"Dante," said a spiritual voice.
"Yes, Lord," he said.
"Go and find Serenity and let her know of the evil that will be coming to her and Drokeo Bay. They shall be tested under fire and forged like hot brass, but they shall not be overcome. Now go, they're waiting for you, my son."
"Yes, Father." Dante teleports as the lower half of his body turns into white, bright flashing stars and fades away.
The upper part simply disappears. At this time, Dante is in the higher spiritual realm with his Father. It's pure bright white light, constant sunny skies, and perfect temperature in the higher spiritual realm.
Kids are playing outside, adults are socializing, and people are coexisting with nature bountifully and peacefully.
Dante is an 8-foot starbeing.
Tall, bodybuilder-built, copper/burnt brass skin, with his skin giving off the radiance and brilliance of the sun.
"Dream Activation: Remembrance!" A clear, see-through portal opens up. His eyes glow with a white light, then a raging blue-orange fire lights up in his eyes.
"Everyone has a lot of work to do. The divine waits for no one but sneaks on you like a thief in the night. They will recognize their talents and gifts as well as their destiny. Selah."
#
The smell of cookies and bacon in the morning would make any head turn, especially if it sounds like someone was mixing them together.
A girl is tossing in her bed back and forth. Her hair is akin to a curly, medium-sized Afro, with her hair going to her shoulders.
Dark brown skin.
Vivacious, lively brown eyes.
Her room is devoid of any color but the light illuminating her room blue from outside. She tosses and turns underneath the bedsheet.
She wakes up sweating.
"What was that?" Serenity said.
Twenty-eight years old, and she is gorgeous. All the boys liked her, and she was popular, but she never came into herself until after she graduated school.
Now she lives alone on a property that she doesn't pay for due to the laws of Drokeo Bay. Serenity feels her forehead getting warm, followed by a tingling sensation.
Her heart rate increases exponentially. She places her hand over her heart.
"What's going on? Why am I feeling this pain in my heart and an increased fever? Anyone care to answer?" she questioned.
She jolts up in her bed, carefully scanning her room for anything out of the ordinary. Doors closed? Check.
Homework from years ago she never turned in but kept it anyway? Check. Everything in her room is in order, just the way she liked it, but something feels off to her.
She suddenly starts to feel a tingling sensation in her chest, right in the middle of her head and around it.
A starry white light forms on her chest right where her heart is. It seeps into her, and now it's inside Serenity's body, face to face with her heart.
The warm, fuzzy sensation wraps itself around her heart, manifesting as another heart, but translucent, with arms and legs but with no facial features.
Then it starts to speak.
"You, up to this point, have been far too passive. You're not weak, just unaligned with your divine purpose," it said.
It's Dante, but Serenity's heart doesn't know that.
The middle top left and right of Serenity's heart begin to tear up where eyes normally would be.
It begins to cry and wail.
"It's okay. I'm here to tell you your purpose. I've known you for many years because I've been watching you from afar. You've been afraid and haven't taken any risks, nor do you know your fated destiny. But now you will know."
Then Serenity's heart talks back.
"I don't know what I really want in my life, but I do desire to be normal and know my purpose."
"Well, that time is now. Argasis will be back soon."
"Argasis??? The 13th?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"I can't fight him, nor will I. He's entirely too powerful, and I have no power. Do you wish for me to collapse already with you telling me this news?"
"You, my friend, are much too anxious, but don't be afraid. You and 11 others will fight against this upcoming evil. He wants to repopulate the earth solely with his zodiac sign."
"One sign ruler domination? Uhhh…"
"Stop being scared and develop courage. Behold, you and the others will have great power. You will be equipped, but you must be confident in your skills and abilities."
"What kind of abilities?" asked Serenity's heart excitedly.
"Pick a number 1–10. If you guess the number or are close to it, within one number separating them, I'll tell you plainly and bless and bestow you with your power. If you don't, this will be revealed with parable and trial. Ready?"
"You don't even have to ask. 3!" The other heart crosses his arms.
"Wow, great guess. Love that intuition."
"Was I right?"
"Somewhat, but I wanted you to be confident and charge forward without hesitation, which you did. You also did guess close enough. The number was 5—now—"
It cuts him off.
"No more. Don't tell me plainly. Reveal it to me naturally. Please. I need that. I need trial and tribulation to find myself." It chuckles.
"If that's what you desire, then so be it. Turn your pain into passion and experiences into wisdom. Serenity will know her destiny over the course of seven days. Until we meet again, my friend. Keep yourself clean from all evil and depravity, and you will be made whole."
It wraps its arms around her heart and hugs it. The tears dry up. Radiant light builds from the center of them, filling up everything with light.
#
Serenity wakes up. It's daytime. Seven o'clock. She scans her room for anything unusual, but everything is still the same.
She gets out of bed. She's already fully clothed and puts on her shoes: a kale green shirt, cream-colored pants.
Her birthday, September 7th, is tattooed on her high right thigh but is only seen when she is wearing shorts. She goes downstairs.
"Hello, anyone home? Oh, that's right, I live alone! Oh, that rhymed. That's pretty tight, haha." She chuckles.
She rummages through the kitchen refrigerator, then the cabinets, before looking in the oven.
Her kitchen is very spacious, organized. Everything has its own place consistently without fail. Nearly everything is labeled. Classic Virgo energy.
As she opens the oven, a flood of baked chocolate goodness and turkey bacon enters her as she breathes it in. She gets a real good whiff.
"Ahhhhhh. That smells so good. Let's see what Daiyu was cooking up." She sees the cookies—big, round, and brown with chocolate chips and macadamia.
"She made this?! Girl, I'm eating this up!"
She scarfs down the cookies after placing the tray on the oven, drowning the cookies in milk before eating them, then eating them plain followed by milk.
Then she goes for the bacon. She has three slices. Encrusted with brown sugar, they hit just right with her. Burp.
"Ooh, excuse me," she blushes.
Serenity looks around in her living room, rubbing her stomach. It's growling. Sounds upset. "Oooh, my stomach. Might have to use the bathroom soon."
She sees a dark blue-gold necklace. Connected to it are two small crab pinchers made out of precious metals, with a model of her heart at the center. She picks it up. "Gotta tell her to clean up more, but she did make that food. I'll make the exception, but still, nothing on my floor, Daiyu."
She puts it in her pocket. Slides her shoes on, sitting on her leather three-piece couch. A deep, unsettling, brooding sensation fills up her chest. It constricts her heart with a black fog. Then a voice tells her…
"Go outside."
It's the voice of Dante, but unknowingly to her.
"Oh… okay… I'll go."
She does reluctantly. Opening the door, a heavy, cool wind hits her in the face.
She tries to shield it because it's coming at her like a tempest, blowing her hair back but not her body. Still sunny skies outside, though.
Bizarre, unsettling. "What's going on?" she thought. A cool breeze pushes her lightly forward.
It closes the door forcefully behind her. The scenery changes landscapes. Instead of Drokeo Bay, now it's a desert. She feels a cool breeze behind her manifesting. She looks back but sees nothing.
The sky begins to turn orange and black. The sky starts to crack, best described as looking like cracked stained-glass windows but orange and black instead. Serenity's heart begins to drop.
"Oh my gosh…" Forceful winds of 80 miles per hour bombard her, but she hasn't moved, though she feels every bit of the air pressure. Smoke pours out, and then it gets warmer. "My skin." Her skin feels like she has a fever. Then she smells death.
The smell of the deceased. "Ughh!" She winces and grabs her nose.
From the sky appears the shadow version of a tall, dark orange and black being.
Eight feet tall and built like the fittest of humans on a supernatural scale.
Serenity twitches, shakes, and exhales more heavily. Her heart is wrapped in fear, but she's standing her ground.
Then a giant snake head, in the style of a king cobra with Ophiuchus markings on its head, appears.
The serpent opens its mouth slightly, lunging, but nowhere near her vicinity because it's up afar in the sky.
Its head is taking up all of the sky. More glass crashes.
Crash! Crash! More shatters.
The sound fills up her environment, ringing so close to her ears she might as well put on a pair of headphones and crank it to the max. There are more markings near its eyes and tongue.
Dark, thick shadows flow from its mouth. The eight-foot figure is still by the snake. The number 13 appears large and cloud-like in the sky. Then the serpent says,
"13 hours. 13 days."
Then the eight-foot figure says…
"The zodiacs are all mine. You all shall perish beneath my feet and lick the dust of it. I reign supreme. My sign is supreme. You will all bow down to me before the oncoming destruction," said the eight-foot-tall figure.
Serenity tries to go back inside, but nothing is behind her.
"I'm coming to get you!" it said.
"No!!" she yelps.
Mixed with pride and genuine fear, she begins to slowly back up.
Then the sky turns to bright white light. The eight-foot-tall being and the snake start to moan and groan in agonizing pain.
The snake flails its head like a pool noodle before its head just hangs over.
They are destroyed by the light, and the environment is now a different spiritual realm.
"Where am I?" asked Serenity.
"In my Father's home," said a voice.
Serenity looks to her left and sees Dante. Her heart nearly fails from fear. She's never seen anything like this up close.
"Wha-wha-what are you, and why am I here, and you're speaking to me, sir?"
"I'm a Starbeing," he said.
His voice sounds like thunder and cymbals—deep, chocolate, and riveting. His voice speaks not just to her soul but her spirit.
"Now you, Serenity, must accept your destiny. Do you know what's in store?" asked Dante.
"No, I don't."
"So that dream did nothing for your subconscious, or do you believe it's by chance? It's not. You were chosen, and your heart chose this."
She looks confused and a little worried. She raises her eyebrow, her mouth slightly aghast.
"You're crazy for thinking that even happened. What is this, a dream? I have never spoken to or seen you before. My heart doesn't know you."
"Oh, Serenity, you did accept this in your heart. I spoke to you prior already. You've known me for a while, but I have never talked to or appeared to you in this form.
The unseen governs the seen underneath the surface, but behold, it is your time. It starts now.
You will face many evils and challenges, but don't let it consume you. Instead, let it be the base of your wisdom, for the application of the testing of your spirit through trials and signs brings forth goodness.
Think about your dream. The full meaning of it will be concealed until the appropriate time, regardless of tension. Be on guard and be ready. Your journey starts now, Serenity," said Dante.
Before she can say another word, her words are sealed. She can only slightly open her mouth, but no words are forming.
Dante hovers his hand above her. "Divine Art: Mystic Transformation!" A clone of Dante surfaces from the ground up.
"Farewell. Good luck. The time is soon. We will meet and talk again, Serenity. God bless. Bye, little one." The original disappears.
"I'm having a really hard time processing any of this. What is the meaning? Who are these spirits?" she thought.
The realm then forms into her room seamlessly. The clone of Dante is gone. Now where did he go?
"Am I still dreaming?" said Serenity.
"No, you're not," said the female voice.
Serenity catches a glimpse of her bedroom and screams.
"Go away! Go! Go! Go!"
"You're afraid, but I am you on the inside. I am her, your zodiac. You can call me Virgo, but I prefer if you address me as The Maiden," she said.
She is the same height as Serenity, which is 5'6". Her hair is long and elegant, light brown. Her body is completely spiritual and light green.
Deep yellow eyes, Virgo symbol in black on her stomach. Black, medium-sized Virgo glyphs underneath each of The Maiden's eyes.
She looks strong and a little toned.
Her whole body has light white sparkles that shine like the stars, slightly moving or pulsating on different parts of her body.
"The what??"
"You heard me. Don't make me repeat myself. I'll tell you what's in store and what needs to happen," The Maiden said.