The Forgotten Zodiac

Werr tried weakly to push Welk off, staring up at his friend in shock. "W-Welk...I...I don't hate you!" He said desperately, confused and afraid. And horrified. His friend, his best friend in the whole world, was on the verge of killing him. Werr pulled his hand upwards, wedging it between his throat and Welk's claws. He broke free and scrambled back into the corner of the room, still staring at Welk, ignoring the stinging scrapes on his hand.

Welk watched him intently, wrapping his arms around himself again. "I...I don't understand," he said, sitting down in the middle of the floor. "What...what happened? Why...I...I don't understand!" He shrank back against the wall, sobbing. "Why did he do that?!" he shouted, curling into a protective shield of fire. "H-he told me you hated me. I don't know what to believe! I-I..." He clenched himself tighter, saying "I'm scared..."

Werr approached cautiously, stopping just outside the fire shield. Welk's flames had never hurt him before...would they now? Werr reached out a hand, flinching back at the heat. He then pushed through it, somehow convincing himself that the pain was just his own imagination. That the flames weren't hurting him, his heartache was. He pushed through it, putting his hand on Welk's shoulder. "I don't hate you!" He shouted over the crackle of flames. "Welk, I don't--" He suddenly caught the image of his old house in his mind, burning around him. He pulled back, yelping in pain. He cursed his own stupidity, retreating back to his corner.

Welk flinched at his touch, his fire shield slowly crackling apart. He watched Werr intently, still shaking hard, then said "Werr...don't leave me. You promised...you wouldn't leave me. Don't leave me!" He moved to run after the boy and nearly collapsed, yelping in pain. He shook his head wearily, then turned to look down at his legs.

They were slowly turning black, creeping up along his skin.

His eyes widened horribly, then he screamed and tried to moved away, but the blackenss followed him. "Werr!" he screamed. "Why did you leave me?! This...this is my fault!"

"W-welk, calm down," Werr stammered, but he didn't move from his corner at first. His his hand and arm, halfway up to his elbow, was a disgusting mess. The skin had been badly burned, taken entirely off in patches, black running around the edges of the wounds. He was already forming blisters. The palm of his hand was the worst. "I'm right here, I haven't left, I just...it hurts. Just calm down, please," He moved closer, looking at Welk's legs. "What the heck..."

((I didn't know if it was Welk's insanity or an actual thing happening, so I designed my post to go either way. :T

Also, I was thinking a bit, and I realized that there was no point whatsoever in being gloomy about anything at all. You were right, after all; even if my time is limited, it's better than no time at all. So...see you in the morning~))

Then a voice boomed into Werr's head.

"Hello, Rowe. My name is Malice. How nice to have finally spoken to you. I will admit, I already know everything about you. Including all about your fine little fire friend here."

A long, shadowy hand snaked out of thin air, lightly encircling Welk. "I've decided that he will make a wonderful addition to my guard. If he can guard a king, then why not a wraith? But first, I must instil the fear. I must make you fear him so you won't try and come back after him. And what better way to do this than by having him kill you here and now? Come, come! Don't look so shocked! I assure you, this will be quite fun...for me, at least. Your little lion has gone insane and you are too scared to bring him back. Well, you snooze you lose, and you just lost." There was a dark cackle, then Welk slowly staggered up, moving not of his own will. "I can't...break free..." he moaned, watching weakly as the black crept further up his arm. "I'm...trapped..." He sighed and gave up, just letting the stuff move him towards Werr, already forming fireballs in each hand.

((That's good. ^w^ -huggle-))

((Well...ohkay then...))

Werr scrambled back yet again, already afraid. "No! He was coming back, y-you...no! I'm not afraid of him, I'm afraid of...pain!" It was the first time he had ever admitted it out loud, to be honest. "I'll never be afraid of Welk...and I'll never stop chasing after him if you make him leave me! Even if you k-kill me, it won't be Welk. It'll be you!"

The dark wraith holding Welk chuckled into the darkness, then said "Pain leads to fear, oh so Young One. So if Welk hurts you for long enough, you will fear him. You cannot hold out forever, you see. Especially when I have lived forever and longer. I can outlast you, human child. You are too weak to do anything."

Welk lunged forward, tears streaming from his eyes and fire curling up his arms.

A blast of wind knocked him over, opening a deep cut on his side as he slammed into the ground and was bowled over.

Cynyr stalked in, marching over to Werr and grabbing him by his undamaged arm. He hauled him up and pushed him towards the door, saying "Go on, get out! You've at least got the sense to run, haven't you? Go find Seria while I hold off...Welk." He pushed the boy again, trying to make his point clear, then turned back as Welk stood up, hissing at the panther.

"No! That's not Welk!" Werr objected, though he did back up. "Cynyr, that's some guy named Malice. D-don't kill Welk, whatever you do!" He started running, half-expecting Welk to come after him despite Cynyr's attempts to stop him. No...he was half-expecting Malice to come after him. This wasn't Welk, Werr reminded himself as he charged down the stairs of the guest home. It wasn't.

Seria was in the palace, speaking with the other Divine healers. She was listening intently to them as they spoke, but she looked up when she felt Werr's approach. What she felt even stronger, however, was the pain from Cynyr as he was wounded by Welk. "Cynyr..." she murmured, her eyes growing distant as she connected with her soon-to-be-husband. She darted out of the room, leaving the healers confused and wondering what had happened. She found Werr quickly, running over and wrapping her arms around him. He was about an inch taller than her, if not at equal height. She placed a hand around his arm and started to heal his burned skin, fixing it quickly and efficiantly. "What happened?" she asked, concern lacing her voice and features.

A fiery explosion rocketed up from the building behind them, catching the attention of nearly every Amnairian around.

"W-Welk! H-he was taken over b-by a guy named Malice, he..." Werr paused and watched his flesh regrow with Seria's healing touch. It hurt for a moment longer, then felt as good as it had before. "Malice took Welk over and threatened to kill me. H-he said that if he could make me afraid of Welk, I wouldn't chase after my own knight. But it's not Welk, it's that freak of a...I...I don't understand anymore..." Werr clutched his head with his hands, sitting down. For the first time in a long time, his mind was backing up, overloading and just plain hurting. He still hadn't gone through all his newly refound memories, so he was thinking about those, but at the same time he had to pay attention to the present, and now his mind was going through what the outcomes of this situation were. Werr was only human, thinking of all past, present and future...well, it hurt.

But what hurt most was the realization that Welk might be taken away from him. Werr started running, back to the guest house. Just in time to see something black engulf the flames of the explosion, suffocating the things eating at the guest house.

Obelisk's bandages tore down the wall between him and the fighting. He took one look at the black creeping up Welk's legs, and knew who it was. "Malice!" He snarled, furious. "That's as far as you'll get!"

Welk glanced over fearfully when Obelisk appeared, then felt a hand touch his right shoulder. He slowly turned his head and glanced at the hand, which immediately made him shiver.

The fingers were long and pointed, like wiry witch claws. The skin was pale, but it shimmered and wavered like a mirage on the horizon. Welk stared up at the person holding his shoulder, feeling like merely a speck against the tall figure behind him.

The person was tall, nearly as such as Obelisk. A black cloak made entirely of shadows billowed around him, covering his entire body except for his face, neck and hands. Even then, his skin was a pure white, while his body and clothes the darkest black. His hair and the edge of his cloak billowed like wisps of fire, flickering and fizzing. "I am Malice," he said, his voice willowy and powerful. "And I claim this boy for my own." Welk screamed and plunged to the ground, convulsion violently as a mark burned into his shoulder where the man had touched him. It was a swirled, curved mark that ended in four points, like a wiry star. It burned like fire, like his powers had set themselves ablaze inside his body. He screamed and grabbed his shoulder, trying to get the pain to stop. But it wouldn't. It just kept burning and burning, until he felt like he was dying away into nothing.

"The fairy within me demands that I stop you...so I'm going to!" Obelisk shrieked, snapping his hand out. Surprisingly enough, light magic shot from his hand, throwing up a shimmering wall between Malice and Welk. It wasn't light magic though, oddly enough. It was Fairy magic. "Leave this place at once!" He snarled.

Malice smiled, then said "But of course. My mark is there; I no longer need to be here." He grinned, showing off sharp, pointed teeth, then winked out of existance, vanishing into nothing.

A few Amnairian guards came running in, wondering what had happened. The lead guard took one look at the mark on Welk's shoulder and froze completely, staring. Welk slowly pushed himself up, panting and gasping as he twitched hard a few times. The guard narrowed her eyes, quivering at the sight of that mark, then said "Take him away! Bind him in chains and lock him up until Galai decides what to do with this...this..." She didn't seem to be able to find a nasty enough word to call Welk, so she settled for going forward with the other guards and grabbing him, ignoring his pained cries as they jostled his aching body.

"Hey, HEY!" Cynyr shouted. "What are you doing?! Leave him alone, you sick-"

"Silence yourself before we deem you worth of prison as well, panther," the guard said, glaring at him. "Be lucky...that jail is the only thing happening to him as of now." She walked out, taking Welk with her.

Werr made it up the stairs, but the guards had already teleported away. He looked from Obelisk to Cynyr, to the bed where Welk had been only mere minutes ago. He rubbed his newly healed hand, swallowing hard. "What happened to him?" He said, his voice trembling, he himself on the verge of tears.

"I was too late..." Obelisk turned away, his dark magic pulling the pieces of the wall back together so he could be alone again. Werr was sure he said, "Sorry, Cici...I tried..." Before there was silence again.

"He's not...gone?" Werr's voice cracked, looking towards Cynyr.

Cynyr shook his head, saying "No, he's not gone. He's just going to be held in prison for a little while. Emphasis on little." He stalked towards the door, saying "Come on, Galai will understand if I talk to her about it. She's nice like that. You go down to the prison and see if you can find Welk. Take Airlia with you; trust me. The...guards probably won't let you in without an escort. I don't really understand what happened to him, but...the guards are scared of Welk now." He patted the boy on the head and affectionately ruffled his hair lightly, then turned away and took feline form, trotting out of the room.

Werr clenched his hands into fists, nodding once or twice. Airlia came in not two seconds later, looking worried. "All of Amnarius is in an uproar..." She said. "I don't really know what's going on..."

"Airlia, can you escort me to the prison?" Werr murmured. "I...I think I need an escort."

"Yeah, I...sure." Airlia nodded, still confused. She kept eying the cracked wall, and she backed out of the room slowly. She waited for Werr to start following before turning and walking off down the hall. Werr did indeed follow, his head hanging slightly.

They were coming down the stairs in time to see Forin charging up them, not stopping for anything. Fear and desperation literally covered his face; he had left Diana in the guest house, and the next time he saw it, part of the roof had been blown off and was smouldering slightly. For Forin, it was like a terrible nightmare. Diana, he had to get back to Diana.

The girl in question was under her bed, shivering in fear. She curled up in fear as the door opened; she didn't know who it was, of course. Forin walked in and looked around. He tore the blankets off the bed, he nearly ripped the door off of the closet, and he looked under the bed. But Diana had grabbed the blankets and pulled them around her, so when Forin peered under the bed, he didn't see her. He charged out of the room again, furious and afraid for his mistress.

Diana crawled out from under the bed, looking around in fear. She inched out of the room, turning to look at the magicks sparking under the door of Obelisk's room. Thinking that it might be Forin (as he was the only one she knew who used shadows like that), she ran forward and opened the door. Like a fool.

She turned and ran, not even giving herself time to scream. She ran out of the guest house and down the street, running for dear life. Obelisk had been taking that time to change his bandages, you see, and Diana had seen his face. His black, eyeless, shriveled face. It was enough for anyone to double-take; for one who was afraid of almost everything, it was surprising that Diana hadn't screamed.

Luckily for the poor girl, Luen was just outside of the city, doing something he had never had to do before; graze. It was so very weird for him to have to tear up the little plant strands and chew them up, then swallow them. Every swallow felt awkward going down his long throat, but at the same time, it felt creepily natural. Just something he had to get used to, he told himself. He flicked his ears up when he heard Diana's footsteps; yet another odd thing he had now. Exceptional hearing. It was so much better than his old wolf hearing, but that didn't mean it didn't make him nervous. As to why he was nervous, he didn't know. Maybe it was a natural deer sense.

He shrugged it off and cantered towards the sound of Diana's steps, calling "Diana! Where are you?" His calm voice was the same as ever, comforting and soothing, albeit worried.

Oddly enough, the rest of Amnairus was pretty much empty. The Amnarians had taken to the insides of their homes, their curtains drawn and doors locked. Fearful of something. Diana was nearing the edge of the city, her bare feet slapping against white stone. Luen's voice echoed off the buildings, seeming bigger than normal. Diana stopped and looked around for a hiding place, absolutely terrified at this point. She wound up hiding in a trash can, the metallic lid clanging shut over her head, plunging her into darkness.

As the sound of hooves approached, she held her breath, remembering what had happened two years ago with a guard named Bala. Her hatred towards Forin had driven her to torture Diana for the sole purpose of making Forin hurt on the inside. Not wanting a repeat of that, Diana begged silently for the person to just go away and leave her in the trash can in peace. She was completely still, she held her breath, squeezed her eyes shut tight, and held back the whimpers of fear that were building inside her.

"Diana?" the voice came again, softer this time. There was a soft swishing sound as the person transformed, then slowly came closer. The lid lifted and was set aside, then a shadow fell over the girl as the person looked in.

Luen's human face was as gentle and caring as ever, lacing in infinite concern and fear. "Diana..." he said, holding onto the edge of the can and leaning over. He reached his arms down and tenderly touched her, flicking his long ears back sadly. He gently picked her up, holding her closer to his warm chest. Without his powers, he had the body tempurature of a normal person. Before, he was cool to the touch, not unplesant.

Now he was as normal as any other kirin out there.