Breaking Free: A Zodiac Story

Chapter 1: Burning with Curiosity

Leo smirked as he conjured his highest jet of fire yet. "Hey, Sagi, look that this!" He yelled, clearly proud of his own achievement.

Sagittarius looked up from whatever she had been making. "I expected better," she said, grinning. She casually lifted a hand and a jet of fire leapt straight up, easily passing Leo's.

"Sagi!" He whined, destroying his jet of fire with a wave of his hand. The brown haired girl smirked in response and put out her fire with a wave of her hand. "I can't help that I'm better than you." She said playfully, ruffling his hair.

Leo was about to make a retort when he heard Aries come up behind him. "Hey little guy," he said, grinning at him.

"I'm not shorter than you!" Leo said, but he couldn't help but smile back. Sagittarius and Aries - they were his two best friends. They were very competitive, but he loved them just the same.

"How's your training with Blaise going?" Aries asked, casually gesturing towards the red haired girl that was just leaving the training hall.

"Oh, that? I think it's going pretty well. I can create a fire shield now!" Aries laughed at Leo's reply and patted his messy hair. "Heh, good job."

"I created my own fire shield when I was seven, and my own fire bow at eight." Sagittarius said, chuckling. "You'd better catch up with me!"

Leo pouted at her and tried to make a grab for her. Still giggling, Sagittarius ducked underneath his flailing hands and ran for the other side of the training hall, calling, "Catch me if you can!"

Leo gave chase. They ended up wrestling on the floor - Sagittarius managed to pin Leo down with a triumphant yell. Aries stood nearby, clearly amused. He helped Leo up, easily pulling the shorter boy to his feet with a hand.

"I think we should head back home now. It's almost dinnertime," Aries said, after the two had brushed off the dust on themselves. "Aww... really?" Leo pouted, looking up at the darkening sky.

"Yep." Aries said, ruffling his hair. "We can see each other tomorrow if you want," he added, after seeing Leo's expression. "Aw, fine." He said, sharing a glance with Sagittarius. "I'll beat you tomorrow!" he said cheerfully, clearly undeterred by his loss. The brown-haired female chuckled in response. "Of course you will," she said. "You should go home now."

Leo nodded cheerfully. "Okay, see you tomorrow!" he called, quickly exiting the training hall. He made his way across the dirt path, humming a little tune to himself. As he hurried along, a flash of light caught his eye.

"Huh?" he asked, turning. There was nobody there. Leo pondered it for a second, then decided to run in its direction. "Where are you?" he called, peering around a large boulder.

It was only then he realised he was nearly at the famed 'wall' - a long way away from home. "Um... Aries? Sagi?" he said nervously. As if answering, there was another flash of light. He looked around before heading towards it, deciding, "I'll just check this out and I'll go straight home."

He heard a couple of pebbles roll under his foot. He took another step forwards - and suddenly his other foot was moving and the rest of his body followed. He tumbled down the hill, a startled yelp making it past his lips as his heart plummeted.

He thought he heard someone yell his name just before his head struck a rock. Everything became a blur at that point - he was falling and his head was probably bleeding, but everything seemed to be also silent and serene.

Then he hit something firm but soft. The pain finally rushed into his head and he became faintly aware of warmth underneath his fingers, a worried cry, then darkness.

Leo woke with a throbbing head and the feeling of warm hands on his forehead. "Leo!" he heard someone say. "Sagi?" he said, his words slurring together slightly. "What have you gotten yourself into? No, wait, what have you gotten us into?"

Leo groaned and sat up, rubbing at his eyes blearily. "Sagittarius?" he asked, blinking at the brown haired girl in front of him. "The one and only." she said sarcastically, still sounding slightly worried. "Do you even know what you've done?"

"Uh... no." Leo said, feeling the throbbing in his head grow. "Can I have some water?" Sagittarius rolled her eyes, trying to hide her worry for the shorter boy, and yelled, "He wants some water!"

A familiar, red haired male came into sight. "Aries, you're here too?" Leo asked, but he was cut off by Aries shoving a skin of water to his mouth.

He tried to protest, but he felt the cool liquid against his lips and decided otherwise. He drank eagerly, feeling his headache cease. He cleared his throat. "Guys, what's going on?" he asked, squinting at the sky. It was still dark, but it was clearly beginning to lighten.

"I don't know. You tell me." Sagittarius said, suddenly looking tired. "You slipped and fell down a slope, I caught you by summoning a phoenix, but we slipped and fell and landed right by the wall. We're at the other side of the wall because we found a gap and we needed somewhere to put you."

"And we also bandaged your head up." Aries added, crouching down in front of Leo. "You feeling okay?"

"I'm fine," Leo said, beginning to get up. "My mom's going to get worried." He reached for the bandages around his head. Sagittarius slapped his hand away. "Don't touch it!" she chided, but Leo's attention was already elsewhere.

The glowing light he had been following earlier was right before his eyes. He finally got a good look at it - it was humanoid and floating. It was also emitting a soft, yellow light.

"You!" Leo yelped, wide-eyed. "What - why, how -"

"Leo! What are you going on about?" Aries asked, shaking the slightly dazed boy. Leo felt like he was in a completely different world - the figure's mouth was moving, but the words that came out sounded like an echo.

"Three of them will pierce the wall

Nine of them will answer the call

Fire, water, air and earth

Will rise together and prove their worth"

"Leo! What gibberish are you mumbling?!" Sagittarius yelled at Leo. When he didn't respond, she decided to give him the best treatment possible - a slap square to the face.

Leo's head snapped back upwards, nearly hitting Aries in the nose. "It was him, the light, he said the prophecy -" he mumbled. Aries shared a look with Sagittarius. "I think he's hallucinating." he whispered. "He probably hit his head too hard." she whispered back, only for Leo to shake his head and start clambering to his feet.

"He said a prophecy," Leo said, his words jumbled and rushed. "Um, who? There was nobody there." Aries said, trying to get him to sit down.

"No, no! It's us, we need to fulfil it, the nine..." Leo trailed off, finally allowing Aries to guide him back into his position. "I think you should sleep." Aries said, unsure of what to do.

Leo blinked, trying to get his thoughts together. It felt like someone had quite literally thrown him out of the world only he had seen. "Aries. Sagittarius." he said, suddenly sounding serious. "The light... the spirit. He made a prophecy." he stated.

"A prophecy?" Sagittarius inquired, sounding confused. Leo looked up at her, fixing his piercing blue gaze on the two of them.

"Yes. A prophecy. And we need to fulfil it."