Page 41 of Capture of Capricorn

Only a handful of Zodiacs were missing. Probably still on a mission that didn’t allow for their departure.

As everyone got seated with their plate of food—which changed depending on palate—Aries remained standing and waited until everyone quieted.

“Thanks for coming to this impromptu meeting. I thought it best I gather as many of you as possible to discuss the explosion of monster attacks that occurred overnight.”

The statement had the warriors stiffening.

Aries tucked his hands behind his back. “It appears we have multiple confirmed incidences requiring our intervention. What appears to be a soul-stealing mummy in Egypt. A Sasquatch in the Rockies that tore through some campsites overnight. A bunyip in Australia terrorizing a town. And what appears to be a very hungry vampire in Louisiana.”

“You forgot the gargoyle in France,” Aquarius reminded without looking up from his laptop screen.

Leo whistled. “Damn. Did the bad guys get together and decide to fuck up shit all at once?”

“Leo has a point. That’s a lot of activity,” Cancer pointed out. “Especially considering we aren’t close to a full moon, nor have any celestial events recently happened.”

“The timing is certainly odd,” Aries agreed. “But given how they are scattered, most likely just coincidental. Keep in mind, as well, that we’re much better at detecting monstrous incursions given social media is quick to post about stuff happening locally, as opposed to us waiting until official news sources actually pick up on problems. Given the danger levels of all these occurrences, they need to be handled asap.”

“Sounds like it’s going to be all hands on deck,” Pisces remarked.

“Just about,” Aries agreed. “We’ll have to divvy up the missions, but at the same time, I don’t want to leave Tower undefended.”

“Why?” asked Pisces. “Surely you don’t think someone will attack Tower.” His statement had them eyeing Sage, who tucked into her breakfast.

At their sudden interest, she waved a fork. “Don’t look at me. I haven’t seen anything in days,” to which Leo added, “Not sure if Olivia has, but last night, she convinced Rebecca and Ruth to teleport her to a city for a day of girly pampering. They left a half-hour ago.”

Aries pursed his lips. “Could be your daughter acting subconsciously to keep them out of harm’s way.”

“What harm?” The Gemini twins asked in unison. “Even if someone stumbled across Tower’s location, any attempt to breach the walls or even the door is doomed to fail. Tower is practically impenetrable from outside. Should someone even attempt, there would be time to call back anyone in the field to defend.”

For some reason, Capricorn thought of the bracelet Cetus placed on him, which somehow managed to numb his hands and block his ability to starbeam. “Don’t be so sure Tower is invulnerable. Cetus knows more about the Zodiacs than they should. Could be they’ve got some trick up their sleeve when it comes to Tower as well.”

“We’d still see them coming a mile away,” Cancer commented.

“We didn’t spot the drone that somehow made it past Tower’s perimeter defense,” Aries reminded.

“Most likely because Tower hadn’t accounted for the new technology. You can bet your ass it’s monitoring for them now.” Pisces glanced at Aquarius. “Right, bro?”

“Pisces is correct. Since the drone, Tower has implemented an aerial watch that pings anything non-organic both in the air and on the ground.”

“Meaning we can all deploy rather than pick and choose which monsters get to keep killing because we’re holding back.” Pisces offered a balanced solution, but Aries still frowned.

Sage leaned over and patted his hand. “I’ll be fine. Go. Tower will protect us.”

“I don’t like leaving you this close to the baby coming,” Aries admitted.

“I won’t be alone. Zora will be with me. So stop arguing and get the mission done,” Sage retorted. “The faster you leave, the faster you’ll return.”

Aries sighed. “Yes, dear,” a capitulation that led to chuckles. Aries eyed the warriors. “We have seven active situations, meaning we’ll split into teams of two with Gemini twins taking the bunyip on their own since they’ve dealt with one before. Capricorn, you and I will handle the gargoyle since it will likely be the quickest to track down. Everyone else, pair up and choose from the remainder.”

The guys quickly found a partner and then headed for the supply level where they’d outfit themselves as well as get a file on their particular mission to study before leaving.

Aries mouthed, “Meet me in the portal room in twenty,” giving Capricorn time to deal with Zora, who took the news of his departure better than expected.

“Is this what it’s like being a hero?” she asked as they headed out of the cafeteria. “Getting randomly tossed at monsters?”

“Being sent on missions is the norm, yes, but as you heard, this many incidents all at once is uncommon.” It also niggled. Aries wasn’t entirely alone in his thinking Tower shouldn’t be left without a warrior to defend.

“You think Cetus is behind it?”

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