The Forgotten Zodiac

"It's not...L'arc..." Reetah protested, but she seemed weak, all of the sudden. Normally, she probably would have picked L'arc up and dragged him out before explaining, but she couldn't even manage to say anything. Her eyes were just locked on the hand sticking out of the trapdoor, which was soon joined by its other.

"Let me out, please, please let me out," The boy pleaded, desperation obvious in his voice. "They locked me here, I've been here for ages, please...let me out," He begged, moving his face closer to the crack so they could see his face. He really was just a young Manakete boy, dirt on his narrow face and a cry for help in his round, pale green eyes.

L'arc's eyes narrowed as he turned to Reetah. "Does Minori know about this?" he asked, doubt in his voice. Minori was still a new king, and had taken the throne at a relatively young age for Manakete - doubtless his retainers had a few secrets from him that the young king was being sheltered from. And since Minori would rarely have need to visit a storage closet, L'arc figured he was probably right in his guess.

The forest prince knelt on the floor next to the trapdoor, pushing it open all the way so he could see the boy. "What's your name?" he asked. "Why are you down here?"

Reetah just shook her head. Minori knew nothing of this. She was pale and her eyes were filled with something that had never really been there before.

Sorrow.

The space down under the trapdoor was tight, obviously restricting the boy to his human form. He was definitly a Manakete, complete with a dragonstone. One that was oddly cracked, a webwork of lines like broken glass. "My name...Ullar." He backed up a pace and stared up at L'arc fearfully, as though he was afraid the forest boy would keep him locked down here forever. "I...I hurt some people. But...but I'm sorry, and I won't ever, ever do it again, ever, and--" Reetah slammed the trapdoor shut, moving the heavy stuff on top of it again. Screaming and wailing came from underneath, but Reetah's expression had hardened once more.

"It would be wise not to meddle in my affairs, L'arc. Take your ink and get out." She was fuming with anger, and would obviously have nothing with protests. If L'arc wanted to let the boy out, he'd have to do it later, when Reetah was busy somewhere else.

((Hinthint. :3))

"I spilled my ink all over the floor," L'arc said, his eyes narrowing at Reetah as he placed one hand on the hilt of his blade, indicating clearly that he was not in a mood to be ordered about. "Now you tell me what's going on, now," he hissed.

"I'll tell you what's going on," Reetah snarled. "You're leaving this room, now!" She practically bared her teeth at him as she reached up to the shelf again, grabbing another ink bottle. She shoved it into his hands, then grabbed him by the shoulders, spun him around, and pushed him out of the closet.

All the while, Ullar was banging on the trapdoor and wailing at the top of his lungs. Yet, the sounds faded as Reetah shut the closet door and locked it tight. Reetah's hand lingered on the lock for a moment or two before she turned to L'arc and growled, "Go back to your room. I better not catch you near this closet again, L'arc. That thing in there is not to be trusted."

L'arc whirled about, using most of his self restraint to keep himself from hitting Reetah. "That 'thing', as you so crudely call him, is a person! He--" L'arc's face was red, and anger stole his voice for a moment.

"He is not to be let out of that hole, and that's final!" Reetah clearly had enough of L'arc's protests. Her dragon form's hands met L'arc next. Despite her anger, she scooped L'arc up and carried him back to his room. Another transformation, and she pushed L'arc into the room with Bermuda and Sylas, and slammed the door behind him before leaving again.

"What's going on?" Arachne frowned. "Did you make Reetah angry...?"

L'arc paced up and down the room a couple times, muttering angrily under his breath before he could compose himself enough to reply reasonably to Arachne. "Apparently, I made her very angry, and she so kindly returned the favor," he hissed.

Bermuda tried unsuccessfully to get L'arc's attention for a solid two minutes before the forest prince finally turned his way. "L'arc, would you go get Minori? There's still some Dark Matter inside Sylas, and..."

"Say no more, I can't sit still. Be back in a second," he said, leaving and slamming the door shut behind him.

"...Well." Arachne blinked as the door was slammed.

L'arc ran right into Verolen. "Whoa, there. Where's the fire," The demon prince blinked. "L'arc, you look like someone just punched Bermuda in the face. What's going on now?"

L'arc's teeth were grit tightly, and he was obviously still wound up. "There's... listen, I was in the supply closet, and there's a trapdoor in there. There's a little manakete boy being held prisoner down there, and I don't think Minori knows. I'm going to go see him right now, but it's about... listen, come with me, yeah?" he asked.

Verolen blinked at L'arc in confusion, but then nodded. "Sure. Let's go." He followed L'arc as the forest prince ran off, in the direction of the throne room. Reetah wasn't there, thankfully.

Like always, Minori was. The King looked as though he were half asleep - he had one elbow propped on the arm of his throne, his hand holding up his face as he read a thick book in his lap. He looked up as L'arc and Verolen entered, seeming glad for the distraction. "Hi there. Is something wrong?" he asked, sitting the tome aside and standing up.

"First things first, will you come with us to the infirmary? Sylas is apparently still having some trouble," he said.

"Of course," Minori said, coming over to them. "Let's go, then," he said, heading down the hallway.

Verolen followed. "Sylas again? You didn't leave scraps of Dark Matter in there, did you? You should have had Arachne check..." He followed regardless, but he was still very much curious about the boy L'arc had been talking about.

Sylas was slightly conscious again, and he kept mumbling incoherent things. Verolen sighed a bit, holding the door open for L'arc and Minori.

"I'll be sure to, this time," Minori said, rolling up his sleeve as he placed his hand on Sylas's chest. "All right, Sy, just hold still, this might tingle a bit... but I'm sure you know that already, as it's not the first time." As Minori spoke, the area beneath his hand glowed softly, clearing the Dark Matter.

Meanwhile, Adahre spoke quietly to Sylas. Minori's here now. I'll have to go back to Bermuda soon, but it's been a delight. You're very comfortable, he said.

"Thanks..." Sylas mumbled, his vocal cords finally loosened as Minori destroyed the scraps of Dark Matter that had been restricting his...well, everything. When all of it was gone, Verolen pinched Sylas' nose, making him hold his breath for a moment.

"Whaddya think, Arachne, all clear?" Verolen asked. The girl looked up from her book for a moment, then nodded.

"Good as he'll ever be."

"Right, then." Verolen let Sylas' nose go, and the human opened his eyes.

"That feels...a lot better. Thanks." He smiled a bit, but immediately turned and put his hands around Bermuda's. "Here, you need Adahre more than I do, now. Take him back."

Bermuda smiled slightly at Sylas. The Mark on his wrist flared as Adahre returned to Bermuda's body, and the color returned to his face. "I'm going to go lay down for a little bit," he said, moving over to his bed.

"Now, what did you have to say?" Minori asked, turning back to L'arc. The forest prince seemed glad that the king remembered.

"It's better if I show you," he said. "Follow me. Verolen, you too. Might need your help if Reetah shows up again."

Verolen frowned. "But Reetah...yeah, sure. Okay." Did Reetah have something to do with the boy? He guessed he would find out. With a turn of the doorknob, Verolen opened the door and held it open for the others again.

On the way back, Verolen was extremely puzzled. He kept going over what L'arc had hurriedly said. A boy, held under a trapdoor...some kind of prison? But why the storage room? It wouldn't be found there, most likely. But L'arc had found it. And apparently Reetah was involved...

One thing was for sure, he didn't have the greatest of feelings about this whole situation.

"Come on, hurry," L'arc said, picking up the pace as he headed back for the storage room. "Right in here, Minori," he said, pushing open the door.

"Ullar!" he called, shoving at the heavy objects on top of the trapdoor. "Are you still down there?" he asked. Minori moved forward to help move the objects.

"There's... a trap door?" the young king asked, looking shocked as they moved back the objects to reveal the door. "Is... hello?" 

Ullar was indeed still there. This time, though, he was with new additions. The chains around his ankles had already been there, but he now had a straightjacket on, complete with a gag. He made muffled sounds of desperation, literally jumping up and down.

"What the heck?! You weren't kidding, L'arc...don't worry, kid, we'll get you outta there," Verolen dropped down into the little hole, undoing the chains that held him to the floor. He then lifted Ullar up so L'arc and Minori could grab him.

L'arc and Minori pulled the boy up, L'arc reaching quickly to pull out the gag while Minori fiddled with the straps of the jacket.

"Are you okay? Who are you? What are you doing down there?" Minori asked in a rush, appalled that he could not have known about this boy, being held captive in his own home.