The Final Cycle: A Zodiac Story

𝕏𝕃𝕀𝕀

Had you followed them, you could have seen beyond what is here. Cronus snapped.

Cap only rolled his eyes. He'll be back soon...

***

The next day came, and Scorpio did not return with it.

All morning, Capricorn was cooped into his room with the old time god. As he made his bed, Cronus nitpicked him like a final exam. You do not fight for your freedom. You are weak. He chided as Capricorn pulled a book Gemini got him from the Universal Library. It was his own, and in golden lettering said The Cruel Tenth.

"Look, this is what I deserve," Capricorn argued. "It's not like it's bothering anyone that I'm stuck up here anyway."

Take the Zodiac by force!

"...I don't want to control anyone."

Then what do you crave, Tenth?

The question made Capricorn flinch. The first time anyone had ever asked him such a question, and it was from an evil, condescending tyrant. He had no answer, and Capricorn shivered at the realization that he never had an answer. There was no pause for him to sit down that think about his own ambitions... they were always for Elias... no, not Elias. Elias Addington is not my father.

Naldreg Zelf'Kahn... that was his name. Either way... I've always been a puppet. He thought to himself as he gazed at his blackened hand. What I want and need doesn't matter. I... it's always someone else.

You are nothing without wants, Tenth. I speak many lies, but that is a truth. Cronus chided with a mental huff. You have the power to conquer the Zodiac with ease... except for that Spirit. Stay way from it if you wish to preserve your life.

"Her," Capricorn corrected. "She has a name. We all do."

I was not raised with a name. I was simply Last Child. As you are simply Tenth. Do not correct me on what I know.

"Fine, fine... sorry." He couldn't help his curiosity when he asked, "Why didn't you have a name?"

My mother and father had a mind unlike mine and unlike yours. By the hands of my cruel father, she did not acknowledge us by name. We were born in an order, that was all that mattered. Now, is there anything else you wish to know of my life, Tenth? You hold many inquisitions.

"I just..." Hecate dropped into his mind with a heavy plop. He had seen the way she looked at him after Cronus invaded. She was shaking, damn near to tears. "Why do you hate Hecate so much?"

She is nothing more than a waste. Always running from her fate. Even now, she hides and trembles toward the inevitable. All of you will fail at her aid. She will do nothing but ruin you and end our chances at succession.

"Our sucession?" Due to their close mental connection, Capricorn saw Cronus' vision. A tall and proud man, sitting on a golden throne with a wicked smile. His hair billowed down his back in gray, powerful waves. A woman was by his side, timid and worn, but not old. His wife, Rhea, of Flowing Fertility. Capricorn grimaced. "You were a tyrant. I know that much. Even if the God King falls, you will never come into power again."

We will see, Tenth. We will see. If not me, then who shall take my son's place? That bitch you call a mentor? Or one of my baneful grandsons? No one has the power or respect I once did. No one!

"Alright, alright!" Capricorn groaned, running his hands into his dark hair.

"Capricorn?" A soft voice came at the door with two light knocks. Cap gasped as Cronus' laugher gave him a headache. He rushed to answer, to meet Cancer with his breakfast. "Hi, Cap," She greeted, holding a tray of biscuits. "Who are you talking to? Is it the guy in your head?"