The Forgotten Zodiac

"Oh, good," Werr smiled as he got off of Welk yet again. "Cyprus, we have a favor to ask of you." Werr said, grinning a bit. He had a plan. He knew it would be dangerous for them, but for the First King and a Demigod, danger was nearly nonexistant. At least, danger they couldn't handle. But of course, the Demigod couldn't communicate well with Werr, so the human king continued at a tilt of the head from Cyprus. "We need you to visit your temple. Greet the priests, meet lots of people, and make sure it's widely known that you're alive and well. Basically, I need you to attract a crowd. With any luck, everyone in the city will be there." Werr grinned.

Cyprus smiled at this. Attention. He wasn't exactly a show off, but he loved attention. If he was a dog, his tail would be wagging like crazy at the moment, as he was filled with a keen sense of excitement. People would be happy from seeing him, of course they would. And he'd make sure they all knew that he liked hugging. "Naybrin!" Cyprus called up to the sky, grinning as widely as Werr was. "Naybrin, let's go to the temple now!"

"Verily, sir, I say to you,

the one armed man with a single shoe,

come ye hither, I'll tell a tale,

of a man who stood through a boastful gale,

who climbed the mountains, saw the sea,

and brought home gold to you and me.

He has slain the trolls in Fuarin'duur,

and to the west in Du'oon.

From here to there in Talendik,

and even to the moon."

Naybrin sang a silly little song, sweeping about in the air until they got his attention and he rocketed back down. He landed with a booming thud, then said "Though I'm loath to admit it, being in my human form drains me badly. I was suffering much without it. I suppose being a human will be a rarity." He bent his enormous head and nuzzled Werr gently, then said "But come, we shall be off!"

"Indeed!" Werr said with a bit of laughter, greatly affected by Naybrin's good mood.

As they flew over the castle, two figures watched them from the road below; Diana and Luen. Diana was cloaked in a white sash that both warded off some of the heat and covered her from immediate view. The only reason they were leaving...was because they were worried. Forin had left in the morning and hadn't returned yet.

Cyprus, Naybrin, Werr and Welk weren't thinking about this, though. They had jobs to do, after all.

Luen watched them go, then sighed and lifted his hand from where he had been resting it on Diana's shoulder. He took her hand, saying "Come on, to the temple of Yemara. That's where Forin had been going." He bent and kissed her forehead ever so softly, whispering that he loved her, then they started their walk further into the town, searching for their missing family member. Luna had stayed back at the castle, deciding to stay close to Lexi. The girl had been acting strange as of late. They had caught her blindly staring out of the windows three more times...

But again, thoughts of the others were out of the minds of those on Naybrin's back.

Werr watched the city whip by. It was only perhaps a minute or less before they arrived in the spacious land behind the temple. Cyprus' temple had a large courtyard with an impressive garden, complete with a fountain and several trees. The Demigod was beaming as he hopped off of Naybrin, looking around. The garden seemed to be...empty? No, there were a few scattered people here and there, all focused on praying.

Cyprus ran to the closest one, practically pulled them to their feet and hugged the poor old woman as tightly as he could. Without hurting her, of course. Cyprus glanced to the side, seeing the wheeled chair she had been sitting in. He smiled and pushed a small amount of magic into her, healing whatever was wrong with her legs. She gasped in shock when he set her down again, and she was full of thanks and rejoicing when she realized who he was. Cyprus was all smiles as he moved on to the next person. Werr watched as the elderly woman hurried off. In mere minutes, the priests were leaving the temple and bustling out to greet the object of their worship.

"Come on," Werr nudged Welk, grinning. "It'll be a chain reaction from here. Let's go tell the people in the market."

Welk meowed and took lion form, keeping his wings inside of himself as he moved by his friend's side.

Meanwhile, Luen and Diana made their way to the temple of Yemara without notice by anyone else in the city. The kirin glanced over his shoulder, making sure no one was following them, then scooped up Diana and trotted inside the building with her. He set her on his shoulders once they were inside, where she could hold onto his sturdy antlers and where he could hold her legs. He glanced around, searching with both his eyes and his nose for any telltale signs of their dear friend.

The temple of Yemara was...quiet. Diana had been expecting blood, torture chambers, death and skeletons everywhere. But no, it looked...fairly normal. There were pews, a high ceiling with a large glass dome, candles, matching chandeliers on either side of the room, and a soft rug. It looked like the temples of the Goddess in Alastor, although the colors were different. And the altar. The Goddess' altar was a beautiful gold, with white candles and food offerings set on it. This altar was a dark color, a deep purple cloth spread on top with candles colored to look red. And it was empty, completely void of any offerings. The rest of the temple was empty as well, save for one human boy, sitting in the corner and munching on what looked like jerky.

Diana made sure to look up, down, everywhere she could. Her eyes fell on the boy a couple of times, but there was no way that it was Forin. He didn't look anything like Forin, and he didn't have the Mark of Tartarus.

"Welcome to the Temple of Yemara," The boy spoke at last, sounding smug. "If you're looking for healing, guidance, forgiveness or care of any kind, you've come to the wrong place! Too bad." He tutted, shaking his head before turning back to his meat.

"We're looking for a friend," Diana said quietly. "Have you seen anyone?"

"Yeah, I saw someone. Seen lots of people. Kind of a fact of life; even if you live as a hermit from toddler age, at one point in your life, you definitely saw someone. It's a big city, and there are a lot of people. No place for hermits."

"Well...he has black hair, an odd mark on his forehead, and a grumpy look on his face," Diana gave a few details, tilting her head to the side. "Have you seen anyone like that?"

"Heck yeah! He tried to punch me in the face when I stole this jerky from him. But hey, finder's keepers, right?"

"Where did he go?"

"Eh, he grapped a copy of the temple book and asked me if I could read it to him. I told him to buzz off. Poor guy probably didn't know how to read, himself. He didn't seem all that bright," The boy just shrugged, then laughed at his own joke. "Then one of the temple watchers spoke to him. Led him into the back room. They haven't left yet."

"Well...thank you," Diana sighed, though she felt a bit angry. Forin wasn't dumb!

Luen snorted, then shifted to deer form and fixed the boy with his sharp antlers, saying "Thank you for your help, but I'll ask you now never to insult my friend ever again, lest I run you through. Got it?" He turned and bumped Diana's shoulder, saying "Come on, let's see if we can't find Forin and Vorpal." He stepped close and walked alongside her, his metal leg making its usual soft clicking sound as he walked.

They found the back door and Luen was quick to put his weight against it, not caring that the door splintered and fell apart.

The back room was just as empty as the main room. There were chairs set up around a long table, and...Vorpal was there, lying on the table. There were scuff marks on the floor, and one of the chairs had been overturned, signs of an obvious struggle.

((Haha, Vorpal...

Oh, there was cholorform involved and you can make something up for the rest of it. 936))

((Sheesh.))

Luen's heart leapt, clenching painfully at once. Why...why did this happen to them? "Vorpal!" he cried out, then froze. The room stank of cholorform. He was quick to push Diana out, saying "Don't come in here, Diana." He turned, holding his breath easily, and proceeded to wash the room in his ice powers, covering every inch of it so the stink wouldn't affect them. Then Diana was allowed in.

Vorpal was motionless, even missing his usual hum. "Vorpal!" Luen said again, nudging at the blade before catching the scent of cholorform on him. They had soaked the weapon in it, in so much that it would've normally killed ten people Nate's size. Or maybe even Naybrin in dragon form. That was how powerful the weapon was.

Finally, he slowly stirred, muttering "...Gonna...murder...someone..."

"What happened? Where's Forin?" Diana trembled, fearful. She looked around the room, searching for any signs of her dear friend and guardian. "He was just supposed to get a temple book and come back, wasn't he?" She sniffed, on the verge of crying.

"I...I don't know," Luen said, nudging Vorpal again. "We're depending on this blade for a few details."

Vorpal roused to consciousness and immediately screamed "MURDER!!" He calmed at once, humming shakily. "Wh...what happened?" he said slowly.

Luen had jumped at the sudden scream, nearly tumbling over, then shook his head and said "Vorpal? Are you alright? Where's Forin?"

The weapon was silent for a long moment, then quietly murmured something.

"What?" Luen said, craning his head forward.

Vorpal repeated it a bit louder. "I...have failed."

"What do you mean, you failed?! Where's Forin, what did they do with him?" Diana couldn't hold it back anymore. She wept bitterly, worried and terrified for her dear friend and guardian. She remembered something and felt inside herself, tapping into her unexplored magic. Forin had taught her this skill not long ago; she cried out on the inside, knowing that Forin would be able to hear it. She called out to him, hoping for a response...something, anything. But there was nothing but silence. At the very least, she knew he was still alive...

Diana wiped her eyes and said, "Spy, we need Spy. He can find Forin..."

((Also, I'll have Luen be bitten from the 'wolf' (the one that's really a werewolf) soon. Just to let it start its infestation.))

Luen's expression was one that was twisted with pain and fear as he grabbed Vorpal with his mouth and nudged Diana up onto his back. He turned and raced out of the room, his hooves pounding on the pavement. Vorpal wouldn't say anything else, no matter what they asked of him, and that alone made Luen worry. Vorpal was rarely ever this silent and glum, and usually that was only when Forin threatened to do something to him. And even then, this wasn't a forced silence. It was self-given.

So Luen ran on, finally making it to the castle, where they searched for Spy.

Spy was in the library, calmly reading what appeared to be a children's book. It was full of bright pictures and Spy was giggling; he didn't know how to read the Bullier language, but he loved the pictures.

So of course, he was a bit surprised when Luen slammed the door open. He jumped a bit and let out a squeak. "Spy, we need your help," Diana said at once. "Forin...please, find Forin,"

Spy blinked at her, then ran past them and out into the hall. He ran down the hall and out of the castle, pausing there to make sure the others were following him.

As they ran along, they were joined by Luna. "Hey!" she called, making them pause as she trotted over, a few bags in her arms. "What's the rush? I just got back from looking around the marketplace, and they have so many neat things here! I was just going to make Lexi something to eat. Poor girl hasn't been feeling well at all lately."

"Luna, enough!" Luen said, stomping his hoof. "Forin's gone missing."

Instantly, the bags in her arms fell to the ground as she stared in shock. "No..." she whispered, her eyes growing wide. She and Luen met eyes silently, then she swung up behind Diana as he leapt forward again, following quickly behind Spy.

Spy darted through the market, which was quickly emptying. Most of the people were...gone? Spy found them soon after, though he didn't want to. They were gathered in front of the temples; the reason was soon clear. Cyprus was healing people left and right, and hugging as many townspeople as he could. There was quite the chatter going around; no one had seen Cyprus ever before. No one alive now, at any rate.

Spy ran past the crowds and behind Yemara's temple, which was empty and quiet. There was a large graveyard here. Diana let out a wail when Spy stopped in front of the altar. "He was buried alive?!" She nearly screeched.

"I dunno. He's this way, though," Spy pushed against the altar, but he was too small...underneath it, however, was a staircase that led to a large underground cave.

Luen nudged him out of the way as Luna slid from his back, and between the two of them, they managed to shove the altar aside, revealing the staircase. "Everyone stay close," Luen instructed, and he bent his head so Spy could jump up onto his antlers. Then they began the trek downwards into darkness. Luna's hands were shaking slightly, frigthened for the fate of her beloved boyfriend. If he was dead...she didn't know how she could ever keep going. She had always hoped they would someday be more...

Diana pressed close to Luen, quietly terrified for her dear friends. Spy settled behind her, also very scared, but good at hiding it.

Down the staircase and through a short tunnel, there was a simple, square room. It looked...clean. Forin was there, chained to the floor. He was spouting complete and utter nonsense. "They stole her, they stole the Goddess...I burned them all to the ground for that, I did! And then I was stolen, they stole me, too...ripped me from my place, then ripped me apart..." He jerked against his bindings once or twice, and a puff of white smoke burst from the vent underneath him. He went limp again, clearly defeated by this contraption that had poisoned his mind while he struggled.

He looked injured, too. Not much, surely, but he had a broken arm and what appeared to be a sprained ankle. Both gotten from his struggling.

"There you are," A voice said as the heavy metal door slid shut behind Luen and Luna. "The Priestess and her posse. Perfect." The voice was female, and...not in the room. The voice seemed to be coming from the vents. "Oh, don't worry. I'm not Yemara. But you will be seeing her soon...in the afterlife. If you thought for a second that we'd tolerate you bringing her back...I pity you. Don't bother trying to save your friend, either. Cut the chains, he'll be run through by a sword underneath him. Your ice spells will only trigger that, too. Every jerk he makes, he's given another lungful of something I made myself; it's driving him mad. So even if you do manage to get him loose, he'll probably just try and eat you. He's tough, too. Killed two of my men before we managed to chloroform the room he was in...yech, at any rate, you'll all be dead soon enough. Oi, get the poison gasses running! We don't have all day, people." She snapped, clearly to someone else.

"Ghost lady~! Murdering people left and right, ghost lady!" Forin sang, clearly not in control of himself at the moment. He jerked again, coughing and spluttering as the white haze rushed into his lungs once more.

"Wh-what? No!" Luen shouted, fear knifing through his body. "We're not trying to bring Yemara to life! Far from it! We don't want her anywhere near us! I won't let you do this!!" Tears dripped down his cheeks as he said "Please! Stop it! Diana is no priestess anymore than I am a...a lion or a dog! She's just an innocent little girl!" He had to step in front of Luna to prevent her from charging forward, her eyes absolutely ablaze with fury, hate, anger, and the burning desire to kill someone. She was very scary when she was mad, to say the least.