32 — GODDESS OF PAIN

Two days of deep apprehension in a hospital farther from downtown, as Shiryu needed much more specific care than the underground care of the Coliseum could provide. Her case was serious. And she was still a girl like any other.

Xiaoling and Seiya did not leave the waiting room in the operating center of that hospital for a single minute. A very high-tech hospital from the Graad Foundation itself. Saori and Alice were also at the hospital wing, as well as a woman and a man who sometimes spoke alone with Saori. Above a double door, a light was lit, indicating that the girl was still undergoing surgery.

Seiya looked from the light to the floor between his feet. Xiaoling had swollen eyes from crying and hid her sad face between her knees beside him. Saori walked back and forth, while Alice was also sitting and very apprehensive.

In a garden outside the building, sitting on a bench were Shun and Hyoga. Shun offered the Siberian boy part of a chocolate he was eating. He accepted and so in silence they watched the trees in a nearby grove sway, waiting for any news.

The light went out and Seiya got up immediately. A doctor came out with her mask over her face and took it off as soon as she got in the waiting room. The very tall, bald man went to her, but Saori interrupted them both.

"You can speak to me directly." she said, and the woman, who had previously been talking to the man in the suit, turned to the girl.

Beside her joined Seiya and Alice, Xiaoling still hidden behind.

"She's getting better. She will be fine. But as for her eyes…" the doctor began to speak. "We were able to reconstruct her retina, thanks to the technology we have here. But I'm afraid her wounds are much deeper."
"What does that mean?" Seiya asked, desperate.
"I'm sorry, but Shiryu won't be able to see again." she predicted.

The ground seemed to collapse under Saori, who brought her hand to her mouth, her eyes twisted with sadness; Alice beside her, mouth open, looking for any way to held her friend's sadness. Seiya didn't accept it.

"What do you mean, doctor?" he asked. "If you managed to rebuild her eyes, why can't she see? Isn't it just a matter of time? There's no chance she'll see it again?"
"I'm sorry, kid. There is no precedent for the damage done to her eyes." The doctor then turned to the man in the suit. "There is nothing within our knowledge or the current science that could reverse that wound. We will pass the case on to experts around the world, but I feel the best thing now is to make sure she has a good life going forward. She is fine. But I'm afraid she won't be able to see ever again."

Seiya couldn't accept it. He invaded the surgical ward calling out Shiryu's name; some assistants went after him and restrained him.

"She's still asleep." said one of the nurses.

He flailed in the arms of men and women around him, calling out to his friend.

He then reached the closed door where he saw, on his tiptoe, through a circular window, the unconscious body of his friend with a few threads connected to her skin.

"She needs to rest." said a woman behind him. "You'll be able to visit her soon."

Seiya cried calling her name.

At the dawn of the third day, Shiryu opened her eyes as soon as she woke up, but just like the other days, she saw nothing but a deep darkness.

"Shiryu." called a familiar voice beside her.

Her face moved in the direction of that female voice, and soon other voices invaded her mind from opposite directions. A hand cupped hers, warm. Someone hugged her, lying down on her chest. She was crying.

"Ah, Xiaoling…" she guessed.
"I'm sorry, Shiryu. Please, forgive me." she said. "If I had beaten him before…" she said.
"Well, Xiaoling, don't say that." she said calmly. "You helped me beat him."
"Shiryu..." began a choked voice beside her.
"Seiya, you brought me back to life. And if I'm alive, that's because of you. I got the chance to bring you both back because you helped in the first place." she spoke to him.

Xiaoling got up from her chest with tears in her eyes and Shiryu searched her small face with her hand; the friend held Shiryu's hand, and so she guessed where her face was. She wiped the tears from her eyes.

"I know you're all here. I know you're all worried." she said. "But I am fine. I will be fine. The most important thing is that Seiya and Xiaoling are OK. I would never forgive myself if I had won, but you two stayed like that forever"
"But Shiryu…" Seiya began.
"We can't hesitate. That is the life of a Saint." she said.

And there they stood beside Shiryu, sad for her eyes, but also glad that she would be fine from now on. Shiryu announced that she would return to stay with Shunrei and her Master, to which Xiaoling promptly said she would return with her to China.

Someone appeared and asked everyone to leave so she could assess Shiryu again, but the girl asked Saori to stay a little longer. The doctor readily accepted, leaving them alone.

"Shiryu." she began, holding it in her hands. "I'm very sorry."
"Athena." Shiryu said, but Saori corrected her.
"No. It's not Athena here. It's me, Saori."
"Saori… I'm sorry I can't be by your side."
"Don't say that, Shiryu."
"It is the duty of every Athena Saint to be by your side. But…"
"No, Shiryu."
"I'm very sorry."
"I'm the one that should apologize."
"No! Never." interrupted Shiryu. "We are all Athena Saints. And it is our destiny to fight for you. Even if it means sacrificing ourselves. And so it shall be."

Saori didn't spoke anymore, as it was true that her destiny was to be Athena and it was also her plans to have brave warriors beside her. And it is in her nature of existence that battles are on the threshold between life and death.

But she was still a girl. And there was another girl there beside her, very hurt.

The other girl let out an amused laugh that Saori didn't understand.

"What is it, Shiryu?" she asked curiously.
"I remembered when we were at your mountain refuge." she said looking for Saori's hands. "About you. About Guan Yin's eyes." And she laughed again. "I should probably stop telling you Chinese tales."

Saori also tried to smile along with her friend.

All gathered in the mountain retreat of Mayura. The afternoon was dying on the horizon, painting the sky orange; pyres of fire were lit in front of the entrance to the huge hollow rock. Master Mayura was sitting a little way in front of the rock entrance, while Shinato and Mirai were together with Seiya, Hyoga and Alice.

The brothers Ikki and Shun were on the other side talking a few words; the boy trying to hold his ground despite the enormous sadness he still felt for Shiryu. That everyone felt for her.

Saori emerged from the rock, wearing her white dress tied at the waist by an ornate golden belt and a bracelet on her arms. Her very serious face faced everyone who saw her coming from the rock to be staring at them.

She walked to where Mayura was and watched those young faces looking back at her. She puffed up her chest with courage and finally told everyone:

"Eris is sealed." She started. "And now the time has come for us to unite and march to the Sanctuary."

All of the young eyes around her gazed at her in wonder as the Goddess Athena spoke among them.

"Maybe it looks like we aren't many now. And we know how strong the Sanctuary is even if we only saw a glimpse of what they're capable of." she said, very serious, looking at all the eyes that watched her.

She walked a few steps to get closer to them.

"There is a secret I will share with you now." she said, looking at Alice before looking at each of them. "Before he died, Mitsumasa Kido started building a fortified temple where the Saints could gather forces. The construction of said temple is finally ready."

She then looked at all of them.

"The Temple is called Palaestra and Master Mayura will be the one ahead of our efforts from now on." she said, looking into the blindfolded eyes of the chaired Master.

She was sitting next to Saori and her voice spoke in a low voice.

"Xiaoling left the city with the Dragon Saint and will not return here anymore. She will remain in Palaestra awaiting our arrival. Along with her, the other Bronze Saints were also summoned, as well as other allies around the world."
"Once we're all together we'll march to Greece, and I'm sure the Saints in there will understand that they need to help remove the evil that took place somewhere in the Sanctuary of Athena."
"What if they don't understand?" asked Ikki's voice.

Saori looked at the girl, who was wearing a white coat with the sleeves cut off, one of her arms still all bandaged.

"You still can't control your cosmo. All they're going to see will be a cocky little girl in a white dress and a bunch of kids around her." added Ikki.
"I don't think they'll know I'm cocky just by seeing me." she snapped and Ikki laughed mockingly.
"Well, if they spend more than a few minutes hearing you, then I'm sure we're all doomed."
"Ikki..." Shun caught his sister's attention.
"Ikki is right." said Saori, still looking at her. "It's true that there's a chance they won't understand who I am. That's why we must go straight to the Camerlengo of the Sanctuary, the only one who can say for sure about who I really am."

Everyone was looking at her, just a girl wearing an outfit that didn't seem to match her youthful build.

"We'll be by your side." said Seiya, finally. "And we'll protect you at all costs."

She smiled at Seiya.

Down once more in the dungeons of the Coliseum, the young boys and girls are preparing to leave the city and head for the Palaestra, in what would probably be their last destination before their final gathering with the Saints of the Sanctuary.

Hyoga remembered Jacob and his people in Siberia, as well as those who had left his life. He remembered Shoko, but the memory of the Ponytail Girl actually gave him hope. Shun and Seiya, always together, thought of the children at the orphanage, who they might not come to see anytime soon. Alice was by herself thinking about Xiaoling alone in Palaestra, while still worried about Saori, who had not yet retired to her room.

For Saori was alone.

Lonely.

Kneeling before a plinth where the Urn of the Gold Cloth stood. In an altar made specifically to be guarded, on the deepest floor of that underground shelter.

"Tell me, what should I do?" she cried to the Gold Cloth.

She placed her hand on the Urn while suffering from anguish for what was to come. That Urn was always by her side; when she was rescued in the ruins, through many moments of her childhood, when she learned of her divine destiny. It was the Gold Cloth that stood beside her in the most difficult times. Thanks to her, she was protected in battle.

The Gold Cloth was always by her side.

But not just the Gold Cloth. Those young brave kids who, one by one, gathered around her were now at her side too. But cher chest ached because, one by one, each of them seemed to die piece by piece. Losing small pieces of who they were to tread a destiny they hadn't chosen. Seiya had lost his sister. Ikki, the compassion. Shiryu could no longer see and Hyoga left something important of him in the belly of that tree of Discord. And she wondered what would be the next piece they would lose.

How could she be a better Goddess? How could she protect them? she thought.

The Urn then shone a golden aura, arousing Saori's attention, who raised her tearful eyes to see what was happening.

"What?" she asked. "What does this mean? What do you want to tell me?"

The shiny golden box floated slightly without any support and something extraordinary happened. It glowed even brighter and simply disappeared, leaving behind the wake of a distant ringing bell.

Saori's eyes searched every inch of that altar, that pedestal; she looked back already crying in disbelief. She dropped to her knees again.

Abandoned by the Gold Cloth.

She descended the stairs from the Coliseum's first floor to the Arena, running toward the ruins at its center. She cried as her feet slapped against the wet steps. From the sky fell a steady rain from which Saori did not try to protect herself.

Her hair immediately straightened, her bangs invaded her eyes, her dress clung to her body and her feet soaked through. She closed her eyes, searching the stars for her old friend, the Gold Cloth that had always been beside her. But the clouds wouldn't let her see the sky.

Wasn't she worthy to have it by her side? Was it a choice?

She dropped to her knees again in a puddle of water.

All of this Seiya saw, as he always did on sleepless nights, he was on the surface to reflect among the ruins. Because of the rain, he comforted himself on the parapet of the opposite floor where Saori burst through, full of tears.

He started going down some stairs to comfort the Goddess Athena when he was interrupted by someone. It was Alice.

"She needs to feel it." she said.

Seiya looked again at Saori, who was crying on her knees in the rain.

The rain then calmed to a fine drizzle.

"Do you think we'll make it?" Seiya asked Alice.
"I'm sure we wil." she replied. "I believe in her."

The boy had eyes fixed on that white figure suffering in the midst of the ruins.

When he noticed that the rain seemed to have returned with force, but then it was a strange rain, with very thick drops and extremely dark, he put his right hand out of the marquee and saw a black feather land on it.

He looked up and saw that Saori seemed to be covered in something dark she couldn't understand.

"Alice, something is up." Seiya said running from the stands to where Saori was.

The girl came after him and he noticed that as he ran and jumped, he was flooded with feathers all over his body. Heavy feathers that clung to his skin and he had great difficulty getting them off. In fact, he couldn't get any of them out.

And when he reached Saori, he saw that her entire body was covered in black feathers. He struggled, but Seiya knew those feathers weren't normal, as they weighed like lead. Alice, beside him, called for Saori.

She tried to get rid of the feathers that accumulated on top of Saori; Seiya looked up and saw flying above them hundreds of dark birds like shadows against the sky. He joined Alice in trying to remove Saori's feathers.

Beside the girl's body, huge crows landed and began to attack them, making them retreat with great difficulty due to the weight of the black feathers that still rained on them. Seiya, already with one of his eyes blindfolded by the feathers, saw how the huge birds, with great skill, passed a silver thread on the two fists of Saori's covered body, as well as on her knees

Slowly they took flight, lifting the girl's body.

As Saori's body climbed through the Coliseum to the open dome, the black feathers that covered her body fell apart and left her dress to fall in the arena light as feathers should be.

They were taking the girl away.

"Saori!" Seiya heard Alice shouting behind him. Her cosmos vibrating strongly.

Seiya understood that they had to get rid of those terrible feathers that still fell on them if they wanted to rescue her. Seiya ascended his cosmos with such fury that the energy from it raised a brief whirlwind in front of him; he remembered Shiryu and squinted his eyes so that his cosmos was even bigger. He wouldn't let anyone else get hurt if he could.

His Cosmo caused the heavy feathers to move away from him and the ones on his body slowly to loosen; he blew up the universe inside him and finally got rid of them all.

Looking back, however, he unfortunately saw Alice being engulfed by the feathers; her pleading eyes and her lips could still make one last request:

"Protect her."

And she fell.

The rain stopped.

"Seiya!"

He looked back and saw Shun and Hyoga wearing their Cloths running towards them. Seiya looked at the sky and saw, against the moon that was now shining, the silhouette of Saori being taken away.

"Let's go!" he said, leaving the Coliseum followed by the two. "They're taking Saori."

ABOUT THE CHAPTER: Shiryu's injured eyes was the group's first real consequence and it was important to anchor that pain within the group before moving on.

NEXT CHAPTER: LEAP OF FAITH

Saori's kidnapping reveals an engendered plan that will lead Seiya to make an important decision that could cost her life.