As usual, a thankyou for all the reviewers for the last chapter, Fantasy-Magician, Mary Pyroangel and Girl with a Golden Heart, as well as to everyone that have added this fic to their favorites list Thankyou SO much!
Disclaimer: I don't own Saint Seiya, Saint Seiya belongs to Masami Kurumada and Toei Animation.
~Chapter Five: Hades' Specter~
"SHAKA!"
In a blink of an eye Mu rushed to his friend's side. The Virgo lay motionless, eyes closed with a pale skin.
"Shaka, Shaka! Oh gods, please answer!"
Seeing his friend unconscious like this, Mu'd rather fight another Holy War! The Aries gazed at the Buddha, deep in thoughts. What should he do? His friends, along with Athena,were waiting for him in the Pope's Hall right now. Should he just bring Shaka to the others? Or just leave the gold saint and get on with the meeting?
Suddenly Shaka groaned and opened his eyes. "Mu...?"
Thank the gods,Mu thought. "Hey...are you okay?" he said, helping the blonde sit up.
"Yes...I'm fine..."
"Let's go...the others are waiting for us in the Main Hall. Can you walk?"
The Virgo nodded. Mu sighed with relief. Supporting Shaka all the way up, Mu slowly made his way upstairs. Shaka was even paler than Deathmask and Camus. The Aries saint frowned. What on Earth happened to his friends?
The moment she saw them, Athena's eyes widened like they're going to pop out any minute.
"Shaka!"
Saori ran over and immediately gazed at the Virgo saint. "What happened...? He looked so pale!"
"When I came in, he was already collapsed on the floor..." Mu explained.
"It's alright...I'm fine..." Shaka said reassuringly.
Milo balled his fists. "First Deathmask, then Camus, and now Shaka?"
"Where is that brat?" Kanon half-shouted.
Everybody tensed. How could they forget about her?
"Wait," Camus said, still looking weak, "what makes you think the kid's behind all this?"
"Master..." Hyoga said, "that kid has no cosmo! I don't think she's even human!"
"Yeah," Ikki added, "she's just like a walkin' body without a soul!"
"But that still doesn't make her the culprit!" Deathmask protested, "what does not having a cosmo gotta do with three people being ill?"
Shiryu smiled. "You really changed since I met you last, Deathmask."
"SHUT UP!" The Cancer shouted, his cheeks as red as a boiled crab.
"Hello? We're having a problem here!" Shura cut in, slightly annoyed.
Shion turned to their goddess. "Athena...?"
"Call the girl. I need to speak with Rikka. She's probably still sleeping right now," Saori said, her eyes dim.
"Somebody called my name?" a little voice spoke out.
Startled, everyone turned their heads to the direction of the voice, seeing none other thatn Rikka, dressed in her usual dark clothes, but still looking sleepy.
"She's even creepier than I last saw her..." Seiya whispered to Aiolia.
Rikka looked around nervously and saw that everyone was looking at her like she had just eaten a pile of cockroches. "Umm...did I do something wrong?"
"Did you do something wrong?" Aphrodite exploded, "YOU STILL DON'T WANT TO ADMIT THAT YOU'RE BEHIND ALL THIS?"
"B...but...I-"
"Leave her to me, Dite!" Milo said, his eyes full of hatred, his nail now turning scarlet, "she only has one path, THAT IS TO DIE!"
"STOP IT!" Shion snapped, "I can't believe how childish you all are! We still didn't know who's behind all this! We don't have any proof!"
"Milo, Aphrodite..." Saori said, "enough. Shion is right. We don't have any proof. It may not be her."
"Oh, but it IS her!" a voice bellowed.
Everybody turned and their eyes immediately widened in shock.
There, standing on the doorway of the Main Hall, was someone the saints last expected to meet.
"AIACOS?" Ikki cried.
The Garuda smirked seeing the Phoenix's reaction. "We meet again, Phoenix..."
"Aiacos-sama!" Rikka shouted in disbelief, her face showing terrible fear.
Shaka frowned at her. "You know him?"
"Of course she does, right Rikka?" Aiacos smiled slyly, "or should I say...Violate?"
"WHAT?"
"You...you mean..." Seiya stammered, looking at the child, "you're Behemoth Violate?"
"Behemoth Violate's incarnation, to be exact," Aiacos said.
"B...but...how?" Shun, who was being quiet all the while, finally spoke out of extreme curiosity.
"Ah...Andromeda, is it?" Aiacos smiled, "Hades-sama's previous vessel."
"Tell us, Garuda," Athena said, "tell us everything about the young one."
"Since it was you who asked, Athena, I shall tell you. Firstly, this child, is no more than dead."
"WHAT?" Once again, everyone was startled.
"She died in the fire two years ago in Rodorio Village," Aiacos continued, "her soul wanders in the Underworld soon after. Hades-sama, always as kind-hearted as he is, decided to revive her, sensing that she, surprisingly, shares the same soul with one of us, Behemoth Violate. Soon I was in charge of training her, because she was no more than five, at that time."
"So you're her master?" Aiolos asked, startled, "and why doesn't she have a cosmo?"
The Garuda smirked. "Now THAT'S the interesting part. Hades-sama revived her, yes, but in ONE condition. This child should stay in the Underworld and serve him for eternity, and the child agreed. To make sure she kept her promise, Hades-sama bound her cosmo to the Underworld. In other words, if she EVER leaves the Underworld, her cosmo will perish and she will die."
"That means..." Aiolia said, "her cosmo STAYS in the Underworld? She can only have her cosmo if she's in Hell?"
The Judge nodded. "She can only LIVE in hell. Her cosmo cannot exist anywhere else except in the Underworld. If, for example, she went to Earth, like now, her cosmo will not follow her, remaining in the Underworld forever and leaving her body lifeless."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Ikki shook his head, "but she's here now, ain't she? And she's not dead!"
While everyone discussed about her, Rikka stayed silent the whole time. The Specter glared at her. "Who would've thought that she will steal an Underworld pendant that STORES a cosmo?"
"That's absurd!" Saga said unbelievingly, "What pendant has the power strong enough to KEEP a cosmo?"
Aiacos shrugged. "That's for you to believe. It's all just the truth. Most of you cannot sense her cosmo inside it, I believe, because the pendant is special. Do not underestimate things that came from the Underworld. They have tremendous power."
Seiya and the other Bronzies were speechless. "First, Rikka is an incarnation of Behemoth Violate. Second, she died two years ago but was soon revived. Third, her cosmo forever stays in the Underworld not allowing her to go anywhere. Fourth, she escaped by stealing a cosmo-keeping pendant that keeps her cosmo with her...and most of us cannot sense it. Great," Seiya said.
"So the one who died in the fire really WAS her," Kanon said.
Shaka glared at Rikka. "You lied?"
"N...no! I-"
"You said it was your sister! You said they mistook you for her!"
"Shaka-sama...!"
"And you said you ran away from home, from Rodorio! But what you mean is that you ran away from the Underworld, am I right?"
"I...I-"
"I cannot believe I even soiled Buddha's name just by trusting a low human being like you," Shaka said, then turned back and walked away.
Rikka turned to Deathmask, tears in her eyes. "Deathmask-sama...?"
"SHUT UP! I LISTENED TO YOU, I TRUSTED YOU! AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME?"
"I...I'm sorry-"
"I DON'T F****** CARE! I WAS RIGHT! I SHOULD'VE KILLED YOU! BUT BECAUSE OF THIS STUPID ORDER I DIDN'T! NOW LOOK WHAT YOU DID!"
"But-"
"SEKISHIKI MEIKAI HA!"
Just before the Cancer's attack could land on the kid, a hand grabbed the gold saint's arm.
"Calm down, Deathmask," Shion said calmly, "do not kill her. She's not worth it."
"Shion!" Athena cried. The Holy Father of Sanctuary just said that? Still, she had to admit, the child's nothing but disaster. It's all her fault. She brought her here. She asked her to stay in the Twelve Temples. She took her.
Deathmask scoffed, and, without another word, stormed downstairs to his temple after Shaka.
"Athena," Shion kneeled, "I'm sure we want to ban this child?"
Athena stayed silent. Ban? That would be wise. By doing so, Sanctuary will return normal once again. But a little kid...? Saori looked at Aiacos.
"Bring her home," she said, "and never, ever bring her here again."
Aiacos shrugged. "That's what I'm supposed to do."
Rikka backed away, her eyes widening. "But I like it here better!" she cried, turning to Camus. "I want to stay here, with all of you! Camus-sama! Please!"
The Aquarius glared coldly at her, showing no mercy.
"Go back to the Underworld right now," he said quietly, a dangerous edge in his voice.
"No, I don't want to!"
"Then go somewhere else."
"That is not an option, Violate," Aiacos said, "come with me. Until next time, Athena."
In a flash, the Garuda specter and the child disappeared into thin air.
"Teleportation," Mu said. So much for not having any more enemies.
Everyone exchanged nervous looks.
"So..." Shura said uncomfortably, "that's it?"
"That's it?" Saga said, "we still have tons of problems unsolved! Why are Camus, Shaka and Deathmask ill? Why is Hades and his spectres still alive? Why did Aiacos let the kid live? He should kill her because she broke her promise! And why can Deathmask and Lady Athena sense her cosmo, which is inside a pendant?"
"And I think there's something wrong with Aiacos. " Aiolos said, "He merely came, told us some information about this child, and left. He didn't even bother to attack! Do you think it's a kind of trap?"
Saori gazed at the sky, her purple hair blowing in the wind. "Honestly, I don't know. But what I do know is, Hades is still a god. He cannot be killed. We may destroy his body, but his soul is immortal."
"If we can't kill him, then what should we do?" Hyoga said, "fight him for eternity? There's no end to this!"
Shun lowered his head. Fighting again.
Seiya and Shiryu exchanged nervous looks, an understanding passed between them. "Can we seal him?" Shiryu asked.
Athena looked at them. "That's what I've been thinking."
"And that pendant the kid is wearing," Milo added, "is it the same 'yours ever' pendant that connected Andromeda to Hades?"
"I'm not sure," Saori said, "but I suppose it is. If that pendant can connect Hades to Shun, then it must be able to connect Rikka with the Underworld and the Three Judges too."
"Connect Rikka with the three Judges," Aiolos repeated, "do you think they actually know that she's in Sanctuary?"
"I think so," Shion answered, "at least, Aiacos seemed to know. He teleported here right away."
"I remember Pandora saying how Shun will be guided to Hades, wherever he is," Ikki said, glancing at his brother, "so yeah, I think so too."
~END OF CHAPTER FIVE~
A/N: Finally! It took me so long to write this chapter, because I'm a little bit confused on how I'm going to explain the pendant part^^U Sorry if it's a little shorter and more confusing than the other chapters~
Reviews please! :D