Assumptions for Aldebaran
A/N: It gets better towards the end. That's not a good thing, is it?
"Aldebaran, you go first!"
"Yeah-it looks scary and you're bigger than we are!"
"Go on, Aldebaran-please!"
He'd heard it all a thousand times, and each time he'd said the same thing.
"Of course I will! What am I if not a Saint of Athena and a protector?"
And then those who had asked-it could be Aphrodite, it could be Camus, on one occasion it had even been Saga-would laugh, and thank him for putting his dignity/life/time on the line to help those smaller but-not-actually-weaker than himself.
Because with Aldebaran came two assumptions, the first being that because he was nice, he was also very stupid and the second being that because he was big and strong, he never got scared.
Both were completely incorrect.
For a start, Aldebaran was intelligent enough to know of these assumptions-the fact that he could no little about them was not his fault. From the minute he had arrived in Sanctuary, a frightened boy of four named Pedro, his fellow Saints had taken one look at him and decided on his personality.
He would, of course, in the minds of a young Saga and a young Milo, be quite slow because of his size. He did not speak Greek-in all likelihood he would never learn it fully, and so they would have to take it upon themselves to tutor him. Camus assumed that his size meant absolute power but that Aldebaran had no idea how to really wield it, and Shaka (who thought that being nice was a weakness and didn't have time for friends) took one look at him and declared that he was more likely to be reincarnated as an elephant than as a Saint.
Aldebaran had, of course, ignored all this and had set about calmly and quietly learning the language. Sanctuary was extremely different to Rio de Janeiro, and it scared him-but he figured it would help if he could read the signs on the temples. As the only language in Sanctuary that came close to Portuguese was Shura's Spanish, the two had quickly bonded over a common lack of comprehension and worked together to master Classical Greek. In three weeks Aldebaran had shocked Milo by actually replying to one of his barbed insults, and soon enough he was fluent. His original name was long since forgotten, and he had been renamed by his master, Taurus Ox (in honour of the Taurus Gold Saint of the 18th Century, who was in fact the third Taurus Aldebaran in the history of Sainthood, and one of the most noble.)
By the time he was five Aldebaran had managed to assimilate himself within Sanctuary and had gained the friendships of Capricorn-Saint-in-training Shura and oddball Aries-in-training Mu. Both were outcasts within the younger generations of Saints, Shura because he insisted on speaking only Spanish and Mu because he was the apprentice of the all-powerful Pope Shion.
"Why should I become one of them? Why should I abandon my culture for theirs?" Shura had angrily exclaimed-he had been dragged from the arms of a loving father by a Silver Saint who had been scouting in Zaragoza and had no wish to become a Saint of Athena. In fact, he wanted to become a painter.
"What good is this training? Not all of us are orphans; some of us have families who want us-what is the use of growing so strong if we cannot protect those we love?"
Inwardly, Aldebaran agreed entirely. He had very fond and not so far off memories of a vivid, joyful home (made of cardboard and corrugated iron) filled with bright red flowers and sunshine, of music playing and of his mother braiding his little sister's shiny brown hair, and of eating too many brigadeiros on his birthday.
He had not seen his mother greet a scouting Saint, had not seen her listen carefully to the offer of an education and training in Greece-with Pedro's potential, they had assured her, success for him was guaranteed-and certainly a better life than he had now in the slums of Rio de Janeiro. No more sleeping in doorways, they assured her. Pedro will be a great man-this is what is right.
All he had seen was his mother come to him with tears in her eyes and a bag containing all his worldly possessions. She had kissed him tearfully, promised him that she was doing what was best for him, Pedro, and that she would always love him. His little sister, barely two years old, toddled over to him and gave him a little purple flower. Neither understood what was going on-but then the Saint grabbed Pedro's sticky hand and the last thing he saw was his mother sobbing into his sister's braided hair before being teleported away.
He had thrown up all over the scouter Saint's Cloth, and when he had been presented to Pope Shion he had laughed at his silly coloured necklace, saying that his sister had one just like it. And because he was a big lad, when he cried all through his first night in Sanctuary his master had simply told him to shut the hell up and be a man.
Because, of course, real men don't cry. However, Aldebaran was Brazilian and as such was not afraid of showing strong emotions-he yelled when in pain, he cried when he was homesick and he roared with delight when he managed to find the purple flower his sister had given him squashed under his bed.
The future Aries Mu liked this about Aldebaran-because he was being trained by the Pope, naughty Saints-in-training such as Milo and Deathmask refused to have anything to do with him for fear of him snitching on them and as such Mu had few friends. The only child his age he talked to was Shaka, and the cold little blonde wasn't exactly a laugh a minute. Mu was delighted to have a friend who got excited over finding a pretty shell on the beach and who got scared at ghost stories (Shura was a master in the art of scary storytelling, better even than Deathmask).
Mu was also the only child in Sanctuary who completely ignored Aldebaran's size.
By age five, Aldebaran was a good head and shoulders over older children like Aphrodite and towered over Camus, Mu and Shaka. His chest was broad, his legs were strong and his face was determined and calm. His master was teaching him well, and Aldebaran was a quick learner-once he mastered the Great Horn he miraculously gained respect from most of his peers.
Aiolos was a little too busy to do more than coach Aldebaran on occasion, but he had instructed his little brother to be polite to the big Brazilian boy and polite Aiolia was, charging up and challenging him to a football match to the death.
With Aiolia, there was respect and the mutual knowledge that the rest of the Sanctuary viewed them as a little bit thick. This was justified in Aiolia's case-he was forever being compared to the godly Sagittarius Aiolos and was a little dim, but both had a fierce sense of Right and Wrong and both believed in the inherent goodness of others (even if it was sometimes hard to find.)
But Aiolia still saw him as a rival and Aldebaran's size as an automatic challenge. The future Leo Saint tried just as hard to prove himself to Aldebaran as he did to his brother and to Pope Shion. Mu ignored all of this completely-in his wide eyes, there was no unconscious challenge provided by someone of Aldebaran's stature, there was just a good friend for a lonely Tibetan who had few.
Aldebaran never told Mu just how grateful he was that he treated him as a completely average person. Not as a Saint, not as a giant, just as plain old Pedro. In return he ignored the fact that the other boy could and would tell Pope Shion of his every misdeed and that Mu looked almost as girly as Shaka, and treated him in the same way.
After a year in Sanctuary, Aldebaran's master dragged him off to Brazil for an arduous test to 'prove his worthiness' of the Gold Cloth of Taurus. Most of the other Gold Saints in training had been whisked away too-Aphrodite had gone to Greenland, Shaka was in India, Deathmask had ended up in Sicily (the lucky thing), Camus was in Siberia freezing peasants and Milo had been made to swim to Milo Island.
Shura had been sent to the Pyrenees a few months earlier-Pope Shion had hoped that actually making him wear the Capricorn cloth might encourage him to speak Greek and worship Athena. (As Aldebaran found out later, it did.)
Mu, however, was staying in Sanctuary with Pope Shion and Aiolia for company. Aldebaran bade his one remaining friend goodbye in a quiet, understated style-by making an enormous amount of brigadeiros, filling all the temples with flowers and by writing 'GOODBYE MOO' in enormous letters on the side of Aries Temple.
Pope Shion had laughed at this, and it was the last time Aldebaran heard that sound in Sanctuary. He spent two hard, lonely years in Brazil learning about his constellation and what it truly meant to serve Athena. His master drummed into him the knowledge that Taurus was the zodiacal representation of Zeus in bull form, and that he should always respect his constellation as such. It guided his destiny, his life, his very heart. Aldebaran was the one of the brightest stars in the sky and it aptly meant 'the Follower'. So too must he follow his stars and Athena.
By the time he was seven, Aldebaran had won his Gold Cloth (after two years of hell and his master's cooking, he felt he deserved it!) and had come back to Sanctuary. The desire to find his family had mysteriously left when he put on his Cloth for the first time, and the Aldebaran then was a far cry from the happy little Pedro that had arrived in Greece so long ago.
And he had grown even bigger-he was now taller even than Deathmask and Aiolos, prompting bitter rivalries between him and the Italian boy. Deathmask did not like competition-indeed, whilst in Sicily he had picked off the other hopefuls for the Cancer Cloth one by one until only he and a weedy little Majorcan remained. The ten-year-old saw a challenge in the form of Aldebaran, and never lost an opportunity to exploit Aldebaran's weaknesses.
Not that there were many. In fact he only really had three-his habit of being nice to everyone, the fact that he was scared of the dark and his friendship with Mu. The last one had been identified by Shaka as soon as Aldebaran had returned from Brazil and had greeted Mu-who had grown up a little-with an enormous bear-hug and a yell.
The now-Virgo saint (who had stayed tiny and merciless) had promptly declared Aldebaran unsuitable to be a Saint. "You are far too attached. If you don't need Mu, why spend time with him? What is the benefit? In the grand scheme of things, what good will this silly friendship do? Abandon it now, before you both grow up and die."
Aldebaran had taken a deep breath, a healthy dose of patience and virtue and had sat down to educate the blonde on the joys of friendship. "Shaka-"
"It's Virgo Shaka, actually."
"I know, but surely I am allowed to call you Shaka? Anyway, friendship is a mutually beneficial thing-Mu and I enjoy each other's company, and through that enjoyment we find happiness and a more determined urge to perform our sacred duties. It is grounding in a world that does, to be honest, make little sense."
Shaka had frowned, his delicate eyebrows knotting. "But what if one of you dies? Surely the friendship is not worth the fallout? Why inflict that upon yourself?"
The Brazilian had smiled then, and put a hand on Shaka's armour-clad shoulder. "Sounds to me like you're scared of friendship, Shaka! Does having Buddha in your head make you not want to feel? I can assure you a good friendship is worth every minute..."
"Buddha is not in my head, you fool! And don't you dare lecture me! You have no right to do so, you are not my superior!" With that Shaka had stormed off with all the force an angry seven-year-old could muster, and Aldebaran was left chuckling behind. Shaka may have been more powerful than he, but Aldebaran could at least feel and that was infinitely superior to whatever deformed notions of humanity the little blonde had gained.
And as Mu came running up the hill, his pink hair fluttering behind him and an enormous bucket full of dirt slipping and sliding in front of him, Aldebaran felt that this weakness was possibly his greatest strength.
"Aldebaran! We are going FISHING! I have WORMS! LOTS OF WORMS!"
A bucket of worms was shoved into Aldebaran's arms as Mu continued his babble-"and now we RUN because I took these from Aphrodite's rose garden and I uprooted half of his bushes so we go NOW!"
The furious figure of a nine-year old in curlers was seen emerging from Pisces Temple. Mu and Aldebaran ran. Once again, no words were really needed and behind them, Milo caught the entire thing on videotape.
Mu also disagreed with the general assumption that Aldebaran being nice was a bad thing, and had said so loudly and on many occasions-but it also got Aldebaran into trouble, and as such it became Mu's unofficial duty to defend Aldebaran from those who would take advantage of his helpful nature.
One such time had been when Milo and Camus had discovered a large, dark cave on the outskirts of Sanctuary and instead of doing the sensible thing (leaving it alone) the gruesome twosome had run off to fetch (who else?) Aldebaran.
They had found him scrubbing the steps of Taurus Temple (a trainee had thrown up and Aldebaran had offered to do the job, another sure sign of his madness) and whistling 'Pedro the Mason' to himself. Milo had immediately skipped up to him and gave the Brazilian his most trustworthy smile.
"Say, Aldebaran? Would you mind helping us with something quickly?"
Milo's grin was so big it nearly split his face, and Camus, whilst not grinning, had a similar expression of sincerity. Aldebaran looked down at them, confused.
"My help? Why? What have you done this time? You know you're on your last official warning, Milo...."
The grinning continued. "Oh, it's nothing illegal! At least, we don't think it is. We just want you to come and help us explore this cave we found just outside the Arena!"
Hmm...large cave, probably dark, probably with bats who would probably have rabies, probably highly dangerous....Aldebaran considered it for a moment, but looking at his 'friend's' hopeful faces he knew he would have to say yes.
Damn compassion for those smaller and weaker than himself.
"Yes! Thanks a lot, Aldebaran! It's this way!" The brightly-coloured boys ran off at the speed of light, Milo shrieking with delight. And yet, Aldebaran considered, it is not like they are weaker than me-they probably believe they are stronger, yet I doubt either would want to face me in a fight....
"Hurry up, Aldy! The cave won't wait forever!"
Aldebaran sighed and ran after them, hoping he'd done the right thing.
None of the boys noticed the watchful and unusually open gaze of Virgo Shaka, who had been perched in the tree above them the entire time. His big blue eyes followed Aldebaran's retreating figure down the staircases of Taurus and Aries Temple and then out of the Arena, before arriving at the foot of a mountain near Star Hill.
Camus and Milo were waiting for him, their long hair swaying gently in the breeze. The sunlight glinted off their sacred Gold Cloths and they had expressions of absolute honesty on their little faces. All in all, perfect examples of child Saints. Aldebaran didn't trust them-but they were his comrades; he should give them another chance. It was only right.
His brown eyes glinted with determination. "What must I do?"
Milo smirked, and indicated to a gaping hole in the side of the mountain. It looked rather dark and exceedingly dangerous, and Milo was smiling at it like it was his new best friend.
"Here"-he said, grinning up at Aldebaran-"is the entrance to Priscilla. That's her name, by the way. Priscilla the cave. We want you"-here he pointed at Aldebaran-"to enter Priscilla and have a good look around, go as far as you can inside, then come back out and tell us what it was like."
Camus was sniggering and Aldebaran had the feeling that he'd heard similar words before. Nonetheless...
"Why must I go first? My attacks are destructive and only my cosmos can illuminate the way. It's better to let Camus go first so he can freeze any potential threat immediately and then we can destroy it together."
Milo looked stricken. "Please, Aldebaran-you're bigger than we are and scarier! Anything in there will run a mile as soon as it sees you!"
"Soon as it sees your face, you mean."
"Camus, my face is beautiful. And go on, Aldebaran-we need you!"
And of course the Brazilian agreed. It was the same with puppies and kittens-during his two years in Brazil, the young boy had rescued on average three abandoned animals a day. Some had ended up as supper; others had gone to good homes. None had stayed with Aldebaran, but he just hadn't been able to say no.
"Very well. As a Saint of Athena and a protector of mankind, I will do my sacred duty!"
"Jeez, Aldy, all we want you to do is look at a cave!"
But Aldebaran had already rushed inside.
Meanwhile, a muddier Mu than usual had trundled up to Taurus Temple with a cheeky grin on his face and a bag of sweets in his pocket, ripe for sharing. He had just finished cleaning all the Silver Cloths in Sanctuary, as it had been a while and they had got rather dirty. As a reward for a job well done, Pope Shion had given him sherbets and so he had toddled off to share them with Aldebaran.
However, Taurus Temple was empty and the hallowed halls were devoid of underage Brazilian. A mop and bucket lay forgotten on the steps outside, as did a few dubious stains. Mu wandered around for a bit, trying to locate any traces of his friend's cosmos.
"AAAAALDE-BARAN! WHERE AAAA-RE YOU? I HAVE SHERBETS!"
No luck. Mu tried again.
"THERE ARE LOTS OF THEM, AND THEY'RE STRAWBERRY FLAVOURED!"
Still no luck. Mu was just taking a deep breath for his third attempt when a quiet voice from the doorway stopped him in his tracks.
"He's not here. If you want...I can show you where he's gone." Sure enough, from behind a column peeped Virgo Shaka, looking shyer than Mu had ever seen him. He had an odd expression on his little face, and his big blue eyes were wide-open.
Mu grinned and ran towards the blonde. "Excellent! Can you show me where he went?"
Shaka looked almost embarrassed. "Yes...yes I can. He went down to that big cave near Star Hill that Deathmask sometimes hides in when he doesn't want a bath."
The pink-haired boy looked confused. "What's Aldy doing there? He doesn't like the dark or Deathmask!"
"Milo and Camus asked him to help them explore it-I can only assume that they don't know Deathmask uses it..."
Mu shrugged. "Eh, it's his choice I guess. I'll go help them, I'm good with rocks. But first"-with that the boy pulled a crumpled little bag out of his pocket and offered it to Shaka-"have a sherbet. You know, for helping me and all."
Shaka just looked at him blankly.
Mu sighed, and removed one of the pink oval-shaped sweets. "Look, this is a strawberry sherbet-you eat them and they taste like heaven! I am giving it to you to thank you for helping me find my best friend, and because I can see that you're finding your first taste of friendship quite odd."
He held out the sweet to Shaka, who took it gingerly. "This thing tastes like Nirvana?"
"No, no-that was a figure of speech, but they do taste very nice-wait, have you never even had sweets? What did Virgo Spica raise you on?"
The blonde blinked. "Meditation, training, cabbage?"
"Makes sense. Look, just show me where Aldy is, okay?" With that, Mu grabbed Shaka's thin wrist and dragged him out of Taurus Temple, shoving a sherbet into the blonde's mouth along the way.
Unfortunately, they were a bit too late. At that very moment, Aldebaran had sprung into the open mouth of the cave and was encompassed by a heavy blanket of dark. Milo and Camus peered nervously into the gloom, hoping they hadn't just impaled their friend on a stalagmite.
"A-Aldebaran? Are you okay?" Camus' voice called into the darkness, but the young Taurus saint was nowhere to be seen. Beside him, Milo looked worried.
"Camus, have we doomed Aldy to a horrible, horrible death alone in the dark?"
Both boys looked into the inky black hole that was the cave.
"Nah, he's Aldebaran, he'll be fine!"
At this very moment Mu ran up, covered in dirt and dragging Shaka behind him. The little blonde looked most perturbed and appeared to be choking on something; Mu was simply bulldozing everything in his way in his haste to get to the mouth of the cave.
"Gangway! Milo, where is Aldebaran?!"
"Aaargh! Don't hit me, you ruffian! Aim for Camus!"
"Excuzes-moi?"
Mu skidded to a halt in front of the entrance. "Please tell me he isn't in that cave!"
Camus and Milo exchanged guilty looks. "Er...we don't want to lie to you, so how about we tell you that he is either in that cave and we can't see him, or that he has been teleported to Mars?"
The pink-haired boy's dots scrunched up in anger. "And why did you let him go in there? Aldy doesn't like the dark!"
At this, Milo looked indignant. "Hey, we didn't force him into going anywhere! We only asked for a favour and he agreed-if he hadn't wanted to do it, he would have said. Anyway, since when is Aldebaran scared of anything?"
"Shut up! You knew he wouldn't say no-you used him! Do you even know what that cave is used for?"
Shaka sighed at the pointless arguing and crept over to the entrance of the cave. If he concentrated hard, he was sure he'd be able to find Aldebaran's cosmos in all that velvet darkness...
Meanwhile, Aldebaran of Taurus was in the dark (literally.) He had jumped headfirst into an unknown cave without a light and had, much to his relief, survived. But if this cave was unused by all except Camus and Milo, then why could he smell corpses?
Sure enough, the putrid scent of rotting flesh hung in the thick air-Aldebaran recognized it immediately, from both his early childhood in the slums of Rio de Janeiro and his training as a Saint. But why here? Were Milo and Camus secret murderers? Was this where Sanctuary's dead guards, apprentices and Saints ended up after fulfilling their purpose?
Would he, Aldebaran, one day end up rotting in the belly of a mountain?
Flaring his cosmos to create a heavenly golden glow around him, the Brazilian called out into the shadows. He hated the dark.
"Hello? Is this cave uninhabited? Is there anyone here?"
The call reverberated around the stone walls, sending chills down Aldebaran's sturdy spine. And then, much to his surprise, something answered.
"Always one for the obvious questions, aren't you? Well, this cave will be uninhabited...soon."
It was a lazy, familiar Italian drawl that made Aldebaran's (impressive) stomach muscles clench and his legs shake in fear. Oh, crap. Of all the places to be in...
Cancer Deathmask, resplendent in golden Cloth and amusing helmet, strolled out of the shadows nibbling at a chicken wing. Finishing it, he chucked it into the encompassing darkness and looked at Aldebaran.
"What? Some of us like a lunch on the run, you know. And welcome...welcome to my quaint little hidey-hole, far away from the prying eyes of Pope Shion..."
He laughed, and Aldebaran felt vaguely sick. Here he was, in Deathmask's nasty little hideout surrounded by the rotting corpses of the Italian boy's victims...and hell, he knew Deathmask didn't like him, hated the fact that Aldebaran was taller than him and had power, loathed his guts for 'sucking up'-as Deathmask saw it-to Mu and Pope Shion-what was to stop him attacking?
This led to an even nastier thought-had Milo and Camus set this up deliberately to eliminate him? No, no, surely...that was completely possible. Camus was nigh on emotionless and Milo was completely ruthless-again, what was to stop them?
Sometimes, Aldebaran felt like he was the only man who still possessed morals in Sanctuary. In front of him, Deathmask grinned.
"Say, you look a little nervous...how d'ya fancy a game? It's called 'Last Man Standing' and as I suspect you know-whoever kills the other man first wins."
Aldebaran took a deep breath and raised his hands. "Cancer Deathmask, I respect you as an adversary (even if I don't like you as a person) but I will never, never kill a fellow Gold Saint. It would go against everything we as Saints stand for, and you should feel the same."
Deathmask smirked. "Nah, too wishy-washy. The way I see it, you're scared to fight 'cos you know I'm better than you. After all, I've got my Sekishiki Meikaiha and what have you got? Your size? Your Great Horn? I think this is a little one-sided."
Oh dear. Aldebaran tried once more. "Look, Deathmask, trying to kill me is stupid-what does it achieve?"
"Extreme personal satisfaction and the knowledge of a job well done?"
"What?! No, it makes you a traitorous murderer, as well as an extremely stupid one. Camus and Milo may have put you up to this, but I am just as dangerous as you, Deathmask!"
The Italian glared. "Oh, I will Sekishiki Meikaiha you so hard-"
"-Not before I Great Horn you!"
And then a voice cut through the darkness, and a glowing body quickly followed. "No-one will be doing any Great Horning or Sekishiki-ing today! Stop this right now before I tell Pope Shion!"
The Brazilian spun around, delighted. "Mu! What are you doing here? Are you all right? Did Milo and Camus try and murder you too?"
From behind Mu, two more shiny little figures appeared. "Oi! We weren't trying to kill anyone! All we wanted was to explore Priscilla the cave!"
Milo and Camus came into view, and from behind them came the greatest surprise of all.
"Shaka's here? What on Earth?"
The final figure stepped into view, looking quite calm despite the piles of corpses surrounding the little group. Mu gave a triumphant smile.
"Taurus Aldebaran, we have come to rescue you from the evil clutches of Cancer Deathmask!"
"Um, I'm okay, really..."
"My clutches are not evil, you pink-haired brat! My clutches are fun!"
"Pull the other one, spikey!"
"Shut up, you stupid little scorpion!"
"Calm down, Angelmask!"
"Have I ever metioned to you that I eat frogs for breakfast?!"
"...."
"Shaka, it's your turn to insult Deathmask."
"Oh...okay. You are but a monkey dancing in the palm of Buddha?"
"What?!"
"Okay, as soon as we get out of here I'm teaching you new insults!"
And they did, eventually, get out of that cave. Mu (quite vigorously) explained that as he and Shaka were hurrying to find Aldebaran, they had met up with a worried-looking Aphrodite, who hadn't seen Deathmask all day.
"Well, I was hiding in here, wasn't I?"
The Swede had told them that Deathmask must be in a particularly foul mood as he hadn't even stopped by Pisces Temple to say hello. Naturally, Mu and Shaka started panicking and had raced down to the cave as fast as possible, where they had crashed into an equally-worried-and-rather-guilty Milo and Camus, who thought they had sent Aldebaran to his untimely death.
Which, inadvertently, they almost had. But they got out (because soon afterwards Gemini Saga himself showed up and dragged Deathmask off by the ear, complaining about the irresponsible younger generation all the while) and had survived the horrors of the cave. Furthermore, all five boys had learnt valuable lessons.
Shaka, for example, had learnt about the values of friendship and how not to eat a sweet. Milo and Camus had learnt to look before you leap and not take others for granted. Mu had learnt that he was better than Deathmask, and Aldebaran had learnt the best lesson of all; that one could rely on his brothers in times of need.
Being seven years old, however, they all forgot these lessons a few days later. But at the time, they were all that mattered! Five little boys had become (marginally) closer and as far as Pope Shion was concerned, he would be happy to dump a thousand Brazilians in a thousand caves if it meant that Athena's Saints would willingly work together for the good of one another.
Now, how could he make it work with Shura, Aphrodite and Aiolia?
Done for Aldebaran, 'cos I think many people view him as quite a one-dimensional character.
This obviously isn't a complete history-more his early life as a Saint. But I wanted to see what I could make of his character, and this is what I got. Apologies if it's choppy, inconsistent and not true to Aldebaran!
Once again, there's lots of Shaka. Expect that for most of them. (It's a disease!)
Mu may or may not have been like this as a child, but Mu as an adult is quite an enigma, so I think it's safe to say he was an energetic kid who cared for his friends. As far as I'm concerned, Mu and Aldebaran's friendship is canon.
Brigadeiros are a popular Brazilian sweet and Zaragoza is a city in Spain. Strawberry sherbets probably can't be found in Greece, but they are like eating Nirvana. 'Pedro the Mason' is a Portuguese song.
As for Shura's little cameo-I do believe the armour wipes your desire to return home or to make a life sans Athena, and it would be interesting if Shura, the most loyal of them all, was a victim of this. Also, him being a painter could work-he has Picasso (still alive in his lifetime, just) and Goya as influences.
-The Love Bug.