The Forgotten Zodiac

"I only ask that you be careful. The Library could easily be manipulated if you let its trust in you slip." Bershee shrugged, finding a small vial of blue liquid. "And how did this happen, exactly?" She asked as she removed the bandages, an eyebrow raised. "It appears this wasn't done in battle. Too clean of a cut. Hurting yourself again, L'arc?"

"We needed to attract an enemy," L'arc said. "And this seemed the simplest, most straightforeward way of doing that," he answered, frowning slightly.

"Ah. I see." Bershee spread the liquid on the wound, which quickly congealed into a paste on contact with the air. It was easily absorbed by L'arc's skin, and the wound seemed less painful in a matter of seconds. "That's a sealant. You won't have a chance of getting an infection now, even if you went outside and stuck your hand in the cow trough." She spread the same on Sylas' hand, then added a pinkish liquid. The cut sealed up a little more than Sylas', though he didn't look too happy about having his wound healed while L'arc was stuck with a cut. "There. Neither of you are worse for wear, and Sylas' cut will seal overnight. Now, off to bed with the both of you. If you're to be up and running errands for me again, you'll need your strength."

"Right," Sylas nodded, but stopped. "Hey, wait. The...mass of Dark Matter that Manny absorbed. We...we're pretty sure it was Dark Chaos."

"Most likely. But the simple truth is that I do not sense him nearby. He must have sent it here from another area." She shrugged.

"So we still have to deal with him?" L'arc asked, looking a bit disappointed at this news. "Should have known. Nothing can be easy, can it?" he sighed.

"At least he seems to be sticking to his word. The forest is left alone. All the other areas...perhaps you want to check on the Manaketes before continuing on to the human land. Give the king a warning, perhaps." Bershee shrugged.

"That's probably not a bad thought..." Sylas rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yeah, I'll get someone on that," L'arc agreed. "I'm sure Minori can handle it, he can purge Dark Matter with ease... perhaps Dark Chaos knows well enough to stay away from there," he said.

"Who knows," Bershee shrugged. "In my opinion...that was just a test run. A trial for his powers. To see how much he could do all at once, or something of the sort..."

"And that was a lot." Sylas frowned. "We'll take it as a warning then."

"Not that you'll heed it. But yes. Do so."

"Thanks, Bershee," L'arc offered as he and Sylas headed from the medical tent. Halfway out the door, though, he paused, and sent a smile Bermuda's way.

"Hope you're up for some running around in the next couple days. We have a lot of work to do," he said.

Bermuda smiled. "You can count on me," he said.

Verolen watched them go, then turned to Eve. "So...when will he be able to move again? He said he was in pain...that's not a good thing..."

"It will be a while," Eve said. "Certainly not by tomorrow," she added, frowning slightly.

"That's no good. Poor guy," Verolen sighed. "Is there anything we can do to help him feel better? Well...me? Maybe I could make him toys. If he's going to be childish when he wakes up, you might need toys for him to play with..."

"That would be wonderful," Eve said, beaming brightly. "I recall he had a certain fondness for blocks after I first made him... and bright colors," she said.

"Little colorful wooden blocks, it is." Verolen grinned. "Maybe a ducky on wheels, too. Those are always fun. I'll try to stay away from the toys I played with as a kid."

"That's probably wise," Eve said, smiling slightly. "But why, though? I didn't think your father would..." she trailed off, not knowing if this was a subject he wanted her to broach.

Verolen smiled. "He cared enough to provide me with pets and toys. All of the pets could have taken my head off if not for Arachne calming them and releasing most. The toys...well, the severed fingers of those who disobeyed my father, and often the knives used to sever them were fairly common..." He shrugged, not really saying much further on the matter. "Oh, but I knew enough to make my own toys. I turned dad's dining room table and a bunch of silverware into a little piano. That was fun." He grinned.

"Sounds like it,' Eve said, grinning. "Well, at least, the piano does," she amended, though she knew that he had known what she meant.

"Yeah. I got quite a knack for musical instruments before I left home." Verolen shrugged. "I very nearly barricaded my room twice, but then I remembered Arachne...if I wasn't around, she'd take the brunt of his 'parenting'. So I stayed until I couldn't take his tyranny anymore. I wonder where she is..." He sighed a bit, frowning.

"She's supposed to be coming back, isn't she?" Eve asked. "Israel's quite worried."

"Perhaps Zex isn't sure where we are. I should summon him," Verolen frowned. "It's not the full moon though, I don't know how effective it will be...maybe Israel can help. Do you mind if I go?" He looked at Eve with nothing but curiosity in his gaze.

"Sure, who am I to object?" she said, "Arachne's your sister, after all, you must miss her."