Ruin of the Zodiac Chapter Three: In Which a Constellation is Questioned


"Is this necessary?" Jack couldn't help but smirk as North rolled his eyes at the Zodiac's whining question.

"You broke into workshop, got past Yetis. Last person who managed to do that, tried to snuff out all hope and belief in world. I'm not taking chances."

The alleged Zodiac of Mutable Water tried yanking his wrist out of the binds that kept him in the chair, letting out a high-pitched moan when it failed. "I did promise to answer all of your questions, did I not? I even disarmed myself." He nodded two the two massive lavender fish scales that lay of North's desk. "A Zodiac does not give up their celestial weapon easily."

Bunnymund scoffed. "You call those weapons? More like oversize frisbees, if you asked me." He gave gave his boomerang a little twirl. "Now this is a weapon." "Pisces" stared at the Easter Bunny, a confused expression on his face. It passed quickly, though, replaced with that same disconnected smile.

"Have you ever been hit in the face with a very sharp frisbee?" he asked. "Aries once described it as taking a blade to the head." He paused. "After the bleeding stopped, of course." Tooth winced, and an exclamation mark appeared over Sandy's head. The other three had been called as soon as the young man who claimed to be a Zodiac had been restrained and tied down by the Yetis. He hadn't put up much of a fight... not physically, at least. The minute he actually realized what was going on, "Pisces" had pitched a verbal fit, whining and moaning about how ruse it was to treat a "guest" like such. More like intruder."Pisces" seemed to notice their discomfort, and his eyes widened.

"Oh, no no no! It was a test of strength, a way to hone our skills. We stars and constellations actually live very boring lives, when we are not sleeping or blessing the newborns of this world. After all, what are we supposed to do when no one can s-" He suddenly yawned, cutting off his own words. "Oh, Lypámai. It's almost time for me to take my name. I was actually just finishing up my shift, helping Aries with the cuspborns. Anyway, the point is, the spars we have are training."

"Training for what?" Tooth asked. "Is there something threatening the children we need to get ready for? Is that why you're here?"

"There is always something threatening others," "Pisces" said. "Especially children." His expression grew very sad for a moment. "But that's not the point. We train because we're bored. We can't directly interfere, even if we wanted to. That's not code for something, by the way." He was suddenly very direct. "We actually can't tangibly interact with humans. The closest we can get it opening doors, and only Aries and the Constants actually use those."

"Constants?"

"Virgo, Aquarius, and Gemini," he said. "Those that are always human, even in representation. They're the only ones, though. Sagittarius comes close. He's a centaur. The rest of us take on more... simple forms? I'm a fish; Cancer is a crab. Libra got the worst of us, though." His smile widened, and his eyes twinkled, as if he were thinking of some secret joke only he knew. "He's actually scales."

A floating golden image appears above Sandy's head. Well, three images. A set of weighing scales, a question mark, and the same pair of fish scales that lay of North's desk, glinting in the moonlight. "Pisces" shook his head. "The one on the left," he said. "The only fish scales around here belong to the Fish himself. Capricorn doesn't count."

"Whoa whoa whoa, wait," Jack said, raising a hand. "You guys are the actual Zodiacs? Like, you're actually, a fish. I figured you guys were just human-like people symbolizing the Zodiac or something."

"We are and we aren't," Pisces said. "We are all the stars in the sky, all what the stars represent, and ourselves, with our two feet. Simultaneously, we are also, not the stars, not what they represent, and not ourselves with our two feet." Jack blinked.

"English, please?" The Zodiac chuckled, shaking his head so that his silver-tipped hair fell away from his eyes.

"It's quite simple," Pisces said. "I'm an immortal, blessing, deathbed-visiting, wish-granting pair of fish who's taken the form of a human so I can move from place to place without having to be carried around everywhere. Libra's idea. Guess he was sick of being an inanimate object. So, while this form is technically me, it is not my more natural form. Likewise, the Aries you met in the woods was only Aries's human form. In reality, she would resemble most closely a golden ram. That's why she wears the sweater," he added. "Probably feels more comfortable for her."

"Is that why you wear this... thing?" Bunny asked, holding up the scarf. It had fallen on the floor when Pisces... Jack Frost was now no longer doubting the validity of his claim... had been tied down. To Jack's surprise, it had two pins on it, one on each side. One looked like a stylized H, and the other looked like the roman numeral for 2. Pisces jumped at the sight. "Oh, goodness!" he exclaimed. "Put that down! That's... that's mine and Geminis," he finished lamely, his pale face blushing. "We're both one who're supposed to be two, so we sort of... stick around each other. It's comforting. Anyways, while I am an immortal, blessing, deathbed-visiting, wish-granting pair of fish, if I were a specific pattern of stars that could only be seen from a specific point in darkspace, I'd be the constellation known as Pisces. Simultaneously, if the constellation known as Pisces were an immortal wish-granting being, it would be me. We are simultaneously the same being and separate beings. Now, can I have my scarf back?"

"Enough of scarves and riddles," North said. "There is big question we all are not asking: why you twelve not let us know about you?" Pisces shrugged, suddenly becoming very focused on his fingernails.

"Ask Capricorn. She made that rule. I suppose it was because she was concerned. When we showed as humans, we thought we would be seen by humans, and as thus, we weren't allowed to tell anyone about our true identities." He shrugged. "But we did not have to worry about it. Then you guys came along, and we had more to worry about. We're very different, as different as can be. You were chosen by the moon, and powered by the belief of people. Specifically, children. We, however, were born from the belief of people, the stories the Ancient Grecians told about us, but we're given strength by the constellations themselves. The difference made some of us paranoid, so we kept quiet. A few of us... including Aries... didn't like it, but we've all upheld our oath. That is, until you lot defeated pitch and one of us in particular decided the rules weren't worth upholding. Well, two of us. Aquarius has always hated rules. As for me? I'm neutral to the whole thing. I just realized that having someone introduce themself as a Zodiac and then not elaborate might cause worry. So I came here to bail her out of the fire, so to speak. Aries may be of the Cardinal Fire, but even she gets burnt." Bunny's eyes narrowed when the Zodiac finished his explanation.

"Well, this is all bloody well and good, bloke, but how do we know you're telling the truth?"

"Easy! Have one of your people accompany me and Aries! We've actually got an appointment in New York, a few hours from now. Maybe Jack? After all, he's already met Aries, and she at least respects him enough not to try to kill him."

"Again."

"you can see what it is we actually do, and I'm sure Jack's competent enough to handle us if we decide to suddenly betray you and every ideal w hold dear. So? Do we have a deal?" A long pause filled the room.

"...We have deal," North said. "If you tell me how you got into workshop.

Pisces's gaze trailed over to the large window, the light of the Moon shining in at a sharp enough angle to almost conceal the stars that were just barely visible, in a specific, familiar pattern that directly replicated the white dots in the Zodiac's lilac eyes. He said quietly, "You left the drapes open."


I'm sorry I didn't put a chapter up earlier. The shooting in Conneticutt really hurt, and I wasn't able to write for a while. Those poor kids... :( What sick person could do something like that?

I should be feeling better, though. My chapters are going to be a bit short, though. Starting to think chapter 1 was a special occasion.

Lypámai - Sorry

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