The Forgotten Zodiac

There was a flash of light, and Naybrin felt a numb tingling go up his arms and flash through his entire body. "Naybrin, get out of here! Get back to Werr!" Forin snapped, realizing what was going on. Naybrin had been returned to the mortal realm. Forin himself was unable to help; he had to defend Diana. Snider was about to move and attack Naybrin, but it was Cyprus' turn to tackle him.

"Run!" The Demigod of Life practically squealed, struggling to hold Snider down.

Naybrin raced off at once, instantly sending a lightening-bolt sharp message across he and Werr's link.

Dark-Eyes! I am here, lad! Where are you, Dark-Eyes? It's Naybrin. Werr, answer me!

He spread his wings and pushed off from the ground with a powerful, booming thud, his tail lashing the ground behind him.

Werr was back in the castle, lying next to Vuker. He was curled up with his hands over his ears, muttering something repeatedly. "Shut up," was all he said. When Naybrin landed nearby, Werr jerked and immediately started crawling to the first king. "Naybrin...Naybrin, the voices...they won't stop, they won't shut up...th-they're telling me to...to drag Vuker to the cellar. I won't. I can't. He's already dying, I wouldn't have to do anything but move him, but then...the entire city will be destroyed, and..." Werr shivered. "I WON'T DO IT, SO YOU CAN SHUT UP ABOUT IT!" He screamed at nothing, then held his arms out to Naybrin. "Pick me up, please..."

The dragon swept both him and Vuker into his arms, frantically pressed his tongue to the drakeling's wound, trying to channel as much magic as he could into the wound. Red magic swept along his tongue, a sign of his immense power growing. With the hand in which Werr was clutched, he pressed the boy to his chest, one heavy claw resting against the back of his head, cradling him like he would an infant.

The enchantment over the blade that had inflicted the wound stood strong. It was a Demigod's curse, a weapon meant to be fatal. "It's useless, you idiot," Snider panted from the doorway. He was dragging a bruised and beaten Cyprus by the arm behind him. "There's nothing that can be done. He's going to die, and Werr is going to drag his corpse to that sacrificial circle, and--"

"I will not allow death as a result of your interference!" Cyprus wailed. A loud humming sounded as the air itself trembled, vibrating from the power Cyprus was building up. "If you had not forced an innocent woman into action by means of harming her young, she would not have harmed this boy! I refuse to allow the innocent die because of your actions, Snider! This may be your domain in this world, but I still have power here. Bellal!" The humming was silenced, and Vuker's ragged breathing slowed. The wound was still there, but it wasn't bleeding nearly as much, and the bile had stopped spilling out. Cyprus had kept Vuker from Death's gnarled fingers, and just in time, too.

"Darn you..." Snider growled. "Tch! I should have made measures to keep you away, you little rat..."

"You will not harm these beings any longer, Taint," Naybrin snarled, now able to knock Snider over backwards with his nose. He growled and made to advance on the demigod, but Werr's whimper and the weak cough of Vuker made him pause. With another snarl, he turned his attention to them instead.

"Fine," Snider hissed. "My work here is done. Alastor has been weakened...and it shall meet its fate at the hands of another. Goodbye for now, Naybrin. But we'll meet again...oh, yes we will..." With that, he vanished, leaving Cyprus free to cast his blessings over the city, freeing people from Snider's realm. Cyprus paused, however, and suddenly darted off towards the bedrooms.

He slid to a stop in front of Cynyr and Seria's room. He knocked twice, practically hopping up and down as he waited for them to answer.

((He's excited over the twins. xD))

((How cute! xD))

Cynyr answered the door, still looking sort of stunned from his time in the forgotten realm. He blinked at Cyprus, then turned, glancing down the hallway for Werr. Naybrin had gently deposited the boy on the ground next to him, and the panther took his chance to go over and rub against his leg.

Seria came to the door now, her round belly still small compared to what it would look like a few months later. She saw Cyprus and smiled, saying "Cyprus! It's good to see you again."

Cyprus' face slowly spread into a huge grin. He jumped forward and wrapped his arms around Seria in a hug. "I'm so, so happy for you," He pulled away and pressed his ear to her rounded belly, grinning away. "My goodness...twins! That's so wonderful, that's amazing, thats--can I help with the birth? Can I, please?" He was literally jumping up and down at this point, grinning widely.

Werr hugged Cynyr as soon as the half-cat was close enough. "The voices are gone, but...I still hear the screaming. Like an annoying fly buzzing around my head. Cynyr, I...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have acted like I have all this time...Welk is probably peeved at me right now...I lost Lexi, too..."

"Nah," Nate helped the girl inside, in spite of his waterlogged stumble. Forin, Diana, Allie and Luen were right behind him. "She's right here."

Lexi was clinging lifelessly to Nate's arm, staring at the ground. Her expression was blank, and it was clear that she wanted to do nothing more than turn around and walk right back out the door. But she stayed, if only because Nate's grip on her shoulders.

Seria blinked, stunned, then smiled and said "I would be honored to have you help me, Cyprus. I would be safe in your hands."

"You bet you would! Oh," Cyprus grinned, but that faded as he looked towards the current catastrophie. He took Seria by the hand and led her towards the others. He knelt in front of Vuker. "I'm going to try and stop the curse, okay? You start healing him when I say so, okay? But not before. This curse will drain your powers by quite a bit if it catches you. You need all the energy you can keep, too." He didn't start just yet, looking up as Werr spoke.

The king stood and brushed himself off first, staring at Lexanna. He didn't seem quite capable of speech, until the words came out. And when they started, it was like a flood of words. "I'm so sorry, Lexi," He blurted out. "Out of everyone, I think...I think I hurt you the most. I...I knew that my happiness was gone, but...you still...you still stuck close to me. Whether out of hope or longing for the past or...whatever else. You still stuck around...that...that argument that we had, I regret every word of it--"

"The argument wasn't real," Nate shook his head, shifting his lean onto Zephyr's waiting hand, and releasing Lexi from his grasp. "I saw Snider. He's been fouling things up around here for a couple days now, probably."

"I...I still...said things I shouldn't have," Werr bit his lip. "You said you wanted to leave. I said 'that's fine with me'. But it wasn't fine, and it isn't! After so long...I finally see that there's still hope for me in this world, and...and it's you, Lexi. If anyone can help me reclaim myself after all this, it's you. So...i-if you want to leave still, I don't...I don't blame you. I can't possibly blame you. If you go back home and never want to see my face again, I understand. I just...I want you to understand that...I'm sorry. I feel so stupid..."

((I WANT THE FIRST INVASION TO HAPPEN LIKE, RIGHT NOW

But I must waaiittt...Obelisk has to return first. It will be perfect. Cyprus will be gone, Cynyr will be like, 'Here, Obelisk, these powers are yours', and Obelisk will be all like, 'dude, I needed these' and right before he can take 'em, BOOM. SUDDEN INVASION. And then Obelisk will be all like, "nuuuuu!" and Cynyr will be all like, "MY WIFE" and Seria will be all like, "Nuuuuu!" And Zex will be all like, "GET YOUR HANDS AWAY FROM THE PREGNANT WOMAN, KANE." And he'll have her put in a room with Lily and the babies and the babies will be all like, "WAAAHHHH" and Lance will be all like, "I MUST MURDER THOSE BABIES" 'cuz I've decided that she tried to save her baby instead of her fiance and Zex will be all like, "SCREW YOU, LEAVE 'EM ALONE" and then he'll go down to the dungeons where the others were put and he'll see Luna and be all like, "OH MAI GOSH" and he'll have to keep a straight face and conduct his 'business' with Werr and Werr will be like, "nuuuuuuuu" and Kage will be all, "MUHAHAHAHAHAAAA" and Lance will be all like, "AWWW, YISS. POISON, SOOOOON" and Werr will be all, "Hold me, Lexi ;D;" and then Zex will have to tell Obelisk that his wife is dead and Obelisk will be all like, "YOU DID NOT JUST SAY THAT" and things will blow up, namely Obelisk's anger fuse, and Lance will be mauled and barely escape by the grace of Veros and Kage and Zex will have to run for it, but Zex will grab Luna before doing so and Luna will be all like, "Nuuuuuuuuu, Fooorrriiiinnn!" and Forin says, "OH BOY, TIME TO GO SAVE MY GIRLFRIEND" And Zex will travel with Kage and Luna back to Gossain and he'll tell Luna all about himself and Kage will be all like, "EYEROLL" and Luna will be like, "You poor boy ;n;" and Zex will just be like, "ARE YOU THE GODDESS? YOU LOOK LIKE THE GODDESS. HOLD ME, GODDESS LADY." And Luna will be all confused and 

I NEED TO STOP NOW.))

Lexi watched him for a long moment, keeping her gaze down, then slowly looked up. There was a blank, depressed darkness in her expression as she watched Cynyr rub his furry head gently against Werr's leg. Finally, her gaze crept upwards, hesitantly meeting her boyfriend's eyes. Werr's dark black met her deep chocolate, and he could see the intense hurt and pain and suffering she had endured written boldly in her stare.

Cynyr moved behind Werr and gave him a light nudge with his head, making him walk forward slightly.

((XD Wow.))

Werr did walk forward a bit, but he hesitated at an arm's length from Lexi. He held his arms out to her, offering the most he could give. A hug, plain and simple. He hid his desperation and sadness, hid his fear that she might turn and leave. He hid his own pain, stemming from the screaming in the back of his skull, the screaming that no one else could hear or understand. He hid his own troubles and worries so that he could care for Lexi. For what seemed like the first time since Welk's death, he forgot about himself and focused on his last chance for light.

Lexi continued to simply stare at him for a long moment, her gaze still completely blank, then tears began to form and drip down her cheeks. They spilled over from the deep depths of her eyes, and finally, she closed them tightly and fell forward into his arms with a cry of "Werr!" She held him as tightly as she could, pressing her cheek to his shoulder, her forehead to his neck, inhaling his scent deeply. She could be anywhere in the world, but never be happy; not if Werr wasn't there with her.

Werr hugged her tightly, never wanting to let go again. He held her close, closing his eyes so that his own tears might not spill. "I'm sorry," He said again. "I'm so, so very sorry...and I'm going to do everything I can to make it up to you."

"That's so sweet..." Cyprus smiled happily, then remembered Vuker. "Ah, yes..." He focused, and the humming picked up again; it wasn't easy, fiddling with the curses of other Demigods...but he had to try. He forced his way into the curse and tried breaking it apart, but that wouldn't work for long. "Seria, heal it now! Focus on the arteries and stomach lining," He said, obviously straining to talk and work at the same time.

Seria quickly put her magic into the wound, closing her eyes and concentrating. It began to close softly, her power still at the utmost expert level.

Lexi leaned into Werr, twinning her hands into his shirt tightly. She never wanted to let go, or be let go of. She just wanted to stay there forever, him and her, the two of them together. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him softly, tears still dripping down her cheeks.

Cyprus let out a yelp and snapped his hands back. The wound remained open, and Seria's magic wasn't fixing it anymore. But, most of the internal damage had been well mended. "Ha...good job, Seria. That should be enough to keep him alive, but we have to focus on keeping infection out." He smiled, then rested his index finger on Vuker's forehead. The boy jerked and opened his eyes, breathing in deeply again.

"Ugh...mmft...what happened?" He frowned, looking down at himself. "There's a hole in my stomach! That's not supposed to be there," He prodded the wound, wincing a bit before Cyprus started wrapping it tightly in bandages.

"Gotta be careful not to let it get infected, okay?" Cyprus smiled happily. "Have Naybrin lick it twice a day. That should do well enough."

Seria smiled down at the drakeling, then looked up as Cynyr rubbed against Werr's legs and walked over to her, gently running his tongue through her hair.

She looped her arms around his neck and said "You should tell Werr what you did," quietly. "He's seen the scar, but he doesn't know why it's there. He deserves to know."

The panther sighed, then nodded once, looking gloomy.

Werr kissed Lexi's forehead, then knelt down to scratch Cynyr behind the ears. "I've...been wondering. But I know it isn't something to pry about...you'll tell me when you're ready to." He stood and held a hand out to Cyprus. "I need to thank you. If you hadn't come when you did, well...I don't want to think about it. Does it count as interference, though?"

"No. Snider interfered first, the punishment falls on him. That's probably why he left, all considering. He couldn't take it anymore." Cyprus took Werr's help in standing, smiling. "I should go now, though. We'll see each other again, of course...but for now, I must head back to Herrace."

"Right. Still, we owe you a lot." Werr smiled a bit.

"Think nothing of it," Cyprus smiled, then turned on heel; with that, he vanished.

Naybrin watched him go, then turned his head down and around, bumping Werr's shoulder gently before turning to lick Vuker's cheek.

Cynyr's voice pressed lightly in on Werr's mind, and he said I'd like to tell you now, if you don't mind. Either here, or somewhere else. I imagine Naybrin can most likely hear every word I'm saying to you, but I don't think I care too much.