The Life of the Zodiacs

Backstory part. 2

Capricorn's P.O.V.

12 years ago

"Merde. Why should I make the inspection of the new cadets, there are tons others soldiers beside me. I could've been relaxing in my house now but noooo, Father just had to screw my evening, did he not?" I murmured to myself as I passed through the hallways.

I was irritated to say the least. Many of our soldiers were disappearing lately and nobody knew why, but that was not my problem, I could just kill them myself.

"Stay calm" I tell myself "Breathe. This a simple inspection that won't last as long as you stay controlled." Yes. It will only last about an hour or so.

The training grounds were ahead and the smell of sweat already infested the air. New cadets were brought from the East Side to substitute the missing soldiers - and probably killed, for that matter - two days ago, resting and training for the inspection of today. I bet they thought they would be searched by a normal inspector, maybe this will be fun after all.

I shall bring them hell.

There were about 20 new faces in the training grounds. They were good, but not perfect. They could use some more training, even though some seemed promising.

A flash of black caught my eye. I turned my eye to see an... enchantress. A beautiful, seductive enchantress. She was fast and agile, strong and appeared to be very good at the mythical arts. There were some symbols not even I recognized, she must have created them. However, as beautiful as she seemed, I still could not see her face, so I walked around the grounds to catch a glimpse. Her purple eyes got my attention immediately, those luscious lips and, above all, her determined face. She would be a problem, especially since I couldn't take my eyes off of her. Beautiful.

The sound of yelling got me out of my trance. I turned to see my second in command fighting with my captain. Aries was always a hot head.

I whistled towards the cadets and told them to form a line in the middle of the grounds.

"Do you know who I am, soldiers?" I asked

"You're the right hand of the King, High Inquisitor and General Capricorn of the Great Guard, madam!" They yelled in union. I always hated the title of High Inquisitor.

"Correct. However, today, as in seem of some missing soldiers, I am also..." I grabbed a pen and a piece of paper with their names in it "... your inspector."

They all frozen. All except one, the blue haired boy. The little shit was actually smirking! He's going to the Tartarus.

"What is you name, cadet?" I asked

"Ma'am, I'm Aquila, ma'am!" He answered still smirking. Arrogant.

"Why are you smirking, cadet?"

"Well, you see ma'am, I was the best in my academy along some of my friends here" he pointed to his friends "and was never seriously harmed in training. My reflexes are incredibly fast. I'm just that good"

"And are you always confident on that single ability, cadet?" I was looking straight in the eyes right now, we were almost the same height "Always?"

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am"

One second later, he was in the floor spitting blood. I had punched him in the stomach. He was arrogant, he wouldn't survive in a real battlefield.

"That could've been a sword, cadet. And you wouldn't have stopped it, and could be dead by now. I'm here to train you all so you can protect yourselves and others, but if you let a single powerless punch like that defeat you, I'm afraid there's nothing I can do"

He was almost passing out. I scratched the name from my list. "You are relieved of your operations as a soldier in the King's army and may return home by tomorrow." I made him look at me one last time "Your arrogance and selfishness can kill you. Don't rely on only one skill, or else you'll be beat by it"

Aquila was taken by the medics to the Hospital Wing next day and would go to his old quarters in the East. For now, I had to finish the inspection.

Most of the cadets were good. Agile, fast, strong and loyal. There were some rejected cases that, until these days, I highly question myself how they got in the academy in the first place.

The East side seemed to be consisted mostly of paladins and warriors, with a few others cases and only one magician. Scorpio.

Aside from being deliciously beautiful, she was a great soldier that seemed focused on her cause. I tried shaking the alluring images of my head, but seemed impossible of doing so.

What I was surprised was that one of those 'Aquila's friends' actually was pretty outstanding. Sure, he was arrogant and cheeky, but at least he knew how to control himself. This 'Aquarius' really surprised me.

By the end of the training, only seven cadets were left. Only two of them would be in my command.

"Auriga, Lyra and Orion. You tree will proceed to the Left Wing and await your instructions, just ask for Gemini, she will take you there" They left "Pegasus and Perseus. You both will serve under the order of General Draknill. Proceed to the South Wing" Both left.

"Aquarius and Scorpio. I must say that I am surprised with you abilities" I said with a small smirk on my face "Although I did see some flaws"

"Aquarius, you need to learn how to stand your ground, not just avoid the damage. Your resistance needs practice. And so does your arrogance." He kept a straight face and nodded

"Scorpions, you need to control your temper and cool your head. In battle, that could kill you. And I'm sure no one would like to see that" She also nodded

"With that in mind, do you both still think you're apt for the King's Army?"

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am" They yelled

"Good. Remind yourselves of what I told you today and report tomorrow in the North Wing" I gave them both the password to the training grounds.

"Welcome to the Great Guard, cadets"

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