Punch through a path! Kouga's strong eyes toward a Mother goddess (Part 1)
(道を切り開く!)
He felt their lives trying to reach out, but he had to leave them again.
"I made it...I made…"
Pegasus Kouga climbed another flight of stairs—leading to the last destination—all the while, steeling his resolve as he left his friends. It was combined with anger. Passing the threshold of large double doors, his eyes met majestic surroundings; columns of the Doric order ran parallel to the back end of the chamber, which was covered in towering curtains.
"Demeter!" Pegasus Kouga's voice reflected as an echo, reaching nothing inside the empty room.
It didn't feel that different from Sanctuary's Pope Chamber. A small stairway reached up to an elevation to the throne. The throne was empty; Kouga was filled with a sense of hollowness, and calmness touched him. How is the temple of his enemy empty? Kouga looked around while taking slow steps toward the throne, then he froze. It wasn't an attack, but his eyes met with a sight that put his brain in shock. Like watching a train wreck, his attention was inevitably grasped. On the left wall was a decoration. Plastered like a trophy or a ghastly image of an open-jawed stuffed game from the woods—a practice called taxidermy—was the petrified body of Pisces Amor. He was nailed by boulders at each of his limb joints. That incident with him and Demeter—his face was definitely crushed by a rock, the last thing Amor saw, but did the Goddess preserve his body and face for the moment when the enemy arrived?
The Saint suddenly sensed a rising Cosmos—a dangerous one that did not feel like from an ally—and there was a voice.
"Even though he's long gone, she said that she wanted to make an example of that fool."
Pegasus Kouga swiftly turned again, and the next thing he saw was a jagged silhouette, which was then obscured by something erected from the ground. The Saint saw a bony structure, a skeletal hand, larger than him. Curling its fingers, it grabbed Kouga tightly. With a burst of Cosmos, running through his body, the hand flew out in fragments. Bone clattered the ground loudly, then became wafting dust.
"Wow, that's some power. So, you beat Arion after all. You must be that interesting guy called Pegasus." The figure that had just arrived moved closer, revealing his features. Impish eyes seem to laugh at Kouga as they suit the wide, stretching smirk and the black hair of this person. Kouga looked perplexed.
"Wait? The Gold Saint of Cancer?" In the temple of his current enemy, sensing an antagonistic Cosmo, the young Bronze was face to face with another of his own. It was also not a revived Gold such as Schiller, Amor or Sonia; Kouga clearly saw a Cloth as bright and gold as the sun. So, he felt a bit of relief; a strong ally had come to help him fight Demeter. Maybe. It might've been a desperate wish.
"Nice to meet you, Pegasus. Aren't you a resilient son of a bitch? Sorry, but I can't let you through or touch the Mother Goddess. I'm finishing you here."
Kouga immediately thought back at what Pan said. "Are you Hermes?"
"Nailed it. I am the Gold Saint, Cancer Hermes."
"You're working for Demeter after all!?"
"Look pal, I just had a long convo with Athena about all of this. I don't feel like repeating myself, and besides, you're just too late."
"Why 'too late'?! Where is Athena?!"
"Athena is in Limbo right now at the Prison of Tartarus."
Arion had told Kouga the same, but the young Saint wanted it truly confirmed. Maybe he didn't want to believe it; adding to the confusion, why was Cancer Saint telling him this so matter-of-factly?
"Then what the hell are you doing?!"
"You're good with jokes. Anyways, I'm in no mood for questions. The Cloth of Ophiuchus will revive Hades's soul and you can't do nothing." Cancer Hermes often smiled, but it was a smile that aimed to kill—his viciousness was boiling to the surface. White-violet will-o-wisps appeared at the top of five raised fingers.
"So just die."
Now Arion's words—about the "Athena being in custody due to Saints own ilk" or the like—were remembered. Kouga also knew of Cancer's specific ability to take souls to the Underworld. Something sparked in Kouga's body and clear anger emerged on his face, wide eyes aimed towards Hermes.
"It was you!"
Before a step was made, a loud voice interjected. "STOP!" The two Saints were brought to a standstill—it was like a chill. Another Cosmos entered the chamber. Kouga turned towards the throne and saw a sparkling, thick aura cast over a body.
"It's been a long while, Saint of Pegasus." A beautiful figure in a Greek dress.
The Mother Goddess appeared from the shadows of her curtains. Her platinum hair and verdant eyes were magnetic; narrowing his eyes, determination welled inside of Kouga as he always made up his mind to fight a true God once more.
"You're here, Demeter."
"It seems you made it this far, you disgusting warrior."
"I am the Bronze Saint of Athena, Pegasus Kouga. This was all to protect the Earth. Even as a Mother Goddess, you seemed to have abandoned that ideal." Kouga faced the burning verdant eyes of Demeter. By the way they looked, she would kill a child after the defeat of the Terrae. They clashed with Kouga's own eyes that read courage.
"Impudent as always, Pegasus. It is always humans who nearly destroy the living. Struggling to survive, the progression in evil, greed, technology, and desires. I, Demeter, have nearly driven life to extinction due to my family and their safety. It's an adversity that both God and man have faced. It is not 'evil' you face, but only something "'disagreeable'. As the Mother Goddess, my grief has such power. Would you blame me?"
"So what?! Many Saints died because of you. Haruto died because of you. Why cause us grief when you grieve? How selfish can you be?! Say what you will. I've come to defeat you!"
Compared to Kouga, he was superficially angry, and it showed through his voice, Demeter somehow contained her fury. Each word from her lips came out with meticulous heed, but the words she chose hinted a closed, simmering furnace within her.
"Silence. You have committed a grievous act. To invade my Gardens and attack my family…"
"Do your worst."
"Hermes, move." The Goddess growled the order, and the Cancer Saint stepped to the side without a word. A lithe hand was raised; that sparkling aura continued to pulsate. Plants embellishing vines sprouted from the ground, snaking around Kouga's ankles and wrists, holding him in one spot.
"You probably won't turn back, but know that it is too late. Still, my fury will be intense. Meagara will have her vengeance. You harmed my family, and now, now Pegasus, I will become a demon."
Before there was another word or answer, the atmosphere quickly turned dark. The plants became dark, and they wilt and die. Kouga doesn't suffocate, but instead, the force upon him is quite strong. Vines held him in place; then, something rattled his very spirit like being crushed between the largest boulders. It happened so fast that he didn't have to time be surprised at a God's power. He could not describe the force that was taking his body; he felt elastic and that he was going to snap in half from the waist.
"I opened the gate, unlocked the shackles of Asklepios and asked him to restore Hades' soul," said Demeter. "Soon to follow will be his body and the rest. The Cloth of that Silver Saint is necessary since Asklepios does not have his staff."
Kouga could not move. He struggled to get words out. "Give…back..Miss Shaina's Cloth. Stop reviving the dead."
"Don't be a fool. Hades is the dead. It is his realm. That is not a fate that you will unturn. Your Goddess Athena is nothing but a coward that quivers before Hades. Do you not know what you all have done?!"
Kouga could not retaliate. Demeter's anger began to build; Cancer Hermes distanced himself further, sheltering himself by the shadowy peripherals of the temple walls. He would definately not stand next to dead, stoned Amor. The Mother Goddess went off on a verbal tangent about what was on her mind, the fuel of her rage.
"Before you die, I will tell you Pegasus! Because of the Underworld being gone, my daughter is now in permanent limbo. Every Winter, I have to deal with her entering a short-term sleep. It's one of the strange routines that both she and I must face when being reincarnated into the world. Our presence here are important on Naxos and to preserve life…and yet, I must suffer this Winter Sickness. Every. single. year. For 3 agonizing months. Then, I would have Winter depression and would not have the strength to maintain my political post." At her words, Hermes couldn't help but mock the Goddess from inside his mind. So it was about her mythological daughter after all, he thought.
"My family," Demeter continued, "and now, Arion… You harmed Pan, you harmed Ginga, you killed Meg, and now…Arion! It is not possible…where is he?! What have you done to him?!"
A green spark from Demeter's eyes and Kouga agonized.
Ahhh…!
Suddenly, green and red poppies began to blossom from the Pegasus Cloth, connected along vines that snake and sewn through his body. Plants were invading the Bronze Saint. He could not resist, and felt like he was being squeezed and bitten. As if the plants carried a poison concocted from Demeter's fury, an acidic neurotoxin of pain and paralysis ate Kouga from within. He couldn't help by wonder if it was real. It was the true source of what was binding him in place.
"Perish from our love!"
Somehow, Kouga strung words together with conviction. "No! I must carve a path!" More poppies sprout; what would happen if they smothered his entire body? How would he break out? Kouga shut his eyes. He put feeling in his fingers, curled his hands into fists and could only think, "Burn! Burn Cosmos!"
And Demeter could only think "You will not escape!" The Saint was the last living obstacle on her island; she did not know how Athena's Saints passed adversity when it comes to the Divine but that thought never reached her mind. Pegasus was at her mercy, his consciousness fading as the flowers from his body sip his entire essence. Like sunlight being absorbed into flowers as a source of energy to use, Kouga's life force was probably the same. His hands became limp as he felt his sense of touch leaving.
He had to reach out for that power that defeated Arion—where was it? As he was becoming a hollow shell, where was that incredible power?
Demeter extended her arm out to the side and a staff suddenly materialized into her hand. A metal scepter tipped with an ear of husked corn wrapped in wheat. Kouga bowed over, his lips quivering.
"Everyone..we..can't die…not here. Please."
The Goddess walked closer to Kouga. "You pathetic boy. This is the end. For you and Athena."
"Love…"
"Why do you still speak? Love, strength, affection, Cosmos…nothing is effective against me. I am a Goddess, one of the Olympians after all. You are a mere human who is trained to fight with the Cosmos. You dare anger me and truly think that you would live?!"
"Demeter, did..he…love you?"
"What did you say?!"
"A…ri—"
"Do not speak his name! It means nothing to you, so die already!"
"Demeter!"
A voice rang out, shaking Demeter out from her anger. It came as a shock as it was completely unexpected—it was from Cancer Hermes, who was in a full-on sprint toward her. The dark air created by Demeter was being suffused by bright stars. Hermes bounded over Demeter and Kouga like hurdles and reached out.
In mid-air, his palm caught a punch. His mouth twisted into a wry grin. "Another powerful Cosmos is here. Who are you?"
"I'm just here to save my favorite rival, the one who taught me fervor and connections. Unlike you, you bullshit traitor."