☆ Path of the Zodiac☆ Book 1: The Journey Begins

Chapter 1: A not-so-happy birthday from my dad

I woke up to the sound of my alarm clock. Great. I thought. A fantastic way to wake up. I sat up as if I was rising from the most comfortable 100-year sleep Ever. I looked at the calendar. Oh, it's October 30th!

I changed into my clothes (a really, really old t-shirt, some jeans, the old scorpion necklace my mother gave me, and some cheap shoes and unclean socks.) I combed my hair back to its normal form and headed downstairs happily.

I looked at the old wooden table with two stools and saw a box. Finally! A present! My dad walked into the room and looked at me as if he were trying to remember who I was and where I came from. Then he smiled for the first time since I lost my mother. (Or so I thought) "Happy birthday Hugo..."

First thought that came to my mind? Go back to bed dad, and stop hanging out with strangers! I managed to smile back. "Thanks, dad." By the way, if you did not know, my name is Hugo Byston. Lame, I know right? I live in a very old house in a very poor neighborhood in the beautiful country of Canada.

You must have thought I was from America.

Well, nope. Because I'm too cool for that country. Anyway, today is my birthday. Yes, I'm poor. No, I still go to school and I don't hate America, that much.

So, today was the day when my life turned upside down. Back to the story.

My dad almost collapsed head-first into the dirt floor, but he fainted the other way, butt-first, he looked really sleepy. I sighed and went closer to the table. Next to the box was a small muffin with a match that looked burned out on top. The cherry on the ice cream, the pina to the colada, the U.S to the A, you get my point.

But- GROSS! It had nuts and ants, I repeat, ANTS, on it. Definitely the U to UCKY. So I threw it into the bin. Now it's time for the real Fiesta to begin. I rubbed my hands as I looked at the box. I (almost) calmly opened the box, as if I had found a bunch of maple syrup bottles for free in good condition.

It was a letter with a smaller package inside. Gee, thanks, life. Making it worse for me every year. The letter was in a pretty envelope. I opened it, trying not to get a paper cut. The letter almost made me fall on my butt just like my dad. Holy guacamole, whatever that was. The letter read:

Dear Hugo Byston,

This might be a surprise for you, but you happen to be one of the 12 zodiacs. In this case, you are Scorpio, Wich is what we will call you from this day, October 30th,

---- (the year was blurry) until the day you perish. We will bring into safe hands, nurture you until you reach your full strength, and then you will set out on a quest and you will find the other 11 zodiac signs. Their names, information, and location data will be given to you before you start your quest. We hope that you will accept this request, because if you decline, you will forever live in this poor state of yours and perish quickly.

Sincerely,

Benjamin Boune

The leader of the I.Z.T.I

What.The.Hell.

Was this a new version of superheroes or something? Was this some kind of joke? Well, I did not want to 'perish' yet, but I did not know how to 'accept' this 'request'. So I Just sat there, staring at the letter. The box. I looked inside the box and saw the little package, sitting there untouched.

As they say,

Screw it.

I opened the small package and saw a red button. What a gift, Benny. It had a tag that said:

Press the button to accept.

B.B

Okay, B.B, I trust that you won't kill me.

BIG MISTAKE HUGO, BIG MISTAKE!!!!

As soon as I pressed that button, I knew that I had made the best or worst mistake in my life. A tornado of blue and white whirled from the sky, making the room a DISASTER. Come on, tornado, I cleaned that room yesterday!!! Okay okay, chillax. Jokes aside, no sarcasm, that thing was huge.

It blasted everything except me to another room. I gripped my scorpion necklace tightly. Then the flash came. Not the superhero, the literal thing. A flash of blinding light. Do the neighbors see this? Is my dad okay? Then the tornado disappeared, and so did I.

Shit just got real.