So I was like, halfway through writing this chapter when my computer updated and I lost all my work (that's what I get for not saving regularly). That being said, I decided to overhaul the chapter because I didn't like what I had written very much. Anyway, let's do this.

Disclaimer: I do not own Saint Seiya or any of the included characters. They all belong to Masami Kurumada.


Ikki glared out over the forest from the balcony of the Kido villa. It had been three days since Hyoga and Shiryu had left to speak with their masters, and Ikki was getting restless.

Three days ago, Shun had left them all behind, and Ikki hadn't seen Cloth nor Cosmo of him since. He didn't understand why his little brother had been so eager to leave them, why he wouldn't stay to protect Saori. Not that Ikki felt any particular loyalty to the purple-haired heiress, but it was his duty as a Saint, he understood that.

To make matters worse, Seiya-the idiot-had gone off on his own yesterday, and had been attacked by a Silver Saint. The Saints left behind had felt the bursts of Cosmo in the distance and Ikki and Esmeralda had gone to find out what was going on, only to find Seiya on cliff a few miles out from the villa, sitting next to the body of a dead Silver Saint.

They had yet to get a straight answer out of the Pegasus Saint regarding what had happened. Whatever had happened between the Silver Saint and Seiya, it was weighing on the normally cheerful boy to an almost disturbing degree. Ikki could only hope that Seiya would eventually tell them about it.


Hyoga let out a breath as he stepped off the truck he had hitched a ride on. His training area in Siberia was fairly remote, which made it difficult to get to at times, but Hyoga had spent nearly ten years living there, and knew people in the nearby towns.

Hyoga stared around the town for a long moment, taking in the people who moved about their daily lives for a moment. He then turned and headed out of the village in the direction of his old training ground.

Hyoga's master, the Crystal Saint, lived in a small cottage a few miles out of town. It was quite a trek for most people, but for Hyoga, who had grown up making that trip as part of his endurance training, it wasn't all that bad. He barely even noticed the cold.

The cottage came into sight after about an hour, and Hyoga felt himself grin slightly at the thought of seeing his master. It had been months since he had completed his training and left Siberia, and he couldn't help but wonder what his master was up to without any students to train.

Hyoga was just about to reach the door when it opened and a man stepped out. Frosty white hair and a familiar blue Cloth, accented by a long white cape, met Hyoga's eyes, and the Cygnus Saint smiled opening his mouth to greet his master.

"Hyoga?" The Crystal Saint looked surprised to see Hyoga, then his eyes narrowed dangerously. "What are you doing here?"

Hyoga froze. That wasn't the warm tone he was used to.

"I came to talk. I need to ask you some questions."

The Crystal Saint glared. "You expect me to answer the questions of a traitor?"

Shit. Hyoga thought.

"I'm not a traitor." Hyoga said as steadily as he could.

"Oh? Then how do you explain the message I received telling me that my prized student had joined forces with a girl falsely claiming herself to be Athena?" The Crystal Saint demanded coldly.

"It's a lie." Hyoga said. "Saori is the true Athena. The Athena in Sanctuary is the fake."

The Crystal Saint took a menacing step forward. "And what would you know of the true Athena? You have never met her. Never felt her Cosmo. You have no way of differentiating a fake from the real Athena."

"I may not be able to tell the difference, but there are people with me who can."

"You mean Talus. I already know he betrayed Sanctuary as well." The Crystal Saint spa. "As I should expect from the student of a traitor himself."

"Student a traitor? What do you mean?" Hyoga asked.

"Enough talk!" Crystal Saint barked, ignoring Hyoga's question. "You have betrayed Sanctuary and Athena, and the punishment for betrayal is death."

"I said I'm not a traitor!" Hyoga yelled, but his words fell on deaf ears as the Crystal Saint shot forward, fist draw back to attack. Hyoga threw himself to the side to avoid the attack, already reaching for his Cloth where it rested, dormant, around his neck. The armor fell into place on his body, and Hyoga commanded the helmet and battle mask into place just in time to block his master's next attack.

What followed was a brief but fierce confrontation. Hyoga was slightly surprised to find that he was keeping up with his master far more easily that he once had. Perhaps the measly two weeks of training with Aiolos had made him stronger.

Finally, after several long minutes of fighting, both Saints drew back. Hyoga saw his master's stance shift, and, recognizing the stance, followed suit.

"Diamond Dust!" Both men cried, throwing their attacks at each other with a vengeance.

The two attacks collided in mid air, seemingly equally matched, until there was an explosion of snow.

Hyoga winced, shielding his eyes from the sudden burst of white in his vision, only to jerk backwards as the Crystal Saint exploded out of the snow screen and attempted to punch him again. Hyoga avoided the punch, only to fall victim to a vicious kick that sent him flying into a nearby tree. The breath was knocked from his lungs as he collided painfully with the frozen wood of the tree.

Struggling to push himself up, Hyoga watched as his master approached slowly, staring at him with cold eyes. There was no way he could beat his master as he was now. Unless...

A burst of determination to make his master hear him out had Hyoga on his feet and dropping into a stance he had been learning from Aiolos during their training. He saw the Crystal Saint falter slightly, something like recognition crossing his face, before he continued towards Hyoga.

The Cygnus Saint closed his eyes briefly, remembering what Aiolos's words.

"Don't focus on the cold in your hands. Focus on the cold around you. Draw strength from it. Use the resources given to you in the natural environment."

Hyoga opened his eyes. He clenched his hand into a fist, saw his the Crystal Saint brace himself, and punched.

"Diamond Dust!" He yelled.

What followed was a burst of ice colder than any attack Hyoga had thrown before now. He heard his master scream, heard the crunch of snow as the older Saint was thrown onto his back, and, slowly, lowered his fist, moving to approach his downed master.

The Crystal Saint lay on his back in the snow, unconscious, with frost collecting on his Cloth.

Hyoga knelt next to his master, and carefully lifted him up, carrying him towards the cottage. Hopefully, the Crystal Saint would be more willing to listen to Hyoga when he awoke.


The first thing Dimitri noticed was how cold he was. He was freezing, really, in a way he hadn't been since the first time Master Camus had made him spend the night outside to teach him to handle the cold.

He was also in a bed, covered in blankets. The sound of a fire crackled distantly.

Dimitri opened his eyes to find himself staring at the ceiling of his cottage. He was in his bedroom, covered in more blankets that he had ever used in his life.

Slowly, he sat up and glanced towards the door. It was open, and the sound of someone moving around in the main room reached his ears.

Dimitri tensed, remembering his fight with Hyoga. He wondered vaguely how long it had been since he was knocked out. Speaking of which...

He stood up, moving stiffly, and winced when he realized he was still in his Cloth. Quickly, he dismissed it back to its dormant form, and moved towards the doorway of his room. Hyoga was in the main room of the cottage, standing over a boiling pot at the stove.

Dimitri smiled a bit. Just a few years ago, Hyoga had needed a stool to do that.

Biting back a sigh, he spoke.

"You know, I could take you out with a single blow right now and you'd never stand a chance."


Shiryu walked steadily along the path towards Lushan and Five Old Peaks.

If he was being honest with himself, a part of him couldn't imagine that Master Dohko would answer his questions. His master hadn't been back to Sanctuary in years, so there was no guarantee that he knew anything that was going on there, and even if he did, Master Dohko had a habit of talking in circles when Shiryu asked the hard questions, and this would definitely be a hard question.

Shiryu could only hope Master Dohko wasn't in one of his contrary moods when he arrived tomorrow.


"You know, I could take you out with a single blow right now and you'd never stand a chance."

The voice from behind him startled Hyoga so much he nearly dropped the spoon he'd been using to stir the stew into the pot. He whipped around, only to see the Crystal Saint standing in the doorway to the bedroom, dressed in his blue and white trainer.

Hyoga frowned tensely. "Are you going to?"

His master sighed. "No. I've seen something too interesting for me to kill you now. And you've certainly proved you're not a traitor."

"How's that?" Hyoga asked as he grabbed two bowls and served some of the stew.

"A traitor would have killed me while I was unconscious, or at least left me to freeze, not carried me inside, lit a fire to warm me up, and made my favorite meal."

Hyoga snorted. "Of course they wouldn't. So what was the thing that's too interesting for you to kill me now.

"That attack you used to take me out."

"What about it?"

"Did you know that that attack is a special move designed by Aquarius Seiryu? The most powerful form of Diamond Dust. Only those training to become the Aquarius Saint are allowed to learn it. Even I don't know it."

Hyoga froze at that. An ice attack his master didn't know. "Aquarius Camus didn't teach it to you?" He asked as he turned towards his master, offering one of the bowls.

"I was never in training to become Aquarius." The Crystal Saint told him, stepping forward to accept the bowl and spoon. "What interests me is how you were able to perform it without any instruction whatsoever."

Wariness made Hyoga pause. Could he really tell his master the truth? The whole truth?

Seeing his hesitation, the Crystal Saint beckoned Hyoga over to the table in the corner. "Tell me how you knew that attack." He prompted once they were sitting.

Hyoga hesitated for only a moment more. "If I tell you, will you believe me?"

"Possibly."

"Fine. I learned it from Sagittarius Aiolos."

Silence.

"That's impossible. Capricorn Shura killed the traitorous Sagittarius Saint sixteen years ago." The Crystal Saint said finally.

"No, he didn't." Hyoga countered. "Aiolos survived, taking the infant Athena with him to Japan. They've been hiding from Sanctuary so that the Pope couldn't find them and kill Athena. Aiolos thinks that the Pope is Gemini Saga, and that he killed the previous Pope for some reason."

He watched as his master's eyes narrowed in thought.

"If you're telling the truth, that certainly explains a lot of things."

"Things like what?" Hyoga asked.

"Things like the sudden change in the Pope's attitude." Slowly, the Crystal Saint looked up at Hyoga. "You said you had questions."

"Yes. I need to know what the current situation in Sanctuary is. Anything you can tell me."

"I haven't been to Sanctuary since just after you left Siberia after you got your Cloth." The Crystal Saint told Hyoga. "But when I was there, I saw horrible things."

"Like?" Hyoga prompted.

"The training regimen for Saint trainees and foot soldiers alike is brutal. A female trainee was strung up outside the House of Aries for refusing to kill a man who saw her without her mask. There were rumors that the Cancer Saint, Deathmask, was ordered to take out dissenters in a village near Rodario, but instead he burned the entire village to the ground." The Crystal Saint told him. Then he sighed. "I know what you're planning, Hyoga."

"And what is that?"

"You're planning to take this girl, this 'true Athena' and take back Sanctuary."

"Well, I wouldn't say I'm planning that." Hyoga said hesitantly.

"But you know it's what needs to be done. If the Pope really is corrupt, then the only way to stop him would be to get the Gold Saints on your side, and you need Athena to do that. But it's dangerous, suicidal even."

"Are you going to try to stop me?" Hyoga asked.

The Crystal Saint seemed to hesitate. "No. I doubt you'll stop just because I ordered you to, but I can't help you either. You know my loyalty is to Master Camus, and the last time I was in Sanctuary, he ordered me not to come back."

"I understand." Hyoga said.

"Good. Now leave. If anyone finds out you were here, you'll put the whole village in danger."

"I know." Hyoga murmured. With that, he stood up, leaving the full bowl of stew on the table, and headed towards the door.

"Goodbye, Master." He said. And stepped out into the snow.


Again. Not too happy with this chapter, but I think it turned out okay. I'm hoping to get to some real action in the next chapter. (Maybe).

See you next time.