The Zodiac Kingdom

6

"What do you mean you don't know?!" Leo exploded at them. The other two jumped back a little at this. Their heads lowered in shame.

"We are sorry," Taurus said, "We were taken by surprise and had no time to prepare for the attack. We have no idea how they got in."

"We really did try," Gemini looked up at the three with tears in her eyes, "But I don't have the same power as Taurus does, and he was taken out first, even with his chain. There was no way I stood a chance."

Sagittarius sighed, "It's alright, it's not your fault. We can't worry about it right now. We have other things to worry about." He gestured to the coffin where Scorpio was standing. "Can we do anything about this magic?"

"We can see into her mind," Scorpio said, "But we can't interfere otherwise. If we do, her body will decay."

"Let's do just that then," Leo said, "It could provide some help. We need all the details we can get."

"Agreed," Sagittarius said. The three gods surrounded the coffin and held their hands together. A ritual circle appeared on the floor below them; Their eyes started to glow white. They started to chant a spell of a language only they know of and can understand. In a flash of blue light, the ritual circle lifted up and spread its essence around the three in protection. They lifted their heads up as the magic transported them in the dead goddess's mind.

They became a swirl of colors, spinning into an energy ball before lowering itself on the her head. It disappeared, and they were in.

~

"Was it a good idea to let them know this much?"

"Possibly, but it doesn't matter much."

"How come?"

"There's only 3 outcomes now, and all three are how we want it to be."

"What are they?"

"The first is the revenge, the second is peace, and the third is a secret. They can hear us, you know, and all of these involve that one person."

"Is it possible?"

"They have forgot the rule, it was destroyed along with the books on dark magic. Pity, if they never were destroyed, the outcome wouldn't be this bloody."

"I suppose that is true. Do you think they'll actually do the thing they swore not to do?"

"Upupupupup! I know they will. If it's for her especially!"

"We'll just wait and see."

~

The three gods found themselves stitting in a vast flower field, full of purple and blue flowers.

"What is this place?" Sagittarius asked, mostly to himself.

"We landed in the one place that cannot be touched, her happy place," Scorpio sighed, "It's a great place, but we'll never find the source here. This field is full of happy memories and light magic. We're looking for dark magic."

Leo stood up, "I suppose we should start walking, we don't know how big this field is, and to reach one side could take a couple days in the mortal realm."

Sagittarius also stood, "I agree." Scorpio nodded at the prospect and also got up.

Suddenly, a small girl popped up put of nowhere, one with looks very familiar to them. She looked around before spotting the three gods. She bounced over to them with a big smile on her face.

"Big brwthers!" She hugged the closest one, which happened to be Scorpio, "I found you! Can we go get a snack, pwease?" She looked up at Scorpio with puppy eyes. He instantly melted at the sight of seeing his little sister little again.

He smiled genuinely for the first time in 3,000 years, "Of course we can. Anything you want, I'll get for you."

Little Aquarius' eyes lit up at the response, "Yay! Thank you so much, Scwrp!" He froze for a minute, tearing up as he hadn't heard that name in millennias. He dropped to his knees and hugged his sister tightly, afraid to see her disappear again. Aquarius, oblivious to his inner turmoil, hugged him back with all her might.

The two elder brothers, though touched by the scene, looked in with sadness and nostalgia. They wanted to stay with their sister forever, they wanted to live out the rest of eternity if it meant it was with her, but they knew they had to keep going.

"Scorpio," Sagittarius addressed him, "We need to get going, the fate of the world and us depends on it. We need to find that source of dark magic."

Little Aquarius let go of Scorpio and went to Sagittarius. Scorpio reluctantly let her go, but looked at her with hope and intensity as if she was going to disappear. Hugging him she said, "Dark magic live in the area past the hill to the north. I don't go there often. It hurts when I do, and I don't know why. If it would make you happy, I'll show you how to get around that area." She let go and suddenly she was older, she looked like a teen now when she was a millennia into goddesshood. Her face was not as bright, it was tainted with despair and agony as she learned the truths of the world.

Leo snapped out of his stupitor, "It would be very helpful to us. People are in danger and we need to help them as soon as possible."

Her face lit up, hiding her sorrows, "Okay! It's not that far, and I know a short cut!"

They followed her just past the hill, and after the hill, was a war ground and mass chaos.  Corpses littered the ground, rivers were made of blood, and buildings looked destroyed.

The crossed the border of what separates the good and bad in a god's head and immediately, Aquarius became a woman in her twenties. Her face looked weary and tired, the spark in her eyes had dulled, and she was ploughed over as if a weight was on her back.

"It's just down these stairs," she said as she opened a door to one of the more intact buildings. They followed her down the steps, illuminated only by black flame.

As the gods walked down, a pungent smell filled their noses. It was nauseating, vulgar, and repulsive. The smell seemed to grow with each step towards the bottom.

At the end of the staircase, there was a door. The smell seemed to be strongest behind there.

"It's just here," Aquarius said weakly, "It's the source." She pushed the door opened, chains wrapping around her and pulling her into the room. The gods followed in quick pursuit, seeing what was happening to their sister.

The goddess looked like a puppet, strung up by chains. The three gods looked at the strings, following to trace the person or thing in control. The thing in control looked close to a certain chain, but had a different appearance. The thing had more power than any chain, and took on a human appearance, a person similar but could not place. Her features were hidden by shadows. The only feature visible was a eerie smile.

The thing, then, laughed at them, a chilling sound that made it feel as if the waters of the cold north were dumped on them and drowning them. It kept pushing and pushing them to a dark pit, and no matter what they did, they couldn't try to fight it.

And all was dark.

~

All three gods awoke in real time at the exact same moment. Sitting up, they tried to get all their bearings in order.

Scorpio looked distraught over the loss of his sister again, no matter how imaginary that figure was.

Leo looked confused; he couldn't make sense of what they just saw. The very nature of the dark magic was something familiar as he used it many years ago, but it was only taught to certain individuals. Excluding the three gods, all the users are dead.

Sagittarius looked worried. He had this sense of knowing that something was going to be bad. He could predict what will happen, but so far, only two were favorable, the rest were very terrible for everyone involved. Not only that, he was concerned about both his brothers' mental states, Scorpio especially.

They all looked at each other and the same thought ran through their minds.

War is coming.