The Forgotten Zodiac

"Well...I'm a little hurt. But...it's not much. I'll soak my ankle in the water, too. And maybe get a drink." She sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't try to hide injuries, just like you shouldn't. Okay?" She smiled down at him as they reached the water. "Mommy isn't too badly hurt. Your hands are more important, and your injuries are more important to me. But I suppose you have a reason to be worried about me, too."

"Of course I do. You're my mommy," Gabe said, kneeling and dipping his hands in the water to let them soak. He looked up, waiting for Aries to sit down beside him, and sighed. "Will the fire burn out soon?" he asked.

"Yes. I have no doubts about that." Aries nodded. "There...will be a lot of destruction, though." Aries sat down and lowered her red ankle into the cool water. "But hey, the forest will recover. It always does. After all, we have Sylas. And the Ether shards. It'll recover." She smiled, then looked up.

Almost immediately, she grabbed Gabe and dove for cover; the Phantom approached, Verolen at his side and Talos following behind. Aries held Gabe close, closing her eyes out of fear.

"Hi, Verolen!" Gabe called, not exactly processing the danger until Aries grabbed him. Immediately, he regretted calling out to the demon, hoping that they weren't going to be killed by the Phantom.

"Hello, small boy who's name I never recall!" The Phantom approached with a smile on his face, looking down into the bush. "My, you look so terrified. Oh, hello, Aries. I thought you were dead."

Aries glared at him, then threw a handful of grass in his face. She bolted while he was distracted, only to slide to a stop in front of Verolen. "Wha...what happened, he turn you again?" She snarled.

"No. We turned him, remember?" Verolen smiled a bit. "Relax. He's harmless. Keep an eye on Talos, but the Phantom is fine. I promise."

"Oh...oh yeah," Aries smiled a bit at herself. "Now I feel silly..."

"...hi, I'm Gabe!" the young warlock offered, after hearing Verolen's words. "Uh, you're bleeding," Gabe pointed out, indicating the red on the Phantom's shirt. "How come you're doing that?"

"Oh yes. I took wounds off of Sylas. It does hurt a bit, but I'll be okay." He nodded, smiling. "Thank you for your concern, little Gabe. It's nice to meet you. I am Verolen Krow Senior. You can call me Mr. Krow, to avoid confusion with my son."

"...I thought you were the Phantom," Gabe said, seeming genuinely confused. "That's what we've always called you. And aren't you a king? Mr. Krow doesn't seem like something for a King to be called."

"The Phantom is such a garish name." He chortled. "Call me whatever you'd like. I honestly don't mind. You can call me Mr. Krow, or Mr. King, or just King Krow," He grinned. "Hey, would you like some chocolate? I always keep some on hand in case I'm in a bad mood. And between you and me, it looks like your mother could use some," He laughed a bit, then handed Gabe a bar of the sweet stuff.

"Give me that," Aries practically hissed, opening it and taking a bite. She rolled it around her tongue once or twice, then sighed and handed it to Gabe. "Alright...you can have some, Gabe."

"If I wanted to poison you or your son, I would do it. I don't want to. I just want the child to keep smiling. It's rather heartwarming."

"...yeah, you definitely don't sound like yourself." Aries frowned at him.

"Tell me about it," Talos grunted. "He took away my knives and threw them in a bush. If only I had them right now..." He glared at Aries.

"What, you wanna go?" Aries snapped, curling her lip.

Gabe looked very delighted as he was handed the chocolate, cramming it into his mouth almost immediately. "Aankooo," Gabe said, smiling at the demon King. He turned to Verolen. "Hey, you want some, too?" he asked, ignoring the beginning conflict between Talos and Aries.

"Sure. Why not?" Verolen smiled, taking a piece Gabe's mouth hadn't touched. "Father, Talos is being uncooperative again."

"I see that. He hasn't hurt anyone yet, though." The Phantom shrugged.

"Right..." Verolen strode forward, then grabbed Talos by the collar and dragged his face down to eye level. "Listen up and listen good. After years and years of conflict, someone finally did it. The Spell of Black is permanant. Adhare gave his life so that no one else had to die in this stupid war. Once daddy here scampers on home and discovers what he's been doing, it all comes to a screeching halt. There is absolutely nothing you can do against that. Game over. We win. If you still have conflicts with us that you feel like hashing out, I'll gladly arrange for your prompt execution for interference with the crown prince of the Darklands." He let go, and Talos stood up again, though his glares never stopped. Verolen turned to his father. "The people here are under my protection, father. I ask that you don't wait until Talos hurts someone to punish him; take measures to ensure that it doesn't happen. My protection is not something to scoff at."

"Certainly not. Are you taking an oath of vengance over them?" Mr. Krow smiled.

"I did a long time ago."

"They must be important to you."

"They are."

"An oath of vendance?" Gabe asked, tilting his head. "What is that? Is it scary?" he questioned quickly in sucession. "Will it make Bermuda better? Bermuda needs to get better so he can do some healing, because lots of people have boo boos," he said.

Verolen smiled a bit. "An oath of vengance is just a statement that if anyone were to hurt you, Gabe, I would do anything it takes to either make the hurt better, or make whoever hurt you hurt back. It's not a spell or anything of the sort. It's just a statement, a saying."

"A proclamation." Mr. Krow grinned. "What's wrong with Bermuda? Anything I can do to help?"

"Probably not..." Verolen frowned.

"Oh," Gabe said. He thought about it for a moment, then said, "I wanna make one, too! For mommy and you and all the others, too!" he said with a nod, hugging Aries quickly and grinning.

"Sure, Gabe. You can vow to do your very best to make the hurt go away." Aries smiled, hugging the boy. "Now come on, let's go check on Bermuda. Maybe he's awake right now. We won't know until we see for ourselves, will we?"

"No, I guess not," Gabe said, smiling. "I hope he is. It'd be sad if he didn't wake up, because then he couldn't help me learn any healing spells!" the warlock said, then started running back in the direction of camp.

"There's always Jerod and Rush," Aries pointed out. "But Bermuda's the best, I know." She smiled, hurrying after him.

Sylas was in one of the tents as well, by now. Curled up on a cot off to the side, shivering as he slept unsoundly.

L'arc was sitting at the flap of the tent, watching Bermuda and Sylas sleep. The pair had been moved into the same tent so that niether would be disturbed, and L'arc was keeping silent watch over his two "brothers" to make sure that both would be all right.

"Hey," Aries said softly, beckoning L'arc out of the tent. "Is Sylas doing alright? Bermuda's still...alive, right?" She questioned quietly. To the latter question, of course she would recieve a yes. But Sylas...well, despite the apparent chills, he was also running a fever which refused to break, and Rush had informed L'arc that he would cry out in his sleep a lot. Which he already had, several times. Mostly about Jemina.

"...I think they'll... eventually... both be... all right," L'arc said hesitantly, sounding very unsure of himself. He sighed, then shifted over to Sylas and adjusted the damp cloth he'd put on Sylas's head earlier. It had gotten warm, so he soaked it in a nearby bucket and replaced it on the human's head.

"We've been trying to get Sylas to cool off, and to find a place that Bermuda can sleep. Somewhere, you know. Wetter."