Why is it so dark? It's been dark for a while... I hope everyone's okay. They're probably bored as fuck without me, I'm bored without them.
I miss Leo and Sag... God, it's so dark. And cold. I hate being cold, makes my skin dry.
Sag... She better be okay. I swear if anyone put a hand on her I'll kill them, bring them back to life and kill them again. Especially Scorpio... he better stay the fuck away from my girl... even if she isn't technically mine... it's the thought that counts, right?
She doesn't even know I like her, or maybe she doesn't care. I hope it's the first thing I thought of. I want her to care about me, I care about her so much. Fuck it, I love her!
Fuck yeah, I love her! More than any woman in the world, in the universe! And the moment, no, the very fucking second I can feel my body again... I'm gonna tell her! I should have told her before any of this bullshit even happened... maybe things could have been different-
...
Huh? Is that a light? It's so dim... I can't reach... no...!
Goddamnit, please! Don't leave me like this anymore! I want to get out, go back to my friends, to Sag! Just a little further, I just need to reach a little further...
"Aries?"
...Pisces? Can you hear me? You've got to get me out of here! Please!
"I'm trying... grab on."
Grab onto what? I don't think I have hands...
"Hang on... I don't know if this will hurt..."
Pisces...? Hold up now... what are you going to-
!!!!!!!!
***
Aries shot up, sweating and panting. Everything was so bright and confusing, he couldn't process anything. All he was aware of now was that he could feel again. His arms, his hands, his legs, everything. Hell yeah, bitches! Aries Ignacio Ramirez is back!
It took him a full minute to realize Pisces and Phil were at the foot of the bed whispering with each other. He swallowed, and attempted to talk, but ended up coughing. He felt so dizzy and excited that he could simply move, he sacrificed his throat for a real laugh.
He smiled at Pisces, before pulling her into a tight hug. She didn't react at first but quickly wrapped her tiny arms around his torso. "Thank you for saving me," He told her, clearing his throat. "You saved me, mama! You saved me!"
Aries' brows rose when Pisces replied solemnly, "I almost killed you in the first place..." His smile dropped as he felt his arm get damp. "I'm so sorry... You don't have to forgive me, I know I don't deserve it."
"How could you say that?" He told her, letting her go to only physically express his surprise with his newly revived arms. She didn't react to the gesture (of course), and Aries only grew slightly discouraged at her tears. "I probably had it coming, I know you wouldn't do shit like that on purpose. Besides, I'm all better now, see?"
He attempted to make another physical gesture before stopping midway through flexing his muscles, realizing that she could see none of it. Still, she started to laugh, all while staring at his bed covers. "I can see that," She said after her giggling fit ended. "You look just the same before..."
"Before what?" The question slipped, and both Phil and Pisces' reactions made Aries's brows furrow.
"Aries..." Phil spoke up for the first time, immediately getting Aries's attention. "I want you to tell me what you remember before... before your coma."
"Before?" Aries used a finger to tap his chin in thought. He was surprised that stubble was there, but refused to let it distract him from the task at hand. He went over the last day he remembered, and the further he strayed from his first memory of waking up, the hazier it got. We... had to do something for training... but what? He swallowed, attempting to suppress his alarm. "Um... I... I don't know..."
Before either of them could panic any further, Phil made a calming gesture with his hands, before putting one on Pisces's shoulder. "Hey, hey, that's fine," He said, addressing them both. "It'll come back soon. You might just need to give yourself a minute. It's not really that important, anyway."
Somehow, Aries didn't believe him. He had to ask that for a reason... something happened. Unconvinced, Aries said, "Sure," Adding a shrug, he continued, "I'll just wait. Maybe something will trigger it."
That clearly wasn't the right thing to say, because somehow, Pisces managed to look even more sickly. Her eyes bulged and Aries watched her swallow with sudden alarm. He didn't miss Phil's shudder, either. "Come on, Pisces," He said with a gentle grab of her hand, brushing off his clear discomfort. "Let's give Aries some space. You too, Capricorn. You definitely need some rest."
...Capricorn?
Aries turned his head and noticed Cap for the first time. It seemed as though Cap noticed him for the first time too, slowly blinking and leaning against the wall. There was something wrong about him - first of all, what was he even doing in Aries's room? - something unfocused and muggy. Aries' lips turned down as he watched Cap struggle to even move.
The more he watched, the more his frown turned into a snarl.
Capricorn did something. Aries felt that sensation of hatred bubble in his gut. "Aries," Phil started, ushering a steadily more frantic Pisces out of his room. "Hey, Aries-"
Aries got out of bed, taking steps closer and closer to Cap, all while ignoring Phil. In a normal circumstance, Aries most likely would have stayed true to his word and simply relaxed. But, his anger was starting to bubble into a low, menacing growl. His fist opened and closed as he attempted to piece that day back together.
Only when Capricorn looked at him with dumbfounded eyes did everything fall into place.
Ah.
The memory of the emotion came before the memory itself. Frustration, anger, rage, fury. He felt himself shake, causing Phil to mumble a low curse under his breath. Aries remembered an ominous presence, and its desperation to simply numb him into nothingness. He managed to put more pieces together, realizing that that presence was Pisces and that she was only acting out of fear. So who...
More memories were rolling in, and his hands were getting itchy to punch someone. Something... someone kept pushing, and pushing, and pushing until he couldn't take it anymore and just snapped. He remembered changing and shifting and wanting to kill someone.
"He did it," Aries said stiffly, the last part clicking together to reveal the whole puzzle. It was Capricorn who berated him, Capricorn who sent him flying over the edge, Capricorn who he wanted to kill. "He pissed me off..."
Cap blinked once, staring at Aries as if he had lost 50 IQ points. His entire demeanor was slower than molasses, even his breathing. It was him... This small, stupid-looking asshole has made my life damn near insufferable for my entire life...
Lo odió...
Lo odió.
¡¡Lo odió!!
Aries wanted to be better, he wanted to control his temper for once in his life. But, the very second he met eyes with Cap - those falsely innocent, bullshitting eyes - again, all composure flew out the window, along with Capricorn.
He didn't even realize he threw the smaller man through a window, but he quickly stopped caring as he grabbed the boy by the throat and slammed him into the coarse dirt. Aries heard a grunt and a bone break, making him grin wildly. Mindlessly, Aries slammed Cap's face into the front lawn, again and again, until Cap's glasses broke in half and his face was bloodied from his broken nose.
Now that he was processing his movements, he backed up and lifted Cap with a single arm. His hand squeezed around the youngest's neck. Cap gasped and meekly clawed at Aries's hand, but that only made the larger Sign squeeze tighter. "Aw, what's the matter buddy? Mind powers can't work when you can't breathe? That must fucking suck, huh?"
His grin widened as multiple ideas swarmed him, fueling him with ways on how to make the Sign just suffer. He was only mildly disturbed at his behavior, but his overwhelming adrenaline overrode it instantly. I could choke him, or snap his neck, or burn his corpse, or tear out his jugular with my teeth, or-
Wait!! I'm going about this all wrong! Aries's feral grin grew impossibly wider. "Let's go for a fly, kid!" His wings unfurled, stiff from being still so long. "You'll love this, trust me!"
Not even a second passed before the two were shot into the air, Aries finally letting go of Cap's neck to toss him around like a rag doll. He was so light and useless, almost like prey. At about 100 feet, Aries hovered in the air, tightly holding Cap by the shoulders. His head lobbed and with a busted lip and haggard breathing, he looked barely conscious.
Aries couldn't help it. Deep within himself, he knew it was sadistic and brutal, but seeing his prey all feeble and helpless in his powerful arms made him giddy. "And for the finale," He announced to himself over his beating wings. "From me to you, the Ramirez Crash Land!"
As gruesome as it was, Aries's last blow flowed as if he practiced it for weeks. He dropped Cap as he brought up his knee in one move, slamming it into Capricorn's chest. Aries's laugh turned into a cackle when Cap coughed out cool blood. As Cap bounced off the knee, Aries grabbed him midair, and with one full swing, he threw him back to the ground. Cap's body bounced twice into the dirt before he lay still, limp.
Aries wasn't done just yet. He felt so high beating up someone who's given him worse than hell for years. Why stop now?! His blood could be splattered all over the grass for everyone to see!
Aries closed his wings in a smooth motion and summoned his gauntlets, shining, gold, and ready to be stained. He dropped to the ground, grinning like a madman as he visualized Capricorn's guts across the dirt.
He was so focused on decimating his fellow Sign, he almost missed the ice shooting up from the ground. Suddenly, Aries had to shift his weight and force himself to crash to the side. What the fuck?! Who the-
Scorpio stood before him, in between Aries and his prize kill. It was a sight to see for Aries; Scorpio's icy hands shook and his dark eyes bulged with genuine fear. Aries pushed himself to his feet and released his gauntlets to rake his fingers through his hair. He couldn't help but laugh at the situation. More prey! "Don't get in my way, Scorpio," Aries warned with a sharp smile. Scorpio didn't move. "You and I both know that piece of shit deserves to die."
"But Virgo doesn't!" The younger Sign argued, clenching his jaw. After taking a breath, he tried again when Aries didn't react. "Aries, this isn't like you. Believe me, I know Cap is a pain in the ass to deal with at times, but this... this is too far and you know it."
"Too far?" Aries asked, cackling to the sky. "Too far?! I haven't gone far enough, Scorpio! It'll be so much fun to just tear him to shreds!" He took a heavy step toward Scorpio, the latter responding with a step back. "I know you want to see it, you want to join me! We could kill everyone here without breaking a sweat! It's either that, or you're next. Take your pick."
Scorpio watched the bigger Sign crack his knuckles and flex his fingers, eager to squeeze the life out of something. He braced himself for a second before dropping his shoulders. "Fine," He said simply, taking a step to the side. The view exposed Cap miserably attempting to crawl away. "Go ahead. Kill him."
"With fucking pleasure!" Aries' gauntlets came back, along with his menacing laughter. Every deliberate step toward Cap made Aries' skin prickle with anticipation. Normally, Aries would have acknowledged Scorpio's steady gaze, but not this time. His mind was clouded, clogged with murder and bloodlust. "I've wanted to do this for a long time, bastard. You're gonna look so nice with your skull bashed in!"
Cap's squirming and wheezing started to annoy him, so, to keep the youngest Sign from moving anymore, Aries sat on his back, crushing Cap's ribs further. Raising his gauntlets, and with a final grin, Aries shouted, "Nighty night, bitch!"
He swung down, fast and furious, down onto Capricorn's head.
Wait... what am I doing?
The question penetrated his rage like a dart to a dartboard. His gauntlets stopped centimeters from Cap's head, letting Aries take in the damage he did. He heard his own frantic heartbeat pounding, nearly leaping out of his chest.
What am I doing...?
Aries blinked, reeling off of Cap's body with utter disgust. As fear quickened his breathing, Aries' gauntlets faded, letting him grab his hair in horror. "Dios Mio... Dios Mio..." He mumbled, tears blurring his vision. Cap wasn't moving... why wasn't he moving?!
Another second passed and Aries realized that if Cap died, he would too. The idea of death comforted him a little - maybe he'd get a chance to see his parents again. His soft, morbid smile immediately choked up when that also meant Sagittarius's death. His heart panged as he openly sobbed at the idea of her simply dropping dead, with so much left to live for. No... no, she doesn't deserve that... I killed her...
His sobs racked him so hard, he had to lean to the side to throw up. Aries didn't stop crying or hating himself, even after he felt a touch on his shoulder. He wanted to push the hand so badly, but an even voice told him, "Relax, he's not dead, Aries." ...Scorpio?
Aries knew Scorpio to be a rather cruel man. But cruel enough to lie to him about something like this? It was quite hard to tell. Messily sniffing, Aries looked up with bloodshot eyes to see Scorpio bending over and starring back as if Aries didn't nearly murder his best friend. "W-what?" Aries stammered, probably for the first time in his life.
"I said Cap's not dead." He responded with a shrug. "I knew you couldn't kill him. I also knew you'd be pissed at him when you woke up, but I felt like he needed to get his ass beat before I tried to stop you." Scorpio walked over to Cap's body, who - Aries finally was calm enough to realize - still feebly squirmed. Cap's chest rose and fell slowly, and Aries flinched when the youngest Sign coughed up more blood. "Didn't think you'd beat his ass this badly, though."
"Why..." Aries struggled to ask, too busy processing the fact that he was almost a murderer. "Where is everyone else?"
"Inside." Lightly, Scorpio kicked Cap so he laid on his back. At the sight of his battered face, Aries almost threw up again. "Yeah, they all pretty much saw everything. Hecate had to put a spell on Pisces to trap her in a bubble... she was going to give you a soul rupture again."
"What about..." Aries couldn't finish his sentence.
"Sag?" Scorpio waited for a reaction to continuing, so when Aries looked up at him like a kicked puppy, he did. "Yeah, she saw, too." Aries couldn't help it, he threw up again on his side, coughing up bile. Scorpio waited for him to finish again. "Look, we know something went wrong... I wasn't lying when I said you'd never do something like this. Did you feel possessed or anything?"
"I.. don't know..."
"Maybe it's a bad time to ask." Scorpio sighed, sitting down on the clean side of Aries. "Just take a break, cry again if you need to." Aries didn't want to cry anymore, but the sobs were automatic. In a futile attempt to salvage what was left of his pride, Aries tried to hide his tears with his hands. Scorpio made no move to console his friend with a hug or any other moving gesture but didn't tease him either. Regardless, Aries was happy that he was simply there.
His vision was so blurry, he didn't see who came down to hug him. After he felt a nice pat on the back, he heard Cancer softly whisper, "It's okay, Aries... it's okay." Like a baby, he latched onto her and cried into her shoulder. Cancer didn't even flinch at the sudden sadness attack, and simply combed through his hair. "Cap's going to be fine. Leo and I are going to heal him, and then we can put all of this behind us."
"Heal?" Aries came out of the crook of her neck to tilt his head in confusion. "How are you gonna do that?"
"Leo showed me how to heal wounds today after training!" She explained, wiping stray tears from his face. From his peripheral, Aries noticed Leo was already beside Cap, brows furrowed in deep concentration as his flaming hands waved over his fallen friend. "I picked it up pretty quickly, and Hecate will help as soon as she finishes talking to you." Aries must have paled, because Cancer quickly added, "You aren't in trouble, I promise! Just head inside, we'll take it from here."
Cancer helped Aries to his feet, guiding him back to the house. Once inside, Cancer pointed down the girls' hall and Aries knew his way from there. He purposefully avoided saying anything in the living room, keeping his head down and dashing to Hecate's room. If Sag was even there, she didn't make herself known.
He almost passed Hecate's room entirely if she hadn't called him. With slumped shoulders, Aries did as he was told by sitting next to Scorpio. Oddly enough, Scorpio seemed relaxed for once with his legs spread and an arm over the back of the chair. "Aries," Hecate started as she sat in front of the two Signs. Phil leaned against the wall, watching the conversation with intent. "I know you're startled by what happened, and that's okay. Like I told Scorpio, what happened was normal."
"Normal?!" Aries exclaimed with his hands. No one reacted to his gesture, further deepening his paranoia. "I almost murdered Capricorn. Murdered, Hecate! That may not exist where you come from-"
"It does," Hecate interrupted, her tone sharper than a knife. Aries snapped his mouth shut and brought his hands close to his chest. "I know what murder is. It's rare in the Divine Realm, and that makes its impact that much worse.. Anyway, I know what drove you to your rampage, it was quite obvious. It's called Martian Bloodlust, and it is a disease that has plagued your Signs for timelines."
"Disease?" Aries asked again, looking at his hands. He only just noticed that they were covered with blood. "But... we aren't sick."
"Not traditionally, no," Hecate agreed with a nod. "But the soul of Aries and Scorpio share the ruler, Ares... he thought it would be a great idea to make the two of you bloodthirsty psychopaths at the drop of a coin... the smallest inconvenience could be a trigger, and it's only gotten worse with every Cycle."
"Idiot," Phil mumbled under his breath.
Hecate made a disgusted noise at the comment and continued with, "Quite. Honestly, I'm impressed that you managed to find yourself again, Aries. A few hundred Cycles have been lost to Martian Bloodlust, and to control it shows an immense amount of self-control and maturity."
Aries would have smiled at the compliment, but his mind was still catching up from everything that happened. All he could do in response was swallow. "Is there any way you can stop it next time?"
"There's no cure... Even Ares probably doesn't know how to reverse it." Hecate sighed. "For now, the two of you need to take extra care of your tempers. I wish I could do something about it, but I don't rule over any Sign. Zeus would rather strike himself than let me have any control over his Zodiac... but, that's not important right now. Are either of you okay?"
"I'm fine," Scorpio said with another shrug. "Not surprised I got bullshit anger issues." To be fair, it really wasn't a surprise. Out of everyone in the Zodiac, the only Sign that came close to matching Aries's violent outbursts was Scorpio. "Hey, Aries?" Scorpio had to call him a second time to get his attention. "You good, man?"
Am I okay? Aries knew the answer, and he knew the answer was obvious. Still, he forced a sharp smile and shrugged. "Sure," He said, adding a laugh to make his statement clear. "Why not? There's nothing anyone can do about it, so even if I wasn't, I'm stuck like this."
"You've got a point," Scorpio replied, completely ignoring Aries's voice slowly breaking. Aries frowned a bit at his nonchalance. "We're stuck like this... but hey, at least we aren't alone. If you promise to snap me out of it, I'll do the same, no matter how dangerous."
"Deal." Aries agreed immediately, holding out a hand for a handshake. Before Aries had a chance to realize yet again that he had blood on his hand, Scorpio shook it firmly. "Wait, I didn't mean-"
"Nah, it's fine," Scorpio said, rubbing his hands on his leather pants. "The deal is all that matters to me... Hey, Hecate? Was that all you wanted you to talk to us about?"
"There's one more thing regarding you, Scorpio," His eyebrows rose with genuine intrigue for the first time. "Have you been excessively hungry?"
"Huh..." Scorpio put a hand to his chin, humming in thought. "A little, I guess? Why?"
"It doesn't seem so severe..." Hecate mumbled, probably to herself. "No reason," She spoke up with a smile. "You seem fine, anyway. Don't worry about it. You two are free to go! I need to help Leo and Cancer outside." There wasn't even a goodbye from her; she disappeared the moment her statement finished.
"She has got to stop doing that..." Phil mumbled under his breath. To the boys, he said, "Just be careful you guys... if one life is on the line, everyone else's is, too. And trust me," His sudden glare made Aries shiver. "If either of you kill Aquarius, I'll make you pay for it for the rest of eternity. Remember that." Phil let his words hang in the air before he excused himself, mumbling that he had to help with dinner.
The two Signs gave a knowing look to each other as they left Hecate's room. That was no threat, but rather, a promise.
"Hey, Scorpio?" Aries asked his friend as they walked back down the hall. "Are you... afraid?"
"Of myself?" Scorpio craned his neck to look back, as he was walking ahead of Aries for the first time in his life. "Yeah, a little. But, it's like I said. There's not much we can do about it." His tail swished idly, a perfect reflection of his careless mood.
"So that's it?" Aries felt his fists clench as his voice raised for the first time that day. He immediately caught himself and swallowed, trying again with a deathly even tone. "We just accept that we're batshit monsters?"
"That's been the plan for 20 years, what's 20 more?" Aries stopped, total disturbance locking him in place. With Scorpio's seamless and rehearsed words, Aries realized that although he and Scorpio were often compared to each other, they were not the same. Aries didn't want to be a monster, and just because there was no cure, he wasn't just going to accept fate as it was. He was better, stronger, greater than that, and he knew Scorpio was, too. "Hey, you coming? I was gonna watch a movie."
"Nah," Aries declined with a head shake. "I gotta shower and maybe lay down for a while..."
"Alright... if you need to talk about anything, you know where to find me." Aries didn't but accepted anyway. Scorpio let him pass, and with a goodbye fist bump, Aries briskly made his way up to his room. Surprisingly, the hole in his wall was seamlessly patched up, as if he didn't go on a violent rampage just hours before. Aries was glad that his room looked okay again; there was less of a reminder.
After grabbing a t-shirt and basketball shorts from one of his drawers, he took off into the shower, taking extra care to scrub off the blood on his body. Even after it ran down the drain, he scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed, still not feeling clean. Before he let himself panic and cry again, Aries stopped, took a deep breath, and sighed, letting the water run down his chest and body. With his mind and body clear, he dried off and slowly walked back to his room.
To his utter horror, Sag was splayed across his bed, her head and right arm dangling off the side.
"Hey, buddy!" She said when she saw him, sitting up faster than Aries's eyes could see. "You were in the shower for a long ass time, so I just decided to hang out in here!"
Sag... Aries had nearly forgotten that he wanted to confess his love to the small woman. He stiffened as his mind scrambled with fear and want. "¿Qué jodidos estas haciendo aqui?" He asked her, much harsher than intended.
Sag only put her hands on her beautiful hips. "I wanted to check on my friend who went apeshit on some asshole earlier." She fired back with a huff. "But the first thing you say to me is some bullshit in Spanish. Wow, Aries. Just, wow. Maybe I should just hang out with Sco-"
Instant jealousy made Aries sigh and interrupt her. "Look, I just had a long day, I'm sorry-"
"Save the apology, Lizard Boy, I'm just kidding!" She laughed, rolling back onto his bed. Aries felt his cheeks warm up. "I know it's been pretty rough for you. But, you're back now! That's all I care about. Besides, Scorpi is such a buzzkill! Anytime I want to do something fun, he always tells me to fuck off! Can you believe that asshole?"
Still blushing, Aries shamelessly agreed, "Yeah, he's a dumbass..." He dropped his dirty battle suit in the corner of his room and flopped on the bed beside her. Being much bigger, he immediately took up most of the space. Naturally, he moved closer to her, as much as his instincts told him that he was, in fact, a monster and he was very capable of killing her. "I missed you, Sag..."
"I missed you, too..." Idly, she placed a small hand in his hair. He nuzzled it a bit before he relaxed into her touch.
Aries smiled into his pillow. In his drowsy state, Aries mumbled out a question. "Are you afraid of me?"
"Nope!" Sag's reply was instant. "If I was, you think I'd be sitting here right now? Please! The day I get scared of you is the day this Cycle needs to end, and I mean that." She didn't need to clarify, Aries already understood she'd never lie. He didn't resist a smile when she added, "Me... scared of Aries Ignacio Ramirez... you've barely been back for a few hours and you're already cracking jokes."
"I'm not joking!" Aries playfully whined, sitting up to face her. She looked just the same: her beautiful honey-brown skin, sharp eyes, the cutest ears that flick whenever she laughed. And that laugh... "Sag... I'm not harmless. I could crush you right now if I wanted to."
"But that's the thing," Sag said with a raised finger. "You don't want to. You telling me you can hurt me has about as much menace as Cancer trying to scare me with her little doggie fangs, it's adorable!"
"I'm not adorable."
"Yes, you are, Lizard Boy."
"Sag!"
"What? You're gonna call me a liar with that face?" Caught completely off guard, Aries's face grew red and warm. "You're cute, and I like starin' at ya. Deal with it, pussy."
Instead of continuing to banter, he simply hummed and hugged her, engulfing her in his arms. She was so small, Aries really could have crushed her with just the right amount of pressure. But, for the first time since he had reawakened, that wasn't one of his worries. At that moment, all he wanted to focus on was letting her know how much he cared about her. Sure, murder and destruction were a constant in his mind - now more than ever - but Aries was beyond determined to defy his instincts. For Sagittarius, the funny woman who made his heart soar past the clouds. Yo no soy un monstruo.
"Okay," He mumbled with a smile on her shoulder, completely unaware of her own blush. "I'll deal with it, just for you."
•••
Did you like the chapter? This is one of my personal favorites, I just love writing for Aries! Translations to what he says in Spanish are in the comments! From now on, that's where you can find them!
Tell me what you think! I love feedback and theories, and support means so much to me! I hardly bring up milestones, but thank you for 7K reads! 💖
And yes, Chapter 30 will be special~ 😉
Until then, Stay Starry! 💫