Madness, provided it comes as the gift of heaven, is the channel by which we receive the greatest blessings . . . the men of old who gave things their names saw no disgrace or reproach in madness; otherwise they would not have connected it with it the name of the noblest of arts, the art of discerning the future, and called it the manic art . . . So, according to the evidence provided by our ancestors, madness is a nobler thing than sober sense . . . madness comes from God, whereas sober sense is merely human.

-Plato

3 DAYS BEFORE AIOLOS GOES PERMANENTLY INSANE

I ran after him as fast as I could. For someone who can only take a few steps and drag himself the rest, he made quite a bit of distance since we entered this dark and foreboding place. There was fog and black mist surrounding me. I could only see about ten feet in front of me, while the rest of the mist would reach my knees except whenever a ran, it seemingly parted. There was a strange smell. When the wind came from the north the scent of myrtle came about yet when it came from the south, it was nothing but blood.

I knew that scent well since there were times when I would wake up in the morning only to be covered in it.

I remember pausing, staring at the bloody claw-like streaks that screamed of his desperation of reaching whatever the curse was leading him toward. If falling off a mountain wasn't going to stop him, a long hellish hallway into who knows where this place was wouldn't either.

Goddess, the man had the tenacity of a fucking meteor.

There he was, laying on the ground, his bow still over his shoulder. I reached over, and picked him up and piggybacked him. His breath was ragged and hot as if he was ready to expel fire.

I knew that feeling since I felt that during the hardest of times. If I still had the curse, I would probably be acting like this now.

No, I wouldn't be. The Gemini Cloth had the highest resistance to curses out of the Zodiac. At three months of having the curse, I would lash out and be fine a few seconds later. But for him, he was so twisted, I can barely recognize him.

I'm so sorry.

Where were we? Not sure and unfortunately, the way forward was the only way to go. "I'm sorry, Aiolos," I repeated. I had to try to calm him down. "I'm sorry you had to be involved and now we're both walking around in hell together being chased by a giant talking panda," I spoke as I gazed at him, still in shock that over the past three months of what the Sagittarius did while under the curse. The most shocking thing he did was-

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

"Saga," the psychologist interrupted as he sat in his chair, his hand paused in the middle of his writing.

The Gemini turned his head from the dark brown couch. "What's wrong with that? You asked what I want to talk about today. Why can't I just go straight to the end as a change of pace?"

The man sighed. Despite his patient's bold personality, deep down he was sensitive, a fitting contrast for a Gemini. "Well Saga, while there are times where learning the ending before the beginning is beneficial, in the context of what is going on, I'm not sure if that's the best approach today." He could tell that if anything, talking about what had just happened was making things worse.

Saga's blue eyes shifted where thirteen goldfish swam around. Shaka once told him that in dreams, the mind would depict an ocean for while its surface was beautiful, beneath would be many hidden secrets. Now he was curious at what the Virgo would tell him an aquarium would represent?

But that wouldn't matter considering such a philosophy worked in dreams, and he was certain he wasn't in one.

He thinks.

He looked back up, watching as the doctor's body reflected perfectly upon the glass surface. "You look familiar."

"I get that a lot," he spoke as he wrote another note. He rested the tip, careful not to tap it. In human culture, it was often a sign of impatience or boredom.

The Gemini sighed. "Look, if I can't talk about what I feel like then what's the point of coming here?"

The door swung open as a figure walked up.

"You're going here whether you like it or not!" shouted Aiolia. "You're the reason my brother is fucked up!"

The doctor flinched when the door slammed, revealing a motivational poster of a lion, clinging to a single rope.

Just Hang in There

It had in big white motivational letters.

He turned to the Gemini as his eyes were staring at the ceiling. He could tell that the Leo's words plunged into his heart like a dagger. He knew that feeling quite well. "Saga?"

The Gemini briefly ignored him. This place was so strange, in that there was always something new to see whenever he comes in. Today, he took time to gaze at the ceiling fan as it seemed to spin in a never-ending cycle. "That's quite clever." Each blade had a different phase of the moon, so it seemed like it was waxing and waning before him. "The moon is a perfect example of Geminism. It looks warm and bright… and bigger than the sun. The truth is that it is cold and dark… and quite small," he spoke muttering the last part as if relating to it.

"Saga?" This time, he paused and waited for the Gemini to acknowledge his existence, but he could tell that the guardian of the third house had other plans.

The Gemini attempted to lightspeed out of there, only to tumble over as if he was in one of those dreams where movement felt impossible. "Do you understand! I am tired of talking about it!" He stood up and took his foot and attempted to kick the table, only for it to remain in place as if mysteriously bolted to the carpet.

"I shouldn't be here! You told me I only had three months to solve the curse and now I am down to three days! That fool wanted me to repent in a way besides killing myself and now look what it's brought! We're stuck! Literally stuck in some form of Hell with a giant talking panda and if I don't do something he'll be stuck as some mindless killing machine unless…"

If it happens...don't worry….keep watching over my brother for me…. And I will forgive you.

The Gemini gripped his head as if trying to rip it out of his neck. What was Athena thinking?

The doctor nodded, understanding the pressure he was going through. He too wished there was more time, but this was their last session and the only chance he had at finally getting him to open up about the present. Aiolos has lost his mind and if he can't calm the Gemini, the two of them will die in that place. "Saga, time works differently here. It is just like our past sessions. We can talk for a hundred years and when you leave here, only ten seconds will pass." He leaned downwards toward the twenty-year-old. "Saga… deep breaths… calm down…"

He does, but still, he felt a couple of tears come down his face as he turned downwards to avoid his doctor's. "Do you know what should have happened? If I didn't exist… my brother would be at school, Aiolos would be the Pope, Athena wouldn't have been... " he gritted his teeth at what happened three months ago. "Hell, the Old Man would still be alive. Everything would be better if I died!" Saga muttered.

Don't say that, Khris. I gave up my soul for you, not just because Athena told me to because I know you're capable of making this world better. Besides, friends don't give up on each other, just because things aren't going well for the other.

Saga turned his head toward the door as it shuts before he could see who it was. Instead, all he could hear was the fading trot of a horse in the halls beyond the room. He carefully listens as if every step seemed to slow his fractured nerves. "I-can't," he swallowed hard. "I can't fail him! But I am...afraid…this curse has been around for centuries." He pauses and shuts his eyes. "He was always a good friend, one that I truly needed for that first year."

The doctor watched his trembling hands and judging how he was the one to bring up about his early memories, it was clear that he was hinting that he wanted to talk about it. "Tell me about it. But first, do you need something to drink?"

He nodded. Even though he gave up alcohol, it was still good to have something in his hands. He walked over to the refrigerator and opened the door. A hand reached out with a nice steaming cup of sage tea that he took out of his favorite mug. He took a sip and was pleased it was the perfect temperature that his mother served for him and his brother. "The first week wasn't bad. But when the first true sparring session occurred, I was not prepared for how difficult it would be despite my Mother's warning and preparation."

Now, this was something new. The doctor leaned forward. "What do you mean?"

"She told us that we were destined for Sanctuary."

"Was she able to read the stars? Predict the future?" inquired the doctor further, but the Gemini let out a deep laugh.

Saga shook his head. "No...she knew. But she couldn't read the stars nor was gifted with foresight."

I knew this the moment I gazed into your eyes.

I am so sorry that this will be your fate.

Saga shook his head. "She called it a mother's instinct. But I think, she could feel our cosmos and understood the math and odds as I and my brother did later on. Let me share with you a few statistics:

Identical Twins are not genetic and unlike fraternal twins, do no run in the family.

The odds of those twins being identical are random and more equivalent to a genetic mistake since if said identical twins do not separate, the problem worsens and they become conjoined twins.

Out of 1000 births, only 3 of them will be identical twins born under the stars of Gemini.

Out of 1000 sets of identical twins born under the stars of Gemini,

only 5 sets will be able to awaken their cosmos.

If one is unable, then they are both unworthy and that is typically what happens due to the effects of the dominant twin in the utero.

Out of those 100 sets where both twins awaken their cosmos,

only two sets in the world may be worthy of Gold Level Training if lucky.

Unlike the other Zodiac Constellations where one simply had to be born under the constellation, the House of Gemini is by far the most difficult to find worthy candidates.

If you want a more simplified example, there are more female left-handed Lemurians in the world, than worthy Identical Gemini Twins who both have a Gold Level Cosmos.

While they did treat us well, and those that worked with us were sincere,

Later on, I found out that unlike my brother and I, everyone was given a choice of whether to train at Sanctuary.

We both thought: What choice?

The moment mother and Dimitris' bodies went cold, they told us we had to go and complete a sacred duty. Being six years old, we said our goodbyes and marched right in.

When there were far too few candidates for the House of Gemini, they had no choice and couldn't let us go.

Of course, I wonder if Shion wished he had after all that had occurred?

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

Gemini: Defying Gravity

Final Chapter(?): The Prologue of the Epilogue

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

14 YEARS AGO

"I hate this place."

The six-year-old muttered.

Lesson Number One in Gold Level Sparring: Expect the Three B's every time

That was what he heard from the door guard outside the House of Gemini. He wasn't sure until today when he met him. He could tell by how he moved and taunted that he was once the son of a foot soldier. He struck him several times and dodged with the grace of a feather in the wind. He thought that a hard loss was the most that would happen when suddenly, the other's last punch was enhanced with cosmos. Now he was enlightened by the three B's, as he held his bruised, bloody, and broken right arm.

It wasn't the pain that made him run out of the main chambers. Instead, it was the laughter. There he was, dizzy from the sound of the crack and frightened at how mangled his limb appeared, yet those around them cheered as if the other kid scored a hat trick in soccer.

So he ran. He couldn't get out the main doors on either side. The guards were quite vigilant. Instead, he rushed down into the inner chambers.

This was the House of Gemini after all. Even when it wasn't powered up, unlike the other houses that were quite straight forward, the inner chambers seemed like they were filled with fake paths, false walls, one-way glass, and various mirrors. He had yet to memorize where everything was, but not long after his arrival, he discovered this particular spot.

Unlike all the other hidden paths, this one's opening was only half a meter high. In fact, unless one crawled on their hands and knees, they wouldn't know it was there. The layers of dust were thicker, no nearby cosmos torches to light the area up, and no signs of supplies were laying around, suggesting this was an area hardly traveled. He placed his treasures here and probably spent the betterment of an hour retracing his steps to ensure he would not forget the way.

As he could hear the echoing and fading of steps going back and forth, it only solidified that this will be his own personal annex. Just like what happened all their life, Kanon wanted an annex of his own too. His was pretty good, but he made the mistake of carrying some food inside of it that went bad. The smell drew their caretaker to it and there she confiscated all of Kanon's treasures that he snuck inside of Sanctuary.

Saga felt he was well hidden in his annex, but it also meant he was alone with his thoughts and the same one kept echoing in his mind.

He reached over and pulled out the last of his treasures: a small Kido Tele-Pod. It was old and quite small, making it difficult for them to find it. They already took his brother's, he won't let them take this. But that didn't matter. Either someone will find it, or the limited life it had will cease and with no way to charge it back nearby, he will be without one his sources of comfort. Everything was so backward as if he was sent through one of Chronos' nebulas. Everyone in his part of Rodario was a Moderno, with most of his friends having at least a Tele-Pod. A couple of the well off had Tele-Cams.

Modernos chose to serve Athena while accepting the future as it is with all the modern technologies and all. Prototypos believed in serving Athena just like the age of myth and unfortunately for him, most of them were gathered all around Sanctuary. Unless you were a business, you'd be lucky if you had an outlet. It didn't matter since the music player was considered a luxury, something Gold Saints weren't allowed to own. He pulled out his device. He clicked it on, the glow illuminating his eyes. "80%," he thought.

"A third of my songs are from the sixties and seventies and every song is approximately two minutes and forty-eight seconds or the maximum length a vinyl record could hold. The other half was made during the era when songs were about three to four minutes in length. Songs from the sixties and seventies use up about .35 of the percentage of power while those from the later eras are about half of a percent," he mumbled to himself. He hated Dimitris, but perhaps it was a good thing that he pushed his teacher into giving him and his brother a lot more challenging work so instead of adding apples, they were using fractions. A shame that Kanon didn't take it seriously and never did half of his homework, especially since he was actually the smarter of the two.

As long as he remembered to pull out the battery to avoid his Tele-pod from gradually leeching off its energy, he would have enough to play his collection about three times over. Right now, he would rather leave it be. He completely turned it off to extend its limited life, before he clutched it close to his face while seemingly clawing his face in frustration.

I hate this place.

On the way to the Twelve Houses, while they attempted to distract them away from the scene by offering to buy them a bit of sesame honey candy at a small stand, a man was stabbed and died right there. The only care given was they pulled the corpse away from the main streets to avoid suspicions from outsiders and tourists. It was such a smooth process that it was clearly well-practiced.

I didn't even want to be here.

His arm throbbed even harder. He needed help, but he didn't want to go back. Going back out meant he will look forward to facing him and breaking something else, every day for the rest of his life? No! That's insane!

I would rather die.

He shut his eyes as if it were to take him away from here, but instead, the hanging body of Dimitris and his mother with a hole in her remained burned in his memory. He wanted to cry and scream but knew it would give away his hiding space.

Why can he dream all night be unable to a single detail yet it only takes one bullet, one fraction of a second to forever be burned in his cranium forever?

His head darted over towards a small shuffling sound. Despite the pain, Saga's body shrank even deeper. It was so dark he couldn't even see his own fingers even if they were brought to his cheeks. Instead, he felt a hand on his leg, that was about the same size as his own, but it wasn't Kanon's. He knew. Mother always bragged how they both came out, holding each other so close that the doctors had to review the recording several times like a pair of referees just to determine who was the younger.

"Hey?"

The voice was so gentle, to the point that he wouldn't have realized it was the same person who pounded him earlier. "Shhhh!" Saga hushed. "Don't let them hear you!" he harshly whispered, in hopes that he'll listen and keep it a secret.

"...okay…" he whispered back in a cheeky cheery voice, a clear contrast to the brash and aggressive tone from earlier.

Saga felt him come close and sat right next to him just as the heavy boots of door guards clambered outside.

Saga?

Where are you, little buddy?

We're not made at you.

Just come on out.

Saga raises his head. For a moment, he did feel sorry for them and was tempted to come out. But he listens to the men out there, and it was clear that while they sounded desperate, their inflections were unnatural as if they didn't really care.

The Gemini's shifted in the darkness expecting the Sagittarius to give him away but was surprised he was as quiet as a mouse. Once their presence seemed distant and far away, he turned his head in the direction of the warm breath. "How did you find me?" he whispered.

He didn't take long to answer."You cleaned the blood drops quite well and made the strokes blend in with the footsteps from prior. But your body rubbed against the dust on the wall and left streaks, so I followed that."

Saga tilted his head. "You looked on the walls?"

"Oh yes. In the woods, you can spend a lot of time with footprints, but you can save time by examining little bits like broken branches and shifted leaves," he spoke with a sense of passion, not if he was trying to impress the Gemini, but as if it was just something as normal as learning to strap on one's sandals. Saga wouldn't be surprised if his family was involved with something related to the outdoors. Most Prototypos were and his new training partner had the face of one. Put a spear in his hand and more age on his face and he would easily blend with the hundreds of foot soldiers out there. Of course, there was something different about him.

Then, Saga felt the hand stroke his arm and pausing where the bruise was, but not before the Gemini winced a bit at the tender spot.

"Sorry about earlier. I didn't know I was going to do that. It comes and goes. Here, let me help you."

Saga shifted away a bit but didn't want to give the impression that it was his purely his fault he ran away. He wouldn't be surprised if his training partner was somehow collected in the manner he was: by force. "No, you don't have to. You don't have to apologize either. The cosmos is hard to control. It happens." The truth was, the Gemini had already awakened his. But he was hoping if he didn't reveal it, they would let him go in frustration.

He then felt him tenderly begin to wrap something soft around his arm to temper the bleeding. Saga could tell that he had some experience in it, as his rough fingers seemingly pressed and checked before he tied it like his mother used to do when he would get a few scrapes. "Thank you," he spoke, turning in the direction he thinks he was at.

"No problem, but you should really see a maiden to use some cosmos to heal it before it gets infected."

Saga could tell he was hinting he should leave the hidden passage. "I don't want to go back out there."

"How come?"

The Gemini looked downwards. He couldn't see anything but wished it was his school uniform and not the trainer. "I miss my old life. I miss my school. I miss my friends."

"But you have a brother, and he is here. My father says your brother is your best friend," the six-year-old quipped.

"Yes but-" Saga politely agreed. But if only his training partner knew how different it was over here. "-but it is not the same."

Only one of us can have it. Goddess help us on what will happen to the other,

but I don't intend to find out.

The words from Kanon echoed in his mind. Besides his mother, Kanon was the only rock he had at home. Together, they felt unstoppable as if there was nothing they couldn't overcome and now the symbol of the twins is what split them apart.

"It doesn't have to be, I'm here!"

What a strange thing to say. "You're my training partner. We just met and you just broke my arm. That's not what friends do."

A small silence followed. "No, friends don't do that. I had a couple of friends. One had a dog who you could throw anything and he would always bring it back. The other liked to climb. So we would walk around and see what was the highest thing we could go up."

It sounded like a dumb game, but this only made the Gemini even more curious since he was a fan of such a thing, especially if he could figure out how to win them. "How high did you go?"

"The bell."

Saga's eyes widened a bit. "That's high. My mother would yell at me."

"Actually, my mother did. But that was because my friend wanted to touch the clapper and the sound caused everyone to turn toward us, including her best friend who ran a stand."

Saga smiled. "And the news travels a lot faster when you're in trouble."

"Faster than you think."

The two laughed and for a moment before his hand reached over for his Tele-Pod. He knew each time he turned it on, a little more of its energy would be used up. But that didn't matter. The screen lit up and illuminated the Sagittarius' features. It was strange. Considering how deep the shadows were that cast on his face, it would normally make one appear frightening like a monster in the shadows. Yet, for him, he was like a lone cherubic angel sharing his cherished darkness.

His blue eyes turned toward the device and pointing downwards. "I saw a lot of tourists, especially the kids carrying those. What is it?"

Now that he could see his facial features, Saga could tell that he did know. Just because Prototypos didn't use electronics, didn't mean they were clueless about them. It seemed like he was asking as if to stir some conversation instead of snatching from his hand and banging on the buttons. How strange? It sounded like something he or an adult would do, but yet he couldn't be more than six. "A Tele-Pod. It's a Kido."

"Kido?"

Saga could tell he was really puzzled. "They're the ones who make the best electronics...rather the best anything. People would line the streets or take off work just to get the latest version." In fact, the only day that he and his brother missed school was so that they could be with their mother and get the limited Azure versions before they ran out. Sure they were like the normal black ones with a new color, but he did enjoy the praise and awes when he and Kanon were showing them off the next day.

"Did he make the telephone?"

Saga bit his lip at the reminder of how far behind his training partner was. The last time he heard of such a word was in his history class. "Those things are obsolete. They used them way back in the thirties until the Kido Corporation bought all the telephone companies out. The only way to contact others is to have a Tele-cam." He needed to get back on the subject. "But I don't have that. A Tele-Cam is expensive… much more than buying a car. But Tele-pods aren't bad. They are only a couple hundred Euros. Mother bought me and my brother one so that we learned to take care of them so that when it is time to go to college, she said she'll buy us a pair of Tele-Cams so we could always stay in touch with each other," Saga mumbled as if the idea was no utter nonsense now that he was at Sanctuary.

A hand reached over and touched his cheeks. Saga looked up as his training partner was delicately taking his thumb to clean the small tears that he didn't realize he was expressing. He doesn't even rub it hard either. He carefully catches them and allows them to roll onto his hands. Goddess, if he's treating him like this, he wondered how he treated his little brother. "Thank you. Don't tell anyone you saw me crying."

"I won't, I promise. You can trust me."

Saga gazed at his face. It didn't twitch as if he was conflicted. It carried a soft gaze as if earnest but not too soft as if he was nonchalant or insincere. He was certainly different than many at his school and definitely at the parties that Dimitris held. Over the years, he found it hard to trust others with the exception of his mother and brother. But he seemed very genuine. He looked down, and picked up his Tele-pod. He only had so much energy and then it would be useless for a long time, assuming it didn't get confiscated. The Tele-pod was important to him. Music was important to him. But he wanted a friend more. "Here, would you like to hear some songs?"

"That sounds nice. Do you have Beyond the Twin Salas?"

Saga shook his head. "I don't have any of our hymns." Songs of Sanctuary were forbidden to be written. Instead, Rodarios are expected to memorize them and keep them in their hearts. He looked up. "But that is a good one. I can whistle it if you sing along."

In a field of green grass, there stands two tall trees,

That have grown since the beginning of time.

Follow Athena, my twelve sacred lambs,

Beyond the Twin Sala Gardens.

Do not separate and never lose fate,

Beyond the Twin Sala Gardens.

In a land of dead stone, for those who must atone,

For all of their wrongs and crimes.

Saga turned his head over. "That was good. You sing it on tune."

The Sagittarius shrugged. "It's easier when there is music, especially when you whistle on key." In fact, it was quite good, to the point that if they didn't have the Tele-pod on, he would've thought that Saga pulled out a flute. "Did you play an instrument before you came to Sanctuary?"

His eyes saddened."No." He spoke curtly since it was too hard to talk about.

Your mother got lucky. Do you want to die an unknown musician or be loved, praised, and wealthy for your footwork?

This was making him sad and when he became too sad, a flood of sadder memories followed and the only way to make them go away was to just bang his head, staring at the darkness, or use what he had in his hands now. He wished he knew why this happened to him and not to others, but he's only six and people keep telling him to just be happy.

"So what's your favorite song?"

Saga snapped out of it before he looked down. "Oh, I like all of them." He passed it over. "Here, you pick." He watched him give a slightly wiry face. He wondered what was to be embarrassed about as he gently tapped the screen. "That's a good one. I like the story." He spoke as he eagerly pressed the title and the guitar started strumming watching as the training partner bobbed his head a bit. He gets that way too. Th chord shift, in the beginning, was just a classic. They listened for a bit and just when it started to get good, Saga's vision blurred a moment, causing him to take his hand and touch his forehead.

The archer looked over. "Hey? Are you going to be okay?"

He didn't feel quite like himself. In fact, he felt a bit dizzy. But he didn't want to go back out, not quite yet. "Can we finish this song, Lucas?"

"Sure thing, Khris." Aiolos look down. He really looked terrible, but strangely enough, he seemed happier than before he kicked his ass and snapped his arm like a twig. He shut his eyes and focused hard and gave a general burn of his cosmos while wrapping an arm around him. "Here, this should help. It can't heal, but it is warm. I'll do my best to keep it low so no one sees us."

Saga turned toward the gentle yellow glow. Now Aiolos really did look like an angel. "This is nice..." He didn't want to cry again, but since the night his mother died, it had become strangely habitual. "I'm...lonely… here and it makes me sad," he spoke as the song was entering its third and final moved closer, tucking his body as close as he could while touching the red headband warped around his arm. It was a pleasant cosmos. His forehead could feel the soft disheveled chestnut curls. Maybe his partner wasn't as violent as he thought he would be despite appearing like the son of a foot soldier?

Aiolos turned his head. "Do you know how to burn your cosmos?"

"No."

"I saw it. I felt it when we practiced!"

Saga turned downwards. He was hoping that no one noticed. In his mind, if he liked this place, he could burn it proudly. But if Sanctuary wasn't working out, they would let him and his brother go.

It was his way of not allowing others to control his destiny.

But he liked him. Perhaps training with him could be nice and perhaps fun.

"Okay, just don't tell anyone I can do this." He closed his eyes and easily caused a controlled amount of white cosmos to glow, but not too brightly as to attract others.

"Okay, I promise!"

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

"He still kicked my ass for a while," he laughed. "In the beginning when neither trainee has perfect control of their cosmos, hand to hand is what typically decides the winner. When we trained, Aiolos had wings both on his back and feet. People say I was good, but he was a prodigy. I can honestly say with all my heart, that it was a pleasure to fight him in the ring as well as watching him take on others on the side. I studied him, even when my cosmos was overpowering him because he was that good." He kept telling Kanon to train with him, but he preferred to expel his fighting energy in excuses than action. "In fact, he was so good, he mastered the moves of a Cloth that didn't even align with him. I even told him, he was the first Leo-ttarius in the order," he chuckled heartily.

The doctor felt a bit nostalgic. "You've always enjoyed making up words, Saga."

The Gemini frowned. "You act as if such a thing is insane, but if Shakespeare didn't do the same thing in his plays, a doctor wouldn't be able to use the word eyeball and an executive would be without the term manager."

The doctor waved his hand. He forgot that if Saga knew who he was, he would take it as a compliment as he typically did. But since he was practically a stranger in this form, Saga saw it as an insult. "I apologize. It was just an observation."

He softened a bit. "No, I am the one who owes you an apology. I'm just so..." He turned his head toward the door. The drink helped. The talking helped. "What if all I've done these past three months is not enough?"

The doctor walked over and placed his hands on the Gemini's shoulders before kneeling down to his eye level. "You can't go out there thinking like that. Take your time, and wait. Saga...the time here is ten seconds. We can spend a hundred years here, and it will only be ten seconds for Aiolos. But this is the last time you can enter here." He reached down and pulled the golden orb that was on the table. The first time the Gemini came, it was as bright as the sun, but now it had a dull glow. "Where you two are at… is a mystery even for Shaka. I want to make sure that you are mentally ready to go out there. You only have one life to live. Any God out there who promises resurrection will only do it if it means enslavement. Therefore, I want all of you...to live."

He stared at his doctor. He gazed at the strange room. Every time he entered here, it felt like a dream.

Like when one cannot run, even though he could circle the earth in seven seconds.

Like when he cannot leave, but he knows he could smack his hand and vaporize the door.

Why does he listen to him? Why does he care to stay here?

"You...look familiar."

The doctor stood back up. He was a young, marvelous eighteen-year-old with long green hair that while thick, was smoothly tamed like grand lion's mane. Most notable was his vivacious lavender eyes that brilliantly twinkled even behind his thin glasses. He was remarkably built for a Lemurian. What was odd was his mannerisms. Despite being a couple of years older than Mu, he didn't have the strange quirky demeanor as he or any of the few young Lemurians out there shared. In fact, the doctor seemingly mimicked human nature quite well, as if time and experience had allowed him to understood how to properly interact with them. "I get that all the time."

TO BE CONTINUED...

Gemini 1A: This is the Song that Doesn't End

Three months ago, the Pope nearly kills Athena while under the influence of the curse, forcing the traitor to run as fast as he can.

The Game between the man with the broken back and the man with the broken mind begins.

Let's have fun on February 22

Author's Notes: I hope this wasn't too confusing. If you aren't sure what is going on, go read the very end of A Game of Thrones Part 2. Is it a weird start? Well, yes it is, but let's face it, this is Saga so expect a few unorthodox things.

I wasn't sure whether to make this a separate chapter, but because it was hard to make it stand alone, I decided to keep it together but renamed a few things. Plus, in these character-focused stories, sometimes it takes a different perspective to build up someone.

By the way, I kept promising this in the Sagittarius part. So here we go:

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO

Right outside the hidden passage, Shion stood nonchalantly beside its entrance. Underneath his gloves, the two glyphs on his hands had a faded glow. The symbol of the Pope was the Colchian Dragon, famous in Greek Mythology as the creature that never rests, sleeps, or lowers its vigilance. While many, including the Gemini Saints themselves, were fooled by the illusions of the House, when the glyphs on his hands were utilized, he could see the place for how it truly was.

It was an ingenious design. Rather than use stones that were infused with stardust, instead, it was made from various solid blocks of thick glass with stardust mixed inside to strengthen it. Some of the blocks would reflect various surfaces while others were just simply clear and transparent. Since Geminis always wielded Light, they would focus a singular beam of cosmos. Like a prism, it would remain focused while bouncing off various surfaces to cast an entire illusion in the House while keeping the amount that the Gemini would need to expel to a minimum.

He knew where Saga was the moment he ran. As the Grand Pope, reader of the stars and the one in charge of the other Gold Saints, the moment they were accepted into the order he knew where all of them were at all times. What he didn't expect was for Aiolos to reach him first.

The old Lemurian sensed and read many promising things about the two. They were twin stars and despite them both coming from the same village, their worlds couldn't have been any more different. But there is nothing wrong with that. He and Dohko were twin stars and to this day, yet it was those differences that helped them survive.

He smiled a bit. It sounded like they were having a good time and judging by Saga's cosmos, he'll be okay.

"Sir! I found him!"

The Pope turned his head as a door guard pulled the blue-haired boy's arm.

"I'm not Saga!" the younger twin cried out as he tried to jerk and pull away, but the door guard's cosmos was still stronger at this point.

The door guard turned downward as he held a small jewel that lit up. "Stop lying. You can't hide your cosmos, Saga!"

Shion continued to smile. That was the nice thing about a mask, is that as long as his voice carried the necessary authority, his face did not. The poor soldier didn't realize that because the ovum for identical twins splits after cosmos is established, the two Gemini carry the exact same cosmos, making that jewel rather pointless. His head turned. He could tell that the two were having a good time, but didn't want to allow Kanon to suffer."Oh Saga, you poor thing. The first battle is rough, would you like to go and grab some," he paused as he forced himself not to gag. "Ice cream?" He knew humans adored sugar, but he found the idea of eating stuff that his people used as a weed killer problematic.

The younger twin's mischievous eyes shifted back and forth. "But what about Kanon? It would be unfair if I ate something and he didn't?" he asked as he clasped his hands and produced a sad look of bullshit on his face.

"Goddess… I can tell which one of the pair the Maidens will have the most fun watching over," Shion thought before he sighed. "Okay, how about we go for ice cream, and we'll grab a cookie for Kanon when we get back."

"Okay, sounds good. But make sure we get Kanon a cookie with walnuts in it," the younger twin spoke, name dropping the type that Saga hated the most and will guarantee that he will pass it over to him later.

He heard the word over and over. Once he had a bite from it, he wanted more, but his big brother didn't want him to get too many. But that wasn't stopping him! Aiolia rushed as fast as his little legs could, ignoring the scary shadows that the cosmos torches formed when they lit up. His mind was fixated and he will be relentless if he must to taste the sweetness once more. "Cookie!-I-want- cookie!" Aiolia yelled as he sat down and stretched his legs downwards in order to climb to the bottom of the stairs. "I_wantcookie_ please!" he cried out with the awkward yet somehow adorable pauses that a typical two-year-old had while speaking.

Kanon ran over and warped his arms around Aiolia. Even though he was younger, he was a lot less serious than his brother and Aiolos. He quite liked him, plus, it gave him an excuse to go play instead of training, at least while he was still young. "Can we bring him too? Please!"

The Pope nodded. "Alright." Maybe it was silly for the Grand Pope to forcing twenty guards to escort him just to get some sweet treats. But after two hundred years of watching over Saints, he knew this time of innocence will be short. Knowing when his end will come, he might as well enjoy it a little.

"I want-cookie-now-please!" demanded Aiolia as he tugged the robes of the most powerful man in Sanctuary.

"Yes, we'll go. If we are going to force a platoon of troops into security overtime, we might as well grab your brother one while we are at it," he spoke as he grabbed the cheerful child's small palm.

The younger Gemini reached for the other hand. "Don't forget, Kanon!"

"Oh yes, we certainly can't forget about, Kanon."