“Because God didn’t, although I’m sure some would liken the Astraeus to gods, given their incredible power.”
“Power to do what?”
“Ensure you didn’t die, for one,” the fellow’s dry reply. “You will discover increased stamina, strength?—”
Grayson interrupted. “Already pretty strong and, for a guy my age, ain’t lacking for energy.”
“You’ll find yourself with even more endurance now, as well as being more or less impervious to temperature, more tolerant of pain, and, with your new tattoo linking you to your constellation, able to remove yourself from any situation with a simple thought.”
“What tattoo?” Grayson barked. He’d been one of the few who never showed an interest in getting inked.
“You’ll see.”
“Like fuck. I never agreed to no tattoo, and I’m gonna sue your asses if you marked me up while I was unconscious.”
“Good luck with that,” stated the man who’d flicked him.
“I realize this is a lot to take in. Once you’ve had a chance to bathe and get some food in you, we can discuss this further.”
“Discuss what? The fact you’re nuts?”
“At times like these, I wish the Astraeus did a better job of educating new recruits instead of leaving it to us. I’ve got better things to do than argue,” groused the man from the arena.
“Well, excuse me for not swallowing your bullshit. You’re asking me to believe some space god saved my life. Let me guess,you’re all space fighters too?” Grayson’s glance bounced around, noting the several men all slathered in the same muddy shit covering his body.
“Everyone in this room is a Zodiac Warrior. For centuries, we’ve been defending our planet against threats both homegrown and galactic.”
“Zodiac, as in the horoscope?” This conversation kept getting wilder and wilder.
A guy walking past snorted. “Those things are never fucking right. Take me, for example. Pisces, supposed to be artistic and shit, but best I can do is draw stick people.”
“Pisces, that’s the fish,” Grayson stated.
The arena fellow nodded. “That is correct. I am Aries, symbolized by the Ram. Over there we have Leo, Gemini, Virgo, and Cancer.”
“So if I’m one of you, who does that make me?” Grayson struggled believing any of this while, at the same time, recognizing everything felt too real for it to be a dream. A prank perhaps?
“You will henceforth be known as Libra.”
“The scales? Fuck that. I want one of the cool names, like Taurus or Scorpio.”
“I’m afraid those constellations are already taken.”
“Well, that sucks. How do you expect me to be some kind of superhero with such a lame moniker?”
“You’ll get used to it,” Aries’ wry reply.
“Or we could stick to my real name, Grayson.”
“Now that you are one of us, you will be expected to leave behind your old life, which includes forgetting your name and any personal attachments you might have had.”
“I never agreed to that.”
“You accepted the Astraeus’ offer,” Aries countered.
“As I lay dying, a voice in my head asked if I wanted to be a hero. Being kind of out of it at the time, I said yes, but seems to me like these terms and conditions should have been mentioned beforehand.”
Aries sighed. “Agreed, but I’m not the one to argue with. Take it up with your constellation.”
