The Forgotten Zodiac

Diana was under the watchful care of Seria, of course. Nate had taken the girl directly to her to get her head checked. It was a mild concussion, but nothing serious, thankfully.

"Yeah," Forin nodded numbly, staring at his hands. No longer was there a heckling voice in the back of his mind. He didn't have to fight to keep anything down. He certainly didn't have as much magic as before, and he felt...weaker. There wasn't as much inner strength to tap into. Yet at the same time, he felt more...complete. Relieved. He had his own soul now...didn't he? He was his own person. It was confusing and it hurt to think about it. So instead of thinking about it, he looked at Luna and smiled weakly. "I guess today is my birthday, then?" He suggested, his voice still trembling terribly as he wrapped the cape tighter around himself.

She smiled softly, lifting her head to gently kiss his forehead. "Happy birthday, Forinny," she murmured, then stood up and gathered him some clean clothes, pushing them into his hands. "Get dressed and then get some sleep," she said gently. "And when you're ready, we'll train. You'll be stronger than you ever were with Dulce clinging to you. I promise." She kissed him fully, then, and spent a moment nuzzling his neck before moving away so he could change.

Forin was smiling away as she left, but he quickly got dressed. He eyed the cape left behind; he tried to put it on properly, clipping it onto his shirt. at least a fourth of it dragged on the floor, but it took care of that by itself; the fabric literally tore itself, adjusting in size to fit him perfectly. The cloak itself was a deep black, specked with dots of silver thread and made to look like the night sky. He examined himself in the mirror, watching the little dots twinkle in the light. It was a nice cape, and Titus wasn't known for asking for things back. Plus, Forin knew full well that Titus had a closet full of other capes and clothing pieces. Not to mention it probably wouldn't fit the king anymore, what with a good bit of the fabric now piling itself in the corner to await disposal.

Right then. Training. Forin turned, only to find himself face to face with Dulce. Forin stumbled back, eyes wide. He had never looked at himself in such a form before; no wonder Diana had been scared. "I suppose I should congratulate you," Dulce growled. "You've won the favor of Titus. But I've asked around and it's become very clear to me that I still have the favor of other Tartarans."

"Wh-where is that going to get you?" Forin steadied himself, frowning. But he didn't feel nearly as confident or tough as he had felt before. He felt something he had only felt once before; fear. He was vulerable like this.

"As far as I want, little me. Don't worry; I'm not here to kill you. Yet. Galai convinced Titus to give me another chance, and I'm not about to waste that. So tah-tah for now, kid. But just be aware...I'm watching you." Dulce waved his hand as he opened the window, flying out. Forin shivered a bit, then turned to open the door.

Luna was outside, still in her new beautiful dress, and she moved forward and kissed him as soon as he exited the room. "Already then," she said. "We'll train until you feel confidant again. Until you can find your new true form. The one that truly is you and not something else entirely." She took his hand, putting her face close to his neck and resting there gently before pulling back. "I love you," she murmured, her eyes looking nowhere but to him.

((You KNOW that at some point in the third book, Dulce and Forin will have to fight and Forin will kick his butt. That is a must happen. People will go nuts for this.))

((At some point, I'm sure. xD I'll probably set it up so that Forin looks more or less defeated, though, before pulling out for the win. :T))

"Yeah. Train." Forin nodded, swallowing down the lump that had caught in his throat since he opened the door and saw Luna. He looked down at his hands again, frowning a bit. "Luna...I don't even have those powers anymore. I can't...I can't remove things." He pressed his hand to hers, trying to move through it, but it was obvious that he couldn't. "I really am seperated from Dulce now...what if I don't have any powers at all anymore? I won't be able to protect Diana, I..." He trailed off, looking worried. Again, very uncommon for him.

((Yesh. It will be glorious.))

She wrapped her arms around him, holding him close. "Forin, I'm going to help you. You'll be stronger than ever, and your powers will be splendid, I'm certain. You have to rediscover yourself." She fingers laced through his, her eyes soft and full of love. "...I believe in you," she murmured, tilting her head at him. "You just need to believe in yourself. You've always been here. You've always been strong. You just need to grow again. ...For your family. For me, and for Diana and Luen. We'll all help you."

"Right..." Forin nodded, then leaned his head against her shoulder. "Rediscover myself. Right." He broke away, then took her hand and led her out into the courtyard where they could train a bit. "So, uh...what should I do?" He asked her. He had trained before, but mostly just with weapons. He was pretty good with a sword and shield, but that didn't really pertain to this sort of training, he guessed.

"We're just going to try and unlock something new inside you," she said, slowly starting to meld into her new true form. She winced as her arms started to turn white-blue, and quickly had to stop. It hurt fairly bad, so she stuck to her outer form instead. "First we're going to train together physically. Tomorrow, or later if you feel like it, we'll train spiritually," she said. "For now, let's have at it." She picked up a training sword and slid it into his hand, pausing to lift his other hand and give it a loving kiss. "How can I love one person with all of my heart?" she murmured to him. "It's easy, actually. That one person is you."

Forin smiled, holding onto the sword firmly. "It's been awhile since I've trained like this. Swords are rather ineffective against the enemies we face. Nate still carries one, Cynyr carries one, and Werr carries one. The rest of us rely on our magic to win us our fights..." He swung the sword once or twice through the air, smiling at the 'whoosh' noises it made.

Luna smiled as well, then stepped back and picked up another sword, extending it carefully and bumping his. "Be gentle," she said, tucking a lock of her long silver hair behind her ear. "I've never really trained hard with anyone before..." She spun into a tight circle, her dress flying up and showing off her beautiful legs, then whipped the sword around in lightening fast arches around herself. She grinned at him, saying "...because they never lasted more than a minute."

"Heh, don't underestimate me. Swordfights on Tartarus are normally fatal. Dulce didn't like swords, I'm the one who learned how to use them..." He struck forward at once, swinging upwards and slicing through the air in front of Luna dangerously close to her dress. "Last warning. Better be ready for the next one." He grinned at her, ready for the training.

The next few minutes literally passed in a whirlwind of clashing weapons. Forin was good, most definitely, but it seemed that Luna was one of the top Amnairian fighters. Even when her dress was torn, revealing a good part of one leg up to her thigh, she never stopped fighting. They fought each other to a breathless standstill, where Luna smiled and called it done. "That was good," she murmured, kissing his cheek. "I'm proud of you."

Forin smiled brightly. "I haven't lost my edge at something, at least." He panted a bit, then shook it off. "Let's keep going. I don't want to wait, I'm not tired anymore...and the pain is ebbing the more I move and get used to this. Might as well press on, right?"

She nodded, then sucked in a deep breath and readied her blade. They continued onwards, constantly bringing each other to standstills or points where neither would naturally be able to move without initiating a killing blow. They worked hard, logging long hours of training before night started to fall. Luen had came out eventually, and he had sat quietly and watched them. Just watched, never commented or said anything. At the most, he had wiggled around when he grew uncomfortable. But he was silent the entire time, just watching through his large emerald eyes.

They trained on and on, until Forin suddenly dropped his sword and turned on heel, running inside. Diana was lying on the floor next to her bed, wailing. Forin picked her up at once, examining her head and making sure that the bruise from the earlier fall was gone. Of course, he had trusted Seria to take care of it. Then he hugged her close, kissing her head and hugging her tightly. She pushed away from him, obviously caught in a waking nightmare.

Forin realized at once that he would never again be able to save Diana from things like this. He shook her gently, waking her quickly. She blinked tiredly up at him and buried her face in his shirt, bursting into tears.

Luna and Luen also raced inside, and Luen quickly darted forward and slid his arms around them both, putting his frosty head close to Diana and nuzzling the side of her face. Luna came forward too, and the little family embraced in a reassuring hug. "Forin, you're going to get your powers back if it's the last thing we do," she said determinedly. "But you have to believe it first or it'll never happen."

"I believe you," Forin nodded, looking up at Luna. "Is that not enough...?" He asked, worry and fear lining the features of his face. Obviously he put so little faith in himself now, it was almost painful to see him like this. Diana shifted in his arms, wrapping hers around Luen's neck, but staying in Forin's lap. She eventually stopped crying, then shifted to hug Luna, as well.

"I love you...I love all of you. Please don't leave," Diana said softly. It was easy to think that she merely didn't want them to leave the room, but little Diana did actually mean something deeper than that. Something more important.

Luna kissed Forin's forehead, right on his Tartarus mark. "You'll get them back," she soothed. "They'll come with your true form. Don't hold back and don't give up. Face your fears and dominate them. Your true form will only come to a master that it knows can wield it." She rested her head against his neck, watching as Luen soothed Diana with tender hugs and kisses. And snowflakes. Diana did love snowflakes.

"But Luna, what if..." Forin looked down, shaking his head. He reached into his bag and pulled out his sketchbook, quickly drawing out a picture to show Luna. "I keep getting this image in my head, that my true form will be like this," He showed her.

It was grotesque. It looked terrifying. Bulging muscles led down the arms to massive claws, and down the misproportional legs to the feet. The top was bigger than the bottom half, by quite a bit; and the face, skies above, the face. A troll, however weak of a description it is, was the only way to describe it. The eyes were tiny, the bottom jaw jutting out to make way for large teeth, a permanant snarl set on the figure's face and features. It didn't even have hair, nor did it look remotely human.

His girlfriend stared at the image for a long moment, then she murmured "Forin, I don't think someone like you could ever have a true form like this. You're far too good for it. But even if this were true, I would still love you and kiss you all the same. I love you for you, Forin, and if this were even remotely true, that love wouldn't change." She kissed him firmly then, pulling back to say "Luen?"

The kirin's long ears perked up.

"We'll need your help for our next kind of training," she said. "Which is spiritual training. Can you help?"

"Do you even need to ask?" he said, blinking his soft eyes. "Of course I'll help."

Luna smiled, then looked at Forin again and said "Forin, I promise you. You'll find your true powers and you'll be stronger than ever."