The Forgotten Zodiac

Cynyr's expression was a bit twisted, as if torn between giving the acursed (in his mind) gauntlet over to the boy, but a small poke from Welk reminded him of why they were doing this. He handed the gauntlet over without hesitation then, cradling Welk against his chest as he stepped back. Naybrin shifted a bit, his scales still a dusty grayed-over color from the stone-crawl. He still had patches of rock that hadn't flaked off yet, but all in all, he was returning to normal. He had actually eaten something Zephyr had brought him earlier, and with their help, he had made the slow, painful walk to the lake to get a drink. It was sad to see the great dragon king looking so frail and thin, with his hip bones jutting out sharply. He said nothing of his pain, however. He watched with his deep green eyes as Welk was transferred and the gauntlet was slid onto Werr's arm.

Werr stepped forward, looking up at Naybrin with a small smile. "I'm not supposed to have this, am I? Oridanante said once that 'absolute power corrupts absolutely'. This Artifact...it's so powerful. And just waiting to be used...begging to be used. What happens when one person wears both the right and the left?" He questioned, starting to put the warriors and the vines back underground where they belonged. He couldn't destroy them completely, but burying them was easy enough.

"When both are brought together, both worn by one, then...." Naybrin said. "...oh, and then...then the power to destory all things is in play. If one wears both gauntlets, he holds the power to shape the world to his will. The world could be broken in two, all life corrupted and made ill, and a new world could be formed. I believe Malice no longer wishes to be only a god anymore. I believe he wants to destroy everything we hold dear. But Werr, please hear me. You too, Cynyr, for you are of mortal heart. Absolute power does corrupt absolutely, but only if you allow it too. If you are of noble heart, with only the best of intentions, then their corruption cannot touch you. Keep a tight grip over your hearts, or else when the final blow needs to be struck, you could unveil an even greater evil into this world, and in doing so...lose everything you hold close." He, for some reason, turned his gaze down at Welk when he said this. Cynyr quickly closed his fingers over his little brother, not liking the look Naybrin was giving him.

Werr looked down at the guantlet after he finished, letting out a sigh. "I see...and Ophile said that they weren't inherently evil..."

"They're not. They really aren't." Ophile approached from behind. "The problem is, they do the bidding of their weilder. The one who wears them, it reaches into the heart of them. Finds their deepest desires. But the human heart is a terrible thing, filled with evil of all sorts. Even if your true desire isn't an evil thing, there will always be the need for conflict and hate within any and every human. We don't know why the Goddess would let such a thing happen to this world, but it happened. And that hate and conflict is revealed by the Artifact, which puts the idea in your mind like a seed, where it will fester and grow. That is where you become corrupted, that is where it becomes an evil thing."

He sighed, nosing Werr's free hand. Werr slowly pet his friend, frowning slightly. Ophile continued. "At any rate, I was asked to find you and ask if you wanted lunch..."

"We could probably use the break," Cynyr said, letting Welk float next to him. The more he practised, the more he seemed to be able to do, and though he knew it hurt the little Spectral, Cynyr allowed him to float whenever he wanted. Welk grabbed onto one of the frontward strands of Cynyr's hair, hanging quietly with a sigh. "Come on," Cynyr said, taking the gauntlet from Werr and putting it onto his arm for a moment. "Let's head inside. But first..." He held his hand over the ground and concentrated, then a soft clump of roses sprang up, followed by some bluebells. He put the gauntlet away and picked the cluster of roses, saying "I'm taking these to Seria." He frowned at the bluebells, saying "I...didn't mean to make those. Oh well." Welk giggled a bit and Cynyr frowned at him, then said "Hush, pipsqueak." He smiled, though, and headed inside.

Naybrin turned his head down and studied the bluebells, then said "Perhaps miss Lexi would like these."

Werr immediately flushed. "Maybe...I guess you're right." He gathered up the flowers, one by one, and picked a few not-quite-wilted daisies from the garden to add to the bouquet. He hurried inside after Cynyr, but not before giving thanks to Naybrin for the suggestion.

He was quick to make it to the dining room. Sylas and Leo were there, along with pretty much everyone else. Which was a good thing; that meant Sylas was recovering.

Cynyr and Seria were curently sitting near the window, off by themselves, and from the way Cynyr was blushing slightly and the way Seria was leaning against him and holding his hand, she had enjoyed the flowers, one of which was now tied back into her ponytail.

Welk had been left with Luen for the time being, as, understandably, Cynyr had wanted to see Seria alone. Welk was currently laying on Luen's head, holding onto his soft white hair and talking halfheartedly with Diana, getting caught up on what he had missed. Lexi was sitting mostly by herself, eating quietly and not a lot. She still seemed a bit sad, but had recovered a lot.

Werr moved forward, sitting down next to Lexi. "I, uh...hi. It's good to see you again, Lexi," He said, smiling slightly. "I mean, we haven't been apart for very long, I just...uh...haven't seen you since breakfast." He trailed off into an awkward silence, then cleared his throat. "Um, I got you something," He held up the flowers, smiling a tiny bit. "It's not much, I know...you aren't allergic to flowers, are you?"

Her soft brown eyes opened wide, blinking in shock, and it was clear that she had never had something like this happen to her. She blinked again and slowly took the flowers, holding them to her nose for a moment before looking up at him. "I...I don't know what to say," she murmured. "Th-thank you. This...these are beautiful. Thank you..." She smiled shyly and looked down, stroking the flowers with one finger.

"It's not much...it's the least I can do." He strugged, looking down at her plate. "You're not eating much...are you okay? You're not feeling sick, are you?" He questioned, jumping a bit when Forin snorted from across the table.

"She's not sick," Forin rolled his eyes, before leaning over the table to get Diana another plate of chicken. He then turned to Luna and placed a quick kiss on her cheek before moving to cut Diana's food for her.

"Er...right. Hey...we should be getting back to Amnairus soon, too..." He sighed, then looked up at Lexi. He then shook his head and looked down again; he had been about to suggest that Lexi come with them. It really was the safest place to be. But no...she would have to go through a trial in order to stay there. Werr wasn't sure if she was up to that.

Luna smiled at once, feeling a warm glow go through her at the gentle gesture.

Lexi blinked when Werr spoke. "Amnairus...?" she questioned. "What's that? It sounds vaugely familiar."

"It's where I'm from," Luna said. "It's a truly magical world. Joined with its brother world of Tartarus, it is most certainly at its grandest."

"Oh...that sounds so nice," Lexi said quietly, holding her bouqet of flowers close in her hands. She smiled at them, stroking their petals softly, then peeked up at Werr and blushed.

"Yes...it's very nice." Werr nodded. "But...for you to gain access, you have to pass a trial. According to Resu, we're the only humans legally allowed into Amnairus and Tartarus. All of us here. It's been a bit of a...fallback point as of late. It usually is. When I vanish mysteriously, that's where I go. We still have attacks quite a bit there, but they aren't as serious as if they were to happen here."

Lexi bit her lip quietly, then said "Oh...okay..." She smelled the flowers quietly, then looked up at Werr and stared at him for a moment, then said "I-I want to come. I can try, can't I? I...I want to stay..." She whispered the next words quietly. "...with you."

"Before we go..." Cynyr said suddenly from his window place. "I have something I'd like to finally settle." Seria looked up at him questioningly. "Werr," Cynyr said. "With your premission, I'd like for me and Seria to be married here. Tomorrow, if you don't mind. I want to do that before we go anywhere else."

Seria's eyes had grown wide in a split second.

"I'd like it to be very, very simple," Cynyr said softly. "No party, no big, fancy thing. I just want to be wed to my one love. My Seria... If that's okay with her, of course."

She kissed him hard and suddenly, then pulled back a bit and whispered "I wouldn't have it any other way."

Werr smiled brightly. "Nor would I. I'll let the chaplain in town know to be here tomorrow at dawn. And you can argue, but I'm having a cake made, too. It's been too long since we've had cake, and after everything we've been through lately, we're due for a little simple pleasure." He looked at Lexi, still smiling a bit. "It won't be easy...but maybe I could take on another trial for your sake. Resu allows replacements."

"Don't take those words lightly, son," Sylas warned, quite serious. "The trial will be even harder if you do that."

"I know," Werr answered simply.

"No!" Lexi said suddenly. "Please, no. If I'm going, then I'll do my own trial. I can't allow you to do that for me, after all you've already done. I couldn't bear it. If I was to come with you, that would be my burden. I could never enjoy myself afterwards if I knew I hadn't earned it..."

Welk slowly flew from Luen to Werr, smiling tiredly. "Our little Cynarios is getting married!" he squeaked, managing a soft tease in Cynyr's direction. The panther couldn't bring himself to frown at the little half-cat Spectral; Welk had been through too much.

Werr blinked at Lexi, and put a hand on her shoulder. He said nothing for a long moment, smiling a little at Welk's gleeful voice, but that faded when he looked back at Lexi. "If you die...I don't know how I'd bear living, knowing that I was the one to lead you to your death." He sighed, then looked away. "Well, I'm sure you'll be fine...you're a...lovely girl, I...uh...yeah." He petered off, turning back to his food and hurriedly filling his mouth with mashed potatoes so he wouldn't have to talk anymore.

Lexi looked away too, blushing and folding her arms tightly in her lap. "Th-thank you..." she murmured, then flinched when Luen said "Let her prove herself, Werr." He smiled calmly at Lexi and said "I understand what you want. You want to prove that you can hold your own. That you can be of help to us, right?"

"Well...yes," she said, blinking at the delicate white kirin across from her.

He nodded, saying "I've felt the same way, probably more than I should ever feel. But it's lessened quite a bit since then." He smiled and gave Forin and Diana meaningful looks, knowing he owed them his life. "But yes, Werr. If she wants to try, you should support her as much as you can. Sometimes that single shred of reassurance and the knowledge that someone believes in you is all you need to power through and accomplish great things."

Werr blinked at Luen, then nodded a bit. "Of course I support her. I want her to help as much as she wants to help. We need all the help we can get, at this point." He looked up and around, realizing that Nate wasn't here. "Hey, where's our Dragonian?" He asked, frowning in concern.

"He was patrolling the halls last I saw. Which was...two seconds ago. He already had lunch, no concern there." Obelisk walked in and sat down in the chair meant for Werr, starting to serve himself food. He paused after a moment, though. "Werr, how rude of you. You haven't introduced me to your girlfriend."

"No, she's not..." Werr flushed instantly, then sighed. "Just eat your lunch, Obelisk..."

Lexi blushed harder and fidgeted in her chair, then looked up at Obelisk and froze. Her expression quickly turned to one of fear, but when Obelisk didn't do anything other than eat and nobody else freaked out, she slowly was able to calm her racing heart. "L-Lexanna..." she introduced to him quietly. "But...people call me...Lexi." She brushed her long black hair back and glanced up at Welk, who was hanging from Werr's ear. "Hello," she said softly, slowly moving her thin hands up to help him up. Welk stared at her, a tad startled, but her fingers were warm against his cool skin and he felt reassured. He hesitantly let go of Werr and allowed Lexi to hold him close, smiling down at him and stroking his hair back, scratching delicately behind one ear with a single nail. Welk felt himself go limp; her touch was painfully close to Werr's. It made him feel very good, yet also filled him with heartache at the same time. He still preferred Werr's touch over hers, of course; the boy was the only one who could hit that perfect spot. But he was able to relax into her hand, something Cynyr saw and smiled at. Lexi was looking ever more promising for their group.

Dear Bun,
you're my precious bunny whom I love and you'll always be one of my most trusted, closest friends. I hope we stay friends forever and I know someday we'll meet up. Someday. Just hold on tight 'till then, mmk? Love you forever~!

♥ ~Trin