Killer Instinct: A Zodiac Story

Chapter 23: His Soliloquy

After they were given lunch (thankfully, King Ophiuchus did not show up), they were sent back to their rooms to prepare for their meeting.

Pisces stood on the tips of his toes, struggling to peer out over the walls and out into the town beyond the castle grounds. It certainly looked like a festival was about to take place: there were colourful tents scattered about and there were banners strung up, swaying in the wind. People were wandering about – dark shapes dressed in dark blues or blacks that seemed to move in huge shifting masses.

"Wow..." Pisces breathed as he studied the vibrant colours just beyond the castle. He had never seen so many people in one place at once; Orion's laboratory only seemed to be populated with scientists and guards, as far as he could tell, and here in Ophiuchus's castle, there only seemed to be guards hovering around them.

Despite the looming prospect of the mission, Pisces was ready to just kick back his feet and relax for a day. The concept of a festival – simply a day to have fun – was foreign to him, but Pisces was ready to embrace it.

"Evil tyrants wouldn't hold festivals, would they?" He pondered aloud as he lowered himself from the windowsill. "Maybe Orion's mistaken, and maybe they could actually be great friends if they just met each other!"

He could almost hear Scorpio berating him for having such 'impossible thoughts'. The auburn-haired girl was always more down-to-earth (and negative, at that), which Pisces was grateful for, but... the idea that they wouldn't have to go around killing people was a dream that Pisces wanted to cling on to.

The simulation training sessions they had back then always had everyone attack them all at once, from the guards to the civilians. Pisces had never really questioned it, but seeing the civilians all ready to celebrate the festival really did make him think. Why would normal, innocent civilians attack us for no reason anyway...?

Because none of them are innocent. They're all on the evil king's side and they're murderers and blah blah blah...

Pisces laughed softly at his mind's imitation of Orion's voice. Orion had drilled these ideas into their heads ever since he could remember, but then... why?

"Never mind about that." He said aloud. "Let's just enjoy the festival for a day, then we can think about that afterwards!"

---

King Ophiuchus carefully flipped one of the delicate pages and studied the sketches of the twelve constellations upon the page.

He had read this book so many times in his youth – and now – but the book still was maintained and kept in near-perfect condition. It was one of his greatest treasures, after all: The Story of the Zodiacs. They were tales of the legendary twelve zodiac signs who roamed the earth, serving justice to those who deserved it until their deaths – then they were raised and made into constellations to roam the skies forever. It was what the Asteria Festival celebrated, anyway, especially after he ascended to the throne as King.

He smiled faintly as he recalled his childhood. It had been a tough one, for sure – his family constantly had to scavenge for food to eat every night and he had grown up ridiculed by everyone around him simply for being born poor.

They deserve it. All of this agony, this pain I had to endure – they certainly regret it now, don't they? Oh, but they can't – they're dead, after all. Mother, Father – are you proud of me? You always knew I was destined for greatness, that I was meant to be the thirteenth zodiac to rule over the others.

When he had been made ruler at the young age of eighteen, he had immediately employed the empire's greatest scientists – Dr Mensas, most importantly – to create the elite guard he had dreamed of as a child. The twelve babies they brought back were named after the zodiacs and granted magnificent powers, just like the powers the legendary zodiacs had in their tales, for the jobs that they would have when they grew up.

And so they did. They grew up in the castle twice as fast as a normal child would after Dr. Mensas's invention, trained under Dr. Mensas and became the most powerful and feared people in the empire. And every single one of them was under his command and were perfectly loyal to him and only him.

Then he began the extermination programme. Those who defied him found themselves at the blades of his elite Zodiacs, and justice was served accordingly in the pain they had to suffer before being granted the mercy of death. Especially those who had mistreated him as a child – they suffered long, torturous hours under his Zodiacs' hands until they begged for death.

"Finally... I will have my Zodiacs back." He hummed softly. "The people have gotten too arrogant and disloyal without my Zodiacs here to monitor them."

The temporary Zodiacs he had enacted were practically useless with keeping everyone under control. None of them – not even their leader, Rin, who was the 'Aries' of the group – was truly feared like his Zodiacs were. And their powers, which had been granted through several painful injections and torturous tests, weren't even anywhere close to what his Zodiacs could achieve.

"If only Mensas didn't run away like the coward he is," Ophiuchus hissed as he suddenly slammed the book shut. "And all he left was his pathetic student Cetus in his place... traitor."

"Sir... the backup serum is ready." A quiet voice disrupted his burst of anger. Dr. Cetus hovered at the doorway to the library, fiddling nervously with the hem of his collared shirt. With a faint twinge of dark glee, Ophiuchus noticed the bandages that covered the back of the scientist's head and forehead. Ophiuchus breathed out heavily and slowly stood up.

"Very well." He said with as much calm as he could muster. "The Asteria Festival begins in a hour and a half. The meeting is in thirty minutes' time, so make sure the Zodiacs are ready for that."

A smile crossed his face. "Oh, certainly: this year's Asteria Festival... it'll be one that nobody will forget. It'll be the one when the Zodiacs are brought back... then I will unleash them upon every single traitor I can find, especially Orion's pathetic rebels."