Coming back was like waking up from a dream. But coming back to the temple like this was a nightmare. The sky was torn open like it was stabbed with a serrated knife. Black and purple bled out from the wound, infecting, and covering the blue sky previously.
Just staring into it filled them with unease. But beyond that, there was the pressure exuding from it. A smog weighed on their heads making it hard to breathe and even harder to breathe. They saw the darkness that seemed to invade from the cracks in the walls.
But it was the sound that really set the twelve of them on edge. The chittering, grinding metal noise that existed just outside of the temple. With the light of their pendants dying down, they looked at their weapons and then at one another.
“What is that sound?” Virgo asked glancing around slowly.
“I have no idea but I fear its what our mothers were concerned of,” Aquarius said walking to her side.
Virgo started to say something but she slid sideways her face paling. Scorpio rushed to her side, her tail wrapping around Virgo’s waist and keeping her up right as Scorpio took one of her hands and met her eyes. “There’s so much Stingie. It hurts. It hurts.”
“What hurts V?” she whispered.
“Everything,” she said and her eyes glowed.
“Guys. Did the animals out here used to look like this?” Capricorn asked standing at the edge of the temple’s entrance.
Leo and Aries looked at one another and ran to the goat’s side. They could see them roving around the edge of the houses. Deer covered in moving oil with glowing red eyes, their antlers mutated into gnarled and twisted monstrosities.
The birds chirped above in screeching songs that bordered on noise. Crawling the ground were squirrels and other rodents twisted into spiny and furry monsters twice the size of what they were. But interspaced between them were actual monsters from a nightmare.
Bodies that didn’t contort to rules of physics and teeth like the final gate to the abyss pretending to be a mouth.
“What are they?” Capricorn asked.
“Mom called them daemons.”
“There’s so many. Almost like a sea of them,” Aries whispered trying to hide his unease.
“We have a problem on this end as well,” Taurus said from the other side of the temple. With his axe he wedged open a hole and he saw the creatures that were just like those but this time on the opposite side of the temple. The creatures skulked around, hissing at each of them.
“You see anything like this in Arkoria?” Aquarius asked glancing at Gemini. She rested one hand on his shoulder feeling the fear vibrating through him.
“Kinda,” he said nodding and then looked at Cancer who stood beside him his katars at his side. He touched Cancer’s hand and felt his brothers fear too. “Just like going to the necropolis, right?”
“Yeah. Just like the necropolis,” Cancer grimaced and took a deep breath. “They can’t be worse than Wrath.”
“Or Gluttony,” Gemini added.
Cancer grinned at him then and then turned to his brother. The grin didn’t reach Cancer eyes but he tried to give his brother some confidence. They bumped their fists together and then clasped their hands and nodded. They both looked at Aquarius who just looked at them. “What is it Aqua?”
“You remind me of them. Both of them. When they were kids. The way they should’ve always been,” she said and then there was another screeching noise. “But its time for all of us to get out there. Leo?”
“Thinking Aqua,” she backed up and glanced at Pisces. “What do you think?”
“We need to get back home. Surrounded or not we can fight our way there. But,” he glanced back at the youngest of them. “They don’t have the power we do. So we’ll have to do it slower. And that’s a lot riskier.”
“I know. But we’re going to have to make it work,” she said and Pisces nodded. “Okay. Everyone over here!”
Her voiced boomed inside of the temple over the screeching. As they gathred around her, Leo grabbed the hilt of her sword taking a deep breath. When she opened them again her eyes had a faint fiery glow to them. “These monsters. These things. They all want one thing. Us dead. And we’re not going to settle for that. We’ve got a home to return to.
“The path. That’s where we’re going. Taurus. Cap. Aries. With me. We’re carving a path. Virgo, Sagittarius, and Aqua you’re on support. Long range. Keep your eyes out for anything crazy. Gem, Pisces, Scorpio, Cancer support where you can and always be on the move. Libra keep us on our feet.”
She looked at them all one by one and they nodded back to her. Turning around slowly she braced herself then jumped into the crowd of daemons and came down with an explosion of fire.
She landed, swinging her sword to carve a path but the daemons surged at her. Before they could get to her Taurus charged through them tossing the daemons aside like they were leaves. He and Leo moved together blowing them away between their powers. In their wake the others ran behind them, weapons flashing to cut down the daemons left behind.
The small town that had once surrounded the city had become a battlefield as daemons poured out of the trees and shadows, shrieking and roaring. Despite the skill in which the Zodiac worked together and wielded their weapons, the monsters they fought were almost limitless.
A large daemon barreled into the back of the group slamming into Aries. It took him off the ground throwing him into the sky. While in the air, flying daemons descended on him claws first. Spinning his spear around he smacked them away with the hammer side. Another came at him screeching when a pair of arrows sniped it from the air.
Lightning crackled in his eyes as he said, “Run Aries.” He sprinted along the air running to rejoin his family. But when he landed, he saw the wave of daemons climbing over the others to get to them. Aquarius stepped forward, shoving with both her hands. “Pour Aquarius.”
A flood of water appeared at her back and swept forward crashing into it. Keeping control of the waters she concentrated on blocking forward progress from the daemons. But as she started walking backward, she felt the ground shudder and looked over her shoulder. A massive daemon had blown through a stone home and charged at them.
“Cancer! Scorpio! On me,” Pisces ran forward spinning his chakrams along his fingers. “Virgo help us out!”
“On it!” she said as her eyes glowed. The three of them were suddenly lifted off the ground and flying right at the daemon.
Scorpio came down first her tail striking down into its arm for balance. She spun her khopesh around, “Scorpio Venom.” She shoved the blade deep into it and watched the blade turn green. Where her blade met the daemon’s skin, green light trailed along its surface.
The daemon roared and swung around reaching for her. Before its hand could grab for her, Pisces’ chakram flew and cut through the hand. It hissed jerking its hand back and that gave Cancer a sticking point. He descended atop the daemons head, getting onto it’s back.
Standing on its shoulders he pressed both katars down against its head. Focusing and feeling his constellation around him he shouted, “Cancer Impact!” The water bullets pierced the daemons head and it groaned stumbling forward and finally falling over. The trio of Zodiac hopped off and land on the ground.
“Nice work,” Pisces said nodding to the three of them and then looked toward the front. Their forward progress had slowed down to a crawl, the throng of daemons becoming tougher than before. Leo and Taurus were doing their best to carve a path but for each daemon killed two more took their place.
“There’s no goddamn end to these things!” Capricorn shouted through a crowd of them. “I feel like we need a new plan, Leo!”
“I agree,” Taurus raised the flat of his blade sliding backward from another heavy blow a daemon.
Before Leo could come up with a response or a rebuttal a shape sprinted through the darkness and tackled her. It grabbed Leo by the shoulder and dug its claws into her chest. Snarling and sliding across the ground her eyes widened. She saw the black mask on their face and the presence radiating off them was very familiar.
“You’re a hard woman to find Leo,”
“You!” Leo growled as she rolled and kicked the assailant from the castle off. Rolling together through the other Zodiac she finally disengaged and the woman jumped back landing on the roof of a building. Grinding her teeth together she watched as they crouched and then stood slowly.
“Do you like our crew? Not as fancy as you Zodiac but pretty effective,” they said spreading their arms. They abandoned their cloak revealing a suit and red tie with the sleeves rolled up revealing hard metallic arms. It wasn’t the woman but instead, the thing that wore the mask. Heine if she remembered right.
Leo stood with the others, coming to a makeshift circle, standing at the head with her sword raised. The masked woman crouched slowly and somehow Leo could sense the grin on her face. Raising the sword slowly she spat at the ground. “It has it out for me. I’m going to distract her, keep moving.”
Pisces looked at her eyes wide, “Leo wait.”
“Trust me Pisces. I’ll be fine.” Leo smiled back at him.
“That’s what worries me,” he forced a smile.
Leo looked at him warmly for a moment before turning back toward Heine and jumped. Leo’s sword came down and it caught the blade in its hands, the roof nearly shattering. Leo was quick to keep going, turning and bringing the sword around to its side.
The blade bit deep and it howled its pain like the daemons below. Leo could hear labored breathing and smirked. But then Heine grabbed the blade of the sword and lifted it, tossing Leo backward. Looking at its side, the wound quickly sealed. “That hurts. A lot.”
“That was the point. You won’t get away with attacking me or my family again,” Leo gripped her sword with both hands and her hair started to glow. Not perturbed daemon charged at Leo.
The attack was a mix of claws and punches as it weaved through Leo’s sword and flames. They were faster than any of the other Zodiac and each blow hit like a hammer. Stronger than the last time they met. Leo swung and it rolled, sliding under her sword and kicking Leo in the face. Leo felt her body straining and wasn’t sure if she heard something crack.
Turning quickly one hand wrapped around Leo’s wrist and dragged her forward. This time Leo was ready and slammed her forehead into the mask with a burst of fire. It let out a cry holding the face protection and bent over backwards avoiding another swing. Rolling away it slid back to its hands and feet and half the mask fell away.
“You’re strong but fragile,” Leo grunted and smirked.
“Tag out Heine,” this time the woman’s voice coming out of its mouth.
“You think you can handle her better.”
“We’ve got some ideas.”
“Sit still so I can run you through!” Leo shouted.
“You know that’s not how this works most of the time,” Roxanne stood slowly her tail swishing back and forth behind her. But she cartwheeled to the side as a storm of bullets came down near her. Looking up quickly she saw the flash of steel as the chakram flew at her. A bullet flew past her head and metal sang as the chakram barely cut her ear. Backflipping away from them quickly she felt her body go rigid as the paralysis set in.
“This shit again!”
Leo leaped forward and slammed her fist into her back, another explosion of fire sending her rolling back to the edge of the stone building that had been their battlefield. Pisces and Cancer ran to Leo’s side weapons raised. “You’re getting good with the trick shots son.”
“Thanks dad.
“Nice to see you two.”
“Always Leo.”
“Let’s take her down mom.”
“Gladly!”
Roxanne struggled to her feet as the chakrams flew past. She managed to avoid them and ducked under Cancer’s bullets. “You missed!”
“Wasn’t aiming at you!” Cancer smirked as he fired past her and the bullet pinged. It hit the chakram at an angle and it spun backward hitting her in the back. Stumbling she covered her face with her arms and felt the paralysis settle in again. She fought against it as best as she could but she couldn’t resist it.
“Was this what you had in mind Roxanne?”
“Shut the fuck up.”
Looking up she watched Leo approach and raise her claymore up high above her head. The savagery in Leo’s gaze was matched by the frozen snarl on Roxanne’s face. The sword came down and a swirl of black appeared behind Roxanne. Leo’s blade stopped inches from her face held in the grip of an obsidian black hand. Leo grunted looking up at the sudden intrusion and stared at another obsidian skinned individual with a mask covering their face, their hair a stark white.
“Great more of you,” she said leaning forward her constellation forming visibly around her. “I’m getting sick of this.”
“Badou?” Roxanne said hesitantly but sniffed the air and scowled not hiding her disappointment. “No. Weiss.”
Leo leaned forward and Weiss took a step forward holding the blade still, “So this is the one you’ve been obsessing over Roxie?”
“I wanted to meet his sister personally. She’s the strongest of them. By a wide margin,” Roxanne said then glared at them. “And don’t call us Roxie. You know we hate that from anyone but him.”
They chuckled, “Of course.” Turning to look back at Leo, Weiss met her eyes. Something in their red eyes was different than Roxanne’s. And it sent a chill down Leo’s spine. Weiss gripped the sword and lifted slightly then shoved it.
Leo’s eyes widened as she was tossed backward and slid across the roof. If it weren’t for Pisces she would have flown over the edge of the building. Before she said another word, she looked over her shoulder and saw the other Zodiac forming a tight circle as the daemons closed around them.
“You should focus on what’s in front of you.”
The voice came from directly to the side of her and Leo’s face was suddenly being slammed into the rooftop. It cracked the stone and she let out a muted cry as she fell through the edge of it. Weiss stepped out of the air and landed on the edge of the rooftop looking at the startled Zodiac on either side of them.
Pisces and Cancer both lunged but Weiss caught them in hand. They both heard the grind of the metal as they collided with their hand and saw the black metal that protected it. Grabbing them they turned around and tossed them both across the rooftop.
“What the heck are they?” Leaning on the katar for balance he glanced at Pisces who was wincing as well. “Is mom okay?”
“Your mom’s tough. She’s okay. We need to focus,” Pisces said helping him to his feet. Cancer stood at his father’s side and nodded quickly raising his katars.
Weiss landed rotating their arms around slowly. “He only needs one of you. But we guess two can work. Daze likes his options. Roxanne you ready?”
“Of course. Heine you ready?”
“You don’t have to ask.”
Cancer and Pisces stood back to back as Heine stood up the mask reforming across Roxanne’s face. They leaped forward first kicking Pisces’s chakram out of the air. He ducked avoiding their attack and then threw his other chakram at them. Cartwheeling aside they avoided it and jumped as a pair of bullets his the roof at their feet. The bullets flew past, hitting the chakram and sending it into their back.
Letting out a cry they whirled around and growled as Cancer caught both blades. Cancer turned around and threw himself to the side avoiding a fast punch from Weiss. Then the disc of water appeared behind him blocking an attack that came from seemingly nowhere.
Cancer kept his feet moving and eyes darting around as Weiss disappeared into the air. A punch came and his shield blocked it but then a hand appeared grabbing him by the throat. It lifted and choked slammed into the roof. “Cancer!” Pisces started forward but slid backward.
Letting out a choked sound he looked back and saw Heine holding him back. And he was beyond strong. Heine lifted him up then kneed him in the back, forcing him to the roof. “We’ve got you. And we’ve got him.”
Pisces looked up and saw Weiss drag Cancer off the ground. Pisces’s eyes glowed and his constellation formed around him immediately. Heine looked down as the celestial power exploded, throwing the daemon off. “Zodiac Pisces.”
He darted at Weiss, his chakram cutting deep into the metal skin of Weiss. Pisces swung again with his chakrams driving Weiss back. They jumped away avoiding another swing when a shadow passed over head. A flaming black sword came for their head and Weiss stepped into nothing, barely avoiding the swing.
Leo landed on the roof, her hair and eyes ablaze with stars and fire. She glared at them and roared, “Get away from my son!”
Weiss looked at their hand seeing the deep gash. It filled in quickly but the damage had been done. Looking back at the pair they nodded slowly, “Daze warned us there was more to you than meets the eye.”
Pisces and Leo both crouched over their son quickly. Pisces propped him up while Leo touched his face the panic in her eyes. “You okay Cancer?” she asked gently.
Cancer stared at his mother, eyes wide and nodded. “Hurts. But I’m okay.”
Pisces sighed relieved, “We’re gonna beat them and we’re get back home.”
Cancer looked back and forth between them but said something very different, “That’s a nice sentiment.”
“But it won’t amount to much.”
Cancer’s hand shot out and grabbed Pisces by the throat lifting him up off the ground. Before his eyes, Cancer turned into Weiss as if they’d always been there. The Zodiac’s eyes went huge as he kicked at him trying to break free. Weiss turned and threw Pisces into the air turning around to face Leo as she charged.
Weiss ducked as Leo immediately swung at him her claymore glowing. They stepped back jumping away but the lion refused to let them get away. Before she could swing again Heine appeared in front of her. They caught the blade and the flames burned their hands but they laughed behind the mask kicking the sword up into the air.
Leo started and Heine grabbed her by the neck and dragged her down. Coughing back her pain, she grunted struggling against the ground. “You’re going to stay out of our way or you’re coming with us.”
“I’ll kill you,” Leo growled. “I’ll kill you all.”
“Shut up!” Heine shouted slashing her back. “You’re just as annoying as Roxanne.”
Weiss grabbed Pisces by the head and dug their fingers into his head. “We don’t know what Daze needs you for. And it’s not our place to figure it out.”
“Where? Where is my son?” Pisces choked out.
“You’ll see him soon,” Weiss picked him up slowly. They looked at Leo and shook their head. “We’d take you too but you’re more trouble than you’re worth.”
Reaching into their pocket they revealed their pocket watch. The mask faded away from their face and the hair turned black. A tired look appeared on his face as the black portal appeared behind him. With a shove, he threw Pisces through it and looked back. “Come on Roxie. Time to go.”
Heine got off Leo and walked over to Badou the mask fading away as Roxanne took control again. She smiled brightly kissing him quickly and then cast her glare at Leo. But she looked at Badou and nodded slowly before going through.
That left Badou and Leo as she struggled to her feet. She stumbled forward and Badou thought about saying something but the words were dead in his throat. So, he didn’t. He just met her pained gaze and turned around.
He disappeared into the portal and Leo sank to her knees. Her roar echoed into the sky, clearing the sky above their heads. The screaming and screeching of the daemons subsided and the sounds of the fighting ended. She roared until her voice was hoarse and her body was weak.
The Harlequin Library 