With the adrenaline of round one subsided, things royally suck. No matter how hard I try I can’t stop thinking about my mother.

  “Is she right?” I wonder aloud as I pull my knees into my chest.

  “Is who right?” Avis asks as he firmly plants himself on the couch next to me on the patio outside of Art’s house.

  “It’s nothing.” I try to push the thoughts from my mind, lest they consume me. Avis leans against me and offers up a smile, which I return. It feels a little forced, even though I am happy to see him.

  “Here we go.” Art places a serving tray on the table carrying coffee and pastries. “Let’s get started shall we?”

  “So what did you find?” Dardania asks as she grabs a pastry and throws herself into the chair next to us. Sitting opposite of Avis and myself is Art and Prisha.

  They spent their time during round one trying to research the Zodiac and perhaps even leverage on them.

  “Unfortunately round one ended much faster than anticipated.” Prisha begins as she pours herself a cup of coffee. “Apparently, in years past the first round is the longest and has known to go on for several days, even weeks. Which, unfortunately didn’t give us much time.”

  “On the upside, we did find something though. An altar, which Prisha informs me is quite important.”

  Dardania perks up as she leans forward, practically spitting out her coffee.

  “Another altar, where?” Her eyes glow with excitement.

  “In the Geminon, a monument to the founders of the Gemini family.” Art says.

  “That’s a weird place for an altar.” Dardania adds, but I was thinking the same thing.

  “My thoughts exactly, so I figured it would behoove us to visit it sooner rather than later.” Prisha says while sipping at her coffee. “The monument isn’t frequently visited and the altar is hidden away in the rear. We shouldn’t have any issues accessing it.”

  “So what exactly are these altars?” Art asks.

  “We can explain it on the way!” Dardania jumps out of her chair, grabs Avis and begins tugging him to get up so we can leave.

  If only I could get myself to be motivated to do this, but here we go nonetheless.

  * * * * *

  “Who designed this place, MC Escher?” I gasp as I stare at the Geminon. I literally couldn’t tell where it ended and began. The front of the building consists of several arches, but the columns look more like braids than the traditional columns. The interior of the monument had a very similar appearance to it. I literally don’t have the words to describe it apart from it looks like MC Escher just threw up all over it.

  “Who thought this was a good idea?” Avis asks as he stumbles through the large atrium at the front of the monument. “It makes me feel sick.”

  The titles on the floor look similar to the famous painting of the stairs by MC Escher. They are black and white and don’t quite line up, and it makes you feel like the floor is either uneven or moving.

  “It’s designed to mimic the chaos of their power and history. Granted, I’m not entirely sure what that fully entails. We are aware they have a replication power, but to what extent no one is sure. If this architecture is any indication, it’s insane.” Art informs us as we all stumble through the surrealist architecture and make our way to the rear of the building.

  “And here we are—” Prisha immediately stops as she steps into the room, the rest of us run into her not expecting her to stop so abruptly.

  Sitting atop the altar is Gem, the member of the Gemini family I met during the first round of the tournament.

  “It’s not polite to trespass on other’s property.” Gem says as he stares us down.

  “Apologies my lord, we thought this was open to the public.” Art says as he bows to him.

  “No need to be so formal, he knows exactly what we’re doing here.” I respond as I push through the group and place myself between us. “So, why don’t you just say what you want and be done with it.”

  “Rather blunt, and bold, if I do say so.” Gem uncrosses his legs and jumps off the pedestal. “To actively disrespect a member of the Zodiac so brazenly.”

  “If you wanted a fight you wouldn’t be hiding in a monument that is clearly designed to ensure no one comes in here. I mean, it’s puke central back there.”

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  “This monument has been standing since the collapse, and yet you wish to insult it.”

  “Do you actually care? I mean, you sat and watched a bunch of people bludgeon each other yesterday as a form of entertainment. That’s not including the people who may have died in the maze.” I took several steps forward towards Gem.

  “James!” Dardania exclaims as she grabs a hold of my arm and tries to pull me back. Art steps forward next to me.

  “We mean no harm sir, really. We apologize for his misspeaking.”

  “Don’t apologize for me.” I gently shake Dardania’s hand off of my arm, “When I came to this world, I thought the Saint was bad and far worse than anyone from my own. Now that I’ve met the Zodiac, I’m not so sure anymore. You may be even worse than the Saint.”

  “What are you doing?” Prisha steps in front of me, grabs my arms and stares me down. “We are not trying to start a war here.”

  “But they are.” I say softly, my voice shaking. “You didn’t see it back there. You didn’t see it. You didn’t see them.” I look to Prisha, tears forming in my eyes.

  It wasn’t simply just the phantom of my mother, it was that man slamming his head repeatedly into the wall. It was the Brute attacking us relentlessly. It was the complete and utter terror on that woman’s face after I beat the Brute. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw one of them.

  “No, I didn’t.” Prisha takes a deep breath, “But I saw a plane crash into a tower. Then I remember sitting in a cell for more than a decade because a narcissist wanted the power I held. I completely understand, I do. But if we give in to them, they win. So fight for those you saw suffer, not in spite of them.”

  I nod slightly. My hands tremble. Prisha takes them in hers and holds them steady, she nods as she offers a warm smile.

  “The world will eat you whole Magician if you don’t toughen up. You are still rather ignorant to the functions of this world, that much is obvious.” Gem responds casually, his voice not once changing pitch to match our energy.

  “I don’t want to be jaded.” I mumble, “I just don’t believe that this is how it’s supposed to be.”

  “Well step forward, take your journey, learn your history, and may we speak again when you return.” Gem motions towards the Altar, “I will not stop you.”

  I look to Prisha who returns my gaze, nods, and we both approach the pedestal. We reach out, touch the pedestal, and like always the room is instantly filled with a bright white light.

  * * * * *

  “I truly do not know how to repay you for your kindness.” Lucias’s voice echoes through the empty streets.

  “No repayment necessary, but I’m still unsure why you wished to visit here.” Godrick replies, forming next to Lucias. Walking several feet behind the two of them are Herc and Hitha. Lucias looks back towards Herc, and then returns his gaze towards the direction they are walking.

  “I thought it prudent that we not be in Gaea while the investigation continues, but the murder of the Diviner has peaked my interest in the Ancients. So, I figured in the meantime I would spend time learning about them.” Lucias scrunches his face as he starts to contemplate something. Godrick simply just nods as they continue walking down the street towards their destination.

  “I personally think it’s simply a waste of our time.” Hitha adds to the conversation, “Who needs gods when we have ourselves?”

  “Do you truly think that you are comparable to a god?” Godrick questions as he turns back towards Hitha, he raises his eyebrow as he stares at her.

  “Don’t you?” Hitha smirks, “I get the feeling you fancy yourself a god, or am I mistaken?”

  “Hitha!” Lucias scolds her, she merely just shrugs as she throws her arm around Herc who just huffs at her.

  “You are in fact mistaken.” Godrick replies simply, though there is something written on his face that I can’t quite translate. If I had to guess, I think Hitha hit a nerve.

  “Is it normally like this?” Prisha asks as we follow along behind them on the street, watching their memory from afar.”

  “Each time feels a little different. Sometimes it’s like I’m Herc, other times we watch on like this but it’s almost like the spell itself gives me information as to what they are thinking. I don’t truly know how to explain it. It just kind of happens.” I reply trying to make sense of how this all works. Honestly, I didn’t know. Madison nor I were the brainy type so we didn’t spend much time thinking about it, we just experienced it.

  Unlike us though, Prisha is very much into knowing what is going on and why. So it makes sense that she would question how this works while I’m over here just enjoying the ride like I’m watching a good movie.

  “Fascinating.” Prisha says as she watches on, “Fascinating.”

  “Here we are. I welcome you the home of Gemini.” Godrick steps aside as he motions towards the structure in front of us.

  It’s in the same location as the Geminon but rather than the monument, it’s a giant mansion. Unlike Godrick’s or Nabu’s mansions this one appears much more modern by my standards.

  It’s a concrete structure filled with large windows and random pops of wood. In front of it stood a perfectly manicured lawn with a seating area and a small pond on one side. It looks like a house that was plucked right out of Beverly Hills and placed in Zodiac.

  “It looks like a house from your world.” Prisha says softly as she stares up at the building in front of us, “It’s very strange.”

  “It is.”

  “What nonsense is this?” Hitha chuckles as she looks up at the building that stands before us. “Who thought this was a good idea.”

  “I did.” A familiar voice rings out behind us. We all whip around to see Gem standing several feet behind us.

  “What?” My mouth falls open, “How is he here?”

  “I… I don’t know.” Prisha says as she reaches out for him but quickly changes her mind and puts her hand back to her side. I genuinely have no idea what would happen if we interacted with the world like this.

  “Everyone, may I introduce you to Gemini.” Godrick says as she steps forward and politely bows. Gem quickly grabs Godrick’s shoulder and gently pushes him back until he’s standing upright.

  “No need for such formalities, and please call me Gem.”

  “What… What are you?” Hitha mutters as she pushes Godrick out of the way and stands face to face with Gem. “I… there’s so much of you that I can’t even see it all.”

  This is the first time that I notice Herc is staring at Gem with his eyes wide with fear. He looks as though he is staring into the abyss and that it was staring back at him.

  I slowly turn back towards Gem, not seeing what they see but this is just a memory. I don’t think there is a way to see the magic through it like they can.

  “Well my dear,” Gem smiles softly, I think it’s the first time I’ve seen him look so human, “I’m the Ancient of Replication.”

  “What!?” Prisha and I scream out at the exact same time.