The Zodiac Cycle

1.3 One down

I shoved my way through the crowd that had gathered. Everyone was buzzing about some strange visitor that was allowed into the walls.

Someone that wasnt an Elf.

I'd never met any other species before, so I was excited to catch a glimpse of someone new.

Standing in the middle of the main square, surrounded by people, was some kind of winged human. He had light brown hair in a long braid and looked overwhelmed by all the curious residents. My quick glance was cut short as the bumbling crowd pushed me back out of the square.

I backed towards one of the shops, feeling satisfied by the glimpse I got. I turned and started down the street when I heard a couple shouts behind me as the crowd shifted and started gasping. I spun back around, startled, and saw the man hovering above the crowd.

Oh, I thought, what did they think the wings were for, glass blowing?

The man scanned the crowd and then settled his eyes on me. He was holding some sort of device that he quickly glanced at and back to me.

He then flapped over the crowd and touched down right in front of me. He glanced once more at the device before speaking.

"Sorry to bother you, but I'm actually looking for someone." He put his hands behind his back as he addressed me. "Is there any chance that today could be your 21st birthday? Or maybe yesterday?"

I was stunned. Who was this guy and how did he know my birthday and my age?

I tilted my head, suspicious, "what's it to you?"

He contemplated for a moment and mumbled "Leo, Leo, what did the books say." Then he shook his head, aggravated. "Ah, mom was right, I should have studied more."

I took a step back, "are you okay?"

He stared at me for a second, thinking yet again, then pulling out a book and flipping to a page, showing it to me. "Do you recognize this sign?"

I was shocked yet again, it was the Leo sign that had shown up just last night. But this guy was super suspicious, so I felt it was better to remain questionable myself.

"That's the Leo star sign." The crowd from before was shifting to watch us converse.

"I know that, does it look familiar in any other way?" He definitely knew something about the sign showing up.

I looked around us. With the crowd staring, I couldn't very well show him the sign here and I didnt like his approach on this topic, he was too open about it.

"Wanna grab a coffee?" I pointed my thumb to the cafe across the street.

He looked at it, then at the crowd as his face filled with realization. "Oh! Yeah, sure."

We crossed the street and the crowd parted for us. While they were curious about the strange man, not many of them were really in any rush to confront him.

We sat down and he ordered a chai tea while I ordered a mocha frappe. While we were waiting for the drinks, he leaned over the table.

"Did the sign appear on your hip sometime last night?"

I narrowed my eyes at him, "why's it any of your business?"

He stared for a second too long before gasping, "oh my, I sincerely apologize, I've been so rude." He smiled "my name is Keith, and I'm the Guardian. I believe that you were chosen to bear the mantle of the Leo sign and have come to ask you to assist me in gathering your other 11 teamates."

His introduction sounded like he'd rehearsed it in a mirror since he was a baby. "Bear the mantle of the Leo sign," I repeated. "What in the world is that supposed to mean?"

"It means you were reincarnated to lead the team of legendary heroes again," He clasped his hands together on the table. "Just as all the Leo's before you have."

"How are you so sure I'm the Leo?" I asked.

"Your reactions to my questions earlier were sufficient evidence, however," he pulled the device back out, revealing it had a screen showing a map of my city and the cafe we sat in with a black and an orange flashing dot. "This tracker helped too."

"That's creepy." I pushed it back toward him. "As much as I'd love to go on some quest to gather a group of kids for me to babysit, I'd rather not." I pointed at my hip "can you take this back now?" The waitress set our drinks between us.

"For one," he started "for moral reasons, the tracker doesent activate till all the chosen charachters are 21, so you are technically the youngest of the group and therefore the only 'kid'" he made air quotes. "And for two, you can refuse, but the only way to pass on the mark is to die."

I stared, did I hear that right?

"To die?" I asked, "as in, like, theres no way to remove this?"

He took a long sip of his latte "indeed. If you died, the sign would go to the nearest viable candidate." He sighed, "but you are the most preferable as you were literally born for this one purpose."

"That's messed up, dont I have a choice?" I crossed my arms.

"You're not the only one with no choice here." He snapped, losing his composure for a second, before regaining it with another sip of his drink.

I sighed and pinched my nose. "So what exactly am I supposed to do with this team of mine?"

And with three words i realized that this was a whole lot bigger than i had originally thought.

"Protect the world"