For the second time that day I woke up to the smell of cleanliness, in the sick bay. Only this was fancier, much fancier than Ballimore. The ceiling stretched high up and had detailed dark wooden beams supporting it. The floors were laid with expensive looking marble, each block at a golden trim. The windows were stained glass, depicting different pitches, like that of a church. And the walls were a combination of wooden and stone, with chandeliers casting light from the roof.
"She's up" A child's voice called.
"Great" Olivia said sarcastically.
"Be nice" The young girl said. I looked over and saw Olivia and the girl sitting beside my bed. Olivia had taken her braids out, and her curly hair, sat on her shoulders. She looked like she had showered and had changed. She was now wearing a plain white blouse, and light denim jeans.
The other girl had a cute round face, with large front teeth. Her hair was just above her shoulders and a dark brown colour. Her eyes were a beautiful hazel, and she seemed wise beyond her years. I estimated her to be around eight. She was wearing a turquoise shirt with the Aquarius symbol on it, and a white skirt.
"Hi I'm Mia!" The girl said happily, rushing to my bed. Olivia looked like she would rather be anywhere else.
"Mia, calm down." Olivia barked.
"Hi Mia, I'm Azriella, but people call me Ella" I croaked, my throat dry.
"Didn't you get her water?" Mia said turning to Olivia with her hands on her hips.
"I was too busy talking to you!" Olivia said. Mia gave her a scolding look then walked past.
"Ill get some!" She said happily, as she skipped out of the room.
"Wow, I have never met anyone with that much energy" I joked. Olivia rolled her eyes at me.
"look, we aren't friends. I saved you, that's it. I'm not going to have you trailing after me like a lost puppy. My time has already been wasted on you" She snapped; I was taken aback.
"Liv! What happened to be nice?" Mia came back in.
"I didn't want to be" Olivia said bored.
"Well, why don't you go find Cyrus, and tell him our newest member is awake?" Mia fraised it as a question but had no intention of Olivia saying no. Mia seemed to be able to control people – in a good way.
"She's very…" I started, trying to find the right word.
"domineering?" Mia offered. I nodded. "Yeah, she's a Scorpio" she said like it explained everything.
"I'm guessing you're an Aquarius?" I asked, still unsure about what was going on.
"Yep" Mia said looking at her shirt. "And you're a Pisces" she said.
"Yeah, we have the same element" I said smiling. Mia tilted her head, like a confused puppy.
"No, we aren't" She said confused.
"Mia, she doesn't know anything yet, don't confuse her" Cyrus said as he entered the room.
"Sorry Cyrus" Mia said respectfully.
"do you mind giving Liv and I a minute?" Cyrus said, in a fatherly way. Mia nodded and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.
"Now, you are Azriella. You had us worried for a moment" Cyrus said sitting on the edge of my bed, Olivia had returned to her seat, and was staring at her nails.
"Its Ella" I corrected automatically. He smiled warmly.
"I'm sorry, Ella" He said.
"Why did I have you worried. What's happening" I had so many questions, but Cyrus had such an air of respect I refrained.
"Well, Mia is a scry, and she saw a powerful presence early this morning. We thought you were someone sent by the Serpent King, so we sent Olivia to check it out." He explained, with no judgement in his voice.
"What?" Was all I managed to say.
"Aah, yes, you don't know the basis. Olivia will explain" Cyrus said.
"What" Olivia said annoyed.
"Olivia" Cyrus warned.
"Fine" She said through gritted teeth.
"You know about Zodiacs, right?" Olivia asked as if I were a 2-year-old.
"Yeah?" I replied sceptically.
"Its all true. But everything you know about it is wrong" Olivia said simply.
I looked at Cyrus confused. "Nice try Liv, Now put the detail in" Cyrus said.
Olivia held his gaze for a moment before dropping it. "Long ago – no one knows exactly how long – there was nothing. The 12 gods argued for centuries over how the universe should be modelled; what trait of the gods it should mimic. Then the 12 gods decided to create the world, different aspects of it would represent the god's different powers. They created everything we know: the stars, the see, the ground, the sky. Everything was harmonious and they all worked together, but then they disagreed. Gemini thought that humans had it easy and grew resentful as more turned away from the religion. He wanted to wipe out the world and start again, the other 11 gods disagreed. So, Gemini went away, and decided to carry out his plans. The other gods knew that the balance of the universe would be upset if they went to war, so they decided that when a child was born when the stars align, they would inherit the power of whatever god they were born under. Their power would be shown as a star on their arm, it would send a message to the gods, and Virgo would come and take the children. They were then raised by the gods, trained to defeat Gemini. They were known as the Zodiacs. When enough Zodiacs had been trained, they went to war with Gemini. He was not strong enough and was defeated. Gemini was forgiven, but the gods kept the Zodiacs, in case another war broke out. The first generation of Zodiacs trained the second and so one."
"The information from the old religion was past down to the new generations of humans, continuously throughout time. But pieces of it were lost or changed as time stretched on. There are 12 Zodiacs, yes, the animal representations I guess you could say is true. The symbols for each Zodiac are reflections of the gods form. But everything else you know about Zodiacs are wrong" Olivia paused to let it sink in.
"There are 5 elements – water, earth, air, fire, and spirit – and each comes with a specific power." Olivia continued. "water is scrying, Air is Necromancy, Fire is hypnosis, Spirit is voodoo, and earth is Anthropomorphism. The different signs are separated into those of its given element, giving the Zodiac that power. For example, you are a Pisces, so you have an air affinity, and the potential for Necromancy"
"Necromancy, like…" I could not bring myself to say it.
"Communication with the dead" Cyrus said.
"But... This doesn't make sense. I can't talk to… to dead people" It was too much. "wait." I froze. Realisation dawning on me.
"In the early hours of this morning, a 4-year-old boy drowned." Cyrus said carefully. I shook my head in disbelief. "I know you saw him" He whispered.
"Wait. So, the women in the bathroom. That was Virgo, a goddess?" I said feeling numb. Olivia's head snapped up.
"Virgo met with you?" She said in awe. I nodded.
"if Zodiacs are taken as babies, why wasn't I found until now?" I asked, looking at Cyrus for answers.
"I do not know. But Virgo has her plans, even if it is not clear to us" Cyrus said.
"what were those Sephti" I asked, as more questions came to my mind. Olivia looked at Cyrus, unsure if she should answer.
"Sephti are the creation of a very dark and dangerous Zodiac" Cyrus said carefully. "Many years ago, there was a man. He was one of the best students the academy had seen in years. He perfected the art of Necromancy, but it was not enough for him. He wanted more, started talking about dark magic. He was warned, that if he continued to talk about such things, he would be banished. He stopped, and met a girl called Eurydic. He fell in love, she changed him. He was a good man when he was with her. Eurydic, she was born under Libra, she was a talented scry. She used her powers for the wrong thing and betrayed Libra god of balance. Libra punished her, and Eurydic tragically lost her life. The man was distraught and went to the god of death, Aries, he begged for his love to be brought back, he claimed he would give their first-born child as a sacrifice to the god in exchange. Aries talked to Taurus – the Goddess of love, and determined that the man's love was not pure, as he could have taken his own life to bring Eurydic back. Aries sent him to Gemini to be tortured as punishment. He manipulated Gemini into making him immortal. The man received his powers and began a vengeful streak. By becoming a 'god' the natural balance was upset, and the world descended into chaos. A powerful sorcerer was able to defeat the man with the promise of bringing his love back. The sorcerer spelled him so when he is reincarnated, he stays asleep. The man is buried in a tomb, with his snake Mortem." Cyrus said, I thought I detected bitterness in his tone, but brushed past it.
"What was the man's name?" I asked hesitantly.
"Ophiuchus – or, as he is known, The Serpent King" Olivia spoke up.