So here is the third part of the Infinite Possibities series. This is one that I'd like to turn into a full-length story eventually, but for now I'm just going to post it here, so I'd really appreciate feedback on this idea.
Disclaimer: I do not own Saint Seiya or any of the included characters. They all belong to Masami Kurumada.
"Siblings are sent to the same training ground?" Mitsumasa Kido asked his butler.
"That's correct." Tatsumi Tokumaru answered. "One of our informants brought that information to us yesterday evening."
Kido sighed. "That's a strange rule." He said slowly. "And it complicates things. Sanctuary may get suspicious if they find out that any siblings have been split up. Tatsumi, are there any siblings among the children we gathered?"
"Just one pair." Tatsumi answered. "Shun and Ikki. Other than being a crybaby, Shun is easy. Ikki, on the other hand, is much harder to deal with. He's loud and rebellious and very protective of Shun. He'll probably throw a fit if they get separated."
Kido nodded. "Then this rule makes things simpler. Regardless of which one of them picks the training ground, send them to the same place."
"Yes, sir."
Ikki scowled. Tatsumi had interrupted evening training, calling the one hundred Kido Foundation orphans to gather around him as he walked to the center of the sparring ring in the corner of the training room. He was carrying a wooden box of some kind.
Souta, Tatsumi's second-in-command, followed him in carrying a small table.
Ikki grabbed Shun and headed over to the sparring ring, shouldering his way through the other children to be near the front where they would be able to hear better.
"Listen up you brats! Today you're gonna pick your training ground." Tatsumi snapped. "Here's the rules: There are a hundred slips of paper in this box, each one with the name of a training ground on it. You pick one, and whatever training ground it says it where you go, no questions or complaints. Got it?"
Without waiting for an answer, Tatsumi pulled out a piece of paper and called out the first name: "Jabu, you're first!"
Jabu got up from where he sat at the front of the mass of orphans and grabbed a piece of paper, handing it to Tatsumi.
"Jabu, you're going to Oran in Algeria. Next, Hisato!"
Ikki let the names flow over him, not bothering to listen to where most of the children were going. The first one to catch his attention was a serious boy with dark green hair.
"Shiryu. The Wulao Peaks in China."
After that it was Nachi, one of the boys who often picked on Shun.
"Nachi, you're being sent to the Bomi Hills in Liberia."
"Seiya. Athens in Greece."
"Athens in Greece?" Seiya asked curiously.
"Yes. That's right." Tatsumi said. "Now go sit down."
For once, Seiya obeyed without question, his round face screwed up in thought.
"Yuri, you pick next."
A few moments later the oldest orphan, Geki, picked his training ground.
"The Rockies in Canada." Tatsumi announced.
"Hyoga. East Siberia."
Ikki glanced at the quiet boy. Hyoga was a mystery to everyone. As serious as Shiryu, but somehow twice as quiet. Shun was oddly fond of the blond boy, despite never having spoken to him before.
"Keep moving. Shun, you're next."
Ikki watched as his younger sibling walked up to the box and picked a piece of paper, then handed it to Tatsumi.
"Death Queen Island." Tatsumi read. Then he grinned. "Seems like you have the worst luck out of this whole group of orphans. Do you know why, Shun?"
"Uh-uh." Shun answered.
Tatsumi looked positively gleeful. "It's because Death Queen Island is a living hell. It's an island in the Pacific Ocean where the ground is covered in a burning hellfire and fire rains from the sky."
Shun flinched back. Ikki scowled. He hated it when Tatsumi got like this, it always spelled pain and misery for the children.
"But it gets better." Tatsumi added. "You see, there's a rule in the Laws of the Saints stating that siblings must always be trained together. In picking Death Queen Island, you've sentenced Ikki to the same fate. Well done kid."
Shun's eyes welled with tears. The child headed back to Ikki and sat down without saying anything. Ikki reached out and grabbed his sibling's hand, lacing their fingers together and squeezing. Shun gave him a shaky smile. They would be alright.
Okay, what do you all think?
Please leave a review. I'd especially like feedback on this one.
See you next chapter!
