Truth to be told, the cavalry was still as far away from the city Helena and the others were in as possible given that they hadn't yet moved from Sanctuary.
Whoever had managed to abduct Aphrodite had done a very fine job of hiding their traces, and what was worse they had enough power to be able to shield the Cosmo of a Gold Saint, making it impossible even for Athena to detect where Aphrodite had been taken.
All the Gold Saints' efforts in playing detective had been for naught and Helena's current mission meant that it was impossible to contact her to get her help in finding her missing Guardian. And while the raven-haired healer had at her disposal an entire army of snakes that could apparently work very well as a scouting party, the same could not be said for Sara who, despite all her goodwill, was still scared senseless at the mere mention of snakes and thus wasn't able to control them and make them do their bidding. Truth to be told, the young Ophiucus-in-training had tried to call forth her snakes, much like Helena had done, and the animals had answered her call; unfortunately, the second one of those snakes had tried to approach her, Sara had released a very hig-pitched yell and had ducked for cover behind the hulking form of the Taurus Saint, thus scaring away all the reptiles. At that pathetic display, Death Mask had really wanted to yell at the girl in order to somehow force her to call back the snakes and act like a proper snake master, but one look into Sara's big, watery eyes, and the Cancer Saint had felt all his anger melt away. Forcing Sara would not yield any result if, in the long run, she was going to be traumatized by the events, and it would definitely not help them in finding Aphrodite.
The Gold Saints could not rely on any supernatural help, but Death Mask knew they had faced worse odds than this and his gut instincts told him that there was a very high chance that, once they managed to contact her, Helena would be able to find Aphrodite quicker than any of them put together.
His gut instincts were proven correct far sooner than he had anticipated, and not in the way he would have though, when the water basin that was used to converse with Manigoldo suddenly sprang to life.
"To whoever is listening: those two have gone on a rampage! The castle is on fire and the people are trying to escape the town before a massacre occurs! I have no idea what they have done to create such a mess, but I can tell you that, somehow, they managed to recruit even the Pisces Saint to their cause..."
And with that, Manigoldo suddenly had the attention of all the Gold Saints.
"Are you sure that it was Aphrodite? Can't you have been mistaken?"
It was probably a good thing that Athena had preceeded him in asking that question, otherwise Death Mask's finesse, or lack of thereof, would have brought about an ugly showdown between the two Cancer Saints that nobody really needed or wanted to see.
"Of course I am sure, Lady Athena! I have spent far too much time around the Pisces Saint not to recognise that specific power signature. Your
Princess is here, and he is very busy kicking butts all around, so if you want to help him, you might want to move!"
Sage wasn't sure if he wanted to hug or hit his pupil for what he had just said: on one hand he had saved them all the time and the trouble of finding Aphrodite, but on the other he had, not so sublty, told Athena off. The Goddess was a very benign deity, but the Pope knew that even the most patient person could snap in the most unexpected moment. The former Cancer Saint had enough experience with different reincarnations of Athena tp know that the Goddess had a very large repertoire of scathing comebacks when she really wanted to.
Fortunately for Manigoldo, the future reincarnation of Athena was far too busy to worry about his presumed insubordination, but the pure venom he had seen flashing in the future Pope's eyes didn't really bode all that well for the cheecky Cancer.
In that exact moment, though, Saga was far too busy to really worry about Manigoldo's insubordination and so he had decided to spare his life on the off chance he could come in handy later on – he didn't know it yet, but his decision would have important consequences in the future. Regardless of what he personally thought of the idiot, Saga knew that Manigoldo was right to tell them to be quick to enter the town: while Aphrodite was a superb warrior, they didn't know whether or not he had been injured in his captivity and moreover it seemed that Helena and Milo had their hands full enough with a sedition of all things! Too many variables and too many possibilities of disaster to simply send one or two more warriors: they all needed to go, that much Saga was certain of. As for how they were supposed to reach that town, the elder Gemini knew that there was only one feasible way of doing so, but he was loathe to ask about it, because the last time he had mentioned the teletrasportation of some of them from Sanctuary to a remote location in China, Mu had threatened him with castration, for having had the gall to think that the Aries Saint was nothing more than a glorified moving service – which Saga hadn't even thought about, but Mu hadn't wanted to hear his reasons, and it had taken the united effort of all the Gold Saints to convince Aries to come back from Jamir.
This time, though, fortunately it was Mu himself who came up with the idea and volunteered himself at the same time and so all the modern Gold Saints started to prepare themselves for an unknown situation in which the only sure thing they knew was that Milo and Helena had played a majour role in whatever was happening.
As soon as they were ready to go, Saga took notice of two problems, one more easily resolved than the other: alongside his own companions, Saga saw that also the XVIII century Gold Saints had donned their Cloths, ready to join the battle. Saga would have never brought that many warriors to such a hazy battlefield, but since at least half of them was staying behind, he could deal with the interference, especially if those Saints weren't his business. The second problem was a diplomatic nightmare that the young Pope was not equipped to deal with: Lady Saori had decided to join them in battle and, if he was reading correctly the stubborn glint in her eyes, she wasn't going to budge on the issue. Usually it was Helena who took care of these kind of things, her familiarity with Saori enough to curb the woman's crazier instincts. Saga had tried to deal with a stubborn Saori only once, but that one time had been enough to scare him off forever, much to his brother's unending delight and Aioros' puzzlement. That time Helena had mercifully stayed silent, but Saga could have sworn that she had been trying to stifle a laugh. This time, though, the young healer wasn't with them, and the headache-inducing job of trying – key word of the entire endeavour – to convince the Goddess to stay behind, well protected inside Sanctuary, had fallen on Saga's shoulders. At the very least he could count on Sage's moral support since it looked like the man knew full well how difficult it was to convince Athena of something.
As if she had sensed what was about to happen, Athena decided to fire the first, pre-emptive strike.
"I will be coming with you Saga, so save your breath and spare us the lecture that it was about to come!"
Knowing it was really no use arguing with her, but also knowing that he needed to make an effort, both for her sake and his pride, Saga tried to explain, for the hundreth time, why the Goddess needed to stay in Sanctuary.
"I wasn't going to lecture you, Milady...I wouldn't dare!"
The slightly arched eyebrow told Saga that he might wanted to lay off the sarcasm a bit, if he wanted to reach some kind of result. Time to play the honesty game, which Saga was loathe to play, but for his Goddess' sake he had already burned in Hell; being honest shouldn't really kill him.
"I wasn't mocking you, Milady! I really wasn't going to lecture you. For one we don't really have the time to play this game, for two I would think you understand the necessities of both your and our rule..."
He really hated being the voice of reason, employing such underhanded methods to get what he wanted, but there really wasn't time to lose and he had a feeling that whatever was happening in the city, it wouldn't be the right pace to bring Athena.
He could see her caving under his logic: Saga knew that, for a deity, Athena really cared about her Saints and she wouldn't knowingly do anything to jeopardize them. But just as he thought he had won the fight without spilling any blood, Saga saw some kind of switch turn on behind Athena's cerulean eyes, and he knew he was doomed.
Truth to be told, Athena had been on the verge of caving, recognizing the logic behind Saga's words: her Saints were already entering a battlefield without a clear knowledge of what they could find. Putting them under the added pressure of having to protect her as well didn't seem fair to them.
She had been ready to politely withdraw when her gut instincts told her to stand by her decision. Athena could not tell exactly what had prompted the need of her presence in the city, but if she had to guess, her hunch had something to do with Helena. She didn't exactly know what had made her think it, but she had the weird, and scary, premonition, that Helena was about to do something crazy again, something from which, this time, she might never return.
"I will not ask you to forgive me, Saga, nor I will explain to you what prompts me to come with you, but I will tell you this: Helena taught me never to discard my instincts, especially if they were warning me! And they are doing exactly that now: I don't know what they are warning me of, but I am not the Goddess of War and Strategy for nothing, Saga, and I won't be dissuaded!"
If the young Pope still thought he had a fighting chance in convincing Athena to stay safely behind, after such a speech he knew he was beaten. He had no idea what could have made Athena so wary that she felt the need to come with them – even knowing the added stress she was putting on her shoulders – but it seemed important enough. Truth to be told, it really wasn't that added pressure to take the Goddess with them: sure, somebody needed to stay with her all the time, but Saga was taking with him all the Gold Saints, so it wasn't as if he couldn't really spare one, or even two Gold Saints to protect the Goddess – he was sure, actually, that as soon as they arrived at their destination, he would only need to point Death Mask in the correct direction, and them sit back and watch him take the city apart with his bare hands.
"Fine Milady, you win! I never stood a chance, but you know I had to try! You can come, but I don't think I need to remind you to be extremely careful, to always stay with your assigned Saints and please, as a personal favour, don't go running towards her as soon as you spot Helena, ok?"
The last request sounded a bit odd to the ears of the XVIII century Saints, but Saori understood clearly the meaning behind it: it had happened only once, and just after they had all returned from the dead. Helena had never complained about it, and Saori had never understood the dangers, until she had started running towards Helena, without even checking if the battle was finished, and in the subsequent commotion – where all the Gold Saints had scrambled to shield her – Aioros, Kanon and Mu had ended up in the infirmary. Helena had found the entire incident extremely hilarious since Athena had never been at real risk, but needless to say, after that Saori had been so embarassed that it had taken her the better part of a month, to be able to look at them in the eye.
Blushing scarlet, and thanking the stars that Helena wasn't there to see her and, of course, to mock her Athena limited herself to one sharp nod before moving away in order to let Saga and the others prepare themselves for the upcoming battle.
"I have to say, young one, that I am impressed at how you handled that crisis! I have, at the very least, double your age and experience with two different incarnations of the same Goddess, and yet I haven't been able to reach that level of confidence you have with Lady Saori."
Barely sparing a glance towards the former Pope, Saga kept surveying the preparations of his comrades, privately mulling over Sage's words. More than half the credit of such a relaxed atmosphere in their interactions with the Goddess could be awarded to Helena and the Bronze Saints: in the two years the Gold Saints had been dead, Sanctuary had run under a slightly more relaxed set of rules, helped by the fact that Seiya, Helena, Athena and the others had been through so much together that it would have been impossible to revert back to the stuffy formality of old. After his ascension to the throne, Saga could have reinstated the old ways, but Athena had firmly opposed the idea, stating that a more relaxed atmosphere would be more conductive in the ruling of Sanctuary. The only compromise they had been able to reach was not to extend such level of informality to the lower ranks -with the obvious exception of the legendary Bronze Saints – and even that had only been possible because Helena had enforced the same things when she had been Pope. To be truthful, Helena had been and still was behind almost every innovation in Sanctuary and more than once, Saga had wondered why she had left the role of Pope to him. But then, Saga thought at situations exactly like the one they were into, and realized that if he did only one good thing in his life, it would be to spare Helena the burden of war, with its inevitable controverse decisions, and the body count higher than Olympus.
"I am afraid I cannot take the credit you are giving me, Lord Sage. As in many other things in our Sanctuary, the credit needs to go to Helena. We had a peculiar situation a couple of years back, and it was all thanks to Helena's courage and perseverance if we are all still here today."
Defining the mess that had happened with Hades a 'peculiar situation' was a bit of an understatement, but Saga knew that he could say no more, for fear of spoiling the future.
"It seems that your Ophiucus Saint is responsible for a great many things! Should I expect the same from young Sara, or are any of the legends surrounding the Snake Master's Cloth true?"
Saga had no idea what would become of Sara – since Helena hadn't appeared worried he was ready to bet that she wouldn't become a threat – but he had a feeling that the legends surrounding the Ophiucus Cloth were all true, they simply had had the luck of finding the less dangerous Saints in that lot.
Not bothering to answer the clearly rethorical question, Saga politely excused himself from the conversation and reached out towards his twin. They still had to prepare a lot of things, and if he was reading correctly the increasingly twitching demeanour of Death Mask, they really needed to hurry before the guardian of the dead decided to grace Hell with their presence once more.
"Move it boys! Only Zeus knows what Milo and Helena would do if left without supervision for too long, and I am afraid that Aphrodite is no adequate chaperone for those two!"
The slightly, but not much, muffled laughter that greeted his order made Saga smile. They could do it! At the end of the battle they would be reunited once again, he was sure of it!
While Saga and the others were about to enter the city, all positively convinced that things were going to be just fine, such positivity did not extend to the three Saints who were already in the battlefield, and didn't see any chance in escaping it with all their limbs still attached.
After having given Aphrodite enough time to rest, Helena and Milo had brought their companion up to speed with their latest discoveries.
"You mean to tell me that this wretched man you have been sent here to investigate actually collects people for his own twisted pleasure?!"
"For the love of Athena, Aphrodite do not yell! There is absolutely no need to broadcast our position to the enemy, is there?"
Realizing that Milo was right, Aphrodite sheepishly apologized: they had been trying to get out from the castle undetected for the past hour, but it looked like the little uproar they had set up as a simple diversion for getting away, had spiraled out of control, causing a sedition in the entire town and forcing their enemy to reveal his true nature.
On one hand, this had finally solved once and forever the question they had been sent to get answers to – namely who exactly was the misterious kidnapper and what did he gain out of it – but on the other hand, it was the kidnapper's real identity that was the main source of concern for the three Saints.
"You are unfortunately right, Dite. This man is twisted but that is something you would expect from someone who had willingly joined Eris, don't you think?"
The silence that answered her question, brought Helena up short.
"Tell me you had noticed it, you two...because you had noticed it, right? Oh stars, you hadn't noticed it!"
"Helena! Stop talking in riddles and tell us! What have we apparently missed?"
Deciding to forgo any remark about their inattentivness for the moment – they were in the middle of a war zone and bickering would not help them escaping – Helena hurried to answer Milo's question.
"The lord of this castle is one of Eris' warriors, much like Kayne had been. I am not positive about his sin, but based on the fact that he has been collecting people, I would say either Gluttony or Lust..."
Clap, clap, clap.
Each of the three claps sounded like a gun shot in the eerie silence that had suddenly descended on the castle while the three Saints had been busy talking. Instinctively regrouping together, with their backs towards each other for better protection, the three scanned the darkness in front of them trying to spot from where the sound had come from. But before any of them could make a move, a saccarine voice sounded in the silence.
"Bravo! Just as it was expected from the great Ophiucus Saint! It's a pity, though, that you have managed to guess my identity so soon, girl...I rather enjoyed seeing your friends trying, and failing, to figure out what was going on. You see, you could say that I collect emotions. Better yet, I feed on them! Every emotion has a particular flavour; some are fresh like ice-cream, some are almost nauseatingly sweet, some are bitter...I like them all and I could eat them all day!"
During the speech Helena, as well as Milo and Aphrodite, had tried, and failed, to pinpoint the exact origin of the voice, in order to strike their enemy, or at least draw him out in the light.
During the speech, Helena had all but confirmed the identity of their newest enemy, and she wasn't really happy about it. Neither the options would have been desirable, but one was definitely worse than the other.
"Oh my! How rude of me! I still haven't introduced myself! I am Lars, lord of this castle and this city and proud warrior of the only true Goddess, Eris! You can call me, Gluttony if you want!"
And with that flamboyant introduction, the man finally stepped out of the shadows.
Helena had had an inkling of who their enemy would be even before his introduction, and thus she also had imagined what he could have looked like. She had pictured a tall, large man, kind of like Aldebaran but way larger and fatter. Still, in her mind the healer had unconsciously picked a relatively normal looking man; what had come out of the shadows, though, was anything but normal. Taller than Aldebaran, it had a vaguely human-shaped form though it was bloated almost to the point of bursting. Due to his massive size he had forgone his armour except for the arm-guards and leg-guards and even those seemed to be painfully biting into his fat skin.
-I really should have paid attention to what I was wishing for, right Master? Now that he is finally out of the shadows, all I really wish is that he would go back in them so that I don't need to look at him any more! I thought I had already seen the ugliest human on earth, but this one easily surpasses him! –
Unbeknownst to her, both Milo and Aphrodite were thinking the exact same thing the young healer was discussing with her constellation.
"Am I not what you were expecting? Don't be shy, you can tell me exactly what you are thinking! Even if you do not, I can tell anyway! After all, I have already told you...I crave emotions!"
The slightly deranged laugh that followed the creepy proclamation made Helena uneasy; the last time she had heard such a laugh, she had been staring Arles in the eyes, while the madman kept raving on about one killing or another. The circumstances had changed and so had the people, but Helena knew that whatever was going to follow this time would be equal, if not worse, what had happened with Arles. Nothing good ever came from such unhinged people.
No sooner she had thought it, their enemy moved. Helena would have loved to tell herself that, regardless of the speed, she had seen his move, but that would have been a big, fat lie. In spite of the years she had spent training to see light-speed attacks, Helena had missed it. She wasn't the only one, the only difference was that she was able to see the consequences, while Milo and Aphrodite felt them, given that they had, suddenly and unexpectedly, found themselves splayed onto the walls.
"Milo! Dite! Are you ok?"
The spray of blood that came out of Aphrodite's mouth was a good answer as any, and it actually told Helena that her Guardian had snapped at least one of the ribs he had previously bruised. She only hoped that it wouldn't end up piercing his lung, otherwise the Pisces Saint was going to be in far more danger than they had anticipated.
"APHRODITE!"
Helena moved quickly, trying to get to her Guardian's side to assess the damage and eventually heal him – she still couldn't heal anything that wasn't Cosmo related, but she figured that, in this instance she might get lucky.
Afraid of being stopped, Helena moved warily through the rubble, one eye on her target and the other fixed on their enemy, ready to move at even the slightest provocation.
But, contrary to everything she might have predicted, Gluttony did nothing at all, simply leaving her free to reach for her injured companions. Helena knew that she needed to worry about the fact that they hadn't been attacked yet, but she had been given a great opportunity and she would be stupid indeed to waste it. Moreover she had the distinct sensation that they were missing something vital, but she couldn't quite put her fingers on it. When she finally reached Milo and Aphrodite, she wasted no time in activating her Cosmo to assess the damage. Unfortunately for her, and Aphrodite, it looked like the damages that he had sustained, especially the last one, had been inflicted manually, thus making it impossible for her to do something about it immediately. Aphrodite needed a normal healer and time to heal: Helena could be that normal healer, but she knew that she would better serve him by buying the time both him and Milo needed to run. Death Mask would have a fit about it – especially after their last talk – but Helena knew that there was no other choice: she needed to fight alone, to draw their enemy's attention long enough that her brothers could escape and rejoin the others.
"Milo…"
"Absolutely no, Helena! If the next words out of your mouth are along the lines of 'I am staying here to cover you', get that right out of your head! You just promised Death Mask that your stupidly reckless days are over! If anyone has to stay back it can be Milo!"
Helena should have been offended, she really should. After all she had always prized her freedom in making her own choices, and Aphrodite had just basically ordered her around like she was some incapable 5 years-old, something he had never done, not even when she had been a child. But even though Helena knew that had it been anybody else, she would have skinned him alive, in this case the young healer could not find it in her to be pissed at her Guardian. Because it was painfully obvious that Aphrodite was worried, worse he was panicking over the fact that his instincts were telling him that if he let Helena go, he might not see her again. The Pisces Saint had always been aware of the fact that, as a Guardian, he could actually order the other Saints to do his bidding, if this involved his charge's safety. Still, it was a power he never had neither the inclination nor the occasion to use not wanting to either embarrass Helena, or force his companions to take on missions that could prove fatal for them. In that moment, though, Aphrodite had forced the issue, basically ordering Milo to stand behind and risk death, just to let them run. A part of him was ashamed of the egoistic request he had just made of the Scorpio Saint, but he had lost so much time already with Helena, that he almost didn't care about the dangers and the possible heartbreak he was going to put both Milo and Camus through.
Turning his head to the side, ready to face whatever expression of pure, unadulterated hatred that Milo might have decided to bestow on him, he was taken aback when there was no such hatred on his companion's face, but guilt. A whole lot of it.
"I am so sorry Aphrodite…"
Before Aphrodite could actually ask him why he was being sorry for, Milo managed, if just barely, to lift both his arms in front of him, and with a horrified gasp, the Pisces Saint finally understood. The Scorpio Saint hadn't even thought about hating the Pisces one about his request for him to take Helena's place; no, he had wholeheartedly agreed with it. Stopping Helena's latest round of "self-sacrificing stupidity" as Death Mask had called it, had become the second top priority of all the Gold Saints, second only to protecting Athena herself. By the time they would finally manage to get back to their Sanctuary, all the Gold Saints knew that they were going to suffer through a lot of nightmares all of them depicting the heart-attack inducing stunts that Helena had performed in the past months alone. In this particular instance, Aphrodite's request hadn't fazed Milo in the slightest – not even his less than polite tone had been enough to put off the Scorpio Saint, who could actually understand how any kind of Helena-induced stress could be fatal for one's politeness – if anything, he would have castrated the other man if he had ended up letting Helena stay behind without protection. But Gluttony's attack had put a rather huge wrench in any plans the two older Saints could have about Helena's safety.
While Aphrodite had been smashed rather harshly against a wall, thus breaking his previously injured ribs and putting him at risk of piercing a lung, Milo had not been spared. Fixing his sky-blue eyes in his companion's storm-coloured ones, Aphrodite tried not to flinch at the sheer agony it must be to have not only one, but both of his hands twisted and broken. With both his weapons out of commission, Aphrodite knew that if he asked Milo to stay behind that would only condemn him to death, and despite the fact that he loved Helena far too much to be probably healthy, he knew he could not, would not ask, his brother to sacrifice his life. He wouldn't forgive himself if he ever ended up acting on such a selfish desire and he knew that Helena would gut him with her bare hands just for thinking about it.
"I cannot buy you much time, but I will do what I can! Just…just tell Cam…"
"Absolutely NO!"
"No fucking WAY!"
The synchronized yell actually took Milo by surprised and he only barely managed to refrain from jumping back in sheer fright.
"But…"
"No buts Milo! Shut your mouth and open your ears because I am not going to repeat this! You will not stay behind! You weren't going to stay behind regardless, but the state of both your hands has made this decision rather imperative! You are both injured and if you don't get to a healer soon there are going to be consequences, ones that not even I can offset, are we clear?"
"But…Aphrodite…"
Whatever Milo was about to say, he wisely decided to swallow it quickly after being subjected to such an icy glare from Helena that had him almost cowering behind Aphrodite. Taking pity on his brother, Aphrodite decided to speak up and put in actual words what Helena had tried to convey with a glare.
"Forget what I said, Milo! I will not let you sacrifice yourself when there is another choice, even if said choice is making Helena enter a battle alone just to cover our pathetic asses! If you had even one hand intact I would have considered your request, but as it is forcing you to battle will only end up in your death, and that is as far away from what I want. I know that, as a Guardian, it should be my job to keep the Ophiucus Saint out of trouble even at the expense of the others, but in time I understood that the Guardians' job is to protect, not suffocate their charge. Helena is really our best choice out of here, especially if she keeps the stupid stunts to a minimum!"
The last part was actually said in a hissing undertone coupled with a meaningful glance towards Helena, who simply rolled her eyes at her Guardian's paranoia and simply ignored him.
Before Aphrodite could actually protest over the fact that his charge had rolled her eyes at him and scoffed at his so-called paranoia – she was partially right, of course, and half of his worry was actually paranoia but he would never admit it! - Helena had shoved them both out of the way with strict instructions to find the others – especially Sara who could, at the very least, apply some basic medical care to the both of them – and not to worry too much over her because she would be following them soon enough.
Once they were finally out of her hair, Helena let her shoulders slump down in semi-defeat and heaved a big sigh.
-I hate it when I have to lie to them, Master! I cannot go on like this for much longer. I feel like a wreck every time I look at them in the eyes and tell them that I will be following when you and I know that I say that with far more certainty than I really have…one day I will not be able to follow them and this will break them more than anything else in the world… -
As always, her Cloth didn't deign her of a verbal answer, but she could feel it in his sigh, right next to her ear, that he agreed with her. They were both playing with fire, especially in that very moment, but they both knew that there really wasn't another solution. The Snake Master could only hope that what his host feared would not come to pass and this time, like all the future times that he was sure were coming, they could return safely back to the others.
"You could have let them stay, pretty girl! You did not have to send them away, not with such a finality! I always say, the more the merrier and the were producing such delicious emotions that it felt like you were depriving me of a juicy snack!"
- And that's exactly why I sent them away, you creep! –
Helena had just thought the last comment, but somehow she had the terrifying feeling that the man in front of her knew exactly what she had thought about. Hoping that her enemy didn't really have the power to read minds – because she did not need another complication on top of the ones she already had – it took her far too long to realize exactly what was the problem and how he had been able to glean what she was thinking. Gluttony did not have the power to read minds – which was a big relief in on itself - but he had something else that it might prove to be just as dangerous: he could read emotions. Worse, he seemed to crave them, up to the point in which he was more than willing, and able, to manipulate the circumstances to gain what he was most craving for.
"So you did realize then! I hoped that you would…after all, it makes it far more interesting when people realize what I am about to do…more challenging!"
At that proclamation, Helena couldn't help but cringe. It hadn't taken her long to really understand the reason why Gluttony had crashed her companions through a wall, but had left her miraculously unscathed. That had been no show of cavalry or gross misunderstanding on his part, but a well-thought choice. He had wanted her specifically, and he had wanted her alone. He had felt her protectiveness towards Milo and Aphrodite and had played his cards just right so that she would be forced into a position where she simply had to send them away, staying behind to cover their escape. Normally she wouldn't be excessively bothered by the fact that the enemy had singled her out, under the assumption that he could take her out far more easily than the others simply because she was a girl. She had a list a mile-long of people who had made exactly that mistake and they were either six-feet under or had been so scarred by the encounter that had abandoned the world of fighting altogether. Helena had spent years cultivating her fake-innocent persona for exactly that purpose and, whether or not her Guardians or even the rest of the Saints agreed with her, the young Ophiucus Saint was more than capable of taking care of cretins – even weapons-wielding one – on her own. Usually.
In that very moment, though, Helena was very far away from her usual confidence because of the one, little, thing that she had purposefully failed to mention both to Milo and Aphrodite. Truth to be told, Helena hadn't said anything not because she had really wanted to keep it a secret, but because she hadn't thought that it would have become a problem in her current mission. It was supposed to be a simple recon mission and she should have stayed with Milo all the time. She should have known that things would have never played that way! But, regardless of what she had or had not told the others, there was one, inescapable truth that only she and the Snake Master knew, but could prove fatal for the both of them: Helena could not launch her attacks.
She wasn't defenceless, far from it! Her nightmarish upbringing had at least one positive side, which was the fact that Helena could use her other attacks, but her signature ones, the ones that only she could use – and that, incidentally, were also her most powerful and precise one- where out of her immediate grasp. She had noticed her difficulty right after having returned from her impromptu honeymoon in Hell, but at that time she had chalked it up to the fact that she had spent a lot of time in Hades' realm without being officially bonded to Athena and she had thought that her powers had been on a fritz. But as the days passed and her control over her powers slipped, she had started to suspect something afoul. A quick check with the Master had confirmed her suspicions and had given her also the reason behind it: the majority of the Ophiucus' power came from a deep seated hatred towards Athena and her Saints.
The fact that, finally, after eons the true story had finally been told, had meant that all the hatred that the Ophiucus Cloth had always lugged around had finally dissolved, unfortunately taking with it also a large part of the Cloth's power. Technically it wasn't completely true: the Ophiucus' power had not vanished overnight, but it had been rendered dormant, waiting for the right key in order to be unleashed once again. Hatred had proved to be a very good catalyst once, but with the new and improved relationships between the Cloths, bot Helena and the Master knew that it would not work anymore. They needed to find a new catalyst, but until that moment nothing they had tried had worked. And that was the reason why Helena could not use her own signature attacks against her current foe; her most powerful one was completely our of her reach – being completely based on hatred and negative feelings, it had completely stopped working when the hatred had been gone – but even her snakes seemed to have trouble obeying her, and her barriers were on the verge of disintegration.
While she had entered battles in worse conditions – the two years in which the others had been dead had been a very trying time – she had never gone against such powerful foes with such poor odds, not when she actually cared if she lived or died.
-Any ideas on how not to get blow up to pieces? –
