First of all, I'd like to express my gratitude to Girl with a Golden Heart, who had given me suggestions and advices that make this chapter possible to appear, since I thought about not continuing it once^^. I would also like to say THANKYOU VERY MUCH! to those who had put this story to their Favourites list XD

Disclaimer: I don't own Saint Seiya, Saint Seiya belongs to Masami Kurumada and Toei Animation.

~Chapter 3: A Day in Aquarius~

"Where is she? I told her to sleep in one of my rooms but she didn't show up last night," Saori asked worriedly.

"Athena...if you're talking about Rikka, I think she slept with Deathmask the other night," Kanon said.

Saori's eyes widened. "What? She slept in Cancer Temple? Why?"

Aphrodite sighed. "Here," he said, and handed her a photograph.

Saori gazed at the picture without another word. Then her eyes softened. "What do you know...Deathmask might not be so bad after all..."

"That reminds me," Aiolia said, "where is that crab?"

"Here..." a voice echoed.

Everyone turned. "Masky?"

The Cancer saint stepped in the Hall, with Rikka holding his hand and smiling widely. "Good morning, everyone!" she chided.

Everyone turned silent. They just stood there, gawking at the sight of a psycho killer holding hands with a little kid and looking like a father-and-daughter scene in movies.

"What?" Deathmask demanded.

Aphrodite shook his head. "I told you there was a meeting at eleven! It's twelve-thirty now! Where were you?"

"In my temple...DUH!"

"What took you so long?"

"Deathmask-sama cooked spaghetti for me first before going here," Rikka said, "I'm sorry if I caused much trouble..."

Silence.

"He cooked you spaghetti?" Shura finally asked unbelievingly.

"Yup," Rikka answered.

Saga raised an eyebrow at Deathmask. "Really?"

"N...now d...don't get me wrong! The little kid was whining like HELL so I made her something to shut her up!" Deathmask snapped.

"You're blushing," Aiolos joked.

"No I'm not!'

"Yes, you are!"

"I'm not!"

"You are!"

"I SAID I'M NOT!"

"YES YOU ARE,YOU ABSOLUTELY ARE!"

"Stop it!" Shion snapped, but even the dumbest nutcase in Sanctuary could see that he was trying not to smile.

Athena smiled. "Well done, Deathmask," she said, and turned to Rikka, "you must've been so happy. Is he nice?"

"Very!" Rikka nodded hard.

All eyes landed on the Cancer saint, probably thinking, "What the? Is this kid blind, or is Deathmask really playing angel?"

"Stop gawking at me like that!" Deathmask shouted, "That's it! I'm not joining this meeting! I'm leaving...NOW!" and he turned and marched down the stairs to his lovely home.

Rikka looked at the floor. "Did I make him angry?"

"Of course not, dear," Saori said softly, crouching so she was level with the girl, "you are a wonderful child...and probably the only friend he ever had...apart from us."

Rikka nodded, but she still looked uneasy.

"Tell you what," Saori beamed, "you can stay with another saint today! Who do you want to be with?"

Rikka's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Yes."

The little girl looked up, examining everyone with her brilliant red eyes.

"Can I stay with you, Camus-sama?"

Silence...again.

Obviously everyone knew that Camus was not one for visitors,especially a kid!

"Well, Camus?" Saori asked, standing up.

"...W...well...I..." Camus stammered, and looked at the seven-year-old. Finally he sighed. "As you wish, Athena..."

"Yeah!" Rikka beamed and ran over to the Aquarius. "May I see your temple? Does it have dead people faces like Cancer's?"

"Yes,you may see my temple but you have to promise to behave...and no, I don't have dead people's faces..." Camus answered flatly. Soon he left the Hall with the kid behind him.

"Alright," Shion finally said, "let's get on with the meeting. Um...where were we? Oh, yes...that girl has no cosmo, is that correct?"

Saori stared at him as if he had grown two heads. "What are you talking about, she HAS a cosmo!"

Milo sweatdropped. "A...Athena...I uh...I think you mistook her aura for her cosmo..." he said, glancing at Kanon.

The goddess shook her head. "No, no... she has a rather strange aura, yes, I know, but she also has a cosmo! I feel it!"

"...Now I'm confused..." Kanon scratched his head.

"B...but how? Why do we have different opinions like this when the person we're talking about is the same?" Mu demanded.

"Athena, are you sure?" Shion asked.

"Mm-hmm," Saori answered.

Aldebaran sighed. "What the heck is happening here?"

"Okay..." Athena said. "This child is different in some way, we know that for sure. But what we don't know, is that why we felt two different things at the same time. I sensed her cosmo but all of you don't. All we can do now is find out who she is first."

There was a mumble of agreement.

"Shaka," Athena called.

The blonde-haired Buddha tensed. "Yes, Athena?"

"I want you to find information about this child. Can you do this, please?"

"Yes, my Lady."

"Great. Oh, one more thing. Aphrodite...you go and ask Deathmask what he felt about the girl, alright?"

Not again...the Pisces thought. But he agreed anyway. "Yes, Athena."

"Okay, the meeting is done. We shall discuss this further when Shaka and Aphrodite has returned with more information." Athena ordered.

After that, the gold saints bowed, and returned to their temples.

~Meanwhile, in Aquarius Temple~

"Camus-sama...your temple is awesome! It's so cold here! Do you have Christmas everyday?" Rikka was already running around, despite Camus' cold glares.

"No. I am an ice saint. That explains why my temple is so cold."

Rikka beamed. "Can you reach absolute zero?"

Camus blinked, stunned on what she'd said. "W...well not really, but I'm near to reaching it..."

"Does that mean no one can reach it other than you?"

A shadow passed Camus' face. There USED to be no one...until his student Hyoga showed up. The Aquarius stayed silent, and Rikka waited, as if expecting an answer like "Of course there's no one! I'm the greatest guy ever!" But Camus just looked away.

"No..."

"You can beat EVERYONE?"

Camus mnanaged a slight smile. "Not everyone..."

Rikka smiled. "See? You're lying."

Camus stared at the girl, more stunned than ever. "What did you say?"

"Camus-sama...you said that no one can get closer to absolute zero more than you did. It means you're the strongest ice saint ever, right? But you said you couldn't beat everyone. I'm guessing...someone. Someone had defeated you once before...with a technique of the absolute zero stronger than you."

"What? There are so many possibilities on how I got defeated. It may be because of other techniques, not only ice ones. What makes you think I got defeated by an absolute zero stronger than me?" Camus asked coldly.

The child shook her head. "I just know..."

The Aquarius kept quiet. No wonder Deathmask changed after meeting this brat. She influenced people around her. She seemed to understand everyone, eventhough she never met them.

The turquoise-haired man sighed, and sat down at the nearest sofa. Rikka followed and sat beside him, her red eyes shining. Camus looked outside the window. His gaze was long...probably longer than the universe itself.

"When I was alive...I mean...two years ago, when I was guarding my temple from intruders, I was defeated...by my own student. His name is Hyoga. He was still fourteen at that time...and I thought...he'll never make it through all the Twelve Temples. But I was wrong. He broke through my Freezing Coffins, twice...reaching absolute zero in the process better than I did..."

Camus stopped himself. He was surprised, at how he was able to tell a story like this to an unknown stranger. But somehow...he felt okay. The kid was listening, almost as good as his best friend Milo every time he needed someone to share things with.

Rikka gazed at the ceiling, thinking about every word the Aquarius had said.

Then she grinned. "...Sometimes the best way to teach a disciple is through sacrifice...only a true teacher can do that..."

Camus, once again, was baffled. "Where did you hear that?"

"My master told me."

"Your master?"

For a moment Rikka seemed to remember what she'd said, and her eyes widened in shock. But then she returned to her normal self, although a bit more nervous this time.

"It's nothing," she said, shaking her head.

Camus narrowed his eyes. Something...definitely something was different about this child. Not only she has no cosmo...but she also has an aura no one else has. Plus, this child seems to know everything an adult would. She also seems to have the ability to know what others were thinking, although Camus must admit, he can't say she can read minds. He didn't know her AT ALL.

Just then, the gold saint remembered what he and his fellow friends discussed earlier. Who in the world is she? Deciding to investigate further, Camus started to ask some questions.

"Hey,kid...where...where do you come from?"

"Rodorio Village in Greece," the child said matter-of-factly.

"Your age?"

"Seven, going on eight."

"Why were the guards chasing you?"

"I went to Sanctuary without permission."

"What for?"

"To find out what it's like."

"Do you have any parents?"

"No...I mean yes...I mean...they died..."

"I see...may I know your master's name?"

"A...I'm not allowed to tell anybody about that..."

Camus hit the jackpot. About who this child really is...it's still blurry. But this child's mentor...her master...whoever he is, he must be a really important person that no ordinary people can know.

"Alright, it's fine," Camus said flatly, "you need anything, just take it. And your room's over there."

The kid smiled. "Thanks!"

Late that night...

"It's ten already. I suppose you want to go back to Athena?" Camus asked, relieved he finally get to be alone.

Rikka shifted uncomfortably. "Umm...may I sleep here?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No. Wait, why?"

"Because I like company."

"You also have company with Lady Athena."

"But I like it here better."

"Is that so?"

"Yes."

"And your reason?"

"You."

SILENCE.

"You look so much like my Dad," Rikka said, "so I like being in your company."

"What about Deathmask?" Camus couldn't help asking.

At once the child's smile faded. "I think he hates me."

"No he doesn't."

"But he's angry just now!"

"That's just his way of saying that he cared."

"I don't think so..."

"If he hates you, he wouldn't get the trouble of cooking you spaghetti. He wouldn't keep you. He wouldn't hold your hands. He would've killed you."

The girl nodded, but still looking doubtful. "But can I please stay here tonight? Please?"

Camus sighed, then turned around to walk to his room. "Just this once."

"Yeaaah!"

"No shouting! Now just go to your room!"

"Can I sleep in yours?"

The Aquarius didn't move. Without looking back, he nodded once, and the kid trotted up after him.

~END OF THIRD CHAPTER~

A/N: Third chapter, finally done!^^ U Sorry it took so long because I'm quite busy on my other fics. Reviews PLEASE...I really wanna know how I'm doing in this story...