The Keepers of the Stars are comprised of twelve members. Each of them are named after the traditional Zodiacs: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces. Gemini once wrote about their origins:
"So the twelve of us sought out A truth. (Mind you, I said A truth not The Truth because simply in my personal opinion The Truth does not exist.) What we found were our patrons. We found well over a dozen statues with our accessories adorned on them. We took those that fit our attributes and as we removed our item the patron crumbled to dust and in the back of our minds we heard them thank us for freeing them. Over the years many of the objects have been transferred from Zodiac to Zodiac."
He says "those that fit our attributes" because each item is different, with a different Greek God attached to them, and suitable powers. The three that are know at this point in time are Libra, Gemini, and Taurus.
Libra chose The Shackle with the Chaos Star embedded in its side. When he took it off of the statue, Hades spoke directly to his mind and told him that He was going to gift Libra with immortality. Libra also found out that Hades inadvertently strengthened his ability to see spirits.
Gemini chose a diamond shaped iron pendant molded to appear as if a feline eye is glaring out from a keyhole. Gemini heard Hermes when he detached his item. Hermes granted him the gift, or perhaps the curse, or soul jumping from body to body, expelling the the previous soul. Gemini found that this also made him immortal.
Taurus chose a simple emerald ring. Upon removal of the item, Demeter granted Taurus the manipulation of plant life. Taurus thereafter found that she grow great plants for consumption and use. In addition, she could summon vines, thorns, or poisonous plants to defend herself or attack her opponents. Since the creation of the Keepers, she has passed down her ring and thus her powers to her daughters. The daughter then receives the Title and carries out her mother's will and goals.
The other members are yet to be introduced, but I can assure you they are worth knowing. They, like Taurus, have been passed down either through bloodline or random gifting. They either accept their fate, grow power hungry, or try to rid themselves of their responsibilities.
You may ask what their responsibilities might be. They work in opposition of the SCP Foundation. SCP stands for Secure Contain Protect. They classify anomalous objects, objects that have power over our universe in ways that we can not fathom. They label these objects SCP-XXXX and contain them. They wish to never allow the general populace knowledge that these objects exist. The Keepers of the Stars believe this to be folly. They themselves could be classified as SCP's, their person being -1 and their object being -2 of the same number. However, they will not be contained. They do not want to protect. The want to expose the population to these objects to scare them into heroic action or even to help them. They want humanity to rise. They want to help them become the next Gods.
My blue rotary phone rang. Of course, it would ring in the middle of a meeting.
“Excuse me, gentlemen, I have to take this,” I said addressing the suits surrounding me. They stared blankly back at me. I narrowed my eyes and cleared my throat. “I’m sorry, but I would appreciate some privacy please.” Finally, they took the hint and left my office. I sighed and made a mental note to somehow program my phone to connect to my assistant’s, so that when it rang, she would know to clear the office. Perhaps one of my associates could be capable of doing that. I picked up the receiver.
“Taurus speaking,” I answered. Only Keepers call this phone, and they are only allowed to call me Taurus.
“Yes, Taurus, glad I could reach you at such a good time.” I rolled my eyes.
“What do want, Libra?” Why the man was calling me, I had no idea. He usually had others call me for missions.
“We got word of another item being held by the SCP Foundation from Aquarius. It seems somewhat dangerous, but rather intriguing. Also, my patron would particularly like this object out of captivity.”
“Oh, your patron?” I sneered into the phone. “Because your patron has everyone’s best interests at heart, right?”
“Please don’t bring that up again,” the exasperated plea came from the other end.
“Why don’t you remind your patron what he did to mine, and then come and ask me to do something for him!”
“I really shouldn’t have let you find out who my patron was,” Libra sighed. In truth, he didn’t let me find out. Demeter spoke to me when I first inherited my object and we bonded. I had my first meeting though, and I saw a sudden violent side of her directed towards Libra. When I pressed for an explanation, She told me what his patron, Hades, did to her daughter. Of course, I took my patron's side.
“What and where is the object?” I finally asked. My caring about objects was greater than my detest of Libra for the time being.
“The where is easy. Contact Aquarius and he will allow you to scry. The what…. Not so much.” He paused. “Do you have a time delay recorder?”
“Meaning?” My interest was definitely piqued by this. Damn Libra for using my curiosity against me.
“Meaning you can’t see or hear this object in real time unless you want to lose your body.”
“Email me the location,” I said in a hurry and hung up. I picked up the receiver for my normal phone. “Jessica, I’m going on vacation. Cancel my appointments. I’ll let you know when I’m on my way back.” I stood up, straightened my pencil skirt and walked out of my office without looking back. This was my favorite part of my second job.
On my way home, I used my car's bluetooth to call Agent (blank). A couple years back, she made the mistake of trying to publish some of her exploits at the SCP Foundation. I managed to encrypt and save a copy before another agent attempted to erase everything. It also gave me a contact inside of the organization who trusted me. I wasn't an operative in a GOI working in almost opposition with her foundation. No, I was the harmless editor/writer that she came to like who occasionally asked for ideas for a new story. It's not my fault that all her ideas come from SCP's she's captured.
"Oh my God, Mrs. Robinson, it's so good to hear from you!" the voice blasted into my speakers. I turned the volume down.
"Good morning, (blank). I'm calling about an idea one of my contacts told me about. He said there could be a person who could make me lose my body! Isn't that ridiculous?" Most times, I don't have pry too hard. My agent was such a blabbermouth. No wonder she had a low clearance level.
"Well, actually… I know a man who kind of steals your body…" This time she did seem hesitant. I definitely want to take the chance and push for this one.
"Could I get an interview with this man?" I asked sweetly and hopefully. I still wasn't sure exactly what access or power she had. Up to this point, I had never asked for access to any of the items, just their details.
"Why?" It was drawn out, as if she was trying hard to not sound suspicious.
"Oh you know how my characters are often violent! I'm not violent myself, so it's the perfect oppurtunity to get the right sound into my characters." I held my breath, hoping the bluff was good enough.
"I'll see what I can do. I'll email the information to you." I sighed with relief. Although it wasn't my God-given ability, I loved my persuasive ways.
"Thank you, sweetheart. Looking forward to hearing from you." I hung up as I pulled into the driveway. It was time to pack.
[Using a time delay recorder]
Taurus: This is Taurus, interviewing SCP object for the Zodiac Foundation. For the record, could you please state your name?
SCP-XXXX: Gemini
[slight gasp from the interviewer]
Taurus: Gemini, as in Zodiac, correct?
Gemini: As in the association that you work for? Yes.
[an elongated pause from the interviewer as you can hear papers shuffling]
Gemini: Could we interview face to face perhaps?
Taurus: The guards strongly suggested otherwise. Gemini, according to your file, you are a “soul jumper.” Is that correct?
Gemini: I don’t prefer that description.
Taurus: Then what would you call it?
Gemini: Increasing the value of otherwise uninteresting objects. I mean really, do you know how much of a bore Dr. (black bar) was?
Taurus: Have you considered that perhaps jumping into a person's body and erasing their souls is inhumane?
Gemini: Have you considered that strangling those who oppose you with vines might also be inhumane? But as co-members of the same association, we can not affect one another, as you're well aware.
Taurus: The pendant stated in your file is your association pendant, isn't it?
Gemini: She catches on quickly, folks.
[small growl from the interviewer]
Taurus: Why don't you inform me of the situation, rather than make fun of my ignorance?
Gemini: Fine, fine. I'll fill you in on a few things.
Well I guess I should start with my name, which has in all truths been forgotten to the ages. With the exceptions being of course myself and Libra…. So, in that regard I guess you may call me Gemini. You see I was here during the creation of the Keepers of the Stars along with Libra of course, but you can get that story from him. We came together, along with 1o others, because we were not afraid of the many inexplicable things of the world. We were-how would you say it?- intrigued.
So the twelve of us sought out A truth. (Mind you, I said A truth not The Truth because simply in my personal opinion The Truth does not exist.) What we found were our patrons. We found well over a dozen statues with our accessories adorned on them. We took those that fit our attributes and as we removed our item the patron crumbled to dust and in the back of our minds we heard them thank us for freeing them. Over the years many of the objects have been transferred from Zodiac to Zodiac. Some took over their role without question, others became hungry for power, and some tried to destroy that which gave them greatness.
Since then we have done what we could to promote the evolution of humans. Because that's what we do. We utilize these objects that The Foundation so aptly calls SCPs. They may in fact have a few we ourselves have created. While The Foundation protects humanity by hiding what goes bump in the night, we show it to them and force them to deal with their own fears of the dark to push them to what they could one day be…….Gods.
That brings us to why I am in custody within the Foundation. Well I heard of the man who lives within an amulet and takes over a hosts mind and was curious to see how similar we may well be.
[Interviewer interrupts Gemini's Side of Things]
Taurus: You're referring of course to SCP-963 AKA Dr. Jack Bright, right? According to his file, the affects aren't permanent until after 30 days and it's more of a memory overwrite. Whereas yours is an immediate soul expulsion/replacement, correct?
Gemini: That would be an accurate way to explain it. The explanation I want is who sent you for me and why?
Taurus: Libra sent me, though I am not adept at extractions. His patron is particularly interested in your being freed.
Gemini: Hades wants me out? Of course, I was a great resource. Libra would wish my return to restore balance.
Taurus: Restore what balance?
Gemini: Libra has been acting as a leader, yes?
Taurus: Yes. He was the leader when I inherited my pendant.
Gemini: The Keepers have no leader. Everybody has a different perspective, causing new ideas, resulting in better ways of doing things. With two immortals, we were able to keep each other in check. Balanced, if you will.
Taurus: Ok, that makes sense. Do you wish for an extraction? If so, I need to contact an associate more adept at extractions.
Gemini: No. I do not wish for an extraction. Tell Libra that Aquarius will know when to get me.
Taurus: Copy. This interview is at an end then. Thank you, Gemini, for all of the vital information.
Gemini: It was a pleasure. Have a nice day.
[Interview terminated]