The Forgotten Zodiac

((xD Of course you don't. I sowwy, Trin, I was bored.))

The boy didn't follow at first, he just stood there and trembled, fearful of something. Then he nodded at apparently nothing, trotting after Welk with tears in his eyes.

Werr had already carried the sticks back, and Nate had already started the fire and put the squirrel over it. "Oh, good, you caught a fish," Werr smiled as Welk barreled into their camping area. "No luck with anything else, though?"

((TT~TT))

Welk screeched to a halt and swiped a claw across the rope around his neck, letting the fish fall limply to the ground, then whipped around and said "I saw an agent!"

Silence.

Seria glanced up in shock at this news, her ears flicking up high over her head.

"A boy." Welk said, a little breathlessly. "Short red hair, brown eyes, baggy clothes, pale skin. He was asking me where Cynyr was." He panted for a moment, more out of fear than anything else, then said "What do we do? He said that if I didn't tell him where Cynyr was, something would...kill him."

"...What?" Werr frowned. "Short red hair, baggy clothes..." Werr frowned.

"Him?" Nate pointed to where Welk had come from. Indeed, Tristan was visible through the trees, making little attempt to hide himself. There was silence for a long moment as the boy realized that he had been spotted, but he kept walking. Forin dragged Diana to the back of the group, not taking any chances. Tristan continued along until they would be able to hear them, pausing just along the treeline.

"I just...I need to know...where..." He stammered, apparently having a difficulty breathing. His face was streaked with tears. He was shaking and shuddering, and Seria would be able to sense that he was in agony. "P-please..."

Indeed, Seria already was beginning to get a bad headache from the close proximity to the hurting child. She was fighting against her instinct to rush forward and see if she could do something to ease his pain and her knowledge that this was an agent of Asmodius. If they told where Cynyr had been last, there was a good chance he would be found and captured.

Welk looked terribly torn and confused, but he wouldn't be wavered from his duty to protect his brother's location for as long as he possibly could. "I can't tell you." he said sadly. "Cynyr's my adoptive brother. He took care of me for as long as I can remember. I won't let him be captured." He lowered his head. "I'm sorry..."

((TT~TT))

Tristan stared at them all for a long moment before sinking to his knees. "Th-then...it'll kill me, just-just like it did t-to mom..." He crawled on all fours towards them, stopping when Nate stepped into his path. Tristan clutched the fabric of Nate's pants, whimpering. "K-kill me, then," He looked up at the Dragonian with obvious pain in his eyes, his agony already starting to increase itself. "I do-don't wanna d-die like that, so...so...kill me!" He cried, collapsing on the ground entirely. "Kill me!" He screamed, curling his knees up to his chest.

Forin watched from a distance, able to sense what was going on, but choosing to say nothing of it. Dark magic lingered in his mind; not infecting, but controlling. He wasn't an Agent at all.

He was a slave.

((I told you not to get attached.))

Welk backed up in horror, not understanding what was happening in front of him. He turned and pressed his face against Luen's chest without thinking, shaking in fear. Luen blinked dull, but his mind righted itself long enough for him to put an arm around the cat's shoulders. Then he was back to being unresponsive.

Seria moved forward then, already knowing that they couldn't save the poor boy. She knelt down and pulled him into her arms, hugging him gently, then put her hands on his head, already starting a spell that she hated. This spell was used only in situations where nothing could be done for a patient or dying person.

It was a death spell.

"Shhh." Seria whispered tenderly to the boy. "It'll be okay now. I'll let you go to your mother now." She activated the spell, which began silently and painlessly shutting down the child's body. He felt no pain whatsoever from it. The spell forced all pain from his body so he would be peaceful in his last moments. "There now." Seria soothed. "You'll be okay now."

Tristan made no attempt to hold back tears. "Thank...you..." He murmured with the last of his breath as it slipped through his already cold lips, which were curled into the smallest of smiles at the prospect of a painless death. A final sigh and a last tear fell away from his face, dropping onto the ground silently.

Airlia started to sing. Werr couldn't quite pick out what she was saying (as it was in a different language), but it was a beautiful and saddening melody, and Airlia had a surprising voice for someone her age.

Forin was hugging Diana tightly, her face pressed into his shirt as she cried quietly. She had witnessed death before, it wasn't something Forin wished to happen again, but alas...Werr put a hand on Welk's back in the meantime, attempting to comfort his friend. Nate waited for Airlia to finish her song, then knelt next to Seria. "Rest in peace, young one," He murmured, gently closing the dead child's eyes for him. He then stood, and looked around. "Does anyone know what just happened?" He asked quietly, looking in particular towards Welk. "Who was this?"

"I don't know." Welk said quietly. "I was hunting around and I found a pond with some fish in it, so I jumped in and caught one of the fish I saw. When I looked up, I saw him." He flicked his tail in Tristan's direction. "I think he must already have been there for a bit, because he was drenched by the water I splashed all around. I got out of the pond and then he was asking me where Cynyr was, so I knew he was an agent. I ran away and came back here…and then…" He quivered and turned away from Luen, turning into a human and pressing against Werr.

"It's okay..." Werr hugged his friend, not looking back to Tristan's body.

Nate wasn't happy with just that. "Did he say his name? Anything other than questions?" He asked, wanting to get as much information out of Welk while it was still fresh in his memory. "For Asmodius to be using children..."

"So certain it was Asmodius?" Forin tutted. "I don't think a human would be capable of killing another from such a distance, unless poison is involved. But the way he acted says otherwise. There's something else...I can sense it no longer, but something was lodged in his mind. It's safe to assume that very thing was controlling him, or telling him what to do, as well as killing him."

Welk shook his head, pressing closer to Werr to try and prevent himself from crying.

Seria stood up, gently holding Tristan's body in her arms, then said "This is the price of taking over a land. The death of innocent people. This boy should not have died this way. Whoever did this to him must and will be stopped." She turned and walked off into the forest, her bright blue eyes narrowed in anger and sadness.

Werr patted Welk on the back, leading his friend over to the log and sitting with him. Forin, in the meantime, released Diana, as she had calmed down enough by now. He picked the fish off the ground, getting a stick and putting it over the fire, pulling the squirrel off and away from the flames. He propped the squirrel-on-a-stick against the log that Welk and Werr were sitting on, so they could share it.

Nate locked eyes with Forin for a moment, before moving away to follow Seria. At any rate, she might need help burying the boy, and it was dangerous for her to walk about alone when they were this close to the border.

Welk sighed quietly, resting his head on Werr's shoulder. Suddenly, the half-cat was exhausted. He hadn't felt tired a few minutes ago, but the realization that a child had just died in their campsite had hit him hard. He stared down at the squirrel for a moment, then turned and buried his face into his best friend, his ears back sadly. He wasn't hungry anymore. Even the thought of eating made him feel sick.

Seria, meanwhile, had moved deeper into the forest and had gently laid Tristan's body down, then had started digging out a grave in cat form. By herself, it would obviously take a long time, but she was working diligently. She would not let the child go without a proper resting place. She barely even noticed that Nate had followed her, so focused on her digging was she.

Nate started helping by moving the piles of dirt that Seria dug up, not too far away, but to where they wouldn't fall back into the hole again. Personally, he would have burned the body (the tradition in Storaph), but it wasn't his choice here, clearly. Seria was right, Nate thought, after a bit of thinking. Innocent people were dying because of whatever it was that had changed his king so much. Forin was right, too; it couldn't have been Asmodius controlling the boy. Asmodius used to be so kind and gentle...besides, the child had never said what had killed his mother. Just...it.

About forty minutes later, Seria had dug out a hole deep enough to safely bury the little boy's body. She turned into a human and picked his body up, then walked back to the grave and settled him in it. She then began dutifully covering his body with the dirt she had dug out. Once she was finished, she simply sat there next to his grave, her head bowed quietly in respect. After a few minutes, she sighed and stood up, turning and really noticing that Nate was there for the first time. She had sort of known he was there, but hadn't acknowledged him. Now she stared at him for a moment, then quickly turned away with a hand to her face to hide her tears. "N-Nate." she said by way of greeting. "I...didn't see you there..."

"It's not safe to be alone," Nate said quietly, moving closer and resting a hand on her shoulder. "You're a very kind person, Seria. You didn't even know the boy's name, yet you still went to all this...granting him a painless death, and even burying him. It's not your fault, in case you were concerned about that. There was nothing we could do for him. We can just hope that he's safe with his mother now. And we can take vengance in his stead. I highly doubt that this boy is the only one who was tormented in such a way..."

Seria nodded slightly, still keeping her hand over her mouth. "I know." she said softly. "I know all of that. It's just that...he didn't deserve this. He shouldn't have had to be buried this soon in his life. He was young. He didn't need to die...!" She sobbed quietly through her hand, then turned and pressed against Nate, which was the first time she had come into such a close proximity to the dragonian. Always before, she had kept her distance. Right now, though, he was there and she needed comfort.

Nate seemed a bit surprised, but he relaxed quickly and wrapped an arm around her, patting her gently on the shoulder. "I know..." He sighed, then half-sang the words that Airlia had sung not long ago, only in their language.

"The tears of the grieving fall heavy like rain,

the mistress of joy today toils in vain,

for on this day a life once much loved,

must be released to the sky above.

The sufferage around me, I beg it to end,

Yet the bodies pile up 'round, dead upon dead.

What more can I do, there's not much to say;

though the piling continues, right here I must stay."

It wasn't a very happy song, but it wasn't supposed to be. If Nate were to guess, it was a song from Airlia's own past; sometime during her imprisonment under the king that held her all those years ago, a plague came along, or something of the like. Nate had been a little surprised that he could understand the old language, at that. He only knew bits and pieces of it, but he had been able to translate the song well enough.

Nate pushed the thoughts out of his mind, deciding to focus on comforting Seria.

Seria was quiet through out the words of the song, listening in silence. Nate could feel her shoulders quivering, and he was suddenly reminded that this half-cat was only eighteen years old. She acted much older than her age, but at heart, she was still so young. She sobbed quietly for a few more minutes, then made herself stop. She couldn't afford to cry anymore, nor did she have the strength to continue. She was exhausted from having to use the death spell, anyways. She sighed deeply, then pulled away from Nate, murmuring a soft 'thank you' to him as she did so. She started to walk back to the campsite, her tail dragging the ground behind her.

He followed silently. Yes, it wasn't often that Nate found himself to be the oldest of any group. This group was actually the first. He claimed no leadership, though, and of course not; with the war at hand, he could easily be seen as a traitor to Storaph just for traveling with this bunch, much less with Airlia, Seria and Diana. The king wanted magic-users, it was no secret. So to be traveling with an amplifier, a healer, and a witch and not be turning them in, well...

Which, Nate would never do such a thing. Werr's research was the closest thing Nate had to finding out what was wrong with Asmodius, at this point. Though, their encounter with the boy set off many questions. If Forin was indeed correct and something had been controlling the child, how many others were also under such an influence? Who was doing it? Why did they want Cynyr so badly to the point where they would kill an innocent boy?

Now that he thought about it, any of the others could easily be under a similar influence. If they spoke of it, they would die in a very painful way. Perhaps the boy was supposed to be an example to any of them, but it was messed up when Seria had removed the pain from his death. Nate sighed, shaking the thoughts out of his head. It was quite ridiculous, really. He didn't want to doubt his friends. So he pushed away the thoughts as they arrived at the camp.

Though really, Forin and Diana seemed like the happiest ones here now.

((Which says a lot, 'cuz Forin is mean and Diana acts sad and shy all the time. xD))

Welk was curled up in cat form between Luen and Werr, whom he had quietly made get off of the log so he could sit between them. Luen had already been leaning against the log, so really all Welk had had to do was get Werr to move, which was easy enough. Now the young half-cat was laying quietly on the ground between the two older teenagers, his head resting in Werr's lap as the boy rubbed his ears. He had his eyes closed, but he opened them when he heard Seria and Nate approach. When he saw that Seria no longer had Tristan's body, Welk closed his eyes and pushed his face into Werr's abdomen, lifting his right paw up to place it over the boy's leg. He started to knead his paw against Werr's leg, pressing his claws down and then retracting them before they could start to hurt his friend.

((Yeah.))