Chaos of 12: Zodiacs Personified

Too Close

Leo's muscles screamed at him to stop as he desperately tried to climb using only his balance and right hand, but he kept going despite how painful it was. The voices sounded as though they were getting closer, and this only made him climb faster. His skin was getting scratched and cut all over again, and he was pretty sure the bottom of his trousers had been torn. About halfway up, Cancer began to struggle in his arm, giving him the fright of his life. 

"What are you doing?" he had cried. "Put me down Leo, what's happening?"

Leo seethed his teeth as he carried on. "Unless you want to climb on your own, I'm not letting you go!"

"Yes, but what's happening?!"

"Some guys I'm pretty sure who are the CLCI are heading right for us, and I'm not risking running only to get caught."

Cancer let out a strangled noise from his throat, and began to notice the voices too. "Please put me down," he said, "I'll climb on my own."

Leo stopped moving and leaned against a branch taking deep breaths. His face was red and wet and his hair was ruffled. "No point. We're basically at the top."

Cancer didn't realise how high up they were until he looked down, and held onto the tree as he wobbled and almost fell. He couldn't see the ground because of all the leaves and branches, but it still startled him. Sweat formed on his forehead as he heard the voices come within range so that they could hear what they were saying. Both of them looked at one another, and Leo put a finger to his lips to motion for them to be quiet. Cancer nodded back slowly.

Now all they could do was to wait and pray that they'd pass them by. Was there any way of concealing the presence of them and their stones? They'd soon find out. Cancer thought of how unfortunate it was that they had to find out at such bad timing.  

They stayed as still as possible as they heard the voices stop shouting, replaced by the sound of feet walking. They came to a stop. 

From the sounds of it, they luckily weren't under the tree, but were nearby for sure. 

The two were covered by the thick leaves and branches, but knowing now that these guys were after them specifically made their hearts beat too fast. 

They listened as one of them began to talk, most likely one of the men in suits. 

"Are you positive that it's correct?" he said. "I don't see anyone around but it's going crazy."

Another voice spoke, "I'll check in with Wilkins to see if it's had any malfunctions lately. Split up and search the rest of the park, they could be still be here. And remember, all sweet talk, okay?"

A laugh rose from a few people, and then they heard them separate, but suspected the men in suits were still by the tree. There was a faint sound of a phone dialing then someone blowing out breath, probably because of the extreme heat. Cancer had no clue how anyone could wear something long sleeved in these conditions. 

Then the dialing stopped, and the main spoke again. "Hello? Yes...I know, it's ridiculous. No, we haven't, but about that, your little device is going crazy...yes, the readings are off the chart." He grumbled and then carried on, "Yes, there's no-one here except me and Jones! No. Okay, I'll do that...but fix it for us when we get back, okay?"

"For Christ's sake, hurry up!" the other man snapped, "They could be moving through the town and escape if we don't hurry and catch up!"

"Calm down, they live here. We can over anytime we like and find them if it bothers you so much."

"So why don't we?"

Cancer and Leo stared at each-other in shock. Was that...really true? For just how long had this been going on for...before the stones appeared? Or was it because of the stones? Either way it wasn't looking good for any of the signs. Cancer held his shaky hands together and waited for a reply. 

"...Not yet. We'll gather some more information on them before we do anything rash. Capturing them is no use if we don't know their value."

They heard the other man pace closer to the tree, mumbling curses under his breath. "So when, then? When will we go?"

There was a pause as neither of them said anything. Cancer thought he might just fall out of the tree then and there, and Leo's usual glowing face had turned as pale as a ghost. 

"...Next week? Or the one after, possibly. Depends if we come across them again, if yes, yes, if no, no."

The second man gave a grunt of satisfaction before walking away from him. The first laughed slyly and followed suit. 

Up in the trees, Cancer couldn't bring himself to look at Leo. He could almost see the look of devastation on his face without looking, and knew that if he saw it, he might just break down. He looked at his palm, remembering the glory he had felt in doing something cool, something original. A power to call his own. Now that was nothing more than a curse to every single one of them...were they supposed to throw them away?

"Leo," he croaked, still not looking up, "We've got to get rid on them."

Leo looked at him, knowing what it was he was talking about. His eyes were drooped and empty, and not nearly as lovely to look at as the bright, sparkling blue that was always there. His mouth was a crumbled line and cold sweat dripped down his forehead, sticking his hair to his skin. 

"No," he replied. 

"What? What the hell...what do you mean? They're what these guys are...what they're looking for...If we could just-"

Leo stopped him by nothing more than a hopeless shake of his head. "No...I took mine off once. Only to shower...and it was too painful...your body feels like it's going into a sort of seizure...and your heat feels like it's about to split open. Sure, Aries and...was it Libra? They took theirs off, but that was only for a few seconds. After a couple minutes of standing there without it, the pain just hits you. Never do it. Ever."

Cancer processed what he had just been told and fiddled with his blue gemstone. It felt like he was sinking. "Why didn't you tell us?" he said, "Then we could know just how serious this was. As if it...wasn't already enough..."

"I was scared."

Cancer furrowed his eyebrows. "Huh? Why were you scared?"

Leo picked at his fingernails and shifted his legs, then sighed. "I didn't want you guys to panic knowing that we're probably...connected? To them in some way. Knowing that there's no way to not get tracked...would send everyone into panic?"

"How long have you known?" Cancer asked.

"That happened a couple days before Sagittarius and Pisces came back with all the documents, so I've known ever since they went and did that."

The waiter sign didn't reply and poked his head out to see if the CLCI were gone, which fortunately, they were. He motioned his hand towards the ground, "Come on. They're gone, let's get home."

Leo nodded and started to make his way back down - this time by himself. 

"But Leo."

The blonde looked up to Cancer, who was trying to find his footing. "Don't hide anything again. Please. This time, I'll pretend that it was me who found that out so that no-one gets mad. Which...they shouldn't, but...y'know sometimes they do...and, well..."

"Yeah. I know. Thanks."

They climbed their way down in silence, then got back to the house as quickly as they could.