The Forgotten Zodiac

"And I the same to you," Bird nodded. "I was scared they might have hurt you. But you seem alright."

"A-ok over here," Byrne responded, smiling. His attention was drawn away suddenly as Eve and Kendra joined the group.

"We're ready," Eve said, smiling brightly.

"All set? Good." Sylas took his girlfriend's hand without hesitation, leading her to the other side of town. Verolen watched them go before setting eyes on Eve, and he blushed a bit, realizing that he should probably do the same for her. He held out his hand, feeling a bit awkward about the whole situation.

Eve, however, just smiled and took Verolen's hand, sighing happily. She was grateful for the company - she was used to having Manny with her all the time, but right now...

Right now, Manny was a mindless, hurting lump of Dark Matter. He still listened to Eve and would follow orders, but he still couldn't speak and didn't do anything but follow orders. At the moment, he was waiting with the luggage. Verolen followed Sylas' lead, walking slowly through the town. It may be the last they saw of it, after all.

"This place is going to prosper," Kendra said quietly, to Sylas. She looked around with a small smile on her face, then looked back to her boyfriend. "Will you return here, after the war?" she asked.

"I dunno. L'arc and I might visit from time to time. I'm still his head guard, after all." Sylas smiled, nodding. "Since this place is so close to the forest's edge, we'll probably be relationally close to them, too. But we won't live here. Far from it."

"Where will you go, then?" Kendra asked. "I had assumed the forest castle to be in ruins. Are you going to rebuild?"

Sylas blinked at her. "I don't actually know." He said lightly. "I had assumed we would. Maybe we'll relocate, or live in one of the cities. Or maybe we'll just go where the trees take us. I don't really care either way. L'arc is my best friend, and my king. I'll go where he goes." He shrugged. "Will you come?" He asked, before realizing what he had said, and remembering the cruel fate they would eventually be subjected to. Separated, worlds apart...

"For as long as I am able," Kendra said, squeezing Sylas' hand for a moment. "I don't care where it is you are - I'll be there, too."

Sylas smiled at her, then leaned forward and kissed her cheek. They arrived at the small pile of luggage; Manny was holding a few bags, standing silent and still like a statue. It was almost sad; Sylas saw Manny as a child, much like Gabe. Heck, they had played together not so long ago. But now he just seemed...not there.

Eve skipped over to Manny, pulling Verolen along with her. "Manny, darling, you all right?" she asked, smiling gently at him.

Manny turned his head and looked at Eve. Then he looked at the bags in his hands. He picked out one, one that didn't even belong to Eve, and held it out to her. As though she had asked for one. At least he was starting to move on his own, even if it was slow and confused. It was a good sign.

"Yes, thank you, dear," Eve said, handing the bag over to Byrne, to whom it belonged. "You're being a big help, thank you," she repeated, as though to reassure him.

Manny stared at her, then went back to holding the bags. Verolen ran his fingers through his hair, letting out a slight sigh as he looked around. Eve, Manny, Sylas, Kendra, and Byrne were all here. They still needed Bird, who had gone to fetch the Mother Tree's seed, Bermuda, Verdi, Gabe, and Aries. The last two...he hadn't talked to in awhile, actually. He'd seen them in the town here and there, so they were definitely around. Maybe they didn't know they were leaving.

"I'm gonna go get Aries and Gabe. We're still waiting on Bird, Bermuda and Verdi, so keep an eye out for them." He said, nodding at Eve.

"Sure thing," L'arc said, electing to wait with everyone else. "Are you taking Eve with you?"

"I'll come," Eve said, nodding. "Manny, be good, okay?" she said, then turned to Verolen with a smile.

"Sure." Verolen grinned, taking her hand and walking to where he had last seen Aries and Gabe.

They were near the town hall, actually. Gabe and Israel were helping plant flower seeds, while Aries was snoozing off while leaning against the wall. "Hey," Verolen greeted.

Aries jerked awake at once. "Hm? Oh, hello, Verolen, Eve." She nodded, smiling a bit.

Gabe beamed at the couple, waving a dirt covered hand at Verolen and Eve. "Hi there! I'm planting flowers," he announced, before turnning back to his work.

Israel, upon seeing Verolen, leapt to attention. "I think Arachne should stay home," he announced, recalling that he had been placed in charge of this decision but had not yet weighed in on it.

Verolen blinked at him in surprise, but then nodded. "Alright. She'll stay home, then. And when we're done with this last trip of ours, we'll go home, too." He smiled a bit. "That...that's assuming you'll want to come back to the Darklands with us. But you don't have to choose now, of course. Anyway, we're leaving now."

"Leaving? Off to the human territory, I suppose." Aries sighed lightly. "Alright. Come on, Gabe, let's go make sure we're packed."

"We're meeting on the north side of town. Make haste."

"Sure." Aries shrugged as she turned and walked off, just as graceful as ever.

Gabe trotted behind Aries quickly, wiping his dirty hands on his tunic. "Wait for me, mother!" he called, though he was better able to keep up with her now than he used to be. That magical growth spurt of his put him much closer to Aries' height than that of the eight year old he had been with the group had taken him in.

"I don't really have anything to pack," Israel said, shrugging lightly. "I suppose I'll go find Verdi?" he offered.