"Panpolemos" (Global War)

Author's warnings: This is a post-Hades fic, starting ten years after the Holy War in which Seiya and the Gold Saints died and based on both the manga and the anime. It's pretty neutral so far, but it will contain yaoi (though het will be there as well), so hit the back button if you don't know what that is or if you don't like it. Other than that, please just forgive any mistakes in grammar, English is not my mother language. On the other hand, please do not hesitate to point out any mistakes concerning timeline / characters / canon facts / etc. Thanks a lot to all who take the time to read this.

Disclaimer: If I owned them, I'd be called Athena!

Chapter 5. All Returned to Me

Hyoga shook Shun awake. His friend opened his eyes lazily, blinking a few times to clear his vision. In a moment, however, he came to full awareness and inspected the Cygnus Saint's face closely to understand if he felt the same things he did.

Hyoga simply pointed to the airplane's window at their side. Shun leant towards the small glass, touching it with his forehead as he looked down. So did Shiryu and Ikki, sitting right behind them.

"The Black Sea…" he whispered quietly, contemplating the dark expanse of water beneath them.

"We're almost there" Hyoga confirmed.

His tone didn't convey any of the anticipation they all had felt when boarding the plane. It was unfortunate that they had to switch flights in Instanbul and wouldn't arrive in Athens until the next morning. Even from the distance, they could pick up more than a few unexpected cosmo disturbances. Nothing too alarming, but enough to make them tense.

Leaning back in his sit, Hyoga crossed his arms and waited.

***

"Are you sure you're feeling alright?"

Aquarius Camus bit back a brusque reply, trying to understand Milo's anxiety. The last time they had seen each other, during the war against Hades, the Scorpio Saint's fingers had been around his throat while Athena's body was falling, apparently lifeless, to the ground. Not really the best of outcomes for friends' reunions.

Milo knew now that Camus' defection to Hades had been only a ruse, but while the Aquarius Saint was glad his companion didn't consider him a traitor anymore, he felt that returning to their old game of pushing and shoving required an energy he no longer possessed. Their friendship had always been as awkward as it was sincere. Milo was a man of strong feelings. Too strong for Camus' comfort.

He shook his head, silently berating himself for losing his focus. Now was not the time to think about his relationship with Scorpio. The twelve revived Gold Saints and Shaina were climbing the stairs to the Pope's temple to reach Athena, and the only thing remotely reassuring was the awareness of her gentle, quiet cosmo reaching them from the distance. Everything else was so wrong and out of place he almost wanted to laugh. How vain, how childish of him to ponder the future of his social life while there was no guarantee whatsoever that such a future even existed!

"I am fine, Milo, I assure you" he replied seriously, trying not to let the others overhear their conversation. "Please, mind the situation at hand now."

The Scorpio Saint made a noise of acknowledgement, but it sounded miserable at best. Camus turned to look at him, and saw only the shadows the other man's bangs concealing his face in the dim light. Regretting the chilly tone of his words, he thought about saying something that would comfort his friend, but he didn't have the time.

They had passed the Thirteenth House and were now entering Athena's temple. There wasn't even a single torch burning, and only the light of the moon rising over the horizon and filtering through the temple's windows allowed them to see one another and their surroundings. Still, it was enough.

Suddenly Mu, Dokho, Saga and Aioria, who walked ahead of everybody else, let out audible gasps and stopped dead on their tracks. The rest of the group followed the direction of their astonished stares.

The scene displayed before them possessed an arcane beauty. Athena was laying on the altar, apparently asleep, and three male figures were resting side by side against the carved stone, with their heads placed at Goddess' right side. Anyone could recognize at least two of them. Apparently the wave of resurrections had missed no one.

"Seiya" murmured Shaina, breaking the uncanny silence.

The silver saint was torn between the desire of rushing to his side and the anger she had felt mounting inside herself since the beginning of that absurd night. Who was doing this, who was tearing the dead away from the peace they deserved? Who was playing so cruelly with all their hearts, giving them this illusionary miracle?

Everybody was still too shocked to move when one of the other two men resting at the foot of Athena's altar rose and looked around with eyes filled of the kind of surprise that had become too well known to everyone else.

"Where… Athena? What the…"

Aioros stared at the one who had just awakened, wondering if he wasn't perhaps going insane. Saga was still standing to his left, he could see him even if he kept looking at his double who was slowly approaching them. No one else showed great surprise, however, the Sagittarius Saint noted. There had to be a rational explanation, but before he could ask the Saga look-alike spoke.

"It's good to see you all here, but can anyone tell me what is going on? It doesn't feel like I should be alive."

"Kanon" the Gemini Saint breathed softly.

The two men, identical from head to toe, gazed intensely into one another's eyes for a long moment. They both realized the absurdity of the situation and the urgent need to find an explanation, but all concerns were momentarily swept aside as each of their cosmos reached out to the other's, creating a connection deeper and more intoxicating than any physical embrace.

Saga forgot for a moment about Aioros' earlier rage and present look of incredulity. In fact, he forgot about anything at all as Kanon closed the distance between them, taking his brother's hand in his own. During the war with Hades they had only met for the briefest moment, and the situation hadn't allowed them to even exchange a word. There was so much to be said, but words failed them both. Before they could even attempt to find any, they were suddenly returned to reality.

"Saga, Kanon" Dokho called, reluctantly breaking them out of their trance. "I am sorry, but your personal feelings will have to wait. Let's wake Athena and the others. We need their help."

The echo of his words still hadn't faded that Shaina and Mu shot forward, rushing to the side of the altar where Seiya and Shion laid.

Seiya was the first to regain his senses. When his chocolate brown eyes focused on the well known mask, he smiled faintly.

"Shaina…"

Only repeating Dokho's recent words in her head like a mantra she managed to stop herself from crushing him to her chest. It was true, their personal feelings would have to wait.

"Seiya… how much do you remember?" she asked, helping him up.

"Not much… except that… Hey, wait! I'm sure that Hades… I was dead, wasn't I?" he questioned incredulously, touching his chest just where according to his memories the Underworld King had buried his sword almost to the hilt.

The silver saint nodded gravely.

"Yes, Seiya. You, like everyone in this room except for me and Saori, have been dead for ten years now."

The young warrior blinked, trying to take in that piece of information. Ten years? It couldn't be! In fact, he was about to ask if she had gone crazy, but when his eyes scouted the room he could see for himself that her words were true.

All the Gold Saints were there, including Aioros. He'd seen the man only once, for a brief moment, before the Gold Saints knocked a hole into the Wall of Tears, but his was not a face easily forgotten. Saori's figure, still motionless on the altar stone, confirmed that a good deal of time had elapsed. No longer the young girl he remembered, she had become a woman of such great beauty he could certainly believe now, if he hadn't before, that she was a goddess.

Shion, who had awakened immediately after him and had been filled in by Mu about the situation, spared no time in reclaiming the assembly's attention.

"Please hear me, saints of Athena" he said, raising his voice. "Does any of you have to contribute any information in addition to what Mu is telling me?"

The warriors shook their heads helplessly. Nodding his understanding, Shion turned his back to them and gently spoke the Goddess' name.

"Athena."

As if a spell had been unravelled by the simple call, the sleeping woman stirred and slowly rose from the altar. Her eyes blurred with tears as they took in one by one the figures standing before her. All unfailingly knelt in front of her, and for a moment the saints felt truly like part of the myth.

Saori drank in the sight, feeling the life she had almost forsaken returning to her spontaneously. Athena's spirit flared up in her heart, the desire to lose herself in dreamless sleep forgotten as she beheld her saints. If they only knew, she thought fondly. If they only knew that it was not she to lend them strength, but that the opposite was true! It was for them, who stood for and represented everything beautiful and good in humanity, that she could find the strength of will to endure the horror of the battles she had fought one reincarnation after the other.

Shion knew he was still her emissary on Earth when he felt the deep emotion radiating from her. Their cosmos were as attuned as they had ever been. He almost abandoned the idea to break the solemnity of that moment, but there were too many things out of place, starting with the surprise housed in the Goddess' eyes, which only confirmed what they all had feared. Reluctantly, he raised and spoke his concerns.

"Athena" he started "though I am pleased and grateful to see you, I am at a loss as how to explain our presence here. Have you called us back from the valley of death? Have you a new task for your saints?"

To no one's surprise she shook her head silently, confirming what they all knew within their hearts. Only in that moment, however, she seemed to realize the magnitude of what had happened. Her brow furrowed, and her expression became one of worry and deep concentration.

"Please, Shion, tell me what has happened. I know I have not called you back from the dead. As much as I would have wanted to, it is not my place to do this sort of things. I perceive no immediate threat, but it is obvious that whoever returned you all to me is very powerful. I would like to hope that a higher deity has granted me the joy of having you all back at my side, but somehow I feel that a price will be demanded for this miracle."

The Holy Father nodded gravely.

"We also have not found any immediate cause of alarm, except for the oddity of the situation, but it might be worth mentioning that both Shaka and Death Mask feel that their connections to the underworld have been severed."

"That is because Hades was defeated" she explained, confirming Shaina's words. "The Underworld collapsed when he… or rather, his body, died. I don't know what became of his soul, his essence, but I am positive that if his conscience remains, it must be very weak now."

"So it is safe to exclude his involvement in the present situation?" Shion asked.

"I believe so. We will have to look deeply into this matter... but first of all, since we are all gathered here, let me thank you properly for all you have done for me. You sacrificed yourselves more than any man should be allowed to, for the sake of this world and for mine. I feel utterly inadequate as your friend, let alone your guide or your goddess."

Every pair of eyes in the room filled with tears as Athena humbly bowed to them in a gesture of gratitude.

"Athena" Shion replied solemnly, knowing he was speaking everybody's feelings, "if we are worthy of praise, it is only because you inspire us and lend strength to our hearts. If we accomplished anything remarkable it is only because you acted through us. We can only hope to be able to serve you just as well in the future."

The complete silence that followed the Pope's words was suddenly broken by a faint sound, as of someone releasing a breath held for too long. The saints looked around in alarm.

"So we were followed, after all" Aphrodite murmured, his eyes moving to look between two pillars at his right. "Reveal yourself, intruder. You cannot conceal your presence anymore."

The other warriors turned to face the direction indicated by the Pisces Saint. Nobody had sensed a presence behind them. They were understandably unsettled to discover that whoever had followed them could hide himself so well.

"Relax, it's just me" a voice replied hurriedly, as a human form blinked into sight apparently out of nothing. The man was smiling, but his lips seemed to tremble slightly, and his blue eyes held a joy so intense he seemed ready to start crying any moment.

He didn't look dangerous. In fact, anyone could say he looked familiar, but only Athena recognized him immediately.

"I haven't seen you in a long time. You've grown so much, Kiki… or should I call you Kirai?"

The young man knelt in front of Saori, paying his respects.

"I am sorry I have been away for so long, milady. I am here to serve."

She nodded gently and extended her hand to beckon him back to his feet. With the same hand, she directed him to turn around and face the congress of saints.

"Kiki" whispered Mu incredulously, his mind spinning.

Not really willing to wait for him to come out of his stupor, Kirai simply flung himself at the Aries Saint. Mu's arms moved automatically, welcoming the unfamiliar form of his younger brother. He could certainly recognize both the main traits of his appearance and his cosmo, but it took him a moment to convince himself that he wasn't dreaming. When reality finally set in his embrace tightened, becoming almost hurtful for them both. He couldn't recall ever feeling relief and joy so intense. It was agony to think that such a marvellous gift could be part of an enemy's plot.

Kirai returned the fierce hold, whispering in Mu's ear something nobody else understood. The tone, however, was gentle and reassuring, and it made the Aries Saint regain his self-control. Slowly, their bodies separated from one another, though their hands remained entwined. Together they turned to Athena, who smiled gently at them, completing the blessing they both felt to have received.

***

Author's note: Hugh, terribly slow as always… No particular notes for this chapter, except it was a pain since I went over it 1000 times… Oh, I almost forgot (bad me)… I would like to thank Animom for her support. It is truly invigorating to have such a talented writer give you so many nice reviews. Go check out her fic "Intermezzo", you will meet the best Mu you'll ever see in fanfiction!