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Notes: Here I decided to explore a bit of some hcs I have about the Black Saints and Hephaestus. It was fun to imagine all that! Let me know what you think about it. The whole idea was going to be used in other fanfic that I finally didn't write at all, so I'm glad I could use it finally somewhere.
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Chap oo3
The trip wasn't so long for Ikki, he was used to go often, almost three or four times every year, to keep the flowers alive on the grave of his beloved, however his best friend wasn't ready for this.
"Why I'm here?" Hyoga said as he laid himself on the edge of the boat, to at least look at the water. "It is too hot!"
"For the fifth time, Hyoga, you said you wanted to come, remember? The whole 'Ikki needs another fighter, I'm cool' thing?" Ikki sighed, a bit tired of the rant of his friend. "Now, please, shut up and let's try to finish this."
The Cygnus saint just looked at his friend as he was thinking his last death wish, but they felt how the boat stopped so suddenly. Ikki and Hyoga walked to the deck to find the captain looking at the island that was their destination.
"Aren't we going to come closer?"
Both saints saw how the captain arrived towards them and smiled as if nothing had happened.
"We are sorry, we can't. You see, there is a rule where the boats can't come closer anymore. There live some kind of pirates." he explained. "We don't want to have problems, especially since the morning. We had had some weird situations with the sea waves and some rocks appear out of nowhere. Maybe you pay us well but life worth more."
Ikki sighed thinking that lot of time passed since the last time he visited the Island. It wasn't that much but things change.
"Oh well... then we will need to use those boats..." Ikki pointed at the emergency ones. "You will wait us here, right?"
"Kido Company is my boss, so I guess yes." The captain laughed a bit as he walked away from them. "Good luck, you need it."
"He doesn't know who we are, right?" Hyoga chuckled. "Anyway, let's go."
The Phoenix nodded to move towards their Pandora Boxes, take them and use those boats he saw earlier. But, something wasn't right. Why would rocks appear out of nowhere? Why the tide looked out of control close to the Island? He couldn't worry much about it, though that didn't mean he wouldn't have it on his head for a while.
The movements of the small boat weren't the perfect ones to avoid fall on the water. The waves were stronger than Ikki remembered them, and indeed some rocks were showing their hard points, ready to hit them, in a way that looked more dangerous to come close to the bay. And then, an extra worry for the Phoenix Saint, his best friend didn't look so well.
"It is too hot." Hyoga said using his cosmos a bit.
"Hey, don't do that! They will perceive us very easy."
"How? Didn't you told me that the Black Saints weren't organized at all? I don't think they mind us here... plus you were their leader."
"As you heard with the captain, looks like they were organized after all. You don't call pirates to some group of idiots good for nothing. And, even if I were their leader once, maybe they will not see me so happy after you killed the four strongest ones and have me in your team!"
Hyoga just looked at him a bit angry. He was sure about it, about this going all well, and now looked like he was doubting. God damn, Ikki.
"Why?" the younger brother asked. "Why suddenly you think you aren't capable to make this?"
The friend didn't answer quickly as he jump out of the boat to put it closer to the sand.
"I'm totally capable. But, remember, we are going to fight to a God that, for what we know, was the main deity for those guys. And... I mean... they have Shiva now. What if she is the leader of the Black Saints because Hephaestus?"
"Are you stupid?! Why think Shiva as their leader?" Hyoga asked walking backwards while Ikki was placing the boat out the water. "She is a crazy psycho and those guys were even worse and..." but in that moment something stopped his walk.
He turned and jump backwards ready to fight. Five Black Saints were there, waiting. The Phoenix Saint came close and look at them. Four guys and a woman that looked very young and didn't have a mask but some paint over her face. Hyoga didn't know what to do, but Ikki just walked in front of them without fear.
"We need to see the leader of the Island."
"Who are you?" The woman asked.
"Looks like my name fade away... he is Hyoga the Cygnus Saint and I'm Ikki the Phoenix Saint..."
That was enough for them. One of the Black Saints jumped to throw a punch that, thanks to Cygnus's shield, didn't do much but hurt his hand. Hyoga gave back the punch to make him fall on the sand. Meanwhile, Ikki didn't wait to fight the other two Black Saints.
"Hō Yoku Ten Shō!"
The fire pushed them to the air and fell down from the sky, one receiving a terrible hit with some of the rocks. As Ikki was standing himself up, Hyoga was already fighting with the other woman. Her movements were strong enough to give him a good fight. The Phoenix Saint, however, moved faster seeing how this woman used the same shield of her opponent to take a high jump.
"Eagle Toe Flash!"
Cygnus Hyoga didn't see that coming as he tried to use, once again the shield, which, both saints knew, would be useless. But the Black Saint never touched his enemy. Hyoga, closed his eyes waiting for the hit, and, because didn't feel it, opened them to find Ikki in front of him. The Phoenix Saint laughed because of this and how the woman fell on the sand yelling in pain.
The kick did damage to Ikki on his right shoulder to crack a bit the armour, but his fist went directly to the right knee of the woman, breaking his leg in two in such painful and amazing way.
"Fuck." Ikki sighed finally holding his shoulder.
"What did you do?!" Hyoga asked, to quickly held the hands of this woman to freeze them as his friend answered.
"What? I just stopped her attack! Every attack has a weak spot." he chuckled. "Marin told me hers and I told him one mine."
"Marin?" the poor Cygnus Saint look confused. "Why Marin? Why are you so stupid to give your weak point?"
"She is my friend, I trust her."
"Your friend?"
"Just shut up, you are losing our time, idiot." Ikki quickly held the part of the chest armour from the other warrior and removed it from her body. "Now, you don't deserve this, piece of shit. And you will tell me where your leader is."
The woman sighed and panicked when felt Ikki's hand on her neck. Not to asphyxiated her or kill her but enough to make her feel without air for a while to then, to let her talk, breath again. She nodded, ready to help them, or better say save herself.
"He is in the main volcano."
"In the volcano?" Hyoga was curious about this.
"Today you only make questions, don't you?" Ikki chuckled. "How someone can be inside the volcano? Tell me the truth or I will throw you to the real volcano."
"It is true! In the north side of the island there is a cave. Now is open, you can enter to the volcano. He is there." Phoenix Ikki held her from the neck once again, and he didn't need to ask much. "His cosmos made our armours shine! He is our God!"
"So, that's why." Ikki nodded to then give her a hit.
"Bro!"
"She is just unconscious, we don't need her to tell the others. Don't worry." he fixed once again his shoulder, moaning a bit. "Hey, man..."
"Yeah." Hyoga didn't need to hear it, as he freeze a bit Ikki's shoulder to help him with the pain. "Then, we should keep going? Are you sure?" Ikki nodded as both of them keep walking now. "Great, inside a vol-"
But the sudden movements under his feet interrupted Hyoga, as the earthquake began to increase. They could see how new rocks appear under the sea to the surface, how the tide was moving out of control. And how the volcano began to spill some of the red-hot lava.
"Please, tell me that's not the main volcano."
"Fine." He smiled. "But you know the answer already."
Without much will to go inside a hot volcano, and realising his cold cosmos would be need, Hyoga didn't say much but 'трахаться' which didn't mean something nice at all. Those two Saints kept their way to the mission. It wasn't hard to realise that, after all, they were fighting a God.
Many people know the Greek Myths, they know about the Gods who helped humanity and those who wanted to destroyed it in some way or another. However, in the Myth Era, it was a sin to talk ill about the Gods and Goddesses of the Olympus. That's why people wrote about them and, when the time made them be nothing more but fictional characters of old times, could tell to everyone those stories of heroes, villains, gods and creatures. The story of Hephaestus was between those others.
God of the fire, metallurgy, even art, Hephaestus was the son of Hera and Zeus, but some versions said he was the son only of Hera who, seeing how Zeus got a daughter by his own, decided to do the same. Of course, things didn't happen as she wished and this new god was physically horrible. This marked his destiny to learn about metallurgy and be used to quieten the other Gods and marry him with the most beautiful of them all. Since the moment he born, Hephaestus was humiliated in one way or other but always played back. We all know what he did to Aphrodite and her lover, what he did to the same Hera to go back to the Olympus. But not everyone knew exactly what he did to Athena when the Goddess of Wisdom said no to his purpose and ran away from almost being rape by this God.
Hephaestus, before this happened, created the armours for the armies of each God and for themselves. Putting great attention and detail to the three most powerful and his beloved Athena. He never created one for himself, just a pair of gloves and helmet to work better. He believed in the peace and preferred to create beauty and art than create war. Somehow, he was a good God, but not perfect one. After all he did, all the attention and time he gave to the Gods and to Athena, he got rejected from her and that broke his heart and part of his mind. With anger and fury, he walked down to earth and stayed by his own in a continent with volcanos. He lived there thinking how to attack back to that Goddess who couldn't understand his love and devotion. He then realised he wouldn't be the one who attacks but others.
As the days passed and more earthquakes arrived to the zone, the volcano explode time to time, the people began to pray to the Gods who, busy from other problems between them, didn't pay attention. I think they may regret it later, as Hephaestus was working hard day and night. The God of Fire was creating once more the armours he did to Athena, one by one created them without rest and using the same materials. But that wasn't enough for him, he needed more power for those metals, if not, what would be the point to have the same level than the lowest rank of the Saints?
It happened one night when the fire was brighter than before. Hephaestus, with all his energy and power, began to destroy the protection between this world and the Dark Dimension, taking its energy to use it on the armours, given them not just the bright black colour they have but a power over the Bronze Saints and, if moved to the other Dimension, could be compared to the Gold Saints. Every time he opened this dimension and worked on the armours, the earthquakes become stronger, the volcanos couldn't be controlled. The sea began to flow the earth, the earthquakes destroyed buildings, the lava and the ashes began to make the one-day green land something that nobody could live in. But was too late when the Gods turned to see their creations crying and asking for mercy.
The God of War, Ares, was sent to stop this massacre. Maybe as part of his revenge as how Hephaestus humiliated him, was the first one asking for this mission. Maybe he wasn't strong or had armour and weapons, but Hephaestus new this place and his tool to be able to fight back. He would be able to win to Ares but the three main Gods stopped him. With the waves of Poseidon, the lighting from heaven of Zeus and the earthquakes of Hades were possible to keep the God under the Olympus. It is known he couldn't go out of it. Zeus gave his people to Athena, the Lemurians, but the Black Armours disappeared as some of Hephaestus followers kept it to use them. It is known that in some way they forgave Hephaestus, in part, because he did the coffin for Hades. That's the last thing it is known from Hephaestus.
The Old Aries Saint waited a bit while Saori Kido was finishing reading the book he found. She was just too tired of this, learning new things she should know before because one God, this God, decided to come to her Sanctuary and begin whatever it was. They didn't know if this was a war or something else but wasn't something peaceful at all.
"Hephaestus." said finally Athena closing the book and giving a deep sigh. "He should be glad I don't remember much of my first life. I would slap him in the moment he presented himself." she stood up to give the book back to Shion and stayed at his side. "We need to know why he decided to come just now and how to stop him. Do you have any news from Ikki and Hyoga?"
"No, Athena." Gemini Saga answered quickly as he gave a step forward. "If you wish, I could go and..."
"It is the last time I say it, Saga. You can't go. We need to trust on them." Saori nodded to herself, as she wanted to be totally sure of her own words. "You should help in calm down those who felt the cosmos of Hephaestus. I heard some of them want to ask about it and, of course, not all Gold Saints know how to talk with people."
"Did Deathmask do something?" Saga asked worried mostly to himself. "Fine, I will help in that then. If you need anything, let me know. Excuse me." he did the reverence that was now a habit and went out of the room.
Shion and Athena kept in silence for some seconds, as they both were thinking about the problems and solutions for the fact that Hephaestus showed himself in such way hours before. But their thoughts were interrupted as the doors opened once again with Capricorn Shura and Scorpio Milo on the other side. They didn't look very happy.
"Miss Athena?" Shura, as Milo, did the reverence that, once again, was bothering to Saori. "We have a small problem."
The hot temperature wasn't helping much to the Siberian man. Cygnus Hyoga couldn't help with his cosmos because, as his best friend said, would alarm the enemies about them, so he was suffering thinking how did Ikki survive such place. But their cosmos was different, their trainings were in such extreme places with the exact contrary weather. And the fact that even the air was hot and some small earthquakes kept going, was such a pain.
But as Cygnus Hyoga kept walking, he saw how Phoenix Ikki stopped for a second.
"Hey, brother, are you ok?" he asked. "Sorry, the water and everything went with the boat when I throw that guy." Ikki came close to hold Hyoga's shoulder. "We can rest a bit if you need to."
"No, I'm ok, really." Hyoga smiled seeing that Ikki kept that 'fatherly/big brother' care to others. "I just need to catch my breath."
Phoenix Ikki moved around as he was looking around to then ask to Hyoga to sat as he went for something. For the Russian man wasn't a problem to rest a bit but now was curious to see Ikki arriving with a branch of some kind of tree.
"Here, put some of this on your mouth and chew it." he said as he did to show him it was totally fine. "They have water on the roots. Here rains very little so this sucker, literally, keep all the water there."
Hyoga, without waiting more, did as he said. Almost throwing the root out of his mouth.
"Taste like shit."
"Sorry, next time I will put some flavour on it. Do you like grapple or lime?" he chuckled. "C'mon duck, just survive."
The big brother gave him some more of the root so he could carry on. Ikki looked tired as well but not as much as Hyoga, he was used to this, even if he never had the volcano as active as they did. He looked around to see if there would be enemies around and big was his surprise that they weren't there but he could feel their cosmos, as if they came closer to the cave the Black Saint told them.
Both birds decided to keep walking to their mission, and that's when Ikki decided to change the topic a bit.
"By the way, Hyoga?" he asked to have his attention as they kept chewing for water. "Back then in the Sanctuary, you didn't recognize Shiva. Why?"
Hyoga stopped for a second to then keep walking as this question took him by surprise.
"I don't know what you talking about."
"You had a hangover, and you said Shiva was horrible. Which makes me thing; Hephaestus was known to be ugly as fuck, but he is on Shiva's body and once you told me Shiva have a really beautiful face so..."
"It was the hangover, maybe I need glasses. I don't know, man."
"You need glasses, we had discussed that before, but that doesn't mean you couldn't recognize Shiva. Then, what happened?"
The Cygnus Saint stopped for a moment as Ikki crossed his arms to listen their answer.
"I just... I can see the real people. I mean, they real being."
The older Saint was almost going to ask what that meant, it was just too weird for him. He knew Shaka somehow had an ability to find things different, even the same student Aghora had reach a point to feel cosmos very specific. But Hyoga wasn't a Virgo Saint or student of one of them. But at this moment, Hyoga quickly jumped to hold him and both fall on the floor.
"Great." said Hyoga spilling the roots as they both stood up and found themselves in front of three enemies.
"I will take two of them, I have more energy. Just don't use too much of your cosmos."
"But your shoulder?"
The Phoenix didn't hear at all to jump to the fight. He didn't want to lost time but didn't as well to use his attacks on them. He kicked one of them as the other two jumped towards Hyoga.
"Diamond dust!"
The cosmos of the Cygnus Saint didn't have enough humidity around to control it and make cold air, cold as he needed, so thanks to this he just pushed them away so he could have more space to fight. Ikki quickly moved, trying to dodge the other black saint, holding his arm and breaking it when he got tired of this so, quickly as he could, stop one of the other enemies.
"You are mine, asshole." he didn't wait at all to hit him in the face, but this other man did the same.
Hyoga was using his shield and dodging. In his mind he tried to look around to find point to use at his favour, but in the same time he wanted to exhausted this man. Which wasn't a great of a plan when he almost fell and could only use the body of his enemy to hold himself and use this to push him to the direction he was going; down a cliff. He just heard the sound of the hit and moved fast enough to help his friend.
They couldn't say this, but somehow, they enjoyed it. Fighting side by side and back to back, Hyoga using the shield to protect Ikki and the Phoenix using even the tail of his armour to hurt the fist that was going to the face of his friend. Their enemies didn't have other alternative but lost and fall on the ground unconscious, closer to death than alive.
"Well, that was better than I expected." smiled Hyoga. "Shit."
Suddenly more of the enemies appear. Ikki and Hyoga saw each other with a smile as they knew they could keep going. As they were going to give a step forward, it wasn't necessary at all.
"Thunder Claw!"
The enemies had an electric shock from all their body, to the head to the feet. Ophiuchus Shaina didn't wait any longer to throw two bags to the Bronze Saints to then fall on their enemies. With that shock, wasn't necessary to do much as she just give them some quickly kicks here and there to make them collapse as the others. She sighed to remove her mask and look angry at those two.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" said Ikki angry as he gave the bag to Hyoga, making him fall to the ground as well.
"You are welcome."
"No, don't use sarcasm with me, woman." Ikki and her were face to face. "Answer me, what are you doing here? This is our mission!"
"Get away, you stink!" she pushed him a bit.
"You smell super nice, idiot!" he pushed her a bit as well.
They both held each other, to then receive a hit on their heads. One of the bags was throw by Hyoga who was tired of this and just waved at them.
"Could you stop? Thank you." he said finally. "Can we go before these guys wake up or something? I don't care, Shaina helped us, Ikki, so just move and she will explain us on the way."
Ophiuchus Shaina smiled to Ikki to then wear her mask and push him once again, this time with the bag on her hands.
"There is enough water for you two, your forgot them on the boat." she kept walking towards Hyoga as she fixed her hair in a pony tail. "Now let's go."
Hyoga was right, so Phoenix Ikki decided just to say "愚かな" and "vaffanculo" to Shaina but in a low voice as he joined them. And, he couldn't be mean, after all they had water and he didn't need to worry to feed his friend with more roots and he was save from dehydration, that was important. They rest in their way; walking but not talking as they reached the north side of the volcano, still fighting with the earthquakes.
But Ikki really needed and want to know what Shaina was doing there.
"Who had the great idea to only arrive with two Bronze saints?" she asked back. "You are fighting against a god, idiots."
"Hey, don't call us idiots." Ikki said angry again. "I'm the only one who call idiot to Hyoga."
"Oh, sweet bro, thanks." he wasn't very happy. "But, how do you know is a God?"
"Shiva is my best friend; do you really expect me to just accept your bullshit and go to my cabin and sleep?" she explained removing once again the mask to leave it in one of the bags as the hot couldn't let her use it more time. "I went to see her but Shaka didn't let me so I followed him around. I heard everything when he was discussing with Aghora. Shiva is being used and nobody in the Sanctuary knows this?"
"We know, Aghora knows, and the Gold Saints know." Ikki answered. "So, yeah, isn't like a super-secret. Especially because for sure many people felt that blast of the cosmos."
"Exactly as I felt Hyoga's one." Shaina sighed. "You should be more careful."
"Did you come to fight us or with us?" Hyoga knew she was right. "Look, we just came here to help Athena and the Sanctuary. Ok, maybe Ikki did it to have some extra laid points with Shaka but..."
"You idiot, that's enough with the stupid jokes!"
Hyoga didn't stop the giggle as Ikki held him speaking in Japanese very much nice things... not nice things. Shaina just sighed and kept walking, not before stop and find something interesting.
"Hey, monkeys! What's this?"
The birds moved quickly, not before Hyoga was pushed and he needed to quickly stand up. Ikki smiled to this and pointed.
"Obviously, it is a cave, you blind?" Shaina was almost going to hit him but he waved. "Never mind, this is the entrance. Here is Hephaestus."
"Really?"
"Look, I don't know why the Volcano had somehow a house inside, and in this moment, I don't care. Just let's be careful, I'm sure he isn't alone." Hyoga and Shaina nodded as they kept walking but Ikki was behind. "Go, I will hide the bags."
The other two saints run inside the cabin, as the Phoenix Saint was using his cosmos just for a second to do something important.
Athena had too many problems to now worry about Shaina disappearing. She knew something like this would happened, and she knew was with the Cygnus and Phoenix Saints. Capricorn Shura and Scorpio Milo came back to their temples minutes ago after give this news of Shaina fighting with some guards, but now Gemini Saga entered to take her attention. Saori Kido was getting tired of this. She really wanted to be alone for a second, wasn't asking too much, she just wanted to rest her mind and body and let all this painful heart-breaking feeling go out of her system. She was a leader in this moment, she needed to show strength.
"Miss Athena, I received..."
"Please, Saga, just go."
Her tears began to show again as she covered her face. Gemini Saga was a bit impressed and didn't know what to do about this. He realised they were alone, so didn't wait to close the doors and stay there as Saori kept crying out her pain. It wasn't minutes after that, she cleaned her face and looked how Saga just looking at the floor.
"Sorry, sorry."
"I understand, don't worry. Do you need more time?"
"No, well, maybe but, you needed to tell me something." Saga nodded coming close taking a handkerchief and giving it to her. "Thank you."
"I received news from Ikki, he decided to notice me about everything. They found out where Hephaestus is and, by surprise, Ophiuchus Shaina is with them. She heard everything from Shaka and Aghora." the Gemini Saint crossed his arms. "I think is better. It seems that she didn't say anything else to anyone, and she will help them. It is fine, having a Silver Saint with them."
"Yes, it is. Thanks for the news."
"You are welcome, Athena." he did the reverence to move to the door but stopped there. "And, Saori?" he said. "I will close the doors, you can stay some time with yourself."
Saori Kido smiled at him and nodded. He smiled and gave a friendly nod as well to then go out of there and let the Goddess remember she was a human after all.