"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 6. Not Alone
Seiya's eyes travelled from Saori to Kiki to finally settle on Shaina. All of them had changed, which was obvious in consideration of the years that had gone by. He was conscious that even Mu's brother looked now older than he did. He felt as if he had been left behind. His mind inevitably called up the memory of the other Bronze Saints. Were could they be? Were they well? Had they changed so much too? And what in the name of Athena was going on?
His sadness fell away from him when his mind concentrated on the core of the matter. What were they all doing here? Shion, the Gold Saints, even Kanon and Aioros… Not to mention himself! They were all supposed to be dead. Not that he minded being alive, but he trembled thinking of the power of the entity that had brought them back to life. Even Hades, lord of the Underworld, had asked for the dead saints' allegiance before restoring them, and the resuscitated warriors had however been under a very strict contract with the deity. Their new opponent instead, whoever he was, didn't seem bothered that the warriors raised from death by his will could turn against him.
His thoughts were interrupted by Shion, once more reclaiming everybody's attention.
"We all agree that it is imperative to figure out what is happening. However, while we decide the best course of action to be taken, I would suggest to arrange Sanctuary's defences. With your consent, Athena?"
Saori nodded, regretting that they had to return to their duties so soon. The Holy War had to be a very recent memory for them, and if their bodies bore no sign of the fight, their hearts certainly did.
"It would be wise to do so. I hope they will not be necessary, but… I don't remember anything like this ever happening, in any of my previous lives. I don't understand."
"Perhaps you could attempt to star-gaze, Holy Father" Aldebaran suggested, addressing the man with the deference due to his position, which was evidently recognized by everyone in spite of Shion's youthful appearance.
"I'm afraid that cannot be done anymore" Shion replied.
"Why?" the Sagittarius Saint asked, surprised and alarmed.
"The temple at Star Hill has been… tainted" the Pope explained hesitantly.
Aioros understood what that meant seeing Saga cringe visibly at the word "tainted". Shion's murder had been perpetrated on Star Hill. He still could not believe that Gemini would go to such lengths for an insane dream of power. That was not the man he knew. But could he claim he knew him at all, after what had happened? In fact, with the time elapsed since his death, basically everyone in the room was a complete stranger to him, including his own brother.
"There is still something we can do."
Everyone turned to Dokho, who quickly explained his idea.
"We could consult the Oracle of Delphi. It's been a long time since anyone did, but the Pythia should still be there. With you permission, Athena, I would leave immediately."
Saori looked pensive for a moment, then shook her head. She wasn't sure it was wise to inform Apollo's priestess of their present predicament, but there was little choice left. In any case, she still didn't want Libra rush into action immediately. They all needed to let their emotions settle, so that they may be able to think more clearly and thus act more effectively. Besides, she had seen the momentary grief passing over Seiya's features, and had easily understood its reasons. She had to do something about the disparity separating him and Aioros from their companions.
"Please, take at least this night to rest. The Oracle isn't very far in any case. You can leave in the morning, but not alone. It will be safer to have someone travel with you."
Surprising more than a few Death Mask stepped forward, offering himself as escort.
"I would accompany you, Libra, if you and Athena allow it."
Both the interrogated parties nodded their consent. The Gold Saints were about to take their leave and go back to their respective temples to stand guard against any possible danger, but Saori stopped them.
"Do not go yet. Aioros… please come forth."
The Sagittarius Saint obeyed promptly, kneeling in front of the Goddess he remembered only as an infant. His heart was pervaded by warmth and contentment as her cosmo gently brushed his own, filling him with peace. She was the light that dissipated all shadows without blinding, justice that righted wrongs without punishing. She was the embodiment of hope and love, and life. And when she smiled gently, curing him of all resentments and uncertainties, it was like being born a second time.
"You have done so much for me, Aioros…" she spoke softly. "I think I should do something for you in return… and for Seiya, as well. Seiya, please come closer."
While the Pegasus Saint complied, both men stared at Athena, uncomprehending.
"Saori-san, there is nothing you have to do…"
Seiya's words died in his mouth as he felt her energy engulf him like a protective cocoon. For a long moment the world was lost to him, and all he knew was peace and joy. It was only when Athena's cosmo retreated from him that he realized what she had done.
At his side, Aioros no longer had the look of an adolescent, but that of a man in his late twenties. From the way Shaina was transfixed, he guessed that something similar had happened to him.
"I believed Aioria would be disoriented, having a teenage-looking older brother" she explained, smiling with complicity. "And you, Seiya… your friends and comrades of so many battles have grown into men since you last saw them. I am sure you wanted to be level with them."
Both men nodded, grateful and comforted that the Goddess they had offered all of themselves to knew them so intimately. Close to the deity as no other was, their hearts swelled with love that resembled no form of love known to man. In that solemn moment, they knew they would once more surpass the limits of humanity for her sake, regardless of whom they had to face.
Dawn rose over Cape Sounion, lending shape to the promontory and the ancient ruins surmounting it. In the secret chamber beneath the temple of Poseidon, once the most important place of worship of the deity on mainland, the Marine Generals stood in silence after Poseidon was done speaking. Nobody could find anything worth replying to the God's apology. His words were still ringing in their ears.
"I dragged you into an insane fight for a dream of conquest which had already felled me in the past. I let myself be driven by Kanon's ambitions, not seeing that he was using us all for his own ends. I understand now that my first and most sacred duty is to protect my people, and that includes all of you. I deeply regret I forgot about something so important. You are free to go and live the new life you have, pursuing nothing but your own happiness. I do not have the right to demand anything of you."
Sorrento felt his eyes fill with thousands needles as he fought back tears. None of them had remained unaffected by Julian's words, but he didn't think anyone else was experiencing the overwhelming joy that seized his heart. This was the lord he had sworn to serve. An austere and proud king with little love for compromises and no tolerance for nonsense, perhaps, but completely dedicated to his people's well being. Free to go? Go where?! He had followed Julian in the past ten years, and he certainly wasn't about to abandon him now.
"Lord Poseidon… what are you going to do?" he asked, though he knew what the answer would be.
"I have the feeling that the world is in danger. I am free of Athena's seal now, and I will not sit idly by as I was forced to do when Hades started the war of ten years ago. As much as the Goddess and I have been at odds in the past, I believe it is better to join forces with her under the circumstances. I am sure she will understand my concerns."
Scylla Io's hands balled into fists as his body was shaken by the fierceness of the emotion those words evoked in him.
"Lord Poseidon, how can you ask us to turn our back on you in a moment such as this?!" he asked, his voice streaked with anguish. "Do you not trust us? We might have failed you in the past, but you cannot demand that we go on our ways pretending everything is fine! We will not leave your side, even if you order us to!"
Kraken Isaac nodded in agreement.
"I served you in the name of a false ideal" he added. "All the more I will do so in the name of a true one. Even if one of the generals is now missing, we still will stand by you. This new life we have cannot be spent uselessly. Death doesn't frighten us. It never did."
The others confirmed those words with a nod, which Poseidon returned as a gesture of understanding.
"Since you all seem so determined, and I cannot hide I need you, I will not try to dissuade you anymore" he said, rising from his seat and walking towards the exit of the chamber. "The new day is coming. Let that not be wasted. Athena's Sanctuary is not far from here. Take the Sea Dragon scales as well. I will need them."
Kanon blinked, using his hand to shield his eyes against the light of the rising sun filtering through the window. He had meant to stay awake, but apparently the trying night had taken its toll. When his sight adjusted, he turned to look at his brother's sleeping form, laying curled against his side. He had difficulties reconciling his mental image of Saga with what he had before his eyes.
During the night, the Gemini Saint had been tormented by the pain of the wounds Aioros had caused him as well as by nightmares. Only his twin's presence and reassurances had allowed him to finally calm down and slip into dreamless rest. Saga looked so small, so utterly different from the solemn man he recalled.
"I have done this to you" he whispered regretfully, brushing back a lock of hair to better look at his face.
"You showed me the path of corruption, but he… I walked it on my own. Think no more of it, and neither will I."
Kanon was caught by surprise by that soft-spoken reply for more than one reason. He hadn't realized Saga was awake, but most of all he hadn't expected such a ready acceptance, such a complete forgiveness. He was disturbed by it, in a way. It wouldn't do his brother any good to go back to the old habit of burying all negative emotions, pretending they didn't exist. That was precisely what had caused his capitulation to darkness, twenty-three years before.
"We have to think about it, instead" he replied firmly, squeezing the other's hand in his own "so that it will not happen again. I have as much responsibility for your actions as you do. I will not let you carry the burden by yourself. We will work together to put the past behind us. No matter what you say, I won't leave you alone a second time."
Saga's sapphire eyes opened slowly, and the relief and gratitude they conveyed repaid Kanon of the uneasiness he had experienced in speaking so openly about his feelings. Even admitting to himself that he had such feelings was hard for him. Then, slowly, he began losing contact with reality as he stared in his brother's eyes. He wanted nothing more than to spend all morning studying the different nuances of blue in Saga's irises. Forcibly turning away from them, he allowed a faint tremor to shake his body.
"I hate that you do this to me" he said cryptically, earning a puzzled look from his brother.
"Kanon…"
"I hate the way you make me feel" he explained, his voice streaked with misery "how I get intoxicated by your presence. You overwhelm me."
Saga tightened his hold around Kanon's waist, burying his face in the other's chest. It was no use trying to avoid the conversation. It was only the first of many, after all. They had a long way to go to clear the air between them, so perhaps it was better to start the process sooner rather than later. Raising his head and locking his brother's eyes with the steady gaze of his own, he tried to convey the fact that he was neither distant nor unfeeling as he had always seemed.
"I feel rather overwhelmed by you as well. I can't seem to keep my balance around you. You were, you are, everything I crave and cannot be. I can only assume the reverse is true. What we failed to understand is that it is natural for us to be that way. Instead of accepting our differences and cherishing them, we let them drive us apart. It won't happen again. I won't leave you alone either."
Kanon smiled faintly and sat up, grudgingly disentangling himself from his twin's arms.
"There's so much I want to talk about, but…"
Saga nodded, moving away the sheet that covered his body and rising from the bed.
"Yes, there are more urgent matters now" he concurred, slipping his shirt on over his bruised chest.
"But we will have time, won't we?" Kanon asked anxiously, ignoring the sharp feeling he thought he had left behind when he had turned away from evil.
He mentally scowled at himself. All that mattered was that Saga forgave him, that Saga welcomed him. He couldn't ask for more. Could he?
Turning to look at him, for the first time Gemini saw his brother's vulnerability, and felt relieved. They were very different, but they also had so much in common. Working on that and with a bit of good will, perhaps they could really put the past behind them. He wasn't going to let anything come between them again. Perhaps it was selfish, perhaps it was not in his power to make it true, but he also found that he didn't care.
"Yes" he replied confidently. "We have all the time of the world."
Author's note: the Pythia was the priestess of Apollo issuing prophecies at the Oracle of Delphi. According to Myth the Oracle was founded by Apollo himself: he slew the snake Python (hence the name Pythia) who dwelled in the place and claimed the holy ground for himself. Finally, repenting his crime (the snake was the daughter of Gea, embodiment of earth), Apollo purified himself and built the Oracle after Pan taught him how to make divinations. In real history, the Oracle of Delphi was very important until the advent of Christianity and a few wrong prophecies caused its fall from favour. It was finally closed in the IV century by decree of a Roman emperor (I forget the name ;;;).
After the little mythology curiosities, some personal notes… Woah, finally some Saga/Kanon interaction. I have been dying to get to this point! I just love the twins. On the contrary, I'm having my troubles with Seiya, since he is so not my favorite character… Sorry Seiya lovers, the boy just isn't my type, but I'm trying to be impartial and to let him have his moments. Please, don't hesitate to whack me when I get OOC, with him or anybody else! By the way, Athena and Poseidon's teams are about to meet, finally! Stay tuned!