As a beautiful starry night shines above the city, Grace notices a shooting star, she smiles as she kicks her feet up on the coffee table on the veranda of her apartment and makes a wish. Her apartment is on the top floor of the building and it has one of the best views of the sky in the city. It costs a decent bit a month but thanks to the inheritance she was given from her grandparents, she uses it only for the rent and her full time job at the planetarium pays for everything else she could ever need. Her strawberry blonde hair tickles her face in the gentle breeze so she goes to grab a hair tie when she notices another shooting star...and another. What the heck is going on? Stars don't normally behave this way. As she runs inside to look through her telescope, the stars look like they are changing course. Which is completely impossible right? Yeah that's what she thought too but these stars were behaving differently and they were heading directly for her apartment.
"Ahhhhh!" She slams the door closed and hides under the bed and squeezes her eyes shut but nothing happens, no explosion or anything. Slowly, she peers out from the bed and a hand grabs her. "Stop!" Her fight-or-flight instincts kick in and she throws her hand out but is stopped before she hits anything.
"Stupid woman. Can't believe this is the famous Goddess of Fate." A rude voice comes from a grumpy but handsome man standing next to her, tightly gripping her wrist.
"Oh, come on Scorpio. Look at those eyes, she's definitely a reincarnated Goddess." Another man peers into her face, his smile reminds her of a prince from a fairy tale and she can't help it but her heart skips a beat. Does this guy not know about personal space? "Now that we found her, we need to get back." This man pulls her by the waist right into his side, breaking the grip of the grumpy man, who clicks his tongue.
"Um, excuse me?!" Grace tries to push the princely man off her but his grip only tightens. She looks around for any explanation as to how they entered her apartment; the front door is still bolted shut and the sliding door to her veranda is open again but they don't look like they climbed ten floors, not in their weird attire. "Do you mind getting your hands off me? Take whatever you want but I can tell you now, there is nothing of worth here." Grace smacks the hand on her waist but it doesn't budge.
"Tch, let's get on with it, I want to get out of this stinking place." Well he's a bit rude. Grace thinks to herself, his jet black hair covers his right eye but she can feel those cold, black eyes on her. Grace can't help but shake as the other one lifts her up easily and carries her to the door. SNAP! The door opens to an entrance hall she has never seen before and her head starts to feel heavy. These two strange men came into her apartment and called her the Goddess of Fate, then they manhandle her before kidnapping her; she didn't even have time to scream before her consciousness slipped away.
Slowly waking up in a warm bed, Grace thinks back to the strange dream from last night. Her imagination definitely ran wild thinking up that weird scenario. She giggles as she thinks about the handsome men that she dreamt about. One was terribly handsome and everything about him scared her, his military uniform of white and black with gold trimming, black boots and black gloves, his jet black hair that matched his jet black eyes as they bore into her soul and his abrasive attitude matched his rude way with words; he was the complete opposite to the other guy. She thought of him as a prince charming; his golden blonde hair and golden eyes, his uniform was white with gold trimmings and he wore a white cravat. His mannerisms were charming and he had a princely smile. Grace smiles to herself as she opens her eyes and soon dread swallows her whole. This room is definitely not hers, it's more styled like a luxury hotel than a woman's apartment; a soft knock comes from the door.
"Moooorning." A voice she vaguely remembers in her dream calls out to her, a golden blonde head pops through the crack of the door. It's one of the men from her dream! "You seem to have slept well." He smiles at her as he comes and sits down on the bed. "Hmmm," he tilts his head to the side as he studies her face. "you definitely look like her and the stars in your eyes are definitely hers." He leans in close which causes Grace to scramble out of the bed and run for her life. Stars in her eyes? Goddess of fate? What are they playing at? She has no idea where she is going, the house is unfamiliar but she has to get out of here, wherever here is. Suddenly, in the midst of her escape, Grace runs into a very solid form and falls onto her backside.
"Ouch!" She rubs her rear as someone stands over her, a devilish smile on his lips and his eyes wandering over her body; the intensity of his stare causes her to blush deeply.
"Foolish goldfish." Grace meets his gaze, a heat inside her burning as she looks into his golden brown eyes. "Are you inviting a God to have a taste?" She tries to scurry away but more shadows stand over her. Twelve shadows to be exact.
Grace crosses another day off of a calendar that she has hanging in her room. It's already been a month? It feels like it was yesterday that Grace met these strange men, the Gods of the stars, and learned a lot about each of them and about their mission. Huedhaut, the God of Aquarius, was the one who told her about everything when she first calmed down. He told her about the Goddess of Fate, Clotho; his former flame and her sacrifice; Grace was the reincarnation of this Goddess and their only hope in restoring balance in both the heavens and Earth. Each of the twelve Gods have tried their best to get Grace to come into her powers; teasing, terrifying, pranking and also making her very uncomfortable but nothing worked. Each day that passed, the Gods were growing weaker and the balance is becoming even more upset; natural disasters and wars are becoming news and lives are being lost. Grace tries her best every day but nothing seems to be working.
"I'm sorry." She says to them that evening, she has to try to lift their spirits as they are now racing against time itself. Huedhaut, who can see the future, can now only see what is going to happen in the next few days and Teorus, the man she first thought was a prince but is actually the God of Taurus, can stop time but every passing day, that power grows weaker also. She sits down at the head of the table and invites all twelve Gods to a dinner that she had spent all day preparing. "I don't know what I'm meant to be doing and you are trying so hard to help me." Grace is on the verge of tears, at first she hated them all but over the last month, they had grown on her. Ichthys, the God of Pieces, with his constant pranks always makes her smile and even Zyglavis, the God of Libra, has become someone she felt comfortable talking to about almost anything; each of these Gods are unique in their own way and they are growing weaker because she can't connect with the soul of the Goddess inside her.
"Come now, little lady. You shouldn't shed tears for something that was going to be impossible to begin with." Tauxolouve or Lou for short, the God of Sagittarius, calls to comfort her. His slender brown eyes narrow affectionately at Grace and she tries to smile at them all.
"I won't give up." They all nod at her, they won't admit it but Grace has become dear to them. Someone who they will do anything to protect.
One night, Grace lies on her bed, trying to meditate and connect with the Goddess inside her. Even though most of the Gods come to check on her, she has asked to be alone tonight. Their powers have diminished to the point that they are struggling to do their jobs and nothing seems to be working to help them. Grace starts to feel like she's failing, not just the Gods but herself; she has never had a problem she couldn't fix and knowing she isn't getting very far, she becomes angry with herself. Desperately, Grace starts pleading with the universe around her. She has always loved the stars and to think that she is a reincarnated Goddess is a hard thought to wrap her head around, but she has seen enough in these past few months to know that it has to be true. They always talk about the stars in her eyes but even if she is who they say she is, she can't keep on disappointing them because it's becoming too hard to bare.
"Teach them all love." A voice calls to her from deep in her mind. Teach them all love? Does a God not know how to love? Grace keeps on trying, hoping that this is a breakthrough. "You are all they have, you are the only one who can teach them to love."
"But isn't it wrong for a God to love only one human?" Grace speaks out loud, knowing she sounds ridiculous.
"To restore...they must know...they will...only you...love only you." The voice starts to grow distant and a sigh escapes her lips. Great, the one time she manages to succeed it gives her a task that is almost impossible. Grace knows that there are laws that even the Gods obey and yet she is somehow meant to teach these Gods, most of who think all high and mighty of themselves, how to love without breaking these laws?
"Well, if it's to connect with my powers and restore the balance." Grace shrugs her shoulders and starts planning on how exactly she's going to do this task given to her.
A few days has passed and the Gods are growing weaker still, they are no longer able to do their jobs or travel to the heavens, they have almost become human; which none of them like at all.
"Stupid woman, how difficult can this be for you?" Scorpio, the God of Scorpio and the other man she first met, grabs her by the arm and pulls her flush against him.
"I'm sorry!" Grace breaks. It's been hard to figure out how to teach these Gods to love without actually telling them the plan. She's taken them to Tokyo to show them everything humans have to offer, cooked, cleaned and done everything they have asked her to without complaining but finally, she has had enough. "Do you think it's fucken easy to be born as an ex-goddess and not know your destiny?" She pushes herself away from him, not trying to hide the frustration that she is feeling. "I have been constantly trying as well as doing everything else I can for all of you and all you have done is make me feel like shit!" She storms off.
"Oh-ho? The little goldfish has a backbone after all." Leon, God of Leo, mocks her. Grace turns around at the door. Most of the Gods look between Leo and Grace, shock clear on their faces except for Huedhaut and Zyglavis; they both look sympathetic to Grace's feelings.
"Screw you!" She slams the door to the living room and makes her way to her bedroom. The Gods had given her a special pool in her room to watch what was going on in the world, it was Zyglavis and Karno's, the God of Cancer, idea to do this, hoping it would draw out her power. Grace looks and sees nothing but fire, storms and death; she splashes the water in anger and throws herself on the bed, tears streaming down her face.
"How am I meant to teach these Gods how to love all humans when they are bigoted assholes?" She sighs.
"Not all humans, only you. Only you have the power to teach them love." The voice answers her question, a self-deprecating laugh escapes her lips.
"How is that even allowed? There are laws." She knows that it is against the law to love a God and monopolize his love but now, in the darkness of her room, she can't help but admit the fact that at some point, feelings emerged that Grace couldn't understand at the time. "Isn't it wrong?"
"You are the reincarnated Goddess of Fate. You are the only one who can bring peace and balance to the heavens and Earth, do you really have to ask? This is your fate; to love the Gods and have them show you love in return." It is clear to Grace what the feelings she has mean and the realisation makes her heart both soar and break. She thinks back to all the days she spent with the Gods both one-on-one and together, despite the dark times coming they have created some happy memories. She has to save them, even if she has to break her heart and all the laws to do so.
