The Forgotten Zodiac

There was hesitation for a long moment. "Prove it. I don't want to kill people any more than you want to be killed. But if Yemara returns, everyone will die. She wants revenge...people don't believe me, but I know. And the chances that you aren't lying to me are too low. You're lying to try and save your own lives...if you want to live so badly, leave the priestess here and flee. I'll only kill who I need to, to prevent this disaster from ever happening."

"Yes, leave her here to die with me. But...there's someone else. Two more people. I won't let myself die while they're alive. I'll fight with everything I have, I'll--" Forin could barely move without triggering the white smoke. He finally fell silent, his eyes flicking around the room desperately. He couldn't seem to focus on anything.

"No. No!" Luen shouted, stomping his metal hoof on the ground with a powerful, sharp sound that resonated through the room. He did it again, even harder, and blood began to drip from where it was attached to his stump. "Diana is NOT a priestess! Can't you hear me?! I've known her for long enough to know she isn't! She's NOT a priestess and I won't let you kill her! I won't let you kill any of my friends, you sick monster! AUGH!" Enraged, he struck out with his metal leg and made a visible dent in the wall, flinging a few drops of blood about.

Several scattered on the ground near Forin, puddling on the ground.

"You're only hurting yourself..." The voice murmured. "I'm not the monster here. I'm just trying to save the world. At any rate...it was nice knowing you. Goodbye." There were several clicks, and a purple gas started floating into the room, sinking low to the ground and starting to spread out. Obviously, as he was chained to the floor, Forin was the first to inhale it. He started coughing immediately, but there was no chance he could get any fresh air. If the poison didn't get him first, he would be starved of oxygen and die.

"W-why, why, why?!" Diana wailed, hugging a crying Spy close and buring her face in Luen's fur.

"Stop!" Luen shrieked, coughing badly. "You're just killing innocent people!" Behind him, he heard Luna fall to the ground, unconscious. He felt blood start to drip out of his own nose, then he fixed his legs, locking them into place like a horse that would sleep standing up. "If I'm going to die here, then I swear I'll take you with me!" he shouted. "But don't kill my friends! These are good, innocent people!" He clenched his teeth, then screamed at the top of his lungs, "Why are you tearing out my soul?!" He burst into tears, wailing and sobbing as if someone was driving a knife into his chest.

There was a long pause of silence, then there were several clicks. The purple gas stopped pouring in, and it slowly dissapated. Forin was unconscious by now, though his limp body heaved in the fresh air the second it was available. Diana slid to the side, in danger of passing out, but she held fast onto Luen and fought it with everything she had.

The door slid open behind them. The boy from before stood there, his hands on his hips. "She wants to talk to you. Dunno why she wouldn't just kill you...tch," He turned and walked off before Luen could say anything.

The kirin panted heavily, then slowly unlocked his knees and immediately collaped. The damage to his frail body had been so great...but no. He had to go. Luna started to stir a bit, blinking confusedly as she opened her eyes. Luen slowly stood up, bending his head around to nudge Diana towards Luna. "Wait here," he said, his voice rough and scratchy. "Stay close to Luna and scream your head off if anyone tries to do anything to you or if anything starts coming out of the floor again." He kissed her cheek, then pushed Spy into her arms and turned, limping heavily towards the door.

Diana nodded shakily, curling around Spy fearfully.

The boy led Luen, not helping him walk in the slightest. He rapped a short pattern onto the back door of the temple, then ran off, his job done. The door slowly creaked open, revealing their most recent attacker. She was sitting in a chair, at a large wooden desk. Papers upon papers were stacked around her, as well as a copy of each temple's books and a few other forms of literature. The room was empty aside from two chairs in front of the desk, a bookshelf, and a bit of darker-toned artwork on the walls.

Her brown hair was in serious need of a brush, and her sharp green eyes hardly even glanced up at Luen. She looked human, but the collar around her neck obviously stated otherwise. Which was a bit odd; she had no obvious animal features.

It was a long while before she spoke, and when she did, she sounded...conflicted. "Weeks...weeks of planning, plotting, setting all of this up. Working everything out, testing the trap, getting my hands on enough components to make that much poison gas..." She pushed an entire stack of papers aside, letting it all tumble to the ground. "But I can't do it. I...I can't just kill people and brush it aside...y-you probably want to kill me now, and...I don't blame you. I welcome it. Not much left for me..."

Luen panted softly, staring at the girl in front of him. He shifted to human form and immediately grabbed onto the back of a chair, blood trickling from the edge of his mouth. He weakly sat down, tilting his head at the girl. He forced himself to stand up, slowly walking over to her. His hands moved out, towards her neck, as if to strangle her. His voice drew up in his throat as he put his hands on her shoulders.

"Come with us."

Silence.

He spoke again, his voice soft. "Then come with us," he said quietly. "Leave this behind. It's obviously not for you." His hands on her shoulders were cool and calming, completely devoid of malice or hatred for what she had done.

"It's a thought," The girl said calmly, her eyes cold as she looked at Luen. "But, I...I can't. For a number of reasons. Firstly, I don't feel like participating in bringing about the apocalypse. Secondly...I'm a slave. Even though I'm technically not owned...I can't just up and leave. I...I'm a criminal, at that. The guards are always looking for me, but they're not allowed to enter in here. That's how I've avoided him...my little friends go out and shop for me, but it's only a matter of time before the guards get permissions from Izan...and then I'm a dead woman. Not that it matters..." She sighed heavily, clearly depressed by her failures.

"Diana is not going to bring about the apocalypse," Luen snapped, backing up a pace. He mulled it over, then said "I...I don't want to see you die. You don't look that much younger than me... I mean, why not? If I brought you an extra collar, one of ours..." He spun the bright red collar around his own neck. "...then you'd be our responsability and the guards would have to go through us first. We'd have the right to discipline you how we wanted. I..." He shook his head, then said "I just don't want to see you go down like this. Stuck here, alone..." To be frank, she reminded him of himself, so long ago, bound to a single fate.

Then he found people that opened up his world.

"You would...why?" The girl blinked at him. "I just...tried to kill you. I'm not happy about it, but I still tried, and..." She looked down. "Like I said, I'm a criminal. I've been hunted down for a very long time, and if I suddenly show up at the castle..." She shifted uncomfortably. "Why would you help a lonely criminal like myself? Even if you did...I don't think I would be very helpful at all. The likelyhood of me being capable of doing anything but talking is...very small." She sighed, then looked down.

She didn't have legs. Just uneven stumps.

Luen looked down for a moment, then said "Because...I've been there. I've been all alone, when nobody was there for me. All it took was one person, though. One person. And I found a new life." He tilted his head, saying "Maybe that's what you need. That one person to show you a new life."

He coughed suddenly, clapping a hand over his mouth. The poisonous gas was still affecting him...

"Oh...the poison," She started rummaging around in the drawers, then pulled out a small box. She opened it, revealing several syringes. "Give me your arm," She demanded, and when he did, she injected him with the liquid inside. The effects were quick; all symptoms of the poison were flushed from his bloodstream and airways. She sat back and relaxed a bit, thinking about it. "I suppose...if you'll take me, I have no reason to object. My chances of survival at this point are awfully slim on my own...you should get these to your friends," She pushed the box of syringes to him. "Once they're feeling better...come back for me, yeah? I...I hope you're not just getting my hopes up for nothing. But there's nothing for me to do but trust you..." She clenched one hand into a fist. "If you don't come back, I'll have you hunted down. I'll...take your friend away again, and make you come back. Got it?" She snapped, obviously trying to be aggressive. She wasn't terribly good at it, though.

Luen nodded, then said "I promise you, I will come back. I won't just abandon you. I promise." He tilted his head at her, then said "I'll return tomorrow with the new collar, okay? Then it'll just be a matter of going back to the castle." He stared down at her for a long moment, then felt something flutter inside him. He gently bent and took her hand, saying "I...I like you. For some reason, I do. I won't abandon you.

"I promise."

Then he turned and ran back to the others, determination on his face.

((-huggles-))

"Tomorrow...seems like forever away," The girl sighed, leaning back in her chair again. The little band of slaves that she ran would be fine without her; technically, they had their own masters. But she...she had no one.

Well, now there was one.

Diana and Spy took the injection well; they hadn't inhaled too much of the gas, so they were okay.

Forin, on the other hand...the girl's voice came back through the vents. "Don't worry about the sword. That...was a bluff. Just cut the chains, he'll be fine. Oh, and give him one of the green injections, then the clear one, in that order. You can do it out of order, but he'll just wind up dead..."

"Why is she helping us now?" Diana questioned quietly, puzzled.

"I talked to her," Luen said quietly, stroking Diana's head gently. "And...I dunno. I just...trust her." He kissed her forehead gently, then turned and did what the girl had instructed on Forin, stroking his hair out of his face. Then the scrawny kirin took deer form, managing to pull Forin up onto his back. Luna had woken up a lot more, and she was able to stagger up and help Luen move around. She gently lifted Diana and set her on Luen's back, holding Spy in her arms.

They turned to leave, but Luen paused.

He slowly glanced up, not knowing what he was looking at, and murmured "What is your name?"

There was a short pause. "Allie," She said quietly. "Allie Waest. Don't tell that to the guards, though, they'll rough you up for just mentioning the name."

"Thank you," Diana said up at the voice in the vents. "For not...killing us."

"It was an obvious choice. Just go." She snapped, clearly impatient with them at this point.

Luen didn't waste time at that. He turned, nudging Luna gently to get her moving, then they headed out, walking slowly. Luen limped heavily, blood still dripping from the edge of his prostectic leg. But he managed as well as he could, and they slowly headed back towards the castle. When they got there, they went into their room, completely drained. But Luen didn't stop yet. Once the others were settled and secure, he went and found another collar. Bright red, with Alastor's symbol on it. Only then did he settle down and rest with his friends, the collar clutched tightly in his hands.

((So he told me. Now I'm just wondering why you wouldn't...

I've felt oddly like crying for most of the day. I don't know why. I...don't know why anything.

You're one of the only people I have to go to besides my family, you know.

Without you...I have nobody.))

((Fun fact: Allie's surname is pronounced 'waste'. Isn't that degrading? : D))

Forin didn't fall asleep. He stared at the ceiling, the wall, Diana, and then Luen. Then he slowly rolled out of bed and walked over to where Vorpal was, leaned against the wall. He laid back down in his bed, his sword tight in his grip. "I feel weak. Pathetic. Taken down by two scrawny slaves and a cripple..." Forin tossed and turned, muttering things of the sort. Then he stood again, moving out into the hallway and pacing. He paced and paced, upset with himself and...well, everything. He suddenly turned and ran, unsheathing Vorpal. He violently attacked a standing suit of armor, his blade clanging against the metal frame.

((Interesting. Before you know it, it will be a better, prouder name. Something like...Faolin. :eyes: ))

Vorpal said nothing against the attack. He was a sword, after all; he wasn't meant to have an opinion on what his master did or not. But finally, when Forin paused for a moment, he spoke.

"You know, master Forin...I felt like I had failed you for quite some time. I am not a perfect weapon, like I thought I was. I do not deserve the title 'Great Black Blade'. I was unable to protect you with my might. Forgive me for this.

But here is where I refuse to fail you. You are not weak and you are not pathetic! You are Forin, summon to dear miss Diana...and I would have no other to wield me. Not a single other Tartaran may so much as touch me without burning. Not even Titus, and I am finer than his own weapons. Nay, I am I weapon fit for a king...and you are my king, Forin." He was quiet for a moment, as such profound words never usually came from him, then he said softly "Shall we fight together again, master?"