Serpents and Descendants

Prologue (pt 1)

"I really have no idea where they are," Gemos repeated. He leaned against the tall wooden table in the common area of the temple, hoping the gentle pressure would relieve the intense cramps in his lower abdomen and back. This wasn't the first time he wished he and his twin sister weren't mentally and physically linked when they were separated.

Across the room, Cancer cocked an eyebrow at him. Gemos knew it was only a matter of time before the powerful empath reached out mentally, if they hadn't already. Gemos was doing his best to maintain his composure, but this feeling...It was one of the most excruciating pains he had felt since he took a physical form. Being separated from Nemina didn't help. They were always weaker when they weren't Gemini. But he couldn't do anything about that now.

Not until the baby had arrived.

"Is something wrong, Gemos? You seem uncomfortable." Cancer met Gemos' eyes with genuine concern.

"Not at all," he grunted. "Just your average muscle cramp. You know how finicky these bodies can be."

Gemos tried to shift his focus from the ever-sharpening pain onto something else. He glanced out a nearby window, his eyes instinctively landing on the nearby mountain range where the ship was stashed. Nemina was suffering atop one of the those. The sun was beginning to disappear behind them, and Fasmore's two closest moons were lifting themselves into the sky to replace it.

I look too distracted, Gemos thought anxiously. He turned from the window and studied Cancer's striking features instead. Their hair was pulled into a full ponytail with some of their light brown curls spilling from the tie and framing their tan spotted face. This left their eyes fully exposed, a beautiful bright blue like those of the other two water primes.

Gemos felt guilty lying to someone who cared so deeply about all the primes equally. Even their polar, Capricorn.

"I do wish I knew where Nemina was," Gemos said, desperately trying to end the conversation. "She must be out of range."

Another lie. There was no limit to their telepathy. At least not that he was aware of. Unless one of them was dead, he guessed. To be fair, the pain was so distracting that he could barely focus on communicating with her anyway. "Very strange," he continued and smiled. "Must be off with Leo again."

Gemos had to stop due to what he believed was another contraction. They had begun suddenly a few hours before and were becoming more and more frequent.

He had to get to Nemina.

Cancer eyed him suspiciously. They could've extracted whatever information they needed by now with their manipulation ability. Gemos was thankful that they preferred not to use it, as they believed it to be an intimate violation of a person's autonomy.

"Alright." The empath stood up slowly from their chair, straightened out their sand-colored tunic, and rubbed their young, freckled face. If Gemos hadn't personally known Cancer and of how ancient they really were, he would have guessed that they were only in their early twenties.

Cancer met Gemos' grey eyes one more time. "If you get any sort of idea as to where she is, along with Leo and Aquarius, please let me know. I'm very worried about them." They lingered for a moment, glancing out the window towards the mountains. They looked back at Gemos. "A very beautiful sunset tonight. If the weather allows, we should all watch it tomorrow." And with that, they quietly walked away.

Gemos was aware that Cancer knew he was lying, but he didn't give it much thought. He knew they were only fulfilling a request from Aries. They probably didn't really care where Nemina was as long as she was safe. But Aries had grown suspicious over the last month. She couldn't know what had transpired between Nemina and Leo.