The Forgotten Zodiac

Ophile nodded and vanished from the visible spectrum, running off to the jail, where they were dragging Nate.

The girl opened her eyes when the wounds on her chest were closed. As Seria started work on her arms, she started crying; her mother wailed, trying desperately to thank Seria, but unable to through her blubbering. When all was said and done, she pulled her daughter close and cried, holding dear what she thought had been lost. The man pulled Seria to her feet and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. "Thank you," He said for his wife, letting go quickly and kneeling next to his daughter and wife.

"You saved her," Cyprus said. He had wandered out when he had sensed dying, ready to mourn a loss, but he looked happy now. "You're a wonderful healer, Seria. I'm very happy we have you here." He smiled brightly.

Seria panted, looking up at Cyprus and smiling weakly, then her eyes fluttered and she slumped into his arms, exhausted. Her blue eyes dimmed down significantly, and she looked utterly drained, but she was still alive and would recover. After spending a moment against the demigod, she slowly stood and moved after Nate, determined to get him out of jail. And she had a plan. She had just gained the favor of all of the people around here for so valliantly healing that little girl. Perhaps she could use that.

Cyprus took her by the arm, helping her along. "There, there...you can do it." He murmured, ever the comforting one.

Ophile was waiting at the jail's entrance. He turned visible when Seria approached. "They're not mistreating him. The most they've done is gag him when he burned one of the Peacekeepers, and the chains are because his thrashing about was hurting himself." He explained. "They haven't done anything else, but I'm pretty sure he's already scheduled to be executed. Attacking children isn't a tiny crime here, even if the child is okay...are you okay, Seria?"

"I will be...once Nate is safe," she said quietly. Then she steeled her nerves and stepped inside. Tears leapt to her eyes at her bidding, and she humbled her steps and nearly stumbled once or twice. She walked inside and located Nate, immediately calling his name. "Oh, Nate!" she cried, rushing forward and throwing her arms around him. "Are you okay? Oh, please be okay..."

Nate hardly moved, fury and fear mixed together in his gaze, which he slowly turned on Seria. He tried to say something, but his gag was obviously in the way.

"B-be careful, he's dangerous!" One of the Peacekeepers yelped at the sight.

"No, wait," Minerva was there, of course. She looked at them suspiciously. "Perhaps she can calm this beast..."

"He's not a beast, he's still a person--" Ophile started, but Minerva cut him off. And from the annoyance in her voice, it was obvious that they already had this conversation.

"A vile criminal who nearly killed an innocent girl," She snapped, glaring at him. "Look, we're reasonable people here. But this man is a danger to us all, and there's no way I'm letting him go."

"We just have to keep an eye on him--"

"Because you were doing a brilliant job of that before. You've said all this already. He doesn't know what he's doing, he's more or less insane, I don't rightly care. He hurt someone, a helpless child. What kind of peacekeeper would I be if I let someone like that go? Your connections with king Welk don't matter here. His kingship itself has no influence here. I'm not releasing this man."

"Please, I can explain everything!" Seria cried, keeping her arms wrapped tightly around Nate. "He was infected with a terrible, terrible sickness that is eroding his mind. I can't heal it..." She sniffled, sad and soft, then said "Gracious Welk and his friends went to get the antidote for him. If they can just give that to him, he'll go back to being his normal self, which I assure you, loves children ever so greatly... Please! Don't kill him, I beg of you! Just let me stay here. I can keep him calm until my friends return with the cure for his mind." She flicked her tail, saying "I'm begging you..."

"And after his mind is cured? How am I supposed to know that he won't be attacking anyone else? How am I supposed to know that he himself won't be in danger? The children here are highly treasured, and important for our future. Your dear friend has made himself an enemy of this town, insane or sane." Minerva said, keeping her cool rather well. "Letting him walk would only instill chaos and violence. As a Peacekeeper, I can't do such a thing. You can stay here, but I'm not going to let you walk away with him. If I had my way, he'd be executed, regardless of whether or not your friends arrive on time, but...I can wait for them before I make my final verdict."

Nate tried to speak again, and suddenly twisted and strained until the chains around his wrists popped. Old chains.

Nate immediately started stabbing himself repeatedly with a nail he had picked up off the floor.

"Nate, stop that!" Seria cried, grabbing his hand and forcing him to let go. "Stop that right now! Think about Ariana! I'm not about to leave her fatherless, and neither are you! Stop it and sit tight, please? For me...for Ariana..." Her voice and eyes begged him to be still, to not struggle. "Please..." she said softly, her blue eyes brimming with tears. "What about Luen? We still need to go after him. He's suffering too, Nate. We're...all suffering..."

Nate stared at her for a long while, then pulled the gag out of his mouth. He didn't speak, but he swallowed hard and watched Seria for a long moment. Finally, he lowered his head onto her shoulder. "Nate...was bad. Hurt a girl. Hurt Ariana..." He whimpered, starting to cry. "I killed her...I don't know why..."

"No," Seria said vhemenantly. "You didn't kill her. I fixed her right up, and she has a good future ahead of her. You would never hurt Ariana, and you won't hurt anyone else ever again. Welk and Werr will be back with a cure for you, you'll see. You'll be all better, and you'll go home to Tasia and Ariana once all of this idiocy has blown over. You'll be fine, Nate. Listen to me and calm down, please. You'll be fine..." She kissed him gently over his eye, exhaling softly.

Nate proceeded to mutter incoherent things. Seria had to stop him from reaching for the nail twice, and eventually he started trying to bite himself, though he didn't break the skin. He was just determined to hurt himself. To injure himself in order to try and alleviate some of his guilt and shame. In his broken mind, the girl he hurt hadn't been just a little girl; he had seen her as an older version of Ariana. His own daughter...in his mind, he had hurt her, and he may as well have killed her.

Eventually, Minerva left, off to do her patrols.

Seria stayed with Nate, continuing to show her kind spirit and brave nature by sitting right on his lap, twinning her small body right next to his bigger one and keeping her arms around him, always murmuring soft things to him. Eventually, his shirt was wet with her tears, and her heart was heavy with her thoughts.

*

Far, far away, where he hoped nobody could ever, in a million years, find him, Luen limped up a steep slope, panting heavily. He hadn't eaten for days, even though his urges for blood and food were nearly stiffling his mind. But he forced himself onwards with grim determination. He was searching for a place. One place. A spot where nobody would find him, where he could carry out his last plan in peace.

His plan was to die.

He was going to find a place, like a cave or a small valley, and starve himself to death. He would lay down in a peaceful place and die slowly, as he deserved.

Again, his mechanical arm pained him where it was attached to his body.

Snarling and whimpering in the same tone, he ripped the precious piece from his arm and moved to throw it as far as he could. But he held back. He tried stomping on it, but he couldn't make himself put his foot down on it. He stared at the metal, so lovingly crafted into an arm, just for him, and wept quietly before howling out his grief.

Finally, he simply set the arm down. He placed it delicately, as gently as he could, in the shadow of a spot under a tree. He hoped it wouldn't be disturbed there, in the safe little hollow under the tree. Maybe someday his friends would find it, years and years later, and either wonder what had become of the werewolf-kirin...or not remember him at all and wonder what the heck this strange metal piece was.

The latter thought hurt Luen's heart greatly.

So he trudged onwards, more dead than alive, until, several hours later, he found a small cave nestled at the base of a large mountain. He sniffed around, and upon comfirming that there was nothing alive in there, settled down at the far back, curled all around himself. Thick tears dripped from his emerald eyes, and he slowly wiped them away. His friends' faces danced before his eyes, as he was unable to push them away. For a moment, he even thought they were real. He reached out desperately for Diana, to Forin and Luna, only to see their images pop out of existance like a balloon.

He wept again.

Once he had finished, he just sort of sunk down into a dreamless sleep.

And it was at that moment that his inner life-force flickered. And as the hours swept past, it began to dim. Slowly, of course. Ever so painfully. But like a candle in growing darkness, his life was fading.

Alone.

*

Dmitry held Marion's hand a little tighter, walking along the streets of Herrace.

She had protested against his walking so freely out here, but had relented when he had nearly begged for it. And had put on a hat that covered parts of his face.

Now they were walking down the market place, seeing what there was to see and looking like nothing more than two young lovers walking together.

((LUEN YOU ARE SO DUMB SERIOUSLY))

Marion was happy. Her dearest Dmitry was walking about with her through the tiny market, looking at the wares of jewelry. She smiled and tried on a necklace, but was quick to put it back; she was never too fond of jewelry, but she definitely enjoyed making Dmitry smile. That was something he didn't do enough, clearly...

((o3o" He is da sensitives.))

Dmitry smiled and picked up a exotic green desert scarf from a stand, lashing it out and catching the other end as it curled around Marion's waist. He used that to pull her close, smiling seductively as he gave her a small kiss. "The green brings out your hair," he said softly, holding both ends of the scarf and using his other hand to stroke her neck gently. "I would wear it myself to remind me of you, except it's rather feminine." He chuckled, his glasses shifting just so on his face.

((Clearly. xD))

Marion chortled, adjusting his glasses for him. "You should wear it anyways. Or at least just carry it around." She smiled, wrapping her arms around him. "Or we could wait. Hold off and try to find something nicer in a bigger market." She smiled brightly at him, planing a kiss on his nose before turning back to the stall.

He smiled after her, watching her walk, then promptly purchased the scarf and looped it around her waist, tying it neatly, saying "For the love of my life." He stroked gently under her chin, then let his hand rest around the curve of her delicate waist. They admired many of the trinkets at the stands along the way, but they didn't really take much of an interest in anything else.

Until they reached a stand selling elegant, beautiful rings.

Dmitry's eye was naturally caught by the sparkling gems, him being a relation to true dragons. This wasn't the only reason why his eye was caught, of course. He spotted a beautiful emerald ring sitting peacefully next to a brilliant sapphire one, both just sort of nestled against each other.

Marion was distracted by what seemed to be a mouse in an alley. Being part snake, it wasn't any surprise that such things enticed her; she shifted to her snake form and slid easily into the alley, going after the mouse. It was early morning, and she hadn't had any breakfast yet. Honestly, she wasn't surprised that none of the stands carried food; it was a relatively small town, and there wasn't a single person without a farm or connections to one. Most people sold what they did during their free time, for hobbies and whatnot.

When Dmitry returned to her, he had one hand in his pocket, looking both pleased and mortified. He had clearly bought something, but he didn't let Marion know what it was. He even hoped she hadn't seen the swift tuck of his hand into his pocket. He merely helped her corner the mouse, then said "Why don't we go find some real dinner? I'm certain someone sells something somewhere..." He let her twine around his body, stroking her reptilian head lovingly.

((Breakfast. It's early in the morning. Werr and Welk and Cynyr and Isslia got the root and potion in the evening, and Nate got captured later at night. So it's morning now.))

"Somewhere, I'm sure," Marion chortled, feeling the creature wiggling a bit in her reptilian stomach. She'd digest it sooner or later. It had definitely been tasty, that was for sure. Fat and a bit more clean than common rodents. Perhaps it had been someone's pet. Marion would feel bad, but the owners never would have found such a thing ever again.

"There," She pointed with her tail, eying what looked like a butcher shop. "There's some meat. You need meat."

((Oh, okay.))

Dmitry chortled quietly, then said "Sure. We'll get something for you, too." He wandered over to the stand and studied everything closely as Marion rested her head on his shoulder. He soon found something that peaked his interest. There was a fine cut of beef on the stand, and he was quick to purchase it before ducking into an alley so he could cook it with his flames. Having grown up in such royal settings, the skinny young man preferred cooked things to raw, despite being able to consume both.