The Forgotten Zodiac

Obelisk shrugged slightly, rubbing his wrists absentmindedly. "Very well then. I shall leave you now, unless you had other questions..."

Silence.

Obelisk turned away, still angry on the inside. And this conversation - along with Cynyr's glare - had only made him feel worse. He shut the door quietly behind him and moved off down the hall, his usual shuffling gait carrying him slowly towards the front door of the castle.

"You're not as hated as you think you are," Ophile said gently, trotting near Obelisk's shuffling feet. "Some feel sorry for you, but your indifference to the world gives them a bad taste of your reality."

"Are you saying that I should act depressed and helpless?" Obelisk tutted.

"Not quite. I'm just saying that you don't always have to act quite so calm all the time. You're still human. I can sense your anger bubbling over. Go destroy an abandoned building or a cave. It helps people some--" Ophile cut short as Obelisk reached down with a hand and patted the wolf gently on the head. Ophile froze up for several minutes, then suddenly yelped and recoiled, turning invisible.

"Don't try to read my thoughts without knowledge of my past, Tartaran. It will only make me angry...with you." Obelisk was gone after that, shuffling away. Ophile remained invisible, sitting in a corner of the hall with his nose tucked under his tail, his curled-up body rigid and filled with fear and pain.

((Just move on to Seria. :T I needed to add that part in somewhere, and I saw an opporotunity, sooooo...))

"Seria?"

Cynyr poked his head into the entrance to the infirmary wing of the castle and glanced around for his fiancee, his hand still gripping tightly to Werr's wrist. He really had needed to talk to Seria about a few things, but he had been unwilling to leave Werr for more than a few literal seconds. So the boy had been brought along, not that Cynyr cared. His life with Seria, in his opinion, wasn't limited to just himself and her knowing about everything they did together.

The female half-cat was scribbling down some notes in a notebook when they came in, but she looked up and smiled tiredly when she heard her soon-to-be-husband's voice. "Here, Cynyr," she called, standing up and walking over. She hugged Cynyr as soon as she neared him, tilting her head back and leaning her head up to press her lips gently to his. He closed his eye, feeling her press against him, then opened his eye once she pulled back. "Hello, Werr," she said, turning and greeting the boy. She smiled and held her arms out to him, saying "Come here and give me a hug! I haven't got to see you as much as I would like."

Werr smiled a little and stepped into her embrace, hugging her for a moment before pulling away. "It's nice to see you too, Seria. Cynyr came to talk to you about something, and he didn't want to leave me alone, so...here we are." He held his small smile, his troubles extremely obvious; his worry, mixed with mild fear and a dash of panic, shone prominently in his tired eyes.

She smiled at him, then put her hands on either side of his head, brushing her fingers through his hair. "You need a serious nap," she murmured, hugging him again. Her scent was like that of roses, soft and reassuring. "There's plenty of beds in here and I'm not leaving anytime soon, so you can make yourself comfortable."

Cynyr tilted his head slightly, then said "What do you mean by that?" His tone was questioning, like he sensed something was up.

Seria focused on him, letting go of Werr to stand in front of the one she had accepted as her someday-mate. "I...was going to stay here," she said. "I asked to train with the Divine healers and they accepted. I'm going to be a better healer."

"What?" Cynyr said, frowning. "Why? You can't just leave us like that! You're already a good healer; you're...perfect."

She looked down, saying "There's so much more I could be, Cynyr. And I want to be it." She looked up at him and said "As my future mate, shouldn't you want me to be happy?"

"I do," he said, his voice a bit weaker than it had been a few minutes ago. "I want you to be happy, really I do. But...I don't think you're doing this for happiness."

It was Seria's turn to say "What?"

"You're afraid of not being strong enough," he replied. "You worry because you aren't a Divine healer anymore. But you are strong enough! ...I should know." He carefully reached forward and took her hand, bringing her fingers up to touch them to his tattered lips.

She flicked her ears back, moving a step closer to him. "Do...do you love me?" she asked softly, her voice low.

"What?" he said, blinking. "Of course I do."

She swallowed, then said "I...sometimes wonder. I know I shouldn't but-"

He moved foward and kissed her forehead, his ears laying back sadly and his eyes closing. "Seria..." he murmured, pulling back. He slowly bent down on one knee, holding both of her hands in his. "I love you. I asked you to marry me and no other. You. You're mine. I love you...so much. I know I struggle with 'love' and stuff like that, but...I want you to know that from the bottom of my heart, I love you. And if you don't believe me, then I'll just keep asking. Will you marry me? I'll ask forever if I have to. But you're mine, whether or not you want to be. So will you marry me? I, who love you so much? There's...not much else that I know how to say..."

Something wet hit his ear.

He glanced up to see that Seria was crying softly behind a hand, trying to keep it all inside. She sniffled, then looked at him when he stood and held her close. "...Will you marry me?" he asked softly, leaning in closer to her.

She nodded, saying "Of course I will..." Their lips met together softly and Cynyr leaned back against the wall, feeling a strange wave of relief go through him, unaware that Seria felt the same reassurance from that as well.

Werr could do nothing but smile at them; he settled down on one of the beds, deciding to take Seria's advice. He was exhausted after this long day, and they had a wedding to attend tomorrow, so...might as well. After awhile of listening to Cynyr and Seria talk, he drifted off into the abyss of unconsciousness.

Morning broke, just as bright as ever. Forin finally woke up then with a groan, sitting up. Or rather, trying to. He found that the underside of a bed was somewhat obstructive. He rolled out from under the bed, climbing to his feet; he saw Luen asleep on his right, with Diana curled up under the covers on his other side. He sighed with great relief, before he spotted Werr nearby, sitting up and sort of just...staring at the wall. Cynyr was sleeping nearby, but Forin wasn't concerned for that.

"Grehi," Forin said quietly, approaching warily. "Are you...quite alright?"

Werr flinched at the sudden voice. He turned, then nodded a bit before looking down. "I'm fine." He glanced up at Forin again, this time with suspicion. "What do you care? It's not like you to be even slightly concerned about anyone but Diana or Luen..."

Forin shifted uncomfortably, then shrugged. "I can't ask a question? Come now, you certainly don't look fine. Grehi, I--"

"Stop calling me that!" Werr snapped suddenly. "It's not 'Grehi'! I...I'm still not sure if it's even 'Rowe', s-so...Werr. Just call me Werr, please..."

"Fine..." Forin muttered, shaking his head. "Nevermind then. Go back to...moping, I guess."

Cynyr flinched awake at Werr's voice, blinking uncertainly. He shifted a bit, feeling Seria, who was laying against him. She had her arms wrapped around him, her legs twinned around one of his and their tails wrapped together. She was still asleep and didn't shift as he gently unwound her from his body and set her down nearby, then stood up and walked to Werr's side. He touched the boy's shoulder, saying nothing. His single yellow eye, filled with twenty years' worth of sadness and horrors, gleamed lightly, asking the questions he couldn't seem to get out.

Werr looked at Cynyr and just shook his head, shrugging his friend's hand off. "I'm fine..." He repeated, going back to staring at the wall. "I just...I don't think I can do it. Last time, it was...different. My parents--no, the Grehis...they were what I was fighting for. I fought to stop the decay of the world, to stop the dark magic...and now I have to go alongside that dark magic to stop a bigger one...Cynyr, I don't know what these 'fair one' artifacts are, but...I just know that Cici is the only reason any of us are still alive. Obelisk would have killed us easily last time. He...he almost killed me last time.

"A-and now, Welk...we have to fight to save Welk, but it's a race against time, a-and...I had a dream. A nightmare...the world was burning, and Welk was there...Welk was burning everything, and then he...he went after me, and I...somehow, I...I didn't have a choice..." He looked down at his hands, shaking terribly. "I killed him..." He said in a very quiet voice, squeezing his eyes shut tight as though that would make his worries and heavy thoughts go away.

Cynyr was silent, listening to his friend, then he said "You would never kill Welk. We love him and he loves us. Heck, I sometimes think he likes you more than me, and I raised him!" He sighed, then returned his hand to its place on the boy's shoulder, holding on firmly yet gently. "He'll be okay, Werr," he said, curling his tail into the boy's lap. "We've gone through Hell and back, practically. If we can't save one silly, goofy little half-cat, then what are we good for?" He stroked his hand down Werr's back, comforting through touch.

Werr buried his head in his hands, wanting to just sit there and cry. But he felt more like throwing up. Especially if he made himself cry again. His stomach ached and he found it hard to find even a shred of happiness at the current moment. And then he remembered Cynyr and Seria's conversation last night. He sniffed, looking up at Cynyr. Desperate to distract himself, he questioned, "S-so when are you two getting married?"

Cynyr stared at him for a moment, then looked over to Seria, who was still sleeping peacefully on one of the beds. "I...don't know," he said truthfully, staring at the pretty, sleeping female half-cat for a long moment. "I guess I haven't had time to think about it enough. Soon, I hope. Before something can separate us again." He almost seemed to pout, pursing his lips together for a moment, then said "I love her, Werr, but...well, I'd be a fool not to admit that I'm scared. I'm worried I won't be enough. That I won't be able to take care of her and give her a good life."

"Oh, come on, Cynyr." Werr snorted. "You took care of me when I was...acting like a kid," He shook his head, clearly remembering that time and his actions. He felt ridiculously foolish looking back on it, but he was better now. Much better. "That was good enough. You took care of Welk when he was just a kitten. That was good enough, wasn't it? Cynyr, you're everything I want to be. Strong, brave, able to hold out in a fight with anything...good at saving your friends," He smiled a little, shaking his head. Werr rubbed his forehead, realizing that he was barely able to salvage his own mind, much less help any of his friends. He was completely dependent on them, and every time he had tried to change that, it had ended up horribly. As in him almost dying and needing rescued again. That horrible.

The panther frowned and sat down on the edge of the bed, curling his legs in front of him. "That was...different," he said. "I swear I'm not good with kids. Heck, I made you cry and I can't count how many times I've made Welk upset with me. You should've seen him. He was a little monster when he was younger." He shook his head, keeping his ears back. "I think Seria wants kittens, but I'm just not sure. Can you imagine MY kids? They'll be bratty, back-talking little terrors with bad attitudes." He frowned, knitting his fingers together.

Werr almost laughed. "Or they'll be like their mother. Kind and sweet." He shook his head. "But you did make me cry...eh, almost everything made me cry back then. It was very hard not to cry. The only reason I was like that before was because...Kiri wasn't there." He looked back at the wall again, closing his eyes for a moment. "I still can't believe I let Obelisk touch me..." He shivered a bit, suddenly feeling a chill.

Cynyr chuckled, then said "Fine. They'll have Seria's looks and my nasty personality." He flicked his tail a few times, then said "Yeah, I couldn't believe it either. It was shocked, needless to say." He shook his head again, then took panther form and curled up on the bed, grooming his paws lightly. He transferred his tongue from his heavy black paws to Werr's hand, brushing his light pink tongue over the boy's skin.

Werr absentmindedly reached up and scratched behind Cynyr's ears, though it wasn't the same. Welk had a mane that Werr liked to run his fingers through while scratching his friend, but Cynyr didn't have one of those. Werr sighed a final time, not even remembering that Forin was awake and silently watching them both.

Nate was as busy as ever, preparing himself for the wedding. Not once did he have second thoughts about it; he wouldn't ever love another woman as much as he loved Tasia. He was overjoyed that she had accepted to be married today, of all short-noticed times. Basically, at the moment, Nate was the polar opposite of Werr.

Nate quickly scarfed down the fresh raw pork that had been brought to the guest house along with the rest of the breakfast, downing a bottle of rum before returning upstairs to shave and clean himself up.

There was a knock at the door and Zephyr entered, pushing it open with his nose. "Ho in here," he said, shaking his head as he walked in. He was adorned with his fancy jewelry, looking very pleased with himself. "I heard someone was getting married and decided to head over and give my deepest congratulations," he said, smiling. He was in middle-form, eye-to-eye with Nate when on all fours. He rose up slightly and sat back on his back legs, folding his wings behind him.

Nate smiled brightly as he pulled on the jacket of the suit the tailor had made for him. It was a very nice looking military styled coat, deep green - almost black - with the usual decorations. Gold trim, the ribbons that had once been on his old uniform, the shoulder decorations and even the Storaph soldier beret. But intead of the Storaph emblem, it bore the mark of Amnarius.

"Thanks," He said, checking his outfit in the mirror before turning and throwing a smile at Zephyr. "How do I look?"

The dragon tilted his head slightly, then said "Like a very excited dragonian wearing a fabulous suit." He laughed, then said "You look good, my friend." He bent his head and nuzzled Nate's shoulder, saying "I had the privalge of seeing Tasia beforehand. She's so beautiful, Nate." He smiled, then said "She wishes Vaira could be here, along with myself, but...alas, some things aren't meant to be." He closed his deep red eyes, then opened them and smiled again.

"I wish she were here, too." Nate nodded thoughtfully. He hadn't liked the protective dragon at first, but she had turned out to be quite nice in the end. "Thanks, Zephyr. I'm glad..." He looked back at the mirror, smiling sadly at himself as his fingers brushed against the ribbons that marked his years of service to the king and country of Storaph. No longer, though...

No matter. He was getting married today. He was practically starting a new life, marrying to Tasia. He would have to find a new job, surely, but he was sure things would become normal again sometime. Nate thought for a moment, then strapped his sword to his side, completing his outfit as well as arming himself. He wasn't about to go to any event without being able to protect Tasia and his friends.

"Shall we go then, my best man?" He smiled.

Zephyr grinned, baring his sharp white fangs, then flaring one wing out and around Nate's shoulders, saying "Allow me." He headed out, watching as Nate followed, then the two of them flew to the ballroom in the castle. It was simply glorious; Galai, once again, had gone all out. Red roses were sitting all around the room, along with gold ribbons strung everywhere. There was still sometime before some of the people arrived, but a few were already there.

Luen sitting on one of the benches, wearing a white suit and looking tired, but happy.

He had woken up not too long ago, and although Namanai had told him point blank not to go, he had insisted on being there at Nate and Tasia's joining. He looked up wearily, smiling at Nate.