Project Sidus:
The Final Zodiac
Chapter #2: It's just normal!

    "I'm always alone, but..."
    Lillian was sitting on a cliff, staring at the night sky which showed her own constellation shining brightly.
    "I know there are others."
    Eleven other constellations shone brightly once she finished her sentence.  She smiled a bit to herself, somehow comforted by the fact that she knew she wouldn't be alone anymore.
    "Am I ready for this? Am I ready to be the leader?"

    "Lilly?"
    Lillian's eyes snapped open as the voice brought her out of the dream.  She turned her head and looked up at Celesta. "What... happened to me? And where the hell am I?"
    Looking at her surroundings, she realized that she wasn't in the bathroom anymore.  Instead, she was lying on a teal colored bed in a small room.  Celesta was sitting next to her, sighing and shaking her head.
    "Nurse's office. You fainted."
    "Why did I faint?"
    "'cause Angelo's a football player?"
    "I fainted because of that?"
    "..." Celesta groaned in disbelief. "Yes. However, I said quarterback..."
    "Ugh."
    "What?"
    "I had a crush on a guy in middle school. He was a quarterback. Needlessly to say, it was humiliating. Never could bring myself to have any more crushes on jocks."
    "That makes sense. It also could explain why you went out of your way to avoid Angelo. I thought it was because you were dense..."
    "Gee, thanks."
    "How's the patient doing?" A teenage girl who had wavy blonde hair with brown streaks came into the room. "Has she recovered?"
    "Definitely better now, Vanessa!"
    "Good. Let's hope it was just a simple fainting and not something serious like a brain tumor."
    "I THOUGHT NURSES WERE SUPPOSED TO BE COMFORTING!"
    "She's joking, Lilly!"
    "Ahaa. I'm not even a nurse. I'm just an aide."
    Lillian eyed Vanessa with annoyance. "I see. Who are you?"
    "I'm Vanessa Reeves... just the nurse's aide... oops, it's almost time for lunch."
    How long was she out? Today was four class-day... which would have meant that she was out for a hour?
    Vanessa rubbed her cheek, looking at the chart. "Are you having any kind of weird headaches?"
    "No."
    "Good... are you up to suffering through the rest of school day?"
    "I guess so." Lillian rubbed her arms, still thinking about Angelo. "Do I have to sign anything?"
    "Nah, we can just wait for the bell to ring... oh, what's that book?" Vanessa turned to a surprised Celesta. "Astrology! Oh, that's cool... I've been meaning to learn some stuff about it myself, but I've been preoccupied with school work and such."
    "Heh. Alright..."
    "Though, I wonder if you're the same people I saw in my dream last night."
    Lillian stared at Celesta. "If she saw us then that means Angelo did. Just HOW much of a psychic are you?"
    "I'm not that powerful!" Celesta yelped, putting her arms up. "I don't know what I did!"
    Vanessa shook her head. "I suppose... I am a part of the merry group. By the way, my zodiac sign is Virgo."
    "Yup, you are." Celesta answered cheerfully once she put down her arms. "So, there's four of us!"
    "I never talked to Angelo about that dream. He'll just brush it off." Lillian sulked.
    "Oh, come on! Talk to him the next time you get a chance!"
    "I guess."
    "Hmm. It's going to be very difficult to find the others." Vanessa gnawed on the pencil thoughtfully. "I have access to student records and I can try to spot the ones."
    "That's great!" Celesta jumped up. "Can we start now?"
    "Uh, sure... since it's lunch time, and the administrators are going to be out of the office. Heh."
    "Are we REALLY allowed? There's question of ethnics and that we'll get our asses punted if we even try." Lillian scowled. "I say we leave the records alone. If anything, we won't find them this way. You said you could sense them, Celesta... but can you sense them through papers?"
    "..." Celesta blinked. "Well... no... unless they've touched the paper..."
    "So, we're at a dead end no matter what?" Vanessa remarked as she looked at the two teenagers.
    "Yes. I'm gonna go back to Algebra class and grab my stuff. I'll meet you two at the cafeteria."
    "Okay, Lilly..."

    Fifteen minutes later, Celesta, Lillian, and Vanessa were munching on pizza slices while sitting at a table outside.  The small area was where students could walk outside and relax during lunch hour.  There were several tables scattered outside for that very purpose as well.  What made this place better was that there were barely anyone outside as it was slightly chilly and cloudy.
    "Did you see Angelo again?"
    "No, but he left a note in my backpack."
    "Lemme see!"
    "..."
    "Celesta, you're scaring her." Vanessa shook her head while giggling.
    "Aw."
    Lillian shot the two dirty looks as she glanced at the note briefly.
 I hope you're alright. If I scared you, I apologize. I do need to talk to you face to face about this dream I had. I'm not sure why, but I saw you in it.  Er... maybe I said too much. I'm sorry.
    She blew out a loud sigh as she folded the note, shoving it back in her backpack. "If you two want to know, he wants to talk to me about the dream."
    "Oooooooooooh."
    "Stop that."
    "Sorry."
    Lillian sighed once again, staring up at the sky.  Alright, so she would have to work up the nerve to find Angelo and talk to him.  Maybe if she could catch him before a class... no... how about lunch?  Forget it.  He'd be surrounded by friends which would only make it harder for her want to talk to him.
    "Stop thinking and just do it." Celesta grumbled. "If you don't talk to him, you'll never be able to talk to him."
    "..."
    "Seriously."
    "Alright! I'll go!" Lillian sighed, sliding out of her seat. "Just watch my stuff for me."
    "No problem!"
    She wandered away from the table, heading over to the door and peered in.  The cafeteria was chock-full of students and cliques, talking noisily.  She scowled and scanned the crowd but was surprised when she saw the football table which didn't have Angelo there at all.   Maybe he didn't hang out with them...?  Several minutes of walking around the cafeteria, she was forced to conclude that he wasn't in the room.
    Maybe he went outside...?  No way!  Sophomores weren't allowed to leave the school grounds during lunch.  That was only reserved for Juniors and Seniors but she didn't know why they made up that rule.
    She proceeded to exit the cafeteria, checking out the hallways that weren't closed during lunch.  However, she was able to find Angelo sitting in the giant area where the snack and drink machines were located.  He had managed to jam himself in a comfortable niche, focused on doing his algebra homework.
    So.  Time for the first move!
    "Hey, Angelo?"
    "Oh, hey! Are you alright?"
    "Yeah. It was just a panic attack. I'm fine now."
    "Ah, want to talk about it?"
    "Nah, it's no big deal. You said in the note that you did want to talk about the dream?"
    "Yeah. It's kind of cheesy, though."
    "Just tell me." She smiled and sat in front of him.

    Five minutes after the bell had rang to signal the end of school day, Lillian joined up with the duo.  She never quite told them what happened at the lunch with Angelo.  However, she did return before lunch was over and grabbed her backpack before Celesta could ask.
    "...what exactly happened?" Celesta and Vanessa stared at Lillian.
    "We talked."
    "Not just that." Celesta shook her head. "Did he ask you out?"
    Lillian turned red furiously. "Not really..."
    "He did." Vanessa let out a cackle.
    "Shush! He wanted a study partner!"
    "...is that what they're calling it now?"
    "Perverts." Lillian glowered back while half-smiling. "Anyway... ah, you guys want to come by the shop?"
    "Sure!"
    "Where is it?" Vanessa asked as the three started to head down the hallway.
    "Oh, it's on Hydraulic."
    "That's kinna far..."
    "Not really. The bus stops few blocks from there. I walk the rest of the way there."
    "So, what kind of shop is it?"
    "Just a hobby shop... although, my uncle just got some strange candies called pocky..."
    "WE'RE GOING!"
    Lillian yelped when Celesta dragged her and Vanessa off.
    Behold the power of an anime fangirl when confronted with the idea of pocky.

   "How was your day?" Citan peered from the counter, noticing that the three teenagers had entered the shop. "Hi Celesta... and..."
    "Vanessa." Vanessa stuck her hand out as Citan shook it. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Dream."
    "Nah, just call me Citan."
    "Hey, where's the pocky?"
    "In that corner."
    Celesta ran to the corner, basking in the bliss of many flavored pocky snacks for her to choose from. (Fortunately, they were affordable as well!)
    "Oh, Uncle Citan, my day went pretty well. The day's been so tiring, that's all." She replied calmly but was still thinking about the study partners. No one really had asked her that before. Must've been a new pick-up line... no. She scowled at the thought.
    Citan rose an eyebrow and shuffled behind the cashier once again, pretending to count the cash.
    Celesta bounced back to the group. "Hey Ness... how about if we have a halloween party, dressed up as characters from video games? I'll be Celes, you'll be Ness!"
    Lillian and Vanessa stared at Celesta, a bit confused although, Lillian did have a clear idea of who Celes was. It was her uncle's fault that he had a collection of RPGs that he loved to play. Just that if anyone happened to mention a certain rpg in particular, he'd be in heaven.
    "Uhhh..."
    "Okay, ever played Earthbound?"
    "I HAVE IT!" They looked at Citan who somehow was holding the Super Nintendo cartridge. "Go play it!"
    "Well, we can't play games right now, Citan. We have to get things together." Vanessa chuckled. "Studying is important..."
    "Oh well. You can't just let life pass by you, but I'll let it slide this time." Citan shoved it back amongst the rpg shelves underneath the cashier and shrugged. "I see, you three are going to focus on the mission of getting the other Zodiac Teens?"
    Vanessa and Celesta bugged out for a moment as Lillian groaned, smacking her forehead with her hand.
    "UNCLE!"
    "What? Oh, sorry... I'll pretend I don't know anything about the zodiacs!" He smiled and whistled innocently.
    Lillian trailed into the living section of the store, followed by two puzzled girls who were trying to figure out how Citan would know so much.  Lillian turned around to look at Celesta who had the most odd expression on her face.
    "What?"
    "His name is Citan?"
    "Yeah."
    "Well, you know, he does look a lot like Citan from Xenogears..."
    "SHH! DON'T LET HIM HEAR YOU SAY THAT!"
    Vanessa was surprised. "Why?"
    "If he hears that, his ego explodes. Xenogears happens to be his all time favorite RPG." Lillian sweatdropped and sighed. "Just because of a name and similar traits... not to mention that he does have that weird habit of carrying around a sword with a goofy smile on his face. I had to hide the sword from him because of the game. I am never going to go through that again, EVER."
    "Ookay." Celesta sweatdropped.
    "So, Celesta, are you prepared to start the dream walk?" Lillian quickly changed the subject. "After all, we still have quite a lot to go."
    "Er..." Celesta sweatdropped and rubbed her forehead. "I'm not sure how well this will work." She glanced around the room, pulling her book out, mumbling something about candles and enclosure.
    "Candles? We need candles for this?"
    "There's some in my desk, on the bottom drawer." Vanessa went to get the candles as Lillian turned to Celesta. "What else?"
    "Dream catcher... you do have one, right?"
    "...yes, but... it's just that I haven't used it in such a long time. Why?"
    "We just need plenty of objects with magical properties that would help out a lot! Where is it?"
    Lillian pulled the dream catcher out from behind the bookcase, staring at it.  It was composed of a circle with golden ribbon wrapped all around it along with golden threads weaving an intrigue pattern.  There were several blue beads there and here on the golden threads.
    "Oh, my gosh, that's gorgeous."
    "Yeah... it's passed down through my family. It once belonged to my mom." Her eyes started to brim with tears. "I haven't hung it up since my parents died in the bombing." She rubbed the tears away as Vanessa and Celesta hugged her. "I can't believe I'm telling you guys about this. Let's get on with the dream walk."

    After a while, everything was set up and Celesta was pacing around the room, looking very puzzled.
    "What's wrong?"
    "I forgot what we were going to dream walk about." Vanessa and Lillian fell over in disbelief while Celesta laughed nervously. "My memory's been getting worse lately...wait... hey, we didn't DECIDE on where and when and what to dream walk about."
    "Oh, that's right." Vanessa pulled out the files. "Maybe we should focus on finding the others? Hey, why don't we look for other people of our respective elemental symbols?"
    "That's right... I have to look for Pisces and Scorpio... Lillian, you've already found Aries... you need to look for a Sagittarius."
    "..."
    "..."
    "..."
    "Hey, we're missing three more."
    "That's right, Ness... I forgot all about the three air signs. Gemini, Aquarius, and Libra. Jeez... it's going to be hard to find them because they're out of our current elemental group. Anyways, everyone, close your eyes and clear your thoughts. This procedure is similar to meditation... only we're going to do more than a simple meditation. Repeat after me... Project Sidus."
    "What the? What is that supposed to mean?"
    "I don't know! I heard it once in a dream and it worked whenever I said to dream walk without actually having to sleep."
    "Ok. Project Sidus..."
    "Project Sidus..."
    "Project Sidus..." Celesta sighed as she closed her eyes finally.  The candles that was in a circle around them blew out, allowing the darkness to take over.

    Lillian turned around, trying to gather her surroundings and realized that she was walking in a hall with torches lighting the way.
    "Is this where I'm supposed to be...?"
    Upon entering the room with a fire in the center, there were three symbols on the walls... one for one wall.  Only the symbols of Leo and Aries were lit while the other symbol remained dim.
    "As the leader... I have to get everyone together... but, am I really destined to be a leader? All this is just too much... and... Angelo... could I really be in love while fighting?"
    "Leo..."
    "Huh?!" Lillian jumped. "Who's there?"
    The room remained empty as she walked around the room counter-clock wise, unable to discover the owner of the voice that had called out to her.  She closed her eyes, letting loose a sigh and tried to figure out what to do next.  This was awfully odd for her, after all, she had never felt so in control of a dream but yet, out of control of whoever reached to her at this level.

    How odd, Vanessa thought to herself as she could hear her own footsteps walking through the hall but yet, she felt that there was someone following her.
    She glanced at the three symbols and could see that her own was lightened up but what caught her attention was that one symbol kept flashing as though if the person was waking up, but not quite.
    "Huh? What the?"
    She peered over to the flashing symbol to get a better look and under it was a name plate that said boldly: TAURUS.  Vanessa wrinkled her nose slightly, trying to figure out why the symbol would be reacting in such a violent fashion and glanced at her own symbol which remained unchanged in its fashion.  Behind her, she realized that the symbol for Capricorn was slightly dim.
    "Virgo..."
    "Uh? Er..." Vanessa glanced behind her and her eyes opened wide in shock. "What the..."

    "Leo? Virgo?" Celesta called out. "Huh... they must've phased out... oh, no... is this dream walk getting dangerous?"
    She looked up at the symbols, staring at her own that was glowing as bright as a full moon on a clear evening.  Suddenly, she got a sharp feeling creeping up along her spine, echoing through her mind to stay on full and clear alert for whatever was approaching.
    She shut her eyes and almost yelled out but her body was being enveloped by the water that had burst loose from the basin.  Her own screams were being muffled by the water and she felt as if she was drowning in a sea of uncertainty.  Everything exploded all around her, throwing her backwards against the cancer symbol as her body glowed with such intensity that the room was instantly full of light, washing away the remaining darkness.
    "You're not being careful!" The new voice that had called out to Lillian and Vanessa was now yelling at Celesta. "You didn't make the circle secure enough!"
    "Who are you...? Are you that same person?" Celesta yelled back at the darkness. "Tell me!"
    "The Cusp may be watching. Leave now!"

    "What the hell happened?" Lillian stood up and rubbed her head. "What was that voice, Celesta?!"
    Celesta looked very pale. "It was the person who taught me that word."
    "Why was it warning you... how did it get in?" Vanessa looked at the circle. "...and what was that about the circle not being secure."
    "I don't know... I don't know very much about magic, I just know that I can dream walk."
    "Is this person an enemy?"
    "No! That can't be!" Celesta stood up quickly, almost yelling out to the air. "Please present yourself to me! I demand to know the purpose of this!"
    Almost immediately Celesta's request was answered as a figure in a black robe with the hood covering the face materized in.  The three girls jumped up, backing up against the wall, terrified for their lives.
    "Fine, I am here, what do you want, Celesta?"
    "Why the warning?" She yelled at the figure with annoyance.
    "Because almost everyone is awake. Almost. This is a group that The Cusp are watching and they will take every measure to prevent it. Including murder."
    "No..." Vanessa gasped, her hand clasped on her mouth.
    "Yes. This is not a joke or an anime." An annoyed remark at Celesta which made her twitch. "This is very much a serious issue. I nearly suffered the consequences myself but I survived. Please be as normal as you can be. I will contact you later... if it is safe."
    The hand shot up as five dots on the forearm glowed briefly, enveloping the figure with the light.  The light faded away as Celesta stepped over to where the figure was standing.
    "This isn't right."
    "What is?" Lillian said as she picked up the candles that had been knocked around in their rush to the back of the room.
    "The constellation on the arm."
    Vanessa shook her head. "I don't remember that constellation."
    "I do. It's Cancer."
    Vanessa and Lillian's mouths dropped wide open as Vanessa coughed, clearing her throat. "Rather odd because there's so many different constellations listed for Cancer."
    "I know, but this one... I don't know. It just screams Cancer... and the person was able to enter my dreams, so that's possible." Celesta looked down. "I need to learn more about this person, damnit."
    "Maybe she's your mentor?"
    Lillian looked at Vanessa. "Wait, what, mentor?"
    "You naturally already have one! Your uncle! It makes sense that he knows a lot, right?"
    That thought hadn't occurred to her as she sighed. "Yeah, that's right."
    "This can't be happening... really... I don't believe this." Celesta muttered to herself.
    "But you saw it happen, right?"
    "Yeah, but... this is just too weird."
    "Not really." Citan walked into the room, sighing. "There's something I should tell you, Lillian."
    "What is it?" Lillian stepped over to him, slightly alarmed. "You seem to know more than you're telling us..."
    "That's true, Lilly. Your mother was Leo."
    "...WHAT?"
    Celesta and Vanessa stared in shock, their mouth gaping wide open, unable to believe what Citan was saying to Lillian at this point.  Was it really possible that there were a group of the zodiac before them?
    "Yes, that's true, Lillian... I've known about Project Sidus for a while, but I don't know everything. I still don't know why your mother was chosen, but now you're next. You're probably the one of very few who's had the zodiac powers passed onto you through blood. However, because of what happened to your parents... even though it was only a terrorist attack that happened by fate... You have to consider that there's some enemies out there who hate you girls for who you all are."
    "There's enemies?" Vanessa blinked softly recalling the mysterious figure's words and how it jibed with Citan's words. "Enemies who are out for our blood."
    "I've been told that the whole thing has been going on since the dawn of the time... as for the enemies... I don't know who they are personally, but they are The Cusp. You three will have to be extra careful, just don't reveal Project Sidus to anyone... unless they're the chosen ones."
    "Citan, how did you know so much about it?"
    "Oh, Celesta, that's such a funny story." Citan chuckled and sighed deeply. "There was this one girl I liked so much, but never had a chance to ask her out because everyone from your mother's era... were being killed off... one by one. She told me everything just before she died and I still have her things that she left to me in the will.  However, I have them packed away in the attic but if you guys want to check them out sometime, that's alright with me. I'm going back to the counter so I can get the re-orders organized."
    The door closed as Lillian stared after her uncle, feeling slightly uneasy about how much he knew.  She shut her eyes and tried to keep herself from crying out in terror, to finally learn why her parents died... it was all because of who her mother was.  How well did she know her mother?  There were so many questions echoing through her mind and heart, threatening to bring her sense of rationality down to its knees.  Her emotions stormed through her, as a tornado of memories stirred within her mind, and she recalled all the times she spent with her parents just before the bombing.
    "Lillian?"
    "Celes, I'm ok... just stunned, really."
    "To know that your mother was the leader... and the fact you're filling her shoes... that's really hard." Vanessa put her hand on Lillian's shoulder. "Let's hope the enemies haven't targeted you because you're her daughter. Maybe we really need to get the others as soon as possible. Oh!"
    "What is it?"
    "In the dream walk, there was symbol that was flashing with such intensity that it seemed like someone's waking up... meaning, we gotta find Taurus soon as possible."
    "That's going to be really hard, you know." Celesta exhaled. "Let's see... according to this book, Taurus is the bull... steady and stubborn...  This is going to be hard to try to find him... how many athletes do we know?"
    Celesta and Vanessa looked at Lillian who stuttered for a second. "Do we have to ask Angelo to help us?"
    "He's Aries, correct?"
    "Well, yeah..."
    "Look who's here!" Citan opened the door as Lillian's face went totally blank at the sight of Angelo. "Your friend Angelo's here, oh, and Angelo, behave yourself around my niece or I'll have to get the shovel."
    "Yes, sir." Angelo chuckled. "You have a great sense of humor, Mr. Dream."
    "Citan, and thank you."
    Citan turned his head at someone hissing at him. "Help me get out of here!"
    "Eh? Oh! Sorry."
    The door closed with a thud as everyone stared at the voice. Apparently, it belonged to the same figure that had warned them earlier.  It also appeared that the disappearing act was nothing short of smoke and mirrors.
    Celesta grabbed the door open and stared in the hallway.
    Both Citan and the figure were gone as Celesta swore furiously.
    "I'LL FIND YOU. I KNOW YOU'RE A CANCER."

    Meanwhile, the figure cringed as Citan shook his head. "She's quick, that one."
    "No kidding." The figure removed the hood, revealing her face as she rubbed her head. "I don't get it. How did she figure it out."
    "Maybe it's because your arm is glowing?"
    "Ah, damn! The constellation! The council must be calling me."
    "So, how's the council?"
    "Cranky as usual. Got Strawberry pocky?"
    "Plenty. Which kind?"
    "The ones with the strawberry bits?"
    "Help yourself."
    "THANKS!" The woman grabbed four boxes of the pocky. "Er...?"
    "It's on the house." Citan said calmly as he rang up the register. "By the way, how is your Elly costume coming along?"
    "Rather slowly, but I'm getting there!" She smiled as she left the shop.
    "Where did that Cancer go!?" Celesta yelped, indignant.
    Citan looked behind himself. "Oh, hello, Celesta."
    "...You know her, don't you?"
    Citan casually feigned innocence which only irritated Celesta some more. "Just go back to your friends and work on your mission."

    "Hi Angelo." Lillian nodded at Angelo. "Awfully early aren't you for the study session?"
    "Eh, I wanted to drop by and see what was up with you."
    Celesta sulked back in and brightened up immediately. "Oh, Angelo, know of any stubborn but yet, gentle men?"
    Angelo blinked at Celesta. "A few, why... oh, looking for Taurus?"
    "Yes!"
    "Well, the guys I know, none of them are, but..."
    "But?"
    "There may be one, but he never really tried out for sports at school. He did express an interest in baseball but otherwise... no."
    "Is he cute?" Lillian and Vanessa stared at Celesta dumbfounded as if they had not expected to hear that kind of comment coming from her. "What? Can't I express an interest in boys too? Anyways, what's his name?"
    "Taliesin."
    "Oh, I know who you mean... he's in the gifted program." Vanessa snapped her fingers. "I could arrange a way for Celes to meet him!"
    "Hey! No match making! I'll just do this on my own."
    "You'll shy away and hide in your shell."
    "No, I won't." Celesta was just short of yelling at the top of her lungs, however, she was flailing her arms in protest. "I'm not a shy person, even though I am a cancerian, I'm NOT shy!"
    "I guess I'll have to take your word."
    "Damn right, you will!"
    "So, anyway, there's more of us." Angelo exhaled softly and looked at Lillian. "So we're just stuck with few leads, just let's hope none of them turn into dead ends."
    "Oh dear... now I'm worried. What if the enemies know that we're waking up and come after us before we've had a chance to form?"
    "I don't think that'll happen."
    "You never know." Vanessa shrugged and bolted out of the room to look for Celesta while Angelo and Lillian were left all alone.
Lillian mentally cursed her friends for abandoning her with this hunk, but still, she'd have to let her sane side do all the talking while restraining her dreamy persona.
    All of the sudden, Celesta's voice broke through Lillian's thoughts, shrieking out in joy. "TURN A GUNDAM MODEL KIT?! COOL!"
    "..." Lillian stared at the open door in disbelief as Angelo did the same, wondering what the hell was Turn A Gundam and why Celesta sounded so excited about it.
    They could see Celesta run down the hall past them, waving the model kit and they caught a glimpse of something that resembled a Gundam, but yet, it was odd for a Gundam due to its oddly placed V fin which made it look like it had a mustache.
    "FEAR THE MUSTACHED GUNDAM!"
    "..."
    "..."
    "Celesta... stop scaring us." Vanessa grumbled and looked at Lillian and Angelo. "Citan apparently got some more Gundam model kits and Celesta's gone nuts."
    "Mustached Gundam?" Angelo said, rather weakly and still in shock.
    "Hell if I know."

    Few hours later, Celesta was hard at work assembling the gundam while Lillian, Vanessa, and Angelo were discussing the incident with the dream walk and Citan's knowledge.
    "I don't exactly feel comfortable knowing that we're in danger."
    "Angelo, I'm not comfortable with it either. It seems that there's no choice..." Lillian sighed sadly. "Damn. I was hoping for a normal life."
    "NORMALCY DOESN'T EXIST!" Celesta yelled from where she was working.
    "Ahhh... alright. Anyways, how late is it?"
    "Ten o'clock." Vanessa looked at her watch. "Oh no, I really gotta go now. I'll talk to you tomorrow, see ya guys!" She stood up and turned around to leave. "Oh yeah, make sure this stays with us."
    "No problem... it's not like we have anyone but ourselves... I suppose."
    "What about family?" Angelo asked.
    "Damn. I don't know about that. Citan's an exception to that, obviously... but..."
    "If anything ever happens to you, I'll protect you."
    "Oh, thank you."
    "FINALLY! I'm done!" Celesta stood up and displayed the model before their eyes. "Behold the power of Turn A Gundam."
    Angelo and Lillian sweatdropped at Celesta while she posed along with the model... truly a scary sight to behold, indeed.
    "Yeah, well, you two are sure impressed. Anyways, I'm going now. Don't bond too close or Citan'll have to get the shovel out."
    Lillian and Angelo sweatdropped again as Celesta darted out of sight along with the mustached Gundam model.  Angelo sighed and smiled at Lillian, hugging her.
    "I honestly need to go too. My mom will be yelling at me for spending so much time out of the house."
    "Oh, I'm sorry if I was distracting you too much..."
    "No, don't be. You're a good distraction." He smiled, getting up as he headed towards the door. "Seeya, Lillie."
    "See you..." Lillian found herself echoing in the empty room as she wondered to herself silently.  I've changed. I've made new friends... wow, I'm so different. What other surprises are there for me? I shouldn't be afraid of challenges anymore! This Lillian Dream is going to show the world just how much of a fierce Leo she is!

    Celesta set the model on her desk along with the other Gundam models and smiled to herself. "I still have to get more. I didn't think it would be this late. Ugh."
    She walked over to the bed and slid underneath the covers, sighing to herself.  She pulled out a comic book and read for a while, wondering about Taliesin. Soon, she found herself drifting off to a deep sleep where she would encounter something strange...

To be Continued
in
"Cards of Fates"