"Wait, *fourteenth* Zodiac? I thought there were only twelve!" Vincent questioned.

Evans half-smiled at his reply. "It was some handful of years ago that an astrologist discovered a constellation that fit into the dynamic of signs and stars. It had been there as a constellation, but we never knew it actually would produce Signed. Ophiuchus, the 13th Zodiac sign. It's the most rare to be born under as a Signed...well, was until now."

Vincent sat on one of the chairs that lined the nurse's wall. He let out a sigh. "So what *is* the fourteenth then?"

"The star constellation. We aren't sure what it is called, because Apsis only got to see it for one night. Since then we haven't seen it. Some of the scholars and astrologists shrug it off as just a strange occurrence, but now we have you. You are the proof."

"So how did you know about me being here?" Vincent asked, feeling that he wasn't really getting any answers at all.

Evans leaned against the nurse's desk. He looked over to Vincent's parents. Both his mother and father sat down beside Vincent. They began to explain how they were both Signed as well. His mother was born under Aries and his father was under Leo.

"So you both went to this Apsis Academy?"

They both nodded. "Not everyone who graduates has to become a scholar or a hunter. Some of us choose to go back to living normal lives, usually knowing whatever children they had would probably be Signed as well."

"So did you both know I was Signed?"

"It's usually easier to tell, but as Evans has explained, it was complicated. You showed no signs of having the powers of a Zodiac," his father explained.

"So when and why did Evans get involved?"

Vincent's mother smiled softly and said, "Well we were being tracked by Aspected beasts. That's why we had to move. We needed to keep you safe. They can apparently sense your uniqueness when it comes to being Signed."

"It works both ways actually," Evans chimed in. "You can tell an animal has been Aspected before they even reveal their powers. They are a strange byproduct of Zodiac powers being granted to us Signed. Wild, untamable, Aspected usually cause havoc. It's up to hunters from Apsis to make sure they don't get noticed by everyone else. It's why we've used these." Evans lifted his arm, showing his watch to Vincent.

"A watch?"

"We call them calendars. Extremely powerful instruments that can sort of...bend time to avoid everyone from witnessing Aspected. You witnessed this in the classroom. That ram did crash into the room, but with this calendar, I was able to stop it. It was actually a lot easier with your powers holding it back like that."

Vincent looked to his hands. He wasn't sure how he did that, if he even did. All the things that were being told to him seemed impossible. Powers granted by Zodiacs? Animals becoming supercharged as a byproduct? A school for people like this? It all felt overwhelming.

"So what now?" he decided to ask.

"After talking to your parents, we believe it is safer for you and everyone that you come with me to Apsis. If Aspected are hunting you, Apsis is the safest place for you to be."

Vincent looked to his parents. They both smiled and nodded. His father then said, "It's a fantastic school. You'll learn everything about your powers there."

"You'll make friends there, because they're all like you son," his mother added.

That did appeal to Vincent. He did have hopes for this middle school, but now it felt like a distant dream. Could he make honest friends while hiding this new truth?

"If it makes you feel better, the school year starts tomorrow, so you'll have another fresh start," Evans chuckled.

Vincent shot him a half-smile. He took a deep breath and nodded. "Sure, I'll go to Apsis."

"Benefic!" Evans exclaimed.

Vincent tilted his head slightly. His parents laughed. "We haven't heard someone say that in a long time," Vincent's father explained. "It's something positive or beneficial in terms of astrology."

Vincent nodded, chuckling lightly. "So where is Apsis?" he decided to ask.

"Not far from here. We can leave immediately."

"Already?" Vincent asked, his tone a bit nervous. He looked to his parents.

"We had packed everything you would need just in case you accepted. You're ready to go Vincent," his mother explained, revealing a few suitcases.

Evans nodded. "I'll be outside the front entrance. Meet me there when you're ready."

Evans left the office. Vincent stood up and looked at both his parents. They seemed the same as always, even knowing that they probably had strange similar powers to him. His mother's big blue eyes seemed to shine as she smiled at him. His father's brown eyes were stern but also hopefully. Vincent could tell they knew it was his best option. If it meant keeping them and everyone else around him safe, he agreed.

"I'm sorry that I put you both in danger," Vincent started. His parents began to shake their heads.

"None of us truly knew. It isn't your fault."

"You shouldn't blame yourself. Nothing happened...until today apparently. The rams are always a handful," his father said poking fun at his mother for being under Aries.

She playfully smirked back, but then looked back to Vincent. "Feel free to call us at any time. Visiting doesn't usually occur at Apsis, but we'll see what we can do."

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Vincent nodded and smiled. He felt tears coming to his eyes, so he went in for a hug. Both his parents embraced him. "I'll miss you both."

"We'll miss you too hun."

After a few seconds he let go and smiled at them both. "Evans will be a great teacher. If you ever need anything, you should go to him," Vincent's father explained. He handed Vincent his suitcases. Vincent took them from him.

"I will," Vincent said as he turned towards the nurse's office door.

"We better get going too before the nurse comes back," his mother said.

"Is the nurse okay? What about Mr. Headway?" Vincent quickly asked.

"They are. Mr. Headway will be back before the first period is over. Evans was just there for a bit. The nurse is in a meeting with the principal at the moment."

"Oh I see. That's good to know," Vincent laughed. He was worried that they had done some strange astrological power to them for a second. He shook the thought, knowing his parents were better than that.

"Goodbye mom and dad."

"Goodbye hun." His parents gave him one more individual hug before they turned and headed towards one of the exits. Vincent turned towards the main entrance. He could see a figure outside that resembled Evans. The hallway felt surreal. He knew once he walked through those doors, his life would change. None of the other students knew.

He passed by his first classroom. He glanced in and saw an older man already behind the desk teaching the class. Vincent smiled. He was glad that Evans was there to stop that ram. With that thought, Vincent quickly marched towards the entrance. He couldn't let anyone else be in danger.

Pushing the large metal doors open, Vincent was greeted by a strange sight. Evans was standing in a completely new outfit. His entire body was covered in elaborate dark gray robes with bits of golden trinkets that resembled planets and stars.

"You should've seen the look on Mr. Headway's face when he saw me in this. Looked a bit like yours."

Vincent stood up straight and tried to keep a serious face. "What are those?"

"These are teacher robes, for your information. Everyone but the combat teachers wear them."

"Combat teachers?"

"Well how else are we going to prepare you to face an Aspected if it ever came down to survival?" Evans asked as he began to pull a metal object out of his bag that looked ancient.

"Good point," Vincent said. "What is that?"

"This is sort of like a sextant. You know, devices used to read angles between stars and the horizon? It's our way of getting to Apsis."

"How is that going to get us to Apsis?"

Evans smirked. He beckoned for Vincent to stand next to him. Vincent shuffled over to beside the teacher. Evans began to adjust the device. He reached his left arm out to Vincent. Vincent took the hint and wrapped his right arm around Evans'. He made sure to hold onto his luggage tightly.

"This is how we get to Apsis," Evans said as he pulled the device to eye and pointed it to the sky.

The next thing Vincent saw was everything shifting and changing. He suddenly felt the ground fall out from beneath him. All around turned into deep space. He could see every constellation around him, as if Earth wasn't an obstacle of view. All 13 shined and stuck out from all the other stars. Vincent began looking for the one Evans mentioned as "the star constellation." All constellations were made of stars, but he assumed it meant something about the shape.

There, above all the others, the constellation revealed itself to him. Its stars all appeared one by one, making the shape of a six-pointed star. He could feel the name present itself. *Celestic*.

A few seconds later, Vincent was dropped on the ground. Dirt bellowed up around him after he thudded on the hard surface. "Ouch," he muttered. He pushed off the ground and looked around. He had landed on a dirt path surrounded by trees. The trees were tall and full enough to make it feel like night. Or was it night? Vincent couldn't tell. Could traveling that way pass time? Evans did say it wasn't that far away.

"Evans?" Vincent called out. The forest was eerie and quiet. He couldn't even hear crickets or birds. His suitcases were nowhere to be seen. "Well this can't be good..."

He decided to keep moving. He quickly dusted himself off from the dirt on his clothes. Vincent knew he needed to see where the sun, or moon, were to know which direction he was going. The trees didn't have any low branches for him to climb safely. He let out a sigh.

"Evans!" he called out again. "Are you there?"

No answer. He wanted to wait for him but he felt he might better his odds by moving down the path. It might lead somewhere that would be easier to be found or see where he was. If it didn't, he could always turn around and follow it the other way.

Vincent began to walk the way he was facing when he stood up. He thought the sextant device faced him that way for a reason. The forest was silent. He could hear each of his steps as if he was walking on a bubblewrap. He began to hope that there wasn't anything out there that could hear him.

After a few minutes of walking, Vincent began to hear rustling within the forest. He tried to slow down his walking to be quieter as he kept his eyes locked on the direction it came from. The rustling seemed to follow him along the path.

"Evans? Is that you?" Vincent questioned as his nervousness got the better of him.

Out from the forest edge along the path, Vincent began to see the same glimmering that surrounded the ram from earlier. A small scorpion scuttled out from the grass. At first, Vincent was relieved it was just a small creature. His mind raced as it quickly began to replay the ram incident.

"Are you...an Aspected scorpion of Scorpio?" Vincent felt the need to ask out loud.

The scorpion began to grow in size. Vincent's eyes widened as he turned to continue down the path. He burst into a sprint while nodding and saying, "Yup!"

Vincent could hear the large scorpion began to chase after him. Trees near the path didn't seem to stand a chance against the massive legs and pincers. He could hear them crashing down behind him. He looked over his shoulder just to see the horrific creature screeching at him. Its body shimmered with stars.

"Evans!" Vincent shouted, turning back to look down the path. He could only move so fast and he felt the scorpion was gaining on him.

After a few seconds of trying to look and see any sign of escape, Vincent stumbled on the dirt path. The massive scorpion slowed down as it crawled closer to him. He scrambled around to keep his eye on the beast. Its tail dripped some sort of venom and its mouth seemed to have the same substance coming from it. As it hit the floor, it released a quick sizzle.

"I've got to do something," Vincent thought. He wasn't sure how to use his powers. Vincent could sense a same sort of presence that the ram had, but there was no sign of the stardust.

Vincent extended his hands. He looked dead into the beady eyes of the scorpion. The beast seemed to be observing him now.

"I didn't mean to scare you, if I did," Vincent stated, his mouth feeling dry.

The scorpion inched away from him. Vincent wasn't sure if it was scared or if it truly wanted to kill him. It was hard to tell. He knew almost nothing of these Aspected beasts. Were they enemies of the Signed? The ram seemed to want to cause him harm. He wasn't sure if that was because of his unique Zodiac sign. It could be putting the Aspected on edge.

"Vincent!" Evans shouted as he burst from the forest with his bow drawn.

Vincent's hands burst into the glimmering stardust. The scorpion screeched at them both. It swung one of its pincers at Vincent. The pincer connected with his chest and caused him to be thrown to the side. Evans reacted soon after, shooting his arrow at the Aspected scorpion. The arrow landed in the face of the scorpion. It caused the beast to dissipate like the ram did.

Evans rushed over to Vincent. "Are you okay? I had no idea that the device to get you here would send you elsewhere from me."

Vincent breathed slowly. He felt as if the wind had been knocked out of him. "I think so."

"Here," Evans said as he turned around and knelt down, "I'll carry you the rest of the way."

Vincent managed to climb on Evans' back. Evans began to explain in-depth of what caused the device to do a thing like that, but Vincent couldn't concentrate on his words. They began to sound muffled.

It didn't take long for Evans and Vincent to reach the end of the forest. Soon, the land opened up free of trees and revealed a massive castle that held what looked like an observatory on the top. Vincent could see light coming from the dozen of windows and paths. Torches illuminated the entire building. Around the edges of the forest, Vincent could see subtle constellation shapes as a barrier of sorts.

"Welcome to Apsis Academy," Vincent managed to hear Evans say.