The Forgotten Zodiac

Leo spat and caught Sylas' gaze, passing an unreadable expression that clearly showed that Leo would do what he had to in order to protect his friend. He turned and darted out of the room, his expression dark.

He ran down the halls until he reached the others, stopping soon after spotting them and trying to look normal. He glanced over at Cynyr, taking human form and shaking out his fur. "Hey, uh...Cynyr?" he said, his tail involuntarily flicking nervously several times. "Do you...um...have the Artifacts still? With all of these illusions, we should be careful with them."

Cynyr just nodded once.

"Why are you asking, Leo?" Ophile looked over at the panther, frowning slightly. "Cynyr's been holding onto the artifacts since we started collecting them. They're in his bag, but...why do you need to know that?" He wasn't exactly very trusting of the cat. Of course, Ophile had Cynyr's memory. He knew what the panther had done once already.

"No reason," Leo said. "I was just wondering." His focus never moved from Cynyr, staring as if his gaze would bore right through his son like a laser. "I was wondering if I could maybe see them," Leo said. "I remember something from the Silver Tornado. Something about the Artifacts. I was just wondering if what they said was the same." He hoped they would ignore his slightly twitching eye. He really hoped they would.

"Hm...I see." Ophile licked the last traces of bacon from the fur around his mouth, thinking for a long moment. "Which artifact is this about, exactly?"

'Hurry up already,' The woman's voice rang in Leo's head, unheard by the others at the table. 'I'm getting impatient. I shouldn't have to tell you what happens when I get impatient...'

Leo clenched his teeth together hard in his mouth, then said "A-ah, I don't remember. That's why I need to look at them, see? Is that so hard? And can we hurry up? Some people don't have time to stand around, ya know?"

Cynyr's dead gaze turned upwards at his father, staring hard. He slowly stood up, facing his father before finally saying something in a creaky voice. "First...give Ophile a pet, eh? And then I'll hand over everything. You haven't petted him yet and I think you'll like how soft his fur is."

Leo snarled, not remembering about Ophile's ability, then roughly ran a hand down the wolf's head. "There. Will you give me the Artifacts now?" he spat, glaring.

"Sure," his son said. "They're in my room. It's only a short walk." He gave Ophile a purposeful look as he left the room, his father stalking close behind him.

Ophile watched them leave the room, then vanished. He pushed out into the hall ahead of them, running as quickly as he could to Cynyr's room. He located the bag that contained the Artifacts and snatched it up, turning it invisible as he held it in his teeth. Then he turned right around to watched Cynyr and Leo enter the room to look for what he had just hidden. Ophile slammed the door shut behind them, becoming visible at once, the artifacts now hidden in a corner behind him.

"Leo, I understand where you're coming from, but giving that woman the artifacts is a mistake." Ophile growled. "Sylas is being hurt all the more every second you wait. Did you really think she would leave either of you alive once she had the artifacts? Really? She won't kill Sylas yet, but we still have to save him. And giving the artifacts over will do the opposite of that."

Leo hissed and said "How do you know that?!" He shot Cynyr a sharp look and grabbed him by his collar, dragging him close. "What did you do?!" he snarled, and Cynyr quickly shoved his father back, snapping "Don't you ever touch me again, you worthless excuse for a father!" Leo once again raged near silently and in only a few steps' worth of space. He dearly would've liked to slash Cynyr's face open for that, as much as he knew he had deserved the words. He jerked his yellow eyes over to Ophile and said "What do we do, then? She knows if I start to use my powers! I can't get between her and Sylas!"

"You haven't realized who she is yet? The woman torturing Sylas now is the one who tortured their son. Kiri Rowe. After much analysis, I have concluded that Kiri has gone insane." Ophile wagged his tail once or twice. "It's most interesting, because her mental state started deteriorating three years into their marriage. Which is why Werr's childhood was so...well, troubling. But she's only slipped further and further into madness since then. I gathered this from Toro's memories. That being said...perhaps we can trick her somehow. We have to get the Artifact away from her, first of all. I believe she has the crown; the shield generator. We cannot touch her until that's off, and all of our attacks will be deflected. Now, I have no idea how to trick her, exactly, but it shouldn't be all that hard..."

Leo glared at the ground, saying "I'm killing her. I am so going to kill her..."

Cynyr was thinking hard, his eyes closed tight. Finally, he opened them, and although he was still reluctant to talk, he spoke. "I have...an idea. It's risky, but...I think it'll work." He explained the plan and Leo scowled. "That's rediculous," he said. "Do you know how hard it is for me to throw my voice like that? Plus she'll see you."

"Not if you take the heat out of the room's lamps and make them go out," Cynyr answered. "Now come on. Go get Zephyr and let's go."

((Plan is that Leo turns out the light with his powers and Cynyr goes in in his place. Leo keeps Zephyr tucked down into his pocket and while Leo uses his wind powers to throw his voice to Cynyr, Zephyr sneaks between Kiri and Sylas in his smallest form and breaks them apart when Cynyr signals.

Tell me if that won't work or needs editing. :T))

((Sounds perfect. : D Just be careful to make her take the knife away from Sylas' neck first, or you'll cut his throat open. Ophile can go in and rip off the crown while she's down, too.))

"I don't know if Sylas will allow you to do that, but...very well." Ophile dipped his head and followed, eager to help. He left the artifacts where they were; none of them were fully human. The only one they could use was the sword. They'd have to make do without the others.

Before long, they were on their way back to the room with Kiri and Sylas in it. "Are we sure this is going to work?" Ophile said quietly, his nose twitching as he smelled the blood. It'd better work, or Sylas might not make it much further. Inside, Sylas was forced to lean against the one he called his wife. The knife was still dangerously close to his neck, so he couldn't struggle against her as she felt his bare chest for scars and cut them open again.

"You never showed me these before, Sylas," She pouted. "So many scars...you didn't stop to think for a second about me or Werr, did you? Did you?" Sylas didn't respond, so she continued rambling. "Well, it doesn't matter now, does it? Werr is dead. You can't abandon him anymore because he's dead. I bet it was your fault, too...my baby Werr...I'll get your revenge, don't worry. Daddy won't leave anymore, he won't. I'll bury him in the ground so he has to stay put. I'll cut him right here," She traced a heart symbol out on his chest. "I'll steal your heart again like I did all those years ago. Remember when we got married? You always were kind of stupid...that's what I liked about you." She kissed him on the cheek, then cut out a scar there.

Sylas said nothing still, looking...crushed. He did nothing to stop the tears from slipping down his cheeks. He stared blankly at a wall, Kiri's words echoing through his mind. Was Werr's death really his fault? Probably. They wouldn't have gotten captured if he had just followed rather than tried to take shortcuts...

A split second later, the lights went out. Shortly after, the door opened and a lethal black shape slid in. Leo's voice sounded, saying "Don't freak out, I'm here. It's me. I have the Artifacts. Don't you know, it's safer to exchance these blasted things in the dark?"

Unknown to Kiri and Sylas, another lethal black shape had darted in with the first.

Leo's voice came again as the black shape settled into a corner. "Now, we have to do this slowly..." he said. "If we pass the Artifacts off right off, they'll explode. They have to feel their new owner before you can touch them."

"Come here then, you stupid man," Kiri hissed. "Do you take me for a fool? I'm not moving from this spot."

"Leo...j-just go...let me suffer my punishment," Sylas said, his great sadness obvious in even his voice. "I-I'm sorry...I'm a fool...please don't...don't remember me badly, when I-I'm gone."

"Shush, Sylas, dear. Shh," Kiri said, sounding almost gentle and loving for a split second. Then she stabbed the second knife into his only good ear, rendering him deaf. Sylas wept at this, almost wishing that the cold metal blade at his neck would cut in. Just two inches, that's all it would take...

Something tiny suddenly wiggled against the small of Sylas' back. Something no bigger than a dollar was clinging to his shirt, wiggling around very carefully so as not to touch Kiri.

"Oh, I take you for a fool, alright," Leo's voice came, then the room with lit up sharply with sudden abandon.

Cynyr sat in the corner, his scarred pelt and face clearly visible. "And so do I," he hissed, right as the little wiggly thing struck.

Zephyr exploded upwards into a bigger form, tearing Kiri and Sylas apart right as a tendril of Cynyr's wind curled around the knife, yanking it away from Sylas' neck. Zephyr slammed into Kiri and pinned her to the ground, calling "Go!"

Leo lunged down from the rafters of the room, where he had been perched silently, using his wind powers to throw his voice to Cynyr. He swept a burst of fire along the ground and knocked the crowd from its resting place, rendering it useless.

Cynyr pounced and grabbed it, curling his paws tightly around it as Leo leapt down and grabbed Sylas into his arms, holding his dear friend close. "I'll always remember you badly," he murmured, knowing Sylas couldn't hear him. "Because all you ever did was cause me trouble. But I would take it all over again...it was a good trouble, it was." There was a softness in his voice that not even poor Cynyr had ever heard. From his own father, no less.

Sylas watched Leo's lips moved, then reached up and jerked the knife out of his ear. He wailed with pain, then buried his face into Leo's shirt. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," He whispered, unable to hear what he was saying, but knowing what was coming from his mouth.

"Get away from him!" Kiri yelled and marched forward, shrieking when Ophile sank his teeth into her leg.

"Not a step closer, devil-woman," The wolf snarled, dragging her away from Leo and Sylas.

Leo turned and ran out the room with Sylas held tightly in his arms, racing off to find Seria so she could heal his friend's ear. It wouldn't do if Sylas could never hear him again...

Cynyr was carefully tucking the Artifact into his bag, folding it down near Welk. The lion inside the bear made a questioning sound and Cynyr sighed, stroking his head gently. He bent and nuzzled Welk's forehead, then closed the bag with a murmur of "Go to sleep. I love you."

He turned and headed out of the room, saying "Ophile, Zephyr, watch her good."

Zephyr, his tail wrapped around Kiri's wrist, nodded.

Ophile kept his teeth clamped around her ankle. She kicked at him, but he only bit down harder. Kiri screamed and fell still, realizing that she would have to in order to keep her foot on her leg.

Sylas clung desperately to Leo, shaking. He didn't know what to do. He knew that Kiri had to be dealt with, but he wasn't sure if he wanted her...well, dead. Truth be told, he didn't want to send her to the same place as Werr. He wanted his son to rest in peace, not be tortured in the afterlife by that madwoman. But he couldn't just let Kiri roam free, either...

Leo quickly located Seria. She was with Forin, Luna, Vaira and Boko, discussing various plans of going about finding the other Artifacts. They were unaware of the attack that had gone on in the distant room; Leo hadn't exactly announced it. But they were made aware as Leo spun around a corner, coming to a tumbled halt with Sylas in his arms. Seria leapt up at once, one hand darting to her mouth. "What happened?!" she exclaimed.

"Ask my son," he growled, setting Sylas down on the ground but not letting go of him. "Just heal Sylas first."

Seria nodded, then got to work quickly, her fingers massaging gently around Sylas' ear as she worked.

Sylas clung to Leo still, shaking worse at the prospect of Leo letting go. Regardless of whether Kiri was put to death or not, Sylas had realized that Leo was the only one he had left. There were cuts on the palms of his hands, he was aware of this, but he still refused to let go of Leo. Not for a second. He forced himself to calm down, though, focusing on steadying his breathing. "Thank you..." He murmured once his ear was fixed. He frowned, though. He had said those words, yet he couldn't hear anything still. Then he felt something cold pass over his ear, and sound came rushing back to him.

"There you go." Forin said, wiping blood off his hand. "Can you hear again?"

"Y-yes...thanks." He nodded shakily.

Leo squeezed Sylas' shoulder, staring down sadly at the person that had helped him out of more troubles than his life had needed. Leo couldn't count how many times he would've killed himself if not for Sylas intervening. In fact, Leo could remember quite a time, long ago...one of the worst in his life.

*

It was dark. Dark and rainy. Two things Leodhaius found that he was liking far too much. He stalked along through the dark streets, his walk anything but peaceful or happy. It was riddled with sorrow and pain, a pain like he had never felt before. He wandered aimlessly, at times going in complete circles for several minutes before realizing what he was doing.

He was young. But not young enough, he decided. But he wasn't far too old, either. Not in his thirties. That was somewhere between. He stumbled sharply, cutting his hand on a rock as he caught himself, then headed towards a brightly lit bar, tears mixing with the rain. He couldn't decide if he loved or hated the rain.

The bartender was a large fellow, washing the table that Leo sat down in before taking any orders. "You're quite the sight, aren'tcha?" He grunted, frowning slightly as he noted the redness in Leo's eyes. "Maybe you'd like my friend over there." He jabbed a thumb at the opposite corner of the bar. A lonely figure sat there, his head in his hands and four empty mugs around him. The rowdy bunch - obviously regular drunkards - steered away from said corner and table altogether, even though some people were standing. "Been comin' in every month. Same day; only day he ever gets drunk. 'Bout a year and a half now, ever since his house burned down. I'm not forcin' you to talk to him, but...you know, misery loves company. So, what can I get'cha to drink? Ale? Mead?"