The Zodiac Cycle

1.1 Activation

I rolled over in my covers, savoring the warmth of the blankets. The smell of dew still forming made me realize it was still the middle of the night.

Then what's that weird glow coming from?

I threw the blanket off and the light got brighter. I could tell it was something on my stomach but my eyes werent adjusting very well. I stood and walked over to the full length mirror that hung from my closet door.

Lifting up my shirt, I found a rather odd thing. The glowing was a symbol right above my left hip. It looked like a round shaped S with a circle connected to the top end, and distorted sideways.

I recognized the sign right away. It was the sign of the Leo within the star charts, the Lion-based Zodiac sign associated with the sun.

I ran my fingers over the sign as it shifted from glowing white light, to a duller orange light, pulsing with the pounding of my heart. The mark had left no indentations on my skin, like a scar, and it glowed, which wasnt common of tattoos.

This was strange, but possibly just a coincidence. Perhaps, I thought, this is a strange dream.

I pinched the skin on my wrist, flinching at the jolt of pain. That option was out.

I looked one more time at the mirror, as the sign pulsed on my skin, giving off a comforting warmth.

What a way to start my birthday.

~~~

"Amber dear," Light blinded me as I heard a loud rustling "it's time to wake up." I tried opening my eyes, rubbing the sleep off as much as I could before yawning.

"G'mornin Mum." I mumbled, slowly taking in the room.

My room was relatively small, i had a desk with several drawers to the left of the door and a large window on the left wall with simple brown curtains. The wall opposite the door held my small closet with one hanging rack for clothes and a couple shelves where I stored my pants. The mirror still hung on the back of the door. My bed was against the wall opposite of the desk with the headboard against the back wall. There were several other shelves lining the top of my room and the walls were painted with sunflowers.

Mum was standing by the window, she had just opened the curtains, flooding my room with sunlight. She had red hair that faded into a light orange, like mine, but her vibrant green eyes didnt match my orange ones. Who knows why I had orange eyes, I just always did, even when I was a chit, before I was 16 and my hair was still silver like the other young. Her hair was pulled into three braids, one over each shoulder from in front of her long pointed ears, and one larger one straight down her back.

She walked across the room and picked up a couple papers scattered on the floor by my bed "up late theorizing again?" She raised an eyebrow and smirked.

It was a particular hobby of mine to explore other species, but, as the odds had it, I lived in a small secluded town inhabited solely by elves like myself.

If I knew one thing, my little village didnt take well to mysteries, so I decided to keep the glowing Leo mark hidden.

I got up and dressed in a red sun dress. Mum sat me down between her legs in front of my bed and braided my hair like hers, It took a little brushing first though. Then she helped me up and stood me in front of the mirror. My face was speckled with freckles that I got from my father and my lips were a bit thinner than Mum's, but our high cheekbones and skin tones matched at a tan. I was slightly taller than Mum at 5'7".

Mum grabbed my shoulders and made me face her, then she patted my cheek.

"My beautiful pebble, how much you've grown." She pulled me into a tight hug and I hugged her back. "I'm so proud of you." I felt warmth spread from my heart outward.

"Mum, you havent called me pebble since I was a Chit." She pulled back, laughing.

"Of course I have," she put a finger to her mouth. "Just not in front of you."

I smiled and huffed, the room's lighting was a light orange that highlighted Mums face.

Orange light.

I froze, the smile on Mums and my faces disappearing as she looked at the glowing spot on my hip.

"Amber, what is that." She pointed at it as it shone through the fabric on my dress.

"Umm," I looked at it. I had no idea what it was, much less what to tell Mum it was. "I have no idea." Telling her the truth would be better in the long run than lying.

She reached for my dress and lifted it up, revealing the mark. She looked puzzled but stayed quiet.

"When did it appear?" She asked.

"Sometime last night, not sure how." I had my arms up so she could look at it, "what should I do about it?"

"Not sure theres much to be done," she sighed, pulling the skirt of my dress back down. "Let's just hope no one questions the glowing."

She was being a lot more quiet about this than I had expected, and she looked exhausted all the sudden. She slowly trudged out of my room and mumbled something about not taking too long.

I wondered what had her so stressed suddenly, setting my hand over the glowing part of my dress. I decided to get a padded bandage to cover up the glowing and went out of my room.

And so, my 21st birthday started out a lot worse than I had expected.