Pursuit of the Zodiacs

by Walsh, Nathan

  Aquarius severed and rolled heads with her strange but remarkable Water-Bearing Sword. It had the appearance of water in the shape of a sword. The edge was sharp and cut finer than the average Katana. For a second she could see the blood of her victims appear in the sword, then disappear, strengthening it more due to the liquid compound of the blood.

  Meanwhile, Libra ran from wall to wall confusing her pursuers as she returned laser fire from odd angles.

  Aquarius and Libra defeated the Vampeers in the room. However, they knew the next squadron would soon come marching through the halls. They had to move fast.

  Aquarius diverted Libra’s attention away from the unconscious entities on the medical tables. “There’s nothing we can do for them, Libra. They are lost.”

  They ran down the hall and came across an interface. Their view of the high altitudes was cut short when they heard and saw Giants onboard bashing additional Vampeers. “They must be captives too,” asserted Libra.

  Aquarius cautioned, “No Libra, wait. I don’t think they’re looking for allies.”

  She was right. As soon as the Giants made eye contact, they combined their gifts and released a burst of wind and water towards the charging Giants, punishing everything in the hall. The Giants tumbled upon one another.

  Sagittarius shouted, “Aquarius, Libra, hold your fire!”

  Libra said, “Sagittarius? How did you get here?”

  Sagittarius responded, “There’s no time to get into specifics, but you just sent our only allies on this craft down the hall.”

  Aquarius questioned, “Who were they?”

  Sagittarius answered, “They’re Annunaki.”

  Libra probed, “Annunaki? What would Vampeers want with Annunaki? Moreover, how were they even capable of capturing so many?”

  Sagittarius explained, “If you haven’t noticed already, they are no ordinary Vampeers. They are manufactured, bloodthirsty Tyrants, an abomination deserving its own high level of extinction.”

  A disembodied voice came over the ship’s intercom. The leader and orchestrator of this whole nightmare said, “The visitation rights of our Zodiac guests onboard this ship have been revoked. Anyone who brings me their heads will be highly rewarded.”

  Sagittarius spoke, “Vega, he needs to die. The head of this tyranny needs to be destroyed before we leave here. He’s a danger to us all.”

  After collecting themselves, Sagittarius informed the Annunaki of his relationship with Aquarius and Libra, thereby eliminating any further misunderstandings. They moved from hall to hall, and room to room, in search of the captain himself.

  “Damn, how large is this ship!” A frustrated Aquarius shouted.

  “Here, this way,” one of the Annunaki responded. He directed them towards the main control room. He remembered the way very well, having made his way there several times in the past. Two tall, thick metal doors blocked their vengeance. Big as they were, the Annunaki could not break through.

  “Don’t waste your time. This door must be breached with elements, not brute strength,” Sagittarius said. “Give us some room.”

  Sagittarius yelled to Aquarius, “Freeze the door.”

  Despite their differences, she did as he asked and moved aside. Sagittarius used his gift and pressed his flame-engulfed hands against the door. The frozen metal cracked and broke away from his hands, revealing the inside of the control room.

  They gazed through the portal and met Vega’s eyes. He stood behind dozens of soldiers, who proceed to push them back through the door and out into the hall. Meanwhile, Aquarius caught Vega ascending a flight of stairs.

  Aquarius yelled, “He’s heading for the roof of the craft. We must hurry.”

  Sagittarius replied, “No, wait!”

  The Annunaki pushed past the soldiers pursuing Vega, leaving the Zodiacs to fend for themselves. They employed all of their elements combined and eliminated the remaining Vampeers. Some ran through the halls of the ship engulfed in flames, while others lay with punctured hearts.

  The Zodiacs reached the roof of the large hovering Mother Craft. They witnessed an oversized Vega throwing the last remaining Annunaki off its wing and into the abyss. His experiments with different classes of blood had given him great gifts, and one of them was in plain sight: the ability to grow to great heights at will. Dangerously high up, they could see clouds covering half of the ship.

  Vega’s voice boomed out. “Look at me. I stand before you as a god. I am stronger than I’ve ever been. Look how easily I’ve defeated the Annunaki. All the years of my labor were worth all the sacrifices I’ve given.”

  Vega approached, and the clouds embraced him as he passed.

  Sagittarius shouted, “Stupid Vampeer, you cannot escape death no matter how much blood you consume.”

  Vega replied, “Escape death? I already have.”

  Vega willed himself to grow taller. The ship groaned under his increasing weight. Because of her gifts, Libra stood unaffected by the huge turbulence Vega created, while the others fought to keep their footing. Vega realized his error and defaulted back to a suitable size. The ship settled down.

  Sagittarius led them in battle, punishing the Colossus with a burst of fireballs to his knees in order to bring him down to a workable size. But they had little effect. Libra ran under the craft hoping to catch Vega off guard. Aquarius generated her power from the clouds. The clouds faded to nothing as she sapped their water to create an icy path under Vega’s feet. He slipped and nearly fell off the craft. As he fell, he discharged a shockwave, so sudden that only Aquarius escaped its full impact. With only one effective wing, Sagittarius covered up as he was knocked across the surface of the craft.

  Libra placed sticky explosives all over the craft’s major parts. She joined the fight, catching the Vampeer off guard as he struggled to get to his feet. The ice didn’t bother Libra, who cut the Vampeer deep in his arms and legs. Aquarius kept rebuilding the icy path as it melted.

  Realizing that his current form was a hindrance, Vega shape-shifted into a Super Entity, insusceptible to ice. Libra swung again. The Vampeer sent her across the level with a burst of wind.

  “Libra!” Aquarius shouted.

  He took a vial out of his pocket and consumed more blood. His wounds slowly healed.

  With Sagittarius nowhere in sight, they hadn’t received any heartburn from him, nor did any of their lucky Gems glow. This could only mean that he still lived.

  Aquarius took cover as Vega shot frozen stars in her direction, instantly piercing everything they struck.

  Libra pressed a few buttons on her detonating device. The craft erupted and quaked from a number of violent explosions. Unaffected, the Vampeer continued searching for the Zodiacs through the dissipating smoke. With another gust of wind, he cleared the scene and noticed Aquarius and Libra charging up their gifts. He ran toward them. In unison, they bestowed piercing air and water, but not before he unleashed an electromagnetic wave. Aquarius got the worst of it.

  She hit the surface hard as electric current illuminated her body. On the verge of falling from the sky, the craft endured weird noises followed by sudden vibrations. Vega twitched on the floor, Libra and Aquarius’s piercing wind offense having ruptured his insides. Libra crawled to Aquarius and analyzed her. She was badly injured, and blood seeped from her body. Libra spoke, “I can’t take all this fighting anymore! We’re getting off this damn ship and getting you some help.” She set her wings and grabbed Aquarius, but fatigue kept her grounded.

  The metallic smell of blood motivated the abomination to struggle to his feet. As he stood, Vega’s struck again, this time with a massive asteroid.

  “Sagittarius!” Libra cried.

  The explosions rejuvenated him. He said nothing, using his flaming sword for leverage. He could barely walk towards the Vampeer, who fought to douse the flames. He raised his flaming sword to deliver a finishing blow; but the Vampeer, in desperation, countered while still on fire, ripping Sagittarius in his chest with a blade
of his own.

  “No!” Libra shouted.

  Sagittarius, for his final deed, summoned all his skills and plunged his sword into Vega’s heart.

  The craft had taken all it could bear and fell from the sky, part of it imploding.

  “Come on!” Libra shouted as she grabbed a bloodied, barely conscious Aquarius. She had no time to get to Sagittarius. She screamed to him, but there was no reply. Sagittarius slumped over the body of the burning Vampeer. She had minutes before her heart would pulsate in agonizing pain, something she didn’t want to experience so high up. She took one last look at Sagittarius as she descended from the edge of the falling craft.

  They intercepted another group of Demons traveling North towards Lucifer and Bishop’s camping grounds. This was their third group. They moved in silence through secret Dimensions to avoid detection.

  “How many are they, Devil? Answer me!” Raphael yelled.

  He motioned for two of his Archangels to commence torture, but the captive gave in.

  “Fifty thousand! Its either you kill me, or else let me go!” The Demon yelled, his frustration growing heavy due to the torture.

  “Fifty thousand? So soon?” Michael deliberated. “Tell me how many more groups like this are on their way to the same grounds? Answer me!” They continued beating the Demon into submission. “That’s enough,” said Michael. “You’re going to kill him before you can get an answer.”

  Raphael replied, “You think they would show us any mercy if the situation were reversed? They would be eating our flesh little by little as sport before they would even consider parting us from our Mortal form.”

  Michael said, “I have no doubt that’s true, but let’s not get carried away.”

  Michael approached the Demon, chained to a big stone and obviously near death. “Tell me, Devil, how many more Dimensions have you cursed with your presence?”

  The Demon died before he could respond.

  Raphael spoke, “My apologies, Michael. We’ve lost ourselves.”

  Michael replied, “I expected a lack of restraint from the soldiers, Raphael, but not from you, a Master Arch. Let’s eliminate the fleeing Devils and traitors, and then head back to furnish God a full report. I’m sure He’s awaiting our return.”

  “Get up, you worthless bastards. Ha-ha-ha-ha!”

  Defeated, they threw everything they could at the newly engineered phenomenon.

  “Ha-ha-ha! Just bow down and accept your defeat, and I will make sure your passing is quick.”

  As Daniel, Goliath, and Dracuul lay beaten and fatigued on the floor, Fidor sat back down on his new throne, took a tall wine glass, and partook in another sip of the manufactured blood. At his mercy, it would be just a few minutes before he became bored and put them out of their misery. They were just his test models. The new gifts he had developed since his modification stood paramount.

  “Ah, want more, Dracuul? Why so eager to die?” He got up and stretched without a worry in the World.

  Dracuul crawled up the stairs towards the throne, but collapsed from the effort. Fidor paused and touched his chest; something tried making its way out of his body. He struggled desperately to prevent whatever was inside him from coming out.

  Dracuul gloated, “Ha. That looks like it hurts, Fidor. Having trouble over there?”

  In pain, Fidor shouted, “I will remove your tongue if you don’t shut your fucking mouth.”

  However, Dracuul continued, “You took too much blood, more than you could handle. This proves why you were nothing more than my help. You’re not strong enough to keep all that power within. What a fucking waste!”

  Fidor’s pain continued unbearably. He grasped at his chest even harder, but lost the battle. The atrocity ripped Fidor’s body apart. Covered in blood and sinew, the Tyrant consisted of almost every class of species combined. They couldn’t really make any sense of it. Naked, it stood tall, about eight feet. It had huge impenetrable wings and a cobra as a tongue that contained lethal poisons no man could attain. Its eyes were white, but were of death; and its horns that of the Devil. Its hands and feet were like the paws of a dragon.

  “What a fool. He must have downed the animal blood samples as well.” The beast grabbed Dracuul from off the stairs. “Noooo!” he shouted while he struggled against the Tyrant’s grip, but its strength was unmatched.

  It opened Dracuul’s throat and drank the remnants that came exuding out of it. The power of free will had come back to Daniel and Goliath now that their controlling Host had been eliminated, but still had only seconds to escape certain death. Unsatisfied, the Tyrant detected their movements and tossed Dracuul’s lifeless body aside. Daniel used all his strength to form a tornado that swept the foul beast outside the castle. “That should hold it for a while. Come on Goliath, let’s move before that manufactured Tyrant returns.”

  They headed out of the Kingdom, now without a Monarch, and into the dawning of a new day.

  Natenal and the rest of The Pursuers made it to Rome. Their newest Guide, and possibly their last, greeted them. His name was Regal, a Redeemed extraterrestrial Devil who had transitioned and devoted himself to God.

  He remained in the finishing stages of turning “pure” again. His horns molted in season, and helping The Pursuers would be another deed in proving that his loyalty was undeniably intact.

  “Any news?” Natenal asked as the others settled down after showing signs of fatigue from a long journey. They took some timeout to rest.

  “Yes, there is grave news.”

  Regal sipped on a glass of water and said, “I don’t know where to begin, but I will start here. A very powerful being made an attempt on the Pope’s life. The phenomenon killed dozens of his best guards and destroyed two cathedrals in the process. Rumor has it that it is a Zodiac named Aries.”

  Adam’s eyes lit up as he moved in closer. “Tell me, do you know the nature in which the attack was carried out?”

  “There was only one entity involved: Fire from the Sun.” Adam lost self-control and wept. Abdeen supported him, placing his hand on his shoulder.

  Regal had no knowledge of the personal relationships of the group. “Oh, is she close to you? Brace yourself, Brother, because what I’m about to tell you is nothing promising,” Regal warned. “Aided by Taurus, Pisces, Virgo, Scorpio and other powerful soldiers representing different origins, the Pope captured her Son and is using him as collateral. She had no other choice but to comply and was baptized in Hellfire. She is lost. Lucifer has acquired his biggest prized possession for this upcoming final war.”

  Unable to bear the news, Adam sat down. “I am too late! The nightmare returns. I’ve failed them again!” Abdeen escorted Adam toward the back room to calm his comrade down.

  Cancer commented, “What about Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Libra? Any word?”

  Regal answered, “No, but another rumor has surfaced that Aquarius, Sagittarius and Libra are also in pursuit of their Zodiac equals. Their whereabouts are currently unknown.”

  Abdeel said, “I would love nothing more than to cross paths with Sagittarius again.”

  Regal continued, “I also want to add that, during one of my patrols, I came across a group of strange riders who were torturing someone I did not recognize. It was horrible. He mentioned being a spy for the Dark Graduates and had given up the coordinates of a child. I couldn’t stick around to find out who, or I wouldn’t be here to talk to you.”

  Timius added, “It must have been Adam’s boy.”

  Cancer replied, “Yes, I’m glad he’s not nearby to hear this.”

  Natenal said, “We have little time. Soon Lucifer will kill the boy. They will keep him alive until this war is over. After that, his days are precarious. I’m certain Lucifer has his own heir in mind for that power.”

  “Aghhh,” Cancer’s heart glowed, and he fell to the floor touching his chest. Grimacing in pain, he had difficulty breathing.

  “What’s happening to him?” A concerned Irisan asked as they a
ll gathered around him. Simeon held him down.

  The Bookkeeper spoke, “Another Zodiac death.”

  Timius replied, “Damn … who? Which one was it this time?”

  “I don’t know, but this hurts like Hell,” Cancer replied as he collected himself.

  Natenal said, “He’ll be all right. Regal, get him a glass of water. And Irisan, see what you can do here.”

  Regal went to the kitchen. Irisian placed her hand on Cancer’s heart and used her gift of healing. An unusual current passed between them, knocking them both to the floor.

  “Are you all right, Irisan?” They asked while helping her up.

  “Oh, my God, I’ve actually seen him,” she answered in disbelief.

  “Seen who?” Timius asked.

  Irisan answered, “Sagittarius, he’s the one who fell.”

  After a few more minutes, Cancer’s pain subsided. “Damn, the Zodiacs are cursed indeed.”

  “It’s almost like I was there and actually felt the Zodiac’s pain. I can’t explain it,” Irisan shared.

  Cancer added, “I’m just witnessing the extermination of my own kind. Are there any Zodiacs not influenced by the Devil?”

  Natenal answered, “We stand before one, you Cancer. It’s unfortunate that your generation has chosen a path unparalleled to our Covenant. There must be at least one more left whose path is righteous.”

  Levi said, “This is unbelievable. I can only imagine how difficult this must be for you.”

  Cancer responded, “We both share a common burden. You’ve lost many as well.”