The Zodiac Cycle

1.15 Unaffected

Keith and iris were driving the group crazy at this point. Brianna said that there was usually some kind of limit on how many jubilees could be allowed to grow, but that that limit had been well exceeded by then.

The two of them were highly jittery and happy the entire trek to Eteri, the city containing the next dot. The city was a stark contrast from Dhara City; everything was the same dusty brown color, with The city hanging over a cliff, with stacks of buildings all connected by stair pathways that were not very well maintained. Iris explained that Eteri was where most runaways and thieves ended up.

In the center of the city was a brilliant casino, the only oddity that caught their eyes. That casino seemed to be where the dot was at.

They all took a breath, finally done climbing steep stairs. Keith and Iris flew, naturally, but the rest of them were winded, excluding Carson, who barely broke a sweat.

They came up to the casino and realized it wasnt a casino at all, it was called a Seratino. They all paid to get in and were greeted by a large crowd, and singing, lots of singing. All the feathers and wings in the rooms beat together in rhythm with a singer on stage. She had three sets of wings that matched her dark hair and a voice that sounded like a symphony all on it's own.

"Seratino, I get it now." Iris laughed. "Its a Siren bar, guys."

"Sirens? As in, like carnivorous mermaids?" Amber asked naively.

Nolan glared at her "as if, the only fully carnivorous fish species are hippocampi."

"I thought those were half eagle half horse." Amber seemed a tad confused.

"That's a hippogriff." Ash raised his eyebrows at her. "A Hippocampus is a half fish half horse."

"Oh."

"Guys." Carson was spinning in circles, counting heads. "Who all is here?"

"Me and Nolan are here." Ash raised both of their hands.

"Here." Avery raised his as well.

"Present." Brianna followed suit.

"Then theres Iris Keith and I." Amber called out.

"And me." George added.

"Counting me, that's nine..." carson seemed a bit relieved.

They all looked around for a moment, something did seem off.

"Yall counted me as one of you." Keith laughed "theres 10 of us total."

The group looked at him.

"Rebecca!" Carson realized aloud. "Wheres rebecca?"

The blonde human was nowhere to be found, and they looked throughout the entire floor.

Then she just, reappeared.

Randomly.

The whole group fussed over her. She seemed a bit groggy but happy and she had a 4-winged siren with her. The siren had uncontrolled, curly blonde hair, pale skin, and was covered head to toe in freckles, more than any of the others. They were wearing an aquamarine polo that matched their eyes, and a pair of black to white gradient leggings. They also had on sneakers. Their wings were the same color as their hair on the primary coverts, a paler yellow on the secondary coverts, and white on the primary and secondary feathers. They were about 6'1" and a lot less... happy... than the rest of the avians here.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Rebecca swatted the group back. "More importantly, I found the Aquarius." She pointed back at the siren.

"The what?" The siren asked, uninformed.

"Oh boy, let's step outside so we can explain." Brianna suggested.

They did their usual explanation, and the siren introduced themself as Alex. The group was also careful this time and checked to see what the new member was - gender wise - and they replied with Non-Binary.

"So are you possessed with another soul? Is that why you go by they?" Amber didn't quite understand the concept of gender.

"No, not really, I'm just not female or male, so I go by pronouns that are not specific to either?"

"Geez, how old fashioned are things in Soleil?" Brianna asked.

"Actually, the elfs have their own private territory surrounded by a big wall. We don't really communicate with other species on anything other than trade."

"Ha! I think I heard something like that once." Keith chirped.

Alex looked at him a moment, then at Iris who was quietly fluttering around a tree with a gleeful smile. "You've got only two avians in your group, are you all feeling okay?"

"No, they're annoying." George pointed back at Iris.

"I meant physically. The Jubilees..."

"...affect earth-bound species negatively, we know." Avery finished "your point?"

"Well, if we are leaving Zephyr, we best do it before any of you get sick." Alex seemed a bit annoyed by the interruption.

"Where's your mark?" Keith poked Alex in their cheek curiously.

"My right hip." Alex swatted him away, annoyed.

"Why aren't you all happy-go-lucky?" Ash pointed out.

The group started walking north, hoping to get to Cordelia by sunrise, as they werent far from the border.

"I'm a siren, we are unaffected by the jubilees." Alex watched as Iris and Keith took off and started doing loop-dee-loops in the air. "Luckily," They added.

Rebecca seemed to be leaning groggily against Alex, almost like she was drunk.

"Is she okay? Did she drink something?" Nolan asked.

Alex put their arm around her shoulder and leaned down to talk to her. "Want me to carry you?"

She nodded and Alex picked her up to where her legs were wrapped around their waist and her face was buried into their shoulder. "Sorry, I really need to figure out size portions."

"For what?" Amber tilted her head, curious as always.

"Feeding." They tucked their wings against their back once Rebecca was settled in. "Sirens feed by taking energy from other beings."

"So you did that to Rebecca?" George crossed his arms.

"Yeah, but it's part of the deal in a siren room. She signed a document allowing her to come into the room, and in exchange me feeding off of her, I sang to her. Siren voices activate dopamine and serotonin production, inducting a very special kind of euphoria." They chuckled. "And like the Jubilees dont affect us, neither do other sirens songs."

"Did you take too much?" Brianna was walking behind the group, nearly forgotten.

"Not so much that she cant recover within a good nap. There are legal limits." Alex waved one arm, the other holding onto Rebecca.

"She gets attached way too quickly." Avery raised his eyebrows.

"Just a little bit." Carson laughed.