The Forgotten Zodiac

Luen blinked, shocked by the news, and pressed his slender muzzle to the back of Forin's neck in a deer-hug. "Oh...oh, Forin..." he said softly, giving a small lick against his skin. "S-surely she's not...just gone, right? I mean...the Goddess...she can do anything. Can't she? Luna...no, she can't be gone. Sh-she can't be."

Forin, unable to say anything further, slid to his feet and wept against the Kirin's skinny knees.

"Hey, Seria," Airlia sat down next to the preganant half-cat, smiling. "How do you feel today? Everything alright?" She asked, taking Seria's hand in hers. "Forin had a couple of breaks earlier, but I was able to fix things up instead of you having to do it. It was no trouble at all." She smiled happily. "Werr says we're probably going to return to Kaislun soon. I think you should stay there again, it'll probably be safer...but look at what I picked up from the market today," She held up her purchases, which were in a gift bag complete with wrapping paper. She seemed overly excited to give the present, thus the ranting ramble.

((It's baby clothes. >w< Also Nate is going to show up soon. Natenate, not VerosNate. o3o))

((.D. - oDo - ODO

MY FROGGY))

Seria gave a small laugh, saying "Calm down, Airlia, you'll hurt yourself. I'm sure-" She trailed off when she opened the package, her blue eyes wideneing. "...Oh..." she whispered, slowly lifting the twin sets of soft, pale purple baby clothes. Tears bloomed in her eyes as she gently ran her fingers over the material. Suddenly, the fact that she was going to have babies seemed much, much more real to her. "...I love them..." she said, going to hug Airlia.

When Airlia hugged, she always went all the way into it. She wrapped her arms around Seria, and her wings too. a big grin on her face. "I'm glad you like it. Judging from the size of your belly, though, they might be a little small." She giggled. "I didn't know what their genders would be, either. So I got purple. You like purple, I remember. So the babies have to like it too, right?"

((Next post.))

((8I FROOOGGYYYY))

Seria gave a small nod, wiping her tears and struggling not to let anymore free. "Y-yeah...th-thanks, Airlia...that means a lot to me," she murmured, lowering her head slightly so her long red hair covered her face. "I've been...so worried over this...but also so happy. I just...I can't wait to be a mother." She smiled slightly, then lifted her head. "Hey, have you seen Cynyr? I would think he would be back by now. He hasn't come to see me yet."

Airlia blinked, then frowned. They didn't tell her? Honestly, those boys...but Airlia couldn't bring herself to say it. Welk and Werr should have been the ones. Airlia opened her mouth to say something, but the opening of the door stopped her.

Nate walked in. He looked very tired, very downtrotten, and hurt. His wings were limp at his side, and he walked with a slump that wasn't like him normally. He didn't say anything, really; he just walked in and sat down, as though he didn't quite realize where he was. "You need to leave," He said softly, a small shiver passing through him. "This castle isn't safe."

((:I - 8I - FROGGY))

Seria stood up, still clutching the baby clothes in her arms. "N...Nate?" she said, stunned. She had been warned of Veros controlling him, but something about this seemed...genuine. "Nate...what happened?" she asked softly, risking a single step forward, her tail tucked down between her legs. "Are you...okay?"

Nate didn't respond, motionless to the point of a bit of saliva leaking from his mouth. He finally looked up at Seria and managed the tiniest of smiles. "Hello, Seria..." He was breathing heavily, and kept shivering. "Veros is snuffing out my fire. I think he's trying to kill me. Or at least weaken. When he's reduced to this form, though, if the body dies, he can't so easily possess another..." He reached up and gently put a knife in Seria's hand.

She was still and silent for a moment, staring at him with such a sad expression in her eyes. "How dare you," she whispered. "Nate, I'm a healer, and moreover, your friend. How dare you ask me to take your life! Nate..." She shook her head, letting the knife fall with a clatter from her fingers. Tears streamed down her cheeks now. "...no," she murmured, turning away and hurrying out of the room, still clutching the baby clothes.

She had to find Cynyr. She needed him. He would know what to do to help Nate, wouldn't he?

"Seria, no, please..." Nate muttered. "You don't...you don't understand..." He, still shaking, knelt and moved to pick up the knife, but Airlia got to it first.

"I won't let you, Nate." She said, tears in her eyes. She threw it away, and wrapped her arms and wings around him in a tight hug. "I know...I know you're scared, and you're afraid...it's...it's just like being a Strider again, isn't it?"

"...yes...but I can't fight this..." Nate said quietly, tears starting to slip down his cheeks. "I...I can only watch...I'm forced to-to watch..."

"You're so cold..." Airlia murmured, hugging him only tighter. "I'm sorry. But we'll find a way to help you, okay? Come on, let's try to catch up to Seria." She helped him stand, careful to steer him away from the knife and any other sharp thing he might use to try and end his misery. "Tasia knows, too. If Veros tries to do anything, she'll know it's not you. So that's okay." She smiled a bit, but Nate clearly was no longer in a smiling mood. But Airlia made him walk, even when he started drooling again.

Seria, meanwhile, had gone trotting off around the castle, wandering here and there and searching hard for her husband. This, she thought, is where I need Lexi's powers. Lexi, while not a fully fledged healer, still carried her special ability to hone in on the heartbeat of people close to her. Cynyr...where are you? was her next thought. Why haven't you come to me?

Why don't you come and get him? Veros' voice, like a booming echo through the halls, pounded against Seria's ears. They locked him up and left him to rot, they did...right under your very feet! Some 'friends', right? He laughed.

Nate flinched, and another shiver passed down his spine. "Veros...don't...pl-please..." He gurgled and collapsed, forcing Airlia to help him stand again. She said nothing, focusing on trying to find Seria.

The female half-cat, meanwhile, felt her eyes widen in shock. That voice...what did it mean? Right under her feet? And what did that mean, locked him up? Why would they lock up Cynyr? He was a well-respected, veteran member of their group!

Unless...something was wrong.

Seria immediately turned her steps toward the dungeon, her ears flat back against her head, her expression terrified.

They rounded the corner just as Seria was about to descent the stairs. Nate saw her and immediately let out a cry of, "No, Seria, don't go down there!" He broke away from Airlia, but he only made it a few steps before collapsing again.

He stood, this time without Airlia's help. Without shivering or shaking, without a slack-jawed expression. Instead, he had a smile that didn't fit on his face, and a calm demeanor. "Go on. Find your strong-willed, noble husband." He glanced behind him, spying Airlia backing away. He was quick to grab her by the hand, his grip like iron. "Come along, child. You can see, too. You were close to him at one point, this I know..."

Seria glared at him, backing away quickly. "Let her go!" she said, but her voice shook. There was something...wrong. As she slowly descended the steps further into the dungeon, the strange feeling grew worse and worse...like something was waiting, eagerly anticipating her close proximity...

She set foot at the bottom stair and froze, the sensation nearly overwhelming her. It was like Death was standing over her, holding a knife to her throat, crooning in her ear to come closer.

"Look at him. Your groom and the father of your children," Veros let go of Airlia, but she was frozen in place. She hadn't seen how far the transformation had gotten. "Gaze upon his face, Seria, because it just might be the last thing you see." He fetched the cell keys from a strider that stood nearby, paralyzed due to fear of the power that had just walked in.

Veros unlocked the cell door, and went about undoing the shackles, one by one. "Come along, my pet. Let's get you back home, yes?" He practically purred with pleasure.

Whatever the thing that Veros called her husband couldn't possibly have been him, Seria thought. There was no way it could be.

It was a monster. Large horns jutted from its head and its mouth was extended down into a dark muzzle with teeth sticking out from under the torn lips. It had doubled in size, growing another pair of bloody-red eyes over the natural ones. Twisted, gnarled wings and a long black tail lashed around behind it as the shackles came undone. Its hind legs were now double-jointed, curling forward and then back like some sort of dinosaur. Its neck had grown longer, all things screaming a reptilian beast of power and sheer, ravenous hunger.

But it still had the scars. The scars Seria knew by sight and touch. The ones she had seen almost all of her life.

It was Cynyr.

Seria slid to the ground as the demonic figure of her mate lifted onto its hind legs and whipped around, sinking sharp teeth into one of the Striders and devouring it with sickening snaps and crunches. It then lifted a blood-dripping maw and roared a truly terrifying note, turning towards Seria and the unborn lives she carried.

"Seria, Seria!" Airlia pulled on the woman's arms desperately, screaming in panic. "Seria, come on, we've got to--"

"Peace," Cyprus said quietly as he stepped down the stairs. "These unborn are under my protection. I will not allow harm to them or their mother."

"Ohh? A Demigod...want to test your mettle, boy? From what I've seen, you're the last one left...I do hope your mother gave you a little extra hidden power, because from what I can sense...you don't stand a chance." Veros grinned.

"I don't need to. Because they are under my protection, I can easily take them to the safest of places. Where no demon, Titan, or evil can walk." Cyprus held his hand out, and a bubble formed, engulfing Seria and Airlia, along with himself. no amount of pounding or tearing at it would break it, either.

"The Realm of Light won't exist for much longer," Veros laughed. "But go on. Take them. See how long your precious security lasts when the world is under my reign."

Seria pressed her hands against the bubble's surface, tears streaming down her cheeks. "C-Cynyr..." she whispered, curling her tail around her right hip, her ears flat back against her head. She screamed in the next moment, a blood-curling sound that seemed to echo everywhere and made the demon figure wail and throw its head back, made angry by the sound. It shook its horned head, snarling darkly at those in the bubble as it charged for them, attempting to batter it out of the way.

The bubble resisted the attack. With a flash, they were gone.

"Hmm...oh well. Come, Cynyr. We must return home." Veros turned away, shrugging listelessly. "They're far beyond our reach now. For now, anyway..."

The Realm of Light was just that. A soft golden light glowed above them. They appeared to be in a white-washed room, with walls and a floor, but no ceiling, so the gentle glow was free to fill every inch of the room. Cyprus took the transfer well, but Seria and Airlia would be dizzy and disoriented for a few minutes.

"This...this place..." Airlia spluttered, looking around for a moment before falling on the floor.

"This is the Realm of Light," Cyprus murmured, supporting Seria. "Anything and everything you could imagine, and far beyond it. If I told you it was heaven, you'd see it as that. If I told you it was a grand ballroom, you'd see it as that. A feast awaits those who come here; joy and peace and everything between. It's a place not meant for mortals...so I will soon pay a heavy price for bringing you here. Unlike the Realm of Darkness, which merely attacks its visitors...this place attacks the host. But please, don't worry about me. Rest."

With a wave of his hand, a chair and a small table appeared. Incense and tea awaited them, the calming scents seeming as real as ever. It helped ease the confusion and lightheadedness, too. Cyprus helped Seria sit, smiling a bit. Surprisingly, Luna was there. Trapped in that stupor again, tucked into a bed only a short distance away. "I had to bring her, too. Couldn't just leave her." Cyprus explained as Airlia's eyes wandered.