The Forgotten Zodiac

((Dost the Bun care?))

Tyler leapt off Subject's back and charged up the ramp, nearly falling off when he reached the top. "GOTCHA, WEASEL!"

((Not about Subject.))

"Who is he? Take off his mask!" Subject demanded, climbing up on the other side to pin down the 'weasel'.

((Don't listen to her, Subject! SAGE CARES ABOUT YOU. EVEN IF THE BUN IS HEARTLESS.))

Tyler 'pulled off the mask', nearly falling backward off the ramp. "HE'S A DRAGON!" He grabbed Subject by the arm and dragged him away, just barely dodging the horrible flames that spewed from the dragon's mouth.

((Subject: -clinghug- p3p

I DO TOO LOVE HIM

I LOVE TO TORTURE HIM.))

"Nooooo!" Subject wailed as he tripped. He squirmed around on the ground for a moment, then twisted and looked up at Tyler. "Run, save yourself!" He said, trying to hide his grin.

That quickly turned into a look of horror as his eyes fell on something approaching. "Tyler, run," He scrambled around, backing up and trying to crawl away. "RUN!" He screamed.

Lotus' cruel grin was visible, even from the shadows.

((IT'S OKAY, SUBJECT! -grabs and runs away with- I'LL PROTECT YOU FROM EVIL BUN!))

Tyler whirled around and screamed when he saw that Lotus was there, then ran forward, grabbing at Subject's hand as he went. "GO AWAY, LOTUS!" he yelled; terror rising in his voice. The boy grabbed at his bear, coating it in earth to prepare for his defense.

((Mm'kay bai.))

"How about no?" Lotus looked...hungry. Like he hadn't eaten in weeks. But judging from the blood on his hands and mouth, it had only been -maybe- ten minutes. "I'm tired of eating plain humans. 'Gifted', as you call yourself...your meat is better. Far, far tastier..." He advanced in stride, his grin the most malicious he had ever seen.

"G-gotta...get...Sylas," Subject whispered, his throat tight due to fear.

((Well, that's no fun!))

Tyler shook his head furiously, glaring at Lotus. "YES! NO EATING!" He pulled at Subject and tried to run up the hill, refusing to leave his friend behind. The boy looked at the blood on Lotus' mouth in horror, then looked back up the hill. "SYYYYYYYYYYYYLAS!"

((xD))

"He's not gonna wake up," Lotus laughed. "He's sleeping. Iyoui don't sleep unless they need to grow. So the only way you can wake him up is if you happened to have steriods to inject him with in order to speed up his growth. But you don't, and he's out cold. Which leaves me to you..." He held up his fingers, which shifted shapes and turned into a large knife on one hand, and a fork on the other. "Tasty, tasty children..."

It didn't matter that Sylas couldn't wake up; Tyler wasn't loud enough to be heard through the stone walls. In desperation, Tyler threw out a hand. The earth flipped backward under Lotus and threw the Iyouis backward. "GO AWAY, LOTUS!"

Lotus pulled himself up, laughing. "NO!" He yelled back, grinning away. He advanced quickly, and Subject took Tyler's hand.

"Quick, use my energy!" He insisted. "Throw him really far!"

Tyler grabbed Subject's hand, then threw Lotus again. The  Iyouis went much farther this time, flying toward spikes where Tyler estimated he would come out. "Th-thank you, Subject." He whispered. Before Lotus could get back to where they were, Tyler stood up and tried to run away from the raging Iyouis.

Subject scrambled to his feet as well. "What do we do? If Sylas isn't going to wake up..." He whimpered unhappily. "We've gotta get Timothy and get back to the others. It's the only way we'll survive any of this!" He yelped.

((Shall we have our other characters come rescue them? Maybe Quinn told them what was going on?))
Tyler nodded and ran around the edge of the building. He was still holding onto Subject's hand tightly. "The others are bad, Subject. We can't go back to them, I thought."

((Nah. I had an idea.))

"But...we might not be able to keep Lotis away," Subject murmured. "We don't know how long Sylas will be asleep," He panted as they charged up the stairs and ran into the room. Timothy was lying next to Sylas, who was indeed asleep.

((Do I get to know? Please?))

"B-But..." Tyler stopped, looking confused, though he kept running. "Should we get Timothy, or should we go by ourselves?" Despite being 'the boss' he was going to let Subject be in charge here. That's what happened when young children were terrified.

((No, because I was just about to do it. xD So read on. o3o Also, they were already in the room. xD))

"We have to get Timothy," Subject walked over to the bed and pulled the boy up. "Hey, hey, wake up," He shook Timothy for a moment, then picked him up and let the boy rest his head on his shoulder. Then, surprisingly, he grabbed Sylas and started to drag the unconscious Iyoui away.

But when he turned, someone was standing there. It was a woman, obviously, but the long hood of a coat hid her face. She was weilding something, too; a long sword, gleaming with menace. "What are you children doing here?" She seemed mildly surprised. "Unhand that man. You don't know what he's capable of."

"S-Sylas is our friend," Subject lowered Timothy onto Tyler, preparing himself for a fight, if he had to. His defensive stance didn't go unnoticed by the woman.

"I'm not going to attack you. I just want the Iyoui."

"No, h-he's not like the others! Tyler, explain," Subject said desperately, then frowned. "Why...why do you want him, anyway?"

"I aim only to rid the world of these monsters that should not exist. I work for the protection of young children like you. Don't you know, this man you call 'Sylas' would eat you if he got the chance?"

((Oh, Okay. I like this plan.))

Timothy woke up slowly when Subject shake him; but, as soon as he heard the woman threaten Sylas, he was fully awake. A wall of light shot from his chest to the woman, surrounding her in a bubble that would let her leave the room but not come any closer.

Tyler shook his head as the woman spoke; his faith in Sylas was unshakable. "Sylas is good. Lotus is the bad one; he's outside. Please don't hurt Sylas, please! He's my friend, and he's never tried to eat me."

((That's fine. Also, she's a little psycho.))

"Y-You'll leave Sylas be?" With that clarified, Timothy hesitantly lowered the light wall to let her in. He really didn't care about anyone else, as long as James and Lotus were away. Suddenly, he processed that Tyler had said Lotus was outside. His eyes grew to the size of bowling balls and he dived under the bed, rolling as far as the hotel-stupid-under-the-bed-preventers would allow.

Tyler nodded, looking at her with interest. "Of course, we are. Everybody's special, but we're extra special. This is Subject, I'm his boss. Sylas is on the bed, taking a nap; and Timothy is," he frowned, trying to figure out what Timothy was doing. "Oh, he's hiding under the bed. I'm Tyler, and Lotus is outside coming to eat us." His eyes brightened as he realized that, if the woman wanted to kill Sylas, she would love to kill Lotus. "There's a bad Iyouis outside. Can you make him go away?"

((A-yup.

She's more than a little insane. Her entire family was broken apart when the gifted epidemic came around. Her husband was gifted and was killed, as he wasn't a suitable test subject, being too old and whatnot. Her daughter, normal as could be, was eaten by an Iyoui. Her parents died in an accident of a kind I haven't thought of yet. She just...never took it very well. Her brain is fried, basically.

So really, she should be in an asylum right about now.))

"I'll do whatever I must," The woman stood, smiling as though there were nothing more in the world that she wanted to do. "My name is Aurora, by the way. I'll go find the other Iyoui." She swept off again, moving at a fast pace.

"Well..." Subject blinked. "Maybe she hit her head on something? But...if she can fight Iyouis, and she called you her lord, Timothy...maybe you could hire her, Tyler," Subject suggested. "I doubt she's a weasel. From the way she was talking, I think she knows her place. You're better than her, and she knows it. With that sword of hers..."