Wow. I cut like 4 chapters off this story's length with the last chapter... Anyway, I expect there isn't more than a few chapters left in Justice, but I hope you enjoy what's left.
Disclaimer: I do not own Saint Seiya or any of the included characters. They all belong to Masami Kurumada.
The echo of Saga's words had barely faded when Aiolia's low, furious snarl met Aiolos' ears.
"I'm going to kill him!" The Leo Saint spat.
"That's easier said than done." Mu said in a dry tone of voice.
"Only if he's doing it alone." Milo pointed out. "There's eight of us here."
"Hey!" Seiya protested. "What about us?"
"You are needed to protect Athena." Shaka said, distinctly calm in spite of the situation. "We will handle Gemini Saga."
"You should stay with Lady Athena as well." Shura told Aiolos. "With those injuries it's better if you stay out of this."
Aiolos nodded, careful to keep his face straight. Shura was right that he wasn't fit to join in the battle against his former best friend in his current state, but it stung all the same.
"Come on!" Milo called, already taking off past the shattered front wall of the ninth House. "The sooner we reach Saga the sooner we can beat his ass!"
The other Gold Saints followed, Aldebaran taking a moment to set Saori down before he headed past the rubble.
Mere seconds passed before Aiolos heard the telltale cackle in his mind.
"You fools. You think it would be so easy to reach me?" Saga laughed, sharp and cruel.
"Aiolia!" Aiolos cried, already taking a step toward his House, but it was too late.
Bright, purple-blue light lit up the interior of the House of Sagittarius, followed quickly by yells of surprise as the edges of a glyph appeared before Aiolos and the Bronze Saints, encompassing the entirety of the House.
Saga must have set a trap, possibly more than one, on the off-chance that something like this happened. Most likely the glyph was some form of teleportation designed to activate under specific circumstances and send anyone caught by it into a pocket dimension.
Before the Sagittarius Saint had a chance to do more than realize what Saga had done a portal opened beneath him and he fell through with a startled cry, the sound echoed by Saori and the Bronze Saints.
The sense of falling was dizzying, and Aiolos could only think that this was the end for all of them. They had been careless, thinking that Saga wouldn't be prepared for the possibility of them turning on him, and it was going to cost them everything.
But instead of... whatever Aiolos had been expecting-he wasn't sure really-he felt a sharp jolt, like a second Cosmo had gotten ahold of him, one that was infinitesimally stronger that Saga's, and was dragging him in a different direction than Saga had been a moment before.
"Shaka?" He wondered.
"Correct." The Virgo Saint answered. "We Gold Saints have been teleported far from the Twelve Houses, but I will send you and the young Bronze Saints to Saga. You must defeat him."
Aiolos winced slightly at that. Shaka was right, but it was going to be much harder with only him and the Bronze Saints.
Any other thoughts the brunette might have had were cut off as the feeling of being dragged stopped abruptly. Aiolos forced his eyes open-when had he closed them?-and pushed himself up off the stone floor he'd landed on.
Looking around, he found that he'd landed in the Pope's Chambers, specifically the audience hall. How Shaka had managed that was beyond him, but he'd done it, and Aiolos was grateful.
The Bronze Saints and Saori were scattered across the floor nearby, seemingly none the worse for wear as they slowly pushed themselves to their feet.
As he pushed himself up off the ground, Aiolos was surprised by the sight of Shura and Aiolia near the wall, both looking somewhat rattled, and each with a chain wrapped around them.
Following the lines of the two chains, Aiolos found himself looking Shun, clad not in the green and silver of the Canis Minor Cloth, but the striking pink of Andromeda.
Presumably, the willful young Bronze had switched his original Cloth for his rightful one just in time to catch Aiolia and Shura before they could be dragged away by Saga's trap. That was good. The more people they had to fight Saga, the better.
"So you escaped my Another Dimension. How infuriating."
Speaking of the Gemini Saint...
Aiolos turned one more time to see his once-best friend standing in front of the throne at the other end of the audience chamber, clad in the deep blue robes of the Pope. The strangest part of the man's appearance wasn't the robes he was wearing, however. It was his eyes and hair, ash grey and bloody crimson in place of deep indigo and rich teal.
Saga hardly looked like himself anymore.
Was he even himself at all?
"You!" Aiolia's snarl interrupted Aiolos' despairing thoughts.
"Me." The Gemini Saint said, a sneer curling his lips.
"You lied to us." Shura's voice was eerily calm compared to his outrage earlier when Aphrodite had revealed the truth to him.
"I did." Saga confirmed.
"Why?" Shura asked, his tone turning from confused to accusing. "You were one of the most loyal of Athena's Saints. Everyone looked up to you!"
"Because I was passed over!" Saga spat back. "I should have become Pope, but that old fool Shion chose Aiolos instead!" As he spoke, his Cosmo started to flare erratically, bright gold but somehow tinged with darkness.
"So you killed him, took his place, and tried to kill Lady Athena as well." Aiolia spat in disgust.
"Exactly. And with Athena and that old man out of the way, I was going to rule this world. But your brother interfered!" Saga hissed in fury, glaring at Aiolos. A moment later he was calm again. "But no matter. You fools have brought Athena right to me, so I can kill her, and then I can take my rightful place as the god of this world."
"Like we'll give you the chance!" Aiolia retorted as he, Shura, and the Bronze Saints geared themselves up to charge the fallen Gemini Saint.
Aiolos shook his head sadly. "Humans can't become gods, Saga." He whispered, pushing Saori behind him and readying his bow.
Milo groaned as he pushed himself up off the stone floor he had landed on.
"Fucking Saga and his fucking glyphs." He snarled. "When I get my hands on him I'm going to- what the hell?" The Scorpio Saint cut himself off as he realized he had landed in the outer room of one of the bath houses.
"Fuck." He repeated. The bath houses were one of the farthest structures from the Twelve Houses, meaning it would take him all the more time to get back to Lady Athena.
Milo quickly left the bath houses, heading for the Twelve Houses. The trip there wouldn't be long, but getting up to the ninth House would take time, given that Athena's barrier-the one that was always in place regardless of the goddess' status-prevented the use of teleportation and lightspeed.
As he ran, Milo reached out telepathically, searching for the other Gold Saints. The first one he sensed was the most familiar.
"Camus?" He asked.
"Yes." Came the response
"Where are you?" Milo asked, picking up his speed now that the connection had been made and he didn't need to focus on making it so much.
"Near Cape Sounion with Aldebaran." Camus told him.
Milo winced. That was a long way from Sanctuary, even for a Gold Saint.
"I'm heading for the Twelve Houses, we need to get back to Lady Athena." He told his friend.
"Indeed." Another voice intruded, this one belonging to Shaka. Of course the Virgo Saint would be unharmed
"Do you know where Mu is? He might be able to get us past the barrier." Aldebaran asked
"I can sense his Cosmo, but it seems that he was knocked unconscious." Shaka answered, for once sounding less than perfectly calm.
"What about Aiolia and Shura?" Milo asked. He didn't sense them anywhere nearby.
"I cannot sense them. I believe they are still in the Twelve Houses along with Aiolos and the Bronze Saints."
"That's... better than it could be." Aldebaran murmured.
"We still need to hurry. The sooner we get back to Lady Athena, the better." Milo said grimly.
None of the other Gold Saints needed any prompting as they all made for the Twelve Houses.
Oh wow. One more chapter to go, I think. I'm surprised at how fast I've put these last couple chapters together.
Please take a moment to tell me what you think!