The Forgotten Zodiac

"I wanted to ask Kiraki," Werr said with a small frown. "I don't like her too much, but...it did belong to her. Maybe she has an answer." He sighed, putting his hand on Cynyr's head, gently scratching him behind the ears. He sighed, then said quietly, "I'm sorry..." He would probably never stop apologizing, at this rate.

Cynyr suddenly turned his head and pressed his 'nose' against Werr's. It was such an unexpected move for him, and it brought his eyes very close to Werr's, so literally the only thing the boy could see was a close-up of the panther's single yellow eye and the depth it held.

"Don't do that," he said, his fur tickling Werr's face. "Saying 'I'm sorry' is a load of bull. ...I already know you're sorry." He carefully rested one paw over the boy's body, lowering his head so the torn divit where his nose used to be was no longer touching Werr. He sighed heavily, blinking his eyes closed.

"I know that you already know, Cynyr. I just...whenever I think about what I said, I feel so guilty and foolish..." Werr closed his own eyes, fighting suspended tears back. "So yes, I'm sorry. But...there isn't anything else I can think of to say that could even slightly take back those words. How I wish there was..."

"But there isn't, so hush up and deal," Cynyr said, though Werr knew he meant well by his words. "I'm handling it just fine. I...needed some time is all. You do too." He flicked his tail, then looked towards the tedder bear Werr was still holding. The panther frowned, then said "Why do I get the weirdest feeling whenever I so much as look at that thing?"

"I don't know," Werr shook his head, then looked up as there was a scratching sound outside the door.

"Werr, Cynyr, I know you're in there. Kiraki is here to offer her apologies for earlier." It was Ophile, of course. "You might as well accept it, she really is a rather nice girl at heart. Misguided, perhaps. She's at the gate now. Shall I bring her here, or would you like to go and see her?"

Cynyr looked up when he heard Ophile's voice, then stood up and stretched, long and low. The single movement was fluid, graceful and over in a matter of moments. He jumped off of the bed (another fluid movement), then turned to Werr and took his sleeve into his mouth, saying "Come on. We might as well walk out to her. C'mon, on you go." He tugged Werr towards his back, bending his front leg slightly in order to make it easier for Werr to get on. Cynyr was a very tall panther, after all, and really big.

Werr blinked. He had ridden Welk plenty, but Cynyr was larger, and...well, Werr could only remember one or two instances when he had ridden the panther. Werr climbed on anyways, still holding the teddy bear. "Might as well ask about this, too." He looked down at the toy, then held on as they moved off.

Kiraki was indeed at the gate. The emblem of Tartarus rested in black on the back of her hand, and she was holding what looked like a silver wolf pup. Titus had made it for her; a new vessel for her happiness. Oddly enough, it had worked. The pup was already following her around willingly, though he behaved like a normal Tartaran. But her happiness was locked deep within him,  just in case that her curse was ever removed.

Cynyr trotted towards her, Werr barely bumping around at all on his back. The panther was practically the size of a horse and Werr was slender enough, resulting in a rather smooth gait. The panther stopped before the girl and let Werr slide off, watching him closely. He rested his chin on Werr's shoulder, eyeing Kiraki incase the girl decided to attack or something. He didn't trust her; at all.

"Kiraki," Werr looked at her, offering a small smile.

"You're...Werr, right?" Kiraki tilted her head to the side a little. "I'm sorry I attacked you. I'm not sure what came over me..." She sighed.

Werr remembered that her memories of Malice had been wiped. That put them at a small disadvantage, then...would she even remember the bear? "It's fine. There were no casualties, and as far as I know, everyone is recovering well. I do have a question, though..."

"I may have an answer." She replied, glancing at Cynyr.

"Have you seen this before?" Werr held up the bear.

"Sure. That's Sir Two-Foot. He was my friend, back when I lived in the caves. But now I have Galliant here to guard my happiness. Titus said he'll get big and strong quickly, and he'll guard me, too."

"That's good to hear, but...something is wrong with this bear? Of all the people you could have given it to, why did you hand it to me?" Werr clearly remembered that Ophile had been closer to Kiraki. He had actually been at the back of the cave.

"Wasn't the half-cat your friend? The lion?" Kiraki said, shuffling her foot a bit and looking down as she tried to remember. "His soul is in there."

Cynyr merely blinked for the first few seconds after she spoke, then he shook his head and said "W-what? Welk? He...his soul? His soul is in that stuffed toy?! What?!" He glanced towards the teddy in despair, frantically nudging it and sniffing it in effort to search for Welk's scent. He frowned in concern, then looked to Kiraki and said "Are you serious? His...soul..."

"Welk?" Werr looked down at the teddy bear. He looked back up. "You've got to be kidding."

Kiraki shook her head solemnly. "I...don't normally joke around. I only know one joke, and I don't think this would be a very good time to tell you it."

"But...how do you know?"

She shrugged at that question. "I don't really remember...I remember finding that stuffed animal before I was trapped in the caves, and I remember seeing your friend with a couple other people...obviously against his will. And then his soul was sucked out and pushed into Sir Two-Foot. I'm...sorry, I can't tell you more than that."

"Malice," Werr put together, shaking his head. "Malice did this..."

"Malice?" Kiraki just blinked at him.

"Er, nevermind. Thank you for telling us that, Kiraki." Werr shook his head, certain that if she was told about Malice again, Kiraki would be frightened and Beoth would be mad. The last thing they needed was a great Titan angry at humanity. Sealed up or not, the Titan had proved that it did indeed still have power of some kind. As such...angering him would be rather foolish.

Cynyr looked distressed as she spoke, turning his gaze back and forth from Kiraki to the bear that held the soul of his younger brother. Finally, he took a deep breath and raised his head, his knight side allowing him to take charge. "Thank you for telling us these things, Lady Kiraki," he said, dipping his head at her. "You...don't know how much this means to us." He laid down in order to let Werr climb onto his back, then rose up and bowed gracefully. "Thank you for coming to speak with us," he said, flicking his ears back. "You can return to Tartarus now." He turned and walked off, his gaze fogged over.

There was no sound or noise from the bear in Werr's hands.

"Of course," Kiraki watched them leave. She set Galliant down and checked on the package in her bag. "Let's go get this to Galai, yes?" She smiled at her pet and started towards the castle. Titus had sent her as a courior, which was the main reason she was here. It wasn't anything too special; she was merely going to introduce herself to the queen and hand over the wrapped item. Simple enough.

Werr hugged the bear tightly. "I know now, Welk...I'm so sorry...w-we couldn't save you in time..."

There was no reply from the bear. This made it seem even more unlikely that Welk's soul was inside, but they had to trust what Kiraki said. It made sense, after all, and it explained how Malice had wormed his way into Welk's body.

By casting out his soul.

Cynyr lowered his head sadly, then kept going until they reached their room again. He let Werr off, then just sat there and stared at the teddy. "Welk," he pleaded softly. "Please...say something. Anything."

Silence, but a tiny flare of heat went through the bear. That was all, however.

"That was him," Werr said at once. "I know that heat...I can't tell you how, but it's Welk." He sounded like he was doubting his own words, though. For all they knew, Kiraki didn't actually know, but had made up the entire thing. Or perhaps she had been told to say that, and didn't remember her orders because they came from Malice's mouth. Who knew? They certainly didn't. There was just no way of knowing for sure unless Welk talked. Which...it didn't seem like he was going to anytime soon.

"Welk..." Werr said, bringing the bear close to his face. "Please...I need you..."

More minutes passed by with complete silence. It seemed like Kiraki's words had been a lie and that Welk just...wasn't there. Or anywhere, for that matter. For all they knew, Malice could've killed Welk and taken his body once he died.

Finally, after a few more minutes passed, there came a soft whisper from the bear. Werr could barely hear it, but it was there nonetheless. The voice that whispered to him was quiet, raspy and weak, but so familiar that it hurt to hear it.

"Werr..." Welk whispered quietly before his voice failed him and he went silent again.

Werr pulled back and stared at the teddy bear. Tears immediately started falling from his face. "Welk...oh, Welk, it really is you!" He exclaimed. "Don't worry, we'll get you out of there. We'll fix this. We'll talk to Galai, Titus, anyone we can. I'll do anything to get you back, Welk, so you don't have anything to worry about!" He said quickly, quite serious. He would cut off his own arm if that was what would take to get Welk back. "We'll fix this..."

Cynyr walked forward, staring at the little stuffed toy that held the soul of their dearest friend. "Oh...Welk..." he murmured, putting his front legs up on the edge of the bed and nuzzling the bear. "Welk..."

Silence from the bear. Welk had no more energy to talk with. He had used it all up just saying Werr's name, so quietly. If he kept talking whenever he did have energy, he would be able to better control himself and slowly gain more energy and strength. But no, he was so depressed that thoughts like those never even came close to crossing his mind. It was the worst bout of depression he had ever had in his life. Speaking to Werr had been a step in the right direction, albeit a small one.

Werr sat there in silence after that, hugging the toy while Cynyr nuzzled it. Werr closed his eyes, wishing he could hug Welk for real. Wishing he could be hugged back by his close friend.

"Queen Galai?" Kiraki asked quietly, stepping into the throne room and setting Galliant down. He barked once and slid behind her feet. She didn't notice, stepping forward a little more. "My name is Kiraki. I've been taken under Titus' wing, and he sent me to give this to you." She held out the carefully wrapped lumpy object. It had a large silver bow on it, and said 'to Galai' on the front.

Galai blinked in curiosity, the light that surrounded her growing brighter in happiness. "Titus sent it?" she asked, handing her scepter to a guard and reaching for the package. She held it for a moment, just smiling and reading the words 'to Galai', then hugged the package close and just held it for a long moment. She closed her eyes and smiled, then placed the package in her lap and very delicately took hold of the ribbons, opening the parcel gently.