Twelve

ch 17: Caged

Without forming any semblance of a plan after the revelation granted to them by Cori, the zodiacs returned to their rooms. Sci sat on the edge of his bed, nervously wringing his hands.

His brothers and sisters were convinced that he was the solution to their centuries long problem. They were all so satisfied with an ounce of a solution that they failed to take into account several things.

The first being how reliable this information was. Gods played games all the time. The endless reincarnations that the zodiac had to suffer through over the millennia was only one example. Surely some of his siblings had considered this hunt was a sick viewing game for the gods? Apollo's hints could easily be false hopes given to them to further entertain the gods.

In addition, if Scorpio really was the one with the ability to kill Orion once and for all, how? Even without Artemis's weapon, what was Scorpio supposed to kill Orion with? His bare hands? There was certainly no way any of his uncaptured siblings had the means to obtain a firearm and Sci was certain to lose in a fight of blades.

Finding no solace in his thoughts, Sci attempted to rest. He was met by dark sleep.

-

Scorpio was surrounded by utter darkness. The only company he had was the steel cage that imprisoned him. The cage whose bars were far too complex and burnt at the touch. The flame that the cage possessed was stronger than any flame that Scorpio could summon at the moment. Through the darkness and the bars, Scorpio could see his pathetic counterpart. He thrashed restlessly in his sleep, plagued by problems in his waking life. Scorpio spat. The weakling human remnant should have dissolved by now. Frustrated, Scorpio slammed his first on the bars for what must have been the hundredth time.

"APOLLO!" he roared. "You Bastard! Release me!"

In a blink of an eye, the sun god appeared in front of the angry zodiac. He brought a harsh and unnatural light with him, nearly blinding Scorpio after he had spent so long in the dark. "There's no need to shout, old friend."

Scorpio spat again, the god cringing at the action. "I am not your friend. Since you've finally arrived, release me."

Apollo smirked and put a hand to his chest. "That hurts, Scorpio. All this time I have been nothing but a friend to you."

"Shut up and release me."

"I can not."

The fire lit in Scorpio's eyes as he screeched and slammed his fist against the cage again.

Apollo tsked. "There is no point in hurting yourself like that. You need only be patient. I promise your time is almost here."

"Toss your promises in the trash where they belong. You've subjected my siblings to your sick games for long enough!"

Apollo's lips pulled into a displeased line. "This is not a game to me, Scorpio. And I know this has taken an unforeseen amount of time, but it was never my intention to torture the zodiacs. All I have ever wanted was to keep that lowly hunter from my sister."

Scorpio's stony glare easily rivalled Medusa's. "I don't give a damn about your intentions and I don't want your excuses. There was never a doubt in my mind that a selfish motive lay behind the torture of my siblings, but I don't really care. I just want this to be over with. The deaths, the reincarnations, watching my siblings die over and over."

Apollo's self-absorbed visage diminished at the sight of the broken Scorpio. He let out a genuinely forlorn sigh as he reached through the bars as if they were clouds.

"This is the last time, my friend," he whispered as he touched Scorpio's temple and sent him into a worriless sleep.