Prolouge: A tale of older generations
As the Grand Pope, Shion did his best to ensure that the generation of Saints for the coming Holy War here in the 21th century would understand what sort of task they would face. Most of them were still children, and would need years of more training before becoming Gold Saints. Master Hakurei had always said that Sainthood at a far too young age, was asking for the young warriors in question becoming entitled and arrogant in a manner that would ruin their lives in the longer run.
"I hope that I am not boring you with this needed history lesson about your predecessors."
"No, sir, it is just so many papers, names and dates to go through…" Saga admitted, while Kanon had started to make small drawings of various star signs on the corners of his note papers, a sign of him trying to pass time without feeling too bored. Feeling sympathy for the younger twin, Shion promised that they could enjoy the fine weather outside and the afternoon free from lessons and training as soon as they were finished here.
"Pope Shion, what is this talk about a "Curse of Gemini"? We have overheard strange talkings about that over the last months when we have been wandering around the Sanctuary," Kanon suddenly called his attention with an unexpected question.
Oh no, Shion feared. Of all the things the twin brothers could have heard, it naturally had to be that subject. That horrible curse of the Gemini Saints, that seemed to strike every set of twins fated to fight in the Holy Wars since around 241 AD, that he could recall both Aspros and Defteros feeling bitter about back in the years before the Holy War of their generation in 1746.
"The so-called "Curse of Gemini", you ask?"
So much for the intended free afternoon for them. But maybe it was high time for them to know about this, since there was a high risk that they would end up tangled into the curse as well.
"Right, have your notes ready, because this is a rather huge amount of information that you may need to recall later…."
Neither one looked happy over having to do more handwriting, but at hearing how serious Shion sounded, they knew better than complaining. And the Grand Pope started the story:
"As far as every source of information and eyewitnesses can tell, this "Curse of Gemini'' started in the Holy War of year 246 AD. But if one has to be more precise, it actually happened five years earlier, in 241 AD. In that year, there was actually some confusion over the wearers of the Gemini Cloth, because there was not just one set of twins in the Sanctuary born under the Gemini sign, but two, with six years in age difference."
One set was the 18-year-old Italian brothers, Romulus and Remus, born in a side branch to an aristocratic family in Rome and taken to the Sanctuary at an early age since it was just plain impossible to miss their vast amount of Cosmo when they were out in public, and their arrival here was hidden by making it look like they had been chosen to become priests of Jupiter in the Eastern parts of the Roman Empire.
The younger set was the 12-year-old Greek sisters Lydia and Elena, who came from a completely opposite background: Born in slavery, and never knowing the identity of their birth parents. Their arrival to the Sanctuary was said to be pure coincidence, as their trainer had sensed a very faint Cosmo within the sisters when passing by the farm where they lived and managed to pose himself as a servant sent out on a mission to "buy" handmaidens for his young Lady.
"Hold on for a moment!" Saga said with a hand raised up in the air, "everyone here in the Sanctuary are free people, right? Does this mean…that many of the earlier Saints…had a background of being slaves?"
Shion signed, seeing how both looked uncomfortable at that mention.
"As much as I loathe to admit it, it is right, Saga. Remember, slavery have been a part of many cultures and eras in history, and while we in the Sanctuay have always tríed to ensure that our Saints are free men and women, many have been marked by this bakgrund if they could still remembered that life."
In his seat, Kanon was actually looking at the name list of previous Gemini Saints during the Holy Wars.
"Romulus and Remus…they are mentioned as the "False Gemini Saints" here…because Lydia and Elena proved to be the right wearers of the Gemini Cloth after all?"
Then he saw something in the text that made him go pale in horror:
Gemini Lydia; Murdered at age 12 in 241 by the "False Gemini Saints" Romulus and Remus.
Gemini Elena, died at age 17 in 246 in the Holy War, as the sole Gemini Saint of that fight.
"Yes, the sisters was the right wearers of the Gemini Cloth of that era, but this rejection in front of Lady Athena herself, the Grand Pope and all the other Saints, after spending most of their lives being praised for their Cosmo and fighting abilities…the brothers refused to accept the truth…"
In overwhelming rage and resentment over the rejection from the Gemini Cloth and public humiliation, Romulus and Remus attacked Lydia and Elena a few nights later when the sisters were returning back home to the Gemini Temple after spending that day training. Due to the difference in the length of their training period and ability to control their respective Cosmo, Lydia was murdered by a extremely powerful Galaxian Explosion straight into her back, but Elena narrowly escaped death by managing to move sightly aside at spotting the incoming attack in the corner of her eye, before help arrived and the Italian twins was executed for murder the very next day, because Lydia had been murdered and the severely wounded Elena spent nearly two weeks afterwards fightning against the massive bloodloss and high risk of a fatal infection to not end up following her sister to the realm of Hades.
Both Saga and Kanon were silent, giving each other nervous looks as they listened to this horrible tale.
"That is where she was crippled, right, and struggled to fight properly in the Holy War five years later? Her left arm took most of the Galaxian Explosion intended for her back or neck, leaving not only a huge scar but also permanent muscle and nerve damage…" Saga started in unease, and Kanon finished in his stead:
"...and had to fight against the murderers of her sister as they had joined the army of Hades."
"Yes. At the cost of Elena giving up her own life in order to strengthen the seal, Lady Athena managed to seal away the souls of Romulus and Remus, but before that, they unfortunately managed to cast this infamous "Curse of Gemini" on future generations of Gemini twins that would fight in the Holy Wars: That one of them would die before the war, or that they would otherwise be separated from each other, so that these twins could not be able to fight together at the side of Athena."
Because the united Cosmos of the Gemini twins fighting together were a force unrivaled by even their fellow Gold Saints. All that, because Romulus and Remus had not wanted to admit, not even to themselves, that their dreams to become the Gemini Saint, turned out to be in vain.
"Pope Shion….are the souls of those False Gemini Saints still…around and risking to break out from that seal?"
At least that was a question that Shion could give a happier answer on:
"No reason to fear that. Yes, they did break out because the seal eventually weakened so much that they were able to free themselves right around the time that Aspros and Defteros were born in 1719. In fact, Romulus and Remus revealed themselves to have been the real origin of that "star of chaos", trying to possess your newborn predecessors, but found themselves overmanned from that attempt by souls of the generations of Gemini Saints who had been fighting in the Holy Wars over the passing years, alongside Pope Sage and my own master Hakurei. With a little help from Lady Athena herself, Romulus and Remus found themselves effectively obliterated from existence."
Now the twin brothers looked nervous for a different reason.
"Suddenly I am getting scared for when we will be accepted as the Gemini Saints of this generation…and not because of this curse or anything like that…"
In return, Shion laughed.
"Worrying about the spiritual selves left behind in the Gemini Cloth, despite that the main part of their souls are now in the Underworld? No fear, the previous generations can be a little overwhelming about some subjects that can be tricky to avoid, but most of them are nice. None of them are really evil, but please do not mention that time-god around Aspros and Defteros, his messing of their brotherly relationship is a rather sore point for both. The others have some trauma triggers as well that I will help you write down."
It was in times like this, that Shion was grateful for his unique ability to be able to see the previous lives of Saints when in contact of wounded Cloths. Yes, sometimes that ability was not always so nice to have, but it had also allowed him to connect with those soul parts of historial generations in a way that few others had managed.