The Forgotten Zodiac

"Maybe...although if she had a sending stone, don't you think she would let Bermuda know?" Aries frowned.

"She might not realize that we have one." Jerod pointed out.

"Well...I suppose. Would you do the honors, Eve? You're better at talking and not sounding...hostile." Aries suggested, smiling a bit.

Eve smiled and nodded, holding her hand out for Aries to give her the stone. Gabe, however, was a bit faster.

"Use mine!" he said, whipping it out of his pocket and placing it in Eve's hand.

"Oh, thank you," Eve said, smiling at the little warlock. She held the stone up, pausing a moment as she thought over what to say, then called into it.

"Hello? Bershee? Bermuda, Verolen?" she called.

There was a long pause, then a woman's voice. She didn't sound happy. "Who is this? How do you know me?"

"That's Eve! I know that voice!" Verolen's voice came through next.

"Eve? You know this person?" Bershee said unhappily.

"That's right, my name is Eve. I'm a friend of Bermuda and Prince Verolen's," the demoness replied. "We have a little warlock boy here, he was able to see where those two were, and that they were with you. You see, we've been looking for them," she said.

"Them...Bermuda too, then?" Bershee sighed, then seemed to relax. "Alright. Are you...no. No, don't come here. It'll be dangerous, but I'll bring Bermuda to you. You're in the forest, right? From what Verolen's told me, you lot favor the forest. I can follow the river upstream. Just make sure you stick around that, I'll find you eventually."

"You'll just...bring them?" Aries blinked. "How do we know we can trust you?"

"You'll figure that out soon, won't you?"

"It's obvious that Bermuda and Verolen are in good hands," Eve said to Aries, then  looked back to the stone. "We'll wait for you at the river, got it," she said.

"We can head downstream a bit, too. It'll make the trip shorter on your behalf." Aries added. "We'll be waiting."

"We'll head out as soon as possible. I have the feeling that this line has been tapped, though. We might be bringing company." Bershee replied.

"...they can do that?" Eve asked, her eyes wide. She nearly dropped the stone, but managed to hold on.

"All right. Thanks for the warning, we'll be prepared," L'arc chimed in, as no one else said anything.

"Yes, they can. If I can do it, so can they." Bershee tutted. "See you in about a day, if we can get out of here fast enough." She cut the connection, promptly turning to Bermuda. "Time to go, my prince. There's no time to waste." She picked him up, moving immediately towards the water. "I wish you could have learned a little faster, but..." She picked up Verolen in her tentacles and shoved the pearl into his mouth. She dove into the water without another word.

Bermuda looked startled, even a little put out, but said nothing of it as he was pulled along at a fairly good clip. He tried to swim on his own a little, but that quickly wore him out, so he simply allowed Bershee to do all the swimming, while he kept an eye and an ear out for trouble. He wasn't sure how strong his magic would be after his ordeal, but if trouble came for them, he would do his best.

Bershee was a fast swimmer, and before long at all (much sooner than they would have seen it from a boat), land appeared. Plains, mostly, but the squid-woman made a beeline for the river. She slowed down noticeably when they reached the opposing tide of the river, but it didn't matter. If she was slowed, so would the Oceanid soldiers be.

"...do you think they really heard that conversation?" Bermuda finally voiced, looking up at Bershee. He hadn't wanted to speak before, but now it seemed he had deemed them "far enough ahead" of what... or, whoever may be following.

"Like I said...if I can tap into it, so can they." Bershee held up the seashell she had held to her ear before. "This thing will pick up any Sending Stone broadcasts sent over a very wide area. They'll have heard it if they were trying to listen. And knowing them, they stopped the manual searches after three days and turned to trying to tap into these. One way or another, the most important thing is to get you to your friends safely."

"Yeah," Bermuda said, nodding. He then looked to Verolen. "How are we going to get all the way upriver, though? That pearl only works in saltwater, right?" he asked.

Bermuda watched Verolen climb onto the bank, then called, "Let us know if you see anyone!"

((Short post is short.

Sad Hannah is sad.))

((Why are you sad?))

"Got it," Verolen nodded, keeping up a steady pace. The plains stretched out far; Verolen even spotted the place where the Witches were; Halberd Hall. But nothing came from it, really. He caught sight of what appeared to be a human camp, too, but they had forester symbols of peace all over their tents (copied from the mark left on top of their carriage). Verolen didn't take a second glance at the camp. Refugees, most likely.

It took a long time, but finally, the plains reached the edge of the forest. It was warmer under the canopy of trees, the slowly waking forest practically exhaling as winter released the forest from its grip.

((Because I didn't get a very good scholarship for my singing. So now I might not get to go to the college I want to.))

"Do you think we're getting close?" Bermuda asked, looking to Bershee. "I mean, Verolen's keeping up pretty well, but... do you think we can rest for a moment?" he asked, looking a little pale in the face.

((Hannah.

You are not allowed to be sad over that.

God will put you where he wants you, and that's that. The only thing you can do is be happy with where you are, yeah? No matter where you go, you still have me, too. So there's something to be happy about, right?))

"I...yeah. Alright." Bershee sighed, nearing the surface again. "Take a break," She practically ordered Verolen. He complied willingly, practically collapsing against a tree, breathing hard.

"I'm good at running for long distances, but...I still need a break now and then, y'know!" He spluttered.

"What do you think we're doing?" Bershee tutted.

((-hug- Yes, you're right.))

Bermuda pulled himself onto the bank, allowing himself to revert to his humanoid form. He was wearing his old trousers, but his shoes were gone, and his shirt seemed like it was falling apart. Where the runes had appeared on his skin, his clothing had been burnt away. He placed himself near Verolen, leaning against the demon for support.

"There aren't any on my face, are there?" he asked in a low voice, rubbing the back of his neck and throat with a strained expression.