The Forgotten Zodiac

Titus led the way to the gates of Tartarus. He hesitated at the gate, though his expression didn't change. He hadn't left Tartarus in a long while. 'Long while' as in a few hundred years. He only hesitated for a moment, but it was a hesitation nevertheless. He pressed on afterwards though, passing through to the world between worlds. He wasn't too sure what to expect; he didn't believe that the Divine could have ever been defeated by those two clowns...

Not even he expected to see Necropolis, merely standing there. Looking defeated as blood dripped from his closed fist. As they arrived, he jerked and looked up at once, fear crossing his face. "Titus, I--" He managed to stutter before stumbling backwards, covering his eyes with his hands. Obelisk's voice flowed from his lips, a disgusting ring slipping from a mouth that wanted nothing to do with the words it was speaking.

"King Titus," Obelisk chuckled through Necropolis. "It's been too long. I should come here personally. Then you would be bowing to me."

Welk hissed and moved backwards, glaring hard at Necropolis, mostly for Obelisk's use of him. He wasn't afraid of Necropolis and he didn't hate him, but he really hated Obelisk.

Cynyr snarled, readying a sharp blade of wind in his right hand. He ignored it when his left hand started to shake again, worse than before. "What are you doing here?" the panther growled, narrowing his eye at Necropolis, and Obelisk in turn.

Seria watched fearfully, wondering what they meant for the safety of the worlds.

"Checking in on a failed job. Dark and Light are completely incompetent." Obelisk smiled away, forcing Necropolis to walk forward a bit. "It's not like they could have made it past the Divine on their own. I absolutely adore these powers, although their host needs a little work. Once I'm back to my previous glory, it won't really matter, but I've found that I do rather enjoy making illusions. As for you all--" Necropolis went into a coughing fit, and after several minutes of that, what looked like a bandage slid halfway out of his mouth. He gagged as it slid back down his throat, and then Obelisk was back to talking.

"That's better. Regardless, you asked why I'm here. And it's quite simple; I'm here to finish a job. I wanted the powers of the Divine in here, but priorities first." Darkness shifted and melded with Necropolis' open hand, forming a black spike over his forearm. His entire facial expression was that of fear as he pointed the tip at the group. "I'm here to kill you all."

((I put this here to look at it and post to it, don't reply yet.))

Titus was silent for a moment, then gently pushed Necropolis to the edge of the bridge and over. The corpse fell into the darkness, and Titus saw it fit to explain. "Michaelis suffered from a disease he somehow contracted from humans. He was imprisoned for stealing organs from...another Tartaran. I did not starve him or kill him myself, his disease took his life. Michaelis had been somewhat of an older brother to Necropolis. I don't think my late child ever quite understood the concept of death, he was very young and losing Michaelis was a bit traumatizing for him.

"As for why he was here, I haven't a clue. I could tell that he had been summoned again, but I don't know by who. I didn't even think he had returned from his time with the young miss Vidia. Curious indeed." Titus watched as the bridge shifted ever so slightly, allowing the blood to slide off into the abyss along with the corpse. "It is quite a...shame for this to have occurred. But you must be warned, if he was summoned without my knowledge - which I thought impossible - then there may be others. I wouldn't put it past some of them to work for Obelisk willingly, either."

Another short pause, and he turned back to the others. "Come. We must move into Amnarius before the divine awakens. She might be somewhat...annoyed."

Cynyr listened as best as he could, slowly blinking his remaining eye once, then just sort of sank down and fell unconscious. Jag caught him and hefted the panther into his arms, content with carrying him.

Welk picked up Werr, still wary of his surroundings. Especially when they heard a huge roar echo out of the darkness around them. The Divine had broken free of its restraints and was now furiously angry, which wasn't a good thing for them. They wisely decided to hurry and made it to the gates of Amnairus before the massive creature could find them.

Or at least, it was supposed to be Amnairus.

The entire city had been darkened considerably and there were no Amnairians on the streets. None whatsoever. They could see by the lights in the windows of the homes that the people were still there and still had their own lights, but the entire world just seemed to have been covered by a shadow.

Titus swept down the streets with ease, leading the way up to the castle. A few Amnarians peered out of their windows, curious, but quickly withdrew upon seeing who it was who had arrived. Of course, Tartarans would act the same if Galai came to call. They walked with ease up to the castle, and weren't stopped by the guards. Titus' entrance was less than romantic or spectacular. He merely stepped into the room, then aside to allow Jag and the others in. "Here we are," He murmured, allowing Werr's mind loose again. The human boy reacted at once by sliding out of Welk's grip and hiding behind the half-cat so he could put together what was left of his consciousness in peace.

Titus approached the throne, clearing his throat. "As you desired, my queen. Werr and his friends are unharmed. As of their victory in my arenas, the gate has been hidden from physical view." He said quietly. His expression remained unchanged, as usual.

Galai had dimmed her own light, which made her look and feel quite sick, but she couldn't help letting it glow a bit brighter when she saw Titus. "Thank you, Titus," she said, her eyes barely flickering towards the others. She slowly rose up from her throne and stepped down the stairs leading up to it, pausing in front of Titus. Her delicate lips trembled slightly, but she made no sound.

Welk, his stumped tail wrapped as best as he could manage around Werr's arm (which wasn't far), frowned at the king and queen. The look on Galai's face was familiar to him, and it didn't take him long to figure it out. He had seen that look, the pain and longing, on Seria's face many times, always directed at Cynyr, back when he had been emotionless. Well, more than he already was. He had improved a lot, Welk had to admit.

The lion frowned at Titus and Galai, his lower lip stuck out slightly as he thought over something serious. Serious for him, at least.

Werr was quick to put together what all had happened. He inspected his left arm, of course finding it healthy and whole. It was still somewhat sore, but Seria had repaired quite a lot of damage. He wasn't too surprised that it hurt a little still. He wasn't too sure what had happened in the place between worlds, but he figured that it probably wasn't too important. He decided to climb to his feet, though exhaustion caused him to lean heavily on Welk. "Take me back to the guest house," He mumbled, not really noticing the tension between Galai and Titus. "I need sleep. How close was I to dying that time?"

"Very," Titus said over his shoulder. "Now go and rest, Werr Grehi, and take your friends. I still don't see you as worthy of much yet, so be grateful that I decided to fufill your wish in the first place."

Welk flicked his ears back, frowning at Titus and wondering why the heck Galai would ever take someone so rude as her husband. He set his jaw and glared up at the tall king, then said "You're an idiot, aren't you?"

Silence.

Jag winced, his eyes darting fearfully between Welk and Titus. He had always thought Welk was stupid, but this... He took the opportunity to leave the room as quickly as he could, taking Cynyr with him.

Seria carefully pulled Werr away from Welk, not wanting him to get caught in anything Titus might do to the, in her opinion, foolish half-cat.

"Well, it's obvious," Welk said, crossing his arms over his chest. "You treat Galai like she's not worth your time. Heck, you even look like you'd rather be somewhere else right now, and not out of nerves. Out of boredom. It took forever for Cynyr to figure out that he wanted to be Seria's boyfriend, and I can tell that he loves her. With you, I honestly have no idea if you love her or not. Maybe you did at one point, but it sure doesn't seem that way now. She obviously loves you. What, you just so high and mighty that you don't want to show her you care about her? Or it is because you're a Tartaran and she's an Amnairian? Well, I've got news for you, pal; it doesn't matter what kind of creature you are. Love is still love, regardless of species or race. Galai is beautiful and sweet! How could you not love her, if I'm percieving this the right way. It sure looks like you don't love her. But what do I know? For all I think, I could be completely wrong about all of this and about to get killed for talking like this. Yeah, probably that." He flicked his tail, staring up at Titus with a calm look on his face.

Seria was praying to every god she knew that Welk survived what his blunt nature had just got him into.

There was utter silence for a long while. "You cannot comprehend how much I wish you dead at this moment, little Welk. You think yourself intelligent for saying these things, but you are far from the truth." Titus broke the silence with a stern tone, his cold eyes turning on Welk. "No one could love this woman more than I. To assume that I do not is perhaps the most foolish action one could take, much less voicing said assumption." He strode forward and touched a claw to Welk's forehead, hissing in annoyance. "But my affection is not something for your mortal eyes to see, dirt-treader. Be grateful that I do not cut your head open where you stand. Be grateful that I do not take your and leave you to the enraged Divine. Be grateful that I don't see your precious Werr so unworthy that he must fight again, on his own! Which I was truly considering, and I am again! Now leave before I turn your skin inside out and feed you to the crows!" He snarled, his stone-expression finally melting away to reveal true anger and annoyance. Welk had basically insulted him to his face.

"Any emotion you percieve as natural is not possible for me in the first place!" Titus continued with his rant, looking angrier after every word. "Your dear friend Forin Dulce made sure to take those from me, gods alone know how! Now stop speaking of matters you could never understand, and LEAVE!" He roared, causing the floor to tremble ever so slightly.

Welk stood, frozen in terror, for a moment longer, his arms quivering slightly, then slowly stilled himself. He said nothing, but for some reason, he smiled nonetheless. He had done what he wanted to, anyways, even if he had made Titus mad in doing so. He turned on his heel and trotted over to Seria, who promptly whacked him over the head in anger. "You stupid idiot!" she hissed quietly. "Were you trying to get yourself killed? Because if you want to die, I'd be happy to murder you!"

Welk chuckled, pausing to rub his head where she had hit him. He shook his head, gently taking Werr from Seria and looping one of the boy's arms around his shoulders to help him walk. "Don't be so up-tight, Seria," he said. "Trust me. Everything worked out just fine." He smiled at her, then helped Werr out of the room, Seria following and still talking angrily to him.

Galai was left alone with Titus, and her reaction at what he had said was perfect.

She had her hands over her open mouth in shock, her eyes wide and full of tears. It was true that she had begun to doubt Titus' feelings for her, but now she was assured. She actually felt a bit grateful for Welk's little statement he had made. It had assured her of Titus' feelings.

She hesitantly lifted a hand and placed it on Titus' shoulder, risking a small step forward to be closer to him.

Titus turned and immediately wrapped his arms around Galai, one arm around her waist and his other hand at her shoulders. He kissed her then, though it was short. He reached up with one hand and swept the tears from her eyes. "Come now, my queen, don't cry. It's quite unbecoming. I didn't want to tell you about my...problem with Forin Dulce. I thought it to be fairly meaningless, but I see that I was wrong. But...I cannot simply get them back without taking his life back as well. I have already lost one child this day, to have to remove another at my own hands...and Werr's group. You care for the boy. I'm not sure how, but I'm certain that without Forin Dulce, Werr Grehi would be doomed to die in agony. I can see that much in his future. As such...I will refrain from removing Forin Dulce as of yet. Unless you disagree, in which case I will do so immediately."

Galai's whole body began to quiver as he held her, and she threatened to cry for the first time in many, many years when he kissed her. She held back, however, leaning against him and simply letting him hold her. She listened as he spoke, concentrating on the slight vibrations she felt in his chest and throat from his voice. "No," she said. "No. I understand. Besides, you said that you love me. That's all I needed to hear. Don't hurt Forin. What you just did is enough to let me know that you care." She sighed, pressing her face close to his neck. "Oh, how I've missed you..." she murmured, quivering slightly. She still could barely believe he was there, with his arms around her. "I love you," she murmured, giving him a gentle, delicate kiss on his cheek.

"Very well then. By your grace, Forin Dulce will continue to live on." Titus said nothing further, silently agreeing with Galai. He just held her, stroked her hair, murmured comforts to her under his breath. When he spoke again, there was just the slightest hint of jealousy in his voice. "Tell me again of what you see in that boy, Grehi. Because I see nothing but a fool who sees himself to be wise."

Galai gave a very small laugh, resting her head on his shoulder. "Oh, Titus," she said, smiling with her eyes closed. "You have nothing to fear. I see...potential, in him. And around him, I see a need. He may not be strong or 'wise', as you say, but the worlds need him to survive. I have analyzed his past and I see that Werr is a pivotal member of the group he is in. If not for him, none of this would ever have happened and the below-world would still be dying away with no one to save it. Plus, he would never have brought Cynyr here to repair the gate and bridge, which would have resulted in the eventual collapse of both of our worlds. That is his importance. He draws people to him, unwittingly binds them to his fate. Welk, for example, is so bound to the boy that he can't live without him. If Werr were to die, the group would become unraveled. Welk, Cynyr and Seria would part from the others, Forin would no longer have a reason to stay around and would leave with Diana and Luen, Airlia would be left alone, and all of the others would split away as well. For all of our worlds to survive, Werr must stay alive and with his friends. Not that I think he would ever leave Welk and Cynyr." She wrapped her arms around Titus' neck, letting him support her.

"You would think there would be some ancient prophecy for these things. It would be much less confusing." Titus snorted, easily scooping Galai up in his arms and sitting down in her throne, holding her close still. "You see it a good thing for others to be 'bound to his fate'. Yet I see nothing but more misfortune and hardships along his path. And eventually, like all other humans, he will die. Though whether he dies old or young depends on a number of things." He thought for a moment, then asked another question. "Have you spoken with Airlia at all? I would think that you, of all people, would be desperate to speak with her..." He said softly, brushing a strand of Galai's hair behind her ear.

She nodded slightly, then quivered again as her mate picked her up. She was utterly limp in his arms, her own arms still around his neck. She rested one hand against his chest, keeping her head against his shoulder, then answered his question. "I have not spoken to her yet," she said. "I long to, of course. I'm worried, however, for how she may react. And how the others may react. I suppose I should speak with her anyways, however. I admit that I'm getting...impatient." She moved her free hand down between herself and Titus, keeping her other on his chest. "It's not so often that a mother sees her long-lost daughter again, after all," she murmured.

"The suns, from a distance, appear as little more than stars. Shining specks in a dark universe. But suns they still are. Don't allow her to leave again without speaking to her, my dear. However concerned you may be, her reaction means little when compared with how much she needs to know." Titus said quietly. "What other matters to discuss...Nate, perhaps...no, he is surprisingly noble and kind for his type. I sense greatness in his future, should this group survive the future at all. He is of no concern. Jagat and Lily...quite the couple. I know not what attracts the tough Gryphon to the gentle and feeble Lily, though it matters not. No...there is one member of their group that could easily cause rather serious damage. Despite his good intentions..." Titus sighed, resting his cheek against her forehead. "No matter. Let us simply enjoy our time together. I can't exactly leave until the Divine cools its head, for that matter. That Obelisk did a number on its patience."

Galai smiled at him, carefully wrapping her six wings around them both, content to, for once, let her royal concerns fall to the side so she could think only of Titus.

When they got back to the guest house, Welk helped Werr walk over to a couch nearby and they both sat down, with Welk letting Werr lean against him. The half-cat sighed, rubbing his eyes wearily. He looked up as Jag walked past with Cynyr in his arms, taking the unconscious panther up to bed. Then the gryphon headed back to his own room, needed to see Lily again.

Werr sighed lightly, closing his eyes as he rested his cheek on Welk's shoulder. "Is it safe to sleep yet?" Werr mumbled, somehow managing to open his eyes again. He wasn't sure if he would make it through the night without nightmares. At least they wouldn't be made by Dark Magic lodged in his stomache...although trauma-induced nightmares weren't much better.

Well, at least traumatization couldn't grab at your heart and flat out make it stop.