The Forgotten Zodiac

Rush nodded, wincing a bit as his wounds healed himself. "Bermuda..." He sighed a bit, inspecting Kazue's side before gently twisted the arrow one way. No luck. Then the other way; the arrow came loose, and Rush quickly set about trying to stem the bloodflow.

"The Library would kill them." The 'painting' replied, Arachne peeking out from behind it. "You wouldn't get even close. The protection systems would be too much, even for those two."

"I...what? Why would the Ether shards do something like that?" Sylas looked confused.

Kazue winced slightly, covering the wound himself as he looked down at the two arrows still in his leg. "I'll hold this, you get those," he said to Rush.

Bermuda shot an 'I told you so' look to Ashkii, who frowned. "Well, then, what can we do?" he asked Arachne.

"Backfiring something or other, I dunno, ask Ashkii," Byrne said.

"Okay," Rush nodded, moving his hands and working on the arrows in Kazue's leg. "I am sorry, though...I shouldn't have come down here, none of this would have happened..."

"Mm...watch him in case he gets hurt again. Since he got hurt, something in the Library must have done it. It's corruped. I can see it..." Arachne blinked, peering at Rush curiously. "Something must have gotten into the system, and something is keeping him from returning. He'll have to flush it out by himself, but..."

Sylas shook his head, stumbling towards the palace.

Kazue shook his head, smiling dimly. "It's alright. Things would've gone haywire either way, it's better that you're conscious of what's going on, if you ask me."

Bermuda nodded. "I'll keep my Staff handy," he said, following as Ashkii took Rush inside. L'arc followed as well.

Byrne grabbed his arm to help him walk.

Minori sighed as he waited. Reetah and Jarod were taking a while. Apathy shifted her weight from foot to foot.

"From what I've gathered so far, Lydia is the one who started it...I was talking with the KO and the WO before all this happened..." Rush sighed. "They said something about Lydia, and she was watching..."

"Good," Arachne nodded, hiding behind the painting again.

Sylas nodded his thanks, leaning on Byrne as they headed up to the palace, following the others.

Jarod and Reetah entered at last, Reetah limping a bit. "I apologize, your majesty, I'm still getting used to my leg being...not made of rock." She winced a bit, but nodded. "You wanted to see us?"

Kazue nodded. He sighed, looking around the sanctuary. None of the others, other than VPS, could get in here. But the rule didn't apply to glitches... such as Lydia. He kept the thought to himself. "She's trouble," he said aloud, letting out a cry as Rush managed to pull another arrow out of him.

Minori stood. "Perfectly understandable, Reetah," he said, smiling. "Yes, I did have something to discuss with you. Apathy's child... you agree, don't you, that it would be best for the public not to be aware of what has happened?" he asked.

Rush nodded, dropping the arrow. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, one more," He bit his lip, trying to be a little more gentle with the other one, but it was difficult.

"I...I agree," Jarod nodded, speaking quietly.

Reetah took longer to answer. "What will become of the child, though?"

Kazue bit down on his lip, keeping quiet this time.

Minori sighed. "It will live here, in the palace," he said. "With its mother and father," he said after a pause. He'd taken a while to come to grips with this conclusion. Usually, the Manakete, a kind people as they were, did not tolerate Half-Bloods in their pure society. But there was a new King on the throne, and he might as well make changes. This was his sister, his only family left, he wouldn't be able to bear her banishment.

Rush pulled out the last arrow, quickly applying pressure with the rag. He jumped as there was noise behind him; the black box had started making noise all of the sudden. "Rush! Rush, are you there yet? Did you make it?" VPS' voice came through the box.

Rush blinked at the box and picked it up with his free hand, not too sure how the thing worked. "Uh, yeah, we made it, but Kazue is injured now..."

"Thank the great books, you're alive..." VPS let out a relieved sigh. "Kazue's injured, though? That's bad...the sanctuary is completely surrounded, don't go anywhere near the barrier, okay? But...the Units have captured the LPF. If we leave the hideout, we'll be caught and killed, they know where everyone is now that they've got LPF talking...poor guy..."

Reetah smiled a bit. "As you say, so it shall be. But..." Her smile faded. "You can't keep something like this secret for long, you know..."

Kazue stood shakily. "I'll do my best to save him," he said. He didn't look like he was going to be stopped, either. He transformed, but looked much weaker than before.

Minori looked down. "If everyone cooperates, maybe we could," he said.

"No! Kazue, you'll be killed!" VPS sounded desperate now. "Don't risk your life for a Function, it's not worth it! We'll just stay here, it's not like we can do anything without VCF anyways! You have to stay, you have to protect Rush! Please, Kazue..."

Rush was quiet. LPF...wasn't worth saving? Rush looked more confused than anything else. Did VPS not care about other inhabitants of the Library? Inhabitants that were suffering just because he, the vessel, was alive? "This..." Rush said quietly, tears springing to his eyes. "This wouldn't happen anymore if I died, right? The fighting would stop?"

On the other end of the radio line, back underneath the Library, VPS looked torn. She had to tell the truth to Rush, but if she told him, he'd kill himself. Being the VPS, of course she was torn. She couldn't tell him, no way, but she was programmed to tell the truth...rather, her programming had been changed by OO so she was being forced to tell the truth. The same probably happened to LPF...VPS threw the black box away from her, not wanting Rush to hear her answer.

"I see. I'm willing, your majesty." Reetah bowed.

"Me too," Jarod nodded, bowing as well.

Kazue growled. "I won't allow such a thing," he said, reverting. "The mere thought that you would suggest killing yourself only means that I have to stay here to make sure you don't follow through," he said, sitting back down. "I can't move, anyways," he murmured.

Minori nodded to the two, then looked to his sister. "You see? How could you have doubted them?" he asked. Apathy looked off, grunting. In truth, she was convinced that Jarod and Reetah disliked her greatly, after all of this.

"B-but...so many people or...functions...have gotten hurt because of this war, and for what? Whether or not I'm alive? I don't want that!" Rush shook his head quickly.

"Rush, listen to me. If you die, three things will happen." VPS was at the radio again. "One, both me and VCF will go obsolete. We'll die, with them not having a use for us. Two, a new Operator will be released. The Vessel Control Operator. As it is, they might just release him anyways, but the VCO is bad. He's nasty and violent and hates anything that moves. You won't have any control of your body anymore if he's released and you're still alive. If they release him at all, your friends out there? They'll all be dead. And three, OO will get control of the entire place and that's a really, really bad thing. He'll destroy everything, Rush. You can't die!"

Kazue nodded. "You wouldn't want all that blood on your hands, would you?" he asked. He was still trying to stop his bleeding. "No. Now, come here, help me find some bandages or something," he said.

"N-no..." Rush blinked, looking down at the bandages he had gotten from the tent. "Here, let me..." He started wrapping the bandages around the wounds that had already stopped bleeding.

"Good. I'm glad you understand what I'm getting at, here." VPS sighed. "I'm sorry, Rush. I know how much you hate seeing people hurt, but..."

Kazue smiled at Rush. "Thank you," he said. "Don't worry, we'll find a way to help the others," he said.

"I know..." Rush sighed heavily, nodding. "But...how are we even supposed to get out of here?"

"Don't! We'll wait until VCF wakes up, then we'll try to come to you, okay?" VPS answered. "Just stay there, watch out for Lydia and any other Glitches, and you guys will be perfectly fine."

"YEs, that," KAzue said. "We stay here."

"Alright. I have to sign out or else these things will run out of power..." VPS said. "I'll call you back when VCF wakes up, okay? If he doesn't...I'll just call back later."

"Alright," Rush answered, finishing up the bandaging work while the black box emmited crackling for a moment before going silent again.

"You won't be alive when she calls back," Lydia purred, suddenly behind Rush. She dropped something and it landed around Rush's neck. A rope. It quickly tightened, dragging Rush backwards like a fish on a hook. Only...more strangling. Lydia skipped backwards before Kazue could do anything, laughing. Rush was quickly being dragged towards the barrier, where the Units were pulling on the rope.

Kazue jumped to his feet. He let out a yell; wether it was of pain or anger was unknown. He shifted and stumbled forewards, claws swiping through the rope and snapping it. He stepped over Rush, hissing at Lydia.