The woods were an interesting place, displaying quite the scenery. I don't think I'd ever been that deep in a forest before, well, except maybe once and it had not been a fun experience. But after everything I'd just been through in the last couple of hours, I guess it had been considerably better.

The deeper Pisces and I went into the woods, the stranger the surroundings began to get. For starters, the trees here were taller with thicker trunks and their branches would sway lazily in the air in a very offsetting way, almost as if they were somehow alive.

Animals were also becoming more and more apparent. I would spot groups of rabbits and a bunch of squirrels scampering off every time we would walk past small clearings while brushing loose branches and vines out of the way, and don't even get me started about the mosquitoes.

Pisces had not been kidding about us getting off the grid. It would take a century for anyone to find us alright—or so I hoped—especially if that someone was some deranged superpowered being tried to kill you. I repeatedly kept looking back all the way ever since that incredible fight, still filled with dread.

"She won't be coming after us. Not for a while." Pisces spoke, still facing forward while I followed. I preferred walking in single file, letting her lead the way—I was a better coward that way.

I was about to suggest that we take another break but Pisces appeared to have read my mind, though I wasn't sure whether it was figuratively or in the mystical fashion. She seemed to always sense everything I was thinking.

We walked into a clearing that was much bigger than any we had passed through. It was a canopy, with tree trunks curving outwards into the sky, creating a wide open space that was covered with thick grassy undergrowth, surrounded by buttressed roots.

Setting Despyon's shield down, my hand quickly went over my stomach. It was rumbling like crazy and I had started envisioning the stale bread and soup that Despyon's aunt, Freya, had left for me on my first morning in Abinor—the day it had all began—and that night. . .

I fought off the image of a burning grass-thatched hut as something that sounded like laughter resonated in the background. It was not heart-warming, more like the sinister and evil kind.

"Are you hungry?" Pisces asked lightly, thankfully snapping my mind back to the present.

"I'm starving!" I retorted, letting her aware of her own acknowledgement of the obvious.

She regarded me with her magical blue eyes, narrowing them in the process. "What would you like to eat?"

"What?" I started getting a little vexed. "I don't—"

"Okay," Pisces nodded, "I want you to think of whatever kind of food you would like to eat right now."

"Oh, there's a lot of things I wanna eat," I said shortly.

"Well, picture one," Pisces added, "create the image in your mind."

"Okay. . ." I slowly muttered, curious to see where this was going.

"Do you have the image?" Pisces asked.

"I-I think I do."

Pisces then turned, walking across the canopy until she was standing in the middle. I watched her raise her right hand, her eyes fixated on the ground where she stood and about three to five seconds later, something erupted from the ground.

It tore through the undergrowth and made its way to the surface until it was just as tall as Pisces, sprouting multiple vines and twigs spontaneously in a most mesmerizing fashion.

I approached, stopping in front of Pisces's new creation so that it separated us as we stood facing each other. I extended a hand and felt the stem, the leaves, the flowers and the fruit.

"So real," I muttered, to which Pisces responded, "It is."

She reached out and plucked out a fruit. "Here," it's ripe scarlet red color contrasted with the light blue paleness of her hand.

Taking it from Pisces's hand, I took a moment to observe it, marveling at its freshness. I looked at Pisces, whose eyes were generously urging me to take a bite. I did. The moment my teeth had sunk into the fruit's skin, I had felt this strange kind of spark light up inside of me, matching the crunching sound as I slowly chewed the fruit, savoring every bit of it.

"How is it?" Pisces asked after I was done with the first bite, though from her calm expression, I could tell she already knew the answer.

"That is the most amazing thing I've ever eaten in my life!" yeah, maybe I was over-exaggerating. I hadn't eaten for a while but that sure felt really good.

Pisces smiled, which was something I never thought she could actually do.

"How did you do that?" I asked, completely jinxed.

"I turned your imagination into reality," she said shortly.

I looked back at the fruit. It was an apple. A little frown forming on my face which Pisces instantly noticed. "Though it tends to vary on the fine line that is the conversion, depending on the status of the subject."

When Pisces had asked me to think up a type of food, I had looked back to pancakes. The one thing that my mom knew how to cook. Apple-flavored pancakes to be exact, and from that still puzzling statement, I guessed even for a reality-bending Zodiac like Pisces, her abilities must have been confined to match the settings of her surroundings.

"Eat up. You'll need the strength," she said, snapping me back to reality after I had momentarily drifted off and imagined the different varieties of pancakes she could've conjured had we been back in Sacramento, all without even bothering to light up the stove. Mom would've been totally jealous of her.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"You should eat too," I offered, plucking an apple from the structure that was still growing and already turning into a tree, standing just as tall as the others.

"Oh," Pisces let out an almost humorous sigh as she took the apple, extending her fingers so the fruit settled atop her palm. "We don't really rely on physical material for sustenance." She then frowned, causing the insignia on her forehead slightly drop towards the tiny space between eyebrows. "Or so it used to be the case."

"So, what exactly do you rely on then?" I asked, both excited and curious.

"It used to be the cosmic energy from across the universe," Pisces gently swayed her hand with the apple and I watched the fruit transform into a perfect sphere, resembling a snow globe.

"Used to?" I got a closer look at the sphere. It was a tiny representation of outer space, with numerous glowing dots that I realized were constellations, materializing inside the sphere across a vast darkened environment.

"Our story of origin has always been a little. . ." Pisces paused, looking for the right word, "dramatic."

"And by 'our' you mean—"

"The Zodiac, yes." Pisces continued, her attention still directed at the sphere. "We were never born as is the case with most life forms in many worlds out there. We were simply fabricated into existence, crafted into being until we found our way with the stars."

"Wait, so who brought you into existence?" I asked, though I was feeling like I had heard this story before. I mean, I was the only one in Abinor who knew what the Zodiac were and I still believed I had been thrust into some kind of twisted past, especially after Pisces's answer.

"Well, they've been known by many names, like we have, but theirs extend much further. A simple term for them would be something like—"

"Gods. . .?" I cut in and Pisces even turned to look at me this time. "Well put," she remarked.

See, I told you I'd heard some of this before but I was still puzzled, because, if whatever Pisces was telling me was true, then that would mean we had to be somewhere like ancient Greece or Rome. Why? The legend goes that the Greek and Roman gods created the Zodiac and placed them in the night sky. But Abinor looked nothing out of a Graeco-Roman setting. It was more like Nordic or Scandinavian. Ah, yes. History lessons are starting to pay off.

"But this is a different story," Pisces said, using her reality bending mojo again to restore my attention. "The gods and the Zodiac parted ways a long time ago."

"Our kind was left to live out in the cosmos, absorbing cosmic energy and becoming a part of the bigger universe, further from the gods."

The sphere lit up as the constellations shimmered brighter.

"This had been the way," Pisces's tone shifted, becoming solemn and distant, "until some of us decided they wanted more." The constellations within the sphere span, spiraling to form one large galaxy.

"And now your kind has been suffering for this," Pisces flexed her fingers and I watched the spiraling galaxy morph back into the apple, but it was no longer juicy red. It had holes and patches and appeared to be rotting. "Why siphon dull and lifeless energy when you can feed off the living? Feeding on their fear and souls. . ."

"That's why you're here," I said, shortly before correcting myself, "the others, I mean. They've been-they've been killing humans."

"And now you know why I need you," Pisces turned to look at me right after the apple had shrunk and disintegrated, vanishing into thin air.

"You're trying to stop them," I said with dawning realization. "But what good am I? I was close to useless when Pollux had attacked us."

"And I would've been dead if it weren't for you," Pisces said pointedly, directing me to glance at the arrow symbol on my arm.

"That stands for something," Pisces added, "you were chosen, Desmond."

"How do you know that?" I asked, starting to get nervous and defensive, "for all we know, it could've been an accident or a mistake."

"An insignia never makes mistakes, not ever since our kind came into existence," Pisces looked me in the eye, "you're the first life form, the first human to ever become the successive bearer of a fallen Zodiac's insignia."

"And how many Zodiac have fallen up to now?" I levelled and immediately wished I hadn't, especially after seeing the distraught look flash across Pisces's face, though it did not last.

Composing herself, Pisces gently grabbed my marked arm. "I know you're afraid. Terrified."

"What? I didn't exactly say—"

"It's okay," Pisces's tone changed. She spoke softly. "I know I am, but a wise friend once told me that the ability to acknowledge one's fear is the most powerful one could ever get."

Pisces let go of my arm and looked away into the trees. I followed her gaze, pondering on what she had just said. "Is this friend the one whose insignia I currently bear?"

Pisces didn't answer but gave a different response, "I understand if you find all of this too much to handle, but you wouldn't be here if I didn't need you. If Sage didn't need you."

"You really believe I can do this?" I asked, trying to understand the whole situation, "that I am the chosen one?"

"You may not see it now," Pisces said quietly, "I was also the same way as you are when Sage had told me the two of us would find each other before he, well. . ." I noticed Pisces not so subtly reach a hand to her side, around the spot where she had had that gaping gash. "He had found a way to end all of this."

Everything Pisces had just told me weighed heavily on my conscience and I tried hard to believe it all but then images from recent events flashed across my mind, such as the intense fight between Pisces and Pollux and how I had nearly died in the process.

"No," I said with a tone of finality. "I can't do it. I'm really sorry. There has to be some other way."

Now, why was I in conflict with myself? The reality of this incredibly harsh new world was coming at me with everything it got, ergo the fear of the unknown. All I wanted was a break. Just a little break. Was that too much to ask for?

"There has to be another way," I reiterated and began to walk away and perhaps find somewhere to clear my head within the woods.

"You'll find your way back," Pisces said abruptly, making me stop in my tracks and wheel around to face her.

"What did you just say?"

"You're lost, aren't you?" Pisces approached me, her eyes barely glowing, "so am I. And why do you think that is?"

I did not have a response to that.

"The only way we get out of this is if we work together," she continued, "I was taught that a long time ago but I'm now beginning to understand it. Why I found my way to you—so I can help you find your own way back." Pisces grew sincere, her voice soft but still firm at the same time, "you really don't see it? You just saved me from death, not once but twice already. You're the one Sage chose to complete his mission."

Passing both hands up my face and through my hair, I avoided Pisces's eyes, hoping she wouldn't get into my head or something where I tried to reason with myself. For one, she didn't look like she was lying. Not after everything I had seen. Secondly, she was right. At least I wanted to hope she was. I mean, even if I decided I didn't wanna hop on this 'chosen one' train and let the Zodiac go solo on what looked like a suicide mission, where would that leave me? I wouldn't be able to return to the streets of Sacramento. I would be stuck on this island forever.

I glanced at the arrow symbol. The insignia of the Zodiac, Sage. If it had brought me here then there was a chance it could take me back and that was when I began to fathom what Pisces was trying to tell me. I had to take a chance and face my fears.

"Okay," I sighed, turning to face Pisces, "so what happens if I do agree to help you on this mission?"

"Like I said," the glow in Pisces's eyes returned, "you'll return to your rightful home."

"And by that you mean going up against the rest of your cousins?"

"Yes and, no—we don't share any blood relations with each other."

"And how are we supposed to do that exactly?"

"Simple," Pisces twisted her lips, "by turning you into the person that Sage sought you out to be."

"I'm talking about training," Pisces added upon apparently having seen into my mind where I was already conjuring up a harrowing image of myself having been turned into a half-human half-horse figure, as was the typical depiction of Sagittarius. . .Or maybe Sage was different and just had humanly features like Pisces. . .Or maybe his whole body was a horse—Oh, hell no!