SailorStar9: After getting Chapter 22 out, this is Chapter 23 of this fic. (Sighs) Guys and girls, is it too hard for you to leave a review, instead of just putting this fic up on your favorited list and story alerts?

Disclaimers: I own nothing, except for the plot bunny and my OC.

Chapter 24: The Approaching Shadow! The Gold Saints Protecting Athena!


After the fight against Surtr...

"It seems that Koga and the others have safely overcome their trial." Seiya noted.

"You're in the way, Pallasites." Harbinger demanded at the charging Pallasites. "Great Horn!" he wasted no time in blasting the army.


After Ikki's fight against Aegaeon...

"The Phoenix has finished its flight, taking the Class-1 Pallasite with him." Fudo muttered, everyone having sensed Ikki's passing.

"What were you thinking, you fool?" Seiya slammed his fist on a wall.

"I admire your fighting spirit for not retreating from us, the Gold Saints." Seiya led the charge against the attacking Pallasites. "However, you will open the path for Athena. Atomic Thunderbolt!"

"Disappear beyond the great light." Kiki attacked next. "Starlight Extinction!"

"When are we going to reach Pallas?" Harbinger hissed, the three Goddess Guardians were supporting Saori's drained lifeforce with their own Cosmo.

"It is strange." Fudo noted. "We've only seen foot soldiers. Not a single powerful opponent has attempted to stop us."

"That's true." Juno agreed.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Vesta admitted.

Moving forward, Fudo stopped in his tracks when the group's surroundings vanished and they found themselves in a room.

"This Cosmo is..." the Virgo Gold Saint frowned.

"Behind us." Seiya warned as Staff Paradox appeared behind them.

"I've been waiting for you, Kido Saori." the former Gemini Saint mocked.

"So, it was you." Fudo remarked.

"I am now the Class-2 Pallasite, the staff wielder, Scarlet Janus Paradox." Paradox introduced herself.

"Paradox, Athena has no time for you." Seiya retorted. "Withdraw."

"Look at all of you, clinging to her." Paradox scoffed. "She isn't worth your protection. Everyone loves her simply because she happened to be born a Goddess." she snorted, teleporting behind Saori, only to be met by Ceres' scythe pointed at her. "You aren't that special."

"Crystal Wall!" Kiki immediately erected his barrier when Paradox fired her attack.

"It appears that Paradox has been overwhelmed by hate." Fudo noted.

"It isn't love that wins battles." Paradox sneered. "It's hate." she moved in front of Saori, ready to attack her when an energy blast stopped her attack. "I knew you would show up." she glared at her twin.

"I shall finish my fight with you." Integra declared.

"You're late." Paradox mocked, the two sisters exchanging blows. "What were you doing?"

"I can read the fate written in the stars." Integra dodged Paradox's staff strikes. "I knew you would come to slay Athena. So I snuck into the castle and waited for you to arrive."

"You believe you managed to lure me out?" Paradox scoffed. "Then, you're badly mistaken. I can read the stars as well." she reminded, the two sisters met in a stalemate. "I knew if I went after Kido Saori, you would appear. You're the one who fell into my trap." she blasted Integra back. "You stood in my way. Had you not appeared, everything would have worked out. Now it's my turn to steal from you. I'll take everything from you."

Integra jumped to dodge the incoming attack, firing off an energy beam to counter Paradox's energy blast.

Paradox shot off an additional blast, ending the stalemate and started pummeling the distracted Integra.

"Are you done?" Paradox snorted. "You haven't changed since you were a child. You're weak. I'll make you feel the pain and loneliness I felt when no one loved me. You will die, alone and miserable; with no one to help you. Scarlet Janus!" she charged up her attack.

"Greatest Horn!" Harbinger blasted Paradox with his attack. "I couldn't watch that." he told Integra. "It's enough."

"Why interfere when you aren't fighting for Athena?" Paradox demanded.

"I never knew my parents or brothers." Harbinger admitted. "I just can't stand by and watch as sisters kill each other."

"Kido Saori, you're as guilty as me." Paradox snapped. "Pallas is like a sister to you, but haven't you come to kill her? You've also gotten more Saints killed than I can count. You're no Goddess. You're just a murderer."

"No..." Integra's Cosmo lit up. "Athena is not a murderer." snapping Paradox's staff under her foot, she charged at her older sister and slammed a punch across Paradox's cheek. "Athena marches onward as her life withers away." she renewed the fight, taking it to the air. "All for the people of Earth and the Saints who fight with her. Not because she was born a Goddess by chance. Athena's strong sense of self-sacrifice has moved the Saints' hearts, bringing them this far. When you see her, do you feel nothing?"

"I do not." Paradox sneered, blasting Integra onto the ground. "Because no one has ever loved me." she went on the offensive. "Not our parents, nor by that woman. You were the one they always loved. I was the stronger one; the one better suited to be the Gemini Gold Saint. This time, I'll prove it." she sent Integra into a wall with a punch and powered up. "Galaxian Ultimation!"

"Galaxian Explosion!" Integra countered.

"What is this massive Cosmo?" Paradox frowned as Integra's attack slowly overpowered her.

"You understand nothing." Integra stated. "Love is a heart that feels compassion for life. That is true strength. Yet you mock life, seeking only love. I am a guardian of Athena; you can never hope to defeat me." with a final burst of Cosmo, she blasted Paradox off.

"Why do you hesitate?" Paradox demanded her victorious sister. "You hate me, don't you?"

"Wait, Integra." Saori stopped Integra. "If you kill your sister, Paradox, you will never forgive yourself."

"If taking my wicked sister's life is a sin, I shall carry the burden of that sin." Integra declared.

"Integra, there is no need for that." Saori assured. "Your feelings have already reached Paradox."

"I tried to kill you." Paradox looked away from Saori's kind gaze. "Why do you stare at me like that?"

"Love and hate." Saori passed her Cosmo to Paradox. "Light and darkness. One that embodies those two contradictions; essentially a paradox. That species is humanity. Even if they sin, even if they choose the wrong path, humans can always start again. Watching your fight has strengthened my resolve." she told the Gemini sisters. "I shall end this battle with Pallas."

"This Cosmo..." Fudo cautioned as a black mist blanketed the room and Gallia emerged from the portal she created.

With a cold chuckle, said Class-1 Pallasite took out Paradox with a swing of her Bushinkōrinken. "This world doesn't need love." Gallia declared. "All that's left for you humans is despair."


SailorStar9: Now that's done, read and review.