The Forgotten Zodiac

In an instant, Werr found the tip of a sword hovering inches away from his nose. Cynyr smiled from behind the end of the blade, then said "Good. You made it," He pulled back and lowered his weapon to his side, flicking his long black tail. "I assume you're ready to start training, then," he said. "Good. Might as well get right to it." He proceeded to explain several things about the sword itself, mostly instructing Werr not to accidentally kill himself with the weapon. "If you end up stabbing yourself in the stomach with it, then you fail and there's no way I'm teaching you anymore, if you even survive the wound," he said sternly, tossing Werr a pair of leather gloves. "Put those on," he said. "You're going to get blisters one way or another and those will help lessen the damage of swinging the sword around."

Werr set his sword down and pulled on the gloves, soaking in every word. Lectures were his best way of learning, but he knew for certain that it wouldn't be that for much longer. It was somewhat obvious which end of the sword he was supposed to hold, though; he was a bit confused by Cynyr's 'stab yourself in the stomach' hint, but he shook it off and just listened. He grabbed up his sword again, holding it tightly. The last thing he wanted was to perform a wild swing and have his sword fly into some passerby.

Cynyr stared at him, then said "Take a stance," When Werr did so, Cynyr shook his head and said "What are you trying to do, get yourself killed?" He moved around the boy and hit him lightly with the flat of his sword on his legs and back, saying "Weak and weak. The second someone hits you with their shield or sword flat, you're going to be bowled over and stabbed through the chest." He touched a hand to the back of Werr's neck and forced him over an inch, giving him a slight curve to his back. "If you stand straight up, you're easy to knock over," the mage said. "Also, shift your legs further apart. If you keep them close like that...you're also easy to knock over."

"I'm guessing that I'm trying not to be knocked over," Werr said sarcastically, correcting his stance as Cynyr directed. The minutes wore on like that; Werr moved on to swipes and stabs, but swordfighting was obviously not something he had ever tried before. He knew the theory of it, certainly, but the theory and the doing were two different things indeed. Werr was determined, though. He clung to every word Cynyr uttered, every inkling of advice the half-panther had to give. By the time noon arrived, though, he was tired, indeed.

Finally, Cynyr said "Okay, that's enough. Anymore and you'll risk being too tired to hold the sword properly. My next suggestion; go jump in a lake. Literally. The cool water will do you good." He turned away, saying "You can take the gloves off, but keep them close. I put some of my magic into them so they have the soothing effect of a cool breeze." He unsheathed his sword and went back to his own training, moving into a few graceful swings before nodding to himself.

Welk trotted over and rubbed against Werr, saying "You okay? I thought you did pretty good,"

Werr plopped down on his rear, letting out a heavy sigh. "Jeez...that's not really something I want a repeat of..." He mumbled, pulling off the gloves and shoving them in his pocket. He climbed to his feet again, returning the sword to its rack before climbing onto Welk's back. "Come on then, let's find a lake. I think there's one near the castle..."

Forin had emerged from his room at last, revealing that the window had been covered, as well as the majority of the walls, with blankets. They blocked the light, making the room substantially darker. Diana was awake now - she had indeed been sleeping when Forin had been drinking. She held onto his hand now, pouting; Forin was staggering every few steps, grumbling to himself, and basically not acting at all like the Forin she knew.

He led her to Vidia and Luna's room, slamming his fist into the door so forcefully that the door slammed open, nearly flying off its hinges. "Take me to Luen," He slurred at Luna, lip curled in a nasty growl.

Luna sprang up and opened her wings in front of Vidia immediately, glaring hard at the Tartaran. "How dare you waltz into here like you own the place and order me around?" she snapped, drawing her lips back along her anthro muzzle. "Fine, I'll take you to him. But afterwards, you're going to leave me and Vidia alone. Do you hear me?" She rustled her feathery wings, putting a small amount of light around herself as a shield. "I'll be back shortly, lady Vidia," the snow leopard said. She moved forward and brushed past Forin and Diana, heading towards the exit of the house.

"Don't care," Forin growled in annoyance, stalking after Luna with Diana in tow, while Vidia went back to feeling the new materials Luna had brought her. Forin's condition degraded further as they approached the castle; he didn't look well. Which was unusual, considering that Tartarans and Amnarians were more or less immune to human illnesses. It wasn't his recent alcohol intake, either (though that certainly had something to do with it).

Luna led them to the prison, where she spoke to the guards about why they had come here. The guards parted immediately, allowing them to go in. Luna led them to the lower level, to the thirteenth cell.

Luen was inside, in human form, curled up on his side on the ground.

The poor wolfling looked exhausted and practically drained of all life. He was murmuring something over and over to himself in a half-conscious state, like he had stayed awake for his entire time in the cell. There was a thick chain around his neck and wrists, keeping him securely fastened to the floor. If he would've been in wolf form, he would've just had enough slack to stand up and walk in a large circle. His hands were raw and bleeding, evidently from pacing endless circles in wolf form. Ice covered every inch of the cell, with piles of snow built up in the corners. Icicles formed in a protective barrier when Luna opened the cell door and Luen wailed "Go away!" He curled tighter into his protective ball, just letting his powers go crazy and build up heavier and heavier in the room.

Diana let out her own wail and started towards the room, but Forin held her behind himself as he stepped in. He didn't seem to be in a very comforting mood, however; he smashed through the icicles with a couple kicks, moving the rest of the way into the room. His not-comforting mood became evident when he nudged Luen forcefully with his foot. "Get up," He said demandingly. "We don't have time for you to be sitting around. You'll miss the arena, that's the fun part. Fun, get it? You don't want to miss fun." He crouched down, then suddenly grabbed Luen by the collar, dragging him up and forcing his back against the icy cell wall. "It's mandatory now, meatbag. You'll go out there and fight until you can't no more, or I'll shove you so full of explosives that you'll have gunpowder leaking from your ears!" He released Luen, letting him drop to the floor as he punched the wall behind, where Luen's face had been moments before.

He then sank to his knees, hitting his head on the other wall. Again. And again. Diana had backed out of the room at this point, peeking in fearfully.

Luen froze, horrified and terribly frightened. The chains clanked around his neck as Forin held him against the wall, his arms and body shaking with fear. Tears had already been dripping down his narrow cheeks, but now it was a flood. He hadn't felt such intense fear of Forin ever since he had first met him, when he hadn't known much about the Tartaran. Now, it was like Luen had no idea who he was looking at. As soon as Forin dropped him, the wolfling scrambled back as far as his chains would allow, his ice powers still flowing freely from him. He hadn't bothered to contain them since he had lost control over his discovery of Bala's treachery. He curled up in the corner, holding his hands over his furry ears to block any sound from entering. "I don't care what you do!" he wailed. "I hate you! I hate all of you...! A-and you should hate me too..." His voice dwindled into nothing but soft, stressed breathing.

Forin rounded on Luen again in an instant. "Hate is quite the infectious condition, isn't it? I hate you too, you know. You were just too good. Too powerful. You were only second to Titus, the king himself. Not anymore." He jabbed at Luen in the ribs. "I've got you under my thumb now. You ignored me before, but now you hate me. You despise me, because I'm a threat to your very existence. But, well, not much we can do, eh? Since you seem to like hate so much...why don't I make that condition perman...--" Forin made a sound like he was choking, going back to hitting his head against the wall. He had clearly lost it. He was going insane, in more ways than one.

Luen squeaked in pain and shrank back from Forin's hand when the Tartaran jabbed him. He sobbed freely, his previous calm nature and resolve seemingly gone. He wailed and his powers rose with the sound, covering every inch of the wolfling's body in ice that was so cold that it burned like fire. It was his best defense and it was a very good one; the ice formed a thick shell around him, as thick as steel. It was all of his powers concentrated into material form, into a protective barrier that he was keeping up at any cost. He felt like it was the only thing he could do to keep even remotely sane, and even then, it was hard on him. His powers drained rapidly to keep the shield up for so long, badly hurting his sleep-deprived body.

Forin recoiled, hissing. He spluttered something that sounded vaguely like 'sorry', but he went right back to hitting his head against the wall until his forehead started bleeding.

"What happened to Forin?" Diana was hiding behind Luna, sounding awfully dismayed. She had never seen her guardian like this. Ever. "Can you fix him?" She trembled as a gurgling sound came from Forin, and he fell into a coughing fit. resting his bleeding head against the ice wall.

((Luna has to be in the room. Diana can't be caught in the crossfire, the inside of Forin's mind would be waaaay too traumatizing for her. xD))

((So they're going in his mind right now? o3o))

Luna reached back and brushed Diana's hair out of her eyes, saying "I do not know, sweetheart. I cannot do anything but hurt him, what with my light powers. At the most, I can stop him from hurting Luen any further than he already has. Stay out here and do not come in no matter what." She moved into the room, fanning her wings slightly to spread some faint light into the room. "Sorry fixes nothing, shadow creature," she spat at Forin. "You can take that apology and shove it right back down your repulsive throat. It would only be for the wolfling and the little girl's sakes that I would help you at this rate." She bent and severed Luen's chains, knowing he wasn't aware of it. He just cried softly and ignored everyone in the room.

((Unless you had any other ideas. xD))

Forin turned his glare on Luna. He laughed a bit. "You won't get help," He wheezed through his coughing. "We're going to keep you alive as long as possible, not to worry. I'll take bits here and parts there. Your healthy organs will replace mine..." He then fell onto his side, twitching and convulsing erratically. Without warning, he suddenly bolted to behind Luna, sliding the cell door shut. It locked automatically, to Diana's horror. Forin then turned to Luna, rasping, "Foolish Amnarian...now you will suffer as well..."

There was a cry of pain from Forin, and the entire room was completely engulfed in shadows in the next second. Not even Luna could split through it with her light. Something else happened, though; an unusual occurrence, indeed. They seemed to be taken to a different place entirely, where the floor was suddenly white tile and the walls and ceiling seemed to be no more. The white tile seemed to be the only thing in its color. Around them was nothing but black, much like the place between worlds. The difference being the fact that the tile stretched out as far as the eye could see.

Luna was there. Luen was there. Forin's voice spoke quietly in their ears. Calmly. Not like he had spoken mere moments before, nor like he had ever spoken before. He actually sounded...gentle. Caring. It was just a simple sentence at first, laced with concern and perhaps fear. "You should not be here," He said, though the source of his voice was invisible. "Either of you. This is my consciousness. My mind, my memories and thoughts...it isn't for outside eyes to see. I don't think you can just leave, either. I can remove you, but...I'm not in control anymore. I don't know what is." A pause, then, "What was I doing, before you came here?"

((None whatsoever.))

Luen flopped down on the ground and refused to get up, sobbing.

"That," Luna said. "You threatened to kill him and hurt him and several other horrible things that I shant repeat, not to mention drinking like a being gone mad." She looked down at Luen, feeling her heart ache for him, then said "You took his already hurting spirit and shredded it even more," She sighed, then looked around and said "What do we do to help you? Because even though you clearly don't deserve help, I am willing to help for Diana's sake. She needs you. He needed you, at one point," She gestured at Luen. "...Not anymore, of course. He hates you now." she said. She shook herself, then said "Come on. I have no intention of staying in your mind for the rest of my life."

"...Oh." Forin murmured. "I would apologize, but that feels somewhat...useless." He sounded horribly upset. "I'll lead you to where I am. I...don't particularly enjoy saying it, but you're right in implying that I need help. I'm not in control of my own body, if that wasn't obvious enough. I still don't really believe that I was drinking, I--" He made a strange noise, a slightly pained moan, before continuing. "But I guess I just have to believe you. Trust you. Um...I'm looking at the possible routes you could take to get here, and...the safest one is through my memories. The bad ones. I know it sounds weird, but everywhere else is kind of...melting. Those particular areas are the most stable right now."

Luna nodded to herself, thinking over what Forin had said to her, then looked upwards and said "We have no other choice. If we want to help you, much less get out of here, we'll have to go through them. I'm...sorry...to invade your memories like this, but we have no other options." She actually did sound sorry. She knew the value some beings took in having certain memories all to themselves. She turned and moved over to Luen, bending down to touch his shoulder. He recoiled badly, his entire body shaking. Luna sighed, then said "Luen, I'm sorry to do this to you, but I can tell that there's no other way to get you to move. Forgive me," She stood up, then reached down and grabbed him by his collar, hauling him to his feet. "Look here," she said, ignoring his hoarse whimper. "We're going to get out of this place and I'm not leaving you behind. So you're going to get up and walk, whether you like it or not, or I'll make you move. Got it?"

Luen could only nod weakly, having given up on everything else. When Luna let go of him, he stumbled into place and just stood there, blinking dully and waiting for her to walk.

"Very well then." Forin sighed. "It's not going to be pleasant, far from it. You can't really do anything, your touch will go straight through anyone and anything there. I'll just...get right to it, I suppose. I'll put you as close as I can to myself, but...it won't be as close as I'd like..." A trapdoor opened beneath them, and they fell. They traveled downwards for only a few moments before their descent seemed to slow. They were set gently on the floor, right next to where Forin was.

A past Forin, at any rate. He was strapped to a cross-shaped table, his arms spread out and secured with thick straps, his ankles quite literally nailed to the table. This was clearly after he had sealed his true self away, as he was in his common form and the mark of Tartarus was obvious on his forehead. Blood caked his arms and legs, looking as though they had been left as wounds for at least a couple days. The wounds on his legs looked more recent. He stared blankly at the ceiling, swallowing dryly every few seconds.

Then humans came in. Just two of them. One of them carried a large bucket, the other a serrated knife. They were quick to get to work, tearing open his chest and pouring the water on the wounds. Cut, wash, cut, wash. It was obviously sheer agony for Forin. He screamed and kicked and thrashed with everything that he had, as much as he could.