4.
A moonbeam crept over the floor and across the large desk to settle full on the portrait hanging on the wall.
An aged, white-bearded, broadshouldered and grimlooking man in traditional costume stared out of its frame with narrowed slanting eyes.
"Is that him?"
"Yes. The Bastard."
Something - someone- stirred in the shadows of the darkened room.
"Don't."
"Why not? It is not even a very good painting."
"Because if you so much as touch it, you will trigger all sorts of alarms."
"Oh."
A figure moved forward to face the picture, into the puddle of light. It shone on silver metal, caressing feminine curves and illuminating a stark white mask surrounded by raven locks.
"Are you sure?"
The other one drew near: a man, this one, clad in silver armour too, a horned headband adorning his brow.
"Of course I'm sure. You had me sweep the mind of that Major-domo, didn't you? He was quite explicit as to the security system."
He made a face: " That was not the only thing he was explicit about. One of the new kids in training will be 'visited' tonight. One of the weaker ones of course, who won't make it anyway. That Tatsumi fellow is quite careful to pick out those only, not the kids who once made Saints might come back with a vengeance. Prides himself on having an 'eye' for it too. Mind you…" he slid a hand in his companion's metal slip, lecherously squeezing her well-rounded buttocks, "…he has given me some ideas for a 'visitation' of my own. I'm in the mood."
He nuzzled her hair and licked the nape of her neck.
She wriggled out of his grasp.
"I'm not. I have unfinished business with Kido."
"Why do you hate him? You've never met the man."
She made no answer, but closed in on the painting, raising her hand. Her nails, sharp and talon like, glittered menacingly.
"Because of Seiya? That's it, isn't it? You love him still."
She swivelled to face him.
"We had an agreement. " she hissed, " You get from me what you want, I get from you what I want, and you will not mention Seiya ever again!"
He grinned.
"I'm right, aren't I? You do still love him. I don't mind: a corpse is no competition. Only don't shred the picture, that would be rather like leaving a signature. Everyone knows that the Opiuchus Saint uses her claws at the drop of a hat. Any hat." He grinned again, " I like that."
"You might get It." she answered, one sharp nail tracing his cheek. A little blood welled up. She sucked it off her finger suggestively.
"But first I want information. Behind the portrait, you said. So how do we turn off that alarm?"
Asterion - for of course it was he- went to the desk and slipped underneath. He passed his hands over the silky mahogany of the wood and found embedded in it, just were he expected it to be, a hidden button.
He pushed it.
"Now you may touch, Shaina."
The Opiuchus Saint took hold of the picture and pulled it of the wall. Behind it, as large as the painting itself, was the door of a safe.
Asterion flicked open a small box in the middle of it, revealing a keyboard. He tapped in a code.
The safe swung open.
"Now what?"
"You tell me, Telepath. I want the files on the Bronze Saints."
"Nothing could be easier. It's all on 'floppy'."
"Come again?"
Asterion scratched is head, suddenly a little sheepishly.
"I'm not sure if that's the right word; I don't know any Japanese and Tatsumi has little Greek. I have to be creative in interpreting his thoughts, working with the images he conjures up mostly, and matching the words to them. It's something to do with computers. Those things."
He pointed at a pile of flat, square disks lying on the third shelf of the safe.
"Great." said Shaina in disgust. "'Nothing could be easier', eh? I was prepared for the worst, namely documents in Japanese only. I know even less about computers. You?"
"No, but I 'remember' what Tatsumi knows about it. Your initial plan was to copy the documents we'd find, right? I can do the same with these floppies. There is a computer on the desk. "
"Are you sure you can 'remember' the motions correctly? I hear one can accidentally wipe those things clean of all contents…"
"No problem. I was the late Pope's best interrogator: my mind is trained for this kind of thing. I've mastered several combat techniques by telepathy alone!"
"Very well. Do it. I'll go through the safe, in case there is anything else of interest."
There was little. Papers she couldn't read, jewellery she didn't care for, a photograph album of Mitsumasa Kido and Saori as a child, which she almost threw back in. Then she discovered a couple of thin, smallsized rectangular booklets. One had Japanese characters on it, yet the other…
"Russian!!"
"Eh? What? What?!"
Asterion had been concentrating so hard on his job of copying that he jumped at the girl's exclamation.
"Letters. Not Japanese, Russian. Passports, I think."
"What's that when it's at home?" asked the Canes Venatici Saint, who was Sanctuary born and bred and had therefore never seen a legal document in his life, whereas Shaina still had memories of her life, before, in Italy.
"Identity papers one needs to travel with. See?"
She showed him the small photograph of a blond, blue eyed young woman.
He whistled appreciatively.
"Nice chick"
"Dead chick. Hyoga's mother, at an educated guess."
"I thought she went down with a ship or something. So how come her passport is here?"
"Good question. One I will have answered before long. Have you done?"
"All loaded on these."
He held up a couple of disks.
"Luckily there was a box full of empty ones. Let's hope their disappearance won't be noticed. We can put the originals back. Are you taking the passports?"
"Perhaps I'd better. The other one is Seika's, Seiya's sister. Hey! Have a look: she travelled to Greece with it!"
Asterion peered into the booklet interestedly.
"How can you tell?"
"It's stamped in Greek, with a date. 21 October 1982. If I remember correctly, that was when she disappeared from the orphanage…about two years after Seiya was sent to the Sanctuary. Why, according to her birth-date and the date this passport was issued, she got it almost on the day she turned 16!"
"How would you know, if it's a Japanese passport."
"That kind of information is written in Latin characters." said Shaina irritably, "Border officials in foreign countries have to be able to read the document. Don't ask stupid questions if you can avoid it. I suppose that, once 16, Seika could obtain a passport without authorisation from parents or, in her case, guardians.
With it, she could travel legally and search for Seiya. That's how she managed to turn up halfway across the world near Sanctuary!"
"Where the Guards picked her up and brought her before me: I remember now. I performed a mindblock on her: standard procedure with trespassers."
"And, surprise surprise, her passport turns up here. Of course, the Pope confiscated it and then Athena kept it hid from Seiya: she knew ever since she took over that his sister was in Rodorio, but never let on: she'd lose him if she had. The bitch."
"You are talking about your Goddess, you know."
"When did you get religion?"
He laughed.
"Never! I'm on the side of the winner, which happens to be Athena…for the moment. But I know that, once I have outlived my usefulness, she'll drop me."
"Have you read her mind too?"
The Canes Venatici Saint shook his head ruefully.
"She's too powerful even for me to do that without notice. I can block her, but that's about all."
"Well, you can block her now. Let's put the place back in order and teleport out of here."
Five minutes later, the room was empty again.
Miles from there, high in the mountains of Tibet, two figures shimmered in the mist, then took form.
"Why here?" asked Asterion, frowning at the dismal surroundings.
"Would anyone look for two live Saints in the Saint's graveyard?"
"I told you, I blocked Athena out. Even if she had been tapping into the Big Will, she would not have noticed our passing."
He kicked at a nearby skull. Its Cloth shattered to pieces and dust.
"I can think of a better place to be now." he said, slipping his arms around her, " You: me: now. I did what you asked. I want my due."
She made to remove her mask.
"Leave it. For what I have in mind I don't need to see your face."
"Hmmm…mio cazzo cretino…"she muttered, leaning into his embrace, allowing parts of her Cloth to drop.
"I don't know what that means but I love it when you speak Italian, you sexy thing."
She laughed.
It was the last thing he heard.
Shaina removed her mask.
"Idiot. I told you: you would get the claw. That's what happens when you don't bother to learn foreign languages."
She laughed again, high and harsh.
"For all your telepathy you never knew what I was truly thinking…in Italian! But you were too dangerous to be allowed to live; and your many crimes condemned you to death."
She smiled bitterly, and stared at her bloodied hands.
"Who shall condemn me, I wonder?"
Then she fell on her knees and wept.