Chapter 26
Twenty-Six
Pisces reluctantly pulled away from Aries’ embrace. He seemed to share the sentiment, his arms lingering on her waist as he turned to Sagittarius with a stern look. “Next time, just use the damn power.”
Sag looked flustered as he shrugged. “It’s disorienting for me. My memories get tangled with the other person’s. It’s not a gift I can wield freely.”
Aries’ mouth was pressed in a hard line, but he gave Sag a nod of thanks before turning his attention to Virgo. ”What”s our next move?”
Virgo”s brow furrowed in thought. ”We need to deal with Gemini quickly. Who knows what other tricks she has up her sleeve?”
Aries nodded grimly. ”We can’t let Pisces out of our sight until this ends.” His grip tightened around her possessively. From Sag’s memories, she recalled an accusation Aries leveled against her. Perhaps now he’d finally realized she was innocent.
Sagittarius cleared his throat, mistaking Pisces’ pensive silence for sadness over Gemini”s betrayal. ”I”m sorry you had to experience her deceit firsthand,” he said gently. ”But we”re here for you.”
Pisces shook her head, a steely glint in her eyes. ”I”m not sad, Sagittarius. I”m furious.” Her jaw clenched. ”The fact that Gemini—even her dark side—would dare to cripple my mind for a second time...” She turned to face the others, her gaze unwavering. ”But I won”t let her win. I”ll use this anger, this fire inside me, to get it back. The Cerulean Tear rightfully belongs to me.” Squaring her shoulders, Pisces lifted her chin defiantly. ”I can be sad later. Right now, I need to channel this fury into action.”
Aries’ eyes gleamed as he drank in her fierce determination. ”I like this new version of you,” he growled.
Virgo nodded slowly. ”Then we need a plan to draw Gemini out and reclaim what”s yours.”
Sagittarius readily agreed. ”I”ll do whatever I can to help.” He paused for a moment. “Except using the mind gift. Don’t ask me to do that again.” Another blush heated his cheeks, and he wouldn’t look at Pisces again.
“I guess we better get started.” Virgo”s gaze swept across the lab, taking in the full extent of the destruction. Computer monitors flickered with garbled static, warning lights blinked ominously, and debris littered the floor. He straightened his glasses, his lips pressed into a grim line. ”She really did a number on this place.”
Sagittarius surveyed the chaos, shaking his head slowly. ”Gemini must have done this when she knocked us all down earlier.”
A sense of urgency crackled in the air, lending a frantic energy to their movements. Aries kept one arm firmly wrapped around Pisces’ waist, refusing to let her out of his grasp for even a moment. His jaw was set in a hard line, the tendons in his neck straining as he watched Virgo try to reboot one of the damaged computer systems.
”Aries, give me a hand with this,” Sag called out, trying to lift one of the large curved desks. Aries grunted, his eyes darting from Sag back to Pisces with indecision clear in his dark eyes.
Pisces laughed softly. ”I”ll stand right here. I won”t move a muscle.”
Aries fixed her with a stern look before finally conceding and releasing her. As he walked toward Sag, he turned back and pointed a finger at her. ”Don”t move from that spot.”
Pisces held up her hands in surrender. ”You have my word.”
She watched the scene unfold, determination washing over her in waves. ”I won”t let Dark Gemini win this,” she vowed silently. ”Not this time. Not ever again.” Her gaze swept to Aries, captivated by the raw power and intensity radiating from him as he worked alongside Sagittarius.
She knew him now, but not like she did before she lost her memories. This knowledge came straight from Sag’s mind, and through those visions, she saw the truth about who and what Aries was. This was enough to set her mind at ease about the fiery warrior. She only hoped that what Aries had seen was enough for him to trust her, too.
The three men worked in tandem to restore order. Virgo”s fingers flew over the keyboard as he furrowed his brow in concentration, attempting to bring one of the massive screens back online. ”Aha!” he shouted triumphantly. ”I think I”ve got it.”
Suddenly, a soft chime pierced the tense silence, and the screen blinked to life. An incoming video call flashed across the display, and a familiar face appeared.
”Aquarius,” Virgo breathed, relief evident in his voice.
The enigmatic figure of Aquarius regarded them from the screen, her brows raised in surprise. ”I see you”ve had a situation or two over there,” she remarked, her tone tinged with sarcasm.
Virgo grimaced. ”That”s an understatement. Gemini has gone rogue, and she”s done something to Pisces’ mind again.”
Aquarius’ gaze shifted to Pisces, her eyes seeming to bore into her very soul. She nodded, a silent ode to the sharing of her power. Pisces nodded back, having seen it through Sag’s eyes. Aquarius smiled. ”But she appears to be herself now.”
”Thanks to Sagittarius,” Virgo explained. ”He was able to share his memories and experiences with her, essentially giving her a window into his perception of her and her life.”
A look of understanding passed over Aquarius’ features. ”A temporary solution, but a clever one.” She turned her attention to Sagittarius, her eyes twinkling with amusement. ”Well done, wanderer. I”m impressed.”
Sagittarius blushed, clearly captivated by the red-haired Aquarian. ”It”s not like a library,” he mumbled, his cheeks reddening further. ”I can”t pick and choose which memories she sees.”
Aquarius nodded knowingly, a seductive smile playing on her lips.
Pisces looked away, hoping to hide the blush creeping up her cheeks. Through Sagittarius”s shared experiences, she had caught glimpses of his intimate encounters with Aquarius, including the night they had visited her club.
Virgo”s voice cut through the awkward tension. ”How did you know we had trouble here? What”s going on?”
Aquarius arched a skeptical brow. “I think you need to answer that question first, Virgo.”
Aries gave a warning growl in agreement. “Explain, Virgo.”
Adjusting his glasses, Virgo seemed flustered. “Centuries ago, when I discovered the mirror realm, I told Gemini about it.” His gaze moved between each of them and back to Aquarius on the screen. “Gemini was desperate to be rid of her dark half.” He lifted his palms despairingly. “You know how she struggled back then.”
There was a collective nod among the group. From Sagittarius’ memories, Pisces had caught brief glimpses of the ancient Gemini, bending time and causing fiery destruction on earth.”
Virgo continued, “I brought her there and she somehow detached, splitting herself in two, giving us just enough time to slip back through my portal and close it.” He exhaled. “We thought forever. But the supernova struck too close to the realm, and well...you know the rest.”
Aries was tense beside Pisces, but he didn’t lash out.
Aquarius didn’t seem surprised by this information. Her previous warning to Pisces hinted that she already suspected this. “Is Gemini still on the island?” she asked.
Virgo shook his head. “I didn’t open a portal for her to leave, so she must have gone back to the stars.”
Aquarius raised a skeptical brow. “That’s concerning...”
Sagittarius stepped closer to the screen. ”We saw Scorpio and Capricorn on my map headed your way yesterday.”
Pisces stiffened, Sagittarius”s memories confirming her suspicion that Scorpio was likely involved in this situation.
Aquarius nodded slowly, pursing her lips. ”That”s part of the reason I”m calling.”
A low growl emanated from behind Pisces as Aries appeared, seemingly out of thin air. ”What do they know?” he rumbled, his tone laced with danger.
Aquarius leaned back in her chair, clearly amused and unaffected by Aries’ fury. ”They want to meet. They have some things to tell you, and you”re going to want to hear them out.”
A wave of heat rolled off Aries, causing Pisces to instinctively take a step away from him before catching herself and moving to his side instead. ”What do they want, Aquarius? Tell me,” Pisces urged.
Aquarius shook her head. ”You”ll need to see them face-to-face for this one.”
”No,” Aries growled, his fists clenching. ”I will come there, and they will talk to me.”
Aquarius’ face lit up with a smirk. ”I”m sorry, fire breather, but they need to speak to Pisces.”
She turned her gaze back to Pisces. ”We can come there.”
Virgo hesitated, looking around his torn-up lab with a frown. ”I think I”d prefer it if we came to you.”
Aquarius blew out a breath. ”Right. About that. That’s the other reason why I called.”
Sagittarius tilted his head, concern creasing his brow. ”What”s going on, Aquarius?”
Sighing, she lifted her phone and said, ”I think I”d better show you.”
They watched as she walked through the dark, empty club and the main doors. A collective gasp filled the room when she turned the camera to face the street. ”This,” Aquarius said grimly, ”is why I called you.”
Pisces covered her open mouth with her hand and stared at the destruction in horror. Smoke curled up from the charred streets and rubble that was once buildings laying in heaping piles of smoldering debris. In the distance, a blanket of black smoke obscured the sky.
Sagittarius”s eyes were fixed on the screen, his expression grave. ”Gemini said she was going to paint the Earth black.”
Aquarius turned the camera back to her face. ”My club was spared because it has celestial protection. It”s probably the same reason your island is still untouched. The Celestial was probably spared as well. But that two-faced witch either caused some kind of solar flare that truly scorched the Earth, or this is another one of her illusions.”
Now, it was Pisces’ turn to be utterly devastated by what she saw—the humans, the animals, the very life on Earth—reduced to char. ”I...I can”t believe she”d do this,” Pisces said, her shoulders trembling with the weight of humanity”s suffering.
Aquarius gave her a moment to process the gravity of the situation before continuing. ”So, as you can see, a meeting here isn”t ideal. Let me bring them to you. I swear on all the stars, there won”t be any trouble, and you”ll get the answers to help you find that little witch.”
Virgo momentarily considered her words, glancing back at Sagittarius and Aries. Both men reluctantly nodded in agreement. ”Very well,” Virgo consented. “But I think, given the circumstances, you should bring Cancer with you as well. I”ll reach out to Taurus, Libra, and Leo to see what”s happening up in the stars.”
”Good,” Aquarius said with a nod. ”We”ll collect Cancer on the way. I”ll get in touch when we need the portal.” Just as she was about to hang up, she added, ”Pisces, dear, don”t fret too much about the state of the Earth right now. This could very well be one of Gemini”s illusions.” She gave a wink and ended the call.
Pisces hoped Aquarius was right because if the Earth indeed was in ruins, and it was all because of her, she”d need more than the Cerulean Tear to bring life back to the devastated planet.