Chapter One: End of Dreams

"Lay gently. Remember, if you do it too quickly, the leaves will crackle, and you'll lose the element of surprise."

Aiolos observed as his seven-year-old brother nodded accordingly, smiling at each grimace and silent curse he made as he took the position. "Good." He spoke by sending a message with the cosmos to him. "Now, use your bow."

Aiolia carefully reached for his bow, positioning his fingers as the endless rhetoric of his brother filled his head. Without warning, the medium-sized boar popped its head from the ground and took off. "Aww man!" Aiolia tossed the bow and sent out a wave of light speed punches at the creature.

Aiolos laughed as seven-year-old gave a toadstool a well-placed penalty kick.

"How did it hear me! I was so careful!" the child cried.

"Your bow, I told you many times, don't draw your string until you are ready to aim."

"Stupid pig," huffed Aiolia as he folded his leather-wrapped arms.

Aiolos felt tempted to counter him over the fact that pigs are smarter than dogs, but he could see in a rare moment, his brother's hot temper cooling off rather quickly.

"At least I got him. Why can't we just use our cosmos for hunting?"

"Because one, animals are naturally sensitive to the cosmos and two… a bow and an arrow won't send our pork chops all over the mud and our bacon in the canopies." He walked over and examined the torn landscape. He found a reasonably sizable leg and lifted it up. "Come on, let's go eat, I'm starving."

The two brothers walked side by side through the woods until they came to their simple campsite of a fire in the middle with a shelter made from branches and leaves. Aiolos reached inside and pulled out his guitar and began to play as he watched his brother cut pieces of meat with their father's knife and set them on sticks for cooking.

"Ai yai yai, I'm your little butterfly. Green black and blue, bringing colors to the sky."

"What song are you playing?" asked Aiolia as he turned the meat.

Aiolos looked down a little surprised by the question. He twisted his face. "I don't know." He shrugged. He doesn't even know where it was coming from, and the sound felt too synthetic as if it came from one of those electronic devices that the tourists carried around. He sat there for a moment when he turned to his side to see a little girl with short purple curls in her hair. The darkened clearing began to glow so brightly he couldn't see a thing.

Aiolos and Aiolia walked by the stream and stopped. A large albino deer looked up and stared at the two. Aiolos took his bow quickly and shot a quick arrow into the heart, causing it to fall.

"Alright! Way to go, bro!" Aiolos and Aiolia gave a high five before they ran to it. Aiolos waved his hand for his brother to stop. It was reasonably large, and a big kick from a buck was a good way to ruin a person's day.

Aiolos pulled out his father's knife.

"Well look at that, I have never seen one this big. It must be fifteen years old. Son, why did you shoot it? Don't you know that it's a bad omen to kill a white deer? They say if you do, you'll live as long as it was on Earth."

Aiolos turned around. He thought he heard his father's voice, but he had been dead for more than ten years now. He returned his focus back to the creature and gave it a fatal stab to both ensure it was dead and to provide it with a little mercy if needed. He walked around its massive antlers and gasped as he saw a girl with a purple bob haircut lying next to it, sleeping.

"Fighting love by moonlight. Winning love by daylight. Never running from a real fight. She is the one named Sailormoon!"

Aiolos ran around the trail. "Aiolia!" "Aiolia!" he cried as he shouted. His head jerked back and forth at the never-ending field of trees.

"My hand glows with an awesome power! It's burning grip tells me to defeat you!"

Aiolia spun around. "Who are you? If you want a fight, I'll give you one!"

"Take this, my love, my anger, and all of my sorrow! Shining Finger!"

"What the?" Aiolia stood confused. He said as he wondering if the voice was trying to scare him or hit on him. Aiolos felt his heart rate go up. The woods felt like they were shifting with each step. In fact, he doesn't even know which part he was in. He was sure he was in the north, but he would see old landmarks that would indicate the south. "Aiolia!"

"Aiolia!" he ran faster and faster. His brother was there next to him. "Aiolia!" he screamed.

He jerked as a Japanese man with short white hair and a clean-shaven face stood in front of him.

A girl with purple hair that came a little past her shoulders came out from behind his leg. "Come on," her voice distorted as if her mouth was full of water. "they said you are supposed to wake up."

Aiolos eyes blinked open. "Uh." He gasped as his eyes shifted all over the place. Several wires and tubes were hovering all over. He attempted to move his arm, but it felt so sore. His eyes looked up at a television with a giant cartoon robot on it. "Hospital?" he thought. It didn't seem much like it. There was nice furniture, a small child's table with a girl with giant buns dressed like a sailor on the front and piles of cartoon boxes next to it.

A Japanese woman with long straight black hair and a tiny hat walked in and gasped, dropping her hot drink on the floor.

Aiolos reached out his hand. "Huh, hey!" he weakly cried. He watched her stare in shock before she ran over to the phone and began to speak rapid Japanese into it. "Where," he felt so tired talking. He closed his eyes. He needed a nap.

"Young man, can you hear me?"

He opened his eyes once more. "Me?" he muttered.

"Yes, you. Can you see my hand?"

Aiolos grumbled a bit and opened his eyes wider. At first, it was a swirly mess before his vision corrected itself. "Nice watch," he rasped, feeling as if he had the sore throat from hell.

The man smiled at the woman who dropped her tea earlier. "Very nice, reply." He turned his head. "What is your name?"

He laid there, twitching his nose, annoyed by the strange plastic piece that was inserted in it. He was a little hesitant, but finally, he answered. "Aiolos."

The doctor nodded. When he was first brought to the hospital, they found an old knife hilt on him with that written on there and used that as his patient name. "Aiolos. As in the Keeper of the Winds from the Odyssey?"

He was a little surprised by this. He's been to the doctor before, but not one that brought up Greek mythology in the initial conversation. "Yes." He swallowed a bit. It was the first time he noticed that they both had very distinct Asian features, and yet he has no trouble understanding them. "You know Greek?"

"You have to if you want to work for the Kido Foundation. I never had a job interview that required knowledge in the language." He reached over and touched Aiolos' bandaged hand. "Well Aiolos, my name is Dr. Omai Yamanaka, and behind me is Minami Kota, your nurse. We've been taking care of you since you came to us a long time ago."

Minami leaned over and gave a gentle bow. "I am very happy to see you wake up, Aiolos." She spoke in Greek, albeit her Japanese accent was comparatively stronger than the doctor.

Aiolos smiled for their kindness. He tried to talk but ended up coughing. Minami rushed over to the sink and came back with a cup with a straw. "Thanks." He took it in and sucked it dry, coughing many times as if his body wasn't used to it. "How long have I been here?" he spoke in a more precise tone. He watched the two turn to each other, exchanging Japanese and holding their fingers as if trying to calculate some large number. This couldn't be good.

"Two years, six months and five days," Minami replied.

"TWO-"Aiolos began to cough from raising his voice. "Two and a half years?" His eyes widened.

"That's right," echoed a voice outside of the hall.

Aiolos watched as a large, sturdy man with silver-white hair and a beard came in, causing the doctor and the nurse to bow quickly to him. He wore a suit that fit him so well that he could tell that it was tailored for him. "You were very badly injured. I had to have doctors invent new ways to just to stabilize your condition. My name is Mitsumasa Kido. You've been in a deep coma since I've found you." He looked at his face. "Do you not recognize me?"

Aiolos shook his head. The moments when he was in Greece were so blurry.

Mitsumasa Kido raised an eyebrow. "What about my reputation? You know, the one who created the Internet, owner of the most powerful companies in the world such as Disney, Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, and Nutella? The one who made Man of the Year five years in a row by Time Magazine? The owner of three-fourths of the arms corps in the world?" He watched Aiolos shook his head. "The one who dated Angela Merkel?" He watched Aiolos gave a blank stare. "You Saints truly do live in a bubble."

Dr. Yamanaka turned his attention to the billionaire, "Mr. Kido, right now is not a good time to ask so many questions. He's just regained consciousness and needs a little time before his speech, digestion and other processes are running smoothly again."

Kido nodded. "I apologize." He clapped his hands. "I was absolutely thrilled to hear the news that I didn't think of those things." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his Tele-Cam. "I should return to my meeting."

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Kido. If I would have known…"

"Do not worry Minami; it was nothing out of the normal, just another day, another 1st world superpower begging me for the secret of my nuclear missiles. They may scream and plead all they want, but I don't see any good in giving them a toy that can eradicate an entire city." He spoke. "I wish you a safe and hopefully speedy recovery, Aiolos."

"Thank you," the Saint spoke before following up with several coughs. He watched Kido leave the room, wishing to tell him that he did hear of him, or at least his father. He remembered his Mother telling him the stories of how his grandfather was forced to fight during World War Two until a crazy businessman by the name of Jiro Kido had enough. He created a bomb, filmed it devastating an uninhabited island, and forced all sides to negotiate peace. "Anyone capable of that would easily gain quite a bit of power over time." He thought as he watched the nurse walk over to the door to close it tightly.

He laid there relaxed as the doctor, and the nurse began to scribble notes from the monitors. His mouth was really sore. He looked on the side and could see what looked like a feeding tube and what looked like a bunch of diapers and quickly jerked his head away, his cheeks a little red at the embarrassment.

"Aiolos, I'm going to ask you a couple of questions. Tell me, what was the last thing you remember before falling unconscious?" asked Dr. Yamanaka as he held a clipboard.

Aiolos folded his hands. "I fell." Aiolos pursed his lips. "I was running from Shura with Athena. I…" It was so difficult. He remembered who was there. He remembered protecting Athena, but it was difficult to recall precisely what happened. "I met Kido… I gave her to him."

"Could you describe Shura and Athena to me?"

Aiolos took a deep breath. "Shura has black hair. A Capricorn." He closed his eyes, struggling to remember anything else. "He's ten. Athena is a baby. Purple hair. Virgo. Cute, white blanket with two little red puff balls." He sighed. "Sorry, it's mostly a blank."

But Dr. Yamanaka shook his head. "It's actually quite phenomenal for someone who just woke up a few minutes ago after years of being asleep, and certainly a good sign that your mind is still intact. It will come back in time." He looked up. "What about during your coma? What happened between Greece and now? Anything sticks out? Strange occurrences, dreams… memories… or nothing at all?"

"The woods," he spoke. "Just a mess of old memories with my brother and me in the woods," he knew there was something off since each time he was there, Aiolia was a different age each time as well as some oddities. He thought he was in some part of the Underworld or even Limbo but went along with each dream. "I heard strange voices and music that I didn't know. I saw a girl with purple hair like Athena."

Minami came up. "Ms. Saori… Athena comes here for several hours each day. She would play you her favorite music, cartoons, and games. She even made sure to use the English language versions since Greek dubs are hard to find. She would stroke your hair and tell you about the world. She's declined every invitation since she was a year old and even helped out when it came to tending to your daily feedings. Mr. Kido has tried to take her shopping and parties, but she kept refusing. The only thing she will attend besides you is her studies and lessons. Right now, she had to meet with her piano instructor and left while I was out getting some tea. She will not be happy to miss out on this moment."

He smiled. She would not leave him, and there couldn't have been a greater honor than that. Of course, what will she think of him now? He couldn't tell, but he can see his arms were not as large as they were. He was afraid, but he had to know. "How badly am I injured?" he quickly spoke. He watched Dr. Yamanaka, and Minami exchanged glances as if silently debated, who should be the first to announce the bad news. He should know, Saga and himself did the same thing the day they planted a soccer ball-sized hole through an old painting of Pisces Albafica in the Pope's chamber.

Dr. Yamanaka stepped forward. "Are you sure?"

Aiolos felt sick. Not a good sign when a doctor answers a question with a question. "Yes I am," he spoke, trying to hide any hint of doubt.

The doctor raised his clipboard high, hiding his mouth, and focused on past notes. He was silent for about a minute or so before he found his composure. "We weren't sure what struck you but hypothesized that it was two separate incidents. The first looked like a strike that did the quite a bit of damage, leaving several deep cracks on any bone in its path."

"That must have been Saga," Aiolos thought, feeling the heat in his back again. He wasn't wearing his Cloth and jumping from a window with no means of blocking made it worse.

"I noticed some scarring, almost like the bones were trying to knit together, was this, the cosmos?"

Aiolos nodded. He didn't have much time. If he did, he could've laid there and ensured everything was done correctly. He only did it quick enough to keep him running.

Dr. Yamanaka turned the page, "there was another that we aren't quite sure how to describe it other than being hit by a train that was driving sideways. There weren't many visible outside marks, but nearly every bone was cracked or broken. If you didn't use your…cosmos… you'd probably be dead from your spine breaking in several pieces. However, there was a lot of internal bleeding and had Mr. Kido not found you so quickly, you would've died from that. To get you stabilized, my team and I had to devise several new medical techniques." He clutched his clipboard and looked at the young man. He still remembered arguing with Mr. Kido that they would have better luck resuscitating a filet of fish to life, but fortunately for all of them, they succeeded.

"Doctor, how bad?" Aiolos muttered, trying to politely get the doctor straight to the point.

He sighed. "We need more tests to assess what we can do to help you. But, I can say that in your current condition, your arms are still in good shape, but will need some therapy, but your legs and your ability to walk are highly questionable. We have quite a bit of pain medication in you, and once it wears off, we will be able to find out."

"Thank you for your honesty." He watched the two bowed and continue their work by adjusting the machines. He stared at the fan as it turned in the room. He watched it spin as a set of cords with cat heads that had miniature moons on their heads dangled.

Aiolos wasn't sure what he felt, he was too drugged to know. That was until Minami leaned over and pulled a cloth and dabbed under his eyes. "Wait until the tests." The middle-aged Japanese woman spoke as she came to his side.

All three of them turned their heads to the door as a frantic knocking could be heard from the other side.

"Ms. Saori, calm down!"

But the banging continued. "Aiolos! Aiolos!"

Aiolos turned to Minami and gestured his neck over. The nurse understood and walked toward the door to open it up for the Kido heiress.

"Goddess," Aiolos murmured. It literally felt like yesterday since he held her as the six-month baby. She was easily two feet tall with shoulder length hair, wearing a private school uniform with a crest on her breast pocket. She was a living breathing testament that nearly two and half years had passed since that incident. He watched as she came up and hugged him as best as she could clearly experienced in avoiding the massive amounts of tubes and wires still connected to him.

"I'm so happy. I told them you would wake up," she cried as she nuzzled her head against the side of his rough face.

The fear and discouragement that the doctor had given him vanished at that moment. He was too drugged up to move his arms to hug her back. Instead, he leaned his head and rubbed it like a cat finding that particular corner in the house. "She's safe, thank the gods, she is safe." He thought. But then another came to his mind, "for how long?" He knew the power and determination of Sanctuary better than anyone. It's a miracle she's still okay now. He sighed and pushed those thoughts aside. He's waited two years, six months and five days for this moment and he wanted to enjoy it.

To be continued…