Leaving the Blue Winter
Lionet Souma – A friendly boy once blighted with vengeance. Attacked by a former nemesis, that feeling of rancor returned without a second's thought. Like his battle brothers Kouga and Eden, Souma endured the same despair of seeing friends get brutally hurt.
Scorpio Sonia – Behind her deadly surface hid a tender side that only wanted to be embraced by beloved ones and good memories. Now, with the blot of Mars and his army gone, Sonia put aside her insecurities and fought like a Saint with unbridled Cosmos. She defended a goddess, but it was not Athena?!
The northern lands were known for its biting cold and, shrouded behind hazy mountains and frigid forests, its civil war. A man wearing a long hooded anorak, suitable for the arctic lands set in the far ends of the hemispheres, carried two wooden boxes in his mittens. He sat down on a flat-topped rock and opened the boxes, which revealed two rolled up parchments. One scroll was vellum covered in plastic. The other was ivory with a golden round seal. Furthermore, standing by his leg was a large white box with shoulder straps. The depiction of a long-necked bird was sculpted in each side of the box. Another Pandora Box.
The man would first unfurl the vellum scroll, revealed to be a letter. He would read it first.
"Hi Hyouga,
It's been a while since I wrote to you. I hope that you are doing well. I never thought that training could turn out to be so tough, but the more I did it, the more determined I became. This must be destiny Hyouga, since we've been friends for a long time. I don't know if I'll be of any used to you in the future. I wish I had a master like yours, Hyouga, but I do have very good trainers. And, they look up to you. One day Hyouga, we will rebuild the village. Take care."
Sincerely, Jakov."
The man felt a wind pass by, blowing back his hood, and brushing his long strands of blonde hair over his face. The cool wouldn't bother him; after he took in the letter's contents to heart, he was warmed, and Cygnus Hyouga smiled. He placed the letter back into the box to preserve it, and turned his attention to the next parchment. Upon touching the golden seal to remove it, a surge went up his fingers. He could feel something tangible, sharper then Siberia's cold, prickle the hands behind his mittens.
"Cosmos," he muttered softly, and slid off the seal to open the pristine scroll. Hyouga's eyes widened. The ink was in a cursive smoothed by the tip of a quill, and in golden letters was scribed the word "ordination". In his head, Hyouga read the phrase that stuck out to him the most. At the bottom of the letter read, "Axios! Synkentróno! Induction to the Golden Round."
The letter was from the new Pope. Hyouga have never met the Sanctuary's new leader, but heard that he carried an aspect similar to the previous one. The Pope that Hyouga rebelled against to save the goddess Athena by ascending the Twelve Temples. However, that was not his current worry.
If I go to the Temple, I will have to withdraw from Siberia, thought Hyouga. His face crinkled. He also knew that if he didn't oblige, it would be considered an act of rebellion. Hyouga wanted to focus on a task at hand, something that hit home, and felt was a part of his duty as a soldier of justice. It took a short moment, however, to realize that he could negotiate his intentions to the Sanctuary. He nodded to his thought and lifted from the stone, packing the scroll away. Suddenly, something fell on his shoulder.
"Hyouga?" In a Siberian Winter, a baritone chilled Hyouga. He felt a hand, and turned to see who was behind him. A bright spark entered the corner of his eye. Hyouga, after turning around completely, faced the hard gleam of a man covered in glistering gold. The man's long hair was blue as a sea.
"What?" Hyouga's shock devoid him any conscious of logic and sense. He would not question a thing. "Master?!"
"Indeed Hyoga, I stand before you," the man replied.
"It must be fate," said Hyouga, "or a hint." His master Aquarius Camus, having died twice, stood before him.