Vidia awoke, wondering why it felt like she had slept on a rock. All the memories came flooding back into their heads, but with these memories, it felt more like a tidal wave of remembrance. Vidia sat up groggily, looked around, and immediately wished that she hadn't. 

     Her first thought was: Why can't I see anything? To: What the heck am I looking at? And finally: I'm going back to sleep. She closed her eyes for a few seconds, but soon gave up and tried to make sense of her surroundings.

     They appeared to be in the sky, with dark clouds underneath them, being stretched and deformed trying to support her body. Above her was a dark sky illuminated by dim stars. (Does the sky have a sky?) Vidia wondered. The thought hurt her head, so she tried to stop thinking about it. She knew that she needed to act calm. She took a few deep breaths and tried to stop herself from sinking into the cloud underneath her. She pulled off her backpack, which had miraculously come with her into the sky, and began searching through it. She glanced at Percival, who was sleeping peacefully. Vidia stood up and walked over to him, putting his backpack under his head to make a pillow.

     Vidia continued to search her backpack, moving her hand around and picking up useful things like a pack of bandages or some tissues. She kept searching until her hand hit two cold metal objects. Vidia quickly withdrew her hand, surprised.  She didn't remember putting anything metal in her backpack! Reaching her hand in, she searched around until she withdrew a plate and a goblet. Who uses goblets anymore? She asked herself mentally, but then added: Besides my Grandmother. 

     As she looked at the plate and goblet, she realized she was famished. If this was the Zodiac signs' way of playing a cruel joke, then it was working. She was getting very hungry.

     "I wish I had a sandwich..." She whispered. She searched her backpack again for a pack of gum, a chocolate bar, anything. She found the remains of the squished chocolate bar which she had used to bribe the Virgo stone. That seemed like a million years ago, now that she remembered it.

     Vidia put her eyes up to the rim of her bag, so she was looking down into the backpack. She pulled her head out after a few quick searches, all of them being unsuccessful.  She sighed, and out of the corner of her eye, a dim light appeared. She turned her head to focus on it, and found out that the plate was shining. A light grew on top of the plate, growing and growing and--

     "A sandwich!?!" Vidia said incredulously. She reached for the sandwich and, before stuffing it in her mouth, said a thank you to the Zodiac signs. They weren't playing a prank, they were helping!

     She bit into the sandwich, noting that it was her favorite kind. Meat, cheese, and lettuce. "Mmm..." As she chewed her sandwich, she noted that Percival was stirring. He groaned and opened his eyes.

     Vidia responded with: "Good morning. We have breakfast!" While he got up and brushed himself off. When he noticed that he was standing on air, he jumped and stumbled backwards, before collapsing, making wisps of cloud launch upwards. He sank so deep that Vidia could only see the top of his head. She giggled, her mouth full of sandwich. Percival finally rose to the top, floating on the clouds. 

     "It's like swimming in salt water... the salt keeps you buoyant, but yet you can sink in the water!" He said, recovering from his fall and spouting information. He sank down in the clouds for a bit before asking:

     "Wait... breakfast?"

     "Yep!" Vidia responded. She searched in his bag until he found a silver plate and goblet identical to hers. "Sandwich!" She said to the plate.

     A sandwich appeared on the plate, making Percival's eyes widen.

     "Awesome!" he said as he reached for the sandwich. "I guess this is what they meant when the Zodiac signs said: 'food and water and whatever you mortals need!'"He said with a laugh.

     Vidia silently chewed her sandwich before saying: "Aren't we supposed to be finding something for the Zodiac Council? Like, an ancient relic that gives them power?"

     "Well, yeah." Percival responded. "So... where d'you suppose we start looking for it?"

     Vidia finished her sandwich with a gulp and fished around in her backpack. She found the stones, but they were just empty shells, as of now. She kept searching until she found a small mirror.

     "Check to see if you have one, too!" She said to Percival. Percival reached into his backpack and pulled out a mirror like Vidia's. The only difference was that Percival's mirror had a small fish in the handle, whist Vidia's handle had an engraving of a woman. Around the rim of the mirror were the words; Speculo de communicatio.

     "What language is that?" Percival asked. "Is it, like, French? Spanish? Is it Canadian?"

     "No," Vidia said exasperatedly. Canadian isn't a language. I should know because I'm  Canadian.

     "Oh, um, sorry! I didn't know!" Percival said apologetically.

     "It's all right. Sometimes I wish Canadian was a language, eh?" Vidia joked. "What if we said the words aloud, like when I said sandwich and a sandwich appeared."

     "Good idea." Percival said, holding the mirror up to his face. "On three. One, two, three!"

     As they tried to pronounce the words, they ended up making noises that sounded like a cat in a washing machine. Vidia coughed twice before pulling out her phone and searching for the correct way to pronounce it.

     "Okay... so, apparently it's pronounced: Speck-YOU-lo deh com-YOU-nee-CAY-see-OH." Vidia said slowly.

     Percival blinked. "Could you run that by me again?"

     Vidia repeated the correct pronunciation. "Got it?"

     Percival nodded.

     "Okay. One, two, three! Speculo de communicatio!"

     As they said the words, the mirror grew brighter with every syllable. Vidia's and Percival's reflections disappeared before another reflection took its place.

     "Hello! Vidia, Percival, how're you doing?" Said Scorpio in both mirrors. "Hang on, I'm going to put Pisces on Percival's end." He yelled something behind him and Pisces took over Percival's mirror. "Okay, Pisces is on Percival's end. So, Vidia! great to see you! I'm the one who voted for you to be picked for this quest. I thought you would be smart, and you are! You figured out the plate and the mirror, so, good job.

     Vidia smiled. She was grateful for a familiar face.

     "Scorpio! She said, letting out a big sigh. "Thank goodness! We were wondering, since it's basically clouds as far as the eye can see, if you could point us in the right direction to help us search for the relic."

     "Well, first, you go left. Then you go down the street in front of you, then to your right, then--wait, sorry, I forgot; you can't see it! Whoops! Here, let me make it visible." Scorpio snapped his fingers and said a few words that Vidia couldn't understand. All of a sudden, an arch made of stars gradually appeared. Stars flew from their positions, stars of every color, shape and size, to form a great city. Figures appeared, and stars clung to their body to make them visible. Women with children, businessmen and regular people walked down the streets, oblivious to the stars clinging to them.

     Vidia stared in awe at the scene before her. "Thank you, Scorpio!"

Scorpio smiled back and said: "Well, shucks, you didn't think that I was going to leave you here without any help, did you? He winked. "Hey, listen, you can talk to me any time, alright? When you need help, just give me a call. See you later, Vidia!" He said, his reflection shrinking. "And remember, go down the street in front of you, then to the right, then enter the inn..!" He said, his voice getting softer until he disappeared.

     Vidia waved goodbye until he disappeared completely. She smiled and put down the mirror. "Scorpio is a nice guy," She thought. Before she could put the mirror away, Percival walked towards her, still talking to Pisces.

     "Yep. Okay, thank you, bye!" He said before the image shrunk. He put the mirror away and said: "Pisces told me that we need to put on a special cloak before we go in. He also said that there was a library where we could find some clues in the city!"

     "Great!" Vidia said as she fished around in her bag for her cloak. She eventually pulled out a cloak that fit her perfectly. She put it on and pulled the hood over her face while Percival did the same. She put her hands in the pockets of the robe and pulled a tag out of her cloak that read:

     "Dear Percival and Vidia, 

     Remember to put on this cloak before you go into the city. These locals do not take kindly to living, human visitors. Remember, whomever has the relic makes the people believe in him or her (Or it for that matter), which means that they'll most likely try to protect him/her/it. So when the locals find out that you are trying to steal the relic, they will protect the person who has the relic at all costs. Make sure that your cloak is pulled over your face.

    Best wishes,

     Virgo

     Percival had read his tag already and pulled his hood down over his face, making sure it was secure. "Are you ready?" He asked Vidia.

     Vidia gulped and adjusted her cloak. "Ready."

     Percival grasped Vidia's hand and gave her a reassuring smile.

     They both put on brave faces and walked through the archway.