Zodiac Academy: The Awakening

I WAS SNUGGLED up on the couch in my favourite pyjamas when the front door opened. I turned away from the episode of Breaking Bad where I’d maybe (not maybe) been taking mental notes on ways to solve our current predicament. Hope bloomed inside me as Tory walked in, but my smile fell away as I spotted two disturbing things: her bitter scowl, and a complete stranger marching into our apartment behind her.

I clung to the edge of the couch as the man side-stepped Tory, taking in our small apartment with a single, sweeping look. Heat invaded every cell in my body as his eyes fell on me, coal-like and dark as sin. He looked like a quarterback squeezed into a nice shirt and grey pants. His sleeves were rolled up to reveal muscular forearms and that trend continued from his biceps to his battering-ram shoulders.

A short beard clung to his chin, but he had an air of youth about him which suggested he was only a few years older than Tory and I. That could only mean one thing…

“Hell no.” I stood up, pointing at the couch which converted into the only bed in our apartment. “Go to his place, Tor, are you crazy? Are you really expecting me to clear out so you can defile our only bed?”

Tory shook her head, her lips pinching together tightly as she gave me a stare that said I’d gotten the wrong end of the stick. “Obviously not. This guy just…well he wanted to come in alright?”

“And that’s acceptable why?” I asked in utter confusion.

I realised Mr Shoulders was staring at my pyjamas with an expression that said he was wholly amused.

“What are you staring at?” I demanded, but heat slammed into my cheeks beneath my defensive facade.

“I thought I was coming here to collect a couple of eighteen year olds. Must have gotten the wrong apartment, little bunny.” He laughed at his own joke and I cocked my head, fury bubbling up inside me.

Bunny? I glanced down at the bright-eyed rabbits lining my PJs and planted my hands on my hips. My mouth dried up. Damn, why did I pick these today of all days? I quickly went on the defensive, wanting to divert as much attention away from my cutsie PJs as possible. “Who the hell are you? And why are you in my home insulting me?” I looked to Tory again and she gave me an apologetic shrug before turning to face him.

I moved to join her, slipping off of the couch and standing shoulder to shoulder with my sister. We were a wall, barring him from stepping a foot further into our apartment, but up close he seemed even bigger and I could have sworn those muscles were getting twitchy.

“You were getting me a drink,” the stranger shot at Tory and she promptly walked into the kitchen and poured him a glass of water.

What on earth?

I stared at him, his gravelly tone suddenly sending a bolt of recognition through me. Crap. My mouth opened as the penny dropped. “You’re a cop. You were there today.”

He gave me an innocent look, a dimple puncturing his right cheek. “Where exactly?”

“Don’t play dumb with me.” I pointed at him as my heart rate ratcheted up. I could almost see the walls of the prison surrounding me and my cellmate Patrice cracking her inked knuckles.

Tory returned, thrusting the water into his hand with a strange look on her face. I wondered why she’d bothered. It wasn’t like her to comply with the orders of strangers. Or anyone for that matter.

The guy took it with a word of thanks then tipped it into his mouth. Glug glug glug. I watched his throat the whole time, lined with stubble, moving up and down.

When he’d drained the glass, he sighed satisfactorily and placed it on the kitchen counter. I dug my nails into my palms as I watched him take his time to make the arrest. Was he enjoying this? Or was he really just that damn thirsty?

Maybe I should run for the door. But I’m not going anywhere without Tory. And besides, I can’t see any handcuffs. Maybe he’s off duty. But then why is he here?

“I’ve been chasing around after you two all day.” He strode to the couch, throwing himself down in my spot and stacking his hands on his stomach.

“Just leave Tory out of this. I was the one who took the cash.” I glanced at her and she gave me an accusatory look for incriminating myself with the admission.

“Except you didn’t get the cash, you dropped it,” she pointed out and I pursed my lips.

“You mean this cash?” The guy lifted his ass and tugged something out of his back pocket, waving it above his head. And there it was: the wad of our beautiful two thousand dollars now bound together by a rubber band.

My heart did backflips as I stared at the impossible sight before me. Tory strode forward and snatched it out of his hand, perching on the coffee table as she counted every last note. He hadn’t even tried to stop her.

When she was satisfied it was all there, she looked up and pinned him with one of her coldest glares. He didn’t so much as raise an eyebrow, gazing at her with an equally cool look.

“So what do you want?” she demanded. “People don’t just hand cash over unless they want something for it, Mr Orion.”

Oh so he has a name.

“Professor,” he corrected and I frowned.

And a title apparently.

“How old are you?” No way was this guy a professor. Unless he was some hipster DJ who’d labelled himself as Professor Dizzy D or something equally lame. But he just didn’t have the tool vibe that accompanied that kind of lifestyle choice. He was entirely at ease except for a vaguely tense air about him that said we were the ones who were imposing on his day.

“Old enough to be a professor.” His eyes swung to me and seemed to suck everything in like a blackhole. My heart accelerated and I started to deeply fear having this stranger in our home.

I moved to stand before the couch, folding my arms as I waited for an explanation while trying to keep my cool. I wasn’t sure I managed the indifferent glare Tory was pulling off. Especially not in these pyjamas.

“You’re going to listen to me and remain calm and collected,” he said in a powerful tone and I felt an instant desire to obey. I nodded easily, half aware that I didn’t want to listen to this random guy, but doing it anyway. I dropped down beside Tory on the coffee table and we both gave him our full attention.

He beamed at us and there was that dimple again. Just the one. Denting his masterpiece of a face and somehow making him even damn hotter.

“Since your eighteenth birthday, you have both been giving off a signature that my kind can sense from a world away. Literally.” He paused, letting those odd words sink in.

I opened my mouth to ask a question but he held up a hand to stop me, continuing in his gruff, baritone voice. “I will explain, just keep calm.”

I nodded, a lightness replacing the sneaking unease in my chest.

“Go on,” Tory encouraged, a frown lining her forehead.

He leaned back in his chair, rubbing a hand across the back of his neck. “I’m not a beat-around-the-bush kinda guy, so here it is: you’re not human. You’re Fae. Which means you have an unawakened power in you defined by the stars themselves. You belong in Solaria: a mirror world of earth where Fae rule. Are we keeping up?” A flash of dry amusement swept over his face and though I couldn’t find it in me to be angry, I was certainly frustrated.

I wanted to scream at him that he was crazy and he needed to leave or I was going to call the cops. But I couldn’t get past the floating calm taking hold of my body.

I shared a look with Tory, her nose crinkling as she gave me a he’s batshit crazy expression.

“You’re both Gemini,” he stated. “Hot-headed, hence the Coercion I’ve used on you to keep this all running smoothly. Especially as we’re already running late,” he muttered, lifting his wrist to check his watch. Dials and silver cogs spun wildly on the strange thing; it was unlike any watch I’d ever seen.

“Gemini…as in the star sign?” Tory asked. I’d always secretly liked reading horoscopes but Tory didn’t buy into stuff like that. I wouldn’t have gone as far as to say my star sign had any real impact on my life though. It just sort of intrigued me.

“Precisely,” Orion said. “Gemini is an air sign so once your powers are Awakened you’ll-”

“Hang on,” I spoke over him and his expression told me he didn’t like that one bit. “Do you really expect us to believe we have powers? Like magic?”

“Honestly? I don’t care what you believe. But I have a job to do and part of that job is explaining this to you. Frankly, I’d rather not waste my breath as you’re going to find out soon enough anyway.”

“What does that mean?” Tory asked with less fury than I’d have expected from her.

“It means I’ve been trying to speak with you all day, but apparently breaking and entering and stealing motorbikes was on your agendas so I’ve been running around after you like a dog. And I really don’t like chasing people about so let’s just say I’m not in the best of moods right now.”

I pursed my lips. He was rebuking us like a school teacher. But he was just some strange psycho who’d strolled into our house and was apparently pissed at us for not making this easier on him.

His lips twitched with irritation as he checked his watch for a second time. “Right, we’re going.” He stood, tugging something out of his pocket and I stared up at him in utter confusion.

“Wait a minute.” I stood too but it did little to compete with his towering height. “You said we’re Fae? What does that even mean?”

“We’re a different race. A better one.” He shrugged and I scowled. “Careful Miss Vega expressions like that are punishable in my classroom.”

“Vega?” My nose wrinkled. “That’s not my name. Wait, please tell me you’ve got the wrong twins?”

He shook his head. “That is your true surname in Solaria. No one will call you anything else once you get there, mark my words.”

“Er- excuse me?” Tory cut in. Her jaw was gritted as if she wished she could have shouted those words. “We’re not going anywhere with some creep from the lobby. What drug are you on exactly? Judging by the fancy attire I’m gonna guess coke?”

The ‘Professor’ gave her a predator’s smile that made my stomach knot. “Look, I have far better things to be doing with my time than standing here in a dingy apartment with a couple of girls who think I’m an addict with a screw loose. But I didn’t get a choice in the matter. So just humour me, will you?”

“You haven’t explained anything.” I shook my head and could feel an inch of my former fear raising its head. “And why should we believe anything you say anyway?”

He snatched up his satchel, flipping it over and pouring the contents out on our coffee table. A waterfall of papers fell everywhere, pages and pages. Pictures of us as babies, newspaper articles about the day our parents had died in a house fire. How we’d been pulled out of the ashes, two perfectly unharmed babies. A complete miracle. Amongst it all was our file for foster care. Every detail we knew about our history could be found amongst these cascading sheets of paper. So why on earth did this guy have them?

Orion sifted through all of it, extracting a photograph of our parents arm in arm on their wedding day. My father’s hand lay on our mother’s large belly, their eyes gleaming with happiness. I’d never known them, and I never would. And having that picture held in my face right at that second undid every chain that seemed to hold my emotions in check.

I snatched it from his hand, hugging it to my chest as the tears threatened a dramatic outburst which I couldn’t afford in front of this shiny prep guy.

“What are you doing with a photo of our parents?” Tory hissed.

“They’re not your parents,” he said coolly as if that didn’t rock the foundations of everything we’d ever known about ourselves. “You’re Changelings. Fae born. Elementals with natural magic flowing in your veins. Your real parents swapped you for the twins born to that couple.” He pointed at the photo in my hand and my brows dragged together. His expression was so impassive – how could he be so heartless? To just say such devastating things with not even a hint of emotion.

“That’s not true. You’re insane. Why would they do that?” I demanded.

“My guess? You were in danger,” he said with a shrug. “Or maybe you just annoyed them as much as you’re annoying me right now and they decided to swap you for less irritating twins.”

Tory looked like she was about to punch him and I wouldn’t have stopped her in the slightest.

“Get out,” she said in a measured tone.

“Fine, I tried.” He took a small silk black bag from his pocket and untied the strings. “Shame to lose out on your inheritance though. Your real parents were the wealthiest family in Solaria.”

“Right,” I muttered, fighting an eye-roll. This was like one of those scam emails where an African Prince had randomly chosen to give us two million dollars. Except this time the email had walked in the front door looking like a sport’s model – the balls on this guy!

“Wait…wealthy?” Tory asked, stepping closer, her anger seriously lessened.

“It can’t be true Tor,” I said under my breath.

She shrugged one shoulder. “Let’s hear him out.” She gave me a look that said jackpot but I wasn’t convinced.

“Yes. Hear me out,” he insisted and suddenly I nodded, wanting him to go on. He tugged the photo from my grip, eyeing it for a moment with a vague frown. “Look, I’m not trying to shatter your little daydreams about this couple but they’re just two random humans who got caught up in something much bigger. You don’t know them from Adam. And neither do I for that matter. The fact that they’re dead is a tragedy but they aren’t your blood. And blood’s all that matters in my opinion.” He shrugged, glancing between us. “You two would do anything for each other, I hope? Because this shitty life can go away like that.” He snapped his fingers. “All you have to do is agree to enroll at Zodiac Academy. You’ll get full board, have your own beds-” He gave the couch a pointed look, “-and your inheritance will cover the cost of your stay plus you’ll receive a monthly stipend from it. Once you graduate, it’s all yours. But only when you graduate. That’s the law.”

“So you want us to go to some school?” Tory asked.

“Yes. But not just any school. The best school.” His eyes glittered with his belief in that. “So what do you say?”

“I say you’re crazy,” I said.

“Yeah… but I do want the money.” Tory elbowed me in the ribs and I frowned.

“It’s full board?” I looked to Orion.

“Every meal,” he swore. “So?” He tapped his foot impatiently.

Neither of us answered.

“Just say yes and come with me,” Orion growled.

“Yes,” we both said in unison without a moment’s hesitation.

Wait – what just happened?

Orion grinned from ear to ear. “Should’ve done that in the first place.” He jerked his chin at me. “Go get dressed, if you show up like that at Zodiac you’ll be eaten alive by the other students.”

My legs moved of their own accord and I cursed myself inwardly for obeying yet another of his commands. When I returned from the bathroom in jeans and a black vest, some of my fear had kicked back in.

“You mentioned magic…” I said, changing tact to see if I could break through Orion’s hard walls.

“Yes,” he said. “Water, air, fire, earth. You will both possess one Element, perhaps two. Your parents were very powerful, so I expect you will be immeasurably gifted.” Something about his tone told me he wasn’t happy about that.

He prised open his small silk bag, pinched something between his fingers and sprinkled it in his palm.

“What’s that?” Tory whispered as I inched closer.

“The rarest substance in Solaria and the quickest way to travel: stardust.” He lifted his head with a demonic smile. “Welcome to your Awakening.”

He blew the stuff right into our faces and I gasped. Thick, black glitter cascaded over us and I prepared to splutter, lifting a hand to shield myself, but instead my body felt like it had turned to vapour. Our apartment faded away and all I could see was the sparkling black substance clouding around me. It seemed to spread out and out until I appeared to be floating within an entire galaxy of the stuff.

My body reformed and my feet hit firm ground. I staggered forward and my forehead bumped into a hard body. I blinked as my vision restored and found myself face to chest with Orion. My hand was pressed flush to his stomach and I realised it much too late as he took hold of my shoulders and jerked me around to face the opposite direction. 

My heart bolted into top gear as I found myself in a sprawling meadow beneath a crystal clear night sky, the stars brighter than I’d ever seen them. Before us were over two hundred people all around our age, standing in a huge circle in an expansive meadow surrounded by trees.

Tory sucked in a breath and I moved nearer to her, goosebumps lining my skin as I promptly stepped away from Orion. I was tempted to reach out to my sister in a gesture of comfort, but my hand balled into a fist instead, knowing she probably wouldn’t appreciate it.

I glanced back at Orion in alarm. “What’s going on?” I asked, panicked.

“Did you just drug us?” Tory rounded on him.

“What is it with you and drugs?” he muttered. “Remember to keep calm,” he commanded a second later and that wishy washy feeling stole away my fear again.

A female voice rang through the air but I couldn’t see who it belonged to beyond the circle of teenagers.

“Get in the ring.” Orion pointed and we reluctantly moved forward to join the masses.

Two girls parted to allow us to stand between them, their eyes roaming over us curiously. They took our hands and Orion caught hold of mine and Tory’s wrists, pushing our fingers together to link the circle. Then he stepped back into the night and disappeared into the darkness.

At the centre of the ring was a tall woman in flowing blue robes. She had her arms raised in the air as she gazed up at the heavens and everyone else in the ring was watching her attentively. I had no idea what was about to happen and I shared a quick look with Tory to confirm she felt as lost as I did.

The long meadow grass tickled my knees and a cool wind pushed at my back. The woman dropped her arms and the wind fell deathly still, the whole world seeming to hold its breath.

“Welcome to Zodiac Academy. I am Professor Zenith of the Astrology department and it’s my greatest pleasure to Awaken your Elements this very night. Please lift your faces to the sky, students. It’s time for the stars to rouse your inner power.” Her tone was slow and dramatic and even though this whole thing sounded ludicrous I couldn’t help but hang on her every word.

She pushed the hood back from her head and midnight locks tumbled down around her. She was middle-aged, her skin pale and glimmering and her lips painted in a dark red lipstick. Her eyes fell on Tory and I and she jerked her finger toward the sky in an order. I realised everyone in the circle had looked up and we promptly followed suit.

The navy quilt above was aglow with stars and the milky way weaved through the centre of it all like a shimmering band of pink and purple dust. My mouth parted at the beautiful sight. In Chicago, you were lucky if you saw one star at night, let alone this spectacle. It was as if every other light in the world had been extinguished to allow the sky to dominate. There was no sign of the moon but even without it the stars were bright enough to cast a hazy silver glow over the meadow.

“Virtus aquae invocabo!” called Zenith in what sounded like Latin. 

Okay this is going from weird to mental asylum real fast.

Silence stretched out and I almost dropped my head to figure out what was going on when rain dotted my cheeks. Several others in the circle gasped and I looked to Tory, finding droplets peppering her cheeks too. But how was that possible? There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. 

A deep whirlpool of power seemed to open up inside me and my breathing stalled as I felt its strength coil around my veins.

This can’t be happening.

But it is. And I can actually feel it.

“If you feel rain, please raise your right arm,” Zenith called.

Tory and I lifted our arms and I spotted around fifty others in the circle doing the same.

“Good!” Zenith said excitedly. “You hold the Element of water inside you, just like myself.”

Some of the others who’d raised their hands started muttering keenly and a few without their hands raised grumbled and sighed. 

“Quiet,” Zenith hushed them. “Eyes to the sky once more. You will be tested for all Elements, though you are unlikely to have more than one my dears.”

I raised my eyes, my heart hammering as I thought over what she’d said. The Element of water? Did Tory and I really hold that gift? Even as I thought it, I was sure it was true. Like an innate part of me had awoken and it embodied water itself.

Holy crap we really do belong here.

“Rogo vim aeris!” Professor Zenith called out and a strong wind gusted through my hair. I looked to Tory, finding her hair moving in the same powerful breeze. Another fifty or so of the group seemed to be in the depths of the maelstrom but everyone else in the circle were clearly unaffected. My gut swirled and a fluttering feeling filled my stomach and sailed through my veins. It felt so natural, like my body had a whole other channel inside me alongside my veins and now it was flowing with the magic of two Elements.

“Raise your right arm if you feel the power of the wind!” Zenith commanded.

Tory and I raised our arms along with another random selection of the circle. A couple of which had raised their arms for water.

Eyes fell on us and a few words were exchanged which I didn’t catch. Zenith faced us, her brows lifting with delight. “You are of air and water girls. Your powers will be great indeed just like your parents’.”

I nodded but Tory gazed down at her hands, turning them over as if expecting to find something more tangible there.

“Is this really happening?” she asked me under her breath.

“I think so,” I whispered. “Either that or that dodgy Professor slipped us something in his fairy dust.”

Tory snorted a laugh and Zenith fixed us with a glare. “Quiet! Eyes to the sky. You may be done here, but everyone else is not.”

We nodded, looking up again.

Air and water…could we really use magic related to those Elements? I could hardly wait to try it.

“Rogo vim terrae!” Zenith cried and I glanced down at the other students, wondering what would happen to those who had the next power. The edges of the grass tickled my knees and I searched the circle for signs of the next Element taking effect.

A deep well seemed to open inside me, filled with a pulsing kind of energy. It tingled and then coiled and rippled like an ever-changing being that lived within me.

Something brushed against my arm then curled around it. I glanced down, frowning as I found the grass growing up and spiralling around my wrist, as gentle as a caress. More of the fronds wrapped around my arms and I spotted the same happening to Tory.

She looked to me with her brows arched. “I thought it was rare to get two?”

I shrugged, confused as I spotted the other pupils in the circle who also had the grass hugging in around them. It took me a moment to realise everyone was staring at us, Zenith included.

“I- oh my…” she breathed, clapping a hand to her mouth. When she dropped it, she was smiling widely. “My dears, how wonderful. You have Earth as well. Three Elements is very rarely heard of. You will be amongst the most powerful students at Zodiac.”

A lump formed in my throat as that news settled over me. I supposed that was a good thing, but it all felt too surreal to really hit home. The other students were muttering and I caught strange words like ‘Celestial Heirs’ and ‘Vega Twins’.

“Eyes to the sky!” Zenith commanded once more and I looked up again with my heart pounding an uncomfortable tune. Why was everyone looking at us like that? Was it really that unheard of to have three Elements?

“Invoco virtutem ignis!” Zenith yelled.

Heat flared at my feet instantaneously and fire scored through the ground around me in a tight circle. The fire flickered out into embers, leaving a glowing red ring in the grass around my Converses. The exact same thing shone around Tory’s boots too.

My heart stalled as I stared down at the sight in confusion.

Four Elements? But Zenith said…

“By the stars!” Zenith cried and my head snapped up.

Everyone was staring. Hard. And not in a good way. Nearly a quarter of the circle had the same rings around their feet too but no one seemed to care about them.

“You hold every Element,” Zenith gasped, shaking her head as if she couldn’t believe it were true.

“Is that…bad?” I asked.

“Seems like it,” Tory whispered so only I could hear.

Zenith recomposed herself, clearing her throat while mutters broke out around us, loud and unavoidable.

“Of course not,” Zenith finally answered me.

“Looks like my boyfriend has competition,” one girl said, throwing a sharp glare in our direction. Her hair was a rich gold colour and perfectly straight, her face the kind of pretty you usually found in a make-up commercial. 

The girl beside her narrowed her eyes. “Are you really dating one of the Heirs, Kylie?”

“Yeah we’ve been together since forever, he texts me like every other week.” Kylie tossed her hair over her shoulder with an expression that said that was something to be proud of.

The chatter grew louder and Professor Zenith finally seemed to notice it. “Enough! Quiet! Your Awakening is over. If you have two – or more– powers you will choose between them and pick an Elemental house to join. Your head of year will now take you to The Orb where you’ll join the rest of the students and make that decision.”

I spotted Orion emerging from the shadows at her words, beckoning us to follow him. As the students moved in a tide toward him, his eyes locked on me. His gaze drank me in for an endless second, then he turned and looked away toward the dark line of trees at the edge of the meadow.

Tory moved to my side and I stepped close to her, biting my lip. “Why does everyone seem pissed at us?”

She shrugged one shoulder as if it didn’t remotely affect her but her eyes told a different story. “Guess we’re about to find out.”