Building Trust

I laid on my couch, scrolling through my phone while April gossipped with Nina and Lily on the other side of the room. A few days had gone by and the four of us have been dominating the Mock Tournament. Our respect began to rise the more we won our battles.

As we all were relaxing, I heard a knock on the door then got up to see who it was. I opened the door and noticed Heifer and Taurus standing at my door. Heifer blushed a bit and looked away.

Leona appeared beside me and smiled. "Well, I'm glad you're keeping your end of the deal~"

Taurus rolled her eyes. "Yeah whatever. I wanted to talk to you in private anyway."

Leona smiled and looked at me. "Think you can handle a bit of chaos without me?"

"I guess, it shouldn't be too bad." I said and shrugged.

Leona chuckled softly then walked outside. I led Heifer to the living room then April noticed and grunted. She looked at Heifer surprised, even Nina and Lily were surprised to see Heifer in my house.

"Meet the newest member of The Pride." I said and smiled at Heifer.

Heifer scoffed then turned away. "It wasn't by choice. You clearly know our bet. Now I won't be able to help VI and Mina.."

"What's up with them?" Nina asked.

"Their home had been taken over by a kingdom that was once an ally. The Kingdom of Citrine." Heifer said.

I looked at Heifer then closed my eyes. "The Zodiac Kingdoms..?"

"You know of the Zodiac Kingdoms?" Heifer asked.

"Although we haven't learned about them yet in classes, April's dad talks a lot about them. The nation of Exzodiac is a sacred land. The homes of the Zodiacs." I said.

"Yeah. Zodiac Square is actually the capital of Exzodiac. We literally live in Exzodia City. For people like you and me, this history means nothing when we are about to live in it." Heifer said.

April looked at Heifer then looked at me. "I heard one of your conversations with Leona...is it true that me, Nina, and Lily are being chosen to wield Zodiac Power?"

"Yeah. It's true, but it's also true that Archer may get chosen...however it really depends on his goals." I answered.

Nina looked at Lily then smiled happily. "We're actually going to get Zodiac Power! The Goddesses see us as potential Knights!~"

Lily nodded and smiled happily. "Yeah!~"

Heifer looked at April, Nina, and Lily then closed her eyes. "Being a Knight isn't without their responsibilities. Each Zodiac Knight is appointed to keep the balance within Exzodiac and keep Cetus out of Exzodiac."

"Who's Cetus?" April asked.

Heifer grunted softly and crossed her arms. 'Fuck...'

'You've already said too much..' I said to Heifer via telepathy.

'Shut up! I already know I screwed up!' Heifer responded to me via telepathy.

I looked at April and smiled at her. "No one you should worry about right now..~ The point is you three are going to have the chance to wield power only few can ever dream of..~"

April nodded and smiled at me. "I can't wait for when I'm chosen!~"

Leona walked in with Taurus and crossed her arms, wagging her tail from side to side. "Alright...Listen up everyone!~"

Everyone put their attention on Leona and Taurus. Leona had a big smile on her face as if she was excited to announce her news.

"Firstly, Taurus has agreed to join us meaning Heifer is an official new member of The Pride. Taurus also works in a guild called the Emerald Crusade led by VI and Mina. August, Heifer, you two currently own Z-Systems so you two will be able to recieve and accept different quests." Leona explained.

"Nice, we can finally start earning some money and growing our name." I said and looked at my Z-System then noticed a few notifications.

[Notice: Dual Zodiac Arts now available (Leo x Taurus)!]

[Current Compatibility with Heifer/Taurus: 29%]

[Dual Zodiac Arts (Leo x Taurus): Ruinous Burning Charge!]

"Dual Zodiac Arts. Does our compatibility tie in with our Zodiac Arts somehow?" I asked.

"Yeah~ Since we own Taurus's Zodiac Crystal, Nature's Emerald, you and Heifer can tag in together to use a Zodiac Arts that combines your power together. Your compatibility means how much you trust each other and how well you can control Nature's Emerald." Leona explained.

I looked at Heifer then looked back at my phone.

'Our compatibility is rather low...'

"Because of such a low compatibility, we've taken the liberty of taking you all to the Zodiac Festival!" Leona said and smiled.

"Yes!" April said excitedly.

"We've been planning for this moment, finally we are able to go..~" Nina said and smiled.

Leona looked at our enthusiastic faces and chuckled softly. "This festival is pretty important not only to Exzodiac, but for the entire world and Realms. Once every year this festival is held to show respect and praise for the Zodiac Deities and The Hero of Origin."

"Hero of Origin?" Lily asked and tilted her head.

"The Hero of Origin is the strongest hero known to man. Known as The Savior of the Five Realms. His name is Henosis." Taurus answered.

"Henosis huh? Why does that name sound so familiar to me." I said and crossed my arms.

"You've heard of Henosis?" Leona asked.

I shrugged and looked at Leona. "I mean...his name definitely rings a few bells but I don't know honestly."

Leona smiled and me then looked at Taurus. "Well, we believe this will not only be a learning experience, but you all can have some fun at this event as well~"

"When does it start?" April asked.

"In about ten minutes. You all better get your butts ready!~" Leona said then giggled.

I smiled at Leona then looked at the others. "Well? Let's go ahead and get ready."

April nodded and smiled. "C'mon girls, we've gotta put on our best faces~"

Nina nodded and stood up, helping Lily up as well. "Let's get going~"

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A few minutes go by and everyone is finally ready to get going. Leona and Taurus began leading us toward Zodiac City as it was only a few minutes' walk from my house. Everyone was excited to attend this festival and excited to meet few people.

Once we made it to the city, we immediately noticed how many people showed up for this festival. People from around the country of Exzodiac showed up to Zodiac Square to pay their respects to the Zodiacs and the Hero.

Heifer looked around and noticed VI, Mina, and Georgia at the festival. She hurried over to them and smiled. "You three. You're actually here..."

"Well we can't miss such an important event~" Mina said.

"You came here alone?" VI asked.

Heifer looked back at me and the others then looked back over at VI. "No, I came here with August and his crew. Is it alright that The Pride joins forces with the Emerald Crusade?"

"Denied. Me and April still aren't on talking terms and don't even get me started on Nina." Georgia said, twirling a strand of hair around her finger.

"C'mon..." Heifer said.

"It will definitely help with our war against Citrine...but what if we run into those Citrine Forces here..? The Captain of the Citrine Army is a Zodiac Knight as well and she's no joke..." VI said.

"You don't have to worry about them. It's their one Knight against two if we team up with August's group. You've seen how strong August has become now...and I kinda agree with his ideals. He's speaking from experience and what our academy put him through. I also wronged him in the past...This world is in need of heroes who can make a change." Heifer said then looked back at me.

"I could see it in his eyes. His goal goes deeper than just evening the score against Archer. It goes beyond getting possibly expelled for challenging the entire academy. He is a Knight now like me...he plays an important role for all of us now." Heifer added.

Georgia sucked her teeth and sighed. She looked over at my group and crossed her arms. "I guess I can try to get along with them...The only tolerable ones seem to be August and Lily."

Mina noticed Georgia had hatched a plan in her head then watched Georgia skip over toward me. "This won't end good..."

Heifer watched Georgia and sighed. "She's gonna be a problem..."

"Yep." VI said.

Georgia skipped toward me and held my arm, bumping April out the way. "Hey there..~ Congrats on the big win~ I gotta say you've gotten pretty strong lately..~"

I looked at Georgia. "Thanks..? What do you want Georgia?"

"To spend this festival with you..~" Georgia said in a slight seductive tone.

"If you want my attention, you're gonna have to wait in line and it may not look long, but..." I started and looked at April, Nina, Lily, then Heifer. I looked back at Georgia. "It's looking like a pretty long wait..~"

"Yeah so back off my boyfriend, you damn walking sex doll!" April said then separated Georgia from me then held my arm. "Get in line! Better yet, stay away from him!"

"Tch! You think just because he's your boyfriend that he'll stay with someone like you? Even after exposing his entire roster?" Georgia asked.

"Mmm...yeah~ I mean I cook for him, I clean for him, hell I practically live with this man. I give him all the love and attention he seems from me, so I believe he's staying~" April giggled.

"As far as the roster comment, we're not some side chick material like you. It's either we're in or we're not, and by the look of things, I'm sure it's safe to say we're already in...sooo you can go away while we enjoy our outing~" Nina smiled then waved at Georgia.

"That's enough from the both of you now." I said then sighed softly. "She's a part of Heifer's group so that means she's an ally of The Pride as well. As much as you two don't like Georgia, we have to accept her."

April whined and looked at me. "Do we have to..?"

"Yes, unless you want her to take your place..~" I teased and chuckled softly.

April pouted and looked away. "That wasn't a funny joke! But fine...I'll get along with fake bitches who can't even support her best friend's choice."

"Your boyfriend is targeting the entire academy! He's on the watch list! Do you not understand how much power our Headmaster holds? If he goes through with this and turns the academy upside down, everyone who's associated with him will get expelled with him!" Georgia argued.

"He's in the right! For years have the low tiers been shunned for their low tier powers and told they will never be heroes! We have the right to fight in their honor as we lived through their torment as well." April said.

Georgia grunted softly and looked at me. "You aren't serious about this are you?"

"If I walk away from this now, I'll be letting down the hundreds of students and more that I swore to defend. These are innocent people being wrongfully judged based on power alone. You see it...you are one of them, but you have your chance to fight for an actual cause. We can all make a change if we do this." I said and looked at Georgia then held my hand toward her.

Georgia looked at my hand then looked at me. "What if we get in trouble..?"

"Then I take the fall. I will tarnish my own name before I let all the heat reach any of you. I am the mastermind behind all of this..~" I said and smiled at Georgia.

Georgia sighed softly then took my hand gently. "I'm only joining because it's you. I've always had an eye on you...kinda."

I chuckled softly then let go of her hand. "I'm glad you could join my side..~ While you're on my team, I'll see to us being undefeatable~"

Georgia smiled then closed her eyes. "Right..."

With our ill blood and will behind us, we wandered off around the city to enjoy the festival. Surprisingly, we all had a great time and I even got April and Georgia to bond once again.

With the success of the festival and everyone was about to leave, I noticed Heifer was talking to a woman. VI and Mina joined Heifer while she talked to the woman.

The woman was fairly beautiful with a light brown complexion, nearly the fair-skinned complexion. She was slender and seemed very nimble despite her the gold accessories she wore on her person. She had short black and blue hair, wore blue eyeliner, and violet colored eyes.

After checking her out for a moment, I decided to join the conversation between Heifer and the mystery woman. The woman noticed me approaching and rose an eyebrow..

"Sorry to interrupt. This woman intrigued me, so I walked over. I also noticed a giant scorpion next to you, so I'm assuming you're a Zodiac Knight as well?" I asked.

The woman stared at me then noticed Leona behind me in her Lion Form. She looked back at her Champion then smiled. "Keen eyes. I'm surprised you even saw Ishara."

"Ishara...you're the Scorpio Knight then. I heard your kingdom attacked North Emerald." I said.

"It is true that my kingdom attacked, but I am entirely against it. While we are rivals to North Emerald and opposites of one another, we still had a good connection and understanding. That's what I was explaining to these three." The woman said.

"Who is this?" I asked Heifer.

"The Toxic Assassin, Amunet. Her kingdom, Citrine, supposedly had been taken over by some organization named The 12th Order. No one knows much about this organization, but Amunet suspects it could connect to The Fallen that have surfaced recently." Heifer explained.

"I've been trying to clear my name because apparently the captain who helped with this operation seems to also have the Scorpio's Power. As a Knight, I would never misuse my power in such a way." Amunet said.

I looked at Amunet then crossed my arms. "I believe you. It's kinda strange though...The news hadn't gotten out yet which is wield."

"Yeah...but Citrine is known for their assassins and methods of silencing people. No offense!" Mina said.

"None taken. My home is probably the second ruthless besides the Blue Topaz Kingdom, the Sagittarius Kingdom. Anyway, I want to retake my home and save my Princess from being corrupted...but I'm not strong enough alone." Amunet sighed.

VI opened her eyes after thinking for a bit. "We may be able to fix both of our issues. All we need to do is gather enough money to fund this operation. It's gonna take a while for us to collect this money, but with enough of it...we might be able to pull it off."

"What?" Amunet asked.

"We can create a guild powerful enough to help the people around Exzodiac. Of course we need money, but we all need all the knights to be here. Once that's set, we can work on creating peace in our country again!" VI said.

"It sounds ridiculous, but we don't have many options... Alright, I'm in." Amunet said.

I smiled then began to think about the state our world is headed in. I truly wondered what The Fallen had planned if they have began to target the Exzodian Kingdoms. I knew if Amunet, an experienced Knight, couldn't defeat the Zodiac Imposter, I wouldn't be able to either. I needed to find a way to increase my power even further so I could be of more use.