Running Through the Raindrops

Chapter 5: Totally Not a Space Odessy

Mei's POV

We were falling again and for some reason I felt like this would be a natural occurrence. As the three of us were falling I looked at the sky and saw two suns?! And a galaxy of planets and stars with it. It kind of looked like Zoé and I's tattoo, but back to the falling. I could tell we were getting close to the ground because I started to hear some people talking about the three falling people. I looked at my clothes and I was wearing a uniform of some kind. It was dark blue and white. Cody was wearing a lighter blue uniform, and Zoé had orange. I then closed my eyes and waited to see what I would fall through this time. "Hmph...ow."

I didn't fall through something, I fell on someone. I looked up and saw a mop of blonde hair, I thought I fell onto Cody until I saw green eyes. Cody's eyes were brown. "Uh..." I scrambled away feeling my cheeks getting warm, "Sorry about that."

I turned and saw that Zoé had fallen on a man with brown hair and deep blue eyes, and Cody fell on a girl with black hair and pale skin. The man I fell on started to get up and rubbed his head, "Sorry if I hurt you."

"No you're fine I just fell onto solid marble," he said in a somewhat british sounding voice. He helped me up and the other four people were standing soon after. "So you are you guys? Why are you here, only army superiors are allowed in this area of camp?"

"We aren't really from here. I'm Zoé, that's Mei and our friend Cody."

"We're from another dimension, we were sent to help with something, well Zoé and I were. Cody just tagged along from our last dimension." I said, a little nervous, they had said army. That meant war and war meant death. "So who are you guys?"

"I'm Hysan Dax, Lord of House Libra."

"Pandora Koft of Clan Nightwing, from House Aquarius." The girl, Pandora, said. The other man put an arm around her as he spoke, "Lodestar Mathias Thais of House Cancer." Wait... Libra, Aquarius, Cancer. "Like the Zodiac?"

"Well you're in the Zodiac Galaxy." Hysan said, confused.

"It must be different here." Zoé said, laughing, "In our realm the Zodiac is a superstition about people being born at certain times. Like I'm a Gemini, Mei's a Cancer, and Cody's... Cody's a...?"

"Aquarius, I was born in January." He said in a small voice. Mathias started to gravitate towards me, Pandora started towards Cody, and Zoé was just standing alone. We were taken into a room of other people, they all looked different in drastic ways.

"Mei, Zoé, Cody I would like to introduce you to the remaining leaders of the Zodiac, many have sacrificed themselves or are too injured to be in the council. The war against Ophiuchus, and now Aquarius has taken many lives." Hysan said with a certain type of sadness, the same tone I use when my parents come up in conversation, he had lost someone. "Meet General Eurek of Aries, Guardian Rubi of Gemini, you know Mathais who represents House Cancer, Natailia a representative for Virgo in Empress Moira's stead, Chieftain Skiff of Scorpio, Guardian Bryna of Sagittarius, Sage Ferez of Capricorn, Pandora as a representative of Aquarius, Prophet Mariner of Pices, and you know I am Lord Hysan of Libra."

"Well how can we help?" Cody said, starting off the conversation.

---

I decided to follow Hysan out after the meeting and grabbed his arm, "I could tell in your voice, you lost someone and it hasn't set in. Tell me about it, I know what you're going through."

"You wouldn't know what I'm going through Mei."

"My parents were killed because of something I did and that guilt has stayed with me even to this day, if you keep those emotions locked inside of you they will keep eating at you until the only person you talk to is the depression inside your own head. Trust me. I've been there. Tell me what's going on."

"...Follow me."

---

I looked into a window, it was like a hospital room for long-term patients. There was a girl laying in bed with an IV in her arm, she had long blonde hair and a medium skin-tone, like someone who's spent their whole life at the beach. I looked to Hysan and saw that his eyes were watering though he wouldn't let them fall, he was just like me.

"Her name is Rho. This is the reason Mathais had to represent House Cancer. She is the Holy Mother of House Cancer, during our last major battle against the resistance she was shot by a Sumber. It's a Geminin weapon designed to either send someone to a dream realm or a nightmare realm. There's no guarantee of her waking up or dying inside her own head." A single tear ran down his cheek.

"You love her."

"Yes, very much."

"She'll wake up, Hysan. I know it." I said giving him an awkward side-hug. And gave him a signal to say that it was okay to cry. I just stood there awkwardly, because I could comfort people like a pro but I could never talk about my own feelings.

"We need to get back. Thank you for this Mei."

---

"This is a wave, it's a communication device used by Cancerians... or at least what's left of them." Mathais told me, he handed me a golden seashell.

"What do you mean? What's left of them?" I said, worried about the other Cancers of this universe.

"The first thing that started all of this, The reason Rho had to become Holy Mother, the kick-off to this war, was the destruction of House Cancer. Killed more than half of the populus. Look in your waves ephemeris, see what's left if you want."

He looked away from me. I just gave a small nod and walked away. When I met back up with Zoé and Cody they told me the stories they had heard about their own planets' destruction. This was only our second realm and it was Cody's first. We were thrown into a war. I mean I expected this to come eventually but... was this really worth it?

---

Zoé, Cody and I were all just chilling at waiting in the meeting room when we heard people running, some were screaming. I was the first to get up and run out, I saw Pandora and ran up to ask what was going on.

"We found a hit for the Marad. Some of us are going to try and get information."

I looked to my other friends and we all nod, "we're coming too."