Notes: I actually wanted to update it on my birthday yesterday, but I have missed the deadline somehow *is depressed* Oh well, at least it's not too late to put this up now. I'm sorry it has taken so long. Hope you like it everyone~
So, the chapter keeps on getting longer and longer. I really wonder about that myself. There seems to be so much to write but so little space to put them. I really must blame Minos and Hades for the length of this chapter though (about 4K words?!). Both of them are not satisfied with having a short screen time and always demand for a longer one every time I write about them *sighs* And in the end, I end up writing this monster of a chapter to satisfy those duo. This gets to be the longest chapter I've ever written I guess. Hope it'll suit to everyone's liking.
Anyway, I try a new writing style this chapter; it involves a combination of several POV changes during the story. So, please tell me if it confuses you (more than usual).
To make it easier to understand, this chapter will start by focusing on Tenma and Hades, then moving to Minos and Albafica before going back to Tenma and Hades again. It'll follow that cycle till the end of this chapter — or at least, I hope it will. *sweatdrops*
As usual, lots of thanks to those who have reviewed: BlueRuins15, Guest 1, Guest 2, Tora, Peanut-Butter-Jell'O-Sandwich, Raixander, Ihatehomeworks, Skycendre, Fisca Rinata, IAmAwesome, Allemona, animeluver1827, JustPassingByExcuseMe and Purestrongpoem. Thanks for the wonderful reviews you have given me! I am always squealing happily when I find a new review alert in my inbox. Your reviews surely are very precious to me! I'll be looking forward to your future comments everyone. So please keep them coming! *bows* Once again, thank you!
This chapter goes to my dear Sky, my new 'sister' Rai-nee, and my beloved kitten Konya. Thanks for listening to my rambling and sharing your opinion. Wish you never get tired of me, girls XD
Without further ado, enjoy!
Standard warnings and disclaimer apply.
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Yours Ever
Chapter 3
And There Was War
(Part 2: The Deal)
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Guilt, sadness, anxiety, anger
My heart is full of them
I can't sit by and watch anymore
I have to go
...
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Tenma had followed the servant through the deserted hallway into what he assumed was the way to Alone's studio. They had only been walking no more than a few minutes, but the brunette had given up on remembering his way back considering the number of turns and twists that they had to take. The journey, although was said not to be a long one, had been very confusing. The hallway had looked so similar to one another, and there was no map to show them where they were or which way they should be headed. He wondered how the servants, or rather anyone, could ever find their way around this maze of a castle.
Turning into another corner, the small bronze let his mind drift into what had happened so far. He had woken up only a few hours ago, dazed and confused, to a young maid curtseying on his bedside, claiming to be under direct order of the Dark Lord himself to serve and prepare him for the day.
He had looked around the room then, searching for the said Lord but finding nothing but a faint trace of cosmo left behind. He had voiced the thought out loud, together with the question on how long he had been unconscious. The maid had taken it in stride, explaining calmly that he had been sleeping for three whole days, and that Lord Hades was currently busy attending some important matters and had requested for the Pegasus saint to be brought to his studio once he woke up.
And that was it. He didn't even given the chance to collect himself before the maid had suddenly called the other servants and told them to bring him to the bathhouse.
What followed was a flurry of activities of getting him ready and presentable for Lord Hades. He remembered with a blush how several beautiful young maids with near-transparent robes had appeared out of nowhere and tried to assist him with his bath and fitting into new clothes. He had never turned so red nor ran that fast in his life before. Some of the maids had been very confused by his antics, while the rest had simply giggled at how cute their new Lord was. They had been quite persistent in helping him, but, thankfully, after much yelling —or rather yelping— on his part, they had finally decided to get out and leave him alone. Things have gone somewhat better after that. The maids had then brought him some foods and let him eat in relative peace. Every five minutes or so, they would start asking whether he enjoyed the meal and would like a second serving, or if there was anything in particular he wanted. Any other time, he might have asked for them to bring the aformentioned second serving and everything they have in the kitchen, but then remembering that he was currently in the Underworld, in Hades' abode no less, was enough to make him lose his appetite. He ate what little he could before requesting to meet their precious Lord Hades.
And here he was now. Being led by a servant, thankfully a male one this time, to where hopefully Alone had been waiting for him.
"We're here, my Lord."
Tenma blinked as they suddenly stopped before two large metal doors. The servant had turned and bowed to him, his right hand gracefully gesturing to the closed doors, "Lord Hades has been expecting you inside his studio, my Lord."
Not used to being addressed with such flashy title, the boy fidgeted uncomfortably, "Ah, yes, thank you." At the expectant look the servant sent him, he then hastily added, "You can leave I guess."
The servant gave another perfectly trained bow before finally leaving, "As you wish, my Lord."
Tenma had waited until the retreating servant had turned around the corner, sharp clicks of his shoes fading with the distance, before turning back to stare at the closed doors cautiously.
Even at this distance, he could already feel the dark cosmo of the Emperor seeping behind the closed doors. He stood back, wondering who would stand behind these doors once he opened them. The servant had said Lord Hades had been expecting him, but which one were they talking about? The kind-hearted Alone he knew since his childhood or the evil Hades incarnation he had become?
Giving another weary glance at the huge metal doors, the fifteen-year-old took a deep breath and gave the door a determined push.
The only occupant of the room had turned at the sound of doors opening and sent the newcomer a welcoming smile.
"So you finally come,"
Standing before him, without doubt, was his old childhood friend. The now dark-haired Alone had given him the angelic smile he usually reserved after Tenma had got back from a long trip or had finished a particularly arduous task for their small orphanage. Looking at the smile had filled him with a sense of familiarity and longing. He longed for his home, their old home, the orphanage and their normal life. The life he decided to go back and the person he wanted to return after completing his saint's training.
"Alone..."
He raised his hand to touch the smiling cheeks, hope a growing warmth inside his chest.
To finally have the old, pure-hearted Alone back.
Another hand had taken hold of his and wrapped it in a secure grip.
But of course, it was too good to be true.
The words that the raven said following his kind smile successfully shredded every ounce of hopes in him.
With a clench, Tenma watched as the smile turned into a feral one.
"Welcome, dear Pegasus."
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Lives controlled by my fingertips.
How vain life is.
You have seen how weak saints are, haven't you?
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Tenma had frozen in disbelief as he saw the saints fall one by one. The people he knew, the saints and trainee he had befriended with during his short stay in Sanctuary were being slaughtered before his very eyes.
He threw a fierce glare to the direction where Hades was sitting. The Emperor had stared at him with an unbearably self-satisfied smile painted on his lips. "Is there something wrong, Pegasus? Is the view not to your liking?"
His only response was to turn his back on the chuckling Emperor.
Hades must have enjoyed tormenting him. After tricking him into believing he had the old Alone back, the Lord of the Underworld had laughed and told him he would show him something good. Something which apparently were the invasion in Sanctuary and the destruction—the slaughter—his specters were capable of.
And the bastard had the nerve to laugh and call this enjoyable, Tenma clenched his hands into tight fists, fighting back a wave of nausea at the sight of another two silver saints met their gruesome end. Their neck and whole body twisted like a broken human doll.
Despite this, more saints had appeared before the specters, intent on not to let them enter their Holy Ground. He was forced to watch as the approaching saints had also met the same fate as their comrades on the hand of Griffin Minos and his subordinates.
Dead, all of them were.
None was sparred.
A feeling of despair and helplessness was threatening to choke him. This time, there was no Goddess nor comrades to soothe or chase his fear away. Tenma fought back the urge to simply close his eyes and pretend that all of this didn't happen.
The saints, they had all died for no reason.
"You have seen how weak saints are, haven't you? They are no match for my specters. Soon the world will submerge in the quite darkness."
"Hades…" The brunette stopped short of telling the dark Lord to shut up as he took in the raining rose petals and a new Gold-clothed figure who had appeared on the screen. Fear and relief momentarily flooded his being at seeing the newcomer.
Relief at finding and believing someone at Gold Saint's level would surely be able to stop the advancing specters.
But fear, unending fear, of the small child in him who wouldn't want to see more of unnecessary death.
That man, he had introduced himself as Pisces Gold Saint.
But he, would he fight there alone?
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"I'm Albafica, Gold Saint of Pisces."
"One of the Gold Saints. You came all the way from the Twelve Zodiac Temples huh?" the Griffin said in lieu of greeting, eyes glinted dangerously as he ran his eyes over the Gold Saint's figure. He'd be lying if he said that he didn't enjoy what he saw. "That man. He is so beautiful."
Following the man's movement as he gracefully jumped from the broken pillar, the Judge began imagining all kinds of things, all kinds of tortures, he would love to put this saint through. His face twisted into a predatory smirk.
He'll make a great puppet, Albafica of Pisces.
The said Pisces, apparently used to receiving such treatment, had ignored the look the leading Specter was giving him. Instead, he focused on baiting the lower specters into attacking him. It usually worked like a charm; low-class soldier were known to rely more on their brute strength rather than intelligence, "Jumping into death on your own, how foolish. Like that man said, this is Demon Rose. If you're ready to die, come inside my garden."
The newly arrived Gold Saint then gave his spectator a small, mocking smile, "Or will you go back as a loser, Specter?"
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Tenma grinned, depressing thought momentarily forgotten, as he looked at Albafica's confident stance. He didn't know much about the Saint of Pisces, because, as Dohko had repeatedly told him, Albafica had always shied away from humans' contact and locked himself inside his garden, preferring the company of his roses over anything else. But now, looking at the proud and unwavering figure, he was sure that the so-called fairest saint would be able to stop the specters from advancing any further.
He continued watching as one of the specters apparently warned the Judge to not be deceived by Albafica's look, because, he, like the roses in his garden, was poisonous.
His grin was becoming steadily bigger as the Pisces defeated that Nobe, or Nobu whatever, specter with his Crimson Thorn.
However, his joy appeared to be short-lived as the Judge, Griffin Minos, had apparently taken interest in the fight and would personally fight the Gold Saint himself.
Tenma fought back a shudder as he watched how Minos looked at Albafica. It was not a look one would usually give to his enemy. It was a look that reminded him of those greedy, upper class kids who couldn't wait to play with his new toy and break it.
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"You'll make a great puppet, Albafica of Pisces."
"You won't be able to move a finger at will. Anyone caught by these invisible strings will turn into my puppet. Even for a Gold Saint like you."
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"No..."
"Yes, Pegasus. Open your eyes and see the real power of my specters. See how weak the invincible Gold Saints are."
Because to play with the weak is the privilege for the strong.
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"Honestly, I didn't expect someone with such beauty would have such a fierce fighting spirit." Griffin Minos was basking in satisfaction at the surprised look on the Gold saint face. Surely, the man couldn't have expected his petty Crimson Thorn to hurt him, could he? It might have worked on lower specters such as Nobe. But not on him, Griffin Minos, one of the three renewed Judges of the Underworld.
"But you're not strong enough."
The Griffin taunted, letting his cosmo burn around his fist, which in turn activated the strings he had tied around his beloved doll.
"Not strong enough to resist my attack."
He broke the man's remaining arm by mere flick of his fingers. The Gold Saint grunted but didn't make another sound or move against the pain.
The silver-haired specter smiled sadistically, "Not strong enough to get past me." He flicked his wrist, and another loud cracks ensued as the legs were also broken. "And not enough—" he gave a particular hard twist to break the saint's ribs, "to defeat me."
Despite the extent of the injury he now supported, the Pisces had raised his head and gave the Judge another poisonous glare, "Bastard…"
Minos responded this with another arrogant smirk of his. It surely was fun while it lasted. Pity he had to end it all too soon. After all, he couldn't let Lord Hades wait longer than he already was. He still had a Sanctuary to obliterate and a Goddess to kill. "You are the marionette that I have the most fun with, Gold Saint."
He locked his eyes with those of deviant blue.
Pity indeed. He would love to have the opportunity to play with this pretty flower longer.
"Goodbye, Pisces Albafica."
But as he was about to deliver the finishing blow that surely would end his enemy once and for all, a foreign cosmo had suddenly interrupted him.
"Stop."
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It was moments before the Pisces' defeat—and possibly eventual death—that Tenma finally relented.
"Stop him."
Hades smirked. "I beg your pardon?"
Tenma turned his blazing eyes to him, "I said stop him! Them! You must be able to do that!"
"Indeed I can. But why I should do that? They have presented a beautiful color of darkness for me."
"I…" now the boy didn't look at him, but back at the wounded Pisces before letting his bangs to cover his eyes. " …please stop them, Alone."
He lifted the boy's face enough to look into his eyes. Crimson-brown met with deep blue.
"And what do I get in return, Ten-ma?"
I have not finished showing death to you, my dear Pegasus.
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Minos, along with the remaining specters that were now scattered around Sanctuary, froze at hearing the commanding voice. This cosmo that resounded within their soul…
"Lord Hades." They instantly dropped down into a kneeling position as the image of their dark God was projected into their mind.
"Leave Sanctuary. I want you all back at once."
The order was met with a few protests from the present, mostly lower class, specters. "But my Lord—"
"Silence." An invisible pressure had abruptly pushed the protesting dark knights onto the ground. They broke into cold sweat as they 'saw' Lord Hades narrowed his eyes dangerously at them, "Are you trying to defy my order, my specters?"
Struggling again the heavy restraint, the said specters shuddered, "N…no, my Lord."
The pressure lingered for a few moments before it disappeared completely, causing the dark-clothed soldiers to finally release a relived breath.
The Emperor presence remained to give them a short "Good," before retreating to the corner of their mind.
And with that, the connection was abruptly cut off.
Getting back to his feet, Griffin Minos brushed off the imaginary dust from his surplice as he pondered silently on his new order. It was strange of Lord Hades to suddenly order their return when he had previously approved of this mission. Sure, Lady Pandora had been the one to command the attack on the Sanctuary, but for the Emperor's unexpected change of heart...
He shook his head. It was not his place to question a direct order from Lord Hades; he would not be as foolish as his fellow specters.
The Griffin spared a glance at his newly favorite doll for a moment before withdrawing his strings. The blue-haired saint had crumpled to the ground the instant the strings were taken off him. Both his arms and legs had been broken, and this far he had remained standing because of the strings that held him.
"It seems that we have to cut our meeting short, Gold Saint," the Judge muttered as he slowly approached the fuming Pisces. Taking the man's face into his hand, Minos noted with pleasure that the Gold Saint indeed looked as beautiful as he expected him to be. This close, he could see the man's feature crunched up in pain and open disgust, full lips drawing in short, ragged breath; long, silky blue locks loose and tangled in slight disarray; and fair skin slicken with sweat, mud, and blood. It was truly a sight to behold. He caressed the man with unexpected gentleness that betrayed his earlier action. "I must thank Lord Hades for ordering me to stop back there. I'd hate to mar that beautiful face of yours any further."
Albafica spat at him.
There was a momentarily silence as the Griffin gave the wounded Pisces a long, contemplative look before calmly began wiping his face, "Such attitude, Gold Saint," and struck him hard across the face.
The force of the blow had been hard enough to send the bluenette flying. In his weakened state, Albafica hit the huge boulder with a loud crash before dropping lifelessly onto the ground. Hacking coughs erupted from the fairest saint as blood started trickling out of the corner his mouth and his many wounds.
Taking deep, ragged breaths to clear his suddenly blurred vision, Albafica stubbornly raised his head to send a venomous glare at the unsmiling specter. The man had unexpectedly stayed silent this time, choosing to momentarily regard him with a strange look before turning around and begin walking back to the direction where he came from—to the Underworld, away from Sanctuary at least.
What…
Feeling his consciousness dangerously slipping, the Guardian of the Twelfth House only had the chance to see the Judge waving his hand carelessly and slowly disappearing from view before sweet oblivion had consumed him.
"We will be seeing each other again, Albafica of Pisces."
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Hades turned to the other occupant of the room as he felt the last of his specters' cosmo teleported back from Sanctuary. There would be time to address his subjects later, but for now, he had a certain Heavenly Steed to deal with.
The Lord of the Underworld noted in amusement that the brown-haired saint had not moved from his original position. The boy had simply stood there, looking anxiously at the "mirror" which allowed him to see the Sanctuary in its current condition.
Tenma had continued watching in silence as Shion appeared and attempted to heal the badly wounded Albafica the best he could. A small smile had unconsciously formed on his lips as he saw Dohko come running moments later and shouted for his fellow saints.
Now he was sure that Pisces Albafica would survive the whole ordeal. His wound had looked bad enough, but with everyone's help the fair saint would certainly recover in no time. At least, this way, one—out of the many—saint would come out of this alive. A surviving Gold Saint. It would hopefully give Sasha an advantage over Hades in this Holy War.
"You are only delaying the inevitable, " a voice stated in a matter-of-factly behind him. He turned slightly to see A, no—Hades leaning comfortably against a pillar with his arms crossed before his chest. "My specters can crush all of your precious Gold Saints anytime they want."
Tenma had mumbled an indecisive "I don't care," before looking back at where the saints of Athena were currently helping each other and clearing the destroyed parts around Sanctuary. Somewhere around the Eastern border, he watched Yato and…Yuzuriha? ran through the commotion with a determined look on their face.
So they made it back safely. The Pegasus saint smiled, feeling an overwhelming sense of relief at seeing the two alive and kicking.
With a renewed vigor, he intended to search for more familiar faces when the mirror had blurred and abruptly turned black. "What—?"
"That's enough." There was a strange note of annoyance creeping on the Emperor's tone. Tenma turned to look at him, wondering what had gone wrong this time. Hades had seemed pissed for some reasons, a far cry from his usual arrogant and apathetic appearance.
"I have no intention to play or being played with." The raven said with a hiss, bringing them together by a rough yank onto Tenma's arm. The brunette stumbled but had quickly gained balance. "One wrong move and I won't hesitate to send the specters back to kill all your precious friends. We have a deal, Pegasus. Don't forget that."
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…
I can't return to Sanctuary anymore
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End of Chapter 3
To Be Continued
to
Chapter 4:
Your Pledge, My Allegiance
Preview of the next chapter:
"Then tell me, Pegasus. Who better deserve your loyalty, the boy who always stays by your side or the girl who has left you both?"
Notes:
*is dead* Finished it a least…
I give up, really. This chapter had sucked all of my energy like a d*mn leech!
I hope it's up to your expectation because I don't know what else to do if you don't. Tenma and Hades have been very difficult to write, the same goes to Minos and Albafica. There is actually none of them who are easy to write -.-
It's a very very long chapter by my standard. I usually stop around 1K words, so this one comes as a big surprise even to me. And it could actually end up longer if I didn't stop Lord Hades from going all they way with his dear Pegasus -
I bribe him by saying there is always a next chapter where he can torment Tenma as he wishes. And you already get the hint what the chapter is about from the preview I just give you~ Lord Hades is really looking forward to that one, so I hope you also will be too! It's quite "fun" if I must say myself *grins*
Anyway, there are several things I would like to clarify since this story will be quite different from the canon:
I know that the servants in Hades' castle, as illustrated in vol 16, wore veil instead of normal clothes. But I decided to let them wear normal maid/servant clothes in this story.
The invasion to Sanctuary did not happen before or during Alone's meeting with Tenma in the Underworld, rather it happened a few days after that. The reason? Let just say that Lord Hades has different plan in mind. Baiting, and blackmailing, Pegasus being one of them.
Albafica didn't die…..yet. Neither did Minos.
I think that's all for now. I'd add some later when I remember them.
As usual, review please!
No review no future chapter, which could lead to a grumpy Lord Hades since he didn't get the chance to torture Tenma. So R-E-V-I-E-W! \(^.^)/ XD XD XD