Page 17 of Taurus's Quest
Circe recovered enough to gasp, “Am I dreaming again?”
Both men barked, “No!” Not the nicest reply, but Taurus had more pressing concerns.
Leo helped him to the Stardust Room next door, their version of a medical center, but instead of machines and doctors, it held rows of jars, one for each sigil of the Zodiac and, within those containers, dust from their constellation.
Taurus lay face first on the reclining chair in the middle of the chamber and tried to be manly as Leo sprinkled the stuff over his wounds. Damned shit burned as soon as it hit the open flesh.
“What is he doing? Why is he dumping dirt on you? You need a doctor,” Circe exclaimed, having followed them.
A teeth-clenching Taurus couldn’t reply, so Leo did.
“This is how a Zodiac Warrior heals. Don’t worry. It might look nasty, but it works. In a few hours, at most, he’ll be good as new,” Leo stated.
“In a few hours, I’ll probably be rocking in the corner of a padded room,” was her reply.
“You’re not crazy,” Taurus muttered.
“I thought this place, and you, were a dream. But they’re not. And what did you do to Andreas?”
“Me?” He turned his head to see her. “The man tried to kill you.”
“Which makes no sense. We don’t even work in the same department.”
“Andreas was scared of something you’re doing.” Taurus closed his eyes as the dust took effect, bringing about sweating and tremors as his body healed.
“He mocked my work with the Antikythera mechanism. Said I was wasting my time.”
“He obviously lied.” Leo hadn’t even been there and saw the truth.
“He said someone wanted me dead,” she added. “Which makes no sense. No one has yet to take me seriously.”
“He and whoever he worked for obviously did.” Taurus gritted his teeth as Leo dumped even more dust over his back.
“Your back is mangled and blistered,” Leo stated. “Looks like you wrestled a grenade and lost.”
“Like I said, Andreas, the guy trying to kill Circe, literally exploded.”
“Obviously not into chunks of flesh, though. Looks like you were hit by molten debris,” Leo informed. “Never heard of anything with a human form on Earth that could do that.”
“I don’t think he was human. His eyes glowed, and I saw him use some kind of force to unlock a door. Whatever possessed Andreas wasn’t of this planet,” Taurus stated, his words slurring slightly as the stardust did its thing.
“Did he say possessed?” Circe exclaimed. “As in, by a demon?”
“I think he means something alien, actually.” Leo properly grasped what Taurus meant.
“Aliens aren’t real.”
Leo snorted. “Are you sure you’re an astronomer?”
“Wait, how do you know what I do for a living?” Circe exclaimed.
“Because Aries told me you and Taurus met. Guess Olivia was right.”
“Olivia being?”
“My daughter. She has visions.”
“Of course she does. And let me guess, you’re some kind of Zodiac Warrior, too.”
