The Final Cycle: A Zodiac Story

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Virgo looked at herself in the mirror. Everything was normal. Too normal.

The purple eyes starting back at her felt so familiar, she couldn't bring herself to believe this was happening. Her bruised eye was healed completely, as if Aries's mistake had never happened.

She hasn't been home in days. Ever since the light, and her friends' crazy mutations, Virgo thought it was best to stay at her mother's. Even then, Virgo still had this uneasiness inside of her.

Leaving the bathroom, Virgo made her way downstairs. Her mother was in the back, making breakfast. Thoughts that weren't her own pooled into her head, making Virgo gasp. Not wanting to get any closer, Virgo backed away, hoping her mother's voice in her head would subside with distance.

"That won't work, Virgo." Lady Hellta called, not looking up from her tea.Virgo flinched. "I can stretch my Psychic energy for miles. But, there's no reason to be afraid."

"You-" Virgo started, taking another step back.

"Read your mind? Yes, it's one of the many abilities we share." Her mother looked back at her with a calm smile, as if this was just a regular Friday. Maybe for her mother, it was. "Come and sit, you should eat, and we should talk."

Virgo's mind was riddled with questions. She stayed rooted in the doorway. Her mother laughed, placing two bowls of oatmeal on the kitchen table, one full of raisins. Virgo's favorite. "There's nothing to fear, honey. It's still me~"

With a swallow, Virgo sat slowly in her seat. She didn't eat when her mother did. "Virgo..." Lady Hellta sighed. "Tell me, what bothers you. Let it out."

Virgo wasn't a spiller. That was for people who weren't composed, like some of her friends. But now, with all of this confusion and calmness in her mother, she simply couldn't help herself. "Who are you?!"

"I'm your mother." Lady Hellta answered, smiling.

Virgo's eye twitched. "That's not what I mean. Who are you."

"It was like I said on Monday." Lady Hellta continued, her smile not faltering for a second. "I am Hecate, the Goddess of magic and witchcraft. And you are my daughter, and that makes you a Goddess, too."

Virgo was speechless. Lady Hellta - Hecate - her mother, whatever - her eyes changed to match Virgo's. There was no denying it. It was so insane, and yet deep down, she knew it was the truth. "I am." She said, looking down at her breakfast.

Her mother didn't respond for a bit, letting the weight of her words sink in. Then, right before Virgo forced herself to eat, Hecate asked, "Do you remember anything? From... before the recycling?"

Virgo paused, processing the question. She didn't know what a recycling was, but it probably had a lot to do with why her mother looked so solemn so suddenly. "What is a recycling?"

"It's how you and the rest of the Zodiac got here." Hecate answered. She didn't meet Virgo's eyes anymore. "All of you had lives in different Realms. You and I spent our days in the Realm of the Mythical."

Her smile came back, as if fondly remembering something. Virgo focused on her mother's mind, instantly reaching a memory. Virgo saw herself, much smaller in a small cottage. The memory was so vivid, Virgo felt as though she was being teleported there herself.

She watched her younger self pour and mix unfamiliar spices and herbs in a large cauldron. Virgo gasped. I was practicing magic.

"Yes, you were quite the prodigy." Hecate commented, closing her eyes and relishing in the memory. "As soon as I taught you a spell, you could cast it perfectly... those were much simpler times..."