"It's taking longer than usual" Nashira said, more than an hour later. Her voice let the other Star know that she wasn't surprised, or amused. The typical Nashira. Etamin nudged her arm with his shoulder and smiled at her. "Give it time" And as if on cue, a spark of light and gust of wind filled the arena. Both Stars looked over at the teens. The light and wind came from Zam, who was standing with a circle map in front of his hands, and the merged symbol of his sign and magic form, similar to the tattoo on his back, glowing on the back of his hands. "Um, what do I do now!?" he called out, keeping his eyes off the map. Or well, it wasn't a map. It was a circle, yes, and it had the runes within the outer lines. But the inner circle held the same symbol as the one on Zams hands, further framed with lines of light creating a repeating pattern.

"Keep it steady, and try to recall it!" Etamin shouted, receiving a nod from the tall captience teen.

"How the fuck are we going to focus with this going on?" Cassíe groaned, her short ponytail wildly swinging in the wind.

"The same way you'll focus in battle" Nashira stated.

As the small storm raged around them, the door opened up. Nashira and Etamin turned their heads, meeting Alkaid with their glances. He looked, worried.

"Is something wrong?" Etamin asked as the shorter Star came up to the two. Alkaid quickly shifted his eyes to the teens, they were all busy with training, before he spoke. "I've, done some meditation and, I felt something" another peek at the teens. "Bad" he continued in a whisper.

"What do you mean with 'bad'?" Nashira questioned. Alkaid hesitated and began fidgeting with the tips of his gloves.

"I, um, I fear that he's back" he finally said still barely above a whisper, leaning in slightly to further reassure himself no one other than the three could hear. The other two stared wide-eyed at him.

"Wait, him? You sure? 100%? It wasn't something else? Please say it's something else!" Etamin blurted out the questions like a flood.

"Well, yeah but-"

"So you're saying, that we have a group of untrained, first-year Zodiacs, and he's fucking back! This is just great!" Nashira exclaimed.

"Okay calm down, no need to panic-" "No need to panic!?" Alkaid furrowed his brow in uneasiness at being cut short once again. He removed both of his gloves as he kept his eyes on the teens. Some had their eyes glancing their ways, confused as to why they were yelling.

"Nashira, calm" he said in a commanding matter, taking both hers and Etamins hands and locked the two together. Nashira let out a soft gasp as her eyes and body illuminated with a grey light. The light quickly transitioned to Etamin, making him gasp as well. The two stood there, hand in hand, whilst the light of Nashira faded into them.

"Thank you" Nashira breathed, letting go of Etamins hand.

"No problem, but can you let me finish that would be great" Alkaid said. "I'm not entirely sure that what I felt was, you know, but it was something and it wasn't good. I'm heading back to my room and I'll perform the session once more, and if I can feel it again then we're having a meeting tomorrow" the other stars nodded in agreement and Alkaid let the arena, closing the door just as the wind got even wilder followed by a heavy impact on the floor. A quick glance at the teens revealed that bot Derin and Feíx had managed to summon their circle maps.

"Holy!" Feíx exclaimed. The floor around him had been pushed aside, making it appear as though he was standing in a crater.

.:.

Alkaid sat in the middle of his room. Candles were lit around him and the thick curtains had been pulled over the windows.

"This. This can't be real..." he whispered to himself and stared down at the dark blue carpet beneath him. He'd just finished the second session of meditating, and nothing had changed.

That feeling. The feeling of panic that washed over him when he saw it. The tall silhouette that even made Etamin look short in comparison. He knew to well who it belonged to. A really old friend of his, and the other stars. But it made no sense. Sure, no one knew for sure if he was really killed back then nor if he would come back after what happened. But if he did die then, where was the shooting star accompanying his rebirth? None had been seen these past couple of weeks, or years. And if he was still around, why couldn't Alkaid feel his presence before?

Alkaid didn't have an answer to any of the questions he asked himself, nor did he think the others did, but he did know what this all meant. If he was back and visible in the red haired stars mind, then it would only be a matter of time before history would repeat itself.