The Betrayal of the Guardians

~ (38) Under the Starry Sky (Part II) ~

Arisa choked on her food. She quickly hit her chest repeatedly. Worried, Caris stood up and hit Arisa's back to help her out.

Coughing, Arisa drank her juice to calm herself.

"Wha-what do you mean by that?" Arisa asked as she slowly stopped coughing.

Caris went back to her seat. "That you could be Aries herself."

"But I can't be Aries." Arisa laughed nervously. "I'm me."

Me being Aries, that can't be possible.

Arisa didn't know how to react to Caris' new theory. She understood Caris' other assumption about the aura. It could be possible that the star had chosen her and shared her aura to prepare Arisa for the inheritance.

"Why do you think that I could be her?" she asked, curiosity brightening in her eyes.

"I don't know," replied Caris, her voice quiet. "It's just a feeling. Something tells me that you're really her. Maybe it's your bravery and kindness, Aries has always been kind to me in my dreams. From what I heard, she's a brave star."

Arisa gazed at the Oceanian, curious about her dreams.

"I'm sure, I'm not the only one who is kind and brave," teased Arisa. "But thank you for thinking that I'm an amazing being like her."

A warm smile spread across Caris' face.

"Have you had dreams with other stars too?"

Caris shook her head. "For some reason, Aries and Leo are the only ones that show up in my dreams, although..."

Arisa stared at Caris, wanting to hear more.

"Sometimes they would bring a little boy along in some of my dreams."

"A little boy?" asked Arisa. "Could he be a star too?"

Caris touched her chin, all thoughtful. "I heard that only Capricorn likes to show himself as a youngster, the others show themselves in their adult form. Despite that, Capricorn always appears as a boy in his late teens. The little boy I saw by Leo's and Aries' side seems to be eight or ten years old."

Arisa's brows raised, astonished by Caris' knowledge. As they spoke about the stars' ages, she remembered the morning she saw Aries in the forest. From what she saw, Arisa concluded that Aries had the appearance of a woman in her late twenties to early thirties.

"Maybe one of the stars decided to take the form of a child," Arisa tried to guess. "Just like Capricorn."

"I don't know," said Caris, her tone doubtful. "The boy I saw in my dreams seemed so different."

Arisa raised a brow. "What do you mean by that?"

"You already know that I can read auras," replied Caris.

Arisa nodded.

"I can read a being's mood, connections with other creatures, and can see what kind of element they are part of," continued Caris. "Unlike Aries and Leo, that boy's element is a mystery."

Arisa frowned. It was well known that all stars had an element as one of their abilities. She wondered why there was an anomaly in that little star.

"I'm not sure if he doesn't possess any kind of power or if it's still early to see his element," said Caris, pulling Arisa away from her thoughts. "Usually that happens to beings that are still growing. This could mean that the little boy is not as old as the stars we already know."

Arisa's chin dropped. "You think he's a new addition to the zodiac stars?"

Caris replied with a quick nod. Arisa couldn't hide her amazement; she wondered where that little star came from. She guessed that maybe he was a reinforcement to bring yet another Guardian to the worlds. Her heart froze at that theory, telling herself that a new representative would only bring more trouble.