Cancer.
The flame of the Gemini had evaporated, and still they did not come. Shun, his eyes closed, was concentrating on Kanon's and Ilya's Cosmos.
Saga had allowed them through his Temple. He would neither help nor hinder them; they had given him much to think about.
"Kanon has passed away." announced the Andromeda Saint.
"Passed away as in dead?" asked Esk, " Not that that mean much around here, I'm told. Everyone seems to have died a couple of times already."
Shun shook his head. "He has been obliterated. Can you feel the cold? Cygnus has launched the Aurora Execution at him. I always knew he was powerful, but such strength! It was born of despair. I suspect he has been consciously or not, holding back all the while. It is true though that an Ice Saint has an advantage."
"Never mind the technicalities: I have a son in there!" bellowed mr. Field. Disregarding all safety to himself and his remaining family, he plunged into Kanon's Temple. With a cry of:
"Hubert! Be careful!" his wife went after him.
"Is it safe?" asked Esk. When he got no other answer than a shrug from Shun, he rushed in as well. The Andromeda Saint followed.
Mr. Field and his wife were running around, alternatingly calling the names of their son and Sir Frederic, with an occasional 'Nick' and 'Ilya'! thrown in.
"Where are they?" asked mr. Field, shaking slightly.
"Hyo…Ilya is alive. I can still sense his Cosmos. Kanon has opened the Bermuda Triangle: a gap in interdimensional space. When he was annihilated the triangle will have collapsed upon itself. Logically, they will have come out in Sanctuary: Ilya is here somewhere, I can tell, though unconscious. They may no longer be all together."
"But alive, alive, that is what matters?!?"
"I think so; and safe too, unless…"
"Unless?"
"There is one Saint who will not hold back when faced with ordinary mortals. " said Shun hesitant to tell his companions the worst, " and we are about to face him. Cancer. The sign of the Crab. Sanctuary's executioner. He massacred hundreds, with or without orders from Saga-the-pope, all the while knowing that he was an impostor. Many for his own profit or pleasure: he used to decorate his Temple with the screaming faces of his victims. Men, women, old people…even …" his voice dropped to a mere whisper: "Children. His name he has chosen to forget. Save Saga and perhaps Dokho, who now knows it? He has taken a new name, most fitting: Deathmask."
Mr. Field suppressed a shudder.
"If my sons and friend have fallen into his hands…"
"Then you must hope that their deaths were swift and painless."
With a cry mrs.Field stormed out of the Gemini Temple and took the first steps of the Stairway to Cancer two at a time, with a surprising vitality no woman his age should be muster, save when driven by fear for loved ones.
But Shun moved even faster. In a flash he was several steps ahead, barring her way.
"This task is mine alone. I shall either avenge or save them."
With that the Andromeda Saint turned and sped up the Stairway to meet Cancer.
Mr. Field and Esk came panting to Mrs. Field's side.
"Hubert, oh, Hubert!"
Mr.Field reached out and pulled his wife close.
"We have to wait and see, poesje. The boy knows best. He has gone to take on the one that will be the hardest nut to crack: the others we may negotiate with yet…" his face hardened, "That Goddess has much to answer for. She has driven children mad!"
"Children with powers that can tear the universe apart." whispered Esk fearfully, " Look!"
The cancer Temple shook and crackled as if lightning had struck. Two glowing Auras enveloped it: one sickly green, the other crimson, fighting for dominance.
"I wish I could believe in God." Murmured Mrs. Field, " So that I could pray for the safekeeping of that dear, brave boy."
"Don't." said her husband roughly, "That is how it starts. Once we start praying we start hoping for divine intervention, and the next step is subservience, and the loss of your ability to make decisions and, more importantly, to take responsibility for yourself without referring to God."
"Will you look at that?!" cried Esk, fascinated by the display at the Cancer Temple, "Those guys generate so much energy! If one could run a power-plant on a Saint, we'd have 'clean' electricity to last us forever…" he stopped enthusing as he saw his parent's aghast expressions.
"Well, people are always going on about my kind of physics not being directly applicable in daily life, so if for once I'm being practical…of course the electricity board would have to pay them…hey, it's just a thought you know…" a tremendous explosion that shook the ground cut short the young scientists further ideas. Mr. Field drew his family to the side of the Stairway, and made them crouch behind a big boulder.
"Save your grand environmentally-friendly design for later, son."
"But Queer, what about Queer, what if the boy doesn't make it, we won't know what happened to him if we can't get past that Temple!" screamed mrs.Field on the verge of hysteria, "Let him not be in there, tell me he is not in there!"
For the first time in thirty years of marriage Mr. Field lied to his wife. "No, love, he is not. Trust in Ilya to have seen him safe, and anyway, you know our youngest: he always gets by.
It's the Andromeda boy we have to worry about."
Entering the Gemini Temple was like entering a morgue.
"No, not a morgue. That is a clean place by comparison, where the dead are treated with respect. Deathmask did not know the meaning of the word. "
"On cannot help but feel sorry for him though. Like Kanon, he was quite mad. "
"Criminally insane, yes. But believe me, if he had been given a choice before hand, he would not have walked another path. He was rotten at the core. Still, a tough nut to crack."
Dead, dead, dead people everywhere. Some had died recently and some days, even weeks before, rotting away, flesh falling from bone, and maggots crawling around exposed insides.
"An illusion, that's what this is, an illusion created by Deathmask to frighten me. He tried the same trick on Seiya and Shiryu. After Dragon vanquished him it disappeared. But…the smell…surely he could not create the smell…"
The dead were real. He recognised Sanctuary Guards, villagers, Saints. Jamian the Corvus lay in a corner on a heap of decomposing raven corpses. Not far from him was a huge bear of a man: Shun had never seen him, but the cloth resembled Geki's, who was Ursa Minor. Could this be his Master, Ursa Major? He trod on a helmet that half-covered a decaying face, still recognisable as Ban…Shun threw up in an empty space between two cadavers.
"Now you have ruined my beautiful composition." said Cancer, stepping out of the shadows.
The Andromeda Saint whirled round to take up his battle stance, stumbled over Ban, and fell. His hand made contact with something soft that made a squishy sound, and produced a nauseating stench: he had landed on Ursa Major's belly and the skin had given way. He blew the rest of his stomach contents.
"Such a sensitive creature you are. Don't you like the setting? I thought it most appropriate and fitting for your death. I always loved the theatre. Ah, la Commedia dell Arte! But it is not all fake. I am an honest fellow you see. This is what the so-called 'noble' deeds of the Saints lead to. One should be aware of that all the time."
It was a strange thing to hear from the mouth of one such as Deathmask the truths he had so often maintained himself.
"Yet here I am, chatting away when I should be killing you. Do forgive my negligence. It is so seldom I get visitors. I wonder why. I always take great pains to send off my guests in style. You have made acquaintance with some of them I see. Ursa Major is still too fresh: in a few days he will have putrefied to my satisfaction. But Ban is interesting, don't you think?"
"Why…why did you…kill them?" stammered Shun, amazed that he could still utter a sound, let alone a whole sentence.
"Because they were in my way, of course." said Deathmask in a dreadfully reasonable sort of voice.
Because he enjoys it." said Ikki.
"Phoenix!" cried the Cancer and Andromeda Saints in unison.
"Hello, little bro'. Thought I'd drop by to see how you were doing. Don't let me interrupt. You were saying, Deathmask?"
The Cancer Saint regained his composure.
"Two for the price of one!" he crowed, " You will become my chef-d'oeuvre. It is really quite astonishing how you contrive to come back from the dead, Phoenix…Well, any Saint worth his salt should be able to do that. Rather foolish of you to return now that you have destroyed your own Cloth. I imagine you are capable of withstanding my attack, but can you protect your brother at the same time?"
As he spoke Deathmask sank down to a crouching position, quite like a crab's, his arms, hands with fingers widespread, held like pincers. He struck…and was caught in the Spider Net defence.
"Well done little bro'. Crabs are related to the Arachnid family. Treat them as such."
Cancer laughed.
"Did you really believe you could hold me?"
The explosion of his Cosmos shook the Temple to its foundations. Shun and Ikki were thrown to the floor. The Andromeda Chain, shattered to pieces, rained down about them.
"The Crab's Pincers have cut the Spider's Net, and now they shall cut you."
"Don't be such a fool." said Ikki calmly, " The same attack never works twice on a Saint, and we know both yours now. Don't even think of throwing me he Circles of Hades: or have you forgotten that Shun has housed the spirit of Hades himself, and has succeeded in shaking of the God of Death himself? Separately we are more powerful than you already; together you are no match for us. We would have killed you before, but that would be descending to your level. Give yourself up, and face trial."
"Trial…trial?! You are the fool! It is only a matter of time before Athena's Power is broken. She took a wolf in the fold in the shape of Aleksej, and Shaka has delusions of Godhood himself, too, quiet like Saga used to have. For now he bides his time, but Aleksej will force his hand: I've heard he has moved on Rodorio. For now the Opiuchus Saint seconded by that weak little Chamaeleon is holding the Warriors of Blue Graad off, and if I interpreted my readings of the Cosmos correctly that dumb ox Aldebaran has also thundered to the rescue: fine by me, let them finish each other.
"Didn't you side with Aleksej?"
"I side with no-one. I'm only with him because he is against Shaka. Whenever I can get someone for my collection, there you will find me. Aleksej wanted me to take out a few guards: fine by me. Ban witnessed that, so I had to take him out as well. Geki wanted to become Ursa Major without fighting himself, so I obliged: now he is beholden to me, and all his apprentices with him. Jamian has always worked on my nerves: he had it coming to him. Hyoga I will allow to fight the other Gold Saints, for he is strong and will certainly kill a fair few before succumbing. Then I can pick off the rest. I hope Virgo will be among the fallen. Anyway, I had not planned on defending my Temple if Hyoga came to pass, but you two are different. You upset the balance. Therefore you must die. Feel the true Power of the Crab, that kills from within!"
The air crackled with pure energy. Thin tendrils of light wove in and out and round, split, divided, played amongst the bodies of the dead, swirled up the pillars like thin snakes, came down again, crawled like worms eating their way through the corpses and up the brethren's legs, entering through every orifice, nestling in bowels, lungs, the heart chamber, swelling, swelling…
"Aaaaargh!!!"
The pain was excruciating. They could not breathe. The pressure became too great to bear…
The last they heard was Cancer's high laughter.
After a while their bodies stopped twitching. Ikki's eyes were wide open, his face a mask of twisted pain. Shun had slipped into death as quietly and serenely as he had lived.
"Ah, no, you are too beautiful, you need to be spoiled a little!" cried the Cancer Saint, still laughing. He lifted his foot booted in gold and brought it down hard on Shun's face, breaking the Andromeda Saint's nose and shattering his front teeth.
"Better, but not quite the effect I was looking for. Once more to open the skull, I think, and let the brain drip out…yes, that will be just the thing."
He tried to raise his foot again, but found it stuck in the corpse. It was as if Shun's face, a great gaping wound like a giant mouth, was trying to suck him in. Deathmask lost his balance, his leg sank away to the knee, and he fell, and still he was pulled in, up to his thigh now, and then arms wrapped round him, pawing at him, ensnaring his body: Ikki, Ban's, all of them, the embrace of many lovers, and all dead. He screamed.
"It is called the Phoenix illusion, an attack that can actually be used several times on the same person when you manage to catch him at unawares, for it effects the brain directly, and only Cygnus ever managed to counter it."
Deathmask gasped. He was on his knees, amidst the dead, and Shun and Ikki were standing staring down on him.
"If you really want to annihilate an opponent, don't tell him beforehand what you are going to do." advised the Phoenix Saint, "I hit you with my illusion as you began your pincer movement. You are a very sick person, Deathmask, and I for one have no problem with putting you out of our misery for good. Shun?"
For answer, the Andromeda Chain rattled.
"My strength lies both in the defence and the offence." Shun informed the Cancer Saint, " I do not usually combine the two."
Deathmask felt himself being grabbed from behind as if by a great claw, and lifted high. Wildly he thrashed his arms and legs about, to no avail.
"The only way to take hold of a crab without him pinching you is from above and the back. Gulls then use their sharp beaks to pry open the carapace;"
The triangular shaped, pointed end of the Andromeda Chain struck the Cancer Saint, right arm, left arm, legs, chest and finally forehead, till all of the Gold Cloth lay in fragments on the floor, and Deathmask was left naked and wriggling like a worm on the hook.
"Whenever you want, big brother."
"At the word go, then, together."
Cancer screamed in terror.
"No! No! You can't do that, not the two of you together! A true Saint fights alone, in single combat!"
"There is a number of things a true Saint does and should not do." said Shun calmly, " You still do not comprehend. We are no longer true Saints. Maybe we never where. We believe there should be no Saints, either. You are the best proof there should not be? Whether supreme power has warped your mind or whether you abused your power because your mind is warped I do not know. It is moot anyhow. I wish I could help you. I wish there were another solution. But we don't have the time, and therefore not the choice. Go!"
as the Andromeda Saint drove his chain straight through Deathmask's heart, his brother Phoenix 's hand sliced down and broke Cancer's neck.
"All right, little bro'? Tell yourself that it was and execution. He was a psychopathic killer. There is no court on Earth that would not condemn him. Not t death, perhaps, but with a Saint it is practically the only thing you can do, and even that is no guarantee."
"Agreed, but if I ever become a grandfather this is not the kind of story I will tell the little ones at night!"
"One more thing left to do. Neither he nor his Cloth may be allowed to return. This entire place is steeped in tears and horror. It too has to be eradicated."
"Ban…"
"Yes, he deserves a better resting-place. They all do. But like you said, we don't have the time and therefore not the choice. They would understand, and agree. If you wish I will take care of it."
"No. We are in this together. Go! Nebula Storm!"
"Phoenix' wings!"
Cautiously, Mr. Field looked over the edge of the boulder after the explosions had subsided.
"Dust cloud!"
He dragged his wife and son away, down, back to the Gemini Temple.
"Inside, against the wall, breathe slowly and regularly through your mouth, keep it covered!" He slapped a handkerchief over Mrs.Field's face, saw that his son pulled his turtleneck collar up to the nose and used his officer's cap for himself.
Their shelter was minimal. The cloud blanketed the stairs and burst in through the open doorway of the Temple doorway. Gritty particles snowed down on the hapless group.
After the cloud had lifted, nothing remained of the Cancer Temple but a thin ribbon of smoke drifting up and away on the wind, like a candle snuffed out.
On the giant clockface, only eight more hours remained lit.
To be continued.
Author's note:
That was the first and the last time I wrote sick horror.