012. Zodiac
Celestial Spirits – Out of all the stars in the sky, they are the ones who shine the brightest.
Their keys have been exchanged countless numbers of times in the world below, and after centuries upon centuries of this, they've more or less conditioned their own responses to it.
Aquarius prefers greeting her newest key-holders with a flash flood. Taurus ogles the women and butts heads with the men. Cancer offers a haircut. Virgo asks for punishment. Sagittarius, Capricorn, and Pisces are some of the few to introduce themselves with decorum. Leo tends to exude a distant sort of friendly warmth until he has formed a bond. Aries stutters out apologies for her own inadequacy. Scorpio goes with the flow, cheerfully casual with whoever might bear his key. Gemi and Mini can't help transforming into their summoners as a prank. Libra judges the worth of unfamiliar mages with her scales.
It's become a defense mechanism, because forming contracts is the one risk they allow themselves to take. Sometimes the risk is well-calculated, and sometimes not.
Humans see them as powerful. Crazy. Benevolent. Scheming. Respectful. Selfish. Loyal. All of those and more are true. They watch the ones blessed with the magic of the spirits pledge their trust and ask for their own in return.
In the end, watching is still the only thing they are allowed to do as the world continues to move on.
And they watch over this generation of the few celestial spirit mages too, knowing that even these bonds, the strongest yet, will be broken by time if nothing else.