United Against Hate: Chapter 22

Work. That was something Leo knew well. Forms. Papers. Orders. It all made some modicum of sense. She may never have been raised to do these things but she picked them up fast. When Raku became king, she volunteered to help him in the steed of her lost friend.

And now that she had lost her husband and her son, she was lost. She didn’t know what to do. She had her anger and her fire, but all of those things rang hollow. Time passed in a blur of some sort of strange reality but she didn’t trust it. They didn’t seem real. Every night she slept alone, she wept internally. Every morning she awoke alone, she felt cold. Had it been weeks? Maybe it had been.

The sun shone down, casting a warm light over her. She’d opened the windows to get some fresh air beyond the stuffy old parchment and books. The throne was empty but that was because Raku had business elsewhere. Something about a conference with Lyria. Taurus and Capricorn along with Kali and Vash had gone with him.

She sat in the office of the king feathering through reports. Looking for anything that would lead her to either of them. But it was the same as ever. Taxes paid. Reports of potential bandits. Noble houses squabbling. Petty problems that had very simple solutions.

Solutions she used to pass on to Pisces.

The thought alone made her wince against the desk. Her head went down and her hands shook. But she clasped them together, forcing them to be still.  The moment she let go, her hands shook again. She roared and slammed her fist down onto the table and broke it. It collapsed into a pile of wood, papers, and ink.

Leo stared at the damage that she had done. She covered her face as she closed her eyes and all but whimpered into her hand. “Dammit. My son is gone and I’m falling apart. Pisces where are you? I don’t want to do this without you.”

The door creaked open and she didn’t bother looking at the person walking through. Instead, she snarled and bared her fangs. “I don’t need anything! I don’t need help! I don’t need food! So get the fuck away from here!”

Silence greeted her outside of her heavy breathing. But as she stared at Gemini on his back foot she froze. He had one hand up, a book in his other. He stared at his mother beyond startled, he was scared. He took a step back and she reached out to him.

“Gem. Please. I’m sorry,” she looked at him and then down at the ground. She looked at the table she broke and then walked over to the wall and leaned against it. “I’m sorry son. I just.” She shut her eyes struggling to find the words.

But the next thing she knew she was being hugged by not one, but two pairs of arms. She looked down at Luce and Umbra while they hugged her tightly. Feeling them both nearly broke her down again. She went down to one knee to hug them both.

“I miss dad,” Luce said.

Umbra added, “And Cancer. A lot.”

“I miss them too,” she shook slightly as she said that and wiped at her eyes. “And unfortunately, we have to keep it together to make sure we find them.”

“I just want my brother back mom. I want dad back.” Luce shook his head quickly.

“Me too boys. And we’re going to get them back. Bring them both back home.”

Umbra looked at his mother and shook his head confused. He looked back at his twin,, then back at Leo. “How do you know?”

She made a grim face and watched as the two halve fused together as one again. But as they fused the worry only doubled and Gemini looked at his mother with wide and confused eyes. In a way it startled her that he was so vulnerable looking at her. She didn’t have all the answers but for him she had to. She had to be strong for him.

She leveled with him, going down to meet his gaze without looking down at him.  She stroked his cheek and brushed a hand through his hair slowly. “We’re gonna get your dad and your brother back. The Zodiac. All of us. Together. We’re gonna do it together and we’re gonna do it without losing anyone else.”

Gemini nodded quickly wiping his eyes and fixing his face into a hard frown. “Yeah. We’re gonna get them back.”

“That’s my boy,” she said hugging him again. “Now what are you doing up here?”

“I wanted to check on you. Make sure you had eaten. Pretty sure you skipped breakfast.”

She rolled her eyes and nodded, “I was working.”

“You haven’t eaten breakfast in over a week mom.”

“I’ve been working hard for over a week.” He looked at her skeptically and she put her hand on his head ruffling his hair.  “Fine. Breakfast. Both of us.”

They walked together, Leo keeping her hand on his back, and spared one more glance back at the room. She forced herself to breathe as they walked together. Many had given Leo a wide berth considering how she had been the previous few days. But for her son she wore a reserved smile and tried.

They worked their way around the corner straight to the kitchen and the pair of them almost ran into Aquarius. She looked at the two of them and her face fell into a tired smile. “Hey you two. What’s going on?”

“Breakfast,” Gemini said.

“A bit late for breakfast,” but she glanced at Leo and her smile was reassuring. “But yeah breakfast. They just made these gravy filled biscuits with sausage that were amazing. And fresh juice. I think it was some kind of pomegranate mix that the chef was experimenting with.”

Leo made a face, “Pomegranate. Who was asking for that?”

“Probably no one but we drank it,” Aquarius shrugged and smiled. “Come on.”

So two became three and the Zodiac went together to the mess hall and there was still some warmth coming from the kitchen. The tables were being cleaned from the large breakfast served earlier. But before they could even get a proper table, a pair of guards came clanking down the hallway in half armor.

“Lady Leo. Lady Aquarius,” they stopped in front of them panting and then saluted.

Leo scowled and glanced at them, “For the love of the goddess what is it now?’

“A strange,” the guard looked at the other and she just shrugged. “Phenomena? Occurred outside of the castle.”

“What does that even mean?” Leo asked her patience dropping quickly.

“We don’t know. It was just. There was a large flash of light. And then suddenly there were four individuals in the city. They were armed and were dressed in a way that I’ve never seen in Nerodala before,” one of the guards said.

“But one of them, a younger woman, said that she knew the Zodiac. Specifically, Gemini, Cancer, Scorpio, and Virgo.”

The guard snorted, “Everyone says that. And what’d the older woman say?”

“That Scorpio and Virgo both were of her queen’s blood.”  He shook his head still bewildered.

“They sound crazy. And with the way they appeared we aren’t sure what to do with them,” the guard said looking at Leo. “Please advise.”

“Where are they being kept now?”

“We have them under watch near the barracks,” he replied.

“They said they knew us?” Gemini said frowning but then his eyes widened. “No way. Wait wait. Was one of them a tall woman with red eyes? And then two of them are twins? And the other guy has bright orange hair and a grumpy face.”

“That’s very specific Gem,” Aquarius said raising her eyebrow and looking at Leo.

But the guards were just dumbfounded and nodded quickly. Surprised Leo looked down at her son. “How did you know that Gemini?”

“Because those are our friends. Our friends from Arkoria. We gotta get them. Come on mom!”

Gemini didn’t miss a beat as he started running toward the guard barracks. Along the way, he nearly ran into Virgo and split apart before they could collide. She reached out and caught the twin’s hands and kept them standing.

“Princess!” Luce shouted.

“What are you doing out here?” Umbra asked.

“What are you doing here?” she asked her eyes shining and out of breath.

They exchanged looks and the twins pointed, “Did they tell you too?”

“No but I sensed it. We gotta go say hi! Come on!”

She pulled them along and even Scorpio came running after a few more minutes followed by Leo and Aquarius. The five of them ran to the barracks outside of the castle. It was a tall two story building for the guards. A few of them slept there, and others slept inside the village directly.

As they arrived at the front they were greeted by a couple more guards who were surprised to see them. “What are you doing here?”

“The people you’ve apprehended,” Leo said. “Let them go. Apparently, they’re all friends of ours.”

The guard blinked but nodded quickly and did as they were told. It took a few minutes but out came the four of them. The grumpy Vincent, Alistair, and Alison were both amazed at being in a new country, and Morrigan her face guarded as always. But all four of them broke into surprised smiles as the trio of younger Zodiac came forward.

Virgo ran straight at Morrigan and hugged her, “Morrigan! It’s so good to see you again.”

The knight grunted but looked down at her warmly. “Hello there child. You look good. Both of you.” She looked at Scorpio and she smiled back at her. The smile came easier than Morrigan remembered before. But then again, she was pretty sure her own did as well.

“We are,” she turned and looked at Alison and hugged her next.

Gemini looked at Vincent and Vincent laughed. “Hey there kid. You still being a troublemaker?”

“When was I ever a troublemaker?”

“Right just a pain in the ass for me.” They hugged for a moment and Vincent glanced around. “Where’s your brother?” Gemini made a face so pained that Vincent felt like he said something taboo. “Sorry. Are we not talking about him right now?”

“No. That situation is complicated right now,” Leo said walking forward slowly.

Vincent looked at her and took a hesitant step back but then he watched her put her arm on Gem’s shoulder. He saw their eyes, the way they smiled, and he knew the resemblance immediately. “You’re his mom.”

“Yes. My name’s Leo. This is Aquarius,” she said glancing at the other woman who waved at them.

“You’re like them,” Alistair said his eyes widening slightly.

“If you mean Zodiac then yes.” Aquarius smiled. “We’ve heard a lot of stories of you all. You helped our friends when they were away from our eyes. We appreciate that.”

“Truly,” Leo squeezed Gemini’s shoulder.

“What makes the situation complicated?” Morrigan asked.

“They were taken by Daze,” Alison said softly.

Leo stiffened looking at the girl her. “How did you know that?”

“Because we came face to face with him. He came to boast,” Vincent shook his head. “And he kicked our asses.”

Alison nodded, “We fought him off but it was clear he was messing around and stronger than any of us. Sehren said he used the power of Pisces. Outside of wanting to come and talk to you, we’re likely going to need your help.”

“Pisces. You’re sure?” Virgo asked quickly.

“That’s what we heard.”

“We may not be able to help you but you may be able to help us,” she said glancing at Scorpio. “We need to go to Xye.”

Alistair was thoroughly confused despite getting somewhat of a crash course of what they’d missed on the journey over. “Isn’t Xye where you said we were going?”

“Xye’s one of our neighboring countries. We’re on good terms with them now but what’s in Xye Virgo?” Aquarius asked.

“We were able to finally find Cancer and Pisces constellations there. They were hard to see and eclipsed by a bigger power but they were there.”

Gemini turned on her immediately taking her hand, “Princess are you sure? You really saw them there? They’re alive?”

“I saw their constellations. Cancers were bright but. But Pisces was faded and harder to see. Almost like it was incomplete,” she looked at her friend first and then at Leo. “But they were there. I think they’re still there.”

“You’re sure Virgo?” Leo asked and she fought to keep her voice steady. “You’re sure?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s go.”

“Go? To Xye?” Aquarius asked as she tried to think that through. “I know you know but Xye is huge and infinitely far away from us here. We’d need time to even prepare.”

“This I the closest we’ve had to some sort of lead in a month Aqua. I’m not missing it.”

“Or we can take you straight there,” Alison said holding her hand up and conjuring a crystal of ice in front of her face.

Aquarius and Leo both stared at it and took a step back. “What in the goddess’s name is that?”

“Magic. We get the impression you don’t have that here,” she said crushing the ice. “We can create portals and cut the travel distance by over half if not more. It’s how we got here from our home.”

“But can you take us to Xye as well.” Leo’s gaze was intense.

“Potentially,” Alison nodded. “We’d have to get a feel for things. You could help us with that Virgo.”

“Of course.”

“Then prepare,” Morrigan looked at each of them. “We’ll help you. You two focus on making sure the teleportation can work.”

“Yes ma’am!” Virgo saluted and Morrigan chuckled. “Come on Alison. Come on Stingie.”

She pulled them both away going back toward the castle. Vincent watched them go and then looked down at Gemini. “So this is your home kid?”

“Yep,” he waved to the guards. They nodded back to him.

“Wow you’re royalty huh,” Vincent ground his fist against his head. But his stomach growled in response. “Great I’m hungry.”

“Honestly bandit. Is that all you think of?” Morrigan rolled her eyes.

“Sounds like my son,” Leo chuckled.

Gemini pointed toward the castle. “We were getting breakfast. You guys want some? We can prepare after that.”

“I am kinda hungry,” Alistair said and glanced at Morrigan. “Come on Mori. Food is good for us.”

 “If you say so Al,” she sighed and kissed his forehead. “Food. Packing. And then moving again.”

“That’s just like you Mori. Always compartmentalizing.”

“With you all someone has to.”

“I can respect a woman who prioritizes,” Leo smiled. “Someone needs to think for these knuckleheads.”

Morrigan motioned toward her, “Finally someone who understands. Where have you been my entire life?”

“I could ask the same thing of you.”

The pair of them walked together as the others followed behind. Vincent, Alistair, and Gemini talked behind them while Aquarius closed the distance to Leo. She got her attention and met her eyes. “Go on without us,” she said nodding to them and Gemini took over leading.

They stopped at the front gate of the castle and Leo looked at her, “What is it Aqua?”

“You know that I want to go with you all Leo but we can’t all leave the castle. Especially with Daze’s people out there.”

“I know,” Leo nodded. “Cap and Taurus are gone. And I know that at the very least myself, Gem, and Virgo are going. Scorpio is attached at her hip so I wouldn’t be surprised if she were to come but maybe we can convince her not to.”

“Do you trust them?” Aquarius asked looking back toward the castle.

“Those strangers?”

“Yeah.”

“They made sure my boys came back to me. For that alone, I owe them a debt. They came here to help us.  I want to trust them,” Leo frowned hard. “And frankly I don’t think we could have done this just the twelve of us. And now there are only ten of us. We need allies against this man.”

“And that’s them,” Aquarius sighed. “Okay. Just be careful. Xye may be our allies but we don’t know what’s waiting for you over there.”

Leo squeezed her shoulder and Aquarius hugged her. “Of course. I’ve got no intent in losing anyone else.”