A new chapter! Yay! This chapter is a bridge to what I would consider the Silver Saints Arc of the story. This is the part that originally did not exist, since I intended to follow the plot of Legend of Sanctuary. I think this will be a lot more interesting.
Disclaimer: I do not own Saint Seiya or any of the included characters. They all belong to Masami Kurumada.
"Go to bed. All of you. We'll talk in the morning."
Aiolos stood on the balcony of the Kido family's mountain villa, deep in thought.
He, along with Saori, Tatsumi, and the young Bronzes had arrived at the mountain villa several hours ago. Ikki, Esmeralda, and Talus's partner had arrived less than an hour ago. Aiolos had declared bedtime for everyone, since it was late and he could tell that everyone was tired.
Aiolos, however, couldn't sleep. He had tried, briefly, only to be up within minutes, his mind too worked up to settle down.
Talus's sudden arrival had brought up thoughts that, Aiolos was rather ashamed to admit, hadn't occurred to him in months.
At first, when he had arrived in Japan with Athena, most of Aiolos thoughts-those that weren't focused on Athena's safety-had fallen towards his brother. What was Aiolia doing? What he okay? What kind of danger was he in, being the brother of a supposed traitor? As the years had passed, those thoughts had faded slowly, turning from a fierce burn into a dull ache. But Talus's arrival had brought those thoughts and worries to the forefront of Aiolos's mind again.
Talus's partner was another thing keeping Aiolos up. He had turned out to be Shun, Ikki younger brother. But where the green-haired boy had once been sweet and shy, he was now quiet and almost cold in demeanor. Aiolos couldn't begin to imagine what had happened to make the once cheerful child into such a blank slate.
The sound of the balcony door opening forced Aiolos out of his thoughts, drawing his attention to Talus as the Silver Saint stepped out of the villa and joined him.
"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" Aiolos asked quietly.
"Shouldn't you?" Talus countered. "We can afford a night's sleep before we start worrying about what's going to happen next."
Aiolos pursed his lips. "Much as you have a point, I can't settle down."
"Thinking about your brother?" Talus asked softly.
Aiolos nodded silently. "I don't think I can even begin to imagine what he went through because of me."
"Do you want to hear about him?"
Aiolos nodded.
"I won't lie." Talus said slowly, as though choosing his words carefully. "Aiolia went through a lot because he's your bother. He was accused of being in league with you, of planning to try to finish what you started. A lot of people treat him like dirt even now, after more than a decade."
Aiolos perked up slightly. "What do you mean, 'trying to finish what I started'?" He demanded.
Talus gave Aiolos a blank look. "The Pope told everyone that you tried to kill Athena, and that when that failed, you tried to kidnap her, presumably to take her somewhere else to finish the job. According to what he said, Shura killed you and brought her back. As far as the whole of Sanctuary is concerned, Athena is still there. That's what I believed, until I saw her here with you."
Aiolos felt his shoulders slump. Of course Saga would say something like that. If it got out that Athena wasn't in Sanctuary, there would be chaos. Another thought occurred to him suddenly.
"What does Aiolia think of me?" He asked hesitantly.
The look that spread across Talus's face made Aiolos's heart drop.
"At first, Aiolia was stubborn about it. He tried to hold out hope that you weren't guilty, but the more people blamed him, the more they went after him for what you supposedly did, the more that hope faded. He blames you for everything now. I've heard him say it."
Aiolos tilted his head back to stare at the sky. Above him, the stars glinted brightly. "Do you believe him?" He asked.
Talus was silent for a long moment. "Yes, and no. I think part of him hates you. He went through so much, heard so many people tell him it was your fault that he was suffering, that he eventually started to believe that. But... you're also his older brother. Aiolia respected you so much. I don't think it's an unsalvageable situation."
Aiolos found himself smiling wistfully. "I hope it isn't. But that hope will only take me so far. Sooner or later, we'll have to go to Sanctuary. I don't know what I'll do if Aiolia doesn't believe me."
"You'll find a way to make him believe you." Talus said firmly. "And whatever happens when we confront Sanctuary, I'll be by your side."
"I know you will." Aiolos said, turning to rest a hand on Talus's shoulder. "Now get some sleep. We have a lot to talk about in the morning."
Talus snorted. "Only if you do."
"Deal." Aiolos agreed, as the two Saints turned to head back inside the villa.
The next morning the entire group gathered in the living room, situating themselves on three couches or against the walls.
"What do you mean 'Saga is responsible for what happened sixteen years ago'?" Talus demanded sharply, staring at Aiolos.
Ikki watched as Aiolos sighed, relating the same story he had told Ikki and the others several weeks ago.
"You saw his face? You're sure?" Talus asked.
"Completely. It was Saga." Aiolos said steadily.
Talus shook his head in confusion. "You knew Saga better than anyone. What reason could he possibly have for trying to kill Athena?"
"I don't know." Aiolos admitted. "I just know what I saw."
"As interesting as this conversation is, we've been over this already." Saori interrupted in a slightly impatient tone. "We have no idea why this Saga tried to kill me. I think it's time we moved on to more important matters."
"More important matters?" Seiya asked. "Like what?"
"Like what we're going to do next." Shiryu cut in. "We can't hide here forever. Sooner or later, Sanctuary is going to find us. And they'll send more Saints to attack us."
"We need to confront them head-on." Saori said.
"Head-on? Are you crazy?" A voice scoffed. Everyone turned to Shun, who had been standing in silently in a corner up to this point.
"Watch your tone around the Miss you brat!" Tatsumi snapped.
"Tatsumi." Saori said sharply. "Let Shun speak. What are your thoughts on this, Shun?"
The young Saint was silent for a long moment. "We can't just rush into this head-first." He said slowly. "Altogether, we have six Bronze Saints and one Silver Saint, plus a single Gold who doesn't even have his armor. Those are terrible odds when we're talking about going against Sanctuary."
"Shun isn't wrong." Talus said. "We can't just attack Sanctuary with this small a group."
"We may have a small group, but at least we're not going in blind." Hyoga said. He turned to Talus. "You must have some information that could help us."
Talus pursed his lips. "I'm only a Silver Saint, and I'm not exactly the most trusted Saint in Sanctuary, so there's not much I can tell you."
"What do you know?" Saori asked. "You knew Aiolos well enough to believe he was innocent when no one else did, that has to mean something."
Talus chuckled. "Now that's what I'd expect from Athena. Very observant."
Everyone stared at the Fox Saint. Talus sighed.
"I was a Gold-level trainee before I was assigned to train for the Fox Cloth. I am, to an extent, familiar with all the Gold Saints of Sanctuary."
"You can tell us about the Gold Saints?" Shiryu asked. Talus nodded.
"Tell us everything." Saori instructed.
Talus sighed. "I don't have much on any of the Golds, and a lot of it is just speculation on my part.
"Aries Mu hasn't been seen in Sanctuary almost since Aiolos left, he disappeared without a word and hasn't been seen since. Taurus Aldebaran is pretty reckless, the type to hit first and ask questions later, but if we could prove that Athena is with us, I'm confident he'd be on our side. The Gemini Saint is Saga, and as far as most people know, he sacrificed himself to let Capricorn Shura kill Aiolos. Then there's Cancer Deathmask. He's cruel and twisted. I've been in his House, and its walls are covered with the faces of his victims. He doesn't discriminate-I've even seen the faces of children on his walls. Aiolos's younger brother Aiolia is the Leo Saint. He's as convinced of Aiolos's guilt as the rest of Sanctuary, but I might be able to talk some sense into him. I don't know much about the Virgo Saint Shaka, other than that he's called 'The Man Closest to a God'.
"The House of Libra has been empty for over two hundred years, although its Saint is supposedly still alive. Next is Scorpio Milo. He's more loyal to Aquarius Camus than to Sanctuary, but that won't make him any easier to convince of the truth. Capricorn Shura is probably the biggest problem. He's considered a hero for killing Aiolos and saving Athena, and he's almost fanatically loyal to Athena. He'll be the hardest to convince, I think. Aquarius Camus... I think he might know the truth already, but I don't know for sure. And as for Pisces Aphrodite, he only cares about power. The likelihood that we could convince him to side with us is... small at best."
"So there are a few we might be able to convince to join us, but we can't bet on it." Esmeralda summarized.
"Pretty much. I doubt we'll have much more luck with the Silver or Bronze Saints either." Talus admitted.
"What we need is more information." Aiolos said. "Any ideas?"
"What about our masters?" Shiryu suggested. "Perhaps we could talk to them."
"Yeah!" Seiya cheered. "Marin knows all kinds of stuff. If I go to Sanctuary, maybe she could help."
"Absolutely not!" Talus barked.
"What?" Seiya looked confused. "Why not?"
"Going to Sanctuary is suicidal. You'd be killed on sight." Ikki pointed out. "And there's no point in me and Esmeralda going back to Death Queen Island, there's nothing there."
"That doesn't exclude me and Hyoga though. Our masters are outside of Sanctuary." Shiryu said.
"Shiryu's right." Hyoga agreed. "The Crystal Saint is almost always in Siberia, and I've heard the Old Master of Lushan never leaves there."
"It's not much, but it sounds like our best bet." Aiolos agreed. "Hyoga and Shiryu will go to speak with their masters, the rest of us will stay to protect Saori. Agreed?"
The Sagittarius Saint glanced around, seeing everyone nod.
Abruptly, Shun straightened up and headed for the door.
"Shun." Talus called out to the younger Saint. "What will you do?"
The boy stopped, and turned back. "My loyalty is to Athena, just as you taught me, Master, but I'm not interested in staying here."
"What?" Seiya demanded. "You can't just leave!"
"I can, and I will." Shun said coldly.
"Shun..." Ikki started.
"Don't." His younger brother interrupted. He turned back towards the door. "I'll be there when you need me."
With that, the youngest Saint left, leaving the others in shocked silence.
After a moment, everyone looked to Talus. The man sighed.
"They do say that Canis Minor will always be running."
Okay, so I admit I'm not as happy with this chapter as I was with the last few. It seems... flat. But I wasn't sure how else to address this. I hope you enjoyed reading it more than I enjoyed reading it.
See you next time.
