The next thing Vincent knew he was in a large meeting room. He sat down before a massive table that held 13 chairs behind it. Each chair had a symbol elaborately carved into the table in the front. Someone with an armband with the sign of Virgo on it was using their powers over Vincent. It was making him feel better. He was sure they were healing him.

Evans stood next to Vincent. All the chairs were filled except the 11th one. The 12 others stared at Vincent.

"Where do we even begin?" one of the older men said from the fourth chair. Vincent's mind raced with how they were set up. He figured because Evans probably belonged in the 11th chair by the symbol, that the man talking was a Taurus. His symbol looked like a bull.

"I didn't know it would cause him to be separated from me," Evans tried to explain. All the others simply shook their head. Evans was the youngest out of all of them.

"He attracts Aspected!" the woman in the second chair shouted. Her symbol looked like an H. She had to be a Pisces.

"You could have gotten him killed!" the man in the eighth chair. A Virgo, just like the woman healing Vincent.

Evans remained quiet. Vincent could tell he probably didn't want to jeopardize his position as head Sagittarius teacher. The other head teachers continued to yell at him, all except the man in the 13th chair. He simply stared menacingly at Vincent, making him feel uncomfortable. He didn't know anything about the Ophiuchus Zodiac. He decided to try and stop the shouting.

"I saw my constellation," Vincent said, trying to sound as confident as possible.

The entire room went quiet. They all stared at Vincent. Even Evans seemed shocked. "What did you say, boy?" the Taurus Head asked.

"When Evans used that device to get us here. I saw a 6-pointed star constellation. It's name is Celestic."

The room started to fill with murmurs to each other about the name. "That's an interesting theory, Vincent Wolfe," the Ophiuchus man spoke out. "We would need to give this new information to our scholars in the observatory to confirm."

The rest of the room nodded. "Let this be a warning Evans. As a head teacher, you should not be so reckless with new students, especially one of a new Zodiac," the Pisces woman said.

Evans nodded. The room was quiet for a second until the Capricorn man stood up and said, "Sorry for such an introduction, Vincent. We all welcome you to Apsis Academy."

The Libra head teacher stood up as well. She added, "Yes, welcome! We look forward to teaching you about being a Signed, as well as learning much about your Zodiac!"

All the other heads gave a welcome to Vincent. They explained how classes would start tomorrow and he would have a schedule waiting in his room, along with any supplies he may need. The head teachers also explained how they would send some Scouts and Hunters to retrieve his suitcases from the forest. For now, he had several spare of everything he would need in the room.

"Evans, you can show Vincent to his hall right?" the Virgo head asked.

"Of course," Evans agreed.

After all the heads told everything about his welcome, Evans led Vincent out of the room. "I do apologize sincerely for putting you in danger like that," Evans said almost as soon as they were out of the room.

Vincent shrugged. "I don't blame you. You were confident in thinking we'd get to wherever that device needed us to get, and I believed that. Could be something with my Zodiac."

Evans nodded. "That's what I was thinking."

As Evans led Vincent through the massive halls, they passed by several classrooms. "Are there a lot of teachers here?" Vincent asked.

"Dozens belonging to each Zodiac. We have several hundred students here."

"Didn't realize there would be so many Signed in the world."

"Means we do our job well. There are thousands of Signed all across the world. Not all of them belong to Western Astrology, but you'll learn about that in your studies," Evans replied with a smile.

Vincent nodded. He was pretty sure he had heard of other forms of Astrology in different cultures. They might have different schools. He decided to ask another question, "So what are Scouts and Hunters?"

"Those are usually graduates from Apsis that take on a role that best suits their abilities and skills within Astrology. Scouts are usually those who look for Aspected, and Hunters are the ones that use that information and take care of them. There are also Teachers, Scholars, or even working within the normal world looking for more Signed. There is a handful of things to do as a Signed, and every day it grows."

"So why would people like my parents not do any of those roles?"

Evans shrugged. "Some of the Signed just choose normal lives. We have been putting up networking businesses throughout the states, as well as a nearby village that is all based on helping students. You need textbooks or any more school supplies? Check the village out."

Vincent was surprised to know that the reach was extending. It did sound promising.

The two continued to walk through the massive building. The hallways and stairs seemed to go on forever. Eventually, Evans brought Vincent to a cross-section.

"Left is for the guy's hallway, right is the girls. Shouldn't be hard to guess that guys are not allowed down that way, and vice versa." Vincent nodded to Evans. Evans then continued down the left hallway, Vincent shortly behind.

"There are doors that lead to each dorm sector belonging to each Zodiac. There are boys common areas that a lot of the students like to hang out in, but as for rooms, they're all separated by sign. That doesn't exactly mean you aren't allowed in other sign's dorms, but it's usually customary to be invited in by one of your peers or potential friends."

As Evans explained, Vincent felt his hopes dropping a bit. He was hoping to be rooming with other students, but he knew that his unique sign didn't call for that. Evans led Vincent passed all the other doors in the hallway. Vincent counted them and examined all the Zodiac symbols on the doors they passed. Soon the 13th came and Vincent got a better look at the strange U-like shape that made up the Ophiuchus symbol. Then the 14th door came around.

"So Apsis built this when the 'hiccup' happened?" Vincent asked.

Evans shook his head. "Nope. It appeared the second that happened. No one knew why until we had confirmation there was a constellation sighting. Since we had been waiting to find out who would belong in this room, if anyone ever. Now it's all yours." Evans pushed the door open. Vincent was expecting a dusty old room, but instead he was greeted by a room made up of purples and silvers. The colors reminded Vincent of the stardust that had appeared around his hands.

"We imagine that with the constellation being a star, the sign might be heavily influenced in celestial elements," Evans explained.

"So that's what appeared around me when the ram attacked?"

Evans nodded. "Your powers still have a lot of unknown variables about it, but so far I can assume your element is celestial."

Vincent wasn't sure what that meant exactly but he knew he would find out through his classes.

"Lastly, I'd like to welcome you personally to Apsis. I hope your stay goes better than tonight did. And feel free to come to me for anything. I'll see you in class tomorrow."

Vincent smiled and nodded. He was actually hoping to have Evans as a teacher. Evans took his leave and closed the door behind him. Vincent looked around the room more. There was only one bed in the large room. The walls were covered in charts and tapestries.

Beside the bed was a small table with some folded clothes and a satchel. On top of the clothes was a piece of paper. Vincent picked it up and read that it was his class schedule. The top read "Classes for First Years." The classes were Traditional Elements with Head Teacher Evans Litwin, Reading the Stars, General Astrology, Combat Training with Head Teacher Lloyd Argo, and Life Lessons.

"Combat training, huh?" Vincent asked out loud. He tried to think of which head teacher was Lloyd Argo. He shrugged and figured he would find out tomorrow. Right now he really wanted to sleep. Vincent climbed into the bed and didn't bother pulling the covers over him.

Morning came quicker than Vincent expected. Before he knew it, sun was shining onto his face. He sat up somewhat startled at where it came from. He didn't recall a window in the room. Vincent rubs his eyes and began to look around. Hanging from the center of the room was a metallic spinning device. The light came off from it.

"What is that?" Vincent asked out loud.

"An Astroglobe," a voice said from the doorway.

Vincent looked over to see another kid standing in the doorway. Vincent tilted his head. "An Astroglobe?"

"It's an instrument used to read stars relative to a central point."

The other student looked just as old as Vincent, maybe a bit older. "I see," Vincent replied. "So why are you in my room?"

"Just getting a look at the new Zodiac, I suppose." The student was wearing something that looked like a uniform of sorts. He wore a black shirt with black pants. "You should probably get dressed if you want to make it to breakfast downstairs."

Vincent's eyes widened. The other student was right. He should hurry so he wouldn't miss breakfast or be late for his first day. He rushed out of bed to get cleaned up and ready for school. The other student had left.

It didn't take too long for Vincent to shower and get into his new clothes. His shirt was a strange mix of colors. The blues and purples made Vincent think of his power. It was like a cluster of stars or stardust.

As Vincent was tying his shoe laces, another student poked their head into his room. "So the rumors are true! A 14th Zodiac!"

Vincent looked up. He already could tell he was going to get a lot of attention. "Yeah I'm Signed under Celestic."

"*Celestic*, huh? That's a pretty cool name," the student replied with a smile. "Also, awesome shirt. Ours for Cancer are dark blue."

Vincent nodded and stood up. He looked at the student. He was indeed wearing a dark blue shirt. It was a casual uniform, which made Vincent happy. Colored t-shirts were going to be way better than collared shirts.

"Did you need any help getting around? Don't know how late you got in, but figured it wouldn't be long enough to let you explore or get a tour."

Vincent nodded. "It was pretty late. I have no idea where breakfast is held."

The boy smiled. "Well I can definitely help with that. My name is Willielmus Sinclair!" he announced with extending a hand. "But please call me Will."

Vincent walked to the door and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you, Will. I'm Vincent Wolfe."

Will nodded back, his dark blue eyes shining from the light of the Astroglobe. "So how long have you been here?" Vincent asked as he moved back into the room to get his new satchel.

"About a week. First year, obviously," Will chuckled, "But I'm excited to learn more about what it is to be Signed. My parents have been hyping this place for years."

"Really? Wish I knew how that felt. I barely learned about all this yesterday."

Will's eyes widened. "Really? Wow this must be intense for you."

"It's a lot to take in honestly. Still feels surreal."

"Well, if my parents are right about this place, it's going to be a blast," Will said as he waved his arms excitedly.

Vincent smiled at his enthusiasm. "So where to now?"

Will beckoned out into the hallway. Vincent followed and closed his door behind him. He was immediately greeted with a sight of hundreds of the male students walking through the hallway. "Looks like we'll be some of the last into the food hall, but should be fine," Will assured.

Vincent nodded in reply. He saw many other students with several different colors of shirts. A few were different shades of blue, causing him to feel confused on which colors represented which Zodiac. Will looked back to Vincent, his long brown hair swinging around his face.

"Ready?"

"Yeah, I'm ready."

The two walked with the large mass until they reached the cross section that Evans mentioned last night. There, the boys and girls merged into a large group and continued down the stairs. No one seemed to notice Vincent or Will in the crowd. Everyone was preoccupied with getting downstairs.

"They've been doing breakfast the last week to get everyone used to the schedule," Will explained as well as he could over the loud noise of everyone else talking.

"It does remind me of the start of school anywhere else, minus it being several hundred more people."

"I always imagined this is what college would be like," Will laughed.

Vincent smiled. He knew he was already going to like it here.

Both of them continued with the crowd until they reached the ground level. Will turned towards him and said, "I'm sure it might be confusing in there. There aren't really seating assignments, so don't feel obligated to sit with your Zodiac peers."

Vincent cleared his throat. Will brought his palm to his forehead. "Yeah sorry, forget I said that. The food is through several of the side rooms of the food hall. It helps the lines go faster."

Vincent nodded and watched as the kids entered the rooms. Will got into one and Vincent got to the one next to his. The lines went quick. Before Vincent knew it, he was gathering items for breakfast and already entering the food hall.

The sight of the food hall was breathtaking. The room was massive and decorated with Astroglobes. Hundreds of tables covered the floor and were surrounded by students from all Zodiacs. The biggest table had the student from earlier that was there when Vincent woke up. He took it as a popular table because everyone around it seemed to be focused on that one student.

"That's Cole Pythons," Will said as he met up next to Vincent. "He's the only student under the Ophiuchus sign. He's kind of a big shot around here apparently. Not only is he a rare Zodiac, but he's also insanely skilled at everything a Signed could be."

Vincent felt his stomach turn. He felt that this Cole was going to be a problem, judging by his reaction earlier that morning.

"Should be a table over here that's available. Or at least has a few people I know at it," Will explained and began to lead. Vincent followed. Everyone seemed so enthralled with their own conversations or Cole Pythons, that he went by unnoticed. He was kind of surprised.

Further in the food hall, Vincent could see at the far end was a large table for head teachers. Evans was sitting and chatting with the Scorpio teacher next to him. All head teachers were present except Ophiuchus'. Not too far away from the head teacher table seemed to be another set of tables that were for the other teachers and staff. Vincent wasn't sure if they were separated by job or not.

"This is the table I've been frequenting over the week," Will said as he sat down at the table next to a few others. He greeted a few other students who all then waved at Vincent. Vincent gave them each a nod and smile. He sat down next to Will.

Just as Vincent was going to start eating breakfast, he noticed the entire food hall grew quiet. He looked up and noticed everyone at the table was staring at him. He then noticed that everyone else was staring at him too. He looked around. Cole looked unimpressed and annoyed by the attention that Vincent was getting. Vincent looked over to the head teacher table. Evans was smiling widely at the reactions of the other students.

It wasn't until the food hall main doors opened loudly that everyone broke the silence. The doorway revealed the Ophiuchus head teacher. His appearance seemed to make everyone go back to their own business. Will leaned over and said, "That is the combat teacher, Lloyd Argo."