Syliph curled up under the dark moon, the air had a gentle cold autumn crisp, but the warm weather of magnolia still kept him warm. Walking underneath the Windmill, the subtle humming of its turning gears were a soothing sound. Patting the grass around him, he leaned back against the cold stone of the mill. The moon rose high against the dark sky. Reaching his hand out, Syliph tried to grab it, a story from his childhood, of the moon celestial beings raining from moon fragments that had crashed into the ground, and some said that if one was able to connect with the moon again, the stars would return. Taking in a shaky breath, he said the few words Ameliae had been waiting for the past few months, "I'm ready.". He said. Ameliae materialized in her cat form. "Finally, just wait a moment, this'll take a bit."

Ameliae shifted to her human form

Ameliae's Human form:

Shifting her head side to side, she cracked her knuckles, "El effer, Ari, Tauro,
Geminis, Cancri, Leo, Virgis, Libri, Scorpi, Sagitaro,
Caprico, Aquari ki Pisci." A magic circle opened under her feet, 12 stars began to burn bright in the sky.
.

One by one they crashed into the ground, until twleve all stood in a circle.

Syliph sat in awe as the glimmering balls of light shifted into more human-like forms. It only took Syliph a second to realize what, and who they were. The twelve gods of the zodiac, Ameliae herself had summoned them. Looking over at one, Syliph recognized the tall dark skinned man from a dream earlier, but this time he had two horns protruding from the side of his head, they did a loop and pointed out in front of him. He was dressed in a long flowing toga, that was draped loosely around his body. In one hand he held a book while in the other he held a shimmering rock ameliae turned to the man, ”hi daddy.”she said, extremely casually. The man smiled and nodded, his face was square with pointed jaw bones. He turned to Syliph and spoke with the same smooth, wise tone he remembered him speaking with in the dream earlier, ”I am Capricorn, zodiac god of wisdom, servant of the earth. It is nice to see you Syliph Kamae, descendant of my daughter’s lover, Alem. She has finally told me you are ready to accept the dream. New times are at hand... Capricorn was cut off by a by a larger chested woman with chocolate colored skin. Her hair fell down to her stomach in braids. She held her stomach as if she was pregnant, and from behind a cow tail whipped around. ”Capricorn, time is of the essence, no one ever made a profit by being mouthy! Excuse me young sir, I am Taurus, the bull constellation, and zodiac god of beauty and efficiency. We, the zodiac gods will soon be falling to earth once more, but this time not of our own accord. The astral connections between earth and the stars grows small as we speak, and soon we will be dragged from our home and thrown to earth. Unite and protect our people, when we return it will anger the illumin. You must be prepared. As for what’s about to come, you must fully accept.” she said. Taurus waved her hand and A male stepped out from the circle. At first he had long, flowing red hair tied back up in a pony tail, he had a childish grin plastere
d across his freckled face, we are Gemini, the twin constellation, zodiac god of creativity and imagination. We will inact your dream. he said. As he stepped closer, the red hair shrunk and grew into blonde hair that was shaved on both sides accept for the top, his freckles were gone and this version seemed more masculine than the other. He smiled and simply said do not fear. Raising his hand, wind swirled around it in a array of colors, pointing it at Syliph, he launched the blast. Syliph was pressed against the wall and could barely move, the world fell away into a pit of blackness

The abyss seemed to go on forever, it felt like Syliph was falling, but the question was where was he falling? If he remembered correctly, he was in a dream, but this? This felt too real. Syliph lifted his hands to his face, he was translucent, he was like a ghost of kinds. Syliph reached up and touched his face, at least he could still do that. Looking himself over to make sure that he hadn’t become half snake or something. To his delight he was still himself. Except instead of his usual garb, he was dressed in c eremonial zodiac war clothing, tightly knit, skin tight clothes, that clung to one’s body. The fabric was all black and had the traditional silver lining along the hemline. Leaning over and checking his back,
There were also the traditional silver plating on the back, the one weak spot. The cloth was knit so tightly it was like steel, Syliph never had access to it as a child as it was reserved for adventurers of his clan, and he wasn’t able to salvage any of it from the destroyed village. Looking around, he noticed a figure floating closer. He had dark brown hair that had been Cut short and protruded a little bit from his brow. He was pale skinned and muscular, almost as tall as Capricorn. He held a sword that looked sharp enough to remove someone’s head like it was swinging through air. Like Capricorn, he had horns protruding from his head, and like Capricorn they also curved. ”Syliph Kamae, we didn’t have a chance to talk earlier but I am Aries, zodiac god of agression, servant to fire. I was the first of us to crash into the earth which earned me the reputation of never coming anything but first in everything. I’ll be the first to accompany you on this astral journey, if you haven’t figured it out, you left your body and are now traveling through time as a spirit, but don’t worry, it’s only a vision, I can’t truly take you back in time. We’ll be visiting the site of the first zodiac battle.” he said, his voice was regal, something Syliph didn’t expect. Examining him more closely, his face slightly resembled Capricorn’s in its angular nature. The abyss melted away to reveal a midnight battle. The only light came from the fire, which was fueled by the dead bodies. Aries spoke again,”this was the sight of the first Zodiac and Illumin battle, all records were erased from history, even the zodiac worshippers chose to forget it. It happened the first time we fell to earth, some low-level holy knights saw it as a way to show experience and rank up. But this was when our number of followers were higher. They summoned a army to kill us zodiac gods. But when they arrived we were ready. With my abilities, we were able to wipe some of them out. But they were still stronger, they
wiped out two thirds of our people, it was a sad day. The only reason we escaped was thank to libra, she was able to help us make it out. Days after Capricorn fell in love with a mortal, they had a child, Ameliae was the perfect hope, so we blessed her, she was to be the saving of the zodiac when the time came for us to leave. the midnight battle faded away once more and Syliph fell back into oblivion, Aries smiled and waved, ”I must be going now, Taurus will accompany you further.” he said. With that he disappeared and Syliph began to glow even brighter.

When the light dimmed, Syliph was clad in his old farming clothes, they were white and thin, and a hood to shade his face. Syliph reached around and felt his back, and just like he remembered there was a pouch to hold what they harvested that day. Taurus materialized in front of him”we don’t have time for pleasantries at this moment, we’re short for time. “ Taurus snapped her fingers and the abyss melted away to a everlasting field of grain. Syliph was about to ask where they were but Taurus beat him to it, ”this was where the Zodiac people held there first harvest season, before we were forced into hiding. It was a momentous occasion it was the beginning of what was suppose to be the rest of people’s life, we had so many plans to build upon. But those were never made, Syliph, you have to make sure you protect the plans of our people, when the illumin see us crash back down to earth, they’ll be quick to act, you have to be ready to act sooner. We’re counting on you, our mortal forms take awhile to manifest, you’ll have to protect us for the first battle. I must go now, Gemini will see you next. “ she waved goodby and everything melted away.

Seeing what new clothes he was in Syliph noticed he wasn’t in anything, he was basically surrounded by light. Syliph tried to cover himself, but the clouding light was apparently doing a fine job. Gemini floated into existence, Syliph tried to turn away, but it was impossible, the abyss had some weird idea of space. Gemini also happened to be scantily clad. Syliph tried to see as little as he could. Gemini stood closer, he was in his red haired form, the same childish grin on his face, he was obviously not as fit as his brother, but that still didn’t mean he had no muscle. But when he began to talk, the blonde version appeared, unlike his brother his broad shoulders seemed to be absorbing all the space. ”I won’t be taking you anywhere like my brothers and sisters. Instead we’ll go to your imagination. We were given a body through those who believed in us, believing is seeing.” Gemini said. Syliph spoke for the first time sense he fell into the dream, ”two questions, 1: why are we o naked?! And secondly, why are you two people but in one body. And actually I have a third, what’s the point of this?” he asked. Red hair laughed, ”for your first question, nudity is humbling. But in your imagination there are no limits, this was the default. And secondly, I share this with my brother, the blonde one. We fused souls during the first battle, he almost died so I saved him. But after centuries of healing, he’ll have his own body soon. And as for your extra question, you are a decendant of Ameliae and Alem whether she knows it or not. We fused a little bit of her existence and Alem’s existence and created a child, which he raised as his own, but cancer will get more into that. My piece of advice is to find more than one solution to any problem” Blonde Gemini smiled and the might grew and everything became so bright it blinded Syliph until he couldn’t see anymore and was back in the abyss.

Opening his eyes, Syliph was more than glad to see that he was in clothes this time around. To his surprise he was wearing the traditional clothes a father wore when his child was being blessed the day after their birth. He wore the all red shirt and pants. What tier them all together was a white sash tied around his waist. Cancer appeared in front of him, she wore the same traditionally parenthood clothes, except it was in the form of a dress, ”Syliph Kamae, it’s nice to see you again. And yes tonight wasn’t the first night I saw you, I was there when you were born. If you haven’t already guessed I am Cancer, zodiac goddess of nightingale and parenthood, servant to water. My small piece of advice to you is to make sure that you put family first, and for family remember the zodiac village.” she said. She held her hair in a long strawberry blonde braid. Waving her hand the scene shifted to a broken down wooden house, a baby cried, ”that is the birth of another zodiac baby, it’s located in the hidden wood sea village. Always remember your family Syliph.” cancer smiled and hugged Syliph, her curvy figure was warm and comforted Syliph the way only a parent could. She smelled of some sweet aroma Syliph couldn’t place. Cancer smiled and disappeared, and so did everything else until Syliph was back in the abyss.

Falling through the darkness Syliph opened his eyes again, groaning he noticed the covering light again,"For ONCE I'd liked to be clothed during these meetings." He yelled into the darkness. "Ahhh Syliph, do not worry about your body! Life is about other things! I am Leo,
zodiac god of Enthusiasm, servant of fire!" Leo yelled. Syliph groaned, he had heard stories of Leo's passion, once he thought of something, he never let it go, EVER. Syliph felt passionate about being clothed, closing his eyes he willed himself to have clothes, he liked clothes. Opening his eyes, the light was gone and he wore the traditional army wear again. "What do you have to tell me Leo?" He asked. Leo looked over Syliph as they fell through the abyss. Leo was shorter than most of his godly siblings. But he was definitely hairier than the others. He had a go-tee, and curly red hair. He was a little chubby around the edges, but his arms were massive. Leo looked over at him, his face became much more serious,"Never stop fighting, you must survive, make sure the Zodiac never looses hope." Leo said. Snapping his fingers Syliph continued to fall in the abyss alone.

Syliph twirled around in the darkness, seeing what new clothes he were in. Looking down he noticed he was wearing the traditional silver marriage robes one would wear when he was getting married. Looking down he noticed he was floating down to a scene.

It was a field of beautiful flowers, a group of people stood and watched as a couple was married, it was Capricorn and Ameliae's mother. "They were a beautiful couple. I never felt the need to be married, I was to busy with other things. I am Virgo, goddess of method, servant to the earth. Its nice to see you Syliph." Virgo smiled. She had long golden-brown hair that flowed around her head like a river. She was dressed in the clothes of a bride's maid, gold. Her eyes were a vibrant green against her lightly tanned skin. Her hands seemed very delicate, but they moved with authority. "Our visit is one of purpose, as Aries told you, we'' be returning shortly, shortly could be next week,
it could be a two years, no one knows. But I'm here to tall you to be prepared, whoever wants us dead won't wait, they'll act fast, and you need to be ready." She said, her green eyes stern now. Holding out her hand a scroll materialized in her hand, "This map holds the location of every Zodiac village currently alive and well,
find them all and convince them to help." She said. Taking hold of the map she placed it in Syliph's mind, like a secret room he could access at will. Smiling she turned back to watch the wedding, "Their love almost made me slow down, actually, it slowed me down for an entire day, no one had been able to do that in years.
Be safe out there Syliph." With a smile Virgo departed.

Syliph fell into a large library. straight into a pile of books. Pulling himself up he wore his old school clothes of black. Capricorn spun around, a smile spreading across his tan face, "I am SO glad to see you, if you don't already know who i am, I Capricorn, zodaic god of wisdom, are your ancestor, Ameliae is my daughter, who i had with a wonderful human named Cynthia, she was the love of my eternal life." Capricorn smiled and beckoned for Syliph to sit next to him. Standing up Syliph sat down at the long study table. Capricorn smiled, "Its been a dream of mine to see my ancestors again, it pained me to see your town burned, I tried to warn you, but the astral connections were too far apart at the time, I was unable." His face grew serious, "You learned my magic to amass knowledge that would help you, I'm here to tell you to do exactly that. The first time we fought the illumin we barely knew anything about the strength of their holy knights, we were greatly unprepared and they cut us down like flies. YOu must be prepared more than ever, learn everything you can about the Illumin, deceive them if you must, but find out as much as you can, and if they come to attack when we fall to earth, rise above them and show them we will not go silently into the dark." Syliph nodded, he didn't really expect this kind of persistence form Capricorn, he wasn't exactly the most volatile of the gods, he was probably the third LEAST volatile of the gods, he valued knowledge over brains, plenty of schools in the hidden villages held his symbol above their doors as a symbol to promote learning, it was illegal to deface them. The world melted away and Syliph fell into the darkness.

Syliph fell into a caravan. The wagons were loaded with goods being transported to another zodiac village. A centaur woman walked outside the wagon Syliph was on, he wore his normal clothes again. The centaur was clad in armor and had a bow strapped around her back, and arrows tied at her waist, looking over she smiled, she looked barely older than 20, her brown hair was tied up in a braided bun on her head. "I am Sagittarius, Zodiac goddess of Curiosity, servant to fire. Syliph, my advice is short,
your ancestor, Capricorn wishes to meet with you,
so I promised to be short, learn as much about your enemies and friends as possible, know who is your friend, and know is bad for you. I must be saying goodbye now, but don't let my siblings from earlier scare you, the fall constellations are a little abrasive, us winter constellations understand the cold, we're more caring. It was nice meeting you but I'm afraid Capricorn is nagging me now, he's waited centuries for this meeting, don't be late now!" She smiled. Running off into the distance Syliph was left in the abyss once more.

The world came into focus once more and Syliph was in a marble bathroom, at least that's what he thought it was, but it turned out to just be some fancy fountain room lined with sayings inscribed in stone. A man emerged from behind one of the pillars, he was dark skinned and his hair . was cut close, but his eyes were an ice-gray color. Looking over at Syliph he smiled. "I guess its finally my turn to talk to you, I am Aquarius god of the past, servant to air. My advice will be short, we have other more important things to talk about. Learn from the past, don't make the same mistakes, but remember how we survived and how we worshipped, the past is behind us, but it still runs in our blood. Now onto more important matters, your sister, Elexia, is still alive." He paused to let that sink in. Syliph practically fell backwards, "I-I-I thought she died, or was burnt to ash when I couldn't find her body." he said. Aquarius shook his head,"she wondered away and was found by some of the villagers from the Hargeon village, they raised her as their own, bust she's having some trouble of her own, I can't pinpoint where she is so you're going to have to find her." He said, waving goodbye Syliph fell away, to meet the last goddess.

Syliph fell into a healing pond, he was scantily clad again, he was mostly uncovered except for a healing robe, tied around his waist. Looking around he saw a woman with pale skin and platinum blonde hair, with striking blue eyes, she was dressed in a healers outfit. Syliph floated in the deep healing pond. The woman walked over and began to sterilize his arm, "I am Pisces, goddes of compassion,
servant to water. After we are done talking you'll wake up rejuvenated, it'll be morning, and you'll be gifted with a new magic, I'm preparing you for the change right now, I'll try to make it as painless as I can." Pisces smiled and removed a needle from her pocket, rubbing another sterilizing cloth over Syliph's chest she gave him a comforting smile, "i'll inject the lost potion into your astral blood-stream through your arm, but the new magic will be more painful, it'll be adminstered directly to the heart, I will try to be as careful as I can, you must also remember to be compassionate." Giving Syliph a comforting looked she gripped the needle full of blue liquid and injected it into Syliph's arm. His body began to tingle and he felt if he was losing apart of himself, he tried to move, but Pisces held him down, her arms were thin, but strong. Next she removed a golden needle filled with what seemed to be shimmering air, the tip of the needle was so thin it was invisible. Looking at Syliph she mouthed this might hurt. Bracing himself he waited for the needle to pierce his heart, but he never felt it. Opening his eyes he saw it protruding from his chest, Pisces was pushing in the shimmering hair. As soon as it was all in, the burning ensued. Syliph rithed and screamed. Pisces, a determined look on her face, submerged him in the healing pool. It never felt like he was drowning but he seized repeatedly underwater, finally after what felt like hours of dying, he broke the surface and took sips of air again. Wiping away his wet hair he looked at Pisces, "This feels odd, you said I have a new magic?" He asked. Pisces nodded, "you're waking up now so I must say goodbye, stay safe Syliph." she said. Giving him a hug, the world fell away and Syliph was rising back up, out of the abyss.

Syliph woke up in a cold sweat, he felt better, like he had changed, he had changed. Pulling himself up he walked away, a new man

`end of thread`