The next day, Libra woke up bruised and battered.
"I'm never doing that again," she groaned, as she felt aches and pains from places where had never felt before. Aquarius hadn't been kidding when she had said welcome to hell.
"I hear you," Capricorn said, who had also begun stirring.
Libra sat up and looked at her - Cap was a mess. She had literally fallen asleep in armour and she looks like she had spent the night in a forest, not a king sized bed.
"How the hell do you look so amazing?" Capricorn asked her.
Libra raised an eyebrow and looked over at herself in the mirror. She had been able to take off her armour the night before and was wearing a night gown, but apart from clothing she thought she also looked like she had spent the night in the forest.
"What are you talking about? I'm a mess," Libra said.
Cap sighed. "You look like an angel, you liar!" She threw her pillow at Libra, but had no strength from last night and saw it flew two yards into the air and fell to the ground.
"Thanks," Libra said, appreciating the compliment. Cap wasn't a liar or much of a teaser, so she guessed she had to be telling the truth.
People did say Libra was pretty and good-looking, but Libra didn't really mind or care. She always thought people wouldn't like her due to her different coloured eyes, so she gave up on opinions about her appearance a long time ago. It was nice to get a positive once in a while, though.
Still, though, the training had done her a world of good. Scorpio wasn't focused on how many sword strikes you could, or how powerful your attacks were, she was more focused on the technique and finesse on the strikes. "Power only gets you so far, technique is the ability to attack where you want, how you want and when you want," she had said and Libra agreed. Powerful attacks took a lot out of you and often left you exposed. Learning the technique of strikes and doing them right took longer time to learn, but it did allow you to improve much faster and gain a grasp of swordfighting which was more than just two people trying to swing a piece of metal at each other.
She was also happy to say Virgo had noticed her improvements and had commended her.
"Whatever, I'm showering first," Cap said, stripping down to just her bra and panties. Her dirty armour and clothing was neatly placed upon her bed. "I wonder how we're gonna clean these," she wondered as Libra stared at her shocked.
"Cap, you don't have to strip right here," Libra blushed. Cap, for all her talk of Libra being pretty, was stunning herself. Her lithe body was curvaceous and slim, exactly how Libra wanted to be like.
Capricorn shrugged. "I'm guessing we'll be here for a pretty long time and you'll no doubt see more skin than this eventually. Besides, I don't really care at the moment. That armour was getting so uncomfortable."
"Yeah, because you slept in it," Libra laughed, as the half naked Capricorn headed over to the bathroom.
As Cap went inside the shower, Libra decided to put her armour away. Near the bathroom door, was a walk in closet that the two of them would share. There was also a stand that they could put their armours on when they weren't wearing them.
The walk in closet was huge and on the left side was all of Libra's clothing and boots, while on the right side was all of Capricorns. Their stands, were at the back, side by side. There was also ample room for them to change their clothes in there.
As Libra had finished putting her armour away, she heard a loud knock from the bedroom door.
"Who is it?" She called, leaving the main closet. She hoped it was Virgo.
"Aries," Aries called. "Is Cap in here?" He asked.
"Yeah, she's just in the shower," Libra replied.
"Can I come in?" He requested.
Libra was taken aback but agreed. What did Aries want with her? Maybe not to tell her that he liked her. She wouldn't know how to turn him down! She walked over to the bedroom door, took a deep breath and opened it.
She was surprised to see a stunned Virgo in front of her, wearing a black suit. Aries, Gemini and Leo were stood behind him, grinning and smirking.
"What's this?"
"Virgo has something to say," Leo smiled.
"Yeah, go on and say what you need to say," Aries laughed, lightly pushing Virgo into her.
"Sorry," Virgo apologised as she caught him. His face was inches from hers and she looked deep into his emerald green in eyes in surprise.
"Oh, don't worry... it's erm, fine," she hurriedly said, as he backed away from her. "What did you need to say?"
Gemini muttered something that caused Virgo to blush and Leo elbowed him in the chest, while still smiling.
"I... deserved... that," Gemini croaked.
"What I wanted to say was... basically... erm..."
"Yeah, go on," Libra encouraged, her heart leaping. Was he going to ask her out?
Virgo awkwardly went down on one knee. "Would you... marry me?" He asked, holding up an imaginary ring.
Libra was astounded - she didn't realise his feelings were this strong! And what were the others doing here? Did he really need an entourage?
"What?" Libra asked, looking at the other three behind him who all burst out into laughter. "What's so funny?" She demanded.
"Your face, you had no idea," Aries cackled.
"Yeah, don't worry, he's not serious. He just lost a bet," Gemini helped Virgo to his feet.
Well, it was clear to Libra these idiots took it all as a joke. They probably had no idea that Libra liked him, so she didn't blame too much, but she still wasn't a fan of the joke.
"Well, guess what? I'm saying yes." She pulled Virgo in close and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "He's mine now, suck it," she stuck out a tongue at the rest of them, who stopped laughing.
"Do she just...?" Aries asked.
"Yep," Leo replied.
"And then did she just?" Gemini inquired.
"Yep," Leo said again.
"I think I might need to sit down," Gemini said.
"So does Virgo, by the looks of it. Come on hubby, don't die of shock to us now," Leo said, picking him up and carrying him.
"You too, Gemini."
"Can you please - "
"No," Aries replied, full well knowing Gemini also wanted to be carried. Gemini sighed, but began walking.
"Thanks for being such a good sport," Aries said, before he left. "I hope you didn't consider him being serious for a moment."
Libra slightly blushed. "No, no, I never thought he was serious."
"Good, take care," Aries smiled kindly, as Gemini also said goodbye to her.
"By the way, Ryze also said there's someone he wants us to meet," Gemini said. "Just come down whenever Cap is ready."
"I need to get ready too," Libra said. "I'm a mess."
Gemini rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, all you need is a change of clothes. Apart from that, you look like great!" Gemini took off running, following the others.
As Libra closed the bedroom door, Cap walked out the bathroom, with numerous bath towels covering various parts of her body.
"Who was that?" She asked, heading to the walk in closet to change.
"Just Aries, Leo, Virgo and Gemini causing mayhem. Something about Ryze wanting us to meet someone."
"Hm, I wonder who it could be," Capricorn said thoughtfully, opening the door and going inside the walk in closet.
Libra wondered too - Maybe it was a powerful demonhunter who would help in their training, or someone from their past that was an ally. Or maybe even a parent of theirs? She headed for shower slightly excited at the prospect.
☆☆☆
"This is Wayland," Ryze said, as they entered some living quarters. Sat on the sofa, where he was currently eating snacks, was the largest man Libra had ever seen. He had to be at least seven feet tall, with a wide body frame and bulging muscles with burn marks and cuts on his arms that showed he worked in a forge. He possessed no hair on his head, but he looked gruff just by his dark brown eyes and rough features. He wore blue and white armour and was clearly resting from a long travel, judging by his weary eyes. At his side, was an axe that was four foot and honed to very sharp edge. Libra thought it could chop through brick pretty easily if it wanted!
Wayland below
"Nice to meet you," Scorpio shook his hand. When he shook hers, his large hand practically dwarfed hers and he shook her as he shook her hand.
"Sorry," Wayland chuckled.
"It's no problem," Scorpio replied. She dusted herself off and Libra couldn't help but think how cool Scorpio was.
"So how come you want us to meet this guy?" Gemini asked.
Ryze smiled. "I thought you guys wanted state of the art demon-killing equipment. Wayland is the best blacksmith I know."
A lot of the Zodiacs got excited at that. Sagittarius and Cancer whooped and dance, while Aries was grinning maliciously and Virgo was nodding approvingly. Libra didn't know how to feel - she technically had Ascalon but it hadn't proven itself to be any sort of legendary weapon yet.
"I've already got two right here," Leo smirked at them all, protruding his twin swords from their scabbards.
"Let me have a look at those," Wayland said. Leo's grin disappeared but he agreed and handed him his swords.
Wayland eyed them for a few moments and twirled the blade around, inspecting both of them. He handed them back and nodded approvingly.
"I know masterwork weapons when I see them and those two swords you possess are immensely powerful. Two great blacksmith brothers made them, so don't take them for granted and make sure you look after them or I'll kill you myself," Wayland threatened. Leo gulped and looked fearful, but then Wayland begun to laugh. "Only joking, but make sure you take good care of them."
If he could see how good Leo's swords were, maybe he could tell her how Ascalon worked? She had tried inspecting it for a hidden compartment or button, but yo no avail. She had no idea how it worked.
"Excuse me?" Libra asked him. He turned to look at her. All the rest did so too. Libra took a deep breath.
"Speak, girl," Wayland gruffly said. She should have guessed he was impatient.
She tossed him the coin and he caught it with a puzzled expression. "Its called Ascalon and it's meant to be a weapon. I have no idea how it works, though," Libra explained hurriedly.
Wayland looked at it for a second and laughed. He handed her back the coin and she felt stupid for even asking him. Surely a coin couldn't be a weapon?
"I know who made Ascalon. Crafty bastard I can tell you. All I can tell you is, he put some magic into it and it's as strong as you've probably read. When the time is right, you'll know what to do," Wayland said.
Libra smiled softly. So he wasn't laughing at her! She looked down at her golden coin and was happy with it for the first time. When the time was right, she'd know what to do. She wondered, however, when the time would be right? Hopefully not a life or death situation.
"Wait, how strong is Ascalon, exactly?" Aries asked.
Wayland looked him dead in the eye when he answered. "It was meant to hunt dragons, lad."
"What!?" Leo was shocked. Libra looked over at Ryze and Azula who were also present. Both of them were petty astounded too.
"Dragons? What's so special about them?" Pisces asked. "They're just big lizards, right?"
"Ifreet is meant to be close to Greater Demon level, and he kicked out arses for fun," Leo said. "Dragons are borderline Demon Lord level, which is the next rank up. We wouldn't stand a chance against one. And somehow that coin was created to take them out!"
A lot of eyes turned to Libra as if they all expected her to go out and take out a dragon now.
"Don't sell yourself short," Wayland said. "The two swords you have - Izanagi and Izanami, right? They were created by two demons and have their own sort of magic going on."
Leo looked like he was going to faint. Ryze and Azula were somehow more shocked than before.
"Okay, now that we've established that Leo and Libra get ultimate weapons, I really really really want one," Aries told Wayland, who laughed.
"I like this one. I don't know about the level of those two, but I'll get you something that can damn compete!"
"How do you know all this?" Virgo asked.
"It's my job to know. What sort of blacksmith would I be if I couldn't recognise and know about weapons like those?"
"Fair enough," Sagittarius said. "So when do we get ours? Right now?" She asked excitedly.
"No, no, my son Roland is a blacksmith who works in Sleymon. I came to visit him and deliver standard weapons to Ryze. Looks like I have to make ten weapons, so they'll be ready within two weeks. Am I making armour or anything for them as well? That'll take longer," he told Ryze.
"I'd appreciate weapons first. When you're done with this, do the armour at leisure and send a bird message. I'll have them collect the armour when you do."
Wayland nodded.
Ryze then turned to speak to them all. "Taurus and Scorpio also came to me about you guys gettin your memories back." Libra took a deep breath. She didn't know if she did or not. "If you guys want them, you may go with Wayland. He's from Zhora, near Loch Arthur and on a hill near there lives a demon called Hypnos," Ryze said.
"What? A demon took our memories?" Cap asked in shock.
Ryze slowly nodded. "Hypnos isn't a demon or really a threat. He prefers to sleep and act as some sort of Oracle using memories against you. He's harmless... mainly." Libra was immensely surprised that Ryze consorted with a demon, never mind trust him with something as important as their memories. She had heard of Loch Arthur - it was supposedly purified water that could heal most injuries and where the Lady of the Lake resided - an angel who protected the lake and tested each person to see if they were worthy to drink from it.
"But this Hypnos is still a demon?" Virgo raised an eybrow. Ryze softly smiled.
"You don't have to like what I did. But Hypnos resides near Loch Arthur, and is on found on a hill that has a house overlooking it. It's hard to find, but the area isn't dangerous. Demon's tend to stay away from Loch Arthur."
"That's so relieving," Taurus sarcastically said. "Imagine a water dragon or something lives in that lake now."
"Yeah, Libra will save us with Ascalon. I think the time will be right at that moment," Virgo laughed.
"I hope so," Libra laughed sheepishly. Maybe she would never be able to use its power, even if she was more optimistic than before.
"Okay, to get our memories back we gotta go to a demons home and reclaim them," Leo summarised. "Never thought I'd say anything remotely like that."
"You guys know what this means though - road trip!" Pisces cheered and everyone just smiled at the innocent demonhunter.
"When do we set off?" Capricorn asked.
"Dawn. Zhora is about week away on foot, so be ready for the long haul. I don't need no bitching or complaining on the way there," Wayland said.
"We have to walk it?" Cancer frowned.
"You can sit in one of the carriages if you get really tired. But if a demon attacks you fools have to defend us!"
"That we can do," Leo smiled confidently.
"Do we have to stay there while you craft our weapons?" Capricorn asked.
Wayland shook his head. "I'll have them delivered to you when I've made them. For now you can go see this demon. Legendary Zodiacs, eh? You don't look the part?"
"Which heroes ever do?" Taurus retaliated and Wayland nodded.
"You lot have someone with sense after all."
Even though Wayland cracked jokes and seemed genuinely nice, Libra couldn't help but feel that he was hiding some sort of sadness within him. She didn't want to press him about it, but she guessed he would tell her in his own time if ever felt confident or close with them. Nevertheless, she was looking forward to the journey and getting to know the others more.
She just hoped that she would be able to properly use Ascalon, however. Forget a dragon, if any sort of demon attacked, she was outmatched.
Maybe she'd ask Virgo for another private lesson...