The Forgotten Zodiac

((Emotional seizures. You're right; it's not the right word, but you get what I mean.))

The girl ducked her head and flushed with pride, climbing onto Morgan's back as directed. When he deposited her in front of the shop, she was initially unsure, mostly because she thought it might be some sort of joke. As soon as she realized it wasn't, she grabbed his hand and dragged him into the store, looking mostly at the fuzzy animals. It didn't take her long to settle on a young German shepherd, young enough to be heart-meltingly adorable but old enough to be house-trained. Pointing to him, she turned to Morgan again, somewhat trepidatiously. "This one? Please? I'll take him on walks every day!" She was visibly wavering, expecting him to tell her she couldn't have a dog that big; but it was also the one she'd consistently returned to.

"If you want it, it's yours. Cassandra can help you tame it, I wouldn't be surprised if she knew how to train animals. And if she doesn't know, I'll make her learn." Morgan grinned, taking her hand and walking over to the counter. When they left, Morgan was pushing a kennel-cart down the street, and the dog was watching patiently from inside the case. "Let's wait until we get you home before letting him out, okay?" He pushed the cart to another store, a pet supply store nearby. There, they picked out a nice blue collar, a leash and tags with the address on them, enough dog food for a couple weeks, and a couple toys for the dog. "So," Morgan questioned as they walked out of the shop. "What are you going to name your new dog?" He questioned, beaming. Again, he glanced behind his shoulder, but shook his head and looked back at his younger friend.

The girl bounced along next to the cart, keeping her face as close to the dog as she could. "Name him?" She paused in her step so that Morgan's pace carried him next to her and grabbed his arm again, gazing up at him adoringly. "Can I name him Morgan, Jr.? That way, when you leave me alone, I won't be so lonely. 'Cause you can stay right there with me." She skipped along next to him on the street, completely oblivious to anyone around him. "Morgan, Jr."
Dagan, who had decided to stop following Morgan once they reached the pet shop, was nearly back at the palace by now. He'd seen enough to satisfy his curiousity and his conscience had begun to bother him. He entered the palace and navigated himself to Virellis' room, knocking on the door. "Vi? You still up?"

"Morgan, Jr. it is." The spellbound man laughed, grinning. "C'mon, then. Let's get you back to your new house." They were already turning onto the residential street. "Hey," He looked down at the girl. "Taking care of a dog is a big responsibility. You've gotta feed him every day, give him baths sometimes...you've gotta scold him when he does something he's not supposed to, and praise him when he does the right things. You think you can handle some of that? You've got Cassandra to help you, but it's still your dog...your Morgan, Jr."

Virellis was quick to open the door. "You haven't tucked me in yet, of course I'm still up." She smiled slightly, taking his hand and pulling him into the room, shutting the door. She took one look at the expression he was wearing and frowned. "You've got something to tell me, then? Let's hear it." She pulled him to the bed and made him sit down. She settled down next to him, smiling expectantly.

The girl nodded eagerly and set her jaw, attempting to look capable. "I'll keep really good care of him. I'll take him on walks every day, and keep him clean, and feed him, and play with him. You'll see next time you come visit; he'll be really good!" The closer they got to the house, the slowly she walked, though she kept holding Morgan's arm so that he would slow down as well. "When are you coming back? I'm gunna miss you, Morgan."

Dagan sat on the bed with one arm around Vi. "So, Morgan and I finished dinner right at the same time. He left, but I sort of wanted to talk to him real quick about, you know, earlier." Quickly, he started threshing out the events of the day evening, mostly dwelling on the girl and Morgan's behavior toward her.

"I'll come back as soon as I can," He said, knowing full well what she was doing and not questioning it. She did this every time, after all. "Don't worry, kiddo. I'll be back before you know it. Just keep watching out the window for me." He smiled, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a small sack of coins. "Here. Leftover change, in case you need something, and Cassandra doesn't have enough. I...I want you to stay safe, okay? Safe, and healthy, and smart. Read those books I got you, they'll do you some good." He smiled lightly as they stopped in front of her house.

Cassandra opened the door, and was quick to gather the animal and supplies and hurry inside before coming back for the girl. "Give him a hug, child," She said, her accent slightly slurring her words. But she was smiling knowingly, watching the two. "He won't mind such a thing from you."

"I see...and you think this girl is somehow..." Vi frowned, somewhat confused. "What do you think she is to him? Should we talk to him about it?"

The girl waited for no further urging. She hurled her arms around Morgan's neck and buried her face in his shoulder, tears already pouring from her eyes. "I love you, Morgan," she whimpered, voice more felt than heard due to the way her face was positioned against his chest. "You're coming back, right? Don't leave me alone; I don't want to be alone again." She titled her head up to look at him, the height difference making it possible without her releasing her hold. "Promise you'll come back?"

Dagan shrugged, as confused as Vi was with the situation. "At first I thought she might be some sort of friend friend, but they didn't really act that way. She acted more like a kid sister, and he was like a doting older brother. I just never pictured Morgan as the doting type. At all."

Morgan smiled. "Cross my heart, hope to die. I promise, little miss. I won't just leave you here forever. I'll be back soon, okay? This isn't a goodbye, not at all." He knelt and rested his forehead against hers, smiling. "I'll see you again. But for now, I've gotta go. Okay? You be a good girl and listen to Cassandra while I'm gone, alright?"

"Nor I. But I suppose it's true, all men have their weaknesses." Vi frowned. "I didn't know he had a little sister, though. In fact...I'm not sure I know anything about that man to begin with. What's his surname?" She questioned. Nothing but silence was her response. "Well, if we're going to know if he has a sister or not, we've gotta have a surname, don't we? Hmph. He's a mystery, then. We'll have to find a way to weasel it out of him, then. Maybe we could just ask him directly if he has a sister. I can tell when people are lying, after all..."

She nodded bravely and sniffled, wiping her tears away to pretend they'd never come. "I'll listen, and be good, and take care of Morgan." A smile broke out across her face, and she stepped back into the doorway to signal that he could go. "Come back soon to see how good I've been... Goodnight, Morgan." As soon as he turned his back around, she raced into the house and pressed her face against the window to watch him for as long as possible.

Dagan nodded as Virellis' logic made sense, but did question one thing. "We don't know if it's actually his sister. They didn't look all that alike..." He sighed before shifting himself to better look at her and continued. "That was another weird thing. She was at least sixteen, Alexander's age, but she acted a lot more like a little girl."

Morgan smiled and waved a bit, then turned and walked off.

"Hm. That's odd, indeed. Perhaps..." Vi bit her lip. "I dunno. Perhaps he did something to her? I wouldn't be surprised...Morgan can do things a lot of people can't. His magic is a lot more advanced than he lets on, I can sense it. Those marbles only had his magical signature on it, no one else's. He didn't buy them, he made them himself. Which makes me question what he spent the money on..."

"What about her? Dagan pointed out. "She's living in a house, there was another woman there, so that's room and board for two. It didn't really look like she could be left alone." He paused to digest the rest of Vi's statement turned accusation. "You think he might have made her that way? We should definitely talk to him, then..."

"Yes, we should." Vi tutted. She paused, frowning. "Did you hear that?" A pause, then she shook her head again. "A maid must have hit something." She snorted, then turned her attention back to the situation at hand. "We should be careful about it, though. If Morgan did that to a girl, then...who's to say he wouldn't do something to us? We should be extremely cautious about this..."

((Morgan should come in soon.))

Dagan shook his head and continued the thought. "What about the sprites? We could sic them on him, and they can manage subtle. If he did, which we don't know, we need to find out quickly. We can't just wait for him to make a move." He quieted and bounced on the mattress, waiting for more of Vi's thoughts.

((You and I think quite the same, dear Sagie.))

Vi nodded curiously, then sighed. "We should talk to him tomorrow. Try to, at least. We need rest for now, so." She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly, smiling a bit. "You could still tuck me in, you know. I'm only seven, after all." She joked, knowing full well that she may as well be considered an adult, by Siren and human standards.

But Dagan didn't get a chance to respond to that. The door was practially broken in half as Morgan nearly kicked the door down. He seized Dagan by the collar and dragged him up to eye level. Whatever Dagan was expecting him to say, it wasn't that in the slightest. Instead, Morgan demanded viciously, "Can your wyvern track?" When Dagan didn't respond for a second, Morgan shook him once. "Can your wyvern track?!" He snarled.

((That must be why we're such a happy couple.))

Dagan reached up and gripped Morgan's wrists, plying them off of his throat. "Yes. Yes, it can." He stopped as the level of Morgan's worry sunk in, and immediately inquired as to the cause. "Why? What's wrong, who needs tracking?" He straightened back, becoming more infected with Morgan's worry. "Morgan, what happened?"

"Signs of a struggle." Morgan muttered. "Alexander is gone."
"What?" Vi blinked in surprise. "Missing? How could he...what? But he...you..." She blinked.
"Don't ask questions. Just get your wyvern and meet me in front of the gate. I need to find a scent for him to track." He snapped, storming away.
Vi stared after him, her mouth slightly open. "Alexander is missing, and signs of a struggle...?"

"What?" Dagan glanced at Virellis before heading immediately toward the stables. "Vi, I'll be back once I get Brutis prepped. He'll let you ride him; and you're his handler, if Morgan complains." He hurried down the hallway, calling one last thing over his shoulder. "Get yourself a jacket or something. I'm not having you get sick again!"

((Aww, you edited my last post for me. :3))

"Okay, okay!" Virellis called after him, watching him run.

By the time they got out to the front gate, Morgan was waiting. His left hand was out of his pocket, instead covered by a glove. The black, jagged skin and sharp points were out in the open, but he shifted it behind his half cape as Vi and Dagan made it out with Brutis.

"What's the plan?" Vi questioned, leaning in close to Brutis' head.

"Here," Morgan threw a jeweled earring at Vi, who caught it easily. "That belonged to Moria. I couldn't find her in the castle. She must've been nabbed, too. Use that to track her."

"Moria? But I thought Alex--"

"Shut up and follow my orders! Get Brutis tracking, now!" He roared. Vi, startled, decided not to argue. She gave Brutis directions and offered him the scent. The wyvern sniffed it and hissed a bit before darting off down the road. Morgan sprinted after without another word.

Clearly this was the bad mood he had been talking about.

Dagan, without asking Virellis' permission, lifted her into the air and ran after the wyvern. He ran quite quickly, though he was extremely careful not to jostle her leg any more than necessary. "Morgan, what do you think happened?" He gasped out, still chasing after the wyvern. Luckily for them all, Brutis' maimed wing affected his stride and kept him going slower. Otherwise, there's no way any human's would have but able to keep up with a charging wyvern.

There was no response for a few moments of running. Then, Morgan said, "I think Moria kidnapped him," He huffed. "I should have known better than to run errands without checking on her first..." He snorted, continuing his run. He had to slide to a halt as Virellis commanded Brutis to stop, though.

"Hold on, sweetie," She purred as she climbed onto the Wyvern's back, settling down easily. "Right then."

"We don't have time for this!" Morgan hissed.

"Shut up." She rolled her eyes, then snapped at the Wyvern; it bolted again, its forked tongue lolling out as it ran. Further down the road, dodging evening commerces, from carriages to pedestrians. Suddenly, it made a hard right, scrabbling against the wall of an alley as it continued its run. It slid to a stop in front of a set of stairs, whining. It couldn't fit down there, it was far too large. Morgan didn't pause to question things this time. He leapt down the stairs in a few bounds and slid to a stop in front of a door that stood there. He looked up at them, frowning. "Vi, you should stay with Brutis. Be careful of anyone who tries to get past you. Dagan...I might need you. Come on."