Chapter XI and probably the toughest chapter I had to deal with up to now! I won't be updating until a week now, since I'm moving away and won't have internet until then. But as I continue writing the story, I should upload very soon non the less :)

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CHAPTER XI

A HEART OF GOLD

The journey to Sanctuary had taken a bit more than a day, bringing them to its gates just before nightfall. Milo had arranged for the two of them to rest in one of Athen's numerous hotels until the night was dark enough for them to creep inside Sanctuary. There was a secret passage he had found while still a child which led from the remains of Acropolis to behind Sagittarius temple, in the heart of the Goddess's stronghold, or so he had explained to her in many details.

It was already well past midnight when Milo returned to meet her, carrying a pair of strange clothes and what seemed to her like a wig.

"What the Hell is THIS?" she asked him, bewildered, pointing at the wig disapprovingly.

Milo gave her a mocked hurt look.

"Well, I suppose I can draw a line on your thanks!"He huffed, pretending to be genuinely offended. "These are for you," he continued, pushing the small package in her arms. "They will help you pass unnoticed inside sanctuary."

She examined closely the fabrics and found a brown body suit, green leggings, pink leg warmers, a yellow sash, a silver mask and of course, the wig of pale green hair.

She wrinkled her nose in disapproval.

"You could have told me you wanted me to taint my hair in green."

For only answer, Milo raised his eyes up to the sky in despair, though Cora's answer had secretly amused him. He gestured for her to get changed and waited while she isolated herself in the bathroom to do so.

"These clothes resemble those of an Amazon from Sanctuary. It will help you pass through the remaining temples from Sagittarius to Aquarius without catching too much attention. But most of all: never let go off that mask. All women wear one in Athena's stronghold, all except the Goddess of course. Don't let people look too closely at the one I gave you though, " he continued. "This one is a simple trainee's mask whereas this person's mask has markings upon it showing her link with a special constellation."

If Milo could have seen her, he would have noticed her nodding as he spoke, trying to fit the green wig on top of her black curls as she did so.

"This is ridiculous," she winced, as she came out, clearly upset. "I resemble nothing!"

As he took in her appearance, Milo had to hide his awe and surprise for the Amazon outfit fitted her perfectly well, revealing her athletic body. The wig, though, was a complete disaster but it would suffice to do the trick. Shura, the Capricorn Saint, would surely neither hinder nor speak to them and his temple was the only one they would come across on their way to the Aquarius' dwelling. She was taller of course, and clearly older than the Ophiucus Saint but Shaina was but barely known past Cancer temple, there were few chances for Cora to be discovered.

"Don't be too severe with yourself," he said smirking. "you don't look to bad, apart from the wig of course."

Cora simply glared at him before placing the mask securely on her face.

"Let us go, shall we?"

Milo simply nodded in agreement and begun to lead the way. The Acropolis and its expensive hotels were already far from the city's moving districts and it was without any need of hiding that both cousins managed to reach the passage way's entrance which Milo had spoken about. Sand and rocks had fallen over the small entrance after all the years it had remained out of use and both had to crouch in order to finally slip inside the opening in the mountain's side. Gently, Milo took Cora's hand so to guide her around the maze of rocks and both of them begun their slow journey down to Sanctuary. But though he had used this passage many times before during his childhood, the young man was far from knowing all of its treacheries by heart and soon found himself tripping over rocks and fallen branches that came from he did not know where.

"Pah, if only we had some light!" he finally hissed in exasperation, cursing himself for not having thought about it before.

Cora chuckled and forced him to a halt.

"You should have asked earlier, cousin, for the dim light does not hinder me the least. I shall lead the way and tell you when crossroads appear."

Milo was appalled by her answer. How was it possible for her to see so well in the dark when he, a Saint of Athena, was unable to do so?

Meanwhile, Cora had taken the lead and begun scanning the walls, having noticed a few marks of paint and drawings from time to time. The light was faint, of course, but she could still decipher the main aspects of these painting, though none had represented something coherent yet. Suddenly, a great fresco appeared on the wall to her right, having her gasp in surprise. Twelve arcades had been drawn upon the smooth white wall of stone, a person neatly drawn under each one of them. Parts of it had been erased, probably because of old age as the paintings seemed to date of Antiquity, judging by the traits used for its realization. Four were still clearly visible and she squinted her eyes slightly so to better discern the details of each creation.

Under the fifth arcade was a tall red haired man, two dots clearly visible on his forehead in the stead of his eyebrows. She frowned slightly, remembering having seen a familiar face before. In the sixth arcade was a tall and beautiful woman, drawn with her eyes closed and elegant Indian clothes in different shades of magenta. The image had been done with care, and had probably been repainted in earlier days, which, she though, would explain the reason if it being so well discernable. Then her eyes caught the image of the last two figures in arcades nine and eleven. The last one represented a tall fair haired man commending to the elements of water and ice, his face beautiful and stern. Though she was sure never to have met such a similar person, she would not have been so presumptuous with the woman depicted under the ninth arcade; a woman in Greek outfit and strange aquamarine long hair, standing before a sinking city.

No, she thought, it was ridiculous. These paintings were extremely old, she was imagining things. But the resemblance had still caught her attention, and she would not let it go unnoticed.

"Milo," she whispered, "Can you see this?"

"See what?" the man asked in surprise. "I see nothing!"

"Nevermind, it must have been my imagination," she quickly added, not wanting to alarm him any further.

Milo felt she was once again concealing the truth from him, though he chose not to insist on the matter. Why couldn't she trust him fully? If only, just once in his short passage on this earth, someone tried to put his trust in him, he would truly be blessed. But somehow, he thought bitterly, it seemed as though his life as an assassin perspired from his every pore, repelling all those who might have, someday, tried to befriend or approach him. No in truth, Milo was not happy. He had never been, mostly since Aioros' betrayal. Only Camus had accepted him as a friend, though never sharing much but his presence had been already more than he would have wished for. Then, there had been Cora, and things had begun to change. He had soon realized pretending to be someone he was not in front of her would never work. In fact, he had never even tried to have a façade before her, he had been simply bare under her stare. And though he barely knew her, even doubted her being his natural and true cousin, he had been ready to lose his only friend for the sake of her happiness. And here he was, going against the law of Athena by bringing a total stranger inside Sanctuary, at the eve of a war against an usurper and a bunch of renegade Saints, simply to fulfill the request she had asked of him. To see Camus.

He clenched his fists as the image of the aquamarine haired saint appeared before his eyes. No, he could not forgive him, nor forgive himself for what he had said. There was too much to mend to ever dream of recreating a bound which had been quite fragile already in the first place.

"Milo!" came Cora's worried musical voice. "Are you all right?"

He nodded in agreement, though his stance said otherwise and she gave him a small squeeze on the arm.

"You are frightened of facing him again, are you not?" she asked, concerned.

"You don't know what I have said," he answered in a whisper, hiding the quavers in his voice.

"Milo," she urged him, "I'm sure you are exaggerating. I feel you are a man of honor and someone who can be trusted when it comes to friendship. Somehow, I feel your heart is a heart of gold."

At these words, he felt his heart melt and a small tear threatened to spill from the corner of his eye. He didn't deserve such a praise, he knew it, but to receive such a compliment was more than what he had ever got in his whole life time. And more than he would ever get, he was almost certain. How could Camus have rejected such a wonderful person? He couldn't understand. They had been like a brother and a sister in their early years, surely such bounds could not be so easily destroyed. Suddenly, he felt the cool chill of the night breeze caress his face and realized they were now close to their goal.

As usual, the Sanctuary was fast asleep when they emerged from beyond Sagittarius temple. The atmosphere, though, was one of great tension as all were awaiting the fake Athena's arrival for the next day. It would end in blood, he knew it. It always ended in crimson tides, no matter what their decisions or actions. War was ugly, no matter whose side you were on; as an assassin, he knew he was the hidden its hidden force and he hated it.

All into his thoughts, he did not realize they had by now passed Capricorn temple until he found himself face to face with the high columns of Camus' home, stopping dead in his tracks.

"I can't go any further," he declared, full of melancholy. "You had better go by yourself."

She gazed back at him, uncertain.

"But Milo, I…"

"Don't argue," he snapped, almost regretting it right away. "I… I just can't do it."

Cora finally nodded and entered into the temple's main hall, disappearing from Milo's view. He could have followed her, kept watch over her, tried to amend things with the man he had once called his friend, but no. In the end, he knew that whatever the outcome of the upcoming war, things would never be the same between Camus and Him. Never.

Meanwhile Cora had made her way inside the Aquarius temple, following the sound of what she thought was music playing. Truly enough, she soon recognized the sound of a piano playing Chopin's Tristesse*, coming from behind a distant door. Taking a deep breath, she slowly pushed the door open, barely revealing herself in the dim light of the corridor.

He was there, playing on a small and old grand piano, his back turned on her. A small candle was giving him a bit of light, set upon the piano's desk part, its light gently playing in the sway of his hair. He must have felt her presence for he quickly spun around, forsaking his music, prepared to deal with any unwanted visitor.

Upon seeing her appearance, his eyes widened slightly in surprise, and he rose from his chair in order to look at her more closely, clearly bewildered though his cold features revealed little of his surprise.

"Shaina?" he asked, warily, "are you not supposed to be on guard's duty?"

Cora finally entered the room fully, letting out a small sigh of sadness.

"No, Camus. It is not Shaina."

His back straightened slightly at this revelation. That is when she reached for her mask, letting it slip away from her face, ripping her wig away at the same time.

"It is I, Cora."

She was not sure how she had expected him to react but his silence was clearly not what she had hoped for.

Still looking at her in silence, his face emotionless as ever, he finally turned his back on her, without any other formalities.

" Get out, " he demanded, coldly.

Cora felt her heart stop in her chest, and the world seemed to crumble slowly beneath her feet.

" Camus, wait! I…"

"I said: GET OUT!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, freezing an unfortunate pot of red roses next to him.

She did not try to speak again, simply turning her heels on him and ran out of the temple, running past her cousin and down back the secret passage which would lead her back to Acropolis. She did not even turn around to answer Milo's frantic calls, threatening to awake the Capricorn Saint as he did so. She was running too fast for him, no matter how hard he tried to catch up with her. After a race which seemed to him like eternity, he finally stopped, nearby Shura's domain, panting for breath. He had heard Camus' yells ad at first thought he might have mistook her for the Ophicius Saint but when she had ran out bare headed and without her mask, he had understood; though he could not understand Camus' reaction no matter how hard he tried.

He clenched his fists and ran back resolutely to the Aquarius temple. It took him little time to find his former friend, serving himself a glass of wine as though nothing had happened. Milo gritted his teeth and plunged his fist into to wall on his right, leaving a large hole in its stead. Camus simply gazed at the impact, an empty look upon his face and continued sipping on his wine.

"What sort of monster are you, Camus, to treat her like that?" he spat, disgusted by his reaction.

"I have no excuses to give you, Scorpion. Plus, you know as well as I do that strangers are not allowed within Sanctuary. I merely did my duty," he answered, coldly.

"Is it all you see?" Milo continued, appalled by his answer. "She came all the way to see you, no matter what the risks were for her, is this nothing, even to you?"

Camus only shrugged, showing his back on him.

"Look at me when I'm talking!" Milo yelled, as he grabbed the French man by his shoulders, forcing him to look at him. "You are a real jerk, do you know that? Don't you care for anyone on this planet? Or is playing around with them all you appreciate? Is this what you like, torturing her like that?"

To his utter surprise, Camus slapped him on the right cheek, throwing him to the ground in the process.

"Shut up! SHUT UP! You know nothing, do you hear me? NOTHING about me and of my feelings!"

The Scorpio Saint chocked, spitting a bit of blood as tried getting up to his ffet again. He grinned sadly and whipped the blood away from his mouth, Camus raging just above him.

"What are you smiling at?" he glowered.

"That makes it even," the other answered, sadly. "One hit for each cheek."

"What are you talking about, I only hit you once!"

"I was not speaking of you."

Milo averted his eyes, gazing at the floor for a while. Soon, his posture changed and he felt he was once again the assassin of Sanctuary.

'You don't deserve her, Camus," he continued, bitterly, his voice trying to cover his boiling anger. "You don't even deserve the time she has given you. If only you weren't my brother in arms, I would gladly kill you on the spot!"

"Then kill me, Milo," Camus answered in despair. "I am already dead anyways."

The answer caught him off balance, having stare incredulously at his former best friend.

"Now, if you will excuse me, I have a battle to prepare for and so do you. Go back to your temple."

And Milo finally left, letting him slam the door once he had gone, but the Scorpio Saint did not leave, not just yet. He needed to know, needed to understand what had happened to the man he had once seen as his only family.

Camus had started playing again, this time something far more violent than Chopin and Milo thought he recognized the Moonlight Sonata's third movement. The melody was hard to recognize by times, making Milo wonder whether he had been right in recognizing the piece. It was only after a while that he realized Camus was banging on the keyboard, more and more frequently and each time hitting harder. Suddenly the instrument gave way and he thought he heard the shattering of wood and ivory clattering on the marble floor.

The crash was then followed by a deep and frightening silence, interrupted from time to time but a strange sound which Milo had never heard before in Aquarius temple. That was when he realized Camus was crying. The cold hearted, careless and heartless jerk that he thought the Aquarius was, was crying. Somehow, nothing had prepared him for this and he suddenly felt the urge to slip back into the room and comfort his friend, albeit all the words he had said but he knew it was not right.

Setting his hear against the wooden door, he continued to hear the Aquarius crying and amongst his sobs, he heard Camus speaking.

"I didn't have the choice," Camus was sobbing. "Tomorrow I shall die facing Hyoga and there is no alternative to that."

Hyoga. Camus' disciple. One of the renegades. So Camus had been planning to die all along? No. He could not, would not accept it. It would not be!

Hat a fool he had been, not understanding any of Camus' feelings. He had only rejected them to protect them, going all the way up to renouncing to the person he had ever cherished the most in his whole life.

He clenched his teeth in a mere attempt to hold back the tears which were now flowing freely down his cheeks. Fool of a Scorpio, he thought. Now the end is near, and you will never have the chance to rebuild this friendship you held so dear.

He knew though, it had struck Camus the hardest: losing both Him and Cora in the process.

Then it dawned on him. Scorpio temple stood before Aquarius. It would then be of no difficulty for him to take care of the boy before he ever had the chance to meet Camus. Thus he would be saved and there would be time for them to rebuild the bounds of friendship they had lost. And Cora… He hoped she had returned to the hotel without any harm. In the end, he had been the one to end up being a total jerk, not Camus. Cora had been wrong. It was not him, but Camus who had a true heart of gold.

On the other side of the door, Camus had finally noticed Milo's presence and smiled bitterly as he slowly regained composure.

You cannot save me this time, Milo, he thought. I will not meet Hyoga in Aquarius Temple, I will meet him in the Libra one thus by no means will you be able to stop me. I lost a lot, but I find solace knowing I shall die, delivering those I love from all the pain I have brought upon them.

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"Haha! I finally take your queen, dear brother!"

Hypnos glared at his twin, and watched mournfully as the black fool took away his white queen.

"The loops of the trap tighten around Athena's Saints," he continued, changing slightly the subject. "In the end, that boy will have been of great use to us."

Hypnos nodded and made way to move his knight.

" Adonis has proven his qualities. I think it is about time we release his spirit, don't you think? Oh, and by the way, Hypnos, check mate."

The God of Death tossed aside the white knight with his dark pawn and grinned evilly, as Hypnos sighed in frustration.

"I suppose, since you have won, I cannot truly go against your decision."

"Indeed not."

Rhadamanthys rolled his eyes in annoyance before blurting out:

"Adonis, Adonis, you speak of him all the time, yet, you have not told me who he is on this Earth and how he will be of any help to us in the first place!"

"My, Wyvern, you need to check your mythology a bit more often," Thanatos declared, dismissing him with a small movement of the hand.

"Adonis was known for being the most handsome of all mortals to have been born", Hypnos continued. "Aphrodite, falling in love with him, asked Persephone to keep guard of him until his adulthood. Unfortunately, our Queen fell in love with him as well because of his extraordinary beauty and power over women."

"That is why he shall seduce our queen, and bring her down to hell along with him," Thanatos concluded, as Radamanthys stared at him in complete shock.

"You mean to seduce Persephone back into hell, But what of her rightful husband, our lord and King?"

Thanatos smiled evilly while his brother only laughed quietly.

"Don't worry, Wyvern, the Twin Gods always think of everything."

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* "tristesse" means Sadness in English.

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