Athena's personal apartments, Sanctuary, Greece. 2018.
POV Saori
It had been ten years since she had seen the place in question. The rooms in the Sanctuary of Athena had been renovated to make them more comfortable for her, but they still looked empty and silent as death. Just like the rest of the Sanctuary.
It was morning, and she was staring at the white linen dress hanging in her bedroom closet. That dress was her "war costume" rather than her own armor. At that time, she was not a goddess, but a "princess", either as Saori Kido, granddaughter of a tycoon, or with Athena, goddess of the Earth. She was a fragile being, who needed to be defended and protected by her Saints, with no fighting or battle skills, just surrendering to sacrifice to save humanity.
Was she still like that? Did she want to continue being like that?
That dress no longer seemed to fit her. That life did not seem to fit her anymore.
The Athena of past battles was a delicate and brittle Athena, a princess to be rescued by her princes and armies, a woman who only served to be a symbol of hope for humanity, and nothing more. Saori felt that if they exchanged her for a statue, it would not make any difference.
The reality is that, at that time, Saori believed that, as a goddess of hope, justice, and kindness, she should be the example for everyone and therefore could not be angry. So, the Athena of the battles against Poseidon and Hades, in fact, was a repressed Athena, who did not allow herself to feel the characteristic feelings of her humanity. Contradictory, Saori thought, a goddess who descends to Earth to protect humans, like a human, but who does not want to feel human feelings. Thus, in that white linen dress, representing her extreme purity and goodness, Athena showed everyone her mercy and compassion, allied to a feminine and childlike frailty, and she prayed, like a holy virgin, that the world would not fall into disgrace, while her loyal Saints bled in the name of justice.
But inside, Athena burned with rage.
And gods, how she tried to repress it all. With all possible strength. Until Hades turned Shun into a puppet to be used by the god, until he promised to end them all through the Great Eclipse, until he killed his gold Saints. And then, in his ultimatum, he killed Seiya. She cried, and it was not just sadness. Her hatred was able to end the life of the god of the Dead.
There, she did not just kill Hades. She killed herself too, that frail, withered being that had existed before.
"It doesn't suit you anymore, Saori" said Marin, entering her room and expressing thoughts of her, along with Shaina "none of these things suit you anymore."
Marin wore the traditional Eagle cloth and faced the dress, as did Shaina, wearing the also traditional Ophiuchus cloth, with her training clothes under her armor. Neither of the two wore their silver masks anymore, as Athena banned their use. Anyway, they were not even Athena's Amazons anymore, as the army had been dissolved.
"I was thinking about what outfit I should wear to introduce myself to the Saints" said Saori "I know it's a bit of a silly concern, but I feel it would be very dishonest of me to introduce myself as a mega-businesswoman in a Gucci dress."
"I agree with you" Shaina said "and not only would it be dishonest, it would also be false. Athena does not necessarily mean riches and glory."
"Besides" the Amazon continued "these princess clothes don't suit you anymore, right, Saori?"
No, they did not match. All that would be a huge theater of what she was no longer.
"Why not wear Athena's cloth?" Marin asked, "they won't even need to ask questions after they see you in that imposing thing."
"I thought about it, but I don't want to create a distance between me and them. The cloth might scare them a little, I believe."
Shaina and Marin looked at each other, silent.
Saori walked into the closet, ignoring the princess and mega-businesswoman outfits. In a drawer, she took out the clothes that, in the last two years, had started to accompany her more often. And despite the little use, she liked it more than all the other clothes she wore in her life.
Your battle leotard.
Saori knew that the gods would not gladly accept Zeus' idea of a peace agreement between the deities, and that it wouldn't be long before they entered battles again. However, Saori realized that, with her army dissolved, it would be very difficult to fight the gods for the protection of the humans. Well then: she herself decided to train her body and her cosmos for battle. From now on, the gods would not settle with her army, but with the goddess Athena herself.
And gods, you've never seen a Saori so determined. She went everywhere to train. She trained with Shiryu in the Five Peaks of Rozan, trained with Hyoga in Siberia, even went to the Island of the Queen of Death, in the rare times that Ikki appeared. She trained in Japan and Greece with Marin and Shaina. Of course, as she had to take care of business, she could not train fully, as a Saint would train. Also, her training had to be discreet, so as not to attract the attention of the gods. But for sure, her situation was much better than it was 30 years ago.
"Saori, really?" said Hyoga, at the bedroom door "there are thirteen men wanting your head in the next room and you are still deciding on the clothes? Let's go!"
The women laughed.
She looked at the beige and black leotard. She looked at the small statue, which could be revived with her blood. The grandeur of the gods or the voracity of mortals?
She was not like the other gods, no. She was also no longer the withered and fragile human. Let the fury of mortals come, then.
POV Aiolos
"Aiolia" Aiolos said "you seem strange. Are you ok?"
Whatever Aiolia had, he did not look good. His eyes were wide looking at the table he was sitting at, in Leo's chair. His right hand was over his mouth, resting his elbow on the table. For a moment, Aiolos thought he was sick with yesterday's food, but he looked at his brother, startled and whispered:
"I remember, Olos. I remember this place. Here is a Sanctuary."
Aiolos could not have foreseen the shiver going up his back.
POV Kanon
The morning sun was beginning to shine through and brighten the room they were in. One of the rays of light decided to deposit its energy right in the face of Kanon, who woke up, annoyed. A few seconds after the mental confusion brought from sleep, Kanon remembered a big problem:
"Saga!"
He looked at his brother beside him, taking a deep breath. Someone put both fingers on Saga's neck, to check her heartbeat.
"Don't worry" replied Milo "he's fine. His heart rate is normal."
Kanon sat up, supporting his weight on both arms. He threw his head back, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He opened his eyes and looked up at the ceiling. What would he do to get out of that nightmare?
Well, the first thing he had to do was find patterns. He had to find out what all those boys were doing there.
Gradually, everyone was waking up and arranging their bags in the living room, lining up in the tiny bathroom with the toothbrushes and toothpaste they'd been provided. Everything was very strange. Why haven't you talked to them yet? Why haven't they killed or tortured them yet? What did you want?
"Gentlemen" a voice came from the walls, and Kanon realized that, most likely they were being watched by cameras and microphones "please, sit at the table in your respective zodiac signs. We will arrive in a moment."
So, the red-haired boy was right.
Moving to the table, Kanon noticed a small detail: in fact, each sign had a different chair, which meant that each person there had a different sign. But the account was wrong.
"There are only twelve chairs of signs here" said Saga "if everyone is to sit in their respective signs, then there should be one more chair for the sign of Gemini."
"Wow" exclaimed the boy with purple hair "so you are twins of Gemini? Strange coincidence" finished, smiling.
Kanon felt uncomfortable. What did that mean? Saori Kido had all the necessary planning to kidnap thirteen people and put them in a room in the middle of nowhere, locked, with a table and twelve chairs representing the zodiac signs. All golden, well made, comfortable and well finished. And just his sign chair, which should have been two, since they were Gemini, he only had one to sit on. Twelve people seated, one person standing. Someone has to be eliminated from the game.
And just who? The activist who gave the businesswoman a headache.
He had another empty chair. The thirteenth, the prettiest, with Athena's owl on the back.
"You can sit there, Saga. I stay in that pretty one over there" said Kanon.
"I don't think the cute chair is for you, Kan" Saga said.
"Chair was made to put your butt on, Saga. And I'm not going to stand up and wait for madame."
"What are your names?" Asked the boy with purple hair, shy. Everyone looked at him, but no one answered "Look, I'll start introducing myself, since I'm the first sign. My name is Mu."
"What kind of name is Mu?" Said the Italian, mocking.
"Well, it's just a different name" said the boy, a little surprised.
Kanon looked at him, interested.
"And what do you do, Mu?"
"I'm a potter. Saori Kido said he wanted to make an exhibition with my artworks, but I didn't understand why he did it to me. The Graad Foundation and I had a very good relationship."
Another silence hung over them.
"Doesn't it bother any of you that we're standing here, not doing anything about it?" said the Italian.
"And what are you going to do, know-it-all?" said the very handsome boy with blue hair, who surprised Kanon by not having words as delicate as his appearance "are you going to dig a hole in the earth until you come out on the other side?"
"Let's try to break this door! Who knows..."
"And you think we didn't think about it, know-it-all?" said the chef "me and the big guy tried to break in, before you arrived. It didn't work."
"But we're thirteen now."
"The doors seem to be very heavy" said Saga "I doubt that anyone can move them. Also, windowpanes should be about a foot thick."
"If we could lift the table and use it to break the door..." Aiolia said.
"Even if we do that" said Kanon "surely Saori Kido prepared traps much worse than a room with heavy doors. Outside, it must be full of security guards, weapons and all the apparatus necessary to kill us so that we can get out of here."
What was going on out there? Why did they want them to wait so long? Wait for what? Why haven't they killed them yet? Would they torture them? Enslave them? Sell your organs to the illegal market? They would...
"Do you have any relationship with Saori Kido?" asked Aiolos "I mean, there's no way for us to know why we're here without trying to find a pattern in our relationship with Kido, right?"
Very well, Aiolos.
"I can't understand" said the guy with the charming spot on his face "me and the Kido Corporation had a good relationship. I've already advertised for their makeup brand! Now they kidnap me and treat me like a punching bag. They even kicked me in the ribs!"
"Neither do I" said the chef "she wanted me to be the chef of some party she would throw for her close friends... She insisted that I not take my team, as it would be a simple dinner."
"I didn't do anything for them either" said the Italian "and I don't remember owing any money to any loan shark. I always pay my debts to the loan sharks."
Kanon shook his head, resigned.
"I'm Aldebaran" said the big boy after some time of silence "I don't know why they kidnapped me. I'm just an exchange student. The Graad Foundation said it was interested in exhibitions about capoeira. I'm a Physical Education teacher, you know. I work with children in my country."
"What country are you from?" Kanon asked. He decided to take the bait of Aiolos and investigate what is happening there.
"Brazil."
Brazil. I knew a little about the country. Beautiful beaches, they have parties every year, and guarded one of the largest forests in the world, the Amazon Forest. They were not very good at preserving fauna and flora either, they were also taking a turn to the right (in the political sense) like Greece. They even offered a line of research for him to investigate the marine fauna there, but Kanon had already accepted the research in Antarctica.
"And you, boy?" said the redhead "you and your twin brother are next on the list."
So, the redhead was also interested in information. Fair enough, he was the one who collected the information about signs yesterday.
"My name is Saga" his brother began "I am an astrophysicist. The reason I'm here is pretty simple: I'm Kanon's brother."
Saga looked at him with one eyebrow raised.
"Thanks for the compliment, Saga." said Kanon.
"You're welcome, little brother."
"Wait, I know you" said Milo "aren't you the crazy guy who said that the Graad Foundation is in trouble with oil?"
"Oh, so you're the guy who threw the documents exposing the Foundation on the internet?" said the boy with blank eyes "well, there's a reason for you to be here, isn't it?"
Kanon placed his fingertips between his nose and sighed.
"Yes" Kanon decided to speak "Kido told me he would have very good information to pass on to me. Good enough to drop all the accusations the Foundation was suffering from the oil company's spill."
"And you believed?" said the Italian "Ragazzo, it was innocent of you..."
Kanon sighed.
"I know, but she showed me pictures showing that... maybe there is a third party involved in the leaks. A third party who wants to harm everyone."
"And well, she hasn't killed us so far, has she?" said Aiolos "we haven't had a torture session yet either. It should have happened if she wanted to."
"This is too weird here" said the Frenchman "it makes sense that Kanon is here, even his brother, but what about the rest of us? What do we have in common?"
"Our energies, perhaps" said the blond boy "I feel that our energies resonate in a very similar way in this place. As if we were connected."
Kanon wanted to laugh. More this one now.
"You said... energies?" said the redhead.
"Yes" replied the blond boy, blinking his blue eyes very slowly.
"Don't you think this concept of "energy" is a bit… undefined?" said Saga, who seemed as uncomfortable as he was with the speech "I don't understand why Saori would want people with "energies" connected. Unless..."
"Unless she believes it. Yes, Saga" completed the redhead "I believe we are here because she believes in spiritual connections."
"It's not energy in the sense of physical greatness then" Saga said, with a smile on his face. If there was anyone who understood energy it was his brother.
"No" said the blonde "I believe that, although you're very intelligent, Mr. Saga, there are certain sensibilities that an astrophysicist couldn't see. Or measure, as scientists like to do."
"Sounds like you're calling me limited" Saga said.
"Far from me such a statement. I just think we have different talents" completed the blonde.
Saga narrowed his eyes.
"What is your name?"
"Shaka."
Saga smiled.
"Nice to meet you, Shaka."
Shaka smiled back.
"Better to meet you, Saga."
"Your turn, Italian." said the redhead "we need to know why you're here."
"I don't know" said the Italian "as I said, I don't owe anyone. I don't know why I'm here."
"Names, Italian" Aiolos pressed.
"Nobody knows my name" said the Italian, smiling coldly "but I am known as the Death Mask."
A silence filled the room. Some looked at each other confused. Others pressed their lips together to keep from laughing (like Kanon).
"Wait" said Mu "you were making fun of my name, but you are called 'Death Mask'? I ask you, what kind of name is 'Death Mask'?" finished, indignant.
"Check it out! That's my company name! I just became known for my business."
"So, what's your name, Lady MacDeath?" asked Aldebaran.
"I'm not talking" said the Italian "family secret."
Kanon sighed. He had only been in pain in that room.
"I'm Aiolia. There's my brother there, Aiolos. We have contact with Kanon, Olos is his lawyer. That must be why" said Aiolia.
"I'm an exchange student too. A woman named Marin told me that the Graad Foundation had offered me exchange scholarships and would negotiate with me."
"The same thing happened to me. Je sois Camus, by the way" said the French boy "and this is my boyfriend, Milo. They wanted to offer us scholarships and we fell into the trap."
"Camus? Like the philosopher, Albert Camus?" Aiolia asked "are you related?"
"No" Camus said "My mother liked the philosopher. I also really like."
"So, there are other people involved in this kidnapping?" asked Mu.
"Of course there is" said Kanon "Saori wouldn't do all this alone, right?"
"You now, cute" said Mask of Something (Kanon is terrible with names, even more so if you think of having a nickname instead of a name) "tell me your name."
"Why do you want to know, Dark Lord?" he said "If you didn't say yours, I don't say mine. By the way, be careful with the pronouns, ok?"
"But that you are a beauty, that you are."
What?
"We could leave the flirting aside" said Aiolos "And can you tell us your name?"
"Everyone calls me Aphrodite."
"The name suits the beauty" said Death guy. Aphrodite turned red with shame and anger.
"You can be sure that I'm not your type, you horrible!"
"I want to know more about the fierce beauty that has the name of a goddess. More precisely in my bed..."
"Can you both stop?" said Aiolos.
"Hey, cook" said the redhead "introduce yourself."
"I'm a cook. I'm from Madrid. That's what I have to say" said the boy, with a face of few friends.
"Names, cook. Or do you have nicknames like the Goddess of Beauty over there and the Dark Lord?" Aiolia said.
Aphrodite and Mask of Something looked offended by the comparison.
"My name is Shura, I was hired by Saori as a personal chef. Just like that Aphrodite there, we were professionals at her service and at her companies. We don't know why we're here."
Kanon sighed. No answers yet.
"You now, cute" said Mask of Something (Kanon is terrible with names, even more so if you think of having a nickname instead of a name) "tell me your name."
"Why do you want to know, O Dark Lord?" he said "If you didn't say yours, I don't say mine. By the way, be careful with the pronouns, ok?"
"But that you are a beauty, that you are."
What?
"We could leave the flirting aside" said Aiolos "And can you tell us your name?"
"Everyone calls me Aphrodite."
"The name suits the beauty" said Mask of Something. Aphrodite flushed with embarrassment and anger.
"I don't think I'm your type," Aphrodite said, with a slight smile.
"I definitely think you're my type."
"Can you both stop?" said Aiolos.
"Hey redhead" began the so-called Mask of Something "you haven't said where you're from yet. Nor the reason for being here."
The red-haired boy smiled, a smart smile and a knowing look. Kanon had the sensation of seeing hundreds of years in the eyes of a boy of twenty.
"My name is Dohko" he said "I'm the youngest of you here, I believe. I am Chinese. I don't know what Saori wants with me either."
"What do you do?" said Kanon "that might give us some idea."
"Study" he said "I am a student of history. But I also make videos for social media."
"I could see" said Aphrodite "you even dress well."
"Thanks."
"And good" said Aiolos "you could guess the reason why the chairs are here, and why they have zodiacal symbols."
"I didn't guess" he said, "We still don't know if I'm right."
"Anyway" said Aiolos "do you have any idea why we are all here? By the way, does anyone have any idea why we're here?"
Nobody answered. Typical.
"Maybe she is a dealer in people" said Aphrodite "who wants to sell us into prostitution."
"I don't know if I'm pretty enough for that there," said Aldebaran, laughing.
"Maybe she wants to kidnap us and ask for ransom," Mu said.
"Wow, let her not come after me" said Milo "and not Camye. We are students and a student lives without money."
"Or maybe," a female voice sounded from behind them, "she wants to talk about your fate. And about the fate of the universe."
A tall woman, with very green hair and eyes, smooth skin, lean and muscular body, but with a delicate face like a girl's, appeared behind them, opening the door. She started:
"Guys, I'm glad we finally got you together. Be welcome."