Disclaimer: Saint Seiya belongs to Masami Kurumada.
His Callous Blue Sin
It was a dark windy night not far away from Athens, starless and gloomy. In fact, it was pitch-black as the messenger of Hell announcing murder and betrayal. The Moon had hidden her pale face behind a thick dark veil, mourning for the almost dead warrior whose blood was spilled on a plain. In front of him, a young Gold Saint turned his back after inflicting him his most powerful attack which cut his skin and damaged his limbs. Although the butchery, there was a touch of perfection in his deadly deeds. With heavy steps, the Saint left the wounded young man alone with a crying baby. At least, it was his way to honor his old friend and comrade: to leave him alone to face death.
On the top of Athena's holy Sanctuary and standing against the winds which swept the terrace, a tall figure dressed in thick dark robes smiled under a haunting mask. His long mane wildly danced as the winds kept blowing with extraordinary strength. Indifferent to nature's wrath, he stood still and glanced towards the plain. Without emotion, he listened to the echo of the powerful explosion and watched the golden light fading down there. After a couple of minutes, it was dark again and the only change was the blood soaked ground. Then, silence. The silence of death. Nothing. The end of the threat. The beginning of his triumphal reign.
So, it's done! Good job, Shura!
As he had foreseen, the young Capricorn Gold Saint had defeated the traitor. Of course, he would be rewarded later. Lavishly as he deserved it. So generously to guarantee his loyalty although his sorrow. Wealth, power and pleasures could buy anything and anyone.
Under the mask, he smiled again and nodded to the blushing Moon. In fact, the pale satellite was getting reddish cheeks as a victim of terrible violation. It was a deadly omen to all but him. Nothing would have stopped him now and he knew it. Neither his loyalty nor his blood. After long sleepless nights, he had taken a decision. So it was time to harvest what he carefully carried out in the last hours. Far away were the misunderstandings, doubts, betrayals, the hatred and so many deaths. Far, far away were the pleas, tears and cries. After all he had gone through, he was ready and eager to begin his reign. He was an invincible god. Nothing would stop him now.
It's time to fulfill my destiny as a divine ruler of the Earth!
He turned around but there were not crowds cheering neither clapping to the new Pope. Just the ominous silence which covered all with a heavy dark sad mantle. On the top, he was alone as it used to be. At the end, he was the only one able to understand the importance of his accomplishments and the depth of his sin. No, he was wrong. Maybe there was another man, someone like him, who would have been able to understand him and his execrable deeds. This man would have supported him in his way up to the throne. He might have been standing at his side at the opening celebration of a new peaceful aeon. But this guy was buried alive by his twin brother in a hideous jail in order to shut up the elder's conscience, to hide his merciless plot and to obliterate his past. Saga knew that it cost him dearly but a ruler should not have regrets neither guilt. So he shrugged and walked away with determination towards the Pope's private chambers.
The long marble corridors echoed his steps as the darkness embraced him. Although he knew the door he hesitated before standing in front of it. It was the same old fear of facing the old Pope. But that old fellow was out of his way, too. So he deeply breathed and with a smooth movement, he opened the big wooden doors. Majestically, he stepped in the Pope's bedroom. He was the new owner now, the one who got it as a reward of his cunning and power.
The long silk curtains danced before him as he approached the nicely crafted wooden table. Although it was not midnight, he was very tired, his heart was heavy and his body ached. Too much blood had been spilled in the last hours, although his effort to forget it. He heavily sighed. So many deaths to fulfill his goals but it was the price he must pay after all.
Standing at the big polished mirror, he slowly took off his heavy helmet and removed the ritual mask. Facing at the image, he attentively watched his face. Thin lines crossed his forehead and there were dark shadows under his puffy reddish eyes. His silky blue hair was gone and a grey wild mane covered his aristocratic head, making him looked like a furious maenad. With a muffled horrified scream, he stepped back, trying to escape from the hideous image at the mirror. It was the embodiment of evil, the personification of sin.
What's going on? Who's that grey haired raving mad old man?
He looked again in distress, his fingers frantically touching his soft parted lips and his full cheeks. What he touched was his handsome face. It seemed like a stupid nightmare. He was still the young man at the prime of his blessed life, the powerful yet gentle warrior that was loved and worshipped as a demigod by his comrades and the population of the small town of Rodorio. The blue-haired handsome Gold Saint who was able to destroy galaxies with his bare hands. His eyes met again the horrible face at the mirror and he screamed as the evil grey-haired laughed at him.
It cannot be me! Get out, devil!
He panted and took his aching head in his trembling hands. No, it wasn't Kanon there mocking at him. That horrible grey-haired demon was his reflection. With wide open eyes, he looked around. He was alone in that chamber so there must be an explanation for it. Where did he read about that evil magic, to have a nice exterior and an evil inner self that was showed in private? He sighed again. Then, he remembered a poignant novel he and young Camus read together on a scented spring night. It was a nice book borrowed from the Sanctuary's library which was chosen by the cute Aquarius when he tried to improve his knowledge of English authors. In that novel, the main character, an extremely handsome English aristocrat, was able to keep his external beauty but his sins and frailties were shown on a big portrait made by fellow painter. So his external looks were kept young and beautiful but his rotten inner self was shown at the ominous portrait. He sighed, asking himself if this was the consequence of what he had done. When his eyes met the reddish ones at the mirror, both grinned with bare teeth.
Is this my inner self, the expression of my sins? No, it cannot be! I'm a god now!
The silent of the evil grey-haired being was the only answer he got. So hot tears came down his eyes as he turned his back to the mirror and cried out.
I'm not Dorian Grey! I'm not doomed! I'm Gemini Saga, god and ruler of the Sanctuary!
No, he couldn't be fooled. Although denying it, that horrible creature was him, too. So he walked away, escaping from it, in a desperate attempt to clean his previous sins.
Why did you torture me? I can protect the Earth better than that damned baby!
Panting, he looked around. There was no need to cry, it was time to act. Maybe he would find a way to clean his soul. Suddenly, he realized the answer was pretty near. So he went directly to take a bath, to enjoy the white marble private pool who belong to the Pope. Very slowly, he took off one garment after another until he was standing in his cotton white underwear. The water was warm and inviting. In fact, it was the most beautiful pool he ever dreamed of. Fascinated, he got totally undressed. With confidence, he got into the pool, sinking into the warm waters which embraced him as a lover. His body began to relax and his mind was calm for a moment. He felt the waters covering his skin, the soft scented candles lit at the corner and the cozy sensation that filled the air. He was enjoying his time there. It was a wonderful treat after all he had to endure… until a scream was heard. It was a heart-broken child's scream full of grief. He heard another scream and then another until as it seemed to fade away in the night.
So the little lion is deeply hurt. Aiolia.
With a pang of regret, he remembered his comrade Aiolos and his younger brother Aiolia. Two good-natured brothers. Now, the little boy must have learned that his brother was an outcast from the Sanctuary and finally dead. Actually, he must be crying, desperate and lonely. But this didn't move Saga.
You'll learn that your brother was a traitor, Aiolia. He betrayed you. He betrayed me!
This was the first time the golden archer chose sides unwisely in his short life. In fact, he paid dearly for his lack of vision. Reliable and gentle-hearted, Aiolos had been a respected warrior and a good friend, someone Saga could count on. He expected to have the Sagittarius Gold Saint at his side when he would take the Pope's position. But he was mistaken. Now, because of Aiolos' foolishness, his beloved little brother Aiolia was deeply hurt by his loss. The Sagittarius might have been sad to know it. After all, the overly protective big brother was the one who made the little lion cry. He chuckled at the vignette. Although Saga used to laughed at Aiolos' Mother Hen attitude, he envy the way the brothers could openly love and live together at the Sanctuary, sharing the simple little things of an ordinary life. A luxury he and Kanon couldn't share because they were doomed to be separated and one of them was meant to be obliterated. It was the Gemini twins' fate. A painful feeling filled his heart but he shook his head. His younger twin was in the place where he belonged: Cape Sounion, the jail for the betrayers and sinners. All in all, if there was one to be guilty of all this madness, it was Kanon. His younger twin had put those poisoned ideas in Saga's head. Now, he paid for his sins and he, the mighty and god-like Saga, would enjoy the power he had taken from Athena.
Suddenly, he stood up, the warm water dripping from his statue-like body and his glorious blue mane. His blue eyes were wide open in a mix of terror and hatred. He watched towards the huge windows. Far away was Cape Sounion and the jail where a rotten body might be eaten by sea creatures. Although thinking that his twin had left this world, he was able to hear his poisoned words and evil laughs now, mocking and challenging him. Saga's head seemed to be ready to explode as he screamed aloud.
Stop it, you devil! I don't want to be mocked by you!
If the diabolic being had listened to him, Saga didn't know. But he stopped listening the cruel laughs and the mocking words which came from a distant place. An ominous silence fell on him.
With a sigh, he sunk again in the warm water. It was time to forget that nonsense and to focus in what was ahead him. Being the highest authority in the Sanctuary, he had the power to become a good ruler but, if it was needed, a callous one. In fact, he was born to be here and to lead the world to another era. With his twin brother dead and no more threats from Aiolos, there weren't obstacles in his ascending path. Clean of his past misdeeds by blood and water, he would begin a new aeon of peace for the Earth. An era of happiness that would last forever. Saga's golden time.
With a broad smile, he let the waters covered him as a sweet lovely cocoon, sinking in their welcoming warmth. Later, he'll take some wine and find good company. It would be a great night after all.