The Four Visions of Beauty

(4つの美のヴィジョン)

So far, it has been a war of dissent between various warriors.

Souma and Sonia – Defining a commitment to fight for a good reason.

Amor and Yuna – Faith or sheer power was the answer to adversity.

Tokisada and Haruto – Pride within their techniques, to use them for a purpose.

The Terrae – To protect their Goddess, some who see her as their mother.

Ryuho and Megaera – Hostility and placidity, to decide on how to face the enemy

Lionet Souma, Aqulia Yuna, and now Dragon Ryuho had perished in the 3rd Garden. If anyone entered now, they would see their ghastly faces pinned upon a wall, their bodies petrified in stone and entwined by heavy vines. Megaera assured her mother, in her mind and heart, that Athena's Saints—fallen from grace as filthy humans defying gods—would atone with their deaths. She stood victorious. Dragon Ryuho, drifting into a black landscape, sensed a mock from the Swithen Terrae: How did it feel to enter the path of inevitable death? As he sunk, Ryuho's thoughts reached a trail of despair: Did we fail? After all we've been through, did we reach an unopposed opponent? How?

"Im sorry…I failed."

Thanks to Meg's assault and her words, Dragon Ryuho had forgotten—or rather, he had surrendered everything. "Kouga, Souma, Yuna, Eden, mother, father, Suikyo…I'm sorry." He fell and hung suspended in the darkness. If the Yomatsu was at the bottom of the abyss, he could not see it. He expected that his sight and hearing would leave him, his heart to stop beating, or maybe his brain will forget what he looked like. Ryuho heard voices, perhaps an ailment of reaching his demise. Would his memories go away too?

In many cases, Athena's Saints defied belief because of their goddess. Ever since Demeter left Athena's Temple after affirming her goal, the Saints has expressed amazing fortitude, but for what reason? What of the Gods? What was the "strength" that exasperated Ginga; Megaera insisted that they would die by the Terrae's hands and that there would be no miracles, not while she, as the bearer of the Swithen Stole, existed. Furthermore, Athena was enclosed in Limbo, chained there by a dog with a man's visage. She will be forced to watch the slow rebirth of her nemesis.

Still, even if she felt the worst to come, as always, Athena did not feel despondent. She felt that the Saints' deaths were her fault, carrying a guilt. Still, there was a "strength" from her expression that made Asklepios start to fall for her. That strength could be called – if it could be described in such frivolous words—the inheritance of a bright will. Unlike Athena, Demeter and her Terrae has not faced the calamity of Earth time and time again, thus do not adopt the value of heroic justice. But did death meant that they were abandoned? Or was it fate? Was one's Constellation inferior compared to another?

Why did many Silver Saints die? Why did Haruto die? Why did Ryuho, he himself, die? Why did Suikyo leave him? Those thoughts hung darkly in his head. Even if one felt that everything was lost, completely used up—yes, this was the best opportunity.

It was only in these moments that a guardian remembered what role he or she had to fulfil. It was easy for Ryuho to think that he was at fault for his loss. He hardly trained to become stronger when conflict was absent, but he was the best kind of human being that sought the untaintedness and wellness within others.

Reaching the limit of his mortality, he would not realize…

From the brims of his whitened eyes came tears. His surroundings were not tangible, and he thought his ears ceased functioning, but as he floated, his mouth moved.

"I am alive? Who…who is there?" A sliver of energy entered his arm; he raised it and reached out with an open palm. He could see nothing, but he sensed a jagged scrape touching his fingers.

"Show me," said the young Dragon Saint. Something or someone was there he knew. In the Realm of the Dead, something ridiculed a so-called false Grim Reaper. A slow wave of light effused from The Third Garden of Androktasiai, the Temple of Decline, stimulating Eden and Kouga's movements up the stairs. That decaying feeling that zapped their energy was fading away.

Ryuho could not see the expression, but Swithen Megaera—who stood before him—was frozen stupefied. The boy's body was wrapped in a gleaming green halo, a color like the sea touched by sunlight, unobscured by the clouds. A current of air flowed from him, touching every part of the Garden chamber and his enemy.

"They said…it is my destiny to protect the peace," he said. Wings were often associated with the God of Death, the Lord of the Underworld himself, but upon seeing a pair of them sprouting from Ryuho's back, it was not fear that steeped Megaera. Rather, there was disbelief.

"You said that everyone, including the strong, are often destined to die…but then it would be the same case with you." His voice was very mellow.

Megaera's brow folded. "Are you threatening me?!" Despite the choice of words, her tone was subdued to a near whisper. She felt patronized, but at the same time—such a soft, warm Cosmos, seemed to go through her Stole and touch her heart.

"They told me," Ryuho continued, "Hades's domination of the world is not the correct solution. He is a God that does not understand the beauty of Earth and the creatures that live in it." Ryuho stood on his own two legs; form was motionless, his eyes closed, but the aura around him pulsed with energy.

Megaera's protest, to defend her mother and her choices, was trapped in her throat. Instead, her thoughts voiced, "What happened to you?"

"They also said that you made a mistake."

Dragon Ryuho's body was covered in a new steel. A rich, emerald body that no eyes could turn away from. What made that further impossible were the gold, wavy patterns adorning the shoulders, arms, legs, and waist. Each pair of Ryuho's wings were a knife-like triad much like a bat's patagium. A protrusion, which could be best described as a scaly tail, stretched from the back of his diadem. On Ryuho's arm was the return of the Dragon Shield. It seemed like his Cloth was fully restored, or rather, from diadem to sole, it became gallant beyond words.

Something inside Megaera snapped.

"Who the Hell are they, Dragon Ryuho?!" A ray of Alecto Fire jettisoned from Meg's palm, its speed like a racing, raging cannon towards its target. It smashed into Ryuho and tapered away. Ryuho stood unfazed—leading an assembly of white, incorporeal forms. The scene of Meg's attack rendered useless, and Ryuho surrounded, made the Terrae clench her teeth tight.

Ryuho answered: "The Dragon Saints that fought through the Holy Wars." By sending a Dragon Saint to the Realm of the Dead—that being Meg's "mistake"—Ryuho's Cloth resonated with the spirits versed in many battles and awakened. Ryuho felt a tap on his shoulder; opening his eyes, he looked to see a hand, and directly behind him, a familiar, smiling face.

"So, it has returned."

"F-Father?!" If he was being embraced and guided by remorseful souls of the past, Ryuho was completely flabbergasted to see a misty image of his own father Dragon Shiryu behind him. He had thought it was a simulation.

"Ryuho, my son. This is a Cloth imbued by the blood of the mightiest Saints and the Goddess. This is the Dragon God Cloth. Its legacy reveals itself before you."

"A God Cloth? Are you saying that I win with this?"

"I'm sorry, but there is not much time; I wish I could tell you more, but I am forbidden to. I can only lend my strength for a moment. You must pass this enemy and save Athena. "

"Save her?!"

"That's right. We are all here. Let's do it together."

Ryuho surmised that his father was dead, and sadness tried to crawl inside and bite his feelings. Instead, he nodded, took in a breath, and faced Swithen Megaera. Her face darkened. The Terrae was speechless from the haphazard events. A recursion of victories, and then afterward, she was plunged deep in disbelief. All from being useless against a boy.

"Megaera, your malice shall not reach me," Ryuho said. Meg's eyes exploded from anger again and her entire body splayed out.

"Enough! This is MY Garden to protect! And your grave!" The Chamber of the Third Terrae temple bloodied red from a surge of temperature. Throwing out her arms, she unleashed a large body of flame. It closed the gap between the two like a gushing sea wave. Phantasmal Shiryu and the similar bodies all mimicked Ryuho's movement: He threw out a jab. When the red wave struck them, a shockwave rocked through it and shattered it into steam.

Why are my attacks not affecting him?!

"Say something!" Meg spat.

"The many fallen don't appreciate you appointing yourself as some figure of Death. It is true that God encompasses death. But as the one raised by Demeter, you should also understand that the Divine leads us to not just to the end of life, but also to pioneering. Good fortune, nature, growth, virtue."

"That means nothing here."

"I felt that you were badly hurt in the past Megaera, but even you know the purity and virtue of humankind."

"When you speak, it's like you're pleading for your life. We are fighting Dragon Ryuho. I fear no man or ghost. If it's for mother, I will stop you, whatever it takes!" Meg prepared for another attack, widening her arms again.

If it was a fortress, she could eventually penetrate it.

"I fear no Cloth! I fear no Saint!"

Inhaling through his nose, Ryuho turned his waist, pulled back his arm and threw it out as a swinging punch. All the spirits mimicked the move. At this moment, Swithen Magaera would see a sequence of three visions. The first one was the large myriad—in the hundreds or thousands—of blue-green Chinese dragons devouring her, leaving her breathless. Her black Stole ripped apart like fragile glass, flying off her figure. Her body and mind were flooded by a void. She completely froze. Was it the cognizance of meeting one's end?

A pillar of light shook the ground and took Megaera into the air. When her senses returned to her, she saw a spherical form below her. This was the second vision. All around her was mostly darkness; she floated in a black body surrounded by sparkles

"Only my Rozan Kouryuha can show you this view." Thoroughly stunned, Meg could hear Ryuho's voice behind her. His arms wrapped over her shoulders and clung to her like shackles.

"The harmony of various lifeforms exists down there, and to appease Demeter's anger you wish for it all to go away?"

'Down there'? Upon a longer inspection, Meg saw a large orb painted in a mural of swirling white, blue, and patches of brown. That second vision-the spectacle was only met by a little over thirty highly-trained human beings: Astronauts who traveled to the low orbit of Earth and reached the moon.

Megaera's thoughts turned silver, and the third vision was a familiar face. A memory of when she smelled blood in the air, and her body was dominated by so much pain that she was stock-still. Even with her lacerations, her entrails nearly slipping out, someone's arms wrapped around her like a parent. The tightness of those arms seemed to implore her to live. Through half-lid eyes, Meg saw the green stare of a woman above her. Seeing long platinum blond hair so graceful that it warmed her; a hand touched her breast where her heart thumped. She wasn't sure if she was going to live, but felt like if she didn't, she would fall into purgatory.

Back on Earth, Arion rushed outside from his Garden and looked up. Every cell in his brain emitted a name: "Meg!"

On his Dragon Vault, he saw everything. His Goddess's "daughter" entering the sky and somehow, the worse thoughts elevated in his mind. His composure broke; no one would witness the panicked look on his face. And, the man falling to his knees, muttering that same name again.

Up in the sky, in which he watched, a twinkling star appeared.

Back at the 3rd Garden of Androkitaski, Ryuho opened his eyes and slowly rose to his feet. He recognized the Garden's surroundings and quickly realized that all his senses exisied. From above, the sunlight reached inside the Garden interior and touched his back. It illuminated the entire chamber, exposing the damage made from the battle. The large vines were gone, perhaps disintegrated into nothing, leaving Yuna and Souma leaning against the base of the wall. While they were unconscious, the sunlight revealed their skin revitalized in color. The same with their Clothsm standing nearby in their animal forms. The air felt light and Ryuho's ears met silence. The souls that supported him were also gone, perhaps back at rest. Looking only ahead, between his draping bangs, the first thing he saw was a body, on the ground and unmoving. He lifted his feet and moved closer, slowly. He stopped by it and recognized the face smothered in long black hair.

"Megaera…are you okay?"

There was no answer. Ryuho took in a breath. His feet were sluggish; he felt chained by iron weights. When he moved by the body and made for the exit behind the throne, he uttered an apology.

"…She passed. I'm sorry. I must stop Demeter." Ryuho got to the fringe of the opposite hall and reached out with his hand. The exit was between his fingers. That was when he realized that the God Cloth was gone, replaced by his original Dragon Cloth. Then, his eyes blurred. His entire body dropped.

After seeing the star in the sky, all Arion could think was rushing to Demeter's temple. His body burned with urgency; his ears confirmed a loud wailing.

"Demeter, what's wrong?!" He called out as he flew into the main hall.

In a half-knelt pose, Cancer Hermes looked down at the goddess with a complex expression of uncertainty. Judging by his bent arms, he was going to grab her. That was when he turned and realized Arion's arrival. With a hand wave, the Gold Saint gestured Arion to come. Demeter broke down, holding her face, which nearly touched the ground. She could not muffle her cries. She felt the spirit of Megaera entering the world of the dead.

"Those damn, violent Saints."

"Demeter?"

"They killed her," Those three words vibrated under a whisper. Then, her tone raised. "After war sent her in limbo, she clung onto the living for so long and they killed her!" Anguish was clear in her voice. It was a surprising change in her that left even Hermes in shock, or maybe it was the scream. Her fury was nothing unusual, especially recently, but she showed a sadness as it pierced her inside—for a monster like Swithen, who she thought was infallible.

"Maybe...is what I'm doing wrong?" The goddess said. Her distress surfaced to a point where she unveiled regret in her decisions. "It's all my fault, isn't it? I instigated this war." Was defying Athena, the daughter of Zeus, the worst thing she could have done? Was she fated to fail in her attempt in…anything? Was Athena and her Saints able to fall by any means? Such thoughts clouded Demeter's mind.

As Arion approached, Hermes backed away, allowing the violet-haired guardian to kneel and take hold of her shoulders.

"I understand what you're saying Demeter," Arion said, "but like them, you follow your own convictions. You must see it through. Athena does not dictate you."

It took a moment for Demeter to answer. She looked up to Arion's eyes, her own wet from crying. "You question nothing? Even if it meant the end of the world, the end of Naxos? Everything?"

Silent at first, Arion wanted to choose his words carefully. He knew the Goddess well, who would bring even Earth's destruction from a minor encroach upon her feelings.

"I…I know you mean well," he said. That was when Demeter's well-known fecklessness returned.

"Then why?" Like water in a trench, anger began to spill back into her voice. "Arion! You had the opportunity to stop Pegasus at the gate! Did you not?!"

At her outburst, Arion's hands slid from the goddess's shoulders, up her neck, and to her cheeks. He held them there and saw Demeter's face soften.

"I was respecting your decree to not bring battle to the island and lure attention from the city," he said. "It should be in the Gardens. I used my Impulse, but it seems that Pegasus and his friends got through the tribulation. I thought it would be enough for Pan or Ginga to defeat them…" His voice trailed off and he bowed his head. He realized that was not the case. The first three Terrae failed; against all expectations, the third guardian was defeated and dead, and Arion was the only one capable of fighting. Technically, Hermes as well.

Arion regained eye contact. "I feel like I am responsible for all of this. Not you. But don't worry, I will be the one to finish the job. Now that we met with Asklepios, your plan cannot be stopped."

"Arion…I hope you carry no compassion for them."

"That was Ginga's weakness. I will admit that I admire their fighting spirits, but that's far enough. I am your strongest warrior and shall not fail." After those words, Arion was motivated; he ordered Hermes to take Demeter to her bed chambers and left the Temple. He made it clear to Cancer that if he did anything to her, he would be killed.

Two women would cry today. When he saw Megaera's body lay on the ground, Ryuho couldn't help but freeze in amazement before passing by. A serene face in the sunlight. Tears had streamed from her eyes and a smile curved her lips. Besides, in full, Megaera had seen four visions: The fourth being the beauty of a God Cloth worn by an authentically kind boy named Dragon Ryuho.