Chapter 8
By: MysticFantasy (taken over from MimiYamatoForever)
.
.
Although his legs were a little shaky, Degel found the strength to follow Seiya to the upper deck with Kardia at his side.
The three men walked out into the open and were welcomed with the sight of various saints peacefully slumbering on the deck under the star filled sky.
The former Aquiarius and Scorpio followed Seiya to the ship's wheel where they spotted the present Gold saints.
"On your feet so soon?" Dohko teased.
"You know how stubborn we both are." Kardia replied with a smirk.
Degel watched as a young brunette man walked over to him. He couldn't help but notice how much the man reminded him of Sisyphus. Nearly everything was indentical except that this man was slightly shorter and his hair is a darker shade.
"Hello Degel. It's an honor to meet you." he greeted. "I'm the present Sagittarius Gold saint, Aiolos."
Degel accepted the offered hand and shook it.
"It's a pleasure to meet you," he said. "You...I apologize in advance if I mistakenly call you by the name of the Sagittarius saint I knew. Sagittarius Sisyphus. You remind me of him greatly."
"I understand." Aiolos said with a kind smile. "Dohko and Seiya have mentioned before that several of us resemble the past Gold saints."
"Some as far as being similar in personality." Dohko said with a grin as Camus walked over.
Degel did his best to hide his amazement at the current Aquarius saint. The cloth was similar to when he had worn it but he could see the small differences. The wearer himself looked very much like him.
In all honesty, the biggest difference was their hair and eye color.
"Hello Degel. It's a great honor to meet you. I am Camus, the present Gold saint of Aquarius."
Degel lightly smiled.
"I never believed I would meet my successor." he said as they shook hands. "From what I have heard from Dohko and Tenma, you are a great Aquiarus saint."
Camus felt himself smile, hearing such a thing from a previous Aquarius saint.
Seiya stood back and watched with a smile as Degel was introduced to the others. It was wonderful to see Degel and Kardia among the present Gold saints and it brought back memories of his life during the previous war.
He and Dohko had been right in claiming that several of the present Gold saints looked and acted similar to the previous ones. Seeing the two revived saints talking with the present ones, Seiya almost felt like the past had come to the present.
It really looked like Degel and Kardia were talking to Sisyphus, El Cid and Shion.
Seiya could only wonder how Dohko was feeling at the moment. To see the same thing that Seiya was seeing and possibly thinking the same thing. Dohko knew the previous Gold saints much better than he had when he was Tenma. Hopefully the Libra saint was feeling overjoyed that he had two of his friends back in his life.
.
[]
.
The sun had risen by the time the ship docked.
Degel and Kardia were overwhelmed at the sight of everything. The village before them looked much different from when they had last seen it.
It was much larger, had a great number more people walking about, newer looking buildings were present and there were things the two were not even sure how to describe.
Once the ship was tied down, several soldiers and locals came onto the ship and began to help unload everything.
Seiya was quick to explain that present villages were as quick to help anyone from the Sanctuary as people were in the past. It was seen as a great honor among the people to help the saints.
As they were leaving the ship, Degel had wanted to stay behind to see Seraphina. The young woman had not regained consciousness during the voyage and he had been told that someone would see to it that she is taken to Sanctuary safely.
For now, the former Aquarius followed the remaining saints.
Kardia, on the other hand, was taking in the sight of everything as they made their journey to Sanctuary. His child-like curiosity was telling him to explore everything but he had to remind himself that he could not leave the group.
If permitted, he would surely come back at a later time to explore everything. The things on the ship alone made his curiosity and yearn for adventure awaken with great passion. Seeing this town made that passion grow.
It reminded him of the time he had traveled away from the Sanctuary with Sasha at his side. Not having known at the time that she was Athena, Kardia had taken her to a tavern before his fight against the Jaguars.
It had been quite the adventure and he was sure that this time around would be even better.
The path to the Sanctuary was the same as when it was in their time and the security was greater. More guards were seen on the outer borders of the sacred training grounds.
Then, after passing the border wall, they were granted the view of the temples and palace. Though it was very different from the Sanctuary they had known, it was still very simliar and very beautiful.
"It looks...so glorious." Degel mused.
Kardia nodded in agreement.
The training grounds, the twelve temples, the fire clock, the palace...It all looked very much like the Sanctuary of their time but it was still very easy to tell apart from their own.
"Come, we shall take you to see Shion and Lady Athena." Aiolos insisted.
"And I'm sure the remaining Gold saints would like to meet you as well." Milo added.
Kardia and Degel gladly followed the saints as they made their way to the stairs leading to the twelve temples.
As they walked, the two former Gold saints didn't fail to notice that they were recieving many looks from the people they passed.
Surely it was either from their resemblance to the current Aquarius and Scorpio saints or news of revived saints had spread throughout Sanctuary.
Passing through the temples quickly proved to be an amazing experience to Degel and Kardia.
As they walked through the temples, Degel and Kardia were impressed with the layouts and individual touches but were a little confused as they were not met by the temple owners. They could only guess that the missing Gold saints were waiting to meet them at the palace along with Shion and Athena.
Camus had explained that the temples were recently rebuilt due to their destruction during the many battles that had happened. Nearly each temple had suffered during each of the battles but when the peace had finally come they were able to restore the twelve houses to greater glory.
The two revived saints were impressed with the Scorpio and Aquarius temples. Both were very suiting to the zodiac they represented but they also possessed a comfortable atmosphere.
At last, they made it to the palace. When they walked through the main doors, Kardia and Degel began to feel slightly nervous. Although they both felt silly for feeling this way.
After what felt like hours, they reached the doors to the throne room.
Degel and Kardia did their best to calm their sudden nerves as Aiolos and Shura opened the doors and allowed them in.
