Leon piled four boxes of shoes in Taurus's lap. "I hope these are useful."

Leon, Taurus, Cancer, and Vinn were shopping at the mall for hiking boots like Cetus suggested. They decided they would trust that Cetus was on their side - for now anyway.

"What reason do we have to trust her again?" asked Vinn.

Cancer shrugged. "Sabotaging us right now wouldn't benefit her. She's either helping us, or luring us into a false sense of security."

"The next trial is definitely climbing something." Leon pushed Taurus's chair out of the store. They wandered around the mall, wondering what else they needed.

Taurus sighed. She doesn't know why she bought herself new shoes, but everyone else did. "At this point I just wont do anything. She can put me in class F again, I don't care."

"Wait, what's that?" Leon froze as they passed an electronics store. The display TVs in the windows showed pictures of a side of a mountain, covered in mud.

Cancer brought up the news channel on his phone, and turned up the volume.

"It's the first time we've ever seen a tsunami in the country of Capra," announced the news anchor. "It was said to have come out of nowhere, and hit the side of mount Cap - the largest mountain in Capra - at about three pm last night. Citizens questioned whether this was a natural occurrence or whether it was created by someone with the ability to manipulate water. Let's take a look at what experts have to say."

The camera showed a man at the bottom of the mountain. He spoke in Arabic, a live translator providing an English voice-over. "It is not likely that the tsunami was created by someone with water-manipulation powers. Even the royals of the water countries don't possess the power to summon a tsunami as large as this. As you can see-" he motioned to the mountain behind him. "The side of the mountain has turned completely into mud. Many layers of rocks and soil have been washed away into the ocean. Even the environment near sea-level is still flooded."

The camera panned towards the news anchor. "It is unclear what caused the tsunami, with no earthquakes having occurred. Mount Cap is currently closed to tourists until it is deemed safe to reopen."

Cancer turned off his phone. "Well, I guess our trial doesn't involve hiking mount Cap."

"I wonder if the water signs could ever create a tsunami that big with enough training." Taurus smiled. "After the trials let's use Ophiuchus as target practice. The water signs can practice making tsunamis, the fire signs can practice their fireballs, the air signs can practice making tornados, and we'll practice making earthquakes."

"That's a very pleasant thing to imagine." Vinn glanced at the TVs before walking away. "If she doesn't kill us first."

***

Aquarius sat across from Libra, Scorpio, and Virgo in the cafeteria. Pisces and Sagittarius sat beside him.

"I think this is the first time I've seen Scorpio without Ares in weeks," smirked Pisces, tormenting her. "Where's your boyfriend?"

Libra and Virgo exchanged a glance and laughed. Pisces and Sagittarius were the only ones who didn't know that Scorpio and Ares were actually dating. They even told Lee who did not care.

"I don't know," replied Scorpio. "Maybe he's covering your room in silly string."

"Yeah right." Pisces looked at the others, looking for someone else to torment. "So how are Virgo and Libra doing?"

Virgo cupped Libra's face and gave her a quick kiss. "Pretty good."

"Why are you trying to involve yourself in everyone else' relationships?" asked Libra.

Pisces took a bite of his toast. "I'm bored."

"Speaking of relationships." Sagittarius played with the hair tie around Aquarius' wrist. "Who's is this? Your hair isn't long enough to tie back."

Everyone looked at Aquarius, suddenly intrigued.

"It's just a bracelet. I found it on the floor." Aquarius pointed to the one around Sagittarius' wrist. "You have one too."

"Mine is in case I want to tie my hair back. Your hair is too short to tie back."

"I can tie mine back." Aquarius tried to grasp enough hair to put in a ponytail, but his hair was too short. "I don't want to right now, but I can."

Sagittarius smirked, realizing he was lying. "What are you hiding?"

"Nothing."

"Then can I take this? I want to put my hair in twin tails but I only have one hair tie."

Aquarius swatted her hand when she reached for the tie. "Find another hair tie."

"Why are you so protective over this particular hair tie?"

"I'm not. Why are you being so weird over me having a hair tie?"

"Is hair tie even a word anymore?" Virgo furrowed his brow. "Hair tie... hair tie... hair tie... hair tie..."

Libra slapped his arm. "Quiet."

"No."

Libra squeezed Virgo's cheeks together, making his lips pucker. "No?"

"Look it's a Virgo fish!" Pisces took a picture of Virgo, sending it to the group chat.

"Why are you and Sagittarius sitting apart anyway?" asked Virgo after he pushed Libra's hands away.

"Because we can't annoy Aquarius if we're sitting together." Pisces smiled at Aquarius. "He loves us."

"I absolutely do not." Aquarius pushed the hair tie down to his elbow, daring Sagittarius to take it.

"You're so cold," teased Scorpio who texted someone on her phone. "Poor Pisces just likes being your friend."

Pisces dramatically started fake crying. "We even used to be P.E. class partners."

Aquarius rolled his eyes. "I avoided you and you purposely volunteered to be my partner for every sport."

"So dramatic." Libra flicked Pisces on the forehead. "Don't fake cry so loudly."

Pisces smiled at Libra. "But I want to annoy you!"

"Aquarius is sneaking away!" Sagittarius smiled at Aquarius who slowly walked out the door.

"I'm going to train before the trial later tonight. Want to join me?"

"Actually, I'm finished too." Virgo followed Aquarius out the door.

Sagittarius made sure they were gone before speaking. "He definitely has a crush on someone. Why is he so protective of that hair tie?"

"Or you could mind your business," replied Libra.

Pisces frowned. "Why the fuck would we do that?"

"Do you know who it is?" Sagittarius looked at Scorpio.

"Of course," replied Scorpio. "Did you not look at the hair tie to see if there were any strands of hair tangled around it? I could tell from the hair colour alone."

"Could it be anyone other than Gem?" asked Sagittarius.

Libra shrugged, wanting to mess with Sagittarius. "Unless he has a secret alternate lover."

Pisces gasped. "He could be acting close with Gem just to throw us off!"

"We need to watch him to see who he acts shy around!" Sagittarius ran towards the training room, Pisces following after taking one last bite of cereal.

***

Gemini, Capri, and Aries lifted weights on a section of padded floor. They were training together, until something hit Capri on the back of the head.

Capri furrowed her brow and looked around the room. "Did someone throw something at me?"

"I didn't see anything," Aries picked a balled piece of paper off the floor.

"Someone probably threw it by accident." Capri put her earphones back in her ears and resumed her workout.

Gemini was halfway through his set when something hit him in the side of the head. "Aries, we know it's you."

"Why would I throw paper at you guys?" Aries emptied her pockets. "I don't have paper!"

"There's nobody else nearby." Capri shrugged it off and continued her workout, watching Aries.

That's what a paper ball hit Aries on the back of the head.

Aries unfolded the paper, the word loser written in sparkly ink. "This looks like Gem's doing."

"But she's not even here." Gemini rolled his eyes. "If she was in this room, I'd be able to tell. I have a sixth sense for knowing when my annoying sister is around."

Another paper ball hit Gemini on the back of the head. "What the heck? It came from that direction but there's nobody there." Gemini turned around to face the empty rock wall.

"What does it say?" Capri unfolded the note. Your sixth sense is being full of shit <3.

Gemini slowly looked around the room for Gem. Aquarius and Virgo were doing pull-ups, Pisces and Sagittarius seemed to be preoccupied teasing Aquarius about something, Aquari and Pie were doing exercise next to Lee who glared at Capri, while the girls glared at Lee. Leo, Saggi, and Scor ran laps around the room.

Then he noticed a strange lump with a blanket over it in the middle of the room. Gemini walked over to the lump and ripped the blanket off. It was just a stack of pillows with a paper that read I'm by far smarter than you.

"Come on guys, let's find Gem." Gemini put his weights back in the rack and looked around the room.

Aries turned to face Capri. "Should we join him?"

"If I keep exercising I might overdo it before the trial anyway." Capri slipped her headphones in her pocket. "Let's go."

"Psst."

"What was that?" Aries looked around.

"Up here."

Aries looked up to see Gem and Capricorn lying down across a net that hung just below the roof. They pressed their fingers to their lips.

Capri nodded and pulled an imaginary zipper across her lips.

Gem wrote something on a piece of paper. Capricorn crumpled it up and dropped it through a rip in the net. Then a steady breeze carefully blew the paper across the room, before slamming it into Gemini's back.

"How did they even get up there?" whispered Capri.

"They probably found a ladder or snuck up there before everyone else came." Aries pretended to look for Gem with Gemini.

***

"He's getting so annoyed," laughed Gem.

"What should we write next?" asked Capricorn.

Gem shrugged. "Maybe we'll give him a list of stuff he has to do before we reveal our location."

Capricorn and Gem took turns using the pen. They created a note that said:

Dear dumb Gemini,
We will reveal our location to you if you complete there few demands. We're watching you...
1. Scream I Am An IDIOT
2. Bring a smoothie for Cappy and Gem
3. Spit on Lee
4. Wait don't do 3 I don't want you to die
5. I do. Spit on him
6. Your sister is mean
7. Your boyfriend is boring
8. Do the chicken dance out of nowhere. If anyone asks what you're doing, don't answer them
9. Do a Kpop dance. I don't care which one just dance to the course of something. It has to be the official choreography

Capricorn crumpled the paper and dropped it. The paper conveniently slammed into Gemini.

Gemini picked up the paper and sighed. He stared at the paper before slowly looking up and screaming out loud "I AM AN IDIOT."

Gem and Capricorn pressed their hands over their mouths to keep from laughing out loud.

***

Leo watched as Gemini screamed that he was an idiot before running out of the room. She stopped running and sat down to catch her breath as she wondered what he was doing, when she heard stifled laughter.

Leo looked up, making eye contact with Gem.

Gem dropped a piece of paper. It landed on Leo's forehead.

Don't tell Gemini where we are. We want to mess with him

Leo pulled out her phone and texted Gem.

Leo: what will you offer me to keep me quiet

Gem: I'll make him bring you a smoothie too

Leo: it has to be strawberry banana

Gem: fine

Leo watched as Gem texted someone on her phone. A few minutes later, Gemini reappeared carrying three smoothies.

He handed one to Leo. "Where are they?"

Leo shrugged innocently. "Where's who?"

"If they're making me give you a smoothie, they're probably trying to keep you quiet." Gemini looked around, before placing the other two smoothies on the floor.

"Are they making you do stuff?"

"There's... three more things." Gemini showed Leo the note.

"Do number three before Aquari and Pie bully him into leaving."

Gemini looked at Lee who gritted his teeth as he did push ups.

"Are you that fucking weak?" taunted Aquari. "You can only do twenty push ups?"

"Why are you looking at Capri you fucking weirdo?" Pie leaned in and whispered into his ear. "You never deserved her. You're just a piece of shit."

Even though Lee was such a bad person, Gemini felt like it was morally wrong to spit on people. He sighed and turned around. "Gem I can't do it."

Another paper ball came out of nowhere and hit him in the face.

Did you know I went on a date or two with him back when we were first created? I broke up with him because he was so arrogant and self obsessed. He called me a bunch of names. When I told the others about how he was acting, he completely denied the whole thing and acted extra nice around the others to make me look bad. I think they believed him until he slowly started showing his real personality after dating Capri for a while. After me and Gina already left.

Gemini slowly turned to look at Lee. Morals didn't matter, he spat on Lee's face.

Aquari and Pie cheered.

"What the FUCK?" Lee glared at Gemini. "Do you think it's okay to spit on people? Are you a fucking goat?"

"I'm not happy with the way you treated my sister."

"Nine out of ten!" cheered Pie. "I would give you a better score if it landed in his eye."

"I don't have to deal with this. You're a bunch of bullies. You're all no better than Ophiuchus. I don't think you guys realize that I'm still HUMAN!" Lee stormed off.

"Abusers can't be humans." Aquari leaned back and folded her arms behind her. "Are we really bullies if we bully bad people?"

Pie furrowed her brow. "We're probably a bit harsh in the way we pick on him. But I don't care. He does deserve it. He's probably said worse to Capri."

Gemini walked back to the middle of the room. The smoothies he left on the floor were gone.

Then the speakers in the room turned on and the chicken song played. Gemini began chicken dancing.

Gem and Capricorn were so busy laughing at Gemini, they didn't notice Leo until she layed down between them.

"How did you get up here?" asked Gem.

"Same way you did." Leo pointed to a large hole in the corner of the room. "I got Aquarius to give me a boost up using wind currents."

Gem looked down at Aquarius sitting on top of the monkey bars. He made sure Gemini wasn't looking before he waved to them.

"What are you doing Gemini?" asked Aries.

"You're laughing! You know where they are!"

Aries turned to Capri. "Did you see them anywhere?"

Capri shook her head. "I couldn't find them."

"Me either. But instead of looking, Gemini is doing the chicken dance. And Pisces is recording him."

Gemini turned around to see Pisces pointing his phone at him.

"Can you help me beat them up when I find them?"

"Beat them up?" Aries gasped dramatically. "Why would I beat up a poor innocent girl and a sweet kind boy?"

Leo laughed. "She definitely knows."

"Aries and Capri both do," replied Capricorn.

"Beating people up is bad." Capri shook her head in disapproval. "Gemini I'm so disappointed."

The chicken dance ended, and Gemini reread the last demand. "Do either of you know any Kpop dances?"

Aries grabbed the note and laughed. "You'll have to YouTube something."

***

After a few hours of practicing in the corner of the room with Sagittarius, Gemini stood in the middle of the room. Lovesick Girls by Blackpink played over the speaker. Sagittarius danced perfectly. Gemini clumsily danced and tried to copy Sagittarius when he forgot what to do next.

After entertaining everyone, Gemini felt a paper ball fall straight down on the top of his head. He looked up to see Capricorn, Gem, and Leo waving at him.

"How did you guys get up there?"

Capricorn shrugged. "We teleported."

Gemini looked around the room for a hole in the net.

"We'd better hide." Leo snuck over to the doorway. She burnt a hole in the net big enough for them to fit through.

Leo made eye contact with Aquarius who nodded. She jumped, air currents slowing her fall. Gem and Capricorn quickly followed, running away as Gemini chased them.

***

Later that night, everyone was prepared for the trial. A thunderstorm started, causing Gem to hold onto Sagittarius as if she'd die if she let go.

They all stood in the lobby at eleven pm as Ophiuchus opened the doors and walked in. "Unfortunately, the tsunami ruined my trial. We don't have time to reschedule, so we'll move onto the next country tomorrow morning. You will all remain classless until then." Ophiuchus walked down the hallway, into her office.

"It must have been hiking mount Cap or something like that." Taurus glanced at her new hiking boots. "How did she not anticipate the possibility of a tsunami?"

"Because my country has never had a tsunami before," replied Capricorn.

"I still f-find the ts-tsunami suspicious," whispered Cancy.

Scorpio tried piecing everything together, but couldn't finger out what was going on. So there was Ophiuchus, someone who wanted to kill them, and possibly someone who was helping them. Unless the person who created the tsunami and the one who shot at her and Ares were the same person. Or maybe Ophiuchus and the second person were the same.

But could someone have created a tsunami that massive? None of the water signs were strong enough to create a tsunami strong enough to wipe out half a mountain and flood the valley below. Not even Scorpio.

Cancer pointed to his phone. "Ophiuchus put out an announcement for her show saying that due to the extreme weather, she will cancel the next trial out of safety concerns."

Taurus checked the popularity polls. So far the citizens still favoured Ares, Taur, Gemini, Cancy, Leon, Vinn, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capri, Aquari, and Pie.

"Extreme weather?" Taur rolled his eyes. "She made us do the last one in a hurricane."

Cetus walked down the hallway and smiled at the zodiacs. "The trial is cancelled. Go sleep!"

Scorpio held eye contact with Cetus as everyone walked to their rooms. Scorpio knew Cetus had to have a hand in this somehow.