80 — YESTERDAY'S HOPE
"Captain's log, twelfth day of voyage. We left the coasts of the Antarctic continent to head to the Sea of Japan, in search of the third Relic of the Sea. However, we found ourselves in a complex scenario, but not at all unexpected. As we reached the Japanese seas, just before the day shift change, the crow's nest sailor sounded the alarm, waking everyone up to the imminence of a storm on the high seas. With no time to wait for it to pass or swerve, Seiya suggested we fly through it, but Geist rightly objected to the idea due to the many variables to control in midair. I decided to break through the storm with as much head speed as we can accumulate so we can blast through the storm with all our might. We can only hope it works. Maybe Poseidon has finally realized what we're trying to do."
Athena's Galleon shook violently within the storm of lightning and terrible winds; the waves broke inside the boat, wetting everyone. There was no one in the crow's nest and the sails were all carefully handled by Meko Kaire, who was at the bow, controlling the foresail's sail with his enormous strength, to prevent it from misaligning and taking the boat off her course out of that storm.
"Maintain the course!" he shouted as hard as he could.
Geist was at the helm, keeping the boat on its Captain's course, also with enormous force; Seiya and Lunara were on deck with spyglasses looking for clear spaces so they could guide the Captain or warn them for the upcoming waves that could rock the boat. It was an oceanic dance in which everyone played their part so that they could get through that terrible storm.
Seiya saw no clearing on his side, but what he saw scared him; he glanced at the spyglass three times to be sure, when at last his bell rang loudly, screaming at the top of his lungs.
"Whirlpool! "and then repeated: "Whirlpool on the sea!"
Lunara ran beside him to confirm what Seiya saw and her young eyes clearly saw the crest of a gigantic whirlpool that was beginning to form in the waves that the boat was sailing; the dark center began to spin faster and faster as it sank into an abyss.
"A maelstrom." she commented, remembering the maritime studies that Meko had forced everyone to read that week of preparation. "A maelstrom!"
The captain climbed into the forecastle and, leaning on the jib, saw with horror that, in fact, they were facing an enormous whirlpool that would swallow them forever in the North Pacific seas. He knew he would have to drop the sails for the strong winds to toss the boat so violently that they could break free from the powerful centrifugal force of that whirlpool.
The captain was giving orders at the top of his lungs, running around the deck adjusting the sails and asking Geist to throw everything to windward on his command, so that she would turn everything to leeward and, with luck, turn the boat in such a way in favor of the wind that would throw them away from that abyss that opened into the ocean.
Geist was waiting for her Captain's order when her eyes saw something unbelievable on the horizon: another boat struggling to free itself from that whirlpool that would surely engulf them both.
Kaire finally gave the order and she threw the entire rudder to the side downwind so that the boat turned violently to the side, throwing the unsuspecting sailors against the deck rail but finally breaking free of the huge waves. destined to swallow them all into the whirlpool. Thunder rumbled, until the winds finally threw the Athena's Galleon into an impossible lull.
Geist looked at her back and saw how the storm still roared, mighty but still, as they were out of it and away from that terrible whirlpool. Her Captain stood up on deck and congratulated her on her excellent work. She again looked around for the boat she had seen briefly trying to save itself from the same whirlpool, hoping that it had been saved as well. She locked the rudder and went down to the deck.
"What is it First-mate?" asked the Captain. "Babel, take the helm!"
"A ship, Captain." she said, finding the helmsman's name strange.
"What are you saying?"
"I saw a ship in the whirlpool just before we saved ourselves."
The captain joined his mate to search the sea, when they heard a familiar voice calling out to them from the bow.
"Ship ahoy! Ship ahoy!"
The two ran towards the sailor and Captain Meko Kaire greeted him broadly.
"Excellent, Asterion." he said, taking his navigator's spyglass.
And when Meko Kaire put his eyes on his binoculars, he glimpsed something unbelievable: a drifting ship appearing to the left of the storm was none other than the Athena's Galleon itself. His face melted in confusion, while Geist was also filled with strangeness to see Asterion at her side.
In the Captain's cabin, his top officers were around the central table discussing what the hell this ghost-looking ship could be.
"Is there any record of another Galleon of Athena, First-mate?" asked Meko Kaire standing up.
But Geist didn't answer, as her eyes were a little lost.
"Geist!?" he tried.
"Forgive me, Captain. No. There is no indication in the Sanctuary's records that another Galleon exactly like this one was ever made."
"And yet we have a Galleon of Athena exactly like ours a few leagues out on the ocean."
"I'm sure they're asking themselves the same question." suggested Geist.
The door finally opened and Misty entered the Captain's cabin.
"Status report, Misty."
"The sailors will be fine. Nothing that they haven't been through before."
"Great. Babel, what's the status of our ship?"
"All essential systems are operating normally, we will be able to leave within the hour."
"And as for the mysterious Galleon, what do your sensors say?"
The tall man was operating a large machine in the captain's cabin as he glanced at the table to give his verdict.
"It really is a galleon with the same structure as ours, it is clearly adrift and badly damaged in some points of the hull, but there is something very strange about it. There's no sign of any thrust engines, Captain."
"What?"
"That Galleon sails with the wind." he said.
"But what the hell is going on here?" he asked himself, looking out the window at the drifting ship; behind him, Misty let out a smirk.
"It seems to be a ghost from the past."
Meko was looking out the cabin window when his eyes noticed a subtle dark smoke from the ship. Fire. There was fire on the ship, and he knew well that there could be nothing worse for a boat on the high seas.
"Tell me, Asterion." Meko asked the boy beside him. "Can you feel anyone on board?"
Asterion burned his Cosmo, closed his eyes and seemed to breathe the salty sea air more evenly. Until he finally opened his eyes and said in amazement.
"Three sailors on board and still alive. They are badly wounded and in intense agony."
"Prepare the auxiliary boat." ordered Meko to Geist.
"It could be a Hades trap." said Misty.
"It is not." said Asterion to him and turned to the Captain. "Their thoughts are confused, for they must be very wounded, but it is clear that Hades is also their enemy. They were fighting Specters."
Captain Kaire looked deeply into Asterion's eyes and finally decided what would be done: he, Misty and Babel would go on the auxiliary boat so that they could rescue those brothers of arms and also fend off the fire as best they could, and there was no one better than Babel for that.
The auxiliary boat sped away in the calm waters that side of the Pacific, though the storm that had nearly engulfed them was still powerful and impassive to their right. They arrived very quickly at the vessel and Meko Kaire saw, closer, how that Galleon of Athena seemed to have been through incredible battles, with flaws in its hull, overturned rails, crooked sails, the forecastle bowed and in view.
"Babel, I want you to put out the fire as soon as possible and find out what can be done to repair the boat."
"Yes, Captain."
"Misty and I will tend to the injured. Off you go."
The three, excellent Saints, jumped from the auxiliary boat straight onto the devastated main deck. Immediately ahead, Misty noticed a body lying on the ground under one of the flagpoles that had yielded; Captain Kaire seemed to discover another body near the helm. When Misty lifted the mast that had fallen on the body in the middle of the ship, he realized that this man was wearing a wonderful Gold Cloth, all cracked, but still shining as the sun.
His affection for all that was beautiful made him hesitate for a moment, for few things are as beautiful as the glow of a Gold Cloth. Misty took out a bottle of water to hydrate the patient, and looked for the instruments needed to suture and stop the bleeding in one of his arms. His eyes slowly opened to see Misty's wonderful figure above him, his long hair and very pretty face, although also punished from so many months on the high seas.
"Who are you?" stammered the Gold Saint.
"I'm Misty. Lizard Misty. A Saint of Athena." Misty said to the hard-faced, deep-eyed man. "Who are you?"
The man took a sip of the water Misty had brought with him and closed his eyes, trying to breathe more easily.
"I am Sisyphus." he said, opening his eyes. "Sagittarius Sisyphus."
"Captain's log, supplement. We arrived at the Athena's Galleon adrift and found the vessel extremely damaged, Chief Engineer Fornax Babel stayed on board to repair what he could, but his conclusion is obvious: the ship was in an intense battle, but the real mystery is in the crew we rescued; only three of them were on the ship and there was no one else. The amazing thing is that all three are Saints of Athena and among them there was a Gold Saint. Sagittarius Sisyphus. A name unknown to all of us. The other two are still unconscious, but their Cloth is made of Bronze."
Inside the infirmary of that Galleon of Athena, Sisyphus had his wounds being tended by Misty, for of the three that had been rescued, he was the one who needed the most attention, although he was also the only one to regain some consciousness, while the Bronze Saints seemed lost in a deep torpor.
Meko Kaire and his first-mate appeared in the infirmary while the other sailors tended to this or that on the ship.
"Tell me, Misty, how are they?"
Geist immediately noticed the Cloth on one of the boys' body.
"They'll be fine." said Misty, his voice calm. "They're just in shock. But they are Saints like us and naturally they have greater resistance. They're badly hurt, but they'll be fine."
"Thanks, Misty." Meko Kaire noticed how Sagittarius' wings were retracted, while one of his shoulder pads was completely destroyed, as well as there were cracks all over that protection.
"It's been many years since we've seen a Gold Saint." Misty commented, noticing the attention that Meko paid to that man.
"How is it possible that they're adrift? Have you ever heard of a Sisyphus?"
"Only the one from the Legends, Captain." replied Geist.
"What about the Bronze Saints?"
"They are less injured than the Gold Saint, but they seem to be lost in a state of torpor. Sleeping. I cannot imagine what kind of force was capable of inflicting these injuries on the Gold Saint, as well as throwing these Bronze Saints into this coma."
Meko Kaire approached the two young figures and noticed that they were still very young; their Cloths were unknown to him, but it was clear that they were Bronze Saints.
"Pegasus." babbled Geist behind them, making them notice for her that she was holding the hand of one of the boys rescued from the other ship. "This is Pegasus."
"Pegasus?" asked Meko.
"Yes I'm sure."
For it was indeed the Pegasus Saint: his bronze cloth badly cracked, but unmistakable to her, who looked at her Captain in a mysterious way.
"Captain, we need to talk." she asked, looking at the body next to Pegasus. "Somehow… this is wrong. This is not how it should be."
Both Kaire and Misty received this with great strangeness, but she remained as serious as ever. The Captain asked Misty to meet him within the hour with updates on the patients and went upstairs, accompanied by Geist, to his private cabin.
Through the window they could still see the Galleon on the horizon, where Babel was working to give that vessel some chance to sail again, while the storm continued at the same point to the right of the scene.
"I've never seen a steady storm like this."
"I can also feel a strange emanation from that maelstrom." Geist commented behind him.
"Geist, you told me you needed to say something and I can see the concern on your face." began Captain Kaire. "By the heavens, I can never see any concern on your face."
"Captain, things are changed." she said.
"What do you mean 'changed'?"
"I look at people, at things, and they don't look right."
"What things? What people?"
"You, for one. This Galleon."
"What's the matter with our ship?"
"It's not right."
"It's the same ship as always. Nothing has changed here."
"I know that." she agreed. "But I also know it's wrong."
Captain Kaire took a deep breath, trying to take into account what Geist was saying, after all she was his first officer, his immediate and main confidant. Her opinion was always the most reliable and infallible for him during those months and months at sea.
"What else?"
"Children." she said. "There were two young kids in the Galleon. Like those ones in the sickbay."
"Young kids? Like them? Geist, we're at war!"
"No, we are not." she denied. "At least we shouldn't be. This is not a warship."
The captain for the first time stopped looking her in the eye to seeing the nautical charts on his own table, where there were so many small ships of enemy fleets that they had to monitor and, not infrequently, skirmish in the ocean waters. He leaned against the table.
"What are you suggesting?" he asked finally.
"That other Galleon of Athena shouldn't be here." she said. "It has to come back."
"Back to where?"
"To the maelstrom."
Kaire stood up looking at that strange storm on the horizon that was still roaring, deep.
In Misty's infirmary, amidst ringing tones and modern equipment, although harassed by constant use, Sisyphus finally opened his eyes to find himself in a place lit by a bright star that blinded his burning eyes. But soon he saw that that star was extinguished or moved from his eyes, and before him there appeared the face of a young man with delicate features.
Misty turned the light off Sisyphus and let him wake up in time; brought a canteen of fresh water and gave it to him to drink. The boy took the water and then realized that the golden protection of his arms had been removed and so he tried to get up with some desperation.
"Calm down, it's okay, the Gold Cloth is here." Misty tried to calm the man down.
And he saw the two armguards of his Cloth carefully placed on top of a table, as well as the bodies of Pegasus and the other Bronze Saint on two other stretchers.
"How are they?" was his first question.
"They'll be fine. They're not injured, just unconscious." Misty assured him.
And only then did he lie down again, for he was still very dizzy and confused.
"Who are you?" Sisyphus asked Misty.
"We are Saints of Athena, like you." and then Misty looked at a sailor who was helping him in the infirmary, sorting something with his hands. "I am Lizard Misty, a Silver Saint."
"Misty?" asked Sisyphus, not understanding. "Where am I?"
"This is a vessel of Athena." Misty said to a confused look from the patient.
"I don't remember seeing any other ship during the battle."
"Are you the captain of the other ship?"
"No." he replied with difficulty, for he began to feel pains from a violent contraction in his shoulder.
Misty stood up and, with his silver cosmos alight, massaged Sisyphus' shoulder to soothe the painful spasms he was feeling. Initially, Misty had taken his protection off his arms as she noticed that his hands were terribly burnt, blistered and very red. He prepared a creamy ointment to treat those wounds.
"This is going to burn a bit." he warned, but Sisyphus did not respond.
Delicately Misty passed the solution into both of Sisyphus' hands and bandaged them as best he could. And while he did, they talked briefly.
"You said you're Misty, right? Lizard Saint?"
"Lizard Silver Saint." he pointed out, but Sisyphus was clear on that as he felt his powerful cosmos.
"I do not know you."
"I can say the same." said Misty. "It's been many years since we've seen a Gold Saint."
Sisyphus looked at Misty and found his eyes serious and very beautiful.
"I didn't know Lizard could be a constellation for those who tend care for the others."
Misty let out an incredulous but brief smile.
"It's definitely not." said Misty. "But that's what war does to us. We need to be the ones we usually hate."
"I know the feeling." agreed Sisyphus bitterly.
Meko Kaire finally appeared in the infirmary as if he had come running; Geist was on his heels and he sat down beside the gurney where Sisyphus was being tended by Misty.
"I am Captain Meko Kaire, Cetus Saint." he began. "And this is Argo Geist, my first-mate."
The patient took a good look at Meko, his scarred body, his glass eye, and his bulky bearing, but found no familiarity.
"You're not Astro." Meko and Misty looked at each other.
"Astro?"
"The Cetus Saint was in my army and I knew him well. And you are not him. What's going on here? Who are you, after all?"
"Calm down." asked Misty, for Sisyphus wanted to get up again, but he still hadn't finished swaddling him. "We are Saints of Athena. We rescued you and the Bronze Saints and are tending to your wounds. That's what we are. We're on your side."
Kaire thanked Misty, as that seemed to give him some sort of comfort so he could hear the Captain and his questions again.
"Tell me, what's the last thing you remember?" asked Kaire.
Sisyphus looked at the ceiling of that ward and took a deep breath before answering.
"We were in battle." he began. "The Ship of Hope was in the air and we were fighting the Judge of Hell and his Specters."
"A Judge from Hell?" Kaire wondered. "There are no records of any Judge of Hell outside the Sanctuary's territory. Are you sure about that?"
"Absolutely. They were unable to invade the Sanctuary thanks to the sacrifice of dear friends."
"What are you saying?" asked Kaire. "The Army of Hades has lived in Sanctuary for over 200 years."
Kaire sought Misty's eyes but found them as confused as his own; beside him, however, Geist took his arm, as if to prevent him from saying more than he should have. In her mind, the Argo Saint seemed to put together the pieces of a mysterious puzzle.
"This place." stammered Sisyphus, while his eyes measured all that modern equipment. "I've never seen anything like it."
"Listen." Geist began to the man. "You are on Athena's Galleon, the Ship of Hope, as you know it. But maybe it's out of your time."
"Out of my time?"
She just nodded.
"What happened in your battle?" asked Geist, and he looked at her.
"We were fighting Garuda Aeacus, one of the Judges of Hell. The skirmish in the skies drove both ships out to sea, and when he attacked us with his terrible flames, I used my cosmos to create a vortex in the Ocean so the fire would go out. And then we managed to sail out of the storm I created, being rescued by you."
Meko and Geist looked at each other.
"Can you get up?" asked Kaire.
"Yes." Kaire then looked at Misty and he nodded. "Misty, take our guest to the cabin as soon as you're done. We need to talk."
Back in the cabin with Geist, Kaire paced, unable to conceive that, in addition to the Army of Hades, they now had to deal with this strange adventure.
"From the past?" Kaire asked, as if trying to find any solution other than that.
"Yes, Captain." said Geist. "It is possible that this mighty clash of Cosmos could have created a rift in the fabric of time."
"I've never heard of anything like it, and powerful Cosmos have been fighting each other since the World was born." replied Kaire.
"We don't know the conditions of this battle, but it's the only explanation that seems to make sense."
"The famous Victory of Aeacus." Meko repeated to herself.
"It's one of the most famous stories in the Seven Seas." Geist agreed. "It is said that it was thanks to that battle that Hades was finally able to invade the Sanctuary and win the War."
Kaire was shaking his head.
"That was 200 years ago."
"As much as Hades rules this Earth." said Geist.
Kaire looked at the storm raging on the horizon, mightily, wondering if this was really a maelstrom to the past. So many problems and now this.
"We found this ship of ours stranded and abandoned. If that ship adrift is the same galleon from 200 years ago, how could that be possible?" he asked and Geist joined him at the window.
"Maybe it's not the same vessel." Kaire looked at her, confused. "We'll never know, Captain. The truth is that only Hades or his Judges will know the whole story."
"For they were the ones who won the war." stammered Kaire.
"Maybe not." said Geist, attracting his Captain's attention. "Like I said, things are wrong. Perhaps they managed to defeat Aeacus."
"Changing history." Kaire guessed.
"No. The story changed when they came here. For here they cannot defeat Aeacus."
Kaire looked at his first mate, trying to figure out what she meant, when the cabin door opened, bringing Misty and his patient Sisyphus beside him. He was an absolutely wonderful man, tall, with a headband and short hair.
"Quite a ship you have here, Captain." he said, and Kaire noticed that his guest was already starting to find certain modernities strange.
"Sit down, Captain." asked Kaire.
"Sisyphus." he said, sitting up. "I'm no Captain."
"Sisyphus. Listen, you are a Gold Saint who…"
"Say it at once, Captain." for Meko was stalling in words.
He then finally let it out at once.
"We believe your ship came out of that storm 200 years ahead of its time."
Sisyphus looked deeply into Kaire's eyes and then looked for his own boat through the cabin window; the fire was no longer blowing the black smoke from before and he could recognize some sails being raised again. By his side, the intermittent storm on the high seas.
"So the war is over." he said.
"200 years ago." completed Geist, and he looked at her and then at the Captain.
"Aeacus won that battle and Hades' army invaded the Sanctuary, conquering everything they wanted. And since then the Saints of Athena are mere helpers of the Specters of Hades, keeping the peace in this world, but at a very high cost. An Eternal Night far from the sun. We are one of the few rebel cells looking for any chance of reclaiming the Sanctuary of Athena. Hoping to one day see the sunlight again."
Sisyphus felt immense pain when he heard the report, as if it was somehow his fault. Kaire continued his story.
"Poseidon protects us at sea as long as he can and lets us sail freely against his brother. But it's the most it can do for us."
"Poseidon?" asked Sisyphus. "Poseidon was also our enemy."
"Many things have changed, Sagittarius." said Kaire.
"Misty told me." commented Sisyphus, looking at him from the doorway.
"Go back to the sickbay." asked Kaire. "Misty will tell you everything you need. I regret having to welcome you to the future when we are in the midst of a war."
"I came out of a past in the middle of a war. I know how it is."
The two nodded to each other and, with Misty's help, Sisyphus retreated from the cabin to continue recovering alongside his young Bronze Saints. Inside the cabin, Kaire remained thoughtful and closed his eyes when Geist suggested something absurd.
"The storm remains immovable, Captain."
"We will distance ourselves from it as soon as possible." he said.
"I still feel a strange emanation from it." observed Geist. "Perhaps…"
And then she stopped her speech midway, as if weighing the words to come.
"Perhaps it is possible to go back to the past through it, Captain."
"What are you saying?"
"Sisyphus and the Bronze Saints emerged from this storm. Perhaps they can return to the past if they enter it again."
"Are you suggesting they go back to that storm that nearly killed us?"
"Yes." she said simply.
"You're crazy. It would be a death sentence, if they don't die in the whirlpool, they will die at the hands of Aeacus."
"Or save the world by preventing the invasion of Hades 200 years ago. Fixing history."
"You're delusional on this idea. That's our history. This is our war."
"That is not true."
"This is our life!" Kaire barked at her.
Geist was still staring at him.
"I'm sorry, but what I know is what I know."
Kaire turned impatiently to the window.
"I need more than that."
"There is no more. I would like to have. But there is not. I wanted to prove it, but I can't."
"Then I can't ask them to come back. They will join us in this rebellion, and with a Gold Saint on our side, we may have some hope."
Geist looked at his Captain like never before.
"You need to ask them, Captain."
He punched the table.
"Geist, I can't send them to their deaths! How can I ask them to sacrifice based on your intuition alone?"
"I don't know. But I know this is all a mistake. Every fiber of my being and my cosmos says this is a mistake. I can't explain it to myself and so I can't explain it to you. I just know I'm right."
He walked and spoke in an even stronger voice.
"Who can say that this version of history is less appropriate than any other?"
"I can."
"It's not enough, damn it, it's not enough!" he barked. "I'm not going to ask them to die!"
"And how many people and Saints have died in this war? A war that shouldn't be happening! Send those Saints back to fix this!"
"And what guarantee is there that if they come back, they can defeat Aeacus?"
Geist took a deep breath and stared at his Captain unable to respond.
"Everything inside me says this is wrong, this is dangerous and this is useless."
"We've known each other for a long time, Meko." said Geist finally. "You've never seen me try to impose anything on anyone at all. Or take a position based on trivial and frivolous perceptions. We cannot let this timeline continue. Now, I've already told you what to do. You are the Captain of this Galleon. The Ship of Hope."
Kaire had anger and doubt in his eyes, but Geist withdrew from the cabin, knowing she needed to let her Captain think about this madness alone.
Misty escorted and helped Sisyphus walk the Galleon to the infirmary, while he watched with great curiosity as the crew worked efficiently and diligently. Many wounded, with bandages, scars, but the spirit is still confident.
"How long have you been on board?" Sisyphus asked Misty.
"We got the ship back a few years ago. Four, maybe." commented Misty. "We followed Meko in his dreams and his dreams came true. We were lucky, it's a big ship."
"Me too." agreed Sisyphus. "I mean, lucky to have found the Ship of Hope."
"Soon she'll be ready to sail. Babel is a great engineer."
"Babel?
"The Fornax Saint. He is now on your ship repairing the sails and holes."
Finally they descended to the lower gallery and reached the infirmary where Sisyphus stood for a moment beside the Bronze Saints. As if regretting their fates.
"Who are they?" Misty asked.
"This is Pegasus Tenma. And this Unicorn Yato. Valorous Bronze Saints."
Sisyphus took Tenma's hand and felt it warm, even though he was unconscious.
"Why don't they wake up?" he asked.
"You know as much as I do." replied Misty. "Maybe their cosmos couldn't hold them through the passage of time. As I told you before, I'm not a doctor. I just try to keep these crew members with as few injuries as possible. Keep them up."
"You've done it very well." he observed.
"An immense irony." said Misty. "A man who refused to hurt himself found his destiny tending to the wounds of others."
Sisyphus looked at Misty and saw what a handsome man he was indeed; even though he was dirty, sweaty, with his overcoat torn, his features still had a certain glow from the past.
"I'd like to be the one to tell them about the future." asked Sisyphus.
"Sure. They are fine, they don't need any care. They're just here for some comfort."
Sisyphus let out a brief smile.
"Comfort." he repeated. "You have no idea what life was like 200 years ago."
Misty really didn't.
They left the infirmary on deck, always talking; Misty told him about how the War against Hades in the seas was sometimes more hopeful than on land, as they had some protection from Poseidon and were usually attacked by civilians manipulated by Hades. So they could have victories that boosted crew morale, as well as keeping the technology always adapted and supplies up to date.
"It seems you've taken a liking to the sea."
"Unfortunately, it seems to me that I took it for the war." said Misty.
Geist came walking towards them slowly, as if watching them from a distance, until she was too close, so that Misty met her eyes and startled slightly.
"What's up, immediate?" he asked.
"Nothing." said Geist, very embarrassed, still looking at Misty. "I come to bring you news of Babel. Your Ship is ready to sail again. He put out the fire as well as repaired the sails and hull. The orichalcum heart was intact."
"Excellent." said Sisyphus. "Misty told me you've been having trouble on the high seas. I don't know what wars are fought these days, but I want to be of help."
Geist nodded and then again lingered in Misty's eyes.
"What is it, Geist?"
"Nothing, I'm sorry." she said, hurriedly retreating.
Misty then looked at Sisyphus, a little confused.
"There's always a first time for everything."
"First time?"
"I've never seen the first mate so upset."
"Maybe she doesn't like the past very much."
"I don't think so." said Misty, leaning against the side of the boat and being surprised by a sailor who handed him two cans of food.
"I'd love to give you something better, but you need to eat." said Misty to Sisyphus, who had eaten the terrible beans on the high seas.
The two stood on the side of the ship looking at the Galleon of Athena repaired on the horizon and the roar of the storm to the right, which they could still hear from that distance.
"Misty." called Asterion from behind him. "The Captain wants to see us, the Gold Saint too."
The meeting in the Captain's cabin was dark and tense, as Captain Kaire spoke the words with a certain mixture of pain, but the truth was that Geist had stirred immense doubts in his mind. So he shared with everyone, including Sisyphus, Geist's suggestion that there might be a chance of ending this entire war if the Galleon of old were to come back through the storm and defeat Aeacus in the skies.
"Meko, are you suggesting that we let them return to try to complete their mission?"
"I am, Misty." said the Captain.
"Based on Geist's intuition alone?" Misty asked again.
"The pain and agony they felt the moment we found them gives me an exact idea of the terror they faced, Captain. There's no way this will work." Asterion also objected.
"It won't do anything, Captain. There's no way to beat Aeacus." added Misty.
"Unless they're armed with…" Babel tried, but was interrupted by Kaire.
"We can't do that. If the Ship comes back with any technology, we would be changing the past."
"But that's what you're talking about, isn't it? Changing the past!" tried Asterion.
"We're talking about restoring the past." corrected the Captain.
"Forgive me, Geist." Misty began, looking at her. "But how can you know history has been changed if you've been changed along with us?"
All eyes focused on her at that moment and Captain Kaire knew that she didn't know how to explain it, but he also knew that the trust he placed in her might not be the same as the trust others had for her. She was shaking her head slightly, as if somehow trying to explain what she felt.
"I can subtly alter what people can see, conjure illusions and deceive men's senses." she tried. "All I've felt since we got out of that storm is that reality is wrong. Like I'm inside one of my own illusions."
What she was saying didn't seem to make sense to the Silver Saints and they looked at the Captain, as if facing madness, but Sisyphus' voice allayed their doubts.
"It's your Cosmo." he said, getting up from the table.
Sisyphus then looked at Geist and at each of them.
"I met someone like you. And he once told me that in order to manipulate illusions and dimensions, his cosmos needed to be deeply rooted in reality. Only then could he bend her as he pleased. It is in the nature of your cosmos."
Geist was looking at Sisyphus as if she had just discovered something incredible about herself.
"That's why you can feel more than all of us the fact that you're out of your reality."
"It is possible that Geist is correct." Kaire continued. "The Ship of Hope has traveled through time. How can we know the effects these events will have on the present? In fact, we'll never know for sure whether Geist is correct, but I've decided that the consequences of this possibility are too serious to ignore."
Captain Kaire then looked at Sisyphus, but his words didn't come out of his mouth, as the Gold Saint responded by letting his wonderful Golden Cosmo manifest inside that cabin.
"We'll make it back through the storm. And we will defeat Aeacus." announced Sisyphus.
His features and words were harsh and there was no one in that cabin capable of doubting his fiber or his Cosmos. They had never been in the presence of a Gold Saint and Sisyphus made them experience what the Seventh Sense meant, the solar presence of a warrior of hope.
"I'll take Pegasus and Unicorn back and we'll beat Aeacus in the skies as we would if we hadn't been lost in time."
Kaire felt like he wasn't up to the man, but he nodded as best he could.
It was decided.
Within the next hour, Geist and the Silver Saints took the unconscious bodies of Pegasus and Unicorn back to the Ship of Hope. Babel busied himself with making sure the orichalcum heart was working, that the sails were set so that he would sail in the right direction when the anchor was lifted. Asterion and Misty saw to it that the unconscious Bronze Saints were safe in the lower galleries, while Geist and Sisyphus checked the rudder.
"It takes enormous courage to go head-to-head with your Captain based on such personal things." said Sisyphus to her.
"I hope I'm right. And that you may defeat Aeacus."
"We will win." promised Sisyphus.
She thanked him and left, passing by Misty, who came to say goodbye to Sisyphus.
"You were my best patient in months."
"Don't talk like that about your sailors." commented Sisyphus. "They are brave."
"But they don't have your eyes."
Sisyphus let out a smile, as he did not expect such a lack of decorum among Saints of the same order. Misty didn't stop smiling too and they greeted each other politely.
"Go, Sisyphus. For Athena."
"For Athena." he repeated.
The Silver Saints all went to say their goodbyes to Sisyphus while Misty met up with Geist on the ship's rail, about to board the shuttle boat to return to the Galleon. Before she could get on the boat, however, Geist was grabbed by the arm by Misty.
"Misty?"
"Geist, there's something I need to know." he began, concern on his face, while Geist couldn't contain the embarrassment of being in front of him, as if she averted his eyes all the time. "If Sisyphus succeeds and this reality you insist on calling it wrong disappears... who am I in the other reality?"
Geist felt a huge ice in her chest.
"I don't know." she lied.
"There's something about it when you look at me." said Misty. "I can see it in your eyes, and by Athena, we can never see anything in your eyes."
Misty then placed himself in front of Geist, so she couldn't escape his eyes.
"Tell me, Geist."
"Dead." someone said next to him.
"Asterion?" Misty asked.
"We're dead, Misty." he said.
"How did you know?" asked Geist.
"You can't hide your thoughts from me." he said and she knew it well.
Misty took a few steps back, in disbelief.
"How?" he asked, not understanding.
And that gave Geist even more pain in her chest, but then she judged that they deserved some courage from her to tell the truth, rather than Asterion guessing from her thoughts.
"You died fighting Athena. There was a big lie in the Sanctuary and you died fighting those sworn to save Athena."
"Against Athena?" Misty was shocked.
And even Asterion or Babel at his side were in shock, for all they had done so far was lay down their lives to give Sanctuary some chance to be ruled by Athena again. Sacrificed so much, sailed the Seven Seas in terrible battles. All in the name of Athena. And everything would be erased for a story in which they would be traitors.
"I'm very sorry." she just said.
But none of them commented at all; they just stood there, looking at each other, with an extreme pain in their chests. Until their eyes found strength and fiber side by side, like the silver brothers they were.
The Captain's cabin sounded an alarm which Kaire immediately responded to at Babel station, which was actually a modern radar that showed two ships approaching. Geist finally burst through the door.
"Two Graad Foundation ships. We need to stand ready and put the crew on red alert. We cannot let anything interfere with the voyage of the Ship of Hope. Where is Babel?"
Geist was standing in front of Kaire.
"Where's Babel!?" he returned.
Geist opened her right hand and showed three silver pendants that Kaire, at first, couldn't understand.
"What does that mean?"
"They won't come back. They'll go to the past with Sisyphus."
"What are you talking about, Geist? But what the hell happened on that ship?"
"They don't exist in our reality." confided Geist. "They died dishonorably and now they want a chance to die fighting for Athena. As they always did."
"This is absurd!" shouted Kaire. "How could you let them do that?"
"It was their decision."
"And what if it doesn't work out? We will have three less Silver Saints to fight this war!"
"It will work. Trust Sisyphus."
"They can't go back to the past!" Said Kaire. "You know better than anyone they can alter the past into something even more terrible."
"They know it." said Geist. "And that's why they abandoned their Cloths. They will be ordinary men who will never touch history. We have to trust them too, Captain. That's what they chose."
Kaire was irascible, but he tried to control himself at his desk. His distant war brothers, but as always fighting for Athena. He tried to gather his emotions and contain himself as best he could, for he needed to captain that Galleon in one more battle. And now he needed to ensure that the Ship of Hope had a smooth passage through the terrible storm that awaited it.
"You are at the helm. I will take care of the battle stations. We'll talk about that later."
And stomped out of the cabin. Geist took the three pendants and hung them on a nearby shelf. And also went to war.
The Ship of Hope, now sailed by Babel, who was also an expert helmsman, was already heading towards the storm, but in the forecastle of Kaire's Galleon of Athena he saw that one of the vessels of the Graad Foundation, a civil arm of the forces of Hades, already broke formation to intercept the old ship. Kaire made the Galleon roar its engine as hard as it could and fired three volleys of fire from afar to alert Graad that they were there and would protect the boat.
The enemy vessel had to make a sharp left turn to avoid being knocked down by Kaire's violent cannons, while Geist placed the Galleon to be a kind of shield for the Ship of Sisyphus.
"We'll go into the storm if we have to!" Kaire ordered to Geist.
And so it happened, the Galleon of Athena fought and also received terrible volleys that exploded the deck, lifting wood from the hull and reinforced rails. One of the masts gave way, killing some of the sailors, but Kaire ran valiantly among his crew, inspiring confidence that another volley of gunfire would be fired at the Graad Foundation ships.
It was not long before, from the top of the crow's nest, a sentry sounded the bell loudly, shouting from above:
"Storm ahoy! Storm!
It was not in sight, for it was always in sight; it was just a warning to let Captain Kaire know that Athena's Galleon was again within the thunder and wind domains of that strange storm. Geist held the rudder to keep itself on the crest of the whirlpool; with the tilt of the boat, they could see from the opposite side how the Ship of Hope was slowly being swallowed by the abyss.
Until it finally disappeared into the darkness and she forced everything she could downwind, inflating the sails, making the ship gain immense speed, until she turned absolutely everything against the wind, causing it to break the huge whirlpool wave and finally get out. of the storm again across the ocean. More and more the lightning in the dark distance of the maelstrom.
Geist looked at her back and saw how the storm still roared mightily, but slowly cooling off. Her Captain stood up on deck and congratulated her on her excellent work. She again looked around for the boat she had seen briefly trying to save itself from the same whirlpool, hoping that it had saved itself too. She locked the rudder and went down to the deck.
"First-mate?" asked the Captain. "Seiya, take the helm!"
"A ship, Captain." she said.
"What are you saying?"
"I saw a ship in the whirlpool just before we saved ourselves."
The Captain joined his first-mate to search the sea, but found nothing.
"Ha, Seiya will tell this story for the rest of his life." Kaire cheered up. "Well done, Seiya! Lunara!"
Kaire was in high spirits yelling at the two of them in the distance, but Geist felt a little awkward. The Captain summoned them all to a meeting in the cabin to make sure everything was in order after going through that storm, when Geist noticed three pendants on a shelf that made her feel a chill. She got to her feet and pulled on the pendants to read the names inscribed on the metal.
She didn't recognize any of them, but her mind then reminded her of what seemed like an impossible dream.
ABOUT THE CHAPTER: Adaptation of one of the best Star Trek chapters that perfectly matched what I wanted: to play with these mysteries on the high seas, bringing into the story of this fanfic exactly what inspired this whole arc, which was the fight between Sisyphus and Aeacus in Lost Canvas on the Ship of Hope. It was a way of paying homage to what inspired me to make this entire arc using the ship across the Seven Seas. The decision to have Misty and the others come back to die as Athena Saints rather than traitors came up while I was writing and made all the sense in the world to give them a nice redemption. It's one of my favorite chapters that I write.
NEXT CHAPTER: THE RELIC AMONG MEN
Meko Kaire's crew encounter a strange bureaucrat in Japan while encounters take place at the Sanctuary