The Forgotten Zodiac

"I know...he's not, though." The Tartaran panted heavily, struggling to walk again. He couldn't manage it, especially as the crystal over his legs and arms receeded, revealing the awfully infected claw wounds on his limbs. He collapsed once more, breathing hard. Diana didn't have such infections; she had only suffered one wound on her leg, and Forin had made extra sure to not allow it to get infected. His shirt was torn up thanks to all the makeshift bandages he had been forced to make.

"N-no, we're not okay." Diana said quietly. "Forin is hurt, Luen is recovering from being a werewolf...I'm alive, b-but...I'm very upset. And tired..."

"It's understandable to be upset. And you just walked a great distance to get here." Sylas shrugged, watching the girl as she walked over to where Zephyr and Naybrin were sitting together. She curled up in between them, probably to sleep. Their warm bodies were quite the comfort for the poor, exhausted girl.

The two dragons both bent their heads around and blew a warm breath over her, and Zephyr kept his head bent in order to sleep beside her, with his muzzle in her lap.

Seria left Luen with Nate and hustled over to Forin, shoving him into a chair without a second thought and telling him sharply "Sit still." She planted her hands on his chest and closed her eyes, concentrating hard as she began drawing the infection from his body and closing his wounds.

Welk nudged Luen softly, eliciting a small moan from him, then said "You should go see Luna when you're better, Forin. We had to drag her here with us. She refused to walk." He pointed his nose at one of the rooms, where they had deposited the limp Luna.

She was frowning hard, and she even winced occasionally as she worked, but said nothing. Cynyr's single eye narrowed angrily at this, but he said nothing, like his wife. Once she was finished, she moved over to Diana, and he moved his hand out to brush her shoulder. She looked up at him and gave a weary smile, folding her fingers gently over his scarred ones before moving away.

Luen suddenly groaned and shifted, whimpering in pain and weakly clutching his head, curling up in a ball.

"Sorry..." Forin muttered as he stood, making a beeline for the room where Luna was in. He had to make sure she was okay, at least.

"Take care of Luen first," Diana insisted tiredly. "He was hurt really badly, too...pl-please, Seria..." She whimpered, curling her leg closer to herself. She could survive until Seria was ready again. Spy was a little hurt, too, but he didn't seem to care. He was too busy sniffing around for insects to notice the wound on his leg.

Seria snorted and pushed Diana's hands away, saying "You need to rest, Diana. I know what I'm doing." She finished with the girl and picked up Spy, healing his little leg before pushing him into Welk's arms. "You're a good boy, Spy," she said with a smile, then bent to Luen and stroked the side of his face before starting to work on his wounds.

In her room, Luna was curled up with her back to the door, unaware of Forin's presence. She was crying softly into her pillow, giving tiny, heartbreaking sobs.

Forin didn't announce his presence. He silently closed the door and sat down in a chair, staring at his fingertips. His hand, from about mid-palm up, was still crystal. It wouldn't go away...he had to concentrate and strain in order to make it leave, but he managed it eventually. Fully his old self again, he settled into his seat and just watched Luna sadly. This was all his fault...but at the same time, Luna's stubbornness had hurt her more than anything. He wouldn't say it out loud, but he wished she would just stop fighting it. This power was good. Abundant.

After a few minutes, he realized that Luna was talking to herself, as if trying to comfort herself but failing to do so. She was saying things like 'can't hear him anymore' or 'connection is fading'. Forin didn't really understand it. He could almost swear she was talking about...them. She said something about being scared and shivered at once, whimpering sadly. She looked lank and thin...she was tiny under the blankets, which seemed to consume her frame.

Forin listened for a very long while, but it slowly became unsettling to hear. He had noticed their connection lapsing, as well, but he didn't think it was anything serious, really. Apparently it was, though. What on earth had happened to the strong and feirce, noble and kind Luna? Why had this been brought about?

Forin finally sighed heavily, which made enough noise to alert Luna to his being in the room.

Luna froze. He could see her body moving slowly with barely-held-back breath. She looked over her shoulder sharply, saw Forin, and blinked, as if unable to believe that he was sitting there. She sat up, turning to face him fully, and simply sat there without speaking, her mouth open, staring at him. Finally, she risked a tentative "...Forin? Is that...you?" She said it, not as if she didn't believe the sight of him, but as if she was afraid of who he was inside.

"Of course it's me..." He murmured softly. "I'm sorry. For what happened before. That's all I can say, really...a-are you okay?" He questioned, concern etched into his features. The way he was sitting, the way he was looking at Luna, and the tone of his voice all screamed out his fear for her wellbeing. "You look like you haven't eaten since I left..."

Tears filled her eyes, then she threw her covers off and ran to him, practically falling into his arms. She pressed against him, crying weakly. "I...I haven't..." she sobbed against his neck, twinning her fingers into his shirt. "There's just something wrong, Forin. These new powers of yours...there's something wrong with them, I can feel it! Like it's tears us apart and taking you over...you're relying too much on it! It's using you!" She gasped, wincing and pressing a hand to her head, then said "I have it too, you know...that same, all-consuming power. But I can't stand it. It hurts and burns and makes me feel like my very soul is caving in on itself... The power hurts! It hurts so much... I tried one time, while you were gone, to use the power. I wanted to do as you said. All I want is to be yours...but it hurt so much. I tried to press through it, but then...I stopped being able to feel you. The whole time, up until then, I could still sense you. Even though we were far apart. And suddenly...it just cut off. I thought...I thought you had..." She sniffed, tears dripping down her nose to fall on his neck.

"No, no, no, I'm not dead...I haven't died. Nothing of the sort. I know it must hurt...i-it...it scared me, too, at first. My connections are more tuned to Diana, though...I knew she was alive, so there was no reason to panic. And I knew you were alive, too...I understand why you're thinking all these things...it's all okay, Luna..." He murmured, hugging her as tightly as he dared. She seemed so fragile... "You're saying these things because you don't trust it yet. The power. It's not eating me, it's not using me. I'm using it. I'm using it to help this group. To help Diana and Luen...I would be a werewolf now if I didn't trust it. You just have to relax and take it slow, that's all..." He murmured, stroking her hair and smiling a bit.

She shuddered, then said "F-Forin, you have to find your powers. Your powers. Not these. Trust me, please! You need to find your powers, the ones you were born to have! Not...not these... Just like me! I've been trying so hard to find my powers again, to get them to dredge up, and I actually managed to teleport a glass of water today! I did!" She spent a moment breathing heavily, then slowly said "And...I've been putting piece of my new true form together. The more I've thought, the more I've become certain of it. But I just can't unlock it..." She pressed her face into his neck, then suddenly leaned up and kissed him hard, closing her eyes as tears continued their way down her cheeks.

Forin didn't press back or lean into the kiss. He tilted his head quizically at Luna. "Are these powers...not good enough for you? It makes me stronger, faster, better than before. Do you...want me to be weak? I don't have a true form, Luna...I've never had a true form. There was Dulce, and then there was me. Dulce's power isn't mine, I can't use it anymore. You have your powers and your true form...and that's good. Can I not have this?" He didn't sound angry. More confused than anything, but the way he spoke made him seem upset. Very, very upset.

Luna leaned back, tears still pouring down her cheeks, her turquoise eyes wide. "Forin..." she said softly, sounding incredulous. "...what's happened to you?" She slowly reached up and stroked his cheeks gently, looking crestfallen. "You're letting this power rule you. You don't think it's bad, but that's the power speaking! You need to harness it for yourself. It's corrupting you, don't you see? And the more of you that it fills, the less of you I can feel..." She didn't move to try and kiss him again. She couldn't.

((So basically, Luna is using the corruption as a bridge to her old powers and True Form, while Forin had nothing like that to go to, and instead dove headfirst into the pit that was left behind when he was removed from Dulce.))

"You're being irrational." Forin shook his head. "Dulce is gone now. The only me that exists is right here, Luna. I'm not going anywhere, and I'm certainly not being devoured by the thing that...that's helping me. I'm just not, okay? Maybe you're right, maybe I just don't understand, but...I think you're wrong, Luna. I think you're dead-wrong. It just seems like you're jealous. Jealous because I can use these powers, and you can't. Or maybe you're the one who doesn't understand. O-or...you're upset, because you keep getting hurt..." He trailed off, the gaze in his eyes darkening. He gripped the armrests of his chair, closing his eyes as he stifled his anger. This was nothing to be angry with, it would only lead to a heated argument. Which would, in turn, cause one of them to say something that they would regret. Most likely himself.

((FOWEEN, Y U SO STUPID.))

Luna's eyes filled with more tears as she slowly slipped off of his lap, her thin legs shaking as she backed up. She gave her head a slight shake, as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Forin..." she whispered, sounding hurt. Stung. She tried to blink back her tears, but failed quickly. "I can't..." She took in a shaking, quivering breath, then said "I'm sorry...I can't...do this..."

Then she startled him.

"I'm going home."

And she spun delicately on one leg, tears flying off of her face and her long hair arching out from her body, and disappeared.

Forin stared numbly at the place where she had been only moments before, tears starting to drip down his own cheeks. So...that was it, then. She just...up and left...

"Here, Nate. You should probably drink something. You look dehydrated." Obelisk offered.

"No, I'll drink when we're at the banquet. Thank you, though." Nate shrugged, still clearly wary of the man. They were currently preparing to go, and as Obelisk had suggested, not everyone was going. Werr, though he had given Welk plenty of pointers, had chosen to stay with Lexi. Diana was fast asleep, and didn't seem like she would wake up until tomorrow morning. Forin hadn't been seen since he entered Luna's room, and no one really wanted to bother him. Carlyle had also vouched to stay, deciding it would be best if an easily recognizable enemy didn't show his face around the castle. He was lucky none of the Peacekeepers had thought to take a second glance at him.

Sylas, though, seemed rather excited to go. Cyprus was chatting with Seria, seeming like he wanted to go. Obelisk was obviously attending as well, as Sylas had included his alias in the forged letter. He was insistent upon Malice staying here, however.

"We should probably head out soon, then," 'Remor Horace' suggested lightly.

Seria was fussing with her appearance, and she continued to do so until Cynyr slipped behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing her neck gently before murmuring "You look beautiful, dear. Stop fretting. You could never be any less gorgeous in my eyes."

"I think you mean 'eye'," she said softly, tilting her head back to meet his torn lips with her own.

Welk pretended to gag behind his brother's back, then straigntened and said "Well, I'm ready. And I look the part." He held his arms out to his sides, showing the robes he had borrowed from Werr, then gently picked up Isslia's hand and said "My lady, could I have this dance?" He beamed at her, then let go with a good-natured laugh.

Zephyr was still curled up around Diana, both dragon and girl sound asleep. Naybrin was perched on Nate's shoulder, hand-sized. He was clearly going with them, along with Dmitry and Marion. Dmitry had a first-class account of his abuse at Bulliete's hands, after all.