The Forgotten Zodiac

"More like the shards are attracted to them," Sylas snorted. "I'm really surprised we haven't been attacked for the purpose of stealing out shards...not recently, anyways." He remembered his first encounter with the demon world; the huge wolf, the wall of portal that slowly sucked him in and left hundreds of cuts on his body...that hadn't gone very well, but they had made a friend then. Verolen.

"Yeah..." L'arc said, then mused on that for a while. "Maybe it's because we move around so much. Maybe they decided we weren't worth the trouble."

"That," Byrne agreed, "Or they could be busy doing other things. Like finding a new general to replace my dad."

Sylas seemed a bit confused about that, but he supposed it wasn't all that important. "Hey," He looked around, realizing something. "Where did Bershee go? I thought she was on the boat with us...?"

"Well, now she's not. She left." One of the other Selkies, Lethro, said gruffly. "Swam away like the coward she is."

"Oh...okay." Sylas frowned at this, but he didn't pry.

L'arc quirked his brow at the Selkie's words, but he, too, said nothing.

"All right," Eltanin said, climbing down the gangplank to join the others. "If you'll follow me... not that you all don't know your way around by now, but let me show you where you can rest."

"Alright. Thank you." Sylas smiled, following willingly.

((Sorry for smallpost, I'm busy with a project.))

((Sorry for taking forever to reply.))

Eltanin led the way to the selkie city, to the center tent that belonged to the leader. Which he was. "Make yourselves at home," he said, opening the tent flap and letting them go inside.

((I don't mind that.))

"Thanks," Sylas said again, crawling inside with a smile on his face. Manny followed happily, smiling as he held Eve's hand.

((BETRAYAL?!))

((By whom?))

L'arc followed Sylas inside. Byrne offered a hand to Eve, but she declined with a demure smile. She ushered Manny inside the tent, and Byrne followed after the pair.

((Eltanin. For some reason I got an image in my head of the Phantom sitting there, waiting patiently... xD))

Aries gave a passing smile to Eltanin as she stepped inside. "Thanks again, for everything...hopefully, this'll be the last time we need your help. We're deep in your debt..."

((OoooooOOOOOOHhhh.

B-but... Eltie wouldn't do that... unless he is holding the group personally responsible for Bermuda and Quay's disappearance, but even then not to that extreme. He'd just be a bit angry, like he already is...

But if he was giving them over for the sake of someone else's protection, that would be feasable... yeah. Hands 'em over in exchange for Rasalhauge's safety.))

Eltanin's smile wavered slightly. "...I... wouldn't say that," he said quietly. He gave himself a small shake, then the smile returned in full force. "Please," he said, holding open the flap for her.

((The Phantom would definitely pull a deal like that.

8I IT IS DONE))

"There she is," The voice that met Aries as she stepped in was welcoming and silky smooth. But not the voice she wanted to hear. She opened her mouth, and felt something land in her bag after a small spitting noise. She ignored that for now and glared at the man before her.

The Phantom.

"That's the last of them. Start moving them to the castle," He ordered, smiling as he attempted to inject something into Aries' leg. She promptly punched him in the face and rolled out of the tent, taking the needle with her, which she thrust into Eltanin's arm when he tried to stop her. It was just a numbing poison, thankfully, but Aries didn't pause to see the effects. She stumbled away, taking one look at Rasalhogue and running for it. There were demons...the entire little city had been completely occupied. Eltanin...there were tears in Aries' eyes as she rolled forward, avoiding an arrow narrowly. There was a flurry of others; two landed in her arm and one in her shoulder, but she kept going, her eyes locked on the water.

She dove in headfirst, swimming as quickly as she could. She reached into her bag and pulled out what she figured had landed in it; only Sylas could pull off such a shot. Sylas had put the pearl in his mouth and spat it out with just enough strength to land it in her bag. She pushed it into her mouth, not caring that it had been in Sylas'. There was no time for trivial matters like that. She felt oxygen rush into her lungs, and was compelled to swim deeper, into the colder waters.

On the surface, the Phantom was furious. "Get her! Swim after her, you blubber-brained fools!" He screeched at a Selkie family. When the older ones didn't move, he wrenched their little girl out of her father's arm and dug his fingers into her temples, starting to send pulses of his dark magic through. The screams got the Selkies moving.

((All I can say is thank goodness Gabe was out playing with Quay. I don't want the poor little fellows to get hurt.))

L'arc watched through bleary vision as Aries ran off, silently cheering her on. Eve was on the ground a few feet away, and the druid's arm twitched once in an effort to touch her, see if she was okay, but it was a futile attempt. A demon stepped foreward and started binding the Forest Prince's arms. L'arc let out a small hiss, trying to struggle.

It was no use. Sylas was out cold; he was first to recieve the drug, after all. Manny seemed impervious to it, but he was curled tightly around his 'mother', and allowed himself (and her, inadvertantly) to be tied up once they promised that she wasn't going to be hurt by them. The Phantom returned, raging and generally throwing a fit. "Get them to the castle, NOW! Hook them up to the anesthetics the second you get there." He ripped the Ether shard off of one demon, and the group, one by one, were dragged over and dumped in the portal.

One by one, the demons left. Aries was a lost cause; the Selkies reported that she had fallen into the Forgotten Trench, and had been snatched up by a shark. All they managed to bring back was one of her ears. So of course, the Phantom was much less than pleased, but he had his prize. He had made his promise, and now he was carrying it out. Every demon here left as soon as they had the group of the Forest Champions.

When Eltanin woke again, he was lying on a bed in the infirmary tent. His cot was next to a very waterlogged Aries (who was missing one of her ears), with Bershee hanging over them both. "Foolish man," She spat at him, going back to bandaging the Viera's head. Aries had indeed suffered from a shark attack; she had brutal bites on her arms and legs, but thankfully, nothing but her ear had been torn off. She was unconscious for now, due to the pain and shock.

Bershee glared at Eltanin, clearly ticked off. "You chao-lin," She hissed in anger, looking much like she wanted to knock him out cold again. 

Eltanin sat up slowly. "Thuban. Adhara. Quay," he called, looking around for his siblings. "Where are they?" he asked, looking around.

Quay flew into his arms. "Eltie! There were bad men here!" he said.

Gabe, meanwhile, was sobbing over Aries. "Why won't she wake up?" he demanded. "Why did I have to run around? Why can't I use any spells without feeling sick? Why, why, whyyyyyy?" he cried.

"Calm down, child," Bershee soothed. "Her body is in shock at the moment. She'll be awake soon. She'll have to cope with diminished hearing for awhile. I can replace the ear using a spell, thankfully; it's just cartliage, so it won't be hard to reattach, but the Phantom took the part. We'll have to get it back before her ear heals."

She rounded on Eltanin. "These people depended on you for help, but you betrayed them! Now most of them are as good as dead, and the one that's left is injured and unable to take care of her young...and you're only worried about Thuban, Adhara, and Quay, who - might I add - are perfectly safe and unharmed!" She shrieked at him.

Eltanin glared at Bershee. "And if I hadn't turned them over, we would all be dead. The entire selkie race, pfff. Gone, like that!" he growled. "You know he would do it. It's not beneath him. We'd either all be dead or enslaved. Oceanica has stayed out of the war so far. I thought ti best to bargain, rather be dragged into a fight we could not possibly win," he said.

"That's how you rationalize betraying people who depend on you? Did you even try to fight back?" Bershee snarled, still angry.

Eltanin fell silent, not looking back up at Bershee, but to the younger selkie in his arms. Quay blinked up at him. "Did they take away the others because of you?" he asked quietly.

Bershee fumed and thought for a long moment. "No," She finally said. "It's not Eltanin's fault. There was nothing he could do." She admitted, though she didn't like it.

Aries finally stirred, opening her eyes and staring blankly at Gabe for several seconds. She slowly moved and wrapped her arms around him, shifting and lying on her side with Gabe in her arms. "Was I...caught...?" She whispered, her throat raw due to all the water she had inhaled.

"By a shark, yes. The Selkies saved you and took your torn off ear and brought it to the Phantom. You owe your freedom now to them." Bershee sighed.

"My...ear?" Aries squinted at her, then felt her head. She sighed heavily. "I figured it would only be a matter of time..." She sighed. "Can it be fixed?"

"If I have the piece, yes. The Phantom took it. Probably to scare your friends." Bershee spoke quietly, then looked up at Eltanin. "I'm sorry for what I said before. After careful thought and consideration, I've concluded that you made a very hard choice, and sided with the logical half of things. But those people...I'm not certain what it is, but I feel as though if they perish...the rest of the world will too. Let us pray to whatever gods and goddesses you have that they'll survive this."

((How come Bershee gets so many amazing lines?))

Byrne opened his eyes, looking around wearily. He didn't know where he was, only that his ears were clouded by buzzing and that he couldn't see anything.

Nor could he move or speak. He felt something like cotton in and over his mouth, and when he reached up to attempt brushing it off, he found he couldn't move his arms. He let out a low moan and shifted slightly, wondering what had happened to the others.

L'arc, however, knew exactly where he was. And he didn't like it at all. His arms were strapped to a horizontal pole at the elbows. The pole was a bit taller than L'arc's shoulders, which forced him to bend double in order to accomodate the bindings. His hands had been shoved into leather pouches, making him unable to uncurl his fists or have any chance of using his hands as a means to get free. His knees and ankles were tied together with rope, and although they had put a gag over his mouth, that didn't stop him from screaming in defiance and (though he would never admit it) fear. He looked around the plain, metal-walled room, and wondered who would show up - and when.

((I would say the Phantom would go for L'arc, yeah? He's the last in the royal line of the forest, soooo.))