"War bell?!" Logan growled, "What the hell is that?!"
"It's a bell that warns Iref of an invasion!" Zoe snapped back, "That means at least one of the Iref kingdoms are being attacked!"
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Slam!
"Where are the knights?!" A loud booming voice reverberated through the halls, causing shivers to up the air sign's back. "Bring them forth and prepare the horses! The Noleon kingdom is under attack!"
The trio began to run, ignoring the panicked state of the servants, as well as the loud voice of the king. Luckily, they make it to the entrance of the castle without encountering the king himself. They walk right out the doors, and to no surprise, there were knights and horses all around. They didn't know how they got here fast, but it didn't matter to them at the moment.
"They're most likely going to block both paths of Centaur and Noleon." Hissed the red haired princess.
Logan huffed, narrowing his eyes at every single knight. "Then what are we going to do?!" he began to feel impatient, "We can't have Dylan die on us!"
The young fish sign heaved a sigh, gripping tightly on Logan's stash. Tears rolled down his cheeks, and he began to cough out strange purple liquid. He was absolutely weak to move, and all he could do was hold on to something.
Without warning, Celesta moved towards Logan, scooping Dylan up into her own arms. To her surprise, the boy was surprisingly light and easy for her to carry. "We go to Centaur before they could block the path!" she said, rushing over to unoccupied horse. She puts Dylan on the horse back with slight struggle, before she climbed on herself.
The prince flinched at her actions, "Celesta! I don't think we should-"
"I'm not going to wait for help." She shot a glare at her friend. Dylan's body was limp, that he leaned against the back of Celesta, wrapping his arms tightly around her waist for support. His breath sent chills down her back, but she shrugged it off.
Snap!
The horse shot up, letting out its cry. It goes back down on its hooves, then makes a straight dash through the kingdom. Its original rider, flinched when he saw his horse running. Putting down the weapon he was preparing, he chased after his horse screaming, "Get back here!"
Zoe and Logan exchanged glances, before looking over to another unoccupied horse. "So are you going to follow your friends or not?"
"Does it look like I have a choice?"
Zoe smirks, watching as Logan quickly made a move up to the horse. She followed after him. Logan climbed on to the horse first, before extending his hand out to her. She grabs his hand, and he helps her climb on.
"You may want to hold on tight," he mumbles, "It's the first time I rode a horse."
"Wha-"
Snap!
Just like Celesta's horse, they were now charging through the kingdom and into the forest. Logan's heart was beating fast, for he could hear the yells and screams come from behind him. Those screams faded, and now he was being slapped by a few branches from the forest trees.
Zoe's fear was overpowered by amusement and she laughed at him. "I guess I'm lucky to be in the back!"
Logan wanted to argue back, yet he couldn't say anything if these branches were to continue slapping him. He lowered his head, now avoiding the branches above. "Where to Centaur?!" He asked. He tried to seek out Celesta's horse, but to his worry, she was far ahead of them.
'Does she know where she's going?!'
If he could remember, it was either Dylan or Celesta who had the map. But can they really look at the map, while riding a horse that's speeding through the forest?
"Turn right!"
Logan suddenly pulled the right side of the reins, making the horse go right.
Zoe gasped, for it was a huge turn. She never realized that she was squeezing her grip around her fiancé's waist. Luckily for her, Logan wasn't the type to tease in such a situation. He was scared as well. "Just keep going forward," the princess breathes, "We'll be heading to Centaur if we follow this path."
The horse leaps over rocks and roots, until it suddenly stopped and began to act up. "Whoa!" Logan tightly gripped the reins and Zoe squealed for she feared of falling off. "What's wrong-"
Hiss
The sound of snakes make Logan figure what made this horse crazy. Kicking its front legs in the air, the horse is forced to turn left. Snakes hissed and snapped, threatening to bite the bigger animal on the leg. Some of the snakes leaped up, trying to sink their teeth in legs of the riders.
"Just great," Logan growled under his breath, "They're leading us to the wrong path!"
Lifting her legs a little higher, Zoe looks around her surroundings, noticing the path they were taking. "Freak!" she cursed, "They're taking us Noleon!"
~ * ~
After Cassidy and the other two girls were done with their bath time, Coal was now sitting in the tub, watching the bubbles float around him. He was slightly afraid of Yvonne's family, considering that they're hunters. After talking with her father and mother for quite a while, he figured that they couldn't be all that bad. . . Until Joyce mentioned something about the legend.
"Hey kid," Ken knocked on the other side of the door, "Are you done yet? I've got a few clothes you can try on and keep."
"Oh," Coal flinched, "Y- yes! Thank you-" He was just about to stand from the tub, but instantly sat back down as he suddenly felt pain shoot through his head. He hissed and clutched his head, unaware of the Capricorn sign glowing on his other hand.
"Cobra!"
Visions invade his head. Scenes changing here and there. It continued on and on, letting the pain increase. There were people screaming, running, and crying in fear. Snakes were all over the place, bitting and hissing at anyone nearby. The end of Coal's vision, was a site of oversized snake with a crown.
"Kid!"
"Ah!" the boy's eyes snapped open, and he looked to the side to see Ken standing by the doorway with a worried expression.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
Coal blinked then shook his head. "I- I'm fine," he mumbled, "I just had a sudden headache."
Ken's eyes wandered over Coal's hand, for it was strangely glowing. Squinting his eyes a bit and looking very closely, he finally sees the Capricorn symbol. "Capricorn. . ."
"What was that?"
"Oh, nothing." Chuckling a bit, Ken waves off before exiting the room and closing the door behind him. He spoke from the other side once again, "Just hurry up, alright?"
Coal was confused a little, till he glanced down to his hand. Seeing the Capricorn symbol glow, he pulled his hand back into the water.
'Crud!' He thought, 'He must've seen the sign. . .'
Sighing to himself, Coal leans back into the tub and let's himself soak a little longer.
A few minutes have passed, and now Coal was fully dressed. What he wore was a white button shirt with a black vest over it. His bottoms were brown trousers, tucked into his new given boots, where he also hid a small dagger in it. Apparently Ken said that he needed it for self defense. Coal was also given a leather, brown bag, in order to help him carry the book.
"Hey."
Looking over to the bedroom door, Coal sees Cassidy in new clothes. She just wore a white long sleeved shirt with ruffles at the end, and a dark blue skirt that reached her knees. She wore knee-high laced boots that showed a little bit of her black socks. She adjusted the new blue scarf around her neck and fixed the clip on her hair.
Coal smiles, "Hey." He fully turns around, sitting right in the surface of the bed, "Does your wound still hurt?"
"It doesn't hurt as much." replied Cassidy, as she moved her way to the bed, swiping the towel that was beside him. "Yvette said the wound will close in a couple of days." She tossed the towel over his head, her cold hands patting it before she began to rub his hair dry.
Coal closed his eyes and hummed. "I see. . ."
There was moment of silence, before the boy feels the towel slide down his neck. Opening his eyes and looking back up, he came to meet the blunette staring down at him.
"I. . ."
"Hm?"
"I forgot the whole reason why I even came here."
"Wha-" Cassidy shoves the towel in his face, before he could even finish his own sentence. Removing the towel away from his face, Coal finds the girl now sitting by his side looking deep in thought. "Why did you come here anyways?" he asked.
The air sign lifted a finger at him, "Shush! That's what I'm trying to remember."
"You two okay in here?" Yvonne and Leona made their appearance by the doorway. Like Cassidy, they were both newly clothed wearing long sleeved shirts and skirts, along with leather gloves and capes. "Did we walk in at the wrong time? Should we go out?"
"No, actually," said Cassidy, "I'm just trying to remember something."
"Oh, I see." Both girls walk over to the bed, and Leona leans on the dresser near by. "You know, I was wondering where you guys came from," she began, "because you surely don't look like you come from this region."
Coal nods, taking the bag into his lap, "We're foreigners for the Ira region."
"Oh, the region next to ours? I heard that region was full of refugees from Capri and Pisceies." added Yvonne.
The brunette nods slowly, his gaze going to the ground. "Yeah," he mumbled, "It is."
Yvonne hissed slightly, not knowing if she had triggered something in the boy in a way. "Oh, you're one of the refugees from Capri, aren't you?. . . S- sorry about the war. . . And all." She awkwardly mutters, nervously rubbing the back of her neck.
"It's alright," Coal waved off, "It's not like you were the cause of the war anything."
"Sagittarius!" Cassidy sprung up from the bed, her eyes now wide with excitement.
Leona jumped at her action, and tilts her head to the side. "What's this about Sagittarius?"
"Sagittarius!" the blue haired female repeats, "Sagittarius is-"
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Everybody tensed up at the sudden ringing noise, and this was greatly alarming to the young blonde. Yvonne's face makes a worried expression, "This doesn't sound good."
"What?" Coal got off the bed, "What's that?"
"It's the war bell," the archer hurries out the door then down the stairs with everyone else following, "It's a bell that informs us on an attack in one of the Iref kingdoms. To tell which kingdom is being attacked, there's a sound pattern. The pattern we're hearing now, tells us that Noleon is target." They make it to the bottom of the stairs, seeing Leona quickly make her way to the door.
Coal felt his hand sweat. Back in the bathroom where he had the visions, he could remember hearing this bell.
Leona on the other hand, wasn't nervous. No, she was outraged on how and who her kingdom was being attacked by. "I'm going!" she announced, but was yanked back by the lavender haired female.
She glared at her, "Where are you going?"
"Noleon, of course!" Leona hissed, pulling her wrist away from her own friend, "I got go and see who is invading my kingdom!"
"It may be dangerous though, Lee!" Scolded Yvonne, "And if it is, I'll be coming with you!" The Centaur immediately grabs her bow and arrow supplies that leaned against the wall near the front door. Grabbing on to the handle, a another voice joins in, anger evident in its tone.
"Not on my watch, missy!" Yvette shook her head at her granddaughter, with Joyce and Kenneth following from behind. "You just got injured on the shoulder, and I'm not going to allow you to hurt yourself again!"
"Then I will go by myself."
"The same thing goes for you, Lee. All of you are going to stay here in this shop for safety reasons!" yelled Yvette, "So that means no one is going out this door!" She slammed her cane against the door.
"What?!" Leona was more infuriated, "But I am the knight of Noleon, Granny! I have to go!"
Yvette, Yvonne, and Leona began to argue about the situation. Joyce and Kenneth were just bystanders who looked terrified at the bickering trio. Cassidy and Coal, just looked at each other before turning back.
"Ma'am," Coal spoke, stopping the argument and now the attention was on him, "How about I go?" He took a bow that hung on the wooden walls, and bag of arrows that were sitting in a barrel. Then he gives the leather bag with the book, over to Cassidy who flinched.
She grabbed his arm, "Wait! You're going to get hurt if you go!"
"I'll be fine," he said calmly, "I'm sure I can handle myself." He looked back to Yvette, who was staring at him wide eyed for the Capricorn symbol on his hand, was glowing once again. He takes in a deep breath, "I am a zodiac after all."