The signs were now living at the mansion that Ophiuchus owned in Italy. It was huge, with fourteen rooms, along with an added guest room.
The signs all got separate rooms this time, and frankly, it annoyed Virgo that she wasn't rooming with Libra anymore.
It also awfully annoyed Aquarius that she wasn't in a room with Cancer anymore, which is why the rebellious sign asked Cancer if she wanted to bunk with her. However, the lack of an extra bed, or mattress, indirectly forbade the idea.
Gemini didn't mind, she loved Pisces, but this gave her an opportunity to sneak in nights with Sagittarius.
Their first day in Italy went by really quick, as they landed at eleven at night. Although Aries, Leo, Aquarius, Sagittarius, Gemini, and Libra wanted everyone to get their asses on the streets and enjoy the city at night, because it was beautiful, the rest of the signs were too tired, and suggested the contrary.
Ophiuchus decided to call it a night, and that's how their first day was cut short.
The next morning, Cancer woke up because sunlight hit her in the face, and sleeping seemed like a horrible decision anymore.
She walked out of her room, and was about to make her way to the stairs when the door next to them opened, and a familiar brunette revealed himself. He rubbed his eyes, and she smiled at him.
Taurus looked hotter than he already did (she didn't know that was possible) with a bedhead.
When Taurus looked at her, a sense of composure filled him, and he mirrored her smile, "Hey there,"
Cancer nodded in acknowledgement, but before she could say anything, the noise of feet tapping on stairs interrupted her, and the smile on her face broadened when her eyes landed on Libra.
"Hey, Libs."
"Morning Cancer!" The smile on Libra's face briefly turned to a frown when she saw Taurus, but she brushed it away, "I made us breakfast!"
"Oh," Cancer looked disappointed, she was planning on making all of them breakfast, and she usually did, since she was one of the few people who rose early in the zodiacs, "All alone?"
"I had a little bit of help from Virgo," Libra smiled, "But yeah."
Cancer decided that having somebody else cook for one day probably wasn't that bad. And all doubt left her when she walked downstairs and entered a kitchen that smelled of waffles and croissants.
Huh, classically Italian.
Taurus trudged in behind, and he watched as Cancer instinctively looked around for Aquarius before she spotted the dark-haired brunette sitting on the edge of the sofa with a book in her hand.
"I'm guessing- no, scratch that, I'm hoping you didn't help them make breakfast?" Cancer teased as she walked towards her best friend.
Aquarius laughed, but she didn't say anything. She kept her book aside and looked at Cancer.
"Why are you up right now, anyway? You usually wake up half-an-hour after I do." Cancer raised an eyebrow.
"We're in a new country." Aquarius said, "I'm tryna be here as much as I can. Besides, I thought Ophiuchus would want us up by now anyway."
"Right, of course," Cancer muttered before she got up and headed to the kitchen.
The next people to walk down the stairs were Sagittarius and Gemini, together, arms around each other, eliciting everyone's curiosity because no one else knew how they even managed to get together at night- or if they even did, in the first place.
They were followed by Pisces, who seemed tired, and Capricorn who looked fit and ready for the day.
Then came down Leo, Scorpio, and Aries, all looking perked up and energetic. The signs flooded the kitchen table, sitting wherever they felt like, and the last one down was Ophiuchus, who sat at the head of the table.
Ophiuchus looked wide awake , hair messy, but face clear and devoid of any sign of a lack of sleep.
"So, here's your schedule for today," Ophiuchus said as they were getting into their last bites of authentic Italian cuisine. All twelve heads turned to him inquisitively.
"I've gotten information from Raphael, and apparently, Kiernan and his mom came with Lucifer as well." Ophiuchus smirked, "I'm gonna pair you guys up-"
"Can I go with Pis-" Gemini was cut off by the voice and glare of Ophiuchus.
"And I need no objections."
"Virgo will go with Capricorn, and they will directly be spying on Lucifer and the men that are going with him," Ophiuchus said, and Virgo and Capricorn exchanged glances before nodding, "He's going to be setting a dirty deal with a personality who is unknown to us as of now."
"I'll need Taurus and Cancer to spy on Ardere, Lucifer's wife, who will be out on a little date with all of her Italian friends, according to Raphael's sources." Ophiuchus glanced at the mentioned signs, who immediately nodded, "And it's at the little, posh restaurant down the street."
So, Ophiuchus is playing matchmaker, is it?
He put Taurus and Cancer together for no apparent reason, except he noticed how close they looked at Arthur's party. And Capricorn and Virgo-? It was obvious.
"Scorpio and Sagittarius will be spying on some of Lucifer's men at his mansion." Ophiuchus continued.
"Aquarius and Leo- you guys get to mess around with Kiernan," Ophiuchus was smirking, "Which won't be that hard now, will it, Aqua?"
Aquarius's thoughts tipped off of their shelf.
Ophiuchus knew about whatever had happened between the air sign and Kiernan at his party because Scorpio had gone to him after a while, Scorpio and Ophiuchus were close enough for the water sign to confide in the thirteenth zodiac, who was sadly, never made official.
"He'll be at the bar with a couple friends."
Leo felt the sudden need to walk over to Ophiuchus and punch him in the face, but held back because Leo, just like a few of the zodiacs was pretty well acquainted with Ophiuchus.
And so both the brunettes nodded.
"And Pisces and Aries- you guys will be at Lucifer's second mansion, and trying to look for clues or hear in."
Pisces blushed multiple shades of pink, before she felt both Aries's and Ophiuchus's gaze on her, causing her to nod.
"And finally, Gemini and Libra, you guys will be with me as we go to Lucifer's third mansion and hang around there."
The signs nodded as Taurus choked on his last bites of food, "'Third mansion'?? How rich is this guy?"
Ophiuchus chuckled, "He's probably seen loads of cash at the mere age of fifteen years that you couldn't see if you lived another hundred."
Taurus didn't look offended, because he knew Ophiuchus wasn't referring to just him.
"Take pictures, record conversations, do whatever you have to." Ophiuchus said, "Stay stealthy, and most importantly, don't-"
"Don't die, yes, we know." Sagittarius said, almost rolling his eyes.
"So, that's it, then?" Leo asks, eyes moving to Aquarius before landing back on Ophiuchus.
"Yep."
Aquarius held up her glass of wine, which Libra had oddly decided to serve for breakfast before she gave a lopsided grin.
"Here's to Capricorn's life."
