The Forgotten Zodiac

"No, it was... someone else. His name was Dysonious. You wouldn't remember him - we, well, I... when I was telling you to forget your old orders, I told you to forget him, too, so..." L'arc trailed off, leaving the end of the sentence to hang in the air.

"Oh..." Sylas looked down. "I guess...I guess that makes sense. I believe you." He sighed, rubbing his chest. Without warning, his stomach gave a tempermental growl. "Oh, darn it...I'm starving!" He laughed a bit, turning a smile towards L'arc. "We should call someone to get us food or something."

L'arc smiled a bit at that. "Sounds like a good idea to me," he said. He stood and went over to the door, to see if he spotted anyone in the hallway to call out to.

"Apathy!" he called, seeing the Princess. She turned to him with a cordial, if not somewhat suprised smile.

"I see you're up," she said in return. L'arc smiled a little, then passed on he and Sylas's request for food, at which the manakete nodded and went off, promising to return soon. With that done, L'arc went back over and sat near Sylas again.

Sylas smiled a bit. "Thanks, L'arc. I know I can trust you. Right? I can trust you." He took L'arc's hand in his again, doing his best to relax. "You've never given me a reason to not trust you, so..." He looked over at his friend, a happy gleam in his eye. "I guess I can just forget about you hurting me. You did it for my benefit, and that's what matters."

L'arc gave Sylas a wide, relieved smile. "Yes," he said, finally able to meet the eyes of his best friend in the light of his forgiveness. "Yes, right," he repeated, nodding as he clasped Sylas's hand in return.

((Eye. Just one eye. xD))

Sylas smiled, then looked up as Jerod walked in with food. "Here we are. Vegetable soup for the prince, and a bit of healing potion mixed into yours, Sylas." He set the tray in Sylas' lap, smiling a bit. "Yours is on your right, Sylas."

((RIght. Eye.))

((I totally remembered that. XD))

L'arc smiled his thanks to Jerod, then lifted his bowl off the platter so Sylas could use the tray to keep from spilling on the bed.

((Suuuuuure. xD))

Sylas ate carefully, not wanting to spill any onto his wounds. He didn't need burns as well as cuts and bruises.

Soon after the soup was gone, Sylas set the tray on the nightstand and shifted so he could lay down. "I'm tired..." He murmured. "But I don't want to sleep. The nightmares..." He shivered, then looked up at L'arc. "It's too early in spring for a Cyprus fruit, isn't it?" He sighed, mentioning a commonly found fruit in the forest. It grew on certain trees, and the fruit was extremely bitter; but it had an effect on creatures who weren't birds or other small animals. It put large animals to sleep. A warm, dreamless sleep that rested them completely. It would be perfect for the current time, but...it didn't grow naturally in the winter.

L'arc nearly burst out laughing. "Sylas," he said, turning to look at the boy. "I am a cypress tree," he said.

((Brb sorry))

"You wouldn't be sprouting cyprus fruit though! It's spelled different," Sylas grinned. "I've slept in you plenty of times, I think I would know what kind of tree you are. Although, you are different from most trees. Maybe if you concentrated, you could make one?"

L'arc nodded, saying, "That's what I meant," though it seemed that his half-asleep mind simply had not thought about the spelling issue. "I think I might be able to, maybe, if I concentrate." He said, standing up. "It might take a while, since I just woke up, I might not have that kind of power yet, but... I've done it once before, for Bermuda."

((Gotta go Christmas shoppin' now. :/))

Sylas smiled a bit, nodding. "Bermuda...I miss him. He'd be able to put me to sleep without nightmares. There's a spell for that, isn't there?" He sighed, shaking his head. "I don't think Gabe would be able to do it, though..." He murmured, then shook his head. "Well, don't hurt yourself trying, please. I would be upset..."

L'arc nodded, then tried to awaken the half of him that was tied to the forest, that deepest vien of ancient magic that had been passed into his bloodline from his father. However, winter's grip was still firm, and even at the best of times, utilizing the ancient magic that L'arc bore was no easy task - it's potency had dwindled through the ages, and the prince knew this his power had been a mere fraction of his father's, and going long periods without use had not done it any good. Thus, he struggled fruitlessly (no pun intended) for a few minutes, his hands pulsing with an odd green glow every now and again, but it was faint and faded entirely after a few attempts. He let out a resigned sigh and rested himself back on the stool, shaking his head.

"...sorry," he muttered in Sylas's general direction, seeming spent from even the attempt at using the ancient magic.

Sylas looked sympathetically at his friend. He wasn't very disappointed; he hadn't gotten his hopes up very much. So he just laid back and stared at the ceiling, knowing that he needed rest...but at the same time, not wanting to have any of it. Eventually, he did fall asleep, but it only lasted an hour or so. He woke up again crying.

L'arc had fallen asleep slumped against the wall, his mouth agape and a small snore sliding out with every other breath. However, when Sylas woke and starting making noise, the prince jolted up, snapping upright like a jacknife. "Sy?" he called, looking over to the boy.

"I-I'm okay," Sylas murmured, trying to hide the fact that he had been crying. "I'm so-sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up..." He muttered, rolling over so his back was to L'arc. It hurt a little bit, but he didn't care. He felt...pathetic.

"Don't lie to me," L'arc said, reaching out and putting his hand on Sylas's shoulder. "Was it more nightmares?" he asked, concern ebbing into his voice.

Sylas shivered. "Yes...but this was different. It was about last winter. All the people I killed, all the forest folk..." He muttered, pulling the thick blanket over his head. "They all wanted me to suffer..."

A shadow crossed L'arc's face, but it was quickly dispelled, and he was grateful that Sylas hadn't seen it at all. "That... that's past, Sylas," he attempted.

"There were hundreds of them, L'arc..." Sylas murmured. "And I just...killed them. One after another. We tracked down camps full of them, an-and I would just walk in and shoot them all...I wanted to fight it, but I was scared. I was selfish...I-I...I don't even know why I was so scared..." He shivered, then pushed himself upright again, wiping his eye in annoyance. "I'll be fine, though..."