The Forgotten Zodiac

Seria broke down into sobs as soon as she touched the chair, putting her hands over her face pitifully. "Why..." she cried softly, her ears flat against her skull. "They lied to me...oh...oh, Cynyr..." She sobbed even as Cyprus and Airlia tried to comfort her, and it only took a moment longer for her to realize that at some point during the confusion, she had dropped the soft purple baby clothes Airlia had given her.

The tears redoubled and the sobs escalated into wails.

Cyprus didn't attempt to comfort her much more. He was focused on tending to Luna, then to their rudimentary needs. He summoned things as effortlessly as breathing; two beds, a warm fireplace, a large rug that appeared right under their feet, a kitchen and all the food they could ever need. "I...don't know how long you'll want to stay, but...this is the safest place you could ever be. I'm sure those boys had their reasons to lie...perhaps...they didn't want to see you like this..."

"I-I...would rather...have heard it from them...th-than find out...l-like this..." she whispered, one arm wrapped around her belly and her free hand over her mouth. She shook her head, stumbling her way over to one of the beds and collapsing into it on her side. She just felt so utterly hurt and exhausted and scared...so very, utterly scared...

((Realm of Light's punishment: Turn Cyprus into small boy.

This is logical enough for me.))

Cyprus felt rather useless as he pulled the blanket over her, turning and walking away, most likely to attend to Luna.

He collapsed before even making it to her bed, leaving Airlia to attend to him.

"Castle Alastor. Such a beautiful view." Veros looked out at the palace, hovering by use of his new wings. He was getting used to the things. The sprawling city below was large and peaceful, people moving through the streets like ants. But his focus was on the castle itself.

And with a snap of his fingers, and a great rumble and terrifying crash, it seemed to cave in on itself. Room by room, very nearly the whole of it fell.

((Whut.))

Several screams echoed from the rubble, of course. From some distant part of the collapsed rubble, Zephyr exploded upwards, bellowing angrily as blood dripped from a number of shallow wounds on his body. The most powerful dragon in existence turned his head sharply, snarling his rage as he quickly began to search amongst the rubble for those trapped beneath it.

((Make him younger?

IT'S EITHER THAT OR HE LOSES BOTH ARMS.))

Obelisk was easy to find; a beacon of shadow pointed out his location, and allowed Zephyr to grab onto it and pull out the orb that lay underneath the rubble. A protective circle of darkness, perfectly formed to keep him and Fawn safe. "Most are in the infirmary," Obelisk called up to Zephyr. "I did what I could to prevent major injury, but my magic only reaches so far. We may have a few scrapes to deal with, but it shouldn't be major."

((YOUNG IS BEAUTIFUL))

The dragon nodded shortly, quickly wading through the rubble toward the previously-mentioned location. He began to shove rocks aside with his nose, digging furiously through the remains of the grand castle that had been a true home to most of the wayward little group.

He found Werr and Lexi first. Werr was holding her close, and had, of course, taken more damage than her in his effort to protect her. He seemed well enough, however, thanks to Obelisk's powers. Zephyr quickly jerked the fallen stone away from them, snorting once and sending dust billowing into the air.

"Z-Zephyr..." Werr winced, shifting slightly. A log, which had been resting on his shoulder, slipped and slammed against the floor, sending down another cascade of rock and rubble from the adjacent wall. "Zephyr, get us out of here," He begged, squinting through the dust and dirt.

But a wail caught the dragon's attention. Not too far off, Diana was trapped; she, Forin and Luen had been in the dining room at the time of the collapse. Forin and Luen were nearby, separated by all the rubble, while Diana was pinned under the table, which was collapsing from the weight of the chandelier and ceiling combined. There was a lot of glass everywhere, she couldn't move without getting cut, and there was no visible escape.

"Diana..." Luen whimpered, struggling to remain still in deer form, even with Forin's hand gently holding him down. One long, slender hind leg was cleanly broken, where he had used quick thinking and had shoved Forin and Diana both out of the way of the falling rubble, Forin with himself and Diana with ice magic. Which explained why, other than her current situation, Diana was the more unscathed of the three.

Zephyr was quick to start pulling things off of the girl, moving gently.

Forin's injuries were mostly minor, aside from one of the metal poles from the chandelier had gotten lodged in his arm, and the glass had scattered quite a distance, causing cuts to him and Luen. "Diana, hold on, Zephyr is coming!" He called, hoping she wasn't too badly hurt.

"Zephyr, quickly, I don't think the table can hold," Diana whimpered, listening to the groaning of the already splintering legs. Thinking as quickly as she could, she put her back up against the table's underside, helping hold it up a little while longer. The glass cut into her feet with every movement, biting through her once-pretty dress shoes, but she didn't stop.

Zephyr was quick to scoop the broken pieces into his paws, carefully placing the rubble aside before lifting Diana gently out of the mess. He placed her outside of the destruction, saying "Go sit under that tree over there, sweetheart. I'll get Forin and Luen next."

This was a tricky situation. He hooked the back of Forin's shirt with his teeth and lifted the Tartaran free, then very gently opened his mouth and placed his sharp teeth around Luen's torso, lifting the deer free and placing him by his friends. He then went back to Werr and Lexi, helping them out before searching for Welk and Isslia.

Nearby, Dmitry tore free of the turmoil himself, with Marion wrapped snugly around his neck in snake form. Spy was nestled in his arms, and Jagat, Lily and Cinnoa were under his belly. They had managed to run to each other at the last second, having been in close proximity, and the wyvern had shielded them all from the collapse.

Welk and Isslia were in a bad spot. A wooden beam was all that stood between the two of them being crushed by the wall that was about to fall on top of them. The two of them would have gotten out of there several minutes ago if not for the fact that the collapsing wall had pinned Isslia's lower half. If the wall was lifted, judging from the cracks lacing it, it would only collapse, right on top of the rest of her. Already, it was starting to crumble. If Welk tried to pull her out (which he had twice now) she would wail about something sharp digging into her leg and make him stop.

Welk, still recovering from being mauled by a demon, was in a complete panic over what to do. He nearly fell backwards when Zephyr, shrunk to a small size, slithered into the rubble with them. "Keep calm and prepare to take your mate, Fire-Heart," the dragon king said, and Welk nodded, waiting on pins and needles for what came next.

Zephyr wiggled in over Isslia and began to grow in size, placing his head against the wall with his wings spread over the girl beneath him. With a fantastic jump in height, he shoved the wall away, taking the brunt of the fall damage on himself.

((I'll have Obelisk help Tasia.))

Isslia, instead of crawling forward, rolled to the side before scrambling out; her leg was bleeding badly, a thick metal wire where she had been lying. It had gouged into her leg a substantial amount, but she wasn't willing to show her pain at the moment. "I'll be okay," She insisted upon Welk spotting the wound. "Just...get me out of here," She draped an arm over his shoulders, starting to limp away with his help.

"There you are, Tasia. Don't panic, I'm here to help," Obelisk said, grunting as he pushed a pile of rubble out of the way of the door, which was mostly intact. "Can you reach the door to unlock it?"

He heard a whimper from the female dragonian, then a soft shuffling sound as she tried to come closer. Suddenly, there was a sharp creaking noise from within and the sound of Ariana's crying, and Tasia, her voice strained and half-sobbed, "I can't…I can't reach it…"

Tasia was now standing meekly in the middle of the room, one wing broken badly and hanging at her side, a bloody, bleeding mess. Ariana was in her arms, unscathed and crying still from the startling situation. A cut above Tasia's forehead had bled down her face, dripping a few stray drops on Ariana's arm.

Tears were mingling with the blood on her face as she looked pleadingly towards the door, where she knew Obelisk was.

"It's okay, Tasia. This room is about to fall apart. My shadows tell me that a lot of weight is around this door, and if I open it, it will most likely collapse. So what I want you to do is--" Part of the floor started to crumble and give way, falling into the basement. "Tasia, try not to move suddenly. If you fall down there, it'll be harder to get you out, so you've got to do exactly as I say, okay? You're going to be guided every step of the way. I need you to slowly walk back to the door. If you feel something shifting, you musn't panic, do you understand?"

((I'm going to change my post around a bit to where she couldn't come unlock the door, because it doesn't make sense for why she could get to it fine once and suddenly need help the second time. Obelisk can probably have some solution to getting her out/unlocking the door either way.))

She swallowed and took a breath, her voice hitching and wobbling pitifully as she answered. "O...okay..." she whispered, very slowly beginning to move forward. The floor creaked and shifted with each step she took, and all she could do was force her turned-in toes to line up as she cradled Ariana against her chest. The floor shifted again and she froze, giving a barely-audiable, whimpered cry.

(('Kaaaay.))

"Hold on, don't move for a moment," Obelisk let Fawn off his back, bracing himself and his shadows against the doorframe. He pushed it open, not surprised when it practically fell off of its hinges. "Okay. I'm supporting the roof, but I can't spare anything to keep the floor from falling...Tasia, you're going to have to jump to me, okay?" He held his arms out. "Just take a deep breath in, and jump. I'll catch you."

More tears than ever streamed down her cheeks, but Tasia, as always, was very, very quiet. She made not a sound for a long moment, merely shaking and remaining frozen to her spot, which, even now, was creaking and trembling under her.

"I'm scared," she whispered, holding Ariana closer, begging Obelisk to reassure her that he wouldn't let her fall. She was reaching out to him in ways she had done only once before; to Nate. She trusted hardly no one with close proximity, especially males, which was understandable, given her past. Now, she pleaded with him through her gaze alone that, when she moved, he would not, under any circumstances, let her go.

"I know. It's completely understandable for you to be afraid. But I'm going to catch you, and we're going to get out of here alive. Your child is going to escape from this unscathed, just as you are. Trust me, Tasia. Think of it; do you have a reason to not? What would I have to gain from letting you die here? Notihng. And I have everything to gain from saving you. Your trust is more important to me than any superficial thing. Because you're my friend, Tasia. Now...jump!"