The Roundtable

Before leaving for the day, the Zodiacs sat at the roundtable filling out paperwork. “Last person for today, name to be determined by parents, born April 12th…Ah, he’s mine. Never mind guys, you can pack up for today.” Aries said as the head of the Zodiacs. The other Zodiacs stood up from their seat and began walking out of the office. Taurus and the Pisces twins, however, remained seated next to Aries.

“Need some help Aries?” The blue-haired Pisces asked innocently. Aries looked at her wide eyes and scaly skin and patted her on the head.

“That’s okay; I can handle it from here.” The next moment Aries felt a tap on his shoulder and looked away to find the red-haired Pisces twin running away. He looked back to the desk to find the blue-haired Pisces tapping on a document and inserting her traits. “Hey, get out of here! Off with you, both of you!” Aries swatted them away while waving his fist in the air at them and the Pisces twins ran out the door giggling. After a moment he sighed and unclenched his fist.

“It looks like they’ve done a number on him.” The bull, Taurus, spoke as he pointed to the papers. Pisces had given him the element of water before she left.

“Damn, how am I supposed to work with this? We’re not even compatible elements. I can’t add traits to this.” Aries said as he rubbed his curved horns. He tapped on the element category and ‘water/fire’ appeared for a moment before ‘fire’ faded away.

“Never saw that before. What does it mean?” Taurus asked.

“He’ll probably grow out of my nature when he matures now. Maybe he’ll lose the anger issues he would’ve had.”

“Hmm, if you want I can add a few in. Earth works well with water and the birth date is close enough to my range.” Aries rubbed his bearded chin and nodded in response. Taurus then added his element to the document and ‘water/earth’ remained.

“Well this is awkward. I’ll fill in what I can I suppose and I’ll leave the rest to you. Just don’t let the Pisces have this win.” Aries began tapping on the documents wherever his ability would let him and inserted his traits. “Bold and takes challenges head on. That sounds right. Direct and blunt as well and gets annoyed at any unnecessary things that could be resolved quickly and simply instead.”

Taurus stared at Aries questioningly, “I…don’t think he needs that but okay, I’ll give him determination and let him enjoy relaxing in quiet environments.”

“Determined or stubborn? Bah, maybe both.” Aries shifted through some pages and stamped a page with the symbol of Mars and the god of war. However the god of war’s stamp partially faded under Pisces’s power.

“Does he need the god of war’s seal in this era? Will he be a warrior?”

“Paperwork is important these days. He shall always research how he could be taken advantage of before signing something so that he can be prepared to retaliate.” Aries smirked. “Ah, here we go! I’ll make him fit, athletic, and speedy. I’m sure he’ll be great.”

“Aries, you didn’t read his curse have you?” They both silently stared at the curse of ‘Asthma’ written on the page.

Aries shrugged, “Well he can run, he just might die after. But that is all I can offer him with Pisces interference.” A knock was heard at the office door and Leo and Sagittarius peaked through.

“Hey Aries, need any help?” Leo said. As fellow fire elements they occasionally gifted each other traits.

“You can’t, Pisces interfered and aligned him with the nature of water.” Aries responded.

“Huh? Interesting. Shall we call Cancer and Scorpio?” Sagittarius chuckled.

“No! Nope, we’re good. Do not call them.” Aries shouted. Leo laughed in response and nodded before bidding farewell.

“This is where I step in then.” Taurus spoke as he attempted to overwrite Pisces’ work. “I can make him a hard worker and understand the value of money. He’ll be great at saving. I can also make him great at planning for the future.”

“If we combine your need for a sense of security and my way of tackling problems head on he should be fairly self-sufficient. No problem will ruin his stability.” Taurus nodded in agreement and proceeded with placing his traits on the page.

“Steadfast, loyal, consistent, dependable, and above all, dedicated.”

Aries then butted in, “Ah, not too dedicated. I don’t want him sticking around people who bring unnecessary drama.” Aries and Taurus then looked through the pages to examine their results. Aries sucked his teeth at the sight of various traits from Pisces he could not change. He read through them quickly as he grumbled, “Adaptable, kind, and empathetic. At least he’s not emotional.” Aries then eyes a strange addition to the list of traits. “A realist who delves into the dream world? But they didn’t even give him a strong sense of creativity or artistic nature. What is he supposed to do with this?”

Taurus scratched his horn as he thought, “I think Pisces gifted him with powerful dreams. A strong, unconscious imagination that is creative and gives him stories to work with. He may daydream consistently by the looks of it. That and he may sometimes control the direction the dreams move toward.”

Aries shifted through the pages one last time and sighed, “We have a weird one here. Alright, let’s send him through.” Aries finished the paperwork with his seal of approval and the pages faded into a golden hue of energy. The energy flew out the window and the gentle sound of a baby’s laughter echoed through the sky.