The Forgotten Zodiac

Verolen was still in the little hole, examining the walls. "Slow down, Minori, he looks traumatized. I don't blame him...from the looks of these markings, he's been here awhile. Tally marks...look at this, he was running out of room! Kid, your name is Ullar, right?"

The boy slowly nodded, looking in bewilderment from Verolen to Minori, then to L'arc. Without warning, he threw his arms around L'arc in a tight hug. "Th-thank you..." He murmured, starting to cry.

"Ullar, how long were you down here?" Verolen questioned, frowning a bit.

"Thre-three years...and four days."

"Three years?!" Verolen heaved himself up and out of the horrible cell, holding a tray with stacks of dishes on it, along with a canteen, which was half-full at the moment. "Looks like you were fed, at least..." He watched as Ullar sobbed quietly. The boy suddenly broke away from L'arc and made for the door.

"I want to see the sky again, I have to get outside," He darted away, quicker than anyone could stop him.

"Woah there, let me come with you!" L'arc said, getting up and darting after the young manakete. He caught up to the boy quickly enough, taking hold of his arm and pulling him to a balcony. "See, look. Sky's still there, all full of clouds and... things." It was times like this that L'arc wished he were better at comforting, and he could only hope that he was helping Ullar out now.

Minori rose to his feet, looking a bit shaken. "I need to find Reetah," he said, mostly to himself. Without another word, he left the room, looking for his retainer.

Ullar breathed deeply, clearly relieved to great extents. He leaned against the banister, smiling. "Finally free...finally." He cried a little more, hugging L'arc again.

Reetah was in the throne room, writing things down onto a clipboard. Business as usual for her, apparently. Preparations were being made for the Spring Song Festival. There would be singers filling the castle with their songs and ballads, paying respect to both the fallen and the living. It was a time of celebrations, so it was a busy time for her. She was about to get a rather nasty surprise, though...

"Reetah," Minori's voice conveyed his no-nonsense attitude. "You need to tell me about Ullar. Right now," he said.

Reetah's clipboard slipped from her fingers. Her hard gaze softened, and she looked down. "I...I suppose I can't hide it from you anymore...I should have known L'arc would tell you." She sighed, then sat down in one of the spare chairs around the room. "You might want to sit, yourself. It's a bit of a long story..." She didn't wait for him to sit, though. "It may be surprising for you to learn that I once had a husband. A very long time ago, it was...I loved him deeply, and he gave me a child to bear. But...I soon discovered that my love for him had no returns. He was commiting adultry before my eyes and there was nothing to stop him. He had been married to the other woman before me. It was easy for him to portray me as the evil husband-thief. I was just starting in Kazue's court, I could have lost my job and everything, but...Kazue had mercy on me. So many times, he had mercy on me, where I deserved the utmost of punishments. I--"

She was stopped short as a scream sounded from down the hallway. Reetah looked up sharply, then towards Minori. "You...you didn't let him out, did you?"

"...technically, L'arc let him out," Minori said, looking somewhat concerned now. "Why?" he asked, rising to his feet from where he had been sitting before. "Why was he locked up? What's going on, Reetah?" he asked.

"Skies above..." Reetah didn't stop to explain herself, running as quick as she could down the hallway the screaming had come from.

The screaming had come from Verolen; he was lying on the ground now, blood spilling around him from a wound in his throat. Ullar had clawed it right out.

"Blood...blood!" Ullar lapped at his bloodied fingers hungrily, but stopped short, making a face. "Yech...this is disgusting! I should have known...he was a demon. Oh well..." He looked up at L'arc, who was still on the balcony (due to a lack of anywhere else to go). When the forest prince drew his weapon, Ullar shook his head. "Nah, I won't eat you. You saved me, after all...I owe you. I'll just find someone else." Faster than he had run before, he darted off down the hall.

In the direction of the room Sylas and Bermuda were in.

"Ullar! Ullar, stop! You can't... you can't eat people!" L'arc said, panic rising in him. "Come back! Reetah, Minori, someone!" he called.

Reetah slid to a stop next to L'arc. "Where..." She barely had time to question before more screaming came from further down the hall. She ran off again, furious.

Ullar was in their room, of course. Arachne was screaming and throwing things at him as he advanced on her; she fell off the bed, still screaming and wailing and trying desperately to get away. Israel had went to get her flowers from the garden, he wasn't in the room at the moment.

Sylas, however, was. Thankfully, his bow had been within reach. "Get away from her!" He screeched, prepping an arrow, but his shaking fingers didn't seem to be obeying him...

Bermuda had taken cover behind Sylas, looking like he wanted to help Arachne but couldn't do anything.

Thankfully, L'arc took care of the problem. Vines shot out of the ground and wrapped around Ullar's limbs, holding him relatively still. "Ullar, stop! You can't eat people, that's wrong!" he shouted.

Ullar glared at L'arc. "I don't care if it's wrong. I want to do it, so I'm going to do it," He twisted and writhed with the power of five men. The same power that had thrown Verolen away. "I'm hungry! Let me eat!" He wailed, clawing at the vines.

Reetah walked forward quietly, her eyes downcast. She removed the bandages from her right hand, the ones that were constantly there due to her chronic statue punching. This was another falsehood, apparently; her hand was scarred and torn up in a way that suggested she had done this many times; she stuck her hand in Ullar's mouth. He was silent immediately, except for hungry slurping. Reetah didn't even flinch.

"I don't understand."

Minori had just caught up with the rest of the group, and eyed the disarry of the room with obvious confusion. "Reetah, who is that boy?" he asked.

L'arc allowed the vines holding Ullar to tighten slightly, even though it seemed the boy had calmed. It was better to be safe than sorry... of course, if he'd thought about that maxim sooner, he probably would have decided to leave the boy alone. The forest prince stayed silent for a moment or two longer, then chanced speaking. "I'm sorry, Reetah."

"It's fine. You should be apologizing to Arachne and Verolen...they're the ones who got hurt because of this." Reetah said quietly. She turned, making eye contact with Minori. But she couldn't maintain it. She looked down again, then at Ullar.

"This...is my son. I told you, Minori...he gave me a child. But...the boy I was going to name Ullar...was stillborn. I...I couldn't stand it. I performed a very grave taboo, Minori...attempting to reverse the flows of life is a very serious crime. The gods punished me how they saw fit. I had my son back, in a sense, but...you can see what I've done to him. And perhaps worse still, I can no longer bear children. Ullar is all I have...

"I kept him, though. I couldn't give him up. Kazue...would have punished me, but...he was wise enough to see that I was already punished enough. He allowed me to raise him. Ullar, my dear boy..." She winced as there was a crack. Another broken finger. "B-but...Ullar got out one day. He attacked a young family. Nearly killed a little girl about his age...I only just managed to stop him. Kazue still let me keep him...perhaps that was a mistake, but..." She sighed. "I had to keep him in a more secure place. Where you found him...I've been keeping him there for three years,"

Tears dripped down her face. However unusual it was. Reetah never cried. She had never shed a tear over anything...except for Kazue's death, and now this.

"I... see," Minori said, although he really didn't. Maybe because he was so young, and had never had children of his own... he could sympathize with Reetah, but he knew he could never fully understand. He tried to relate her situation to Apathy's, but he, of course, didn't understand that fully as well, and the King found himself not knowing what to do or say now.

"...right! Verolen!" L'arc said suddenly, breaking the silence. "Bermuda, we need a healer, now! Can you still--"

"I can certianly try," the Oceanid prince murmured, getting to his feet. "Where is he?"

There was no need for that, really. Verolen's revival screams came from down the hallway a moment later. Reetah finally pulled her ripped up hand away from Ullar's mouth, ignoring his whines for more. She rewrapped the wound, then turned and hugged Ullar. He responded by biting her shoulder, but she just hugged him tighter, still crying.

"Someone needs to wake up Verolen before he goes batty," Sylas sighed a bit. He looked over to the flowerpot next to his bed, and shook his head.

"I'm on it," L'arc said, hustling off down the hall. He left the vines still wrapped around Ullar, not knowing how well Reetah could control him.

"...what do we do now?" Minori asked quietly, approaching Reetah carefully.

Reetah looked down. She opened her mouth, then closed it again, then pulled away from Ullar. He let go, apparently asleep now. Limp and quiet. "I...I don't know. You...you and your magic is the only thing that can truly kill him. B-but...I don't know if I want him dead." She looked up at Minori. "If you'll have me give him up, I will..."

"LET ME GO!" Ullar suddenly screamed, thrashing furiously. The vines broke, weakened by the distance L'arc had put between them. Reetah tried to stop him and quiet him once more, but he spat her fingers out and tore away from her. He bolted out the door, slamming it shut; he pushed a suit of armor over so it leaned against the door, holding it shut.

Minori bolted after Ullar. He didn't really know what he'd do if he caught up to the boy, but he knew that the young Manakete had to be stopped. "Get back here!" he called. He ran into the door once, thinking it would open for him, but was met with suprising resistance. He stumbled back, shaking his head once or twice to clear it, before letting out a low growl. The dragonstone around his neck gleamed brightly, and he shoved the door open.

"Ullar!" he shouted. "Where are you?"

The boy was already gone, down the hall. His cracked dragonstone shone, and he let out a scream of his own as his blood sprayed behind him. Large wings tore themselves out of his back with a horrid ripping sound. But he hardly faltered, using his new wings to his advantage. He came up behind L'arc and grabbed him, holding him close as his wings pounded and he flew off with the forest prince, leaving a screaming and writhing Verolen lying on the floor.

L'arc let out a yell of his own, one of suprise that quickly turned to fear as he found himself being lifted off the ground and carried off by Ullar. "Wait, wait! What are you doing?" L'arc asked, panic rising in his voice.

Minori looked over his shoulder to see if anyone had followed him as he chased after the young manakete. "Reetah, get your son!" he called, stopping beside Verolen to wake him.

"Verolen, it's all right, get up," Minori said. "We've got... a situation here..."