Page 45 of Pisces Rising
Scorpio and Capricorn stood as twin pillars of destruction, their auras pulsing with dark promise. Sagittarius nocked his bow, starlight dancing along the length of his celestial arrows.
And at the center of it all stood Pisces, with Cancer's nurturing presence at her back and the weight of her destiny pressing down upon her shoulders.
"Last chance to attune yourselves," Aquarius called out, her melodious voice pitched to carry over the low thrum of power. "Dark Gemini is already inside, and her senses will instantly detect our intrusion."
Heavy with the gravity of what they were about to do, a heartbeat of silence followed.
Then, with a fierce battle cry and a quick, reassuring glance at Pisces, Aries charged forward—a blazing comet of celestial fury as he hurled himself into the rift. Leo followed close on his heels, reality warping and twisting in his wake. One by one, the others surged after them, disappearing into the madness beyond the veil until only Pisces remained on the celestial cliff, caught in the pull of vertigo as she teetered on the edge of oblivion.
Cancer's hand settled on her shoulder, a steady anchor amid the chaos. "Together," the maternal spirit murmured, her voice a soothing balm. "For the fate of all we hold dear."
Drawing in a shuddering breath, Pisces nodded. With one last look at the celestial realm she called home, she steeled her resolve and leaped into the unknown.
Chapter
Thirty-Six
The mirror realm's icy chill lashed at her as she hurtled through the tangled pathways of cosmic force and bent physics—only to emerge into a warped, shattered reflection of existence, where shadow and madness reigned supreme.
Around her, the Zodiacs took their positions. Aries and Leo blazed like twin suns, cosmic fire and stellar flares erupting from their forms as they clashed with writhing illusions. Aquarius and Libra wove a dizzying dance, their auras pulsing with disruptive force.
Scorpio and Capricorn moved as one, their combined might a maelstrom of destruction, ready to tear through Dark Gemini's twisted creations. And Sagittarius' arrows pierced the veil of deceit, marking their path with shimmering starlight.
Pisces tried to get her bearings, but the mirror realm assailed her senses with a dizzying onslaught of fractured physics and warped reality. Beneath her feet, the ground seemed to undulate and ripple like the surface of a cosmic ocean, even as she walked upon an invisible, eerily solid path.
"This place...it's like nothing I've ever seen," she whispered, her voice trembling with awe and trepidation. "How are we supposed to navigate this madness?"
The cosmos seemed to shudder and bend all around her, stellar nurseries and galactic spirals twisting into colorful fractals that defied the natural laws. Pisces felt her breath catch in her throat as she took in the mind-bending paradox, grateful for Aquarius’ steady presence echoing in the back of her mind.
"Keep moving forward," the celestial seer's voice murmured, a lifeline of reassurance amid the disorienting chaos. "Dark Gemini's senses are as boundless as her illusions in this place. Stealth is paramount."
Pisces pressed onward, her steps as light as her thundering heart would allow. In the distance, she caught glimpses of Aries’ fury—brilliant solar flares and lashing tendrils of celestial flame slicing through the fractured planes like searing beacons.
"Aries, be careful," she whispered, her heart clenching with worry for her fiery protector.
Closer still, the very fabric of existence seemed to buckle and warp, cosmic matter bending as Leo's power over reality manipulation took hold. A bestial roar, more felt than heard, reverberated through Pisces’ core—and she realized with a start that the lion spirit had fully manifested into a celestial lion, shaping their path through sheer force of primal will.
"Leo's power...it's incredible," Pisces breathed, marveling at the raw might of her celestial ally.
At her side, Sagittarius materialized in his centaurian form, powerful haunches tensed as he nocked a celestial arrow to his bow. His piercing eyes swept the madness surrounding them, ever-vigilant for any sign of the darkness that lurked ahead.
Pisces pressed onwards, her heart thundering in her ears as the Zodiac’s powers swirled around her in an intoxicating, disorienting vortex. Fear gnawed at her resolve, the temptation to turn back nearly overwhelming in the face of such cosmic bedlam.
"I don't know if I can do this," she whispered, her voice quivering with self-doubt. "What if I'm not strong enough?"
A piercing roar split the discordant chorus, shattering her paralysis as a twisting form emerged from the starry expanse ahead. Pisces backpedaled, mouth open in a soundless scream as a massive dragon descended upon her—jaws agape and glittering with cosmic flame.
"No!" she cried out, throwing her arms up in a futile attempt to shield herself.
Before the illusion could strike, a withering bolt of age-sapping force lanced out—and the starry beast was reduced to smoldering embers in the space of a mortal heartbeat. Pisces whirled to find Capricorn's stern silhouette imprinted against the starry backdrop, her arm still extended from unleashing the decaying barrage.
"Thank you," Pisces gasped, her heart hammering against her ribs. "I thought I was done for."
Then, the dragon fire was replaced by another, more insidious sound—the high, keening laughter of Dark Gemini herself echoing from every fractured plane as if the very mirror realm had developed a voice to taunt them.
"Looking for me, little fish?" the cruel giggle reverberated, sharp and mocking.
Pisces spun again, heart lodged in her throat as she searched for the source of the ethereal timbre. There—floating amidst a cloud of stardust, the figure of Dark Gemini herself hovered mere miles away.