1 Constellation Combat

"Hey Rai." said a red haired man as he walked into a room with light brown walls, decorated with lockers and a long bench in the middle.

"Oh… Roman." Rai said as he looked up from tying his shoes.

"Is that all your going to say!!!" Roman shouted.

"Your so cold!!" Roman yelled, "So cold, we haven't seen each other in years and that's all you have to say to your childhood friend!!"

Rai finished tying his shoes and went towards his locker to grab his bow and quiver full of arrows and checked the insides of the quiver.

"NO RESPONSE!?!?" Roman roared.

"So you finally decided to enter the tournament and look what happens, you easily make your way to the finals," Roman shrugged, "I guess some people really have beginners luck."

"I don't think this can count as beginners luck," Rai smiled.

"Oh, are you saying you were always this good?" Roman smirked.

"But man it really will be reassuring having someone like you take the last sign!" Roman smiled as he put his hands behind his head, shifting the two cutlass' on his hips.

"I'm not here to become the next Sagittarius." Rai said bluntly.

"Huh?! Why not, you have all the aspects of it," Roman sounded taken back, "You fight with a bow and arrow, have huge ambitions, and your super lucky."

"It's fate!" Roman shouted as if he had an epiphany, "It's fate that brought you here, after all you've always hated the Star War but now your competing in it, it must be fate!"

"I still hate it, the only reason I'm here is to get the Minotaur so I can kill the man who nearly destroyed our village." Rai said while walking towards the door.

"Boooo, revenge is such a weak motive!" Roman protested.

"Says the man who chose Aries and carries two sabers!" Rai shouted.

"THEY'RE CUTLASS'!!!" Roman shouted, "why not just use the golden flame to rebuild the village and bring fortune to it to make it grow even stronger?"

"Oh…" Rai's eyes widened, "That exists…?"

"ARE YOU DUMB!?!?" Roman went ballistic, "THAT'S THE ONLY REASON WHY ANYONE WOULD WANT TO BECOME SAGITTARIUS ANYWAY!!!!"

"Hmmm, I see… I see…" Rai said as he scratched his chin.

"NO YOU DON'T! I thought you were smart Rai…" Roman cried.

"Shut up!" Rai yelled embarrassingly, "I can't do anything about it now, that was the star I asked for when I entered the tournament."

"Ah, well, good luck, I'll be rooting for you…" Roman said hopelessly as he slumped his way out of the room.

"Why do you look so defeated?!!" Rai shouted at Roman who ignored him and left the room.

Now then, there's only one thing I can do! Rai clenched his fists and made his way towards the arena.

***

"Oh welcome back Rom- WHAT HAPPENED??!?!?!" shouted a girl with brown hair and green eyes.

"Nothing much Angie... *sigh*" Roman slumped into his seat next to her.

"Did Rai do something stupid again?" asked Angie.

"He forgot about the golden flame and asked for the Minotaur as his star…" Roman replied as he stared at the entrance.

"Pssshhhhht! EHEHEHEHEHEH!" Angie laughed, "For someone so smart he's very forgetful."

"Ew, what a disgusting laugh." Roman stared at Angie in disgust.

Thonk!

"Shut up!" Angie said as she held up her fist while Roman went limp in his chair.

"OUCH THAT HURT YOU GORILLA WOMEN!!" Shouted Roman.

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME!!!!" Angie grabbed Roman's shirt.

"Oi! You two stop troubling the other guests!" shouted a security guard as he walked towards their seat.

"HUH!?!?" They both shouted in Unison as they delivered an uppercut knocking the guard out.

"Not like it matters though, he'll figure it out soon enough." Roman mumbled as he readjusted himself.

"Yeah you're right about that." Angie said as the announcer came on.

"Laaaadieeeees aaaannnnd geeeeennntllllemeeeeeen!!!!!!" boomed his voice.

"Now is the time you have been waiting for, the finals of the staaaaaaar waaaaaar!!" the audience reciprocated the announcers enthusiasm with a massive roar.

"Now then to welcome our two finalists," he said as he turned towards the southern entrance, "He is a man who hails from a rural village in Northern Ireland, he fights with a bow and arrow and is apparently very intelligent!"

"Please help me welcome Rai Finnegan!" The crowd erupted in shouts and cheers as he finished.

Rai slowly walked into the arena, his brown leather shoes were echoing through the hall. As he entered the sand filled arena the view took his breath away. The arena looked like a standard coliseum arena but what surprised him was the beautiful view of the sky and all its stars that were above them. The light given by the stars caused his messy, spiked blonde hair to shimmer and his green eyes to twinkle. He was wearing a long dark green coat and black pants with arm guards on.

The crowd erupted in cheers once he entered, Rai could feel their excitement from where he was standing causing a smile to grow on his face and unease to grow in his stomach.

***

"That's Rai?!" Angie said in shock.

"Yup the one and only." Roman said.

"He's smart and even good looking, I'm sorry Roman." She said as she bowed her head.

'I'll kill you!" Roman stared her down.

"I bet he's getting all nervous standing in front of a packed stadium for the first time, hoho!" Roman laughed.

"That smile makes you look like a pervert!!" Roman shouted once the cheers were dying.

***

"WHO SAID THAT HUH!!!!!!!!????" Rai shouted.

Rai felt somewhat personally assaulted by the insult, but he knew who said it and would get back at him later. The insult had served its purpose however, the nervousness was gone and he was back at ease.

"Aaaaaand now to welcome our second finalist!" he turned to the northern entrance, "He was born in New York, loves cards, and has been banned from Macau, Las Vegas and Monte Carlo!"

"Please welcome Jester Erickson!" the crowd came to life once again as a response.

From the north entrance slowly emerged a man who looked like he was in his mid fifties. He was wearing a black suit and had his black hair hidden by a bowler hat with the ace of spades stuck on the side of it. He had brown eyes and his fingernails were painted red and black, alternating from finger to finger. He stuck his tongue out as he smiled and absorbed the applause that were raining down on him.

"Ah how these applause feel wonderful." he said as he put his arms out and slowly walked towards Rai.

He licked his lips with his tongue then let it hang from the side of his mouth as he smiled.

"So you must be Rai, poor thing," he said as he hugged himself, "I'll be sure to let some applause to ring for you as well."

"Declaring yourself as the victor before the match even starts… how foolish." Rai sighed.

"But it's the truth, you can't beat me!" Jester smiled.

"NOOOOOOWWWWW THEEEEEEENNN, LADIIIIIIIIEEEEEES AND GEEEEEEENTLLLLLLEMEEEEEN!!!!" The announcer's voice boomed.

"The match will now begin!" he roared as the audience roared back shaking the entire coliseum.

"READY! STEEEEEEAAAADY! FIIIIGHT!!" deafening gunshots rang over the coliseum as the crowd went crazy.

Jester stood in front of Rai, not moving an inch but laughing maniacally as Rai pulled over his bow and printed backwards creating distance before turning around. He quickly loaded an arrow on the string, drew back his hand with his index finger and thumb gripping the arrow and pinky sticking out, licked his lips and fired in a smooth lightening fast motion targeting Jester's head.

"You can't hit me." Jester said.

Thunk! The arrow hit the rock wall behind Jester.

"Tch!" Rai grunted as a smile appeared on Jester's face.

Rai quickly loaded another arrow and fired it towards Jester's feet then loaded another three and fired them above, and to either side of Jester.

Now I've got you, no matter which direction you dodge the first arrow one of the other three will hit you! Rai thought.

"Hmph! I thought you would be much more of a challenge than this Rai Finnegan, how you have disappointed me!" Jester shouted.

He kicked the ground with his right foot and spun on his left avoiding the first arrow and lifted his arms like a ballerina and avoided the second on his left.

Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! The sound echoed through the coliseum which had fallen silent throughout this exchange.

***

Angie stared in awe as her jaw dropped.

"Did you see that?! Did you see that?!" She shouted as she turned towards Roman.

"Those arrows are so fast! I can't even tell when he's loading them and firing them!" She shouted in excitement, "It's like Rai goes blurry for a moment then suddenly you hear a thunk on the wall and there's an arrow there magically!"

"Yea, even I can't dodge some of Rai's arrows, but this guy is doing it perfectly… Jester Erickson, who are you?" Roman wondered.

"Well, that'll be answered later but right now Rai is just getting warmed up!" Roman smiled.

***

Hmph it seems like he can predict the course of the arrows by looking at their head, Rai thought.

"Let's try this then!" Rai smirked.

He sprinted towards Jester and suddenly leapt backwards and spun. While in mid spin he pulled an arrow, loaded it and fired to his left. The arrow flew in a giant arc starting out towards the wall but then slowly turning towards Jester's side.

"*sigh* Useless…" Jester said.

The arrow flew past Jester and buried itself in the wall to his left.

Rai stared in awe. He knew he never missed, but just now he had launched six arrows and none of them had hit their mark.

"I told you, your just too obvious." Jester said as he pulled his hat lower.

Rai lowered his head, something didn't seem right to him. He's not figuring out the course of the arrows by looking at their heads, no, it's something more subtle, something that others would overlook… Rai thought.

"You're something like a B-Grade archer, maybe even C-Grade…" Jester smirked under his hat.

Macau, Monte Carlo, Las Vegas, what do these places have in common? Loves cards? Rai pondered.

"But don't worry, I'll still grace you with applause!" Jester threw his arms in the air as if he were accepting roses being thrown at him.

"After I tear you apart that is." He said under his breath.

Rai took a deep breath, and exhaled.

"You're the one they banned from all the major casinos in the world for psychologically attacking the customers." Rai said calmly.

***

"Psychologically attacking customers?" Angie turned towards Roman.

"Yeah, do you know each person has a certain 'tell'?" Roman asked.

"'Tell'?" Angie looked puzzled.

"They say that before a person is about to do something, whether it be picking up a cup or bluffing, the body acts in a way that is both unconscious to the person and missed by those around them, in other words their called micro-actions." Roman explained.

"Trevor has an innate ability to recognize all the micro-actions a person makes and with this ability he would often go to casinos and play at the roulette, poker and blackjack stations always striking big" Roman continued.

"While at the casinos he would target one of his adversaries at the table and drill on him psychologically by reading his micro-actions and stopping them before they made a move," Roman stared at the arena floor, "To others this would be entertaining and they would laugh uncontrollably but to the person he was targeting it would be equivalent to torture."

"Imagine not being able to move, not being able to think, being humiliated in front of thousands of people all the while your natural instincts are slowly being clawed away at." He turned towards Angie.

"Soon people started calling him The Jester because at whichever table he would be there would be copious amounts of laughter." Roman said.

"I see, so he mentally attacks the very essence of what makes up you until there's nothing left, what happened to his victims?" Angie asked.

"Most of them went into a vegetative state, thinking that whatever they did next everybody would already know and try to stop them, the ones that didn't went insane." Roman said.

"Because of this, all the big name casinos and cities banned him taking away his source of income, I assume he's here to claim the luck that Sagittarius brings which would allow him to enter into some casinos and would guarantee a victory no matter where he goes." Roman said.

"If he truly is like that, then what's going to happen to Rai?" Angie asked.

"Hmph, if there's one person in the world you don't have to worry about it's him," Roman smiled.

***

"Oh your the first person to figure that out in the tournament, kudos to you!" Jester said cheerfully.

"But, that still doesn't change the fact that you still have no chance against me, your body just talks too much!" Jester mocked.

"Oh? What does it say then?" Rai smirked, "Do 'tell' me."

"Hmph, I'll 'tell' you what, if you can make me pull out my weapon, then I'll be more than happy to answer that question!" Jester said as his flicked his tongue out.

"Deal!" Rai shouted as he ran towards Jester.

In a moment Rai closed the distance between them and reached backwards into his quiver.

Jester smirked, he knew there were two things that Rai could do at this distance, either leap at him and swing his bow in which case he would just be walking to his death or fire an arrow at point blank, the trajectory of the arrow would be straight ahead towards his body so that he would be able to follow up. He could see both outcomes and his victory guaranteed in both.

Rai reached back into his quiver and grabbed it's base and lept towards Jester. When he was a foot away he swung his right arm across his body as he spun. Jester's eyes widened as he saw the grin on Rai's face, his body instinctively moved backwards disrupting his train of thought and plans. The moment he saw Jester move back Rai dropped the weapon and loaded an arrow, at a speed that left the previous one in the dust, as he spun around and fired it straight at Jester.

Sling! The high pitch noise cut through the air as the arrow split in two and fell a few yards behind Jester. Jester's composure changed, the cheerful, playful air around him had been replaced with one of anger and hate. Between his index finger and middle finger he was holding the ace of spades as he scowled at Rai and the dagger that lay on the ground next to him.

"Ha Ha, it was a good thing I put this in last minute, now then answer my question Trevor!" Rai shouted.

"So eager to perish are we? Don't worry Finnegan I'll answer your question, then I'll turn you into my slave, the perfect slave, Hu Hu!" Jester chuckled.

"Your first Micro-Action is that when you load your arrow your pinky points in the direction of the shot, even if its a curved shot." Jester explained.

"Your second Micro-Action is that right before you shoot you lick the top right corner of your lip." He continued.

"Your third and most obvious Micro-Action, if you can even call it that, is you make a big movement, like spinning, that leads into your shot." Jester finished.

"Now then, shall we get serious, I'll be sure to carve you up enough to keep you alive but at death's door!" Jester as he took a step towards Rai.

So he's finally serious, Rai thought as he felt significant pressure coming from Jester. Rai glanced at his quiver and saw only five arrows remained, he had left quite a significant amount of arrows behind to make space for the dagger which had served its purpose.

"Is that where you should really be looking?" Jester whispered.

Rai turned around to see his face inches from Jester's, there was a warm sensation near his abdomens, Rai clenched his teeth and swung at Jester who turned to his left to avoid the punch letting go of the card allowing Rai to back up.

He pulled the card out but felt a sting on his left cheek. When he looked up there was a swarm of cards flying at him, all being perfectly thrown by Jester. Rai lept side to side, back, forward, he spun and moved as if he were dancing through a hallway full of laser.

"More! More! DANCE FOR ME!!" Jester shouted.

If these were normal cards I would have been able to take a few and close the distance, but these are made out of titanium and not only that..., Rai thought as he weaved through the cards, getting scratched every now and then.

"You've realized it by now haven't you, these cards are laced with a special chemical which prevents your blood from clotting!!" Jester shouted angrily.

"Even the smallest scratch is comparable to a gash! Serves your right!! Serves you right for trying to trick me! ME!" Jester's voice was slowly becoming more and more maniacal.

"Oh I've run out of cards!" Jester looked down wide eyed.

Rai realized this was his opportunity, he loaded an arrow and sprinted towards Jester, waiting to fire, waiting until the last moment. It doesn't matter if he can tell where the arrow goes, it doesn't matter if he can tell when the arrow is coming, if he can't react to it, Rai thought.

Jester smirked as Rai ran towards him.

NOW! Rai thought as he let go of the arrow a foot away from Jester.

A large amount of red appeared in between him and Jester. He looked at Jester's face and saw a devilish smile erupt as he stuck his tongue out licking some of the blood that has splattered on his face. He pointed to his hat the Ace of Spades was gone, when he looked at his other hand he saw it, covered in a thick coat of dark red. He looked down to see his Bow cut in half and a giant gash across his stomach.

He could feel the strength draining from his body, as the blood loss and the pain from the wound were unbearable. He smirked at Jester as his body slumped to the ground.

***

"It's cold…" Rai whispered to himself.

When he opened his eyes he was standing in the darkness, there was no one around him, nothing around him, he was all alone.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath and thought back to a few moments ago, he had been slashed by Jester when he fell for the simplest and most obvious trick in the book, a simple lie.

"Blood loss, it was because of blood loss that I couldn't think and fell for that obvious lie, Hmph that seems right!" Rai said triumphantly with a smile.

"But man where am I?" Rai scratched his head curiously.

He looked around once again, and saw a small light that seemed miles away. He crossed his arms and looked down contemplating whether or not he wanted to walk that far, leaning towards the latter when a cold breeze sent a shiver down his spine followed by a sneeze. Reluctantly Rai started walking towards the fire.

When he reached it he saw it was a normal campfire burning with gentle, orange glow. There were five logs surrounding the fire so that anyone could sit and enjoy its gentle warmth. Sitting on one of the logs was a man in his mid thirties. He was wearing a white long sleeve shirt that was opened down the middle with a loosely tied red tie and sleeves rolled up. He had on blue pants and black shoes. His hair was short, messy and black which allowed his dark green eyes that were twinkling in the flame to be emphasized that much more. There were small wrinkles around the corners of his eyes, making him look that much more handsome as he wore a gentle smile and stared at the flame.

"Beautiful isn't it." he said softly.

"Have a seat Rai Finnegan-yo." he showed the seat next to him with an open hand.

Rai walked over and slowly sat down next to the man.

"Most people only see fire as a tool of destruction, the very first weapon man was gifted," he spoke gently, "Even today it's used in rockets and guns."

"It is a powerful weapon much more powerful than a simple bow and arrow and yet that is the weapon of your choice Rai-yo, can I ask why?" He turned to look at Rai.

"You can ask why... but I don't know... I guess I just never felt comfortable firing a gun, using a bow and arrow felt a lot more natural and if I was ever low on money I could always create the ammunition by hand." Rai answered clenching his fist in triumph.

"I see, that makes sense." He smiled gently.

Rai never had any parents but speaking to this man like this, it was what he imagined a father and son would do, the smile on this man's face was encouraging, warm almost as if it was gently embracing you.

"Every now and then there are those people who can see fire for what it really is, a tool for bringing people together, for warming their hearts up," he said turning towards the fire again, "It's a source of passion, a purifier."

"During the times of the Olympians Hestia acted as the hearth of Olympus, a goddess who represented home, do you know what her symbol was?" he asked.

Rai shook his head.

"A flame, well sometimes it can also serve as a symbol for good fortune and luck as well." a childish grin erupted on his face as he closed his eyes.

Rai snorted as a smile grew on his face as well.

"You've always been a guardian Rai-yo, not a fighter," He turned towards Rai once again, ���I'm sure you've realized that by now."

"One could say it's your fate to protect those around you." He said.

"I'm sure fate wouldn't want someone as weak as me to be a guardian, after all I couldn't even protect my own village from an attack…" Rai threw his head upwards taking in a shaky breath as his lips quivered.

"That's why you want revenge huh? But Rai-yo did anyone blame you for not being able to protect your hearth?" he asked with a smile.

"Did anyone tell you they wanted revenge?" he asked.

"Fate is weird, everyone but you accepts you as a guardian, they knew you did your best to protect them and that's why no one blames you." He put his hand on Rai's head and gently ruffled his hair.

"I think it's time you accepted that as well, and drop this revenge act, after all you're just really happy no one was badly hurt right?" He grinned.

Tears streamed down Rai's face. This man, in a matter of moments had seen through his mask that he had put on for three years.

"How'd you know it was fake?" Rai asked.

"Gut feeling!" he grin grew even larger, infecting Rai as well.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me, I accept you as one of my own and bless you with my mark." He said turning towards the flame one more.

"Mark? Who are you?" Rai asked wiping the tears.

"Oh yeah, I never introduced myself did I, sign twelve of the zodiacs, Sagitarrius present." He said as he turned towards Rai and gave a two fingered salute.

"Wait I'm confused, what's with this blessing? Also where the horse half you!?" Rai asked.

"Hmm, looks like they never explained it to you, the way this tournament works is you choose a star that you want, it serves as an incentive to get people to participate and nothing else, then once you get into the finals all the stars who are looking for successors watch and if one of us takes a liking to a candidate we call them to our plane and talk with them and decide if we will give them our blessing and mark." he explained.

"Also there IS no horse part, do you understand that Rai-yo!" Sagitarrius suddenly sounded hostile.

"So I was never going to get minotaur anyway…" Rai sounded disappointed.

"I don't know about that, if that meathead really did take a liking to you then he would've called you, in fact he did but the Zodiacs take precedence." He said back in his gentle voice.

"So what do you say Rai-yo, wanna be the next Sagitarrius?" he asked, "Or do you wanna get mad at fate again and go over to that meathead's place?"

"Before I answer can you answer one last question?" Rai asked.

"Yea." he replied.

"What is the Flame of Luck, and where is it?" Rai asked.

Sagitarrius snorted then smiled.

"Your looking at it." He pointed to the gentle, orange campfire.

"It's nothing special, just a normal campfire, but for some reason people think that it is a power that Sagitarrius have, something that brings extreme fortune those who gather around it." He said.

"But the reason why that fortune comes is not because of the flame, is because those who gather around an open fire such as this have the distance between their hearts closed and speak straight from the heart which often results in prosperous relationships forming that would not be possible under other circumstances, the results of these relationships can be marriage, financial growth, happiness, or even the establishment of something prosperous like a village." he spoke softly.

"I see…" Rai said gently.

"Sagittarius I'll accept your blessing!" Rai said.

"Thank you." Sagitarrius said.

Sagitarrius got up and touched the broken bow that had appeared next to Rai, fixing it. Rai stood up quickly and laughed and slung the bow over his shoulder after testing it. Sagitarrius stood next to Rai waiting for him to face him. Rai turned to face the man who's blessing he had just received and felt the side of the touch the center of his chest.

"You have the luck of Sagittarius now," he said softly, "Better not lose to anyone Rai-yo…"

His body started to glow as the wind picked up and carried him off slowly, like ashes from a flame.

"'Better not lose' huh, well I guess I'm in some trouble…" Rai said as the black world slowly disappeared and color started invading, he was leaving the plane and going back to the arena.

***

The strength that was once leaving him now returned. He repositioned himself and leapt backwards. When he looked down at the gash it wasn't as deep as it was before, the small cuts had also missed his veins and struck only muscle reducing the amount of blood that should have been coming out.

"Sagittarius huh?" Rai said under his breath.

He looked down at his bow, the brown wood had been replaced with a shining yellow material, where he gripped the bow, there was now a fancy leather grip with highlights that matched the material. The string had also been changed to one of high quality.

"Oh? So you've gotten the blessing of Sagittarius, not bad…" Jester said.

"BUT I DESERVE IT MORE THAN YOU!!!!" He roared.

Jester charged towards Rai, with a flick of his wrist appeared three cards that were now squeezed between his fingers. He swung in a giant arc missing Rai by inches. Rai was sure that he reacted to that swing too slowly but it seemed the luck of Sagittarius was with him now. Jester continued to force Rai back, with each swing he was getting closer and closer to cutting Rai.

What should I do? He's too close for me to use my bow and he won't back up! Rai thought.

If only I could create some space between us, a close ranged weapon… He racked his brain for a solution.

'Most people only see fire as a tool of destruction, the very first weapon man was gifted' he remembered what Sagittarius had said.

"Hmph, let's see if this works!" Rai shouted.

The next time Rai leaped backwards he reached into his quiver and pulled out an arrow and waited for Jester to close in.

"Do you really think an arrow is going to save you now? I don't even need to read you to figure out what's going to happen next!" Jester roared as he was inches away from Rai.

Rai waited for Jester to start his swing and the moment he did Rai leapt towards Jester bring the arrow as close to him as possible.

"BURN!!!" Rai shouted.

The tip of the arrow combusted into a flame, which grew into a blaze setting Jester on fire.

Surprised Jester stopped his swing and retreated and tore off his blazer and shirt, now standing shirtless a few feet away from Rai as his clothes burned on the ground.

"Another one of your petty tricks!" He yelled.

"Well it doesn't change that fact that you failed with two tricks!" He said.

��That's fine, all I needed was some space!" Rai yelled back.

Even faster than before he grabbed and arrow and notched it. This time without thinking, without breathing he fired the arrow where he thought Jester would be, three feet to the right of where was currently standing.

Thwack! The sound echoed through the arena. After a few moments it was followed by a shriek as Jester looked down to see his left arm pinned against his torso.

Rai sprinted towards Jester, swung to build momentum then struck his bow to the side of his head.

"How ...?" Jester murmured as he slumped to the ground.

"It was just luck." Rai said as the crowd roared to life.

"LAAAAAAAAAADIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEES AAAAAAAAAAAND GEEEEEEEEEEEEENTLLLLLLLMEEEEEEEEEEEN!" The announcer roared, "WE HAVE OURSELVES A WIIIIIIIIINNEEEEEEEER!!!!!"

The crowd roared as confetti cannon exploded bringing down a shower of rainbow papers.

"What did I tell you, you don't have to worry about Rai." Roman smiled.

"Roman, can you let go of my arm? it's starting to turn purple..." Angie croaked.

Roman jumped away from Angie and laughed as if nothing had happened as Angie crumbled to the ground and rubbed her left arm.

"And now for the star ceremony, please the blesser of this child would you come down." the announcer said.

"Woah! His personality just did a 180!" Roman chuckled.

The stars in the sky above the arena started to shift until the sky started to get brighter and brighter until it filled up the entire arena with a blinding light yet gentle warmth.

When Rai opened his eyes a man in his thirties with an opened white shirt, loose red tie and blue pants was standing in front of him.

"Congratulations Rai-yo." He said gently.

The crowd roared and applauded.

"It was Sagittarius, Rai Finnegan has received the blessing of the last Zodiac, Lord Sagittarius." The announcer explained.

"But man I was really worried there for a second, I even gave you that big hint, if you hadn't won this my reputation would have gone down the drain!" Sagittarius said in relief.

"Huh? Reputation?" Rai looked dumbfounded.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, I have a little bit of a streak going on, for the past thousand years neither myself nor any of my children have ever lost, all of them passed on through natural causes," He had a cocky grin on his face, "I'm known as the undefeated star."

"HUUUUUUUUHHHH!!!!!" Rai shouted in surprise.

"Just how many things are you going to forget to mention!!!!!" Rai shouted.

"That's what you're surprised about *sigh* Rai…" Roman said as he walked towards them.

"Oh Aries, Virgio it's been awhile!" Sagittarius smiled.

"There you go again with that happy go lucky attitude, when will you change?" Angie said in disappointment.

"Huh? What's happening?" Rai asked confusingly.

"Oh your best friend there was blessed by Aries, while the girl was blessed by Virgio," Sagittarius explained, "They've mastered the abilities so much that they have completely absorbed the star and are basically the stars themselves now!"

"Too much, that's too much information, why is this so complicated…" Rai shrunk to half his size, crouched down and started doodling in the sand.

"Ha Ha your so entertaining Rai-yo…" Sagittarius laughed.

"Anyway, it's time for me to go, good luck Rai-yo, not that you need any more of it, Ha Ha…" Once again he laughed, started to glow orange and disappeared like he had once before.

"So, what are you going to do now Rai?" Roman asked.

"Go back to the village and set up the flame, we can't all be running around fighting strangers," Rai smiled, "Someone has to protect that place…"

Rai started walking towards the entrance.

"So you've finally accepted it, huh Rai…" Roman whispered.

"WHAT WAS THAT!?!?" Rai shouted over his shoulder.

"NOTHING YOU TWO BIT ARCHER!" Roman yelled back with a smile.

"WHAT WAS THAT YOU MUSCLE-BRAINED FREAK!!" Rai shouted.

"That reminds me, what did you say about my smile?" Rai closed in on Roman.

"Huh? You've got a beautiful smile, he, he…" Roman tried to cover it up, before sprinting towards the entrance.

"OI, get back here you muscle-brained freak!" Rai shouted as he ran after Roman.

"Guess boys will be boys *sigh*..." Angie said reassuring as she followed the two.