2 — THE LEGENDS OF A NEW ERA
The whole city was celebrating. Hundreds of people in the streets, lots of posters, loud noises and a great traffic jam around a huge Coliseum recently built. Lines of people and children looking forward to the start of a long-awaited Tournament.
The people outside soon filled all the circular stands inside the Coliseum. Pure euphoria among those lucky enough to have had a ticket for the event; it took a while so that everyone could find its place when the ambient light dimmed to indicate the beginning of the show.
"It's showtime! The long-awaited Galaxian Wars is finally going to start today, isn't it Stacey?"
"Yes it is, Adam! Three very long months of waiting; everyone in the city and around the world is very curious about what's going to happen at this Coliseum."
"And let's face it, it all looks wonderful."
"It's beautiful, Adam. There's no way to describe it. The technology here is state-of-the-art."
"And they'll definitely wear it all on the show, but here we go! Here. We. Go. The lights went out, folks. Pay attention to the Coliseum dome and the screens as we will have a word from our organizer!"
The Coliseum's dome closed, throwing everyone into darkness, which was soon lit by stars slowly lighting up from the ceiling, only to be painted across by a beautiful Milky Way. It's as if inside the Coliseum, they could have the feeling of being under a sky strewn with glowing constellations. A young woman's hologram materializes so that everyone could see her descending straight from the stars; the long purple and brown hair in the back and a white ancient dress.
"Welcome." she began to say, followed by applause and screams from the fans. "I am Saori Kido and you are in my Coliseum. In the coming days, this Arena will be the stage of incredible battles between the Knights of the Zodiac. Young warriors who will fight for an incredible prize: the Golden Armor."
A single beam of light in the darkness illuminated a pedestal with a golden Urn that glowed and remained lit for the rest of her speech.
"Many, many years ago, in bygone ages, young warriors got together to battle in the name of peace and justice and they always fought without any weapons. Now, these young ones are among us again and will fight for the honor to become the next Golden Knight."
The crowd cheered and shouted Saori's name. The excitement was tremendous.
"I hope you have a great night and enjoy the show."
And then her image disappeared to the delight of the public who still saw, around the Golden Urn, four pyres of fire lit, announcing the beginning of the battles. The comentator's voice echoed at the stadium.
"Look at that, the Knights of the Zodiac, Stacey!"
"Are we going to see jousts between them, will there be a horse and everything, Adam?" the two laughed together.
"I think it's just for effect, Stacey" said the commentator.
"And how wonderful is Saori, right?"
"What about that purple hair?"
"Oh, Adam, I'm screwed at home because my daughter will definitely want it."
"I'm already seeing a lot of people who dyed their hair in the audience, I think you're right, you will have a problem at home."
"But enough talking, Adam, we're about to start the first fight of the Tournament!"
"That's right Stacey, Welcome everyone to the Galaxian Wars!"
The crowd responded in unison.
"Before we begin, a minute of your attention, ladies and gentleman. Before the battle begins, let's get to the rules! This is a best of three round knockout series and whoever wins two rounds first, moves on to the next phase! Whoever is knocked out for 10 seconds, the computer will consider that as a Defeat. And pay close attention to the big screens so you don't miss any of the action! Remembering, of course, that in the end, whoever wins the Tournament will be the owner of the Gold Armor!"
Lots of applause and euphoria.
"Our first fighter, here we go, look at this! Straight from Tanzania..."
"Tanzania?"
"Of course Stacey! It's people from all over the world." said the commentator before continuing. "Straight from Tanzania, representing the Mount Kilimanjaro, our first fighter is 15 years old, look how strong he is! He brings the strength from the east to represent the Lionet Constellation! It's Ban! Ban. Ban. Ban. Ban. Ban!
"It's the Lionet Ban."
"Well said Stacey!"
The crowd raving with the young man who appears on the screens waving to the audience; he jumps in the air to access the center of the Arena and then everyone is surprised by a slight explosion near the Golden Armor which reveals, in orange tones, the form of the Lionet, an eastern lion, which separates and, in the air, joins Ban's body in an amazing light show. When he finally lands in the Arena, already in his fighting costume, the crowd goes wild again.
"The effects are incredible…" comments Adam off microphone.
"Infinite money, right." Stacey answers, but stops the sentence in the middle when noticing that Adam would go on air again.
"And now let's get prepared, Stacey."
"I'm not prepared, this is my favorite…"
"Stacey, my dear, we can't pick favorites!" joked him.
"Adam, you're putting me on the spot here." replied her.
"Nah, it doesn't make any difference, because in the end, only the best inside that arena wins. You and I here are just talking nonsense."
"Speak for yourself, Adam, but look at the crowd!"
"Yeah, it looks like it's not just you, Stacey."
"She is the best!"
"Coming from the United Kingdom, from the highlands and from the castles, 17 years old. She brings her elegance and grandeur from the Queen's Island to represent the Delphinus Constellation. It is: Alice!"
The public goes wild for Delphinus Alice. Part of the stadium screams her name in chorus, but she doesn't even nod like Ban. Her Cloth also comes off and dresses her imposingly without her even stop walking. The two now were face to face in the Arena.
The audience reacted strongly.
"And may the best win!"
"There they go, Adam!"
"Calm down Stacey, they're the ones fighting, woman." the two laugh with each other. "Ban is surrounding Alice, looks like he's studying her movements to decide how to attack, but Alice doesn't even show any reaction."
"She's very confident."
"This could be a problem, Stacey. And there he goes! Ban goes with a punch, but she dodges!"
"Look at the crowd, Adam!"
'It was a straight punch, which was no problem for Alice. And Ban comes again, right, left, right, left, she looks like she's in his mind!"
"She's older than he is, won't Ban stand a chance against Alice's experience?"
"Ban, on the other hand, seems a lot more energetic."
"He is the same age as my daughter, I see that. And there he goes again, Adam..."
"Oh my gosh, the hook almost caught her. He's getting close, Alice has to be smart, otherwise…"
"Otherwise it will end…"
"Lionet Bomber"
Ban's voice came over the speaker and Alice went to the ropes. Commentators rose from their chairs in frantic speech:
"Alice dodged another straight punch from Ban, he went to the ropes, but he picked up momentum and, my goodness, took Alice straight to the other side of the Arena!"
"She didn't expect this, Adam."
"Alice is cornered and Ban hits one, two, in the face of Delphinus and throws her across the Arena."
"Amazing!"
The audience goes wild and, in the booth, commentators look at each other in confusion.
"Looks like they're taking it seriously."
"And if Alice doesn't take it too, she might lose."
"Ban picked up momentum on the ropes again, looks like it's his special technique, the Lionet Bomber. There he goes again and… Alice! Alice held the impact in her arms!"
"Impressive, look at the charge she's holding on the screen."
"It's over 1200 kilos, how insane!
"Ban is punching Alice!"
"Yes, Stacey. Ban has taken advantage of the situation and is throwing punches left and right at Alice. Alice is in trouble. But… wait a moment. Ban is taking the lead, but Alice doesn't even seem to move."
"She's blocking all the punches!"
"An opening! Ban! Ban is on the ground!"
"How impressive! Let's see it on the screen's slow motion replay! Look, look how Alice is blocking all of Ban's punches and he almost inadvertently leaves a huge gap and Alice just, oh my God, she jumps into a reverse backflip, hitting Ban with her legs and knocking him away."
"It was amazing Adam, we could barely see it live, if it wasn't for the slow motion, maybe we would have lost."
The audience applauds excitedly and starts counting Ban.
"The effects are amazing." says the commentator outside the microphone.
"I don't know how they do it, but let's go..."
"Come on, it's on the count." she says to turn on the microphone.
"Seven, six, five, four, three, two, end of the first round!" announces the narrator to the delight of the crowd.
"Whew, can you breathe, Adam?"
"Yeah, Stacey, the Tournament is off to a great start!"
"Ban seemed to have the initiative and pursued the fight from the get-go, he was able to hit Alice successfully using his special technique, the Lionet Bomber, but Alice had a card up her sleeve: an incredible spin with her legs. What will happen in the second round, Adam? I can't wait to see."
"Will Ban be more careful with Alice's spin, will his ropes tactic work? We'll see, in a little while, at the second round!"
"Wait here" said a man before closing the door and leaving the boy alone.
Seiya entered a room of a huge Mansion. They gave him better clothes, more comfortable sneakers, but on his back he still had the Bronze Urn. There were lots of pictures on the walls, rich curtains and a very clean and almost untouched furniture.
The room, however, was not empty. Another boy was there too. Unlike him, he didn't carry an Urn and Seiya preferred to keep looking at the things in the room, when he was surprised by the boy's sweet voice.
"Are you grounded too?" Seiya looked at the boy who had stubborn bangs in his eyes and a sweet smile on his face. He was a little suspicious, but he was terribly curious.
"I think so."
"I remember you. You were always being grounded."
"I was not!"
"Seiya, isn't it?"
"And you are Shun. I remember you too. You were never grounded."
"Things change."
They hugged and smiled.
"You also became a Saint." Shun said seeing Seiya's Urn at his back.
"Well… it was either that or die, wasn't it?"
"Was Greece that horrible?"
"You can't imagine…"
"I suppose I can. Training on the Island was also like hell."
"And now they want us to participate in a Tournament, it's ridiculous."
"Is that why you're here?"
"Of course. I ain't gonna do this stupid fights, I came back here just to find my sister and no one wants to tell me anything."
"I'm also here because of my sister."
"I remember her. Didn't she come back too?"
"No."
The two were silent together until the door opened again and Saori Kido entered the room, followed closely by a girl who stayed away, but alert.
"Hello Shun." she began. "Unfortunately we have no news from Ikki." Shun sank a little into the chair.
"What about Seika?" Seiya asked Saori straight away. She looked him in the eye very seriously before answering.
"Welcome back Seiya." she began. "Unfortunately we don't have news from Seika either."
"But what do you mean you don't have news? She went to training right here in town. You must know something."
"Sorry, Seiya." she whined.
"No. I want to talk to someone. Where is that old man who sent us all away? Where is your grandfather?"
"Seiya..." Shun began trying to contain him and the girl leaning against Saori approached.
She was silent for a moment before answering.
"My grandfather passed away a few years ago."
Seiya immediately felt ashamed, not because of any attachment to the old man, but because of his granddaughter's presence in front of him.
"Well, he promised me that I would see my sister if I made it back alive from Greece. That Shun would see his sister. And we came back!"
"I'm very sorry Seiya, Shun, but we don't really know Ikki and Seika's whereabouts. As Shun knows, our contact on Ikki's Island unfortunately hasn't updated us for a few months and as for Seika…" She stopped mid-sentence.
"What about Seika?"
"Seiya… Seika trained here in the city, but…"
"Come on, say it!"
"She disappeared five years ago…"
"What?"
"During all this time she's been gone, we've put all our efforts into finding her, but so far unfortunately we haven't been able to find a trace. But we won't give up and…"
"You mean my sister is missing?! How can you do this? First you take us out of our homes, send us to spend years of hell in horrible places, and now you are here saying you have lost my sister?"
Seiya had tears in his eyes, but a deep grudge in his chest.
"Seiya…" Shun beside him.
"Shun, all I had back in Greece so I could keep pushing and training was that I was to find my sister again. I swore to her that I would come back. And I did. And you did!"
"We will continue to look for them and we will increase our efforts to find everyone. I promise." said Saori.
"Your promises are nothing to me!" snapped Seiya and started toward the door. "I'll go after my sister myself."
"Leave the Armor..." said the girl behind Saori, from the table to a very confused Seiya with her request. "The Tournament will start soon and the Armors need to be all..."
"You must be kidding."
"She's not kidding, Seiya." said another voice from across the room.
Another boy. A mocking smile on his face and a huge arrogance in his eyes. Seiya recognized him immediately from his childhood.
"Jab."
"Well, well, if it isn't Seiya back at the principal's office. I had to come see it with my own eyes."
"I don't have time for you, Jab."
"No one has time for your childish plays, Seiya. The lady asked to leave the Armor, so leave it. And then you can go back crying like the little boy that you are."
Seiya then turned and moved forward to punch Jab who blocked holding his hand.
"Stop!" asked Saori. "If you want to fight, save it for the Tournament."
"I will not participate in this ridiculous show!" Seiya replied.
"Don't talk to Miss Saori like that!" Jab said and Seiya tried to laugh.
"Are you sure you came to see me?" he laughed and let go of Jab. "Maybe you came to see her."
Jab then clenched his fists to crush Seiya right there, but he was stopped again by Saori.
"Jab, please stop!" said Saori.
And he stopped. Seiya let out a smile at Jab and turned away from him, determined to leave. He then noticed the air cut and the handles of his Urn ripped causing it to fall to the ground.
"You can go. The Urn stays." said Jab.
Seiya glared at him and reached out to take the Urn belt back, but looking at it, he hesitated for a moment. He remembered Marin's words, the words of Master Arles himself. And then he decided to let go and leave the Cloth where it was, much to Jab's surprise. Seiya turned his back on it and left the room.
"Wait Seiya. I'll go with you." Shun said.
And the two got out. Jab looked at Saori and saw only a girl's nod asking him to let it be, as if she already knew what was going to happen.
"Are you sure you want to be with the troublemaker of the orphanage, Shun?"
"Absolutely."
"Won't you fight in the Tournament either?" Seiya asked.
"It is forbidden for the Athena Saints to fight for their own sake. That's why you left your Cloth there, isn't it? You intend to look for your sister alone."
"Maybe we can find Ikki too."
"Yes." Shun smiled. "So this is where you lived before?"
A low wall, a simple white gate with a large lawn where some children were already playing that afternoon. Swings, spins and some scattered balls. In the background, a church and a housing construction, although very simple. The sign read 'Orphanage of the Stars'.
"Yeah."
And a lot of joy filled those children because of the unexpected visit of the two young boys, also because they rarely had visitors or much reason to play. On the other hand, the ads for the Galaxian Wars were running almost all the time on the old TV they had in the living room. All of them were super excited for the Tournament in the last few days. They couldn't believe that Shun was there, as the boy was one of the main stars from the show.
The priest was very happy to see Seiya again and introduced him to the children and caregivers, saying that the young man also lived in that place when he was their age, before being adopted. The kids immediately loved him. And in front of the television, they filled the boy with questions.
"Are you going to fight there as well, Seiya?" asked one of the boys seeing the image of the huge Colosseum.
"Is it true Miho? Will he really fight?" asked another to one of the caretakers at the place.
"He's also going to fight, did you know?" Seiya said about Shun, but they already knew that.
"Ah, but I like Seiya better." said another child.
"Oh, don't say that, or he'll leave!" Seiya complained while Shun smiled.
"I like you better." Said a girl near Shun.
"Hey, what do you mean?! He didn't even lived here!" Seiya asked her.
"I wish he had."
Everyone laughed and it has been many years since Seiya had such a light moment, or Shun, or even those abandoned children. Seiya asked Shun to spend a moment with the kids, given that now he was their favorite one, Seiya wanted to have a private conversation to an old friend he had in that place.
"I didn't expect to see you back here Seiya. After so long."
"I didn't think you'd be here either, Miho."
"Well… this is my life. I like children a lot, so I asked the priest to let me stay here taking care of them. It's a lot of work, especially now that one of the carers hasn't come to work, but I like it. I always liked it, right Seiya."
"I'm very happy to see you Miho."
"Me too Seiya, but I know why you look like this."
"Ah, Miho, sorry to ask again, but you really don't know anything about where my sister could be? Anything, Miho."
"No, Seiya. I'm sorry. There's nothing in the world that I would want more than to help you. Really."
"Don't be sorry, Miho. I'm the one who should apologize. I'm only thinking about me and my sister."
"As I told you, after you left, Seika still came back here many times. She brought the children candy, blankets for the cold, and stayed with us for a few days. But five years ago she stopped coming. I went to the Foundation to ask for their help and they said they were looking for her too and that they were very sorry about all of it. But unfortunately she never came back, Seiya."
"My sister… I thought I could find out more about her here, but if neither you nor the priest know about Seika, then…"
"But Seiya, if you are willing to fight in the Tournament, it might be much easier to find her."
"What do you mean, Miho?"
"She will definitely see the Tournament on TV, Seiya. Everyone is super excited and I'm sure she'll end up watching too."
"I hadn't thought of that, Miho." replied Seiya excitedly.
"But you have to promise to be very careful!" She warned very affectionately.
"Of course, Miho, leave it to me."
Seiya felt a thread of hope renew inside him when Shun appeared on the lawn with a boy on his lap, whom he left on the ground to check on his friend.
"Looks like you really are their favorite, isn't it Shun?"
"Are you Seiya, then?" asked the boy.
"Yes it's me. How do you know my name?"
"Oh, it's because Miho has a picture of you in her room and she won't stop talking about you."
"Makoto!" Miho ran after the pesky boy, while Shun and Seiya laughed.
"Shun. Miho gave me an idea."
Shun smiled realizing that he was really in trouble.
ABOUT THE CHAPTER: The beginning of the Galaxian War! I loved creating Stacey and Adam, because I wanted to create this atmosphere of super excited transmission of sporting events and also show the perspective of spectators who have no idea of what is really happening, even believing it to be a great facade.
Shun and Seiya's meeting 'grounded' in the beginning was a way to introduce them to the story as quickly as possible and also to create a greater bond between the two.
NEXT CHAPTER: The Galaxian War
Convinced that participating in the tournament could help him find his sister again, Seiya has his first battle on the big screen.