"There's no way Ainsworth is Ophiuchus."
"But she was under the mask. doesn't that mean she was the one who attacked us?" Virgo said as everyone huddled around the unconscious figure.
"I guess it does. I never would have guessed, I thought she was on our side." Aries agreed.
"We should get her to Orion, he'll know what to do." Pisces said.
Everyone agreed and Aquarius, Sag, Gemini, and Cap all grabbed one of her limbs and carried her to the exit.
"How are we gonna get back?" Scorpio asked as the signs stepped into the daylight, grateful that all of the obstacles had disappeared.
"We rented a small car, but we left it back on the road a ways back." Libra said.
"Ok, how about we split up and half the group goes to get the car, while the other half stays and watches her in case she wakes up." Leo said motioning to Ainsworth.
In the end they decided to have Cancer, Scorpio, Taurus, Gemini, Sag, and Leo go to get the car, while the rest stayed with Ophiuchus.
Aquarius set the prisoner down and rolled her shoulders wincing slightly as her wings deformed back into her back.
Aries, who was watching fascinated asked, "Does it hurt?"
Aqua turned to him in surprise, "A little." She admitted.
Aries frowned, "I'm sorry that happened to you."
Aquarius gave a light smile, "Oh well, its not that bad. Plus it looks kinda cool!"
Aries nodded, but he wasn't looking at the wings, rather the person whom they belonged to. "Yeah,"
Just then a five seater red Honda pulled up in front of them. Leo, who was driving, honked, "Get in losers we're going shopping."
"Uh, there is no way we are all gonna fit in that." Virgo said.
"The air signs can fly and the Earth signs can run back, so then we'll have more room." Sag said.
"I'll race you!" Virgo yelled as she turned into a blur of light.
Taurus and Cap ran after her. Aqua, Libra, and Gemini all rose off the ground, after Aquarius's wings regrew, and flew in the direction they had run off.
The rest of the group all filed into the car, some sharing seats. Ophiuchus, or Ainsworth, sat in the middle.
"So what now?" Cancer asked as they began to drive.
"We go to Orion and hopefully our lives will go back to normal when she's gone." Leo sighed.
"You don't actually think they'll be normal do you? We have powers! We're literally stars, that's not normal!" Cancer exclaimed.
"I guess I haven't really thought about it. Orion probably has a plan for us though." Pisces said.
"I just want to sleep." Sag cried out suddenly.
"Do it then, we'll be there soon." Scorpio said.
~
By the time Sagittarius woke up, the car was pulling up in front of the big castle like school. They really hadn't been there that long, yet it felt like home. The red car parked and all the signs hoped out. Cancer, Pisces, Leo, and Scorpio grabbed Ainsworth.
"It might look weird if we walk in while carrying a body." Aries stated.
"Yeah it might." Sag snorted.
"So you guys wait here and we'll be back with Orion and the others." Aries finished shooting Sag a look.
The four nodded and Aries and Sag started walking over to the shed.
Wasting no time the two broke into a run and quickly pounded on the wooden doors.
"Orion, open up!" Sag called.
They waited a minute and knocked again, but there was no answer.
"Orion if you don't answer I'm breaking into your classroom!" Aries yelled.
Still no answer. "I've always wanted to do this."Aries grinned, then he proceeded to high kick the door down, and thanks to his strength, the door flew across the room.
"Jesus Aries! You should go out for cheerleading!" Sag joked.
The red head ignored him and walked inside the dark class room. "Orion?" They called.
"Maybe he's in the training room?" Sag asked unsure. Aries shrugged, but they were both thinking the same thing. What if something had happened?
They pushed on the familiar brick and the walls split apart, "Orion?" Aries called.
"Lets go, we should hurry before she wakes." Sag said pushing past him and down the stairs.
When the two reached the bottom of the staircase they walked past the training room and to Orions watch tower.
"Where is he?" Sag asked when they saw the room was empty.
"Do you hear that?" Aries asked after a minute.
The two listened and sure enough, it sounded like... singing. Angelic singing.
The two fire signs stayed quiet and followed the sound to the end of the hall where they stopped at an unfamiliar door. Sag lightly pushed the door open to reveal Lyra sitting criss crossed on the floor. Around her was a torch, a bowl of water, vines, and Orion.
"What are they doing?" Aries asked.
"Shh!" Sag shushed.
They turned back to the scene and saw Orion lightly blow on the empty space. The elements, the duo realized.
As soon as he blew the elements rose off the floor and combined into a flash of light. Sag looked away blinded.
Once the light faded the silhouette of a woman appeared. The woman had long black hair with flecks of purple and white shimmering sparkles in it. She had deep brown skin and stunning purple eyes. She was wearing a deep purple robe with gold and silver markings on it. On her head was a crown.
"Oh great Galaxy." Orion bowed down. Lyra kept singing.
"Rise." The woman spoke, her voice was soft, but she had the aura of power and authority.
"Why have you called upon me star." Galaxy asked.
"Ophiuchus has been captured and the signs are safe. We now await your orders." Orion told her.
"How did he know ready?" Aries asked in a hushed voice.
"The others." Sag shrugged.
"Good. I believe its time. The cloning will diminish naturally and as for the signs, well- you know what to do." Galaxy smiled.
"Thank you your majesty." Orion bowed once again before Lyra stopped singing and the elements fell to the floor. The image faded away and Orion turned to the door.
"You can come out now." He called. The two winced.
"Sorry, we didn't mean to eavesdrop, but we just came to tell you that we have Ophiuchus, guess the others beat us to it though." Sag stated as he walked into the room.
It was bigger on the inside, the walls were made of stone and there was a sandpit in the middle of the room. Lyra gave them both a timid smile.
"What is this room for?" Aries asked.
"For the occasional meeting with the rest of the stars and Constellations. That woman who was just there was the queen of all the stars, the most important person in the universe. Galaxy." Orion told them leaning up against the wall rubing his face seeming tired.
"What did she mean when she said you know what to do. You aren't going to kill us are you?" Sag asked nervously.
Aries sighed, "Yes Sag, he's going to kill us after he trained and taught us everything we know."
"Hey to be fair Ainsworth basically did the same thing only we weren't as close with her."
Orion sighed again, "My deepest regrets about that. I should have seen it coming."
Aries shrugged, "I don't think anyone could have seen it coming."
He shook his head. "No I should have suspected something was up when she started acting strange and distant. She hardly ever came to observe your training and never came to progress reports."
"Don't you think they deserve to know the true story behind Ainsworth?" Lyra suddenly asked.
"I guess." Orion said after a minute.
"Ainsworth wasn't a star. In fact I had never even heard of her until I got this mission. She was a human, but she was different. Because she understood things. She wasn't effected by the cloning, so we assumed she had something known as the inner sight, something so rare to see in humans. Its when they can see the stars as their true forms without extra help."
"So we decided to approach her and ask her questions. Turns out she always suspected she was different. I thought we could trust her to help on this mission, as a human guide, turns out I was wrong." Orion finished.
"You shouldn't blame yourself." Lyra told him gently.
Orion shrugged and stood taller, "Come now, there is still much to be done. Take me to her."
Sag and Aries nodded still trying to understand the story. Soon the four were back at the red car, the rest still where they left them, only this time it was the whole group.
"Look at who we ran into." Pisces smiled.
"Glad you guys made it back ok." Libra smiled back.
"It was close with Leos driving skills." Scorpio muttered.
"Hey! I'm a great driver!" Leo whined.
"Yeah your great at slamming the brakes-"
"Enough signs. We have much to discuss so come quickly before someone sees us with an unconscious principle." Orion instructed.
They all dragged Ophiuchus back to the shed and relaxed when they were behind closed doors.
"Have a seat." Orion said walking up to the front of the class room leaving the girl on the floor.
"Uh- I'm pretty sure schools out." Aquarius said. They all sat down anyways too tired and confused to continue arguing.
"You 12 did great things today, I am very proud of all of you. You worked hard and won the battle. Now thanks to you, the cloning has been stopped, the world can finally be at peace." Orion smiled at them. Just a few weeks earlier they had been in this very spot, clueless of the change they would make in the world.
"Now that we have Ophiuchus we can take her back to the stars and look her away for her crimes. She will be forced to rejoin the stars and the galaxy will be aligned again." Orion announced.
Everyone looked happy with this. Then Virgo asked, "Does that mean we're all going to the stars?"
"Yes. It is time for you to take your rightful position."
"Zodiacs, its time to go home."
♈︎ ♉︎ ♊︎ ♋︎ ♌︎ ♍︎ ♎︎ ♏︎ ♐︎ ♑︎ ♒︎ ♓︎
I cant believe this book is almost done. It feels like just yesterday when I started. Assume a few more chapters soon and some insane amount of editing! Also once I finish with this book, what other content do you want to see from me? I'm down with anything I just want some ideas!
QOTC: Text or call?
-V