The Forgotten Zodiac

As L'arc spoke, Jerod transformed; it was slow and seemed to be painful, but it was done in under a minute. He nodded slowly. "I think I can do that. Don't worry too much about them, dear forest prince. You yourself have others to think about. Verdi and Byrne, for example." He lowered his back, shaking off a couple dead scales before allowing them to climb on.

((You mean Verdi and Israel.))

Bermuda got onto Jerod's back with Verolen's help, and L'arc handed up some rope for Verolen to tie himself on with. "Be safe," he said, smiling just a bit, though the expression was laced with a touch of worry.

((YEAH THOSE. I'm tired. Dun feel good. Sowwies.))

"Of course," Verolen smiled a bit. "We've got dragons, L'arc. Don't be ridiculous. If you should worry about anyone, it's Sylas there." He pointed at the human, who was distracted by speaking to a budding flower. "He seems...different. Odd. He seems happier, but that doesn't match up with what all's going on right now. So...keep an eye on him."

"This I will do," L'arc said, nodding to Verolen. "Don't let it trouble you. I'm sure we'll be just fine," he said, smiling. He then turned to follow the others, back to the river and Quay.

"Ha, and you're telling me not to worry..." Verolen snorted. "Good luck!" He called as Jerod took off. Despite his old age, he was indeed a fast flier, and before long at all, they were merely just a speck in the sky.

"Yo, Quay! Any luck with the Selkies?" Sylas called as they approached.

"Yes, in fact," Quay said, turning to them with a smile. "Eltie's going to come pick us up in his boat. It's... it's not the fastest, but I figured it'd be best. Some of the other selkies... well, let's just say that they're kind of protective of their ships, and with how often you all get attacked..."

"Good. We don't need speed, we just need to get there. And that's pretty smart of him, come to think of it..." Aries snorted. "So long as they aren't downright turning us away. That would be...upsetting."

"No kidding." Sylas tutted, knowing that upsetting Aries was basically a death wish.

Quay nodded and smiled. "We should head downriver. Eltanin's boat can't come up too far, and going against the current takes forever," he said.

((I forgot, Arachne was gonna go back with Verolen and Bermuda. No foot, remember?))

"I know that," Aries nodded once. "Let's go, then. We'll stick right close to the water, so we have no chance of getting turned around."

"Oh, thank goodness," Bershee slid into the water without a second thought, transforming and relaxing in the cold river. "My feet were killing me! This is so much easier..." She paused, though. "Selkies...Eltanin? Oh, dear. I don't think they'll, eh...appreciate my company very much..."

"Why not?" Sylas questioned. "You're a bit...odd, sure, but you're nice enough. And you helped Verolen and Bermuda. Helping them is like...well, helping all of us, y'know? We're close like that. Almost like some sort of mismatched family..."

"Well, Eltanin and I are of...two different mindsets. And believe it or not, I am an Foamalought citizen, born and raised. He...well, he seems to think that for anything to change, war has to be carried out. I think that Oceanica can be transformed from the inside, if only people would try..."

((I'm just guessing here. o3o))

((No, no, Eltie's good. Thuban's the stubborn one.))

"Well, in order for people to change, everyone has to be willing to work out their differences," Eve said. "Consider the Senators. And the Siren invasions. The Sirens are allied with the Naiads, it's easy to see why no compromise has been reached. The Selkies are under attack almost constantly," she reminded.

((Well, maybe Eltie was younger. xD))

"I'm well aware of that," Bershee huffed. "A number of the refugees I've been holding are selkie young. When the Sirens grow bored of them, often times they'll just throw them off their cliff and watch the young be dashed on the rocks. Many of them did not survive...but I've saved a large number of them. But I don't want to return them because getting them there would be dangerous, and who's to say the Selkies won't come again and snatch up the same ones?"

"Ahh," Aries nodded thoughtfully. "Perhaps that's why Eltanin doesn't like you quite so much."

"...YOU'RE the Snatcher?" Quay said, wheeling around to look at Bershee with alarm. He shuddered a bit, but seemed to regain himself, saying, "W-well, you did help the Prince..."

"I snatch injured little kids and take them somewhere where they won't be snatched again, yes!" Bershee frowned at him. "I have never and I will never take children directly from their homes. But if their parents are unable to keep them safe..."

"I understand your side of things," Aries said quietly. "If an entire race's children are taken away...eventually, there will be no more of that race. No more Selkies..."

"Yes, that's exactly the problem." Bershee tutted, then paused yet again. "Did something like that happen...to your race?"

"A very, very long time ago, yes. Before even demons were banished, Viera were common. Travelers and monks were common; we were a very peaceful race. Most of us did not settle down; you could find Viera almost anywhere. We had no leaders, except for small villages or settlements of our kind. We made no alliances, and thusly, no enemies. But...that also made us very weak and unprotected. Oceanica...well, rabbits and water...just no. We're land dwellers. We lived and moved where the humans do now, before they came. And then they did come. The humans did not see us as equals. We were enslaved by them, any and all they could catch of us. And slaves are not allowed to marry or mate. So eventually, there were no Viera among humans. The Manakete sheltered some of us for awhile, but...rabbits do not do well in mountains. But eventually they adapted, and became comfortable. Viera are not creatures meant to become comfortable. We perform best outside of 'homes' and away from blood relatives. And by perform, I mean...well, reproduce. So those taking shelter with the Manakete eventually either died off or left.

"The plains beyond the mountains...who knows. Maybe they thrived, maybe they died. Even so, no one's seen hide nor hair of too many Viera back here, much less on the mountain paths. By the time the Viera turned to the forest, there were very few left. It...saddens me. My race is dying due to foolishness and a neccesity to stick to tradition. May it never be so for another race."

"Indeed." Bershee crooned softly.

"It's happening more and more frequently now," L'arc said. "You know, all of the trees used to be... well, able to take a humanoid form, like I have. But time passed, and things changed, and we kind of went into... almost two seperates races, each trending towards different forms. Me, I'm just a shape shifting druid, with dryad blood on my mother's side. The dryads are the true forest spirits - live in trees and flowers and the like. The druids just know how to command the spirits they are closest to. But even now, that power... with the destruction of the forest, it's growing weak. Which is why," L'arc tapped the hilt of his blade, "We forest-dwellers have learned to defend ourselves by means other than elemental magic."

Eve nodded. "Probably a wise move. Magic-users are all tied to some sort of spirit, and if that spirit dies..."

"I know," L'arc said. "As far as I can think, the most prominent magic users are those that still have a safe place to call home."

"What about me?" Gabe asked, frowning a bit.

"Warlocks and witches play by different rules," L'arc said. "Isn't that right, Rush?"

"Witches, warlock, wizards, call them what you will. They cast magic using their own lifeforce. They can live to be thousands of years if they have something feeding them lifeforce, or even if they just don't use magic. But excessive use can kill them at young ages." Rush explained.

Aries looked horrified. Rush chortled, and added, "By young ages, I mean around 90. Old for Warlocks and Witches gets up into the thousands. They're born with a surplus of lifeforce, see. Astronomical, compared to you and I."

"You're not a Warlock?"

"I'm sure I'm part Warlock, at least...I'm probably part female, too. Who cares? I don't run on spirits or lifeforce at all. The Library fuels my spells. Even when it was sleeping, I could still use my earth magic because that's the gift it gave me when it first...fell on my head. To put it bluntly."

Gabe laughed softly. "It fell on your head?" he asked, looking up and tapping Rush's shoulder. "Like, how? It went crash?" he asked.

"Verolen cut through the labratory of the Phantom's home once, during his escape. Admittedly, I did try to stop him, but he threw me against a back wall. He exploded the other wall, and that explosion knocked a glass cube off of a shelf, which broke over my head. The cube held the Library. It saw me as a suitable host. The Phantom made it sleep before I could damage anything, though." Rush explained quietly. "I've both loved and hated having this Library. It's a bit of a curse, in a sense...but it works well and hard to do what I need it to."

Gabe blinked and nodded, though it seemed that he didn't quite understand what was being said to him. He reached over and took hold of Aries's hand, then spoke up once again. "...do you remember my dad?" he asked.

L'arc took pause, wondering where the question had come from, but kept quiet. Lucas, Gabe's father had died almost two years ago, right about the time when their group was just starting to get together. They had still had Nornan and Assegai in their group, back then...

Aries looked down at Gabe, then smiled a bit. "I do. He was a brave man...he died before his time. It was very, very unfortunate and sad...he died trying to help us. And then we found you..." She stopped and stooped, picking up Gabe. "I would be very sad without you, Gabe."

Gabe closed his eyes for a moment, smiling as he was held, then sighed. "Mommy... my mom is still alive. The real one," he said quietly. "She's a human. I saw her before."