The Forgotten Zodiac

Gabe laid on the ground for a while, just blinking up at Aries. "It feels all tingly, mama," he said, sitting up slowly. As the boy got to his feet, he stood taller. And taller. And a bit taller still, until his head reached about the same level as Aries's shoulder, whereas he'd only come up to her waist before. "What...?" he looked at himself, then at Aries, then back. His tunic had split along the top, and now the fabric hit at about his knees, where it had reached the ground before.

"...guess you can't carry me any more," he said. As he spoke, his voice sounded fuller, less childish. "This is... strange. Maybe I should ask Jerod about what just... are you okay?" he asked, seeing the burn on her arm.

Aries stared up at him. "That...that was odd..." She frowned. She looked down at her arm, and winced. "I'll be fine," She shook her head, standing up. "Yes, we have to go talk to Jerod." She carefully touched his face, ensuring that he wouldn't burn anymore. Then she promptly swept him off his feet, holding him bridal-style in spite of the burns. "And I'll carry you if I want to, Gabe."

Gabe smiled slightly at Aries, wrapping his arms around her neck to hold on. Though he had gotten taller, he was still quite lean, as most warlocks were. "Is this as tall as I'm going to get? Daddy was taller," he said.

"Was he?" Aries blinked. "I don't want you to get any taller. Not like that. That scared me," She hugged him a little tighter, closing her eyes. She had to open them again before long, as they approached Jerod. "Jerod, something happened to Gabe..."

"Oh. I see that." Jerod blinked. "You've grown, child."

Gabe slid out of his mother's arms and smiled at Jerod; he was now just as tall as the manakete. "Did I? I hadn't noticed," he said, then laughed loudly. He tilted his head and looked himself over. "What happened to me, Jerod?" he asked.

"It appears you've gone through a growth spurt. But not a natural one; a magical one. As you know, your magic pertains to your body's maturity; when your magic grows to a more mature state, so will you. It's natural for warlocks. You're only half-warlock, though...I imagine you might not grow much more. On the bright side, you may not look as old when you're my age," Jerod chuckled, stroking his beard.

Gabe smiled. "I might need a longer tunic now, though," he said, laughing slightly. He paused, then asked, "How old are you, Jerod?"

"Many, many years," Jerod chortled. "Around 300 years. I'm definitely getting along in years, I must admit...well, were we prepared to go?"

"I am. Unless you still wanted to say goodbye to the selkies, Gabe..." Aries looked at her son, accidentally looking down a little too far and having to look up a little to avoid staring at his shirt. That would take some getting used to, but Aries didn't mind. He was still her little boy, and always would be.

((Aww, Aries.))

"I wanted to say bye to Quay," Gabe said, decisively, then set off. It appeared that the growth spurt had restored and perhaps even elevated his energy level. He darted off down the beach, calling the selkie's name.

((Always. o3o))

Aries hurried after him, still not comfortable leaving Gabe alone for any amount of time. She caught up as the boys were hugging. She smiled at them both, scratching the back of her neck absentmindedly. It was a good thing for Gabe to have a friend around his age. It was sad that they had to leave, but Quay lived here, and they needed to be elsewhere...

After Gabe said his goodbyes, he turned back to Aries. "Okay, mama. I'm ready to go," he said, reaching for and taking her hand. "How's your ear?" he asked. "Looking better. Do you want me to try a heal spell on your arm? I didn't mean to burn you..."

"You can try when we get back home, okay?" Aries smiled. "I'll be fine. It was my fault for not listening to you, so it doesn't matter." She took his hand, quite happy in spite of the stinging on her palm. "Let's go, Gabe." She led the way back to Jerod, who had just finished transforming.

"Here we are. And off we go. Would you like to ride on my back, or in my hands?" Jerod offered.

"On your back," Gabe said with a grin, then scrambled up Jerod's said and placed himself at the base of the dragon's neck.

Aries climbed up behind him, still smiling. "Alright. Ready to go, Jerod."

"Certainly. Up, up, and away," Jerod said before flapping his huge wings, straining to get enough lift. Finally, he set off at a steady pace to cross the ocean.

"Alright...I guess the real question is, how are we going to move Rush?" Verolen frowned. "He's got twice the density as gold.."

"What does that mean?" Manny questioned.

"It means he's freaking heavy, Manny."

"Freaking heavy? Not just heavy?"

"Yeah, it's a word like freakishly. Easier to say."

"Oh." Manny still didn't seem to quite understand, but he decided not to question it anymore.

"Can you carry him, Manny?" Eve asked, touching him lightly on the arm. "I've seen you lift him before. Do you think you could manage to carry him all the way to Halberd Hall?" she asked. "I'll come with you, of course..."

"We could ask Reetah. She could probably carry him in her dragon form. Of course, I don't know how we'd get him outside to where she could transform..." L'arc mused aloud.

"I can carry him outside," Manny nodded. "The balcony is right out the door, so Reetah would be able to pick him up from there. It's not a bad idea, right?"

"No, not bad at all." He turned, remembering that Reetah was in the room with them. Sitting next to the bed she had dumped Ullar in, one of the spare beds. Unnmoving since two days ago. Ullar clearly wasn't dead; he breathed and coughed occasionally, but was apparently incapable of much movement. Reetah had treated his wounds, and he had more cast showing than skin. Many of his bones had been broken.

"I'll keep an eye on him, Reetah," L'arc volunteered. "I was going to stay behind with Sylas, anyways, and Ullar likes me," he said.

Reetah didn't respond. Verolen walked over, and smiled slightly. "She's asleep sitting up," He announced.

"You wanna wake her up?" Sylas blinked.

"Heck no. I know Reetah when she's grumpy, and that's not something I want to make on purpose. We can wait until she's awake." Verolen shook his head. "I need to go chat with Minori, anyway. Tell him what all is going on. And then I should dig those holes..."

"Do the caskets look good?" Sylas asked, suddenly quiet again.

"As good as I could make them. They're padded, too. They'll sleep easy..." Verolen rubbed the back of his neck, leaving the room.

Manny watched him go, then looked over at Eve. "What's a casket?"

Eve frowned slightly and took Manny's hand. "It's where you place the bodies of the deceased," she said. "They're for Aries and Gabe."

((What's funny is that Gabe probably wouldn't even fit in his anymore.))

"What? Aries and Gabe aren't dead..." Manny frowned.

"Yeah, they are." Syas growled, quickly growing annoyed with Manny's childish behavior. He could suffer it for other things, but death was a touchy subject for Sylas. Possibly because his own mother had probably been made into a casket for one of the humans that had cut her down.

"Oh...are you sure?"

"Yes, Manny. I'm sure." Sylas snorted. He frowned, then said, "Israel's taking a long time. He should've been back an hour ago..."