The Forgotten Zodiac

"Why?" Nate questioned, frowning in frustration. "Why is she getting sick?" He demanded, holding her close still. He sat down, holding her tightly in his lap. "Tasia, please...I'm here, I'm right here, please...just...don't leave me!" He said desperately, tilting her chin up to make her look at him.

Her blue-green eyes searched for a long moment before focusing on his face. She sighed softly and lifted her hand, touching his cheek gently. "Oh, Nate..." she whispered, smiling softly at him. "I won't go anywhere without you..." She closed her eyes wearily, letting him support her completely.

Seria sighed, then touched her hands to Tasia's body in order to try and bring down her fever a bit more before it could rise too much.

"We need to get her back to Amnarius," Nate said, shaking his head. He collected her into his arms, unable to stop himself from glaring in disgust at Kiraki as he passed her to get himself and Tasia onto Vaira. "Ophile is right, we need to get out of here."

"Just trying to help..." Ophile staggered to his feet, though he toppled over again and decided to crawl towards Vaira. Werr didn't move, unsure of what to do with Cynyr.

Vaira helped Ophile up onto her back by taking his shirt collar into her teeth and lifting him up, then looked over at the others as Seria walked over. The female half-cat bent down and put one of Cynyr's arms around her shoulders, holding on tight as she carefully pulled him up. He seemed to wake up a bit at this, though it was just enough to stumble along with her as she guided him over to the dragon.

((I don't suggest we do the Malice thing in Amnarius. Unless you wanted Cynyr to see him too. o3o))

Werr stood and stumbled over to Vaira as well, dragging himself onto her back. He helped Seria get Cynyr up, determined to hold onto his weakened friend as much as possible. He kept holding onto the bear, still not sure if he should drop it or not. At the very least, it seemed important to Kiraki...

((I did want him to see Welk, because it would devastate him on top of the other things that had happened to him. .w. Unless that would be too hard or something.))

Seria pushed Cynyr against Werr's back, making sure the unconscious panther was between them, then held on tightly as Vaira rose up onto her paws and tilted her head to the side. She moved one hand over and scooped Kiraki into her paw, then moved to jump up into the air.

A wave of shadow magic suddenly bowled the dragon over, making her snarl as she fought to right herself.

None other than Malice stood there before them, Welk's stolen body still claimed as his own. "Hello, hello," he said, tilting his head at them, his crimson eyes gleaming. "Nice to see you all."

Kiraki's limp form fell to the ground. "What the...?!" Werr blinked at Malice in shock, his eyes wide. "Welk...? No..."

"Malice. What have you done now?" Obelisk sighed, sliding easily off of Vaira and moving towards Malice. "That body is not for you to have, is it?"

"What did you do to Welk?!" Werr screamed at Malice. He too would slide off of the dragoness' back, if it weren't for the fact that he was holding Cynyr up.

Malice tilted his head slightly, a grin spreading across his face. "Welk?" he said, smiling away at Werr. "Whoever are you speaking of? Welk's soul is no longer inside this form, oh so little boy. I've taken his body for my own and cast his soul out, then insert my own soul in. I'm here to stay, sadly for you." He spread his arms wide, his black hair flowing with the movement, and a pair of thick black wings sprouted from his back. "I've already consumed the souls of hundreds of people across this whole land. I'll live for thousands of years! And besides, even if you DID manage to get me out, there's no way to return Welk to his body. Close as he may be to it." He smirked, using his wings to hovering in the air.

"What...why..." Werr stammered, feeling his heart being crushed under the weight of Malice's words.

"It matters not. We'll...I will destroy you in the end, Malice." Obelisk said quietly. "What did you come here for, Malice? You came to tease us with your new form? Or perhaps..." He nudged Kiraki with his black foot. "Your attempt to kill her failed?"

"Perhaps," Malice said. "Maybe a little of both. I'm definitely going to kill that her for her failure. I need no failures to my service being left alive. It makes things tedious later on." He flared his huge black wings, wings that were even bigger than Jagat's sky-blue ones, then warped forward and paused right next to Werr.

"Here I am, Werr. Your little friend was torn apart by me. His soul was scattered while he was still crying for you and his brother. Incase you're wondering where his soul is..." He grinned and said "He's closer than you think." He then plunged away from Werr and arched toward Kiraki, determined to end her.

Malice was stopped short by what was possibly a solid wall. Dark smoke gathered around Kiraki; she was lifted to her feet by some unseen force, pulled to about the center of the cave and held there by apparently nothing. A booming voice shot through the cave, unlike anything any of them had ever heard before. It sounded huge, even bigger than the Divine. "She is not yours to slay, Malice!" The voice roared. "You had your fun. I have already removed your hold on her; memories and all. Never again shall I allow you to even enter her mind, Malice. She's mine."

"B-Beoth...?!" Ophile barked, covering his ears and closing his eyes tightly.

Malice's expression turned into an angry snarl for a split second, then he shook it off and smiled. "Why, Beoth. How nice to hear from you," he said. "Your daughter was in my sevice, was she not? She failed in her mission. As her employer, do I not have the right to punish her for her failure? She knew what would happen if she failed." He flared his wings, then released a huge wave of darkness that nearly knocked out several of the weakened members of the group.

Tasia screamed and clutched desperately to Nate, blood starting to drip from her nose as Seria collapsed and fell off of Vaira, instantly unconscious. Her slip caused Cynyr to fall as well, laying limply next to her would-be mate. Seria clung desperately to him, sobbing from the pain.

Werr passed out as well. Nate clutched tightly onto Tasia, holding onto her for all he was worth. It hurt, it hurt every inch of him, but he wasn't about to let go or even cry out in pain. Obelisk didn't even flinch, watching as Beoth responded with his own wave of dark cloud-like magic aimed at Malice. "There was no contract signed, no verbal agreement. You think I have not been watching? She served you out of free will, due to intimidation as well as a small amount of incentive. She called you 'lord' out of respect and fear. But she is no more yours than that body you reside in now."

The smoke swirling around Kiraki started to take a shape. It was difficult to make out; just a thin mass of clouds. It pulled Kiraki into what seemed to be its arms, cradling her gently. "My daughter will not be made a part of you, Malice. Leave!"

Malice's fake smile vanished at that, his expression grim. "I'll leave for now, you loathsome creature," he spat. "But mark my words, I WILL have my revenge upon this entire world. You and that brat you call a daughter included! I'm simply biding my time, you old fool." He flared his wings around him, watching as they turned into his long black cape. "And this body IS mine, now. Maybe it wasn't once, but now...it's mine forever." He grinned, then disappeared from sight.

The dark clouds filled the cave in a matter of seconds after Malice left. It slowly dissapated, leaving the others unharmed. Kiraki was pushed into Obelisk's arms, and then the clouds left completely. They weren't in the same place, though; the morning glow from outside had turned red. The stone in the cave was a darker color than before. "I say," Obelisk murmured, stepping out of the cave. "It seems Beoth was merciful with us. We've been taken to Tartarus."

Vaira pushed herself up and shook her head, having landing on her belly. Nate and Tasia were still on her back, but Tasia had gone silent, panting quietly and holding tightly to Nate. The blood from her nose dripped down the side of her face and neck, but it had slowed somewhat since it had started. Her fever was rising a bit, but it was still controllable if she got help before it could rise too far.

Seria pushed herself upright wearily, then touched Cynyr's shoulder and turned him where she could see his face.

His eyes were open slightly, tears leaking silently to the ground.

He had seen Welk's body being used by Malice.

Werr was still very much unconscious, blood leaking from the corner of his mouth. Nate hung onto Tasia tightly, not daring to allow her to slip from his grip. Ophile had passed out since Werr had, and didn't look anywhere near waking up. Kiraki had nearly killed him. Speaking of, the young woman climbed to her feet, having woken up already. She stepped around the others and made her way outside. She didn't scream or panic, to Obelisk's surprise; she just looked around curiously, as though this were all completely normal.

Seria slowly started healing the damage they had taken, starting with Cynyr and then moving onto Werr, then Tasia and Ophile. When she finished, she was very tired. She curled up next to Cynyr, holding him tightly and pressing her face against his neck. Slowly, he moved his hand up and clasped her hand weakly in his, a shuddering sigh escaping his body.

Seria's tears dripped down the torn skin of his neck, making him shiver, but he turned his head and kissed her cheek nevertheless.

"Welk!" Werr suddenly yelped, sitting bolt upright. He stared blankly at the stone wall for a long moment before letting out a heavy sigh and looking down, apparently somewhat distressed.

Ophile was awake by this time as well, and slowly realized where they were. He seemed to be filled with panic at the thought of any Tartaran seeing him like this; human. And then, to make matters worse, one of the guards stepped into the cave.

"You lot," He barked. "Titus wants to see you all immediately." He said, then left in a hurry. Apparently, the meeting between Galai and Titus had already ended...

Seria sighed, then carefully helped Cynyr up and started helping him walk to the castle. Vaira stood up and carried Nate and Tasia on her back, pausing to reach back and pick up Werr by his shirt. She carried him easily, her mind elsewhere. She wondered how Zephyr was, and if he had acomplished his...task. She shook her head very slightly, flicking her ears, then wrapped her tail around Ophile in order to help him along. "Try not to worry so much, wolf," she said from the corner of her mouth. "You forget that Forin also is a 'human' of sorts."