Chapter 15
☊ ♎️ 8°17' 🏠1
Sunny skies. No cloud in sight.
To the left, right, and straight ahead are 3 mountains.
The one on the left is 20,000 feet high. Right side 23,000. And the biggest of them all straight ahead is the Mountain of Dreams. An astonishing 38,000 feet in the air. Located in the Air Sector.
It is rumored that no person has attempted to climb the Mountain of Dreams, but rumors have swirled for the last 500 years of its spiritual origins and history. Each mountaintop is blue.
Katrina is walking to the border separating the Water and Air Sector.
Katrina has amber eyes. Birkin bangs. Maroon-colored lipstick. Crimson blouse.
Black leather pants with black ankle boots.
Dark purple/black ring with a phoenix and scorpion in a spiral.
Heatwaves can be seen moving through the air because of the heat. She is in the middle of the desert area.
"Almost to the Air Sector… we need to beat Maine," Katrina thought to herself.
Suddenly the sun loses its shine and brightness. It turns… iridescent. A pair of crow's wings sprout from the sun.
The wings flap as if it's trying to fly somewhere. Feathers come off, descending to the ground.
Each feather completely casts Katrina in a shadow spanning 300 sq. ft.
Cawww! Cawww!
It caws.
Katrina looks up in the sky.
"What in the world…"
Mouth wide open. Her eyes scan the sky, and she looks on in disbelief as everything else has maintained its form while the sun changed.
"Katrina Capri. I've been waiting for you, buttercup. Care to come out and play? I want to see who best represents death!!!" Her voice becoming more bloodthirsty with every word she spoke.
"Huh?! Who said that?" She said, twisting her body around.
"I'm up here, sweetheart. Let me make myself known, haha."
The voice sounds feminine, full of glee.
A thick cloud of iridescent smoke is at the border now. It's glowing purple and yellow. Taking turns between the two.
Katrina gets into a fighting stance. Hands balled near her face.
It starts to turn into a human-like body.
Iridescent hair. Mermaid hairstyle. Two bangs in the front that are on the outer corners of her eyebrows.
Twisted and loosely intertwined. Her hair looks like a hybrid between a woman's and bird feathers. Down to the nose.
Indigo eyes. Tan skin. Crow claws for fingernails. Khaki-colored hiking pants.
Arms crossed. Her skin has an iridescent glow. Same height as Katrina. Blows a kiss to Katrina.
The sun turns back to normal. Katrina looks furious.
"You stupid—"
Rita spreads her arms out wide as if she wants to give Katrina a hug.
"Let me not be so rude and introduce myself. My name is Rita, and as you can tell by my immaculate feathers, I am a crow. Don't they look glorious, Katrina?" asked Rita.
"Stop saying my name and acting like you know me!" shouted an enraged Katrina.
"Hehehe! How cute! But, sweetheart, I do oh so know you. And I know you quite well. Aren't you a Scorpio, hun? Birthday is November 7th. Born in the Water Sector. Am I right?" said Rita mockingly.
"Grr…" Katrina growled.
"Haha. Soooo cute! Can I tell you something else? You do know someone named Maine Rice, right?" Rita egged.
Katrina's eyes nearly popped out of her eye sockets. Skin flushes. Turns red. The ground begins to shake slightly.
"Aha, I've seemed to strike a chord, didn't I? Did the scorpion get mad and now wants to kill me? I feel the stingers coming from your eyes alone," she said mockingly.
Katrina's arms are shaking. Teeth grinding against each other.
"You. Tell. Me. How you know him, or I'll kill you on the spot," stated Katrina with no sympathy in her voice.
"I guess I should tell you, huh. I don't see why not, because only one of us is going to live. I know Maine Rice because he recruited me and 7 other mutant orphans," Rita stated.
"He what???"
At this time, Katrina dropped to one knee and pounded her fist into the ground.
"And the best part is that we get free food, shelter, all to accomplish one mission. To confront the zodiacs, and we do as we please. I chose to kill, then have a feast. And I picked you. How wonderful and thoughtful of me! Two beings represented by death," said Rita.
"You're teaming up with that degenerate, and you're over here talking as if we're just animals and a litter to you…" she said low, but seething from her teeth.
"Well, I wouldn't call him that, you know. He's actually a very smart guy. Even for a zodiac. As for you, I wouldn't use those words. I prefer to say I picked my favorite. That sounds so much better," Rita said.
"Shut the hell up!!!" Katrina screamed.
"Raising your voice like that, you must have a death wish. If you want to make me shut my mouth, then you better fight. If you'll live to tell the story, that is."
"Shut. Up!!"
A crimson aura surrounds her body. It moves like water.
"So beautiful. That chaos is so controlled. Let me show, give you a taste of my power. Air Element: Wind Storm!" Rita said.
Right above their heads forms a whip. The end of it is fashioned after a gavel. In each end of the gavel part is a beak.
It whips and swings towards Katrina. It cracks, slices through the air. Coming at her sideways.
"Scorpion Style: Ash Protection!"
Ash shields the left side of her face where the air gavel is coming to. It looks like a brick wall.
Boom!
They collide. The beak fizzles and dies out on contact.
Ash flies up in the air. Coming down like confetti. The gavel and whip disappear after failing to penetrate the ash that's protecting Katrina's face.
"Impressive. I'm surprised at your growth. It almost amuses me how your power is almost exclusively unlocked by passion and anger."
The crimson aura disappears.
"I don't have the time or the patience to fight you. Tell me where Maine is," Katrina demanded.
"Now why would I do that, hmm? That wouldn't be any fun for the queen of death now, wouldn't it?" asked Rita.
"You really want to fight me, do you? Why don't we make a deal. I win, you tell me where Maine is. If you win, which you won't, then I'll give you what you want," said Katrina.
Rita smiles connivingly.
"What an amusing deal. However, you left out one thing, Katrina."
"And what's that."
"That you simply assume you would be living to do that. Much less have the fighting prowess for it. But if you win, I'll entertain it if I please."
"No!! You're going to tell me!"
"I don't do well with demands."
Rita launches herself to Katrina. They engage in hand-to-hand combat.
Katrina lands a punch to her face. However, she doesn't even bleed or flinch.
"Is that all you got? Crow Instinct: Iridescent Shower!"
Iridescent smoke forms right above their heads. The smoke turns into feathers. Ends are as sharp as knives.
Rain down towards them.
They slice up Katrina's skin, giving her cuts all over her arms.
"Arghh! Dang it!" she said.
Rita spins around and kicks her in the sternum.
"ARGHH!!!" Katrina shouted.
Flying back, her body slides across the desert for 10 more feet before stopping. On her back.
"That's it? That's all the Scorpio has to offer? Don't die so quickly on me. I need to keep my blood racing. It can't run cold," Rita said.
White smoke comes from Katrina's body. Her cuts heal partially. She gets back up strong. Not wobbling at all.
"That was a decent attack, but that's not enough. Time to amp it up. 8th House: Scorpio Rising Eyes!"
Her pupils turn into a mini version of Pluto. The hues of her pupils are reddish-brown, off-white, yellow, orange, and small dark red dots. Her pupils in both eyes form 4 lines that look like an X.
Each one looks like a scorpion's tail curled up. Crimson color.
Her irises turn to dark purple.
Katrina is able to see Rita's soul now. It's completely black. It looks like a blob.
"Her soul is black… That means she has no empathy. She really does mean what she says. If there's one thing I can say, she is authentic in that regard," Katrina pondered.
"Those eyes are pretty. May I have them?"
"Over my dead body. Water Element: Hail Storm!"
5 clouds form overhead. Hail in the shape of skulls falls from the sky. Behind her, an energy form of a scorpion's tail curled, ready to sting.
Rita grows her wings and flies out of its path.
"That's it?" mocked Rita.
"Almost, haha."
The scorpion's stinger stings her in the back. Temporarily stunning her.
"DAMN YOU!!"
Rita falls to the ground on one knee.
Ough.
Wipes her mouth. Cracks her neck.
"Katrina!"
Rita sprints to Katrina.
"Scorpio Style: Phoenix!" Katrina said.
Her body is covered in water.
She turns into an aqua version of a phoenix. Crimson tail. Tips are black.
Dark purple body. Crimson beak. Crest of feathers is ocean blue.
Springs up to fly in the air. She's airborne.
Sun rays reflect off of her in her phoenix form, giving it a tint of sunshine.
"You're not getting away that easily!" Rita commanded.
She grows a pair of crow's wings on her back to meet Katrina in the air.
Both are now 20,000 feet up in the air. Clouds pass through their physical bodies. They stare at one another.
"Katrina, must you make this so difficult for me? I'm not a bounty hunter, yet I have to chase you like one. Don't make this harder for yourself. Crow Instinct: Murder Show!"
A flock of crows appear above Rita in the shape of a beak. Another flock completely surrounds Katrina.
The beak opens its mouth, and an iridescent beam infused with crow feathers and talons comes towards her. The flock of crows split so they won't get hit.
Katrina looks at the attack head-on, not moving.
"Scorpio Style: Ash Frenzy!"
A cloud of ash forms in front of her wings. They harden. Flings them towards her.
Katrina then opens her mouth, and 6 grenades that are made of ash also shoot towards Rita's iridescent beam.
Bam!
The collision of them rains down ash and crow feathers. Darkening everything within 2 miles of them.
They continue to collide until they both explode.
Boom!
Raining fragments of crow feathers and ash.
"That just simply won't be enough. Just who are you trying to fool with this pitiful attack?!! Did you think that was viable for the queen of death! You fool! Pungent Notes: 1st Death!" Rita exclaimed.
Opens her mouth and blows green, brownish-yellow, and mustard-colored wind towards her. Numerous speckles of gold shine like glitter in it.
The smell of it is garlic, sweat, and ammonia.
Howls as it approaches.
The pressure of it is forcing Katrina back, forcing her to close her eyes, but something else is unusual about this attack.
Katrina isn't really taking much damage. Sure, she's struggling, but she's holding up. Rita looks relaxed still.
Covers Katrina's whole body.
"Katrina, welcome to the 1st death. Manifest!"
The air around Katrina turns into needles. Each one has a slimy, green tip that is laced in poison.
Each speckle turns into a baby leech. All of them squirm, itching to get a piece of Katrina.
"Just what the heck is this??" asked Katrina.
"It's one of my most precious techniques, hun, don't you know? It's called the Notes Technique. Each note carries three smells. From those three smells, it manifests a theme of death of my choosing. Those scents you smell are what comes to my mind when those all come together. So beautiful, Ms. Scorpio. What an unworthy zodiac host. Maine is much stronger.
No wonder you and your two friends couldn't do anything. Because every single one of you are pathetic. We're both orphans, but you're still weak. And most importantly, weaker than me. If only the scorpion had a bigger stinger," Emily explained.
The needles, leeches, and the pressure of Rita's attack are pressuring Katrina's body and straining it from its force.
Her head is down, but she is slowly raising it up.
The attack comes onto Katrina.
"Got you!" Rita says in a victorious tone.
The remaining crows come in as well, all at once.
Katrina winks.
"You just don't know when to shut up, do you. 8th House: Rebirth!"
Katrina spins around like a spinning top. Everything bounces off of her.
Turns herself into water with no physical shape. She turns into a collar and wraps around Rita's neck.
Rita is having trouble breathing. Kicking her legs in the air. Attempting to grab, but her hands go right through it.
She is not able to physically touch it while it chokes her.
"Talking all that smack like you're doing something. You want a deathmatch with death, I'll give you what you're looking for," Katrina said.
She quickly turns back into the phoenix.
"Scorpio Style: Crimson Punishment."
Three of her crests on the top of her head produce black-looking ropes. Insides are silver.
Subdues Rita. Wiggles to move, but nothing. Some of her feathers fall off.
"Crows, what are you doing! Do something!" Rita commanded.
"I told you to shut up! Punishment!"
Katrina's wings turn into cannons. The top has her Scorpio insignia in maroon. Dark purple phoenixes on the bottom and a dark blue scorpion tail design that is wrapped around each one.
Crimson beams come out of each one. Hitting Rita. Kills the rest of the crows coming to her.
Rita's technique fades away. Her crows are incinerated. Their ashy remains are carried towards the Mountain of Dreams.
"EAUGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! YOU LITTLE!!" Rita bellowed.
Half of Rita's feathers burn off. She has no more feathers on the left side of her face. Stomach. Patches of hair remain on her legs.
"How dare you ruin my perfect, beautiful appearance! My feathers, their shine and luster—you took that away!!" she shrieked.
"Don't pick a fight you aren't afraid of losing anything. Isn't that right, supposed queen of death?" Katrina taunted.
Rita begins flying towards the Mountain of Dreams.
"My beautiful crows! I won't let you die in vain!" she said.
Katrina follows after her.
"Get off my tail. Decayed Notes: Entombment!"
Tilting her head up, she blows out iridescent smoke from her mouth. It smells like dead fish, sewage water, and a decomposed body.
In the smoke cloud are the heads of crows. Approaches Katrina.
"Another one?" thinking silently.
As it approaches, the smoke turns into an open coffin. An arm, white poisonous gas, and ticks outpour from it.
Katrina flies higher to avoid the gas.
Here come the ticks and the arm.
"Bury me? I think not. Rising Eyes. Disintegrate."
The crimson scorpion tails move in her eyes. Stares at all the ticks and the arm.
Suddenly they start to melt like wax, eventually turning into water vapors. The tomb falls out of the sky. Iridescent smoke cloud gone.
"Damn you, Katrina!"
The wind continues to whistle past them as they are flying over 100 MPH.
Rita turns into a flock of crows, disappearing in the clouds.
"She's gone… for now."
Katrina finally sees the Mountain of Dreams. Opens her beak.
"Wow, so this is the mountain up close. It's beautiful," she said.
Katrina loses track of all the crows, and she travels until she reaches the peak.
Perches herself on the top. Turns back to her base form. Scorpio Rising Eyes still activated.
"Come out!"
The temperature on the top of the mountain is -32 degrees. However, she is still able to breathe the same and not out of oxygen.
A flock of crows come together and make Rita's figure.
She's back. Stretches out her arms and yawns like she just woke up out of bed.
"Stop running. I want to kill you. You will give me answers about Maine."
"Hahaha. The battle has just started, sweetheart."
"Water Element: Blizzard!"
A blizzard forms over Rita. Shoots out shards of ice and blue poison.
"Come on, girl. You can do better. Mountain Style: Avalanche."
A small mountain shields Rita. Blocking everything.
"Avalanche!"
The ground underneath her erodes. She's falling down the mountain. The mini mountain beelines to her as she's falling downwards.
Straight for her heart.
"That should do it," said Rita.
Unexpectedly, the environment changes from the mountain to Pluto?
Blue terrain. Black sky. Stars numerous as grains of sand.
"The hell am I? Am I on… another planet??" questioned Rita.
Valleys, cryovolcanoes surround them. Monuments of reapers that have scorpion heads, Pluto as their eyes.
Scorpions scurrying away from the stars in the sky because of the light.
Black and crimson coffins designed with skulls on the surface.
8 phoenixes circle around them high in the air.
Katrina comes back up in her phoenix form. Quickly goes back to human form.
Eyes are extra intense. The scorpion tails in her eyes rear back as if they are ready to sting.
"Don't ask questions you already know the answer to. Today marks your end. Welcome to my domain. Fight!" Katrina said.
#
"Me?!? As a past life?" asked a puzzled Serenity.
"Yes," said Ceres.
"Bu-but why? How?" asked Serenity.
Water sloshing fills Serenity's ears.
"Every zodiac sign has a past life in another sign. No one has active remembrance of their past lives," said Ceres.
"But how is she going to get here? What is her purpose?" asked Serenity.
"I'd rather just show you. Just watch," said Ceres.
Ceres strums the strings on the earth some more, producing an angelic tune. The earth turns into a live broadcast to another realm.
Steps away from the globe.
Serenity watches.
A Black woman who looks nearly identical to Serenity in the face, with the exception of diagonal scars on the top of her hands.
Two-strand twist hair. Has a vertical eyebrow piercing in both eyebrows.
Heavy black eyeliner starting at the corner of both eyes, styled after ram horns. Thick base, gets skinnier as it curves inwards.
Deep vermillion sclerae. Each iris contains the south node symbol. Black.
Brown poncho down to knees. Designed with ram heads on fire. Each inside a south node.
The woman is watching another woman sleep.
She also favors Serenity, although her hair is brown, pixie cut compared to the fro she rocks.
Selene overtakes her quickly by covering her mouth, then turning her into a north node symbol.
She takes the north node, inverts it so it's flat. Absorbs it into her heart. Skin ripples like river water as it absorbs.
North node symbols manifest on her poncho. Libra scales dangle from them.
"Complete. Now for one final being," Selene said.
Walks outside of the home.
"Zodiac Wheel: Bridge of Fate."
Holds right arm out. Environment changes.
Now she's on an astral plane. Similar to how outer space looks, but everything is in motion.
Selene's body sways back and forth slightly, even as she's standing.
The zodiac wheel forms around her. It's spinning around her. Holographic look.
A bridge sprouts up, connecting Libra's zodiac sign with Aries. She walks the plane.
Expression serious. Killer eyes. Sandals scrape against the bridge.
In the middle of a bridge is a black portal that leads to Serenity's current timeline.
The broadcast stops, and the earth returns back to normal.
The past life and future self on the zodiac wheel are always 180° apart. In other words, a straight walk. No turns or nothing.
"She…" Serenity mumbled.
"She took over your north node self, which is in Libra, which are the themes you are supposed to embody. Teamwork, grace, and the power of friendships. Selene is only concerned about remaining a goddess of war," Ceres explained.
"That means I can't achieve my destiny of beating Argasis," Serenity replied.
"Mhmm. Exactly. I don't know the hour or day she will be here, but she is coming, but no fear. I'm going to teach you something," explained Ceres.
"Teach me what?"
"How to transform into your Virgo transformation, and I'll teach you a special technique of my own. Selene is extremely powerful, as she specializes in fighting and war. Are you ready?" asked Ceres.
Serenity smirks.
"I've never been more ready in my life."
#
"Just what is the meaning of this?"
Rita looks around frantically. Pissed off.
"Take me back!"
"Since when do you make the rules?"
"You decrepit, cocky—"
"Water Element: Death Stakes!"
Underneath Rita's feet, the surface turns into ice.
Rita moves out of the way.
Long, thick ice picks follow Rita in her direction.
"Get out! Air Element: Wind Barrier!"
A brick wall made of air sends them flying in all directions.
Each of them float into outer space.
"You pest… Oriental Notes: Sweet Chin Burial!"
Rita blows out white, indigo, and orange in Katrina's direction.
Katrina smells pears, roses, and cinnamon.
Katrina stands still. The mist surrounds her. Ankles are chained.
Rita lowers herself to the ground.
"I got you," she said.
"You fell right into my trap. So happy you decided to connect with me, Rita."
"Stop bluffing."
Rita crosses her arms. Looks into her eyes.
"Got you! 8th House: Final Death!" she shouts.
Katrina sees only the silhouette of Rita. Eyeing her pitch-black soul. Focuses harder on it.
Rita screams. Paralyzed from Katrina's stare. Feels the inside of her chest burn like a wildfire.
"EEEEEAUGHHHH!!"
Screaming in agony. Two reapers rise from the ground to her sides. Scorpion heads. End of scythe is a coiled scorpion stinger.
Crimson, black robes. Scorpio symbols, phoenixes, and coffins are on their robes. Lock arms with her.
Another rises in the same fashion, face-to-face with her.
"Separate," Katrina said.
Rita's chest becomes transparent, and her soul is seen visibly. The reaper extracts it, leaving an open hole in Rita's chest. She is not bleeding.
The reaper turns around and holds Rita's soul in Katrina's gaze. Her soul is the size of a basketball.
Iridescent. Has wings and feathers continuously falling off. It won't stop moving.
Rita is barely hanging on to life. She can't go another 5 minutes without her soul, or she dies.
She confesses.
"Maine is in a lair 7 miles northeast of the Water Sector of Drokeo Bay. Those are his headquarters. Not that it will serve you any well. You're much too weak."
"Just what I needed to know. Now it's time for your end," Katrina said.
Katrina focuses all in on the soul. It inflates and deflates uncontrollably. Changes shapes. Various lumps form on the outside.
Stretching but won't break. It's like watching the outside of a bouncy house that's zipped up when someone is trying to kick and claw their way out.
Inflates like a hot air balloon.
Pop!
Blows up like an overinflated balloon. Remains of her soul drop like confetti, and the pieces of it resemble paper after being shredded.
Rita's head drops down. Lifeless. She's dead.
The reapers let go of her. Drops to her knees and falls to the ground.
An open coffin from underground closes and buries her underground.
The reapers turn into statues. Snaps fingers.
#
Back at Drokeo Bay.
"So his headquarters is at the Water Sector… I need to let anyone who's near there know and tell Daiyu and Serenity. We can't beat him alone."