The Forgotten Zodiac

"Pretty much everyone you see laying here," Galai said sadly. "Werr, Welk, Cynyr, Seria, Isslia, Lexi, Nate, Fawn, Malice, Naybrin, Sylas, Leo...all of them." She put her fingers to her mouth, looking so sad and fearful. "I don't know how your powers work completely, Cyprus. Nobody but the Goddess could know that. I sometimes wonder if even you can tell, you're just so powerful." She 'tsk'ed softly, closing her eyes, then said "But no matter. You must help them. Please, Cyprus, we're counting on you."

"It's a rather sad thing, not knowing what all I'm capable of..." Cyprus touched his arm lightly, smiling a bit. "But I will most certainly do...everything in my power, known and unknown, to help them. No matter what. I'd allow this shell of mine to vanish, if that's what it took..." He stepped forward and hugged Galai again. "Don't worry, dear cousin...I'll try." He smiled at her.

"You don't have to tread into...the Realm of Dar-Darkness. I'm here..." Obelisk dragged himself out of the wall, and immediately collapsed. Cyprus hurried forward, dragging him away from the portal and into the middle of the room.

"Great Goddess, you're going to explode like this," Cyprus whimpered, then put his hands over the eternal being. "I can't pull anything out yet...they're all shrouded in darkness!"

Galai hurried forward as well, bending over Obelisk. "Oh dear..." she said softly. "Now what do we do?"

*

"Are you sure this will work?"

"Positive! Not really!"

"This feels weird..."

"Just do what you normally do!"

"Which is?"

"You know. Be angry and foreboding and moody."

"When I get down, you're the first to die."

"See, that's what I'm talking about."

Welk tilted his head back, staring up at the distant figure of Cynyr, who was using his air wings to stay aloft...and next to the moon. Here in Remor's mind, for some reason, the moon was fairly small and close to ground. Cynyr, hovering next to it, found it was hardly any taller than his waist. He also found that he could easily hear the others, despite them being far below him, and vice versa.

"Maybe this isn't the best of ideas..." Werr tilted his head to the side. "We don't know what part of Remor's mind this thing represents."

"It doesn't," Fawn tutted. "I told you. This place is entirely falsified. He treasures that tiny moon,"

"How do you know?"

"Look at it," Fawn raised a brow. The orb was rested on a large pedestal, on a fluffy red pillow, and it looked polished and well taken care of. "Would you put something ordinary there?"

"No...I guess not." Werr frowned a bit. "Alright, well...so long as this doesn't get us killed...he'll be mad, sure, but let's be ready for him."

Cynyr nodded, then faced the moon and readied his magic. His hands glowed brightly with green magic, then he threw them forward and blasted the moon into shattered pieces. He was immediately flung backwards with such force than the landing knocked him unconscious.

"Cynyr!" Welk and Seria called, racing over. Seria touched him gently, then reported "He's okay, just stunned. That was some power...be ready for anything."

The ground started to tremble. Like heavy footsteps approaching. Thump. Thump. Thump. It got closer and closer, and the group prepared themselves to fight something huge. Something massive.

But then the night sky, the little town, all of it melted away. They were standing in the middle of a green field. Before them sat Remor, calmly sipping some tea. Lexi was next to him, not moving. She seemed...dead. She was dressed in clothes that Werr didn't recognize; they were nice, yes, but Remor had put them on her. Werr wanted desperately to tear them up.

"They're trying to get you out, you know," He said with a small sigh, taking another sip of his tea. "Galai, Cyprus, Obelisk. They're all desperate to get you out. But it's far too late, you see...you're mine. You'll spend a week or so more in here. By then, the world will be ready for you to return to it. And once you see what's become of your precious lands, I'm going to kill you. It'll be fun." He grinned.

"Nu-uh!" Welk shouted, anger surging through him when he saw Lexi. He too came to the realization that Lexi's outfit had changed, and it made him angry. Lexi was Werr's, not Remor's. It was Werr alone that could look on Lexi in such a way, Welk had long since decided. Just like with Cynyr and Seria, and, if things went well enough, himself and Isslia. "I'll tear you apart!" Welk shouted, shifting forms and lunging for Remor even as his friends shouted no, shouted for him to come back.

Remor vanished from sight, reappearing behind the others. Behind Isslia. He grabbed her by the hair, forcing a kiss. Right on the lips. She made panicked muffled sounds as he did so, kicking and fighting desperately. No good. When he did let go, he dropped her into a hole of black nothingness that swallowed her up. She wailed and screamed for a moment, but before Welk could get anywhere close, the hole closed up.

"She's a lovely girl, really. Tasty." He grinned horribly.

"You're a sick freak!" Werr screeched at him, swinging a punch. He didn't have his staff here; he actually hadn't seen it since Gual attacked...

Remor caught his fist. "And you're a whiny little brat of a king. But," He chortled, letting go. Shadows wrapped around Werr's wrist, twisting until there were several pops and snaps that signaled dislocations and breaks. Werr had to contort his arm and twist around to avoid having his entire arm twisted off. Remor dropped him, smirking. "Weak, pathetic fools..."

A scream erupted like lava from a volcano, except that volcano was Welk. He arched upwards, turning into a massive, hulking orange dragon. Rage contorted his handsome features, making him oblivious to everything around him. The others had to run out of the way to avoid him, or else be crushed along with their surrounds. Luckily, Cynyr was awake and able to grab Werr, using his air wings to propel them to safety. Everyone else dodged as much as they could as Welk crashed around in a rage they had never seen before, perhaps his worst temper ever.

Remor just walked calmly back to Isslia, picking her up and vanishing again. This time, he was nowhere to be seen. Welk's fire, in the meantime, started eating away at the grass, stretching to the trees off in the distance. But soon that too melted away, to be replaced with a dark, damp cave. Welk's tantrum sputtered out against the walls and burned away at nothing but moss.

"No, no," Obelisk suddenly moaned, pushing Cyprus away and crawling back to the portal he had left up.

"Obelisk, stop, hold still!" Cyprus objected, pulling him back. Obelisk did eventually stop, but then his hurting gaze turned to a glare.

Remor bit down on Cyprus' fingers, making the Demigod yelp and back away. "Get away from me," The ancient madman snapped, standing up and brushing himself off.

"Remor, why? Why are you doing this?" Cyprus whimpered, half hiding behind Galai.

"Because I can." Remor sneered. "Now hand over Diana...or I will crush the soul of...hmm...Sylas and Leo."

"Why would we give her to you?!"

"Because I want to make her better. She's such a sweet little girl. She'd be much better off joining the Realm of Darkness as the first Heartless Strider since...oh, I don't know, three eons? Making a Heartless Strider is actually quite quick and painless...and then she'll never feel pain again. Or sadness. Or misery. They can make things happen that others can't. Like...bring someone back from the dead. Friends...family."

Diana froze stiff. Tears rolled down her cheeks at the mention of family. Her mother and father...long dead. Could they really be brought back...? She considered it, and was so deep in thought that she didn't feel the poral opening up beneath her feet. She screamed at the top of her lungs, clinging to Galai's hand. "No! Noooo! Galai, help me!" She wailed.

((Galai can close those portals, by the way. Just be careful not to tear Diana's legs off.))

((Natch.))

"Diana!" Galai cried, pulling hard on the girl's hand. She flung a wing out and wrapped it around the girl, then plunged her free hand into the portal. Immediately, the portal released Diana, sending her flying into Galai's arms. Galai forced the portal closed, then, glaring at Remor. "Be gone, foolish man!" she shouted. "I will not let your presence lurk here. Am I understood?" The very house started to shake under the pressure of her powers.

((Natch? .3.))

It was not her powers alone that were causing the house to tremble. It was the war they were waging against Remor's own. "I am not something you can slay or put down, Galai," He laughed. "I am but a man. The old laws dictate that you cannot cause harm to humans unless they have caused direct harm to you. You couldn't even hurt Toroph when he was driven mad with confusion and pain and attacked me; the most you could do was pin him down. See, I haven't hurt you, Galai. You can't do anything to me. Your powers mean nothing here."

Diana sobbed. She was confused; she knew what a Strider was, she wasn't stupid. She had heard the others talking about them plenty of times. They were monsters...but at the same time, if she had power...she could actually be of some use to the group. She could help them...she could help everyone. And she could see her parents again...

Mom...dad...

"That's right, Diana..." She jerked as she realized he was right in front of her, staring at her and grinning maliciously. "Come along, come along...join the Realm of Darkness. Become a heroine of the night and shadow. You can be anything..." He held his hand out to her. She stared at him in panic. He tutted. "Or you could stay here...and remain a useless little child forever. Nothing but deadweight, really..." He started to lower his hand, and without thinking, Diana snatched it before he could drop it completely, though one hand remained with Galai. Remor immediately pulled, meaning to rip Diana away from Galai, but thankfully - oh so thankfully - the queen had a grip on her already.

Diana was caught in a tug of war between the queen of light and the lord of darkness. "Hand her over," Remor snarled in rage, throwing a certain Demigod aside when he tried to stop him. "Or I'll create armies upon armies and destroy Leo Kaelen and Sylas Rowe. I'll kill them!"

"Let go, let go, let go!" Diana screamed and wailed, starting to get cuts on her arm where the shadows were digging into her skin. She felt them start to twist her arm around, and screamed all the louder at the first pop.

"You liar!" Galai shouted. "You know you can't bring her parents back like that! It will never be the same, such in the case of Relic, the last raptorix! He had died and Malice tried to bring him back, but he never was the same!" She snaked her light powers down Diana's arm, like long fingers, and pried Remor's grip loose. She pushed Diana behind her, saying over her shoulder "You should know better than to trust him, Diana. You are a beautiful, intelligent girl, and you remember that we were working on giving you use within your group? At least, I thought."

((Just means okay. xD Also, Galai was teaching Diana how to fire light arrows.))

((Oh, okay. xDD And cooool. o3o))

Diana sobbed out a weak, 'I'm sorry', clinging to Galai for dear life with her one good arm. Her mind was weak and vulnerable. Remor's tricks and traps were effective on her. But now she knew better; Remor only wanted to hurt her. She wouldn't trust him again, never again.

"Fii-ine. I give up. Say goodbye to Sylas and Leo, then...oh wait, you can't. They're already as good as gone." Remor grinned, backing up a step. He ran right into Cyprus' waiting hand, which let out a pulse of magic. Remor collapsed, and Obelisk returned immediately.

"Augh...Goddess, cease thi-this madness..." Obelisk squrimed on the floor, groaning with pain.

((:3))

Galai tilted her head down, tears dripping silently down her cheeks. "I only wonder..." she said softly. "...if I could've done more." She folded her fingers together and sent a quiet prayer up to the Goddess, begging her to protect those in danger.

*

Welk was inconsolable.

With Werr currently being healed by Seria, there was nothing that could be done for the raging transformed dragon. He growled at Cynyr, pushed Nate away, ignored Leo, and Naybrin nearly got his hand bit off. He flew in endless, circling arounds of their surrounds, unable to go far, just wandering aimlessly. The need to find Isslia was overwhelming his sense of sanity. He had to find her. He could never let her out of his sight. He could never let anyone but himself be near her.

And he had failed.

With an angry roar, he rocketed towards a could, ripping it to shreds and not caring when it oozed blood.

((A could? .3. -confuuuusion-))

"You pro...tected Diana. Th-that's enough..." Obelisk sighed.

"Heartless Striders are the epitome of evil. I dread the day when I may have to face one...and I don't wish it to be you, miss Diana." Cyprus said softly. "Don't listen to him any longer, okay?" She nodded, weeping still over her foolish mistake.

*

Werr felt bad for the dragon, but he was angry, too. Lexi...why hadn't she moved? She hadn't even looked towards them. She had seemed practically dead. Remor had something to do with that. Werr was sure of it. This world was wrong, too. So very wrong. Fawn couldn't even explain what was going on.

They had been dropped in a cave, but just outside it was a vast ocean, yet it seemed more like a swamp. Trees and islands dotted the way towards another submerged mountain. Welk had pushed Nate into the water; the Dragonian had floundered for a bit before realizing that the water wasn't doing anything. It was there, but it didn't fill his mouth or lungs. He could breathe, fly, do everything normally in it. He was just slowed down a little bit.

So, needless to say, it was confusing. Werr was trying to think about what could cause such a thing, but nothing made sense. Fawn, in the meantime, was checking the immediate area for traps. She didn't find anything, but after a few minutes of staring down at the water, she realized something.

"Werr, look over there. What do you see?" She pointed.

Werr squinted through the waves, not entirely sure what she meant. He saw...fish. But not normal fish; anthropomorphic fish, to put it bluntly. Large and walking around. But a lot of them were clustered just below the cave where they were, grouped around a couple people. Exactly two. Fighting for their lives.

"Behind you!" Sylas yelped, taking a step forward and thrusting a spear into another of the fishmen. "I-I don't think I can hold up much longer, Leo," He spat out around a mouthful of blood. He had taken several hits for his friend; he was simply determined to not let Leo get so much as a scratch. Not that the half-cat knew why. But first it had been lizardmen; that had been twice as bad. Now they were here, fighting fish in an environment they weren't used to. Their movements were slow; Sylas was sure that if they tried, they could swim up through the water-like air, but if they tried, the fishmen would surely catch them and that would be the end of it.

"Then stop trying to cover for me!" Leo answered back. "I see you doing it! Quit it!" He pushed Sylas out of the way as one of the fishmen dove at him, slicing the entire fish in half with a burst of wind power. "What's the deal with you, Sylas? You've never tried to cover for me like this before." His narrowed-eyed glare told Sylas that he obviously meant to talk to him about it later, but for now, they were a bit busy. Leo wove his hands into an intricate position, muttering words, then grabbed Sylas and held on tight as a tornado kicked up.

The tornado was more like a whirlpool, but it certainly did the trick. A great deal of the fishmen were swept up into the 'air', thrown about madly. Without warning, the tornado was mixed with flames; Nate was standing nearby, helping fuel the destruction of the enemies. The tornado swept past, leaving a trail of fire licking at seaweed and sand, as well as fallen fishmen.

"You two okay? Seria is having a hard time healing things here, so I hope you're not fatally wounded," He eyed Sylas with a small frown.

"I figured she'd have a harder time here," Sylas grimaced. "We're pretty much entirely spirits here..." He rubbed one of his wounds. "Get us up there, Leo, before we get taken to fight something else," Sylas held onto Leo while Nate flapped his wings, ready to lead the two up to the surface of this strange liquid that they could breathe in.

Leo switched forms and let Sylas onto his back, then unfurled air wings at least three times bigger than Cynyr's and shot upwards like a rocket. They broke the surface and landed nearby.

"Okay," Leo said, rounding on Sylas. "What's the deal? You've been acting weird around me, and I want to know what's up."