The Forgotten Zodiac

"Understandable." Mikke nodded.

Verolen frowned. "Are you sure you want to go back there, Bermuda? We could go back to the Manakete Palace and get..." He trailed off, realizing that...well, there was no one. The Phantom had all of their friends. All of the ones that they didn't know if they were injured or not. "Get..." Eve, Manny, Rush... Verolen trailed off and looked down. "I get it. Just...be careful, okay?" He smiled a bit at Bermuda.

Bermuda nodded. "I'll be careful," he said. "But I think I know what I'm doing. You take care of L'arc and Sylas for me, yeah?" he said. "I'll be okay. The witches are powerful, and I know what the naiads can do. We'll be able to get Israel and Verdi just fine."

"Heck yeah, I'm powerful," Mikke grinned, taking Bermuda's hand. "Can you walk back then, Verolen?"

"Yeah. I'll be fine." He nodded. "Go on, then...and good luck to you both."

Bermuda smiled at Verolen, then looked to Mikke. "So, will we go to Halberd Hall? Lucien's powerful, and it'll take more than you to get past him. Though... I don't believe Israel and Verdi are in the castle. But just in case," he said.

"Sure, I can get a couple friends." Mikke shrugged. "You'll have to convince them yourself, though. Some of them are lethargic." She hopped back on her broomstick and pulled Bermuda on. "Say bye to Verolen. Off we goooo!" She shot off like a rocket, clearly excited. Verolen waved, then turned to walk back to the palace.

((Shall we stick with the wtiches, or go back to the Manakete palace, or see what Israel and Verdi are doing?))

((Israel and Verdi.))

Israel hummed softly to himself, preening his wings in the down-time he had before the next show. They had just gotten a new script, and the Siren was pleasently surprised to find that he would not be playing a villain in this new play. He hadn't been given his new costume yet, nor had Verdi, but the new show wasn't set to be performed until next week, so they could learn their lines. Until then, there were three more showings of the old one, but Israel was already  excited.

Verdi was reading over the script. "Hey, look! This is a story of a daring prince who has to save the princess' pet monster."

"It's not a monster," Ela rolled her eyes as she approached, carrying costumes and makeup. "It's the princess' personal guard dog. Its name is Monster."

"Huh. Odd name." Verdi tilted his head to the side.

"Well, our story writer is quite the...imaginitive young girl." Ela chuckled. "How do you feel about your parts? Good?"

"I get to be the prince!" Israel trilled happily. "This is so cool! Who's the story writer? Tell her it's a good one!" he said, smiling at Ela. He tilted his head, looking at her. "What part did you get?" he asked.

Ela grinned. "I'm the one who stole the guard dog. It's all part of the plan, you see. Steal the dog, lure in the prince...then I'll have them both. Both the prince, and soon after, the little princess," Her smirk quickly turned a little more...evil.

"Whoa," Verdi blinked. "You're good at playing the bad guy."

"It's just a play," Ela chuckled. "But this is a good one. Get yourself familiar with the script, we've got a showing of the last one in a couple hours. Oh," She smiled. "Lilac is the writer."

Israel smiled. "I might have guessed that," he said, standing up. "I'll go get ready for the show, and then look over the script in the meantime. Verdi, want to come?" he asked. He then paused. "Hey, what's my name in the new show? Is it a good one?"

"Yes!" Verdi hopped up and ran around Israel's feet, grinning.

"Your name is Prince Wade." Eva smiled. "It's a good name, in my opinion. I suppose it's your opinion, though."

Israel smiled and nodded. "Hey, I like that!" he said, smiling happily. He scooped up Verdi and stroked under the moot's chin. "All right, come on,"  he said.

"Yay!" Verdi beamed and giggled, nuzzling up to Israel as he took them back to their room. The jail-like cage was gone, replaced with two beds tucked close together. "Woah!" Verdi jumped out of Israel's hands and jumped up and down on the beds. "YAAAAAAY!"

Israel laughed, going over and sitting his bed. "Verdi, we're supposed to be getting ready," he reminded gently. He didn't press, though, knowing that they still had a couple hours before they would be pressed for time. He smiled and laughed again. "Are you having fun?"

"Yes! YESYESYES!" Verdi giggled. "I like Ela. She's really nice. I guess these beds mean that she can trust us not to run away overnight or something." He jumped up and down on the bed, then rolled himself around and around and around, grabbing up the blankets as he went until he was wrapped all up like a little burrito.

Israel leaned over and scooped Verdi up, blankets and all. "I guess so," he said, trilling softly to the little moot. He smiled, then looked up towards the closet. "We should get ready, yeah?" he suggested.

"Yes! Let's get ready." Verdi beamed happily, jumping down and climbing up to get his bucket full of soot.

Israel smiled and stood, going over to the little trunk that housed his costume and other supplies for the show. "We're nearly done with this one," Israel said. He smiled. "You excited for the new play?"