Page 29 of Pisces Rising

Anger rolled off Virgo in waves shimmering in the air around him. "Gemini, you're meddling with forces greater than you understand." His voice was strained, revealing the magnitude of her actions. "Not even Pisces can safely contain that kind of power—that's why it's stored in the Tear. Give it back before you unleash something that destroys us all."

Dark Gemini's smile melted into a defiant scowl as she shouted, "No! I have my own grievances with you, Virgin." She pointed an accusing finger that trembled with rage. "You trapped me in that mirror realm for centuries! Every second, I was alone except for the endless stars!" Her chest heaved, her face contorting with a mixture of exhilaration and deep-rooted anguish.

Pisces could taste the bitterness of it in the air like ash on her tongue.

"Thankfully, I was able to use that time to hone my power. Then, a star saved me, and when it imploded, the realm fractured, allowing me to finally escape. You’ll never find the Tear now that the fractures are closing. She can stay stuck in that abyss like I was."

Virgo's grim silence spoke louder than any rebuttal. Dark Gemini's gaze swept over them as a snide, victorious smile stretched across her face, every inch the image of conquest. "I'll see you in the next galaxy, losers."

As the air grew thicker and the temperature spiked, Pisces sensed Aries’ rage compounding. Just as his fury exploded in a blast of scorching heat, Dark Gemini lifted her hand. Aries dropped to his knees with a strangled roar, fire flickering in his palms before being snuffed out as he clutched at his head.

With a disdainful flick of Gemini's wrist, she also brought the other men down in brutal swiftness. Virgo and Sagittarius's anguished howls lacerated Pisces’ heart as she watched them crumple to the ground, helpless.

Terror coiled in her gut even as a lone tear trailed down her cheek. She stared hard at her corrupted friend, a glimmer of desperate hope sparking amidst the sorrow. The real Gemini was in there somewhere, fighting to get out, she could feel it.

Dark Gemini's cruel laughter cut through the cries like a knife as she cast her derisive glare on Pisces. "I figured you’d cry. What else is new?" Her eyes narrowed. "So pathetic."

"Gemini..." Pisces whispered, her throat tight. Hearing that beloved voice twisted into something so vile, so opposite to the Gemini she knew, unlocked a deeper well of sadness within her. But from those depths, she found her courage. "I know you can hear me," Pisces called out, injecting every ounce of conviction and warmth she could summon into her words to reach her friend. "Fight her..."

But Dark Gemini only scoffed as if amused by a child. With a negligent wave of her hand at Pisces, she conducted some unseen, wicked symphony. Pisces’ mind fragmented again, the pieces shattering and twisting under the dark twin's psychic onslaught. She crumpled to the ground, overcome by agonizing pain and disorienting confusion.

Dark Gemini cracked her knuckles, readying herself for the grand finale. "Clearly, I didn't do a good enough job of wiping your mind the first time." Her voice dripped with disdain as she lifted her hand. "I won't make the same mistake again."

As she twisted her wrist, Pisces’ mind warped in tandem with the invisible power, her intuition and senses fraying at the edges. The new memories she'd collected since awakening on the beach were torn apart and scattered like pages ripped from a book. Pisces scrambled to catch them, to hold onto something—anything—as everything she’d fought so hard for threatened to be swept away.

No...she would not be consumed so easily this time. She would fight this dark force with everything she had. "You'll never take my light, Gemini," she rasped, clinging to that fragile, flickering spark of hope. "Not all of it."

But there was no fighting something this sinister, and once again, it tore Pisces to shreds.

"Bad news, Little Fish, some flames aren’t meant to burn forever." Dark Gemini’s laugh was like icy raindrops on a frigid windowpane. "And this time, I won't simply rearrange your stars. I'm going to paint the whole Earth black."

Chapter

Twenty-Five

The lab was in chaos. Pisces jolted awake, her eyes flying open as a large man shook her shoulders urgently. The acrid smell of burnt electronics filled her nostrils, and the hum of machinery buzzed in her ears. She gasped, her heart pounding as she took in the strange surroundings and the three large, unfamiliar men looming over her. Terror gripped her as she wondered who she was and how she'd ended up in that cold, sterile place.

"Pisces, can you hear me?" the biggest of the men asked, his voice aggressive and concerned. She shrank back under the protection of a desk, the cold metal pressing against her skin as her eyes widened and her heart raced. "Who...who are you? Where am I?"

The big guy's expression darkened, terrifying her more. He turned to the man with glasses. "Fuck. God damn it, Virgo, Gemini has taken her mind again."

Pisces’ gaze flickered between the three strangers, her mind racing as she tried to make sense of the situation. A man with short hair and wild hazel eyes cursed under his breath, running a hand through his messy hair. "How is this possible?" he muttered.

The big guy slammed his fist against the wall, the sound reverberating through the room and making Pisces flinch. His anger was palpable. "That bitch, Gemini!"

Pisces trembled, scooting as far under the desk as she could get, the rough carpet scraping against her legs as she curled her knees up to her chest, trying to make herself as small as possible.

The man called Virgo adjusted his glasses, his brow furrowed in thought. "Gemini's other half must have collected a lot of power to pull this off." He looked down at Pisces like she was an injured stray, his gaze a mix of concern and calculation. "We need to figure out how to help her first." He scrubbed a hand over his face as he thought, the sound of his stubble loud in the tense silence. "Cancer might know what to do." He strode over to one of the large computers lining the wall, his footsteps echoing on the tiled floor, and attempted a video call, but there was no answer.

The big guy paced back and forth, his heavy boots thudding with each step, his frustration mounting along with Pisces' terror. "Fuck this. We're taking her to Taurus. It's not safe here." He whirled around to the other two men, the air crackling with his intensity. "I told you it wasn't safe for her here!" His gaze burned with determination as the other two shrank back. The big guy pointed a commanding finger. "Virgo, Sagittarius, you two take Pisces up to Taurus' constellation. I'm going to find Gemini and kill her for this. And if I run into Scorpio, he's dead too. Then, I'm going to the mirror realm."

Virgo and Sagittarius exchanged a skeptical look, the tension thick between them. "Aries, that's not going to work," Virgo said carefully, his tone measured but strained.

Sagittarius nodded in agreement, his brow damp with sweat. "I've been gone from the stars too long. It won't be easy getting her back there like this."

The man named Aries was dominating the room with his growing intensity, his presence seeming to suck the air from the space. "We have to do something. Now!" he growled, his voice rumbling through Pisces' chest. "She has no idea who we are, who she is. Everything we've been through thus far is wasted."

"Unless," Virgo said with a hand to his chin in thought, his eyes narrowing behind his glasses. "Unless we can at least give her the memories she's collected here on Earth." His eyes lit up, and he turned to Sagittarius, a glimmer of hope in his expression. "You can help her."