The Forgotten Zodiac

Tyler shrugged, then hopped over to the wall and grabbed a broom. "Michael's always fighting with everybody." He grabbed the broom and stared sweeping things up. "I don't like broken glass on the floor. It could cut somebody."

"Thanks for that, I suppose," Quinn watched Tyler work, smiling. "Don't cut yourself, okay?" She warned lightly, stifling a yawn. "Hey...where did Kyle go off to?"

Tyler nodded and continued sweeping. Once he'd swept it all up, he pointed at the door. "Kyle left somewhere, remember? He doesn't like people. He's not very nice..."

"Well, I need to know where I can sleep..." Quinn frowned, looking around. She peered up the stairs, deciding to forge onwards in that direction, after Werr and Sylas. Perhaps they were both in bed already.

Kyle was in the same room he'd been in when they left. The door was open when Quinn walked by, looking for him. "Looking for something?" he inquired, having noticed her walking by.

Quinn stopped in her tracks, peeking into Kyle's room. "Um, I'm just looking for a place where I can sleep...I am a gifted, after all, we have a tendency to sleep quite a bit." She giggled, smiling a bit. "Do you happen to have a bed or a cot I can sleep on?"

Kyle didn't appear amused by Quinn at all, but he wordlessly stood up and walked Quinn to a room. He kicked open the door, then made a mock bow to Quinn. "Your room. Pick any bed you like, you won't be sharing."

((I'm thinking four bunk beds per room. Which means Werr, Michael, Tyler, and Sylas will be sharing.))

"Thank you," Quinn smiled thankfully, then walked in and climbed up into the top bunk of the bed closest to the door. She was asleep within minutes, not caring that the door was still open, or that her clothes were filthy, or that it was technically the middle of the day.

((Oh, wonderful. That means Sylas can give nightmares to all three of them! xD))

((Except Tyler. He'll be scared until he meets the dragon. Then he'll want to make friends.

Actually, we should skip to nightmares. Those sound fun.))

Kyle nodded, then went back to his work. Whoever made the decision to hire him with the Institute had probably made a good decision. He was obsessed.

Sylas was laying down in the bottom bunk of one bed, though Tyler had moved to the top bunk. Werr had already gone to sleep on the other top bunk. Eventually, Michael went to bed as well.

And then they were all sucked into the vortex of Sylas' nightmares. It would be familiar to Michael; the halved black and white city, them landing on the black side. Shadowy hands went after them at once. Werr swore loudly, apparently attempting to use his ability; nothing was working. "What the heck are these things?!" He demanded, pushing them away.

"Kill the beast..." The voice moaned in desperation. "Free us..."

Michael stepped out of the hands way, picking up Tyler and moving around. "It's Sylas, again. He does this whenever you sleep around him. I forgot about that."

Tyler squirmed out of Michael's arms and ran along the allyway, jumping to avoid the hands. He didn't like them at all, no matter what Michael said.

Werr followed Tyler, stomping ferociously down on the hands that tried to grab him. "Well, how the heck do we get out of here?" Werr demanded. "What beast are these things talking abou--" His words screeched to a halt as he made it out to the road, spotting the dragon. Then he just stopped and stared, his left eye twitching a bit.

Tyler skidded to a stop, halfway between the dragon and Werr and Michael. "It's a dragon! MICHAEL! Why's there a dragon?" He stayed where he was, unsure as to what would happen if he tried to back away.

Michael groaned and looked at Werr. "I think that's Sylas. I killed it last time, and he woke up screaming and kidnapped Tyler. So I would assume it was him."

Werr glared pointedly at Michael. "So how are we supposed to wake him up without killing him here? This entire situation is insane! Will he even recognize us if we approach, or will he try to eat us?"

Michael glared back at Werr; they still hadn't made up after their past fight. "How should I know? I've only killed him! It's only happened once!" When Tyler heard that it was Sylas, he walked closer to the dragon. "Sylas? Whatcha doing, Sylas?"

The dragon, who was still a good distance away, jerked his head up at peered at Tyler. He growled for a moment, then just laid down on his stomach and watched them all. He was clearly still upset, even in his dreams. "Tyler, be careful!" Werr called to him, grabbing the boy by the arm.

Tyler jumped back and looked at the dragon worriedly, looking quite upset. "Sylas, that's fighting! How come you're fighting?" He let Werr pull him back and looked at Sylas sadly. He didn't know why his friend would be mad at him like that. He hadn't meant to upset Sylas.

Michael bit his lip again, looking at Sylas with a vaguely concerned. "Leave him be, Tyler. He's upset right now, clearly."

Sylas rolled onto his back, growling at nothing in particular now. Eventually, he went back to staring at them. His stomach growled; the others could feel it from where they were standing. "Sylas!" Werr decided to call, growing impatient. "How do we get out of here?!"

Sylas didn't respond much, just rolling over (and tearing down a building with his tail in the process) and turning his back to them.

Tyler squirmed out of Werr's grip, then ran forward and climbed up Sylas' tail and onto his back. "Sylas, please?! You're being mean as Kyle!" He slid down the dragon's back and sat down, sniffling quietly. "I don't like mean people."

Sylas turned his head around and nuzzled Tyler, sniffing him. "Tyler, you..." Werr started and began walking forward, but Sylas snapped his head forward. His jaws closed inches from Werr, who backreeled instantly.

"New rule; no approaching dragons." Werr mumbled to himself, staring. "You deal with this, Michael, you're the one who made him grumpy in the first place!"