Authors Notes: Another fic tribute of Saint Seiya. I appreciate the fervor of the fans, particularly from Europe and Latin America. This is an alternative reality fic with Aquarius Camus (?!) from the Classic/Original timeline mixed with the Omega timeline. Also a little warning, there is some Seiya derogation.
Title Alternatives: Calma antes da Espada, 剣の前の静けさ。
Calm before the Sword
"Seiya has failed?" Those inconceivable words were heard during the Golden Round, the official assembly of Athena's twelve Gold Saints.
"Ehhh, it's because he was weak, right? That won't do at all, Mister Legendary Pegasus." Cancer Deathmask said with his ever familiar sardonic smile. Severe stares from the other Golds bore into Seiya. He felt like he was being scolded, and being deeply reminded of his choice's consequences. After a short lived victory against a dark god, and the loss of various Saints, a new enemy from the Mythological Era had arrived.
The new foe descended from the sky in a violet ray of crackling light; from its unique display, it bode upcoming destruction. The light reached the ground, the earth's surface exploding, and from a crater appeared the face of a child. The goddess Pallas looked ordinary, or rather very gentle, as if evil haven't surfaced through her countenance. Sagittarius approached the diminutive goddess to take her life; in the end, Seiya submitted to emotions and turned aside his weapon. Now, with the Saints having to bear that truth, it was only time for another to assume the mission's completion and restore their splendor.
"Victory shall be achieved," the next assassin said in a voice that was thoroughly inhibited of feeling. "Pegasus, do not feel that you've lost. Instead, as an equal companion, take this as an opportunity to watch an example."
The expression of Sagittarius Seiya changed. Being a man whose famous gallantry was defeated and had showed a very rare guilt upon his face, Seiya was taken aback. The new assassin's white silk cape flowed graciously as he turned and left the hall. Every Gold Saint except Seiya smiled easy from assurance. Pallas would die; once evil's head was severed, the Saints would trek the globe to rid of the goddess's lackeys.
The enemy castle.
Pallas had slept soundlessly in her curtained bed like a content child after being read a bedtime story. She shivered, and her first impulse was to open her eyes and sprout up. She saw her bed's silk double curtains ripple; wind entered through the nearby casement window, which was the child's first thought. Pallas glanced at her curtains, and saw a tall and masculine silhouette standing behind them.
"Titan?" The little goddess called out timidly.
"Goddess Pallas," a cool bass tone reached the girl's ears. It was akin to Titan, her finest subordinate. The figure moved closer and reached; the child goddess became ashen-faced. An elbow-length gold gauntlet folded back the curtains, deep blue eyes gazed upon Pallas. He looked calm and relenting, and the man's hair was a deep green color like the seas.
"Another Gold Saint." Quickly, Pallas's mind recollected the image of the Golden Pegasus and his trembling hand carrying the god-slaying golden dagger. She scooted up against her pillows at the top of the bed, her hands grasping the sheet. "But, you're different," she said. Quite different, Pallas remembered, as the gentleness of Seiya was completely nonexistent from this other Gold Saint. Apprehension was clear on her face.
"Indeed I am. Unlike Pegasus, I am not misled by feelings," the man said. His glare was bluff, the kind of eyes that carried no empathy for a cute youth. His heart was just as frigid; through a long training of mental discipline, he knew how to bear the weight of his duty and to block any aversions from his fixed path. He went only forward, unmoved like a giant glacier on the water. The Gold Saint knew he had to kill a child, and the nefarious thought did not make the Gold Saint show any kind of surrendering gesture.
"It is truly cold," he acknowledged what was to happen, "however, it is for justice." The guardian of the eleventh house, Aquarius Camus raised his index finger at the girl goddess.
"You mean, for my sister?" Pallas's cadence became a whisper, her hands tightening around the bed sheets.
"Yes. Listen, Goddess Pallas. I will make this painless," Camus said. Pallas's eyes wavered with fear. She then gasped as she saw, in Camus's other hand, the familiar shape of a short golden blade with a large cross-guard. It protruded from behind his cape.
Camus continued, "I am uncertain as to how much heat and cold a divine body can handle. For a human, a temperature under or over thirty-degrees Celsius may be something to take caution in. Out of all of Athena's Saints, I am the one who can reach the bottom of the temperature spectrum the closest: two hundred, seventy three, point fifteen degrees Celsius. The Absolute Zero. The Gold Saint of Aquarius, Camus!"
Tears that begged for mercy streamed down Pallas's face, like when she faced Seiya. Unfazed, Camus's eyebrows crooked, "I will chill your body, render your bodily functions to naught, and then pierce your heart with this dagger."
Camus' cosmos manifested into view, surrounding his body. Ripples of white energy fire from the tip of his index finger. Pallas shrieked, and then the arctic rings snapped into pieces. Camus's eyebrows twinge; something swiped the air, deflecting the cosmos. The Gold Saint thought there was a barrier around the bed and took a few cautious steps back.
"Welcome, Aquarius Saint." A deep, regal voice entered the room.
"Who are you?" Camus asked instinctively, looking around.
"The Great Sword of the goddess Pallas, Titan. A first class Pallasite." Suddenly appearing next to the bed and the young goddess was a black-haired man in a caped armor. With a rival amount of calmness, Titan's eyes affixed themselves on the interloper. His pupils shimmer a cautious red.
"Aquarius Camus, your comrade the Golden Pegasus, attempted this folly before you. His choice shall bring great disaster to Athena's Saints."
"You make it sound like I have failed in my mission," Camus said.
"Like with Seiya, the conclusion shall be the same," Titan remarked. From his raised arm, Aquarius splayed out all of his fingers, unleashing a breeze of cold towards his two enemies. Titan's heavy cloak rippled, his arm brandishing from behind it against the blast. The cold scattered across the room before reaching, and its kinetic force was completely stopped. Titan scooped Pallas up with his arm; the child's head lolled over and the goddess returned to sleep.
"Wait!" After holster the golden dagger behind his back, Camus lunged and brought back an arm.
"Threatening a great beast while it protects its child," Titan said and brought up a hand, "is very perilous."
"Guh!" Camus's body stilled, his teeth clenching. He launched his fist, which struck, but was uncaught. It stopped between him and Titan's palm; a concealed cosmos tickled Camus's knuckles. It felt like a material solid as metal, like a barrier.
"If you cannot penetrate or damage the rings of Saturn, then you cannot kill a goddess. Can you say that you are a near master of Absolute Zero?" Titan coolly derided.
What is that technique, Camus wondered. He backed away and rubbed his sore hand.
"My Phoebe sword. Its visibility is the thinnest, but despite that, it is a fairly sizable blade and is the most cunning. With swift accuracy, it can wound your body without being vulnerable to your eyes." Titan said.
"Then, I will just have to prevent you from using your sword." Camus lifted his hand, which still ached from hitting the Phoebe's sword, and crooked a few of his fingers. Titan looked down, and his manner deviated from its usual calmness. His eyes widened as a chilly sensation filled his body.
"You're within my rings, Titan. My Koltsó technique. Now that you can't move, I will use this," Camus raised both arms over his head and clasped his hands together, "to defeat both you and your goddess!" Titan noticed his body enwrapped by white, billowing rings equivalent to the F Ring of Saturn. The rings were faint, but Titan could feel the Aquarius Saint's ice cosmo, which demanded stillness to his nerves. Behind Camus, a feminine visual of the water bearer constellation appeared, her canteen raised above her head.
Camus continued, speaking in a voice certain that he had brought victory, "Earlier, did you look down upon Seiya, Pallasite? The epic of the Gold Saints do not wane throughout the generations. The Pegasus embodies the strongest man, and his title is proof that he can stand side by side with the goddess Athena!" He lowered his arms, and the illusionary canteen above him leaned.
Titan closed his eyes and said, "I hope to meet Pegasus on the battlefield. So, to inspire him, I will send your body to him."
"Silence! Aurora Execution!" Camus cried out, his cosmo exploding outward in a brilliant vortex of light and snow particles. Titan's eyes flew open, and the Koltsó binding broke into pieces. His hand raged with a red cosmo. It stroked the air four times, tracing a square.
"GUH!" Suddenly, Camus's feet were propelled from the floor, his entire body shoved midair. Loud interminable strikes clang out; Titan's invisible move was viciously hitting the Aquarius Cloth like falling rain. No, more like falling hail. Shards of gold flew everywhere, and Camus gritted through the pain, feeling a rapid cosmo tear through him in and out.
"Aquarius Camus, do you like my Janus Gate?" Titan asked dispassionately; the Gold Saint dropped to the ground, covered in blood. The cosmos of his Aurora Execution calmed completely. Camus slowly raised his head, and he saw Titan turn away from him and disappear in a beam of light. Pallas, the target, escaped from death again in her servant's arms. Camus's head fell back.
The Pallasite left Aquarius not only with many injuries, but also a biting, condescending demand through an echo, "Aquarius Gold Saint Camus, return to Sanctuary to lick your wounds. Tell Athena, and tell Pegasus, to face us in war. And that, their demise is inevitable." As his words ended, the tension in the air was relieved. Camus clicked his tongue; Titan must've expected for the defeated Saint to return to Athena with his tail between his legs, ashamed, looking for recourse, and to remember that he had failed after Seiya.
Far too proud, Camus did not degrade himself to a defeated animal, "It is not over yet," he said. The strong feeling of duty surged through his body, and pushed Camus to move. His upper body wracked with pain slowly lifted from the bloody ground. As he got back onto his feet, the Aquarius Saint tightened a hand into a fist. He could see oozing red gashes on his fingers; other than his gauntlet, the rest of his Cloth was quite damaged by the Janus Gate. He could see the open flesh of his legs, arms, and chest. A cool breeze from the window touched even the skin of his back.
"This is not failure," Camus said in a low voice. Holding his arm, he limped to the open window. Unshakable eyes, which did not register pain or defeat, stared out at the wide horizon, "Athena's Saints can only push forward. Watch us, we'll get through, Pallasites."