More than Gold: The Centaur Wars

by Jenny DeVic

Book of Sagittarius: What would happen if Mitsumasa Kido chose to carry Aiolos back to Japan instead of his Cloth? Book of Gemini: What would happen if Saga never committed suicide? Book of Centaur: The Golds are all alive. Can they finally unite while taking on the enemies of Athena?

14. Sagittarius 3B: MAD MEN

Chapter 10: MAD MEN

O|========|O

THE NIKOLOPOULOS BROTHERS

He rested his gloved hands on his lap. It was terribly hot today, but he preferred to keep them covered to hide how soft and wrinkled they were. Being over two hundred years old, he would think that he would've moved past the idea of always appearing perfect and strong since the mere fact that he was this old was proof of his vitality. However, old habits die hard when it came to the Gold Saint perfection standard. He doesn't even allow his servants to see the age spots and wrinkles on his face anymore either.

He could burn his cosmos, but at his age, while his hands and feet were burning up, his chest, arms and legs were a bit cool and the sun's rays felt quite good. He turned to Mrs. Varga, dressed in a puffy white shirt to hide the amount of weight she gained over the years with a long black skirt. He knew she was going to retire from the servitude of the House of Leo but chose to delay it when she heard a new trainee was to occupy it soon and wanted to ensure her replacement will have a smooth transition.

"Goddess, please tell me it is the one walking," she muttered, her Hungarian accent cracked through, long hidden through the discipline of a head servant.

Pope Shion shook his masked head. "He is the one being carried." He watched the trio climbing the stairs. A young boy of six years of age with dark brown curly hair, a bold red headband, dressed in a sweaty simple brown tunic with a darker shade of brown pants, that most Rodario Prototypos typically wore, sweated hard as the sandy blond two-year-old, rode on his back, his tiny arms wrapped around his neck, clearly experienced, as one of his head Papal Guards was escorting the two. He touched his head and created a telepathic link, a form of communication that only Lemurians can establish that was far more secure than the cosmos, with the soldier. "How far did the boy carry his brother?" he inquired.

"About halfway between the House of Aries and Taurus, Your Holiness. The little one complained about his feet hurting and he just started lugging him. We stopped for water at the House of Gemini, but other than that, he just kept going. I'm surprised."

But Shion was not since it was one of the signs of a Gold Saint with excellent alignment.

Lucas set his brother Theo down and began to rub his shoulders and sore calves from the stairs. He then felt a large hand tap his back. The six-year-old turned and watched as the Papal Guard pointed downward, signaling for him to bow. He nodded a bit shyly before he went down on his knee just like his parents showed him to do when the Pope would pass during the parades. He turned to see the two-year-old began to wander a bit. "Theo!" he reached over and grabbed his brother's hand, but the sandy blond relented by smacking it.

"NO!" the two-year-old affirmed before wandering to go find Mommy and Daddy's hiding spot.

Shion to slip a small smile at the innocence of youth beneath his mask. He watched the six-year-old trying to wrangle the two-year-old before he waved his gloved hand to not worry about it. He's been through these hundreds of times and knew anyone that young performing formalities was more of a surprise than an expectation. "Lucas, it's time. This will be your brother's House."

Lucas' blue eyes turned toward Theo as he was busy taking a moment to jerk the laces of his sandals and tossing them all over the place as he typically did the moment his little brother felt sweaty on the bottom of his feet. "Do we really need to live this far apart?" he pleaded.

The Lemurian nodded. They already discussed it during their first meeting at a private inn in Rodario, but understandably, the future Sagittarius didn't say much, his attention seemingly diverted at the slightest sound or random acts of simply breaking down and crying. He and his brother both lost their parents a couple of days ago and while he did look a little bit better, his face color still looked drain and every word, regardless if it was positive or not was still dripping with heavy hints of melancholy. It probably didn't help that the child explained to him that this would be the second father he lost, his birth one dying from a fall back when he was two years old. He wanted to paint their experience as a rebirth for the two. But it was hard to do when he would have to answer with something that he was sure that the boy didn't want to hear. "You do. You will have a required set of training exercises that must be performed for at least four hours a day since they consist of the basic elements of the Cloth of Sagittarius."

Mrs. Varga watched as the older boy's face grew even more sullen than it already was, as a small tear quickly dropped from the side of his face before he quickly erased it from his face with the end of his red headband. "Aside from the required training, meetings, meditation, and sparring, you are free to go where you want when you please."

At that moment, an old memory popped in the Lemurian's head that he was more than happy to add to the old woman's words. "I knew of a set of siblings who were in separate houses and they chose to visit each other when traveling to go spar somewhere else or simply brought them along. He may not be living with you, but that doesn't mean you can't see each other every day."

The boy felt a bit happy, even if his face struggled to erase the sadness from his face and voice. "Okay," he nodded weakly before his attention diverted to his little brother.

"Mommy!" Theo cried out as he walked toward a long shadow behind the pillar, only to discover that it was a broom that was propped by a servant who accidentally left it behind during clean up. He stared at it frustrated that she was hiding once more and pushes it down the stairs, listening to it clink down with each stair before he continued to explore. Normally she would be behind the door or under a blanket, but neither was to be found. He wished she would stop playing around because now the game was no longer fun and was a bit frustrating.

"Mommy! No Hide and Seek!" Theo shouted as he peeked past another pillar.

"Does he know?" asked Pope Shion, but the older boy shrugged.

Lucas sighed. "I told him, but I don't think he understands." It didn't help that whenever he and his brother would go explore the woods and found a dead body, he would tell Theo that they were just taking a nap and would later ask his Uncle to go take care of it.

"DADDY!" Theo moved toward the Leo Pandora's Box and looked on the front of it, his wide eyes stared at the beautiful image. "Aww. Cat!" he cried in delight as his tiny soft hand reached over and attempted to open the top in hopes that Daddy would come out, only for two door guards to immediately run to the child and pulled him away.

Theo the Leo didn't take this well, as he kicked and screamed with heavy tears in his eyes. "CAT!" he wailed as he was determined to return to the shiny object while continuing to punch and kick a confused door guard.

Lucas ran over and the man passed the child over to him. "NO! Don't TOUCH!" his voice firm and his finger brandished like a sword in front of the boy's face as he mirrored the mad face of his mother back when he was caught carving the furniture with his Dad's hunting knife. The moment Theo's lip quivered, and tears ran down his face like a couple of raging waterfalls was the moment that Lucas melted. "Oh, I'm sorry." He reached down and picked him up and began to rock him a bit in his arms, despite his little brother being half his size.

"Oh Aries is a ram, the Taurus is a bull,

The Gemini is twins or, so I was told.

Next comes the crab in the Cancer's house,

Don't wake the lion in Leo, be quiet like a mouse.

The sixth is a Virgo, and I heard that she was kind,

The seventh is Scorpio who will prick you from behind!

Libra is a Scale, Sagittarius is a Centaur,

The tenth is the Capricorn whose blade can hit pretty far.

The eleventh is Aquarius, who raises water high.

Pisces is the twin fish, whose stairs will touch the sky."

The child continued to sing the old songs that were taught to him and other Rodario children, as he attempted to calm his brother down.

Mrs. Varga turned toward the Pope. Perhaps it was the fact that she was a proud grandmother of many children or that she was on the verge of retirement, but she felt the need to speak up. "They're too young!" Her experienced eyes can easily see the future Leo still had a cloth diaper on. "Is this really necessary, Your Holiness?"

"Yes," Pope Shion promptly answered without the slightest hesitation.

The old woman sighed deeply. "Can't the older one stay at his House while the small one…"

Shion knew exactly what she was going to say. "No. It won't work. We've tried before," he admitted. "Either the trainee becomes too soft and unable to adjust to life in Sanctuary or the family tries to fight to keep them." Those times were very difficult and sometimes the Gold Saint trainee, even after separation would keep running away his duty. He didn't want to say it, but the truth was that, while he didn't agree with it, he did notice that the younger they start living at the Twelve Houses, they tended to be more loyal and dedicated to Sanctuary. Although sometimes the opposite occurs where they become more resentful. But this had been the life of Saints no matter how romantic it may seem to others.

Child soldiers raising other child soldiers.

Lucas continued to rub Theo's back, watching him taking his head and rubbing it hard into his shoulder. "You need a nap. I know, I'm tired too. You're too heavy." He felt his brother clutch him tighter. "I know, don't worry, I'll carry you until you adjust. Those stairs are awful. "He took his hand and patted the bottom. The small child turned toward the old woman. "I need to change him. He wet himself. He's tired too."

The Hungarian woman raised her hands out. "I can take care of him."

But Theo merely clutched tighter around his brother with a seemingly iron grip.

The future Sagittarius looked down. "I can do it. It's okay, I'm used to it." He sided his eyes. "Could you wash it though? I don't like that part."

"Yes, it is quite a dirty job. Your Holiness, is this alright?"

Pope Shion could tell that separating them may be more difficult. He gave a nod to the servant and watched as she walked over to the House of Leo glyph, tapped her necklace on it and opened it up to the inner chambers. "Lucas!" he called out and watched as the six-year-old paused and turned his wide eyes to him. "I was going to walk with you to your House, but I have some business to take care of. The path is straight, the guards can permit you to take any breaks or even escort you over."

The boy nodded understandably. "It's fine." He was kind of weirded out by the idea of adults constantly ensuring he was safe for what would be the most secure place in the world. He and his brother go out by themselves all the time whether they head to the woods or going out to the main streets of Rodario. They had the Zodiac and the Gold Saints watching them, until he found out that was just the Pope comforting the people and, it was really quite empty.

The Lemurian was about to leave when he realized he forgot to mention one important thing. "I already told you that you will start training tomorrow."

"Yeah," Lucas muttered nervously, knowing that the rumors of the severe injuries that Gold Saints endure every time they spar were true.

"Well, it would be wise if you train under a Greek name tomorrow."

The brown-haired boy shrank a bit. He was told about Greek names and how Gold Saints especially were highly encouraged, to leave their old names behind even though he was more Greek than the Pope in front of him. "Does Theo need one too?"

"He is not required at this time, but it just makes it easier if you both change it at the same time and get him used to it, Aiol-" Shion answered bluntly before he drew his hand to his mask. "Lucas." he corrected before he hurried away, embarrassed at his mistake, a sign that he had been spending too much time at the Craterius Cup.

Unsure of why the Pope seemed a bit odd, he simply ignored it and followed Mrs. Varga through the passage and froze the moment a torch lit up. The old woman watched as the child and his brother stared at it. "Cosmos torch. They do that automatically when you pass them and will turn off after an hour of nothing passing by them." She stepped aside and allowed the six-year-old to reach out and light up the one in front of him before he placed his brother down and allowed him to do the next one. The two-year-old flinched when the light roared and rushed back to the safety of his older brother's arms since mom was hiding somewhere.

"Could you go ahead of us? I think when he does it, it scares him," spoke Lucas as he held his sobbing brother.

"Yes, my granddaughter did the same thing the first time. He will find them fun once he realizes they won't hurt him. Don't worry, we're not that far." She took a few steps and gestured over toward a door. "I know you are exhausted. Let's just go to the guest room."

"Mom!" Theo lit up as he saw the door but was disappointed when nobody was behind it and the room was empty.

"Mom's not here," Lucas repeated, knowing in vain that Theo isn't going to listen. His eyes gazed at the room. Despite it being for guests, the bed was already bigger than the room that the two of them shared, not that he cared. He turned toward a long table next to a couple of soft chairs.

The servant held her hands, as she watched the six-year-old get to work as he reached into a side bag, pulled out a piece of cloth and got to work to refolding it to the right shape. Judging by the fact that, after removing the front of the wet cloth and placing a small cup on top like a small lampshade to prevent an accident, it was clear that he was quite experienced with the task. But she knew the child was two years old. "He seems a bit old to still be using diapers."

Lucas didn't even turn his eyes away from the task. "He knew how to go without before, but when Mom and Dad died, he kept having accidents. I think he's too busy trying to find them as if they'll just reappear." He pulled the pin through the cloth and began to snap it into place.

"Mom?" Theo's wide blue eyes shifted back and forth on top of the table. "Daddy?"

The servant watched Lucas simply reached down and picked his brother back up. He carried him over to the bed and laid the child down. Here, Theo the Leo seemed to understand what he had to do and stayed there, eyes wide open, but at least he was relaxed. She watched the older one pulled out a rather large knife and a loaf of bread and began to slice it into small square pieces that he would then feed directly to his brother's grinning mouth. "Would you like me to prepare something for the two of you after the nap?"

The six-year-old paused and turned to her. He was starving having not had anything himself since the whole incident besides water. Any food that Triangle Noesis gave them, he would pass to his brother. "What do you have?"

"Anything you want." The old woman noticed his eyes widened and smile. It was a typical reaction since many trainees came from orphanages. "Be as adventurous as you want, or some choose foods from their homeland."

It sounded like a nice perk. At their house, whatever they find was what they got. He was finicky when it came with how fresh things were. Once, one of his Uncle's friends invited them all over to eat at one of the local restaurants and he could tell by the slight smell and the texture that while it was good, he just preferred how clean it tasted when freshly killed. Perhaps later when he gets well-adjusted, he'll catch his own, but for now, he should take advantage of it. "Fish sounds nice."

"What type?"

"I guess mackerel."

"How would you like it cooked?"

"With a stove."

"*Laughs* Sure. How would you like to have it seasoned?"

"I want to see it on a plate."

"I mean, what flavors do you like?"

"Theo's kind of picky so just throw salt and pepper on his. I like mine like that, but with lemon. Mom has a tree in the backyard, and she would grab it there for me."

"Would you like anything else?"

Lucas drew his hand to his chin. She did mention to be adventurous and there was something that he was always curious about. "Is Nutella good?"

Mrs. Varga closed her aged eyes and smiled. "My grandchildren go through quite a bit of it. How would you like it?"

Lucas shrugged. He just kept hearing about it from his friends. "I don't know. How do your grandchildren like it?"

"Many ways," she bit her lip. "Their favorite is on a crepe with bananas."

"That sounds good. Can we have those too?" He watched her gave a nod. "Thank you." He took a deep breath. When she said that they can have whatever, she meant it. He was so used to him and his Uncle bringing back whatever they killed and Mom making it look delicious. He really hoped that he didn't have to do that every time they were hungry. He turned downwards toward his brother and gently began to stroke his eyelids forcing them to close to drift him to sleep faster. It was something his mother taught him to do that not only relaxed his brother, but it kind of made him sleepy too.

A slight groan in bed forced Theo to dart up. "MOM!" the boy shouted before he started to cry.

Lucas reached over and hugged him tightly. "Shhh," he whispered as he gently pulled him downwards back onto the soft pillow. He knew that Theo saw mom get devoured. Maybe he really did understand what happened to her?

He noticed the servant was about to leave, but he didn't want his brother to be by himself. "Can I stay here tonight?"

The Hungarian paused. "Trainees are expected to start at eight am every morning, including you. You do realize you will probably need to leave about five am in the morning just to make it there on time."

Lucas looked down and stroked his little brother's face. Besides their house, he was the only thing he had left. "That's okay." As he lay there, he could feel his body sinking into the soft mattress and blankets. It was too inviting. and not only that, as long as he knew his brother felt safe, it kind of made it easier for him to sleep too. "I'm going to take a nap too." He yawned as he laid down beside his brother and held him close. As long as he knew he was there, his brother was safe.

The old woman watched the older one immediately zonk out, probably exhausted from carrying a toddler through four Houses, although like the Pope said, it was definitely a sign that he was going to grow up quite strong.

The two children seemed so peaceful. The older one's head rested against the blond's curls while the little one was chewing on the red headband's tail in his mouth as if it were his thumb.

It was not uncommon for Gold Level siblings to hang out together for the first week or two. Once the grind of training takes its toll, it irons itself out over time and they stay where they should be.

What she or anyone else didn't realize was that it would be three years before the Sagittarius slept in his own House on a consistent basis.

O|======|O

FUN BETWEEN FRIENDS

Blood dripped from the bottom edge of the mask and through the eye sockets. It has been a long time since such an event could cause the Pisces to hesitate, but there he was, paused into place as the Papal Guard was shaking the Pope on the ground, trying to get him to stir after he collapsed there from an arrow in the middle of the metal mask. This couldn't be happening. He was the Rear Guard and the last defense for the Pope and technically Athena if she was there, and he had already failed against the first threat to ever cross paths with him.

"Saga…" he barely muttered, more breath than a word. He knelt and his hand began to reach down when a small chuckle began to escape the fallen man, his shoulders began to shake until it grew into the dark hearty baritone laughter he was known for. "Saga?" Aphrodite repeated, this time out of relief that there was more life in him than he thought but also confusion.

The Gemini's black-gloved hand, stained with blood, snapped at the shaft of the arrow and jerked it and the cracked mask from his face. His blue eyes were slightly glazed as if still in a bit of shock. While the tip did penetrate through, it was more of a small cut, that was no greater than the length of his thumbnail. In fact, most of the blood looked like it came from the edges of the mask on the side as if the pressure from the strike rubbed against the edges of his chiseled cheeks and the fall broke the skin. His eyes shifted toward the Hello Kitty sticker that secured a small note. He remembered his friend always had some trouble with using twine since sometimes it would come undone. Apparently, he found a more secure substitute. He took his fingers and peeled the white cat face with a pink party hat off and flicked it away before he unrolled the message. "Hmmm."

He noted that while the bottom of the note looked cut, the top was definitely torn, the handwriting his own, clear cut evidence that his friend had followed the breadcrumb trail that he laid before him just as he predicted and found exactly what he wanted him to see.

You have been warned.

The problem was, he didn't quite react the way he wanted him too. He's seen him pull off smaller targets with ease. Saga turned toward the mask. The metal used on it was no stronger than that of a low-level Silver Cloth, mere tin foil against a gold arrow. It is one thing to fire an arrow with all one's strength, it was another to fire it with enough that it would only go so far. To do so would require the perfect angle, arc and a very precise amount of force a feat that he knows that his friend would be able to pull off. "Showoff…" he scoffed as he tossed the note and burnt it.

He was about to reach up to heal the mark on his face when he felt a familiar warm sensation in his chest. Ninety-nine percent of the time, it was some fresh-faced door guard who forgot to stand on the Gemini tile so he could let them through safely but judging by the timing, a mischievous grin came over him. "Oh… aren't we angry," he purred. "I suppose shooting a note at my face can't qualm the storm raging in your blood right now," he shouted out in a hushed loud whisper.

Aphrodite watched the Gemini, still bleeding profusely between his eyes and sides of his face beaming delightfully with his hands on his hips. It has been a very long time since he's seen him so fired up. "Is he invading your House?"

Saga gave a proud nod, his tongue taking a moment to lick a bit of blood that dripped over his lips. Been a long time since anyone has injured him. He snapped his fingers to flip the top of his Gemini Pandora's box before his body glowed brightly with white cosmos to summon a small Another Dimension portal.

A shadowy figure draped in the illusion of stars and planets appeared before the Cloth kneeling and ready to do his creator's bidding. Like a piece of clay, it was one of the first illusions he crafted starting off as a simple black blob. It was ugly compared to his more grandiose ones, but he was quite proud at the time since it was one that had a somewhat three-dimensional shape. He slowly evolved it into the shape of his own shadow and continued to do so with every centimeter he grew. Unlike his many other creations, this one held meaning and over time, gave the phantom significance by bestowing it the rare honor of a name: Eternity. Eternity was another perfect idea of Geminism… he was everything and yet he was nothing. He was Saga's favorite and he could think of no one better to greet the unfortunate in his House of Gemini.

The Gemini Cloth assembled onto Eternity before it leaped inside the portal, ready to confront the intruder.

The Papal Guardsman, one of the few who's survived being stationed there for longer than a couple of years placed his hand on his chin. "Saint Aphrodite? I don't think I've seen him this happy before," he confessed in a nervous whisper.

Aphrodite agreed. "Yes…" he muttered unable to turn his face from the spectacle. "Even though he was almost killed just now."

O|======|O

His right arm glowed as if a meteor was by his side, healing cosmos surrounding it after the ordeal of holding his position for over ten minutes. His mind was strained, not from infusing the arrow with enough cosmos to reach him, but from holding back. Partially because he wore his flower bracelet on his left arm so that anytime he fired, he would always keep Athena's intentions and sense of justice within sight, but also because it was Saga. It didn't mean he was getting away scott clean. He could've picked a non-lethal spot on the Gemini's body, but nothing less than a headshot would do. The only way to do that was to have something, even a mere mask of the Pope to prevent it from passing all the way through.

He sent a quick message to Aldebaran, Mu, and Athena that he was coming back, but he did not share his purpose here with the others. They would probably act like everyone else. Treat him like the last petal on a dying flower, even though he knew that was the way he was going to have to fight from now on. He was a glass cannon, his skills with his bow were still quite powerful, but if he was knocked off Zephyr, he was probably finished. Perhaps he should've gone through the safe left side of the House of Gemini, but his brother's blood from the House of Cancer was still on his hands as well as his other concern if things really were what he suspected.

The False House of Gemini was almost exactly like the real one on the outside, but the inside seemed different if one was used to the real one. The most obvious was that the tile was off-center since it wasn't built there. It felt a little warmer too. The real House of Gemini's main floor was always in shadow, making it feel cool and chilly in the center while the warm sun penetrates the false roof of the other giving it a sense of comfort. It gave a false sense of security since there have been documented accounts of past specters who would feel so cold in the real House of Gemini, they would feel suspicious, turn back to go to the other side only to be immediately slaughtered. While unintended, it was another case of Geminism.

His eyes zeroed in on a small spot, that was less than the tip of a pin, but one he's seen hundreds of times, instantly recognizing the slight suction of time and space. To know what is going on, Saga needs to be able to see what was going on. He then turned toward the grand swirl of bits of space debris, knowing full well on what's to come. He shifted toward his horse, holding still just as he trained him. He feeds his cosmos into Zephyr, feeling its head lower, aching to run, but holding still. He watched Eternity, wearing the Gemini Cloth slowly trudge forward. If it was the same as before, Saga mirrored the phantom with his own body. Like everyone else he met looked different and judging by how much more sophisticated Eternity's walk was, demonstrated how much stronger Saga has grown since they've last met.

Of course, like anyone who comes to the False House of Gemini, Eternity raised his hands to greet him.

GALAXIAN EXPLOSION!

The room echoed; the voice reverberated in the false halls as if he was in the presence of god. But he ignored it as he focused on the first attack. He gripped the reins and caused the great beast to move diagonal toward the back and then forward in a zigzag and then back again while moving as much as he could to the right side. The attack may appear as one large blast, but the truth was that it was a myriad of strong cosmos blasts and extremely bright light cosmos to distort. It was impossible to completely dodge, but the bright light cosmos was the equivalent to being struck with grains of sand while the insanely strong ones were like being slammed into by a boulder. It was so much easier to do when he had his cloth since the wings were made for him to dodge while firing his arrows at the same time. With the horse, he was a much wider target. However, an animal's instincts were far greater than a human. Judging by the slight twists in its hooves, it too sensed the strong oncoming blasts of cosmos and adjusted its stocky body when necessary.

His eyes turned to two large blasts coming at him. "Shit," he gasped. There wasn't enough time to dodge both at light speed. Instead, he positioned the horse in the middle between the two and raised his hand to create two strong dummy arrows. Typically, his weapon was made to pierce, but because he didn't want to hurt his comrades, he used them in which the arrow would just blow up, like the difference between getting punched instead of stabbed. He shot it forward and watched the blast negate some of the force while a couple of bluish-green hexagons appeared over the horse from the Lemurian armor to indicate he was struck. The color change was probably an indication on how much cosmos the armor had before it would stop protecting his horse.

A small opening appeared, and he needed to take advantage of it and fast. He had partial hopes that Saga would say something, but instead he met him with a technique. It was time he answered back, the only way he could after the death of his brother. He turned toward the small pin drop and pointed a light arrow toward it and fired, the brilliant rays blinding the Gemini.

O|=======|O

Saga gritted his teeth as he blocked his eyes with the draping sleeve of the Pope's robe like a thick curtain. "Damn!" he cursed. It had been so long since he's fought anyone that he forgot he was fully aware of the means he used to watch the battle. It was for only a second, but it was like an hour when dealing with the speed of light. He basically fucking lost.

This time, Aphrodite was prepared. His bright sky blue eyes spotted the incoming object and immediately drew up his hand and surrounded the Pope with a tornado of black roses that ricochet the Gemini helmet now with a single arrow striking through one side of Order, while the tip stuck out of the mouth of Chaos. The Pisces dropped the roses as he watched Saga fold his arms, seemingly miffed. "Are you alright?" He watched Saga merely sighed as he produced a blinking ball of white cosmos, the type that was low in power and often times used to simply illuminate dark spaces, through the Another Dimension portal and sent it forward. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like?" he shrugged as if talking to the stupidest person in the world. "I'm giving him his sparring point, it's quicker to do it this way than to try to shout it through my illusion," Saga muttered. He bit his lip. He's still a bit rusty being locked up for hours at a time trying to shift through Shion's mess.

"Point?" thought the Pisces, shocked that he was treating this as a mere game. He watched Saga wave a hand and summoned Eternity and the rest of his Cloth back. As Eternity vanished in the winds of time, the Cloth that was left behind had eleven golden arrows that were plugged into every joint possible. If the traitor did this to his Pisces Cloth, he would be furious, yet Saga was taking it as if they had a small reunion. Then again, Saga had been acting odd since he started preparing for the Sagittarius. Even his plan with Deathmask and Aiolia made no sense, but he told them to trust him and they have without seeing any results other than the near assassination. There were still eight houses left to go, so perhaps it was something that had pay off later.

Saga tilted his head with a bit of amusement. "Oh, if I would've known this was what it took to get you to stop holding back, I would've killed your brother a long time ago." He cackled, his laughter echoing over the Twelve Houses. He then paused and then drew his hand on his chin. "Yet," he raised a brow. "Why didn't you dismount?" he muttered as if he really was there questioning the Sagittarius before him. It didn't seem like his style. He's seen him ride horses before and if they happened to spar, he would send the creature as far away from them as possible. It's not like they never fought each other where one had a Cloth and the other did not. Those were some of the more interesting ways in which they would have fun.

He imagined that his purpose for coming to the wrong side of the House of Gemini was to simply leave one less Cloth to be able to battle, yet he just couldn't grasp why is he doing it on an armored horse? He looked down. Deciding there was nothing more he could do until they reach the top, he decided a bath was in order. "I'm going to go change. Even with the black, the blood looks all spotted," he spoke as he casually touched his forehead to heal the small injury.

The Papal Guard walked over toward the Gemini Cloth and reached out to touch one of the arrows that penetrated the shoulder. A large crack followed, causing a small piece to fall off, that echoed in the room as if lightning had struck.

The whites in Saga's eyes immediately shifted to a sickly pink as his hair shifted from blue to a greyish white. "What have you done! A hole would only take a day to repair in the Pandora's box, but a crack will need more than a month!"

O|=======|O

Aiolos still had his hand on his face, his cosmos wavered uncontrollably, unable to bring it back to normal despite the battle having ceased. "Saga…" he muttered as he saw the flashing white cosmos ball in front fade off. The Gemini had killed his brother and now he sends him a fucking point like they were still fifteen and having fun. Aiolia was dead and right now he couldn't give a shit on whether he was close to regaining the lead on sparring points. "We really need to talk," he heaved as he gripped the reins. "We swore we'd protect each other's brothers, especially if the other leaves this world. I wouldn't sleep for days trying to find Kanon. So why did you kill mine?" He had no more tears. It was clearly possible to drain one's emotion in one sitting. It was even possible for one's sadness to wash a skull until it was perfectly white and clean.

Was he foolish to hold out a little longer in the vain hope of his theory was correct? "I know you are more honorable… I know…" he was trying so hard to regain his focus, but all he could see was a face sliding into his hand over and over, interspaced between past memories of a happy child who ate Nutella for the first time, the moment they got him to unleash his cosmos for the first time or when they were outside of their house discussing the latest book he was reading… like the moment he ran out with Athena never happened. "Huh?" he felt Zephyr whine and move away as Another Dimension portal appeared before the head of a Papal Guard shot out with a trail of fresh blood. It gave a pathetic bounce as the twelve arrows he shot at the Gemini cloth and earlier were now coming from every direction in it like a pin cushion.

The calm that he tried to bring about earlier vanished as the archer furiously fueled the stallion with as much cosmos as he could to get back to the House of Cancer.

O|=======|O

DROWNING IN DARKNESS

The Ram charged forward, ahead of the Bull and their Goddess. Normally reaching the House of Cancer would take only a third of the time, but with Aiolia's disappearance and Aiolos' sudden shift in behavior, they both felt to approach this with a bit of caution at Mach two speed with his hands ready to throw up his Crystal Wall in the front while Aldebaran was set to take off with the Goddess out of Sanctuary if needed.

He reached the doors and sent a cosmos ping to sense anything but found the main floor to be strangely empty. Mu gestured to Aldebaran that things seemed safe and urged him to a slight speed pace. Once Aldebaran was by his side, the Lemurian touched his temples and used his telekinesis to jerk the heavy doors quickly, filling the pitch-black with some light, but still, the main floor was nearly concealed in darkness.

Aldebaran's brown eyes shifted back and forth before he produced a dumbfounded look, his tense shoulders relaxed quite a bit. "There's nothing here?" His heavy steps echoed as he moved around, raising his cosmos to such a high sensitivity level that he was able to detect a small colony of ants that were going about their business along the left side of the House. He raised his hand and produced a large light ball of green cosmos, but despite his best efforts to brighten the place, it was still engulfed with haunting shadows. "Aiolos, what happened here to make you do what you did?" Aldebaran questioned out loud. If he didn't see him and Zephyr exiting out so quickly, he thought that the Archer died in this place by the ear-piercing scream he gave.

Athena looked around. "There's so much cosmos here. I wish I can describe what I see here but it is almost all over the place. Not only that," she paused and almost shivered. "There is so much sadness here." Even a cemetery had more warmth than this place.

Mu snapped his fingers. "I have an idea, stand back, both of you." He waited until Aldebaran and Athena moved over toward the front entrance before he raised his arms and stretched them out as if allowing his mind to run free. "Crystal Wall," he spoke serenely as the large rectangular prism glittered and appeared in front, created not with cosmos but through the Lemurians own mental energies. "At full strength, my wall will repel the cosmos back. However, let's take it down to less than a percentage of its strength and just slowly move the wall forward."

Athena smiled. While it was well known that Gold Saints trained hard to elevate their techniques to their fullest, what she did notice in her memories was that they also learned to adjust them to their weakest causing all sorts of interesting effects. Now she was a witness to the other. When cosmos is burned, like fire and ashes, it leaves a residue. As the wall moved forward, the colors of the cosmos were shining through providing an image that was faster and greater than her words could evoke.

As Mu focused, Aldebaran began to make use of the opportunity. "That must be Aiolos'." The yellow cosmos was so heavily burned that it was practically solid. Of course, they didn't need to see it to know he was practically on fire, considering there were now broken stairs where he traveled back. "I hope he's okay," the Taurus whispered as if he said a prayer.

Athena raised her head to the sky, still seeing the very thin yellow trail of cosmos from the arrow that her Sagittarius shot earlier at the Pope's Chambers.

Mu's eyes shifted toward Athena's direction. While running, his eyes were firmly fixed toward the heavens as well, and just as he predicted, an arrow was fired. But the constellation of Gemini held steady. He wasn't sure what to feel right now. He hated conflict, yet Saga killed his Master and guiltily, he wished the Gemini was no more. His Master knew of how much trouble the Gemini was yet insisted he be trained in the role of Pope with Aiolos. He returned his gaze down to his wall and noticed a large cloud of white cosmos. Only two Saints had that color, and he doubted it was Shaka. "Saga… he must have casted one of his illusions."

There was a slight amount of purple cosmos, but that was no surprise since Deathmask was the only one who had that color and lived there. But the hue next to it was what took them aback.

"That must be Aiolia's," spoke Aldebaran. While the two brothers had the same general color of yellow, Aiolia's was a lot darker perhaps due to a stronger alignment to the element of lightning. However, when they are burning it separately, it was hard to tell the difference. "It's weak, but why is it next to Deathmask's like this?"

Athena noticed it too. She raised her head and ran over towards the door as she felt his presence. "Aiolos?" She rushed over, followed by Aldebaran, faithful to the last order to protect the Goddess by Aiolos.

The Taurus grabbed her hand. The Sagittarius' face was white as a sheet despite how tanned he was. His eyes were wide and glazed as if he rode through the underworld itself. However, Aldebaran could see from the slight twitches in his knuckles that the Sagittarius was just too shaken and that was a very bad thing.

Control over one's cosmos was probably the most important aspects of a Gold Saint. If any Saint, especially Golds, lose control of their emotions, they can enter a berserk state where just looking at them wrong, could cause them to unintentionally lash out and atomize a person caught off guard. It was one of the top causes of death for those who worked directly in Sanctuary. Many well-intentioned citizens would see a Gold Saint freaking out and the first reaction is to give them a hug and tell them they were okay before the Saint would just lose it and erase them from existence. Didn't matter who it was, considering Aiolia blew up a door guard during his time of house arrest.

Aldebaran could tell that Aiolos had been in this state for a while and while it looked like he's cooled down to be somewhat manageable, he could tell he needed more time. "Aiolos! What happened?" He breathed a sigh of relief when the archer reacted to his words, knowing there was some control, but overall looked like a huge mess.

The Sagittarius moved Zephyr forward, his mouth was slightly agape. "Where is he?" he muttered with hisses of anger and shock. "There was blood everywhere," he demanded. "I was holding his body. His face…" he gagged as if choking at that moment. "...his face… I was holding his face in my hand..."

Athena raised her hands. "Aiolos, don't say anything else." To hear his voice drowning in anguish and confusion broke her heart, especially when it was unnecessary. "It didn't happen."

"That's right!" Mu quickly interjected as he pointed toward the purple haze of cosmos next to the weak yellow trail of the Leo.

Aiolos gazed at it as if it were made of gold dust. He could feel his presence there and no one knew his brother's cosmos better than him. A dead body would not leave cosmos like that, but an unconscious one would. He could see the large faded cloud of white cosmos. At that moment, everything fell into place. He was right. The Gemini Temple, Aiolia's behavior and Saga's. "You some of a bitch…" he cursed under his breath as he felt his cosmos burn harder feeling his anger rise close to the level he was earlier.

Aldebaran grabbed Athena. He knows that she wanted to go over and comfort him. Even he wanted to go there and try to comfort him. But he knew if she got hurt, Aiolos or himself would never forgive themselves.

"So, who are you talking about, your traitor of a brother or our great Pope that you betrayed?"

The group of four looked around as several cosmos torches lit up, illuminating the sides of the walls, revealing three rows of faces clearly on display. Everyone looked around, trying to find the voice, knowing he was in the same place as they were. However, their attention could not be diverted from the display on the west wall, especially Aiolos'.

The Sagittarius knew Deathmask wanted to display battle trophies in the House of Cancer just like the macabre tastes that were fitting of many of his predecessors, especially the first Saint of Cancer. The True Pope turned him down many times, but it was clear that now that Saga was in charge, he was given free rein over the decision. He gazed at the face on the far right that was still dripping in blood. He stared at the features and was hyperventilating. The light from the torch was still a dark purple making it very difficult to tell if what was there was Aiolia or not.

"Relax, chill. He's not there, man. At least, not yet."

The Sagittarius shook his head. It was so easy to forget that he had a high level of telekinesis since he was human like most of them. He turned straight upwards and shot an arrow of light straight toward the ceiling where a gold gauntlet easily caught it, illuminating his dark Italian features, and clawed headpiece as he casually stood upside down like a bat, his white cape defying gravity as his abilities kept it in place.

Had Deathmask not assured him that his brother was alive, he wouldn't have missed on purpose. Or did he miss? He was so shaken and he didn't care. "How long were you up there?" Aiolos demanded as he gripped his bow.

Deathmask gave a mischievous grin as he took the light arrow and spun it around his fingers so quickly that it glowed like an angel halo next to him. "Long enough to see you crying like a bitch." He laughed before he light sped backward on the ceiling, dodging another light arrow that struck the ceiling and breaking off bits of rock and rained it below. He was surprised at how strong the strikes were, with only Saga seemingly the only one who could pull off such a feat against the tempered stone. "Oh, come on. He's not dead." He jerked his head toward the wall. "Isn't that right?"

The bleeding face floated around the air, thick dried droplets barely clutching the edges. "That's rrrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-ght," Deathmask's voice echoed as he forced the lips to move like a puppet before allowing it to fall back on the marble tile with a wet splat leaving it laying on the floor, the skin slightly folded.

Aiolos couldn't believe his shock. What the hell happened to him? Deathmask was always a bit of a misfit, but he did care about others. But right now, he was just creepy and cruel and wasn't sure how much of it was him trying to get under their skin or how much was it just being him.

Up above the Cancer Saint paused his twirling and held the glowing arrow near his face, tapping the heated tip against the side of his headpiece. "The most he has is a knot on his skull, but that's it." Although his punch did leave a slight gash, nothing like good old, applied pressure did the trick. "I even laid him in the House of Leo for you to do whatever you want with him. Frankly, if he was my brother and did what he did, I wouldn't allow him to wake up," he whispered.

Aldebaran immediately shot his hand, with the flower bracelet, toward Aiolos, catching the archer's arm as the hand was in the pocket dimension that held his Gold Arrows that could rip through Gold Cloths with ease. Unsure whether the Sagittarius was going for a bluff or not, he didn't want to risk it. At this point, Aiolos was at his breaking point. The House of Cancer featured a powerful illusion of the death of his brother, there was death on the walls, and the words of Deathmask himself that had as much remorse as the guilt one felt from stepping on an ant.

The thick miasma of tortured souls and the macabre of peeled flesh on the west wall was so sickening to even him, that had this place not been filled with so much pollution and darkness, Aldebaran would've continued to move throughout the twelve houses, unaware that they even existed. A couple of questions burned in his heart that he couldn't leave them be anymore, especially if he had a feeling Aiolos had the same ones. He turned his head toward the Cancer from above. "Who are those people over there. Why did you trick Aiolos into thinking his brother was dead?"

Deathmask turned to the side at his magnificent display. "Does it matter? They were against Saga's reign since the idea of allowing greedy nobles to steal from the people was too much for them," he scoffed. He took the arrow and produced a salute with it. "Saga gave me the order and I took care of them. They are simply my fallen opponents. Nothing more. I did my job and there is nothing in Sanctuary laws that dictate I can't display them like this. I would even be disgusted if after six centuries of this, that I would be the first Cancer to be punished for it." He finally dropped the light arrow, allowing the cosmos that binds it together to dissolve and fade into nothingness like a dying star. Deathmask sighed as he decided to answer the other question. "As far as the whole illusion," growing tired of being upside down for so long, he pushed his legs and floated downwards as if he was on the moon before twisting his body and continued to float in the air like a ghostly specter. "I have no fucking clue," he bluntly answered as he shrugged with a slight roll of his eyes. "Saga wanted to do it and almost got killed. Maybe he has something planned up ahead, maybe not. He's Saga. Aiolos, you act as if you know him, but the only one who truly knows him is Saga himself." He raised his finger toward the Sagittarius. "But I had a perfect shot at you and yet Saga demanded I follow his plan to a T." His eyes were drawn to the Sagittarius' legs. He noticed there was something different about them. When he watched him crawl, he thought he was in shock, but now he was certain. "You're so lucky that he's the Pope or else I would've easily finished what Shura fucked up long ago."

Mu narrowed his eyes. "He was never the Pope. He was rightfully denied by my Master, and you know exactly why he did so." Even if he was in a rock, it didn't mean he couldn't hear and overheard them contemplating Athena's Exclamation just to get him out. "Aiolos is the true successor."

But Deathmask shrugged again. Perhaps Saga was starting to get more unhinged, but he was certain that he'll snap out and return the way he was before. "Got proof?" He folded his arms and raised an eyebrow. As Saga said, repeat a story, mix it with lies and certain truths and the world will accept it as gospel. "Aiolos and Saga both entered the Pope Chambers. The Pope declared Saga the Pope and Aiolos stabbed the real Pope in his sleep while attempting to murder the true Goddess and replace her in rage. Let's not mince words or throw in romantic terms. A Sagittarius' official duty is to kill off people from a distance while a Gemini's duty is defense. It's fitting of his nature. Aiolos got caught, he ran away, carrying the false Athena that he attempted to use to hide the proof."

Deathmask flashed a pearly smile.

Aiolos gritted his teeth.

Unable to pull out a fucking arrow from Aldebaran's iron grip, he instead took his fist with the bow in it and slammed it into a pillar, causing more of the broken ceiling to crumble downwards. "You know none of that was true!"

The Cancer nodded and leaned over to whisper. "I do! But who cares?" He laughed. "There's no proof that states otherwise. Besides, the people love Saga as the Pope. He's getting shit done! The girl we have is more than capable of getting kidnapped just like the Athenas in the past, and I get to do whatever I want here." He snapped his fingers. "Aldebaran, you even once told me that the Pope was doing a good job and corruption is going down!" he waved his hands. "Even you think highly of Saga as the Pope. Why are you even here?" He clapped his hands twice and caused the front doors of the House of Cancer to widen further. "Come on, big guy. Get out of here!" he waved his hand out.

The Taurus narrowed his eyes. "Yes, I did." It was just a casual conversation in a bar in Rodario. The two had a long drink together after having completed the chaotic week of the Eighty-Eight Knight festival. "But that doesn't make it right, and had I known what had happened, I would've never said a thing and would march up there myself demanding why he did it, just as I am doing now."

Deathmask rolled his eyes. What a shame. Aldebaran was one of the few he really liked hanging around since he was one of the few who would even take the time to hang out with him, besides Aphrodite. He even allowed him access to his inner chambers too. He was hoping he could at least get him to consider leaving before what he was going to do next. "Whatever, man. Your choice." He threw his hands on his hips. "You know, I just realized something. You not only attempted to kill the real Athena and murdered the Pope, but you just now attempted to murder him twice…" His eyes widened. "NO! Three times...holy shit…" he laughed as he spun once in the air and gave a graceful bow. "As a loyal servant to His Holiness and the Goddess herself," his head jerked forward with wicked eyes. "I just can't allow myself to let you all pass."

The six-year-old stepped forward and raised her staff. She already knew his mind was settled, but she had to try. "Angelo, listen to me. I am the real Athena, and Aiolos is the true successor. You think it is all or nothing, but that's not true." While he's clearly performed the deed many times, it was evident that because he kept it hidden in shadow proved there was shame felt and a sense of humanity. Not only that, but he was doing it only when duty called and not some casual habit. In her heart, she could see that there was still time to change him and let him see why what he was doing was wrong. "It's not too late! Think about your actions!" The Goddess pleaded; her cosmos glowed so brightly that every shadow vanished inside the House of Cancer.

The Italian paused; his eyes widened a bit. It wasn't the fact that it had been a long time since he could see every corner of his House for the first time since ever, but her choice of words. "How did she know my real name?" he thought, knowing that the only person, Gabriele, his half-brother, was the only one who called him that. The thing was, he died three years before he even joined Sanctuary. Even from a distance, he could feel how strong and gentle her cosmos was, but he shook his head.

"You're wrong, it is too late," he muttered, dropping the jovial tone he maintained earlier.

If Aiolos became Pope, he was certain the Sagittarius will have him executed for going along with Saga's plan as well as what happened there in his House, especially if the reverend Libra Saint allied with the archer. His armored legs tapped the floor and bounced backwards toward the exit. He saw what happened to the corpse of whatever sad soul they used in place of Aiolos. The crowds ripped him apart and his bones were still displayed by the rubble, years where the Sagittarius was supposedly killed at. Better to die in a battle than to face that shit. His body glowed purple and he flashed a grin. "I don't see a Goddess," he lied. "I don't see the Pope either. Both are at the top of Sanctuary. All I see here is a little girl and a crippled man on a pimped-out horse, and all three of them are welcome to join me in Yomotsu Hirasaka. Praesepe Underworld Wave!" he shouted as he fired his attack.

Cosmos attacks were quick, but those that used the mind's power itself were quicker.

"Crystal Wall!" Mu cried out as he raised his barrier and bounced it back. The Cancer Saint immediately dodged. Using that opportunity, he dropped the barrier and raised his hands, unleashing a telekinetic blast. Just as he thought, Deathmask countered with his own. Despite being a clear ten meters apart, the two were clearly gripped in a battle of intertwined invisible psychic energies that wrapped at each other like wild vipers, their minds clearly clenching the other's jaw. Mu shut his eyes. "I will hold him off. The rest of you go!"

"Mu! I will stay, we can…" Aldebaran called back.

Mu shook his head no. "My Master was not perfect, but he was honorable, and I will do the same."

The Sagittarius sat on his horse in shock. "We need to stay together!"

Mu turned his head to the Sagittarius, knowing what he was thinking. "I know, but I'll be okay! Wait for me in the House of Virgo! Shaka told me he must speak with you!" He instructed before he felt Deathmask's own psychic energies begin to push back.

Aiolos jerked his head. The longer they waited, the more weakened Mu would be from holding their only means of exiting open. "Stay safe!" he gasped through the cosmos while snapping his bow toward the door signal for Aldebaran to immediately carry Athena out of the House of Cancer before he followed through.

O|======|O

THE LESSON
The moment he exited, Aiolos threw his hand over his eyes. They had been in the dark forbidden shadows of the House of Cancer for so long he forgot that it was only a little bit past noon outside. His vision was blurry, but he could see the golden outline of Aldebaran proceeding to charge forward perhaps to gather enough distance from Deathmask's reach. Suddenly he noticed the Taurus stopping in between the House they were in and the House of his Brother that laid before them. As his eyesight adjusted, he could clearly tell that the Brazilian was waiting for him. He approached the Bull, slowing down his own pace from light speed to normal. "Why are we stopping?"

Aldebaran turned down toward the small Goddess, watched gave a nod as if granting her blessing before he spoke out. "Aiolos, we can't enter with you like this. You haven't fought in a long time."

The Sagittarius gasped. He was so sick of it. Everywhere he went, they treat him like he was a fucking wineglass in the middle of a soccer field. "I'm not helpless, I can still fight," he gritted his teeth.

After the nightmare they had left made him a bit mentally exhausted, he realized the error in his choice of words, a thing he still struggled with Greek not being his first language. "I'm sorry," he quickly apologized. "That came out wrong."

The Greek raised his hands and softened his glare. "No, don't. It's okay. I'm…" he groaned as he rubbed his face.

The Brazilian nodded and pulled off his sweaty helmet. They both knew this would not be easy, but what had happened so far felt unexpected. "You know when you're on that horse, I sometimes forget you can't walk, but that's not what I wanted to talk about. I know you can fight and despite what's happened and the limitations, you are still one of the best." It was true. He did feel nervous about him going here without the ability to walk. But he's adapted well and just like many other Saints who were forced to work with limitations whether it be blindness or a missing limb, with some of them becoming quite legendary. But power was only one aspect.

Aldebaran paused for quite a bit, choosing his words in his mind carefully. it felt difficult to chastise the Sagittarius for his actions. If he had any family left and he saw them slaughtered, he would probably reach up and rip the heavens apart. But Aiolos discussed what he wanted, and it was a plan that he wanted to make sure they don't stray far from, no matter how difficult it seemed. "You made some very close shots at Deathmask multiple times out there. I wasn't sure how were you holding up and I tried to intervene just in case whether you thought to end him or not." Aldebaran fixated on his face. "Did you… thought about it?"

He remembered. Aldebaran practically paralyzed him out there, but he was thankful at the thought that Aldebaran wasn't simply following him blindly, and those made the best Saints. "It may seem like that… but if I could hold back on Saga, I can for Deathmask." Aiolos rested his head against his bow. It may be true, but Deathmask came close a few times. "Please tell me he's not like that all the time."

The Brazilian shook his head no. "You haven't been around him in a long time. Outside of battle, he's probably how you remember him. Brash and fun to drink with. But… as you can see, he knows how to put his abilities to great effect in psyching you out. As you said, a sharp tongue-"

"-is just as important as a strong fist," the Sagittarius finished off. Cussing out and/or belittling an opponent may feel childish, but far more valuable in a fight than it seemed. It can pause a punch, disorient them, create holes in a defense and best of all, it used absolutely zero cosmos. In some ways, it can even boost the fighter further. Normally he would be immune to it, but it's been a long time. A big difference between teaching his polite Japanese students the basics and inviting them for ramen after and a no-holds battle between grown men with everything to lose should the other blink.

Aldebaran could hear the shakiness that was typically absent from his tone. They were almost halfway up, and any action or inaction could mean the difference between Sanctuary finding unity or plunging into a civil war. The least he could do is ensure that their leader continued with a clear head. "I know this sounds really silly, but I think it's important we do a couple of quick re-centering techniques before we go farther. Is that okay?"

He too felt not quite there. After he came back, he couldn't quite explain it, but it felt like any moment, his cosmos was going to spill out of him like a cup of water that needed to be carried but was filled to the very top. If he was like this, both he and Aldebaran understood that Athena shouldn't ride with him. This was a huge problem since while he can fight with the Goddess with him, Aldebaran was very limited to what techniques he could use and there was no sense of having two handicapped Saints. A few minutes was easily worth what was looking like a few hours of what they experienced earlier. He can't afford to be thrown off again. "It's fine, but not too long."

As a gesture, Aiolos took his bow and passed it to the Goddess. Without cosmos, the bow weighed just as much as she did, and no surprise, she clutched it with as much ease as her staff. He turned to her, and a small thought at that moment flickered in his head about teaching her how to use it. Perhaps if things go well, it would be something to consider. He will protect her with all his heart and if it meant tossing himself off another cliff and breaking the other half of his body, so be it. But if they survive this, he could bring it up and see if she was comfortable in at least defending herself with it. For now, they must set aside such a goal and focus on the present. The Archer gave his full attention to the Taurus, curious at what he had in mind.

Aldebaran walked up. Normally this was done sitting down on something soft, but he supposed the horse would be a good substitute. He could see from how the stallion kept shaking its head repeatedly that the flow of cosmos to it was not steady. It felt so strange that years ago, that such a thing was one of the reasons he learned the trick. It was almost as if their roles were practically reversed. He still remembered the moment. The sun was ready to go down. It was warm, but the falling night kept it comfortable and cool. The original Pope had Aiolos and Saga as mentor figures. They were available for about everything from a quick spar, learning the language and culture, and times like then when he was making his connections with his Cloth.

O|=======|O

The seven-year-old Brazilian sighed as he sat there his thick legs, hard as stone yet nimble as a fox were folded in the lotus position, in front of the twelve-year-old Sagittarius as he waited patiently sitting in the same way.

His gentle blue eyes turned toward the plate and back at him. "Go ahead. It's old. I actually found it by a trash can." He took his bandaged fingers, a clear sign he had been working with using his bow and gently flicked the edge of the plate and allowing it to wobble off-centered until it stilled itself back to its original position. "Whatever happens, happens, but I need to see for myself."

Aldebaran looked down. He could see why no one wanted it since the paint was peeling off and there were some hideous chips on the inside. But still, fearful as if he was asked to grip a balloon with the two tips of a couple of sewing needles, his shaking hands reached down and the moment he touched the sides, a crack ripped down the middle as if a lightning bolt tore through it. Even with all the talks of how useless the platter was, it still stung. He felt his tears come down for the first time in front of someone. "It... just kept happening." Meals left him hungry. The possessions of others left him on bad terms with others. The bed was the worst since a peaceful night meant laying on the ice-cold marble.

The future Taurus watched the archer close his eyes and held his palm. He could tell by the slight twitches when the cosmos within him fluctuated since he could feel the peaks within him grow in sync with each twitch of his eyelids. He looked down. Despite the five-year difference, their hands were about the same size.

"It's definitely your Cloth. It's resonating with you and making the connections and shaping your physical form. Every Cloth has unique properties that it bestows. The Cloth of Taurus is defined by its raw strength." He opened his eyes and let go. "The Pope spoke about it. It's very common for the connections of the Cloth to outpace the trainee early on."

But he didn't care about the reasons. "I don't like it," the seven-year-old reinforced. He wished he could describe it better.

The Sagittarius nodded. "I know. I didn't like it when I had to go through it too." He raised a hand. "I couldn't trust my eyes, even if they were better than ever." He looked up. "It may not be as bad as what you went through, but it gave me headaches and I had trouble with being around others since it was like constantly viewing the world through a telescope. The one thing I learned, was that when we lose control it becomes very cyclical."

The boy raised his head in confusion, the edges of his growing long hair poking the back of his neck. "What's that?"

The archer took his pointer and spun it around. "It's like a circle." He keeps his words simple since spiritual terms were more difficult for those who were still learning Greek. "Our cosmos rises, our bonds with our cloth rises but we're all not growing fast enough to keep up. So, we get scared. We get mad. It causes our cosmos to rise, and we are back to the beginning of the circle, like we feel like we can't control it. People get hurt or we feel lost and alone and sometimes both."

Aldebaran grabbed his head and clutched it before immediately letting go in fear that his head would snap like the plate. "Should I just stop using it?" he questioned in what felt like defeat or inevitably. But thankfully, his mentor shook his head no.

"Some say you could, but that's running away and that is something I don't believe in because fearing the cosmos is like fearing life itself. When we make our connections, in a way we are being bestowed a gift. We become stronger when we accept the cosmos and the connections."

Aldebaran began to rest the top of his teeth against the side of his thumb. "I want to be strong. But I don't want the cosmos if it is like this."

He shook his head no; the tails of headband fell over his shoulder. "I told you, there's no reason to fear the cosmos. During this time, it may seem like it's the enemy, but it isn't. Neither is our connections to our Cloth. Remember, these Cloths were created with purpose by Lemurians to protect humanity. There is no such thing as an evil Cloth. Each one has a purpose and a destiny whether we know it or not."

But like all born under the Taurus, there was a good sense of stubbornness. Aldebaran did understand what he was trying to say, but he was too scared that simple inanimate objects breaking maybe his friends next. Being so far from home, he didn't want to be lonely. "Can't I just wait somewhere until the connections are done? Everything will be okay if I do, won't they?"

Aiolos reached over and rubbed the Brazilian's head. "You sound like my little brother. He told me the exact thing since he's going through it now too. So, I will tell you, what I told him. No, you can't just stay in bed and wait for it to end. No, you can't replace training with soccer for the next two years. As a Saint, what you're feeling now, can also happen later during great sadness, anger or both. We'll become stronger if we learn to deal with it now while we are in a safe training environment, rather than in the middle of a fight when others are counting on us to be in control."

The Sagittarius smiled as the Brazilian finally lit up as they all do when they receive a fresh supply of Nutella, a food that was devoured every way possible by the Zodiac as if it were ambrosia. Sensing the child ready to accept help, he continued. "The only way to deal with it is to drop our cosmos and our feelings at the same time. Most of the time, we meditate our way to peace. But sometimes, like now, it is not enough. I like to use breathing and words because you can carry them around." He smiled and gestured him to look forward. "Listen and do as I say. Alright? It may feel silly, but it works. It's even better with a partner."

O|======|O

The fifteen-year-old Brazilian asked him to close his eyes. "Take a deep breath, and we will take turns saying part of the creed of the Saint. Take a breath in between pauses."

At that moment, Aiolos felt a bit nostalgic. Those words were his own once. He takes a deep breath and blows it out. "I am a Saint."

"I am a mere speck in the universe," spoke Aldebaran.

"-but at the same time," Aiolos continued and paused before a breath.

The Brazilian finishes it. "I am a Master of my own universe." He pauses for a moment. "Again. I will start. I am a Saint,"

"I am a mere speck in the universe," Aiolos spoke, his eyes closed.

"-but at the same time-"

"I am a Master of my own universe."

Aldebaran gauged him. His cosmos didn't seem quite as wild, but a couple of rounds would do.

Athena quietly sat on the step, watching them taking turns saying it, sometimes they say the whole thing in one breath and sometimes they would switch between every other word. The hardest part of being a Goddess was the desire to comfort her Saints in times of desperation. She understood the soothing effect her cosmos has, but if it wasn't clear, the Zodiac was very fragile right now. Intervention was sometimes necessary. Sometimes a noble speech. But if her Gold Saints are to ever regain the lost bonds that time and betrayal had wrought on them, then they must interact with each other, rely on each other's strengths to rebuild the once tight-knit group once more. The best thing she could do right now was nothing, and that was okay, for small moments like these, while meaningless to most, add up and can have a greater impact than a grand speech or a notable sacrifice.

Aiolos opened his eyes. It's been a long time since he's been left speechless. He only showed him once, close to ten years ago. He's probably given him hundreds of lessons, and many including this one had long faded in his mind until now. It was a great honor that he remembered, but it could bring one to tears that he was utilizing it. "I...can't believe you still remember that."

The Brazilian nodded. "It's like you said. We all try to find things that work, and it worked for me. So, I show the trainees who come to me. I pass it on. Some use it, others forgot it the moment they walk away from me." He pauses for a moment and lowered his head. "When I heard you died, I thought the world lost a great Saint. When your brother said you were okay, I went to my Shrine, and I thanked Athena for a good long time that you were okay."

"I'm glad I am okay, but I am better with you here." Aiolos took another deep breath. He felt much better now, more like himself. However, Aldebaran didn't realize he was wrong on why he was like he was earlier. It wasn't being in battle. No, since he was a child, he quite embraced it. So did Zephyr, the sandy stallion understood when combat was near, he would be granted a large amount of cosmos that made him move like the wind without the fatigue that came with it. It was the fact that he thought he made the wrong choice in the inner chambers of the House of Gemini. He thought if he would've left earlier, Aiolia wouldn't have died and at that moment, he felt like he had died too.

In a way, it was worse than the night he was carrying Athena. Back then, his life was draining away and he had no time to contemplate. Here he was armed and fully aware with nothing sacred in his hands. Now he had a moment to think the choice didn't matter. Saga would've cast the same illusion. He would've ended up holding whoever the poor soul was and probably acted the same with Saga casting his brother's features, his mind practically shattered and thirsting for revenge. He looked down at the flower bracelet. It was small and yet a powerful reminder to not lose focus.

He turned toward the House of Cancer and could tell that the flashes of light were Mu performing Stardust Evolution. That was good since it meant he had avoided Yomotsu Hirasaka so far. Even if Mu was far stronger with his telekinesis, Deathmask was a lot more aggressive with his. In the world of Saints, attitude and determination can be enough for even a bronze Saint to take down a Gold. Plus, if Mu was thrown in the world between the land of the living and dead, his advantage would dissipate.

On the other hand, neither side can heal themselves, forcing a bit more caution than a typical Gold Saint battle and patience was something Mu had in droves, considering he wasn't bothered by the fact that he spent a few years in a rock just simply waiting for him to return to Sanctuary.

All they could do was follow his words to go to the House of Virgo to seek Shaka, and trust that Mu will be okay.

But there was one House that and his intended goal, a place that he spent so much time at during his early years that there was a joke that his servant Mark, an Australian with a slight limp, was the true Sagittarius Saint and he went along with it in great humor until he passed away in his sleep when he was thirteen.

Aldebaran could see the archer was lost in thought. He leaned down and held out his hand for Athena to place the bow inside his grip. He was quite surprised at how heavy it was and how easily Athena wielded it. He took a spot by the Sagittarius, passing the weapon back and took time to touch the top of Zephyr's armored head before running his thick gauntlet through its long chestnut mane as he stared at the House of Leo. He still couldn't believe Aiolia ran off as he did. But he had no place to judge for the Sagittarius was the one who knew both Aiolia and Saga longer and more in-depth. "So... what should we do about him?" He watched the archer gently drummed the pads of his fingers on the grip. It was a good thing since it meant he was weighing his options just like he did before and not the reckless nature that plagued his actions. Whatever it may be, he will follow him through.

O|======|O

His vision was fairly blurry, but the smell was familiar. Countless lightning strikes struck the floor for centuries leaving a particular odor that was a cross between chlorine and burnt metal. This place should feel like his home and in some ways, it was, other times, it was like a cage. He practically grew up here to the point that one of the first times he embarrassed himself in front of Marin was when he thought everyone had a servant who cooked and cleaned for them. He was thankful for things like that, but at the same time felt somewhat isolated. It was good for training and academics since it's really the only thing you could focus on, but just like Aiolos, there always this yearning to be outside of the walls and he didn't really act upon it until he had nothing but his four walls for an entire year.

Once his time was up, he did everything in his power to stay the hell out of there. He was surprised that Deathmask dropped him here but grateful that he didn't kill him while he was unconscious like he feared.

Aiolia reached behind his head and gritted his teeth a little as he touched the spot on the back of his head, his hair a little stiff from some dried blood, before he rubbed his eyes and attempted to stand up but was still a little dizzy. He rested on his knee and closed his eyes. He had to know. He synced his cosmos with the Zodiac to sense the balance and sure enough, all twelve signs were still holding up. He took his fist and slammed the floor.

He sighed heavily, but he should've expected this.

His head jerked as the familiar sound of hooves thundering up the floor echoed. "Brother?" he muttered still a bit dizzy but aware enough to recognize the gleam of the gold armored horse and the red headband that waved with the wind. He was about to stand up when the bow's shiny surface blinded him for a second before three bursts struck near him. It was a familiar feeling. The moment he felt the wind literally being sucked out of him, and his limbs growing heavy, he knew what had happened. He jerked his head to see the black flare of a shadow arrow, and then another before his eyes returned to the armored horse, his brother not even sparing him a glance while Athena, sitting behind him met his glance before she turned away. But he didn't care about her, not right now. "Aiolos!" he shouted as he gripped his chest. "Brother!" he screamed harder as the Taurus Saint flashed past him as well.

Aiolia sat there stunned, barely able to move, his body nearly paralyzed from the shadow arrows that gripped his spirit, preventing him from going any further. It was a difficult move to get out of, determining the amount of cosmos he used on it, but it seemed for extra measure, he used two of them on him. Was he punishing him for what he did, or protecting him from going further?

He double-checked the balance of the Zodiac once more, but the results were still the same. "Saga… I thought you were crazy. Brother, I thought you would be sane." But he sighed. His muscles aching from the effects of two shadow arrows, the shadow of his pillars casting the striped shadow of light and darkness over his body and floor. He's probably the one knew what was going on, better than anyone else in Sanctuary right now. "Frankly, you're both fucking crazy."

To be continued...

Side Story: Love You, Stab Me 1: September ?

Next main story update: September 14-15

Author's Note: I don't know if anyone is noticing this, but I try to present important events in the story and show the divergences. The most obvious is that instead of meeting Sagitta, he's not there and so Athena, Mu and Aldebaran all travel together instead. The concept of time is also a very crucial factor. In the original, Deathmask's walls were filled with the faces of the dead. Since Aiolos is traveling/fighting in Sanctuary six years sooner, the idea is what would happen if there is an early intervention.

Perhaps the difference is not very obvious now, but as like some of my other stuff, you won't quite see the full effect until much later. If you've read my LYKM series, I've commented how I found Deathmask a monster at the time, so he's posing to be an interesting challenge, especially since the hardest is trying to get English clips of the scenes he's in just to understand him better. For those of you who are fans of him, I'm not attempting to bash him in this, but represent him the way he is. The thing about dark characters, is that there is room to grow. So please don't hate me if you like DM or a born Cancer.