Author's Note: Thrud noticed I had hit half a million words on my story and recommend I celebrated. I knew I couldn't change the picture on the story due to plot reasons, so I thought a harmless bonus section would be nice.

Thanks for all the support.

BONUS: How It Should Have Ended

NIGHT BEFORE THE GREAT BETRAYAL

Aiolos stared at the ceiling exhausted, his back killing him from all the flying he did today.

After the Pope had decided that he was to take the position of the mask and helmet, Saga ran off. He looked everywhere, but couldn't find him. When the Gemini didn't want to be found, his ability to use Another Dimension made that possible. Shion said not to worry, but unfortunately, that was not possible. Saga was always depressed, and it was during these times was when he feared for his friend's safety. "...please don't do anything stupid."

His eyes turned toward the wall in his room, seeing a blue flash. It was a small safety feature that indicated that someone was coming inside his inner chambers. Normally it was his servant, but he knew he was with his family due to his father being ill, a gesture that he told him to take as much time as needed, being that he lost two fathers in his life.

He began to reach for his shirt when he turned toward his Pandora's box with the blue-haired Gemini on top of it.

Saga was still wearing his Cloth, the slight cracks from their earlier sparring were still there, indicating that he had yet to place it in his Pandora's box to give it time to heal. "Saga!" It was so dark that what little light there was, merely highlighted the crown of the Gemini's head while shadowing his features and leaving his intention in question.

He slightly raised his head pathetically,"...why you…" he muttered before he dropped it back down, his blue bangs collapsing over his face. It was the only thing he's heard him speak since the meeting.

He was happy that his fears never came into fruition, but he could tell that the news hit Saga far harder than he anticipated. Aiolos took his hand and waved a yellow ball of cosmos, keeping the light gentle so as to not be too overbearing, but enough to cast the darkness aside. "I...asked myself the same thing, as well as him and neither source, could provide a suitable answer," he raised two fingers and gestured the light to slowly come to his friend, only for Saga to blink and reappear on the wooden chair beside his desk on the other side of the room.

"...I...worked...so… so…" he swallowed a bit shaking his head in disappointment. "...hard…"

The Sagittarius couldn't agree more, thinking the same thing. "Yes… you did. You would spend so much time in the library, organizing it, straightening it out."

Saga shook his head. "The old man's method meant we would have priceless centuries-old tomes written by the first Pope in the blood of the original Athena," he wistfully spoke before he bit his lip, "in the same stack as Mrs. Sotiropoulos recipe for perfect sugar-free baklava," he punctuated each syllable with increased tension.

Now it was time for him to throw his hands on his face. "Yes… Goddess yes…" he weakly gasped. Simple requests that would normally take ten minutes to approve may take a day of searching through piles and another to straighten the mess afterward. He may have been an old man, but he still had lightspeed. At times, it felt like the two were teaching him how to keep things in order when it should be the other way around. He hated to say it, but at times, he too felt that perhaps the Pope should step down and let them handle it so they weren't wasting time fixing the mess.

Not wanting to relent, he continued his encouragement. "You discovered several mistakes in proposals, intentional or not, that ensured that more funds went to the orphanages and not the pockets of the well off." He leaned forward, resting his bare arms on his soft sheepskin blanket. He took his hand and moved the original light cosmos over, but not too close. This time, the Gemini stayed put as it lit up his cheeks."Think of them." Sometimes Saga's ambition and sense of perfection drove him a little crazy, but it also made him damn good at spotting what was wrong in a sea of words.

Half a minute of silence cut between them. Saga was so still as if the stiffness of his Cloth was all that held him up in that chair. Aiolos gently motioned his hand to bring the ball of light closer, a slight red reflection in Saga's eyes before he turned and closed them. He still never understood why the red color would appear during times of great stress or anger. His guess was that it was another unfortunate disadvantage of being a Gemini, but yet the same thing never happened to Kanon at any point. But such questions, like always, must wait since there were other more pressing ones to ask. "Saga, let's talk, come closer, I'm your friend."

He is not your friend! He's your competition!

Saga ignored the dark voices in his head and moved at the ledge of the bed, but still, his gaze turned away from the eyes that he could not pry away from earlier. "Did you hear him? He dictated that I would be promoted as the assistant and second in command." He shook his head. "Does he take me for a fool! There is no difference between that and what we did before as a Pope Candidate except it was a fancier title and formally declared me beneath you!" his red eyes widened, his vision grew blurry.

But it also guarantees you are next in line. Kill Aiolos, and you will become the Pope!

The poor handsome fool won't know what hit him.

It happened so fast. His vision blurry, Saga grasped his lover with one hand, while the dagger suddenly appeared in the other before it came right down with enough force to cause the archer to lurch forward with each repeated strike.

The two sat there so very still.

"Goddess...what have I done?" He thought as his red eyes caught hold of the golden blade.

He did it.

The world felt so still...a cold feeling he hadn't sensed since he came back to Cape Sounion empty after placing Kanon in it three days prior.

Now that Aiolos was dead, he will become the Pope.

The dagger reads his heart's desires and twists them.

Was this really what he wanted?

"Saga what were you doing?"

The Gemini turned toward his friend's surprised yet very lively gaze. He looked down the archer's strong back and instead of multiple stab marks, but the circular shape that came from the rounded pommel. "Don't worry about it," Saga quickly muttered as he opened a tiny Another Dimension portal that he had opened above an active volcano and disposed of the blade into it. Of course, it will come back. The cursed thing always came back in pristine shape whether it was in the pit of the Earth or the depths of the sun. But right now, it felt good to just destroy it for the millionth time.

But Aiolos jerked his head. "Don't worry about it? Saga, you were trying to stab me!"

"NO I WASN'T!" snapped the cursed Gemini.

Aiolos frowned. "Liar, liar, pants on fire! Do you realize how much of this story establishes me as someone who would gladly skin and eat Bambi and Thumper? I know what a fucking knife feels like!" He twisted his body around and clasped Saga's hands, partly out of sincerity as well as to keep him from doing it again. "Saga, listen to me! I am your friend and more! Whatever it is, please trust me! I've always been honest with you. I want to help you! Please!"

Saga's red eyes stared at him. He was fearful that if he told him, he may do something terrible, but takes a deep breath. "Aiolos...I'm cursed!"

The Sagittarius' jaw dropped. "So...this is not a Gemini thing with your eyes and your hair."

Saga shook his head. "Nope. I think I'm possessed by someone that looks like powered-up-Kuja, as manipulative as Kefka, with the voice of Tim Curry."

The archer gasped. "That's horrible! But don't worry we're going to stop this!"

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

POPE'S CHAMBERS

"Aiolos? Saga? Why are you two here?" asked the Pope as he turned his head away from the statue of Athena.

Aiolos knelt down. "Your Holiness! Saga is cursed!"

The old man nodded. "Oh yes, I knew. I've actually been digging through the library for the last two hundred years trying to find a solution!"

"YOU WHAT!" rasped Saga as he leaped forward determined to turn him into a pincushion until Aiolos snatched him by the hair.

"Saga, calm down!" Aiolos looked up. "So if you knew, why didn't you tell any of us?"

The Lemurian pursed his lips. "Look, if I didn't die, Saga wouldn't become Pope. If he's not Pope, he won't make the deal with the Kido Foundation and adopt the future Bronze Saints and we would lose Holy War?"

Aiolos groaned. "Give me an hour."

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

KIDO ORPHANAGE

Aiolos light speeds over to the desk, clutching the baby Athena in his arms in one hand a list from Shion in the other. "I would like to adopt Seiya, Shiryu, Shun, Hyoga, Ikki, Jabu, Nachi, Ban, Geki, and Ichi."

The small baby looked down at a picture and tapped another.

"Oh sure, she can come too!" cheered Aiolos as he looked at an image of Seika.

Tatsumi comes stomping in. "You can't adopt that many orphans all at…"

"Here, take my money!" spoke Aiolos as he shoved a large stack of yen.

"Miss Yuki, give him the paperwork," commanded the butler.

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

THE NEXT DAY

Shion gazed at the group as every Saint and scholar was rummaging through the libraries from the Pope's Chambers to Delphi. "Wow, this is so much easier, I guess I didn't have to search all by myself or stick with your prophecy of me dying pointlessly by an emo teenager."

"But your Holiness, you are taking quite a risk and…"

"Shut up, Shaka!" snapped the Pope before the Buddha lowered his head.

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

THREE MONTHS LATER

? ? ?

Ares and Ophiuchus Asclepius turned their heads as a line of eleven Gold Saints and the Pope stood there.

"HOW! HOW DID YOU FIND ME!"

Shion stepped forward. "By doing the one thing that no other generation of Gold Saints did before...we worked together and communicated openly. Everyone…"

All the Golds gathered into four groups of three with Shion joining Aiolos and Saga in place of Dohko.

"ATHENA-"

Ophiuchus gulped. "Oh shit, I don't think I'm healing after this…"

"-EXCLAMATION!"

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

POPE'S BATH AREA

Everyone gathered inside, still drunk and merry after the defeat of Ares, the God of War, and Ophiuchus Asclepius, the true Golden Traitor of Sanctuary.

Peace was restored and everyone was alive and happy!

Saga cuddled against his boyfriend Aiolos, "I'm so glad I told you about the curse!"

"Me too! I mean can you imagine what happens if you were stuck dealing with the curse by yourself? People could've gotten hurt and it would probably take at least half a million words to fix it all," laughed Aiolos as everyone but Aiolia joined him. "Brother, what is wrong?"

Aiolia's head hung low. "Where's Kanon? Is he dead?"

Saga, now that he is no longer cursed, stood up. "Here, let me take care of that."

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

TWO MONTHS LATER

ATLANTIS

The Seven Generals and Thetis, stood in a line as the Gemini, fully armored approached them.

"Saint of Athena, how dare you to trespass upon our God's domain-"

"Kanon, cut the shit and come down here."

Sorrento darted his head. "Wait, you know this guy?"

"We're brothers, duh!" Saga spoke as he removed his helmet, causing a gasp among the crowd. "He's upset that I wouldn't let him take over the world through the Pope and now he wants to do it with all of you."

Kanon slumped his shoulders as all the Mariners glared at him. "Whatever, I don't want your stupid trident. It's impractical and smells like rotten fish," he said as he chucked the metal weapon along with the rest of his Mariner scale.

THE END!