The Forgotten Zodiac

Borealis' mansion is massive, fashioned off of 16th century castles. Unlike Obelisk City and the Zodiac Palace, Borealis' 'humble' abode was set on a hill overlooking New Borealis, protected at the rear by a large and rapid river that winds around the hill. Despite being such a large place, New Borealis isn't inhabited by very many humans. Beings of a different nature dwell there, promising danger around every corner for those who attempt to trespass. The humans that do live there are a part of Borealis' little 'militia', which isn't very large, but trained to be ruthless and deadly in battle.

Getting back to the original subject, Borealis' mansion is quite the large castle, both inside and out. The towers house mainly sentries, but one tower holds Borealis' personal quarters. Aside from the towers, there are the usual; kitchens, dining halls, meeting rooms, and then Borealis' throne room, which is where he prefers to eat, nap, think, pace, so on.

His only maid, Ivory, attends to all of his needs. Food and cleaning, mainly, but she's possibly more ruthless than the militia. She may take on a human-like appearance, but rumor has it that she's actually a snake-woman, made by Borealis. Wherever rumors are harbored these days, anyways. Anyways, I'm quickly getting bored with explaining this stuff, so let us begin.

Borealis was where he usually was, sitting on his 'throne'. It was actually just a mahogony-framed couch. Borealis himself was deathly pale, his black eyes hollow and emotionless, but clear with silent thinking. The corner of his thin mouth twitched every so often, as if he couldn't decide to smile, frown, or just stay straight. This was normal; the pale and hollow look about him, the twitching, the characteristic lack of emotions, it all came from centuries upon centuries of being trapped in a black box and being tortured for the duration of his time inside.

Which had been meant to be for the rest of eternity.

He was wearing a plain, dark grey dress jacket over a plain white T-shirt, dress pants matching the jacket, and thick, old looking boots to cover his feet. He had several pocketwatches shoved into every pocket on his coat, the brass, silver and gold chains clinking quietly whenever he moved. And he moved constantly, switching between folding his legs and unfolding them, crossing his arms and uncrossing them, leaning back and sitting up, tapping the armrest of his chair...Borealis was a restless sort, indeed.

Ivory was elsewhere at the time, Borealis realized distantly, pulling himself out of his thoughts. "It's almost time for tea..." He murmured, sitting up again and checking three of his pocket-watches, one after another.

((Okay guys, here's the deal with Libra. He has a name, but because this isn't his body, he doesn't use the name the body came with, and doesn't believe humans worthy to grant him a name. The only one left alive who knows that body's name is the girl with him.))

Libra strode into the room, white collared shirt hanging over kahki pants, completing a rather disrespectful effect, which was, as it happened, exactly what he wanted. "Hello Borey. Tea here yet? Or is the fool of a maid late again?"

((Fun.))

"Oh look, I have a new nickname." Borealis sighed through his nose. Of all of his bretheren, Libra was perhaps the one he hated the most right now, but Borealis knew better than to turn down someone who genuinely wanted to help him. "Ivory is not late, nor is she a fool." He said, a bit of annoyance creeping into his voice, but his eyes remained as black and emotionless as ever. "Your watch is just fast."

"Tea is served," Ivory entered through a side door, striding in and pausing. "Master, where is the table?"

"Mm? Oh, over there," Borealis pointed at a small circular table that seemed to be...hiding in the corner. "Table, come here." He ordered, frowning a bit now. The table moved on its own, and it probably would have looked comical, the way it walked, if it wasn't for the fact that each of the legs seemed to have faces complete with little bumpy noses and...teeth. Sharp teeth, running all the way up the back end of the legs and up to the top of the table.

"Sorry. I wasn't paying attention and...this happened." Borealis chuckled a bit at his own mistake. See, this was Borealis' power; giving things life. He was also very good at taking it away, but giving it to otherwise inanimate objects was quite fun. Ivory said nothing, setting the tray of tea down on the now still table. "Chai?" Borealis sniffed a bit, smiling still.

"Yes, master. Your favorite." Ivory dipped her head.

((Okay so. I'm assuming that Borealis didn't get out of the box and immediately be hugely powerful, but 'cause Libra's all in tune with the world like that, he felt Borealis' release. Now he believed that he would need more help keeping the balance, so began recruiting children/teens to help, creating small bases and doing the things he told them would help fix the balance. Eventually Borealis gained enough power that he, in an effort to capture and destroy one of the Zodiacs, preventing his rebinding, went after those bases. The last base he found was the correct one. Libra destroyed his true form and using the energy, entered the body of one of the teens he had been training, with the boy's concent. Unfortunately, that energy was not enough, and it became necessary to absorb life-energy from other bodies. Sadly, this wasn't as much of a probelm as you would think, as all but one of his companies were nearly killed at one point or another, and they believed it was their duty to ensure that someone gained from their death. When there were only two left he had enough energy left that he did not have to continue absorbing. When the final death came, at the child's request he transferred the remaining life energy into his final companion, a girl name Isabella, who is with him to this day.))

"She's a maid, her job is to have things for me when I want them. She wasn't here, and I wanted something. Therefore, she was late." Libra stepped back and found a couch that /wasn't/ alive, then proceeded to lie down on it, rather obviously picking up his feet and placing them on the polished armrest. "Also, mistakes aren't funny. Mistakes are failure, and there is no use for failure ever."

"So, it would be a failure if I wasn't paying attention and turned your seat into a flesh eating monster?" Borealis said calmly, forcing himself to ignore Libra's smarmy comments. Ivory didn't react either, except for a small twitch of the eye when the Zodiac's feet hit the armrest. Ivory simply handed Borealis his small cup of tea, and he took a couple sips before speaking again. "Did you only come for tea, or was there something you needed, Libra?"

"I came to bother Borey durning his tea, and for tea. So no, not really anything else I needed, though it would help if we got a shoe-scraper by the door. My shoes are /coated/ in mud." He bounced his shoe up and down once, grinning as he watched the mud bounce off and prove his point.

"He's making a mess, my lord..." Ivory murmured, her hands balled into fists and shaking ever so slightly, though her expression remained the same. "Can I kill him?"

"As much as I'd like to see that, I'm afraid you'd actually just make even more of a mess." Borealis tutted, taking another sip of his tea. "So, no business to worry about, then. I'll look into a doormat. Where did you pick up the mud, anyways? The entire city's ground is tile. I hate getting dust in my shoes when I go for a stroll, after all."

Libra shrugged. "If I told you, you'd have it filled in and tiled, and it took me a long while to find that place, so I don't think I'll tell you. Sorry." Lirbra pulled his shoes off and held them out to Ivory. "Now that I've made my mess, you can wash these if you like."

"Of course I would..." Borealis sighed. "In case you hadn't noticed, Ivory and I are both a bit...germophobic." Ivory glared at the boots, and took them gingerly in her fingers before they burst into flames. She dropped them, still glaring at them as they quickly turned to ask.

"Sorry. I take orders only from Lord Borealis." She frowned up at Libra before pouring the Zodiac a small cup of tea, dragging the table back into place, as it had been inching away.

"In case I haven't noticed? A bit? Being germophobic is your defining characteristic. It's not actually a pleasant one." Libra accepted the cup from Ivory, glancing down at the ash that had been his boots. "That really wasn't necessary, you know. Oh well...  I have more in my closet."

"Of course it's not pleasant. Now imagine being trapped in a small, very cramped space with all the things you hate the most being the things that are torturing you." Borealis sipped his tea slowly, thoughtfully. "It's not very fun. And all that was hardly a zero-point-one percent of the things that were in that box."

"Germs die when they are exposed to extreme temperatures," Ivory said quietly as she walked away, returning with a broom and dustpan a few moments later, sweeping up the mess she had made.

"Well, just so you know, the sand used to make that mud had been deep-frozen, and the water boiled before they were used. So you did that for nothing. Also, you can't blame me for that box. It wasn't my fault. They would have made it anyway."

"Right. So the mud is clean, even though you walked through who-knows-what to get to the castle?" Ivory snorted. Clean mud? Ridiculous.

"You did help, though." Borealis shrug. "That's alright. I won't hold a grudge. Tell me something, though, who came up with the idea first? Was it Gemini? Aquarius? Scorpio? Speaking of which, I don't think you're aware...Scorpio is in the dungeons. Would you like to have a look?"

At this point, Saggitarius, whom was at the door, made her presence known. "Of course. Libra and I would love to see what you've done to that twit," came a her monotone voice. Saggitarus, or Lyre, as she was more well known, was wearing a black, velvet tunic top and white satin pants. Her knee high boots were red, matching the hair that flowed down to her ankles. She stepped inside the throne room. "Borealis," she regarded the 13th Zodiac with almost a smile. "It was I who made the box. It was my idea," she admitted freely. "At the time, I thought it was for the best. I mean, really, do you know how much chaos you threatened to ensue on our beautiful plant?" she asked. Her expression then darkened. "HOw ever, after seeing what those human creatures have done with their... their... pollution, and wars, and... and... I can't even think about their other atrocities! It has made me realize that you were right from the start... Borey," she smirked. "The humans deserve destruction, and so do those who choose to side with them," she finished. Her hazel eyes met Borealis's black ones. "So, if you should choose in some act of grace to not kill me here and now, I should like to join you. And Libra," she said. She closed her eyes, thinking. Though death would have almost been a more welcomed option... she had to punish the people whom had inflicted the beautiful world she once helped rule with all the destruction it had seen.

"If your streets aren't clean, I can hardly be blamed for that, now can I? If anything it's your fault." He paused, looking up a Lyre. "Hello, Saggy. Glad you're here, now I only need four others to turn, and for Borey here to get a conscience, and we'll all be good."

Borealis' mouth curled into a smile which looked most odd on his otherwise disheveled and dismal appearance. "Lyre. Wonderful to see you. And I'm glad you understand now; what I was doing then was for the good of the world. Humans are self-destructive creatures, ones who take out entire planets with them without them even realizing it. Besides, I needed life-force to fuel my creations one way or another. Open your eyes, come, have a seat. Do take care not to spread the...mud any further, it's already all over the place...Ivory, clean it up," Borealis ordered. Ivory bowed and left to fetch a mop.

Borealis continued. "I do hope you like tea, Lyre." He said, still smiling regardless of how odd it looked on him.

Lyre smiled slightly. "Of course, you must know that I have quite the affinity for tea," she said. She stepped over the mud, a disgusted look on her face. "Really, Libra, must you be such a slob at times? I'm beginning to think more and more that Borealis and I aren't so different at all," she said, taking a seat on the couch and pouring her own cup of tea.

"Ah, I see. No, several of my memories were ripped out of my mind and reduced to ashes by that box, you see." Borealis shrugged, eying them both with near curiosity behind his eyes, but he went back to his expressionless mask quickly. "Perhaps you shouldn't drink from that cup. My bad," He blinked. Lyre's cup had shifted, tiny pointed teeth growing around the rim, the tea in the cup starting to bubble like something was gurgling the tea. "Sorry about that. My powers have grown rather erratic. Yet another product of the box." There was almost anger in his voice as he glanced at Lyre, but he stifled it quickly. Revenge wasn't what he was after, here.