The Forgotten Zodiac

((Awww. xD We'll say he stayed there with Lily.))

About this time, Jag roused enough out of his barely conscious state to wearily lifted his head, blinking slowly. He sighed heavily, then slowly sat up and froze. He was very light. Something was missing. His memory flooded through him and he craned his neck back to look behind him in horror. His beautiful wings, gone. Hacked right from his body. He slumped, on the rare verge of crying, then felt the letter from Lily slide off of him. He looked at it, then picked it up and read who it was from, again freezing. His eyes widened when he saw Lily's name, then he quickly opened the letter.

Jag stared in horror at the letter, his heart hammering painfully in his chest. It was too much, too fast. He clasped a hand to his head and moaned softly, digging his claws into his crest feathers. "Have to go..." he said, trying to push himself up further. "To Lily..." He staggered up, nearly falling over backwards, and Seria jumped up, helping him stand. "Jag? What's wrong?" she asked, making sure he was steady.

He wordlessly handed her the letter.

Seria read it quickly, her eyes widening. She made Jag sit down and explained what had occured to Werr and the others, then said "You all stay here and deal with the capital. We'll go to Amnairus and help Lily."

"We?" Cynyr said suspiciously.

"As in me and Jagat," she said. "I promised Lily I would help deliver her baby, so I'm going."

Cynyr immediately pouted.

Cynyr watched Seria for a long moment, then sighed and took human form, leaving his tail in Werr's grasp. The boy could tell by the way the tip of the panther's tail slowly flowed back and forth that he liked the way Werr held it. "I know," he said, keeping his yellow eye fixed on Seria, his ears back in a rather sheepish and, though he would hate to hear it, cute way. "I'll stay." He bent one leg up and put his elbow against it, resting his chin in that hand and leaving his other leg stretched out.

"You best hurry," Werr nodded to Seria, then said in afterthought, "And bring back Spy! We may need him. Alright, Cynyr, let's go while there's still light to move by." They had spent most of the day recovering, after all. It was high time to get back on their feet.

Forin, Luna and Diana were already in the capital of Storaph. It had been almost an hour's walk, but they did it. Diana wasn't sober yet, and probably wouldn't be for a little while. Forin did what he could; gave her bits of food from his bag, water from his canteen, and he held onto her tightly as she insisted upon walking by herself. By the time they arrived in town, however, Diana looked downright ill and nearly fell over twice.

"Luna, would you try and find a bathhouse for her? She needs to be cleaned up before we leave." Forin said quietly.

"I dun wanna bathf..." Diana mumbled, leaning heavily against Forin.

"Sure you do. A nice warm bath with soap and bubbles. Luna will get you cleaned up, I have to shop for a pair of horses. And then we'll go find Luen."

"Luen? Luen...yeah. Okay." Diana nodded, shifting her weight onto Luna as Forin handed her over.

"I'm entrusting her to your care. You're a guardian too, are you not? You should know how to act." Forin nodded to the Amnairan, though he frowned a bit, which showed that he was still hesitant about giving Diana to her. But it had to be done if they were going to move quickly.

Luna nodded, then kissed Diana's forehead and said "Of course. I'll protect her as if she were my own summoner." She carried Diana off, hiding her wings so she looked like any other normal human simply carrying her daughter around. She made her way to a bathhouse and paid for the use of it, then took Diana in. It was empty, which Luna was thankful for, but she still moved to one of the private rooms. She gently undressed Diana and put her into the warm bath, setting about scrubbing the girl's hair and shoulders with some soap. "There," she said soothingly, washing the dirt from Diana's face. "Doesn't that feel good, angel?"

"I'm not an angel," Diana mumbled, sitting still as Luna bathed her. She was used to it; Forin washed her all the time. She could certainly do it herself, but Forin was better at checking for ticks and lice, as well as spots that could indicate disease. Diana had objected to it at first, but Forin soon became like a brother to her. He took care of her, and she didn't care if that meant nothing of hers was hidden from him. It was just...normal.

"Bucket," Diana groaned, splashing towards the edge of the pool and grabbing a wooden bucket there. She promptly vomited into it, her body eager to get rid of the rest of the wine in her gut; even if it meant disposing of the food Forin had given her. Diana sluggishly returned to Luna's side, her eyes closed halfway at this point.

Luna scooped water into a cup she had grabbed and poured it over Diana's head, rinsing the soap from her hair. She carefully checked the girl over for anything out of place, talking and occasionally singing a sweet song to her as she worked. She really had a perfect motherly air about her, similar to that of Galai's. Once Diana was clean, Luna just let her sit in the warm water, leaning against the Amnairian over the low edge of the tub, gently stroking the girl's back with her soft fingers. A song sprung to Luna's mind, and without hesitating, she sang.

"Lost to the ages,

no longer bright,

I bring you a warrior,

scorned as a blight,

O fairest of maidens,

claimer of hearts,

return this one fallen,

to the dawn of the larks,

song of the birds

singer of fates,

restore his soul,

so he makes,

but a glorius knight,

noble and proud,

and strong to the end."

Diana sat quietly and listened to Luna sing. When she was finished, the girl hiccuped and looked up at Luna curiously. "Why are you singing about Forin?" She questioned, but was interrupted by a voice just outside the door.

"Are you finished yet? I have the horses and everything in place. The rubies even got us a small carriage and some food. Won't fit more than two or three people, but it's perfect for our needs." Forin was there, of course. "So...are you finished? I can wait longer if you want."

Luna blushed softly, then flinced at Forin's voice. "No, that's okay," she said, wondering if he had heard her singing. "We're coming." She drained the water and picked up a fluffy towel, wrapping it around Diana and lifting her out of the tub, taking a comb to the girl's hair and starting to gently work the tangles out. When Diana's hair was fluffy and dry, Luna dressed her and picked her up, cradling her close. "Let's go," she said quietly, rocking Diana gently back and forth, nearly bouncing her lightly like a baby.

Diana sighed and fell asleep once she was handed back to Forin. He was quick to lead Luna back to where the small, simple wooden carriage was waiting, two horses ready to pull it. Forin bundled Diana into the carriage, allowing Luna in before shutting the door and taking his seat at the driver's place and taking ahold of the reins.

"Before we leave, Luna, I want to...well, I want to say that we have to...uh...be careful." Forin sighed. "Of...well, you know, the Silver Tornado. We could potentially be caught and questioned. I'm not worried about you giving out information, I...I'm worried about myself. If they get Diana...I'll have no choice."

Luna nodded, saying "I know. If...if it means anything...I would die before I let her be hurt." She held Diana close, nuzzling the child's forehead gently with her cheek. "And...Forin?" the Amnairian said softly, biting her lip. "I...um..." She hesitated, then lost her nerve and sighed. "I...hope we don't get caught," she said sadly, looking down at Diana and starting to pull her hair back into a ponytail. She had meant to tell him that she liked him. She wanted him to know what she thought of the rule that Amnairians and Tartarans weren't meant to couple. But she couldn't, of course.

Forin hesitated for a moment. He had been tempted to tell Luna that he could already tell what she was thinking; about her crush on him, at any rate. No, he didn't really feel the same for Luna. He could feel something, but he didn't know if it was love. He didn't feel the same attachment to Luna as he felt for Diana, so...if he was feeling love for Luna, then what did he feel for Diana? Of course, Forin didn't understand that there were more than a single type of love. He probably never would understand it, really.

Forin realized something else, though. He had no idea where Luen could have gone. "Luna," He said, frowning slightly. "Can you sense magic types? I read somewhere that a lot of Amnairans can, while we Tartarans only sense life and death. Luen is an Ice mage, as I'm sure you're aware..."

Luna frowned, thinking about it, then said "I can do one better. I have the power to locate people I've kissed. He let me kiss him a long time ago. If I zone in on his presence, I can find him." She concentrated for a moment, then said "He's far from here. And...it's cold where he is. So deathly cold." She shivered just from sensing it, then pointed in the right direction and said "That way. If we go that way, we'll find him."

"Right. Cold isn't one of my weaknesses, but you and Diana probably need coats. I expected him to be somewhere cold, but...well, let's hit the market here and see what we can find. If not, we'll certainly be able to find something closer to where it's cold. I'm sure there's at least one town in that direction." He said thoughtfully, not entirely certain. "But no matter. No point in waiting around here." Forin started the horse forward, sighing a bit. "Uh, Luna...thank you for locating Luen for me. Us." He said quietly.

It was going to be a long trip, indeed.

Jagat cantered along, wincing as Seria wiggled around on his back, trying to be as still as she could and not touch his wings.

The two were making good time towards Amnairus, having left as soon as possible. They still had a long ways to go, but Jag was a fast gryphon. He panted, shaking his crest, then kept going, desperately wishing he had his wings. He was drove ever forward, however, by his desire to get to Lily and their soon-to-be born baby. So he drove himself into a gallop, racing over the ground until the mountain sheltering the two combined worlds was in sight. Panting hard, he climbed up to the ledge holding the entrance to the Eternal Garden and ran in, Seria still clinging to his fur. He passed Resu and headed towards the joined worlds, slowing to a walk by this time. His thin tongue hung from his beak as he walked, his paw pads bleeding profusely. Seria got off of his back, helping him along until they reached the infirmary.

Lily was already there, dressed in a white thin gown made from loose material that breathed easily. She had her eyes on the floor, looking more or less unhappy; the explanation was simple, too. Obelisk was there. He hadn't said anything; not a sorry or a greeting. He just sat in the corner, looking on in silence. It was his fault, after all. His influence over the king and princess had caused them to torment and torture the servants, Lily having been one of them. He hadn't thought anything of it before; he knew that Lily was scared of him. He definitely wasn't certain if he should apologize or not. Probably not. It would just be better if he --

"Jag!" Lily cried out the second the doors opened. She sat down again, disappointed to see that it was only Toro. "S-sorry. I thought you were Jag..." She said quietly.

"I know. It's alright. I just...I wanted to let you know that Jag got your letter. But he was unconscious when I found them. He...Lily, he doesn't have his wings anymore. I thought you should know that." Toro walked forward, tears starting to bud in his eyes.

"O-oh...my Jag? His b-beau-beautiful wings...? What happened?" Lily asked, horrified. Toro wrapped his arms around her, and she did the same to him as she started to cry.

"I don't know. But it's okay, he seemed okay otherwise...I'm so sorry, Lily..."

"Oh...it's not your fault, dear, just...it's okay. Will you st-stay with me until Jag arrives?" Lily asked, trembling.

"Yes, of course." Toro nodded at once, hugging her as tightly as he dared. And so they waited. Obelisk kept watching, curious at this point. But the waiting...so much waiting.

The doors suddenly pushed open weakly, then a bit stronger as someone else put their hands to it. Jag stumbled in, his paws leaving heavy red marks on the gray floors. Seria followed quickly, saying "-nearly ran yourself to death! We would've been alright resting for a day along the way!"

Jag ignored her, his sky blue eyes going straight to Lily. He moved to go forward again, but he stumbled and collapsed, panting with great, heaving shudders. The bandages wrapped around the stumps of his wings were slowly turning red, and a tiny trickle of blood leaked from his nose from having to gasp in the air so hard.

But he had made it, and that's all that mattered to him.