Chapter 30
Thirty
Sagittarius approached Scorpio with obvious trepidation, his footsteps heavy as lead. Scorpio regarded him with that infuriatingly calm demeanor, almost daring the archer to breach the defenses around his mind.
”Are you certain you want to do this?” Sagittarius asked, his voice edged with warning. ”Once the connection is made, there’s no turning back.”
A muscle ticked in Scorpio”s jaw, the only outward sign of any inner turmoil. ”Do it,” he said flatly.
Sucking in a fortifying breath, Sagittarius reached out and pressed his fingertips to Scorpio”s temples. His eyes slipped shut as he delved into the scorpion”s psyche, following the intricate pathways of memory and thought. Pisces had an inkling of what Sagittarius was experiencing. The chaos of dissecting a lifetime of memories from one so cunning would be a grueling task.
Seconds ticked by. The silence in the observatory grew heavier with each passing moment. Pisces found herself holding her breath, every fiber of her being strung taut with anticipation.
At last, Sagittarius broke the connection, stumbling back from Scorpio as if physically struck. His eyes were wide, his complexion ashen. Whatever he had witnessed in the darkest recesses of Scorpio”s mind had clearly shaken him to his core.
Scorpio rose fluidly to his feet, his sharp gaze cutting to Sagittarius. ”Well, wanderer? Do you have all you need to dispel the suspicions clouding the truth?”
Sagittarius could only nod, looking distinctly uneasy.
”Then I suggest you share your visions with Pisces.” Scorpio”s mouth curved into a terrible smile. ”She has a right to know what transpired, after all.”
Aries glared at the scorpion. “This better not be another one of your tricks.”
Scorpio cocked his head and picked a piece of lint off the arm of his suit. “I’m sure you have something terribly violent prepared for me if it is.”
Aries rose from the table with his eyes fixed on Scorpio and positioned himself behind Pisces. He rested his hands on her shoulders and whispered in her ear, ”Whatever you”re about to see, I”ll be right here.” When she looked up at him, his dark eyes burned with fierce protectiveness. ”I won”t let anything harm you.”
Pisces managed a shaky nod, steeling her resolve as Sagittarius approached. The archer looked as if he would rather be anywhere else, his handsome features pinched with dread.
”I”m so sorry,” he murmured, cupping her face in his calloused palms. ”Brace yourself.”
The moment his hands touched her, Pisces was plunged into a dizzying vortex of sensations and imagery. She tumbled through a maze of dark, twisting portals that seemed to reach into the deepest, most primal depths of Scorpio”s psyche. Intense emotions battered her from all sides—lust, rage, cunning, deception all swirled together in a heady, suffocating fog.
Flashes of debauchery and carnal indulgence flickered through her mind”s eye, raw and visceral. Just when she felt she couldn”t take it anymore, a memory took shape, solidifying around her. She found herself in the shadowed recesses of Star Castle, peering out from Scorpio”s eyes as he witnessed Gemini”s form warping, twisting until a perfect replica of himself stood before him. He could sense the malicious power, the darker resonance emanating from this twisted doppelganger. This was Dark Gemini, a master of illusion and deception, fully resurrected.
The scene shifted, and Pisces watched as Dark Gemini, now wearing Scorpio”s face, sought out Aries. With a cruel smile, the impostor projected a false scene of Pisces and Scorpio locked in an intimate embrace, their words of treachery falling on Aries like an ocean. She watched as Aries simmered and raged, entirely undone by the perceived betrayal.
Another shift, and Pisces found herself observing a confrontation between Aries and her own past self. Confusion and despair leveled her, weakening their bond and fracturing her spirit as Aries accused her of the very betrayal Dark Gemini had staged.
The memories swirled again, and now Pisces was trailing behind the real Scorpio as he surreptitiously followed Dark Gemini. She watched the dark twin shift her form once more, this time taking on Pisces’ own visage. The following glimpses made her want to turn away, to bury herself in denial of what she saw.
Dark Gemini, cloaked as Pisces, sought out Aries’ chambers and seduced him, begging for his forgiveness. She whispered lies in the throes of passion, insisting that Scorpio was the true orchestrator behind the turmoil they faced. She begged Aries to spy on the traitor, to feign a betrayal to lure out the truth. Aries was overcome with grief, but despite his rage, he agreed to her requests as one last act of duty before he severed their bond forever.
All the while, the real Scorpio lingered in the shadows, watching in tortured silence as the scene played out before him. The visions shifted once more, and Pisces witnessed a series of fragmented moments—Aries, now convinced of Scorpio”s guilt, subduing the real Pisces under Dark Gemini”s manipulations. She watched helplessly as he dragged her past self to the dungeons in chains, her own face a mask of confusion and hurt.
Dark Gemini slipped into the darkness of the dungeon, making her move at last. Pisces could only look on in horror as the Scorpio impostor stole the Cerulean Tear from her weakened body, drawing it out from her very soul.
Then she heard her own voice, desperately begging Aries to see through the lie. She had not betrayed him. When his cold silence greeted her, she begged him not to abandon her, to follow her until he could see the truth. But Aries, still believing he was following Pisces’ earlier instructions, played along with Dark Gemini”s ruse.
The memories began to fracture and blur, whispers and shadows clashing as Aries fought against his own darker impulses, torn between potent desire and vague pangs of doubt. He watched, unaware, as Dark Gemini, wearing Scorpio”s face, infiltrated Pisces’ mind, fracturing her memories and capturing her soul.
Until finally, when the false Scorpio suggested ending her life, Aries intervened in an attempt to save her, knocking Pisces unconscious and hurling her back to the realm of mortals.
The visions collapsed inward, thrashing away from Pisces’ consciousness as quickly as they had enveloped her. She found herself back in Virgo”s observatory, trembling and drenched in a cold sweat as the weight of Scorpio”s tormented truth settled over her.
Aries” grip on her shoulders tightened, his concerned features swimming into focus as she gasped for air. ”Are you alright? What did you see?”
Her gaze found Scorpio”s, and in that moment, she understood the anguish burning in his fathomless depths. He wasn’t a player in Dark Gemini’s game. He’d been a bystander, a captive audience forced to witness the unraveling of their reality while unable to intervene in the unfolding of her destiny.
And Dark Gemini...her depraved betrayal knew no bounds.