The Twelve Realms (A Zodiac Story)

Chapter 6 - Explanation

Taurus POV

Zayne held open the door and went through in first, then looked back at me and winked. "Come on, cutie. Time for you to meet my boss."

I blushed furiously and followed him, while Libra joined me.

"What about Cancer?" she asked.

"What about him?"

She looked absolutely furious. "You can't just abandon Cancer for Zayne!"

I felt defensive as we entered a new hallway. "I'm not . . Cancer never liked me back anyway."

Libra growled with frustration and pulled Scorpio to her side. "Scorpio, do you think that Taurus should give up on his dreams and let Zayne be with him?"

He shrugged. "Umm — I really don't care. Sorry, Taur."

"No prob." I glared at Libra and shoved my hands deeper in my hoodie pockets. "Libra's the one who should give up on her dreams."

She huffed and flipped her hair over one shoulder. "I may be blonde, but I'm not dumb. I know this won't work out. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to find Pisces." She grabbed Scorpio's arm and dragged him off. I glanced back and saw Aries and Capricorn looking over their shoulders as Libra shoved through Sagittarius and Aquarius to find Pisces. I sighed. That girl might think herself as a matchmaker, but sometimes she unraveled more couples than she tried to create.

"Hey, Taurus!" Zayne called. "Come on, mate."

I joined him at the head and and he put his arm around me. "Tell me, Taur, how was it actually?" He sounded a bit wistful. "To just wake up in an airship, or have something happen to you in the middle of the day without you knowing about it. What was it like?"

I blushed. "Overwhelming. We each had something to think about by the night — well, except for Pisces. Her weird thing happened at night. She summoned us all in a dream, and then we woke up on the airship."

Zayne whistled. "A Dreamwalker? Wow. The last generation didn't have one." He looked back at my friends. "In fact, they all seem more powerful than the last generation. Oh look, we're here!"

We'd come to a door at the end of the hallway. Zayne opened it and ushered all of us in. "Come on. We don't have all day, the Ursa Minor wants to meet you all."

Once everybody was in the room (and it was a big room) Zayne showed us the Map of Myths. It was a large, circular table in the center of the room, and if you turned it on, then a map would be shown along the alabaster surface.

"Wow," Pisces breathed, at the edge. "It's 3d?"

Aquarius instantly joined her. "It's 3d?"

Zayne laughed. "Yes, it's 3d, and -- BLOODY HELL!"

The door at the other side of the room had just opened, revealing a woman with long blue hair and folded arms in the threshold. There was something serene about her, like she'd seen everything and so she'd never be surprised by anything ever again. "Sorry, Zayne," she said. Her voice was also calm and level, just like her image. "I wanted to see the Zodiacs."

She stepped forward and walked to the front of the the table, on her side. She looked at all of us, and instantly we gathered around our side of the map. Zayne stayed to the side.

"Welcome, the Twelve," the woman said, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "I am Ursa Minor. You may call me Ursa."

Virgo breathed out. "The constellation?

Ursa smiled at her. "I am the spirit, yes. You are the next generation of Zodiacs."

"Okay, back up," Sagittarius said. He had a confused expression on his face. "Explain everything."

Ursa took a deep breath. "I know that you are curious."

"Obviously," Aries muttered, but got nudged by Capricorn and shut up.

Ursa smiled again. "And I will tell you. Long ago, and I mean very long ago, the Zodiacs were created. They were legendary warriors, and the upper spirits had blessed them with traits specific to themselves." She regarded Cancer. "Cancer had the ability to feel utmost compassion." He blushed and she eyed Leo. "Leo was a great leader and incredibly loyal." He puffed out his chest and glanced at Aries to make sure she heard. Ursa sighed. "But legendary could only last for so long. Slowly, the magical essence of the Zodiacs was sucked into the stars, which consume everything that is too much." She looked troubled. "The Zodiacs became more mortal, but still had their incredible powers. Every generation, they were replaced by new ones, chosen ones. Every generation had different powers, different genders, but the same personalities. Sure, they varied a bit, but overall they were very similar."

Ursa exhaled. "I knew because I was their trainer. My sister Major was part of the Council of the Stars. She didn't see them much, but I did, and I saw the Thirteen's power. However, when humankind became more advanced and learned how to fight, the Zodiacs absorbed that, too, along with all the good they learned. They became . . corrupted. Now their flaws, which didn't exist before, are extremely important to their character, but back then, it was terrible." Ursa looked at all of us. "Each generation had less and less power as punishment from the Council of Stars, known as the upper spirits. Then one day, the Council presented us with a prophecy. It foretold of the world itself falling into darkness, and it could only be stopped by the thirteen beings that were created when the world was at its fullest."

"The Zodiacs," Capricorn breathed while Aries and Sagittarius looked at each other in confusion, mouthing the word Thirteen?

Ursa nodded. "Correct. We sought out the current generation and urged them to fix this. The evilness that was lurking . ." She shivered. "They did not make it back alive. The thirteenth sign, Ophiuchus, betrayed all of them in hopes of getting more recognization. Their sign was always the one that wasn't noticed. They made a deal with the darkness, but it ended up destroying them all." She looked at Zayne, and I could see the apology in her eyes. I was entranced with the story. "The world fell into darkness, and that was when the Council of Stars decided to split the world into Realms. They admitted that they had not realized how important the Twelve loyal signs were to the world, and in honor, created a Realm for each one. The thing is, no one knows which realm is dedicated to which Zodiac. That was when the Council of Stars presented us with another piece of the prophecy, one that they hadn't understood before because it included Realms. In the confusion that followed, three things were known for sure; one: the Council of Stars had created two more Realms for reasons hidden; two: for the prophecy to be fulfilled, each Zodiac had to find their Realm and claim it, and three: the darkness and the Zodiacs would return again."

I sucked in my breath. "It's coming back, isn't it."

Ursa tilted her head towards me to confirm and went on. "Me and the Council of Stars have been searching for the new generation of Zodiacs for centuries. They are rumored to be the most powerful, as powerful as the first ones . . but this time, they can change the world."

We were all quiet for a moment, then Pisces went "Whoa."

"Whoa indeed," Zayne grinned. "Do you understand why you're here now?"

"We're just teenagers," Aries argued, slamming her fist onto the map. "How are we supposed to do anything?"

"Awkward teenagers," Scorpio chimed in.

"Shut up, Scorp."

"You may be just teenagers, confused with the troubles that come at that age," Ursa replied calmly.

Capricorn groaned.

"But the prophecy has foretold that you twelve will save us all." Ursa left those words linger for a moment, then got up and straightened her jacket. "This is only a small part of the KeyCastle. Zayne, will you please show them their rooms?"