Chapter Three:

Her body felt like it was being pulled through different layers of dimensions, causing her to pass out. She couldn't tell just how long she had been lying unconscious from that experience, but she could hear voices as she slowly began to awaken. Without moving so not to alert whoever was talking, she glanced around the room she was in with her eyes.

"I was able to return, so you can't die or I'll regret it for the rest of my life. Do you hear me, I beg of you…! YATO!" The voice of Pegasus Tenma called out, causing her eyes to grow wide as she suddenly gasped and shot up from where she was laying.

'If I'm with them, then…! Oh no, I don't know if Lord Hades would be able to find me again like he did before!' She panicked, now starting to somewhat hyperventilate from the sudden realization of her situation.

"Yuzuriha, although the mission seemed to be a success, why is there a fourth person along with you…?" An elderly man asked, glancing over the young maiden.

"And why is she so decoratively garbed?"

"She seemed to want to stop Pegasus to talk with him while we were in the Underworld… But I don't know the connection between her and Hades. When he approached us in the Underworld, this woman was at his side and he seemed to be protective and attached to her." Yuzuriha spoke up in reply, still kneeling beside Yato while Tenma then looked over at her as well.

"I wanted to ask you before, but what's your connection to Alone? Why do you want to follow him in destroying the world and killing people?!"

"I… L-Lord Hades saved me… He calls me his wife even though we haven't been married and sometimes he calls me Persephone. I owe him my life for saving me and I would even be his shield if he so wished it. D-does… Does that answer your questions?" They then stared at her in shock until the woman gripped onto her shoulders.

"How can you be so blind and listen to that lying God? All he wants is destruction and he could be fooling you into believing him!" The blonde snapped, frightening the young maiden to where she tried to force her away, shutting her eyes tightly as she didn't look but they snapped back open when she heard something hit the floor hard.

She then saw that Yuzuriha was looking at her in surprise as there were some vines that dragged her a little distance away from Ileana.

"P-please don't speak ill of Lord Hades like that, Miss… He wouldn't lie to me since he's just too kind-hearted and gentle to do that to me. So please… Send me back. With me being here, Lord Hades will–…!" Right before she could finish, Yato gasped as he awoke from his place on the floor.

"Where? … I'm alive?" He quizzed.

"It was thanks to Athena's sword. The wish held in that sword is Athena's prayer for her Saints." The elder man continued to explain about the sword of Athena, revealing the cracks within the blade.

"That's true! Hey, Yato!"

"Wah! What's wrong? Are you crazy?!"

"I was wondering that myself… But I still would appreciate it if–!"

"WHY IS THAT WOMAN HERE?!" He once again interrupted her, annoying her to no end.

"Normally I wouldn't snap at someone but… WILL YOU PLEASE STOP INTERRUPTING ME?!" She yelled at him, causing him to stare at her.

"Sorry about that but you didn't need to yell at me, Miss..." The young woman then looked away from all of them and encircled her arms around her legs, instantly loosing her glowing expression as she seemed to be depressed.

"Ileana… My name is Ileana and if you really are sorry towards me, then return me back to Lord Hades. He must've already noticed that I was forcefully taken away."

"You shouldn't be at his side in the first place, Ileana. Why would you care if you're with him or not?" Yato quizzed, not expecting to see her turn towards them with tears in her bi-colored eyes.

"I would do anything to keep that beautiful smile on his face. Just thinking of him unhappy hurts me so much…!" Ileana whimpered before she slightly began to cry, cradling her face in her hands.

"Um… C-calm down now, Miss…! We can't let you go back to him but we can make sure that you're kept safe. You don't have to be with that guy!" Hearing that, she completely broke down crying at just the idea that she'd never get to see her beloved savior again. All because she just wanted to try to talk with them under peaceful terms.

After a while of her crying, she suddenly froze up from the immense energy that rushed through her, causing her to instantly turn towards the man that the young Saints were leading inside. He was clad in all gold, almost in such a way that it mystified her just by looking at its reflective surface upon his body.

He then turned his head towards her, startling her when she noticed that his eyes were closed.

"Why is that woman over there emitting such a strong yet sad cosmos…? She's not a saint, is she?" The man asked, his tone almost regal-like with his proper tone of voice.

"Ileana told us that Alone claims her to be Persephone. But we don't know for sure if she's really who he claims her to be, Asmita." Tenma almost grumbled in reply, apparently not liking the older saint that just arrived. That was when the Gold Saint knelt before her and cupped her by the chin, turning her head delicately side to side, as if he actually could see.

"She's not fully awakened yet, but it's plain to see that this woman is in fact who she claims to be. She radiates a similar cosmos to Lady Athena." Ileana's eyes grew with fear as she looked at him, unable to tell for what reason but she just couldn't keep letting him touch her. She quickly pulled away from his touch as she backed away from him, huddling herself up against the wall. Now she remembered why she didn't want others to touch her other then Hades.

It was because of that man who tormented her for all those years.

"Ileana, what's wrong? You don't have to worry about–!"Yato tried to calm her down but she slapped his hands away from her and huddled up again, shutting her eyes tightly.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" She barked, trembling almost uncontrollably from the Gold Saint's touch.

"J-just… Don't touch me…! I don't want any man to touch me but Lord Hades…! Please, just send me back to him… He must be worried about me by now…" The maiden almost choked on her words, trying to hold back the tears this time unlike before.

"Why are you this attached to Hades in the first place? He wouldn't care about the single life of a human being, let alone a young girl."

"No! Don't you DARE say that about my lord! He's too kind to be like that and he saved me!" As she spoke against them, she could feel a strange energy suddenly course through every inch of her body and even the tears against her skin felt filled with power.

"SO DON'T YOU DARE SPEAK ILL OF HIM!" Ileana screamed out while that energy suddenly burst forth, causing a faint tremor because of it. Once that energy subsided, she almost instantly passed out from the intense energy that she emitted so violently.

Once again, she didn't know just how long she had been unconscious but she could feel the cosmos of the four Saints as well as the attacking Specters. Smiling, Ileana sat up but began to walk towards the strongest cosmos that was being projected without a second thought, going higher and higher in the building. She knew that if she didn't go towards the Specters that she would miss her chance at returning quickly to her savior's side.

As she walked towards the strong cosmos in an almost trance-like state, she stopped for a brief moment as the cosmos of the Specters began to vanish.

"Wh-what's happening to them…? They're disappearing…" Ileana murmured to no one before reaching the location where the cosmos was being emitted. That was when she almost made a mad dash higher and higher into the building, closer to the strong cosmos that was now beginning to fade.

'Who is the owner of this fading energy…?' She thought, hoping that she could help them in some way. But she wasn't the only person to reach the place where the cosmos was. Pegasus Tenma had arrived there as well but what surprised her the most was the owner of the fading cosmos.

It was Asmita.