63 — THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MASK
Side by side, Seiya and Shiryu pushed open the huge double white doors with gold motifs that led to the sacred chamber of the Athena's servant. The Altar where the Golden Throne was. They opened them with difficulty, as they were as heavy as they were huge.
As in the Sad Night that they remembered thanks to the Cosmos of the Sagittarius Cloth, that door opened into a wonderful chamber whose floor was made of marble and at the end of it was a beautiful altar on which a golden throne stood, where someone was sitting.
Shiryu noticed how there was a low blow sounding inside that altar, as if the air was passing through the stone of that chamber in a way purposely designed to cause that feeling that the voice of the Gods was meditating. Their footsteps echoed off the marble as they approached the dark figure who sat on the golden throne. Seiya didn't even need to say what was wrong with Shiryu, as she could clearly feel a magnanimous presence on that altar and the two could only be silent as if it was an unpardonable sin to interrupt that grave whisper.
The Camerlengo seated. The black cassock, the golden helmet hiding in the shadows his mysterious face while his long hair fell down his back.
Before the impressed Bronze Saints could find the right words to force him down to Saori and save her, Seiya saw the Camerlengo rise from his throne. He was a huge man, not like Aldebaran or Cassius, descendants of the giants, but as tall as the huge Capricorn Shura, though his shoulders were more heavily armed and the cassock that ran down his legs gave him an even greater build.
He placed his hands on the golden helmet and calmly removed it, revealing his face to Seiya.
"He took off his helmet, Shiryu!"
"What?" she gasped, trying to keep as quiet as she could.
What Dragon Shiryu couldn't see, Seiya didn't miss any detail. As he took off his golden helmet, the face that appeared before him was that of a calm, perhaps even sad man with bright, beautiful eyes; the large, tapered nose, the delicate eyebrows.
If Seiya had to guess the owner of the face under that golden helmet who once tried to kill a baby with a golden dagger, he would never describe him as that bright and beautiful figure. That was a face in which one could not implicate the heinous crimes that history blamed him for it. He then sounded his voice, which had a low, calm tone.
"Congratulations, Bronze Saints, on getting this far." he said, helmet in hand. "You have proven that you are indeed Saints of Athena with great power and courage."
Again both Seiya and Shiryu were attacked by the strangeness of his calm voice, his soft cosmos yet frighteningly powerful. Without speaking to each other, both reflected on the same thing: they enumerated all the sins that now converged in that figure who manifested himself as a saint with sweet words.
"Don't be fooled, Seiya."
Shiryu's voice was low, but there was no doubt that although she tried to maintain a certain politeness in front of this holy figure, the Camerlengo had clearly heard her warning. Seiya knew very well that he couldn't afford to be fooled again by illusions, especially when the enemy, it seemed, was the Gemini Saint himself.
Seiya took a deep breath and spoke with deep courage, as they also had little time.
"You won't deceive us! Don't pretend to be good now, as we know all too well what you did fifteen years ago and we don't have time to stand here listening to your lies and tricks."
Seiya's accusations made the calm man close his eyes, as if it truly hurt deep in his soul. He spoke again.
"I really admire you all very much for what you were able to accomplish today."
Seiya got enraged, but Shiryu held his fist for the first time, because the cosmos she could feel in that man was in fact extremely kind; blind as she was, she could perhaps feel even more clearly than Seiya the depth of that ancient cosmos, powerful, but undoubtedly kind. Not only that, being in that man's presence also brought a certain comfort, as if he were, in fact, a path through which they could access Athena's greatness.
"Are you finally regretting what you have done?" Shiryu asked, standing in front of Seiya. "Athena is now suffering in the House of Aries. If you want to pay for your sins, you should start by pulling that golden arrow out of her chest."
Seiya saw the man close and open his eyes again, as if he tried to breathe calmly before choosing each word.
"I can't." he said.
And then both Seiya and Shiryu were dismayed.
"I am sorry, but unfortunately I can't extract that arrow from Athena's chest."
"What are you talking about?" Seiya asked. "We've come this far, because only you can get it out!"
"You're wrong." he said again. "I cannot."
"What do you mean? Are you playings with us? You're here talking like you're sorry for it, but all you want is to buy some more time so that she dies in there. Now you hear me, Camerlengo! You're coming with us to the god damn House of Aries and will pull that arrow out of Saori's chest!
"Seiya!"
He didn't even notice, but as he accused the holy priest, Seiya ran towards the Camerlengo and released his right fist which sank into the black cassock but stopped at the chest of the man who didn't move an inch.
"I'm sorry, Seiya, but I can't."
Seiya trembled in front of the huge commiserated priest and despair overwhelmed him, because if he couldn't do anything, how could he save Saori's life?
"That means the Silver Saint deceived us, Seiya." Shiryu said. "That only the owner of the arrow, the Camerlengo himself, could withdraw it, but that was a lie."
"No!" interrupted the Camerlengo sharply.
Seiya moved away from that figure to be again beside Shiryu.
"It is correct that only the owner of that Golden Arrow can take it away."
"Then who does that arrow belong to if not you?" asked Shiryu.
"To Athena herself." said the Camerlengo, and walked between them to a mural on the side of that altar.
The Bronze Saints accompanied that figure to walk calmly on the marble to a huge mural, among many that were in that place; it was an embossed stone mural with a beautiful image of the mythological Goddess Athena dressed in a long gown, a beautifully detailed helmet on her head, a spear in one hand and a shield in the other. At her feet was a frigate of some pretty boats with many blades.
"The Golden Arrow was a gift from Athena to a great hero of the past." said the Camerlengo. "A Golden Bow and Arrow that only he could bend."
"A Bow and an Arrow?" Seiya asked.
"Sagittarius." Shiryu guessed.
"Exactly."
"So only Aioros can extract the arrow?" Seiya asked, confused.
"Only Athena can do it." corrected the Camerlengo, now with his back to them looking at that beautiful mural. "The Arrow will always be hers."
Behind him, Seiya contemplated the Camerlengo's long hair as he seemed to stare at that beautiful mural that stretched from floor to ceiling far from the altar.
"Seiya, I have to admit that what I did in the past will never be forgiven." his voice was pitying, and when he looked back at the two of them, Seiya saw tears streaming from both eyes in a terribly sad face.
Shiryu felt inside that those words were true. And she was greatly confused, after all, what could be happening there? That man actually looked repentant and there was no flicker in his cosmos or his complexion that would suggest that this was an illusion or a trick. An act. Just as many times they were sure of the intentions of their enemies and, above all, of the unshakable courage of their friends, there too they were sure of the man's repentance.
How could he be the man who was said to be the very reincarnation of evil? It was the question that clouded both Seiya's and Shiryu's minds.
"No. This is not the time to talk about it." the Camerlengo finally corrected himself, looking at them both again. "You can't waste another second to save Athena's life."
"So you really understand us." said Seiya. "You will come with us."
"I already told you that I don't have the power to do this."
"Well, but what then?" asked Shiryu.
"Pay attention to my words, Bronze Saints." he began, looking hard at the two of them, and pointed to the golden throne. "When you go through these curtains, you will reach the Colossus of Athena. A statue that has been here from the earliest ages. In the right hand of the statue of Athena rests Niké, the Victory, and in her left hand, the Shield of Justice."
"Niké and the Shield." repeated Seiya.
And then for the first time they saw how the Camerlengo's hard eyes fluttered for an instant of second, as if attacked by a mote in just one eye. Seiya noticed that the handsome man's breathing now seemed to be slightly uneven, but then it normalized.
"It is said that the Shield of Justice is able to ward off any evil."
His eyes closed, as if he tried to lock his thoughts inside his mind.
"What's going on, Seiya?" Shiryu asked, for for the first time she felt a terrible wobble in the Camerlengo's Cosmo.
"Do you understand me, Seiya?" asked the man. "It is not my power that will bring her back. But if the arrow belongs to Athena, only Athena can pull it out. Athena's Shield can save her!"
They heard a deeper and louder blow sound inside that altar, to the point that Seiya looked at the wide-open doors.
"Now go. There is no more time." warned the Camerlengo.
Another low, closer breath, one of the torches at the entrance simply went out of its fire.
"It's coming." shivered the Camerlengo. "Run, Seiya! Go Shiryu! Save Athena!"
"What's going on, Camerlengo?" Seiya asked him when he saw him put both hands to his head.
"Don't mind me. Now go to the Colossus of Athena and…" his voice broke off for a moment. "And hold the shield's glare toward the girl. Only then will the Arrow leave the girl's body. Go quickly!"
There was a third blast that extinguished most of the torches in the entrance; Seiya looked back at the Camerlengo and found him on the ground, stunned by whatever demons were in his mind. He knew what that was. He had witnessed that terror before and a cold chilled his bones. He backed up a few steps and then called Shiryu in a hurry.
"Come on, Shiryu, let's go at once."
He effectively took Shiryu by the hand and ran towards the throne to push back the curtains and go to the Colossus of Athena. But they were both paralyzed, not by any technique or magic that kept them from following, but because the ocean that filled that altar of goodness suddenly turned into absolute terror. So gigantic and unlike anything they had experienced in their battles that they both had to stop.
Seiya looked back and what he saw was horrible.
The Camerlengo was kneeling on his back, his entire body trembling, his cassock moving shakily, while his hair also fluttered to the golden cosmos that encircled his body. The colors of the altar itself seemed to change in a thousand different hues. And it wasn't just the altar that changed color.
"By the heavens Shiryu, the Camerlengo's hair is changing its color!"
The man's long, thick locks in his black cassock gradually lightened, gaining silver streaks, giving him a faded and gray appearance.
"I will not let you reach the Shield of Athena!" said the voice of that man.
Equally serious, but now it felt like ripped thunder.
"Die, Seiya!"
The voice threatened and the Pegasus Saint did not even understand what happened, because he was hit by a fist so violent that it threw him to another mural on the opposite side of that altar.
Seiya had to struggle to get out from under a mound of stones, as his body had shattered the mural. The man who had wept, shown them how to save Athena, repented of terrible sins, and owner of a kind cosmos had now turned into the devil to whom so many past crimes were attributed. For that without a doubt was the terrible man who made justice to those sins.
He rose to fight, finally, for now at least he knew what needed to be done. He got to his feet again and saw Shiryu coming towards him.
"Shiryu, go straight to the Colossus of Athena that I will fight him."
Shiryu reached for him to get up, but at the moment Seiya accepted his friend's help, he saw that she pulled him hard and threw him to the other side of the chamber. Seiya heard the Camerlengo's malevolent laughter. He rose again and saw that the terrible man was once again seated on his golden throne.
"What's going on, Shiryu?" Seiya asked.
"You're going to die, Seiya!" she replied.
What was seen thereafter was a fierce battle between the Pegasus and the Dragon Saint; Shiryu attacked his friend, furious, as he tried all the time to dodge and escape the determined onslaught of his friend who had a devastating fist, as he well remembered.
"Wake up, Shiryu!" he tried.
But she didn't wake up. Her blind eyes were now fully open, but Seiya was sure she still couldn't see; it was just a reflection of that damn spell he had already seen work in the mind of the Lady Crystal as well as Leo Aioria. He writhed in fury.
"It's no use, Seiya, the Dragon Saint won't stop until your body is lying dead on this floor."
She was under the spell of the Demon Fist. She wouldn't stop, Seiya well knew that.
"Rising Dragon!"
Shiryu jumped and unleashed the fury of her right fist towards Seiya who was hurled away, the helmet of his Pegasus Cloth split in half and his body blood staining the marble.
"Now, Seiya, don't tell me you didn't see the huge opening in Dragon's chest. Use this to your advantage and finish her!" provoked the terrible man seated on the golden throne, his lines always ending with manic laughter.
Seiya understood that that battle with his friend would be to the death and, in the first case, it would be at least until the moment that the golden arrow would fully crush Saori's chest. It couldn't be like that. It was terrible that he had to choose between killing Shiryu or letting Saori die. But maybe it was possible to wake up his friend.
Seiya struggled.
Seiya and Shiryu faced each other again to the last consequences; the Pegasus Cloth was completely destroyed after so many clashes for the amusing of the man who laughed at seeing two friends fight in front of him. But as much as Seiya tried, he couldn't tire or hit Shiryu to even knock her unconscious; he again faced the insurmountable Dragon Shield.
A Shield that, once, Seiya had managed to use an agile trick to destroy with her own Fist, but now it didn't seem to find the necessary breach, because that spell of minds had made his friend much more unpredictable and angry.
But the Dragon Shield broke into a thousand pieces anyway. Seiya looked at the throne and saw the Camerlengo standing, his golden Cosmo around him and his fist out.
"That way you'll have a chance." he smiled.
The fight resumed, as the lack of the Dragon Shield did not make Shiryu any less angry under the spell that ate at her mind. And little by little the minutes passed, their Bronze protections were cracking and spreading across the altar, their blows fitted and found their young bodies making them bleed and suffer.
And in the background echoed the laughter of a maniac who more and more saw his enormous power consolidate.
But then the battles that Seiya had had against Aldebaran and Aioria accumulated in his body, while Shiryu had only fought against the terrible Death Mask alongside Xiaoling. She gradually found herself in the lead and Seiya became more and more cornered by her.
He already had one eye more swollen than the other, blood running down his eyes and all over his body, only a few pieces of his Pegasus Cloth were still trapped in his young body. And when at last he fell to his knees in front of Shiryu, the Camerlengo rose from his golden throne, for he knew that the last moment of his victory had arrived.
Dragon Shiryu walked with her Cosmo glowing around her to finish off her best friend.
It was another miracle that took place in that Temple and saved Seiya's life: a rift was opened between the two Bronze Saints and, from within infinity, the Phoenix Bird appeared close to the body of Ikki, who thrust forward like a shot from a firegun to go through the mind of the man behind the mask.
"Phoenix Phantom Blow!"
ABOUT THE CHAPTER: One of the scenes I love most about in Saint Seiya Anime is the revelation of the Pope, who until that point in the series is the devil on earth, but when the protagonist finally gets to him and he takes off his mask, he's a kind man and lovely man. I love this break in expectation. Within Fanfic's history, Shiryu doesn't fight Shura, so I needed to do something with her there at the end and I think it turns out to be a wonderful cycle to make her fight Seiya remembering their battle in the Galaxian War and making the reader remember the terrors of the Emperor Demon. I also like that I gave a deeper and better meaning to the Golden Arrow in Saori's chest, I like the idea of her being the Arrow of Sagittarius. I also like to thanks Thrud for the inspiration of using Colossus of Athena to refer to the gigantic statue of Athena at the end of the temple. Very neat.
ABOUT THE NEXT CHAPTER: Saga suffers Ikki's mental blow and relives his 15-year-old days that doomed his tragic fate.
UNMASKED