The Forgotten Zodiac

Sylas plopped down, leaning against the rock wall of the cave.

"Skies above, dad," Werr looked at him incredulously while Seria was finishing slinging up his wound. "Seria can't heal here, you have to be more careful than that..."

"Here," Nate removed his cloak, starting to tear it up into shreds. "We can use this to bandage him."

"I don't want to talk about it, okay?" Sylas looked away. "It's just...I...I can't. Okay?"

"Dad, you're going to have to come clean sooner or later..." Werr frowned at him. "What were you doing a couple nights ago?"

"That? Oh, that's simple. I was sending a letter to the Alastorian army. I gave them a command to hold, but I don't know how long that'll last. It's only a matter of time before they start marching to the city. We really need to get out of here so we can stop them..." Sylas mumbled, not looking at Leo. He twisted suddenly, inspecting a small dart that was lodged in his side. "Oh, great...poison. Wonderful. Absolutely...wonderful..." He started to shiver and tremble, reaching for Leo and clinging to him. "Ok-okay...I'll explain.

"Galai told me...about a week ago. She told me what would happen. She said that there would be a great, dangerous fight, and it would be the two of us...but only one of us would walk out of it. I shouldn't have been so foolish, Leo, I'm sorry..." He muttered, closing his eyes.

((Dying is what gets them out of Remor's mind. Cyprus can scoop up their souls before they're taken to Death and Life for judgement. He can heal them, then put them back where they belong. But there's no way that Obelisk would know that, and Remor will stop him from communicating that to the others who would still be inside. So Sylas is going to die in an overdramatic way, but of course, turn out to be okay. xD))

((Ah. Okay.

Cynyr: Dying, eh? Okay. -starts blasting Leo's body to shreds with his wind magic- What? You said he'd be okay. I'm gonna have fun while it lasts. - >:3 - -Keeps blasting-))

Leo stood quite still, shocked into silence, then he slowly stepped forward and nudged his head under Sylas' arm, laying down next to him. "Sylas, do you know how many times things have tried to kill me and failed? I'll answer it. Lots. What makes you think this is going to be any different? Just because some high and mighty lady told you so? I'm not going to die, Sylas. I refuse to leave you or my sons alone."

Welk swept past over head, tearing apart another cloud.

((o3o))

Sylas chortled a bit. "I...I was worried." He sighed, leaning against Leo heavily. "So very worried. She said your time was near, and...well, I can't live without you. I ho-hope you're stronger than me, though..."

"What are the symptoms?" Werr frowned.

"Lightheaded, my leg has gone numb, and I think it's climbing. Probably a venom of some kind. I've got an hour or two, maybe..." Sylas sighed.

"We still have time, then. We need to find Isslia and get back to Remor and make him release us." Werr stood, looking up at the great dragon. "Welk! Welk, I know your upset! Save some of that anger for Remor, though, will you? We'll find him, and make him give Isslia back! We will, Welk, that's the first thing we're doing." He called, watching as the second cloud slowly dropped from the sky, bleeding profusely as it floated on top of the odd water.

Welk circled for a moment longer, then finally consented to head down, which Werr knew was only because he had asked him to. If it had been anyone else, Welk would hardly have cared to listen.

He swept down, transforming in midair, and slammed into Werr.

But Werr wasn't afraid, because it wasn't an angry sort of slam. Welk's arms shot out and around the boy, holding him as tightly as he dared as he pressed his face against his neck, shaking softly. Werr was practically the only one to have such a high level of trust with Welk. Isslia's was climbing, and Welk obviously trusted and cared for Cynyr, but Werr...that was just a trust nobody could ever hope to have.

Werr hugged Welk tightly. "It's okay..." He murmured, sitting down and holding his dear friend close with his good arm. "It's all okay. We have to move quickly...my dad's been poisoned. We...need to get out of here, see..." He sighed heavily, squeezing his friend tightly with his one good hand. "I need your help, okay...?"

Welk nodded briefly, still upset and worried, but if Werr asked him, he knew Welk would even cut off what remained of his own tail. The half-cat nuzzled against Werr, then said "Okay. I'm ready. Let's go." He hugged Werr tightly, then stood up and helped Werr stand too, flicking his ears back. He nuzzled into Werr's shoulder, then said "Where do we go?"

"I'm not sure. Isslia was dropped into a dark place, and I'm pretty sure I saw it was a rocky area...we could try looking for caves. Fawn, how vast...is this place?" Werr questioned.

"Not very. If you walk, or even fly, far enough in one direction, you can see the different layers of worlds...there's a gap between them that leads to the subconscious. Get across the little gap - it should just be a short jump - and you'll find yourself in the new area."

"We can find the plains again," Werr stood at once. "We'll find the plains, and then find that cave. We'll have Isslia out in no time."

Welk nodded, then said "I would carry you all in that weird dragon form, but...I'm actually not too good at flying. You might fall off."

"We don't exactly have time to worry," Cynyr said, giving Welk a quick jab in the ribs. "Transform and we'll worry later. I'll fly with Seria; my air wings don't lose magic here."

"Same," Leo said, perhaps hoping to find something he and his son could agree on, and was disappointed when Cynyr ignored him.

Welk tilted his head, then shrugged and rose upwards into dragon form. He bent his bright orange head around, pressing his snout to Werr's chest.

Sylas didn't seem intent on moving away from Leo anytime soon. "Werr," He said, looking towards his child.

"Yeah?" Werr blinked at him.

"If we can't make it out of here in time..."

"Don't you dare talk like that."

"I just want you to know, that...I love you. And I'm sorry, for what I did..."

"I've already forgiven you for that. And you're not going to die, okay? You won't." Werr insisted. He grimaced a bit. "I'm sorry too, though...for hating you."

"That's okay...I kinda deserved it." Sylas shrugged, then winced badly. "Okay, no more touchy-feely moments, we've gotta go save your friend's girl, as well as yours."

"Right..." Werr sighed, leaning against Welk heavily. "Let's go. Isslia is waiting on us...we've gotta go."

Welk crooned softly, closing his eyes as the others climbed up onto his back. He kept his nose pressed to Werr until he felt that the others were ready, then allowed Werr to climb up onto his back and tilted his head up. He rose rapidly into the sky, quite shaky, but managable.

And they were off.

Cynyr darted behind Welk with Seria clinging to his thick black fur, followed closely by Leo and Sylas. Leo rubbed his forehead gently against Sylas' leg, closing his eyes. He was clearly worried, though he tried not to show it.

Sylas wasn't moving much, tucked tightly into Leo's embrace. He closed his eyes, though he was trying hard not to pass out.

They flew onwards, searching for the area of land that held Welk's dear friend.

"Everything I've tried isn't working," Cyprus muttered unhappily. "I don't know what to do, Galai." They were eating what Carlyle had prepared; the soldier had found that he had nothing better to do, so he had decided to take over cooking for Galai. It was a decent breakfast, but it definitely lacked Fawn's loving touch. Eventually, they had to make sure that Obelisk wouldn't be thirsty or hungry; his body was used to getting regular meals, oxygen, and water. He could survive without it, yes, but it was uncomfortable and made him feel a little weaker.

Obelisk was in constant pain. In his old body, he had felt as though he were being crushed. Now, he felt as though he might explode at any given moment. He shook and spasmed, and rolled off the couch twice before Diana and Galai set a blanket and pillows down on the floor for him to lie on instead. Cyprus seemed rather put out, but he stayed next to Obelisk and monitored the conditions of the souls that were just beyond his reach.

Meanwhile, Carlyle went upstairs, in hopes of finding Zelana. What she had said before...he wanted to question it...

She was curled up in gryphon form on the bed, the covers pulled up over her. She didn't notice Carlyle open the door, so she went right on talking to the small orange kitten curled up against her feathery belly. "-dog almost had you, poor baby. At least I found you." She stroked her beak through the kitty's fur, smiling as she purred. "Little flower blossom, you are. And I was feeling so down..." She moved one of her bird-like front paws up and stroked the kitten's head. "Why, I'd say you were smiling, Blossom! You've been the most comfort I've had...in a long time..." She sighed, then Carlyle saw the kitten stand up and gently lick tears from the gryphon's face. "Shh, don't, sweetie," she said, pulling the kitten away and re-tucking her against her belly. "It's not worth it..."

"Are you...crying?" Carlyle said quietly. He seemed...confused. "Are you crying over what I said? I...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel bad. I was just..." He smiled, then said something his youngest brother would say. "The filter between my brain and my mouth was broken for a bit there." He sighed. His little brothers...he had teased and mocked them. But at the same time, he had trained them. To defend the house, to defend their mother...to fight away their father. There were things that Carlyle had left out of his story to Zelana. He didn't have a home anymore because his father had returned and reclaimed the property. The last time he tried to go home for some down time, a few weeks ago, his father nearly killed him with poison dropped into his food. Unluckily for the deranged man, Carlyle had immunized himself against the very poison that he tried to use. A venom called Kikali's Rattle, commonly used in assassinations due to its difficulty to trace. It always just seemed like a stroke that had killed the victim. Heart attacks in the brain.

Carlyle looked back up at Zelana, realizing that he had drifted off into thought.

She jumped, turning red eyes up at him, and spent a long moment staring at him. Then she slowly took Blossom into her paws and promptly shuffled under the blankets. "Here to mock me some more?" she said drearily, without a trace of her usual venom. The kitten mewed softly and she kissed her, lulling her to sleep against her belly. "What do you want, boy?" she asked, curling her wings over her head.

Carylyle looked away again. "I wanted to apologize...but I already did that. I'm not going to demand forgiveness, of course..." He leaned against the wall and shuffled his foot against the floor, feeling the steel toe of his boot bump against his toenail. "I was wondering. About what you said, before...how you had almost found something new...we-were you talking about me?" He turned a little red, rubbing the back of his neck. "I suppose you were...I guess I really wanted to ask...why?"

There was a slight shuffle from under the covers, then Zelana appeared, looking a bit difiant again. "Well, for the obvious reasons a girl would be attracted to a guy," she said huffily. "I thought you were nice, and you're not bad too look at, either. I was drawn to you. Not at all like the ugly blokes I'm used to have trying to paw at me. But those wines obviously rot your brain, because you're quite the headcase who doesn't know word boundairies." She scooped the kitten up in a paw and made for the window, her long tail flicking angrily behind her.

"Hey, stop," Carlyle's hand shot forward, grabbing hers before she could leave again. His grip was much looser this time, more controlled, and definitely not angry. "Please, don't run away again...you...you're the only person who's ever cared enough to try and stop my attempts. You're the only one who cared enough to try and talk some sense into me. I don't want you to go." He dropped her hand, though, knowing that he had to give her a choice.

((-coughcoughattemptScough-))

((.3. Erm...remind me what attempts he's talking about. I...I remember, but at the same time, I'm brain-tooting right now, so.))

She froze, turning around to stare at him in shock. She blinked her purple eyes, stunned, then slowly slid back into the room, shifting forms as she moved. She kept one hand wrapped around Blossom, her wings folding lightly behind her, and as she moved, the shoulder of her outfit slipped low. Carlyle could see the edge of the whipping scars that were forever burned across her shoulders and back.

"...Okay," she finally consented. "I'll stay."

She sat down on the edge of the bed, stroking the kitten and watching Carlyle with a different look in her eyes than before.

((Suiciiiiiide.))

"Thank you." Carlyle sighed with great relief, sitting down on the floor. He wanted to sit on the bed next to her, but he supposed she would oppose to that. "I've been thinking a lot about what you said...and what that little girl said. And...you're both right. I shouldn't be treating myself like this. But no one ever tried to stop me before...I've tried poison, falling, getting stabbed...I've gotten myself captured no less than four times, and each time, they only ever torture me. And then someone turns up. Someone always turns up. Not the same person, but always someone who can get me out of whatever situation I threw myself into. They get me out and put me back on my feet, and...I was getting very tired of it..."

((Oh yeah.

Also, fun side fact: Blossom the kitten is modeled after my real life kitten Blossom, whom I lost, who was the best cat I had ever seen in my life. You remember me telling about how she would beg to be picked up and would sleep on her back in my arms. So yeah, I gave her this little piece because I still miss her.))

"If you're getting tired..." she said softly. "...then maybe it's time to stop trying. You're a person just as much as the rest of us." She slowly reached down and brushed her fingers against his shoulder, saying "You deserve life as much as the rest of us." She tilted her head, looking a bit sad and thoughtful, then suddenly slipped close and pushed his head back by pressing her lips to his. He was probably shocked by the sudden kiss, but it didn't last long. She pulled away, slowly brushing a hand over her lips, then stood up and left the room with Blossom held close.