The Forgotten Zodiac

Diana turned her gaze on him. "Pl-please, don't cry...I hate it when people cry..."

"He's crying for a very good reason," Forin sighed, taking Luen's hand and pulling him back a bit. Diana relaxed, ever so slightly. "You. You're sad, so he is..."

"I've always been sad..."

"We've been sad since you were taken from us." Forin sighed.

Diana clamped her hands over her ears. "Y-you're making my head hurt..."

"The Strider seed inside you is fighting against us. Don't listen to it, Diana...please, just come to us. Walk to us. We'll protect you. We'll make you happy again." Forin pleaded. "Those monsters you call your protectors now...they're hurting you, Diana, don't you see that? Look at your arms, for Goddess' sake!"

Diana did. She trembled and shivered, and tried to pull away from the Soulless Strider. But it refused to let her go. Enough was enough; these intruders were hurting Diana, even if they hadn't touched her. A Skinless Strider was the first to strike, and the unexpected attack landed Forin underneath it, screaming in rage as he felt the gnarled teeth clamping tight around his shoulder.

Luen let out a sharp deer screech as several other Striders leapt at him, grabbing onto his flanks and sinking sharp teeth into his pale skin, tearing bloody wounds wide. He shifted forms, bucking and throwing his head, trying desperately to get them off.

Vorpal was knocked from Forin's shoulder, and he quickly scrambled back up and darted to Forin's hand, transforming into a sword the second he touched his master's skin.

Luen kicked at the last one, smashing his hooves into its face and snapping its neck, then swept past Forin, who gave a jump and caught the deer around the neck, swinging himself up onto the kirin's back in pursuit. Despite the blood on his flanks, the ice mage galloped strongly, air rushing in and out of his lungs as he strained his body, racing along in a blurr of white, his legs pumping, pushing himself to go faster.

Luen pranced slightly out of nerves, his eyes and voice carrying worried tones. "Are you alright?" he asked, bending his head without thinking and nuzzling her all over, nudging at various wounds and scrapes, ignoring his own bleeding bites. "Curse that Remor's soul to oblivion..." He licked her cheek gently, blinking at her and flicking his ears.

"We'll help you get them," he said softly, closing his eyes and pressing his nose against her cheek, chilling her skin with his breath when he exhaled. "Just close your eyes...it's okay...we're here now..."

Snow. Snow was falling all around them now. Luen's powers, channeled through his emotion, had created a soft storm of flakes, falling all around them in piles and growing drifts. The little flakes gathered in clumps on their heads and bodies, making even Forin's dark black hair look white. Vorpal shivered at the cold, quickly ducking into the pocket on Forin's shirt.

Diana dropped her arm and lowered her head, starting to cry. It was just gentle sobs at first, but the pain and misery she had endured over the past four months - and what she remembered to be her entire life - was leaking out.

"That's enough now, that's enough...let's go back to the barn. I think Luna has returned with some dinner for us all. We can clean up there and eat, and talk about what all you remember..." Forin said gently, coaxing Diana into his arms, where she belonged. She leaned into his hug, tears streaming down her face. "There, see? I'll take good care of you..." He led her back to the barn, his every action and word filled with a relief beyond anything else.

Luen walked alongside them, his hooves making a soft clopping on the rough ground, which was quickly becoming more and more laden with snow. He walked right by them, his round eyes watching their every move.

At the barn, Luna was waiting tensely for them, while Cynyr had started a fire and was sitting with Seria, who was still in cat form. The panther was wordlessly stroking his wife's head, and he looked up without a sound as they entered the camp, blinking his single eye at them.

"I see you already cleaned up. That's good." Forin said, looking around. "Sorry about that. It was an...emergency situation." He moved forward and kissed Luna quickly, smiling at her. He murmured, very softly, "We have to be careful not to lose Diana. Would you help me watch her?" He asked, though he already knew the answer.

Diana, in the meantime, watched Cynyr and Seria in stiff silence. Her broken arm hung at her side, held close to her with her free hand. She didn't recognize them, so she stuck very close to Luen, in spite of how cold he was at the moment.

Cynyr said nothing, merely flicked his tail and stroked Seria's fur back. The female half-cat looked up at him, then slowly stood, padding quietly towards Diana. The girl pushed back against Luen, of course, but Seria didn't mind. She bent her head, touching her soft pink nose to Diana's arm. The broken limb healed after a moment, and Seria pulled back. She walked back to her husband, who tilted his head at her, his gaze questioning. She gave a very weak smile at him, laying down beside him again.

Diana rubbed her arm, frowning a bit. "I...thank you..." She murmured, flexing her fingers. She turned and hugged Luen again, still holding the snowflake he had made for her.

Forin noticed this and pulled out his notepad. "Can I see?" He asked. She held out her hand, and Forin quickly sketched out the flake's delicate design. "I'll make a glass necklace for you when we get back to Alastor. In this exact shape, okay?"

Diana slowly nodded, not really sure what he was talking about. Then Forin pulled out his bag, with all of its toys. He held out the bag to her, smiling. "I brought these for you. Here, this is your favorite," He pulled out a little doll he had made himself, one of the first toys he had ever made for her. Diana took it hesitantly, sitting down and inspecting it curiously. Forin looked up at Luna. "What did you get for dinner?"

"Rabbits," she said softly, watching Diana with a concerned expression on her face. She longed to scoop the girl into her arms and make sure she was okay (and get her out of that horrid outfit), but she didn't want to scare her. She only seemed to want to be near Luen right now, really.

Seria had fallen asleep in cat form, breathing in and out softly against her husband, who was as silent as ever, sitting with her partially in his lap, stroking her fur over and over and occasionally bending down to kiss her cheek or above her brow, or the bridge of her nose.

"Good. That's good." He nodded. Forin turned and smiled at Diana again. "Are you hungry? We have food. Plenty of food, and you can have as much of it as you want. We have water, too."

Diana blinked at him. "As much as I want?"

"Seria should get some too, but you can have my portion if you want it, and Luen's too." Forin nodded, knowing the Kirin wouldn't object even if he was half-starved.

"Seria...I know that name," Diana blinked. "She was a nice lady with cat ears and a fluffy tail...she took care of me when Remor..." She trailed off, looking down again.

"When Remor what?" Forin frowned.

"When Remor finished hitting me. He...wanted me to toughen up, so he would make me fight him, and he always beat me...but the lady went away after awhile, and Remor got that big cat, instead. He stopped making me fight and made me make Striders, instead..."

Forin felt his stomach churn. If that Remor wasn't burning in the deepest, darkest depths of the underworld right now, he'd have a few choice words for the Goddess. "It's okay. You don't have to make any more Striders, never again. How did you...how did you make them?"

"Like this," Diana reached out and took Forin's hand. The skin on his arm seemed to dissolve, but quickly grew back, and she let go hurriedly. "I...I can make anyone a Strider...Soulless Striders take longer. I made a Headless Strider once, too...b-but I don't like it. They're scary, and..." She rubbed her arm again, this time feeling the scarred ridges where the Striders had bit her in order to drink her blood.

"What else can you do?" Forin rubbed his arm, struggling to keep his expression purely curiosity. His frown might scare her into not talking.

"I can call any Striders nearby towards me...which I don't like doing...a-and if I die, I...I'll turn into a Pheonix Strider, Remor said..." She whispered. "That scares me."

"A lot of things scare you, huh?" Forin sat next to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. She nodded weakly, starting to cry again.

Luen's ears went flat against his head, and neither he nor Forin noticed Vorpal dart out of the Tartaran's pocket, not liking being nearly-squished by anyone, even someone who had been through as much as Diana. He flew to Luna instead, who accepted him into her arms and let him curl against her neck.

Luen pressed his nose against Diana's neck, exhaling on her skin without meaning to, chilling the air around her as well as her skin. "Were you ever just...unhappy?" he asked softly. "Like, you felt as though you didn't belong there, or that you should've been somewhere else? No memory flashes, no faint desires, no...nothing?"

"I was...I was very unhappy. I...sometimes I would remember something, and I'd tell Seria or my Things, but...I always forgot what it was." She said softly. "Was that Remor, too?"

"Yes. I think it was." Forin nodded. He then sighed, and said, "Diana...would you agree to let Luen into your soul? To...take a look around and try and repair some of the damage he did?" He asked softly, tilting his head to the side.

"M-my soul?" She looked up in obvious worry. She looked up at Luen, a stray tear slipping down her cheek.

He looked down into her eyes, dark green meeting light, and said softly "I just want to help. I promise, I won't hurt you." He licked her forehead softly, asking quietly "Do you trust me?" He would do nothing without her consent, of course. He wasn't Remor, who would force his will on others. No, Luen had to make absolutely certain that Diana was comfortable before he would move.

"K-kind of..." Diana murmured, looking up at him. She wiped her eyes, then slowly nodded. "I...I do want to remember. I don't know if..." She looked down.

"Luen won't be able to return your memories. Obelisk said that once we removed the Strider seed from your heart, you would start remembering things over time." Forin answered quietly. "And he can help it along, and we can show you places to help you remember, too..."

"Just let me see," Luen said gently. "Like he says, I can't fix the memories, but I might be able to help with any soul damage. Plus I can take the seed out, if I find it. Just...let me see."

He closed his eyes, pressing his nose to her forehead, and she felt a wonderful sensation of calm wash over her, like she was sinking into a frosty ocean of heavy water, just floating along on nothingness, with only a shimmering white deer by her side, floating, floating...