(A Zodiac Story) I Guess We Just Have To Go With The Flow

When Time Slows Down

The zodiacs rushed through the tall birch trees of the White Forest as they headed south towards the shadow men.

The earth and water signs ran as quickly as possible while the fire and air signs hovered over them.

"Hm, it looks like we're heading to the Black Woods!" Aquarius informed her fellow zodiacs.

"We should be arriving soon, so keep your guard up and observe your surroundings carefully! They can be hiding anywhere." Aries shouted.

Soon enough, the white birch trees around them were becoming dead, leafless woods that bared a significantly black color. They were now in the Black Woods.

"Everyone stop!" Aries yelled. In an instant, everyone stopped where they were at.

Aries lowered himself to the ground to join the other half of the zodiacs, as did the rest of fire and air signs.

"Be ready."
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"Are you sure you wanna go still, sir? We can still turn around."

"Are you saying I made the wrong choice, Kepler?"

The man, Kepler, shook his head.

"No, sir. I'm only concerned for your safety."

"I will be fine." The other male said. He smiled maliciously.

"It's not my safety at stake, anyway."
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"Over there!"

Impulsively, Sagittarius brought her hand up in the direction Capricorn was pointing in and a mass of blue flames blasted out of it.

Some yells and cries were heard for a minor moment, but what was extremely major were the dozens of shadow men hurling toward the zodiacs.

Libra brought her hand back and scooped it up, summoning a large gust of wind which ended up blowing some of the shadow men down.

Virgo immediately squatted down and placed her hands on the ground. Vines began to grow fast and tie up around some shadow men, squeezing them until they poofed into a black cloud of dust.

Cancer used water manipulation to create a bow and arrows made of ice. She pulled back the thin string of ice that held back multiple arrows and released them all at once, striking down a few other shadow men.

"Keep attacking so they can't get close!" Aries yelled.

In an instant, blasts of fire, gusts of wind, thick vines, and ice arrows filled the air. The zodiacs couldn't really tell how many shadow men they were taking out because of the mess of elements above them.

Eventually, they slowly halted their attacks and waited for the air to clear so they can see the results of actions.

"Did we get them all?" Leo asked in a low voice.

"I...think so..." Aquarius panted. Aquarius glanced at Leo. His expression was serious; he was extremely focused on the task at hand.

"Good..." She thought to herself. She turned her attention to Aries, who was checking his detector. She watched as a panicked look dawned over his face.

"Watch out! They're-!"

In a flash, a shadow man appeared in front of Leo and swung his sword at him. Leo quickly dodged the attack, grabbed the shadow man's wrist, and then his throat with a fiery hand until the man turned into dust.