Vincent didn't like the idea of the Ophiuchus teacher being his combat teacher. He already felt Cole didn't like him, so he could only imagine how Lloyd felt. Vincent could see that even Evans' mood seemed to fade as Lloyd joined the table.

"Ophichus is a strange Zodiac. Mr. Argo is the only teacher under that sign, so it was no surprise that he became the head of the Zodiac," Will explained.

"Great. I get the feeling the stars of Apsis aren't taking too kindly to a new Zodiac," Vincent admitted.

Will shrugged. "I hear Lloyd is hard on everyone. I was told that combat training can be really difficult for first years."

"Well, I can see why. I had no idea I'd need to be training to fight giant cosmical creatures."

"Have you seen Aspected? I've only heard stories and seen drawings and pictures."

Vincent shuddered at the thought of the massive scorpion chasing him. "I have. They aren't too friendly."

"I've read that they like to attack Signed. Don't really understand, but it seems to be the kind of world you're in when you are a Signed." Will scarfed down his food. It didn't take long for Vincent to finish his. Shortly after, the lights dimmed in the room. This seemed to indicate for everyone to look towards the head teacher table.

"Welcome everyone to a new year at Apsis Academy! I am the Head Teacher for the Taurus sign, Bran Shepherd."

Vincent could hear people all around begin cheering for Taurus. He couldn't help but smile at the school spirit.

Bran smiled and nodded to the crowds. He brought up his hand to signal for them to quiet down. "Now class is about to start, and you'll all meet the teachers at some point in time. But I do highly encourage all students to take part in the celebration on Friday to meet all the other teachers and meet other students!"

Most of the students errupted with cheers for the mention of a celebration. Vincent could see other first years not understanding the excitement.

"You are all dismissed for class, and once again, welcome to Apsis!" Bran shouted.

The students all cheered, and the room was filled with celestial starlight. Vincent was in awe with how Apsis took its school and decorations. He wondered how they produced an effect like that.

"What's your first class, Vincent?" Will asked as he stood up and put his satchel on.

"I have Traditional Elements with Evans."

"Sweet me too!"

"Awesome! I was wondering if there would be be a handful of first years that all had the same schedules."

"Wouldn't surprise me. Do you have your schedule?"

Vincent slid the folded schedule from his satchel and handed it to Will. Will looked over the parchment carefully and nodded several times. "Yeah it looks like we're in the same classes. That's good to know. I can help you find these."

Vincent let out a sigh of relief, "That's really good to know."

Will smiled and handed the schedule back. "Are you looking forward to any of the classes specifically?"

"Evans was the person who brought me here, so I'm really looking forward to his class. They all seem interesting. I'm hoping they'll teach me everything I need to know."

"I think I'm looking forward to combat training the most. I can't wait to use my skills to beat up some Aspected!" Will cheered as they both began to head out of the food hall.

The crowds dispersed fast as everyone began to go up and down different stairs to go to different classes. Vincent was surprised at how natural everyone looked. He honestly felt like he was going to a fancy private school of sorts.

Will and Vincent managed to climb a few flights of stairs and find their first classroom. There were a few other students already inside. Evans was nowhere to be seen.

"Seems about right," Vincent said out loud.

"Hmm?" Will mumbled as he looked back to Vincent.

"Evans not being here yet just seems to fit him for some reason," Vincent chuckled.

"Well I can certainly appreciate a latecomer. If only students were allowed to be late too." They both laughed together. It brought a few students to stare at them as they entered the room and sat down. Will took a seat near the front, so Vincent sat next to him.

Many more students entered the room over the next couple of minutes. They all wore different colored shirts and several seemed to already know each other. Most of them seemed to notice Vincent's different shirt.

Evans was the last person to enter the room. He closed the door quickly and scurried over to his desk. The class was silent as they stared at him.

"Hello class. Welcome to Traditional Elements, and some other cooler things," Evans announced. It caused the class to laugh a little.

"I don't know if you all know a lot about the Traditional Elements, but they are pretty simple and not really hard to go over quickly. They repeat the four elements over all 12 original Zodiacs. But as you all know, there are 13 Zodiacs. Oh wait, what do we have here?" Evans came around from his desk and moved over to Vincent.

"You have a different colored shirt boy," he said, making his voice sound strikingly similar to Bran's. The class laughed. Even a few Taurus students laughed.

"I do," Vincent played along.

"That is quite strange. It seems to be a mix of purples and blues...almost like a cluster of stars and stardust!"

Vincent chuckled and nodded. Evans moved back over to his desk. He reached under and pulled out a rolled up poster. With no hesitation, he rolled the poster out along the wall and jumped back. Vincent was expecting the poster to fall and roll back up, but instead, the poster remained on the wall with four celestial-looking arrows in the corners keeping it in place. The entire classroom gasp at the sudden change. Vincent knew that he had used his calendar.

"Do not be alarmed. You'll learn more about the tools and instruments Signed have made over the years in another class. The poster is what is important."

Everyone leaned forward in their seats. The poster revealed a picture of space. Stardust and clusters took up a majority. The rest was the blackness of space. "This is the same picture that led some of Apsis' first and finest teachers to discover the Element for the 13th sign." Evans pointed to the blackness of space. "Darkness."

The class seemed to murmur about that. Evans nodded as if he agreed that it sounded strange. "I should move back a bit. Some new students might not be well versed in Astrology. Traditionally, the elements are air, water, earth, and fire. Each element has 3 signs. Aquarius, Gemini, and Libra are air. Pisces, Cancer, and Scorpio are water. Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn are earth. Lastly, Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius are fire."

The class began taking notes, so Vincent began to as well. He found a pen and notebook in his satchel.

"This will give you some idea of why there are certain colors for some Signed. But that's where my studies have come in. Passed down from some of the first teachers and scholars, we have learned that there are more that just traditional elements. There are special sub-elements that belong to each sign, making them each unique."

Evans waited a few seconds to let people continue taking notes. He moved over to his desk and sat on the top of it. "So why isn't Ophiuchus air, water, earth, or fire? That's because it doesn't have a traditional element. This also includes the new 14th. No traditional element found."

A student in the back raised their hand. Evans pointed and asked, "Yes...uh...I forgot to take attendance didn't I?" The classroom laughed. The student cleared her throat.

"I'm Theresa Bremer, sir."

"Evans, please. No sirs or misters. Or Litwin. Just Evans."

Theresa nodded and corrected, "Evans. So what is the 14th Zodiac and what is the element?"

Evans smiled widely. "Excellent question. Vincent, would you mind?"

Vincent felt his face grow red. He slowly slid up from his chair. Will was beaming with excitement. Vincent took a deep breath and raised his hand. He could feel his power this time. From his fingertips, a stream of glistening stardust escaped and began to swirl into a sphere shape above his hand. The classroom ooo'd and awe'd.

"To answer the question, Celestic is the Zodiac of stars and celestial bodies. Does it need saying that the element is celestial?" Evans asked.

The classroom scurried in taking more notes. Vincent looked towards Theresa in the back. Her blonde hair covered half of her face, making her look even more unimpressed by Vincent's abilities. Her hazel eyes seemed to study him carefully. He wondered what she was thinking.

Next thing Vincent knew, the bell rang. He quickly glanced at the near by clock. Almost an hour had passed. He couldn't believe how fast the lecture felt.

"Okay class. I'm going to assume everyone was here today, but I'll be sure to take attendance tomorrow! Come prepared on what you think your individual sub-elements might be!" Evans told them all.

Will and Vincent picked up their belongings and started to walk out of the classroom. Vincent's mind began to wonder why Evans was so invested into the elements of the Signs. Once he and Will reached the outside of the classroom, they both heard a voice say, "Wait up!"

They turned around to see Theresa walking up to them. They both exchanged looks and looked back at her. "Can we help you?" Will asked.

Theresa ignored Will and stared directly at Vincent. "So you think you're a big shot or what?"

Vincent gave Will a worried glance, but then shook his head. "By no means do I think I am a big shot."

The answer seemed to put Theresa at ease. She backed away a bit and nodded. "Well don't let your new Sign give you a big head. This school doesn't need another Cole." She then readjusted her bookbag and pushed passed both of them.

"That was interesting," Will said.

"Agreed. Wonder what her deal was. Do you think she doesn't like new Zodiacs?"

"More like doesn't like Cole. You seem like a pretty down to earth guy, Vincent. You just need to show everyone else that," Will explained. Vincent agreed. He knew that he probably had something expected of him with being a new Zodiac, but he never imagined that he would let it get to him. He never strove to be the best or popular before, but now he was already in that light with a new and interesting Signed power.

Vincent and Will attended the next classes. Vincent was starting to learn more about astrology and what it means to be Signed. In Reading the Stars, they began to go over the constellations of each Zodiac and in depth about each star that makes up the Sign. General Astrology was what Vincent was waiting for. He hadn't known much about anything so far, but in the first class he learned all the symbols, dates, and ruling planets of the traditional Zodiacs. He wondered if they were going to include his or Cole's in the curriculum. The teachers so far seemed more hushed about the 14th Zodiac than Evans was.

Will told Vincent that the combat class was in a building out back of the school. He had heard rumors that they kept Aspected on hands for some advance training, so they wanted to keep it as far away from the observatory as possible. As the two found the exit to the main building, they could see Theresa entering the combat training class.

"Well this is the time to prove to her that you aren't Cole, I guess. Try not to show off," Will joked. "I on the other hand, plan to show everyone my sweet abilities."

"I'm sure you'll do better than me just fine on your own without my help," Vincent chuckled.

The two then eagerly began to head towards the large rectangle building. Nearing the entrance, Vincent began to hear cheering. "I hope we're not late," Will muttered as they both began to jog the rest of the way.

Vincent then saw why he heard cheering. Upon entering, he could see Cole battling a massive Aspected in what looked like an arena. He let out a sigh. "This class isn't going to go well for me."