The Forgotten Zodiac

"Nay," Kendra said, shaking her head. "Allow me to amend my question - it would appear that the ability to withstand dark matter is contained in the ancestral line. What of his parents? What manner of people were they? If we were to know how much time his mother spent around my fellows... ah, other demons, you might say... that would tell us much."

"Well, his father was a slave trader," L'arc said. "I'm not sure that even Byrne knows much about his mother, but... if she stayed around that village, I'd wager she came into contact with demons every now and again."

"So you see? There is a chance..." Kendra said, peering at the human carefully.

"Hm..." Sylas frowned.

"So we should treat his wounds and hope for the best?" Verolen raised a brow. "I...I guess. Just don't let him die, Kendra. The last thing we need now is another grave..."

"Rush, stay here," Sylas said, not realizing that the Chimera could hear nothing. Rush trotted off, his tail swaying slightly as he followed his curious nose.

"I got it," L'arc said, following off after Rush. He trailed after the chimera as he wandered down the hall, and wondered where Rush thought he was going. Well, the chimera probably wasn't thinking much at all, but... he should probably be supervised.

Rush stopped to investigate a number of things; first it was a little beetle, which he left squashed against the wall. Next was a plant, which he shredded in his feirce claws. He found the kitchens, and managed to steal a bit of meat; he ate it happily as he continued to trot along, either not realizing or not caring that L'arc was hot on his tail.

He stopped, however, outside the sanctuary. He pushed open the door a crack and stared at the glowing lights and simple beauty of the room, still munching on his meat.

L'arc gently reached out and tapped Rush's shoulder, a bit afraid that the chimera would trash the place if L'arc didn't step in. Minori was a nice enough king, but L'arc knew that tradtition was very important to the manakete. To destroy this room would... L'arc couldn't even fathom the consequences.

Rush jerked and stared up at L'arc. He blinked twice at the forest prince, then suddenly bolted away, running as fast as he could down the hall. He wound up running headfirst into a suit of armor, which resulted in him retaliating against his 'attacker', which obviously resulted in the armor being trash and turning into a chew toy. Quite literally. Rush gnawed on the helmet, his slab of meat forgotten as he rolled around with the big metal helm caught  in his teeth.

"Noo, Rush..." L'arc sighed in exasparation, running his hand through his hair. He walked over to where the chimera was laying and sat down against the wall, watching him.

((Ninjapost))

Rush blinked at L'arc, then sat up and dropped the helmet in L'arc's lap. Then he sat down next to the forest prince, attempting to imitate the 'running fingers through hair' bit, but he wound up getting his claws stuck in his matted and tangled hair. He stared at the mess he had made, then slowly started putting it back together.

"Oh hey, it's that Library vessel," Nana's voice came from nearby. She grinned. "He's a mess, isn't he? The Library was deactivated...odd."

((I SEE YOU THERE NINJA))

"Is that what's wrong with him?" L'arc asked, looking up as Nana appeared. "Ugh... how would one begin to fix that?" He sighed and shook his head, then asked politely, "Have your powers returned yet?"

((:C I is fail ninja.

Fun fact: the Halberd is the name of the giant flying ship that Meta Knight flies in Kirby games.))

"That they have. I believe my sisters would be able to reactivate it...we did it the first time, after all. We can do it again." Nana smiled. "But, uh...we wouldn't exactly be willing to just give it back, you know. The Library is powerful...and extremely potent. We need it to return Halberd Hall to his former glory...but you lot have always kept it from us." She pouted.

((Oh, right, I knew that. XDD))

"Not our fault," L'arc said quickly, raising his arms in an act of surrender. "But then again, we wouldn't let you just take Rush from us. He's kind of important," he said.

((xD Fun facts all around.

Nana's name comes from the Ice Climber pair; the male is named Popo. I was really tempted to name Horace Popo, but I decided against it.))

Nana shrugged. "I guess he's not that important, if you don't want him back in his right mind. H-hey, there's a timer on him. He's only got five minutes left before a portal opens on him. Do you have any Ether shards? I should break the fuse, but I need one of those," She said quickly. When L'arc hesitated, she hissed, "Go quick, or neither of us will get him! He'll go back to that blasted Phantom!"

((I KNEW THAT NAME WAS FAMILIAR.

Uh... Bermuda is named after the triangle and not the shorts. XDD))

"Ah, uh, yeah!" L'arc stammered, jumping to his feet and running down the hall, yelling for Sylas. When he got back to their room, he took a moment to catch his breath, then held out his hand. "I need some Ether Shards like right now!" he said.

((There are shorts named Bermudas? Odd.

There is a Sylas in literally every roleplay I've ever done.))

Sylas blinked at L'arc, then nodded. "Here," He pulled a few from his nightstand, shoving them into L'arc's hands. "Dunno what you need 'em for, but you seem to be in a hurry, so go." He nodded quickly.

Manny stared at him. "How...how many Ether shards do you have?"

"Eh...around the group, we have a total of around twenty. I usually have 15 or so, although I have to be careful not to let them come into contact with my skin too much when we're not in a forest. They get moody." Sylas shrugged.

((There are. goodle them. They are socially acceptable.))

"Thanks, Sy, I'll explain later," L'arc said, then bolted out the door.

He reached the place where he'd left Nana and Rush a few moments later. "Got them!" he called as he approached. "Now just... do whatever you do, and he'll be all right, right?"

((Yep.))

"Well..." Nana seemed to mentally debate it for a moment, then decided against it. She took the ether shards and held them in her fist, concentrating. She made Rush hold hands with her, and the shards glowed brightly for a long while before finally relaxing again. "Here," She put the shards back in L'arc's hand. "Now, uh...he might be a little mad. He thought he would be returned home, that's why he's been relatively calm. Once he realizes he's stuck here, well...you might want to restrain him now, while you've got the chance." She suggested lightly, returning to Horace's side. "But, he'll stay here. That's a good thing, right?"

L'arc blinked, then let his face fall into his hands. "You couldn't have mentioned that a bit sooner?" he asked a bit bitterly. He sighed and held out his hand to Rush, hoping the chimera would take it.

"No. Because you might not have wanted him to stay!" Nana shook her head, backing up a good deal. "If that kid goes back to the Phantom, me and my sisters will never get our hands on him. That's not a good thing, is it? So...here he stays, monstrosity or not. Like I said, get him tied up quick."

"Bonu?" Rush took L'arc's hand with his large clawed one, stroking the scales with his other hand. "Pain..." He murmured.

"Wha... that's a real word!" L'arc looked excited now, grinning at the chimera. "Don't worry, don't worry, we'll give you something to make the pain go away, just... follow me!" he said, forgetting for a moment that Rush could not hear him.

Rush got up and followed anyway, guessing what L'arc wanted from the motions he made. He walked quickly after L'arc, his little half-hop, half-trot gait seeming rather sad. Upon careful watching, one would be able to tell that poor Rush was limping. Under his dark garb, the scales had grown thick and stiff down his side and over part of his leg. He wasn't injured, but it definitely hurt.