Nobody POV

This is where things get interesting...

Galaxia gave them the surprise of their life when Leo flung open the door the next day, prepared to march out gloriously again, only for it to slam in her face. 

She appeared behind it, angrily shaking her fist. "Hey! You think that's funny?!" Her face had a red door mark on it. 

Leo had the decency to at least look a little bit ashamed. "Whoops, I didn't see you there." 

"HOW DID YOU NOT SEE ME I WAS RIGHT THERE" she raged. 

Let me just say that a raging superpowerful woman on your doorstep is definitely not the most ideal situation to be in, especially in the mornings. 

"What the hell are you doin' on our doorstep?" Aries demanded. 

"We're happy to see you, though!" Cancer tried. 

Galaxia huffed and rearranged her ponytail. "I told you that I was going to visit your school today, didn't I?" 

"How exactly are you supposed to do that?" Scorpio demanded. "You're what, 25?" 

"21," she corrected. "But good guess." 

"Scorpio's right," Capricorn sighed. "You can't just exactly waltz in." 

Libra cleared her throat. "Especially, um... looking like that." 

Galaxia was wearing her full armor on and her sword was still strapped to her back. It was quite a spectacle. (refer to her picture) She looked down in confusion, which morphed into an annoyed expression. "Ohhhh, right! I need to change! I forgot to change! I don't suppose any of you have any spare uniforms...?" 

"Nope, but the twins can try and duplicate mine!" Pisces offered, looking over at Mini, who was taking the spot for today and was currently in the middle of wolfing down a stack of last-minute pancakes. She looked up, syrup smeared all over her face. "Sorry, no can do, our powers don't really do that," she apologized apologetically, then went back to eating. 

Galaxia brightened, though. "You have given me an idea! Let me in, for goodness's sakes!" Once they did, shutting the door behind them, Galaxia pointed a finger at Pisces's uniform. A moment later it sparkled and a duplicate copy of it seemingly peeled off of her, except that it was tailored to fit Galaxia's size. She snapped and it immediately replaced her armor. "Much better! Now..." her gaze swiveled around the room and stopped on Taurus, who was just coming out of the kitchen, untying his apron. "Taurus! Perfect, can you get me some cereal? I didn't have enough to eat this morning." 

He nodded. "What kind? We have a ton because apparently, these eleven are pickier than I'd anticipated." 

Galaxia waved a hand carelessly and sat down at a table. "Anything's fine. Just don't poison me." 

"We would never do that," Saggitarius piped up. 

She smiled. "I know. And, since I'm already here and this will probably take some time..." She clapped. "There, I've just given us an extra hour before we need to get to school. Time-stopping is useful that way, though Leo's ability functions slightly differently." 

Of course, being teenagers, the zodiac's immediate reaction was to throw up their arms, shout, "YAY!" and then promptly rush off to their own favorite spot in the house. 

"Um, so, they went off pretty fast," Taurus called from the kitchen. "Galaxia, I'll assume you're not picky so I'll just go ahead and make a contemporary breakfast for you." 

"Thanks!" she called, then faced the one who'd remained. "Well? What do you want to talk to me about?" 

Aquarius gripped the chair harder. "Can you first..." 

"Of course." Galaxia snapped her fingers and a glowing bubble encased them. "There. Have a seat, your friend can't hear us anymore." Her eyes twinkled mischieviously. "Or should I say your ward?" 

Aquarius sighed and took a seat. "I can trust you not to say a word, right?" 

"I'm like my brother in that aspect, dear. Once I've been told a secret I never say it out loud again until I need to. You can tell me, though I'm pretty sure I know what's been weighing on that pretty little head of yours." 

He sighed louder the second time. "I'm starting to regret this... but fine, since we're already here I suppose I'll tell you." He hesitated, steepling his fingers nervously. "Yesterday... you were there when Kashikoi gave her analysis, right?" 

Galaxia nodded. "Yep. And I know what she didn't say. Kashi has a way of knowing when to say things and when not to. Call it her insight." She muttered under her breath, "Then again, she learned from the best!" 

Aquarius huffed a small breath of relief. "Well. Good, because personally, I'd rather not say it out loud. It's embarrassing, even for me. The thing I don't get is... why'd she say I have the most darkness? I mean, I don't engage in anything that dangerous, and I certainly don't hang in the shadows like Scorpio does." The corner of his mouth lifted upward in a brief smile before it disappeared. 

Galaxia folded her hands. "Well... that's quite the complicated question. If I'm telling the truth, I'm not the best person to ask. Kashi probably doesn't even know. All she does is tell you the information. She doesn't necessarily know the meaning behind it. And, not to mention the fact that the answer could be dangerous. I mean things like could mean a lot of things. It could be referring to your childhood-" she gestured towards his scars "It could be predicting the future, it could mean anything. It's one of those vague, hard-to-read-into phrases."

"Oh..." 

Galaxia frowned as she saw Aquarius frown harder and slump slightly. "Fine, tell you what. There are two ways that we can handle this. Both will probably get to you your answer. The first is easier-of sorts, anyway. I can contact my brother's information getter-whose identity will remain classified for now-and ask them to look into it. Chances are they'll come up with results. The second way is a little harder. And I don't know if it'll succeed. You know about Kashikoi's photographic memory, yeah?" 

Aquarius nodded. "Yes." 

"Well, there's a reason why she's so young. Thing is, couple hundred years back she kinda memorized a bunch of books. Like, a lot of them. We're counting past-1,000 right now." 

He blinked. "So?" 

"Those books are dangerous, Aquarius. They're powerful, yes, and full of wisdom, but just reading even one comes with a price. For Kashikoi, the price for reading over a thousand of them was her sight. And now all of them are permanently inside her brain. The books contain information that can't just be accessed by any normal person. Think of Kashi as the 'placeholder' for them. 'Course, the books were destroyed thousands of years ago. No idea how she memorized them." 

"What does this have to do with-" 

"Shh! Just listen. I said that these books were dangerously powerful, yeah? Reading only one's contents would give you an enormous boost or a huge advantage in battle or however you decide to use it. There was too high of a chance that someone would use them for evil, so they were burned." 

"But Kashikoi memorized them all," Aquarius said slowly, beginning to understand.  

She nodded. "Exactly. Since she's got them all in her head, you can probably imagine the number of people that are after her-well, to be precise, not her, but the knowledge she holds. It almost always puts her in immediate danger. Hence why we took her under our wing. As long as she's safe and sound under us, there's not a soul in the world that can find her." she beamed. "And the best part is that even if one is planning to betray us, she'll see it coming!" 

"Okay," Aquarius said. "I think I get what you're saying. You'll ask her to consult her books or whatever and see if she can find the answer in them." 

Galaxia nodded. "Yep! Correct! Actually, if I'm being honest, whenever she consults them I get seriously creeped out-trust me on that." 

A pounding sound came from outside. "Um... guys? The food's getting cold!" 

Aquarius rose. "Thanks, Galaxia. Try the first option for now, and thanks for telling me about that." 

Galaxia grinned. "Sure, no problem. You seem like the type to trust. I don't just give that info out to just anybody, yeah? Good talk. And by the way," she added as she raised her fingers to snap. "For what it's worth, I hope you succeed in your mission." 

-------------------------------------

Time Skip to walking to school

"So, what was she talking to you about?" Taurus asked. They were on their way to school.  

"Nothing much," Aquarius replied breezily, casting a glance over at Galaxia, who was currently skipping at the front of the group arm-in-arm with Mini, looking utterly childish and so out of her place. 

"Huh," was all he replied, tapping his crutch against the ground.  

Whiiiich made Aqua nervous. It wasn't like him to just leave it. He could get ridiculously stubborn when he wanted to be. 

Fortunately, he was distracted when Capricorn slapped him on the back. "Lighten up, man! Don't look so... er, thoughtful? Thoughtless?" 

"You," he said, pushing her hand off, "Need to take your own advice to heart." 

She shrugged. "Not gonna deny it, I've never been more relaxed in my life." 

Aries dropped back to join them. "Does anybody else think that Galaxia's gonna lose it today?" he muttered. "I mean, she's acting more and more like a kid." 

"Maybe she hasn't been out much," Cancer suggested. "As Universe's sister, I'm sure she's very busy." 

"Yeah, but to act like that?" Aries gestured towards Galaxia, was who currently giggling away like a little girl with Mini. "Pretty weird. Then again, if you ask me, I think their entire family is a little off. Sometimes in a good way, sometimes in a bad way, and sometimes in an overwhelmingly weird way." 

"I'm sure they've lived a long time," Capricorn pointed out. 

"Maybe it was something in that breakfast," Taurus worried. "She did pour an abnormal amount of syrup onto them..." 

"Virgo eats sweets 24/7," Aquarius said calmly. "And she's practically a stick. In a good way." 

"Still, I-" 

"Yo, slowpokes! Are you just gonna hang back or get movin'?" Leo shouted from ahead. 

"How exactly do you plan on getting into school?" Libra questioned Galaxia. "I mean, even if you wear its uniform you're 21. And considerably taller than most people here. You could practically even pass as a teacher." 

"I'll explain everything to the secretary," Galaxia replied breezily. "A certain person I know taught me a lot about how to charm others into letting things slide." 

That was both ominous and reassuring. Which was why they opted to have Mini and Libra accompany her to the office, one being the most reasonable and the other being good social support (naturally, Mini on her first day had already made a very good reputation). 

They almost lost hope, though, the minute they glimpsed Ms. Klimeck's serious face. Old, wrinkly, and with drooping cheeks, it was a wonder she wasn't retired yet. The only problem was that she was known to be super strict. 

She was glaring at them through her spectacles now, tapping a pencil irritably on the counter. "You say this is your... mentor?"  

Libra opened her mouth but Galaxia cut in smoothly. "Yes. Her father hired me to teach her more about social life and politics in general." 

The pencil tapped faster. "And your name is?" 

"Miss Fakshi," Galaxia said, flashing a charming smile. "I'm sure you won't mind, it's only for today and, if Miss Libra tells me correctly, we have no tests today so I can't help her cheat. I'll even put in a good word to her parents." 

The pencil stopped. "Well! You're right about that, and besides, you seem pretty reasonable..." 

"I am," she agreed. "All I will serve is as a guide for Miss Libra-pointing out social cues and things like that. So, is it a yes?" 

Ms. Klimeck sighed. "Well... Fine, I suppose, just this once, because Libra is a good student from what I see so far. Hold on." She turned away and the trio exchanged delighted glances. She returned with a name tag. "Here. Now run off to class!" 

"That was amazing!" Mini gushed as they walked to class. The hallways were pretty much empty now. "I was afraid I'd have to step in, but you handled it like a pro!" 

Libra nodded. "Totally. Who knew you were such a smooth talker?" 

Galaxia blushed and grinned embarrassingly. "Oh, no, no, none of the credit goes to me. I know a girl who's even better; you should see her in action. One time she won over a world leader with some point-blank facts and some charm." She shuddered. "Now that was scary." 

"REALLY?" Libra's eyes sparkled. "I would love to meet her!" 

"Me too!" Mini chimed in. "Sounds like she could be quite the political influence!" 

"You have no idea," Galaxia grumbled. "Now, so what's your next class?" 

"Math," Libra replied immediately (of course she had already memorized their schedule) "Except we aren't in that class. At least, not yet. Aries and Capricorn have math first." 

Galaxia frowned. "Oh-kaaay... Fine, I'll make it work." 

The two girls escorted her to the front door of math class. "We need to hurry to our own class now," Mini said apologetically. "See you later, Galaxia! Tell us everything!" And the two girls rushed off. 

Luckily, Aries had glimpsed them through the door and made his way over, opening the door for her. "Hey, Galaxia! Come on in." 

The chattering class fell silent when Galaxia walked in, a totally confident aura all around her. Somebody let out a loud whistle. "Who's the babe?" 

Aries cut them a glare. "Could you cut the flirting antics? It makes me sick." 

Galaxia smiled widely. "Thaaaat's right, go back to talking, my little kids!" 

Aries led her to their seats. Capricorn's nose was buried in a math book. "Hey," she mumbled mostly into the book. 

"It's her favorite subject," Aries explained. "Plus the teacher's her favorite. I mean, she's got white hair and so does he." 

That obviously piqued Galaxia's interest. "Really? Interesting." 

"Yeah..." 

"What's your fake name again?" Aries asked. 

"Miss Fakshi," Galaxia replied proudly. "See how there's the word fake in it? Kind of, anyways?" 

"Nice." 

The bell rang and Capricorn jerked up, closing her book. "Class is starting!" 

Sure enough, a moment later Mr. Kageyama walked in and, because it was inevitable, a few girls sighed. "Who's he?" Galaxia asked. 

"The teacher," Aries replied. 

"Oh, really? He could pass as some sort of knight," she said carelessly. 

"Good morning, class," Mr. Kageyama said, cool and polite as always. "Before we begin class, I've received notice that we have... a visitor today." 

His gaze traveled over the class before they landed on Galaxia, who jumped. "Miss Fakshi, is it?" 

Galaxia jumped up and made a little curtsey. "U-um, yes," she stammered. She looked at the two by her side. "What else am I supposed to say?" 

"Nothing," they whispered back. The class laughed. Mr. Kageyama looked mildly amused. "That's very nice. You may take a seat. Now, class, please turn to page 12..." 

Class went on like normal. Galaxia was pretty attentive, and things went smoothly until Mr. Kageyama gave them worksheets and told them to work separately until the bell rang. 

Galaxia didn't know a single thing on the page. 

"Were you not paying attention?" Aries hissed when he caught her confused expression. "Give me a break, when you were playing with baby toys I was training in an army!" she hissed back, which was a bit disturbing. 

Aries sighed and, after glancing over at Capricorn who was happily working away, sighed again and raised his hand. "Mr. Kageyama?" 

"Yes, Aries?" 

"She needs help." 

Which was how Mr. Kageyama ended up coming right up and making everybody sweat bullets because that's how people usually reacted when teachers do that. 

Everybody did their best to ignore the teacher that was leaning over the desk, quietly explaining things, except for two certain zodiacs who were side-eyeing them with evil glints not unlike Mini's in their eyes. 

It was impossible to ignore Galaxia's blush, after all.

-----------------------------

Gym class

Galaxia was officially banned from gym class the moment when she did more than two hundred pushups in a minute. 

"This isn't faair," she whined as she joined Taurus on the bleachers. "Just because I'm totally in shape doesn't mean I can't show off a little!" 

"Well, two hundred plus is a little over the top," Taurus admitted, smiling. He never attended gym-instead he just watched, because of obvious reasons. "And I hear you've got a thing for Mr. Kageyama, right?" 

Galaxia immediately went bright red and started spluttering, hiding her face in her arms. "W-w-whaaaat?! Who told you that?" 

"Mini," he replied, grinning at her expression. "Don't expect that Capricorn and Aries didn't notice either." 

She scowled. "Humph. It's not my fault." 

They were quiet for a minute, watching their friends leap around the gym floor. Today's game was basketball and obviously, it was Leo and Aries that dominated. The sound of the basketball thudded in their ears. 

"I want to know something," Taurus said after a minute. "In the morning... what were you talking to Aquarius about?" 

Galaxia stiffened. She'd known he would ask sometime or later. "What do you mean?" 

"I mean, you went through the trouble of a sound-proof bubble," he said. "And Aquarius was quiet the entire way to school. That's not like him." Another pause. "... I know it has something to do with what Kashikoi said yesterday."

"Oh?" He's more intuitive than I thought... 

"Yeah." Taurus blew out a breath. "I don't think he gets it. I mean, he's one of the best people I've ever met, but he doesn't believe it himself." He hesitated slightly. "Sometimes I'd like to show him that myself." 

Galaxia rested a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him gently. "I think you don't see the full picture, either," she said. "I'm Universe's brother, remember? I saw his past. His pain. But that's not all. I think that meeting you helped him more than you may think." 

Taurus was silent. 

Will you stay with me? Aquarius asked, age 9. I'd laughed. Of course, Aqua. I'll never leave you. 

"Maybe you're right." 

--------------------------------- (Yeah I know that was short but I just wanted to write some nice and comforting things) 

After School, in Universe's 'house' 

"You're here today," Scorpio said drily. "Fantastic." 

"Now, now, don't be like that," Universe crooned. "Today I've got a special little surprise for you planned, so get excited!"

"What do you mean by 'special?'" Leo demanded. 

"Exactly what it means! Now hush!" 

Universe clapped once, they blinked, and all of sudden they were in a completely different room. 

If you could even call this gigantum place a room. 

It was round and was divided evenly into twelve slices, like a pie. There was literally nothing there except for a few chairs, and a throne of sorts in the middle. "Here we are!" Universe announced proudly. "I had this custom-built to suit your needs!" 

He directed them each to a pie slice. "Once you step in whatever you need for your ability will pop up, though most of your powers don't really require things. Go ahead! For this particular thing, I have summoned 'familiars' for each of you, who will give you advice and coaching because while I am amazing I honestly don't want to strain myself. Oh, and just because, I've made the familiar your opposite gender because most of you are so awkward around the opposite gender and I thought I'd help you out! What do you think?" 

He beamed, apparantly unaware of the horrified screams the zodiacs were sending his way. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG?!" 

"Hey! I put a lot of effort into summoning them so BE GRATEFUL!" Universe shouted back. 

The shouting continued for about a minute before Universe snapped his fingers, made the familiars appear, then lounged on the throne. (Familiars' appearances & information will be in the next chapter!)

Aries 

(These talks will be kinda short, I'll just hit on the most important point because there are twelve and I have to come up with one for every single one of them, so please bear with me)

"Question, how do you not trip over your hair?" was the first thing that slipped out of his mouth. 

His familiar flipped back her long, silky locks of flaming red hair and crossed her arms. "It's called NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS, Aries. I've heard you're the Sports King around town, but I bet you that I am going to beat you in the basketball game I know you're itching to challenge me to in no time flat." 

"Actually," Aries said, crossing his arms, "You'd be the one crying on your knees and begging for mercy." 

"Oh yeah?" Arina challenged. She took off her deep maroon jacket to reveal a bright red tank top underneath it. She cracked her knuckles. "Bring it on, old man." 

"You're on! And who are you calling old man, old lady?" 

From the next-door pie slice (Pisces was next to him since it's a circle) Pisces's familiar sighed. "Arina, get ahold of yourself, we're supposed to be talking, not getting into competitions in the first few seconds." 

Arina relaxed. "Oh, right! Forgot about that." She smiled and offered a hand. "The name's Arina, and I'm your familiar. I'm guessing you're just as into sports as I am? Otherwise, I wouldn't have felt this itching sensation that I've finally found my sports rival when I got summoned. And can I just say that it's amazing to finally be released? It's really tiring these days, just wandering around in nowhere and coming up with new ways to score three-pointers." 

Aries looked horrified. "Wait, you don't do anything? That's horrible!" 

Arina laughed. "Well, I suppose it's not exactly nowhere, really. Sure, we've got everything we want, but we can't leave the 'house'." she made air quotes around 'house'. "I'm not even sure if this is a house or a prison." 

Aries got a dreamy look in his eyes. "Anything you want? That... actually doesn't sound that bad." 

Arina scowled. "It does when you've been stuck here for over a century, never aging. I would love to go down to Earth and dominate all the current sports stars-I mean, I totally could-buuuuut rules firmly state that-'No leaving the domain unless you have specific permission!'" she rolled her eyes. "So retarded, right? Sometimes I'm glad that this house never ends." 

"Never ends?" Aries raised a skeptical brow. 

"Certainly seems like it," Arina agreed. "I mean, Serna-that's her over there, talking to your blond-haired gal-is the wanderer in our little group and even she hasn't found the end yet, so that's saying something." 

"Is there a basketball court here?" 

"Duh!" Arina eyed him. "Are you, what, new? You seem way too less informed." 

"Excuse me," Aries objected. "I happen to only have been introduced to this concept a few days ago! And, in my opinion, it's all completely absurd. But cool at the same time," he quickly added on, just in case Universe or some other superpowered deity was listening. 

Arina bobbed her head up and down. "Yeah, I was the same when I first got summoned into existence. Things get boring after a good thousand years, y'know?" 

"And exactly how long have you been waiting?" 

Arina waved a hand carelessly. "Oh, we lost count after three thousand and ninety-nine." 

"Naturally." 

"So, about that basketball game..." Arina's eyes got a sparkle in them as she tied her jacket around her waist. "Think you're still up for that?" 

"Totally!"

Taurus

His familiar looked around, then down at herself. She patted herself, as if she couldn't believe she was there. "Oh my gods, I was summoned! Finally!" she caught notice of Taurus. "And I believe you're Taurus, right?" He nodded, smiling. "Yeah." 

"Well, I'm Thalia," she said, beaming. "Princess Thalia!" somebody hollered from another pie slice. "Shut up, Liam!" Thalia hollered back. 

Taurus took that time to survey his familiar. She was shorter than he was, which was a relief, but her golden-orange heels added another couple inches onto her height. She was wearing black leggings, a short bright orange dress to match, and a short brown vest. Her golden eyes were dazzlingly bright and warm.

Thalia spun around. "Looks like I made the right choice when I decided to go for the nice ensemble today," she said happily. "Anyway, I guess you're lucky or you're special to have summoned me, I guess. Please don't ask why." 

"I wasn't going to," Taurus replied. "But still-" He let a bright smile split his face. "This. Is. Awesome!" 

"I'm awesome," Thalia agreed smugly. "And you obviously are too, since I'm your familiar." she glanced at his crutch. "Ah, so you're the one that Awua told me about!" 

"Awua?" 

Thalia pointed across the circle to where Aquarius and his familiar were standing. "That's her. Since you zodiacs are best friends, naturally us familiars are too!" 

"Well, that's good to know," Taurus said. "One friend for another." He hesitated. "Um, why'd... Liam... call you princess?"

"That's what she is!" The guy-Liam?-called again. Without even looking Thalia took off one of her heels and threw it at him. It hit him squarely on the head, evident by his yelp. Thalia held out a palm, still smiling calmly at Taurus, and the shoe flew back into her hand. "Ignore him, he's annoying," she said, putting it back on. "Anyway, it's kind of a complicated reason. You know Universe?" 

"How could one not know him?" Taurus muttered. 

"Turns out he's got a boss-I know, surprise surprise, right? Basically, her name's Everything and don't comment, please. She's his boss and the queen of everything out there. Back in the day she'd choose some gifted girl and make her her 'princess'." Thalia made air quotes around those words. "I was one of them. So is Galaxia. Took a lot of time and energy and effort, but now-" she put her hands on her hips proudly. "I'm practically invincible!" 

Taurus nodded, and though a good deal of his brain was confused, a tiny part of it went, That's amazing. "Ohhh. That's amazing!" 

"Yep!" Thalia looked at him. "Guess that means you're special, not lucky, if you managed to summon a princess as a familiar. Luck usually has nothing to do with it, anyway. We're kind of something like crown jewels. We sit in Everything's display case, being beautiful and powerful, but untouchable. Anybody who tries to 'steal' us usually ends up getting kicked out, in serious trouble, or killed." 

"Woah." 

"I know, right?" Thalia's eyes glittered. "In a way it's stifling, having all that power, but in another it's thrilling." 

"No doubt," Taurus laughed. "Then again, I'll probably never experience that kind of power because of my knee-ummm." 

"What?" 

"What's your hair doing?" While Taurus had been talking Thalia's hair had been steadily growing. It now hung in wispy tendrils to her waist. She looked down and played with it for a minute. "Oh, this? Nothing special. My hair can grow on command or become short. You get it, I can basically order it to become short or etc." She waved a hand over it. "Short, please." 

As Taurus watched in amazement her hair seemed to grow backwards, reverting back to its original shoulder-length bob-style hairstyle. "There, that's better. Long is hair is good for the beauty effect, of course, but so unuseful in battle." 

Taurus raised his eyebrows and gestured towards her heels. "Um. You're wearing heels and you can say that-?" 

Thalia huffed and crossed her arms. "You know, my heels actually improve my balance! Don't be so judgy!" 

He held up his hands. "Sorry, sorry." 

She turned her face away and muttered something like, "Though one time it did break annoyingly in battle..." 

Taurus grinned. He had a feeling they were going to get along just fine.

Gem & Mini

As expected, a pair of twins appeared for them. What they didn't expect was undoubtedly their familiar's personalities, which resembled their own just ten times more mischevious and cunning. "Hey, we were both summoned!" the boy with the gray hair exclaimed first. His twin, who had light brown hair, elbowed him. "Of course we were, I mean I see that Universe got tired of our pranks." "Who wouldn't?" 

Mini bounced right up to them. "Hi! I'm Mini, and this is my twin, Gem!" 

"Please refer to us separately," Gem added politely. 

The two twins bowed. "Of course, we understand the weight of being a twin. I'm Glenn, and-" "I'm Gray!" Gray was the one with gray hair and Glenn was the one with light brown hair. "So, you're really from that white and blue planet, huh?" Gary asked curiously. 

Glenn sighed. "And green, Gary. Honestly, it's no wonder you failed our geography test." 

"Hey, that's rude!" 

"If it helps," Mini interjected, "I was never the best at geography either. My brother's the educational whiz." 

Gary grinned. "Yeah, same with us! Glenn here is much more laid-back than I am." 

"That's because you're so busy hitting on ladies, Gary." 

"It's not my fault!" Gary looked at them. "Say, are there any good-looking girls down at your planet?" 

"Um... yes?" Mini replied cautiously. The last time she had been asked this question by Gem, he'd tricked her into gushing about attractive ladies and her hopeless attraction to them for about ten minutes, all of which he recorded and saved for blackmail. It was better safe than sorry.

The twins both grinned. "Sweet. We'd better start coming up with a list of reasons for Universe to let us go down to Earth..." 

Which, obviously, didn't bode very well for the future.

Cancer

"Quick! Tell me this! Do you like crabs?" Cancer demanded immediately. It was something that was very important if they were going to be friends (don't ask why.) 

Her familiar wasted no time. Smiling broadly, he proudly proclaimed, "Cooked crab is my favorite dish ever!"

Cancer breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good, thank goodness, you really are my familiar!" 

"Obviously!" Her familiar gestured towards his hair. "Red hair, gentle eyes, loves crab? We were definitely meant to be. I'm Callum, at your service." 

Cancer giggled. "I'm Cancer. It's nice to meet you, Callum." 

"By the way," Callum said animatedly, "Did I ever mention that I'm so glad you summoned me?"  

"No...?" 

"Well, thank you!" he said brightly, clasping both of her hands. "Do you have any idea how terrible it is to stay in this house which is more like a prison, day after day, never knowing where destiny would take you or where this house even ends? It's horrible, let me tell you." 

"That's horrible!" Cancer told him earnestly. "I personally love it when it rains, but I suppose you poor soul haven't ever felt the cool slide of raindrops on your cheeks before!" 

Callum shook his head sadly. "No, I haven't." 

"Well, it's amazing, it's like taking a shower except it doesn't stop for the longest time," Cancer launched into a mini speech. "And also, it can be light or heavy rain too. Sometimes it's light, and only lasts for a few minutes, but sometimes you can step out and it's like someone dunked a bucket of water on your head." She paused. "I actually wouldn't advise stepping out during that kind of storm, actually, there's a good chance you might get electrocuted or at the very least experience some pain from the sheer force of the rain. Nature is beautiful and powerful like that." 

"And the smell of the after-rain?" Callum inquired eagerly. "What is that like?" 

"It's like rain, just that it's not going anywhere," Cancer explained. "It's cool and misty and hangs on everything like a beautiful jewelry show. Oh, and there's often this damp smell too, it's all nice and damp inside your nose and mouth when you inhale." 

They continued talking about weather for the longest time.

Leo

"Wooooooah! You're as good-looking as I am!" Leo exclaimed immediately. "Well, you are my familiar, so that makes total sense." The two flipped their hair in unison and pretty much everyone sighed in unison. "The name's Lealie," Lealie said, shaking his hand. 

"Question, not that they aren't amazing, but why are you wearing gloves?" Leo asked. He gestured towards Lealie's arms, where a pair of white, elbow-length gloves were. They had a small star embroidery on the edges. 

"Oh! These?" Lealie held them up proudly. "These are some of my favorite gloves! I wear them the most often. Actually, they're the only pair I have, but sometimes I'll convince Galaxia to lend me a pair of her gloves." 

"Ohhhhh. How many admirers do you have at school? How many people admire you? How well-off is your image and your popularity?" Leo listed those questions off to make sure Lealie was living up to her pretty face. 

Lealie thought for a minute. "Don't know, don't know, and... don't know!" She said brightly. 

Leo was baffled. "What? Don't you have school?" 

"What is school?" 

He blinked. "Um. School is where you learn things." 

"Okay then, we don't have school here," Lealie amended. "That's why I can't answer any of your questions. But if you want to know, I'm pretty popular here. I mean, when I see people at all they all seem to like me pretty much." 

Leo grinned. "Ah-ha! There we go, sister! You're officially my familiar!" 

"What, you'd think the universe would lie?" Lealie huffed. "Of course I'm your familiar! We're practically the same person!" 

"That's quite obvious," Leo said, whipping out his phone and angling them both into the camera. He snapped a quick photo then showed it to Lealie. "See? Blond hair, ridiculously good looks, and a confident expression? We're not practically the same person, we are the same person!" 

They exchanged high-fives then started talking rapidly about the latest trends. 

From his throne Universe watched them and sighed. "And another Leo enters the picture..." 

(This is short because c'mon. It's Leo. And Lealie.)

Virgo

"Tell me, have you heard of the sky?" was the first thing her familiar demanded. 

Virgo was extremely, innocently confused. "Yes, of course." 

"It's the blue thing that spans from horizon to horizon with white fluffy things that are called clouds, right?!" 

"Yes. Though it becomes dark and dotted with stars at night," Virgo said. 

Her familiar sighed in delight. "Really? Describe it to me, please." 

Virgo was a bit confused, weren't they supposed to first say their names first-? But nevertheless she obliged. "Well, as you said, it's mostly blue and has clouds drifting across it, but sometimes, when it storms, it can become are gray as a rock and lightning flashes across it and rain falls. And sometimes the sun never comes out and it doesn't rain but it's a lighter gray color. And sometimes there are no clouds at all and the sun is so delightfully warm." 

He sighed once again in delight. "I would love to feel it... The breeze that ruffles the trees, the sun that gives everything life..." He jumped up. "Oh, but we haven't introduced ourselves yet, have we?" He gave a clumsy bow. "My name is Vance." 

"I'm Virgo," she replied, giggling and doing a small curtsey as well. "Tell me, why are you so enthralled by the sky? I mean, haven't you seen it before?" 

Vance sighed wistfully. "No, never. I wish to, one day. Everything on your so-called 'Earth' fascinates me. That thing you call electricity, and a contraption called a bicycle." 

"Looks like we're both pretty clueless and wonder about everything," Virgo laughed. 

"Oh, totally," Vance said. "They call me 'Mr. Clueless' over here. Not that I'm not smart, it's just that I'm constantly asking about things that I apparently 'should already know as a dignified and grown man'." He sighed. "As if I know what they're talking about." 

Everybody turned towards them and silently screamed, "YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO!!!" 

Libra

The first thing Libra noticed about her familiar was a very familiar spark of determination in his eyes. "So you really are my... familiar." 

Liam blinked and looked down at his hands. "Wait, wasn't I just...Never mind. I got summoned! This is the greatest day of my life! Well, everybody's life, anyway, if you count living in this glittering house or prison a life." 

"I'm Libra," Libra said cautiously, extending a courteous hand. 

To her surprise, she was met with a bright smile and an enthusiastic hand. "Liam. It's a pleasure to meet you, Libra. I'll assume that you like to peacemake as well, right?" 

Libra beamed. "Yeah, I do! What about you, what do you like to do?" 

"Peacemake, call others out, debate with others, and-" Liam turned away sharply and called out, "Princess Thalia!" 

A girl hollered back, "Shut up, Liam!" 

Libra was confused. "What?" 

Liam turned back, smiling easily. "That's just one of the other familiars, don't worry about her. Anyway, where was I?" 

"I think you finished," Libra stated. "My turn. I like to peacemake, my dream's to become a lawyer or a politician, and I love to debate as well." 

Liam's eyes sparkled as he leaned forward. "Really? Care to challenge me to a duel?" 

"I don't know," Libra pretended to think. "I think I'd win." 

"Oh, don't be so sure." 

They launched into an intense debate. Liam only paused once to shout to the same person, "That's what she is!" And yelped when a high-heeled shoe came flying and hit him square on the head. 

The match had to called off because he had to call Universe over to fix his head.

(THIS WILL BE EDITED.)

Scorpio

"I'm Scarlet. You must be Scorpio." 

"Yeah."

. . . 

"So... You like to wear, uhhh," he took a second to scan her outfit and place the type of clothing it was. "...Gothic lolita clothes?" Scorpio tried saying.

Scarlet nodded. 

. . . 

(More awkward silence because they're both so socially awkward, even for the familiar-to-zodiac relationship...) 

Saggitarius

"I know your secret!" Serna burst out the moment she was summoned. "I'm Serna." 

Saggitarius panicked. 

Universe had to be called over for a looooooong discussion. 

Yeah. 

(THIS WILL BE EDITED)

Capricorn

"I really, really, hope that you like to study as much as I do," Connor said. 

Capricorn flashed a smile. "Don't worry. I came, I studied, and I pranked people." 

Connor nodded sagely. "That should be our motto." 

We came, we studied, and we pranked people. 

(THIS WILL BE EDITED.)

Aquarius

It was his familiar that made the first move. "Hi!" she said brightly. "I'm Awua." 

As expected, Aquarius cracked a smile. "Awua?" 

"Don't laugh!" she said angrily. "It's like-" 

"The cuter version of Aqua, I can tell," Aquarius interrupted. "So, what shall I call you then, does Aw-chan work?" 

She outstretched her hands as if she wanted to strangle him, took a deep breath, then said slowly. "I won't strange you, only because you're my zodiac. The only other person who can get away with calling me that is Thalia, who also happens to be your best friend's zodiac." she gestured vaguely towards the girl talking to Taurus. 

"Well, that makes sense," Aquarius said slowly. 

"Anyway." Awua turned back to him and suddenly she looked dead serious. "Give me your hand." 

When he didn't she grabbed it for herself. He flinched when she traced her hand over the line of scars. "Just as I thought." 

"What do you know?" He snapped, tearing his hand away. 

Awua looked back calmly. "I know it all, Aquarius. I may not have gone through it, but I can see everything you see. I saw it all and felt it all through you the moment you summoned me." 

He flinched again. "All of it?" 

She nodded. "All of it. I know why you're like... this... and I know why you're so closed off." 

"And you aren't disgusted? Repulsed?" 

She shook her head. "Quite the opposite. I just want to remind you." 

Awua gently took his hand again and traced over the scars once more. "Sometimes you just have to turn on the light. To see the new world that's full of possibilities." 

Aquarius was silent. 

... Turn on the light, huh? 

He glanced over at where Taurus was laughing with his familiar. I think I already did, Awua.

Pisces

She stared at her familiar. "You don't look like my familiar. Or at least not one that I  would summon." 

Pax scowled. "What? How come?" 

"I mean," Pisces explained, "I have this... babyish face, and you're, like, all grown up and..." 

"Don't just look at his appearance!" Connor hollered from his pie slice. "That guy can eat an entire plate of a fish no problem!" 

There were hollers of agreement and Pax's face turned red. "Ugh! Be quiet, would you? Just because I like seafood..." 

Pisces smiled. "Yup, you're definitely my familiar." 

"Wait, you like fish too?!" 

"Of course!" Pisces replied, looking offended. "They're delicious cooked, roasted, or sauteed." 

Of course, the two launched in a long and animated discussion of the best types of fish, the way to eat them, and how they should be cooked. 

(And because I'm not particularly interested in that department, I'll skip that)

-------------------------------------

Universe clapped. "All right! That's it for today, we'll let you guys go now." 

They all exchanged respective goodbyes. 

"Oh, and did I mention that I've scheduled for them to visit your school tomorrow?" 

Everybody froze. 

. . . 

"WHAT THE HECK DON'T YOU KNOW HOW TO TELL US THESE THINGS?!" the zodiacs shouted, completely baffled by Universe's apparent lack of attentiveness. 

"REALLY?! FINALLY I'M SO SICK OF STAYING COOPED UP IN THIS HOUSE!!!" The familiars shrieked at the same time, bursting into celebration. 

Universe took the opportunity and got the heck out of there as fast as he could. 

-----------------------------------

Somewhere, in a dark hideout, somebody was keeping tabs on them. 

"Oh-ho-ho," the girl cackled, sharpening her knives. "So their familiars will visit tomorrow? Perfect. It gives me all the more chance to finish them all off." 

Her earpiece crackled. "Are you ready to go into action? Tomorrow's your chance. You can, as they say, 'kill two birds with one stone.'" 

The girl finished polishing her weapons and stood. A gleeful, maniacal smile spread over her face. "Oh, don't you worry. Tomorrow, they'll be in for a nasty surprise. And they'll be dead by the end of the day." 

Her laughter reverberated in the dark walls of the room.

-----------------------------------

Annnnnnd... cue cliffhanger! 

Obviously I'm not going to tell you who that girl is. You'll find out soon enough. 

Yes, the familiars will visit tomorrow. 

I'm forced to imagine the absolute chaos that will ensue. 

Guys, guys, tell me, do you think I'm stalling? Should we get into the powers quicker? I want to slow things down for now, so... 

Sorry if this sounded rushed, I will go back and edit it to be longer later. I'm on a tight schedule, y'all!

Love y'all! Comment below on which familiar you think is your favorite and who you think fits their zodiac the most!

-awakened-angel-chan