Agents Of Zodiac

CHAPTER 17

Scorpio, Pisces and Cancer cut through the dense foliage to get to the site which the Leo's radar had shown. It was apparently inside a deserted building, more like an Amazonian temple in ruins. The ground was soft, and their boots kept sinking in that as they trudged towards their location. Scorpio had her hand on her gun and was trying to sense any hostile presence that could attack them from the bushes.

The green, which would have once been calming was a source of fear for her, as it concealed any potential enemies. Pisces and Cancer had given up asking her to calm down, because they knew she wouldn't listen. Her eyes scanned the forest like a cautious radar, looking for criminals.

To be honest, who she was looking for were criminals but that is beside the point. They could all feel that sense of urgency and fear, just it was more pronounced in Scorpio. That hidden fear that they might fail, despite the assurances of themselves. The danger that was inside and outside them. The potential for mass destruction if their enemies succeeded. That choked Scorpio to the point of hysteria.

The forest was hot and humid and they sweated enormously, having been wearing their agent costume, which was not at all suitable for such a place. But now wasn't the time for regrets. They needed to act. And fast.

Running wouldn't help them in the muddy terrain, so they were resigned to walking quicky and cautiously. They were lucky to not have encountered much threats till now. The anaconda was endangered, so there wasn't much chance of encountering that. And so were most of the other creatures of this place. Except maybe the piranha, which they would meet when they set foot in the water.

However, that didn't mean that they wouldn't encounter snakes or other beasts, which were deadly and dangerous. Be the predator, not the prey. The motto that all agents followed. Some sacrifices were necessary for the greater good.

The greater good.

Scorpio's ever alert senses picked up a movement in front of her and she stopped, and so did the others. A thin black and green ropelike structure was slithering across the ground. It wouldn't have been noticable if not for her hyper-aware senses which pronounced anything mildly suspicious as a threat.

Their breath caught and they paused, trying to make zero movement and enable the snake to pass by, without disturbing it. Scorpio's senses were on over-drive but Pisces's calming hand prompted her to not fire at the innocent creature in front of them.

The snake slowly passed away, almost lazily, one might say, taking its time to scare the wits out of the agents for what would happen if they made a wrong move.  Scorpio released her breath and put a hand to her chest, panting from the strain of concentration. Her muscles hurt from standing tensed for the long time and so did her lip, which had burst from her biting it while the snake passed. Cancer looked at her but did not comment as Pisces started speaking,

"Scorp, we all know how dangerous this mission is. Believe me, we do. Calm down, your muscles are too strained. Loosen up, sis."

Scorpio took one look at her and sighed.

"I just don't want to die, okay?"

"None of us do, I can assure you that," Cancer's dry voice attracted their attention to him.

His lips were thinned with his eyebrows drawn up together in a frown and he looked perturbed for some reason. Scorpio did not comment but stored that piece of information in her head. Cancer noticed her look and smiled, trying to put her at ease. Safe to say, he did not succeed.

Pisces just blatantly missed the entire exchange, being concentrated on the bird on a branch of a tree in front of them.

In her defense, it was a colourful macaw. It was beautiful, with its long and colourful mix of feathers. It shrieked, attracting the attention of the other two as well.

They looked up, just as the macaw opened its beak to speak.

"Hello travellers from afar.
This is a perilous test which you have signed up for
The thing you seek
Which not be the thing you need
Do remember that."

With these words, the macaw flew away, the beating of her wings causing an illusion of the Wheel to float in the air, which faded away in a purple haze.

Strange.

"Excuse me, but what the hell was that?" Cancer said, voicing everyone's sentiments.

"I wish I knew the answer, Can," Pisces said with a sigh.

Scorpio did not comment and continued to look at the direction in which it had faded with a blank look on her otherwise tense face.