The Forgotten Zodiac

Ophile padded off once he was done, heading back to their room. He felt a little odd, but thought nothing of it. He ruffled out his fur and decided to go ask if Nate would give him a scratching. He certainly needed one.

Werr and Cynyr made their way to the scene of the crime. Laura Birget's house, to be precise. Werr quickly got to work, searching the entire house. There was no one home, and it wasn't like they were taking things. Not that it would matter.

Cynyr took panther form, moving around the house like a shadow, making no sound whatsoever. He sniffed here and there, then took human form and opened up a cabinet, pulling out a handle of papers. It was mostly written statements of the father's farmwork, but it defined a few things for the panther. "She was their only child," he reported. "And it looks like they're one of the only three farms that didn't lend support to the castle. These papers are stamped by Asmodius' signet. See?" He held them out to Werr. "It basically says that they don't have to give up part of their crop. They can keep it all instead of contributing a part. Asmodius has a lot of personal farms already and I can see how giving stuff away would affect a small family... Asmodius was kind towards them for some reason." He went back to rummaging through the empty house, knowing the parents wouldn't be back anytime soon. They had nothing to return to.

"Right." Werr said, thoughtful. They had asked the guards; the girl had only suffered a cut or two. Otherwise, her death was completely natural, apparently. Werr couldn't imagine how distressing it must be to wake up one morning and find their only child dead. Gone forever. He wandered into the room that must have belonged to the girl.

What seemed like hours passed, though it couldn't be more than half an hour. They didn't really find anything else of use. The girl hadn't been sick, she hadn't been poisoned or anything...and she didn't seem to have enemies. After a bit more searching, he decided. "She was killed with the Artifact," He told Cynyr quietly. "She only had cuts on her. She was slain with the sword. I just don't know why..."

((Gotta clean a lot today, in spite of what I did yesterday. Parents can be jerks sometimes...))

((Also fixed))

((That's okay. -huggzies-))

Cynyr shrugged, still rumaging about through the drawers in the house. "Who knows?" he said. "It could've been anything. Maybe we should check out the other two farms that were hit. Plus there's the missing guards in the castle." He bent down on all fours in order to look under the furniture, wondering if anything important had been hidden there. Nope. Just dust. He stood back up, brushing himself off, then said "Let's go."

((Fixed last post.))

"Maybe..." Werr frowned. "I don't see why anyone would attack cows, though. Perhaps...they were testing it," He scratched the back of his neck, frowning deeply. It just didn't make too much sense to him. Nothing really did anymore.

Nate sighed heavily. They had finished lunch awhile ago; the servants had brought it in. Nate had made sure to help Luen eat some, despite the Kirin's protests. Ophile had eaten, too, the wolf had said. Things seemed normal enough to begin with, but a few long minutes after, Ophile started whining. "I feel funny," The Tartaran mumbed, sliding off the bed. "I think I need to..." He petered off, sliding to the ground. Unconscious in second.

"Ophile?" Nate blinked. He stood, nudging the wolf beast in confusion. Tartarans didn't sleep often. "Ophile! Get up!" He shook him, then realized that something was wrong. Something was definitely wrong. He felt it himself; a weariness that made him just want to lie down and sleep. Sleep...sleep. Nate struggled to stand again, moving towards the window. He opened it and climbed out, intending to fly out to where he remembered Werr and Cynyr were going. Something was wrong and he was about to pass out. Werr and Cynyr had to know, they--

Nate couldn't fight it anymore than Ophile could. He fell out of the window, landing in a bush two stories below. He felt his leg snap under his own weight, but he didn't have the strength to cry out or make any noise. He could just lay there and sleep. That's all. Sleep.

Luen didn't fare any better. He had been exhausted anyways and emotionally traumatized, so he had been going to sleep before the drug had been introduced to his system. When he dozed off, a wayward thought in his head wondered if it would be good to wake up at all when his life had taken such a backwards turn.

With the room still and silent, it didn't take long for guards to enter. What they did, however, wasn't normal, and neither was the person leading the small group in. Danbo, the personal guard to Caldir, walked over to Ophile and slid a pair of thick gloves onto his hands, then picked up the unconscious Tartaran and slid him over his shoulder. Another guard picked up Luen by his collar, dragging him along with them.

"Did you get the other two?" Danbo's rough voice asked.

"No, sir," the guard answered. "The dragonian isn't here and the healer ate her own lunch before the servants could offer her anything."

"Hm. They're of no consequence," Danbo said, turning back to the door. "The boss only wanted a few of them. Find the dragonian. If he's already had some of the drug, then it's too risky leaving him unguarded."

"Yes, sir," the guards answered, then some of them broke off to search the castle. The outside bushes never came to their mind.

A few minutes later, Werr and Cynyr returned to the castle empty handed. There didn't seem to be much to go on, at this point. Really...Werr flopped down on his bed once they returned to his room, groaning and rubbing his eyes. He thought for a moment, then jerked his head up. They weren't here. Luen, Nate, Ophile...all gone. Where on earth could they have gone? Werr stood suddenly, running out of the room. Asmodius...the wayward king better not have done anything!

He made it to the throne room and pushed open the door, gripping his staff tightly in the other hand.

Cynyr followed quickly, easily keeping up with Werr's strides.

Asmodius was sitting on his throne, reading a few books. Cynyr caught some of the titles: Ingrediants of Old, What Not to Use in Potions, The Dangers of Murinroot and Crazy Mixtures or Crafty Medicines?. The king looked up as they entered, blinking his dark black eyes once. "Your Majesty," he greeted. "Is there something you need? I would be willing to help with whatever I can..."

"You know what I want, Asmodius," Werr walked in, taking long strides until he was right in front of the throne. He wouldn't bow or even give a nod of respect. It wouldn't be fitting, after all. They were both kings. And for that matter, Alastor was stronger than Storaph at this point in time. "My friends went missing while I was out. Ophile, Nate, and Luen." He was fairly certain Seria was in the infirmary. "I don't know what you want or if you're even behind this, but I can think of no others who would dare do such a thing. As such..."

Asmodius blinked sharply, then said "You would accuse me of taking them? How dare you! I admit your experiances with me haven't been the best, but I could say the same to you! I haven't done a thing to your friends, save for letting them go about their business. I didn't even know they were gone until you told me." He frowned down at the boy, then said "And I at least had the decency to call you by your regal title. You've not gained the permission to call me by my name."

"What are these, then?" Werr tore the book from Asmodius' hand. "'Ingredients of Old'? 'Crazy Mixtures or Crafty Medicines'? What did you do, feed them a potion to make them ill and turn to dust? Or perhaps you turned them invisible so even if I look in the dungeons, I won't find them!" He threw the book aside, taking another step forward, but the guards weren't going to tolerate that. One pushed between Werr and the king, shoving the smaller boy back.

Werr quickly realized that he was in the worst place to be in right now. More guards were advancing. And for Werr, it was only he and Cynyr. Even if Cynyr had the strength of ten men, Werr was in danger. He knew that. He straightened up and brushed himself off, forcing himself to maintain his cool. "I'll call you what I wish to, Asmodius, just as you can call me whatever you want. We are both human. Equals. But know this; if I find my friends dead or more hurt than they were before, and the evidence points to you or your men causing it, I will rain a fire like no other down on you and your kingdom. The dragon kingdom sides with Alastor now. And you do not wish to make us your enemies, Asmodius." He turned and slid onto Cynyr's back. "Back to our room," He snapped. "We have to find them."

((The clock is ticking on Diana's tiiime.))

Cynyr nodded once, then broke into a canter and headed back, not bothering to look over his shoulder. Not that it mattered. All Asmodius could do was glare, after all.

The panther trotted back to their room, encountering Seria along the way. "Hello," she said, smiling. "What are you doing?"

"Nate, Ophile and Luen have gone missing," the panther said. "Have you seen them?"

Seria's eyes widened, then she shook her head and said "No, I haven't. Not since earlier. I was out on the castle balcony for a while, reading up on some things Namanai gave me. Last I saw, they were supposed to all be in our rooms."

"That's where we're heading," the mage replied, trotting along with his fiancee at his side. She took cat form, following easily beside the huge panther.

"They're not there," Werr explained as they walked. "I thought perhaps Asmodius had something to do with it, but...I'm beginning to doubt myself as far as that goes. We're going to check for clues in our room, but I don't think we'll find anything there, either. Perhaps we should skip that and just start questioning the guards..."

Cynyr shrugged, then said "You know I'm always up for questioning."

"I don't think he means your way of questioning, Cynyr," Seria said, rolling her eyes.

"Hey, I have a perfectly fine way of getting information out of people!" he said. "It worked on that Silver Tornado member, didn't it? If you ask me, that's the only logical-" He cut off as Seria nuzzled under his chin, silencing him instantly. "You talk far too much when you're angry," she said, closing her eyes. "Let's just let Werr have the lead on this one. He knows what he's doing. If he needs your help, I know he'll ask for it."

Cynyr half-pouted. He couldn't muster a full pout. How could he, when his lover was nuzzling him so sweetly?

Werr sighed, sliding off of Cynyr's back as they passed a guard. "Excuse me," He said, tapping the guard on the soldier. "I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions." He said, but he didn't wait for consent before asking. "I'm wondering if you could tell me who all is in the dungeons right now, and whether or not you heard anything strange between the time we arrived and now. Like...people dragging others off?"

The guard blinked at that, looking puzzled and confused, then said "Um...there's a thief that we've been trying to catch for a long time and finally caught a few days ago, and a man that stole from a few different people across the city. Nothing too big, really. I haven't heard anything odd today at all. Why do you ask? Is something wrong?" He looked curious now, tilting his head slightly to the side.

"I see..." Werr sighed. "Well, I'm attempting to find my friends. Nate Furhblast, Luen Faolin and a large wolf named Ophile. It's not likely they wandered off, so I must assume they were kidnapped by someone while I was out invesigating. Is there any information you might have that could assist me? It would be greatly appreciated..." He said, leaning forward and taking the larger man's hand in his, dropping several gold coins into the guard's hand. "There's more where that came from, by the way..."

Not something Werr would do on a normal day. But he felt as though he had no other choice.

The guard's eyes widened, then he nervously started fidgeting around, glancing around quickly before leaning a bit closer. "I'm not suppose to deal in these things," he said, his voice low and quiet. "And it's not the gold that makes me speak. But there's been some strange things going on, and I'm hoping you can find out what they are. First of all, the castle guards went missing before Danbo, Caldir's guard, was working here. There was no space free when he applied. Then a few guards suddenly died, and there was room for him. Caldir hasn't been here long, but weird stuff happens whenever he's around. Like trouble just follows him. I'm worried he's being stalked by someone. But anyways, your best bet would probably be to talk with the thief in the dungeons. He's been eluding us for years. A grade-A thief. If anyone, anywhere, has information, it'd be him." He pocketed the gold and said "Plus, he was seen looting the houses and farms after the people there died. We even caught him in one of the dead guard's rooms. Nasty bloke, he is." He shifted nervously, as if expecting to be caught for knowing this much.

"I see. Don't worry, I won't leave without figuring out what's going on. I can't...just do me a favor, will you? You seem like a respectable guy. So listen closely." Werr said quietly. "Go home. Take a sick day. I have a bad feeling about all this, and I'd hate for an innocent man to get caught up in this in a bad way. So...do yourself a favor, alright?" He walked back to Cynyr and Seria, letting out a sigh. "To the dungeons." He said, climbing back onto Cynyr's back.

The guard blinked again, then nodded and walked off, somehow believing that what Werr said was the right thing to do.

Down in the dungeon, it wasn't hard to figure out which one was the thief. Only two prisoners were there in the dark place, and one was a younger man decked out in a dark green cloak with a hood and had many pockets attacked to his pants and belt. He was fiddling with a small knife that had obviously been hidden somewhere on his person, where the guards hadn't found it. He had black hair pulled back into a tight ponytail, tied with a green band, and he seemed to be human. "Well, well, well," he said, not so much as looking up at their approach. "If it isn't the little king of Alastor and his pet rat-cats."

Cynyr snarled immediately and the man chuckled. "Easy there, kittycat," he said. "You wouldn't want to ruffle that pretty face of yours."