The Forgotten Zodiac

"What was it for? What a strange question to ask. It's simply because I want you to be alert. I'm getting too old for these kinds of things, and I can use your sharp eyes." Sylas chortled. As they walked along, the mist grew thicker and thicker. A song could faintly be heard; Sylas continued humming his own song, apparently unable to hear the music. He was old and growing deaf, perhaps. But the music had it's own...allure to it. A certain charm that drove Dark onwards.

Dark slowly moved after the song, drawn to it by an inexplicable pull. He followed behind Sylas, his eyes taking on a strange gleam. He moved one small hand up and carefully put it on Sylas' arm, feeling a tinge of...fear, go through him. He blinked suddenly and realized what he had done, then snatched his arm back and ran head, feeling frustrated and nervous.

Sylas trotted after him, easily able to keep up with the boy. He hummed louder and louder as the music grew noisier. Eventually, he started singing, too. It was a neat little song about how a man ran into a dragon one day and despite all his efforts, he couldn't understand the dragon. It ended with the man's head being bitten off. And then Sylas picked it right back up again. He wasn't the greatest singer, either, and his voice started to drown out the music that Dark was following.

Dark glanced back at him and said "Shut up! I-I can't hear it!" He tried to not listen to Sylas, but it was becoming difficult. The artificial being ran ahead, his eyes wide and filled with a strange light, then turned a corner and came to a halt.

There was a large, crystal pool in front of him, with some of the most beautiful creatures he had ever seen.

Sirens.

"Alright. I'll shut up." Sylas chortled. The Sirens continued to sing in Sylas' silence, most of them paying attention to Dark. They were beautiful, most of them with black hair and dark eyes that seemed to suck Dark in. They wore dresses made of shells and grass. One of them, a stunning blonde, slid out of the water and approached Dark, wrapping her arms around the short one and putting her face close.

"Oi, I'm married!" Sylas pushed one of them back into the water, chortling as they glared at him. They ignored him after that, turning their attention on Dark. The blonde pulled away, though keeping her arms open for Dark to follow her.

Dark watched the sirens with partially fogged-over eyes, blinking dully. He glanced slowly back at Sylas, watching the older man curiosly, then turned his head back towards the beautiful siren and took a few steps towards her, swallowing quietly. He couldn't place it, but something was drawing him to her. It was like he couldn't stop moving forward. Something told him this was wrong, but he just kept going.

The siren walked backwards, keeping her arms outstreched towards Dark, luring him forward. And then Dark lost all footing, dropping straight into the pool. He was snatched up by the Sirens the next second. They dragged him under the water with ease, swirling around him, their giggling muffled by the water.

Dark's eyes remained half-closed, his brain luring him into a false sense of security. His eyes started to close further, his hair floating out and framing his face.

"You're gonna die!"

Dark's eyes shot open at the familar voice, flailing wildly when he realized he was drowning. When he opened his eyes, Light was floating before his sight, grinning in his sadistic way. "You're gonna die!" he repeated, smiling away. "And then you'll be lost forever! WITH ME!" He cackled grimly, then faded away as Dark struggled, his mind suddenly as clear as the water around him.

Sylas was sitting nearby, watching as Dark's head broke the surface of the water. "You doin' alright there, lad?" He called, looking genuinely concerned. "Looks like you're having a bit of trouble keeping your head over the water there." The sirens clawed at Dark, eager to drag him back down. Sylas was not without the same temptation; Sirens were trying to lure him in too, but he was somehow able to resist their song easily.

Dark kicked out at one of them, then flailed wildly and got his head above the water enough to say "No! Do I look-" He sunk below the surface for a moment, then sputtered back up, coughing. "-alright?!" he finished, his eyes holding fear. He lunged towards the side of the pool, but the sirens were faster, grabbing onto his clothes and pulling him back out. One clawed hand grabbed the collar of his shirt, her pointed fingers brushing the skin of his chest as she dragged him close and kissed him.

Dark struggled to get away from her, but as soon as her lips touched his, he felt his mind starting to grow distant again. One thought to Light, however, and he brought one leg up and kicked the siren right in her stomach, pushing her back from him and surging upwards again.

"Ah. Well then. That's a pickle." Sylas continued to do nothing but watch and keep the few Sirens after him at bay. "Yep, quite a jam. Pickle jam...now there's an idea." Sylas frowned thoughtfully, looking the other way. "Now I'm kind of hungry. Oh, now that I think about it, I have some food with me!" He said happily, digging into his bag. He pulled out what appeared to be a roasted fish and a saltshaker. He salted the fish and started eating, pretty much letting Dark struggle away.

"You...are...rediculous!" Dark shouted, his mouth sinking below the water between every word. The sirens were working themselves into a frenzy, churning the water with their tails and swimming laps around the struggling little being. Dark suddenly cried out as something sharp dug into his leg and blood poured into the water. When he looked down, one of the sirens had sank her teeth into his leg.

Sharp, shark-like teeth.

The true nature of the sirens was revealed now. They took on beautiful appearances and lured men and boys down to their deaths under the water, then killed them. And Dark had made the mistake of being caught in their song.

Several of the sirens giggled, twinning their bodies around Dark's torso, only to again be pushed away by him. He surged above the water again, gasping in a desperate breath with which he also swallowed his pride (and some water) and finally got out the words he hated most.

"Help! I need help! Please! I'm-"

That was all he managed as the sirens finally had enough with 'playing' with him and ferociously dragged him under, intending on drowning him.

"Oh?" Sylas finally started paying attention. "Excuse me," He shoved aside a Siren approaching him with teeth bared. Sylas didn't even bother taking off his clothes before drawing his sword and diving under. He slashed out at the Sirens; his blade was apparently enchanted or something. Normal steel would have been dragged down by the water and slowed to very non-lethal speeds, but his blade moved quickly through the icy waters, as easily as it did through air. It glowed bright blue, as well; it was apparently made for this sort of thing. He slashed at Siren after Siren, driving them back and away from himself. He resurfaced, gasping for air, before diving under again. Finally, he got his hand around Dark's arm and started dragging him to the surface.

The sirens screamed and lunged after them, flipping their tails and propelling after their prey. One ripped her claws down Dark's arm, drawing more blood into the water, then Sylas had dragged Dark up onto the land, where they couldn't follow as easily. They were mermaids, after all.

Dark sputtered and coughed, his vision flickering. He curled up, holding his injured arm and wishing he could hold his leg, but he was too cold and tired and everything was going black.

Moments later, he passed out.

*

When he woke up, it was dark out and he was warm in more ways than one. He found it hard to move, like he had no energy, but his limbs shook slightly with cold. Which was odd. He tried to glance around, but his vision wasn't working right. He didn't know it, but Sylas had gotten the both of them out of the siren den and out to where the horses were. A fire was crackling nearby, reassuring the drowsy artificial being. The wounds he had encountered from the sirens had gotten infected from toxins in their claws, but he was in good hands.

"Good evening," Sylas smiled at him happily. "Would you like some fish? Silly question. You've probably had enough of fish lately, though. So here, rabbit." He held the fish in front of Dark's mouth. "You should still be able to chew. It's a small piece. You have to eat something, the toxins won't wear off if you don't. Mainly because I injected the medicine into the meat, so it would work faster when you digest it. Get it?"

Dark winced, but let Sylas give him the food and managed to swallow after chewing it. He shuddered and curled up in the blankets, pulling the edge of a blanket up over his mouth. He kept his eyes closed, not trusting his vision and feeling too downright sick to be bothered. He managed to open his eyes long enough to look up at Sylas, watching him for a moment. Finally, he found his voice and whispered "Um...th-thank y-you..."

"Of course. I like helping people in need. It's kind of hard to tell if they're in need sometimes, though, which is very unfortunate." Sylas sighed, looking up at the starry sky while the fire crackled beside them. "I must confess, though. I lied. This isn't the Lost Forest; that's a different place entirely, and there's hardly anything interesting there. But the Siren word for tree sounds a lot like 'Lost'. And their word for water sounds like 'Destiny'. And mist sounds like 'Fate'. It's a very garbled language, you must understand." Sylas chortled a little.

((Pool of Water, Tree Forest and mist of...mist. xDDD))

Dark quietly listening to Sylas speak, half having to concentrate on breathing. He felt like he needed to throw up, and that was worrying him. He knew he hadn't near disgested the rabbit meat with the medicine in it yet, so he just kept quiet and listening. Finally, he just had to risk speaking.

"I...I never knew friendship," he murmured. "Obelisk didn't create me with those feelings or the knowledge of. I've had to find them out on my own. And...it's hard. Even now, I...I don't know what to say..." He exhaled quietly, feeling tears seep from under his eyelids. "I'm...sorry..." he whispered, his body racking with sobs a moment later.

"Don't apologize, Dark." Sylas said quietly, leaning forward with a handkerchief to dab the tears away from his face. "You're making me feel bad for forcing you through all this. Perhaps it was a bit of a rough lesson, but this is the way I teach stubborn people. No offense," Sylas smiled a bit, wiping a bit of meat off of Dark's face as well. "Just take this as a lesson, alright? I care about what happens to you. Galai cares about what happens to you. And believe it or not, even Titus takes a few moments out of his busy evening to respect those who died that day. All life, even life that wasn't molded by the gods and goddesses, has meaning. All of it. And if you just reach out, even a little bit...give that tiny call of help, so to speak...I'm sure there'll be a few other people willing to care about you, too." He laid back, watching the moon. "Say, Dark...would you like to be friends with me? You've already mentioned all my other friends, but I suppose I can make time for a new one."

((I love Sylas.))

Dark's round black eyes widened, back to that innocent gleam they had held earlier. Obelisk had only created him with the intent of him being a servant and minion, like a weapon to use how he saw fit. Dark had only had Light, back then, but as they well knew, Light wasn't the best friend ever. Nobody had taken the time to actually understand or try and befriend the little black-clad being. Firestorm had done well, but he had abandoned Dark when his people called him. Though good that Firestorm was loyal to his tribe, he had left a heartbroken little person behind when he had obviously made Dark very, very happy.

The artificial being wearily shifted over and put his head against Sylas, curling up against him. He looked a bit embarressed, with faint blush tinting his pale cheeks, but he desperately wanted the companionship at this point. He had even thought of killing himself recently, as his loneliness had gotten worse and worse...

He twinned one hand into Sylas' shirt and held on tight, still trembling.