Disclaimer: Saint Seiya and all recognized characters therein belong to the awesome Kurumada Masami-sensei. I claim no hold over them. If they were mine, then this would be a series for women instead of young boys.
Spoilers: The entire series up to and including Hades: Inferno.
Warnings: To be given before each chapter, but there is non-graphic yaoi (m/m love), non-graphic non-con (clearly marked), angst in bucketfulls and violence.

One: Aries

Kiki watched the world spin around him, swayed on his feet, and promptly fell flat on his face.

"We'll stop here for today," said his trainer and master, Shion.

"Thank you, Master Shion," said Kiki to the dirt. He felt the powerful Cosmos pass by as Shion headed back to the house they shared during their rigorous year of training. Only being two months in, Kiki felt proud of himself that he could keep up, even though he had never trained so hard in his life, and even though every muscle in his body ached worse than losing a battle with five Saints. He had to smile, despite the ache; Shion was a great teacher.

Slowly, wincing with each move, he lifted his head, then, upon shaking legs he stood. The muscles protested the movement vehemently, but he refused to listen to his body. Upped his Cosmos just slightly made him able to move, hopefully enough to get him back to the house where he would be expected to cook dinner for them two. All he really wanted, though, was a glass of warm milk and a pillow for his head to sleep on. With a deep breath, he trudged along the grassy plain toward the place where the house was.

Something tickled his senses, something there but not there, another Cosmos, not as prudent as Shion's, but similar in so many ways. Kiki sniffed the air, let his body take in the warmth of the approaching energy, then searched the field for whoever was there. It was not Libra Dohko, for that Cosmos he would have recognized in an instant, nor was it any of the other Gold Saints, for nobody but Shion's old friend would dare to visit during the intensified training. So who could it be? And why did Kiki think he knew the person?

In the distance walked a man. It was from that man that Kiki felt the Cosmos emitting. But who was this man? He was not dressed in a Cloth, but in a long, brown overcoat, with black boots and black gloves, and upon his head he wore a wide-brimmed hat that covered his face. The man held the hat from the winds with one hand, and held his coat closed with the other. Kiki stared, almost as if in a trance, unable to move from that spot, so curious to see whom this familiar Cosmos belonged to. The wind picked up, sending the man's hat flying. With cat-like reflexes, the man reached up and caught the hat in mid-fly to bring it back onto his head, but that was enough time for Kiki to see. The man's face was recognized instantly, and with an energy he did not know he still possessed, Kiki ran toward the man.

"Master Mu!" he called out. The man froze, Kiki ran, and leapt against the man in a great hug. He knew he should not be hugging his original master and teacher, but he had not known how much he missed the other until he saw him again. "Have you come back to train with me?" The excitement bubbled in his gut. He could no more contain the wide smile on his lips than he could stop from bouncing on his feet.

Mu looked down on him with a smile so full of sadness it momentarily made Kiki pause in his giddiness. "Master Mu?"

"I'm sorry," said Mu gently. "You must have me confused with somebody else."

Kiki's smile dropped into a slacked jaw. The man before him could be nobody else, even with the pink hair cropped to the tips of his earlobes, where Mu's hair had been down past his knees. And the wrap around the forehead made Kiki more suspicious that this man had two dots where eyebrows should be. So why would his master make such a false statement? Did he really not like Kiki anymore?

Turning, Kiki felt his spirits and stomach drop. Something heavy weighted in his chest. If this man now hated him, he could not look him in the eye. Without another word, he began to walk to the house. He was fully aware the man followed.

Kiki entered the house in a foul, depressed mood. He was angry, but more than that he was sad. He could not understand why Mu would treat him so badly. What did he do wrong?

"Took you long enough, Kiki," said Shion from the modest living room just past the front foyer. He came out from that room and looked first to his charge, then to the man behind him. "We have a visitor?"

Kiki brushed past Shion with a muttered, "I'll start dinner, Master," then went into the kitchen to distract himself from all the horrible feelings that were bubbling up inside him. Starting with the vegetables, he could hear the conversation between his two masters, chopping harder to distract himself, but unable to keep their voices from his head.

"Who are you?" asked Shion with calm suspicion.

"Just a weary traveler," sighed Mu. "I have come to ask for one night's lodging. I can pay you."

"We have no need for money," answered Shion. "You are more than welcome to spend the night here."

"Thank you. You are most kind."

Kiki bit his lower lip hard enough to draw blood. How could Shion, a, not recognize Mu, and b, allow the man to spend the night. Kiki did not want to spend one moment around a person he so greatly respected and cared for, only to be reminded every time he looked at the other that he was very much disliked. He clenched his fist around the handle of the knife and chopped with all his might, ending up with tiny pieces of vegetables where there should have been chunks. Not caring in the slightest, he placed the vegetables in a pot of water and turned on the stove. May as well make enough for three, even though he had lost his appetite.

Dinner was a quiet affair. Kiki tried his hardest not to look at Mu, but could not help himself. He noticed that the man who had once been vibrant and full of youth looked older, more haggard, with dark circles under his eyes that became more prominent with the depletion of the sunlight. He began to wonder, perhaps, if it was not that he was hated, but more that he was not remembered. Mu seemed to be cordial enough to Shion, and it seemed that Shion did not recognize the one he had trained to wear the Aries Cloth. It was strange, and the more Kiki thought about it, the less hurt he felt at Mu's original attitude. Something had happened, something terrible, and with all the curiosity his eleven-year old self had, he became determined to seek the truth.

"Master?" he began softly.

"Yes, Kiki," answered Shion just as kind.

"Whatever happened to the Aries Saint you trained before me?" He looked up quickly, to see both Shion and Mu's face, noting with half satisfaction and half confusion that while Shion's face remained calm and passive, Mu's cheeks had reddened and his face turned down. So did that mean that Mu knew who he was, but Shion did not?

"There were no other candidates," said Shion. "You were the first child I found who could wear the Aries Cloth. And I must say, you were much more prepared to train than I was at your age. You even knew how to control your Cosmos. It impressed me."

"That's because I had been trained before you," said Kiki matter-of-fact. He smiled cheekily, wondering if Shion and Mu would acknowledge each other once Kiki said everything he planned. Oh, he was not going to come right out and say that the man seated beside Shion was his former master, but he was going to mention him by name.

"Who could have trained you before me?" asked Shion jovially, acting like Kiki was playing some kind of childish game.

"Your former pupil, Aries Saint Mu." Now when Kiki said the name, he watched Mu, who's face paled at that mention, while his body grew stiff. Kiki could not help but smile, trying to nudge the man with his mind to confess to who he really was.

"There is no such person," said Shion matter-of-fact. "I would remember if I had trained anyone for this position before you."

Kiki felt stunned. There was nothing but truth in Shion's tone, and in the way Shion's eyes stared at him. His own eyes went to Mu, who had slumped slightly, emitting a Cosmos of pure depression. Kiki felt like such a fool for mentioning that in front of Shion and hurting his master so deeply. He sent out an apology through his mind to Mu, whom he was certain heard it even if there was no outwardly (or inwardly) acknowledgement.

Shion turned his attention to the man at his side. "I do apologize," he said with a smile. "We must be boring you, speaking of things you know nothing about."

"No," answered Mu. He lifted his head and smiled at Shion. To Kiki, he still looked sad. "I enjoy your conversation. I have heard, rumors, of the Saints of Athena."

"All good I hope," said Shion.

"All good."

Shion's smile was wide as he said, "Then let me introduce my young pupil, Kiki, who will one day inherit the Gold Cloth of Aries."

"Nice to meet you, Kiki," said Mu.

Kiki felt his stomach drop again as he tried to smile. "Nice to meet you, too."

"And I am Shion, his teacher. May we ask for your name, stranger?"

Mu was silent for only a moment before he answered. Kiki held his breath in anticipation. If he would not admit to being Mu, then what name would he use?

"Just call me Jack."