Title: A Special Day for Pope Shion - Chapter 1
Author: Lune Kuruta
Fandom: Saint Seiya
Rating: G
Word Count: 2690 (this chapter)
Characters: Aries Mu, Pope Shion, Gemini Saga, Sagittarius Aiolos, and others.
Genres: Gen, fluff, light humor
Summary: Mu finds out that his teacher's birthday is coming soon. The future Gold Saints want to give the Pope good gifts, but they don't have any money. What are they going to do?
Warnings: Author chooses not to warn.
Disclaimer: Saint Seiya belongs to Masami Kurumada and Toei Animation. All rights reserved.
Notes: Story written for the Secret Coconut, a fic exchange promoted by the community Saint Seiya Super Fics Journal (chapter originally published on September 22, 2014).
* This fic is set before the beginning of the series, and the Gold Saints are still apprentices (therefore, they're not Saints yet). Aiolos and Saga are 13 years old; Deathmask, Shura and Aphrodite are 9; and Mu, Aldebaran, Aiolia, Shaka, Milo and Camus are 6. The younger ones might act a little more "mature" than typical 6 years-olds, but well… they're prodigies, anyway x.x
* Because of the time the story is set in, I've decided to give different names to some characters. Deathmask will be called "Angelo" (because I think that he would only change his name after getting his cloth, since it would be an inappropriate nickname for a child). Aldebaran will be called "Antonio" (because he would only become "Aldebaran" after getting the Taurus Cloth, thus honoring the previous Taurus Saints-I've borrowed this tradition from "The Lost Canvas". I hope you don't mind).
* By the way, any mentions to the past (Holy War, previous Saints and the such) come from LC!canon (therefore disregarding "Next Dimension").
* Revised by Vane. Thank you very much! :3
CHAPTER 1 - THE MEANING OF A GIFT
That could be just an ordinary day for all those boys at the Coliseum. Training, improving themselves, getting ready for the important test they were about to take.
Oh, just for the record... An ordinary day, indeed, but not ordinary boys. Not at all.
They were not common apprentices. Those kids had been chosen to fulfill the most important role in Athena's Army: they were getting ready to become Gold Saints.
After years training in different countries with their respective teachers, those eleven boys finally met in the Sanctuary. They now lived in a special lodge for the "Chosen Ones" and shared the Coliseum every day. Sometimes, their teachers were allowed to enter that area for help, but most of the time their pupils practiced by themselves along with the other aspirants. That was an important part of their preparation: standing for their independence. They also had to deal with sporadic missions, but stayed in the Sanctuary most of the time.
Saga - the future Gemini Saint-and Aiolos - aiming for the Sagittarius Cloth - were kind of responsible for the other apprentices, as they were the oldest ones. Plus, they were "at home," since they' had grown up in the Sanctuary. They were both wise and good-hearted, and the younger ones could always count on them for support, like "big brothers."
That day, Aiolos noticed that one of the pupils seemed to be sad and contemplative. Mu, the Aries apprentice, spent three days in a mission in Asia and looked like he had just arrived. He was sitting on a bleacher and didn't seem to want to join his colleagues. He was usually a quiet child, indeed, but not that much. Worried about his mood, Aiolos approached him.
"Hey, Mu, are you okay?"
"Hmm?..." Mu stared at the older one for a moment. "Oh, good morning, Aiolos."
"Sorry, I didn't see you in the lodge this morning. You've just arrived from your mission, right? Was there any problem?"
"I'm only a bit tired, but fine. I just went to Rozan to take some supplies to the Libra Saint, as my teacher asked me to do, and didn't have a problem. I came back earlier this morning but needed to hand in my report."
Mu's teacher was none other than the Pope himself. He was one of the only two apprentices who could meet their teachers more frequently. The other one was the future Leo Saint, Aiolia, who happened to be Aiolos' younger brother and pupil.
"Ah, I see! You're hungry, then!"
"Thank you for worrying about me, but I'm fine. I've already eaten some apples."
"So, what's the problem, Mu?" Aiolos sat beside him. "You look sad." He scratched his hair, thinking for a while, and suddenly had a guess. "Ooh, sorry! I saw that in our list at the lodge, but totally forgot about it this morning! Today's your birthday, right? Happy birthday!" Then Aiolos hugged Mu as tightly as his hugs always used to be.
That move attracted the attention of the other pupils, who approached them.
"What's going on?" Aiolia seemed curious.
The Scorpio pupil, Milo, rolled his eyes. "Didn't you check the list on the wall today? It's Mu's birthday!"
"Here we go again…" Camus, the Aquarian, was already used to the constant quarrels between Milo and Aiolia. "Milo, if I hadn't told you that this morning, you wouldn't remember it either."
"Of course I would!"
"Quit fighting, guys!" The Taurean apprentice, Antonio, intervened in the discussion, and Milo and Aiolia stopped arguing. He was the tallest child, almost as tall as Saga and Aiolos even thoughhe was seven years younger. Despite being overall a friendly boy, his size imposed some respect. "Well, happy birthday, Mu!"
"Yeah, yeah, happy birthday, little ram", Aphrodite, the Pisces apprentice, chanted in a monotonous voice. "Now can we start training? Or we're going to have a party right here?"
"Don't be so mean!", Aiolos said. "C'mon, cheer up, Mu! We all wish you a happy birthday full of blessings!"
"Thank you, guys." Mu even gave them a shy smile, but still seemed to be upset.
"I see." Saga finally revealed his own conclusion. "You're sad because your teacher isn't here, right?"
Mu blushed a little.
"Ooooh, sooooo cute!" The Cancer pupil mocked him.
Saga didn't pay Angelo any attention. "I heard that Pope Shion is meditating at Star Hill," he continued. "That's probably why you didn't meet him this morning. Don't be sad. I am sure that he'll come to see you as soon as he returns."
Mu looked at his colleagues for a while, apparently wondering if he should tell them something. "I understand, Saga. I'm fine with that. He is the Pope and has a lot of responsibilities. To tell you the truth, I'm just thinking about something Roshi told me back in Rozan."
Even Aphrodite seemed to be curious with that new information. By that time, all the apprentices had sat on the bleachers.
"So, what did he say?" The Capricornian apprentice, Shura, broke the silence.
"Well, I went to Rozan with some supplies for Roshi. Usually a soldier would do that, but this time my teacher wanted me to go instead. That could be a test for my telekinetic skills."
"You say some difficult things, you know!" Aiolia scratched his head, but nobody cared.
"When I arrived and finally met him, Roshi invited me for tea. He is a good man. He told me some stories from his boyhood alongside my teacher. But when I was about to leave, he gave me a package. He asked me to deliver it to my teacher, but he could only open that on Friday. That's when I finally discovered that March 30 is my teacher's birthday!"
"Does he still celebrate his birthdays? Gosh, how old is he?" Milo wondered.
"That makes sense," Saga said. "If Pope Shion is the former Aries Saint, then his birthday would have to be around these days, indeed."
"And Roshi sent him a gift even though he's isolated in Rozan. But I don't have anything to give to my teacher. I don't have any money. What should I do? I'd really like to give him something..."
"Now I see why you're so concerned." Aiolos sighed. "Unfortunately, I don't have any money either, you know. Our supplies are provided directly by the Sanctuary."
"Maybe we could ask someone to lend us some money!" Antonio seemed excited. "We could buy him something simple, but he'll certainly be happy that we remembered his birthday. What could this gift be?"
"Some clothes, for sure," Aphrodite suggested. "Looks like he doesn't have anything other than those awful robes!"
"We could give him a new denture!" Aiolia gave his opinion. "I mean, he does use one, doesn't he?"
"I-I don't know…" Mu seemed confused for a while. "But I couldn't afford a denture, anyway."
"I don't understand…"
That low voice surprised the apprentices, who turned their attention to the Virgo boy, Shaka. He was usually a quiet, meditative child, who used to keep his eyes always closed for some reason. Most of the pupils had almost forgotten about his presence.
Since everybody stopped talking, Shaka proceeded: "Why do you celebrate this kind of date? I mean, another year in our lives has just passed by, which means that our time left on Earth is a bit… shorter than before. That should not be a problem, since we're all doomed to leave this material world someday, but most people don't like to think about their own finite nature… or do they?"
Milo shuddered. "Gosh, Shaka! Sometimes you say scary things, you know."
"Well, uhn… You're right, Shaka," Aiolos said gently. "But birthdays can also remind us that we should celebrate life as a gift. It all depends on the way we look at it. So, we celebrate all the good moments we've already lived, with the love and the affection of our friends, and hope for even better days in the future."
"Oh."
"Brilliant! Will we have a party, then?"
"I'm sorry, Antonio, but we can't," Saga answered him before Aiolos got too excited at the idea. "We are not allowed to do such things. And he is the Pope, he has no time for parties."
"That's why I wanted so bad to give him a gift!" Mu looked down at his feet. "But I can't buy him anything."
Shaka's low voice surprised them once again. "Why don't you make him a gift instead?"
"What do you mean?"
"Birthdays are about affection, right? But what kind of affection could you convey through an object you just bought?" Shaka gave him a light smile. "Give him your time, Mu. I am sure that he'll appreciate your effort. And time is such a precious thing in our ephemeral lives," he added in a thoughtful tone.
"Weeeeird!" Angelo tried to mock the Virgo, but nobody laughed with him. Although Shaka had some unusual habits, the other apprentices had learned to respect him for the rare wisdom he had at such a young age.
"Well, that's a good idea, Shaka!" Saga approved the suggestion. "Let's think about gifts we could do by ourselves until Friday."
"But what about our training?" Shura objected.
Saga hesitated, but Aiolos answered instead. "We can spend part of that time with this, Shura. Take it easy, this is a special occasion, right?"
"Hm. If you say so..."
"I'm gonna give him a drawing!"
"Hey! That was my idea!"
"Aiolia, Milo, please stop it," Camus said wearily.
Shaka suddenly frowned and turned to a point at the top of the bleachers, looking intrigued.
"Is there anything wrong, Shaka?" Aiolos asked.
Shaka just shook his head, but he still looked confused.
Saga stared at the same point with a mysterious expression. "Let's resume our training now. We'll get back to this matter later."
000
After their usual morning activities, the apprentices were free to think about their gifts in the afternoon.
Bringing a list of requests, Aiolos went to the apprentice's elementary school in the Sanctuary to fetch some materials for his colleagues: paper, pencils, crayons, brushes and more. He thought that creating hand-made gifts could be a nice experience for them, since it would boost their creativity.
Some pupils used the opportunity to get their own materials. Antonio came back to the lodge carrying a heavy piece of argil; Aphrodite brought leaves and flowers he had found in the woods; Shaka came back with lots of beads; Mu brought with him a bag full of pure, white sand from the Sanctuary's coastline.
The lodge would now become their atelier. Despite the mess, the pupils seemed to be quite concentrated in their tasks, and even Milo and Aiolia behaved surprisingly well.
Aiolos claimed their attention. "Okay, everyone, here we have everything we'll need to make our gifts. We'll do that tomorrow, so we can spend all day at it if we need to. Now we have some Mythology homework for this afternoon, so let's get our books and study!"
"Aaaahhhh…" the kids whined in unison.
"Don't be sad. Tomorrow we'll have a lot of fun!"
"Wait, where is Saga?" Camus asked. Saga used to help the children with the homework, and his absence was finally noticed.
"Uhn… I don't know. I invited him to help me get the materials at the school, but he refused. He must be solving some problem elsewhere. Well, never mind! I can help you too, kids!"
Although he tried to cheer the kids up, the fact was that Aiolos was intrigued as well. But that was not the first time that Saga mysteriously disappeared in the afternoon, so Aiolos didn't get too worried about that. Saga would come back before sunset, as always.
000
The Sanctuary might be kept secret from civilians, but it was huge. Forests, gardens, training areas, lodges, streams, a beach and even a neighboring village, Rodorio, were part of its domains. Most of its inhabitants wouldn't dare say that they knew it in full.
But he wouldn't get lost. Saga was so used to the woods that he could cross them with both eyes closed.
After walking for a while, passing through dense bush areas, he finally spotted a humble shack. Saga simply walked into the hut without even announcing himself. He didn't need to.
"Just in time! Want some coffee?" The familiar voice echoed inside the two-room lodge.
"Your coffee is terrible, you know." Saga smirked at the other boy.
A thirteen-year-old boy identical to him. "But you love it anyway!"
Saga stared at his twin brother. He was sitting on one of the only two chairs around the small table close to the stove. The few dishes were disposed along with some provisions in a simple shelf on the wall beside it.
Everything was much simpler than the apprentices' lodge where Saga lived. A single bed at the opposite corner and a cabinet-in which clothes and books were stored together-completed the little furniture. The only door besides the entrance led to a cramped bathroom.
"Kanon…" Saga returned to his serious expression, sitting on the chair across from his brother. "You went to the training arena this morning."
That was not a question, and Kanon was fully aware of it. "Well, I just got curious." Kanon shrugged. "But don't worry, nobody has seen me, as usual."
"But Shaka noticed a different presence in there. Kanon, you can't risk yourself this way. Pope Shion said that you must stay here, hidden."
"And training alone, I know." Kanon didn't seem to like his situation.
"You know I don't like this situation either. But this is all we have for now."
Kanon got up and walked around the room, avoiding his brother's eyes. Saga didn't break the silence, as he knew that Kanon needed to calm down a little before continuing that conversation.
Kanon finally sat on the chair again and sighed. "Tell me, what were you doing there, anyway? What were you talking about?"
Saga told Kanon about Shion's birthday on Friday, and his brother laughed jeeringly. "Oh, soooo cute! Let's give gifts to the old ram! Can I give him a piece of wood with a heartshape on it?"
"Don't talk like that, Kanon."
"Meh! I don't even know that he still celebrates his birthday. He must be a thousand years old! And why would I give him something, anyway? He keeps me here, away from you! Like I'm just a shadow, or worse! I don't care about him!"
"Don't you?" Saga said gently. "Well, you should. Thanks to the Pope, you're still alive, remember? We're twins, and people don't see twins as a good omen. But we have the opportunity to become Saints! Thanks to him, you have a home in the Sanctuary and we can still see each other. You can develop your skills and stay with me… even if only for a few hours."
"Saga…"
"Are you worried about the Gemini Cloth? If so, I'll give up on it and you can keep it. I don't care! All I know is that, as harder as this situation may be, it could have been even worse. You know that Pope Shion can't revoke the Sanctuary's laws without Athena here. But I am sure that he'll help us with that when She arrives. And I know he even comes over to visit you sometimes. So, he doesn't really ignore your existence. Don't blame it on him. This is our fate, but thanks to him, we can handle it." Saga took Kanon's hands in his. "Always together, remember?"
"Okay, okay." Kanon seemed a little embarrassed. "But I won't make him anything!"
"You don't need to." Saga gave him a broad smile, then finished his coffee.
Kanon stood. "Enough of that. Let's go to the beach. Ready for training? I'm sure I'll beat you this time!"
When Saga came back to the apprentices' lodge, hours later, Aiolos questioned him about his salty scent and wet hair and clothes, but he only replied with a smile. The satisfied smile of a boy who had had a great time. And he gave no further answers, as usual.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Additional notes:
Hi, everyone! This is my final gift for Boolafaz!
This fic is a special one for me, I guess. Tecnically, this is not my first English fic, but the one I wrote for the Internet Challenge was easier because of its simpler structure. Actually, my participation in that challenge was intended to prepare me for writing this fic (but I couldn't reveal that before XDDD).
What can I say? The moment I saw that prompt, I simply fell in love with it! XD I really love fanfics starring the "Chibi Goldies", and that idea was so lovely! *-* But I was afraid of claiming it because I'd never written an English fic before. But after getting some encouragement, I decided to give it a try.
To be honest, I'd planned to write a one-shot only about Shion receiving the gifts, but I'm too wordy! x.x And I wanted to explain things a little better, and the story was getting longer… I hope that you'll like this fic, anyway =3
Do you like my characterizations for them? I hope they aren't too OOC x.x Milo and Aiolia can't stop arguing… =P Shaka is quite mature for a 6 y.o. boy, but I thought that since he's already been through his training in India, by now he must have had the time to reflect about the human condition, death and so on (taking into account that flashback in the Hades' arc). Maybe the "birthday celebration" idea would sound a bit weird for him. Also, I thought of a Brazilian writer, Rubem Alves, who once wrote a beautiful essay about that topic.
I had to include Kanon here. First, because he is among your favorite characters, and also because I thought that he must be there, after all. But, while I wrote his scene with Saga, I was afraid that his participation might leave a "bittersweet" taste in the fic, taking into account their future (in the series). If it did, I am really sorry about that, for it was not my intention x.x
I would like to thank Vane and Anita for all the support and patience. Thank you so much, girls! You're amazing!
In the next chapter, our beloved (future) Goldies will make their gifts, but something will go wrong for one of them. Stay tuned!
Kissus,
Lune Kuruta
NOTE: I'll be posting one chapter per day, so... the second chapter will be online tomorrow. Thanks for reading! (July 15, 2015)
