Page 53 of Capture of Capricorn

Clear disdain in that last word, and she didn’t let it pass.Sexist much?

I was expecting a male.

Well, excuse me. Or not, actually. So what if I’m a chick? It’s the twenty-first century. Women can do pretty much anything a man can. Maybe you should get with the times.

You are impertinent.

Oh, I’m sorry, did I hurt your misogynistic feelings?

I’ve waited eons to be made whole, and now you insult me.

Exactly who are you?

The Astraeus known as Ophiuchus or, as the humans once called me, the thirteenth Zodiac.

The statement would have dropped her jaw if she had one in her disembodied state.Guess you being gone for so long explains your attitude.

Not gone by choice. I suffered an unfortunate incident with my last avatar.

What happened?

He tried to rule the world. In his defense, he grieved the loss of his wife and child.

How does ruling the world make that kind of pain better?

It doesn’t. But to fill the void within, my avatar chose to sow death and destruction.

Why didn’t you stop him?

I couldn’t. Astraeus are restricted in what we can consciously do. Once we are melded to our avatar, they can use our gifts any way they wish.

Let me guess. The other Zodiacs put a stop to the rampage and then locked you away for bad behavior.

They would have tried had they known, but my last avatar proved sly before revealing his intent. One by one, he stalked the warriors of that time, but rather than kill them and risk the Astraeus creating new champions, he took them prisoner. Experimented on them in a bid to steal their gifts. He had to be stopped. Given there was no one strong enough to eliminate my avatar, I took action.

The following dramatic pause prompted Zora to ask,What did you do?

Went supernova.

It took her a second before her thoughts blurted out,Wait, are you saying you killed yourself?

Not in the sense you understand. One of my stars was sacrificed, exploding and thus shattering my constellation, severing my tether to the avatar, rendering him powerless.

If you killed one of your stars, then how is it you’re still here?

The Astraeus gathered a few of the broken pieces and put them in hibernation, giving them a chance to regain strength.

The orbs. They held a part of you.

Yes. When the three relics were released back into space, they joined together, recreating my missing star, completing my constellation and returning me to my rightful space in the galaxy.

And in the process almost sticking you with someone just as bad as your last avatar.

That would have been catastrophic, especially since I don’t know if I could have sacrificed myself a second time,Ophiuchus replied.

Lucky for you, I’m pretty sure Crius, the bad guy, is dead, which means you can choose whoever you like as your avatar, but might I suggest maybe following the Zodiac rules a little more closely this time?

You mean the rules imposed after my destruction? My avatar’s destructive behavior was the reason for them.

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