The Thirteenth Constellation

Astra woke to shaking. These were the Earth Rumblings, particularly bad for a Taurus and the other Earth signs. A pit in her stomach grew like a tiny speck of dust into a black hole, consuming all her thoughts and ability for reason, typically one of her strengths. A thunderous crack spread through her core, and then the shaking stopped. The quiet of the night returned, but sleep evaded her.

Astra rose early for the Dawn Reading. It was her favorite time of day. The darkened night became bleached and the last of the constellations disappeared. The stars had already done the difficult work, and now it was time for her to follow their intention. Astra joined the other Bullies, a nickname they coined for themselves. It was an ironic name because they were anything but mean. They were the grounded, Earth-bound ones.

They sat in a circle around a sand representation of the Bull.

“Good morning, Taurus,” Seren greeted. He was the eldest.

Astra closed her eyes, waiting to hear how her day would be, the struggles she would need to overcome.

Seren began the Reading. “There will be a lot of change for you soon, dear Taurus. You may have some mixed energies relating to the position of Venus. Perhaps you will feel rebellious and defiant. Perhaps resigned and indifferent. It will be up to you to navigate these difficulties ahead. Today, try to recognize your priorities, minimizing the distractions, in pursuing a path forward. The other signs will need your sense of calm and stability. Stay determined, dear Taurus. Soon, your resolution will come.”

The Dawn Reading concluded, and Astra opened her eyes to the other Bullies. They looked as perplexed as she did. She felt the hole in her stomach deepen.

Suddenly, the wind whistled, blowing Astra’s hair into tumult. Then the sand in the center of the circle swirled, lifted from the ground, and flung into their eyes. When it calmed down, there was a new pattern.

The Bull was gone. In its place was the Ram of Aries.

“What is happening?” Estelle demanded.

“The Earth Rumblings,” Astra said.

“I felt those too. Did they cause this?”

“I don’t know. There must have been a great shift in the Earth’s Axis.”

“They looked to Seren. “Astra is right. There was a great shift, so much so that it changed the entire astrological calendar. We woke up and the world as we knew it changed. Many of us are no longer the Taurus we thought we were. Now we are Aries.”

“I am not an Aries,” Estelle proclaimed.

Astra gazed at her. She couldn’t help but feel the same way. The pit in her stomach churned. Normally, they didn’t interact much with the other signs, completing their cosmic assignments individually or with the other Bullies. Given the turmoil, they were released to a sign-wide gathering. It was chaos. The Fire signs were quick to anger. The Air signs were flighty and threatened to run away, to start their own Zodiac, with their true signs. The Water signs were unpredictable, some becoming violent and manipulative. Through the disorder, Astra saw her Most Compatible, the partner she was set to marry in the coming months. He was sitting on his own, in a reflective posture. She ran to him.

“Elio,” she cried into his chest. He was a Capricorn, one of the other Earth-bound signs. He was always so responsible and disciplined. Surely, he would know what to do. “Did you feel them last night? The Rumblings?”

“Yes.” His voice was cold, almost distant.

“I’m supposed to be an Aries now. That just can’t be true. There is nothing about me that is a Fire sign.”

Elio pulled away slightly.

“Elio, my love, what happened? Did your sign change too?”

“I’m an Ophiucus now.”

Astonishment passed over Astra’s face. “The thirteenth.”

Elio nodded. Prior to the Rumblings, there were only twelve signs. Ophiucus was the constellation that the sun never spent any time in. The cosmic shift must have so great that it changed the relative position of the sun.

“Are you okay?”

“Astra, we’re not compatible anymore. I can feel it.”

“Yes, we are. We are meant to be together. I don’t care—”

“You don’t care about the Rumblings? About your sign? Don’t be ridiculous. It is your entire identity. You always were short-tempered like an Aries.”

Astra felt the black hole of her stomach grow twice in size. “Where are you going?”

“The shift makes so much sense. I’ve always been an Ophiucus. This is my real purpose.” He pulled away completely, leaving Astra in shambles. Her identity and her Most Compatible were ripped from her within minutes.

The next morning, Astra attended the Dawn Reading with the Aries. Largely it was the same group, but there were several Originals whose signs didn’t change with the Rumblings. Seren was no longer the eldest.

Phoenix began, “Good morning Aries, both new and old. Dynamic change is stirring, just the way you prefer. Your bravery and ability to act will be needed. Let your confidence build as you see the way forward. Your energies will align with Mars so that you can work through the task at hand. Be sure to plan before acting too brazenly, though. There will be unexpected obstacles that may alter your course. Good luck, dear Aries.”

The words felt foreign to Astra. Since when did she ever act too brazenly? She was always very mindful in her actions. And aligning with Mars? Her energy had never been red and hot. She wasn’t the only one who felt uneasy about the changes. Practically overnight, the Zodiac had formed two divisions. The Genus held firmly to the signs they were born into. The Nova followed their new signs after the Rumblings.

The People of the Zodiac were forced to choose a side. Astra joined the Genus as she felt firmly rooted as a Taurus. She was steadfast and strong, grounded in the energies of the Earth and the Bull.

After her decision, Astra awoke to the smell of smoke. The Nova Aries had torched her cabin. She ran. Ash floated through the air, thick and heavy. The trees were smoldering too. The thick haze in the air made the sun glow red.

She ran to the Zodiac’s center, a circular stone structure representing the astrological calendar. People of the Zodiac gathered. Smoke clung in the air.

Elio stood at the top of the stone structure. On his shoulders rested a large serpent.

“People of the Zodiac, the Earth Rumblings have caused great change. I can assure you that resolve is coming. I am of the constellation Ophiucus.”

The crowd dropped their heads and bowed at the mention of the thirteenth constellation. Ophiucus was the healer.

“I have made a cure for this chaos.” He held up golden syrupy liquid encased in a glass tube. “The fires, the targeted attacks, they must stop. That is not who we are as People of the Zodiac.”

Hundreds of vials were distributed.

Elio continued, “This contains the rays of the sun to give new life, a touch of venom to kill what no longer serves us, and energy from each of the four elements (Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water), to make us whole again.”

When Astra received the vial, she gazed through the liquid. On the other side, Elio looked more serpent than man. She thought maybe he was right; perhaps they weren’t each other’s Most Compatible anymore.

From the top of the stone, Elio poured the liquid into his open mouth. The People of the Zodiac did the same. Astra rested the vial against her bottom lip and tipped the contents. She tasted the dirt of the Earth, and the ash of the Fire, the bitterness of the Wind, and the sweetness of the Water.

After drinking the cure, calmness diffused over the People of the Zodiac. Maybe it was working. Then there were screams. Agonizing, deep moans. Astra’s head hurt more than it ever had before. She collapsed to the ground with her palms covering her face. There were two parts of her scalp that split open. Bony protrusions grew out of them on either side of the crown of her head. Hair grew from her chin. She had hooves for feet and a tail that hung from her backside.

Once the pain subsided, she felt the horns more carefully. They were thicker at the base and curved outwards before tapering into a point. She would know the horns anywhere. They were the horns of a bull. It was who she was, who she had always been.

Astra looked around. Some people grew both scales and horns. Others grew manes and scorpion's pincers. Each was adopting their true form, whether it was the new, the old, or a mix of something else entirely. On top of the stone, there was no longer a man, no longer Astra's Most Compatible, but two serpents intertwined around the staph. It was the Caduceus, the astrological symbol of medicine. The Zodiac had been healed.