Byrne nodded and sniffled again quietly. "Y-Yeah," he murmured. He leaned over and rested his head on Aries's shoulder. "I'm... tired," he said quietly

"Go ahead and rest," Aries said, rubbing Byrne's back with her free hand. "You'll be okay..."

"Thank you, Aries... for protecting me," he said softly, beginning to drift off on her shoulder.

"Of course," Aires smiled a little. After Byrne was asleep, she scooped him back up and returned him to the guest hut. She stayed in there, close to Byrne and out of sight. If Vala did decide to attack, she'd get a fight before she got to Byrne.

((Are you hinting something?))

Israel and Arachne were out by the fire, where they'd come after getting back from the beach. Israel was helping her sort her seashells by color and size, with a big, contented smile on his face.

((Newp. Not at all. Not in the slightest. Heck no.

It's either that, or we head back to the Manakete Palace. xD))

Arachne was smiling happily, but she seemed a bit distressed after a few minutes. "I don't know where my basket is," She muttered, quickly turning grumpy. "My poor basket..."

One of the younger Selkies trotted up, carrying a small wooden basket. Hally, as it happened, had heard Arachne and run to fetch one of her own baskets. "Here!" She said quickly, looking a little nervous as she held the basket out to Israel.

((Heck, yes.))

Israel took the basket with a smile, and opened his mouth to thank the young girl, but his expression quickly melted into one of horror. "Get down!" he screeched, taclking the girl to the ground as a rush of hot air was over them. As soon as Israel cried out, Thuban turned his eyes skyward, and his jaw dropped. Sirens, hundreds of them... how had no one heard their approach?

"We're under attack!" Thuban called. "Archers, at the ready! Come on, move!" he shouted, his voice loud enough to be heard across the whole village.

((Yooouuuu.))

Hally immediately burst into tears, fearful. She squirmed out of Israel's grip and bolted for the guest house, slamming the door shut behind her. Aries had already drawn her foil, prepared for battle. She was standing protectively over Byrne, but only watched as Hally ducked behind her, as well.

"Why now?!" Verolen screeched, transmuting his cloak into a blade. He was quick to grab onto Israel, not wanting his friend and his sister's caretaker to be snatched away.

((^.^))

Israel kept his feet planted firmly on the ground, not wanting to be confused with the attacking sirens and take an arrow to the eye.

"Where's your sharpshooter?" Thuban asked, running over to stand by Verolen. "We could use him, now!"

Adhara had other concerns. "Where's the prince? Has he come back? Has anyone seen Bermuda?"

"He's not here!" Verolen shook his head, frowning unhappily. "He's back at the Manakete Palace for a number of reasons. I haven't seen Bermuda since he threw a fish at me this morning," He shouted at Adhara. "Go track him down, he has to be around here somewhere!" With any luck, the Nerid prince would have the intelligence to hide underwater or something. Verolen's primary concern was protecting Israel.

((This could actually be the driving force that separates our little group for the winter. L'arc and Sylas can sleep through 'till spring at the Manakete Palace, Verolen can be grabbed, tied to an anchor and dropped in the middle of the ocean, and Aries can survive the attack, only to leave Oceanica and return to the forest and blahblahblah.))

((The Sirens totally have a circus. XD They do. Have fun, Verdi! Looks like Israel will be sticking with Vela again, and Byrne and Eve can go with Aries? Sirens will turn Bermuda over to the Naiads. Yes. Where's Arachne going to go?))

Israel stuck close to Verolen, but was in more of the mindset that he was protecting Verolen than the other way around. Adhara nodded at Verolen's words and hurried off to find the prince, starting by running off down the beach, with her eyes trained on the skies.

Byrne stirred slightly. "Mnn? Aries, what's going on?" he asked.

((Arachne will likely just wander off and wind up with Aries eventually. Poor Verdi.))

"Shh," Aries shushed him. "The Selkies are under attack. Don't worry, they won't get you; I've already barricaded the door and I'm ready for a fight. And look," She smiled. "Hally is here, too."

"Hi," The young Selkie said with a small fearful smile. "Your rabbit-lady friend is scary...but nice."

((Like Santa, Hally? XD ))

Byrne nodded slightly to Aries. "Where are the others?" he asked, trying to get to his feet. "We should help them..."

((Hannah is starting to like Byrne. A lot.))

"No, stay here. The others can handle themselves--" Aries started, but Hally cut her off.

"What about Arachne? She's missing an entire foot..." Hally said quietly.

"I know, but Verolen is with her...and so is Israel. They'll be fine."

((Heehee, Bunbun likes Byrne too.))

Byrne gave up on standing, and looked to Aries with concern in his eyes. "You should go out there and see what's going on... what if they need help?" he asked.

"I..." Aries blinked at Byrne, then sighed and nodded. "Right. I'll try to get Arachne in here so Verolen and Israel can focus on driving the Sirens off." She swallowed hard, then cracked open the door and peeked out to see what was going on.

Sirens were swooping down upon the village, their talons grabbing on to anything in their reach. One was carrying off a shrieking Moot, a few more were circling and diving at the waves, which seemed to be trying to throw them off, and a whole murder of them were swirling around Israel and Verolen.

((Murder. because it's a group of crows. XD))

((Haha, got it.))

"Back!" Verolen screeched at them, slashing wildly. Before too long, scratches covered his arms and face, though he wasn't backing down for anything. Aries darted in, pulling Arachne to her feet.

"I have Arachne, keep the sirens back!" Aries shouted over the squawking. Unsure of whether or not Verolen heard her, she helped Arachne back to the guest house, where the girl would be safe. She shut the door just in time to miss Verolen screaming as he was lifted off the ground by the sirens, who ignored his desperate struggles.

"Verolen!"

Israel transformed at once, and lifted into the air after his demon friend. He was much smaller than the attacking sirens, though, and was quickly overpowered. He screeched wildly as the sirens started dragging them back to their city, panicing too much to fight back.

Byrne grabbed Arachne and pulled her into a hug, having nothing else that he could do.