Part two of the previous chapter. Hope you enjoy!
Concept: As the younger Gemini twin, Kanon has to find ways to make himself useful. A trip to Siberia on orders from the Pope takes a turn for the worse when Kanon finds something he never could have expected.
Disclaimer: I do not own Saint Seiya or any of the included characters. They all belong to Masami Kurumada.
"Dead?" Master Shion repeats after a moment of silence.
"Yeah. Frozen to death by the looks of it." Kanon tells him. In the background of their telepathic conversation he can sense Saga's alarm at the news.
Master Shion sighs-well, it's more like a sense of resignation than an actual sigh-and seems to take a moment to collect his thoughts.
"Where are Master Vanya's students?" The Pope asks.
"Not here." Kanon responds bluntly. "And wherever they are, it's far enough away that I can't sense them." He adds.
"Find them." Master Shion orders him. "Use your Cosmo if you need to, but figure out where they are and confirm their status. If they're alive, make sure they're safe first and foremost."
"And if they don't trust me? It's not like they'll know who I am."
"Tell them you're an agent of Sanctuary." Master Shion instructs him. "That's all they need to know."
"Fair enough." Kanon agrees. "I'll report once I know something."
"Master Vanya's students come first." Is the response he receives. "You can report to me once you're sure they're either safe or dead."
With that, the old Lemurian's mind disappears. Kanon winces. It's not that he isn't aware that the three kids could be dead, as it's always a possibility when it comes to Saint training, it's just that he doesn't want to think about them being dead. It's not exactly a pleasant thought.
Saga's mind presses comfortingly against Kanon's, clearly having picked up on his twin's dark thoughts.
"Don't focus on the worst-case scenario so quickly." The older Gemini murmurs gently. "You don't know anything for sure yet. Find the children first."
"I know." Kanon huffs. "I'll talk to you later." He tells his twin, and lets their connection slip away, fading back to the subtle-but-constant awareness that it usually manifests as.
Closing his eyes, Kanon lets his mind focus outward, spreading his awareness of Cosmo out as far as he can, then letting a bit of his Cosmo free to expand his range further.
At first there's nothing, just the general sense of emptiness that comes with a near complete lack of Cosmo-other than the Cosmo of the Earth itself, which Kanon is so used to that it only barely registers to his senses in the first place-but then he picks up a few faint traces of Cosmo. It's just the people from the village, though. None of what he's sensing is big enough to be a Saint trainee.
Further. Kanon thinks. I need to reach further. He gives up on the idea of being subtle with his sensing, and just reaches out.
For a long moment there's nothing. And then...
There!
Off to the north of the makeshift Colosseum where Kanon is there are two Cosmos, both large enough to actually be worth taking notice of.
Straightening up from his crouch and taking a moment to stretch out his stiff limbs, Kanon turns to head in the direction he sensed the Cosmos, leaving Master Vanya's body behind. It can wait.
Stepping out of the circle of ice slabs means stepping out of their protection, and Kanon makes a face when the viciously cold wind smacks him in the face. He ducks his head against it, cursing as he notices the snow that has begun to fall.
Whoopee. He thinks. This is exactly what I needed-a blizzard on top of the dead Saint trainer I already found. Hopefully those three kids are more cold-resistant than their master. I would really hate to find them dead too.
Something else occurs to him.
Ah crap. I'm only sensing two Cosmos. Where's the third one?
Shaking his head, Kanon takes to scanning the area ahead of him, looking for any sign of his quarry.
It must be a good half an hour of walking before he sees what he's looking for. Ahead of him, two small shapes are making their way through the steadily worsening blizzard. They're moving slowly, and Kanon only has to pick up his pace a bit to reach them.
"Hey!" He yells over the wind. "Hey! Kids! What are you doing out here?"
His calls catch the attention of one of the small figures, and it stops, turning to look back at him. It's a boy with a fluff of white hair, dressed in thick, sturdy clothes clearly designed to ward off the cold, much like Kanon's own coat.
Upon getting closer, Kanon realizes the second figure, a child of indeterminate gender with straight teal hair, is actually slung over the white-haired boy's back, no doubt unconscious.
The boy stares at Kanon, clearly wary but not making any attempt to run.
As he reaches them, Kanon frowns.
"What are kids like you doing out here?" He demands. He thinks he already knows, but it doesn't hurt to ask.
The boy looks confused and shakes his head. The wind is really starting to pick up and Kanon can barely hear himself think, so it's not surprising the kid can't hear him even at this distance.
Instead of risking his voice, Kanon reaches out with his mind. The kid has absolutely no psychic barriers and Kanon reaches into his mind with little problem. Normally he wouldn't intrude on someone else's mind like this-at best it's ethically questionable by Lemurian standards, and it goes against Kanon's own personal morals to boot-but he's distinctly lacking in the options department right now.
"I asked what you're doing out here in this mess, kid."
The boy stares at him in confusion, mouth working uselessly. "What is that?" Kanon hears the voice in his head.
"It's the guy standing in front of you. I'm using telepathy." Kanon tells him patiently. He draws his mind back a bit, giving the boy space to think without Kanon overhearing by accident. "Now answer the damn question."
Understanding makes its way across the kid's face, and he nods. "My sister and I were out playing when she slipped on the ice and hit her head. I'm trying to get her home, but it's slow going, and then this storm blew in too."
"You realize you're going in the wrong direction to get back to town, right?" Kanon points out blandly as he crouches down to get a better look at the unconscious girl.
Sure enough, he can see a bit of blood on the girl's temple and in her hair, frozen in the cold.
"We live outside of town with our father." Is the response he receives. "It's closer than the town."
"And your dad is... where, exactly?" He asks.
"In town. He has work. We're allowed to go out and play alone as long we're careful. The fall was a-an accident."
"Okay." Kanon thinks slowly. He pulls his backpack off his shoulder and drops it on the ground. "Okay. Give me your sister. You lead the way and I'll carry her to your house."
His offer gets a suspicious glare-smart kid-but he ignores it and turns his back. It's quite a sign of trust. With Kanon's back turned, the boy could easily knock him out and leave him to freeze to death.
There's nothing for a few seconds, then a weight on his back. It takes both Kanon and the boy a bit of shifting to get the girl settled, but they manage it eventually and Kanon stands up, double-checking to make sure he won't drop the kid.
"Let's get going before we get snowed in." He commands, and the boy takes a second to grab Kanon's pack, slinging it over his shoulder before beckoning the teenager to follow him.
They take off at a brisk pace, pushing through the quickly building snow.
"I forgot to ask," Kanon speaks up after a while, "What's your name, kid?"
"Shouldn't you introduce yourself first?" The boy counters.
Kanon chuckles, unable to help the way his amusement projects across their telepathic connection. "Name's Kanon. Now it's your turn."
"I'm Dimitri. My sister is Camus, and our M-our father is Vanya." The kid finally answers. Kanon refrains from commenting on the boy's obvious slip-up, instead opting to ask another question.
"You said your father's in town for work. What's he do?" He queries.
Dimitri turns just enough that Kanon can see the downturn at the corner of his mouth. "Is that any of your business?" He responds tartly.
"Guess not." Kanon admits.
Soon enough the shape of a building comes into view. It's not particularly big, and Kanon guesses there's a main room and one or two bedrooms, plus possibly a bathroom. On the bright side, there is a chimney sticking up from the roof, so at least there's a fireplace of some kind. Which is good, considering that Kanon, at least, feels like he's going to freeze if he doesn't get somewhere warm soon.
The white-haired boy in front of Kanon opens the door to the little house and steps inside, holding the door open so Kanon can slip in after him, then shutting it, heavily dampening the howling of the blizzard outside.
Kanon takes a quick glance around. Just like he thought, they're one large main room which seems to serve as both kitchen and living room, with an ice box, stove, and a table with chairs in the far corner from the door. There's a couch off to Kanon's right, with a low table and a fireplace set into the wall, and the last corner is walled off, probably as a bedroom given the size.
Stepping further into the house, Kanon makes his way to the couch and crouches down, carefully dumping his burden onto the cushions. Turning back to face the girl, he reaches for the clasp at the neck of her coat-better to get it off sooner rather than later-and promptly goes still as a freezing cold hand clamps around the back of his neck under his scarf.
An icy Cosmo burns behind him and a soft voice speaks out, tone dangerous.
"Tell me who you really are."
AHHHH! After a fair bit of problems and my internet conking out just long enough for me to lose some of my progress, I got this written.
(The excitement!)
Anyway, I actually have an idea of how this one's supposed to end, so I might end up moving it out to its own separate story.
(But only if I'm sure I can finish it).
Bye-bye now!
