The anime/manga characters belong to Naoko Takeuchi. The OC's and story background belong to me.
Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

A/N: I'm not English native speaker, so you might find some typos or grammar mistakes, I do apologize for that.

"Daddy…Mommy!"

"Epios!"

"That day…I can still hear their screams so loud, so present, so vivid, so desperate… I don't know how long since that day… when the darkness swallowed me up and dragged me to this place… So alone. So much pain. Longing. All I have left is memories…memories I don't know if I can trust…and this feeling only increased when my mentor Papa and Mama were vanished… I know they were old, but they were all I had since I lost my mom and dad…a family…their love…my life.
And I don't even know why… What did I do to deserve such fate? Am I bad?
Should I be a bad thing…"

Recalling his past from the day he was dragged into the Abyss of the Horizon to the current day, Epios found himself – again –swinging into his own emotions, when past memories invaded his mind, haunting him in doubts about his own value.
He recalled the principles and values his mentors Papa and Mama taught him, and tried to stick to it.
Ah but the darkness…so tempting, especially if you're into it.

Since he lost their influence, he felt he lost everything he had, which wasn't that much.
He was an orphan. Of parents, of mentors, of a family, of friends, of joy, of love and care.
He was at the bottom of the abyss…literally…

He looked around at the "house" he lived since he was a child, recalling how his mentors gave him shelter and protected him from Algol's influence, and taught him how to hide his own light that seemed to attract Algol.

Since then, living in darkness and hiding his light was a natural habit that he almost forgot how it felt like to shine and feel his own brightness, which he associated to be a bad thing, so he never allowed himself to feel anything that made him glow from inside out. Smile, a hug, cherishing moments – only with his mentors -, but now they were gone, and apathy and melancholy slowly took over him, until the day he met that girl.
He was taught to never cross the portal, but that girl's presence ignited something in him: Need.
The need to feel again.
The need to search something he didn't know what.
The need for answers.

Now he didn't have his mentors telling him not to do what he wanted.
He was free…literally speaking.
Free into a dark prison.

He recalled how many times Algol forced him to try open the portal when he was still a child – a very scared child indeed - , but he failed.
Why did Algol was so sure he could do it when he was the one to kidnap him into that place in first place? Something wasn't right, and the curiosity took the best of him and now Epios found himself motivated again: He wanted and needed answers, and he was on for it.

He knew he had value, but about what? Could it really be possible for him to open the portal at his wish?

He left the safety of the zone he lived and made his way into the woods that surrounded the Sorrow Hills, the location where Algol's palace was based. At distance, he could he hear the sounds of breaking waves onto the coast rocks and the mourning wings, he could see the never ending lightening breaking through the dark moving clouds. The castle was built near the edge of the cliff, there were no walls surrounding it, but it wasn't really necessary. Algol was respected if not feared by the inhabitants of that dark world.
But not Epios, he didn't fear Algol and since he was a kid he faced Algol somehow, despite the painful punishments he received. His skin still carried each mark of them that for him served as a permanent reminder: Algol was bad and had no respect for anyone or nothing. He meant to be severe.

Though, as for the respect matter, Epios didn't really have a healthy respect at the essence of the word, but since he managed to escape Algol's dominium over his body and was rescued by his late mentors, they managed to keep Algol away from him as he grew. They kept him safe every time Algol or his troop invaded their zone. It happened when the barrier they created used to weaken for some reason.

He recalled so clearly the sensation it caused when they invoked it. Initially after his rescue, they had to hide him into the secret basement of their lodge, and create a thick and dense mass around their land. He recalled so well the strong sensation and pressure he felt at the atmosphere into the barrier.
At the first times when he didn't understand it, he feared dying as of being smashed by it, then they taught him a very important lesson which made him understand why Algol had difficulty tracking them: they taught him how to mask his inner light with a secretive technique.

Though, despite Algol not having any respect for them and always insulting them in every way he could, especially by calling them "The Fallen", he particularly didn't mess up with them so directly. Could it be called "respect"?
Not in Epios' opinion. For him there was something else behind Algol's attitudes as it was evident he was stronger than them physically and magically speaking. He noticed that as he grew up and they aged even more. It wasn't respect, but interest, and he was seeking to find this out since he met that foreigner girl in which her presence disturbed Algol so much.

There were no guards protecting the castle. By looking from the outside,it seemed to be an abandoned place as it was surrounded by a garden of ruins. The only "livable" place was the tall tower and the large prison underground.

Wearing a large dark thick cloak with hood to cover all of his body as he masked any trace of his presence there, he made his way into the ruins to the secret passage he used to escape.
A passage with a mysterious well surrounded by dark mists where the waters of the black sea broke at the rocks, which caused disturbing sounds at times, sounds as of moans like.

Misty Well, Algol's Palace

Algol was standing up looking down at the well as he talked to the murmurs coming from it.

"I thought you were better at convincing the others to do all you want!"

"Epios is not just anyone, you know whose son he is…"

"We're running out of time! I want his seed!"

"And you'll have it, but first we need him to open that portal and cross the barrier"

"You should be more efficient!"

"You better than anyone know how hard is to manipulate a Solaris…" Algol replied with a mocking tone

The voice ignored the comment and continued his complaints, "Where's Arietis when we need her?"

"She must be out there wandering in her sorrow for losing Helios' love and her prestigious position as the mother of a Solaris heir as the usual…"

"What a fool! Her son would never take Apollo's position! The sun was never meant to her bastard! Even though she may never know that I manipulated Helios' vision about a bad child with her… that was my training for the biggest plan!"

Algol laughed, "She's really an idiot, and now she works for you blindly…but being the daughter Ares, intelligence is not really one of the family's traits…"

"I wonder if this is the reason why Bennu hid into Coronis seed…"

"That in her case would be a smarty move. A smart one can pretend to be fool, but that is not applied in the contrary. Fools are always fools!"

"Whatever reason Bennu had to make that move, we have a lot of work to do to clean her mess! Due to that my triumph was postponed and damn Epios was born!"

"But we still can't exterminate him!"

"I wish I could leave out of here and absorb his seed so he'll never exist again!"

"And what really stops you? I'm sure with your help we can put an end to him!"

"You fool! I'm still weak! Don't you remember how much effort I had to make to erase that memory from Epios's mind or he'd still be obsessed with his own image and all our plans would be ruined forever!"

"Forever is all we have…Of course I remember…the same effort done to manipulate the Gods through Helios' visions of a dark future"

"Exactly! I'm not even completely healed from that effort and then I had to do more when that intruder came in and allied with Epios into that mirror I couldn't even break yet!"

"The Solaris, their secrets and their unique magic…"

"Reason why Epios is more useful alive than extinguished for now… I need him for my plans"

"I'm working on that, but he's not so easy to manipulate"

"I know, but it's all because of Them!"

Algol shrugged, "His parents are dead… they no longer can protect him"

"I didn't say his parents, even though they may not be here physically anymore, yet they're still out there…"

"So who are them are you talk about?"

There was a pause for a long murmur, "There's a third presence, don't you feel it?"

"A third presence? No…I don't feel any other external presence, or a foreigner one into the Abyss"

"I may not dominate the Abyss, but I can feel it and it still lies here…since that night…it's subtler than Epios'…"

"Subtler than Epios'? That's impossible!"

"Not impossible, it's what it is"

"It can't be, not even his parents or stupid Helios managed to do that!"

"Exactly! None of them but…"

Algol was silent for a while wondering the answer, "The Savior…"

"You do remember that night when he entered here"

"How to forget it, he ruined our plans!"

"And he's still doing it as he has sealed us with a unique seal that only him or Epios can pass through physically, but I guess we just got a twist of luck. Epios is coming our way"

Algol smiled mischievously as he prepared himself for the meeting and the mysterious company Algol was talking to dissipated into the dark sea of the well.

A few weeks passed and during that period of certain calmness people lived their regular routine, but not the gods.

Helios, Antares and Zeus continued their private investigation about Algol and his allies and their weird and sudden lack of attacks.
Helios and Antares teamed up to observe the Sun constantly while they internally worked on their sacred seals, unleashing progressively their special ancient abilities so they could "see" better the activities at the center of the Via Lactea – the galaxy cauldron. They simply knew that that long silence of Algol meant trouble.

While Helios and Antares were busy handling the external activities, Zeus noticed that Serena was starting to regain her consciousness as Selene. What started as an innocent act of curiosity of Serena in reading Zeru's books turned out to trigger the seals of the amnesia they were all put into by "Kaname" before they reincarnated.

Initially, she seemed to deal well with the unveiled memories that started as dreams, though the more she knew the more confused she became which made Zeus worried about how much she could bear learning Selene's dilemmas.
Differently of her alter-ego as Serenity who meant hope and fresh start, the alter-ego of Selene was dense and shadowed.

Selene witnessed the end of an Era. Selene was lonely. Selene was the last survivor into the darkness unleashed by the deaths of the sacred guardians of the Sun.
She saw all the gods failing to stop Algol's attempt to take over the Solar System and the destruction of the Golden Millennium.
She saw and felt the fear, and surrendered.
She was also the chosen one!

It was Selene who listened to the mythical goodbye song of Bennu before witnessing her last breath when she cried hopelessness and her tear formed the Silver Crystal. Bennu chose her at that moment, she could see it in her eyes, and since then she used it as her own, the final tear of hope. Bennu's last wish.

Things changed over time, despite never questioning her mission as the last defender and the only one possessing that sacred object when all the others had their sacred crystals blocked and unbeknownst to their origins and the truth.

Though she questioned it now, and she was laying her trust on Zeru so he could clarify her questioning.

It during the hiatus that Rei and Darien discovered about Rei's miraculous pregnancy. But that event wasn't all about happiness due to the condition of Rei's womb. She was told by the doctors that it was a high risky pregnancy, but they were taking all the secure measures to keep it.

Rei cancelled her tour – Chronicles – without informing about her pregnancy, and spent her time at home. Her family gave her all the support she needed and Darien continued his routine at work, but working less hours so he could spend more time with his pregnant wife.

Everything was pretty much normal until Rei started listening to voice echoes that seemed to bird chirps saying "Fire" and "Burn". Initially, she partially ignored it, but accidents involving fire started to happen and that made her wonder it was some evil presence around them.

Earth, Early Dawn

Rei was having a restless night as she dealt with an intense heat and had difficulty falling deep into sleep.
She turned to the side and saw Darien sleeping soundly, and his presence somehow made her feel tranquil at some extent.
She inhaled deeply and let out a long sigh as she tried to relax and arranged her pillows for more comfort.

She closed her eyes and continued the breathing exercises, ignoring as much as possible her surroundings.
In the first minutes she managed to focus on that exercise, but soon enough her ears started catching the sounds of the nocturnal animals, and living in a temple surrounded by wood meant a lot of them. She tried not to feel annoyed by their noise, but her sensitivity gradually increased, mainly during the pregnancy.
She knew she was out of her center.
She knew she wasn't being "her" at some moments.

After turning constantly to the sides, Rei finally gave up having some sleep. Sweating, she decided to take a bath to try to relax with the contact into the water. Usually that made her feel more relaxed.

While the bathtub filled with water, Rei walked to the window, looking out the outside. There was not much to be seen that time of the night. Only the dark shapes of the trees and the night sky that looked cloudy and reddish, which got her attention for a while.

She returned to the bathroom and added bath salts into the water, and then she sat into the tub and closed her eyes, easing her mind as much as possible. Breathing in and breathing out. Nocturnal animals' sounds at distance.

Birds chirps.
She ignored it.

Birds chirping.
She started humming parts of her song:

"The city is noisy, people are irritated
Plunging into night, the birds have already said goodnight
Like dreams afraid of waking up
I'm afraid of my heart breaking
I always searched for a reason
The canaries that have stifled their voices
haven't become unable to cry
They're making sure not to
The canaries who stifled their own voices
Didn't do it because they couldn't sing anymore
They've probably just decided not to…"

Like in a trance, Rei listened only to her breathing as her body emerged into the water with the levels until her eyes, and only her face outside so she could breath at a pace as her mind detached from her consciousness making her feel like she was flowing.

"Hino"

She opened her eyes startled when among the distant bird chirps she heard a weird whisper, however, she was unable to move herself, only her eyes. She glanced at the window and saw Phobos and Deimos staring at her on the outside.
She tried to speak, but her voice was mute.
She tried to move, but she felt like falling into a hole and her body stiffed while her skin felt like burning.

She knew that state of mind, sleep paralysis, but due to her training, she took control of herself as much as she could and tried to relax and return to her common senses. A very difficult task when she started feeling her chest burning intensely at her heart chakra.

Fear started taking control of her, but she was helpless. She didn't know how to manage that. Her guardians only stared at her from outside the window as if they were watching a show and then seemed to bow at her.
She wanted help, not reverence, as she felt like she was lifting up from the water and the room getting darker.
She looked down and saw her naked body still in the bathtub. The water was vivid red.
She screamed out of despair, but the sound coming out of her throat didn't resemble her own voice. It sounded like a bird chirp that suddenly stifled.

Then she felt a sharp pain into her womb level as if it was being cut up open revealing a strong light, and then all her body ached as she saw herself being consumed by flames.
Still and numb, her mind finally reached a point of easiness, finding comfort into the heat. Her head seemed like into a spin, and her body being dragged into a dark hole.

No fear. Only a single distant light shining.
She heard humming. She heard loud bird chirps. She heard cries.
Into the darkness, she could feel her skin so cold, but her flesh so hot.
Then it was all so silent. She felt like crying but the tears wouldn't come out.
Into a kaleidoscope of mirrors with images of herself in different forms, she realized she wasn't alone, and so she felt Hope.
A single tear formed. The pain was gone.

The mirrors stopped spinning. There was only the darkness and her. No coldness. No warmth. No heat. No sounds. No light. No hope. There was her and herself.
She closed her eyes, feeling her heart beats so strong.

Bird's soft chirps.

She opened her eyes and saw her own reflection standing before her in a large mirror. She saw her red crystal-seed at the chest level of her reflection, shining so bright and spinning anticlockwise, but when she looked down at herself she didn't see anything. Then, she looked at the mirror reflection again. Her eyes widened at the sight of a giant shining bird with feathers of flames behind her reflected image. She looked back and there was nothing but darkness.

She started listening to a humming song. She heard the bird humming a song from into the mirror.

She stared at the mirror, seeing her reflected image taken into flames when the bird embraced her from behind, and then a near blinding flash light blinked, making her close her eyes for a moment.

"What do you want? Who are you?"

"Hino…"

"Leave me alone evil spirit!" Rei screamed

"Burn…"

Rei started a pray of exorcism as she was taken by the despair of the loneliness and hopelessness. Encaged.

She couldn't concentrate properly as she started feeling her own womb in apparent contractions, and the worry about losing her unborn child took over her.
Facing the mirror, she saw a kaleidoscope of mirrors showing several rolling videos of a little boy trying to escape dark shadows in different situations. Then, her attention was taken by the version of when a very handsome redhead man looking desperate and fatally wounded made the final act to protect the unconscious little boy from the darkness chasing them and invoked a seal at the cost of his own life and created a seemingly black bell jar that faded out the boy's enlightened crystal-seed which was hidden in a mirrored dark room.

Rei felt very saddened watching it as she felt like she knew that man and knew that the fate that little boy had would've been different if she was there.
Which didn't make sense to think that way. There was no way "she" could be there.

"Sorry…" the bird's voice whispered and started to sing:

How many times can people realize
they've come to a crossroads in the middle of their journey?
And how much can they choose
what the voice of their hearts leads them to?
In the darkness known as tomorrow that no one can know
I'll stretch out my hand with all my power and pledge by your side
That my swaying heart will stand proud
like the fluttering, fluttering petals falling down
What is sad is
To lose sight of myself for the sake of myself
Believing in a scenery no one's ever seen
I'll be by your side in that place that's nowhere, and wish
To send a light that's too dizzying and bright
like the glittering, glittering sunshine pouring down
In the darkness known as tomorrow that no one can know
I'll stretch out my hand with all my power and pledge by your side
That my swaying heart will stand proud
like the fluttering, fluttering petals falling down
To send a light that's too dizzying and bright
like the glittering, glittering sunshine pouring down (Will – Ayumi Hamasaki)

While listening to the birds' song, Rei watched the videos in the mirror realizing those weren't "her" memories. That often sense of emptiness and sadness she felt weren't "hers".
The mirror proved that. She watched the exact moment when the bird came into her.
And that revolted her. She didn't want to live that way. She didn't want the future of darkness.

She closed her eyes placing her hands onto her chest, foreseeing the red crystal she had seen previously and wishing it to unmerge from hers with all her might.
It was all the birds' fault.

The mirror reflected Rei's wish and the bird letting go of her with sorrow.

Somehow now Rei could see the red crystal into her hands and taking a better glimpse of it, she saw a second crystal into it, but it was so tiny that it could barely be seen.

"If I let you stay within me any further, everything I dreamed and fought for will be gone…and I don't want that…"

(*)

Mr. Hino was meditating at the Sacred Fire Room as he was having a restless night. He was worried about the enemies' long silence until the recent news that a black hole had been pictured and that was a fantastic phenomenon for the mankind to be able to see what until that moment the black holes were only theories and so non comprehended, besides mysterious.
Though, Mr. Hino knew why the Universe kept its secrets from mankind and at times even from "gods". Even when he was the Sun's ruler didn't have all the answers, but he was aware that everyone and everything had a reason to be and a function. He knew his functions and he tried to stick to it. He had responsibilities that other gods and creatures couldn't comprehend, though he knew more than the others, perhaps except for another god that used to be as wise as he was, and maybe even wiser at some extent – Kronos.

Despite being an omnipresent god, Kronos was unreachable most of the time. There were only very few occasions when he presented himself, and one of the occasions was when Apollo was made the new ruler of the Sun and when Selene used the Silver Crystal to start the Silver Millennium and the gods were exiled from their duties to rule the planets of the Solar System and so the Sailors were chosen for the duty.

Kronos was a mystery himself. Neutral, but such neutrality often made him be seen at times as a bad god, and other times as a good god. Either ways, he didn't care about the labels. He was remained himself neutral and fair to the causes, and often his "justice" caused intercurrences, but more than anyone and anything he remained himself strict to the Karma laws or the Action and Reaction laws. He never quarreled it.

However, what caused Mr. Hino's restlessness wasn't the fact of the pictured black hole, but the fact of the black hole being visible enough to be pictured.
Mankind justified it as the advance of technology, which by the way wasn't a wrong thought, though, he knew there was another reason – The Exiled.

Amidst to his reflections, Mr. Hino sensed something different when he felt a warm breeze suddenly moving the fire flames and listened to the night animals seemly agitated.
He activated his third vision to foresee the surroundings to detect the intruding energy and detected the spot coming from the bathroom, and recognized the intense energy.

"Bennu!" he whispered running to it as fast as he could

Upon arriving at the bathroom, he saw Rei crying in the bathtub and immediately went to her aid, and then he saw the bloody water, "Sweety…"

"I lost it…" she spoke in sobs covering her face

"What?"

"My baby…I lost it…"

He took her into a comforting embrace, only leaving her when suddenly Darien entered the room and was taken by the sad news.

Mr. Hino watched them relating to their pain and loss. He knew well that feeling. Then, his attention was dragged to the small shiny object on the ground near the bathtub.

"I'm going to take her to the hospital" He heard Darien's shaky voice in grief

"Sure, you do that…I'm very sorry for your loss…"

Darien only moved his head in consent, fighting his tears, then, he looked at the bathtub briefly and a painful groan escaped his throat at the realization of what had just happened.

"Go stay with Rei, she needs you… I'll do the clea…"

"I should be the last one to hold him, but…" Darien couldn't finish his sentence, his hands were shaking, his mind shifting.

"Son…you don't need to carry this burden and live with the terrible memory that will turn into an endless wound. Save yourself from that."

"I'm his father…"

"And his mother needs you. She still bleeds. Don't put her life in danger out of the burden you really don't have to carry"

"Will he forgive me for not being capable of saying goodbye to him?" he spoke in tears

Moved by the pain of seeing a powerless father in front of him, he walked over him and took him into an embrace to console the one who in a long time ago used to be his own son, and as a father and a man who had to choose whose son would succeed him, he could relate to the powerlessness and shame feelings Darien was struggling with. As a father and from experience, all he wanted was to protect his ancient child from the endless bitter memory of carrying his son's dead remains when his spirit wasn't even there.

"Son, I'm sure he is now the angel watching over you. He now is a light to guide you and a being made of light doesn't need to forgive because all he is made of… is love light…"

They stayed in silence for a little while so Darien could finally cope with the words of wisdom and then leave to meet devastated Rei.

Mr. Hino let out a deep sigh before gaining the courage to do what he had to do. Certainly the moment was delicate, but duty always calls, and seeing the small object on the ground only reminded him of that and his concern was elevated when he recognized the object as no more and no less than Bennu's crystal-seed.

June 4th 2021...
OMG, it's been forever since I started working on this story and it's over a year since I last updated it...I apologize for that, but a lot of things happened during this time and writing wasn't in my main priorities, though I never stopped thinking about where all my stories will lead. I may have not written as much as I wish, but I never stopped having ideas of stories and upcoming events for every story I have on hold.
I won't give up on this one, but I apologize for taking too long to update :(