Author's Note:

Rio: Yes, due to circumstances involving presents, new electronic devices to play with, and Christmas vacation I was not able to update on Saturday nor Sunday, so I will now do so.

Ryu: Liar. You're only taking a break from your presents because you are stuck.

Rio: Be that as it may, enjoy the chapter everyone! (Oh, and this chapter is where the entire thing becomes very AU... oh well, it still sorta follows the plot line...)


Fantasies of the Open Mind

Chapter Nineteen: Secrets of the Anemos


Past the Gates of Hades, where the river Styx flows in a gurgling rush and Cerberos greets the new souls with a wag of his tail; past the cliffs overhanging the pit of Tartarus; pat the seven pits of Hell and the Elasion fields; past all that lies the palace of Hades. With its imposing outer walls of onyx and the high gates of obsidian tipped with gold, the castle home of the God of the Dead and Wealth looked more like a fortress of war then a home, but once inside the dark barriers gave way to lush purples and greens, halls which sparkled with all manner of jewels and precious mettles. And situated in the middle of all this finery was the throne room of Hades.

The God of the Dead and Wealth sat on his throne attired in black armor as Solinari entered the room. The ghost dropped to the floor on his knees and bowed his head the second he was in the presence of the god, his Creator. Only at Hades's acknowledgment did he dare rise from the floor and approach the God.

"Tell me Solinari, how fares my daughter?" The God's voice echoed warmly in the large chamber, sounding calm and unruffled but the dark brown eyes of the god shown black with worry.

"She is well, for the time being."

"And Saturos? You would not come to me unless there was a problem in the mortal plane."

"As far as I know his well, but on his way to Contigo."

"Why is this a problem? The apocalypse can only be released with the destruction of the four guardian beasts at the Mars Lighthouse and with the lighting of the beacon atop it. The Proxians will know not to destroy the beasts. Proxian law forbids it."

"We have no idea where Karst and Agatio are. It's like they disappeared off the mortal plane altogether. They should have lit the beacon by now but we have seen no sign of the power and the temperature continues to drop."

"That is strange indeed. But remember Solinari that Aries would not allow the destruction of one of his own. I am sure they and Saturos will be fine."

Solinari stood silently for a moment before murmuring, "But Saturos was cast out of Prox."

All the souls in Hades shuttered as the God's fury resounded throughout the realm of the Dead, "WHAT?!"




"How can you get up at this hour? Don't you have a hangover too?" On of the Djinni's eyes cracked open to look at the seemingly hangover free Proxian.

"I have been drinking for twenty years so my head can handle a bottle of wine. You on the other hand, have been drinking for less than twenty hours. Let's just say I wouldn't want to be in your position right now."

One of the Djinni gasped, "You evil man! You knew this would happen!"
Saturos smirked, "Guilty as charged. I planned it actually." And the Proxian left the room for a Djinni-free day in Contigo.

All three Djinni groaned. "Jenna's not gonna like this one." one muttered.

"You gonna tell her, Scorch?"

"No, you Coal?"

"Not me. Char?"

"Nope."




Kraden sat at a makeshift desk near the ruins of the Anemos, having just finished with an ancient Proxian translation he had been working on which supposedly told how to get into the inner Sanctum of the Anemos. "Now letsee..." he muttered. "The keys to seeing the inner sanctum lie with the holder of seventy-two boot-laces... what in the name of-"

"You translated that wrong." a finger came into view pointing at one of the characters on the original text.

"Oh, that's a relief. Thank you Saturos. Wait..." Kraden almost fell of his chair turning to look at the fully alive Proxian. "How are you alive? Is it some ancient Proxian spell I was unaware of?" The scholar's eyes sparkled with curiosity, the translation forgotten.

"No." Saturos dismissed the curious scholar. "What are you working on exactly?" he asked, turning Kraden's attention back to the translation.

"We are trying to get into the inner Sanctum of the Anemos." Kraden sighed. "But it's uphill work as you can see." Kraden completely missed the furry that Saturos let fly across his face for a few seconds.

"Why are you trying to get into the inner sanctum?" Saturos's voice was strained as if he was keeping himself from raging at the stupidity of it all.

"Do you know the secrets of what is supposed to be in the Anemos? Think of the power contained in these ruins! The secrets to ancient civilizations! We could solve all sickness, revive the ancient cities and their glory, all the things ancient texts speak of."

Saturos's face seemed to shadow over. "And risk releasing the terror that caused the ancients to turn to the Gods to seal the Anemos to begin with?" he hissed.

Kraden chuckled. "You still believe those ghost stories Saturos? I would have thought an upstanding man like yourself would not put faith in those children stories. You must know there is no actual record of that."

Idiot, Saturos thought. He says he doesn't believe the stories yet he is afraid to say the name of the apocalyptic power inside the Anemos. Afraid of Dullahan's very name. Idiot. Saturos looked over the translation, hurriedly scanning it.

"And what about this line?" he asked pointing to the very first line of the translation. "Fear all who enter here, for only those seeking to perish shall be spared its wrath."

Kraden looked confused. "Is that really what it says? I thought it said something about smearing chocolate cheesecake on the door posts."

Saturos grimaced. That line said that the only ones who wanted to be destroyed would be spared the wrath of Dullahan because they would get what they wanted. "Are all the scholars here as learned as you Kraden?" he asked scaracsticly, looking around at the many priests and scholars assembled at the ruins.

"No. I know the most languages out of all of them." was Kraden's chipper response.

"WHAT?"




High in their celestial tower, the god's waited. Once they heard Hades' cry of astonishment they began waiting, waiting for the God of Death and Wealth to join them and for his wrath to rain down on Aries, the guardian and creator of all Proxians.

They did not have long to wait for soon Hades' dark chariot was seen with its black horses charging up through the seasonal clouds, its horses screaming in their fury-laden charge. Soon all the Gods sat in the presence of Hades, currently the most powerful god of them all until the Mars Lighthouse was lit.

"Aries. I want a word with you."

Aries sighed inwardly at his uncle's tone. It was not a good indication of a friendly chat between his uncle and himself. Aries moved from his throne of bronze, down off the coverlet of human skin (1), and walked to his uncle's side. Usually he and his uncle got along better than most of the Gods did. Aries wished that they wouldn't interfere now-"

"You two can talk here, brother." Zeus's voice rang out over the throne room. "Anything you say to Aries can be said in the presence of us all."

Hades raised an eyebrow before turning to Aries. "You week, pathetic, good for nothing, son of a cow." At Jupiter's glare he smirked. "Come Aries, we need to talk away from inquisitive ears."

"And don't think I didn't catch that jibe about me brother!"(2) Hera snarled as Hades sundered out of the hall followed by Aries.

"Believe me sister, it was intentional." he called back before disappearing from sight.



"This is about Saturos, isn't it?" Aries muttered.

"You are very perceptive, nephew. So I guess I needn't ask the question on my mind as you will undoubtedly know what it is and answer it."

"I cannot fight fate, uncle. Without the Mars Lighthouse lit I cannot communicate with the Proxian Leaders. Until such a time as I can tell them to right this wrong, my power is bound by their judgment, however bad it may be."

"And what will you do about it then?" Hades hissed. "You cannot just leave Saturos alone without a guardian! The others with destroy him!"

"I will not allow the fate of your daughter, my cousin, to be decided at the whim of Jupiter. Nor with I allow Dullahan to be released on the face of the mortal plane again, not after he nearly destroyed it once. Dullahan was created to stand for fate's power, and now many of us have chosen to forget that even gods cannot control fate. Rest assured Hades, the gate shall not be opened with my power."

"Yes, but you forget that the gods may turn to another God, Aries. Are you watching Hephestus? He is after all, at the beck and call of your... how should I describe her-"

"Don't because it won't be true. I have already spoken with Venus. She has not approached him on this matter and will not. You forget that she is primarily the Goddess of Love, Hades. And even if she had, Hephestus is one of the wisest of us all. He would not risk the destruction of the mortal plane to carry out some pathetic curse made up by Cupid!"

"Really? Then why is the power within the Anemos growing? And why is it being masked from the Three? They would not lie to me. They can't. They would have more ability to remake themselves than to tell me false notions."

Aries was silent for a few moments, processing the information. "I do not know of what you speak. I will talk with my brother."

Hades nodded, "See that you do. And see that you watch Saturos carefully. I can only see so much from the underworld and the Three are not perfect."

"I will Uncle. I am not so cold hearted as my followers portray me as. I do care for someone's well being besides my own. I will make sure that when the time is right Saturos knows that while Prox may have abandoned him, I have not.

"Good." Hades nodded a farewell and left his nephew for his realm again, leaving Aries to discover exactly what was going on.




"Brother, do you have a minute?" Aries called down into Hephestus's forge.

"What is the matter Aries? Did your spear break again? That would be the fourth time this month." the voice of Hephestus called back to the God of War with a chuckle.

"No. Saturn, have I broken it that many times already?"

"Yes, dear brother, you have." Hephestus emerged from the forge, half covered in soot with a smile in his face.

"I will have to try harder next month not to break it then." Aries said sheepishly. "But I am wondering about something more serious, brother."

Hephestus's smile left his face. "I see. Come let us talk inside. The cyclops will not tell anyone a thing they hear."

The two brothers entered the forge. Aries had been inside his brother's forge many times and he almost never quarreled with his brother, except for the one time in which he had been found with Venus.

"Now brother. Do you come about what I think you want to know?" Hephestus eyes were grave.

"I'm afraid I must. I trust you brother, but my uncle does not."

"Nor should he. Not after what that son of yours did for him."

"Brother, whatever do you mean? You should know I have no son." Aries watched as his brother's features hardened.

"Really? And I expect that the resemblance between you and Cupid have is just a coincidence. Do not lie to me brother! I have already questioned Venus about his origin."

Aries sighed. "Must we go through this again brother? Once, ONCE I was seduced by that witch of a wife, whose whichcraft stems from the girdle you made her if you would be so kind to remember, and you create a rift between us that you will never allow to be mended!"

"But it was not one time brother! I know very well that Venus has gone to you before (by Saturn's destruction she admits it herself), so how can I trust you Aries?"

Aries eyes clouded in anger. "She tells you where she has gone but she does not tell you what happens does she? Saturn's destruction, Hephestus I would not touch her, for your sake and this is how you repay me? By destroying the livelihood of our uncle? Hephestus, he has suffered enough. At least you should let his spirit be lifted by the life of his child!" Aries fumed, remembering how he had defended his brother against Hades only minutes before. "You would risk the destruction of the entire mortal plane over something that you know did not occur!"

"Brother, the creature in the Anemos has had a thousand years rotting away in the sanctum. Without any light or nourishment it will be tamable, willing to do anything for a chance at seeing the world again. We will not destroy the mortal world with its release."

Aries scoffed. "You only see the light side of the moon, brother." He turned to leave, brushing past the cyclopes on his way out. "Yes, Dullahan has had a thousand years in the darkness of the Anemos, but maybe that has made him stronger, and maybe it is a more deceitful creature than you think it to be. Now if you'll excuse me I have a mortal that I must look after."

"Then I feel sorry for that mortal!" Hephestus called after Aries. "With you as a guardian."

"So do I feel his pain." Aries agreed. "With you all trying to kill him for doing nothing wrong." And with that the God of War left the forge, leaving the blacksmith inside much to brood about.




Saturos woke late that night by a pounding at his door. He blearily opened it to see a messenger whom he had seen before running errands for the priest trying to "decipher the Anemos".

"What is it?"

"Sir. Kraden has just entered the Anemos. He said you would want to know."

"Aries save us." Saturos cursed, running inside to grab his armor and head towards the ruins.

Once he had disappeared down the hall the messenger smiled a cruel smile, his form melting away to reveal the fleet-footed messenger God, Mercury. "And so it begins." he smirked, disappearing to tell the other gods that Saturos would be joining them soon.

But in the wake of the God, another form appeared. The dark shape growled deep in his throat. "Yes, and so it begins." Nuitari murmured, disappearing to the realms of Hades. "But it may not end the way you Gods think it will, that is for fate to decide."




Jenna held the Teleportation Lapis, looking at it curiously, wondering if it really could teleport her anywhere she wanted, and even entertaining the thread of thought that she could join Saturos in Contigo for a few hours. But her brother would skin her if she did. They had not yet explored the full powers of the Teleportation Lapis yet so this was a variable, but it was not the thing keeping Jenna awake long into the night.

Something felt wrong. The feeling had crept up on her as a fog crept up upon Picard's ship at sea. It had come to rest in the pit of her stomach as a snaky coil of dread and wrongness. It churned and would not let her sleep. She had checked everyone's sleeping forms about eight times over by now so she knew they were all safely asleep. She had also ruled out that nothing was wrong in Prox because she could see from the lighthouse the town, within every home a blazing fire in the fireplace. But here, in the Mars Lighthouse, sat an aura of bleakness.

And then there was the fact that Nuitari and Solinari were missing but Lunitari would say nothing about it. One of them was with Saturos, she knew that, but nothing had been explained about the whereabouts of the other.

Jenna was getting agitated over the whole thing and as always happened when her temper came into play, her reason started to float out the window. But she was saved from completely loosing her mind with worry but two arguing voices.

"You must tell her NOW!" Jenna's ears perked up on hearing Nuitari's angry voice. "Solinari is on his way to tell her father the situation as we speak, but she must know in case- well, you know what could happen!"

"Nuitari, what could she do that her father and Aries cannot?"

"Well excuse me for thinking that in the event the unspeakable does happen she might want to say good-bye before the creature of the Anemos destroys him!"

Jenna shot up from where she had been trying to sleep and headed for where she could hear the voices coming from.

"But we don't even know for sure if-"

"Hades, Lunitari! Saturos will be gone by morning without a trace if we do nothing and the... creature will be set upon the earth again! Even the Gods cannot stand against the Anemos and win."

"Then what can she do?"

"I don't know! But she wasn't supposed to be able to resurrect him in the first place and she did it. She can at least try!"

Jenna stepped up to the forms of the agreeing ghosts. "I agree."

"See. I told you I was right." Nuitari said smugly.

"Well then YOU explain the situation to her." Lunitari shot back at him.

The smug look faded from Nuitari's face as he turned to look at Jenna. "You might want to sit down for this. It will be a lot to get used to."




Saturos looked at the inner Sanctum of the Anemos with a look that might have shown dread, had it not been Saturos who was doing the looking. The chamber was covered in an eerie light that had no real color, but it looked sickly whatever it was. The door to the inside of the Anemos was closed which puzzled Saturos. The Sanctum was only so big so there were only so many places that Kraden could be and the scholar was not in any of them. Even Kraden would no be so treasure hungry as to enter the inner reaches of the Anemos alone and close the door behind him. And from the way the inner Sanctum looked... It was as if Tartarus had been brought to the mortal plane, and Saturos didn't like the situation at all.

"Welcome young warrior." A voice emerged from the black reaches of the Sanctum followed by three figures. They were woman, who walked together as if by one mind and intent. Between the three of them they shared one eye.

"Do you know who we are, young one?" one asked, snatching the eye away from the other for a second before it was again snatched away by the third.

"We are three spinning sisters."

"You could say we control all-"

"Even the Gods cannot match us."

"For we are Fate, the Fated sisters three-"

"But it is your fate that will be decided tonight."

Saturos backed away from them, terror beginning to sink in as he realized what the three sisters were implying.

"Do you realize now why we are here, young warrior of Prox, of Aries?"

"On the eve of your birth, one of us spun your thread, your thread of life."

"Then as you grew and years went by, another of us measured your thread."

"And tonight the last of us will decide wither or not it is time for your thread to be cut. Prepare yourself well young warrior, you who has seen death and survived it, for the door is closed behind you and the Gods are out for blood... your blood."




(1) It is said that Aries had a bronze throne made for him by Hephestus and that the "cushioning" on the throne was a coverlet of human skin...nice huh?

(2) One of Hera's animals is the cow and her throne was covered by a cow skin coverlet. Leather anyone...

Author's Note:

Ryu: Sqeeee! Now it finally begins!

Rio: Sorry guys, I wrote out all of the fight but I couldn't post more than this. One it was too long, and two I have to rewrite the last part because it was way to corny.

Ryu: And thank you all who participated in helping Rio kill, mutilate, and for lack of other term destroy Saturos's dad. She enjoyed it very much... about as much as she enjoyed Christmas.

Rio: ^.^ Again many thanks to those helpful people, and thank you to all of my reviewers!


signed,

Rio the FlowerofBlackFire