The Last Celestial

The Taurus Woman Part III

All of them thought their friend would escape the grasp of death. They really thought that Elly would be saved from the burns, aches and pain which he was suffering from. But then, they realized that they were wrong.

Not only that, but another innocent man became a victim of what was supposed to be their burden. Seth Orion, the son of Redenor.

Aiziah couldn't bear the pain anymore. She was holding on to her emotions for so long that it felt like she was about to burst. "I can't take this anymore!" She screamed out loud as she ran away from the scene. Her heart racing against her chest as her lungs burn from being breathless.

She thought everything would be fine. She thought what the flower from the desert gave them was the cure.

She thought the Celestial's actually looked down on them with kind eyes and saved their friends... but they were wrong.

Have the Celestial's they had been serving been playing and toying with them all along?

Did they even care for what they felt? What they desire, and for what they yearn?

Aiziah had only one wish in life, and that is to be happy as she served the Celestials she believed always looked out for them. Now, her beliefs are slowly diminishing and turning into doubt. She began to question everything and anything. And as she looks up at the darkening sky --- tears continuously fall from her eyes as she stared up and looked for the brightest star.

The Keeper who used to adore the Celestial's the most frowned upon the stars and took a deep breath and was ready to release all of her woes.

"I thought you were looking out for us?!" She screamed with all her might, the veins on her neck showed as she tensed up. "I thought you wanted us to succeed in protecting the bane?!" She continued to scream with her eyes closed. "Then why is this happening?! Why are you not doing anything?! Why did you let Elly end up that way and the man trying to save us was poisoned as well?!"

She only paused to catch up on her breathing, her throat ached from dehydration and from too much shouting. "Why are you not doing anything, Sagittarius?!"

The already darkening sky from the sunset, gloaming even more. Dark clouds proceeded to crawl towards their direction which came from the west. Soon, thunderclouds appeared and lightning struck against the sand.

A sign that the Celestial being resting in the clouds heard her cries.

A drop of rain fell from the sky and landed on her nose. Not long after that, the drizzle had downpoured and the thunderous cloud released heavy rains.

Aiziah's vision was compromised by the rain that she did not notice something was crawling --- emerging from the sand. A creature different from the one created by the undying man. Something dark --- something that had a will different from the creature of Coal and Tar.

A will to kill all Keepers, a creature created from the bane of the Scorpion and the anger of the slain Keepers. It knows no other emotion other than hate. Little by little, the said creature crawled its way closer and closer to the grieving Keeper.

As it inches closer, it snarled and growled and was ready to devour the Keeper.

But then, lightning struck the sand and it shocked the being and the Keeper. The creature disappeared then sunk deeper in the sand, fearing the bolt sent by the Celestial being from above might take its life to save the woman it was about to devour.

Aiziah who was mourning and crying and shouting fell and landed on the sand when the bolt of lighting crashed and created light that blinded her for a few seconds.

"Gah!" She screamed as she feared she had angered the Celestial. "f**k!" She cursed again when she lost balance when she was about to get up from her position.

Again, she tried to push herself away from the scene. This time, when she looked up in the sky, the clouds cleared up and no sign of the thunderous clouds remained in the solemn sky. For she only saw stars.

The said Keeper gulped the forming saliva against her throat nervously then looked down. For a moment she was left speechless from what she had seen. The sand where the lightning bolt struck became glass.

A form that resembled much of a monster that made her question what was going on.

"What the heck..." She whispered to herself as she was about to move in closer. But as she was about to take a step further to inspect the said spot where the lightning struck the sand, she heard Zebedee call for her from a distance.

"Aiziah!"

The voice of her friend made the said Keeper turn her head and look for the direction where the voice was coming from. "Zebie?!" She called.

Again, her friend called for her. This time, Zebedee's voice was louder and sounded more crisp and clear. "Aiziah! Where the hell are you?!"

Aiziah sighed then looked up one last time to the sky once more before she walked towards the direction where she's hearing the voice of her best friend. She raised her hand and stood tall before screaming a hoarse, "I'm here!"

It didn't take long for Zebedee to reach Aiziah's location. The latter jogged even faster then reached out her hand before placing it on Aiziah's right shoulder.

Zebedee took another deep breath before she raised her head then looked at Aiziah in the eye. "You..." She paused, then squeezed her friend's shoulder in anger --- rendering a pained groan from her friend.

"Ouch!" Aiziah groaned as Zebedee's fingernails digged against her skin, creating crescent marks even against the thick fabric she was wearing. "Zebie --- it hurts! Let go!" She whined then pulled her shoulder away from her friend's grasp as she pushed the latter away.

"...you..." Zebedee voiced out once more after her breathing became stable and steady. "...how dare you run away like that?!"

More often than not, Zebedee is not the type of person who screams at her like that. Yes, her friend has the tendency to scream, be loud and boisterous to other Keepers but she is always calm whenever she speaks to her. Which is why Aiziah froze when Zebedee screamed at her, and by the looks of it, she was obviously frustrated.

Aiziah opened her mouth to speak, but only hung her mouth open when Zebedee spoke first and beat her to it.

"I know, I know... I know that you're frustrated but I am too. We all are!" Zebedee continued to scream at her face. Her cheeks were red from running and anger and dismay. "I don't understand what's going on as well and I don't understand why the Bane directed us to a poison instead of a cure --- I get it, Aiziah! I'm f*****g frustrated too! We all are as f*****g frustrated as you are, damn it!"

Aiziah bit her lips then looked away from her best friend, feeling ashamed of herself. "I'm sorry... I --- I guess I panicked..."

Zebedee rolled her eyes then groaned. "Well now is not the time for that!"

For the nth time that day, Aiziah sighed. "I know..."

"No, no you don't!" Zebedee screamed. "Elly is my best friend too, I'm concerned too! Now... promise me, when we go back there, you'll come down and both of us will help find the damned scorpion that poisoned the son of the Doctor, do you understand?"

Aiziah looked at Zebedee before nodding her head in agreement. She wanted to cry, not in frustration but from shame.

She was weak. And it embarrassed her entire being.

"I understand..." Was her soft reply.

Zebedee smiled softly then said, "Good... now let's go back there. Nathaniel and the others are looking for a cure."

==================

The helicopter where Timothy, Hyacinth, Andrew and Jacqueline was on slowly descended from the sky to the safest place where the pilot could land. The loud scuttering sound made by the helicopter slowly nulled as the blades stopped spinning.

The four of them managed to arrive safely at the Sahara Desert.

The hottest place on the face of the Earth during the day was completely opposite by night. It happens because of sand. Sand is not able to hold heat, and it turns the entire desert hot. The sand acts as a sort of mirror to the Sun.

It takes all of the heat from the Sun and does not absorb it, but "radiates" it in the air, which is the main reason why the temperatures are so high during the day. The sand holds the heat on its surface.

Once the night comes, the sand loses all of the heat it collected during the day, and the temperatures drop severely.

Once the sun sets, there is no heat to either absorb or hold on the surface.

"Finally, we are here." Timothy noted as they remove the strap and belt from their body.

Hyacinth and Andrew were already out of the Helicopter, the two of them were observing the calm desert.

"So... this is where the Bane of Scorpio is protected, huh." Andrew loudly spoke what's on his mind as he gazed at the desert floor before he looked up at the night sky.

The sky was beautiful as there was no city light. All of the stars were visible, and the constellations that once housed all of the Celestial beings.

Andrew marvelled on the view, his eyes sparkled in delight and wondered what it's like to live up there.

On the other hand --- Hyacinth who was always quiet became even more silent.

Her eyes stared at the looming sand, the unclear and uncertain shape it made beneath the sand made the hair on her body stand. It sent shivers in her spine and it made her want to rush over to the Fortress that Jacqueline had been talking about.

The Fortress of Scorpio.

Little did they know that the house that was once filled with Keepers was now filled with creatures of chaos and malice. Creatures that merge and crawls beneath the sand, and is quietly terrorizing citizens.

"Hyacinth... Andrew, let's go?"

Jacqueline's voice snapped the two out of their own bubble.

The young man smiled at the old woman, while Hyacinth looked at her before staring at the sand once more. Hyacinth bit her lip as she listened to the voice that was practically screaming at her mind.

'The Fortress is no more... find the man who absorbed the bane... a descendant of Orion.'