31 — DRAGON'S SACRIFICE
The trio struggled up the slopes of a steep mountain, led by Seiya, who knew best the way around those rocks. They could not take the main road, as it was guarded by agents of Sanctuary and the young ones did not want to draw attention as they were hunted and walking dangerously close to the enemy territory. It wasn't time to face the Sanctuary yet. Not yet.
Xiaoling took a sip of water from a canteen and passed it to Shiryu and Seiya. They stopped for a moment in a grotto to rest as the sun rose over the Mediterranean; they were wearing their Sacred Cloths and Xiaoling had a bag with some supplies on her shoulder so they could have greater peace of mind on the climb.
"Shun should have come. It would be so much easier with his Chains." Seiya commented.
"Seiya, is that the Sanctuary?" Shiryu asked, looking away.
From that height they could make out a short space of trees far below, but mostly a few pale brown rock formations, some ruins scattered here and there before the vision reached a huge isolated mountain.
"Yes," Seiya said. "Behind that hill is the Sanctuary of Athena."
"I wish we could go there and kick their asses once and for all." said Xiaoling.
"Xiao, there are hundreds of warriors, Bronze and Silver Saints, the Camerlengo. You wouldn't even get there safely." said Seiya.
"I still think we can do it." she said, taking another sip from her canteen.
Seiya looked at Shiryu smiling: the little one was brave or mad.
They climbed the slope of that hill again, which was much smaller than that one far away, but still a challenge even for trained Saints like them. In any case, it didn't take them long to reach the top and, from above, they glimpsed at a huge abandoned Temple below them.
But there was someone else there.
Seiya pulled his friends into hiding as they could, as three figures walked at the entrance of the Temple towards a road, leaving the ruins.
"Do you know them, Seiya?" Shiryu muttered.
"Yes," Seiya replied, disappointed. "That's Shaina, my Master's rival."
Shaina walked stunning with a Silver Cloth on her body; beside her, two other young men also dressed in their Cloths accompanied her out of the Temple, toward a path that cut through the rocks in a valley.
There they stopped.
From that point on, the trio couldn't hear what they were saying to each other.
Beside Seiya, however, a huge boulder moved and rolled to crush the three of them; quickly, they threw themselves to the side, avoiding being hit by the huge rock.
"Who's there?" they heard Shaina's shrill voice from below.
"Damn it." Seiya said, alone.
They were found.
Seiya stood up and his Cloth caught the sunlight, blinding for a moment the three Silver Saints below.
"I am Pegasus Seiya!" he announced.
They couldn't see it, but a smile spread across Shaina's face, and she let her laugh drift off the cliffs.
"How lucky of me!" she said. "Aren't you going down to say hello to your old friend?"
Beside them, another rock moved again, and Shiryu clearly noticed that, like the first one, the rocks were not moving by themselves, but responding to the cosmos of one of the Saints beside Shaina. It was no use staying on that high, narrow escarpment anymore, they were easy targets. They got out and landed in front of the Silver Saints.
"Shaina..." commented Seiya.
"Look, Silver Saints. We are so lucky that three traitors to the Sanctuary have just fallen into our laps." said Shaina's high-pitched voice.
"We are not traitors!" exclaimed little Xiaoling.
"Oh no?" she asked mockingly. "And what were you doing there hiding like little rats?"
"We came to seal the Temple of Eris." Shiryu said seriously.
"We've already sealed the Temple!" said a young man beside Shaina.
"Shut up, Capella!" she scolded the boy. "Traitors don't need to know a damn thing about our mission."
"Shaina, you are all being deceived." began Seiya. "There's an evil placed in the Sanctuary!"
She laughed.
"You really are an idiot, Seiya. You should never have become a Saint. You are not worthy of the Pegasus Cloth." she said, pointing at him. "I said I would have my Cloth the next time we meet. And here we are. I will have my revenge!"
She immediately ran towards Seiya, who dodged; the rock behind him destroyed.
"Kill the traitors!" she ordered her companions before speaking through gritted teeth. "But leave Pegasus to me!"
Three battles on each side of that Temple entrance, all of them engaged in a forthright match. Shaina in her gleaming Silver Cloth fought fiercely against Seiya; Shiryu jumped through the ruins fleeing stones and rocks thrown by Capella, while Xiaoling had a serious opponent in front of her.
Seiya moved away from that crossroads, as he flew by the pillars jumping from one to the other, always narrowly escaping the sharp claws of Shaina, who was chasing him. So, they ended up moving away from the others.
"Stop it, Shaina!" he said, putting himself in front of her at last.
"Don't be a coward, Seiya!"
"We have no reason to fight. You need to listen to me!" he said, dodging another electric fist from the girl.
Shaina was looking at him with fury in her eyes, already panting from so much energy she'd put into the chase. Around them were columns still standing; the roof they once supported, however, was long gone, and its stones collected from that place. On the floor, ancient and broken mosaics still retained a shadow of what a great hall that place must have been in ancient times.
"Seiya, tell me." she began. "What happened to Misty and Marin?"
Seiya was surprised to see her asking about Marin.
"What do you mean, Shaina?" he asked. "Marin hasn't returned to the Sanctuary?"
The girl, for the first time, looked surprised, and on her furious face a little confusion settled in her mind.
"Shaina, there is something very wrong going on inside the Sanctuary."
"Yes." She pointed at Seiya. "It is you, damn foreigners. Since you came here, the Sanctuary has been doomed."
"Don't say that, Shaina, how can you say that?' Seiya asked her, absurdly.
She was silent, looking at him.
"I know why you say that." he said.
"Shut it!"
Shaina lunged at Seiya and her fist hit the boy in the stomach, knocking him to the ground. On his knees, Seiya realized that Shaina had locked him with her arms, choking him. He babbled her name, trying to reason with her.
"You will die at the hands of the serpent bearer, Seiya."
The boy struggled as best he could, but Shaina's arms were powerful and had him locked in an armbar impossible for him to break free. He felt his senses slowly reeling from lack of air.
"A… thena." he managed to say, finally, between Shaina's firm grip.
Unable to interrupt the girl's strong arms, Seiya took the cylinder he kept with him and dropped it on the rock of the ruins; the cylinder calmly rolled a little away from them. Shaina threw Seiya aside and the boy gasped for air again.
The girl went to the cylinder and took it in her hands, amazed. She took out another identical one that she had also kept with her. Hers was empty. She opened the one in her hands and saw the enchanted papyrus.
"Who gave you this?" she asked.
Seiya looked at her, relieved to finally have a chance to be heard.
"Athena." he replied, still gasping for air.
"Don't be ridiculous! How did you get it? Who gave you the Seal of Athena?"
"I already told you it was Athena." he replied.
Shaina kicked him away.
"This is proof that there is a traitor in Sanctuary." she said. "Only the Camerlengo Master Arles can present a Seal like this. And he would never give it to someone like you. Never!" she snapped, attacking him again.
Seiya was being beaten from all sides by Shaina, his body already shedding blood and suffering.
"The shame." she began angrily. "The Pegasus Cloth, a Greek treasure. Sworn by the Camerlengo himself being used in a tournament, in a spectacle."
Seiya crawled trying to get up.
"And then you went on and destroyed Geist's dream by stealing the Gold Cloth." And with every sin of his, Seiya received a blow to the body. "Misty, Asterion, Moses and even your Master Marin, Seiya! All dead!"
"No! Marin is not dead!" he protested.
Shaina tried to kick him again, but Seiya finally parried the blow with his arm and pushed her away, standing up.
"It's not me you should attack, Shaina. The Sanctuary is haunted by something terrible. Athena is on our side." he said, and there was compassion in his voice.
On the other side, every time Seiya spoke of Athena, Shaina was invaded by a huge confusion, as if those words were absolutely incomprehensible, since Athena was very distant from all of them, that weren't much more than mere Bronze Saints. And there Seiya spoke as if Athena were having dinner beside him.
And that was exactly how it was.
But for Shaina, who could only see the distant silhouette of the large woman that was Athena, hearing Seiya speak so intimately was almost a sin. Something inadmissible for her.
"Athena is beside the Camerlengo Master Arles." she said through gritted teeth. "How dare you speak for Athena? What happened to you, Seiya? Even Marin would be very ashamed of you."
"I already told you she's alive!" he said, finally throwing his fist at Shaina, who blocked it easily.
Then he stopped, remembering that Shaina was right. Marin really was ashamed of him.
"And here you show up hiding like a rat, saying these absurd things, bearing a Seal of Athena that must be as false as your Saint's Oath. Your destiny is to be punished. And I will punish you, Seiya! For Misty and Marin!"
And she sparked her silver cosmos, which crackled electricity around her. Seiya saw that she was decided; if, when he was younger, Seiya saw in Shaina's eyes a huge tantrum for him, which he sometimes confused with the rivalry she herself had with Marin and he with Cassius, now it was a mixture of fury and deep discontent, as if Seiya had tarnished the sacred rites she believed in. It seemed absurd, but Seiya felt she was disappointed in him too.
But he had Athena by his side.
Seiya also burned his cosmos, rivaling that immense Silver Saint.
"Pegasus Seiya." she began. "I, Ophiuchus Shaina, will relieve you of your duty as an Athena Saint."
And she rushed forward, furious, her claws electrified, her voice reverberating through the columns.
"Thunder Claws!"
"Pegasus Meteor Attack!" Said the boy, walking towards her.
The two cosmos collided and some nearby columns fell to the ground with the impact of the energy. Both hurled in the opposite direction, each found a column to stop their flights. Seiya got up feeling spasms all over his body and went to the ground in pain again. Shaina was standing in front of him.
"Your Cosmo is no match for a Silver Saint, Seiya." she said seriously. "Your Meteors are stronger and more powerful than the last time we met, but as long as I'm wearing my Silver Cloth, you and your little friends won't stand a chance against us."
"We've already defeated many enemies." Seiya said, getting up. "I can't lose here."
"But today you will lose and I'm sure that Argol and Capella have already taken care of your friends."
Seiya's Cosmo again burned and he fired his Meteors at Shaina who, without moving, blocked them all.
"Give up."
But it was not a thing for Seiya to give up. He leapt into the sun and again focused his cosmos on his fist, but this time he didn't rain down the meteors that Shaina knew so well. Seiya concentrated all of them in one point and descended like a Comet towards her.
Shaina didn't expect it and made the same mistake as Misty. Her luck, unlike Lizard, was that she wore her mighty Silver Cloth, so Seiya's mighty fist dragged her to a colonnade, knocking her to the ground. But she remained intact, albeit haunted.
On her knees, she was surprised by Seiya, who took her from behind, holding her by the shoulders. His Cosmo created a whirlwind of light that he had learned from Shun; that energy enveloped them both and threw them into the sky with force; Seiya controlled that whirlwind and hurled them both against a rock wall, in which Seiya sank Shaina's body against the rock.
He leapt into a back flip and watched as Shaina's body snatched away from the hole in the rock she'd formed and crashed to the ground in front of her. She tried to get up but couldn't.
"Where… did you learn this?" she asked, bleeding.
"I didn't hit any vital points, Shaina. You are going to survive." Seiya said. "I need you to understand that the Sanctuary is tainted by evil forces. Stay alert. I'm not lying when I say Athena is on our side."
And then he turned to go back to where his friends still struggled.
"Seiya… This isn't over." Shaina said behind him, unable to follow.
The fighting at the entrance to the Temple was vigorous; Xiaoling was very energetic and, indeed, brought hardships for the Silver Saint who faced her. Her luminous spheres confused the opponent and, several times, he was hit by Xiaoling's stellar fist.
"What the hell!" muttered the Silver Saint after being hit again by the girl.
"If I were you, I would give up the battle." said the girl.
"Shut up." he chided.
On the other side, however, Shiryu had immense difficulty facing Capella, as the Silver Saint's use of telekinesis was far more refined than the stone attacks she had suffered from Kiki. He had the ability to control the rocks around Shiryu, but he also managed to deflect all of the girl's blows using only kinetic thrusts of his mind.
And when Shiryu thought her situation couldn't get any worse, Capella decided that he wouldn't attack her anymore with rocks around her, since Shiryu had full ability to dodge or simply destroy them with her Dragon fist. The Silver Saint took out two discs that were part of his hip protection and ignited his cosmos.
"Dodge this, Dragon. The Auriga Ripping Saucers!"
Shiryu watched as the two discs were hurled violently at her, spinning through the air and chasing her impossibly. She soon guessed that Capella's telekinesis controlled the disks in order to follow her wherever she went. The girl saw that it was no use running away, as she would always be pursued. She dug her feet into the ground and took the full power of those two discs with her mighty Shield, reflecting them away.
The discs were returned to Capella's hands. Shiryu tried to take advantage of the moment to attack, imagining he would be inattentive, but his fist was again minimally deflected by the Silver Saint's telekinesis. She lost her balance, pushing past him.
When Shiryu turned to face his opponent, he saw too late that the whizzing disc slammed into her head, ripping off her helmet and sending her flying with blood streaming from her forehead.
Far away, they felt and heard the explosion of cosmos, where Seiya and Shaina had fled. The two fights stopped, as they tried to guess what could have happened. Who would emerge winner?
The figure of Seiya returning alone and with some difficulties was a bad omen for the Silver Saints.
"Shaina…" one of them spoke softly. "Where's Shaina?" asked the Silver Saint facing Xiaoling.
Seiya just looked back at him because he didn't owe him anything.
The Silver Saint turned to the Temple and ran towards the entrance until Xiaoling stopped in front of him, preventing him from proceeding. The girl was a stone in his shoe.
"I don't have time for you!" he said, leaping over her and running back into the Temple.
Xiaoling attacked him with a sphere of light that she threw like someone throwing a ball at the wall. And the sphere stopped near the Silver Saint's back, who stopped running. The sphere's light went out and the energy dissipated, much to Xiaoling's amazement, who had never seen anything like it.
"What happened? What is that?" There was something under the Silver Saint's long hair, tied to the back of his armor.
"Do you really want to know, little girl?" he replied and, on the other side, Shiryu realized that Capella stopped fighting to look at what was happening.
Xiaoling was looking intently at the Silver Saint's back, he pulled the hair that covered his back and the girl saw two bright eyes staring back at her. And more she couldn't see, as Ursa Minor Xiaoling had been turned into a stone statue.
Seiya and Shiryu were amazed to see that Xiaoling didn't move, frozen in the same attentive posture she was moments before; the color of her skin and her Cloth faded to a unique shade of gray stone. Seiya and Shiryu yelled for her name.
Both ran to the statue of their friend trying to understand what could have happened. There was no doubt that the girl had been turned to stone. A Xiaoling statue.
"What happened?" asked Shiryu. "Xiaoling!" called the two.
"She made the terrible mistake of looking at this." said the boy, pushing the face whose eyes had petrified Xiaoling off his back.
It was a silver hexagonal shield adorned with the hideous image of an embossed gorgon. Her eyelids closed, her mouth half-open and her fangs bared; but the main characteristic of that cursed figure was the dozens of tangled serpents that served as her hair.
"This is the Medusa Shield." he said.
Seiya remembered the legend. Medusa had been a woman cursed to turn into a monster, whose locks were replaced by poisonous serpents, her teeth exchanged for that of a wild boar, and her grotesque appearance could turn anyone who saw her into eternal stone statues.
Admired, Seiya succumbed for his curiosity.
And he was also petrified, for while he recalled his mythological lessons in the cradle of Greece, remembering who Medusa was in Marin's stories, the glowing eyes of that shield opened again, this time fatally for Seiya.
"No one can resist Medusa's terrible gaze." Spoke the Silver Saint confidently as Shiryu called out to his petrified friend beside him.
"Seiya!"
"What is this?" he said when he saw that Shiryu was still alive. "How can you be alive?"
Shiryu looked back at Argol on guard and her shield in front of her.
"The Dragon Shield." she said, showing her mighty shield. "You are the Perseus Saint, aren't you? Old Master told me that the Perseus Saint used Medusa's head on his shield. If I'd known before…" She looked at the statues of her friends.
"Ah, I see. You're a disciple of the Old Master from the Five Old Peaks, aren't you? The Dragon Shield's fame is well known and now I see it lives up to it." said the serious boy before finally introducing himself. "I am Perseus Argol."
He then walked towards Shiryu and again raised the Medusa's shield.
"This will be interesting. What is the best shield? Medusa's Shield, which turns everything to stone," he said, opening the eyes of his shield, forcing the girl to hide. "or the Dragon Shield, known to be impenetrable?"
They faced each other studying any gaps that could exist in their defenses. Shiryu remembered that Xiaoling, before being petrified, was actually giving a lot of work to the Silver Saint. He figured that maybe the boy trusted his own shield too much and didn't have anything else besides Medusa's accursed eyes.
"Tell me, Perseus. If I beat you in combat, Xiaoling and Seiya will be back to normal, right?" she asked from under her shield.
Argol's answer took a while.
"Your Master is very wise indeed, Shiryu. But hiding behind that shield of yours won't do anything against me."
He was right, and with every passing moment she knew that the Stone Shield spell would take more and more of her friends' lives. She ignited her cosmos and, hidden, used her powerful Dragon Rising, striking the Perseus Saint, who flew away; but soon Argol was back on the ground, feeling virtually no effect, much to her amazement.
"What a weak attack." said Argol. "You're trying at all costs not to look at my shield and it completely takes away the power of your fist, Dragon."
"Damn it…"
"Come on Dragon. Show me your power with all of your might!"
And with that, Argol again opened Medusa's eyes, and again Shiryu had to hide behind her shield. Surprised, however, Shiryu found herself immobilized by Capella, who had appeared behind her.
"Hurry up, Argol! Show her Medusa's eyes!" he said, holding Shiryu, who was struggling desperately to find herself unable to defend with her shield.
"Perfect." said the Perseus Saint.
Medusa's eyes opened slowly and that terrible Shield bathed the Temple in its cursed glow. Skillfully, Shiryu managed to sway her body so that Capella lost his balance, as he was even more afraid to look into those bright eyes. His overzealousness gave the chance for Shiryu to have a break in that armbar and, agile, she managed to free herself to let Capella, the Auriga Saint, before those terrible eyes.
"Bastard!" exclaimed Argol, seeing his partner petrified.
Shiryu was behind his back.
"Now it will be a fair fight." she said.
Argol immediately attacked her and Shiryu had to defend herself with her shield from the numerous kicks that the Perseus Saint unleashed against her. She knew, in her heart, that as long as she was defending herself, she would have no chance of beating her opponent. And her life wasn't the only one there at risk, but Xiaoling and Seiya needed her. Shiryu was the last hope of them getting back to normal. She needed to do something.
She was thrown away to a column near the Temple entrance, by the strength of the Silver Saint's kick. The Perseus Saint.
She then remembered Perseus. And how the mythological hero had defeated the terrible Medusa. For the story was told that, to avoid the terrible eyes of Medusa, Perseus made a mirror of his shield and thus could see the monster without turning into stone, finally defeating her with a fatal blow of his sword.
Shiryu would have only one chance, as had Perseus.
She stood up and ran towards Argol, her face covered by her right fist, the Dragon's Fist, and under it Shiryu stared intently at her outstretched left arm, reflecting inaccurately all around her. She saw clearly how the humanoid silhouette of Argol was drawn on the shield and she knew it was her chance.
But then the silhouette disappeared.
Shiryu looked up and saw that there was no one in front of her when she heard the voice of Perseus above her head.
"Rha's Al-Ghûl Gorgoneion!"
Below her feet, Shiryu saw a number of serpents manifest and climbing up her body. And only too late did she realize that it was an illusion, for her real concern was Argol's terrible flying kick above her. Three times she was hit and to the ground, terribly wounded; the blood pouring from her stomach, her legs and her face.
"Don't underestimate me, Dragon. Of course I also know the story of Perseus and Medusa. Do you really think you would beat me with this?"
Shiryu, with immense difficulties, began to get up; she had to wipe away the blood that dripped from her forehead and insisted on falling into her eyes, giving a crimson look to everything she saw and stinging her eyes. She wiped it but then got an idea.
Argol was impressed by the girl's fiber. She dropped to one knee and ripped the fabric she wore under her Dragon Cloth. She sealed her own eyes, tying the makeshift sash behind her head. She would fight blind because she couldn't keep running away, couldn't hold her fist. She needed to use all her strength.
"Well Dragon, you should stop trying." said Argol mockingly.
The girl felt that she didn't have that much time and threw herself open-hearted to finally attack the Silver Saint with all her might. Argol raised his shield again and Medusa's eyes opened again. Amazed, though she saw nothing in front of her, Shiryu could clearly see, albeit blindfolded, two eyes opening in her darkness.
Her blindfold tore and Shiryu found herself petrified. Not entirely, but the left side of her torso had turned to stone, along with her arm and her mighty shield.
It was the end of her.
"It's pointless." said Argol. "Medusa's eyes directly attack your retina, no matter what's in front of it. It is useless to blindfold or even close your eyes."
The Silver Saint jumped and Shiryu was attacked mercilessly, as this time she couldn't even raise her shield to defend herself. And she fell to the ground with her left side paralyzed. The Silver Saint walked towards her, his speech calm and decisive.
"Dragon Shiryu. I, Perseus Argol, relieve you from your duty as an Athena Saint."
"No..." Shiryu said in pain, refusing to be dismissed.
She still had her friends to save.
She again got to her feet suffering from her wounds; Argol was indeed a Saint with a terrible Shield, but his blows were unrefined, and Shiryu was right to guess that he relied too much on Medusa's head. By then, a trained Saint would have ended her life. And that's why Shiryu felt she still had a chance.
She just needed one.
"You don't stand a fight. Can't you see that?" asked the Silver Saint.
"Argol..." She was on her feet again. "Looks like I did underestimated you."
Shiryu soothed her right arm, the only one she still had at her disposal.
"To defeat you, a great sacrifice must be made." she said. "And I'm willing to make this sacrifice so that Seiya and Xiaoling can come back to life."
Argol did not understand where so much fiber came from; her cosmos ignited in such a way that the Dragon's glow around her practically dazzled him from seeing anything else. She glowed. She raised her hand to her face, and Argol felt a shiver run up his spine. Shiryu's cosmos went out and he saw that the girl's eyes were pouring dark blood, which ran down her face and dripped from her young chin.
"This is impossible. Have you… blinded yourself? Did you just teared out your own eyes? Are you so desperate that you have completely lost your mind?"
"I am desperate, but don't be fooled to think that I have lost my mind." Shiryu replied. "We must risk our lives to fight. Come, Argol! I still have my right arm to finish you off!"
"You will die the same way, Dragon! Go join your friends!" threatened Argol.
The Silver Saint ran and, indeed, Shiryu without being able to see was taken by the voracious attacks of Argol, who no longer had the eyes of his shield in his favor, but had the lack of Shiryu's eyes on his side. Shiryu even tried to hit him, but it was easy for Argol to dodge.
The Silver Saint took her by the arm, still alive, and hurled her towards the entrance of the Temple.
And again Shiryu got up. Her Cosmo then ignited, remembering Seiya and Xiaoling, but above all remembering everything that she had lived until then. She also remembered the pain of seeing the Black Dragon dying, who chose to believe in something. And there she chose to believe in her heart too. In the darkness of her mind, she saw Argol's silhouette flash open, running towards her. A cosmos resonated with her chest and she felt the greatness of the Goddess Athena in her heart. It was she who made her see the shadow of Perseus.
She rose and the Dragon ascended to heavens when her voice echoed in the Temple:
"Rising Dragon!"
Her right fist tore the air furiously and found, desperate, the Medusa's Shield, which Argol raised to defend himself. But Medusa's Shield was the gorgon's eyes and her protection was no match for the immense cosmos Shiryu awakened and deposited in her fist. The monster's face cracked in half, the Shield snapped, and Shiryu's fist sank into the Silver Saint's chest.
She even pushed forward and lifted him into the skies with the strength of one who could reverse the flow of a mighty waterfall.
Argol fell ahead, dead.
Shiryu fell to her knees, seeking the air she lacked.
A dark day for her.
She tried to walk to where she remembered the statues of her friends were, but soon realized how desperate it was for her as she couldn't guide herself by anything. She didn't knew not to see.
"Who's there?" she asked the wind, as she imagined being watched.
She fell to her knees groping on the floor and calling Seiya and Xiaoling's name. Desperate. When she clearly heard someone arriving, she heard their footsteps on the beaten earth.
"Seiya? Xiaoling? Who's there?"
Whoever it was it didn't respond. The noise of the footsteps stopped a little further on and Shiryu tried to listen carefully.
"Who's in there?" she tried, but no one answered.
She got to her feet and tried to run toward the steps, but tripped over a rock protruding from the ground and fell on her mouth, tearing her lips.
The footsteps then receded until she couldn't hear anything else.
Shiryu was babbling the names, when she finally heard a sound as sand trickling out of a bowl and two thumbs fell to the ground, gasping. She recognized them because she was looking forward to it with immense despair.
"Seiya! Xiaoling!" she said, getting to her feet and trying to feel in the air to find her friends.
"Shiryu..." called Seiya.
She went in the direction of Seiya's voice and just then he noticed that her friend seemed to be feeling the air, very lost. He called to her and held her in his hands.
The girl immediately hugged Seiya.
"Seiya, is that you, Seiya? Are you okay?"
"Shiryu..." lamented Xiaoling, seeing behind Seiya that Shiryu's eyes were bleeding. "What's wrong with you?"
Seiya pulled Shiryu so he could see her face and only then saw the blood in her eyes.
"Shiryu, by Athena, what have you done?!" he asked.
"It doesn't matter, the important thing is that you're all right."
Xiaoling hugged Shiryu in tears, not believing she had to blind herself to save their lives, while Seiya remembered that this was the second time Shiryu's life was put to the test, and once again she managed to be there for him and his friends.
Seiya and Xiaoling cried hugging Shiryu, blind, but then hurried to leave. They were hoping that the Foundation's modern hospital complex could cure their friend's eyes. And from there they fled immediately.
At the heart of the Temple of Eris, a papyrus inscribed with Athena's name peeled off a ritualistic stone apple that sat above a plinth. A simple gust of wind was enough to finish removing the seal, which fell to the ground and went out.
ABOUT THE CHAPTER: No Steel Saints here. =) I also made sure to put Shaina and the Silver Saints to work on a mission, again to give that feeling that the World isn't standing still around Seiya and his friends. Things happen on the other side too, and just like them, though taken by evil, the Sanctuary wants to seal Eris. I took the liberty of merging Spartan of the anime with the Auriga Saint.
NEXT CHAPTER: THE GODDESS OF PAIN
Shiryu's terrible wound shakes Seiya and his friends and Saori finds herself in the strange position of being a Goddess, but everyone around her is hurting herself greatly.