The Forgotten Zodiac

"I'm the prince," L'arc said, snickering softly. "Everyone has kind of been staring at me ever since we arrived," he pointed out. He crawled into his bed and sighed, turning onto his side. "Night, both of you. Bermuda, if you can hear me, night to you, too."

"Night!" Sylas said cheerfully as he curled up in his hammock.

"Wake up!" Aries dumped out Sylas onto the floor. It was still dark outside, but obviously morning. "L'arc, you too, up and at 'em. The coronation starts soon, and the Elder wants you all well fed and watered and all that. L'arc, he says you shouldn't eat anything. He doesn't want you throwing up or anything." She smirked a bit.

L'arc grumbled something, but got up. At Aries's words, he nodded, knowing that the directions were probably wise. "I'll drink some juice or something," he said, rubbing his eyes as he stood. He looked down at himself, then laughed softly. "I sure hope the robe fits, I think this is hardly suitable for an occasion," he said, plucking at his leather armor.

On the other side of the room, Bermuda rose, somewhat with the air of someone preparing for their execution.

Only he, really, knew that that's exactly what it was going to be.

"Hardly. I'm sure the robes fit, though, Versha crafted them herself." Aries smiled a bit. "You awake, Sylas?"

"Mm..." The human mumbled, rubbing his eyes as he lay on the floor. "I'm up. It's fine. Thanks, Aries."

"No problem. The others are waiting for us. Rush didn't seem intent upon joining us, but he'll be watching from the sky or something."

L'arc almost blurted "what's his problem" as he heard Aries mention Rush, but reined himself in quickly, settling for just a tired frown.

"I'll see you guys later," he said, moving over to the door. "I need to go check on things." He headed out of the room with a fluttery feeling in his stomach that he supposed must be the nerves he'd been working on avoiding yesterday. They had only grown worse in his sleep...

"Hey, you're not walking off without me," Sylas hurried after him. "I'm your guard. I need to be by your side." He insisted.

((Small post is sad.))

L'arc smiled at Sylas, slightly reassured. "Thanks," he said. "...stay close, okay?" he requested quietly.

"Well, duh." Sylas grinned, patting L'arc's arm. "I won't even have breakfast. That would require me leaving your side for a few." He chortled. "I'll just have one of these," He pulled an apple from his bag. One of his last ones, considering he had been snacking all yesterday. "So don't you worry about me."

L'arc smiled at Sylas, then nodded. "So long as you don't pass out or anything," he said, putting his hands in his pockets. As he did, he felt the blue vial in there that Rush had given him the night before. He had forgotten about it...

...but now was not the time, they had things to do.

((THANK GOODNESS YOU DIDN'T CRUSH IT IN YOUR SLEEP, L'ARC. XD))

Sylas chuckled, following L'arc to the town hall. Versha was waiting with the robes; it looked quite stunning. Not at all what Sylas expected. They were still kingly robes, certainly, but they had a touch to them that proclaimed that L'arc wasn't about to just plop his rear on a throne and watch chaos ensue. He was still capable of fighting, and that's what he was going to do. Maybe it was the crossed swords embroidered on the lapel, maybe it was the general shape of it. Either way, Sylas found himself rather liking the outfit.

"Put it on," He patted L'arc's shoulder, grinning. "Go on then, put it on!"

L'arc smiled, fiddling around with the straps of his armor until he was able to remove it. The robe would fit just fine over the clothes he was already wearing, but the armor would just make it bulky and combersome. He slid the robe on over his head, fighting with the sleeves for a moment before emerging with the robe on.

Backwards.

He looked down at himself, laughed, and fought the robe back off before sliding it on correctly this time.

Versha smiled. "You look very kingly already." She smiled, fussing with the hem for a moment. "It's lovely. Here," She fetched a small circlet with a heavy cloth train on the back; it was symbolic for princes to wear such things, especially during their coronation. The train would be cut off before the circlet was removed, which happened just before the crowning. It symbolized a coming of age, the dawn of a new kingship and the renewal of the throne. Noble traditions passed down from the first kings of the forest. The only exception then was that the throne didn't follow a family line; it was anointed to one person in every generation.

But those days were long gone, and soon L'arc would take the place of his father on the throne. Versha brushed a piece of his hair back, her expression soft and sad as she looked at him. "You look so much like your father, child. You have no idea."

L'arc offered Versha a smile, then a small laugh. "Except younger, right?" he asked, looking away from her gaze quickly and becoming very interested in his shoes.

...he had such big ones to fill...

Shaking himself slightly, he looked back up to Versha, remembering that today would be, if she predicted correctly, the day of her death. "...I'm grateful, you know," he said. "Thank you so much."

"Younger, certainly," Versha said, smiling a bit. "I'm grateful towards you as well, L'arc. Never forget it. This is a great thing. All you need to do is relax, and remember...you've already done many great things."

L'arc smiled, feeling some of his nerves ebb away. Just being in the room with the tree spirit seemed to calm him a great deal. He looked over to Sylas, the smile still on his face. "Well... I haven't done them alone," he responded to Versha's words, staring at the floor again. After a moment, he thought better of it, and met her gaze. "It's going to be all right, isn't it?" he asked, sounding much more confident than before.

"Everything will be fine, my prince." The tree spirit dipped her head. "But you are quite correct. You have done nothing alone, but you have done everything with the help of your friends. There may come a time when your opinion differs with the rest of theirs, but even so, they will gladly follow you to the ends of the earth. Remember that."

"I know that," L'arc said quickly, nodding at once. "And I can't thank them enough." At these words, he turned back to Sylas, looking about as if his face was going to split in half from all the smiling he was doing. "Seriously," he said, putting a hand on Sylas's shoulder.

"Hey, hey, it's not like you're leaving," Sylas shook L'arc's hand off, grinning. "Save the thanks for the deathbed. It's the least I can do, really. Honestly, L'arc, don't look at me like that, you know I wouldn't want it any other way."

"I hope it doesn't take me until my deathbed to let you and everyone else know that I'm grateful for everything," L'arc said, returning his hand to his side. "You're a great friend, Sylas. I don't know what I'd--" he cut himself off, then laughed. "Fine, I'll save the mushy feeling stuff for later. But you're going to hear it one way or another, and likely multiple times," he said.

"Well in that case, I'd probably have drowned or something if I hadn't met you!" Sylas stuck his tongue out.

"You did, very nearly. Once." Aries chuckled. She was at the doorway. "When you were first reunited with L'arc, you were dragged down into a very deep lake by some Water Imps. If not for Bermuda, you both would have drowned."

"Really? Huh." Sylas blinked.

"Yes, I remember you telling me about it." Aries shrugged. "Either way, you're welcome, L'arc. However many times I have to say it. There's nothing I like more than adventuring with you guys." She smiled brightly.

"Yeah!" Sylas agreed, grinning. "I'd be bored spitless if we weren't running around all the time."