[☆ 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘀 ☆]
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The signs were herded out of the Headmaster's room and they took a moment to absorb all the information that had just been thrust upon them.
"What just happened in there?" Payton asked, her voice trembling.
Sean noticed and gently patted her back. She relaxed a bit. "I don't know," he murmured, frowning. "But I'm not sure if we should trust this."
Lia nodded, her eyebrows furrowing. "I agree. There's something off here."
"Maybe," Lucas mumbled, mostly to himself. Then he faced the others. "I mean, come on. Constellations? That is crazy."
"Then I must be insane."
The twelve turned to look at the voice behind them. It belonged to a Black girl who looked young enough to be a student like them. Her space buns were big, so big there were strands of hair coming out of the hair ties. She grinned.
"Hey, Zodiacs," she said. "I'm Alexandra, vessel of Andromeda. Those were my parents you spoke to just now."
Gabrielle's eyes widened. "Your dad is the Headmaster?!"
Alexandra chuckled, her tone a bit awkward. "Kind of. He's the vessel of Cepheus, who was originally Andromeda's father. He's not really my dad, but I'm sort of his child, you know?"
Addison, who stood beside Gabrielle, nodded vigorously, but she wasn't sure she did understand.
Valentino decided to take this opportunity to ask another question. Maybe Alexandra would tell them more about vessels and all this talk about constellations. "Hey, Alexandra?"
"Hm?"
"What is a vessel?"
Alexandra bit the inside of her cheek. "The constellation you're the vessel of created you. Their essence is your soul, basically. Lyx knows more about this." Suddenly she gasped. "Lyx! You need to meet them, right? Room 108?"
Carlos nodded, and Alexandra turned around. "Come with me, I'll take you there."
She led the twelve down the hall, until she reached two big doors with 108 above the doors. Alexandra pushed them open.
"Lyx!" she called out. "The Zodiacs are here!"
The Zodiacs walked into the humongous room. It was like a gym, but also like an obstacle course. There were rocks and poles and tools they couldn't even recognize. It appeared like some sort of training room.
A tall, slim person with short, curly brown hair stepped into view. "Zodiacs! I'm Lyx, the trainer of this here academy." Lyx stuck out a hand to each of the twelve, which they all shook.
"Lyx can show you the ropes," Alexandra told them. "They can teach you everything about vessels, constellations, and your powers."
"What constellation are you the vessel of?" Lia asked Lyx.
"Lepus, the Hare," they told her. "That's where this comes from." They gave the bottom of their hair an affectionate pat. "So, no powers yet?"
Tyson shook his head. "We don't even know what Zodiac each of us is."
Lyx pouted. "Aw, I was hoping for something to work with..." They walked over to the end of the room, where there were some benches on the walls. Lyx pulled up a stool and motioned for the Zodiacs to sit on the benches. "Very well. I will tell you the story of our stars."
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"Long ago, before there even was an Earth, constellations ruled as gods. They were gods, basically. They ruled the heavens until there was a disruption in the peace."
"Disruption?" Carlos asked. "What do you mean?"
Lyx folded their hands together. "Well, there was once a constellation called Argo Navis. You know, Jason's ship?"
They did not know.
"Jason, from Greek mythology," Alexandra explained, stepping up beside Lyx. "He and a bunch of other Greek heroes took the Golden Fleece. They sailed a ship called Argo."
A couple of ohs and ahs filled the silence that soon followed.
"Anyway," Lyx said, waving a hand, "an evil force tore apart the constellation into three — Carina, Vela, and Puppis. They later found out it was caused by a black hole. They, too, were once gods, but after being demoted, they grew vengeful."
"Why were they demoted?" Gabrielle asked, tilting her head.
Lyx shrugged. "Maybe they caused problems, or just grew too old. None of us really know." They brushed a bit of hair covering their face, and continued. "So, the black holes started threatening to destroy the universe if they didn't get their godly title back. The constellations stood their ground, but the black holes did not hold back. They wanted to destroy Earth, just to make the stars surrender. So, they needed a way to protect Earth and blend in with humans all the while trying to stall the destruction of the universe."
"And they came up with vessels!" Alexandra exclaimed.
Lyx nodded. "A constellation would create a body in which part of their godly spirit would inhabit. This piece of their spirit would allow their vessel to wield a portion of their power while the constellation stayed in the sky. Most vessels only have one ability, but the vessels of the Zodiacs are a different story. Since the Zodiacs are so powerful on their own, to match their vessels, they gave each of you two abilities instead of just one."
Sawyer's eyes widened, and a grin spread across his lips. "Sweet!"
"You'll need a lot of training to learn how to control these abilities, however," Alexandra told them. "Especially with that power boost. You'll be fighting the forms of some pretty tough ex-gods. I'm j—"
"We're fighting black holes?!" Aria and Chloe exclaimed at the same time.
"Awesome!"
"No!"
Lyx clicked their tongue. "Yeah, those are the usual responses to that."
Lia took a deep breath before speaking. "So, who's what constellation? Does it have something to do with our houses? The Headmaster mentioned that."
Lyx nodded. "Whatever sign is on your door is the sign you are the vessel of. So, let's see... you!" They pointed to Sean. "What's on your door?"
He tensed, then thought for a moment. "Like an M, but with an arrow at the end." He made the shape of the sign with his finger.
Lyx grinned. "Then you're the vessel of Scorpio!"
"So I'm the vessel of Aries?" Aria asked. Without waiting for a reply, she exclaimed, "This is just getting better and better!"
"Alexandra," Lyx said, turning to the girl beside them, "can you please retrieve the list of the twelve signs? It's in the blue bag by the exit door."
Alexandra nodded and took off. She came back with a scroll, which she unraveled and held up. It had the Zodiac signs with the names underneath.
Tyson gaped. "I have Taurus."
"That's Gemini!" Gabrielle jumped from her seat.
Chloe pointed wordlessly at Cancer.
One by one, the remaining teens pointed to their sign. Valentino, Virgo. Lia, Libra. Sawyer, Sagittarius. Carlos, Capricorn. Addison, Aquarius. Payton, Pisces.
Alexandra rolled the scroll back up and set it down on the floor. Each of the twelve were either shocked or excited. But they all shared one thought in common — they weren't sure what would come for them in the future.
"Stars, constellations," Addison mumbled, looking at the floor. "This can't be us..." — she lifted her gaze to Lyx — "can it?"
Lyx sighed, their expression becoming more serious. "I'm afraid it's true," they told them, not meeting Addison's eyes. But then they glanced back at her and smiled. "Don't worry, though," they assured her. "We'll keep you safe here. You'll get to study and train together. And who knows, maybe you'll all become closer as friends from this!"
Alexandra interjected. "Just act like this is some boot camp your parents made you go to. Try to make friends, learn new things. Trust me, it gets easier as time goes on."
They hoped.
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GUESS WHAT
YEAHHH BABY
also lyx does use they/them so if you'd like to talk about that character please be mindful of that🫶🏼that would be very appreciated
as a tiny spoiler the next couple chapters will probably be more shenanigans since the last thre were so lore based
xo, milly <3