The Forgotten Zodiac

Welk winced, saying "That's going to suck, big time. I hope she doesn't cry. I hate it when Seria cries..." He rubbed his eyes lightly, pausing to gently pat Werr's shoulder before standing. "Come on, we might as well get it over with," he muttered, helping Werr up as well before shifting forms, offering his back to his best friend.

"She's probably going to cry," Werr grimaced, lowering himself onto Welk's back.

"But...but..." Airlia spluttered, unable to do anything but watch them go. "Hmph...Allie, I need you to make something for Werr..."

Werr was hesitant at first, but he had no choice. He knocked three times on Seria's door, frowning slightly.

Her familiar voice called "Come in!" to them, and from her cheery air, they knew she hadn't yet heard of what had happened to her husband. When they entered the room, Welk could only pause to stare for a moment. Seria was standing by her window, pulling open the curtains to let the sunlight in, and her round belly caught their attention sharply. Welk found himself hoping with all of his might that this pregnancy would go well; he didn't want her to suffer another loss like her first.

Werr smiled as best he could, sliding off of Welk's back. "Hey, Seria...we, uh...have some news. We're leaving soon, but...we decided that it'd be best if you stay here. Especially since..." He stopped himself. He didn't want to break the news too soon, but...she needed to hear it. "Well...some...complications came up..."

She blinked innocently at him, waiting for him to speak, and they both found themselves fidgeting uncomfortably. Seria was a beloved member of their group, and nobody ever wanted to cause her harm. Welk swallowed, letting his crimson gaze move down from the female half-cat's eyes to her belly, stretched tight with the two tiny lives growing inside her. Suddenly, he couldn't take it. "We decided to make a few changes to who was going, just to make sure. After all, with Luen all sick-like and you all...pregnant-like, we figured you wouldn't mind staying behind."

"Yeah, that's fine," she answered, resting a hand over her belly. "It's not exactly safe for me to travel right now. Where's Cynyr?"

"He went on ahead of us," Welk said instantly, almost mechanically.

Seria blinked, saying softly "He didn't say anything to me..."

"He, uh...didn't want you to fret and stress yourself out," he answered, just as softly.

She sighed, then said, with a smile, "Oh Cynyr...well, at least I'll see you all when you get back, huh?"

Werr opened and closed his mouth, frowning. "Er...yeah. We'll be back before long. You've got Ophile here to take care of you, and of course, the healers..."

"Naturally. Seria will be well taken care of. I promised Cynyr I'd take care of you." Ophile smiled happily as he padded in behind the two.

"Yeah. Thanks, Ophile."

Welk gave a half-nod of his head and turned, ducking out of the room, and Werr could tell from the twinge along their bond that he didn't want to face Seria in the wake of their lie anymore. She was unaware of the reasons behind him leaving so suddenly, and all she managed to him was a small "Um...goodbye, Welk?" She shook her head, then moved forward with a smile on her pretty face and wrapped her arms around Werr, hugging him tightly. He could feel her belly, containing Cynyr's children, press against him as she rested her head on his shoulder. "You've become a lot stronger than you think you have, Werr," she murmured in his ear. "Just trust in Welk and Cynyr, okay? They both care about you so much. They're your knights, your guardians...and we're all your family."

"I...I know, Seria...thanks." Werr smiled a bit. He hugged her back, his heart heavy as he backed away and followed after Welk.

Ophile watched them go, tilting his head to the side. "They'll be fine. You, on the other hand, need to rest more." He nosed her hand, still smiling slightly. "It'll be good for you. Have you decided on names?"

Forin finally finished explaining to Obelisk what Diana had said. The ancient being was almost as perplexed as the Tartaran. Almost. He had taken them into a back room of the healing quarters, and had dimmed the lighting considerably, while Diana sat down in a chair with Forin.

"It's difficult to tell. I can't be certain, but...it seems that she's still...at least partly..." His muffled voice wafted out, hard for Luen to hear.

Forin stormed out only moments later, and went right back to pacing. "Luen, we killed that thing, didn't we? The heartlessness inside her? We destroyed it."

"It's completely inactive, there's no way it can harm her." Obelisk pointed out quietly.

"Are you kidding? If she can hear Veros..."

"Veros speaks through the etherial lines." Obelisk tutted. "Wavelengths of life. What mages draw their power from, and where souls go after they pass. Do you not know of this, Forin?"

"I'm not a mage! I'm a Tartaran, I draw my power from myself." He grumbled. "Etheral lines don't make any sense..."

"Diana was essentially dead for quite some time. Her life force was one and the same with the Etheral lines, even if she didn't truly pass. She is a mage; a summoner. By the strictest technicality, she uses the Ethereal lines every second of her time. It makes up the bond between summons and summoner. Her constant connection with the lines, combined with her soul resonating with it so well...enables her to hear Lord Veros. He likely isn't aware of the connection..."

"But once he is, it'll be nonstop torment for her! I want it severed," Forin snarled. "Can you do anything for it?"

"Not unless you want me to kill her."

Luen tilted his head from where he was still laying on his bed, listening with his long ears pricked and his eyes wide and concerned. He shifted, wincing heavily as he moved, but forced himself to sit up anyways, ignoring how the blue-black tattoos on his body caught the light and seemed to shine silver. He rubbed his shoulder with his mechanical hand, watching Forin closely. "There has to be a way to get rid of it without hurting her," he reasoned weakly, his voice rasping painfully.

Obelisk thought for a moment, then sighed. "Alright. There is a way that won't severely harm her...but that would require a number of things we don't exactly have here. We can obtain them in Gossain, but at the moment, my hands are tied."

"If your hands were actually tied, it wouldn't take very long for you to get the ropes off," Forin pointed out hotly. "What do you need?"

"A very powerful cleansing spell, and someone strong enough to perform it."

"Simple. We can talk to Galai."

"Absolutely not." Obelisk scoffed. "Galai cannot interfere with the soul resonance of a human. We needs someone lesser, but near her in power..."

"Then who else is there?!" Forin snarled.

"Luna. Unfortunately, someone hasn't gotten to her yet."

Forin looked more enraged than he had in awhile. He swung a punch, which Obelisk caught easily. "You haven't exactly been helpful!" The Tartaran screeched.

"Control your rage, Tartaran. Or vent it elsewhere. I'm not in the mood to deal with your eternal angst. Haven't you noticed, fool? There's a nearly full-scale upheaval going on right now. Tartarans are swarming the castle, fighting to get in, desperate to get at you. They are completely ignorant of Titus' commands, and Galai's magic is only angering them further.

"In other words, Veros has wormed his way into Kaislun before we could stop him. He's settled himself in the hearts of the indignant, and spurred them into action. And they're all screaming to have your head on a spit. So you will calm down, take a deep breath, and realize that the only reason no one's stormed in here and torn your friends apart, the only reason Zex was capable of slipping past me, the only reason you lot are still breathing at all is because I've been occupied with keeping those doors shut and the walls strong. Now who's being unhelpful here?"

Thin bars of ice were quick to encircle Forin's chest gently, pulling him back before he could do anything. Luen pulled his friend in close, saying "He's right. We can't keep going on like this, blaming everyone but ourselves. We haven't gotten moving to help Luna, and we need to. No more of this laying around doing nothing, I've had it." He slowly stood on pale, shaking legs that were swathed in blue-black marks, keeping his mechanical hand on the bed to prevent himself from falling over. "It's time to take action," he said simply.

"Luen, you're still weakened by the poison," Forin said quietly, helping his friend stand. Diana, in the meantime, slid out of her chair and walked over to Obelisk. She pulled his arm until he kneeled, and she wrapped her arms around his chest in a tight hug.

Obelisk was surprised. Diana wasn't one to show affection to anyone other than Luen and Forin and Luna. For many years he had been an object of fear, even when he had first returned to the surface, free of control under Malice. Especially then. But here Diana was, hugging him. And she said, in a soft voice, "You're sad too. I can tell."

"...Yes, child, I grieve greatly for my wife. And my son, who is once again motherless..." He murmured, returning the hug. "But I cannot allow my sorrow to defeat me. I will remain this castle's defender for as long as I can. For Seria's sake, I had no intentions of following you all to Gossain."

"What?!" Forin rounded on him again, but Diana turned her head and shushed him. He fell silent, though still frowning deeply.

"What you do is your choice, Obelisk. We can manage without you." She stepped back, smiling a little now. "Forin is strong enough to protect me. Luen is sweet and caring enough to be my older brother. And Luna could be my sister." She turned to the boys, still smiling. "We're a family as much as any other, and as long as I have them, I know I'll be okay."

Luen smiled at her, extending his living hand to offer a hug, and when she moved forward to take it, he held her close, nuzzling the top of her head. He then looked up at Obelisk.

"You know, you've never been alone. I've seen the way Lexi talks to you. You're a father to her, something she never truly had, someone she can confide in when she can't speak to us, when she's left alone. And Seria was the first to really give you that chance, way back when. You're not alone, not anymore." He gave a timid smile.

"I know that." Obelisk returned the smile, which oddly still looked foreign on his face. "Believe me, I do. Why do you think I would bother to stay here and protect Seria if I did not have any ties to her? I'm entrusting the task of saving Lexi to those who are leaving...it wasn't an easy choice, believe me. But the lives she carries are precious and innocent, and there are many Amnairians here who have done nothing to deserve Veros' wrath. So here I will remain. You all should make haste, that being said..." He turned away with a heavy sigh. "Lord Veros grows ever impatient..."

Luen gave a small nod, saying "Alright. We'll go as soon as we alert the others." He kissed the top of Diana's head, still managing to force his weakened body to stand. He had to lean against Forin for support for a moment, but he was able to slowly walk to the door with Diana at his side, deciding to try and pack up. Despite his condition, he didn't want to be left behind while all of his friends went off to something that could potentially kill them.

"Sounds like a plan." Forin nodded.

Obelisk stopped by Seria's room. "Good afternoon. Have you gotten lunch yet? I'd be happy to fetch something, if you'd allow it." He said quietly, hanging his coat on the rack near the door. "Perhaps I can just make something in here. This room looks quite comfortable..."

Seria beamed at him, quickly moving from where she had decided to try her hand at knitting. "That'd be fine," she said, giving him a hug before moving back to her chair. "Oh, this is a piece of crap," she mused, holding up the pitiful attempt at a blue baby hat. "It seems I don't have much of a talent for this." She gave a small chuckle, looking up at him with her bright blue eyes.

"Practice makes perfect. This is a solid effort," He picked it up and started undoing some of the strands. "I'd do it for you, but you'd never learn. For you to learn, you must do. There, I've undone your mistakes. Do try again, but hold it like this," He showed her, smiling slightly. "And if you truly give up on knitting, perhaps crochet might work better for you. Or even simply making clothes with cloth." He smiled, then turned towards the pantry. "My, there's quite a bit of things here. What would you like me to make?"

"Oh hush," she teased, setting to work with the strands of soft blue yarn she had been working with. "If I can't make it myself, I won't go and put you through the effort." She smiled up at him, then set the material aside again and trotted toward him with a spring in her step. "Here, feel this," she said, seizing his hands and, without hesitation, placing them against her belly. After merely a moment of touch, Obelisk felt the gentle shift of one of the little ones beneath her skin.

"Oh? The miracle of the lives within you are so--" He stopped, blinking in surprise, but he smiled a bit and shook it off. "Active. Many complications often arise with twins, most of which lead to premature births...but I'm sure you'll be just fine. So, how about some Chicken A La King?" He moved his hand away, turning back to the pantry. "But if you really can't finish the hat, it would hardly be a bother to make it myself. You get very bored living near the earth's center in a giant bubble of nothingness. Knitting, weaving, jewelrymaking, writing...I even had my own piano down there. When you have an eternity of time and nothing better to do, most people would plot out some complicated revenge. I just wanted to compose." He chortled.