The Forgotten Zodiac

Forin snarled and snapped at her, but Airlia wound up smacking him right across his face. "Stop that, we're trying to help you."

"You're not doing it right." Snider sneered, planting his hands on either side of Forin's head. There was quite a bit of snarling and squirming about, but eventually that was stilled. With a flash of light, Forin was returned to his natural self, though there were still multiple weapons stabbed into various places. He collapsed, hardly conscious at all. He spluttered and gasped, while Snider looked up at Zehpyr and Titus.

"I fixed his head and body. As much as I could, anyways. I can't fill that gap, though; he'll sink right back into that corruption unless you have someone make him a bridge. So to speak."

"His girlfriend can do that. Now leave, Snider."

"Fiiiiiii-ine." Snider whined, not wanting to go anywhere at all. There was nothing for it, though. He was gone in seconds, strolling casually through the door and leaving the bruised Cyprus and the bleeding Forin behind.

Namanai put her hands over Forin's remaining wounds, sealing them easily, then she turned to Luen and took the wet cloth Airlia handed her, beginning to wipe the still-slightly-smoking potion goop off of his face. Even she winced at the burns this revealed. "Magic," she said, shaking her head sadly. "A brilliant witch, indeed. I can't heal this. She mixed in preventatives. He'll be lucky, lucky, I say, to keep his sight. It'll take some time to heal on its own, and until then, he's pretty much blind." Once she had cleaned off his face, she began wrapping soft, clean cloths around his head, in strips that crossed over and covered his eyes. "But with a good healer that knows her herbs, he'll be fine," she tutted, letting Zephyr take him.

She turned to Forin, who was still a bit awake, and put her hand on his forehead. Airlia had to help support her a bit. She really was getting old.

"How do you feel?" she asked kindly.

"Awful. Absolutely awful." Forin muttered, limp and uncomfortable. He held onto his consciousness, always the fighter. "But at the same time...better. Airlia..." He mumbled.

"Y-yes?" She blinked.

"Thank you. For smacking me. I was about to bite Naminai's head off..."

"I saw." She smiled softly.

"Well...ca-can you help me stand or something?" He sighed. Airlia did so, then he promptly vomited on the floor. "U-ugh...sorry...Naminai, thanks...I guess. For Luen."

Namanai gave a slight snort and said "Don't thank me. I could do nothing. He'll need you and Diana and the rest of your friends in order to recover his sight." She handed him a cloth to wipe his mouth off on, then said "As soon as you can, I suggest you find your girlfriend, because unless you can create a bridge for your powers, you'll just revert to that horrible form again. And this time, it will be permanent. Also...remember to be sympathetic to Luna. She's had quite the hard time since - and a bit before - she left you." She turned away, saying "You can stay here for a time, Airlia, if you wish. I can manage without you for a few hours." She limped away, bent ever so slightly over her cane.

Zephyr watcher her go, then bent his head down to Forin to give him some support.

"Goddess, no..." Forin turned pale when he thought about returning to that monstrous form. He had known his actions, but had no control over them. That in itself scared him... when she mentioned Luna, he straightened himself out. He gave Luen a hug, ignoring the fact that his friend was unconscious. Then, leaning against Airlia, he allowed her to lead him to the room where Luna was.

He broke away from Airlia and knocked on the door. When there was no answer, Forin guessed she had been told of his return. "Luna...? Luna, I..." He rested a hand on the door, closing his eyes. "I'm so sorry, Luna. I was...horrible. To you. To the others. You were right all along, that corruption wasn't lending me power with no gain. It turned me into a monster...I...I should have listened from the start, but I was stupid and foolish and...I'm sorry." He rested his forehead on the door. "An-and now, I need your help. You don't have to...I understand if you don't want to. I understand if...if you don't ever want to see me again. Just say the word, and I'll go away. I'll just...bring Diana here, then leave you with her and go very far away. I won't object. After what I've done..." He sighed heavily, leaning entirely on the door. "I...I need help. Your help." He knocked again when there was no answer. "D-do you...want me to go away, then...?"

"Um, Forin..." Airlia tilted her head a bit to the side, smiling slightly.

"What...?" He turned to look at her, tears in his eyes. Luna was beside her, having stepped into the hallway before Forin had started talking. She had heard everything, of course. Forin looked at her with great sadness and remorse in his eyes.

Tears were dripping down her cheeks, but she made no move to touch him just yet. She turned her head away, closing her eyes as more tears flooded down her face. Neither moved for a long moment. Forin didn't want to scare her off, so he simply stood there, waiting desperately.

And then she fell on him, pressing him back against the wall, and kissed him as he had never been kissed before. She pulled back and clung to him, sobbing against his neck. "Oh, Forin, Forin..." she whimpered, just holding him as tightly as she could. "I missed you. It was a burning ache inside me, an ache I could never, ever, not for as long as we live, fill with anyone else. I need you and you alone, do you hear me? You are mine, and I am yours, until the day we die." She pressed her face into his neck, crying softly.

Forin wrapped his arms around her tightly, never wanting to let go. He pulled away a bit and looked at her in the eyes. "That's...that's good. I feel the same way, so..." He wiped tears off her cheek, smiling a bit. "So no more crying. You don't even have to be upset that you left, I forgive you...I forgive you even if you don't forgive me. So..." He kissed her forehead, smiling a bit. "I need you more than ever, Luna. I really do."

She tilted her head back a bit, closing her eyes under his touch and shivering when his lips touched her forehead. "I love you," she said softly. "So much. And I would be lost without you. I was lost, really..." She kissed him again, much more gently, then said "Just promise me one thing, okay?" She leaned against him, sighing.

"We were the first to be a couple. At least promise we'll be the first to be married, too."

She giggled light-heartedly at that, nuzzling closer and feeling complete, now that she had him back.

Forin smiled a bit. "I swear it upon my summoner's heart." He murmured. That was much more serious than swearing it upon his own heart. For a summons to put their own summoner at risk...well, this was basically a summons' way of saying that it would be done. No question about it. "Now," He said, taking her hands in his. "We should get back to Luen and Zephyr."

Marion stirred, opening her eyes. She didn't see much; she was in snake form, tucked into a burlap bag. What...what on earth was going on? The last she remembered, she had fallen asleep on top of Dmitry...Dmitry! She squirmed around and pressed her nose up to the fabric, only to recoil. The bag had been soaked in vinegar, which kept her from smelling anything but the strong reek of the sour oil. She had no idea what was going on, and no way to find out, really...

There was a weak moan near her, one she recognized instantly. Dmitry was evidentally in a similar situation nearby, but she didn't have long to think on it. A familiar voice said "They're awake enough. Open the bags."

Marion was dumped out first, where she was immediately grabbed by a thick, heavy hand. A collar was strapped around her neck, the other end of which was chained to a heavy ring in the floor. She could transform, but couldn't move very far at all.

A moment later, Dmitry joined her on the floor, both just out of reach of each other. His glasses skidded to a feeble halt against Marion's coils. He coughed weakly and Marion saw blood on his lips, a sign that he had experianced one of his attacks. He sat up, immediately gaping at the figure before them, sitting on a delicate chair.

Mirage, with her close henchman Vinmar at her side.

"Well, I never thought I would see you two sad sacks around again," she said, idly flicking a lock of her long white hair.

Marion twisted around, hissing and spitting angrily. "You kidnapped us! Took us while we were asleep! You knew you'd be seeing us again, you monster," She snapped at the hand of a third man, a wiry little freak with stringy hair and...a lot of magic. Marion's own light magic, which was untrained and pathetic, was a grain of sand in comparison.

"Heehee! Such tasty little morsels. Much better than anything I've seen before." Snider giggled. He had only just shown up; teleporting from Alastor all the way back here had been an easy feat for him. "Horray, horray, today's the day that I get to see some blood," He held his hands up, opening and closing them in front of Marion tauntingly. She lunged forward and sank her fangs into his hand, but he tore her off without a flinch. "Your venom holds no power over me, little worm. I am only a short step down from a god, after all...transform!" He snapped, and Marion had no choice; Snider's own magic tore into hers, forcing her to transform into her human form. Snider then turned his attention to Dmitry. "Ohh, can I cut him open yet?"

"Snider, you will kindly get your mits off of them," Mirage said boredly. "They are our guests, for now."

Vinmar loomed threateningly at the smaller man, and even he had to cower back a bit. Vinmar was positively huge.

Mirage smiled when he came back over to her, planting a small kiss on her lips before turning. "Oh, my dear brother," she said with a sigh. "You know, I've had a lot of trouble getting you here. All those wasted chances and whatnot." She took Vinmar's hand, thinking, then said "You know, if your little 'group' is for Herrace now, that means we are not enemies. Bulliete is our enemy, is it not? Because I remember spilling my secret to you. How I had been leaking Herrace information on their enemies this whole time? Yes, I quite remember."

Dmitry panted, wiping his mouth off, then said "You're insane... How is this any way to get our attention?!"

"I wanted to be funny," Mirage said sarcastically.

"Freak? Please," Mirage said, shaking her head. "True, I hated Dmitry's guts, but that was a while ago. Now, we're all working for the greater good, aren't we? You can see how well I've done for myself. Look around you. This beautiful, lavish home is all mine. The Peacekeepers rewarded me for coming to the king with all of my information. I live in peace now. After all, Marion..."

She held up her hand, where there were two beautiful rings in her hand. The rings that had been at that stand Dmitry and she had walked past before, where he had walked away after subtly purchasing them. One set with blue, the other with green.

"...Wouldn't you just love to have him slid this beautiful blue-set ring on your finger?" she said with a small sneer.

Dmitry's eyes had leapt wide in horror, and his face was red with embarrassment.

"Oh? So this wouldn't matter, would it?" Mirage said, then she threw the rings idly over her shoulder, into the burning fireplace. Dmitry jerked against his chains, calling "No, don't!" but it was too late. The rings fell into the flames. "But it doesn't matter, does it?" Mirage said darkly. "After all, Dmitry can just say what he wanted, couldn't he? What did you want those rings for, Dmitry? Do tell."

He was silent, his face nearly as red as the blood on his sleeve, then he slowly mumbled something.

"Couldn't hear you," Mirage said.

Throwing his head back defiantly, Dmitry raised his voice.

"I want to marry her. This very moment, right now, I want her to be mine. Loud enough for you, sister?"

Miraged stared at him, a dark look on her face.

"For the last time, I'm not trying to kill them! I don't CARE if they love each other! She can have him," Mirage snapped. "I just wanted a friendly chat and some information."

"What kind?" Dmitry said, his eyes straying to Marion.

"Oh, a bit of this and that," she answered. "Like just what is driving you to stay with these pitiful little pups you might call 'friends'. Do they have power? What is it?"

"I don't know myself," he said. "All I know is that things happen around them, and for some reason, I still feel like I need to be there. Like I'm not meant to walk away and be done with them just yet."

Mirage bit one of her nails lightly, then said "Tell me a bit more about Naybrin. He's the king of the dragons, no?"

"Retired," he said slowly. "And what could you possibly want to know about him?"

She smiled curtly, then said "Let's just say I'm drawn to the powerful ones."

Mirage raised an eyebrow at that, looking much more interested. "So Naybrin is where it's at, hmm? Perhaps he can help me..." she murmured. "Alright then. If you two want your little love to last, you'll bring him to me. Until then, my brother gets to stay here. With me." Her grin worsened. "Take him, Snider, and let the little snake go free. Marion, if you want your new fiance to live more than a few hours, you will find a way to get Naybrin to come here without the others. Am I understood?"