Pisces Rising's Arc

Chapter 3 of 6

Pisces Rising spent the rest of the day in her chamber, touching the private spirals on her walls. The deeper visions came each time—not just dates and places, but choices and consequences. By evening, her hands trembled from the effort. She needed someone who would listen, who would let her prove the difference between surface prophecies and true sight. She prepared the round table in the chamber's center, draping it with velvet that pooled on the floor. A single candle cast amber light across the fabric's embroidered patterns. She placed the lattice beside it—a shimmering weave that hummed when she whispered the old words her mother had taught her. The sound made her translucent skin glow brighter, warming the air with a scent like cedar after rain. When footsteps echoed in the corridor, she stopped whispering. Aries Mars filled the doorway, his massive frame blocking the light from outside. He carried something wrapped in cloth. "The monk said you see what others miss." His voice was quieter than she expected. He unwrapped the object—a russet stone carved with deep cracks that formed deliberate patterns. "I took this from the monument I built. Every victory I've had is marked here, but—" He set it on the table between them. "I don't know why it feels heavier now than when I started." Pisces Rising reached for his palm, not the stone. Her fingers touched his calloused skin and the vision crashed through her—not just his future, but the weight beneath it. She saw the female champion building her forge, saw him admitting pain he'd never spoken aloud, saw the monk's stillness breaking him in ten minutes. The stone wasn't heavy because of victories. It was heavy because he'd never learned to set it down. She released his hand and met his eyes. "The gravity wells show you'll fight again tomorrow. I see why you need to stop." His expression shifted—surprise, then something like relief—and she knew he believed her.