The Forgotten Zodiac

"Oh...okay..." Diana murmured, though she didn't sleep for a long while. The rabbit was content to slip from her arms and curl up at the foot of the bed, nuzzling her sore bare feet. Diana laid there and stared up at the ceiling, still feeling as though things were her fault. She knew better than to do anything stupid to herself, but she couldn't help but feel dismayed and upset with herself. When she finally did sleep, her dreams were overrun with nightmares of and fire raining from the sky. And Forin wasn't able to take the nightmare away. So this time, there was no warm hand on her forehead, no protective circle of warmth in the midst of fear and panic.

((Switching to Welk and Werr naow.))

"Chains are so heavy," Welk thought bearily, not bothing to tug against the thick metal bonds around his neck, wrists and ankles.

The half-cat had been taken to the jail and placed in the most secure cell they had. One for the most powerful offenders. Welk didn't understand why they had put him in this one, but he was too exhausted, upset and tired to care. So he remained in his corner, believing this to be the best place for him. "I almost hurt Werr," he thought, pushing his head further against his arms. "I don't deserve to be his knight. What knight almost kills the one they're meant to protect? I'm not worth it. I'm too...dangerous." He glanced at the odd mark on his bare right shoulder, wondering what it was and what it meant.

Nobody had an answer for him.

He sobbed quietly into his arms, knowing that this was one of the worse days of his life.

((Poor Diana.))

Werr hurried down the stairs, Airlia leading him along. It had taken a long time for them to convince the guards to let them pass. Almost two hours had passed, but Werr only moved faster thanks to that. He finally stopped at Welk's cell, looking on into his friend. "...Welk?" He said quietly, sinking to the floor and reaching out towards Welk with his previously burned hand. "Are you okay?"

((? .3.))

Welk jerked his head up and glanced towards Werr, shrinking away from the boy. When Werr moved to touch him, Welk dodged around his hand and ran to the opposite corner, curling up there. "Don't touch me!" he shouted at the boy. "Do you want to get burned again?!" He bit off his words and looked away, the chains clanking around his neck and wrists. "I...I don't want to hurt you...again..." he murmured, putting his head on his arms and staring sadly at Werr through his crimson eyes. "So...staying away from me is your best bet. If you're not near me, I can't hurt you. And the last thing I want to do is hurt you..." 

((Nightmares = not fun?))

Werr dropped his hand, feeling the cold stone under his fingertips. He thought for a long while, then spoke again. Ever so quietly. "Welk...I hate pain. I fear it. For all the pain I've ever been through, I have no tolerance for it. It befuddles me, but I can't get past my sheer panic whenever I think about being hurt. I...I hate it, but...not once did I think about that when I was trying to calm you down. My arm was burned to a crisp, but I didn't believe that you had hurt me. I had hurt myself, even, but I didn't care. I would suffer the pain that Obelisk caused me, a million times over, if it would fix things. I would do it for you, Welk, I...I'd do anything to fix this mess."

((Ah, right.))

Welk turned his gaze away, unable to stomach looking at Werr any longer. It wasn't because he was afraid of the boy or angry at him; he kept picturing what could happen. If that kind face that had always spoken so softly to him became twisted and burned at his hands. If he ever hurt Werr like that, he knew he wouldn't be able to live with himself. He sighed, on the verge of tears again, then said "It's just better that I stay in this cell, Werr. If I'm in here, I can't ever hurt you. What if I burst into flames or something and kill you? I don't know if I can control my powers now! This...this mark..." He stared at the emblem on his shoulder. "It...I think it controls me. But I can't tell, and that's what has me scared! It's not that I don't want to be near you; it's that I'm scared to be." He sighed deeply, scooting further away.

Werr looked down, thinking hard. It was several long minutes before he spoke again. Then he sighed quietly. "Okay."

"Okay?" Airlia said from behind him, a little shocked. "But...Werr, you can't leave Welk in here! Why would you do such a--"

"Hush, Airlia." Werr shook his head, standing up. "Welk is right. But I'm not going to just leave him here. I'm going to go and find out why he was put in there. I'll find out what that mark is, and what I can do to get rid of it. I'll do everything I can," He said, looking back at Welk. "I promise."

Welk's eyes shone with emotion, but he said nothing. It was for the better, after all. He leaned against the wall, content to sit there. Possibly for the rest of his life. He was horribly lonely, of course. He was a severe people person; he needed people around him to function. And now he was distancing himself in order to protect them.

From himself.

He sighed deeply, watching Werr stand up and blinking slowly. He wanted to be at the boy's side, trotting along, chattering, protecting him. But it was hard protecting someone from yourself. Especially when they were your best friend and most trusted companion.

Werr moved away, his head down. Even though he knew that Welk would be more or less okay, he couldn't help but have a bad feeling in his gut from all this, though. He walked up the long, winding stairs, Airlia at his heels, wondering what to do next.

He decided to go to Galai. He walked into the throne room, still looking somewhat upset. But he needed an explanation... "Queen Galai, I ask that you explain why...why my friend is currently in the dungeons." He said quietly, looking like little more than a hurt boy asking for a stuffed animal back. Werr winced, watching in the back of his mind the images of his true mother, ripping the stuffing out of his dearest stuffed toy dog. Kiri wouldn't allow real dogs, so Sylas had gotten a toy one during his travels. Werr had loved that toy...

Galai tapped a perfectly shaped nail against her throne, closing her eyes as she thought long and hard before speaking.

"There...was once a deity who lived above all of the worlds. A strong, powerful deity. He resided amongst the stars, where even I nor my mate can hope to go. He had no name at first, but he was well respected among all of the gods and other deities. We called him One, as he was only One. But you see, young human, he fell. He had slowly, bit by bit, been growing stronger. But it was not strength like what you or your friends might get if you trained hard over time. No, his was a darkness that went unnoticed for a long time because he took it in bits and pieces; human bits and pieces. He was a deity of your world, after all, so it was humans he was meant to guard and protect. But one by one, he took unsuspecting humans from their homes and killed them for their inner magic. For everyone has magic inside them, Werr. Even you." She paused for a moment, then said "The Mark. The one Welk now bares. It is...horrifying. It is a signal of death, a sign that your time is soon to end. When One's treachery against the humans he protected was discovered, we, the gods and deities of other worlds, the Divine included, took away his power and condemned him to the Underworld. His deity title was stripped and he became known as Malice, the name he took for himself. We trapped him in Hell, but it seems he has escaped. There is no other way the Mark could've appeared on your friend's skin. For the sad thing is, child, that Malice retained his unique power; the ability to control any human-like creature and bend them to his will. We couldn't take that power from him. It was his birth-given ability, after all. And he could only hold four or five at a time. But now he has found a way around our binding spells; the Mark. By leaving that mark on the body of a mortal, it binds them to his soul. There is no escape that we have found. All who have been marked have had their magic and their souls themselves consumed by Malice's. He grows stronger by the day and we have no means with which to stop him. And we have tried hard to stop him. But we have no idea what to do..." She sighed deeply, then said "Those who bare the Mark are also easily controlled by Malice. This is why we have locked your friend in that cell, Rowe. He must be kept there until the transfer process is done and he..." She dipped her head a bit lower, her eyes holding infinite sadness; if there was something she could do, she would've done it. "I'm so sorry," she murmured.

Werr looked down. He looked back up and opened his mouth to say something, but he closed his mouth again, looking at Galai with a hollow sort of misery. Like she was the one tearing the stuffing out of his dog toy. He didn't say anything; he just turned away, walking off without a word. He walked to the library slowly, and when he got there, he settled down in the chair and looked around at the rows and rows of books staring at him. If Galai said that no escape had been found, perhaps she just hadn't found one yet. Werr closed his eyes, wanting very much to just sit there and weep.

But he had work to do.

He was soon given some company to help keep away the sadness, however. Cynyr padded down the hall way, guided by the boy's scent. He nudged open the door with his snout, moving in. He found Werr and moved over, sitting down quietly. He didn't say anything for a moment, then finally spoke. "So...did she tell you too?" he asked lowly, his ears flicked back. His single eye peered at the boy for a moment, then he closed it. He nuzzled Werr's hand, sighing softly. "How do I help?" he asked, favoring the boy with a rare, simple smile.

Werr nodded solemnly. "Find me books. As many as you can about history, namely the history of magic. I need to see everything. Every artifact, every spell, as much as I can." He stood, starting to scour the shelves for books of that nature. He would look for said books, and if those didn't give him any clues, he'd look for books with anything to do with Malice. Even if Welk couldn't be saved, the mark unable to be removed...if they got rid of Malice, he would be fine, right?

Cynyr nodded, then took human form and did as Werr wanted. The books quickly started pilling up in thick stacks, growing taller and taller as time passed. Eventually, once the books reached high enough, they sat down and started reading. Cynyr sprawled out on the floor with at least four books open in front of him, going to book to book, page to page, line to line. He flicked his tail in slow arches, frowning at his pages.

((To remind ourselves:

It was never explained where Obelisk got the clone when he cloned Werr, so maybe Malice can clone people.

Werr and friends get caught in a power struggle between the Silver Tornado and Lord Malice, because the ST somehow get their hands on the Artifacts of the Fair Ones (fairies, haw). And Alastor burns.

And that somehow makes the plot seem more dynamic.))

Werr went through books as quickly as he could, absorbing every word, every single letter. He only got about thirteen books into their tall stack before he started crying. He tried to keep reading, but it was impossible. It wasn't what was in the book that was making him cry, it was the reason he had to keep reading. He longed to run back to Welk, desperately needing a hug. He felt like a child again, and the memories flashing in the back of his mind reminded him of what kind of child he was. His own mind was messing with him worse than ever before, and it was terribly painful.

Obelisk was the next to meander into the throne room. He hid behind a wall of his own crackling magic, frowning deeply with every step. "I...would not come in here if I had any other choice." He said quietly, keeping his distance from Galai. "But it seems Werr and Cynyr have taken over the library, and I do not wish to disturb their search to help their friend." Apparently, he was well aware of what was going on, even after being confined to his room for that long period of time. "I have questions that need answering, for the sake of both our worlds."

Galai watched him as he approached, then slowly dulled her great light down to a softer, dimmer level. "Speak then, dark creature," she said, her soft voice gentle and calm. "I will answer to the best extent of my abilites and knowledge. So ask your questions, Obelisk. Give no hesitation and I won't either." She folded her long white wings against her back, crossing one leg dantily over the other.

Obelisk watched her, not really liking behind called 'dark creature'. It was true, certainly, but that particular way of putting it seemed somewhat...evil. No matter. "I seek the Artifacts of the Fair Ones. I need to know their resting place. You must already know what I want them for, at that..."

((Oh yeah, and Galai wouldn't know that they've already been taken, so just make up something. xD))

((PIE! 8D ))

Galai sighed, then said "Of course. Those Artifacts are very dangerous, as I'm sure you already know. But with Malice on the rise and we with no clear way to stop him, I believe telling you where the Artifacts lie is our best bet. We sealed them away in a shrine located near the distance home of the dragons. The First Place. Where Naybrin was born from the great tear of the sky. We sealed the Artifacts there, where they are safe. If you so desire, which I know you do, then I will allow you to go there and receive them. You cannot go alone, however, as you probably know as well as I do that the seal wouldn't let you inside. You have dark magic, after all."

"I am dark magic," Obelisk shook his head. "Who would you have go with me, then? Werr and his friends are busy. The only ones I see as not busy are spending time resting with their loved ones, or incapacitated and unable to help. I am not heartless, though this group likes to think I am...I would not wish them to be taken away from their business for something I need. True, it is for the sake of this world and theirs, but...most of them have too much on their mind right now to be of any service to me."

Galai placed her fingers against her lips, thinking for a moment, then said "Then perhaps you need a companion of your own to acompany you. If you would have it, then I know of two beings with would be...glad, to follow you. You have no choice, really; one can help you yourself go into the shrine. The other would be going along for...rehabilitation purposes." She tapped on her chin with a finger, thinking, then said "Yes, these would do, I believe. One of them is here, the other I must send for."