After Virgo’s treatment of him, the Speaker was in stable condition despite still being unconscious. The doctors in the city took over care of him. Some people and soldiers had tried to confront them but everyone had also seen them fighting off the zombies. And there was a massive recovery effort to undergo.
Hector stayed behind to help Susan take care of the children but also to help the people who were understandably panicked. Virgo remained with them throughout the recovery but was too exhausted to really help. She had done her best to explain to the others what she had done but she could barely remember the event let alone repeat it.
Isaac and the others went to work helping as much as they could to dispose of the bodies into pits outside the city for burning. They didn’t bother hiding their powers at that point and most didn’t bother them. The few that did object, didn’t vocalize it directly to them. Just many looks and distance put between them.
Vayne somehow disappeared after the fighting but found them at one of the many pits. After they put the last of the bodies in the pit, they followed the necromancer off the path and away from the city as far away from prying ears as they could.
“What to make of you,” Vayne said folding his arms. “A lich and four beings who feel like the host of Gods. And yet remain here in physical form. I can’t imagine you chose the path of the Speaker or Octavia willingly.”
The Zodiac looked back and forth between one another, Gemini feeling unease at the necromancer and stood closer to his brother. Even with Isaac there, Scorpio stood in front of them as the protector of them but even then, he made her skin crawl.
“We could ask the same about you,” she finally said. “What the hell are you. How’d you fight him off?”
“Simple. We were the more powerful necromancer,” Vayne spoke as if it were obvious. “He was formidable but easy to outmaneuver and defeat. The other one though. We can’t make out what that one would be like to combat. We’re very interested.”
“You talk like you’re not one of them,” Isaac said.
“We’re not that much different from yourself,” he waved at him and chuckled. “You and we aren’t quite on the correct side of being alive.”
“Why the hell do you keep saying we?” Scorpio growled. “You’re the only one here.”
“He’s not,” Gemini said his tone hushed. “There’s something else inside him.”
Scorpio and Virgo looked back at him and they saw the haunted look in his eyes. Cancer grabbed his twin’s hand and squeezed it tightly. Vayne watched him and chuckled darkly a green glint in his eyes.
“You saw it then? Curiouser and curiouser. Then again you are like us aren’t you. Or perhaps the reverse. One that becomes two instead of two that became one.”
“Back off necromancer,” Isaac said standing directly in the way of his gaze and the necromancer in question just chuckled again. “Why did you call us out here? The city still needs our help after the nightmare that they caused.”
“It’s actually about them specifically,” Vayne said the amusement fading away. “What you are seeking and what the Ouroboros want aren’t all that different.”
Isaac shook his head, “Is it impossible for you to speak clearly?”
Turning he pointed into the west. “What they seek, the person that brought them to the Sanctum. That person isn’t going to be found out here. If they want to meet them they need to travel west.”
Virgo stepped forward but Scorpio thrust her arm out to keep her from moving too far forward. They exchanged looks and Virgo nodded slowly standing beside her and squeezing her hand but looked at Vayne again. “You talk like you know who we are and why we’re here.”
“We wouldn’t go that far,” Vayne replied. “We know that you seek answers. A truth about yourselves that you don’t quite have confidence in. And we know that in the desert many secrets can be revealed.”
“Why are you telling us any of this?” Cancer asked. “What’s in it for you?”
The necromancer shrugged., “We would like to see how the fate of this land will unravel. And we believe you are going to play an interesting role.”
Without adding another comment, the necromancer turned around and started walking away. No one called for him to turn around or for him to stop. They just watched him call his energies around himself and conjured a horse from the ground. Mounting it he started riding and simply disappeared on the horizon.
The five of them remained standing around each other just soaking in the horror of what they had collectively gone through. Isaac looked at the others and felt like he should say something. Fighting Noria for some time had hardened him to things like this but traveling with Ryze last year had hardened him to things he could never have thought of.
Virgo looked at Isaac, “Do you think we can trust him?”
“Vayne?” Isaac repeated. “I don’t know. I want to believe that he’s just speaking in riddles and nothing he says can be trusted. In the same breath, he helped us once for no obvious reason. I can’t imagine he would have given us the time of day unless it was useful to him. As for what that is,” he shrugged. “What about the rest of you?”
“He’s no better than those other guys,” Scorpio glared at no one in particular her frustration high. “We should just go home. We’ve gone well beyond what we intended to do here. We don’t want to get stuck in whatever this is.”
Gemini frowned, raising his gaze to her but said, “I say we go west.”
“What? You can’t be serious,” Scorpio said throwing her hand back. “You’re not seriously trying to trust him?”
“I don’t trust him,” Gemini replied. “But I don’t think he’s trying to screw us over. I think he knows more than us and that the answer we’re looking for us out west. Even if it’s not the answer it’s an answer.”
“You’re sure about this Gem?” Cancer asked and he nodded. Nodding back, Cancer faced Scorpio. “I’m with my brother then.”
Scorpio opened her mouth to speak when Isaac raised his hand, “I don’t know if my vote matters but I agree with Scorpio.” Scorpio glanced at him surprised but wasn’t about to turn away an ally. “I’ve met these people before. They’re dangerous in a way that is hard to quantify unless you’ve seen what they can do. And you’ve seen it firsthand now. If you stay in this country, you’re likely to be sucked into a war.”
“Exactly,” she replied but looked at Virgo whose face was scrunched in concentration. “You’re thinking.”
“Yes I am Stingie. And I think. I think I want to go west,” she said finally and her face smoothed out.
“Virgo you can’t be serious.”
“I am. We came here to find out about us. And I don’t want to go back home and have regrets about what we could have done or what almost was. I want to know the truth. We’re here and we’re close. I can feel it. So please don’t give up hope on this Stingie. Not yet.”
Scorpio frowned hard as she stared at her. She wanted to argue but in her gut, she knew she was right. They were close. She couldn’t deny that. But after what she had just seen, she didn’t want to risk what would happen to them if they kept going. She’d seen Virgo in enough danger to last her a lifetime.
“It’ll be beyond dangerous,” Isaac said trying to plead with her.
“I know but we’re stronger than we look,” Virgo said confidently. “And we can only get stronger from here.” The other three looked at her shocked but she met their eyes individually and nodded. “We’ll be okay Isaac.”
Isaac felt that something new had happened amongst them and he wasn’t sure what it was. But she had made a decision and somehow she was the leader. He didn’t want to waste his words but he couldn’t shake the worry in his heart over what would happen to them.
Then again as Hector said, he would save everyone if he could. And beyond that he had to remember that though these four looked young they were like mages except so much more. Just like he was more than just a soldier.
“I know we’ve only just met but I can’t help but worry,” Isaac scratched his head slowly. “Just be careful out there. This world is more dangerous than rogue necromancers and mage hunters.”
Virgo came forward and hugged him which he was not prepared for but hugged her back, “Thank you for getting us this far Isaac. I’m glad we met you here.”
Gemini and Cancer smiled alongside her and joined in on the hug as well. “What princess said,” Gemini replied.
They separated and Scorpio sighed extending her hand to him. Isaac chuckled and shook her hand. He walked them back to the city and they retrieved the horses they arrived with. They wanted to wait for Hector but Isaac knew that Hector would be busy long into the night.
“Head west. When you hit the desert don’t panic. You’ll likely find the Free City and that’ll be its own kind of blessing. Look for a pair of people named Vincent and Alison. I met them when I passed through there and they’re good people.”
Isaac’s last words to them echoed in their ears as they rode away from the city. Using the moon to lead their path they pushed into the open land. Rolling grassy hills and fields with some trees but not many. It was too dark to even see anything in the distance.
They managed to ride for a few hours before the day’s events finally caught up to them. They kept pushing until they found one of the few trees in the field. It was a sturdy if not thin creation. The tops of the branches were filled with small but thick leaves. They tied their horses to the tree one by one and slid to the ground.
“Does anyone actually want to eat?” Cancer asked groaning. He fell to the side and then his back, staring at the starry sky.
“I don’t,” Virgo lay down on her side. “I just want to sleep. I’m exhausted.”
“We’ll regroup in the morning,” Scorpio said. “For now, get some rest. I’ll keep watch first.”
“Thank you Stingie.”
“Yeah thanks Scorpio.”
Scorpio went to the tree and hacked a few low branches off with her khopesh. Gathering them into a small circle, she dug a hole around them and made a small fire. Cancer pulled himself back off the ground to grab some of their blanket rolls and lay on his own, while Virgo rolled herself into her own.
Gemini didn’t join them though, instead he got off his horse and walked to the edge of their make shift camp. Scorpio stared at the twin and she felt something off with him. Ever since they’d left the city, he’d been quieter than normal.
Getting to her feet she walked over and just stood beside him, her arms folded. She couldn’t think of the last time she’d had an extended conversation with the twin. Aside from Virgo and Libra she kept to herself at the castle. The age difference between herself and the other Zodiac didn’t help things. They were family but things were still awkward for her in some ways.
“Scorpio do you think I’m an idiot?”
The question took her off guard and she raised her eyebrow looking at him. “Is that an honest question?”
“Yeah,” he was frowning now.
“No I don’t. Reckless in a lot of ways and most of the time you just act without thinking. But it’s usually for a good reason. You follow your heart to your benefit and detriment.”
“Mm.”
“Why?”
He didn’t respond and when she looked at him, she saw he was staring up into the sky. When she followed his gaze and saw what had ensnared his attention A pair of stars that glowed brightly around each other and the smaller ones that ran around it. The constellation that hung in the skythat represented him. They each had one in the night sky that they could find with only a few seconds of searching. She was shocked that even out here, so far away from home, they could find it.
“Mom told me stories about the old me. The one right before me. She said he was brave and loyal. He would have done anything for her, or Aqua or the old Cancer because they were friends. He never really gave up on Cancer despite everything he’d done. He’d died fighting him.
“But I’m not him. Nothing like him. I’ve tried to be him in the back of my head but I’ve just been useless,” he glared at his constellation, his frustrations welling up in his chest like a knot. “I just got in the way at the village. I had to be saved twice while we were in the city. I was just in the way. You guys could have died trying to bail me out. I could have died trying to be brave.”
He squared his shoulders and finally tore his eyes away from the sky and stared at the ground. She wasn’t sure if he was crying but she felt like he was and her face softened. She had dried Virgo’s tears numerous times but this was different. So, she stared at the sky as well and let her eyes roam until she found it. The brightest star of her constellation was the tip of the tail and branched all the way down into the legs and pincers.
She stared at her constellation and took a slow breath, “Do you know who I used to be? In the last generation of Zodiac?”
Gemini looked at her, rubbing his face slowly and finally shook his head. “No idea. I never really asked and mom didn’t say anything.”
She shook her head, “Leo would know but Pisces or Aries would know better. I used to be a killer. An assassin. Since I was a young child, I was fascinated with killing and as an adult I put that skill to good use. King Riku would send me out to fight and kill high profile people in foreign countries or, when Cancer was in power, in the rebellion. But what really did it was that I would enjoy it. The chase, the hunt, the kill. All of it. I enjoyed every second of it. I was a monster. And even now, he valued his last kill the highest. The previous Virgo.”
She turned to look at Gemini who looked dumb founded, equally at a loss of what to say to her as she did to him. “I tell you that to say, who you used to be doesn’t have to define who you are this time. Virgo is the most valuable person in the world to me. Not the previous Virgo. This Virgo. This life is all that we have.” She pointed and jabbed his chest looking down at him. “What do you, this Gemini want?”
He looked at her hand and then at her frowning. “I want to protect my brother. And princess. Even you. I don’t want to lose any of you to this shit.”
“Then do it,” Scorpio said lowering her arm. “It’s one thing to say you but it’ll be another entirely to do it.”
Gemini split into his two halves, Luce and Umbra staring at her. “Don’t you worry about that,” Luce said.
Umbra nodded dragging his thumb across his throat, “We’re going to show it. We’ve got this.”
Scorpio nodded and took a few steps back and drew her khopesh. “Then show me. I doubt you’re going to go to sleep any time soon this evening.”
They looked at her shocked but a mirrored grin spread across their faces. Umbra drew their sword and tossed Luce his half. “Just try to keep up Stingie.”
“You’re taking watch next. Maybe you can use that time to recover after I beat some respect into you,” She glared at him and whispered as she dragged her hand across the sword. “Sting Scorpio.”
Scorpio dashed at the twins her khopesh clashing against one sword and her tail clashing against the other. The twins grinned at her and a savage grin broke out on the scorpion’s face. They clashed against each other for hours for the first time since they’d known one another and wondered why they had never sparred in the past.
The Harlequin Library 