The Forgotten Zodiac

"Er, no. I asked if he wanted to help, and he said he was busy reading up on our new enemy." Verolen rubbed the back of his neck. "He said it's a pretty detailed list of what all happened to make him, and what all he can do. But due to his time locked away, he may have developed new skills that aren't listed. It's just important to know what we can. That's what he said, anyway. He didn't seem too keen on helping."

"Well, we do need to find out about this Chaos guy, too. So I suppose it's fair, if he's working on that. I wouldn't want to ask too much of him, after all," L'arc said, shrugging. He glanced over his shoulder to Sylas and Bird and smiled, then looked ahead as they reached the human camp again.

"Home, sweet home. I rather like this place." Sylas grinned, folding his fingers behind his head. "It's small, sure, but there's a lot of people here that are really likeable." He looked at Bird, smiling. "What do you think?"

Bird shrugged.

"I think we prefer the forest," L'arc said, ginning at Sylas. He wondered a bit if Sylas would move into a town after all the reconstruction, and be with humans after all of this...

"I think we prefer the forest," L'arc said, ginning at Sylas. He wondered a bit if Sylas would move into a town after all the reconstruction, and be with humans after all of this...

"No kidding. I couldn't settle down here for good. After all, I've gotta be with you in the castle, don't I?" Sylas chuckled, patting L'arc on the shoulder. "I do. No getting around that."

"That's right," L'arc said, grinning. "Because you promised. ...you do remember that, don't you?" L'arc asked, slightly joking about Sylas' temporary selective amnesia.

"'Course I remember! I'd never forget something like that." Sylas chuckled. "When I make a promise, I keep it, L'arc. I don't need some fancy ceremony to know that I'm your noble defender. Your loyal knight." He bowed slightly in a mock show of respect.

L'arc feigned shock. "Are you mocking your king?" he asked, putting his hands on his hips. "I had thought you were of better manners, Sy!" he said, then laughed. He slung an arm around Sylas' shoulders. "In all seriousness, you don't have to stand on ceremony with me. It'd just be... weird."

"No kidding." Sylas blinked. "I think most ceremonies would be odd for me to participate in..."

"You're a human. There's no getting around that. That's just how it is." Verolen chuckled, patting Sylas on the back. "You can guard him from the shadows. You work better that way, anyway. A sword is more effective than a bow in close quarters."

"Yeah," Sylas grinned. "I don't care. So long as I still get to protect him, then I'm good."

"You've no idea how reassuring it is to have that promise," L'arc said, allowing his arm to fall from Sylas's shoulders as they ventured towards the center of camp. Unconsciously, L'arc's posture straighted and he walked with a somewhat larger stride, trying to emulate what his father had looked like as king.

Sylas smiled and fell back a step, only adding to the illusion of L'arc's superiority. Tobias approached with a smile. "Hey, the building site is this way," He ushered them over. "Did you come to help, or just watch? I can't possibly ask you to help after all you did for us," He chuckled. "The farms are doing wonderfully so far. They grew extremely fast. I don't know what that King Krow did, but he's certainly helpful."

"He is now," L'arc agreed with a nod, then smiled. "Of course I'm here to help. I'm not some princess to be coddled behind the vanguard - put me to work. I want to help the resoration of these lands in whatever way I can, and this seems like the most direct," he answered.

"Well then. You can help us with the frame, then." Tobias chuckled, grinning. He led the way to where a foundation was being built. A decent size, but not too big. They didn't have too many supplies. "This is just the town hall. Next we'll be working on a barn near the farms, and some houses. Your earth-moving friend offered to secure the foundation for us with some solid rock. In the meantime, how about you two get to work on the door while I cut some pieces for the frame?" He suggested, smiling.

"A door. Simple enough." Sylas nodded, looking at the pile of the wood Tobias offered. "We'll get right to work, thanks."

"No, thank you."

"No problem," L'arc said, heading over to the pile of wood. He selected a few pieces, then looked up to Sylas, making sure Tobias was out of hearing range. "How do you make a door?" he asked quietly.

"Um..." Sylas thought for a moment, then arranged the planks in a line. Two of them were much shorter than the others, so he pushed them aside. "Well...this is kinda a door, but how do they make the wood stick together? Umm..."

((The shorter planks are supposed to go sideways over the other planks, and the longer planks are nailed into the shorter plank to keep them in line. I made one out of cardboard strips once for a play. o3o

Not that Sylas and L'arc would know any of this. xDDD))

((I know how to make a door XD))

L'arc stared at it for a while, then motioned with his hand and made vines grow around the planks, holding them together. "That... kind of works," he said.

((BUT L'ARC DOES NOT))

"I don't think that's what Tobias had in mind..." Sylas frowned. "I mean, this might work for awhile, but won't bugs eat the vines or something?" He scratched the back of his neck. "Humans use nails, don't they?" He looked up and watched someone else build what was to be the door frame. Hammer and nails, just as he thought. "Maybe we need some of that?"

"Probably not a bad idea," L'arc said, making the vines retract back into the soil. He glanced up at the other humans, then looked down at the planks they had been given. "...still not exactly sure how to..."

"We'll figure it out." Sylas went to fetch nails and a hammer.

By the time they were done, they had constructed what was, without a doubt, one of the most discombobulated and confused doors since their first making. Sylas lifted it up and looked at it with a mingled sense of pity and shame. "We, eh...probably did it wrong...I don't think we should let Tobias see this. Maybe...we should ask Verolen? They have proper doors in the Darklands, don't they?"