The Forgotten Zodiac

Werr looked down, a little upset with himself. And here he had only saved Cynyr because of his desire to save Welk from depression. Cynyr had needed more saving then Welk had. He had been so foolish this entire time...and yet, he felt disgusted. Humans had done that to Cynyr. Why did humans have to be behind the suffering of so many? Cici had told him about creatures of Tartarus, and how they had most likely caused the scars on Forin. She had also told him all about the vain sorcerer that had contained her in that staff form. You never heard about half-cats torturing people just because they were 'different'. Raider parties didn't consist of tribal Gryphons, though sometimes such beings were forced into slavery.

Of course, he was aware of the fact that it was natural to focus on the bad things in a group of people rather than the good. But truthfully, it was getting ridiculous. How many more had suffered like Cynyr had? How many others had been left parentless at the hands of a human? Certainly more than the number of those who had been orphaned due to the actions of a half-being. Who had marked all mages for death? Human kings. And for that matter, who had started this war? Of course, Werr didn't know what Obelisk was, so he knew little more than the fact that it was the work of humans. Of course.

You think you should be punished for your species? I can make that happen, Obelisk's voice landed in his head, sounding like nails on a chalkboard. It made Werr's skin crawl.

Shoo! Cici's tinkling voice was there next, forcing Obelisk out. Go bug someone else!

Very well then...Obelisk chortled. By the way, Werr...don't say anything.

Werr opened his mouth to say something at once, but no sound came out. It was the seal all over again. What, Obelisk was doing things like that from a distance now?! Werr looked desperately towards Seria, then to Welk, but it wasn't like he could tell them anything like this. And as much help as he needed, he couldn't bring himself to break Welk away from Cynyr. Fear welled up inside him. If Obelisk could turn him mute from a distance, what else was he going to do?

Luckily, Seria's new powers sensed his turmoil at once. She wiped her eyes free of tears, then got up and walked over, trying hard to ignore the fact that Cynyr still hadn't put his mask back on. His face was, sadly, hard to ignore. You couldn't help but stare, which he hated. She walked over to Werr and gently put her hands on either side of his face, brushing her fingers down his cheeks. "Don't worry, Werr. I know things probably seem a little hopeless right now, but there's always the next day to look forward to. It's okay. Like I said earlier…" She couldn't stop herself from glanced over at Cynyr, who looked away, depressed. "…we are all together." she finished, trailing her hands down to his throat, where she set about removing the seal again. She didn't mind having to do it over. She cared about all of them and wouldn't dream of letting them suffer if she could help it. "We'll all be fine, one way or another. We banded together to stop the darkness from spreading. You've already saved one person from it. We'll take it one step at a time and make it through alright." She removed the seal like she had before, this time quicker and much more efficiently. When she moved her hands, his throat felt soothingly warm inside.

Welk, of course, noticed the display and said "Are you okay, Werr?" He sounded concerned immediately, though despair shone brightly in his eyes. He couldn't help both of them at once and he really, really wanted to. He wanted to make everything better. He didn't want his brother and his best friend to be this unhappy.

"Luna, give me back to Werr. He needs me." Cici sighed.

"I heard Obelisk," Werr said as soon as his voice was free. "Cici made him leave, but he said he would go bother someone else. Has anyone else heard him, or--" He cut off as there was a sound like an explosion from somewhere. "...crap..." He groaned as two guards stomped in, several of them guarding the door outside and the other two moving towards the windows. "What happened?" He demanded, Seria's words forgotten. He was scared again, though he was doing a pretty good job of hiding it.

"Vidia happened," One of the guards growled unhappily. "We don't think she'll hurt anyone, but we're not taking any chances."

"Vidia? Is that Nightlash's daughter?" Werr guessed.

"Yes. Now stay quiet. She's blind, she won't know you're here if you're quiet."

Cynyr yelped and buried his face in his arms, making absolutely certain that the guards hadn't seen his face. Luckily, they hadn't. If they had, they probably would've thought he was some strange...thing, that was a threat to Werr. Welk carefully threw the black overcoat he had been wearing over his brother's scarred shoulders, scared but knowing that he had a job to do. He gulped, then moved away from Cynyr and took cat form, jumping up onto the bed near Werr and sitting there with his claws out, his ears back unhappily.

There was silence for a long moment. Cynyr faced the corner and pulled his mask up, already reassuring himself that it would never come down again. He shoved his arms into the sleeves of his overcoat, ignoring his undershirt which was discarded on the bed he had been sitting on. At this point, he didn't really care about anything.

The silence had reached deafening points again. That silence was broken by voices drifting down the hall. It was Forin. "You want to do what?" A pause. "Tch, how are you planning to do that? You're blin--" There was another explosion. Forin was thrown backwards, apparently, into the guards by the door. One of them had their spear at the ready, unfortunately, which went through the creature of Tartarus' leg. "...oh. That's how." He groaned. He was unable to move, what with the spear, as well as the fact that one of the guards had tripped and fallen on top of his upper area. "No-not fair..." He splutered, unable to talk much what with the weight on top of him.

"Nothing's really fair, is it?" The girl from the cell giggled. Vidia, of course. She used the wall to guide her, shuffling her feet and moving slowly to keep from tripping over the tangled mess of guards. She made it into the infirmary, though. She slowly breathed in, then out. "Ohh, this is a big group. No wonder I was feeling so many emotions. You people are strange. It doesn't really matter, though, because I've been told to take someone's eyes. Then I'll be able to see again..." Her tone dropped to a wistful one, almost whimpering. She perked right back up again, pointing to Diana. "I'll just take hers and go back to my cell."

Immediately, Luen was up and growled, crouched protectively over Diana. "Over my lifeless corpse." he snarled, encasing himself and Diana in a thick sheet of protective ice that was as thick as steel. "I would rather die than see you hurt this girl." he growled fiercely, flicking his tail once behind him.

Welk was up and standing in front of Werr, growling darkly.

Seria could feel Vidia's emotions clearly through the air. The healer winced at the pain, but made herself stay still. Not yet. If she moved too quickly, the girl would hear her and avoid her intentions.

Surprisingly, Cynyr was also up, in panther form and standing in front of Werr's bed so as to better protect both him and Welk.

Vidia twitched at the sounds from Luen and Welk. "But he said I could take her eyes. He said that would make me see again. I won't hurt her, I just want her eyes." She stood where she was, wringing her hands. "I don't want to make lifeless corpses. He said that it was okay to do that to Forin because he's evil anyways." She shifted her weight from foot to foot, then easily jumped out of the way when a guard attempted to grab her from behind. "No! I'm not going back to that cell until I can see again!" She yelped, but froze. She was away from the wall now. In unfamiliar places, where she was now, not having something to hold onto was like being in the center of a vast, pitch-black ocean. She could feel Diana dreaming, though, and she knew Luen's voice now. She could hear his breath. There were other people breathing, but she wouldn't be able to locate them from that unless she heard them speak.

Which, she had heard every guard, which meant they were useless in sneaking up on her.

Vidia shuffled to one of the beds, moving unsteadily closer to Luen and Diana. It was like she wasn't used to walking; her legs looked thin and frail, and she wobbled with every step now that there was nothing to hold onto. It hurt, too, but she ignored that. She just wanted to see again.

"Child." Luna's soft voice said. "The one that spoke to you before has lied to you. Just because you are blind does not mean you cannot see again. The world waits for you to discover it. You were locked away for so long that you do not remember what it was like to feel the earth beneath your feet, to feel the wind against your skin." She paused, walking forward to stand in front of the girl, her wings spread out wide around her. "Would you like to see again, Dear One?" she asked softly. Her voice was full of love for the strange girl she had just met. Her wings were beautiful and warm, with small gold sparkles drifting from them to land lightly against Vidia's skin, leaving little drops that melted away into warmth. Her true form was simple. An anthro leopard that was as beautiful as anything in the world. She held her hands out to the girl, gentle and inviting.

Vidia froze for a long moment. She took a step forward, captivated by the soft voice she had found. She searched for emotions of malice or any evil intent, only to come up empty. The voice spoke to her again, cold and full of contempt. Don't be a fool. She only wants to hurt you, just like everyone else here. Obelisk snarled in her mind. She took a step backwards, into the waiting arms of a guard. He grabbed her and lifted her off the ground.

She kicked and screamed, before there was an explosion again. It sounded like it, anyways; truthfully though, there was no flame or smoke. It was merely a blast of some invisible force that pushed things at rather high velocities. The guard was thrown backwards into a wall, being torn away from Vidia. She dropped to the ground, sobbing. "Do-don't hurt me," She whimpered. "Not again...I'll go back, just leave me alone!"

"Get out, all of you!" Werr ordered angrily from his bed. The guards were just being a nuisance here. They hesitated, but left the room before Werr could open his mouth to speak again.

Luna moved forward, gracefully sweeping her wings down to envelope the poor girl in them. "Dear One," she soothed. "allow me to help you. I will not take you back to that cell. Know that I could have grabbed you at any moment and teleported you right back to your cell, but I did not. I will not do that to you. I offer you the chance to let me show you a new way to see that does not require sight." She held her arms out to the girl, welcoming and loving. A human-shaped leopard opening herself to a hurting young girl.

Vidia hesitated, then got on her hands and knees and crawled over to Luna, crying still. She hesitated a final time before reaching out with her filthy hand, her cold fingers finding Luna's soft-furred leg. Vidia staggered to her feet again, only to fall into Luna's grip. She flinched and tensed, as though expecting to be hit or dragged off. But of course, nothing happened. Even the bad voice's awful snarling stopped.

"I figured it would be something like this..." Werr said quietly. He had only been in a cell for barely a week, and he had despised every bit of it. He didn't know what her cell was like, but he was fairly certain it was the same sort of conditions. But for ten years! He would be surprised if the girl didn't retain any younger mentality. Which, as far as he'd seen so far, she had.

He understood what this was, though. King Regalo had taken mercy upon his duke's only child and locked her away rather than killed her. Perhaps he had been unaware of any previous beatings or the malnourishment the girl obviously had. Though, seeing her like this, Werr wasn't sure if King Regalo had known about her at all. The previous king had been stern, surely, but he hadn't been cruel...perhaps she had been put down there in secret, right under the king's nose. As ridiculous as it sounded, it was certainly possible.

Luna scooped the girl up into her arms, wrapping her wings around her and picking her up into her warm arms. "There, now." she soothed, placing her muzzle against the girl's face. "I will not let harm befall you again." She concentrated and warped them both to a different part of the infirmary, away from the others. Luna set Vidia down on a soft bed and concentrated, gently touching the girl's head, her light powers bathing over her and cleaning her up in an instant. "That is better." she said, smiling as a pretty pink dress replaced the girl's rough clothing. She took the girl's hand, warm and soft, sitting next to her and just holding her. She pressed her muzzle against the girl's face, breathing out a soft breath that smelled like clean, crisp air and the sweetest flowers.

Vidia cried weakly for a few more minutes, then calmed, though her breath was still weak and shuddering. She felt the dress with her free hand, wondering at how such a small amount of magic could turn a filthy girl with disgusting burlap clothes, into a clean, better-dressed one. She wiped her eyes, pressing her face into Luna's shoulder. She sat up suddenly, though she didn't pull away from Luna. "Th-that boy, I hurt him, I...I smelled blood on him after I pushed him away, I...I meant to...but I didn't want to hurt him that badly, is...will h-he be okay?" She spluttered.

"He is fine, Dear One." the leopard said, looking over to where Seria was healing Forin's leg. A simple touch and the wound was gone. Luen looked on in concern, not moving from Diana's side. Luna smiled and turned her turquoise eyes back to Vidia, saying "You did not know any better. Hush now, Dear One. Sleep. I am here for you." Deep inside, Luna felt a surge of protective feelings towards the girl. It hadn't taken long, but she had grown attached to her and her plight. She trailed one clawed finger across the girl's neck, forming a simple gold necklace out of nothing. With a single touch on each ear, earrings were hanging there. The leopard then stroked down the girl's legs, slowly healing her weak muscles and sending a soothing wave through her body, all the while murmuring soft things to her.

Cynyr watched them for a moment, then felt a strange feeling rise up inside him. He instantly remembered what he had told the others of his family and ground his teeth together, feeling tears gather once more. He took human form and darted from the room, unable to bear it there any longer.

Diana slept on, undisturbed by the trouble. Forin immediately got up and moved over to her, extracting a nightmare from her mind. He ate it before sitting next to Luen, puffing a sigh of relief.

Vidia relaxed quickly again, not knowing what was around her neck and on her ears. She didn't really care, to be honest. She could breathe deeper, she no longer felt aches from her stomach and legs, she was clean and she was wearing actual clothes. She could hardly believe it, to be honest. She held Luna's hand tightly, almost fearing that she was in a dream, and this magic would fade away soon. But such fears were held at bay by Luna's magic. Vidia felt wonderful. She didn't even care about seeing again, she just didn't want to go back to the way she had been before. Even if it was almost all she could remember.

Luen licked the boy's arm gently, rubbing one ear against his shoulder, then lowered his head and simply watched the goings-on around him.

Luna's furry fingers were warm and reassuring, stroking over the girl's hair and shoulders lovingly. She looked up sharply when Cynyr ran from the room, but she made no move to go after him. True, she needed him to save her world, but she figured he would come back sooner or later. Maybe.

Welk immediately moved to go after him, but he froze at the doorway. His crimson eyes flicked back to Werr, then in the direction Cynyr had gone in. He wasn't about to leave Werr here by himself, but he knew he had to go after Cynyr. The panther was still aching from showing them his terrible scars. Welk had to let him know it was okay that he had done that. If he didn't, he feared the panther would hurt himself further, unintentionally.

Werr sighed, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He stood, walking through the door where the guards waited still. "Go on ahead, Welk, I'll catch up. I have questions for my guards." He looked at his friend, smiling. He proceeded to ask the guards about Vidia. They confessed pretty readily; Vidia had been kept a secret from King Regalo, at the request of Duke Nightlash. Her malnutrition had come from their inability to sneak very much food to her, and it wasn't like she could bathe very often when hidden. Marr had known only because she had been prone to sickness.

At the start of her captivity, Nightlash wrote often and Vidia had written back daily. But the letters had stopped coming after barely half a year. For all they knew, Vidia had forgotten about her father. She had mostly just moped in her cell, but the few times she had escaped, the rougher guards had punished her for it. It had started with just scolding, but had quickly turned to just plain violence.

Finally, Werr decided to ask, "Why is she blind?"

"She did that to herself," The guard he was questioning explained. "She was trying to escape once, and blew the hinges off of the door. The metal fragments destroyed her eyes. Doctor Marr had to remove them to stop the bleeding...he made glass eyes for her to replace them."

"I see." Werr sighed, scratching the back of his neck. "If there's anything else of this manner anywhere around the castle, tell me now." Silence. "Good. Carry on."

Welk stared up at him for a long moment, then said "Fine. But if I don't see you soon, I'll panic and come find you and there's nothing you can do about it." He smiled and rubbed against the boy once, then turned and ran off through the castle, following Cynyr's scent all the way outside, into the snow. "Cynyr?" he called, his hot breath forming into a plume of fog in the cold air. "Hey, Cynyr! Where'd you go?" He frowned, then looked down and followed the panther's tracks all the way to a tree not far from the castle. "Hey!" Welk said, trotting over.

Cynyr flinched and glanced up sharply at Welk, but there was no anger like was usual for him. Just sadness and fear.

Welk tilted his head slightly at him, taking human form and flopping down next to him. "You okay?" he asked softly. Cynyr shook his head. Welk looked down, then carefully reached up and pulled the panther's mask down. Cynyr yelped and shouted "Welk! What the heck are-" "Stop it." Welk said, staring at his brother's face sadly. "I have a right to know who you are. I found my mother and learned from her that we're real brothers, Cynyr. We had the same father. Leodhaius."

Cynyr's twisted jaw dropped open in shock, thin puffs of fog drifting from the holes that served as his nose as he breathed softly.

Welk nodded, then explained to him what Briana had told him. When he was done, the black panther across from him was silent. "I...never knew." he murmured, wearily touching a hand to his scars.

Welk hugged him gently, pressing his face into his brother's chest, one hand moving around behind him to caress the spot on his back where the terrible word was torn into his skin.

Werr, when he was done questioning the guards, followed after Welk. He wasn't surprised to find that one of the guards followed him as he moved outside, though the guard left once they came into Welk's sight. Werr quietly sat down next to Cynyr, wondering why there was snow on the ground. It was too early for snow...

Someone had an explanation for it, surely. It didn't matter right now, though. "I...didn't get a chance to earlier," Werr said quietly, putting Cici down next to him and wrapping his arms around Cynyr, careful not to bump Welk too much. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry about everything that's happened to you. But it's not a reason to give up. Removing that dark magic was...was too painful, I can't just let you stay defeated by it. I won't. Don't even think about giving up."

Cynyr had stiffened when Werr had come out, turning his head instinctively where the boy couldn't see his scars. He wanted so badly to pull his mask back up, to continue hiding from everyone. His thoughts shot out the window when Werr hugged him, however. He went completely rigid in shock, both fear and pain welling up alongside the tears in his eyes. He was used to hugs from Welk. He expected those. But this...

Instantly, his hard walls of protection that he had built up for years shattered.

He sobbed, dropping his head into his hands, crying hard for the first time in over eleven years. A being that had been hurting for a long, long time. Slowly, his tail came around and wrapping tightly around Werr's arm, like a person lost in the dark grabbing onto a single ray of light.

Welk was crying much softer than Cynyr was. He had never seen his brother cry before. Ever. He hadn't shed a single tears since he was seven and he was eighteen now. So long. "I-I..." he stammered, trying to speak, to sum up these feelings that he wasn't used to, to say something to let both of the other boys know that he actually cared about them. He couldn't think of anything, so he finally just reached up and grabbed onto Werr's hand, hoping that that would, somehow, convey his desperation. He, for the first time in forever, really wanted someone to be his friend.

Welk smiled knowingly, so proud of the being he shared blood with.