"Gemini Geminae is now officially dethroned and banned from stepping foot in Geminus. If you return, you will be arrested before being sent back to the normal continent. You are to leave immediately, and you are only allowed to bring any personal items that can fit in a single suitcase. The new ruler will be throned one week from today. Take one last look at the people you failed and led miserably, because you'll never see them again."

Gemini remained stoned faced at Ophiuchus' words, replaying his script over and over in his head. Citizens used air currents to keep themselves suspended in the air to watch Ophiuchus take away everything Gemini had from a balcony outside the castle. He waited until she was finished formally insulting him, before sinking to his knees like he was told to do. It was supposed to be an insult to bow to his people in apology when they were the ones expected to bow to him, but Gemini felt he deserved this. It started pouring rain, the water adding more physical weight to the crown, along with the failure and regret that also weighed down on him.

Ophiuchus removed the crown from Gemini's head, and made another speech. Gemini didn't listen to anything she said, all he could do was look at the people who lost friends and family because of war. He didn't even move to brush his wet hair out of his face.

After it was over, Ophiuchus led Gemini back inside as everyone started to leave.

Gem and Gina wanted to comfort Gemini, but didn't know if they were allowed. They were discussing what to do when the castle doors opened and security guards pointed to them.

Gem didn't know what to do, but her gut told her that this wouldn't end well. She grabbed Gina's arm before using air currents to get away as quickly as they could.

***

  Gem and Gina hid deep in the canyon. They were so low that they were unlikely to be spotted from above. No houses were built into the canyon walls here due to its susceptibility of flash flooding. Geminus rarely got rain, but when it did, there were almost always floods in the lower canyon floors. This made their hiding spot dangerous, but they would able to fly quickly enough to escape when the flood came.

"Why are we running from the security?" asked Gina.

Gem stopped walking to sit on a nearby rock. Gina sat beside her. "They pointed at us before chasing us. I don't know why they were chasing us, but my instincts told me to run away."

"I feel bad for Gemini. They dethroned him and now he's not allowed to come back here for visits or anything. It's not his fault the war escalated like it did."

"They're all getting kicked out of their kingdoms because of this. They weren't even in power for very long."

"I wonder who the new king or queen will be."

"Maybe it'll be one of us," joked Gem.

"What do we do now then?"

"I'm going to find my brother. I'll tell him who I am and travel with him back to the neutral continent."

"He's probably going to be leaving really soon. If we keep hiding, we'll never find him."

"We'll have to sneak back up and find him while avoiding security later. The underground train to the neutral continent is our only way there, so we have to catch that train with the others."

"Where is that train again?"

"Ingenio. It only leaves once a day."

"Are we just going to hide here then?"

"I don't know what else to do. Why would security chase us? Is it because we're close to Gemini?"

"Are we getting kicked out of Geminus too?"

"Maybe."

Gem sat to think over everything that happened in the war. After Aries was put in a coma because of Virgo, Ophiuchus stepped in and got everyone to stop fighting. Gemini told Gem and Gina that the people who started attacks against other countries to keep the war going were probably hired by Ophiuchus since the attacks stopped after she started trying to stop the war. Now all the kings and Queens were getting dethroned, and were to be replaced in a week.

Gemini found it suspicious how Ophiuchus had to have backup kings and Queens already in order for their coronation to be within a week. He suspected that she plotted to have them all kicked out of their countries, but he didn't know why.

Gem told him to tell the others what he suspected, but he wanted to wait until they were away from Ophiuchus.

"The police could be looking for us now," sighed Gina.

"If we're wanted for something really important, yeah."

"Listen." Gina shushed Gem for a second. After hearing the sound of a helicopter, Gina grabbed Gem to pull her tight to the canyon walls. There was nowhere to hide, they just had to hope nobody would see them.

Gem sighed in relief as the police helicopter flew past them.

"What does Ophiuchus need us for that's so important that she sent the police after us?" asked Gina.

Gem turned to look behind them, before grabbing Gina's hand to pull her forward. "Run!"

"FREEZE!"

Gem and Gina ran deeper into the canyon, using air currents to create wind walls between them and their pursuers.

They ran until they had to stop, panting heavily.

Gem glanced upwards. "Let's use wind currents to lift us out of the canyon. The police have air powers too, but ours are stronger, so we're faster than them."

Gina nodded. "Alright."

"Actually, you'll both be coming back with me." Ophiuchus approached them on their right, while more police blocked their exit on their left. Gem tried to use currents to boost them up, but the current died, making them fall back down.

The police pulled Gem and Gina's arms behind their backs, and followed Ophiuchus back towards the castle.

***

The police threw Gem and Gina into the castle's ballroom. They unhand-cuffed them before leaving. Gemini also sat in the middle of the ballroom, waiting. Gem and Gina sat beside him. The only other people in the room were Ophiuchus and another girl.

"What's going on?" asked Gem.

"I don't know," replied Gemini.

"Gemini, you've been really close with these two lately," said a girl that nobody recognized. She wore a mask over her face, sunglasses and a hat to hide her hair. "Since they're problematic, it'll be best if you don't remember any plans or conversations you've made with them. We'll have to erase a few of your memories."

"Erase my memories?" Gemini's eyes widened. "Why-"

"You could have made plans with these guys about how to overthrow us in case you ever got kicked out of your kingdom, or something like that. These two have caused trouble before, and we don't trust them, so it's safer for us to just erase a few memories. If you don't want your memories erased, we can just kill you instead."

"How do you erase someone's memories?" asked Gem.

Ophiuchus shrugged. "We've done it to you before, so it obviously works if you don't remember."

Gem blinked in surprise.

"I'm here!" A third girl skipped into the room. She had blonde curly hair, blue eyes, and a troublesome smirk on her face.

Gina couldn't stifle her gasp. This was the girl from the memories she recovered. The one that pushed her off that cliff and likely tried to kill her.

Ophiuchus nodded. "We'll start with Gemini."

The girl who wore the disguise approached Gemini and put her hands to his temples. After a few minutes, he fainted.

"He'll wake up in about half an hour," announced the suspicious girl.

Ophiuchus nodded, then turned to face Gem and Gina. "As for you two, we need a new Queen for Geminus. As Gemini's alternate, Gina is the heir to the throne. Gem is just the sister, but we can't let you and Gina stay friends. You guys planned to escape your classes together, and now you befriended a king that caused so much damage and death in his own country by participating in that war. Maybe you guys were involved in the war. This is why we'll have to wipe both of your memories, and we'll send Gem back to the neutral continent with Gemini while Gina takes over this kingdom."

"I'm... Gemini's alternate?" asked Gina.

The girl with curly hair nodded. "A second set of zodiacs were created after the originals. We're called the alternates. You're the alternate Gemini, while Gem is just Gemini's sister. I think Ophiuchus said that you were born late, that's how you ended up in the classes with us?"

Ophiuchus nodded. "This is Pie, Pisces' alternate. That girl with the disguise is also an alternate. So, I guess we'll wipe your memories of each other, then we'll crown Gina next week. Gem can go back to the neutral continent with her brother, and that'll be it until later."

"Later?" questioned the disguised girl.

Ophiuchus froze after realizing she accidentally said something she wasn't supposed to. "Nothing. Just... erase their memories."

The disguised girl approached Gina and put her hands on Gina's temples.

"WAIT!" Gina looked at Ophiuchus. "Why do you have to split us up if you're going to erase our memories? Gem is the closest person I have. We've been close since before we tried to escape classes together. Can you please let her stay?"

Gem furrowed her brow. "Classes?"

Pie looked at Ophiuchus. "She-"

"I know." Ophiuchus turned to face Gina. "You remember the classes?"

Gina's eyes widened, realizing she probably said something wrong. "No."

"You just mentioned them. You both had your memories erased from the classes, but later on Gina lost her memories again from amnesia after she fell off that cliff. I can tell by Gem's reaction she doesn't remember the classes, but Gina does. You getting your memories back is problematic for us, because if we erase your memories now, you could get them back again."

Gina knew something was wrong. Especially when Ophiuchus said she fell off a cliff when Gina remembered getting pushed by Pie.

"So much memory loss," sighed Gem. "Maybe you should leave our memories alone before I get amnesia and forget everything, like Gina did."

"Can we really take that risk?" asked Pie.

Ophiuchus shook her head. "If she gets her memories back again later, she could easily help the originals take the alternates down and become a spy for them. That's not a risk we can take."

Gem froze. She couldn't tell if she was still breathing. She hoped she was jumping to conclusions.

"Then... you'll send me to the neutral continent while Gem rules instead?" asked Gina.

Pie shook her head. "If erasing your memories doesn't work, we'll just have to kill you."

Gina completely froze while Gem started shaking.

"You can't just kill the heir to Gemini's throne!" argued Gem. Her voice shook as she spoke.

"But you'll take the throne instead," shrugged Ophiuchus. "Three Gemini constellations is too much anyway. Actually, this could work because of a little secret Gem doesn't know about. This will work out nicer if we take that into account."

"Secret?" asked Pie.

"Gem has a secret, but she doesn't even know what the secret is."

"You'll just kill a teenager that you spent so long teaching and getting to know, just because my memories came back?" Gina's mouth was dry but she had to try to think of something to say. "You couldn't be that cold hearted. You can't just casually kill someone like that."

Pie shrugged. "I killed lots of people in the war. I even tried to trick Virgo into killing Aries, but the lucky bitch ended up in a coma."

Gem's mind raced as she tried to think of something to say. She couldn't let them kill Gina, but she had no idea what to do. Her entire body was covered in cold sweat.

"Bring Gemini and Gem to the guards. We'll deal with them after Gina," ordered Ophiuchus.

The disguised girl brought Gemini outside the ballroom before turning around for Gem. Gem tried to run, but a bunch of vines quickly grew out of the ground and tied around her legs. She started screaming, but everyone ignored her.

An earth sign, thought Gem as she was carried out of the room, unable to untie the vines.

"GINA!" Gem reached towards Gina.

Gina turned around, and reached towards Gem with a calm but sad smile on her face. "There's nothing we can do. Don't let this break you." She looked afraid now that she knew she was going to die but there was nothing she could do about it, but she wanted to stay calm in front of Gem.

Gem couldn't hold back her sobs anymore. "NO! STOP! GINA! DON'T KILL HER! GINA!"

The last thing Gem saw before she was pulled out of the room was Pie pulling a gun out of her back pocket.

Gem screamed again but vines suddenly tied around her arms, then her mouth. The last thing Gem heard was a gun firing before she passed out.

***

Gem woke up in a hospital bed. I'm probably in the medical room in the castle, thought Gem. She didn't open her eyes, deciding to see if she could eavesdrop.

Gem's head felt fuzzy, and so was her memory. She couldn't remember what happened recently.

What's the last memory I have? Gem thought of attending all the coronations with Gem. She had a vague memory of befriending her brother, but she could easily remember sharing an apartment with Gina in Geminus. She remembered something about a war, and Ophiuchus stopping the war, but she had no idea what happened the last few days.

"I used most of my magic erasing his memories and them making him faint. After I made her faint, I couldn't completely erase her memories. I managed to erase everything recently, but I don't know what she remembers about Gemini and Gina. I have to let the magic recharge before I can use it again."

The voice sounded nearby, but muffled.

"I've decided that we'll stage her death to make it look like a maid poisoned her. You can heal the gunshot wound to repair the skin, that way the people won't know what really happened. I'll announce the new Kings and Queens tonight, but we'll make her death public tomorrow and pretend it happened tonight. We were going to keep Gem here, but it's too risky. Being here could trigger her memories to came back, so we have to send her to the neutral continent. We can't kill her because I need two Gemini constellations. Pie is already in contact with Leon about his mission, and in the meantime Geminus won't have a ruler."

"Alright. I'll go find Pie."

GINA! Gem tried to control her breathing as she remembered what happened to her. I can't think about it right now. I have to pretend I don't know what happened. She managed to calm her breathing, forcing her mind to think about other things.

Gem managed to pretend she was sleeping as she heard a door open.

"Gem?" Ophiuchus gently shook Gem's shoulder.

Deciding to play dumb, Gem pretended to wake up and smiled at Ophiuchus. Murderer! No, I have to forget that. Pretend you don't know what a cold hearted back-stabbing murderer she is. "Hi Ophiuchus! Where... am I?"

Ophiuchus smiled too widely, making her smile look fake. "You're in the castle. Do you remember how you got here?"

Gem pretended to think. "I can't remember. Actually, I can't remember anything."

"What do you remember?"

The best lies are always mixed with the truth.

"I remember... trying to find my brother. I remember going to a few coronations to try to find him. I can't remember anything after that. Are all the coronations finished?"

"Who's your brother?"

"Gemini. He's the king of Geminus. I remember trying to find him, but I can't remember anything else."

"You remember the coronations, but the rest of your memories are gone? Try to see if you can remember anything else. You may have a serious medical condition and the doctor needs to know everything."

So she's going to pretend I lost my memories from a medical condition? That girl that I heard talking earlier, she tried to erase my memories but her magic wasn't strong enough. Stupid Ophiuchus, you're convinced I don't remember anything. I guess I'll just have to play along then.

"A medical condition? AM I DYING?"

"Can you remember anything else?"

"No. I can't remember any other memories. How long ago were the coronations?"

"A few months ago."

"But, I remember Scorpio's coronation being yesterday. Why can't I remember anything between then and now?"

"You were in a coma." Ophiuchus focused on Gem's reaction.

Gem gasped. "A coma? How did I end up in a coma?"

"You hit your head... falling... off a cliff."

"REALLY? You must be really glad that I woke up then!"

"Yes, I'm very glad. However, while you were asleep there's been a war between all the countries. The kings and Queens started a war and lots of people died. Your brother is being sent to the neutral continent along with the other zodiacs. I've decided to let you go to the neutral continent with him if you want."

So she's mixing her truth and lies as well. I have to play into her hands. If I get to the neutral continent and find my brother, I can help them try to plot against Ophiuchus and the alternates. Wait, I can't remember why the alternates are bad. Why do I want to take them down? That memory must have been taken from me.

Gem furrowed her brow. "A war? What-"

"That's not important. We have new kings and Queens picked, and I think you should reunite with your brother. He's going to be glad to see you now that you're out of your coma."

You just want me gone so I can't plot against you from the inside. We both want me to go to the neutral continent with Gemini, so at least I can easily get there. You think me and Gemini both lost our memories, making neither of us a threat. I wonder how much Gemini remembers. They likely only removed me and Gina from his memory.

"Okay. You're so thoughtful, thinking of how glad it will make my brother to see me again. You're a really kind person, thank you."

"Do you remember how you know me?"

"Of course! You're the one that welcomed me when I was sent to earth, before I started looking for my brother."

"Alright. I'll get someone to bring you to Ingenio to take the next train to the neutral continent. I think Gemini is already on the train for today, but you'll be able to find him when you get there. I'll leave you to rest for a while." Ophiuchus turned around and left.

I remember everything except what happened today. All I remember is Gemini getting dethroned, then Gina getting shot. Gem pressed her face into the pillow to stifle a sob. All I heard was a gunshot. Gina could still be alive. Ophiuchus couldn't just kill her like that.

***

One week later, Gem finally found Gemini's apartment. When she arrived on the neutral continent, she had no idea where to find Gemini. Wherever he was, he was gone before Gem arrived, and she had no idea where to look. She rented a hotel room and decided to look around until she found him or any of the other former Kings and Queens. She spotted Gemini shopping with Capricorn one day, and stalked them until she found the building where they were renting an apartment.

After finding out the floor and room number, she decided to finally introduce herself the next day. She pulled her suitcases behind her, hoping he'd let her stay with him.

He probably won't remember you, but somewhere in his brain he might think you look familiar. I don't know how he'll react to a stranger claiming to be his twin, but I don't have any better ideas. Either he believes me or not.

Gem sighed, then knocked twice.