The Forgotten Zodiac

"Cynyr..." Werr murmured, looking worried as he watched his friend. The man sighed with great relief as Seria started healing his wounds. Werr directed his attention back to the man, deciding to question him. But before any question slipped from his open mouth, the man was already speaking.

"Oridonante," He said, smiling a little. "That is my name. I am very lucky that you had your healer with you, your majesty. I, as I stated before, am the defender of the Artifacts, and the keeper of graves. One of a very long line of men from my family, all raised for this very job. I can see that I didn't...do the best at it, unfortunately." He said, sounding unhappy. "Oh, but I kept this," He held out his hand. It looked rather brutally wounded; as though someone tried to chop his fingers off, then his entire wrist. But they had clearly been in a hurry, and they didn't get to what they were trying for. He struggled to open his bloody fist, revealing a simple gold ring.

"It's only one...b-but it is still an Artifact of the Fair Ones. Th-they...whoever they may be, will not have the full power of the Artifacts unless they are together. They must not have realized this, so they left without this one...pl-please, your majesty, choose someone to take it. You yourself may not use the artifacts, as you are the king...absolute power corrupts absolutely. Even though this is a small part of the set, you still may not place it on your finger or keep it with you for very long." Oridonante put it in Werr's hand, smiling still. "So choose who you think would do best."

"Right," Werr nodded. He understood; he was normally without power, but if he suddenly had all the power in the world...there were a lot of things he might want to try. It was definitely true. Werr looked at his options. He had Ina, Cynyr, Seria and Obelisk here with him. But who...would be the best at handling something like this? Ina was just clueless, obviously, staring blankly at the bloody man. Seria...she was kind and sweet, but the way Oridonante put it made this small object sound like a heavy burden. Cynyr...had plenty of burdens on his own. Obelisk obviously knew the most about these sort of things, being eons old, but Werr was definitely inclined not to trust Obelisk. At all.

So...who to choose?

Cynyr sighed deeply, then walked over and put his hand on Werr's shoulder. "I'll hold onto it," he said quietly. "I have so many burdens now. What's one more? I can handle it." He tilted his head slightly to the side, then reached up and pushed his hood back. He flicked his ears up, his gaze calm and void of the anger he had held only moments before. His pale skin, heavy scarring, and dark aura would be off-setting to most normal people, but Werr was far from normal...and one of the panther's closest friends.

Seria glanced up at him in concern, saying "Do you even know what you're talking about? Are you sure you'll be okay?"

He looked down at her and said "Of course. I'll be fine." He even managed a wink at her, which made her turn away sharply, in furious blush.

Werr looked down sadly at the small ring, then up at Cynyr. "But...you..." He murmured, looking away again.

"Choose quickly, your majesty." Oridonante said quietly. "Before dark thoughts creep into your mind, as they have with the kings of old who came here seeking power..."

Werr swallowed hard, knowing how important this was. He turned towards his friend and held out the ring, almost having to force himself to hand it over. Once it was in Cynyr's hands, Oridonante smiled and spoke again. "That ring, by itself, makes you invisible to foes with no stress on mind or body. It also gives a small push to your speed when you need it, and clears even the most scatterbrained of minds and helps one focus. It is a handy tool, though much weaker compared to the others; and only you and your clothes are invisible. No weapons, unless they are also Artifacts."

Werr found himself regretting handing the ring over, especially when Oridonante mentioned that it cleared minds. But he shook it off when the older man kept talking. "When put all together, the five Artifacts have both the power to create and destroy. They cannot make life, but it does not take much imagination to use them to destroy life. Now, your majesty, I suggest you return to your kingdom..."

"But..." Werr looked at the older man curiously. Now that Seria was cleaning off the blood, he bothered to get a good look at the man. He had brown hair and a short-cut beard, as well as a rugged face. He was of large build and had dark skin, a smile on his face as he looked up at the king. He wore tribal clothes of some sort, and was barefoot. "Um...yes, alright." Werr nodded a bit. "I'll...take care of things."

Cynyr looked at the ring in his hand for a long moment, then flipped it up into the air and caught it when it came back down. He slid it onto the pointer finger of his left hand, barely sparing it another thought as he tucked his arms back into his cloak. He watched as Seria finished healing the man, watching closely as she moved her fingers over his skin. Her fingers were delicate, moving with presicion.

It made him smile faintly, then he suddenly stumbled and grabbed onto Werr, holding on tight. Before the boy could ask what was wrong, he said "After effects of the air wings. Don't trouble yourself over me, I'll be fine..."

"Right," Werr nodded, helping Cynyr stand. "We might as well get out of here, I guess...are you coming with us, Oridonante?"

"No, your majesty. If my soul were to leave here, the seals on the doors would break. That is something no one ones; even if the titans are dead - and one of them roaming loose - the doors still house great evils." He shook his head. "Just be sure to get the Artifacts back to me, in the case that you are victorious over whoever stole the first four."

"I think I have an idea of who it was," Werr sighed, pointing to the center pedestal. There was a small pendant, taking the shape of a silver tornado. "We may have to pay a visit to that Toro kid to figure out where they are..."

"Either way, you should leave as soon as possible, your majesty. Thank you for visiting. And thank you, miss," He looked at Seria with a smile. "You saved me the trouble of having to be reborn again." He stretched.

"Reborn?" Werr blinked.

"There are legends of an extremely rare - thought to be extinct - species of Lerloch, my king. They have no special name, they only take after their creature's name. You call them Pheonix. We call ourselves Guardians. Oh, and say hello to Resu for me, when you see her next, yes?"

Cynyr listened quietly, then said "We will. Sorry about almost killing you...it was instinct." He shrugged, then turned and started to the ladder, heading up. Once he was up, they heard a heavy snarl, followed by the sound of something being flung into a wall with wind power.

The panther taking his frustrations out on the altar, of course.

He thought they would be finding these artifacts in order to save Welk. Without the artifacts, they couldn't remove the mark. Thus the frustrations.

"Of course," The Guardian dipped his head, letting them leave.

Werr made it up the ladder, watching Cynyr for a few minutes before he sat down on one of the benches, staring at his hands. His heart was heavy, and he felt absolutely miserable at the moment. For the same reasons Cynyr was frustrated. Obelisk watched them both in silence. Eventually, he decided to retreat back into the tunnel, deciding to linger in the peaceful darkness.

Ina sat down next to Werr, unable to comfort him much aside from a gentle pat on the shoulder. Which, of course, he recoiled from. She just smiled and stood, yawning a bit. "Well, it is getting rather late. Perhaps we should stay here for the night?"

"I don't know. I don't care." Werr mumbled.

"That guy made getting back to your castle sound pretty important, though..." Ina frowned, thinking. "Perhaps something's happened that he knows about."

"I'm sure he'd tell us, if it's that important..." Werr grumbled, standing up and moving to a different bench.

Seria climbed up out of the hole, sighing as she did so. "Let's at least go stay under the hole Ophile is guarding. I don't like leaving him alone." She walked over and took Werr's hand, leading him back the way they had come.

Dark watched her go with an interested gleam in his eyes, then murmured something to Firestorm that made the dragon's eyes light up.

Cynyr noticed and snapped "What was that?"

"Um...nothing?" Dark said, tilting his head slightly to the side. "I just thought she was hot."

Cynyr simply stared for a long, hard moment, then said "She's my fiancee."

It was Dark's turn to stare. "Oh," he said, blinking. "I'm...sorry? For her, that is."

He had to run away at full speed to avoid Cynyr's wind attack.

"Stop fighting," Werr snapped at them from over his shoulder, though he was fully allowing Seria to pull him along. His mind was completely on Welk, poor Welk, his dear friend...Welk couldn't be at his side when Werr dealt with the Silver Tornado at the source. They had to do that in order to save Welk...Werr looked near tears, and he was crying by the time they reached the rope ladder.

And again, Obelisk just looked on, watching in silence. He had nothing to add; why make things worse for them by opening his mouth to utter another filthy sentence? Every word from my mouth is enough to make a fully grown man to cry, or so they think. Obelisk sat there in silence, growing grumpy again. Eventually, as Werr was falling asleep between Cynyr and Seria, Obelisk climbed the ladder to sit with Ophile. He didn't really want a repeat of last night.

Kiraki walked quietly up the stone stairs, making it to the upper floor. She really had no idea where the exit was; she just knew that this way was up, and this floor was her favorite. For one reason and one reason alone. She walked along one of the hallways until she came to a dead-end; it was there that she slid behind a grisly looking statue of a dog with a man's head in its jaws. Behind said statue, she was able to push aside a large rock, revealing a small crawlspace. Her thin body fit easily through it, bringing her into the most wonderful cave. It was small, but still beautiful. The rock ceiling had a number of long cracks in it, allowing just enough sunlight for things to grow. Daffodils grew in one corner, a cluster of Forget-me-nots in another. Next to the tiny brook that ran through here was her favorite; a single rose, blooming delicately. The moon shone through the cracks, the light falling on the precious rose in a beautiful way.

"Here, Sir Two-Foot. Sit next to the rose," She said gently, pulling the small bear out of the folds of her dress, setting it neatly next to the plant. She didn't smile and there was no happiness in her voice. Perhaps she was insane. Kiraki just sat there and watched 'Sir Two-Foot' for the longest time. Then she laid down her head on a soft pile of moss, deciding to fall asleep there.

When she woke up, she was greeted by the prickle of dried out moss. She sat up quickly, looking around in silence. Everything was dead. The morning sunlight shone down on shriveled, lifeless plants, completely brown while their once-colored petals clustered on the floor around breaking stems. There was only one plant left now; the single rose, which was wilting as Kiraki looked at it. She quietly picked up Sir Two-Foot, watching the brook bubble for a moment before turning away and moving back through the crawlspace, deciding to return to her room in complete and utter silence, her small teddy bear hanging from her thin fingers limply.

Relic was lurching his way down the halls, panting raggedly as he walked. It was hard being a living corpse, only able to obey his master's orders. He no longer had any thoughts of his own. His soul wasn't in his body anymore, after all. Something smacked his leg, making him come to a stand-still. He sighed, then turned his head to look behind him.

Welk was tied up by his wrists, being dragged along behind the raptorix. It hadn't taken Relic long at all to go to Amnairus and get him. He had been teleported forth and back by Malice's magic, after all. What had taken a bit was getting a magic-draining collar around Welk's neck; chained though he had been, the half-cat had put up quite a fight. But Relic had succeeded and the collar had been set. And now he was taking the half-cat to Lord Malice.

Welk kicked at Relic again, making muffled sounds past the thick tape stretched over his mouth. He pulled as hard as he could against the chain wrapped around his wrists, moaning.

Nothing.

Relic yanked on the chain and jerked Welk close, then kept walking.

Kiraki blinked as she spotted the two of them turning a corner. She decided to follow, more out of curiosity than anything else. She trotted along, keeping a good distance between herself and Relic (the undead being scared her still). She was mostly interested in the person Relic was dragging along. He reminded her of how she had been when she first came here. She had been locked in a cage and had to be obedient in order to get anything that she wanted, including food. Now she lived in a comfortable room, had her teddy bear, and was able to walk freely amongst their 'headquarters'.

She kept her eyes on Welk, following in silence.

Welk struggled and fought every step of the way, making as much noise as the tape over his mouth allowed. He yanked hard on the chain, pulling Relic back a step, then froze when the zombie raptorix looked at him. He opened his mouth and screeched at Welk, making a raspy roaring sound the half-cat had never heard before. It almost sounded like a word, but when it hit Welk, the half-cat threw his head back in pain, unable to scream.

Relic snorted dryly, then led Welk to Malice's throne room.

The demon lord was sitting on his throne, brooding over something or another. A servent was nearby, caught in the throws of some terrible form of torture. Merely for Malice's amuzement, of course, though he didn't look very amuzed. His soulless eyes lit up, however, when Relic dragged Welk into the room.

"You have him!" the demon lord exclaimed, rising up out of his throne and moving forward quickly. "Good job, my little undead pet." He patted Relic's head, but the touch didn't register in the mind Relic didn't have. Malice walked around Welk, looking at him from all angles. "Marvelous," he crooned, grinning from ear to ear. Literally. His mouth could open that far. "You're perfect, my fiery little mage. Simply perfect." He put a hand under Welk's chin and forced the half-cat to look up at him. Malice smiled, showing off sharp white teeth, then turned to Kiraki and said "Child. Do you know why I need this boy?"

Welk's eyes shot over to Kiraki, fear evident.

Kiraki, who had been hiding behind a suit of armor against the wall, recoiled at once, fearful. Finally, she stepped out and shook her head slowly, not understanding what Malice was getting at. "I...am not aware of why you even need me, m-my lord..." She said quietly, locking eyes with Welk. He really was like her, then. An unwilling prisoner. On the other hand, there wasn't much Kiraki could do about it...

"I need you because you can absorb the powers of any we come across," Malice said. "A good power indeed. But my need for this fire mage is much, much greater." He pushed Welk's head back and bent close to him, then licked the boy's neck. Welk's eyes widened horribly, his gaze full of fear and revulsion. He frantically pushed back, trying to get away, but Malice was unmoved. When the demon lord pulled back, Welk looked very much like he wanted to throw up. "I am not immortal, Kiraki," Malice said. "I live by taking the bodies of others. It is how I've been alive for centuries. Part of the curse the other gods put on me. They took my immortality, so in order to live past the time where I would normally die, I am forced to take the bodies of younger beings for my own. This half-cat..." He bent his head forward and moved his hand up, putting his fingers under Welk's chin. "...will be my new, permanent vessel."

"Permanent?" Kiraki blinked. "But...why take his body? I...I remember Obelisk. Reading about him. Isn't his body immortal? Why...why would you take his body instead of Obelisk's?" She rubbed her arm, wondering if there would be any negative repercussions for asking so many questions.

"Because Obelisk is far too ancient for me to use," Malice said. "Why take an already old body for myself when I could have a new one? I have ways of binding immortality to beings other than myself. I was given the idea by watching Relic when he was actually alive. He took the magic from his clan and used it to prolong his life past its normal span. I can't do this, however, so I found a new way." He snapped his fingers and a slave ran out of the shadows, to a pillar standing nearby. She pulled the covering off of the pillar, moving to stand out of the way.

A glowing, pulsing gemstone orb sat on the pillar, shimmering with a ghostly light.

"I've been keeping the souls of all the people I took the bodies from in that orb," he said. "I have hundreds by now, both of people I used the bodies of and ones that I simply killed. If I combine all of their collective years into one, then I will live forever! I simply had to bide my time, waiting for the perfect vessel to come along." He leaned close to Welk again, smiling. "And here it is," he crooned. "But first, I need to remove Welk's soul from his body, so I can implant mine instead."

"And...how do you do that? Can you transfer souls from one place to another, or can you only force the souls out and direct their path from there?" Kiraki questioned, curious as to how many answers she could get from Malice before he started getting mad. There really wasn't much of a point to her questioning; she was just scared, and trying desperately to hide it. She walked slowly to the orb to inspect it, greatly curious. Or at least, pretending to be. She didn't dare touch it, in fear of getting her own soul sucked into it.

"I am a demonic lord. I can take the souls from one item and embue it into another," he said. "For instance...a gemstone usually works well for holding a soul." He glanced down at Kiraki's teddy bear, then suddenly grinned darkly. "I have a better idea for Welk's pitiful soul, however," he said. He held out his hand in Kiraki's direction, saying "Child. Give me your bear. I promise to return it to you...with a little extra."

Welk's eyes widened and he struggled all the more, though escape was futile.

Kiraki hesitated. She let no one lay hands on Mister Two-Foot, absolutely no one. She shifted her weight from foot to foot, thinking hard. She realized that her mentality was not only childish, it would also get her into trouble if she didn't obey. She was clinging hard onto nothing but a mere toy.

But...it was more than a toy, wasn't it? Since the day Kiraki had found it, stuffed into a laundry basket, she had entrusted it with something very important. Her own happiness was hidden within the toy, guarded within the soft cotton stuffing, kept as far away from her devouring powers as she dared let it stray. To simply hand it over...

But Kiraki did after a moment of thought. She hesitated again before letting it drop into Malice's hands. "Please...don't break it," She said quietly, knowing her plea would have no effect on Malice's actions. If anything, she was letting her master know how important the toy was to her. So if she disobeyed, it could potentially be ruined one day...

Malice raised one eyebrow at her, but said nothing as he took the bear. He held it up near Welk, watching the boy struggle to no avail. "Don't fight it, fire mage," Malice said, pulling the tape from Welk's mouth. He then held his hand up and placed it on Welk's Mark. "You were mine the moment this Mark was formed on your skin."

Then he started pulling Welk's soul from his body.

Welk screamed, worse than he probably ever screamed in his entire life. He felt like his body was on fire, like every inch of his being was alight with flames. Every cell ached, every fiber burned. He was physically dying, though he could feel his soul itself being sucked out of his body and into the teddy bear. He wailed and screamed and struggled as much as he could, but he was no match whatsoever for Malice's power.

So Welk's soul was sucked out and put into a teddy bear, where he had no control over any movement.

Welk's body crumpled to the ground, lifeless without a soul.

Malice laughed, then chunked Kiraki's teddy bear over his shoulder, saying "There you are, girl."