The Forgotten Zodiac

"When two voices clash, one will always end up speaking louder, thus gaining the audiance," Malice recited. "It seems our voices are clashing, Obelisk. Who will gain this audiance of one, I wonder?" He sighed, then lifted his left hand. The silver gauntlet gleamed in the light, glinting as Malice turned it this way and that. "Such power," he said. "The power to destroy. You know, I could take you from that body. You used the Gauntlet of Life to create a new body, but you couldn't go into it. With the Gauntlet of Death, I can severe your tie with Obelisk and implant you into your new body. I can't kill Obelisk; that is impossible for me. But there's nothing to prevent me from doing things to you when you are in control, Remor."

"And what point would that serve? So, he'd be in a new body. But he would be without me! Remor, you know how imperative it is that we stay together. You know this." Obelisk hissed.

"I know nothing. You keep everything from me..." Remor murmured.

"I protect you from reality because I know it will destroy your mind, Remor. And if it does that...we'll both plummet into insanity. You know these things,"

"But if we are separated..."

"Then you take that fall alone! I won't let you do that to yourself!" Obelisk protested. "Listen to your wife. Your daughters. Cici, too! Your dearest friend, she's in here with us! Just listen to her."

Remor paused for a long moment, looking down. "My daughters...Lexanna...I want to talk to her."

"Remor, now's not the time for chit-chat," Obelisk groaned.

"You wish to speak with little miss Lexi?" Malice said, tilting his head to the side. "I can arrange that with merely a snap." He lifted his free hand, slowly bringing his fingers together and pressing them tight against each other, then sliding them apart in a quick snap.

Elsewhere in the castle, a rift suddenly jerked open under Lexi and a dark hand reared up, grabbing the girl by her throat and dragging her down with a scream. "Werr!" she managed to wail, then the rift slammed shut over her, sealing them all out.

She appeared, coughing and gasping for air, in the throne room. A single long chain was wrapped around her leg, preventing escape, and other than a single scratch across her cheek she was unharmed. "Welcome, darling miss Lexi," Malice said, eyeing her in a manner that was not quite charming.

Her answer was to scream at the top of her lungs until her eyes landed on Obelisk, to which she scrambled up and ran towards him, crying out "Obelisk!" The chain around her ankle tightened and she fell to the ground, still too far to reach him.

"Feh...look, he hurt her," Obelisk growled. Remor stood, wobbling over to where Lexanna was and sitting down, pulling her into his lap. He stroked her hair and hugged her tightly, completely ignoring both Obelisk and Malice.

"Tch...Lexanna, listen to me. Whatever Malice says, Remor cannot be separated from me." Obelisk said firmly. "He won't die, but he will lose any sense of mental peace. He will drive himself insane if we are apart. Remor will only listen to you now, you have to convince him to--"

"Lexanna, this is Malice. I'm still unsure if he's a friend or not..." Remor said quietly. "But please don't scream at him. It's very rude..."

"Malice won't hurt you." Obelisk reassured her. "As long as this stupid debate is going on, anyways..."

Confused, Lexi leaned back a bit and glanced over her shoulder at Malice, shivering. "R-Remor, he's not a friend!" she said fearfully. "He's done terrible things to us! He stole something that didn't belong to him; an entire body! Why would you ever listen to him?!"

"Why not?" Malice said calmly, fiddling with a latch on his outfit. "Welk has a new body, does he not? I needed a new one and his young, supple form was just too perfect for me to pass up. In the end he remained alive and well, correct?"

"But it isn't the same," Lexi protested. "You stole a body that belonged to someone else. A body that was used to fight for and defend friends, to hold loved ones close, to leap about and feel joy. You can't just take that from someone!"

Malice pretended to give it thought, then said "Perhaps you are right, little one. Perhaps I was...wrong. Or perhaps I don't care. Probably that."

"You don't...care?" Remor blinked. "You don't care at all? How...how do I know you'll care for me, then? How do I know you won't split us up only to throw me aside and use Obelisk for your own gains?"

"That's exactly what he wants to do, Remor. Cici is attached to you, not me. With her gone, he can take me over, and his 'not caring' will force me to do terrible things to innocent people!" Obelisk said, sounding relieved that Lexanna had turned things around for good. Grateful that Malice had been so stupid to allow someone with such a pure heart to speak against him.

Malice blinked, his smile vanishing, then said "How can I care, Remor? When at every turn they're there, trying to kill me? How can I care for someone that continuously tries to destroy my life? Don't they know that the second I die, this body goes with me? Even if they did get it back, there would be changes on it. Permanent changes. You wouldn't care for someone who constantly interferred with your work, trying to murder you." He looked down, feigning sorrow, and said "That is why I cannot care for the body I've taken. The body I need to merely live." He was a perfect liar; any scanner would pick up only truth coming from his mouth, because he truly believed his words."

"Oh..." Remor looked put out, frowning. "But..."

"And what of the people you plan to throw your decay upon? The hundreds upon thousands of innocent humans and Lerloch alike? The ones who did nothing to you, who don't even realize you exist? You don't care for them any more than you care for the grass and dirt you tread upon!" Obelisk snarled.

"You don't care for them either, Obelisk." Remor said at once. There was stiff silence before Remor spoke again, his wavering voice echoing throughout the room. "You don't care for them any more than Malice does."

"And what actions of mine could you possibly use to support such a statement?" Obelisk said, his voice stiff and almost...forced out. "R-Remor, stop smothering me..."

"Don't tell me you don't remember. Centuries ago...my wife...my children..." Remor wrapped his arms ever tighter around Lexanna. "My neighbors and friends...everything I knew and loved, you tore them away from me. You tore out my eyes and you got us into this body...this twisted, disgusting body..."

"R-Remor, stop!" Lexi said, pushing at him. "Y-you're hurting me! Please, you can't listen to Malice! He's different than Obelisk. What Obelisk did was an accident; what Malice wants to do is on purpose! He wants to cause the same grief you feel to trillions of other families across the world! You can't let him do that. I understand that you're upset. I would be too. But you can't just give up and let him win! He'll hurt people just like you, just like the family you had! Innocent little children...infants...sons and daughters! Please, don't let him hurt them! You should be fighting for them because you don't want them to feel the same pain you felt." Tears blossomed in her eyes and fell down her cheeks. "That's what I want..." she sobbed quietly. "That's why I'm fighting. Because...nobody should have to lose their family...like I lost mine."

Remor immediately relaxed. "No, no, Lexi, don't cry. Don't." He said gently. "You're right...I have to make up where I fell short before...where I couldn't stop Obelisk before...now I'll have to stop Malice." He said quietly, kissing Lexi on her forehead.

"Good," Obelisk sounded relieved, but Remor obviously wasn't letting him back in control yet. He still spoke through shadows. "I can help you with that. I can make up for at least a miniscule fraction of the damage I caused before..."

Malice's expression twitched into a snarl. "But without me, you'll never have your own body!" he raged. "You'll never be free, do you hear me?! Oh forget this...I'll just take what I want!" He leapt forward in the blink of an eye, his twisted hand landing on Remor's shoulder and the other coming around to Lexi.

In the span of only a blink, he had Lexi held by her throat, gasping for air and grabbing at his hand. "You want her to live?" he snarled, digging his claws into shoulder until they drew blood. "Then submit to my will. Become my slaves once again and the girl's head will remain attached to her body."

Barely able to breathe, much less scream in pain, Lexi's wide, frantic eyes shot to Remor and Obelisk, begging her friends to help her.

Remor screamed, clutching at Malice's robes "No! Put her down, put her down this instant!"

"Remor, let me!" Obelisk snarled, desperate to drag Remor back so he could take control, but all the human wanted to do was yell.

"Let go of her, Malice, let go!"

"Remor!"

"Please, Malice, don't hurt her, you can't..." Remor whimpered. "I'll...I'll do--"

"Nothing of the sort!" Obelisk snapped into place, Remor retreating back to the quiet sancturary of his own mind. Shadows retaliated at once, blasting into Malice and wrenching Lexi out of his grip.

((Also his arm is broken, by the way. Supported by the bandages, currently, but rip those away and it will be useless. Alsoalso just cut his other arm off, we'll sow it back on later. :T))

The demon released a screech as he was shoved backwards, but it wasn't nearly enough force to hurt him. He snarled and retaliated by forming red shadows in his hands, which he flung outwards towards the two. They cut through the bandages holding up Obelisk's already broken arm, causing it to fall, and completely severed his other arm right off. "Obelisk!" Lexi cried out, fearful at seeing her friend injured, then chains leapt out and wrapped around her ankles and wrists, reeling her back towards Malice.

Obelisk stomped a foot, gritting his teeth against the pain. A circle of shadow appeared at Lexi's feet; it bubbled like tar, sucking at her feet and legs and quickly dragging her down. Down into the abyss.

"Don't fight it, Lexi," Obelisk said, walking forward. "I can protect you completely in there. The realm of Darkness is one that Malice cannot touch. He was, after all, a god. Not even demigods can tread there. But I can ensure that you will be safe until the time is right that I return you to Werr." The tar seemed to reach up, grabbing Lexi's hands and the chains so that Malice couldn't drag her out of it.

Maliced raged just beyond her reach, but she paid him no mind now. Her gaze was right on Obelisk as she sniffled, then quietly murmured "I trust you." Her soft brown eyes never left him as she sank down, finally disappearing into the darkness.

Malice snorted, glaring at Obelisk through his stolen eyes. "Well, you've made a muddle of this," he said. "Or perhaps that was me losing my cool. You know, I really don't care." He raised his large black wings, giving a few well-timed flaps and hovering over the ground. "At this point, I'll just be blunt." He flung his arms out to the sides and closed his eyes, smiling as black-and-red armor appeared on his body. He landed with a sharp click of armored boots, then flicked a lock of his hair to the side. "So," he said, licking one finger smugly. "Is this how it must be, my old pet?"

"You can't kill me, Malice. And that Guantlet can't separate me from Remor at this point. You lost your chance when you brought Lexi into the equation. I don't know if you were trying to be good to Remor, or you forgot that Remor is the human in this body. You slipped up, simple as that, and I'm still in control here." Obelisk said snappishly. "And in case you've forgotten about the 'little brats' running around your castle, I thought you might like to know that they've arrived."

"Way to blow our cover," Ophile snorted.

"Where is Lexi?" Werr demanded at once, frowning.

Malice sighed heavily, rubbing his fingers against his temples. "Oh, the headaches I'm getting in this situation," he said blearily. "I suppose I'll have to kill you all now..." He stalked over and flopped down on his couch, putting an arm behind his head and staring up at the ceiling. "You want to know where your little girlfriend is?" he said to Werr. "For your information, Obelisk is the one that took her. She was pulled down into his dark shadows only a moment ago." He smiled a bit, lying right through his teeth.

"Obelisk...wha..." Werr looked from Malice to Obelisk in confusion and mild amounts of fear.

"I put her in the Darkness Realm when Malice threatened to kill her." Obelisk said simply, shaking his head. "She's alive, she's uninjured, and she's safe. If you thought for even a moment that I would harm her, you are a fool among fools. We have a job to do."

"That's right. Malice, you meet your end today," Nate hissed.

"We're not going to stand for your evils any longer." Ophile added in his barking. "Not that we ever stood for it in the first place."

"Oh boo," Malice said, waving his hand at them. "You're all a terrible bore. My end? Don't lie, dragonian. It'll be your end." He flicked a wing at them, then glanced up as Cynyr lunged for him, golden blade extended. "Really?" Malice said, grinning. "You know that won't work on me." It was as if the panther hit a force-field; he was blasted backwards by black waves of electricity, slamming him into the wall. "Why not come at me with your Gauntlet?" he taunted.

Werr retaliated quickly, the gauntlet on his right hand. Cynyr had given it to him before they stepped in here, of course. He threw up a shield between Cynyr and the waves of shadow electricity, frowning. He was quick to grab at Malice's legs with hands of rock that jutted up from the ground. Statues of armor moved into the room, but not without company. Things started pouring into the room; it quickly became obvious to the others that they had to protect Cynyr and Werr as they fought Malice. Nate was more than ready to slice through the disgusting creatures, horrified at the thought that any of them could be dragged away and turned into one of them. Nate knew firsthand what it felt like, and he wasn't about to dare let anyone else feel that pain.

((Also, I was thinking, and I've decided we could totally pull off something with Sylas and Leo alone. They do have to make the trip to turn over Werr's mother. So they could get back and find those two gone, and whatnot.))