how we saved the world •a zodiac story•

bolt

"That's... that's Orion," Cancer sputtered.

"What the hell?" Leo clenched his fists. He jerked his neck to look at his friends. Sagittarius looked just as confused as him. Her jaw was clenched and the hair on the back of her neck was static and standing. Leo's fingers went cold as he realized how hard he hadbeen balling his fists.

Libra and Gemini on the other hand, as her fellow air spirits, were crushed. Libra's mouth was wide open, her eyes matching Gemini's who were as round as saucers. Despite their features, nobody noticed. They were too absorbed in appalling footage in front of them.

The projection took a while to completely generate the surroundings. Until then, all they could make out was that a taller, kind-looking girl who looked almost nothing like Aquarius was none other thean the person who trapped them in a cave.

She strutted confidently in her boots, crushing peppermint colored leaves under her soles. The suit she wore resembled a cheap knock-off of the ones they wore now. Vega flinched at the sight of her.

"I... I don't understand..." Scorpio's bottom lip trembled. "She... how... how did this happen? I-"

Scorpio's eyes darted to the toothbrush Claire was clutching. That tooth brush that was used by Aquarius showed a completely different person. If that DNA was really Orion's that meant she– the enemy– was in their hotel room.

Cancer was hushed by Vega who bounced his leg as he kept his eyes glued to the wall. Light reflected of their eyes. The story being retold in their pupils. Nobody dared to speak until it was over.

The surroundings were green as they appeared. She was no longer on Quinst, as Capricorn could infer. Quinst didn't get enough sunlight and the sunlight in Quinst changed the color of the vegetation.

The mystery girl in the vision was shown accompanied by someone slightly shorter, as well as another taller figure. As it was still not fully described, the shorter figure beside her walked more sluggish and the taller one began to slack behind. The shorter one wore black, like the rest of them and the pattern of the belts was the same as their suits.

Gradually, the picture came into focus. A standard individual tailed behind Orion with their arms crossed. Looking rather displeased in the midst of their journey. A short, dark-haired girl walked parallel to the one in focus. As if she was an equal, a friend, or someone she trusted.

Cancer felt like throwing up, but he wanted to cry. This couldn't be happening to him. He saw the face of the girls and seeing them together made him sick. "Oh my god," he mumbled.

Aquarius had betrayed them.

It all made sense now. Why Aquarius was so affectionate when they were escaping. Why she spoke differently and pulled her hair back. It also made sense why Vega read that Aquarius never left the cave.

Because she never did.

It wasn't her who was pulling him into an embrace when he fell. Of course, she didn't use her gift to erode the walls. Aquarius knew the information she shouldn't have known. Like how she already knew how to escape. Now that Cancer connected the dots, he felt ill.

He only knew once Celestial who could mimic like that.

"Aquarius... she... she," Sagittarius reviled. She looked down at Cancer and shot her finger at him.

"She betrayed us..." Capricorn's tone was shaky. Scorpio furrowed his brow and lunged at him. He was inches away from knocking him in his face before Pisces caught him.

"What the hell is wrong with you," She sneered, "you need to face the facts, Scorpio, she was never like us–"

Scorpio didn't have time to respond and that was in her favor because he was fuming. Even though he was still queasy, Cancer shot up from his chair.  He cleared his throat and shivered, "I have to go. Where is she?"