Zodiac Heroes - Cast Down to Earth

Chapter 28 - Stargazing

Cancer

I stood at the balcony of the dorm room, gazing up at the night sky.

Tonight was a full moon. The moon in the sky shone brighter than ever, illuminating the entire street in its warm, silvery glow.

I liked the full moon. It felt peaceful and quiet, as if for a second the moon had taken over the world, and the moonlight made the environment around me calm and relaxing.

"The moon is beautiful tonight." I said absentmindedly.

"Gee, thanks for the compliment, Cancer." A voice next to me said. I turned around to find a girl with short pearl blue hair standing beside me, with one arm resting on my shoulder.

I nearly jumped. "Dammit Moon, you startled me!"

Moon's silvery white eyes watched me playfully. "Be careful. Take another step backwards and you'll fall off the balcony."

"I know that." I sighed. "I still can't believe that we're related."

"I mean, some of the Zodiac Signs and Planets are related." Moon shrugged. "It's the whole patron planet thing, although Sun, Pluto and I are dragged into it as well."

"So why don't you call yourselves the 'Planets and Other Miscellaneous Celestial Bodies'?" I asked jokingly.

"That's what I considered, seeing as we wouldn't leave anyone out. But Sun said it was too long and not as catchy." Moon rolled her eyes. "He's such a prat. I don't suppose Leo is any better?"

"Leo? Oh, he's alright." I answered. "Is the 'sun and moon rivalry' always like this?"

Moon snorted with laughter. "A 'sun and moon rivalry'? Pft, I suppose it is common among cultures, but Sun's really just being annoying."

I chuckled as I returned to gazing at the stars. "So, any news about this Celestia thing?"

"Not much." Moon replied. "We're still trying to learn more about the mysterious hooded figure. Actually, she's quite close at the moment."

"I know, Gemini told us." I looked back at Moon. "Are you sure it's really Ophiuchus? She seems nice, she probably wouldn't do such a thing."

"That's what you all think." Moon sighed. She started pacing up and down the balcony. "Actually, your friend Aquarius has the right idea about Ophiuchus. I suppose he'd know, after what happened to him before with her father."

I paused to process what she just said. "Ophiuchus' father? What about him?"

"You know, I did see that argument you had that night." Moon carried on talking. "It was in Celestia. I saw it through the windows. You lot were talking about something I couldn't make out, and Aquarius just stormed out of the house, running off into the distance. That was the last time I ever saw him, before you all got cast down to Earth, of course." She stopped talking, seeing the look of confusion on my face. "Oh right, that was Celestia, you don't remember that."

I didn't say anything about that. I guessed that I'd just have to ask Aquarius about it later.

"Anyways, how'd you get here?" I asked Moon.

She looked at me, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"I was standing on this balcony alone before you arrived." I explained. "And you just appeared out of thin air."

"Oh, that's what you mean." said Moon. "It's just one of my special powers. All the Planets have them. Mine are lunar manipulation and teleportation. The lunar manipulation one's pretty useless, but I have it because of the whole 'lunar cycle' and stuff. I prefer my teleportation powers anyways."

"If you have teleportation powers, why don't you just teleport to Celestia and fix the problem yourself?" I asked her.

She shook her head. "That's not how it works. I can't teleport between realms, and Celestia and Earth are two entirely different realms."

I decided to change the topic. "How come there's no Earth in your group?"

Changing the topic seemed to be a bad idea. I could tell from the expression on Moon's face that she did not want to talk about this.

Finally, Moon took a deep breath and said, "Earth... is an entirely different deity. At least, she's more mythologically based than the rest of us are."

I remembered what Taurus had told me the day before about one of his recent dreams.

"There was this Ouranos guy." He had said. "He was some kind of sky god. He also mentioned a Mother Earth, but I'm not exactly sure who she is."

I took a moment to process this. "Does this... Earth have something to do with this Ouranos person?"

Moon froze, and turned to look at me in shock. "How do you know that name?"

"Taurus heard of him in a dream." I replied. "I'm not exactly sure about the details, but the story seems to be based on some familiar mythology."

"That's Venus' brother, right?" I heard Moon mumble to herself. "I suppose I'll ask her to pay him a visit some time soon. In the meantime, I guess I've got to tell Sun-"

"Someone say my name?" asked a blonde haired boy who had randomly appeared on the balcony.

I jumped. So did Moon.

"Sun, I swear to the gods that I will shoot an arrow at the fucking sun if you do that again." Moon said frustratedly.

"Woah, calm down." Sun, the blonde haired boy, said as he backed away from an angry Moon. "You wouldn't want to hurt you dear brother."

"Damn, so I'm related to the sun as well." I told myself.

Sun heard this. "Oh hey, Cancer. Where's Leo?"

"Asleep, like everyone else, I suppose." I answered.

"How come you're out here all by yourself?" He asked again.

"I couldn't sleep, so I decided to go stargazing." I replied.

"What brings you here, brother?" Moon asked in a somewhat impatient tone.

Sun shrugged. "I heard you say my name, so I teleported over. Don't ask how I heard you, the sun hears all, I guess."

"It isn't morning, there's no sun at the moment, idiot." Moon responded angrily, hitting Sun on the head.

"Ow, dammit Moon!" Sun complained.

I rolled my eyes, watching the two of them argue. "Honestly, this is way worse than Leo and Scorpio's small arguments."

At this, the two of them stopped.

Moon looked up at the sky. "Well look at the time, it's 1am in the morning. We'd better leave."

"I second that." Sun agreed. The two of them disappeared, leaving me here alone.

I didn't even ask how Moon knew the time. Being the sun and moon probably just has its perks.

~~~

This was a short chapter, and I don't know what to think of it really.

And I just learned today that stargazing was one word.

It still doesn't look right though.

Have a good day/night, and stay safe!

Peace out,

The author owo