The Forgotten Zodiac

"Bah, I'll wear it," Cynyr said. "But I won't like it." He took his outfit into another room and came back a few minutes later, having made adjustments to it. Namely, cutting off the sleeves from the shoulders down and using the fabric to shape himself a mask, which he now had on. It was a simple bandit-like mask that wrapped lightly over his eyes and tied in the back, with a single hole for his good eye.

Luen carefully picked up the white suit provided for him and smiled thinly, running a finger lightly over the light blue trimming that was shaped like snowflakes that were dotted all over the outfit.

Nate reached into the box and pulled out Tasia's dress, handing it to her before going for his suit and retreating into his room to change. The suit was a green color to match the hue of Zephyr's scales, and orientally styled. It looked quite good on him; it even had a gold pin in the shape of a dragon, and Tasia had a matching pin.

While Werr and Nate were getting changed in seperate rooms, Airlia poked through the box and found her dress. It was a beautiful, sleeveless white dress with a cluster of golden stars on the neckline and a large golden sash around the waistline. Folded up with the dress were the things needed for her to fix up her golden-blond hair; it had obtained many knots over the days, and without a hairbrush, she had been unable to get them out before. There were no shoes for her outfit; apparently, Galai was aware of the fact that Airlia commonly went around barefoot, and going from bare feet to tight dress shoes would have been a little much. Airlia saw all this with glee and scurried off to get changed.

Lily's dress was white as well, though the hemline showed a dark blue tint that got lighter as it moved up the dress, turning to the pure white of the rest of the dress at about the middle of the skirt. Her dress was also sleeveless, but the neckline was a wide and thick light blue ribbon that wrapped around her shoulders and formed a bow at the back. The bodice and a little of the waistline were dotted with tiny embroidered roses here and there, hardly noticeable unless one got close. Her shoes matched her hemline, while the long gloves were the same bright white as the bodice. She thought it was breathtaking, and it was even moreso when she was wearing it. She tied her hair back and set a hairclip in her hair, in the shape of a long blue feather that looked suspiciously like one of Jag's feathers.

Even little Spy got a little brown hat and a bowtie that he could clip into his fur, which he did. He admired himself in the mirror, and decided to try and get out the mats in his fur, but the most he could do was lick at them. No matter, he still looked adorable in his little 'outfit'.

Forin's suit was a simple black one, but his button-up shirt wasn't white; rather, the silver color that trimmed the rest of his suit. His tie was black as well, although he left it a disheveled mess around his neck. He didn't really know how to tie this tie, he had never tried to wear such things before, and he saw it as a necklace. He was a bit confused at this as well; only women wore necklaces, really.

Forin was obviously confused easily by new concepts, much like his confusions about masks back when the group first met him. Regardless, he combed back his hair and donned his suit just like all the others. He and Diana moved out to stand next to Luen to wait for the others.

Diana's dress was trimmed with light blue and silver, with a bundle of tiny snowflakes surrounding the mark of Tartarus on her left hip, on the silver sash. The rest of her dress was white and simple, falling to just above her knees, and she was given white tights and shoes to match. She put the sides of her hair into small braids and let Forin tie the two together around the back, letting the rest of her long hair flow. She looked quite pretty, and was smiling happily as she twirled and let the edge of her dress spin out around her.

((As you can see, I'm obviously better at describing dresses than I am at describing suits. xD

I should draw these things. @[email protected]))

Luen smiled at Diana, then spent a moment tutting over Forin's tie. He tied it for the Tartaran, not doing a lot of talking. In fact, other than Forin, Diana and Nate, he had barely spoken more than six words to any of the others, and to some, not at all.

Tasia looked a bit fearful as she studied the magenta dress that had been made for her. It, like Nate's, matched the hue of the dragon she was friends with. Hers also had no sleeves and was light pink around the top, with darkened downwards into magenta at the bottom. It was low enough in the back for her wings to have room and she also didn't have to wear shoes, as her feet were a bit twisted, albeit not as bad as her poor hands. She had no idea how to brush her knotted hair, much less pull it back into a ponytail like she wanted.

Seria's dress was gorgeous, came down to her ankles, and clung to her figure like a glove. Hers was a long extremely dark red dress that looked almost black, though you could still catch the red hint when she stood in the light. It was basically sleeveless, though it had small folds of fabric that draped lightly off of her shoulders. She took a brush to her long red hair and made it silky soft, so it flowed behind her. Her heeled shoes made soft clicking sounds against the ground when she walked. She went about helping the other girls with their hair, helping to brush out tangles or pin hair up.

Her, Cynyr and Welk's outfits all had slits on the back for their tails to stick through. It would've been uncomfortable for them to have their tails basically strapped in.

Jag looked handsome in his navy blue suit, which was decorated in rich blue-jay colors consisting of blues, whites and black edging. He took his claws to Spy's fur, helping the chimera straighten himself out. When he was finished, he walked over and swept Lily close to his side, smiling widely at his beautiful fiancé.

Welk was bounding around in human form, overexcited and way too rambunctious but enjoying himself.

Cynyr had left the bottom of his outfit untucked and the top buttons over his chest undone, looking a bit uncomfortable in the current settings as he pulled at the top of his collar.

Even the dragons had pieces to wear. Vaira was provided with a silver tiara that fitted over her horns and draped down her forehead, where a sapphire gem was fitted. A thick silver collar rested around her neck, fitting with a similar gem, and a silver ring rested around the middle finger of her right paw. Zephyr was outfitted similarly, though his were all gold with red gems. All of their pieces had been enchanted so that they grew and shrunk however the dragons chose to.

Cici came back eventually, smiling widely as she looked at all of them in their dresses and suits. "Perfect!" She squealed with delight, moving to hug the nearest person, who happened to be Forin. The Tartaran didn't seem to enjoy it very much. Namely, he nearly smacked her in the face; she ducked just in time, darting away with a giggle. "Okay, okay. I'm just so excited! Come on, follow me back to the castle. Luna and Vidia are already there. There are a lot of presents, although I'm pretty sure most of them are just food. I still have to give my presents to the rest of you, but I guess Werr will be getting his first."

Welk bounced along next to Werr, chattering excitedly to the boy. Over his outfit, he was wearing his armor that had been made back when Werr had been the king and Welk was his knight. Welk was still his knight, of course, but he hadn't really had a time to wear his armor. Now, the red and gold metal pieces fit perfectly over his crimson outfit, giving an all-over royal look to the half-cat. He had done absolutely nothing to his hair, which wasn't a big concern to him. Cynyr hadn't done anything to his black hair either, so Welk felt fine.

Cynyr dropped back to walk near Seria, talking to her quietly. She smiled and spent a moment messing with his hair, until he finally pushed her hands away and obviously told her to stop. She just giggled lightly and smiled when he offered her to crook of his arm. She slid her arm through and allowed him to lead her along at his side, a bright look in his eyes.

The castle had also been dressed up for the occasion, clearly; colorful ribbons of paper were strewn about here and there, and confetti was thrown into the air over the group as they arrived. Werr didn't like it too much, but a younger Amnarian skipped over and set a gold crown on his head. He decided to wear it, so as not to be rude. He stuck close to Welk, and cast a confused look around the throne room before shaking it off again as the music started playing from somewhere upstairs. Cici led the way to the ballroom, a massive room where the festivities were obviously being held. A large table had been set up near the entrance, and a nice stack of brightly wrapped parcels were waiting to be opened. On the other side of the room, there were drinks and food and a large cake that Werr could see even over the heads of the people who were already dancing. It was a bit odd to see; Amnarians were all female, so they commonly danced with friends. It was perfectly natural and normal for them. A bit boring though, obviously, as there was a great deal of giggling when the group arrived.

Most of the group happened to be male, now that Werr thought about it.

Several other memebers seemed to realize this fact as well. Jag's smile vanished and he frowned, keeping Lily close to his side. When he heard the music playing, it instantly perked his interest and he wandered over. He spawned his violin and a few moments later, his unique music joined into the main song as he tuned himself into it. Obviously, this garnered attention from several Amnairians, all of whom watching him with interest.

Welk kept close to Werr, sensing the boy's slight anxiety over the current situation. Welk's ears flicked back when a few Amnairians walked past, clearly smiling and giggling at them. Welk frowned at them and that sent them on their way.

Tasia looked terribly frightened, keeping her wings tucked against her back and her tail down between her legs. She wrung her twisted hands, hissing slightly as a few Amnairians tried to come over and talk nicely to her. The Amnairians quickly moved away, fearing the dragonian girl.

Lily stood beside Jag, smiling at the music. She hardly noticed the cluster of Amnarians until they started getting closer; then she felt a little nervous, afraid that these people would either trample her or drag her away from Jag to be closer to the musical Gryphon. She ducked behind her soon-to-be-husband at this, a bit intimidated.

Nate had to laugh at this. "Come now, Welk, Werr - they just want to dance. This is probably the first day in decades that they've had a proper dance." He chortled before noticing Tasia's distress. He pulled her closer to himself, smiling in an attempt to keep her calm. "It's alright, they just want to talk. Perhaps they wanted to apologize, even. Don't be hostile unless the situation demands it, like I told you. Just stick with me for tonight, I'll make sure nothing happens."

Werr watched this before looking around again. He frowned up at the stairs to the balconies before sighing and looking down at Welk. "You think we should dance with someone? Might as well..."

Ophile, in the meantime, observed Werr's movement from behind the large, stained-glass window on the opposite side of the ballroom. He had caused shadows to stir on the balcony; a small test of Werr's observance. He knew fully well that Werr was aware that he was being watched. Ophile had observed his masked discomfort all day. Even when he seemed relaxed to the untrained eye, Ophile had been able to recognize his tiny signs of wariness. The wolf was extremely curious at this point, thus the attempt to draw Werr's attention to the other side of the room. What would the boy do if he saw something? Tell his lion friend, most likely...

And yet, Titus found the boy unworthy of his and Galai's assistance. He did indeed seem weak, incredibly dependent on Welk for a number of things. Ophile wouldn't have been surprised to learn that Werr couldn't hunt and Welk had hunted for him before. What could Werr do without Welk, then? Ophile was extremely curious, and he quickly began thinking. Surely, Titus wouldn't mind if his actions helped prove or disprove Werr's worthiness.

Ophile moved again, disappearing and leaving behind nothing but a wisp of black smoke as he settled on the roof to cast his sharp eye over the surroundings, looking for Phare. This would be interesting...

Tasia blinked up at Nate through her pretty blue-green eyes, then nodded and slowly moved one arm through Nate's, leaning against him. A few Amnairians came over and remarked over her, saying how cute she was and marveled at the two dragonians themselves, rare creatures that they were. Tasia seemed much more willing to be calm around them now that Nate was near her, gently pressing the side of her delicate face a bit more into his arm.

Welk scoffed and said "You can dance if you want, but I don't want to. I'm gonna eat some food!" He trotted off and went to ransack the food bar.

Luen was already out on the dance floor, only his partner was Diana. The wolfling was smiling away as he held the little girl against his hip, swirling her around in delicate circles and accidentally leaving snowflakes behind him in wispy trails.

Nate carried on one or two conversations with the Amnarians, chuckling at their admiration. A few of them questioned why he didn't have wings or a tail; at that, he went on to explain. He was very good at telling stories when he wanted to, as it seemed - it wasn't a dull, 'oh, they were ripped off by a dragon'. Something more along the lines of, "It was a sunset that summer evening, and I had been sent to collect firewood for the kitchens to use in the morning..."

Forin watched the two of them dance, the tiniest of smiles playing across his face as Diana squirmed out of Luen's grip and decided to stand on the wolfling's shoes instead. She smiled up at him as they kept moving. Forin listened to the mixture of the music and Jag's violin, suddenly wishing he had a piano to play on. He had stopped ever since the bomb had been planted in him, perhaps picking up his old hobby again would help him reclaim his lost emotions. Forin fiddled with his tie, looking around the room for the others. Just in case.

Obviously, Werr and Welk had been overheard, as the second Welk left, Werr was swept up and dancing with some Amnarian he didn't know. He let himself enjoy it anyways, smiling at the giggling girl as they swept to and fro. Werr recalled reading a book on dance, and he had already recognized the music to be a moderate waltz. He stepped lightly, careful not to tread on his new partner's toes as they spun about.

Jag glanced over at Forin whilst playing his violin, raising an eyebrow in the Tartaran's direction. He extended his powers out and created a white piano nearby, continuing to play and otherwise ignoring his surroundings. The only thing he was really aware of was his music and Lily behind him. He even ignored it when a few pretty Amnairians tried to talk to him. They didn't even get so much as a look. He flicked his long blue tail around and curled it gently around Lily's arm, smiling back at her in an alluring way.

Cynyr was standing nearby, looking the most uncomfortable out of everyone there. Seria was off talking to some other Amnairians and Welk and Werr were both occupied. He tugged at his collar, almost wishing he would've hacked that off too. He had discarded his tie the moment he had saw it. His left arm started to act up and he suppressed a groan, quickly holding his arm to his chest and making his way out to a balcony by the edge of the party. The balcony overlooked the gardens below and revealed to Cynyr that it was nighttime. At least, the Amnairian nighttime, which only last for a few hours in this world. It was still dark, however, and the panther liked it. He sighed and leaned over the rails, rubbing his temple with his good arm, then crossed both arms over the rail and rested his head on them. He didn't like it here, with all of these people, his friends strung out through the crowd. He was okay with Werr celebrating his birthday, of course, though he personally didn't see the purpose in it. He himself didn't even remember his own birthday. He just waited until the start of each year and assumed that sometime along the days he had lived another year's worth of life and grew a year older.

When an Amnairian came out to try and see if he was okay, he snarled at her and sent her scurrying. He was perfectly fine with making her run off, too. It's not like she would've understood anything about him. He was just the freak with the messed-up face, with no nose, eyebrows, or right eye, with countless scars.

It wasn’t a surprise to him that the first thing he thought about himself was ‘ugly’.

It took a few minutes, but not long after the piano materialized, the harmonious notes were thrown into the mix. He hit a couple sour spots in his playing, but he quickly got into the beat of it and began to play with renewed vigor. His notes did indeed follow the tune, yet like Jag's notes, they stood apart from the music. His music could possibly be described as eerie, or perhaps even creepy; but still oddly beautiful. When the waltz stopped and silence hung in the air for a moment, there was scattered applause--but they quickly stifled said applause when Forin started playing again. He was obviously a well-trained pianist, and even after not playing for so long, he still had a good deal of talent.

Ophile dropped down off the roof, landing on the railing of the balcony. He stared at Cynyr, balanced neatly on the small marble platform that his paws naturally shouldn't have been able to settle upon for even a moment. "Not in a festive mood?" He inquired, ears perked to hear Cynyr's response. He glanced inside for a moment at the dancing Werr, but returned his attention back to Cynyr.

The panther sighed and murmured "I suppose you could say that." He lifted his head up and stared at the faint moon for a moment, then said "I should be happy for Werr, I know that. And I am, in my own way. But at the same time, I just can't bring myself to relax. Something's going to go wrong, you'll see. It always does. I've been on-edge since I was little; I see no reason to let my guard down now. Not here, not in our world, not anywhere. There's no place on the face of any world that I'm safe at. Something, somehow, is going to go wrong. People can die or get hurt. And somewhere inside of me, I can only wonder where all of this is going to lead us. To our deaths, most likely. Right to the holes our bodies will be buried in, if we don't burn to death or get eaten by something."

Ophile blinked slowly at him. "Werr can't relax, either. I suppose it's partially my fault; I was ordered to keep an eye on him, and he seems to be aware of the fact that he's being watched. But your matter is a bit different, I suppose. That's easy enough to see." The wolf was calm and quiet, looking straight at Cynyr's face. He would be looking the half-cat in the eyes, but Cynyr's face was turned upwards and not at him. Ophile didn't care about the scars and burns, obviously. Perhaps he had seen worse.

"As for your statement, all I can say is this; you aren't a god. You aren't immortal. As such, just like the other 99 percent of all dirt-treaders, you will eventually die. Whether or not you die today or tomorrow isn't really up to you. The most any of us can do is just go down fighting."

Cynyr snorted, reaching a hand up to lightly touch his ruined eye. It was hard, missing that orb. There was so much he had needed it for. Walking in a straight line, for one thing. Not bumping into people, for another. "Oh, believe me, anyone that comes up against me is going to have a hard time killing me," the wind mage said. "I'll make sure of that. Though I don't know what I'm fighting for, I'll keep going, I suppose. If not for my sake, but for my friends." He looked over at Ophile, watching the wolf for a moment, then slowly stretched out a hand and brushed it lightly against the wolf's ear. "Watch Werr carefully, okay?" he asked, looking down. "He and Welk are the world to me. The last things I have left in my small excuse for a world, at least."

"He will not die under my watch, I swear that to you." Ophile said. "As for what to fight for, I think fighting for your friends is one of the best motivations possible. I've seen humans who summoned me to protect her riches; she unsummoned me when I dragged her out of her burning mansion, saving her life but leaving her money and estate to burn." He twitched his ears as Cynyr touched them, lifting his head and sniffing Cynyr's hand. "Family and friends are far more valuable than any coin or house. You are wise to understand that much."

Cynyr nodded once, holding his hand flat so the wolf could sniff it. He then lifted the hand and stroked Ophile's head a few times, feeling his soft black fur against his rough hand. It was a good feeling. Cynyr had to remind himself to pet Luen sometime. Wolf fur was something nice to touch and he grew tired of the feeling of his scars rubbing against his clothing. He pulled his hand back when it started to shake, not wanting the wolf to see yet another problem the half-cat had. "You should go," he said. "Werr's in there, after all." He pointed a hand back at the throne room, then looked forward again.

"I was told not to allow myself to be noticed in the act of watching over him. As such, I will remain here for the time being." Ophile sniffed, his eyes trailing down to Cynyr's arm. It was too easy to tell that what was happening now was the exact thing he had seen earlier that same day, when Ophile had stopped to ask Cynyr a question. "As I said before...you should get that seen to. You already are aware of how important your friends and family are to you. As such, you should also be aware of how important you are to them. No ailment is unworthy of attention, no matter how trivial it seems." His ears twitched once more as the music stopped and started up again, this time without the piano. Forin had gotten up to fetch a bite to eat, apparently.

Cynyr flicked his ears back and closed his eyes for a moment, then said "I...I know. But I don't want to be a burden. I know that if I don't fix this, I'll just end up being a bigger burden down the line, but...I'm...embarrased. All I've been so far is one big problem. I don't want to ruin everything by bringing another injury into the mix." He sighed, then said "I'll tell Seria later, after the party. Or tomorrow." He rubbed his eye again, then reached out with his right hand and started rubbing under Ophile's chin, scratching carefully with his claws. He scritched them over the wolf's brow, moving his hand along until he could rub behind the ear. He rested his own head down on his other arm, closing his eye as he scratched the wolf.

"One big problem?" Ophile said, but he stopped momentarily as Cynyr scratched his chin. "And what of little Diana, who cannot fight, is afraid of the smallest spider or mouse, and depends entirely on her summon to survive. Do you not think that she sees herself as useless, or in your words, a burden? Or the human Lily, who depends upon Jag to protect her. She likely sees herself as a great burden, just a problem in a mismatched equation.

"As for being 'one big problem', I believe Forin might feel the same, wouldn't he? Perhaps he does not have his scars in obvious places, but scars he does have. And even if those scars were not on his body, they would and will forever remain on his mind and memory. He cannot be rid of them. He broods constantly, though you know it not. Even if he isn't thinking directly of such things, he definitely keeps them in mind.

"And Nate, even! Should I even go on? My point is, do not think of your problems as too much or too troublesome for others. Don't ever think of yourself as a burden, because there are people who depend on you, whether you like it or not. Those are foolish action and foolish thoughts. And from my conversation with you so far, it's very easy to tell that you are no fool. Now I ask that you stop touching me, I seem to be finding out what happened to your visage...I'm sorry, but you are touching me. It's a curse of mine, I have little choice. I apologize, I should have said something before..."

Ophile had an unusual gift; when people touched him of their own accord, he stepped into their memories and backtracked through their life. He couldn't stop it at all, and he did enjoy being petted...but he didn't get much of that ever. It definitely explained why he knew all this about Nate, Diana and whatnot.