GS: Iowa…Iowa…Osceola, Iowa. It wasn't a bad place at all, but it wasn't exactly inspiring. Or internet-capable. I just spent nine days there for a mission trip. I got about…Three pages written. Yup, yup. And all for different stories. Which is why this particular chapter is so late. Bleh bleh bleh.

Midori: (asleep, after nine days of trying to get me to write and being unsuccessful) Mm…Stupid mid-western climate…too wet…Fire on Main street…

GS: --;…No offence to anyone who lives in the Midwest.

If you still haven't received the picture of Shun in a dress…just e-mail me at geministar01 hotmail . com. (Remember to remove the spaces) with the subject 'St. Seiya' and I'll get back to you, one way or another, seeing as I've been a bit…tired lately, and may not have gotten them all out…

Disclaimer: I don't own anything belong to Saint Seiya. But Meilu and the other Amazons all belong to me.

Among the Amazons

Chapter 5: Deals

"Holy Athena…"

Meilu's eyes were wide in shock as Shun tried desperately to hide the truth. His cheeks turned dark red and his mind raced in panic. "Oh hell, now what?! I can't exactly run for it, we're thousands of miles from the mainland, and it's not like…"

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted as a short white uniform, with a pink belt, was tossed as his head. He looked at it, then up at Meilu, who had climbed out of the pool with her towel wrapped tightly around her.

"Get dressed." she hissed. "It's not safe to talk here. Meet me back at the house."

With that, she promptly snatched up her clothes and disappeared into the woods.

Shun blinked a moment, wondering what the hell had just happened. Then he contemplated weather to run for it and hope she didn't come after him, or do what she said and hope she wasn't planning some sort of an ambush. Common sense told him to run for it, but if she really was going to turn him in, why wait until they were back at the room…?

Aw, hell.

Ten minutes later found him trudging back up the dirt path in near-darkness. There was a light on in the cabin, a single lit lamp in the window. He stretched out his senses, just in case, but felt only Meilu's cosmos inside the wooden building. It was just her…

He pushed opened the door hesitantly, sticking his head in first. When he did, Meilu suddenly grabbed him by the shoulders an yanked him inside, pulling him against the wall and covering his mouth with her hand. His mind panicked and he nearly reached out for the Chains still lying dormant in his bag, but the he heard her whisper. "Shh…"

She let go, first to close the door, then shifting to the window to peer out. "Did anyone follow you?"

"Wha…?" Shun blinked. Then decided to tell the truth. "No, no one. I think they're all still at the baths."

"Good." Meilu sighed, pulling a long, wooden match out of the box and striking it against the wall. She lit a few more candles, and soon the room was filled with an eerie, flickering light.

She turned to him, a very serious look in her eyes. "I thought there was something strange about you."

He gulped. She sat down on her bed, leaning against the wall. "So…" she continued to glare at him. "What's your name, kid?"

"M-My name?" he gulped, then started over. "It's…An-Andrea…"

"No, no. Not that fake name." she pressed. "Your real name. What is it? Andrew? Antonio?"

Damn. He sat on his own bed, glancing to the side. "It's Shun."

"Shun?" she raised her eyebrow a bit in slight disbelief. He nodded slowly, and she seamed content. "Okay then…Shun." she sighed. "So…This explains a lot."

Shun gulped, shifting a moment. Hadn't even been there three days and he'd already gotten caught…Maybe he could called Seiya and the others before she

"Look, don't be so stiff. I ain't gonna report it…" she said coyly. He looked up, a bit surprised, to find her perfectly serious. "Just promise me one thing…When you leave, take me with you."

Shun gaped at her a moment. "Uh…excuse me? What?"

Meilu leveled an emerald-eyed glare at him. "A man wouldn't come here simply to 'train'." she said coyly. "It's obvious you want something here, and once you get it, you're gonna leave…right?"

"Uh…" Shun was still a bit taken about, but he nodded blankly.

"When you leave here, I want you to take me with you." Meilu said, determination flashing in her eyes.

Shun blinked twice before speaking again. "Um…Why?"

She rolled her eyes. "I've been stuck on this island my entire life." she said, obviously annoyed at the thought. "We aren't allowed to leave unless we're on official business. But I didn't have a choice, and I'm sick of it. I want out."

She leaned forward to glare at him sourly. "So do we have an agreement? I keep your secret, you get me out. Deal?"

She held out her hand pointedly. Shun looked at it a moment, contemplating his options, then sighed and shook on it. "Deal."

"Good." Meilu leaned back against her pillow, which she'd leaned up against the wall. There was silence a moment, then she spoke again. "So…How 'bout some explanations, hm? Like, why pick a name like 'Andrea'? It's not exactly similar to your own…"

"Actually, it is." Shun grinned a bit. No reason to keep secrets now. "It's part of my title…Shun of Andromeda."

Meilu raised a disbelieving eyebrow. "As in Saint of Andromeda?" he nodded. "Yeah right. And I'm Hippolyta's heir."

"I'm serious."

"A wimp like you?" Meilu smirked. "Prove it."

Shun shook his head a moment, glanced out the window, and reached slowly into his bag. After feeling around a moment, he pulled out a long, gleaming silver chain, ending in a sharp triangle on one end, a harmless-looking circle on the other.

He held it out to Meilu, who glanced at it, unimpressed. At least until the circle end shot out of his grip of its own accord and launched itself at her. She let out a short shriek of surprise and ducked, as it flew over her shoulder and into the wall harmlessly.

"That was not funny!" she insisted, sitting back up as the limp chain slithered back up into his hands. "What is that thing, anyway?"

"It's called the Nebula Chain." he said with a wink, putting it away. "It's the trademark move of the Andromeda Bronze Saint, seperated from the Cloth for this particular assignment."

Meilu looked down at the Chain, then back up at him. "Okay then, I'll buy that." she said slowly. "But wait a sec…The Saints of Athena are loyal to Sanctuary, aren't they? Then what are you doing here? Sanctuary is one of our closest allies…"

"That's just the problem." Shun sighed. He contemplated a moment, whether to tell her or not, but after a short while decided on the former. "You don't know much about what's actually going on inside Sanctuary, do you?"

Meilu shook her head. Shun sighed again, and dropped his voice low, motioning for her to get a bit closer. "Listen…You really shouldn't tell anybody around here about this, but the thing is…There's something really wrong in Sanctuary."

Meilu glanced into the corners, as though expecting something there, then leaned in a bit more. "Like what?"

"We're not quite sure." he whispered. "But it's got something to do with the new Pope. He's crazy, trying to use Sanctuary to take over the world. And he's killing an awful lot of Bronze Saints in the process."

"Like you."

"Like me." he agreed. "An my older brother, and my friends. We're the only ones who seam to know something's up, so we're doing everything we can about it. And that includes getting the Gold Saint Sagittarius Cloth back, and out of the Pope's hands."

"And that's what you're here for?" Meilu asked, obviously a bit confused as she pulled back.

"Something like that." Shun sighed. "It's split into parts. We've got one of them…the Pope has the rest. But we think he's hidden a piece here on the Island, which is why…"

"…You're dressing in drag." Meilu finished smugly, and he blushed. She leaned back on the pillow again, staring at the ceiling in thought. "You know…come to think of it, the last time the contacts from Sanctuary arrived, they did seam to have something with them…I think they gave it to Mistress Hippolyta."

"Do you know where she'd put it?" he asked quietly.

"No…" Meilu said slowly, then sat up with a sly grin. "But I know where we can look…"

TBC…

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Okay. Explanation chapter. Next time'll be better on the humor side. Oh, and the corny line Shun used with the take over the world thing? Not my fault. That's really what they say in this storyline, so I might as well go with it.

NEXT TIME: Just as things seam to be going okay, Amazon Isle has a few unexpected visitors…Namely Shaina and Marin of the Sanctuary! Problem herein…all Amazons must report for inspection. But how can Shun pull that off without blowing his cover?

P.S. - If anyone's interested in what's happening to Seiya and the others at this point, please put some ideas in the reviews and I may to a side-chapter just for kicks.

Ciao,

GS