When Hyoga returned to the mansion, the others were already gathered in the salon discussing wildly. Shiryu was present too, apparently back from Russia already. As Hyoga stepped into the room, Ikki threw him a scanting look.
"So you DID find the matter important enough to show up."
"Ikki, it's not helping to be hostile," Saori interfered.
Hyoga closed his eyes for a second but didn't react on the Phoenix Saint's outburst. Ikki was frightened for his brother and lashing out was the only way he had ever shown his emotions to the outside world. To be honest, Hyoga was feeling as furious about the situation as Ikki but he preferred to think about a solution, before he spoke.
"And now what? We can't leave Shun over there and just forget about him. We don't even know if she is bluffing. There may as well be no bombs around, for all we know," Seiya said.
"But if there are, the risk is too great. We can't just walk in there and take the chance on kill innocent people," Shiryu answered.
Hyoga's voice was calm and sad. "There are bombs, I'm sure of it, and she wasn't bluffing about the shield either. There is no chance that any of us can penetrate it, without being noticed."
Ikki was still furious and Hyoga was an easy target that he could let his fury out on. "Oh yes, I forgot. She is Russian, like you. Of course you can understand her sick way of thinking. You probably even agree with her, right Hyoga?
Maybe you even helped her, or how else would she know how to surprise us? Perhaps it was just a convenient way for you to get another of your friends hurt or even killed, as you have the tendency to do?"
Hyoga's eyes went wide, and his face lost all color, but he didn't say a word.
"Ikki. That's enough!" Saori said in a severe tone. "Hyoga is not responsible for Shun's kidnapping. You're being unfair."
"We have to infiltrate somebody into her kingdom, spy on her and find out how to disarm the bombs and find Shun," Shiryu suggested, trying to direct the discourse in a safer direction.
"And how do you plan on doing that? We can't go there ourselves and we would have to find somebody who was capable of fitting in, and if necessary could fight his way out of there again with Shun. I don't think Saori has any employee capable of doing that, apart from us," Hyoga answered. He had thought about this idea as well, but dismissed it already.
Saori nodded. "He is right, unfortunately. We don't have the manpower to do something like that, and there is no way to hide your Cosmo from her completely.
"The only other thing I can think of would be to search for the bombs here. We may have a chance to find them, with the help of our powers and the police. And we still have Saori's satellite. Maybe we can reprogram it, to find the bombs," Seiya said.
Shiryu nodded. "This may be the best way to proceed, until we have a better idea. Just leaving Shun there is out of the question. I suggest, that we let the computer find the most probable places to hide a nerve gas-bomb and get in contact with the police."
Ikki nodded grimly, eyes narrowed, hands in tight fists. Hyoga could see that he was not at all happy with this plan. He wanted his brother out. Now. And Ikki would have preferred to go to Russia and kick some ass to get his brother back as soon as possible. But even he could not ignore the danger for the people of Tokyo. Hyoga knew that his next words would not go over very well, but one of them needed to stay realistic, even though he liked it about as much as the others did.
"That is useless. We don't even know, how many bombs there are. Searching for them is a waste of time," he said in a low voice.
He had expected for Ikki to be angry about his comment, but he was completely surprised by the fist that hit him in his stomach and sent him to the floor.
He sat dazed on the ground, catching his breath and looking up at Ikki, who stood above him, a dangerous gleam in his eyes.
"I've had enough of you. You act as if you don't want Shun to be found. And he considered you a friend. With you as a 'friend', one needs no enemies," he spat. "Get out of here. You are no help. We all know how bad the chances are but at least we do SOMETHING. You're a shame to any Saint, and unworthy to wear a cloth. Shun should have let you die in the House of Libra. He would have done the world a favor."
Hyoga looked at him in shock. He hadn't expected such hateful words. Of course he knew that Ikki didn't really mean them and was just crazy from worry. That he just needed somebody to take it out on, but still it hurt. More than he dared to admit.
Saori came forward and laid one hand on Ikki's arm to calm him down.
"Ikki. I said that's enough." She turned towards Hyoga. "I think it is better if you go until he has calmed down a little."
Hyoga nodded, pulled himself to his feet and left the room.
Hyoga stood in his room by the great window, looking outside, thinking.
Ikki's words had hurt him deeply, even though they were spoken in anger-surely not meant the way they sounded-but still. Ikki was right on one point. With him as friend, who needed enemies? All those close to him had suffered and died so far, except his four fellow bronze-Saints. Maybe it was his destiny, or a curse. He didn't know.
But he knew one thing. Shun was in danger. Natasha was a vicious woman. He had seen it in her the moment she had insulted him in Russian. Shun was all but safe with her and he had no means to defend himself. He would never do anything that could endanger innocent people.
Hyoga knew what he had to do. He had made his decision before he had even entered the house this morning, and Ikki's words had only made his choice clearer. He knew exactly what he was planning to do would mean. He would betray Athena and go against her orders and if he survived, he might as well be placed in the prison in Cape Sunion, to die for his betrayal. He had once given up his life to the Goddess. He had taken a holy oath to always serve her and mankind, no matter what consequences. And he would break that oath now. But he also owed Shun his life. Without him, he would have died in the House of Libra. Shun had risked his life then, and Hyoga would not allow another friend of his to die.
His gaze went to the nightstand, where his folded glasses lay. He had to take some precautions.
Sighing softly, he went to his nightstand and opened the drawer. He took out a small wooden box and opened it. After a short search he found a little piece of paper and stuffed it in his back pocket. After that he closed the small box and put it back into the drawer. He then stepped to his closet, took out a travel-bag and searched for the warmest clothes he could find.
He came out with almost nothing. He had never had any need for coats and the like. But he knew that he would need them now. He hesitated a minute, looking around his room. He was about to give up his life, as he had knew it, forever.
He sighed once more and finished packing before he left his room and the house, being careful so that no one would see him.
He walked out of the mansion's park and headed in the direction of the city.
First thing he did as he got there, was going to a bank and emptying his bank account of all the money he possessed. It was not a lot but it would suffice.
Hyoga then went in search for a cheap Motel and rented a room under a fake name. He needed to be alone to erase all his ties with the Saints and Saori.
And then he stood in the small room, where he would stay for the next few nights, until he could start his mission.
He sat on the edge of the small bed, and took the telephone into his lap. He fumbled in his back pocket and came out with the wrinkled piece of paper. On the slip of paper was a phone-number. It belonged to a rich Russian, whose life he had saved once from a polar bear. A few months before, said man had gone on an adventure-vacation and taken a great many risks, in which he had ignorantly gotten lost in the immense tundra of eastern Siberia. It had been his luck that Hyoga had been near that day and had seen him fleeing from the bear.
The man, Kavolsky, had insisted on giving him his personal cell-phone number, telling Hyoga, that if he should ever be in need for a favor, to call him. Hyoga had dismissed the idea as soon as he found out that the man he saved was a gangster mob-boss.
Hyoga hadn't thought that he would ever need that favor from a criminal, until now.
He dialed the number and waited until somebody picked up the line on the other end, responding in Russian. Hyoga discussed his problem and what he needed in his birth-language for over an hour, before all was settled and he hung up the phone.
His next step would be to do something about his appearance. Natasha knew about him and had seen him before. She would recognize him at first sight.
He stepped out of the hotel and searched for an optician. He didn't need to search for long until he found what he needed, entered the shop and made his orders.
Afterwards he went to a hairdresser. A young woman came up to him.
"Can I help you, sir?" she asked politely.
He nodded. "I want my hair cut and dyed."
She looked at him with wide eyes. "Sir, are you sure? You have such nice hair, it would be a shame…."
"I am sure. Just do it", he interrupted.
An hour later, Hyoga looked at the stranger in the mirror. His hair was now of a mild brown color, lighter than Seiya's, but definitely much darker than before, and it was much shorter now as well so that it reached barely down below his ears. The new hairdo looked and felt kind of weird and unusual to him, but still he was content with the result. Thank God he had a relatively darker tan thanks to his Japanese heritage, so the darker hair didn't look wrong. The only thing still giving him away now, were his eyes. They had always been piercing, their absolute clear color contrasting sharply with his dark eyelashes and his complexion. Now, with the darker hair, they were a certain give-away.
He would get rid of that problem tomorrow, as soon as he could pick up the colored lenses he had ordered.
He thanked the hairdresser, paid her and left the shop. He still had a lot of preparations to make before he could go see the old woman and end the existence of the Cygnus Saint.
Hyoga spent the rest of the day shopping for supplies and clothing he would need for the journey to come.
He made a detour to his motel to leave his stuff there, before he walked off to the part of town where the old Lady lived. It was quite a far walk, but he didn't mind. It left him time to think about Ikki's words.
It was an old truth that words out of anger were words spoken without camouflage. And even though he had been upset about Shun and not very rational, Ikki had talked out of his heart. Hyoga chuckled sadly. The proud Phoenix-Saint would never admit to even possess a heart. Yet, it was he who could not stop worrying about Shun. Hyoga did not really think that Ikki went to Shun's rescue, every time he was in danger, just to save him from his adversaries. Because despite his gentle being, Shun was a very powerful Saint who could perfectly well defend himself. And Hyoga was certain that Ikki trusted his brother's ability to fight.
No, Ikki tried to save him, so that his little brother would not be forced to turn into a cold-hearted killing machine. Ikki preferred to spare his pacifist brother as many kills as possible. He was not protecting Shun's body, but his soul. For the same reason he had exchanged places with him to go to Death-Queen Island when they were kids.
Those last weeks, Ikki had displayed an almost manic worry for his brother. And today he had shown his opinion of the Cygnus Saint too. When Hyoga thought about it now, it all seemed pretty logical. All people who had ever meant something to him had eventually suffered and died. And the person closest to him now was his friend Shun. Ikki was afraid of him, Hyoga suddenly realized. He saw him on a subconscious basis as a threat to his brother, even if he did not rationally realize it.
And unfortunately, he was right about it too. Shun was in great danger and Hyoga would do whatever he could to ensure that destiny would not repeat itself. This time he would save his friend, or die doing so. He would even betray the essence of being a Saint itself.
He was still deep in thought when he arrived at the decayed old shop of the fortune-teller.
He entered the room again and found the old lady sitting in a wooden chair by the front window, her gaze lost somewhere beyond it.
"I was expecting you," she stated without looking at him.
Hyoga bowed his head slightly and smiled briefly. "You said that there was a way to destroy one's Cosmo? Do you know how?"
She turned her head at last and studied him for a long moment. "You will betray your Goddess and your duty."
"I serve Athena that is true, but I was raised as a Christian. So who is my God? And about my duty to protect mankind and this planet? That includes my friend. How can I be ready to risk everything for strangers, if I'm not willing to do the same for my friends?"
A slight smile traced her wrinkled features at his words. "It can be done quite simply. I could help you out, but you have to be aware that no force on this world can reverse it, once it is done. You would still have the techniques of combat and you'd still be a good fighter, but you will not be able to burn your cosmo, to create ice or dive in arctic seas. You'll be as prone to frostbite and freezing as any human."
Hyoga just nodded. "I am aware of all that. Will you help me?"
"You want to do it now? I need some time for preparations."
Hyoga shook his head. "I can't do it before I'm ready to leave. The other Saints will feel my Cosmo vanish. I can't run the risk that they find out about my plans before I find Shun. It is my decision, mine alone."
He knew that Ikki would not hesitate to take the same decision if he were to come to know about the possibility, and he would not bring the other two in a position where they would have to choose between helping a traitor to Sainthood, or report him to Athena and maybe even fight a friend. He would do what had to be done and what his heart was telling him.
"I'll be coming to you tomorrow morning. Will that be enough time for the preparations?" he asked.
The old woman just nodded and looked back out of the window, without giving him and further notice.
Hyoga left the shop again.
T.B.C
Again a great big Thank you to splitpersona who is making time betaing this thing, besides all her other obligations like exams and stuff;-)
I know we're not supposed to answer review through here, but since we can only reply to the ones loggesd in and due to the fact that I was very exited to get any for this, I will do anyway and hope nobody will tell
Brynn Walley: Thank you for your nice words. They made me especially happy since this is one of my very first fanfics with still a lot of flaws. Especially the first chapter wasn't really to my liking. I hope you like the other chapters as well.
Seiiriuka: I hope to get a bit more done on 'Anibun' tonight. It's still one of my all time favorites.
Gemini Star01: Wow, you read this on Cygny's site then? I go under the Nickname Ducky there. Too bad that the old Sts community seemed to kind of fall apart:-( Great to finnally get into contact this way.
FF Fanatic: There will be, but only one. There will be lots of Shun later though. Yet no slash, just friendship. Shun is my favorite character after Hyoga, but since they are all so young and (in the manga) half brothers, I feel more comfortable writing Saint Seiya Fanfics without slash. (Doesn't mean I don't enjoy reading them, if the plot is good.) Thanks for the review.