And Then There Were Twelve || A Zodiac Story [DISCONTINUED]

Chapter 2

"All clear?," a young noblewoman asked as she looked at the path her carriage took. It was strewn about with dead bodies, as she watched without a single hint of disgust.

A young man took one final slice of a person trying to escape, watching him drop dead. He then proceeded to look at the woman "yes, Pisces."

"Good job, Taurus" she smiled at the guy and gave him a pat on the head, which he liked.

Taurus was a softie, which was a surprise considering how he had just slaughtered a band of people who attacked their carriage. "You should have gone easier on them" Pisces commented, lightly chuckling.

Taurus shook his head "I would never let them go near you Miss Pisces." Pisces furrowed her brows, she didn't like it when he was formal with her. But old habits die hard.

She then turned to someone who was examining the bodies, despite them being wrangled in pieces. "How about you, Aqua?"

"They have no insignia on them, not thieves either. The way they fought makes it look like they're well-trained" she said, voicing out her observations.

Aquarius was a sharp person. Arguably sharper than Taurus' blade. She's always quiet and reserved, which makes her very hard to read. She's trained in combat so she knows how to hold her own in a fight, but there's really know point in fighting when Taurus can do it for her.

Pisces thought about Aquarius' input, and a smile crept to her face. "Ah, so I guessed right. I knew there would be an assassination attempt."

Pisces crimson eyes shone under her black veil. "I wonder who sent them. The Vandalierres? The crown prince? Or perhaps, my dear older brother?"

Pisces sincerely couldn't tell. She was a woman with many enemies. Too much that she couldn't keep track of them all. "Either way, I'm disappointed. Surely they could've done better."

Aquarius nodded in agreement. She was an excellent assassin, even to her this attempt was subpar. "I doubt they were actually trying to kill you, this was probably just a threat."

Pisces was used to threats. Had them since she was a child, it was normal for someone in the Callista family. "Ah, that's a shame."

With a flick of her finger, she summoned crimson butterflies that started to feast on the dead corpses. Most would think she was a summoner, but she wasn't. She didn't know where she got her abilities, nor the origins of the beasts she could summon. But they were her weapons, and that's all that mattered. "At least they can feed my precious."

The three of them watched as the carnivorous butterflies devoured the corpses to the bones, as if it was a normal scenario. "We should get going."

Pisces took out an envelope with the Ignia royal seal on it "we can't afford to be late to Emperor Bezarius' birthday."

-ˋˏ ༻❦︎༺ ˎˊ

Virgo strummed the last note as the crowd erupted into cheers. He was quite the popular bard among the townsfolk, despite the fact that he had just moved to Ignia not many moons ago.

It was no surprise considering his charm and charisma, and also that his songs had a unique effect to the townsfolk. It was like listening to the songs of the gods, they would say.

"Thank you, thank you" he said, bowing to the crowd that had formed before him. He then turned to the vendor next to him with a cheeky smile "my performance is worth at least five pieces of gold Klain."

Klain took a huff "five? Are you trying to destroy my business? Two pieces of gold take it or leave it."
Virgo furrowed his brows and crosses his arms "that's way too cheap, isn't that right little Mhin?"

Little Mhin was his nickname for the vendor's young daughter who liked to listen to his songs. "That's right papa! Maybe brother Virgo can sing another song?"

Klain heaved a sigh, he really couldn't say no to his daughter. "Fine. Since the crowd did attract more costumers" Virgo gave a victorious smile as he said this. "An extra song for three pieces of gold, deal?"

"Add in that newspaper of yours and we have a deal." Virgo smiled, before playing one last song which made the crowd cheer.

After he finished his little concert at the town square, he made his way to the local tavern. There, he sat down next to a man who - despite looking like the average folk - stands out in a different way.

"Good morning your majesty" he said in a mocking tone. "Virgo cut your bullshit, did you do what I told you to?"

"Ah, Gemini, stingy as always" he chuckled to himself. "Two bottles of Rose wine please!"

Gemini glared at the bard before him "I'm not paying for that." Virgo only scoffed at him "yes, you are."

Gemini only rolled his eyes. Of course it was just his luck that the perfect man he could use for his plans was someone who liked to drain his money. "Virgo, I'm gonna ask you again, did you do what I told you to?"

Virgo slid the newspaper to Gemini with a sly smirk on his face "of course I did. I'm amazing."

Gemini raised a brow "that's not very convincing." Virgo just took a sip of his rose wine and not paying attention to the noble before him "yeah yeah, I already spread that dirt you had on Baron Kiefling. It's become the talk of the town, you should know considering you spend a lot of time here for someone from the royal family."

Gemini ignored him. If he wasn't in disguise right now, he'd probably execute Virgo for badmouthing the royal family. But he can't, which frustrates him. "Why do you even read the commoner's newspapers? Don't you have better ones at the capital?"

Gemini didn't pay any attention to him, but kept reading the papers. "The newspaper for nobles have too many propaganda and filtering on them, while the commoner ones have the interests of the public."

Gemini never really cared much about his riches nor status, but he doesn't have a choice as he is directly involved in the succession battle. "Speaking of which, there's gonna be a banquet in honor of my father's birthday. I need you to attend to gather dirt on the guests who support my brother."

Virgo watched as he slid an invitation over the table. "I refuse" he stated with a smile. "What?," Gemini asked, irritated "any sane person would kill to get their hands on an invitation."

"Never had any interests in those gaudy parties" Virgo said, drinking his fourth glass of wine. "Besides, aren't you going with some noblewoman? Your brother is going with the prophesied empress, Aries, was it? With her on your brother's side, you don't stand a chance."

"You know I have no one to go with" Gemini said, offended.

Virgo laughed a little too hard, almost on the brink of being drunk "what about your ex fiancee?" Gemini's face turned to horror at the mention of his fiancee. "You mean Pisces? That girl would literally kill me."

With Pisces' family being the most influential family in Lymphen, and arguably in the entirety of Hiraeth, it's no surprise she was engaged to a member of Ignia's royal family. Though Gemini broke off the engagement because Pisces was too 'scary' for him.

Meanwhile, Virgo was still laughing at the prince before him. "Okay you know what? I'll go. But only to see you interact with other nobles because that would be hilarious."

Gemini just heaved a sigh, knowing full well that the banquet is gonna be a disaster.

A/N: here's more of the zodiacs introduced! I know Aries was only mentioned briefly similar to Sagittarius, but they'll have more parts in the future I promise. As usual, comment on what you think!