[☆ 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗦𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱 ☆]
♈︎ ・ ♉︎ ・ ♊︎ ・ ♋︎ ・ ♌︎ ・ ♍︎ ・ ♎︎ ・ ♏︎ ・ ♐︎ ・ ♑︎ ・ ♒︎ ・ ♓︎
"ARIA!!" Two knocks on the the fire sign's door.
"ARIA REYES?!" A couple more.
Knocking became pounding. "ARIANA GRA—"
"WHAT DO YOU WANT, LUCAS?" Aria opened the door of her bedroom and stepped out, her blonde hair disheveled and her red eyes piercing Lucas's like she wanted to cut his throat.
Lucas blinked. "It's a school day. We have fifteen minutes until we're picked up."
Aria grumbled, then turned to go back in her room. Lucas stared at the door she forgot to close, then at the crack it left. He peeked his head in.
Aria brushed a chunk of her hair with enough force that Lucas thought it was about to come out of the follicles. "Do you have something else—" she grunted as she plowed her brush through more tangles— "you would like to announce?"
"Um, no, but—"
She pointed to the hall. "Out."
Lucas sighed and dutifully left her room. He turned to go down the stairs to the kitchen, where Sawyer was waiting.
He plopped down onto an empty seat. "Why'd you have to send me to go get her?"
Sawyer shrugged. "She don't like either of us. I just don't feel like gettin' yelled at today."
"Yeah? Well, neither do I."
They waited for their roommate to make her way downstairs for a minute. A minute became five minutes. Five became ten. With a couple seconds to spare, Aria walked down the stairs, her hair now bouncy and curly, and wearing a square neck red crop top, her high-waisted jeans, and a gold pendant.
"We're going to school," Sawyer told her blankly. "Not a damn runway show."
"I want to make a good first impression, but I'm aware you don't know what that means."
"Shut your ass u—"
The sound of cars pulling up outside their houses cut Sawyer off. Lucas stood up and walked towards the door. "All right, let's just get this over with."
The three signs stepped outside, the chilly September breeze brushing across their faces. It reminded Lucas of the days where he would go visit France with his sister and sometimes even Payton. Those days were nice, but he wondered when, or if, he would see France again. This burden of being a so called "vessel" made him, no matter how difficult to admit, a little worried.
The air signs were leaving their house as well. Gabrielle gave them a wave as she was entering the limousine. Aria waved back at her, and the fire signs followed each other into the black vehicle awaiting them.
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All twelve signs entered the academy, chatting amongst themselves. They walked in a group into the first class on their list. Apparently titled, "Freeform."
"Only freeform I know is AO3 tags," Addison mumbled. Payton nodded in agreement.
The only other student there was a muscular girl with striking blue bangs that contrasted the rest of her black hair. She was by the window, her feet propped up on the desk next to her, messing with a pencil.
"Where is everyone?" Chloe asked her.
The girl shrugged, not looking up from her #2 pencil. "Who knows. Freeform's usually empty."
"Then why are you here?" Sean asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
She let out a small chuckle. "I'm bored. Got nowhere else to be. Wanna join?"
Lucas plopped himself down in a nearby chair. "Sure." Some others followed suit. Only Sean, Lia and Sawyer remained standing.
"Name's Piper," the girl said, spinning her pencil between her fingers. "Vessel of Perseus."
Valentino arched his eyebrows at her. "Wasn't Perseus a man?"
"Wasn't Virgo a maiden?"
Valentino pressed his lips together and turned away, slightly embarrassed.
"So, what is this class, exactly?" Lia asked, hands on her hips.
Piper picked at a loose piece of paint at her desk. "Free period, basically. The whole thing is meant to be like a big training exercise, but people who don't have powers usually come to this room." She motioned around at the classroom. "You sit here and do nothing until next period."
"So you're the only other person without powers?" asked Carlos.
Piper shook her head then pointed to a piece of apple-shaped pottery on the windowsill. Two seconds later, it was stone.
"Petrification," she told them. "After Medusa."
"That's kinda ironic," Sawyer muttered, picking up the stone apple and examining it. He tapped his knuckles to it. "Hard as a rock. Literally."
"I guess Perseus had a sense of humor?" Piper shrugged with a grin. Sawyer grinned back.
"So is there anything to do here?" Gabrielle asked, walking over to the large desk in front and picking up a bouncing ball. She threw it to the floor and it bounced back up into her hand.
"Nothing much. We just talk, I guess."
"About what?" Chloe asked. Her eyes suddenly light up, and she fished a trinket from her pocket. She held out an old penguin keychain. "Can you make this stone?"
"Sure." Piper held out her hand, and Chloe dropped the keychain into it. In a single glance, it was stone.
"Cool!" Chloe's eyes sparkled like stars, and she picked up it to examine it.
Tysom stepped up and held out a hand. Chloe passed the stone to him. "Wow. I wonder if it's actually rock. On a molecular scale."
"Can you prove it?" Payton asked. "Here, I mean. You think anyone here has rock powers?"
"Not that I know of," Piper replied. "Most powers don't tend to be nature-oriented. There are exceptions, though."
Tyson stared at the rock in his hand for a moment. Stared at the markings, the dents and lines. It felt he was holding part of his own essence. A whole piece of him, and he was staring right at it. Disturbing. He let out a quick breath, then stuffed the rock in his pocket. He would figure it out later.
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Lyx was happy to see them again, but sad that no one had received a single power yet.
"Well," they said, "we can still work on your agility. What's useful about having powers if you can't stop blowing kids' arms off like Callawasius?"
Looks of horror crossed some of the signs' faces.
"I'm just joking! Well, not about Callawasius. Camelopardalis was evil for naming the kid that. Anyway, you'll need to learn a lot before you start to actually fight."
Lyx motioned to the exit door. "We're gonna be in the outdoor training grounds. More room out there. That'll probably help with unleashing some powers." They stepped up to the door and pushed it open. The twelve teens followed.
The first arena looked more like a a large playground. Climbing rocks, monkey bars, a jungle gym, and other equipment was in this area.
"What does a playground have to do with training?" Carlos asked.
"Playgrounds build agility for young children," Lyx replied. "Helps with speed, strength, all that stuff. And besides, playgrounds are fun."
Addison noticed four small flags sitting in a tall container. A red one, a blue one, a yellow one, and a gray one. She turned to Lyx and pointed to the flags. "What are those for? Capture the flag?"
Lyx suddenly clapped their hands together. "Yes! Only the best sport for training here!" They pointed to an open area of forest near the playground. "You play over there."
"In the woods?" Payton asked. She wasn't a big fan of the dark, open forest. Not after a bear almost mauled her leg off in fifth grade.
"Don't worry," Lyx assured her. "This area is reserved by the school. No wild animals or anything that could kill you."
Payton heaved a sigh of relief.
"Next arena is just a bunch of sand," Lyx told them. "Kind of boring. We can just skip it for now."
As they started walking to the third arena, Gabrielle stepped up beside the trainer. "Hey, Lyx. What are we gonna do today?"
Lyx thought for a moment, tapping their finger to their bottom lip. "Well... today I'm just supposed to show you the arenas... but maybe you guys like to play a quick capture the flag game?"
Lia shrugged. "I mean, I don't see why not."
The earth signs nodded in approval.
"All right," Lyx said, turning around to face everyone. "All in favor raise your hand."
12 out of 12 teens raised their hand.
"Well, that settles it!" All the hands went down, and Lyx went back to get a red and blue flag from the playground. "Everybody know the rules?"
A mixtures of mhms and yeahs answered their question.
They passed the blue flag to Sean and the red one to Lucas. "Water signs and earth signs, you're Team 1. Your base should be on the left. Fire and air signs, you're Team 2. Place your base on the right. Hide your flags in one minute. Go!"
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TEAM ONE: WATER & EARTH
"Where should we put the flag?" Valentino asked Sean as the six ran into the forest.
Sean looked around. "Let's just look around real quick. There should be someplace to hide it."
Chloe jumped onto one of the moss-covered rocks, and tried to spot any secret areas. She grinned and pointed to a small cluster of rocks. "Maybe over there?"
Team 1 ran towards the rocks. Sean looked around the rocks and finally placed their blue flag down into the dirt.
"Tyson, Val, and Carlos," Chloe said, turning to the earth signs. "Can you be our offense? Payton, Sean, and I can defend the flag."
Valentino nodded. "Okay. But we'll have to come up with a plan. And quick. The game is about to start."
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TEAM 2: AIR & FIRE
"Over there or over there, Lia?!"
Lia shrugged at Sawyer, who was debating on whether to place the flag to his left or his right — under the shadows of the trees or in a bunch of rocks.
"Just tell me where!"
"Everyone, shut up," Addison said, stepping forward. "Sawyer, put the flag to your left. More bushes covering it there. Aria, Sawyer, and Lucas should be offensive, and the rest can be defensive. I'll be backup."
Aria turned around towards Team 1's area. "Let's beat some bitches at a grade school recess game."
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Lyx's whistle blew in the distance, and the game had begun.
Lucas ran straight for Team 1's base, but Carlos tackled him to the ground. Valentino scurried into the bushes of Team 2's area, and crept closer to some large trees to try and spot the flag from a distance.
Aria ran around the edges of the fence blocking off the rest of the forest. She hid behind some bushes and creeped up to where Chloe was standing. She jumped. "Think fast!"
Chloe shrieked, then shoved the blond girl. "Jail!" Sean pointed to the fence that kept the school's side of the forest separated from the other side. Aria scoffed, but retreated to jail.
Meanwhile, Valentino ran over to the other earth signs. "I found it! It's by these big trees and bushes. But Lia and Gabrielle are guarding it. I think I could distract Gabrielle, but not Lia. Help?"
Suddenly Tyson had an idea. "I'll cause a distraction," he said, fishing something out from his pocket. He held up the stone keychain. "Just follow my lead."
Gabrielle stood in front the flag, whistling and rocking back and forth on her heels.
"Shut up, Gabi," Lia muttered next to her, gritting her teeth.
Gabrielle promptly fell silent. She did, however, keep rocking.
Suddenly, the bushes rustled. "What's that?" Lia asked, leaning over. More rustling. Then a soft chirp.
"A bird?" Gabrielle said inquisitively, walking over to check in the bushes for any trapped animals.
Tyson stood from afar, tossing the penguin keychain up and catching it again and again. He took note of the tree next to Lia. He aimed, then threw the stone.
The stone took the shape of a knife and cut through the wood.
"Ah!" Lia jumped back, startled. She glanced over to Tyson, who stood there, a look of shock plastered on his face. "Tyson?"
Hands grasped the flag from behind, and yanked it into the bushes. "Hey!" Gabrielle popped her head out of the bushes and stood. Lia ran straight into the hand's shrubs.
Valentino had never run so fast. Carlos was waiting for him somewhere. He had to get the flag to Carlos before Lia could tag him.
He sped up into a sprint as soon as he saw Carlos behind a tree. He passed him the flag and he kept running. Valentino turned and jogged to the edge of the reserved forest. Lia caught up to him. "Wha— where's the flag?"
"I dunno."
Carlos kicked grass and dirt as he ran towards his team's side of the forest. Sawyer caught sight of him as he was freeing Aria. "Hey! Give that damn flag back!"
Carlos didn't look back at either fire sign who was chasing him. He cleaned off his sweat and ran right towards Team 1's side of the forest.
"Team 1 wins!" Lyx declared, their arms high up in the air.
Team 1 came together and celebrated together, slapping hands and hooting. Gabrielle stepped out of the forest with Tyson. "Hey, Lyx?"
"Hm?"
Tyson held up the knife. "Is it possible to change the shape of a rock? Like magically?"
Lyx's eyes sparkled with excitement. "You changed the shape of this rock?" They stepped over and took the knife in their hand. "What shape was it before?"
"Tyson!" Chloe stepped forward. "Was that my penguin keychain?"
He nodded, a sheepish look on his face.
Lyx chuckled. "Didn't know they sold stone keychains."
"Piper, the vessel of Perseus, changed it," Chloe explained. "And I gave it to Tyson."
"So, does this mean Tyson's the first to find his power?" Lucas asked.
"Sure is!" Lyx handed back the knife and patted the boy's shoulder. "Congratulations!"
The other signs clapped, and Tyson let himself smile for a moment. He wasn't sure what this meant for him, but if it meant making knifes out of rocks, then maybe it could be cool, too.
♈︎ ・ ♉︎ ・ ♊︎ ・ ♋︎ ・ ♌︎ ・ ♍︎ ・ ♎︎ ・ ♏︎ ・ ♐︎ ・ ♑︎ ・ ♒︎ ・ ♓︎
sorry about the lack of shenanigans at the end😔 i just wanted to give tyson his power
uhhh idk what's gonna come next for these little characters but i already have some more characters in the school made
so more constellations🤩
i'll include them in the shenanigans actually😍
xo, milly <3