The Forgotten Zodiac

Werr leaned into it as much as he could, without disturbing Welk's sleep. Before Lexi pulled away, though, he had dropped back into unconsciousness. This time, however, it was much more peaceful. It would be a long while before the nightmares returned, hopefully. With any luck, he'd sleep a few hours before waking again.

It could have just been her imagination, but Lexi spotted a small smile on the sleeping Werr's lips as she pulled away.

Lexi sat close for a moment longer, trying to sort out what had just happened. She had just kissed Werr, the king of Alastor! And he had said he loved her? And she had said she loved him back. Was it true? She bit her lip hard for a moment, then realized that it was true. She did love Werr. He had just been so nice to her. Had treated her so well, compared to what she was used to.

Lexi found herself smiling ever so slightly as she sat there, holding Werr's hand and stroking his hair.

"You should sleep as well, Lexi," A small voice came from the shadows. As usual, the ever watchful Ophile was there. "I'll come and fetch you all before dinner is served. It wouldn't be good at all if you missed a meal, after all..." He continued to watch them, as if unsure if they would listen to him or not. Really, he just didn't have anything to do but to watch them.

She looked over at him, then nodded and stood up, moving to go out of the room and to her own bed. She paused near Ophile and moved her hand out, scratching behind his ears gently. Then she slipped from the room, her beautiful dark-green dress wafting behind her in a flowing, graceful movement. Her bare feet made hardly a sound on the floor.

Seria had dozed off at Cynyr's side, breathing quietly with her rest resting on her husband's shoulder, right against his neck.

Werr didn't sleep easy. He woke up again twice, and the third time...he wasn't sure if it was reality or not. One of the things was there, watching them sleep, its breathing labored and rasped, its heart pouding visibly. Werr found himself staring at the thing, then immediately passing out again. When he opened his eyes yet again, the thing was gone, and Werr shook it off. Just a dream...just a nightmare.

Werr spent the rest of the time staring at the ceiling. Not really doing anything. Just staring, not daring to close his eyes for more than an instant to blink.

Welk shivered and pressed a bit closer to him, a small flare of heat nestled against Werr's neck. Thunder boomed outside, signaling the dawn of a storm, and a nearby door suddenly opened. Werr heard the very quiet slid of feet on the floor as someone walked past slowly, as if trying not to be noticed by anyone.

Lexi hated storms. They frightened her, and she couldn't possibly sleep with one raging outside her window. So she decided to just walk around, though she didn't know how tiptoeing about in a dark castle would help.

Werr shifted, glancing out of the window to see the rain. A storm...in Amnairus? Things were wrong, so completely wrong...Werr twisted his head around as Lexi passed his closed door, but he relaxed again eventually.

Ophile was sitting in the main room of the guest house again, but he was far from alone. Sylas, oddly enough, was with him. They were chatting about something or other, but stopped when Lexi entered the room. "Good evening," Sylas greeted with a smile.

"Lexi. Awake so soon?" Ophile's ears twitched. "Did the thunder wake you up?"

Lexi hesitated, then gave a quick, small nod and said "Y-yes, it did. I...don't like the sound of thunder very much." The outside storm boomed at that moment, and Lexi squealed and put her hands over her ears, ducking her head quickly. Her squeal was lost to the thunder, and when it passed, she slowly straightened and stood nearby, shivering and looking tiny and meek.

"Oh, you poor child," Sylas smiled sympathetically. "It's quite alright. Here, come sit with us. Neither of us are Werr, but we can certainly provide a bit of comfort during this unusual storm."

"It's caused by the magical imbalance. It's only going to get worse, really." Ophile said, standing up and taking the blanket he had been lying on, offering it to Lexi, while Sylas slid to the side of the couch to make room for Lexi. He was nothing but smiling, and Ophile tilted his head to the side with the tiniest of whines when Lexi hesitated.

Shivering, the girl was quick to move closer and take the offering blanket and place on the couch, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders. She kept a small distance between herself and Sylas, not quite trusting the older man yet. True, he was Werr's father, but with how abusive her own father had been, she was just a tad fearful. "Thank you," she murmured, ducking sharply as more thunder boomed overhead.

"But of course." Sylas allowed the distance, knowing full well what Lexi was thinking. "If you'd like, I can make some tea. Tea settles the soul like nothing I've found before...oh, random question, did you happen to see any odd dark shapes lurking about on your way down the stairs?"

"Subtle," Ophile snorted sarcastically. "It's good that you made it down okay, Lexi."

"Wh-what?" she stammered, scared at once. "Dark shapes? Like...wh-what?" She shivered under the blanket, scooting closer to Ophile and wrapping her arms around his neck, feeling reassured with the large wolf close-by. "Did something get into the castle?" she asked fearfully, scratching her fingers soothingly through Ophile's thick black fur.

Sylas chuckled. "Calm down, child. Nothing's in the castle. This is the guest house. All the commodations that any visitor of Amanairus ((I'M SPELLING IT WRONG AGAIN D: Stupid memory.)) and Tartarus might need. Plus a small 'monster problem'."

"Sylas, cut it out," Ophile sniffed pointedly at him. He looked at Lexi. "I swear, I saw something. I'm not sure what it was, but I definitely saw it on my way down the stairs. Horrible...Sylas here doesn't believe me at all."

"Oh, come now," Sylas tutted. "It's not that I don't believe you. Surely you did see something, but rats do exist on Tartarus, as you very well know. It might have even been an Amnairian duck, hiding from the rain. I doubt you saw anything scary."

"I would have smelled it if it were a rat or a duck, Sylas," Ophile's fur bristled. "We've been over this."

"Then you would have smelled it if it had been a monster, too." Sylas smiled and stood, moving over to the fireplace. "Here, let me get the fire going. The darkness is getting to your head, my friend." Ophile said nothing further. He just let out an uncomfortable sigh.

Lexi's eyes were absolutely wide by this time, and she buried her face in Ophile's fur, shaking and shivering. She held on tightly to his fur, suddenly wishing Werr was here as well. He always reassured her. Just his presence alone was enough, really. Sylas was just plain scaring her, at this point, and the thunder was still crashing as loud as ever.

Sylas got the fire going, which threw light into the whole room. He was quick to pull a teapot from his bag, setting it over the flames without even pouring anything into it. He counted to thirty before pulling it off, producing fine teacups from his bag as well, which he carried back to the table. "Here we are," He said, pouring out two cups. There actually was tea in the pot, hot and ready to be drank. Apparently Sylas didn't own a thing that wasn't enchanted in some way or other. "Would you like some, Ophile?"

"I'll pass, thank you," Ophile tutted.

"That's alright, then. Lexi, child, you must drink some; you look paler than parchment! Oh," Sylas blinked, realizing what his words had done. "Oh, I'm sorry. I got a little carried away, didn't I? I'm sorry, Lexanna, I didn't mean to frighten you. My words have strange effects on people sometimes..."

"Your dragon name isn't Silver-Tongue for no reason, Sylas."

"Is it that? I wouldn't know."

Lexi slowly lifted her head and carefully took the cup from Sylas' hand. She raised it to her delicate lips and took a sip, feeling the warmth seep into her. It felt good, and it had a nice taste, so she was able to try her best to ignore the storm and Sylas' words. As hard as that was. Every flickering shadow cast by the flames spooked her, making her think monsters were lurking, waiting to snare her and drag her down, down into the depths of the earth.

Sylas watched quietly for a long while, choosing to keep his mouth shut. He quietly sipped his tea, thinking nothing further on the subject of monsters and other horrible things. He watched the rain flow down the streets outside, washing small pebbles up and carrying them away. "You have no reason to be afraid, miss Lexi," He said after awhile, pouring himself another glass of tea. "Even if anything did happen, Seria is here to heal any wounds you may get, Ophile would gladly give up his life fighting for you, and I would gladly do the same for the one my son finds joy and relief in seeing. How is Werr, by the way? Sleeping still, I hope?"

She quietly swallowed a small sip, then murmured "He was asleep when I left him. I...I should go see if he's okay. He seemed a bit restless, and...I can't blame him." She gently set the teacup aside and stood up, pausing to bow lightly to Sylas. "Thank you for the tea. It...it was good," she said softly. "I liked it, and...I know you didn't mean me harm when you were talking." She turned to Ophile and fondled his ears, pretty much making him melt at her touch, then said "Thank you for talking with me," before turning and moving off as silently as she had came.

The main room's light didn't carry to the rest of the house. It was dark, stiffly dark and silent, aside from the soft murmurs of Ophile and Sylas' continued conversation in Lexi's absence. The shadows were everywhere, appearing to be pulling Lexi in. The stairs were hardly forboding; someone had lit the candle mounted on the wall there, casting a warm glow about the small space. But what was impossible to get past was the feeling of being watched. It seemed to be around every corner, simply silent eyes watching...waiting. Everywhere! But it was still a relieving sight for miss Lexi to see Obelisk sitting beside Werr's door, watching her climb the stairs. He was fiddling with something; yarn, apparently. A small white kitten was in his lap, batting at the yarn as he teased the animal with it.

"I sense fear, Lexanna. Are you alright?" Obelisk questioned quietly, setting the string down and turning his face towards her. The kitten let out a soft meow, starting to bat at Obelisk's thumb. He didn't seem to mind.

Lexi shivered, but she seemed more at ease with Obelisk there. She walked closer, her heart pounding from the lonely, dark walk up to the rooms. She tilted her head, watching the kitten play, then said quietly "Hello, Obelisk. Yes, I had a bit of a scare." Thunder boomed and she stiffened, whimpering and closing her eyes. "...Thunder," she whispered softly. "After living your life in a rickey home that leaks and barely blocks any sounds, all thunder and rain sounds the same." She sat down next to him, watching the kitten for a moment before moving her hand out to stroke behind its ears. "Who's your friend?" she asked, smiling very slightly.