Being teleported from one place to another was pretty cool but nothing would prepare me for the spectacle that was already unfolding in front of me. No words could ever really describe Pisces as she went up against another Zodiac. Calling it epic would be a mere understatement.

I had tried to run alongside and try to offer any kind of assistance she might have needed but following a swift movement of one of her arms, a gust of wind had pushed me back, sending me to the ground.

Supporting myself with Despyon's shield, I watched the mayhem commence.

The two Zodiac come at each other, thrusting their arms out which meet in mid execution, resulting in both of them interlocking their fingers against each other. Pisces is pushing back against her opponent and so is Pollux. The two appear to exhibit incredible durability and strength, evidenced by how their feet dig back into the dirt, creating tiny trenches. It is as if they are gauging each other.

It then looks as if Pisces is finally overpowering the purple-tinged Zodiac whose arms start to loosen and gradually withdraw. But it has all been the start of a different tactic for Pollux. She lets Pisces force her arms down which allows Pollux to counter by delivering a series of multiple kicks, starting with knocking loose her grip with her knee then performing a flip, striking against Pisces's core.

The brawl is happening so fast, I can barely keep up with every execution. So fast, that Pollux has barely finished her flip before Pisces grabs her by one of her legs while she is still airborne and thrusts her back down. Pollux never hits the ground, instead, she does something only someone like Pisces could have seen coming.

While she is just about to touch the ground and fall on her back, Pollux's body appears to split and transform, like it had done the first time she had impersonated Pisces, only this time, it is as if she splits her body, replicating herself so that another version of herself pops out. This new alternate version then finishes Pollux's fall by performing that jerking motion of hoisting yourself back into a standing position, using the palms of her hands to create that springing action against the ground. She then reforms with Pollux, vanishing inside her and the resultant effect prevents Pollux from falling who then delivers a powerful right hook that connects with Pisces's jaw, creating a purple after effect as energy is seen washing across her face.

Pollux then sneers, glaring at the now staggering Pisces who has momentarily lost her balance. "I remember shifting into Sage's form," she taunts as she approaches Pisces, levelling her clawed arms in an attacking position.

"Don't you dare mention his name!" Pisces snaps back heatedly.

"Whatever did he see in you?" Pollux continues to mock as I try to understand what it is they are talking about.

Pollux then advances, engaging Pisces in power jabs that she quickly blocks by using her hands to conjure some kind of nearly invisible shield that can only be seen as a vague wispy blanket of air. Pisces enforces her defenses, bringing her forearms up her face which she tucks against her torso.

This seems to work for a while but only until Pollux finds an opening and strikes with a vertical side kick that delivers a short burst of energy against Pisces's exposed thigh. This sends her down on one knee. Pollux progresses her attack, this time raising her foot high up then bringing it down on Pisces as a trail of purple energy accompanies it.

Pisces is ready this time. She catches—no, it appears as if she has somehow managed to suspend Pollux's leg in midstrike without even touching it. I then see it. She is using her hands which are emitting bright glowing spheres of blue energy. She telekinetically redirects her attacker's foot so that Pollux is then spinning on the spot before Pisces slams her body against the ground, again, without any physical contact.

I get up, momentarily squinting from the reflected light cast on my face by Despyon's shield. The sun is well up in the sky, shining with brilliance just as much as Sage's insignia on my arm.

While Pollux is still on the ground, I catch Pisces say something. Never before have I ever seen her so angry for the little time that we have been together so far. She stares down Pollux, "You'll pay for what's coming!" she approaches Pollux. "All of you!"

Pollux reacts, snorting wickedly before directing her purple glowing eyes towards me. "What?" she says, "you think he can help you? Just because he was endowed with power that does not belong to him?"

She turns back to Pisces. "Sage was a fool to believe that a stupid human could stand in the way of the cause. There's no stopping what is to come."

Without warning, Pollux charges, though she barely moves off the ground. She simply thrusts her arm forwards and projects multiple versions of it towards Pisces as I witness the mind boggling scene of her arm coming at Pisces in a ghost-like fashion.

Pisces deflects, wafting the fisted arm away which vanishes in the air. This allows Pollux to launch her next attack, using her agility to get to Pisces before she can react and delivers a low blow to her core then finishes with a sickening uppercut that sends her flying backwards.

My heart is already palpitating. I get the sudden urge to move in. Pisces is in dire need of an assist, so, with Despyon's shield, I charge. Terrible move. I end up on the receiving end of Pollux's foot who strikes me with a kind of back kick as her heel connects with my jaw. The impact is much worse than what Pisces had just endured as I am flung sideways, my whole body spinning wildly before hitting hard against a tree.

I howl in pain, slowly bringing myself into a sitting position, certain that I have multiple broken bones. Despyon's shield lies scattered several feet away. I look past that just in time to catch Pollux advancing towards Pisces who is still on the ground.

"Sage was such a waste of us!" I hear Pollux say right before she crouches next to Pisces, "all that intelligence and wisdom and it wasn't enough to save him." She wraps her arms around Pisces's neck. I then feel my body shiver as the insignia on my arm intensifies its glow.

"And do you know whose fault is that. . .?" Pollux continues to taunt, slowly pulling Pisces back on her feet.

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Maybe I was just beginning to feel the effects of a concussion but I could have sworn I had noticed the fierce glow in Pisces's eyes flicker and wane if only for a second.

"At least I didn't go crying to the gods after betraying one of my own!" Pisces snaps, levelling up the heat which appears to have had quite substantial weight on Pollux who reacts by tightening her grip, threatening to snap Pisces's neck.

"How dare you?" Pollux scowls, digging her claws into Pisces's shoulders. Pisces hisses but does not give in, taking in the pain while trying to find a breakaway.

At that point, I was totally lost as I struggled to grasp at the gist of the cosmic dialogue between the two, all while fighting through the pain coming from my. . .well, from all over, then there was the insignia. It kept on glowing with unending intensity and oddly enough, it was as if it was willing me to do something—just like with the pitchfork or when the Chieftain had accosted us. The overwhelming feeling seemed to be taking over my pain, pushing me to get up—to keep fighting.

Call me whatever you want but there was no way I was going to let the one person that seemed to understand what I was going through just die like that. So, with much difficulty, I got back up.

I make my way towards Despyon's shield and stoop to grab it but I find that I can't. Some kind of invisible force holds me back, willing me into submission. I look up and find Pollux extending a hand towards me, a hand that is no longer clawed but covered in that ethereal sapphire material. She has transformed her arm into that of Pisces and is somehow using her telekinetic ability on me.

"Honestly, Pisces," Pollux chuckles, "this is what your mystical imaginative aptitude gets you? An insolent weak adolescent mortal?"

I start to get the feeling of weightlessness as Pollux suspends me in the air. "I wonder what we should do with him? Perhaps cut his body in half ? Or maybe turn him inside out. . .?"

I swallow hard at this. She has to be joking, meanwhile, the insignia is now blazing. I know I have to do something. But wh—

"On her!" a voice finds its way into my head.

"What, who said that?" I ask, not realizing that I'm speaking to myself not physically but mentally.

"Sage's insignia. Use it on her!" I shift my eyes and they meet those of Pisces. She's talking to me telepathically!

"The insignia has charged up too much energy. You need to let it out!"

"How?"

"Just do it!"

"Stop that!" Pollux hisses, apparently realizing what is happening. She digs her claws deeper into Pisces's shoulder with her other arm that is still wrapped around her neck and she tries to fight off a wail that escapes her mouth. This tips me over the edge. I let the overwhelming feeling of the insignia take over me and I no longer feel the pain as I begin to wear down Pollux's telekinetic hold on me. I can now move my arms. I direct my right arm towards Pollux while still suspended in the air and with a raging cry that comes out of nowhere, I will all of my strength to my arm, directing all of the energy towards it until the insignia lets up.

I watch as both Pollux and Pisces are hit by a huge wave of energy that flows out of my arm, glowing in blazing green glory. This manages to severe the telekinetic effect and I fall towards the ground, preparing to land in the most unpleasant of ways. But I end up finding myself standing straight up on my feet, though my legs feel weakened, so I go down on one knee.

I then look up and discover Pisces has successfully broken free from Pollux's hold, before using her abilities to ensure my safe landing. I am more than relieved the blast did not hurt her and there is a brief moment where we stare at each other and I can almost tell from her face she felt the same way.

Pisces then directs her attention to Pollux. The Zodiac is stumbling and staggering as she gets back on her feet and I am seriously shocked by the amount of damage I have managed to inflict with just that one surge of energy.

She still looks terrifyingly dangerous, even going ahead to shift into Pisces, imitating her full form again. "Look at yourself," she taunts, literally letting Pisces regard her own form, "you're pathetic!"

Pollux tries to will Pisces's own power against her but Pisces cuts her off by whacking her across the face so hard that Pollux morphs back into her original form. Pisces then advances, using her power to hoist Pollux in the air.

"You can't run forever!" Pollux yells, frantically struggling while airborne.

"Who says I'm running?" Pisces coolly responds.

"Oh, he's coming for you now."

Those were the last words that I heard Pollux utter before she was whisked away, screaming as she did so. I watched her body flail in the air, smashing through tree trunks until she had vanished out of sight.

That had been by far the single most exciting yet terrifying thing I had seen at that point. This was a new side to Pisces that I was just getting to know and I wasn't sure how I felt about it. I simply wondered what other spectacles and truths would present themselves along the way but for starters, I had to ask her how the hell she had been able to do all of that, right before all of my pain returned.

I winced, setting myself into a sitting position and feeling my sides. I had a huge gash on my left cheek, courtesy of the purple Zodiac lady's foot and a number of other bruises that I was still trying to understand how I had gotten them.

"Where does it hurt?" Pisces asked, ignoring my initial question as she crouched next to me.

"I'm not sure," I said, "like everywhere!"

"Alright, calm down," she said gently, her voice surprisingly switching from that once commanding and authoritative one when she had been taking on Pollux.

"Give me your hands," she requested.

"What? My—"

She sighed, firmly but gently grabbing my hands which she enveloped with her own, wrapping her fingers around mine. I noticed how soft her hands felt. They were actually way smaller up close and they had this strange ethereal feeling, like they were switching from warm to cold at the same time. It was hard to explain.

"What-what are you—" I started freaking out a little.

"Just breathe. . ." Pisces whispered, shutting her eyes.

Seeing as there was nothing I could really do, I obeyed. Did she want me to close my eyes too? I didn't ask and resorted to observing her features. Even after all she had gone through, she still managed to look, well, amazing. There was a sharp cut across her chin, running all the way to her lower lip as a thin blue line. Her right shoulder had identical lines, four of them, but they were deeper and yes, before I forgot, she had blue blood.

Watching her all that time, I hadn't realized what she had actually been doing. I was no longer feeling achy or worn down anymore.

Pisces then let go of my hands but I'd caught a new expression on her face, just before that strange connection between us had ended. She looked like she was feeling discomfort, some kind of pain. Well, she also had her own wounds and scars but not once had I seen her display any kind of distress, except for when she had been brawling with her purple cousin. But her face had masked it away the moment she had caught me staring.

I felt my face and my sides, and, just like Pisces's own body. All the scars appeared to have mysteriously vanished, not a single mark to justify there having had been some kind of battle.

Pisces got up, after which I did the same. There was a brief awkward moment where I was pondering on how I would extend my gratitude.

"You're welcome," Pisces helped me on that front, leaving me to eerily wonder whether she had found her way into my mind again.

Using her telekinesis, she handed me Despyon's shield then paused a little to linger on the insignia on my arm, an interesting look on her face. "It's time I told you about him."

"Who?"

"The one who gave you that," she wheeled around, her hair swaying after her. "But first, we need to get off the grid. The others will be coming after us."

I wanted to ask something but Pisces had already started moving. I adjusted Despyon's shield on my arm, rushing over to catch up with her. Man, I had to find a better way for carrying that thing. Something then moved on the silvery reflective surface, like my face—or rather, Despyon's face—had become distorted. Had Despyon finally returned? Or maybe I was just beginning to feel the effects of hunger. My stomach started grumbling. I hadn't eaten for a while—or at all—ever since my unprecedented arrival in Abinor.