The twelve Zodiacs all live together at a boarding school, but all that changes when Gemini claims she saw a magical airship hovering over the academy. The other eleven protested that there was nothing but despair and clouds in its place, but when t...
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Aries POV
I stared at the lava boiling just beneath the edge of the volcano crater. Granted, I knew it wasn't real and wouldn't hurt me if it got on me, but still.
There was a tiny crevice of rock in the center. It had a diamond indent in it, and Em had explained to me earlier that all I needed to claim Aronix was to drop the ruby in the crack.
I clenched it in my fist, feeling sweat bead on my forehead as the heat from the lava boiled up, and looked around. I was in a cavern -- it was fake, but everything about it was designed so that it looked real, exactly like the real thing.
"Um -- tell me how you know this, again?" I called, knowing Em could hear me.
A moment later a piece of the red-brown cavern wall slid aside and showed a glass screen. Em was on the other side, tapping on the control board. "Ursa sent me a message, I told you."
Her voice crackled over the intercom, and I winced, swiping at my waist. Em had instructed me to wear as less as I could for the simulation, but so far a crop top and shorts -- not the shorty-shorts, mind you -- were doing nothing to protect me from the heat.
The ruby almost slipped out of my grasp but I caught it just in time. "Is the actual Caldera like this?"
"Yes. A hidden volcano within a cavern -- it's sacred to Aronix. Everyone has known for ages that's where protection is gleaned and claimed."
I exhaled a shuddering breath and stood on the edge, the smell of burning plastic reaching my nose as the lava smoldered against the tip of my sneaker. I managed to touch the other tip of my other sneaker to the rock crevice, and I quickly jumped onto it, wobbling slightly as I found ground.
I bent down, trying not to slip off into the menacing fake lava, and gently fit the ruby into the indent. My heart was pounding in my ears -- Em had made me trek up the entire length it took to reach the crevice, and it was pretty high in the cavern. I sighed as a small click echoed through the large space, and the walls dissolved into peaceful blue and the lava was drained down.
Em looked up from the board. "Good. Your time was three minutes ahead."
"Can't I take a break? This is worse than training!" I complained, getting up from the uncomfortable crouch. I rubbed my arm as Em narrowed her eyes.
"Fine. You can. But remember --"
"The three-day-deadline," I groaned.
Em nodded.
Three days from now, the actual crevice was supposed to erupt with "cleansing flame" -- basically it would wipe out half of Aronix. It did every five years, but the king and queen and Em had managed to keep the explosion rate at two miles in every direction so that Aronix stayed safe. However, they had predicted that they wouldn't be able to do the same this time because of the darkness nearing. The crevice was more unstable than ever, and the only thing that could actually calm it -- the only thing -- was the ruby I was gripping right now. Apparently it was an old piece of the Heartstone, a stone that powered Aronix for hundreds of years before it broke into pieces. The Heartstone could soothe anything -- and Em had figured that the crevice would send us to the next Realm if I fit the ruby in right.
