The Forgotten Zodiac

There were no Striders inside, thankfully. It was dark and quiet, aside from the snarling and howling from the monsters outside. Forin stepped out of the protective ice capsule quickly, a frown obvious on his face. "Remor...come out. Stop...stop it with all this cowardice."

"But it's so fun," Remor's voice chortled.

"Where are Diana and Seria, you twisted freak?!" Luen shouted, creating thick claws of ice over his hands. One had five sharp points and the other had two, more suited to a crab. "I'm warning you, if you don't give them back right now, you'll die here!" His mouth was open as he panted, and Forin saw the sharp glint of the kirin's fangs. Ever since the werewolf incident, a few stray parts of Luen had never been the same.

For example, he wasn't a complete vegitarian anymore.

"I'm not even here, fools." Remor laughed. After a moment, a wall was overcome with shadow; then suddenly started displaying images. It was using paint, constantly shifting to show a stop-motion of image after image. Forin pulled Luna's light orb closer so they could see it clearly.

It was Diana. Fitted with armor that - while it seemed to be of a light build - obviously wore her down. And she wasn't wearing much more metal than a chainmail shirt. There were odd shapes around her, what Forin could only guess were Things. The images showed this, then shifted to show Seria, in animal form. She was missing clumps of fur here and there, and was struggling to walk without limping. She had a collar on, with a chain attached to it. "This really is a lot of fun, Forin...allow me to explain. You won't make it out of that house alive anyway...it's quite simple. Diana is taking a small army of Things. We're going to march against Storaph Palace at dawn. And Diana is going to kill the king. And then...I'm going to leave her there. She might make it out, she might get caught and be put on trial...you know they won't care about what you want, she'll be beheaded before noon tomorrow!"

He laughed hysterically, and the painting showed his twisted, ugly face, a menacing grin showing. "By the by, you have about five seconds left before the house explodes. Toodle-oo!"

Luen gasped, his ears flicking up tall as the sharp noise of crackling magic sounded around them. "No!" he shouted as Forin grabbed Luna, pulling her close against his side as Vorpal dove for the pocket on the front of the Tartaran's shirt. Luen flung his arms out, creating a ball of ice around them as the bubbles of fire magic littered through the floorboards and walls erupted.

The explosion was deafening, but though Luen's ice shield cracked heavily in places, it remained solid and standing.

Forin stared at the wreckage and destruction. "Why...why?!" The sheild melted, and Forin stepped forward; a mistake, as it turned out. The floor underneath him cracked and broke instantly, sending all three of them plunging into the basement. Thankfully, there didn't seem to be much down here; just a dining table and not much else. Forin stood and brushed himself off, then realized he was stepping on a small book that was a bit...familiar. Diana's diary. He picked it up and flicked through it; it had almost nothing new written in it, but a lot of the pages had been torn out, words scratched out, things erased...there wasn't much left, to be honest.

"Tch," Forin threw the book aside, not finding any use for it. "Come on, let's find the stairs."

Luna took his offered hand when he went to help her up. Luen stood on his own, brushing rubble from his body as he staggered upright, flicking his short tail quickly and shaking his head. He switched to deer form, ignoring the small bleeding cut on his right left shoulder from where a stray board-edge had caught him, and walked forward, bending his head down sadly at the torn little book.

"It's useless, Luen." Forin didn't bother looking twice at the book. It didn't strike him as odd that it hadn't been left behind until now. For all their running, Diana had held onto the little book until she had been forced to leave it. Forin found the stairs, but it was buried under quite a lot of rubble. The Tartaran had to start shoving fallen building pieces out of the way, and it was quite clear that he was also taking his anger out on the rubble. He was literally furious. Remor, sending Diana to kill someone? And then he'd just leave her behind?! Forin started grumbling.

"Filthy disgusting excuse for a human...wretched, ugly monster..." It went on, slowly degrading into worse as he threw piece after piece aside and freed up the stairs.

Luna stepped back as Luen moved forward, bending his head down to start using his antlers to help Forin clear away the rubble. "Storaph..." he finally said, risking speaking when Forin paused for breath. "That kingdom and Alastor were always on good terms. Sam...er, King Samuel, I mean...is very kind towards us. If Remor destroys that kingdom and kills him, then leaves Diana behind, she'll be seen as the figurehead for the move, not him. They'll kill her in retaliation."

"I know that." Forin sighed. "We have to get there before he does. Because if he makes Diana do this...he could use Seria as a scapegoat, next. I don't want either of them to be forced into that...so we've gotta move fast. Think you can carry us, friend?" Forin blinked at Luen. "Or should we try to find horses?"

Luen tilted his head down to meet the Tartaran's silver eyes, being slightly taller than Forin in this elegant form. "I'm faster than any horse out there," he said, clicking his metal hoof lightly against the ground. "I'll carry you both until my legs give out, if I have to. Just get on." He bent lightly on his metal leg, offering his smooth-furred back to them.

Once Forin was settled, he was able to swing Luna up behind him as Luen turned, leaping deftly out of a hole blown in the wall. His riders found it easy to stay on his back as he settled into a smooth, rhythmic canter, his antlers glinting in the sunlight.

The ride to Storaph's capital would be a long one.

"What do you mean, she ran off crying?" Obelisk frowned as Werr sat down on his throne.

"I mean what I say. I attempted to apologize, and she ran upstairs in tears. I haven't seen her since." Werr said, sounding bored. As though this was normal.

"Apologize for what?"

"The same apology I extended towards you only a few minutes ago, Obelisk."

"Has it occured to you the pain Lexanna has endured these past four months? The tears she shed against my shoulder, the weight you dropped upon her?"

"I'm taking up that weight again. She doesn't have to act in my stead anymore." Werr frowned.

"Well," Obelisk snorted. "I was just thinking that perhaps she doesn't want an apology. Perhaps she wants thanks." He turned on heel and stalked off, intending to look for Lexanna himself.

He found her outside of the castle grounds, sitting in a small wooden swing under a shady oak tree, hardly moving at all save for the slow rise and fall of her shoulders. Occasionally, there was a small jerk or twitch as her breath caught in a small sob, but other than that, she remained motionless in the swing, the toes of her sandals barely brushing the ground. She was leaning on one of the robes, her head lowered and both of her hands holding on tightly to the strips of tightly spun string, unaware of anything going on around her.

Obelisk's hand gently reached out and pushed Lexi into a swinging motion. Gentle and smooth. "I used to push my younger daughters on the swing...out of everything they did, it was my absolute favorite activity. Higher and higher, they laughed as I pushed them, a little harder each time, so they could reach their arms up and, for a slight instant, be lost in the sky with the sun and clouds...this swing was originally built for Diana. It's a shame she hasn't gotten to use it yet."

((Dun forget the letter. o3o))

Lexi didn't even flinch at his voice, and he could see it was a struggle for her not to remain completely limp and just fall from the swing. Something had clearly happened in the time it had taken for her to walk from the cellar to the swing. This became clear when one of her hands fell free, a piece of paper falling from her limp, slender fingers.

It fluttered to the ground and settled there, and she made no move whatsoever to pick it up.

Obelisk scooped the paper up with his powers, looking at it curiously. "I see..." He sighed. "Werr has been like this before, you realize. Before he met with Cynyr and Welk, he had buried himself under his own mind in order to face the reality that his father was dead and his mother was dying. Supposedly. This will...take some time and effort to reconcile. Perhaps one shouldn't look at it negatively, though; he did this not for his own protection, but for yours. Is that not what this says?"

It was so. 'Dear Lexi,

I write this to you in hopes that you'll read it in a timely manner. My behavior as it stands cannot continue without bringing ruin on myself, my kingdom, and you. As such...the Werr of the past four months will be no more. I cannot allow my emotions to run rampant. My heart will be chained and controlled, hopefully by the time you read this letter. I will act no more upon emotion. I do this because I've realized that I hurt you. A lot. Over the past four months, I've done nothing but. And this greives me. There isn't much I can do to repay you for what you've done to help the kingdom, and there's no way I can undo what I've done these past four months. I hope you'll understand that I do this not for myself, but for you and you alone.

I'm sorry,

Werr'

Lexi didn't say anything for a long time after Obelisk spoke to her. She just sat on the swing as it slowed to a standstill, her toes lightly brushing the ground. Finally, she said something.

"...That isn't the Werr I fell in love with. I can't love a Werr with no feelings or sensitivity. I was entranced by his nobility - not in the royal sense - and his kindness towards a girl that meant nothing to him at the time. If he locks it all away...then what's left of the man I love?"

She went quiet, putting her face into her hands.

"I think you know the truth as well as I do, Lexanna...that part of Werr died four months prior. I don't believe there's anything we can do for him, now..." His sigh was as heavy as her heart. He reached down and gave Lexi a small hug. "There is, perhaps...one thing..." He murmured. "If I had my powers back, I'd have enough magical energy to...reconstruct the Werr we know. Replace his memories of Welk with that of you..." It was a heavy suggestion. He wasn't sure how Lexi would react to it. Werr would be happy again, though...

Lexi gave this careful consideration for a long time, then finally shook her head, saying "...No. No, I...I could never take Welk away from Werr completely. Even if all he has left are memories. They were...they were close in ways even I grew envious of sometimes..." A small sob escaped her lips, then she said "It would be tarnishing of Welk's sacrifice to destroy Werr's memories of him. They were...the closest of brothers..."

Obelisk nodded. "I understand." He said softly. "What will you do, then? I wouldn't blame you if you left...the throne doesn't need you any longer, with Werr back in charge, and I can make sure he doesn't do something rash..." He shook his head. "As much as I'd like you to stay, I...if it's for the best, then..."

Again, Lexi was silent, thinking it over, then she slowly said "I...I don't want to leave..." Tears slid down her cheeks. "But...this is a p-path...I can't follow him d-down. I've been th-through so much with him. But...I-I don't think I can do this, Obelisk..." She slowly went limp, falling sideways to the ground, where she curled up and starting crying soundlessly, at a complete loss for what to do about the boyfriend she loved so dearly...and was losing so fast.