The Forgotten Zodiac

"Well, I suppose we'd best be off, then." Verolen smiled, taking Bermuda by the arm. "We can visit the plains. I heard the witches are having festivities soon, and they've been testing fireworks..."

"Isn't that a little...dangerous?" Reetah frowned.

"Nah. The price on my head has been removed, and Bermuda doesn't have enough magic for them to be interested. They're pretty sweet and caring people, when they don't want your head for gold..."

Bermuda nodded. "I trust Verolen," he said. "I'll be fine. Just take care of Sylas, won't you?" he asked.

Minori nodded. "I will do my best," he agreed.

"Away we go, then!" Verolen grabbed Bermuda's hand and ran for it, laughing a bit as he went.

By the time L'arc reached Sylas again, the human had passed out again. "He complained about a great pain in his chest. He was crying out for you only a few moments ago," Rhre said quietly. "There's nothing further I can do for him."

"It's fine, we've got a plan.l Reetah shrugged as she picked Sylas up. He seemed so heavy all of the sudden...

"Thank you for your help," L'arc said, bowing his head slightly to Rhre. "He would've been dead already without you. Thanks," he smiled at her, then gave a small wave of parting, following Reetah back to the Manakete Palace.

"Give my regards to Aries, prince L'arc," Rhre called before settling down in her moss patch again, smiling.

"My gosh, it's like he was eating bricks!" Reetah complained, struggling to carry Sylas now. She set him down and transformed, carefully picking him up in her claws. "He's still heavy, but I can manage like this. Here, get on," She lowered her wing so that L'arc could climb up onto her back. She took off from there, making it back to the Manakete palace quickly. She didn't transform before stomping through the halls to their new room. She knelt, reaching in with her hand and dropping Sylas on his bed.

"There you go. I think that Dark Magic is affecting him, L'arc. Check his vitals for me, I'll go get Minori."

L'arc's heart sank, and he didn't reply to Rhre before Reetah wisked him off. Kneeling by Sylas's bed, the druid placed his hand on the human's neck, feeling for a pulse there. He leaned over and lightly rested his head on Sylas's chest, holding his breath in an effort for his fingers to better hear.

Sylas' pulse was...odd. It was still getting blood out, yes, but it was off beat and sounded way too fast. Blatantly speaking, he was having a small heart attack, but it didn't seem to be the fatal kind. He was still breathing, but it sounded labored. Like how someone would breath when something was constricting them.

"The Dark Matter is strangling him," Arachne said suddenly. Her bed was nearby; it looked fairly normal, but there was a large toy chest on her dresser, perfectly within her reach, so she could play while in bed. She couldn't exactly walk anywhere, anyway. She had a stuffed rabbit in her arms as she stared at L'arc and Sylas. "The top half of his heart is dying and trying desperately to make up for the parts that have died already. And his lungs soon won't be able to get enough air to his brain." She sighed unhappily. "It's like a snake. I can see it, twisting around and around..."

L'arc looked like he was starting to panic. In truth, he was in full-out panic and just trying to hide it. "Gah, Minori, what's taking you?" he asked the air around him. He moved to grip Sylas's hand, holding on tight as if the pressure could force healing into his best friend.

Minori entered the room a full three minutes later - L'arc was counting the seconds. Not saying anything, the Manakete king came over and placed his hand on Sylas's chest. A small glow emitted from under Minori's hand, and...

Sylas seemed to relax. Then he rolled onto his side and vomited out some disgusting black goo that collected on the floor in a icky pile. Arachne darted forward (on her hands and knees) and covered it quickly with a sheet. Sylas rolled back over and buried his face in the pillow, sobbing tears that were black for a moment before returning to normal. He twisted onto his side, crying out in pain as the bulge on his chest started leaking out of the stiched-up skin over it. When it was finally over, He surged forward and hugged Minori around the waist, crying quietly.

"It's gone," Arachne confirmed, collecting the last little pieces. "You might want to put this away until Eve gets back." She held up the sheets, which Reetah took willingly.

"Well...it's not destroyed, but it's most certainly expelled." She commented, then shrugged. "At least it worked..."

Minori placed his hands on Sylas's shoulders, while L'arc leaned over and rubbed the human's back soothingly. "It's okay, Sy. It's gone now, you're fine," he said.

Minori patted Sylas's head. "It's all right. You're welcome," he said. He looked over to Reetah. "Keep that stuff away from the Sanctuary. And if you have the chance, find Bermuda and Verolen and tell them that they can come back, now," he added.

"Yes, sir. I'll lock it in the vault," Reetah nodded, picking up the heavy bundle and taking it away.

Sylas finally let go of Minori, sighing heavily. "It's such a relief to get that out...I felt like my chest would burst open at any second. And then it felt like it was crushing me..."

"It was," Arachne pointed out, crawling back to her bed. "But you're fine now. L'arc brought the piece of your heart back, and Minori got rid of the thing that had killed it. So you're fine."

Sylas turned and hugged L'arc, smiling a bit. "Thanks...f-for sticking close."

"Of course," L'arc said, embracing Sylas in return. "I wouldn't even think of leaving you." He hesitated for a moment, then pulled back slightly, looking Sylas in the eye. "How do you feel? Okay?" he asked.

Sylas had to think for a moment, feeling his chest. "Yeah...it's gone. I feel better. Still a bit...beaten up..." He looked down at his broken leg and his shattered arms, grateful that his shoulders hadn't been broken. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to hug at all. "But I'll live, now. I feel better."

"Here, lay down," L'arc said, reaching up and fluffing Sylas's pillow a bit. "You should rest. The Phantom really hurt you bad," he said, frowning slightly. "I'll have to make him pay for that."

Sylas smiled a bit. "That's not all we have to make him pay for, you know..." He chortled a bit, then shook his head. "I dunno...I've been thinking. If we could just paralyze him...something like that...we can dump him in that trench that Verolen was in. Lock him up tight and...well, let him drown. Again and again and again...he deserves it. Or maybe, we could..." He thought for a moment. "Separate his head from his body. It'll be messy, sure...but it'll kill him, right? As long are the pieces are apart...we can burn them and scatter the ashes all over the Darklands. Something...something has to work. No one is entirely invincible..."

((And now I get back to work on these valentines.))

"I suppose the easiest thing would be to ask Verolen about that," L'arc said. "But... I dunno, that could be weird. I mean, evil or not, the Phantom's still his dad, and... I dunno. I don't want to have to force Verolen into telling us how to kill one of his family members, for good." He paused here, suddenly remembering that Arachne was in the room. He glaced up at her, then tried his hardest to pretend he hadn't seen her at all.

"Verolen knows how serious this is," Sylas said quietly. "And he knows that if the Phantom is taken down, he gets to take over as king. He can pull the armies back from this world, and once that's done, the humans don't stand a chance! We could push them back, L'arc, we could reverse the damage that was done. We can...we can fix all of this...isn't that what we want? Isn't that what we need?"

L'arc paused, then nodded, with growing vigor each moment. "Yes. Yes, you're absolutely right," he said, looking back up at Sylas. "They have to pay; they should have never encroached the forest. I only wish..." he trailed off, looking aside.

"...we had an army their size. If we did... well, you all would be better protected, and you wouldn't keep getting hurt like this. I wish..." he shook his head slowly, then sighed, looking upset. "I was only a child when the first attacks came. There had been skirmishes since long before I was born, but they grew progressively worse during my childhood. Dad went to battle and never came back. There was fire, and then everyone was dead... and I was so... powerless. I couldn't do anything when the demons took over my home. Only those that evacuated with my mother and I - the highest generals and councilmembers - survived. But now... they're..." L'arc fingered the soft fur of Aries's ear in his pocket, before slowly pulling it out to show Sylas.

"...I'm the only one left..."

Sylas stared at the ear, then looked down in disbelief. "This...can't be..." He bit his lip. "I...I gave her the pearl, I made sure she had it. Jemina's gift couldn't have failed me. I saw her run...did I...did Jemina's gift choose now to fail me...?" Sylas looked stricken. Heartbroken. He lowered his head and wept, stroking the ear once before pushing it away. "It can't be...it can't..."

L'arc bit down on his lip, trying hard not to cry as well. He turned his face away from Sylas, not wanting the boy to see his friend as weak as a child. He sat there, saying nothing, for he feared that if he opened his mouth it would be only to release a sob, and if that started, he thought he might never be able to stop.