Vincent stared at the goat as it watched him from across the street. He wasn't exactly sure why there was a goat near the bus stop. Its horizontal eyes watched him carefully. He had heard that the town had a zoo that was on the way. He knew they would pass it everyday going to school. He wondered if that's where it came from.

Looking around to the few other students that were at the bus stop to see if they were paying attention, but they weren't. Their phones seemed to take up most of their attention. Vincent frowned. He wanted to say something but felt they wouldn't listen to the new kid. His family had just moved to town.

The bus came around the street corner. The bright yellow paint clashed with the cloudy gray day. It came to a stop and opened the door with a eerie squeak. Vincent climbed on board. The bus driver gave a nod to the students that boarded. Vincent returned a nod and took a seat behind the driver. He looked out the window and saw the goat staring up at him. Its body began to shimmer with a strange light, causing Vincent to jump. He blinked a few times and looked back at the goat that was now leaving. The bus lurched forward and began to go to his new middle school. He could see his reflection cast in the window. His blue eyes could almost cut through the glass with how piercing they looked. His parents always said it clashed with his black hair.

Vincent hoped this school would be different. His family had moved several times over the last few years, causing him to not have any lasting friendships. His mother's words echoed in his head: "Try to make some friends today. For all they know, you've been here just as long as they have," she told him. Her voice was always soft and supporting.

"I'll try. I feel a lot of them probably went to elementary school together," Vincent had replied. He didn't try to look at it with a negative outlook, but his moving experience taught him that childhood friends tended to stick together.

"Be positive, son," his father chimed in. "Your mother just wants what is best for you. Both of us do." Vincent's father was equally supportive. Passed his deep voice and intimidating height, he was a soft-hearted man.

Vincent gave them both a nod and a smile. He really wanted to make friends. He also wanted his parents to be happy with his school and potential friends.

Vincent's thoughts of that morning came to a stop as he heard some of the other students on the bus talking about the news. One student across the aisle from him must have noticed his curious face. "Did you catch the morning news?" he asked.

Vincent shook his head. "Haven't gotten to set up our TVs yet or Wi-Fi." He frowned after he realized what he said. So much for acting like he wasn't a new kid.

A student from the seat behind Vincent's then said, "New to town? Have you seen the zoo yet?"

"Yeah I'm new," Vincent admitted, not really wanting to hide it. "I've heard of the zoo but I haven't had time to go to it yet."

The student across the aisle added, "Apparently there was a freak accident overnight. Some of the animals escaped!"

"How?" Vincent asked as his mind went back to the strange glowing goat.

"The reporters didn't know. It seemed the cages were torn apart by something really strong, like the gorillas."

"Yeah but they said the gorilla exhibit wasn't touched," the student behind Vincent said.

"That is pretty strange," Vincent added.

The rest of the bus ride was of all the students collectively trying to come up with what happened. The most accepted theory was that one of the gorillas had learned to escape and release the other animals and get back into their exhibit. It was good to see that any of the students could talk to anyone without any friendship barrier. It gave Vincent hope that this year would be different.

The bus pulled up to his new middle school. Kids were already being dropped off by their parents or other buses. Everyone seemed friendly and willing to have conversation with anyone else. Perhaps everyone was feeling the same feeling as Vincent. It was a new school and it was a chance to make more friends.

Vincent pulled out his class schedule from his backpack. It was folded neatly by his mother so he could store it easier. His first class was in the 12th room of the first hallway. Science with Mister Garrett Headway. Mr. Headway already sounded like an old teacher that wouldn't have too much fun in his classroom. Vincent still had hopes for a fun-filled year.

The school felt large. It's entrance was several doorways all side by side. There were tons of students Vincent wanted to talk to, but most of them seemed to be shut off, so he felt as if he couldn't approach them.

Moving through the crowds of students, Vincent wanted to make sure to be in the classroom when the bell rang. He noticed a few of the others from his bus were heading the same way. It put a smile on his face. At least he had some people he could easily talk to now.

The bell rang as a few more students came through the door. Vincent had already found a desk by the large windows on the side of the classroom. He wasn't too close to the front, but he wasn't near the back either. His plan was by sitting somewhere in the middle of the desks and to the side, he might have a less chance to get called on by the teacher.

"Good morning class!" a young energetic voice shouted as it came from the doorway.

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Vincent looked to see who he assumed was Mr. Headway. It looked as if he was right out of college. He looked full of youth. A smile spread across his face as his brown eyes looked to all the students. He marched into the classroom and put a suitcase on the desk.

"I am not your teacher, Mr. Headway. Mr. Headway is sick and I will be substituting for him until further notice. My name is," the teacher explained as he moved to the white board, "Evans Litwin. But please do not call me Mr. Litwin. Evans will be fine."

Vincent watched Evans move around the front of the classroom as if he had just had several cups of coffee. He had always remembered his mother saying she can't get going without at least one cup of the aromatic brown liquid known as coffee.

"Now, have you all heard of the catastrophe at the zoo?" Evans asked with wide eyes and a smirk.

A student raised their hand. Evans pointed to them and said "Yes?"

"Shouldn't you take attendance first?"

"Attendance? Already?" Evans said as he looked to his wrist. He had a rather elaborate watch on. There were spinning parts and bits that seemed to branch off of the main device. "Let's talk about something interesting first, before we get into the serious science stuff, eh?"

The class chuckled a bit. Vincent looked out the window. It started to drizzle.

"So yeah, strange stuff with that zoo. From what I saw, they have successfully recaptured any escaped animals. What I find interesting is that there have been reports of other zoo-like animals still in the town."

Vincent glanced back at the teacher. Evans seemed to notice his reaction, because his smile got wider. "Have any of you seen any other animals out and about?"

Most of the classroom said no. Vincent kept quiet. He didn't want to be that kid that seemed to be looking for attention. He decided to look back out the window. In the field right beside the school, a goat stood staring at Vincent. "This thing again?" Vincent thought to himself.

The goat began to slowly walk towards the school. It's body shimmered and shined as if it was something celestial. It reminded Vincent of stars. With each step it took towards the school, the goat seemed to slowly change. It began to grow bigger. Vincent blinked a few times to be sure what he was seeing was real. No one else seemed to notice it. They continued talking about how gorillas might be more crafty than they look.

The goat was now half the size of the classroom. it's horns were larger and curled. It was going to ram into the classroom. Vincent panicked. His voice lost him, so he couldn't say anything. The large beast slammed into the classroom. Vincent braced himself to be trampled.

After a few seconds, he opened his eyes to see glimmering starry-looking dust around him. Everything else in the classroom was still. Glass shards and debris were frozen in the air. The beast was stuck, trying to continue its charge, but seemed to be held back by whatever the glimmering dust was.

"I had a feeling you were a Signed," Evans voice said as he stood between the beast and Vincent.

Evan's brown hair swayed slightly from the intense breathing the large beast let out. He looked over his shoulder to Vincent. "Though I've never seen powers like yours before."

Vincent stared blankly at the substitute teacher. Evans gave Vincent a smile and turned back towards the ram. He lifted his hands. A bow and arrow appeared in his hands. He drew the arrow and shot at the beast. The massive animal screamed and exploded into more star dust.

Evans' bow and arrow disappeared. He turned towards Vincent. "I do apologize for this next part." Evans began to mess with his elaborate watch. The next thing Vincent knew, the classroom was back to normal, with no beast or crashing debris. Vincent looked to Evans, who was still in conversation about gorillas. Then Vincent's desk fell apart.

The pieces of the desk clattered and caused everyone to turn their attention to Vincent, who was now on the floor. "Are you okay, kid?" Evans asked as he rushed over to Vincent.

"I...I think so," Vincent managed to say through his shock.

"Let me help you get to the nurse's office, just in case." Evans helped Vincent out of the pieces of the desk. "The rest of you can start reading chapter one of the textbooks. And yes, I'll take attendance when I get back."

Evans felt his face go red as he felt the eyes of all the other students on him as he was escorted out of the class. As soon as they got out of the classroom, Evans turned towards him. "You didn't get hurt too bad from that right?"

Vincent still was processing what happened. "That goat..."

"Ram, well, I suppose same thing, but in this case, ram is the proper term."

"So that *did* happen?"

"Well yeah. I had been looking for that thing for a while now. It made the mistake of making local news with that zoo incident."

"But...what was that even?" Vincent questioned as they began to walk towards the nurse's.

"We call them Aspected."

Vincent wasn't sure what that even meant. "You called me a Signed?"

Evans chuckled. "Yeah not the best circumstances to introduce you to all this. Let me start by saying I am not really your substitute teacher. I'm a teacher for Apsis Academy. I was filling in for one of the hunters in this region."

"So, what's Apsis Academy? Are you even Evans Litwin?"

"That is my name yes. Didn't feel right to lie to you guys. Apsis Academy is a school for the Signed, which is what you are. Someone with powers granted by their Zodiac."

"Zodiac? Like astrology?"

"Exactly! I'm glad you know that much. Most newbies haven't even heard of astrology. But in our case, it isn't just a belief or variant of science, it's real. Zodiacs are beings that grant Signed powers that belong to that Zodiac."

Vincent knew a bit of zodiacs. "So your bow...that's a Sagittarius symbol right?"

Evans smiled and rolled up one of his sleeves. On his forearm was the sign of Sagittarius. "November 22nd. Almost a Scorpio." The mention of Scorpio made Evans shudder.

"So...what sign am I then?"

"That's actually where it gets complicated." Evans pushed open the nurse's office door. Inside, Vincent was surprised to see his parents instead of a nurse.

"Mom? Dad?" Vincent exclaimed.

"Vincent!" they both said as he entered the office.

"What's going on?" Vincent asked as he turned and looked at Evans.

"We wanted to tell you that you were a Signed, son, just like us. It was just a complicated matter," his father explained.

Vincent blinked a few times. He was surprised to hear his dad saying the same thing as Evans. "Why is it complicated? It's all rather strange and confusing."

"It's a lot to take in when you first learn," Vincent's mother said.

"You see, Vincent," Evans said as he closed the office door. "Under normal circumstances, you would have been a Signed under Capricorn. Your parents told me your birthday is the 27th of December."

"So what's the problem?"

"13 years ago, the scholars at Apsis had noticed a...hiccup of sorts, amongst the stars and planets. We can't be exactly sure what had happened, but something was different in the order of planets the day you were born. Not even the day, it was the moment you were born. We know that now."

"So...what do the planets and stars having a problem mean for me?" Vincent questioned.

Evans took in a deep breath. "It means you're of a 14th Zodiac."