The Forgotten Zodiac

Forin smiled and flew after her, knowing full well how good it was for Diana to be happy. He swooped from side to side, zigging-zagging back and forth, to and fro. Diana thought this was all good fun, and laughed when Forin suddenly faltered and dropped a few feet. He smiled, though it was obvious that he was running out of steam, so to speak. Releasing his true form had been relieving on his magic, but when he had done that, he had been forced to throw all of it into keeping his true self smothered and out of the way. The problem with this was the fact that he had only his magic to rely on; while Diana would normally be capable of lending him some, Cern had injected her with something that blocked that, two years ago. It hadn't affected much of anything, really, until now. Forin faltered again, holding Diana as close as he possibly could.

But when the corners of his mouth were teased into an ugly smirk, Diana realized that something was indeed wrong. And then she was plummeting to the ground while Forin just watched.

((More testing. Yaaaay.))

Luna glanced behind herself in shock, quickly arching around to race after Diana. She scooped the girl into her arms, glancing upwards at Forin in shock. "Forin?" she called, her voice questioning. She held Diana a little closer, beating her wings quickly in order to hover. "Maybe we should switch back to normal and go back," she said, her eyes widening a bit.

((Nuuuuuuuuu.))

"No!" Luna shouted, flailing her wings to dart backwards a few feet. "Why do you have to do this? Why can't you just be docile and do what Forin wants? Who are you?!" She twisted again, a fluid, graceful movement, then flinched when pain went through her. What? She glanced down and around at herself, trying to figure out what had happened. She looked okay, so she ignored it and darted forward, arching through the sky around them. "Please! What could I do to get Forin back?!" she called, ignoring another slight tug of pain.

"I'm the real Forin! Surely he's told you about me...the real Dulce? The one he's been covering up for years now, trying to hide simply because I hate him and everyone he loves? Where do you think he got his surname from?!" He roared, flying after her. He faltered for a moment, Forin still fighting him, but he only put on speed after that. "Why do you think Forin needed Seria in the first place? Bandits, pah...I tried to kill that brat, and this time I'll succeed! Two birds with one stone, even," He laughed, his claws coming dangerously close to Luna's legs with a swipe. And these claws were the ones that had demanded respect from hundreds of Tartarans in the Arena a hundred times over. These were claws of anger, anger that had built up month after month, year after year.

Luna twisted sharply to the side, trying desperately to avoid the sharp claws, then gasped when the pain flooded her body again. She plummetted to the ground, barely managing to pull up in time to avoid smashing into the hard ground. She dropped Diana near the guest house, saying "Go find Luen, now! Do as I say, Diana!" She flew back up and very carefully pelted the lurker with a bit of light, enough to make him mad and follow her. Every attempt to go after Diana was thwarted by the Amnairian.

Diana started running, sobbing. By the time she made it up the stairs and saw Luen still unconscious in the bed, she was in hysterics. Nate heard the crying, thankfully; he poked his head into the room. Diana threw herself at him, wailing. "Little Diana, what on earth has happened? Where's Forin?" He asked, which only made Diana cry more.

"Forin's gone c-crazy, he wants to ki-kill me..." She managed to moan.

"What? That doesn't sound right..." Nate frowned, but held the child close. "Come, then. I'll get you out of here. Titus and Galai will know what to do." He picked her up, stretching his wings and getting ready to fly as fast as he could. He would need it, after all.

Outside, Forin was only getting angrier with Luna. He directed his attacks towards Luna, teeth bared and claws flashing. "You think you're so tough...I'll rip you in half!"

Luna barely dodged again, then suddenly shrieked in pain and clasped a hand to her face. She slowly pulled her hand away, watching in horror as shimmering crystal blue blood dripped between her fingers. Not the normal red. Bright metallic blue. She felt her face in shock, then realized she had a visible chip in her face. Forin hadn't hurt her yet, she knew that, but she didn't understand what this was. She couldn't stop to think about it, however, and was forced to tear away from Forin's claws again.

Forin laughed. "You're falling apart, even as you dodge me! What's the matter? Heartbroken?" He sneered, his lip curled. Out of the corner of his eye, he spied a green blur. He was able to pick out who it was easily; Nate, holding a wailing Diana. Forin roared, then swooped down after them, managing to catch Nate's tail in his claws and bring all of them crashing to the ground in one fell strike. Diana tumbled then lay still, having suffered a nasty hit to the head. Forin stood and approached her, smirking cruelly.

Luna slammed into him from the side, encasing Nate and Diana in a shield of light. It burned Forin whenever he tried to touch it, so they were safe for now. But more cracks than ever were appearing on Luna's skin, bleeding thick, rich blue. It hurt like fire, but she couldn't seem to stop it. Through the dark blue seams of the chips, shimmering white-blue could be seen, flickering like distant flames. She had tears dripping down her cheeks as she stammered "Please...stop. I love every part of you, and I can't bring myself to hurt you, even like this. I...I can't do it..." More cracks were appearing, more strange blue blood was spilling. "Forin...I know you're in there..." she whispered, coughing once and flinching as an entire chunk of the skin on her face slid away, revealing a brightly glowing white eye with no pupils. She reached up and slowly pulled the blonde wig from her head, revealing the three-inch long crop of silver hair that was growing there. She held it in her hands, staring up at her boyfriend. Her first and only lover.

Her heart.

"I love you..." she murmured, feeling blood drip from the corner of her mouth.

"And I hate you," Forin replied with a snort. "But then, I'm not the Forin you know. Don't worry. He's begging and pleading now for you to run, to get out of here. Not that you can hear him, but it's most...annoying. At any rate, I feel like making you suffer. Maybe I'll sit here and watch while you fall apart, yes? He's terrified at the sight. Maybe he'll give up." He hovered around the light barrier, keeping one eye on Luna and the other on the shield.

Nate spotted a flicker of black out the corner of his eye. Diana was tucked into his arms again, and he had inspected the bruise. Not too serious. She was breathing and her heartrate was steady. Two good things. Nate looked up again as the black showed itself for an instant once more. He could have sworn it was Ophile...

Which, it had been. The wolf was running now, running as though his life depended on it. He had seen enough of the scene. Tartarans were watching in fear of the returned Dulce, Amnairians watching in horror as their dear sister fell to pieces. Fools and cowards, the lot of them. Ophile was running to fetch the only two who could reasonably put a stop to the mess; Titus and Galai themselves. He burst into the throne room and became visible at once, barking, "Your majesties! Dulce has broken loose and attacked, something has happened to Luna, and for goodness sakes, you should be aware of this already!"

Galai was doubled over in her throne, her head in her hands and her hair falling to each side of her face like golden rivers. "Do y-you th-think we a-are that s-stupid?" she gasped. "I can feel my d-daughter's pain, b-but for s-some reaons, I c-can't move!" She was shaking, one hand holding Titus' for dear life. Indeed, she seemed unable to move from her chair, her frail body quivering. It seemed that Luna's odd crumbling was felt by her mother, and if it was hurting Galai too, then it seemed quite serious. "T-T-Titus..." she stammered, wincing as light started forming in their joined hands. "S-s...separate...them...we sh-should've...a long t-time...ago..." Her hand slipped from his, leaving a pulsing orb of light in her husband's hand. She was too weak to go herself, so she gave Titus the nesseccary powers to pull the two fighting beings apart and give each their own form. This meant, however, that Forin would have to rediscover his true form all over again, but he would finally be a whole guardian all to himself. And the other part of him would have to make it's own regular form now, but the two would be different people.

"Alright," Titus nodded, spreading his wings and disappearing the next second. He didn't turn invisible; he was just flying at breakneck speeds. The rush of wind he left behind was enough to prove that.

By the time he reached Forin and Luna, Dulce was clawing at the light barrier, ignoring the burns on his skin. He was grinning wildly one second, and the next, something slammed into him so hard that it would have thrown him sky high, if not for the fact that he was grabbed in the same instant.

Titus slammed him into the ground with all the ferocity of a...well, of an angered Titus.

Nearly all of Luna's skin and features had crumbled away by now, leaving only a few bare parts. Nearly all that was left was this odd, human-shaped white-blue form that looked like living crystal. Blue blood soaked the ground, but most of it had stopped falling now that there wasn't much left to crumble. Her eyes were solid, glowing white, brightly shinning in her expressionless face. She turned sharply at Titus' arrival, her eyes widening as she collapsed to her knees, barely keeping herself off of the ground by getting her arms in the way. Her wings had dropped off with the rest of her body, and all of it had just melted into the piles of blue blood. She opened her mouth, which was just another shimmering white orb, but no sound came out. Tears streamed down her cheeks in a furious flood, and they were tears of two kinds of pain.

Titus looked at Luna, frowning. "I'm not going to kill him. This will only take a second..." He brought his other hand around, the one with Galai's powers, and pushed it into Forin's chest. There was a moment of pure silence.

And then Forin screamed. Both of them did; both voices erupted from the same mouth, as strange as it was. Something started happening; shimmering silver light leaked off of Dulce, forming next to him and taking the shape of a human. Titus held both of the forms still as the second one took a more refined shape and started taking on color. Within mere instants, it was recognizable; Forin, of course. The Forin that Luna loved, the Forin that loved Luna and protected Diana with all of himself.

Both of them, Dulce and Forin alike, thrashed and writhed. It was obviously painful, but it had to be done. Titus continued to hold them down until the new form was complete. Titus wordlessly dropped his cloak over a shivering Forin, and stood with Dulce in his grip. "You're coming with me," He growled. Dulce knew better than to resist, choosing to go limp instead, but he was nothing more than glares and short growls while he regained his wits. Titus looked from Luna to the form under his cloak, then back up at Luna. "Pull yourself together, child...your pain affects the queen."

Panting and struggling, Luna tried to revive her old form, but with the pieces shattered all over the ground, it seemed impossible. She tried to stand, only to fall forward and lay limply on the ground for a moment before picking herself back up. Never before had this odd crystalizing process been seen. Not in the time of the king and queen before Titus and Galai, and not in the time of those before that. Because never had there been an Amnairian that loved a Tartaran as much as Luna loved Forin. True, heartfelt love.

She staggered again and fell, but once more got up. Her arms moved to encircle Forin, but she flinched and pulled them away. She stared at her arms through her slowly-blinking white orbs, then slowly touched herself once and winced. Her skin was raw like this, and each touch burned, but she forced herself to ignore it and put her arms around Forin. It was like both had gained a new piece of themselves, strengthening their relationship. As she lay against her boyfriend, her form started to glow in the most brilliant white. When it faded, she had new skin again, and was wearing a long white silk gown. Her silver hair was re-grown and longer than ever, and she had a strange sense of newness about her. Even Forin could sense it.

Her true form had changed.

Forin wrapped the cape closer to himself, groaning with every movement. He, at the same time, no longer had a true form. He and Dulce had been split; Forin kept ahold of his emotions and himself, and his memories. Dulce had gladly let go of him, although his memories were intact. Two things remained the same between them; their memories and their scars. Forin was in pain, though; he was unused to being his own person. He had been a parasite before, feeding off of Dulce's life force and using his body, but now...now, he was free. Rather...Dulce was free.

Titus turned away at this point, leaving Luna to deal with her weakened boyfriend and taking Dulce away from the both of them. Forin watched as Titus left, but quickly returned his attention to Luna, a small smile on his face as he ran a shaking hand through her hair. "Hey...your hair is back," He said through chattering teeth as he tried to keep smiling.

"Sh-shhh..." she whispered, holding him close. "D-don't...don't speak. It's all right." She lowered his head against her shoulder, pressing her face against his neck. She was crying still, both leaning on each other for support. The light shield around Nate and Diana collapsed, disappearing into the wind. Luna moved one arm around behind him, circling his back and resting her hand against his shoulders while her other hand stroked the side of his face.

Nate slowly stood, Diana still in his arms. "I'll just, uh...take her back inside..." He said, turning to the guest house. He was a bit confused about what all had just happened, but he could definitely feel an unusual tension in the air around them. Luna, showing affection towards Forin in public, where everyone could see...after so long of such things being forbidden, it was uncomfortable to watch for most Amnairians. The Tartarans were mostly wondering what would happen to Dulce.

Forin shivered again, but only pressed closer to Luna. He wanted to cry; he felt broken, torn apart inside. Like someone had taken a huge chunk of him and ripped it right out. Although technically, he was the piece that had been ripped out...

((Off to school I go! o3o))

Luna slowly helped him stand, murmuring "I'll help you... You'll be okay..." She let him lean on her as she helped him walk, and they slowly headed to the guest house, where they found Luen just waking. Luna opened the door and he got up, quickly limping over to put his arms around Forin, helping him over to a bed. "What happened?" he asked fearfully. "Where's Diana?"

Luna told him, watching as he nodded and ran out to make sure she was okay. She sat on the bed with Forin, holding him close. "You'll find yourself..." she soothed, kissing just behind his ear. "And I'll be here by your side every step of the way... I'll never leave you..."

((I love you~! :D))