Gundam Zodiac Temples of the Stellars

Temple of Andromeda

At the end of the First Astral Conflict, I woke up in a pool of water, unable to recall what happened during the previous battle. Blue and purple glowing crystals were on the roof and walls with mini waterfalls coming out from them. Aquarius and Leo sat beside the pool with their feet dipped in it, looking towards me with relieved eyes.

Aquarius: Ah! You're awake. How's the water?

Andromeda: It feels good. It's cool but not freezing. It also has a minty chill around me, ah~ so relaxing...

Aquarius: Hehe, I'm glad. How are you feeling now?

Andromeda: I feel fine, thanks for asking. Why?

Aquarius pulled a long face after I asked. My loss of memory wasn't helping me in trying to understand what was on her mind. I climbed out of the pool and sat next to Leo, my feet joining theirs underwater. The water on my clothes dried as soon as I climbed out, sparing me the disgust of wearing soggy clothes. The longer it took for Aquarius to think, the more blue she became, as if she was trying to hide something from me.

Aquarius: I'm sorry, let me reconstruct my thoughts...

Leo: Take your time.

Just then, a lion cub walked up against Leo with the urge to cuddle with him. Its head rubbing against Leo's waist while he scratched its neck lightly. Confused and slightly jealous, I leaned up against Leo with my head against his shoulder.

Andromeda: Leo? What's with the cub?

Leo: Him? That's my brother.

Andromeda: Leo Minor? Why does he look like that?

Leo: *sigh*, you may not have known this. Mother Asteria thought that it would be a good idea to give constellations that represent animals the ability to turn into them, but that ability is completely useless now... Leo Minor was traumatized by the conflict since he was tortured by Ophiuchus, so he hid himself in his lion cub form and lives with me. But by doing so, he's lost his ability to speak.

Andromeda: He looks pretty cute in this form, like an eternally young lion cub.

I slowly reached over to Leo Minor's chin and started to scratch it. Not only did he not scratch me, he moved his head closer to my hand and willingly let me scratch him, enjoying every second of it. I smiled as he patted my arm with his paw in glee, the moment taking me away from the weight that was on Aquarius. As he laid down on my thighs and slept, I brushed my right hand from his head to his back, he was too cute for me to resist!

Leo: He seems to like you.

Andromeda: Well, we've been through the same treatment before we ended up here. I've been consoling him throughout the events of the conflict, after all. Plus I had nine children with Perseus, so I'm naturally good at taking care of the young ones.

Leo: I see...

Aquarius: Andromeda?

I broke from the trance of brushing the cute Leo Minor and looked over to Aquarius in a panic as if I got scared by something. The weight seemed to not affect her as much as before judging by her face.

Andromeda: Y- yes?

Aquarius: I don't want to scare you by telling you this, but this is something that you have to know. After Perseus activated the Hysteria System in your Gundam, you have been infected with Singular Energy. Your mind has been taken control by him so you were oblivious to what you were doing. Luckily I was able to stop you while Leo and Sagittarius were occupied, so I brought you here to purify you with my water.

Andromeda: Were you able to wash that energy from my system?

Aquarius: I don't want to say for sure. The last time I did this was when I purified Capricorn, and although he seemed fine right after the purification, the energy still laid dormant in him, so I don't want to say for sure in your case.