The Forgotten Zodiac

"What the heck are we supposed to do?!" Sylas screeched at the top of his lungs. "Does ANYONE have ANY ideas?"

"LESS TALKING, RUN FASTER." Bershee snapped, although admittedly, she was the slowest. Her feet were bleeding and it was clearly hurting her to keep running like this. If they were running by a river, she'd have no problems keeping up, but...

"Should I unleash the Library?" Rush questioned. "You said that thing was summoned, right?!"

"Yes!" Bershee snapped.

"Does it have magical properties?"

"Aside from being a summonable creature?"

"I'll take that as a yes!" Rush snorted. "Keep running, guys. I'll see if I can't absorb it!" He called, then lifted off into the air.

"Be careful that you don't get any of us!" Eve cautioned, still running. "And don't you get hurt, now!" she looked back over  her shoulder to watch Rush, and as she did, noted the trouble that Bershee was having. She hung back a little, then, to run alongside the squid-woman.

"Don't worry about me, I'm just..." She nearly tripped, but righted herself at the last second. "Not used to being so...dehydrated," She panted, though it was clearly more than that. Her aquatic form was able to traverse easily onto land for short distances. And she never traveled further than shore. Even Rasalhouge was a relatively small island, she likely wouldn't transform if she ever went there. But this...well, her humanoid legs just weren't used. Ever. 

"I think the river loops back up ahead... but shallower. Maybe the Kraken won't be able to get upriver that far, and you and Bermuda can get in and go from there," she said. She looked up ahead, seeing L'arc now pratically carrying Bermuda.

"Yeah... let's hope that's the case, so we can get a bit further ahead..."

"No, no, no," Bershee hissed. "The tide is against us. I would agree, but you must realize that this creature is larger than us, and thusly can move quicker, even on land. The only thing slowing it down now are the trees. It doesn't depend on the river to move, it depends on the river to breathe. And that thing can hold its breath for up to three hours!"

"Look, there's Rush!" Arachne, who was being carried on Sylas' back, 

Rush was indeed there, a golden mass that was wrapping massive golden tentacles around the Kraken. The Library was exerting a lot of power to make itself so large. Arachne could see it even before Rush started pulling the massive beast in. It seemed to be working; the Kraken was slowly being absorbed, sucked into the archives of the Library.

((I just realized something. Poor Kazue. How are they going to tame the Kraken down there?))

L'arc slowed down a bit, looking over his shoulder to watch the Library at work.

((Sorry, distracted.))

((Haha, same way they tamed other giant things. Subdue it, then training it like a pet. o3o Easy peasy, for them. AO has got it covered. xD))

It heaved and pulled, sucked and dragged at the beast. The Library was trying its hardest, but this was indeed a difficult feat; the Kraken struggled with all the ferocity of a lion. Eventually, the brainless beast threw itself desperately at Rush in an attempt to throw him off. They both crashed out of sight, though the tremors could be felt from where they were. Before too long, however, the Kraken came back into view, the Library still attached firmly to its head. Those with sharper eyes could see that Rush wasn't doing well, though. He looked...well, hurt. He had been crushed between the ground and the Kraken. The only thing keeping him up now was the Library. Thankfully, it was independant of his wounds and acted regardless of his pain.

"Oh, no," Eve murmured, watching Rush get tossed about. She had stopped running altogether now, just watching the fight between the Library and the giant sea monster. She even took a few steps towards the fight, thinking desprately for a way that she could help. She doubted that the minute residual Dark Matter hanging in the air would be enough for her to do much of anything, but still...

((Hehe...Dark Matter...))

Pretty much everyone had stopped running, watching in mingled awe and horror as the squid lunged about, trying to get the Library off of itself. But finally, it seemed to be disappearing; and once the top of its head was in, the rest of it slid in much quicker. The squid was practically devoured.

"Now! Get them!" A Naiad screeched. There was a short pause, then, "Now, now, now!"

There was a short burst of energy, and black ropes made of a dark energy encircled the group quickly, tying them all together tightly and securely. A Naiad stepped out, dragging none other than Manny with him.

((I was wondering what happened to that little fella.))

Eve's eyes narrowed dangerously. "What... how did you come by Manny?" she asked, her voice a serpantine hiss. Already, the dark matter seemed to be melting off of her, even though she was not yet trying anything - that was just how it reacted naturally, being so close to her. The dark matter surrounding the others began to bend towards her as well, but she was not conscious of the movement.

"Mommy," Manny whimpered, but the Naiad ignored him.

"Bought him off a Siren. That hag wanted to make a nest out of him." He snorted, shaking his head. "Tch, why would I even tell you that? Manniquin, kill them. Start with that one." He pointed at L'arc.

"Noooooooo," Manny wailed, but a red mark burned on his forehead, under his mop of hair. He made a sword out of dark magic, pointing it at L'arc, putting it dangerously close to L'arc's neck.

"No! Manny, don't! Please," Sylas begged, struggling desperately. "Listen to Eve, you usually listen to Eve! Don't let him control you!"

Eve's hand whipped out, unobstructed by the ropes of dark matter, and the sword flew obediantly from Manny's hands to hers, where she held onto it. "Manny, stop. What is that on your head?" she asked, approaching him heedless of the nearby Naiads.

L'arc's eyes had widened considerably, and he wasn't sure if he was more alarmed at the fact that Manny could craft swords from nothing or that Eve could control them.

"I-it's hurting me, Eve, it's putting images in my head and burning and making me make the images real..." Manny whimpered. Subconscious imprinting; of course. If one can clearly visualize themselves doing something, it's more likely for them to actually do it. With the right prompting, of course. Thus, the pain. He sank to his knees, and Sylas realized why it had seemed so odd at first glance; Manny looked more...human. His head was more shaped, and there were holes where his eyes were. Gone were the markered-on eyes and mouth. He had actual eyes. It looked more like a person in a burlap bag than anything. Sylas guessed it was like...growing. Manny was mysterious, indeed. Was he becoming more like a real person now?

With the addition of actual eyes, Manny also had tears. The white cloth covering his face was soaked in seconds, and tears dripped from his chin. "Mo-mommy, save me," He whimpered, then started wailing when the Naiad dragged him back.

"Bad doll, bad!" He snarled, and the other Naiads - five of them in total - stalked forward threateningly.

Eve's grip on the sword loosened, and the sword dropped from her hand, twisting in the air and then flying at the closest Naiad. "Put him down," she hissed, watching stoically as the blade met the soldier's shoulder and dug in deeply. "Don't make me hurt you."

As she spoke, the Dark Matter binding her friends melted quickly off of them, surrounding her hands in the matter of thick, heavy aura.

The Naiad shrieked, and a fight broke out instantly; Verolen was the first to jump into action, tackling a Naiad that had been about to attack Eve. Manny scrambled forward and hid behind Eve, but then changed direction and threw himself into a bush for some reason.

Bershee was grateful to transform and fling one of the soldiers into a tree. Between all of them and the small number of Naiads there were, the fight didn't last very long, and no one obtained any lasting injuries. "F-fine! Keep him!" The Naiad who had been mistreating Manny backed up, away from all of them. He turned to run, but bumped into Rush.

A very high-strung, worn down and magically enhanced Rush. The Naiad was crushed between a rock and a hard place--well, more like two rocks. He was made a grave in the ground below when Rush put the rocks down again. The Chimera collapsed. He had been unable to move without the Library...

Gabe darted foreward, drawing out a rune circle around himself. "Jerod, help! I gotta heal him!" he cried, looking worried and a little scared for the Chimera.

"Yes, yes, of course," Jerod nodded, putting his hands on Gabe's shoulders and steadying his magics for him, like he normally did. "Go, go," He urged.

Manny, in the meantime, watched from the bushes. He was still crying.

Gabe murmured the spell, watching it take effect on Rush's wounds. The young warlock began to look drained, but kept at it.

Eve, meanwhile, went over to the bushes where Manny was. "Are you all right?" she asked, kneeling beside him.

Manny whimpered and turned away, burying his face in his hands. "No, no, I'm different than before, Eve...a-and I don't want you to be mad at me, b-but...the images want me to kill you. I don't want to...I can't, I can't make it happen, I'm scared..."

"Shh, Rush will know how to fix you, and don't you worry about harming me. You're not capable," Eve said, sitting down next to him. "I have nothing to fear from you, so I will stay by you."