Zodiac
There are many worlds in the multiverse; worlds of magic, worlds comprised entirely of chocolate, worlds whose basic laws defy those we know.
Especially the chocolate ones.
This world is just like ours; gravity, stars, one sun, humans... However, the stars have more weight on our lives than usual; the zodiac stars birth eggs that hatch when their corresponding child is born, and each egg contains the child's lifelong Zodiac. They usually don't grow very large, no bigger than a small cat or terrier, but they give their 'Twin' access to certain magic or abilities. Pisces, the fish, grant their owners the capability to breathe underwater. Taurus grants their Twin immense strength, while Aquarius allows their owner to control water. Sagittarius, the archer, gives their Twin the ability to fire magic arrows from their hands and amazing accuracy with any distanced weapon.
One boy, however, was born without a Zodiac.
It had never happened before in recorded history; normally the egg of the Zodiac arrives in a flash of light, but for Orion, no egg arrived. His parents had been frantic, asking their own Zodiac what was happening, but the small companions knew not. He had been born under the sign of Libra on September 29th, and as such should have had a Libra egg arrive. The Chinese zodiac read that it was a year of the Dragon, meaning that great power should have accompanied his Libra. Doctors, scientists and astrologists scoured his DNA, their files, and the skies for an answer as to why he had been forsaken by the heavens, all to no avail; The Hunter had been high in the skies, but that had never altered anything before, nothing was different.
For the first time ever, a Child went without.
Orion Olafson, now in his early teens, was hiding in his usual place at school; on the roof. Often he hid up here, any time it wasn't raining and it was a break period, it was highly likely he'd be up on the roof. He was bullied relentlessly by others; the Child Without. There were no rumours about his Zodiac dying, they're virtually immortal and die only when their corresponding Child dies, instead he would be tormented by being told that even the stars did not want him, denying him his birthright as proof. He would be bullied with physical punishment from Taurus, mentally by Gemini, and would be refused drink by Aquarius. Even his fellow Librans, who were known to favour natural justice, added to his torment. He was a freak to his fellow students, and he had but one friend. He was certain that even she did not like him.
Her name was Lulu, and she was a Pisces. Her Piscean, nicknamed Alia, was cute and friendly, loved chocolate, and had a habit of falling asleep easily. It was to Lulu that he would go for conversation during the day, to Lulu he would go for comfort from the relentless bullying he would be subject to. Yesterday, unfortunately, she had broken her leg, and thusly he was unable to remain in the classroom with her during recess. Orion heard the trapdoor access to the roof open.
"Orion, it is class time." His teacher, Mrs Ryans called. She was a Scorpio, and her scorpid companion scuttled over to Orion and tapped his leg with a pincer. The five foot three sixty two kilo boy sighed and stood, watching Skittles scurry over to his Twin before following his teacher to their class. She didn't press him on hiding on the roof; she knew what he went through daily and didn't blame him for becoming such a recluse. As long as his school work remained of good quality and he didn't hurt himself or others, he would be allowed to hide on the roof free of prejudice from teachers.
The lesson was in Zodiac care; ways to groom and feed Zodiac to get healthier results out of the animal. Mrs. Ryans asked for a student to volunteer their Zodiac, and Orion's attention snapped back from space when his name was said.
"No point asking Orion, he ain't got one!" One of the boys, a Taurus bully named Frederick snipped with an obnoxious laugh. His comment got a light round of humiliating laughter from the other students. "Freak."
Orion sank further into his chair, pulling a book from his backpack; if he couldn't participate, he might as well find something more interesting to do than be insulted and humiliated. He opened his book and was poked on the shoulder.
"Don't let him upset you, Orion, you're unique; find pride in that." Lulu's voice said into his ear. "Take stock in what you have, not what you have not."
He thought of retorting that what he had was less than anyone else, but thought better of it. Instead he returned to reading his novel. One of his few retreats from torturous reality, he had quite a few books at home that he read and re-read. Most of them were fantasy; he wasn't that interested in romance novels or those ones that English teachers make students read that drivel on and on about some teen's life being a drama filled rollercoaster of suicidal depression inducing pap for a hundred pages, written usually by some Jane Shmoe that the whole class ends up hating more by the end of the book. He had one in his bag about some mute girl and her 'horrible life' with a semi-alcoholic father and no school life. He'd read the first fifteen pages before realising that, like all the others, it would feature some crap about her father causing an uproar or her being socially awkward like all the others that he'd been forced to read and simply writing a summation report on the book in but a few words. 'Boring rubbish fit only for terrible English class assignments and bonfires.'
He'd been given an A, but only because the teacher also found the books to be depressingly awful and that his blaring honesty was refreshingly humorous.
The hours passed, and lunch break arrived. Orion packed his book away in his bag before slinging it over his shoulder and waving to Lulu.
"I'll talk to you after lunch break, alright?" He said in his usual raspy tone.
"Okay Orion, make sure you bring back some interesting conversation." She replied. "And don't mope." She added sarcastically. "It's always 'woe me' this and 'woe me' that and 'why don't I have a brain?' try grabbing a book for me to read or something."
Orion chuckled and stuck his tongue out at her. He knew she was playing with his head; she did it often in attempts to lift his dismal self-esteem. He headed out the classroom door, turned right and was promptly grabbed by his shirt and slammed into the wall by Frederick, knocking the wind out of him. A fist was slammed across his face, and he dizzily struggled against Frederick's vice-like grip.
"You should know better than to talk to your superiors, freak!" He mocked, laughing cruelly and punching Orion in the gut, knocking what little breath he had managed to retake back out. He managed to struggle free of Frederick's grip and started to make a run for the end of the corridor; if he could get back to the roof, he could lock himself up there and be safe until next lesson. He heard a fizzing sound, a rush of air, and something pierced his left side. Searing pain rushed through him, and he stumbled to the concrete. Whatever it was that had struck hadn't pierced right through, but it felt like it had. He barely had enough air in his lungs to breathe, let alone scream, so he staggered to his feet and continued to run from the humiliating laughter, leaving a trail of blood in his wake.
Orion managed to struggle his way up onto the roof, allowing the hatch door behind him to slam down simply because he couldn't hold it up any longer. He'd heard the fizzing sound before; arrows that Sagittarius could shoot made that sound, and if it hadn't gone right through, then the magic bolt would still be embedded in his side. He feebly reached round, feeling for the arrow, but couldn't find it. He concluded that the bolt must've shattered under his clothes, and he pulled his shirt and jacket off; magic bolt shrapnel can, if left on unprotected skin, cause horrendous burns and scarring, and he moved his hand to brush the perceived shrapnel from his skin. He looked down to where the bolt had struck him, and his heart pounded. Not only was he covered in blood, but his skin was turning a glowing, vibrant blue around the wound; and it was spreading. He put his hand to the middle of the hole in his side, feeling something odd about the wound before pain caused him to black out.
When lunch break ended, Mrs. Ryans walked the usual path back to the top floor, where she would then go and get Orion. She walked past her classroom door and towards the other end of the hall, stopping only when something caught her eye. She knelt down, tugging a tissue from her pocket, and tapped the red droplets on the floor with it before looking at the stain on her tissue. Blood? Here? It didn't seem like much, until she looked further along the hall and saw the path that had been left on the floor. Worried, she ducked into a nearby classroom and got another teacher, pointing the blood trail out to him also. He, in turn, fetched one of his students.
"Melissa, go tell the principal that all students are to report to their classrooms immediately." He ordered. "Mrs. Ryans students are to report to our class; go!"
"I'll take one of your students with me, if you don't mind, Rob." Mrs. Ryans said as the girl hurried off.
He nodded and waved one of his students over. "Daniel, go with Mrs. Ryans."
"What for, Mr. Andies?"
"See the blood?" He asked, wrapping an arm around Daniel's shoulders and pointing it out. "That means someone's hurt. If they've lost that much blood that quickly, they're very hurt, catch my drift?" Daniel nodded, soaking in his teacher's sarcasm. "She may need you to help her carry them, should they be unable to walk."
"Wouldn't a Taurus be better suited then? I'm Sagittarius!"
"He did say 'help', not 'carry alone'." Mrs. Ryans pointed out. "Come on, we're wasting time!"
The pair turned down the hall and followed the blood as the Principal's voice called out over the intercom and outdoor loudspeakers.
Mrs. Ryans wasn't surprised that the blood trail led to the roof, and she pushed the trap door open into the bright sunlight and climbed out. She helped Daniel up before looking around and noticing the puddle of blood with Orion's shirt, jacket, shoes and socks nearby. His shirt and jacket looked like they'd been carefully placed, or at least, placed in a pile, but the shoes and socks were thrown about the roof. The pool had a long, wide trail, like something had been dragged from it, and she hurriedly moved to where it concluded, before yelping in fright and hurrying back to the trap door.
Something stood up.
It was only about five foot two, and it had a pointed, animalistic face with a slitted pair of nostrils, ears covered in a thick, luxurious looking brown fur that drooped back slightly. It had a pair of large wings, powerful muscles could be seen beneath its coat of thick, dark oak coloured fur that shifted gently in the wind, it had a tail that tapered to a point, also covered in fur, and it stood on the balls of its feet, digitigrade feet on plantigrade legs. It looked over at the duo, blood staining the jeans it wore, with a forlorn, almost longing gaze. Despite the depressing look from its glowing orange eyes, Daniel drew a magic Bolt. He fired, and the creature, whose eyes went wide with shock, dodged to the right. Another bolt and it ducked, and when it managed to right itself again, it tilted its head to dodge a third. The creature roared fiercely for its size, and Daniel's fourth arrow slammed into an invisible barrier that pulsed to stop the kinetic force. The creature swung a hand over its head, and then down, and the arrow was flung to the ground, stabbing into the concrete and shuddering before dissipating. The furred creature gave a piteous, saddened whine as its eyes connected longingly with Mrs. Ryan's, its wings drooping sadly. It turned and bolted for the edge of the roof, leaping off powerfully, its wings beating and launching it into the skies beyond.
It left but a tear, dropped where it had stood.
Orion landed up a tree in a gulley, just outside of the school. It was a small haven, a man-made waterfall and pond with real fish and plants, surrounded by lush trees, grass and plants. A doe stood at the water's edge and drank peacefully all the while the waterfall cascaded through a self-made rainbow. Despite the otherwise beautiful appearance, Orion hated this place; he'd shed blood here too, whenever he would be caught after school by bullies. He'd shed blood in many places, too many places; he didn't feel comfortable anywhere anymore, not with how he looked. The magic bolt... it was no wonder he couldn't find it; it had sunk into him, fusing his being with its mana. That, at least, accounted for his skin turning blue before he blacked out, but... Why did he transform as he did? He'd seen the after-effects of magic bolt fusions, and they would wear off after a day or so. He sighed, trying to brush the tears from his face with a clawed hand. He couldn't return home, his parents would freak, and he couldn't go back to school, because they'd shoot at him; if he went to the police or hospital, he'd get slung into a lab for forevermore. He looked himself over as he squatted in the tree, tugging gently at the fur on his arm before rebalancing himself as he curled his tail around and gave it some scrutiny. He didn't understand what was wrong, what had happened... somewhere, somehow, his entire being had been turned upside down, and now he was this... thing.
He sniffled, for once trying to look on the bright side. The doe in the field below? He could smell her. She had a musty, somewhat thick smell, like hot treacle and dust. The trees, also, he could smell. He could almost see the smells as colours, each a powerful scent that let him see them better than he thought otherwise possible. He could taste the nectar, pollen and water molecules in the air, and he could hear things that were being said in the school. They were slightly muffled, but he could make out some syllables and phonetics, words, phrases... He listened carefully, trying to hear any word of himself in the conversations. There were several, mostly his fellow classmates insulting him while he wasn't there to be humiliated. He knew this went on, them talking about him behind his back, and he had long ago stopped caring about their opinions. The words stung, true, but there was very little pride left for them to hurt, and what was left had had far worse than words thrown at it. He pricked one of his ears, picking up on a particular conversation that perked his interest.
'... Freak's friend, looks like you're all alone...'
He knew this voice, Frederick. He growled, leaping off the branch he was resting on and taking off at high speed, listening into the conversation.
'... You know, I never did like you being friendly with that Freak, but now we're going to make that all right...'
He could see where Lulu was, pinned against the window behind her, and stuck at her desk, protectively sheltering Alia. He projected a field in front of himself and smashed through the window next to hers.
Lulu screamed when a creature smashed through the window, throwing broken glass across the room. It snarled angrily as it bounced off a desk, flipping and landing in front of her, arms outstretched and wings fully open. The sound of smashing glass brought spectators from other classes, and Mrs. Ryans herself stood in the door, watching in awe. Someone yelled.
"M-monster!"
Frederick charged forth, grappling at the creature, who struggled back. He threw it across the room, and it bounced off a desk to land on its feet. It swung its left arm wide, and then across its body, and a desk lifted from the floor and launched itself at Frederick, who barely managed to catch it before another from the other side of the room flung itself towards him. He didn't react in time, and the table knocked him off his feet and sprawled him onto the floor. Frederick's Sagittarius friend, Micah, shot an energy bolt at the furred creature, but it stopped short, hitting an invisible barrier. Micah shot again and again, each time the bolt stopped in a different spot on the barrier. She gave the veritable wall of arrows a disbelieving look before the creature swung an arm up, and the arrows all slammed into the roof. The creature held its arm up, and a pulse seemed to appear in its palm, and it slapped the hand into the floor. Nothing happened for a moment, but Micah was suddenly flung from her feet and into the wall behind her. She was dazed for a moment, but recovered quickly and held a bolt level with the creature's head steadily, not releasing, but holding the threat ever present. Frederick looked between the furred creature and the one it had arrived, seemingly to protect, and he leapt from the floor, slapping Micah's aiming hand toward Lulu, the shock making her release the bolt and shriek.
Lulu screamed.
A field appeared before her, stopping the bolt dead. Lulu glanced towards the creature, whose hand and arm was extended towards her, and it seemed to smile slightly. There was a grunt of exertion, and a table flew into the creature's gut, slamming it into the wall with the familiar sound of strained bone. It gave a loud, pained yelp, pushing the table away and struggling to breathe as Frederick paced towards it, holding a hand back ready to punch. His fist swung and was caught, and a toothy snarl met his face.
"Bully..." The creature growled in a menacing, rumbly tone. "Caught at your own game..!"
It pushed him back hard, knocking the wind out of him, before bringing its hands together. Two tables, one to either side of Frederick, slammed together on him, knocking him senseless before the creature extended a hand forcefully forwards, and the boy was slung across the far wall unconscious. The creature, now free of the adrenaline of combat, clasped its middle and sagged to its knees. Lulu grabbed her crutches and hurried to its side, despite the protests of her Zodiac.
"Y-you saved me..!"
The creature only nodded.
Lulu put a hand to its back, giving it a gentle stroke. "B-but who are you..?"
The creature gave a toothy smile, as if finding humour in her question. "The hunter with a belt of three;" it mumbled, "the constellation that all can see..." It then slumped forward, eyes closed as it fell unconscious.
Lulu mumbled the simple rhyme quietly, before looking up at the star chart above her, and then Mrs. Ryans.
"Orion!"
Orion woke later in hospital, staring up at the ceiling. There was a vase of flowers on the side table, from his parents by the look of it. An orderly, standing in the window watching him, gave a start and called for others, who opened the door and rushed in. His parents were at the foreground, and they gave him worried hugs. He hugged back, before noticing his furred arm again and growing depressed, and looking away sadly.
"... Orion? Honey, what's the matter?" His mother asked.
He stayed silent, trying to gather his composure. "I... All the way through my life, I've been the Child Without; the Freak denied his birthright." He felt a pair of tears snake their way through the fur on his face. "And now I am exactly what everyone calls me; a freak..." He huffed into the pillow and rolled gently, shifting to face away from them.
"The teachers tell me you smashed through a classroom window." His mother scorned, accompanied by an irritable trill from her twin-headed Gemini.
"After Mrs. Ryans found me on the roof and I fled, I hid in the gulley." He said. "Even from there I could hear Frederick bullying Lulu." He snarled weakly, sobbing slightly harder. "He can bully me all he wants, but Lulu's innocent!"
"But you're innocent too, Orion." His father mumbled.
"No I'm not." He huffed. "I've always been cursed by fate; even the Constellations abandoned me." He gave a sarcastic, yet humourless chuckle. "'The Child Without.'"
A gentleman pushed between the two parents. He had a slightly self-important look about him, but that could have simply been because of his business suit. His thick moustache ruffled lightly as he spoke.
"Orion Olafson, I am Dr, Richard Pikeson, and head of the ministry of science. You are coming with me."
His parents were outraged, but Orion only laughed. The room was silent as he laughed, rather humourlessly. He stopped abruptly.
"No." He said bluntly.
"You have no say in it; legally you belong to me now."
"No." He repeated. He turned his head to look at this man and his Aquarius, his face serious. "If you want to take me, you will have to kill me. Though I may not appear human, I will cling to those rights I deserve, and my rights say No to you and your big stupid moustache."
The gentleman seemed truly angered by this, but Orion's father grabbed him by the back of his jacket. "You heard my son." He said. "Unless you want one of us to break your right of free speech, you might want to leave."
"You-"
Orion's father grabbed the man by his jaw. "The human jaw is a very strong bone." He said. "Would you like us to find out how strong?" His Leo growled menacingly.
The man struggled free of his grip and stormed out. "You'll be hearing from my solicitor!"
"I look forward to telling him to go f-"
Orion tuned out, staring at the wall like it was the most interesting thing in the whole universe. A few minutes passed, and he felt himself be shaken gently, but he paid it little heed until it became more insistent and he turned to see Lulu sitting next to him.
"Hey." He mumbled.
"Hey." She replied awkwardly. "'bout time you noticed me."
He shifted under the sheets. "I'm sorry." He said. "I've a lot of things on my mind."
"You're telling me." She retorted. "You never told me your mum was so annoying, honestly, she's like..." She trailed off when she noticed him crying gently to himself, and she shook him again. "Hey, Orion, I'm sorry."
"Don't be." He sniffled. "You've nothing to be sorry about; you certainly didn't turn into what everyone calls you."
Lulu sighed. "You're not a freak, Orion." She snapped. "You're just... different. There are dozens of constellations in the sky, surely there's a different Child for all of them."
"What are you talking about?" He grumbled.
She fished a book from her pockets. "Your birth date, September 29th, 2000, I looked up the star charts for the exact time you were born." She said. "Libra wasn't prominent that night neither was Scorpio, or Pisces, or any of the others. At least, not in our part of the world; you know what was?"
He shook his head glumly.
"You were."
He blinked at this, and turned his head to her. "What..?"
"Orion, high in the sky, brighter than it had ever been in thousands of years in recorded history; you didn't get a regular Zodiac because you weren't born of Libra."
"That's nonsense." He mumbled. "Surely dozens of children would have been born at that exact time and date."
"Yes, but none in our exact neck of the world. For that entire day, you were the only child born at this hospital."
He gingerly sat up in bed, turning a disbelieving eye on her. He was wearing new pants, probably brought in by his mother, but he didn't know that until he sat up.
"What're you saying to me here? I'm not a Libran?"
"Yes." She affirmed. "You are, as are you a Dragon, but you're also something that's not normally seen. Some people have more powerful abilities, unique ones, or a Zodiac that's larger than the norm," as she said this, Alia hopped up on the bed and gave Orion a moment's scrutiny, "you were born without a Zodiac because there is no Zodiac for Orion."
He blinked at her, before chuckling. "Great, now I'm a cookie, too." He said sarcastically, looking down at his furry arm. "At least I'm the right colour!"
This got Lulu to laugh, and she smiled at him. "Thanks for saving me."
"You're my friend." He said. "My only friend..." He sighed and looked at his lap sadly. "At the time, I didn't think 'I need to be a hero', or 'prove I'm good for something'; I thought that, all my life, the only thing that wouldn't abandon me for nothing of worth would be you. The only person that wouldn't try and kill me or run from me would be you. The only thing I thought I had left... was you." He turned his teary eyes on her. "I could hear what he said to you, and it filled me with such rage..! You don't deserve to be punished for what I am or what I do; least of all by him..."
"Speaking of," she began, "I hear he's doing well. Mild concussion and bruising to his ribs seems light in comparison to the three of yours he broke."
Orion chuckled. "If karma is real, he has a whole lifetime of torment to pay for." He gave her a toothy smile, and looked her earnestly in the eyes. "L-Lulu?"
"Hmm?"
"I... What I am doesn't change anything, does it?"
She giggled. "Of course not." She said, leaning in and bonking her forehead against his. "You're still you, Orion; you just have some extra features now." She affirmed. "That's all there is to it."
He sniffled, a happy tear soaking into his furry face. "Thank you, Lulu."
"Who knows, maybe, when you're better, you can take me flying with you?"
He chuckled and gave her a hug, careful not to hurt her with his strength. "I'd like to do that, Lulu." He mumbled as Alia nuzzled his side.
"I really would."