Thanks to Corculum for inspiring another soonish update. Poking me really does seem to help me write faster. Kind of funny. Anyway, things start picking up now that the mystery trio has appeared. I can't quite think of anything else to add at this point, so enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Saint Seiya. If I did, the Hades Inferno OVAs would be available with English subtitles instead of just Spanish, and it would be running on a television channel that I get at a convenient time of day.

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Blindsided Recollections

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Apus, juggling long since over, regarded the stiff statue that was the Knight of Ice. How fitting, he thought, that Hyoga should end up an ice sculpture. It had been a few hours since Andy had departed, crashing off in a clumsy manner, and Hyoga's atmosphere had grown steadily colder. The humid air of the jungle had lent itself to the creation of several slender icicles that clung to the swan's shirt hem.

But what is he seeing? The Knight of Paradise's curiosity was beginning to get the better of him. There were only so many possibilities he could think of, having being briefed thoroughly on what information Sanctuary had on Cygnus. It's either his mother or his sensei, but would that really be enough to hold him so still? He scrutinized Hyoga's dead eyes as if hoping some reflection would shine through. It couldn't hurt to have a little peek, could it?

Answering his own question with a strong 'of course not,' Apus reached down and scooped up the softly iridescent sphere he had dropped there seemingly so long ago. He was sure not to cover it entirely with his fingers and drew it up slowly. Hyoga's head moved to track it, keeping his eyes locked on the fantasy he so desperately wanted to believe. A warm breath ghosted over the small orb and then Apus could see through his prey's eyes.

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Hyoga had watched Shun sleep until the very moment that his fellow knight had woken up. Shun rubbed lazily at his eyes as the fog of sleep lifted from him like a heavy cloak. Slowly the awareness that his friend stood in the doorway, watching him, descended on Andromeda and his face lit up in a smile as he pushed himself into a sitting position.

"I wanted to meet you when you arrived, but I guess I nodded off," he said, fussing with his green hair which had become unruly during his nap. "I also wanted to be more of a surprise that a person stealing your bed." He laughed and Hyoga couldn't help but smile.

"It's surprise enough for me," the swan said evenly. "But why are you here?" He wondered at Shun's presence, thinking it too cold for the other knights to really enjoy.

Shun continued to smile as he glanced out a frosted window. "I wanted to see where you grew up. You don't really talk about your history much, you know." Standing, Shun placed his hands on his hips and mock-frowned at his friend. "How am I supposed to be your best friend if you won't tell me things about yourself?"

"My best friend?" Hyoga asked, confused at the sudden turn in conversation. And somehow the words seemed awkward, as if another phrase was meant to be there but had been quickly edited into something else. "I thought we were already friends."

An easy laugh fell from Shun's lips as the fake frown dissolved back to his cheerful smile. "Well of course, but I'm talking about being closer friends. You know, close enough to tell what each other's thinking without having to ask; close enough to know exactly what to say." Shun stepped closer and poked Hyoga's chest. "If Shiryu and Seiya can do it, then why can't we?" Again, something seemed missing from Andromeda's half of the conversation but Hyoga quickly shrugged it off as his mind trying to read too much into the situation.

"What about Ikki?" Swan heard himself asking though not entirely clear on why Shun's older brother should play a part in a friendship.

"What about him? I've already talked to him about this, and he says it's fine. You know Ikki, he's happy if I am." Shun leaned closer to whisper in Hyoga's ear, "Besides, I think he's relieved that someone else will be looking out for me from now on."

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Well, well, Apus mused as he pulled himself from Hyoga's vision, that bit of information could be useful. He could see past the strangeness of the conversation into the real meaning, the real desire that Hyoga harbored in the back of his mind. It was almost cute how the swan didn't know it yet himself. Almost.

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Seiya targeted the sudden yelp immediately, launching himself at it as fast as his feet would carry him. It hadn't sounded like Shiryu, but that didn't mean it couldn't be the dragon. He plunged through a thick copse of slick-bark trees and instantly discovered his vanished friend coughing blindly on the ground, two unknown figures standing over him.

"Shiryu!" His eyes flicked between each of the three figures – Shiryu breathless, a boy with gold snaking up each arm, and a knight dressed in scales of blue, green and silver. "Get away from him," Seiya snarled, dropping into a ready stance, summoning his cosmos around him.

The knight sniffed indignantly, running a hand through his long sea-green hair. "I hardly think you're in a position to make demands," he said in a low voice. Dark eyes flicked down to Shiryu as a hand raised and made a clenching motion. Shiryu was instantly rigid, clutching at his neck, gasping but finding no air. "Not went I hold your lives in my hands." The knight raised his other hand, looking into Seiya's intense eyes, and grasped at the air. Seiya felt a tight grip around his throat mercilessly cutting off his air but felt nothing when he brought his hands up to try and pry the phantom fingers away.

"Ori, you can't!" The brown haired boy beside the knight seemed desperate. The gold on his arms flashed as he moved to grab the knight's wrist. Seiya's eyes were drawn to it even as dark spots began to appear at the edge of his vision. "We can't kill them and besides Pegasus is mine."

"Then do something," Ori said crossly and dropped his hands, freeing both knights to breathe again.

Seiya, on his knees without remembering when he had fallen, reached for Shiryu and pulled him up to his feet. The dragon murmured a soft thanks and leaned against the trunk of a tree, freeing his friend to take whatever action he required. Pegasus readied himself, choosing between the two targets. He picked the knight as the more obvious threat though the comment made by the other unsettled him.

In one smooth motion he threw a hundred faster-than-eye punches. Faster than they were, however, the boy moved to intercept them. He crossed his arms in front of him, in front of the knight, and took each blow with little trouble. "What kind of knight are you?" Seiya asked, incredulous. He hadn't met anyone able to effortlessly take his punches that wasn't a silver knight or gifted with an extremely hard shield.

The boy was suddenly hesitant. "I'm not one, actually," he said softly.

"How…?" Seiya was speechless.

Behind, the knight grimaced. "I know."

Brown shot sea-green a distasteful look. "In any event, it would be best for you to surrender now. I don't think you want to hurt anyone."

"I don't mind hurting you," Seiya shot back.

With a sigh, Pegasus' opponent began removing the gold links which Seiya's eyes unconsciously watched with fascination. It never occurred to him to attack while this was happening, perhaps score a few punches before they could be properly defended against. It was soon evident that on both arms was a long ribbon of gold, looping back on itself to create a circle. "You'll regret your choice in the end," he said quietly.

"Seiya," Shiryu said quietly, "why aren't you attacking?"

But Pegasus couldn't find any words to speak. He was captured by the shimmer of the gold loops. They were mesmerizing… And then, in a blink, they were sailing through the air toward him, dancing through the air in near slow motion. Unconsciously he reached out to touch them, to hold them, and the sailed gracefully onto his own arms, twisting tightly until it seemed to him that they might well shred his skin to pieces.

And then everything went black.

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It wasn't long before Shun seemed to pull himself together. After letting out all his pent up emotion – fear, loneliness, and relief – he pulled back slightly from Ikki's dampened shoulder, rubbing his eyes with shaky fingers, face flushed in a splotchy manner as his fever and his feelings battled on his cheeks. He still looked horrible, with sunken eyes and tattered clothes with old and new bandages peeking out, but he seemed a little saner, a little more sure of himself now that he was in the company of the one person he knew he could always depend upon.

Licking his lips, Shun's eyes darted around for a moment as he collected his thoughts. Ikki waited as patiently as he could, warm air swirling around them both. Finally, Shun met his brother's gaze and with a soft voice began to explain what had brought him stumbling hazily through the jungle.

"The jungle challenge had been going well," he said. "We beat a bunch of pseudo-knights a few days ago and got into the waiting cabin. The others contacted Sienna, and she yelled at us for being sloppy." Shun paused here to explain the ordeal with the net, and Hyoga's resulting heroic save with his ice powers. "He clipped me a little with the blast, but I know he did his best to miss me.

I didn't want to hear our faults because, well, I knew we'd outgrow them and I just wasn't in the mood for Sienna's yelling. I don't know," he said softly, "I guess I just don't like negative situations very much. I went outside to get away and as I was sitting, looking out at the jungle, they jumped me from behind."

"Who are 'they?'" Ikki interrupted.

"I'm getting to that. They didn't take me very far, I think. Just out of sight. They argued about what to do with me. One wanted to kill me." Shun suppressed a shiver. "The other two, though, eventually won out. They said the Master wanted us – all five of us – and that they should just weaken me and toss me back as bait. They figured it would be easier to target the others if they were worried about me." Shun's voice had grown soft by this point as he realized how much of a burden he had been to everyone and how much trouble he must always be. But he pushed these thoughts aside. "They pulled me up and one of them attacked me… his attack, it was fast. Faster than Seiya. Then another one had his go," his voice trembled, " and that's how… how I got all these scratches."

Ikki could feel his anger raging inside of him. He made silent vows to his brother to track down the attackers and make them sorely regret what they had done. "Those bastards," he said in a low growl.

Shun shook his head which made him dizzy. He waited for the feeling of lightheadedness to pass before continuing. "They don't know about the Master… But Ikki, I'm still sick." Andromeda could taste the bitter flavor of bile in the back of his throat. "And I'm not going to be much use to anyone unless I can get over that."

"But you seem much better now that you did when I found you."

"Thanks to you." Shun hugged his brother tightly. "But it's not enough to be warm. The fever, it has to be burned out, I think. Hyoga's cold hands worked for a while but then it got worse. No, it has to be fire. You."

Ikki's mouth set in a thin line. "How hot?" he asked, seeing the determination in Shun's still-glassy eyes and knowing that protesting would only lead to a long argument he would eventually lose.

Shun frowned. "I don't know. As hot as you can go."

"Shun," Pheonix's voice was a warning, "I'll kill you if I do that. There's no way–"

"I think… I think I can use my cosmos as a shield against the worst of it," Shun interrupted. "At least, I can protect my body from the heat while the fever burns away." Andromeda wasn't meeting his brother's eyes now. His thoughts were a jumble of possibilities. After all, wasn't his constellation one that was renowned for sacrifice? If he could sacrifice some of his cosmos…

"Shun…"

"Please, Ikki. I'll only get worse if I'm away from you, and if we're going to stop my attackers you'll be better off without me hanging off of you, or making you worry about my health." And don't you want me to become as strong as you? Shun wanted to ask, but felt it wasn't appropriate.

The Pheonix looked at him for a long time without saying anything. Finally, grudgingly, he nodded. "But not as hot as I can go," he insisted. "We'll start slow." Shun easily agreed.

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It may seem like Shun's getting super better considering he was just stumbling around in the jungle in a haze. But, my rationale behind it is that a) he's warmer than he was before, which is clearing his head a little, and b) he's with Ikki, who's reassuring and gives him a sort of inner strength. If Shun was to be left there, he'd relapse. If it's not convincing, though, let me know and I'll edit it )

Next chapter will see the meaning behind Andy's golden bands and why he's not quite a saint himself, and Ikki playing the part of a hero, at least a little bit. Leave a review and then tune in next chapter for all this and more!