The Forgotten Zodiac

The king turned his gaze up at Veros in shock. "...What will it do?" he asked, maintaining a curious tone of voice. "Unless it'll do something to your body. Seeings how it didn't work the first time, with those girls and Werr's blood." He ran his fingers through his black hair, taking Valley's hand and gently pressing her fingers to his forehead.

"That girl was unclean. Tainted, somehow. It escaped my attention due to the fact that I hadn't regained the ability to see souls at that point. It's slowly returning to me, now. Souls cannot lie any more than Titans can, you see. All it takes is the blood of the pure, the blood of the royal, and powerful magicks. I provide one of the three. You provide one. A few of your people, who will not even be aware of the blood I will take in the dead of night, will provide the third. I will return to my old form, and Alastor will fall as though it never existed to begin with."

((Here's where Riordan should start to push away from the Titan. 030))

((Aye, Captain!

Also, I had a thought. Because Nate will be the swing factor in swaying Riordan completely, what if he tells Riordan, because Riordan will wiggle out of the blood swap for awhile, to give Veros a vial of GOAT BLOOD INSTEAD? 8D

Just a thought. I'm hyper.))

Riordan's gaze became a tad shocked, his eyes opening just a bit wider as he looked up at the Titan. "You...would have me give up my citizens, now?" He put a hand over his eyes, letting out a small sigh. "Well...at least give me some time to pick a few out for you. I don't want just anyone stolen from..."

((o3o Fun stuff. But he would figure it out when the spell does absolutely nothing and he's forced to attack Gossain to get what he wants. Then Gossain lets out a plea towards Alastor for help, blahblahblah, alliances are made, everyone hates Veros, so on and so forth. xD))

"I...suppose." Veros frowned, his eyes narrowed a bit. "Virgins, Riordan. it must be pure blood." He said quietly, before turning away. "If you need me, I'll be chaining myself up in the dungeon again. I need some rest, but I hardly feel like letting Nate run amok." He snorted, walking carefully away. "I'll speak to you of these matters again soon, I should hope."

((Obviouslay. OuO ))

"Of course," Riordan answered, staring after the retreating figure of the dragonian's back and wings. Once he was out of the way and gone from the room, Riordan seemed to relax slightly. "I don't like him," he said softly, still resting his hand against his chin, his eyes staring into the space where Veros had disappeared at.

"I think he knows it." Valley said quietly, but she smiled a bit and stroked his hair back. "But...what would you do about it?"

"You don't like him? That's a shame." Ink blinked at Riordan, but shrugged and went back to coloring his doodles. "Maybe you'll like the person he's with. The guy with the wings. Maybe he's nice. The enemy of your enemy is your friend, right?" He smeared blue paint onto his picture with his thumb, smiling in satisfaction as he looked down at his very messy artwork.

Riordan blinked, watching Ink wordlessly for a few moments before shaking his head. "You saw the way he spoke to me last time. He hates me, and I don't blame him. I might as well throw myself into a fire ahead of time, save Death the trouble of claiming my soul..." He rubbed his eyes wearily, giving a long, drawn-out sigh.

"He wouldn't hate you if he knew you were against Veros. You can probably just tell him." Ink shrugged. "To be honest...he's starting to scare me. Veros is. I wouldn't want him inside me, either."

"For once...your brother has a fair point," Valley said softly. "That man, Nate, believes you have sided with the Titan. If you reveal to him that this is not so, he may be more willing to listen to you."

Riordan considered their words for a moment, then exhaled and stood, gingerly rubbing the back of his neck. "Alright," he said quietly. "I'll give it a shot. But...Valley...have everything the three of us might need if we're going to have to leave at a moment's notice. I don't trust Veros, and if he finds out solid proof of any of this...we're done for." He walked off toward the dungeon, pausing long enough for Ink to trot happily after him; the two had struck up a wordless agreement to stick close.

Ink was admiring his work quietly, and had already elected to not say much during the meeting.

Nate was already awake. This was evident by the fact that he sat slumped against the wall, limp and weak. He was the picture of health; fit, strong, well fed and healthy. But his spirit dwindled more with every push Veros inflicted on him. This was all too clear. It was almost sad, seeing this in someone who had screamed curses and fought only a couple days before.

Apparently he was awake enough to acknowledge Riordan's presence, though. "Come to mock me again?" He asked dully, futile hatred in his gaze.

"No, as a matter of fact," was the answer, returned with an equally dark gaze. "Tch, why am I down here? No matter what I say, you'll just throw it back into my face or protest or do something else that I can't blame you for." He snorted and turned on his heel, clearly flustered and frustrated.

Nate watched him go, but realized quickly that the twin lingered behind. "What do you want?" He snapped as harshly as he could manage.

"Will you listen?" Ink blinked at him. If Riordan wasn't going to talk, he was.

"Depends on what you're saying."

Ink inched a little closer to the cell, his eyes wide as he peeked at Nate over his drawing. "Veros is bad. We don't like him. Riordan was forced to obey him because he was inside me...and he could easily hurt me if he wanted to. Like he's doing to you. We...don't like him at all." He put the paper down in front of Nate, who stared at it for a few moments.

It didn't make much sense. It looked like a man lying down, fatally injured, but the blood was blue and...cold. Like Nate felt right now, internally. He was cold, his spirit and internal flames chilled and subdued. Nate realized as he looked at it that it wasn't just a man, it was himself. Nate opened and closed his mouth a few times, but only managed to say, "I...I think I understand..."

"Oh, good. See? You don't hate us." Ink smiled happily, collecting his art again.

"I don't exactly trust you, either...but I understand now why you sided with him. Riordan said he would do anything for his family...I'm beginning to understand what he meant. In order to...maybe keep my family and friends safer from Veros, I was willing to kill myself..." He shivered at the thought. "And I still am..."

"Understanding is a step in the right direction, though." Ink nodded, then rolled onto his back. "Do you think I could have wings like yours someday?" He asked, crumpling up the picture he had worked so hard to create without a second thought. "No, probably not. Would be fun, though."

"Each side can only do what is best for that side."

Riordan, evidentally, hadn't left.

"Just as each side can only understand why said side did as they had done. I can't force you to understand my thoughts and feelings, just as you can't force me. But no matter what, your family is what's important, and despite our past, I could never let anything befall my brother. I...I care about him."

He didn't look at Ink as he spoke, unable to face him.

"I thought I was doing what was best for my people, and now, I realized I was wrong...and I'll never be able to make amends for my mistakes."

Nate stared at Riordan with a more gentle look. Still a mild amount of hatred and dislike, but he understood the situation a little better. "Just as...it was wrong of me to...assume that you sided with Veros out of free will." He coughed a bit, shaking his head. "I get it now. You and your brother are innocent in all this...puppets. Pieces on a chess board." He sighed.

"Two by two, faces blue, two by two," Ink sank quitely back into his insanity, rocking back and forth on his heels.

"Well...what now, then? You'll give him the blood he wants, let him return to his old form?" Nate snorted. "You'd be a fool, and you'd be better off giving him blood out of a freshly killed slab of beef."

Riordan blinked slightly, then turned to face the dragonian a bit more. "Actually...that's not such a bad idea," he murmured. "But...I suppose I'm just scared. If I go against Veros...my family's lives become at risk. I'm not sure what to do..." He rubbed the back of his neck, pausing to gently touch Ink's shoulder, very lightly, reassuringly.

"He said something about an army." Nate said quietly, as though that would keep Veros from hearing. If he were listening, anyway. Which, he wasn't. Thankfully. "If you have any units left, go with them. Flee to Alastor. If you must...under the guise that you are leading your troops to victory. I'll...well...if you see Werr...give him this." He held out a single, light blue scale. Naybrin's scale. One of so very few left on this world.

Ink took it, turning it over in his hands. "Pretty," He smiled.

"It's a dragon scale. But it's...special. He'll know what it is. He'll understand. He'll listen." Nate sighed, slumping back again.

((Awwww, Naybrin...))

Riordan blinked down at the thin scale, frowning for a moment before looking up at Nate. "...What about you? It wasn't my choice to let Veros obtain your body as his vessel. I didn't even know that's what he was planning, really...I know it messed up, I know you weren't his true target, but...I can't help feeling...bad for you..." He rubbed the back of his neck, which stung slightly, as if angry, at the touch.

"I'll survive for now. I just have to roll over and let Veros do what he will...and hope my friends get him out of me soon." Nate sighed heavily. "He can't kill me as long as I resist him. So I may come out of this beaten and battered, but...alive. Injuries don't matter as much as survivability."

"Strength persists and weakness falters, yet all will face the devil's altar." Ink murmured, inspecting the dirt between the stones of the dungeon.

Riordan placed a hand on Ink's head, giving his older brother a small look, then turned his gaze to Nate. "Do what you can to fight him," he said. "And even though I won't be redeemed, I'll do my best to make things right." He took Ink's hand and helped him up, turning toward the door in order to leave.

"Do what you must. And...take good care of your brother. In the end...that's what's important to you, right?" Nate rubbed his eyes wearliy, deciding that he needed a nap more than Veros did. The floor of his cell was hardly comfortable, but he simply didn't have the strength to care right now.

"I like him," Ink smiled slightly, still holding the scale, which he offered to Riordan. "Can we keep him?"