an: since i was pretty unhappy with how the story was going, i have decided to reboot the story itself...i hope that it turns out better this time. so basically, this is set after canon, but what i've done is that all the happenings of canon were all in one year, rather than five. it's set in the present (2010's) and has nothing to do with saint seiya omega. i hope it's good! EDIT: due to my fickle-ness, chapters may be edited and updated at random. it might be a little annoying, but it's all for the best, right? okay

The night was so quiet. Not a single sound was to be heard- in fact, if you listened closely, you could hear the stars glittering. Not a sound could be heard but the heaving breaths of an injured soldier. His head was heavy, and the coldness of the air was like a knife in his lungs. Blood was splattered on the ground like starbursts, and tiny fragments of silver metal were scattered over the darkened stone like stars. Long, graceful strands of lilac hair floated through the air, following behind a beautiful young woman in a flowing white dress.

"You're an amazing fighter, Seiya. Please do fight for me forever,"

The Pegasus saint didn't reply, his expression was blank. Saori sat on the fallen pillar next to him. She tilted her head, watching her saint.

"Seiya?"

He raised his head, and looked her in the eyes. He always seemed so noble. So godlike. But like this, he was what he truly was. Just a boy. Neither less or more human than any other person. He sighed, and shut his eyes slowly.

"Saori...I have a question," he said softly. "What would happen...if I stopped fighting?"

Saori had a look of confusion on her face. She bit her lip. "You don't mean...?"

Seiya smiled. "No, I'm not betraying you or anything. I'm just curious as to what would happen,"

Saori paused for a moment. "Well, the world would most likely fall into eternal peril," she muttered. "We're a little bit dependant on you- but I think you knew that," she chuckled.

Seiya looked away. Saori eyed him curiously.

"What are you thinking about?"

Seiya held his knees to his chest, and looked down shamefully. "I feel like...I want to do something different...like...something inside me doesn't want to be a saint anymore,"

Saori seemed concerned with what he said. She could only wonder what could've triggered something like this. She inched closer to him, and gently stroked his back.

"Just a weird feeling inside...I can't explain it..." he continued. "It makes me want to stop being a saint...I don't know why..."

Saori seemed shocked with those words he said.

Seiya looked up to the sky. The same one he'd seen for his entire life. The stars glittering, and watching over the earth. His eyes stung, and tears welled in the corners, as his breath became slightly unstable and rapid.

"Hey! Don't cry!" Saori held him tighter. "...maybe I could be able to help you..."

Seiya smiled. "You don't need to help me...really," he tried his best to hold his tears back. "I'm just messed up..." He pulled himself up, and slowly wandered off into the night.

Saori watched him. 'His cosmos always felt so warm and bright...but something's wrong...but I can't think of anything that could make it feel so cold and dark...'

It seemed like decades- no, centuries, since Seiya had begun his journeys with his fellow saints. No matter how evil, monstrous, powerful, or heartless the foe was, justice would always prevail in the end. From the very beginning, with Ikki's anger, unleashing the black saints to wreak havoc, to the ruler of the underworld himself, Hades. The bronze saints were nearly indestructable now. The defenders of the earth, you could say. And what an unlikely leader, too- Seiya was the youngest, lightest, and shortest of all the saints, yet behind all of that, he was reaching the point where people were beginning to refer to him as 'the saint'. And while he was proud of himself, he never got a big head about it. He was always so modest- especially in comparison to the notoriously cocky gold saints. Some people even reckoned that he'd rather give all this fame to someone else. He often would avoid situations where he'd receive too much praise- from what people could see, he hated being treated like royalty. If he absolutely had to be a king, he'd be a free man. One without followers, or anything to rule over- and just be known as someone reliable and pure-hearted; something he had said himself.

But being a teenager, Seiya had many unresolved personal issues of his own, regarding beliefs, sexual orientation, the future, relationships, the usual things. But something that was somewhat unexpected was definitely his want to break free from his life as a saint. Nobody would expect him to think something like that- not even himself. But like he would always say- 'Everything happens for a reason.' While he never displayed much angst or something of the sort, it was still known that he would sometimes spend a lot of time by himself. Thinking, or maybe even just enjoying the quiet and zoning out.

Maybe people were imagining it, but since he woke up from the coma Hades had put him in, he had become very emotionally unstable, bursting into uncontrollable anger, tears, laughter, or anything else. It certainly was curious, but nobody said anything- because really, the last thing they wanted to do was set off someone who couldn't control their emotions.

The morning was clear. Ever since Hades was killed off, the weather itself had become much more pleasant. There would be a gentle rain in between the clear warmth of day every now and then, but there never seemed to be many violent storms like before. Everything had become so peaceful, suddenly. It was a good thing, too- the saints had been waiting for their well-earned break, and they certainly got it. All of them had been thinking about their own problems like Seiya was- it was just something that teenagers do; nothing out of the ordinary.

"Hyoga! Pass the melon!" The green haired boy shouted, skidding to a halt, scratching behind his head.

"Why would you want it anyway? And you dare take property from the Melon King?" Hyoga shouted back, proudly holding an oversized watermelon over his head.

They all seemed to have changed since the Hades drama, in fact. Shiryu had finally learned to loosen up occasionally, Hyoga wasn't as antisocial as before, and some people even said that some of Seiya's sense of humor had rubbed off on him, Shun had certainly become much tougher, and Ikki had finally learned that it was okay to show emotion. Everyone seemed to be getting on quite well with each other, and it was probably the best few months that they had ever had. It really did seem like even ten years had passed since it all happened, but really, it hadn't been long at all. Only a year had passed, and really...it was pretty impossible to believe. None of them were even 17 yet.

"What is with you and melons, anyway?" Ikki yelled at the Siberian boy.

"Tch, you wouldn't know how special melons are if it fell on your head and gave your skull a compound fracture," Hyoga scoffed.

Seiya was sitting quietly under the shade of a tree, watching the waves. He always found it strange that he adored the sight and sound of the ocean, but hated swimming and the feeling of water. The sand was warm. It felt like sitting on sunshine. He smiled to himself watching the others kick water at each other, and Hyoga mucking around with that bloody watermelon.

He pulled himself up, and dusted off his jeans. He felt somewhat uneasy. He didn't know exactly why, though. He brushed it off as just his hormones going spastic or something of the sort- it was expected for a young man his age. After maybe 5 minutes of wandering across the beach, it was becoming hard to ignore. Something was wrong. He felt lightheaded...and his vision blurred slightly. All sounds seemed to fade away, as a cold wave rushed through his body. He felt himself lose balance for a second, and saw color fade out of the sky. He shut his eyes tight, and shook his head violently, and upon reopening his eyes, everything had returned back to normal. He seemed nervous now. It couldn't have been something serious...no...it was just the heat. Just the heat. He looked back at the others still mucking around. Nobody would notice if he just snuck away for a few minutes.

The last time he fought wearing his cloth was exactly 3 weeks ago. He remembered saying something odd to Saori. Something about...a potential loss in faith in his sainthood. He kept thinking about what he had said, as he wandered further away from the others. He felt slightly nauseaus, but he figured it would pass eventually. He seemed pretty relaxed after maybe 20 seconds, quietly humming some old rockabilly song to himself. With so few fights these days, he found it much easier to focus on other things. He finally found the time to practice playing his guitar, and he was becoming quite good, too. He sometimes even fantasized about starting a band. But he knew he wouldn't have the guts to do that- he couldn't even play in front of the others without his stomach churning and his face going pale.

But just being able to just peacefull walk along the shore was great. He suddenly felt an uneasy tingling in his back, which dropped into his stomach, like someone was following him. He quickly twisted around to check...nobody seemed to be there. He kept staring behind himself for a few more seconds, then returned to walking. But it felt difficult to relax again. His legs trembled slightly, and his skin felt strangely tender. Then a faint breath, like a whisper sounded right next to his ear. He nearly jumped out of his skin, and twisted around at lightning speed, causing himself to fall onto the sand on his backside. He looked in every direction quicker than the eye, trying to make sure nothing was following him. He felt himself break out into a cold sweat, and he felt his heart pound against his ribcage, like it was trying to break free. He slowly and unsteadily pulled himself off the sand. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to wander off. His mouth felt dry. He screwed his face up in disgust. What an awful feeling. It was like taking a mouthful of vinegar. He was probably dehydrated, he thought, and he slowly made his way back up the beach.

He quickly caught on to the laziness of his legs. They felt weak- wobbly, almost. He found himself often tripping, frustrating him. He put his hand up to his forehead to block out the sunlight that was scorching his face, as he slowly made out the sounds of his friends in the distance. Hyoga dropped his watermelon onto the sand with a thud, as Seiya caught his attention.

"Seiya! There you are, you wandered off!" Hyoga grinned, unaware that Shun had snatched his watermelon from him.

"I'm not feeling too well...I think I'm just gonna go and take a nap or somethin'..." Seiya called out to Hyoga, unsteadily walking up to the shade of the palm trees. He looked back as he heard footsteps quickly following him.

"Well, if you're feeling under the weather, maybe I can get you something?" Hyoga smiled. "Hungry? Thirsty, maybe? Tired?"

"Hyoga, relax," Seiya chuckled. "I think I'm well enough to take care of myself. But thanks for offering, anyway," he kicked off his sneakers, quickly took a drink from his water bottle, and lay down on his side.

"Eh, all right. I think we're heading back in about 45 minutes anyway," Hyoga muttered, walking back down. His eyes widened in anger at the sight of Shun holding his melon.

"Hey, you green-furred bastard, gimme that back!" he shouted, running after Shun.

"Finders keepers, Hyoga!" Shun laughed, sprinting off, with Hyoga hot on his heels.

Seiya snickered. His life was tough and unforgiving, but he still had the best friends he ever had by his side no matter what. He shut his eyes, and drifted off into a light sleep, somewhat bothered by the burning sensation he felt in his eyes...