"Basilisk Stare!"

The attack had taken them all by surprise, that much Helena could see. Not only they hadn't really thought she was going to attack them, but no one, except for Saga, had really seen that particular hit.

And while the others had only been able to stare like idiots at the golden light that was directed towards Aldebaran, the Pope had, without much success, tried to open up his Another Dimension, in a last ditch attempt to at least divert the attack somehow.

But his weakened Cosmo hadn't been enough and it had been with lead in his heart and ashes in his mouth that he had seen the golden snake materialize in front of them and the proceed to turn Aldebaran into stone.

Once again the silence was deafening.

"Oh cazzo…"

As always Death Mask's lack of finesse was astounding but, in that very moment, Saga thought that it summarized very well what everybody else was thinking.

"Aldebaran…"

The pained whisper had Saga turn towards the origin of the attack, only to have his heart breaking at the sight of a destroyed Aries Saint on his knees with tear track running down his cheeks. Everybody had known of his macroscopic crush on the good Aldebaran, everybody except the Taurus Saint himself. But the petite man from Jamir had done nothing during their years together and the others had contented themselves to watch the two develop a friendship like no other! But now, to have everything so crudely ripped away, by someone everyone considered a sister, was horrifying beyond belief.

Saga quickly looked at Helena, hoping to see at least a small flicker of remorse, something anything to tell him that she really hadn't meant to hit Aldebaran, that it had all been a huge fucking mistake.

But her eyes – the eyes of a snake, his brain supplied – were stone cold, no regrets in them, no emotions at all. Her eyes reminded him so much of Arles, of his own eyes during those terrible years, that a cold fury enveloped him.

With a barely human snarl he closed his fists and readied them to do something that, until an hour before, he had thought impossible. He was ready to punch Helena, to make her suffer like she had done with Aldebaran.

Apparently he was not alone in that line of thinking. Quickly, and with nary a word his brother Kanon sided with him, the two of them more than enough to use the Gemini powers at least once. Soon all the others joined them, fists ready and hearts breaking.

As easily predictable both Death Mask and Aphrodite hadn't moved, eyes still on the young girl they had sworn to protect.

"What are you doing Helena? Why are you attacking us like this?"

Ever the cool-headed one, Aphrodite had tried talking to Helena, hoping, against all reason, that she was simply victim of a cruel attack by somebody else.

"I am not under anybody's influence dear Aphrodite…I am simply doing what I should have done ages ago! I am taking care of loose ends…"

The cold delivery of an even colder speech had left everyone in the room frozen. The only one still unruffled by the nightmarish turn of events seemed to be the Goddess, but Saga and the others wasted no time on pondering why exactly their Goddess wasn't even a bit worried about her strongest warrior turning against her companions.

The cold, unfeeling, lights of the dead surrounded them and Saga knew that Death Mask had entered the frame. For a moment he thought to order both him and Aphrodite to stay out of the battle, knowing very well that it would be heart-breaking for those two having to deal with their loved charge.

But a quick look into Mask's eyes – emotionless pits of cold fury – had him change his mind very quickly. The Cancer Saint wanted to fight for Helena's soul and wanted to be the one to put an end to that misery. After all, it was his responsibility as her Guardian.

"Oooh…the Gold Saints united! What's with the long faces, brothers…you look ready to slay an enemy…"

"You have lost your right to call us brothers, filthy snake!"

Saga didn't know how much it had cost Death Mask to say those words but his respect for the man rose a thousand times. But they had been so busy readying themselves for battle that they completely missed the flash of hurt into those crystal eyes.

A flash that didn't go unnoticed by the Goddess who could only pray that, this time, Helena did truly have a strategy behind all of this, and that she wasn't going to have to seal the soul of the Ophiucus once again.

"Enough talking! She is going to pay for what she did to Aldebaran!"

And with those words the peaceful and cool headed Aries Saint charged forward, followed by all his brothers in arms.

If they had thought that, by being more numerous they could have taken the Ophiucus down more easily, they could have never been more wrong.

With an easiness born of years of practice Helena dodged the first wave of hits directed her way and just as easily she activated her Cosmo and sent almost all of her assailers flying.

With the knowledge of repetition Death Mask hadn't punched Helena on the first assault and was then able to avoid being hit by her rebound Cosmo. Easily jumping over his fallen family he closed his fist and let it fly, finally understanding what Helena had had to endure during his brief stint as a Spectre seemingly out for Athena's blood.

When his fist met flesh – the sickening crunch of her nose breaking was going to hunt him for eternity – he dared open his eyes, praying to see a hint of something into those cold, cold, eyes.

But his prayers weren't destined to be answered, and Helena's upwards knee soon found the soft tissue of his stomach.

Spluttering blood – the wound on his stomach had reopened – he quickly ducked out of the way of the incoming Aquarius no Camus, whose legendary frozen façade and heart, where visibly cracking under stress.

A pained grunt from his left alerted him of another, almost forgotten, problem they were facing.

"Mind the snakes! She speaks to them! They are extremely venomous! Try not to get bitten!"

A distorted laughter rang from his right side, far too close to his ear for comfort.

"Forgot the snakes again, dear Mask?"

Before Death Mask could find the presence of mind to retaliate, Helena had been forcefully dislodged from his shoulder by a haunted looking Aphrodite.

"You ok, Mask?"

"Just peachy, Dite! Don't worry about me! I'll be fine, but we need to stop the bitch, before she deals out any more damage!"

Again, another flash of hurt into lilac eyes, unnoticed once more, except for the Goddess and another blue pair of eyes.

"Oi, Saga! Alone we are sitting ducks! We need to regroup and think of a strategy together!"

Ten heads turned slightly towards the silver haired Saint, briefly acknowledging the logic behind the suggestion and as quickly as they started attacking they retreated to the far corner of the room to form a strategy.

So high strung with adrenaline they were, that they failed to notice that, while they were discussing the best course of action, they were left exposed to any incoming attack, especially from a person still capable of using her Cosmo. But no attack ever came and, while the XXI century Saints seemed not to take notice of this glaringly wasted opportunity, the other people in the room could help but wonder why the mad girl, who had made no qualms about killing them all, was passing such a good opportunity.

The brief lull in the battle soon ended and the battle cries of the hardened soldiers resounded in the vast room, alongside the slow but sure rising of their cosmos.

Smirking at that, Helena readied her stance, arms outstretched with palms facing outwards, ready to create a barrier if necessary.

She watched them as they took position, their gestures so familiar to her that it broke her heart seeing them. Helena knew what was about to come, and she was very aware of the fact that she had just one shot to make things right again.

So, when the golden forms of her family's constellations sailed through the air towards her she summoned her Cosmo, ready to deliver the most perfect act she had ever had to perform.

"Stone wall!"

A heavy looking wall burst forward from the bowels of the earth, seemingly stopping all the attacks from reaching the girl.

In the split second of calm, before her brothers had the time to shift into an effective defence position, Helena launched her attack.

"Mirror of the Hydra!"

When the brilliant light of the supernova created by their combined attacks, died down Saori, Sasha and the XVIII century Gold Saints were greeted by an unforgettable sight.

Mu, Saga and the others were lying on the floor, blood slowly seeping from the newly opened wounds, pooling around them.

Slightly apart from them Helena still stood, even though her hunched position suggested she would find laying down a better position, panting heavily and clutching her side, where a red splotch could be seen, spreading fast.

"Oh stars! Helena! Are you all right?"

Knowing she couldn't collapse right in that very moment – as wonderful as that sounded – Helena forced a smile and a curt nod to her Goddess, trying to convey, without moving too much, that she was just peachy.

"Did you kill them?"

The soft question, uttered by the young Ophiucus, echoed in the too silent room like a whip crack in the silence.

"No, she didn't...her intention had never been to hurt them…she was simply trying to save them, right?"

The simple question shocked Helena just as the man who had uttered it.

"How did you know, Manigoldo?"

"It wasn't that difficult…I have seen you fight as Phi, and from what El Cid, Deuteros and Kardia had told us, you are a far better strategist that you let on. Plus you're so powerful you are deadly without even trying. Except, this time, you tried. You tried to be not deadly. You could have killed them with a flick of your wrist and yet your attacks missed them by a mile. You could have seriously hurt them, but you just taunted them enough so they could raise their cosmos, to attack you. And moreover I am pretty sure that your wall can rebound and redouble the attacks that crash onto it, and yet you have used their own weak attacks as rebound. If they had been less idiots and had thought this through before letting the fists fly, they would have easily seen it. You wanted them to attack you. For what purpose I still don't know, but they played right into your hand."

"How do you know I didn't want to toy with them, before killing them? And what about Aldebaran? I attacked him point blank…"

"But you haven't killed him…as far as I know as long as the Basilisk who casted the spell is still alive, and the statue has not been broken, the stone can be transmuted back to flesh, right?"

The way Albafica had delivered his piece of news could have fooled any man into thinking the man himself was beyond bored and uninterested. But Helena had had enough dealings with the Pisces Saint to recognize a glint of curiosity, as well as a sliver of respect in that cool demeanour.

Leave it to Pisces and Cancer to come to her rescue! Even though she had treated them poorly those two cloths still looked out for her.

Smiling softly she inclined her head to acknowledge Albafica's words as true and she slowly limped towards the immense statue of her brother.

"Why did you hit him? Of all the people you could have hit, why Taurus? You could have easily turned to stone somebody else, you would have obtained the same result! Or did you target Aldebaran to make Mu mad?"

For a moment she had forgotten how insightful Shion, like every other Aries, could be. She had never personally met him as Pope, having been recruited by Saga, after the murder of the old Shion, but the stories she had heard from Mu, had painted a very detailed picture of the man in her mind. Picture that was now slowly coming to life in front of her very eyes.

Now she understood why Athena had chosen him, of all people, to represent her for more that two centuries.

"I could have turned anybody else, that was true, but Aldebaran was the best choice, my only choice. As for the fact that it made Mu furious, well that was an added bonus and if this will teach that stubborn ram to stop procrastinating and start acting, well then…it will be an unforeseen blessing! But I did transmute Aldebaran of all people to protect him…"

While talking Helena had gotten closer to the Taurus statue and with a burst of Cosmo she touched the stone and released the flesh.

"Protect him? Why?"

"Because I was the only one whose connection with you hadn't been severed, right?"

Quickly turning to look at the gentle giant in the eyes Helena could not contain her tears in front of the other man.

"I am sorry Aldebaran…I really didn't want to hit you! It was the only way I could think off to save you…"

A gentle hand, the size of a shovel, caressed her face and forced her to meet his soft brown and understanding eyes.

"I know, dear sister! I could feel you! You have nothing to be sorry for! You have saved me and you even managed to save them! I am sure they'll understand what you did, once they wake up! Trust me, you'll see…"

Smiling faintly she let the words of the other man reassure her, hoping against her gut feeling that the too trusting Saint wasn't wrong.

But something inside her told her that the road for forgiveness might not be as smooth as they all seemed to think.

"And now you have to tell me how in the world you have managed to make Mu, the most stubborn man I have ever seen, admit his feelings! If I had known that being turned into a giant stone statue would have had this effect on him, I would have asked you a lot sooner!"

The boisterous laugh, drowning everything else, shook Helena from her morbid thoughts. Allowing the older man to sweep her up in a crushing hug she let go of her fears, simply basking into the easy happiness radiating from the gentlest of her brothers.