The Forgotten Zodiac

"Then...we'll be brothers," Werr nodded once, smiling ever so slightly. "Related or not. I don't care who adopts who, we'll...be brothers anyways." He leaned back against the jail building, looking up at the guards marched out.

"Time's up," One of them snapped at Welk. "You should have never been let out in the first place, boy. Come now, back to where you belong..."

Welk shuddered and wrapped his arms around Werr, who could feel him shaking uncontrollably. "I don't want to go back," he said, his voice suddenly fierce. "Werr, that cell scares me! You don't...you don't know what he says to me!"

"Come on," another guard said, moving forward and pulling Welk away from his friend's side. "That's enough nonsense out of you."

Welk struggled, pushing against the guard's hands, but when she used a binding spell on him, he went limp. "Don't know why you even let him out, Momeki," the guard said to a younger one standing nearby. "Dumb thing to do."

Momeki looked down, unhappy.

The other two guards pulled Welk back into the jail, back to his lonely, solitary confinement for a crime he hadn't even commited.

Werr stood after that, his eyes on the ground. He picked up the plate, slowly walking back to the castle. He did, however, pass Momeki and utter his thanks.

The party was going well enough. Diana and Airlia both watched as Toro got out a few more complicated tricks; he sawed Airlia in half (though he put her back together in a hurry when the guards started eyeing him suspiciously), burned an entire deck of cards, leaving behind none but the card Diana picked, and then he vanished in a puff of flame and smoke, reappearing on the other side of the room. He was fairly skilled in his tricks, he just needed an audience, to be honest.

Seria turned her attention to the rabbitzen as well, interested. Cynyr couldn't have cared less about Toro, remaining neutrally indifferent to the rabbit. He was sitting in the corner, curled up away from everyone else. As usual. He shook his head, flicking his ears, then glanced up when Werr walked into the room. The panther curled his tail around his own leg, watching the entire party through his single slitted eye.

Werr, seeing that Cynyr was alone now, turned and sat down next to him at once. "I saw Welk," He said quietly. "I gave him cake, a-and...we adopted each others as brothers, but..." He leaned against Cynyr, looking up as Toro lit fire to the rose from before, and it dissolved into an array of what looked like tiny fireworks. "I can't get past th-that nightmare I had last night..."

The panther leaned back slightly, allowing Werr to rest against him. "Welcome to the family," he said, closing his empty eye socket so only his still-there one was open. He curled his tail around Werr's leg, raising his head to watch as the newlywed Nate and Tasia took to the dance floor again, moving into a slow waltz. Cynyr reached his hand around and put it against Werr's head, just letting it rest there. "Don't worry so much," he said. "Welk's going to be fine. He's not going to die anytime soon, much less by your hand."

"I can't not worry, Cynyr. It's impossible..." Werr shook his head. "It's all I can do not to start breaking down into tears every five minutes, I just...I don't know what to do. Even though I know where we're going and how we might be able to fix Welk, I...I'm so...scared..." He closed his heavy eyelids, wrapping his arms around Cynyr, an unhappy look on his face.

The panther nuzzled Werr's head, trying to provide some comfort to the boy. He knew it wasn't like Welk's amount of comfort, but he hoped that his presence meant something nevertheless. He pushed down his faint urge to tense up when Werr hugged him, which was just his usual reaction to anything. He remained as relaxed as possible, then said "Just try not to think about what could happen. We're going to help Welk, you'll see. He'll end up the same spunky, moronic little brother I've always...we've always...loved and enjoyed." He was quiet for a moment, then murmured "Welcome to the family, little brother," to Werr.

Werr nodded once, dropping his arms and just leaning against Cynyr for a moment.

"Glum faces aren't good," Toro appeared in front of them with a puff of smoke. "This is a wedding party, after all! Here, should I show you some tricks? Say, you're a human. You like money, don't you? Here, here!" He plopped down in front of the two of them, unscrewing the top off of his staff. There was a short knife in there; he was quick to place it to his hand, making a deep cut right in his palm. Werr watched, a little horrified as Toro winced and put the knife aside, putting his cut hand into a fist. "Alchemists have been trying fo-for centuries to turn coal into gold. I say, forget that! Because I," He forced his fist into Werr's hand, opening it. "Can turn blood to rubies." He smiled a little, drawing his hand back before he got blood on the king. Indeed, the only thing that had dropped into Werr's hand was a large red ruby.

"I...I don't want this," Werr shook his head, holding it back out to Toro. "That's...uh, amazing, but..."

Cynyr plucked it from Werr's hand and shoved it into his pocket, blinking calmly when they both stared at him. "What?" he said, flicking his ears back neatly against his head. "I can always think of a good use for something like that." He patted his pocket, then flicked his tail in the rabbitzen's face. "Shoo, bunny. I eat things like you," he warned, curling his lips back ever so slightly in order to snarl softly.

Toro scurried away, not wanting to be snapped at or eaten or anything of the sort. "You didn't have to scare him..." Werr murmured. "Something seems wrong with him, I think. Like...I dunno. It's like he's being forced to entertain people. Like he can't do anything else. I don't know...I have too much to worry about for myself, though..."

"I don't care," the panther said. "And that's putting it mildly." He snorted, then said "I don't trust anyone like that." He stood up and offered his hand to the boy, helping him up, then said "Come on." He led the boy out to Seria and said "Hey, Seria? Would you do something for me?"

She turned at his voice, smiling. "Yes?" she asked pleasantly.

"Dance with Werr," the panther said, pushing the boy forward.

Seria blinked, then smiled and offered Werr her hands, saying "Shall we dance, then?"

Werr immediately flushed, looking from Cynyr to Seria in bewilderment. He took Seria's hands after a long moment of hesitation, still not sure what was going on. He allowed her to pull him onto the dance stage, where Nate and Tasia were still dancing away.

Cynyr smiled slightly, then leaned against the wall and simply watched as Seria took Werr away, heading out where the only other dancing pair was. She stood close to the boy and positioned his hands appropriately on her body, with one around her waist and the other in her hand. She smiled reassuringly at him, then leaned against him and softly let some of her healing powers go through their joined hands.

Werr smiled a little, feeling a bit of ease wash over his mind thanks to Seria's magic. They swept around the dance floor with ease until the song ended, and Werr let go. "Thanks..." He smiled, starting to move away.

The rest of the evening passed without incident. Nate and Tasia were invited to spend the evening in a guest room, and they went upstairs. After that, Forin took a sleepy Diana back to the guest house, along with a passing-out Luen. After awhile, it was just Werr, Cynyr, Seria and Toro. The Rabbitzen had somehow gotten onto the windowsill of one of the stained glass windows, thinking. The guards had spoken to Galai about him; after hearing of his intentions and actions, the queen had decided to think upon the Rabbitzen's fate rather than just chuck him back into jail.

Upstairs, Tasia changed out of her beautiful gown and went down to a pair of soft pink shorts and one of Nate's shirts. She looked tired, but happiness radiated off of her face. She flopped down on the bed, sprawling out on her back, and sighed, closing her eyes. She flicked her long ruddy-pink tail, opening her eyes so she could watch Nate closely. She smiled soon after looking at him, unable to stop the gentle expression from going over her face.

Nate laid down next to her, wrapping his arms around his new bride. He had undressed down to his more comfortable pants, his bare chest showing patches of his green scales. He kissed Tasia on the forehead, smiling at her happily. "Until death alone parts us," He said, stretching his wings out behind him.

She smiled and moved her hand up, touching it gently to his cheek. "And even then, I would watch over you every day of my afterlife," she murmured, quoting his words from his 'I do.'  She kissed him gently, pressing as close to him as she could. She curled her tail between her legs and around his tail, sighing in contentment as she inhaled his scent. "Mm..." she murmured, closing her eyes. She moved her hand down and tapped the scales on his chest, giggling quietly. She herself had similar patches on her shoulders and the sides of her neck, hers being a rosy pink color. She had a few patches on her back as well, and they were visible due to the fact that she had cut that single shirt of Nate's lower there, so her wings could stick out without having to poke through slits.

"Indeed," Nate chortled, wrapping his wing around her. "Forever and ever. I will never stop loving you, my dear Tasia. I would remind you every day of our lives if I had to." He ran his fingers through her hair again, smiling gently. "Let me start today, I suppose. I love you." He kissed her gently, pulling her close and embracing her tightly.

"Have you come to a decision about the Rabbitzen, your majesty?" One of the guards questioned. "Werr, Cynyr and Seria just left the ballroom, but we did not allow him to leave just yet. We wanted to await your orders..."

Galai tapped her chin with one delicate finger, then sighed and stood from her throne. The only reason she rarely left the throne room was simple enough; she commonly had business with her people and she was so delicately built that walking around drained her glorious light and energy. She literally was light, after all. She walked towards the door and said "I wish to meet with him. Send him out to the gardens. I would enjoy walking with him outside."