Chapter one – Post War, A new Beginning
In the endless loop of the holy war, Athena and her saints were able to defeat Hades and the Spectres once again in the most recent battle. In order to put an end to this meaningless battle, in this generation, Athena and her saints were able to defeat Hades in Elysium in his true flesh, finally stopping Hades from reincarnating again for the next holy war.
Despite this conflict resulting in victory for Athena and her saints, bringing sunlight back, preventing life from extinction on earth, the consequences were great. Destroying Hades threw the realms into imbalance. For without a ruler, the underworld entered into chaos, the dead were left wandering and lost, no one to enforce laws and it became inevitable for the other gods of Olympus to step in.
"Athena, I understand your choice to destroy Hades in his true body and put an end to this war." Sitting on his throne the ruler of all the Olympus gods, Zeus pointed his finger at his daughter who crouched before him in respect. "But what you have done has destroyed the balance we have longed to keep. When we first created this world, we were each given a realm to rule for a reason. What you have done has destroyed that!"
"If I may," Coming from beside him the sea god Poseidon interrupted. "Though I too agree we needed all the gods present for the system to work, but you can't deny the fact Hades was the one constantly trying to break this balance."
Though he too once warred with Athena, Poseidon spoke up for his niece for he did after all assist in the defeat of Hades.
"Very well, we the gods of Olympus have agreed to bring Hades back under the condition that he will no longer declare war on other realms." Proclaiming so, Zeus lifted his arm and as rays of light were released from his palm, Hades reappeared before them.
"Hades, now we have brought you back, do we have your word that you will no longer invade the earth realm." Zeus said to the tall man before him, whose eyes were of clear blue that contrasted his black hair, a tone as dark as the underworld.
"Very well," Simply shrugging his shoulders the King of the underworld agreed. "I will enter a truce with Athena, and as a gesture of my good will, I will revive the warriors for all three realms that have died due to the war in this generation."
With that, a new beginning has begun. All the saints, spectres, mariners who died in the battle of this generation were raised again. Athena, Poseidon, and Hades entered a treaty to never battle against each other. In exchange, they will each reign over their realm properly. Laws for the dead has been reinstated to the underworld under Hades, marine life returned to normal under Poseidon's rule, and for Athena, her and her saints will vow to protect the earth from evil and corruption so the other gods could no longer have an excuse to annihilate the destructive human race.
So, life continues, Athena, also known as Kido Saori returns now to her role as the goddess Athena who rules over earth in Sanctuary Greece as well as the head of the Graade Foundation, which she inherited from her late grandfather Kido Mitsumasa. Since the existence of Athena and her saints were hidden from normal society, Saori spends most of her time in Japan where she runs the Graade Foundation as a normal teenage girl.
Today however, was one of the rare days where she spends her time in Sanctuary. The reason for this was, a rare new member has joined the rank of the Gold Saints. A new Libra Gold Saint.
What happened to Dohko, the current Libra Gold Saint you might ask. Well, together with his best friend Shion, who were also resurrected by the power of Hades, the two considered it time to retire for they have lived through two holy wars. Fortunately, the two resurrected in their youthful body, despite already hitting over 200 years old mentally. Upon such an occasion, Shion and Dohko decided to seize this opportunity and go travel the world together, finally ticking off the items in their bucket list, leaving their tasks to the hands of the capable next generation.
Saga, the Gemini Gold Saint took over the role as the Acting Pope, and his twin brother Kanon, took over the role of the Gemini Gold Saint. It was revealed, that apparently after Dohko announced his retirement, the Libra Gold Cloth has picked for itself, a suitable owner, an apprentice also under Dohko, like the Dragon Bronze Saint Shiryu.
In order to properly introduce the new member to the team, Saori has assembled all the Gold Saints to the grand hall. Lining up in the order of the constellation, five on one side and six on the other, it was probably the first time since all their gathering before the Wailing Wall, were the Gold Saints all once again summoned like this.
"Isn't this a bit overboard for all of us to gather here for one person?" The Cancer Gold Saint, Deathmask muttered in boredom within the "Gold Saint" chat group of the cosmos chat.
Cosmos chat, similar to the social media tools used by the common people, the saints of Athena have the ability to speak directly to each other's cosmos. For easier communications, a group chat was set up for the current Gold Saints. Knowing so, Deathmask whined to the group often because this is where he knows Athena couldn't hear what he has to say.
"I am still in this chat you know, Deathmask." Saga responded while he stood next to Athena as the Acting Pope.
"Damn, why has no one removed him from this group?" Rolling his eyes secretly ensuring Athena did not see him, Deathmask grumbled.
"Isn't it because Saga is the admin of the group?" Thoughtfully, the Taurus Gold Saint Aldebaran reminded. "Besides, even though he is an Acting Pope now, he is still one of us."
"Thank you, Aldebaran." Saga felt his heart warm from such kind words.
"Anyway…" Not sharing the sentiment, the other Gemini Gold Saint, Kanon interrupted. "Deathmask does have a point, it's a bit overboard to gather us all here just for a new member. To be fair, when we all became Gold Saints, none of us got a big introduction."
"Isn't that the reason we are doing it now?" Unlike Deathmask, the Scorpion Gold Saint Milo was actually excited to meet a new member. For he was always open to meeting new friends and companions. "Because the 12 of us never really met formally, that's why we ended up getting tricked by Saga and caused the death of half of us before the battle against Hades began."
"Ouch...!"
"Milo, I think you also forgot that Saga is still on this channel." As the calm cool saint of all, Aquarius Gold Saint Camus reminded his friend.
"It's fine, guys. We are Athena's saints. We do whatever she tells us to do." The loyal Capricorn Gold Saint Shura was more than eager to prove his loyalty.
"That's right guys, compared to the new member, we are more experienced seniors, so we should take up our parts and take care of the new Libra Gold Saints. Roushi would have wished so too." As one of the calmest logical Gold Saint of all, Mu of Aries reminded.
"That's right, we need to lead the way and make the new member feel welcomed. Isn't that right, Aiolia?"
"Yes, brother." The two brothers of Sagittarius and Leo, Aiolos and Aiolia nodded at each other. Turning to the Gold Saint standing next to him who too nodded with them, Aiolia added. "Look, even Shaka is agreeing with us."
"Zzzzz…."
"I think Shaka is just nodding in his sleep…" The most beautiful saint of all, Pisces Gold Saint Aphrodite chuckled.
"Quiet guys, the new Libra Gold Saint has arrived." Reminding everyone, Saga noticed the powerful cosmos just outside the door. A Cosmos indeed at their level, a qualified Gold Saint of the Athena.
Noticing too, despite complaining in their chats and all, the 11 Gold Saints stood up tall and straight ready for their new team member. After the guards opened the door, in came a person dressed in the Libra Gold Cloth. Calmly walking up towards Athena and the Pope, the new Libra Gold Saint took off the Libra helmet, and went on one knee in utter respect to the goddess.
Upon the removal of the Libra helmet, everyone in the room saw a person with beautiful shining silky long black hair, and similar to Dohko, who was of Asian descent, the new Libra Gold Saint was also Asian. Above that though, when all the Gold Saints saw the appearance of their new member, all could not help but be awed by the beauty. In contrast to the dark silky hair, the skin was fair, eyes of slight tint of honey brown. Similar to the majority of the Gold Saints who were known for their good looks, the Libra Gold Saint was more on the beautiful side than handsome.
"Humph, not bad." As the most beautiful saint of all, Aphrodite could not help but remark.
"Looks like you have competition, Aphrodite." Teasing so, Deathmask poked at the Pisces Gold Saint. Of course, the conversation continued in the 'Gold Saints Only' chat group.
Standing up from her throne, Saori came forward to the new Libra Gold Saint as she reached out her hand in kindness. "Miyabi, welcome to the team. Congratulations on becoming a Gold Saint. Though the Holy War is over, we couldn't be happier to have a new member join us. Will you vow to protect this earth and fight for love and peace?"
"With my soul and body, Athena." Accepting Saori's hand the new Libra Gold Saint declared in a soft crispy voice.
The moment the new member spoke, a stir of golden cosmos rippled throughout the room. Noticing too of course the reaction from the Gold Saints in the room, Saori chuckled as she gestured to the new Gold Saint. "That's right team, let's welcome the first female Gold Saint ever."
Helping the beautiful Libra Gold Saint onto her feet, Saori gave a sigh of happiness. "Miyabi, you have no idea how happy I am when I found out you are the new Libra Gold Saint. It is so nice to have an additional female in this room. This way when you escort me to missions, I wouldn't feel like having guard dogs following me around but have another friend to tag along with."
"Guard dogs…" As expected, restlessness started again in the Gold Saint chat group.
Not knowing so of course, turning to Mu, Saori smiled. "Should we go through and introduce ourselves to the new member? Let's start with the first constellation, Aries."
"Yes, Athena." Giving Saori a bow, Mu turned to the new member. "Welcome, I am Aries Mu. I am in charge of the first temple Aries." As he reached out his hand to shake the new member's hand, it was then he noticed indeed, the new Libra Gold Saint to be a lot shorter than the rest of the team. Now at close range, Mu could tell under the glamorous Gold Cloth, the new Libra Gold Saint was just an innocent looking teenage girl!
"Hi, I am Aldebaran, in charge of the second temple Taurus." Especially next to Aldebaran, the new Libra Gold Saint Miyabi looked so tiny!
"Miyabi is it? I am Gemini Kanon." After Aldebaran's introduction, the Gold Saint of the next constellation came forward as he flashed a most charming smile with his god given handsome face at the new member, something he knew always gets a reaction from the ladies. "Sounds Japanese, are you from Japan? I love Japan."
"Oh my god, Kanon…"
"Seriously?"
"Kanon, stop embarrassing the Geminis!"
In the Gold Saints channel, Deathmask, Milo, and Saga booed.
"Yes, I am from Japan, but I went to be trained by Roushi in China." Unfortunately, Kanon's charm didn't seem to have an effect as without any particular reaction Miyabi simply replied.
"Haha, fail-urrrre…" Rubbing it in, Deathmask remarked in the chat.
"Humph, that's weird." Kanon frowned because he thought it would definitely work. "I guess I just have to work harder…"
"Alright, get out of the way, it's my turn. Let the master show you how it is done." Deathmask cleared his throat and came before Miyabi. "Ciao, lovely lady. I am Deathmask of the fourth Constellation, Cancer Temple. Since we are close neighbours, you are always welcome to come over to my place and I will whip up some of the best Italian cuisine. We can enjoy some wine, and then maybe after we can get more acquainted…" Reaching forth his arm to wrap around the girl's shoulder, Deathmask was surprised to find his arm couldn't reach anywhere near the girl's body.
"Crystal Wall! Damn you, Mu!"
"Aiolia, your turn. "Ignoring Deathmask, Mu cued the Leo Gold Saint in.
"Hi…hi," to everyone's surprise, the usual stoic Gold Saint flustered, his eyes unable to look straight at the girl before him. "I am Aiolia, Gold, Gold Saint of the Leo temple. Nice, nice to meet you."
"It's my pleasure." Responding with a friendly smile, Miyabi gave the Leo Gold Saint a polite bow.
"Pleasure, pleasure is all…"
"Oh wow, Aiolia can't talk to girls." Shura could not help but remark. Who would have guessed considering he was quite popular with some ladies.
"Let's get this introduction over before the sun sets, shall we?" Shaka pushed Aiolia aside for who knows how long it will take for him to finish his sentence. "I am Shaka, the Virgo Gold Saint. Since our constellation temples are right next to each other, make sure you keep the noise down because I spend most of the time meditating."
"Of, of course." Intimidated by the godly almighty cosmos emitting from the Virgo Gold Saint, Miyabi nodded straight away.
"Hey, don't scare her like that." Total opposite to the almighty cosmos Miyabi encountered, embalmed with such friendly warm cosmos, Milo reached forth his hand and shook Miyabi's. "I am also your neighbour, Milo, the Scorpion Gold Saint. I don't mind the noise, if you are worried about Shaka, feel free to move your party over to my temple. Camus, Kanon and Shura hang out at my temple all the time so we would love to have you over."
Naturally responding to the friendly smile, Miyabi smiled too. "Thank you Milo, that's very kind of you to say."
"Smooth…"
"See? Kanon and Deathmask, that's how it is done."
Shura and Aphrodite poked at Kanon and Deathmask again.
"Damn, I did not see that coming." Deathmask grunted while sending his death glare at Milo. "Since when were you good with the ladies?"
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Not expecting that from Deathmask, Milo shrugged his shoulders. "I was just being friendly!"
"Wait, remember him looking all cool and stuff when he went to fight the evil goddess Eris? Somehow got him all popular with the girls."
"True…"
"Anyway…" Rubbing his temples to the low-level conversation going on within the Gold Saint's chat, Saga couldn't ignore the voices coming at his cosmos even if he wanted to. "Aiolos, your turn."
"Hi Miyabi, welcome to the team. I am Aiolos, the Sagittarius Gold Saint. I know I look young, but I am Aiolia's older brother. I am also one of the more senior Gold Saints here, so if you ever need anything just yell out."
Since Aiolos passed when he was only 14, when he was raised by Hades, he had only returned to his body at the time. Because of this, compared to the rest of the Gold Saints that have now passed their 20s, he was still in a teenage boy's body.
"Hi, I am Shura. The Gold Saint of Capricorn." Reaching out his hand, Shura shook Miyabi's hand. "I am also one of the more senior members here, and like Milo said, we always hang out for some drinks, so come join us anytime."
After his introduction was over, Shura stood back again to allow the next Gold Saint to come forward. Luckily for all, it appears only the normal decent Gold Saints remain to introduce themselves after Milo, proven by the smooth introductions following. After Shura's introduction, Camus came forward and politely gave Miyabi a bow. "Greetings, I am Camus the Gold Saint of Aquarius. Though I am not as senior compared to the rest of the team, I am used to looking after people because I have two apprentices myself. So, if you ever need anything, please do not hesitate to ask for help."
Upon such a polite professional self-introduction, Miyabi immediately bowed back in response as her Japanese polite side kicked in. "Thank you very much, Camus."
"I guess I am lucky last, as always." Smiling beautifully, Aphrodite came forward too as he offered a stem of beautiful red rose to Miyabi. "Here's a rose for the beautiful lady. I am Aphrodite of the Pisces Temple. Welcome to the team."
"Wow, this is beautiful." Miyabi's face brightened up immediately upon the rose Aphrodite offered. "I have never seen a rose this well grown."
"If you like to see more, I do have a rose garden in my temple if you would like to visit." Elegantly Aphrodite offered. "I do have quite a selection of tea as well."
"Oh wow, really?" Miyabi smiled upon the offer. "In that case, I will bake some cakes so we can have a tea party!"
"Is it weird that when Aphrodite does it, it felt most natural?" Kanon remarked that despite Aphrodite also making a move on Miyabi, it did not feel sleezy at all.
"Of course, Pisces saint is the one with the highest beauty and elegance." Aphrodite responded proudly. "Besides, no one knows the heart of a lady better than I do."
Letting out another sigh, Saga finally came forward. "Welcome to the team Miyabi. As you know already, I am Saga, the Acting Pope while Shion is away. I have already made arrangements for the Libra Temple to be your new residence. If you ever lack anything just let me know. I will always be either working here at the Pope's office, or will be residing at the Gemini Temple with my brother."
"Good, now is your turn, Miyabi. Tell us about yourself." Like a good boss, Saori asked.
"Yes, Athena." Turning to face everyone, Miyabi the new Libra Gold Saint politely gave everyone a bow. "My name is Miyabi. As I have mentioned before, I am from Japan but spent the last few years being trained by Roushi. Although I was lucky enough to be chosen as the new Libra Gold Saint, as the most junior person in the team, I still have a lot more to learn. If I ever do anything wrong, I need to improve on something, please let me know."
"Thank you, Miyabi." Saga nodded in approval, happy that finally there's another reasonable person who joined the Gold Saints rank. "Anyone have any questions?"
"I do!" To everyone's surprise Saori raised her hand immediately.
"Go ahead, Athena."
With a beautiful loving smile of the goddess, Saori asked. "Miyabi, what are your three sizes?"
"Wow, Athena!"
"Was definitely not expecting that."
"Good question Athena, I wanted to know too!"
Upon Saori's question, the Gold Saint chat group went crazy again.
Also not anticipating that, Miyabi's eyes widened in surprise. "My, my three sizes?"
"Yes," Nodding innocently Saori explained. "Your first mission will be to accompany me to a ball held by one of the most influential political figures in the UN. So, if you can let me and Saga know your three sizes, then we can order you a dress." Turning to the Acting Pope who had petrified due to shock, Saori added. "Isn't that right, Saga."
Quickly pulling himself back, Saga squeezed out a smile. "Yes, of course."
"I wonder what her three sizes are." Chatting away in the Gold Saints group chat, Deathmask shamelessly started scanning through the girl standing among them.
"Stop staring, Deathmask" As stoic as usual Aiolia reminded Deathmask to be a gentleman.
"Don't even try Deathmask. Besides, it's hard to tell anyway when she is wearing the Libra gold cloth." Milo joined in too, accidentally revealing he had secretly been trying to figure it out too.
"It's 36, 24, 36."
All eyes moved onto the person who just made that comment in bafflement. For it came from the person least expected, the almighty Shaka.
"How the hell…"
"Your eyes are not even open!"
In confidence and pride, Shaka simply gave a smile. "I don't need my eyes for this. I can sense everything around me without using the sense of vision."
Of course, not knowing all these cosmos chats going on around her, since poor Miyabi has not yet been added to the group, the loyal Libra Gold Saint nodded. "Yes, of course. If it's for the mission. It is 36, 24, 36."
"WOAHHHH!"
"Shaka got it right! What the hell!"
"Of course, for I am the man closest to god…"
"Thank you, Miyabi." Nodding to Saga, Saori indicated for him to explain the assignment.
"Camus, Milo, and Miyabi."
Upon their names being called, the three Gold Saints came forward and crouched before the Athena and Pope.
"As Athena has mentioned earlier, she will be attending a ball held by one of the politicians in the UN. You will of course be attending as guards to protect the Athena, however this time there is another mission we need to accomplish." Moving his eyes onto Milo and Miyabi, Saga continued to explain. "We have been asked officially by Interpol to carry out an undercover mission."
Since the holy war is over, and it was Athena and her saints' responsibility to protect the earth realm and rid it of its corruption, Saori has finally revealed their existence to a very minority source in the Interpol. Upon the agreement, Interpol will feed information to Sanctuary on major crimes happening around the world, and in return, the saints will assist in working with them to stop these crimes.
"Camus, you will stay by Athena as her personal guard. Whereas Miyabi and Milo, you two will be undercover as the guests that were also invited to the party as arranged by Athena. Interpol has informed us that there is a high chance human trafficking is happening within the premises. Despite having long suspected it, they were unable to infiltrate and gather enough evidence in order to execute an arrest." Handing a few mini cameras to the two, Saga continued to explain. "Interpol has asked us to install these cameras around the suspected area so they could find proof. I must remind you again that as you are undercover, you must not engage in battles with anyone. Because we must make sure the suspect is not aware he is under investigation."
"Understood." Both Milo and Miyabi saluted in acceptance of their mission.