The Forgotten Zodiac

"Yeah, talking strategy might not be a bad idea," Bermuda said. "Verolen or Kendra probably knows the most about that kind of thing. L'arc certainly didn't have time to be trained strategically, nor did I," he said.

"Well, that's what Verolen, Kendra and I are here for." Rush nodded. "If you're not sure about something, just ask. Formations is what we need to work on, mostly..."

Bermuda nodded in understanding, then lifted a slender lance off the ground. "I suppose this'll do for now... it seems maneuverable and easy to use. This'll work until Byrne gets accustomed to his... new... arm," he said.

"Aye," Rush nodded, then paused. "New arm? What do you mean?"

"Didn't you see?" Bermuda asked, turning to Rush. "Byrne's right arm... has, hopefully... merged with Dark Matter. The Phantom gave him Manny's hand, and well..." he trailed off, hoping the chimera could infer the rest.

Rush frowned thoughtfully. "But...Dark Magic shouldn't merge with the hand. It should remain the same. Unless...Manny is a lot more dense than I thought. Not in intelligence," Rush corrected himself quickly. "The Dark Matter has to be...tons. For something as simple as his hand to have to merge...I need to see it. Come on," Rush grabbed a quiver off the rack before heading out the door with Sylas' new bow, on his way back to their room.

Bermuda followed after Rush, keeping pace with him as they hurried back to their room.

Byrne had curled up on his bed, looking only half-awake. He seemed to be about ready to drift off to sleep, if left alone.

((XD Poor byrne.))

Byrne's rest was disturbed by Rush carefully grabbing his arm, turning it this way and that to examine it. "My goodness...that's a ton. Manny," He stood, looking towards the mannequin. "How big are you?"

"Uh...only about six feet..." Manny blinked at him.

"No, no, no. How much dark matter are you made of?"

"Oh. About...uh..."

"What's the biggest thing you can fit into?" Rush made the question a little easier.

"A...large fish." Manny nodded. "Big. I think it's called a whale."

Byrne jumped, startled awake as he was touched. "Oh... Rush?" he asked, blinking at the chimera. "What... are you doing?" he asked.

"Oh, sorry, Byrne. I thought you were asleep." Rush blinked, then smiled. "It's incredible, really. The density that Manny's hand had was massive. If it had been just a simple hand, it would have merged with your hand in flesh form. It wouldn't look any different. But this...absolutely incredible. There was so much Dark Matter in that hand that instead of it merging with you, your body merged with it!"

Byrne sat up slowly, looking at his arm. "Ah... cool. I think?" he said, looking up at Rush. "It's not going to hurt me now, is it?" he asked.

"I highly doubt that. But it's still something to gawk at, I say..." Rush smiled. "Worry not, Byrne, you'll be fine now." He set Byrne's arm down, still grinning. "You can go back to your nap now. Oh, we got you a lance, though. Bermuda was wondering if you wanted lessons in combat. And here, Sylas, your new bow."

"Sweet, thanks." Sylas smiled, taking it and feeling it. He drew the string back, testing the tension for a moment. "It's nice."

Bermuda smiled and sat the lance down next to Byrne's bed. The human nodded his thanks before turning over, returning to his sleep.

The nereid sighed, running a hand through his hair, before looking at Sylas. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Kinda tired. But mostly okay." Sylas nodded, smiling a bit. "And with this, I'll be back in action before you can blink!" He tested the bowstring again, grinning. "I like longbows a lot. I'll go for a shortbow if I have to, but these are a lot more powerful."

Bermuda nodded, then looked around with a sigh. "So Rush was saying that we needed to come up with some sort of battle plan for future use. I think it's a good idea," he said.

"Formations, mostly." Rush nodded happily. "It won't be too hard; we already have our preferred weapons, so it'll be easy from there." He set aside a stave he had picked up from the armory, smiling still.

"Yeah...I can't see how talking about it would hurt." Verolen shrugged.

((Did Rush give the stave to Bermuda or did he hide it?))

Bermuda turned to Verolen and began explaining what Rush had been telling the Oceanid prince on the way to the armory. He hated the fact that he'd just have to explain it again when L'arc and Byrne woke up, but most of the rest of their group was present and listening, so explaining now suited fine as well.

When Bermuda finished explaining, Gabe raised his hand and waited patiently to be called on. "I want to fight next to mom," he requested.

((Hid it. He's going to cast some spells on it to make it a bit more powerful.

'Cuz you know. The Library. He can do that.))

"Gabe, that's...that's fine. Aries needs to help cover L'arc. He's a top priority to protect when it comes to battle...no offense to anyone else." Rush nodded. "Your protection magics will help a lot. Thanks for offering, Gabe. As much as I don't like having kids on the battlefield..."

"You forget. A lot of us are still young, Rush." Sylas spoke up quietly. He was younger than L'arc was, even.

((Awesome.))

"It's true," Bermuda said. "Though L'arc and I played as twins for a while, I'm older than he is. I'm nineteen, and I believe L'arc's... sixteen or seventeen?" He thought about it for a moment, then looked to Sylas. "And Sy's even younger. If we've been able to manage for the past three years in this war, I'm sure Gabe will be fine. He'll have the rest of us nearby," he said.

Rush ran his fingers through his hair, then laughed, clearly still in a good mood. "Hey, we make it work, don't we? Just be careful, Gabe. That's all I ask."