Sacramentum militare
"Is this some kind of joke?" Milo stepped closer to the petrified Mu and turn his head at the newcomer. "Where is Grand Master Shion?"
"He's dead," the masked man replied dryly. "I am certain you can sense it, you're goddamn Gold Knights after all."
It was a moment, a fraction of a moment. The attack, launched at the speed of light, escaped Liwia's eye; she saw only a flash, then there was a bang, and on the floor, supported by a Scorpio Knight, lay the lavender-haired guardian of the first Palace. The remnants of the burning cosmo have just disappeared without a trace. An extremely strong and alien cosmo.
"Your master sacrificed his life so that I could take his place, Aries Knight. Raising your hand on me, is as raising hand on him," the masked stranger hissed, and it seemed like the gargoyle on the blood-red helmet bared more its teeth. "For his sake, I will forget this incident, but only this one time."
"I don't know who you are, disguise, but don't you dare to mention my master!" Mu pulled out of Milo's supportive grip and took a step toward the newcomer. Aiolia has crossed his way.
"Exactly! The Grand Master didn't mention you, so better explain yourself, because you have all the Golden Knights in front of you!"
"The youngest addition to the Zodiac Houses, isn't it?" the mocking voice came from behind the mask. "It is clear that you have a lot of learning ahead. We'll take care of that." The stranger apparently did not mind the young Lion's raised fists. "But you are right, you deserve an explanation, because we have a hard time ahead, a time requiring order, strength and full mobilization, and I will not indulge disloyal fools like your friend Saga."
"What do you mean?" Camus emerged from behind the corner of the first Palace. Even his cosmo was agitated and twitched, occasionally forming single snowflakes. "What happened on Star Hill?"
The man in the robes of the head of the Sanctuary was silent for a moment, then said:
"Shion knew he didn't have the strength for what was to come. Time has done its job, Sanctuary was gearing up for the invasion of Hades and needs strong leadership. So he came up with a risky plan. A plan to summon me."
"Summon?" Aiolos asked in a raised tone. "Summon from where? Are you a demon?"
"No, he is not," Shaka muttered before the newcomer could reply. Virgo, from the moment the mysterious man appeared, probed his aura, but apart from the obviousness, he couldn't tell much. And this was the strangest thing in all this.
"Maybe I used the wrong word. Released would be more appropriate," the masked man continued. "You don't need to know the details, the fact is that Shion sacrificed his life to make it possible for me to appear at the Sanctuary. He took the risk knowing that in case of failure, he would leave the Temple of Athena in good hands." Here the man suggestively turned his head towards the Sagittarius Knight. "And yet everything indicated that we both would manage to survive the ritual, when your friend had ruined everything."
Aiolos snorted.
"Saga? He couldn't appear there, he wasn't allowed, and he..."
"…always followed the rules?" The stranger's mocking voice cut short the words of the guardian of the Ninth House. "It was just that opinion that killed Shion."
"You mean... you say that Saga..." Aldebaran began awkwardly.
"Yes." A word like a punch to the stomach. "Saga killed Grand Master Shion."
A soft hiss came from Mu's mouth.
"I don't believe you," he said throatily.
"Mu..." Shaka began, coming up to his friend.
"Do you believe in what he is saying? Really?" The Knight of Aries turned to the brothers in Gold, gesturing broadly in a fit of anger. "This man did something to the Grand Master, he comes here in his robes and wants to take his place on the basis of some fairy tale!"
"Exactly!" Aiolia added. "Let's not..."
"Will you let me finish or not?" the mysterious man growled. When he demanded the unstable silence, he continued: "Saga couldn't accept the decision of the Grand Master, he believed that he, not Aiolos, deserved to hold the lead, so he came to the Star Hill."
Shaka twitched visibly and Shura, standing next to him, looked at him questioningly. The masked stranger continued:
"Choosing a successor among you was supposed to be only an alternative, in case the ritual will end in the worst possible way and neither of us survived it. When it became clear that not only Sagittarius would be standing on the way to the throne, but also me, the Gemini Knight successfully assassinated Shion."
"Saga, that prude? And the old man wasn't as weak as you describe him," Mask spoke for the first time since his arrival. He didn't seem very concerned, but rather curious. "Seriously he fell after Saga's first blow?"
"He was busy with the ritual. My releasing was not over yet, so he was vulnerable to any attack. We didn't think that anyone would interrupt us on Star Hill."
"And yet you are standing here safe and sound, and the Grand Master has been killed. Admit that it's not looking very well," said Aphrodite, standing at the side of Cancer Knight.
The newcomer ran his hand over the surface of the mask and said harshly:
"Not quite safe and sound. Because of Saga and his intervention that disrupted the ritual, my face… let's just say it doesn't look like it used to. I killed the Gemini Knight, but Shion wasn't able to get out of this attack alive."
"We're not as sensitive as you think. Take off your mask, we'd love to see who we're dealing with," smiled the Knight of Cancer.
And that smile quickly faded, then turned into a grimace of pain. Deathmask caught his throat, fighting for every breath. The Knight of Pisces reached for a rose taken out of nowhere and was ready to throw it at the mysterious man, emanating now with a hostile aura. Before anyone could react, however, the pressure had subsided and Mask breathed a loud breath into his already relaxed throat.
"To be clear," the newcomer croaked. "I'm not Shion. He didn't summon me to be nice and gentle to you. If he thought this would save the Sanctuary, my presence wouldn't be necessary. So I'm not going to be at your service, I'm not going to obey your commands, I'm not going to treat you like him, like a good, caring father. I am the new Grand Master. And I am giving the orders here."
"Who you are, we don't know still." Shura narrowed his eyes, appraising the figure of the intruder. It was clear that he is ready to use his Excalibur, that he was just waiting to draw it. All he needed was moral permission.
The stranger crossed his arms over his chest. Long gray hair danced in the breeze.
"Shion mended armors, communed with the auras of their former owners. He could find even the faintest traces of cosmo through the connection with the repaired cloth, and this is how he found me, neither alive nor dead, being pressed into the abyss of other dimensions. He took a risk and brought me back."
"But still..." Milo began, but the masked man interrupted him halfway through the sentence:
"I am Arles and I am your new Grand Master. That is all I have to say. The rest is up to you." He turned his head to indicate that he was looking at all those who came. "You have time till tomorrow, well, in fact till today now, to acknowledge this and inform the rest of the knights in the Sanctuary about the new order. Then I expect you to swear allegiance and report on Shion's recent actions. Time was short, so it was good enough that he managed to inform me roughly about the situation and the details of the functioning of the Sanctuary along with your characteristics. Which should be sufficient evidence of my credibility," he added sarcastically. "But you are not children, the decision is yours. You just have to take into account the severe consequences of refusing cooperation, because whoever is not with me is against me. The day after tomorrow I am expecting you in your Zodiac Houses which I will pass through. And you..." here he turned his head towards the silent and forgotten by all, pale Liwia, who was standing by one of the columns, "...better not create panic with your prophecies. You can be a Sanctuary Guest, but you are only the Silver Knight and I will assign you further tasks. Enough this insubordination."
The newcomer took a few steps towards the training grounds not far from the House of Aries, but the turbulent cosmic energy did not let the man go away.
"It so happens…" hissed the lavender-haired man, "…that I am the guardian of the first Palace and its surroundings. You're not going anywhere without my permission."
"Mu, wait," said Shaka, placing his hand on friend's shoulder. "We must confer."
"There is nothing to think about here!"
"Shaka is right," Camus replied. "We have to rethink all of it. Remember what Grand Master Shion said: he had a plan. If it…"
"And if not?" Shura asked. "If a sham is all this?"
"What a difference?" Mask shrugged and reached for a cigarette from behind his ear. "If he was strong enough to defeat Saga, then that's fine for me."
The mysterious man resumed his march and finally disappeared among the surrounding buildings. It was not known where he went. Mu was shaking with nerves and only the discussion around him prevented him from intervening.
"This whole thing's a little weird," said Aldebaran. "Where did he come from? From what abyss of other dimensions? Is it even possible?"
"It is," replied Shaka, still watching over Mu. He didn't want that his friend, always so composed, did something he would regret. "But I don't know how long someone in another dimension can survive."
"So it can even be some acquaintance from the teenage years of the Grand Master? Former Grand Master," added Aphrodite. "Maybe one of our predecessors, some Golden Knight?"
"If so, not from the previous Holy War," they heard suddenly a voice belonging to the Old Master, Dohko. The Libra Knight contacted them through his cosmo. Although this was only a substitute for face-to-face conversation, everyone could sense that Roshi was very worried.
"Do you think, Old Master, that this stranger is telling the truth?" Aldebaran looked up in a natural reflex to talk to someone from a distance.
There was a moment of silence.
"I don't know," he said finally. "Shion hasn't even told me his mysterious plan. But if he had been in contact with this Arles for a while, I have a reason to believe he would have mentioned something."
"Exactly!" said Aiolia.
"However," the ancient Libra Knight continued, "Shion had his secrets. It was his modus operandi. He always wanted to have an ace up his sleeve and at the same time take the entire burden of responsibility on himself. He was like that. He had it after his master."
"He didn't tell me anything about it," the Aries Knight snapped. "About contact with some imprisoned friend. It doesn't add up! I repair the armors myself, the Grand Master taught me this personally and never mentioned about bringing soul and body from another dimension through contact with cloth! Can't you see that it all smells like intrigue and deception? After all, even Liwia had foretold these events!"
"In three days everything will end, / The angel and the devil! Fight to death! / So in three days a night of flames, / And the night of atrocity vindictive," Aldebaran quoted. "Mu, it might as well be about Saga. After all, nobody expected... We didn't know that he has two faces..."
"Besides," Dohko hesitated, but finally decided to tell them the truth, "the last word Shion managed to telepathically send to me was the name of the Gemini Knight."
"I can't believe the Saga could have done that," said the Aries Saint, all pale with anger. "A suspicious type appeared before us, and we are to believe that it was not him, but a noble knight like Saga who killed my master?"
"Mu."
Everyone looked at Shaka. Apparently he was trying to be gentle. It was something new.
"Since this man appeared in front of us, I have been trying to examine his aura and intentions. And check his truthfulness," he added, more to the rest of the knights than to his friend. After all, not many Golds knew his skills. The real ones, not those processed in legends by storytellers."
"And?" asked Deathmask, blowing a ring of cigarette smoke.
"And his cosmo was so strong that I managed to break through the barrier that shielded his mind only for a moment," the blonde man replied in a dry voice.
"When, I even know," Shura muttered.
"What did you manage to find out?" Camus became cold and calm again.
The Virgo Knight, despite his closed eyes, "looked" at Mu with clear concern.
"That he was not lying when he said that Grand Master Shion was killed by Saga. And that the Gemini Knight entered Star Hill because of jealousy."
"Hmm," they heard in their heads. The Old Master was certainly sad. They didn't even know how much. In the end, both he and Shion, knowing the past, failed to prevent similar incidents in the present.
"Damn it." Aiolos shook his head in disbelief. "Saga had just assured me and the Grand Master that he would help, that I was the best... I didn't really want this position," he finished in a flat voice.
"You couldn't know," Aiolia shrugged.
"Okay, what are we going to do?" Milo asked unceremoniously.
There was an uncomfortable silence.
"One thing we know," Capricorn Knight interrupted the silence. "At least as strong as the Golds he is, which after Mu intervention we witnessed."
"Indeed, your mind is as clear as a brewer's piss," Mask mocked, and received a punch in return from the guardian of the last House of the Zodiac.
"Stiffy is right. And since there's no one in the world who can match us in attack's speed, this guy has to be telling the truth. He came from another reality for sure!" said Aphrodite.
"From another dimension. It's not the same," said Shaka.
The beautiful man just hissed, waving his hand.
"Come on, Blondie. Who cares about the nuances? The fact is, that there is no other option: he is someone from the outside, someone we haven't dealt with before. Because do you know any gray man with such a powerful cosmo that it can kill an elite Athena warrior? He doesn't remind me of anyone by voice either."
"If we are going to have so fuckin' hard labour as our sweet little Foxy foretold, let the guy do some magic to get us out of it, why not?" Deathmask threw a cigarette butt and extinguished it with a golden heel.
"It's not that simple," said Aiolos. "We decide not only for ourselves, but for the entire Sanctuary. For all knights. For all people! In case of Holy War, the Grand Master will have the decisive word for the defense of Athens and Earth. So far we have chosen a successor from among us for a reason. The key issue is trust..."
"Okay, okay, Mr. Robin Hood, you want a gilded throne, admit it," the Cancer smiled.
"Didn't you listen to what I said earlier, Mephisto?" Sagittarius got angry.
Mask's eyes bulged. Aiolos swallowed, already knowing that he is in serious trouble.
"You… I'm gonna to… she was supposed to guess herself!" Mask screamed, pointing to the column by which Liwia stood a few minutes ago. Now, to everyone's surprise, this place was empty.
Only after a while the Golden noticed her red and black armor, retreating into the darkness of the night.
"I'll go," said Milo, stopping ready Aldebaran.
"Yeah, go, Romeo, just secure your scarlet needle well so that the bread does not come out of this oven," the Italian threw harshly after him.
"Liwia! Liwuś, wait!"
The girl reluctantly slowed down, allowing Scorpio to catch up with her.
"Where are you going in such a rush?" he asked, staring at her dull face, barely visible in the darkness of the night.
She didn't say anything for a long moment.
"As far from here as possible," she finally whispered.
"You still reproach yourself for..."
"Milo," Liwia lingered, almost at the very door of her little house. "Stop it, please."
"But... "
"Do you know I predicted the death of my parents?"
The young man was speechless.
"You don't realize what it's like when you know what's going to happen and you can't prevent it," she said, turning away. She groped the door looking for a hook that made it seem from a distance like no one could just enter her apartment.
"But you are not the perpetrator of these events, I hope it's obvious?" Milo put his hand on the wooden doorframe, stopping the girl and forcing her to look at him.
"You'll see if it's obvious, when everyone starts to turn away from me as if from an evil omen," said the Polish woman, walking under his outstretched arm to the hall.
"I will not turn... Wait, Liwuś!"
"What do you expect from me, Milo?!" she screamed. "You heard this new one. I'm just the Silver Knight. I have to adapt to the rules. And I will try not to cause any more trouble," she said and closed the door in front of Scorpio's face.
When she heard a sigh and footsteps walking away she said to herself, "Or I'll leave and the problem will be solved by itself."
The next day, the Sanctuary resembled the interior of a hive. The news spread with lightning speed, knights and warriors were talking about nothing else, though the recent events could be summed up in the two most repeated sentences around: "Grand Master Shion is dead" and "We have a new Grand Master." Which said a lot about the Golds' decision which was made the night before.
Liwia couldn't sleep. She struggled with her thoughts, packed and unpacked her travel bag, stared at the shiny metal of her armor, thrashed around the apartment. Finally, she remembered the first day at the Sanctuary, the day she met the Golden Knights and Grand Master Shion. The day on which she took the renewed oath of allegiance to Athena and the Sanctuary's sovereign. "I swear," she said three times.
The packed bag fell with a loud slap to the floor. She won't run away. She won't break her word. She will not give up her dreams and obligations. Unless they will order her.
She donned the Fox Armor and left, slamming the rickety door. It was muggy despite the early hour, but that wasn't why her neck was immediately covered with sweat. She felt concentration on herself. She saw the appraising gaze of the passing knights and other inhabitants of the Sanctuary, heard the words whispered by them. As if by her very existence she causes anxiety and arouses doubt in hearts. As if she was surrounded by a sheepskin coat of bad aura.
Prophetess of death.
The stigma has been stamped.
She looked away to not see the appraising glances, pretended she not hear the calumnies uttered immediately after the heavy, awkward silence, and pressed on to get to the first Palace as soon as possible.
Let them talk what they want, but she is the Sanctuary Guest and, unlike them, has the right to walk around the twelve Houses of the Zodiac. Has the right to find out about everything firsthand.
She ran up the steps leading to Mu's residence and plunged into the shade of the ancient columns. She didn't know if the lavender-hair Saint would be eager to talk to her at all. Considering his mental state yesterday it was highly doubtful, but Liwia was fed up with uncertainty. She passed the main corridor and turned left, toward the narrow aisle that led to the private chambers of Aries Knight. She was halfway there when she realized that the guardian of the first Palace was not alone.
"… rationally!"
"I think rationally! As the only one! You found the easiest solution to the problem without noticing..."
"It's not about…"
"Don't interrupt me, Shaka! Without noticing of that your gullibility reveals the weakness of the Sanctuary! Anyone could claim the position of Grand Master in a similar manner!"
"He was telling the truth about Saga, he repelled your speed-light attack, he blocked my powers, and as much as I read from him, he gives the image of a just man. Neither bad nor good. Just! What else do you need to believe that he is the one, who your master meant?!"
Liwia was dumbfounded. Until yesterday, she hadn't been able to believe that the Aries Knight could scream. Until today, she had no idea Shaka could either. That these two might get upset. That these two can argue so much.
She knew she should back off by putting her feet as quietly as possible, but she just couldn't. She listened, enchanted, to the raised voices of the discussion from behind the half-closed door at the end of the corridor.
"He would tell me," the Aries Knight growled. "He would tell the Old Master. Most of all, he wouldn't be taking that risk on the eve of the Holy War. He had Aiolos, he had us..."
"Mu, Shion had very forward-thinking," replied the blonde man, sighing. "He has struggled with many more problems than we could imagine. He also said he had a plan, and it certainly wasn't just about reading the signs in the sky. He was in a hurry..."
"So you knew him so well?" The guard of the first House lowered his voice dangerously and Liwia got goosebumps. He didn't sound like the gentle, friendly knight she always admired for his composure.
"This is really not the time to be jealous, Mu," Shaka said in a slightly irritated tone.
He shouldn't be saying that.
Cosmo vibration passed through the entire Palace.
"Jealous?" Aries Saint hissed. "Is that what you think of me? As a jealous, under-grown student?"
"For sake…! You had misinterpret..."
"I considered you as a friend," Mu's voice was full of contempt. "I thought you would understand..."
"I understand more than you think!" the blonde man unexpectedly exclaimed and Liwia felt a drop of cold sweat running down her spine.
"Is that so?" Another hiss. "Then enlighten me. Come on, what doesn't understand the stupid apprentice of his deceased master?"
Silence.
Liwia, if she were to guess, would say that Shaka opened and closed his mouth, unable to articulate what he had mentioned before.
"What's the matter? Or maybe you also have secrets like Shion? Maybe I missed something, huh? Because it seemed to me that the biggest mystery was the significance of Liwia's prophecy, which we all heard. But wait a minute! Hasn't Shion told you to stay a while after our meeting? So? Did he say he was planning to get someone out of another dimension like a rabbit out of a hat? That instead of Aiolos, some stranger would cede the throne of the Grand Master?"
"You know he didn't," Shaka muttered, so that Liwia barely heard him.
There was silence, but full of expectation.
"He thanked me for looking after the Fox Knight," the Virgo Saint said in the same tone.
"That's all?"
"…"
"I guess it was a quite short conv..."
"I have my assignment during the Holy War, all right?" the blond man exclaimed, losing his cold blood.
Even though he didn't reveal anything, Shaka knew he had made a mistake. He fell, walking on the thin line separating friendship from Saints' duty.
"An assignment, you say." Mu didn't look like himself anymore. His cosmo still resonated in the air. "Of course, the man closest to the gods must certainly also be close to the Grand Master. Always on a pedestal."
"I will forgive you because you are in mourning, Mu. But be silent before you say something similar again," growled the Virgo Knight.
Liwia was sure the House of Aries is about to blow up. Vibrant power rang in the ears.
"I will be brief, then." Mu's voice was even lower than before, so that it almost became a whisper. "I will not bow to Arles. I am a Gold Knight and I will not kneel in front of someone I don't know, whose motivations are alien to me. I will not entrust Athena to a man who simply dressed in the robes of the Grand Master. Who hides from us his face. Who… how it went? Can have both a human and a hellish head. Who will begin the extortion age. My loyalty is not a cheap courtesan."
"You forgot that it's all about the Holy War," replied Shaka. The trembling voice showed that he was trying to contain his nerves. "Athena, Grand Master, Sanctuary: this is not a game of intrigue at the royal court, we only exist to win the battle against Hades. And we should do everything to make it happen."
"And that's where we differ, Shaka," the Aries Saint said almost normally. He was now reconciled with his own decision, and apparently with that of his friend too. "I don't think that the ends justify the means. Otherwise, it wouldn't matter which side of the conflict we would choose."
"You are making a mistake, Mu." Shaka also sounded almost normal. "You will be excommunicated. Proclaimed a traitor. Do you know what it means?"
The Aries Knight snorted, amused.
"I'm not going to stay here. But I won't run away either, you know where I'm going. By serving Arles, your armor will surely deteriorate more than once. If he wants to kill the only person who can fix them, so be it."
Shaka was silent for a while.
"If I get an order..."
"Then you will carry it out. You know the way to Jamir."
"Mu..."
"What? The most important thing is to win the Holy War, isn't it? And to follow orders. You are probably the most powerful Gold Saint now, surely your talents will not be wasted under Arles command. You just need to obey orders and throw away any doubts. Tenpōrin'in and meditation will make it easy for you, Shaka."
The door to the chamber swung open suddenly and the Virgo Knight burst into the corridor. The doorposts slammed behind him so hard that several splinters flew into the air like strange fireworks. With an unnaturally for him fast steps, the blond man pushed forward and only when he almost collided with Liwia, he noticed her presence.
He's going to kill me, she thought, and for a moment she was absolutely sure of it. Her ears rang from the furiously accumulated energy, and she couldn't move. Not because of fear. The Virgo Knight's power didn't even let her twitch or even blink. The throat was squeezed like in a vise and slowly stopped letting air into her lungs.
"What. Do you. Want," he asked, barely opening his mouth. His hands were clenched into quivering fists.
If she were as powerful as him or Mu, she would probably responded telepathically. And now she could only count on Shaka's acumen.
Emotions, however, do not go together with guesswork, so the gurgling coming from the girl's throat was decisive. Virgo calmed his aura with a grimace of disgust, and without waiting for the explanation of the Fox Knight, now greedily sucking in gulps of air, he walked stiffly towards the exit from the Palace.
"Everything okay, little one?" Aldebaran asked with concern. Liwia just nodded and took a long sip of kvass. Of course, she hadn't told the Bull Knight about the overheard exchange of views between the two Golden Knights. And neither about the confrontation with the blonde man.
"What arrangements have been made yesterday?" she asked instead.
Taurus looked sadly out the window.
"We decided that since this guy knows us, and he shouldn't, since he has the strength at least equaling the Golden Knights' and since he wasn't lying about Saga, we will give him a chance. But in the beginning, we will definitely be looking at his hands."
"He doesn't look like someone who will let others to control him," said Liwia.
"Maybe not, but he will have to agree to some concessions in the face of all Golden Knights."
"Not all," she said in a whisper, and Aldebaran sighed.
"We don't know what the Old Master will decide, but I doubt that he will suddenly appear at the Sanctuary. And the death of Saga… Mu doesn't seem to be willing to stay with us either."
"He won't."
"Oh," said Aldebaran with flat tone and didn't dig in the topic anymore. Apparently he thought Liwia was in Aries House before she paid a visit to the second Zodiac Palace.
There was an awkward silence.
"The Old Master advised us to ask Saga's twin, Kanon, how it was with his brother lately," Taurus suddenly blurted out.
"Hm. I thought this whole Kanon was abroad. Mask mentioned it once."
"We thought so too, but it turned out... well, that Saga put him in a prison on Cape Sounion some time ago."
Liwia was dumbfounded. She remembered the scream carried by the wind that had come to her as she bathed near the famous cave carved under the former Temple of Poseidon.
"You know," Aldebaran added, "Kanon has always been a piece of work, and I wouldn't even be surprised if Saga had good reasons to throw him in there. But in the face of recent events... you know what it looks like."
"So did you find him?" the girl asked excitedly.
Taurus Saint shook his head.
"Aiolos went there, but all he found was rough waves and some newly formed landslide at the back of the cave. No trace of the poor man. If he managed to squeeze somewhere between the rocks, then maybe, maybe he saved himself, but... The Cape Sounion prison is not a four-star hotel, unfortunately."
There was an unpleasant silence again.
"Listen, little one," Bull slapped her on the back unexpectedly, so that she lost her breath a second time in an hour. He probably wanted to give her courage. "Whatever happens, know that I won't let you been hurt."
Despite the throbbing pain in her back, Liwia smiled warmly.
"Thanks, Al. But I'm not worried about myself, I'm worried about you. It is you and Athena who are the most important in the Sanctuary, and you will be the target of possible evil forces. I wish... I hope nothing will divide you anymore."
"We'll be fine, you'll see," Aldebaran replied with artificial optimism, and Liwia knew that this was something that everyone, not just her, wanted to believe strongly.
The morning of the fifth of November looked not very pretty. It was clouding up and brightening alternately, and from time to time a light drizzle was passing over the Sanctuary of Athena. Yet the weather seemed an insignificant factor to all the knights gathered at the foot of the Zodiac Houses. They stood in two rows, forming a smooth corridor that led to the Aries Palace.
And they were waiting for the stranger.
The man, dressed in Grand Master's robes, appeared before the sun rose for good above the horizon. He emerged from among the temple buildings and walked steadily in the middle of a row of Silver and a few Bronze Knights. Everyone bowed their heads low as a sign of respect. Everyone, except Liwia.
She bent her neck a few meager inches, but could do nothing more. She just couldn't. She stood among the Silver brothers and sisters, unable to perform any decisive acts. As if she was suffering from extreme anemia. The mask on Arles' face turned toward her for a longer time, and Liwia was sure the newcomer was trying to read her mind. She only hoped that he didn't possess this scary skill like the Virgo Knight has. The man finally passed her without a word and climbed the stairs leading to the first House of the Zodiac. The entire assembly of Silver and Bronze Knights, in due distance, followed the masked man. The show was just about to begin.
"Aries Knight, come out and take your oath!" he cried, and an echo carried his alien voice through every nook and cranny of the Palace. There was, of course, no reply. Arles knew perfectly well that Mu had left the Sanctuary the day before, but it was all a planned staging for the lower-rank knights.
"So be it," the gray-haired man said, and with proudly raised head he walked towards the next House of the Zodiac, where Aldebaran was waiting for him, kneeling down.
"Taurus Gold Saint! Do you swear to defend Athena, even at the cost of your life?"
"I swear."
"Do you swear to fight for peace and justice without dishonoring your cloth with unworthy deeds?"
"I swear."
"Do you swear allegiance to the Grand Master, head of all eighty-eight Saints of Athena and protector of the Holy Sanctuary in Greece?"
"I swear."
"Then arise, Athena's Knight, and have your part in shaping the world."
Aldebaran straightened and glanced down – of course – at the whole assembly, trailing behind the mysterious man. He looked for Liwia and winked as the silent attempt to encourage her. The girl sighed softly, but also smiled. Everyone, headed by the new Grand Master and the Gold Bull Knight following closely behind him, continued their journey.
They passed by the Gemini Palace without stopping. There were no longer the characteristic black and white illusions, strange chiaroscuro blocking the way and the feeling of circling in the maze. In the center of the empty Zodiac House stood the Golden Armor of the Twins, terrifying in its dual form. The masked stranger did not even glance at it as he was passing by, though Liwia would bet her right arm that a crystal tear dripped from the shimmering metal on one of the helmet's faces. The girl rubbed her eyelids with her fingers. Imaginations didn't help, she had to pull herself together.
Deathmask welcomed them in a manner very characteristic of him, that is: partly he was kneeling, and partly not. He had sworn, but in a tone that grandmothers thoughtlessly reciting prayers. He seemed serious, but didn't really care about anything. As soon as he had finished his official part, he took out a cigarette from nowhere and was fumigating the crowd of his subordinates with grey smoke.
Aiolia, by contrast, looked very moved. Too much for the Grand Master's tastes, which could be heard from the contemptuous tone he spoke to the young man. The Lion was glaring at the mysterious man with narrowed eyes and clenched fists, from which chains of lightning fired uncontrollably. The gray-haired man obviously didn't care for these treatments; he didn't pick up the gauntlet, gave him no harsher word, and did not start a discussion, on which the Lion Knight was probably quietly counting on. Willingly or otherwise, Aiolia followed in the procession.
Stone Buddhist goddesses overshadowed the entrance to the Sixth House of the Zodiac. Liwia, having crossed his threshold many times for last months, subconsciously waited for the moment when she would feel the heavy, intense scent of sandalwood, roses, lotus and other incense fragrances in which this Palace has always drowned. And indeed: they barely crossed the line of entry, and as if they found themselves in a completely different reality. Exotic fragrance, birds of paradise, flowery meadows, lakes covered with duckweed and golden sun, emanating amazing energy. Each Silver and Bronze Knight looked from side to side with admiration and fear at the same time. Yes, she knew that well. Admiration and fear; nothing more, nothing less.
And yet Liwia was shocked. She didn't think that Shaka would welcome the new Grand Master and the whole group of Athena's warriors in his usual way, that is, by levitating over the pedestal carved in the shape of a lotus flower and simply meditating. Only when the Grand Master stood in the center of the main chamber, about a dozen steps from the blonde man, he left the meditation mode, stretched his legs, throwing off the cascades of the white knightly cloak behind his back and slowly approached the man. Then he kneeled in the perfect, textbook way. His voice was uniformly flat and emotionless during his oath.
It was hard to say whether his behavior was a sign of disregard or, on the contrary, discipline. Only he among all the Golden Saints could cause similar confusions. Nevertheless, Liwia felt that the voice of the Grand Master, asking the Virgo time-honored questions, had a hint of satisfaction in it. Was the masked man completely unsure of the Buddhist's decision? Or maybe he was just glad that in the ranks of people devoted to him would be the man closest to the gods?
Either way, the procession continued. The guard of the sixth Zodiac House walked in a line with other Gold brothers, but at a strategic distance from them.
After some time they reached the Libra Palace. There wasn't a single knight in the Sanctuary who didn't wonder what side the Old Master from Rozan would take. Gloomy Zodiac House, shrouded in the shadow and dust of many years, was quiet and empty. The few draperies, suspended from the stone ceiling, were light from rotting and jerked to the faint gusts of the barely blowing wind.
"Libra Gold Saint!" The new Grand Master thundered, "Speak and take your oath!"
Everyone eagerly waited for the cosmic energy and voice of the calm, thoughtful Roshi, who had his vigilance in the Five Hills Valley. Seconds was passing, but the silence remained undisturbed. Arles waited longer than he did at the Aries Palace, perhaps taking into account the Old Master's slowness or just be unable to bear his refusal. Despite the mask, ones could tell that he was clearly out of balance. Out of balance, right here, in this Palace. It might be funny if not the circumstances.
"So be it," he growled, and went forward; he kept his neck lower than before in silent anger.
Milo was waiting for them in the eighth Zodiac House. His face, full of seriousness that did not suit him, was framed by gold projections of the helmet, usually better combining with a slightly malicious smile. Liwia heard a hum behind her back, so she turned her head. Geist, the Bronze Knight of the Snake, Shaina's friend, whispered excitedly to one of her fellows; despite the mask on, Liwia could see how accurately she assessed the figure of Scorpio. The Polish woman looked again in front of her and tried to control the fiery cosmo itching at her fingertips. Milo found her gaze and sent a very gentle, uplifting smile. The strange anger faded away without a trace.
Predictably, Aiolos and Shura presented themselves without any flaws, stiff and neat, like the legendary knights of European epics. Camus greeted them quite coldly, which was definitely to be expected, and Aphrodite exuded such a charm that it was surprising that the masked stranger did not fall immediately struck by Cupid's arrow. Liwia didn't know that it's possible to kneel so softly and gracefully.
The road to the Grand Master's Palace hasn't been strewn with roses, which in this case showed rather good intentions of the Pisces Knight. Walking through the wide corridor, near the walls decorated with portraits of eighty-eight armors, the girl couldn't do anything else but think how much had changed since she first appeared here. It was not only about recent events, but also about herself. She managed to establish herself in the existing reality, gain the trust and favor of several knights, and make friends among them. Even her inner convictions began to crystallize, to form the core of the moral backbone that a good Knight of Athena should boast. But now… she didn't know if what she was doing was right. She had no idea if the inner voice, telling her to oppose the coming dictator, was rightly pushed aside as an undergrown, rebellious expression of her youthful ego. She hesitated whether the panic engulfing her heart here, at the gates of the most powerful man on Earth, stemmed from the anxiety of the last few days, or whether some completely new feeling tried to dissuade her from her plan.
In passing, she noticed in one of the frames the Golden Aries Cloth. Her heart leapt up to her throat.
Huge, gold-inlaid white doorframes opened to the sides and the man in the Grand Master's robe began to walk along the scarlet carpet straight towards the gilded throne. Knights stood the sides in obedient lines and silently watched the masked figure stroking the rail of the gleaming chair.
Shaka, keeping watch with the rest of the Golden Knights next to the throne, shuddered. Not so time ago he has witnessed a similar scene. Shion had just been standing in the same place as this stranger from another dimension and was revealing to him crucial information about the oncoming Holy War.
There is nothing permanent in this world. Nothing certain. The Wheel with its spin crushes everything on its way.
The Virgo Knight thought for a long time what to write in his report about the last actions of the previous Grand Master, but eventually withheld the information Shion had given him. When they finally will confronted Hades, he would reveal the details. Or he will work on his own. Or... Time will tell what the Sanctuary will become then.
The new Grand Master finally sat on the throne, and his stiff, imperious attitude was the best sign of his reign. The man reached for a roll lying on a nearby table, unfolded it and read:
"Silver Cetus Saint, Moses!"
The one-eyed New Zealander stepped out of the line, approached the Grand Master and knelt down, humbly lowering his head. After swearing three times, he returned to his place with barely concealed relief.
"Silver Ophiuchus Saint, Shaina!"
The girl with pride and grace stood in front of the superior of the Sanctuary and promised him allegiance.
The pattern repeated with each selected knight. Theirs oath already made Lizard Misty (Liwia didn't miss the fact that Aphrodite pierced the pretty boy with hateful eyes), Cerberus Dante, Centaur Babel, Raven Jamian, Orion Rigiel, Perseus Algol, Auriga Capella, Sagitta Tramy, Compass-Lotus Agora, Hercules Algethi, Triangulum Noesis and Pavo Shiva (the latter swaggered like the bird of his patron constellation). There were a few more Silver and Bronze Knights left, and Liwia realized that on another day a group of knights who were currently outside the Sanctuary would have to swear allegiance to Arles, such as her friend Janek, her master Gerard, or even the lute virtuoso, Orphee. It seemed a long time ago, and yet it was quite recently, when everyone was listening to his beautiful melody, so melancholic and...
"Silver Vulpecula Saint, Liwia!"
Her heart stopped. Like a machine, she left the row and approached the man leaning on the golden throne. The cold sheen of the mask hiding his face made her shiver. Everything about him was so different from Shion. Even the navy blue robe was lying unnaturally, as if not used to a similar figure. She knelt down, masking the softness of the limbs that suddenly caught them.
"Do you swear to defend Athena, even at the cost of your life?" the man asked, and the girl froze at the barely perceptible mockery in his voice. She took a deep breath.
"I swear."
"Do you swear to fight for peace and justice without dishonoring your cloth with unworthy deeds?" She must have imagined it, because the cynical tone seemed even clearer to her. There was an unnatural silence all around.
"I… swear."
A murmur ran through the line of Silver Armors.
"Do you swear allegiance to the Grand Master, head of all eighty-eight Saints of Athena and protector of the Holy Sanctuary in Greece?"
Was he laughing at her? Is everything here just one big cackle of fate? Is Liwia just making the biggest mistake of her life?
The noise increased; anxious nervousness prevailed among the Silver and Gold Knights. The girl glanced briefly at Aldebaran. The giant was pale as chalk, and with some small but panic gestures tried to force her to react. She glanced at Milo; the man muttered silently her name, staring at her with wide open eyes. Finally, though she didn't want it, her eyes fell on the Virgo Knight. On that bloody smeghead to who she was attracted in a strange way, despite all the unpleasant situations. The blond man was one of the few who didn't move at all, remained in a petrified pose, firm and unchanging, like a refuge in a stormy sea. Only narrowed eyelids and slightly furrowed brow, said that Shaka was as intrigued as the rest.
The Grand Master's hands clutched the carved armrests, almost squeezing out them all juices. It will be all over in a moment. Yes or no? YES or NO?
She felt hot, terribly hot, and her heavy eyelids lowered for one brief moment.
String of beads, that turn in deathly purple. A virgin on a pale horse. Whole planets, bursting like rotten apples. The stairs slick with a blood.
She blinked in fear. Each knight gathered in the room looked at her intently. Everyone was here. On this side of the barricade. No, not everyone, never mind everyone. Three of them.
The Grand Master took a deep breath.
"I swear," she said and her loud, steady voice cut off all the whispers like a knife. Grand Master Arles' hands released the gilded wood of the furniture, and the white knuckles returned to their normal colors.
"Then arise, Athena's Knight," he growled, and a faint ray of sunlight reflected off the grinning maw of the beast from the winged helmet, "and have your part in shaping the world."
Last Golden Knight closed the door and in the room fell silence. Silence ruined by the chuckle escaping his own lips.
No, enough. He must be careful. These Golden fools gave their ultimatums, their ridiculous patrols and vigils to kill doubt. He had to be patient; a moment, maybe a month and they would stop having any objections to him, and then...
Then he will do what he was born to do.
He got up to walk off his enthusiasm and soothe euphoric heart. He went to the window and looked at the tiny buildings on the horizon. Sanctuary buildings. Rodorio village. Athens. Was it worth the effort to act like an angel in human skin, you fool? Have you been appreciated? Have you been elected by Grand Master? Have you…
No! He will not provoke him. He has been defeated and severely beaten, let him sit quietly and not lean out. Now he will take care of their interests.
The first successes are already behind him. Fooling the Golden Knights... many things could go wrong. An attack more than one of them would be enough, the mask falls off, they see his face... But no. The rational ones stopped the rash knights, and Shion, the poor fool, only helped him with his secrets. It would be better if geezer Dohko poked his head out the Five Hills, but well, you can't have everything. He wonder why he is in China so many years, what is this mission about, that he didn't even visit his closest friend?
Take it easy, not all at once.
For now, it will be necessary to appease the others, let them get used to the new situation, to give the impression of stability. What was important, that the most of them believed him. Including Shaka.
The man laughed throatily. It was a masterpiece. He knew that the blond man had an incredibly strong cosmo, that he could sense a lie in a kilometer. But Saga wasn't just a mere knight. Except when the Aries Saint attacked him, he was in full control of the mental block so that Virgo could only break through when Saga wanted it to happen. In this way, he secured Shaka's support, and the support of the man closest to the gods was not just anything.
The Grand Master returned to the carved chair and picked up the pile of pages that were reports of Shion's recent activities. One of the pages was terribly wrinkled, and Arles realized it was not a report, but a prophecy of Fox Knight, lying there for days. He scanned the enigmatic lines, put the page aside and thought that he must stop this fire which could twelve houses lifts before it starts and also the prophetic girl who might be able to say something more about his intentions.
Not immediately, they cherish her too much, as he could easily see, but he, Arles, Grand Master of the Sanctuary of Athena, will put out this flame. And any other that could threaten him.
At noon, the passing drizzle, tormenting since morning the Sanctuary, turned to a real rain.