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Though the night has already been long, it was far from over. The sounds of many overlapping voices, clanging metal, and footfalls echoed across the pitch-black sky as the army turned to return home. There was no moon in the sky, no twinkling stars. Had they left them too, just as the Masters had? Or had Apollyon's darkness simply blotted them out. Still, light danced around Eclipse as thir wings continued to shimmer on their back, the colours dancing between the crystalline feathers.
"Basking in the glow of victory, Radiant Eclipse?" A familiar voice called from behind, followed by the clacking of his walking stick.
Sighing to themself, the wings seemed to vanish into the darkness as the shimmering ceased without warning.
"I'd prefer if you didn't call me that," Eclipse remarked coldly over their shoulder, "shouldn't you be leading your army away?"
"Hardly," Syrus smirked as he stepped to stand beside the Radiant, "I've left that duty to another, so that I might stay here, in case you need me."
"For what?" Eclipse snapped again, glancing at Syrus for a moment before looking back over the land.
Syrus just chuckled to himself, paying the snips no mind.
"What will you do next?" Eclipse now asked more sincerely.
"Well," Syrus began as he shifted his weight and cleared his throat, "first there is the matter of a couple of hearts to locate. We have confirmation they have been split, but the hearts seemed to have vanished amongst the fighting. If we're to keep Doxla free of their influence, we'll need to locate them sooner than later. After that, make sure the denizens can all get along within the new order of the world. Then, perhaps I'll return to my study of the Masters."
"And how is Ev-er-yone?" Eclipse added, their eyes darting up to Syrus, then away again.
Syrus peered at Eclipse from the corner of his eye, gauging their stance before answering, "the healers have informed me they are resting now and should make a full recovery. However, you are welcome to visit and see for yourself..."
Eclipse turned on their heels, placing both hands firmly on their hips and cocking their head to the side, "I'll have you know - "
Their words cut short by a strange, foreign thumping sound that echoes across the sky. Eclipse's hands fell from their hips as both they and Syrus looked around for the source of the sound. A flash caught Eclipse's eye, a small explosion of yellow and white, before something yellow fell across the sky.
"Did you see that?" Eclipse breathed to Syrus, who turned to look where Eclipse did.
"See what?" Syrus questioned, scanning the horizon, then turning his eyes to Eclipse
He turned just in time to see them dash toward the edge of the tower, wings spread out from their back to help them glide down to the ground below, just to vanish again as Eclipse took off into the night.
"Don't wander off alone!" Syrus tried to call after them, but it was too late.
Eclipse ran straight toward where it saw the streak touch the ground, weaving between the thick growth of grasses, shrubs and low hanging branches. Even if the sky had been robbed of its light, Eclipse had no problem seeing in the dark. It took several minutes, but as the Radiant drew closer, it could hear a strange sound. A flopping, thumping, and yet popping sound alternating between one another. Carefully moving closer, Eclipse moved aside the last bit of brush between it, and the source of the noise.
A fish.
Not just any fish, this fish was massive, easily the size of a horse if not larger. Its body was covered in some kind of yellow translucent scales, the grass pressed down beneath its body distorted as if peering through a clear pond twice over. A strange kind of twisted rope of white and yellow was knotted around its tail, and tangled around its fins on all sides. The large fish creature's lips popped as they opened and closed, just for them to remain closed while the fish flopped around in place, which only tightened the strange rope around itself before it settled down in the grass again, and emitted the thumping noise as if crying for help.
"Settle down you," Eclipse breathed to the strange creature, stepping out of the brush to try and find the end of the rope to help free it.
The creature seemed to settle down as it noticed Eclipse there with it, its eyes nearly turning all the way around to look at the Radiant.
"What big eyes you have," Eclipse remarked, stepping around the fish to check the far side.
The end of the rope seemed to be stuck under the fish, tangled around its fin that laid in the grass.
"You're going to have to help me get you unstuck," Eclipse tried to reason with the fish creature, sliding its hands under it, and lifting with a grunt of effort.
The fish flopped a bit as it seemed to try and help wriggle itself onto its belly as Eclipse pressed its shoulder onto the fish's side, using both free hands to untangle the rope from the fin. From there it wasn't too difficult to unwind the rope from the other fins and all the way back to its tail.
"Where did you come from?" Eclipse asked of it, a set of thumping sounds the only reply.
"Makes sense," Eclipse grinned to itself, loosening the knot from around its tail until it too was free, "you're free," Eclipse informed the fish, tossing the rope into the grass and stepping back to let the creature go.
While the creature did remain on its belly, it merely wriggled and turned to face Eclipse, its lips popping again as it stared up at the Radiant.
"Go on!" Eclipse tried to encourage it, but it didn't budge.
"That is a Zodiac," Syrus' voice called out as he appeared from the brush, laying his hands on his cane as he planting his feet.
"It is?" Eclipse sounded surprised, turning to look at the enormous fish again, "but this kind of Zodiac is never seen without its other half."
"Yes, it is quite strange," Syrus remarked, stepping closer to the pair, just for the giant fish to spin and face Syrus, making a rather loud thumping sound in an almost menacing way.
Syrus raised his hands at the fish as Eclipse moved between them, touching the top of the fish gently, "whoa now Big Eyes, he's a friend."
"It seems rather attached to you," Syrus chuckled, though not daring to take another step forward, "and it seems you're already named it."
"It just, has big eyes," Eclipse defended themself, turning to face Syrus with one hand resting on the fish's head.
The fish wriggled itself up off the ground, pressing its head into Eclipe's hand as it did.
"Well, perhaps it would like to stay with you, at least until its mate can be found," Syrus added plainly.
Eclipse turned back to the new fishy friend and peered into its rather bulbous eyes, "is that true? Would you like to stay with me until we can find your other half?"
The fish creature wriggled about excitedly, floating up from the grass and swimming through the air in a figure-eight pattern before pausing in front of Eclipse again.
"I'll take that as a yes!" Eclipse grinned, offering the fish zodiac a few affectionate pets before hopping onto its back, "let's go, Big Eyes!" Eclipse called out, the Zodiac wriggling in place before it shot out into the sky.
"Hey! Don't leave me behind!" Syrus called out as they shot across the sky.
Syrus sighed heavily, turning back toward the tower as he started to hike back.
"I'll have to have a word with that one...."