Chapter Six – Romance of a Puppet Master

People die every day, from natural causes, disasters, murders, suicides. Whatever the reason, when one dies, whatever they have done during their days on earth will be judged here at the first prison of the underworld. Today it was no different as Minos let out a sigh while he watched the long queue waiting outside his court.

Griffon Minos, one of the Celestial Star Spectres of Hades, the Three Judges of Hell, a top ranked Spectre. Yet in reality, everyday he had to process the endless counts of dead coming through awaiting judgment, like some salary receiving court admin clerk. It was often tolerable because he had one of his friends/subordinates to help him, Balron Lune.

Today however, Lune was called to Giudecca summoned by Hades, leaving him to handle all these dead on his own. Letting out another sigh, Minos wondered if he was going to die because of boredom. Life as one of the Three Judges of hell had never been exciting, Minos knew it and had come to terms with it. Recently however, Minos had found himself a new fascination.

Miyabi, the Libra Gold Saint of Athena.

Minos always loved powerful women, but no one compares to Miyabi. Yes, Pandora was a powerful woman too, she made Rhadamanthys follow her around like a puppy dog, she was able to command the 108 spectres of Hades, but that's not what Minos was after. Miyabi's beauty aside, the fierce strength she showed him that day, how despite being caught by him, her eyes showed no fear, her words of pride proved her to be no inferior was able to imprint herself deeply into Minos' soul. As a man who gets easily bored by things, Minos knows Miyabi will be able to keep him entertained. With that, Minos realised he had never found any woman able to attract him like this. The desire to keep her for himself was overwhelming.

Ever since their meeting, times, and times again Minos was tempted to go visit her at the Sanctuary. However, knowing his presence there would likely trigger the war again, despite Minos does not mind starting war again, but as arrogant as he was, he still knew he had to follow Hades' orders at all times.

While Minos daydreamed away about Miyabi, Lune had returned to find the queue of dead people not reducing at all. With a sigh, Lune approached Minos. "Lord Minos, if you keep slacking off on your duty, the queue will increase till it reaches the world of the living."

"So, what did Lord Hades want?" Not touching the topic of his duty, Minos asked Lune instead.

"Nothing really, Pandora wanted me to deliver a message."

"Deliver a message? Isn't that a bit overkill to ask of a Celestial Star Spectre?" Minos wondered because like him, Lune is also one of the Celestial Star Spectre, power on par with the Gold Saints of Athena. Delivering messages are usually errands that can be carried out by lower rank spectres.

"I know," rolling his eyes, Lune too felt he was belittled for doing such a small task. "However, it appears, Lord Hades wanted to deliver the message himself, and Pandora had to persuade him to let someone else do it on his behalf."

"Lord Hades wanted to do it himself?" Minos' honey brown eyes widened in amusement. "What's the message?"

"Oh," showing Minos an envelope Lune explained. "Apparently Lord Hades wanted to invite a friend to visit, he insisted he should deliver the invitation personally to prove his earnestness."

Lord Hades' friend? Immediately, Minos felt something click in his mind as he asked in excitement. "Is it an invitation for Miyabi?"

"Oh, you knew who the guest was?"

Grabbing the envelope from Lune's hand, Minos took off his judge's robe and passed it to Lune. "Here, take over my duty and I will go deliver the message for you."

"What? Wait!" Before Lune knew why Minos got so excited all of a sudden, Minos was already out the door leaving him with a bunch of dead groaning in the court to handle.

Calmly inhaling and slowly opening her eyes, Miyabi turned to the man sitting next to her. "How did I do this time?"

With the soft breeze brushing through the two people in the beautiful Twin Sala Trees Garden of the Virgo temple, Shaka calmly nodded. "You have definitely improved since day one. I can also tell you have been practicing in your own time, however the power of saints is limitless, so you still have a long way to go."

Agreeing with Shaka, Miyabi knew those were true advice from a powerful senior. Her daily psych training with Shaka started with a bet, however after a month was over, Shaka continued to train with her and already it became a daily task for Miyabi to join Shaka at his Twin Sala Tree Garden to meditate and work on her cosmos control.

For Shaka, it was quite a change on his behalf. Known as the man closest to god, Shaka was able to achieve so by speaking to the gods on a daily basis through his meditation. Because of this, Shaka was accustomed to keeping the world out of his sight, keeping to himself, disregarding the surroundings.

However, ever since he was "forced" to have a companion join him for meditation daily, Shaka discovered he did not mind it at all. In the beginning, Shaka wished this month of debt would be paid off quickly, but as time goes on, when Miyabi greeted him with a warm friendly smile on her arrival, her pure attitude to learn and become stronger somehow touched Shaka's heart. That was why when Miyabi reminded him the month of deal was over, he had found himself offering to continue to train her, and in a way, prolong this calm tranquillity he has daily with Miyabi.

"Well, I guess I better head to my next training session with Mu." Standing up from where she was, Miyabi reached for the picnic basket beside her. Opening the lid, Miyabi offered it to Shaka. "I made some sandwiches to have with Kiki and Mu before our session, but I also made some for you if you'd like some."

With his eyes still closed, Shaka could smell the delicious food inside the basket. Knowing firsthand Miyabi to be a good cook, Shaka asked. "What do you have?"

"I have…" looking through the basket Miyabi said. "Egg sandwich, ham and lettuce, roast beef with pickles…"

Listening to Miyabi listing out the large amount of food she prepared, Shaka noticed a slight sense of loneliness whirling up inside. Loneliness? Shaka frowned a little. When had he ever felt lonely? He was accustomed to being by himself, for it was more comfortable being so than to be around all the noisy bunch.

Yet, the thought of Miyabi leaving to attend her next training session with Mu somehow bothered him. For a man who knew many things, Shaka for the first time was puzzled with what was happening inside his heart.

"I will join you and Mu for lunch."

With that, the two headed down the steps towards Aries temple and found Mu already waiting at the entrance. "Hi Miyabi and…" Pausing, Mu's eyes narrowed a little. "Shaka."

"Oh, Mu, Shaka will join us for lunch before we start our training."

"I see," Still keeping the smile on his face, Mu turned to Shaka. "I must say I did not expect you to join us. I always thought you preferred to be alone?"

"I need to check that your training program is suitable for Miyabi." Ignoring Mu's mocking, Shaka calmly replied.

"Heh…so you are doubting my training skills?"

"I just wanted to make sure it does not clash with what I am training her, it will work against her improvement if we weren't aligned."

Noticing the two cosmos clashing again, Kiki teased Miyabi. "Miyabi, how do you always make them fight like this?"

Blushing to the innocent boy's remark, Miyabi shook her head. "I, I am not sure. But I think they are both great teachers."

Luckily before the two Gold Saints enter into 'Thousand Wars', an intrusion into the Athena's seal over the Sanctuary brought them all back. With Athena's seal surrounding the Sanctuary, it was protected from civilian eyes, making it a holy place only saints of Athena can enter.

Usually, if a civilian were to accidentally enter the barrier, the seal will automatically lead them back to where they came from, making the presence of Athena and her saints hidden from the common world.

However, what Mu, Shaka and Miyabi felt just now was not an accident, but whoever entered the boundary cracked through the seal forcefully and along with it, a most powerful offensive cosmos entered into the Sanctuary.

"Come, Aries." All seriousness returned to Mu's face as he immediately summoned his Aries gold cloth. Turning to Miyabi and Shaka, Mu said. "I will go see who it is."

Frowning to the familiar powerful cosmos, Miyabi muttered. "This cosmos belongs to one of the Three Judges of Hell, Minos."

"Three Judges?" Mu frowned. "They should know we are at truce with them."

"They do." Miyabi nodded remembering what Hades said to her the day they met in Japan.

"Either way, as the protector of the first constellation temple, I will go face him." Saying so, Mu headed out and saw as Miyabi said, it was Griffon Minos, one of the Three Judges of Hell. Though Mu knew not what the man's intention was, as a Gold Saint, he could sense an enormous powerful cosmos from the man before him, likely at the same level as him, or possibly higher.

"Good day, Mu of Aries." Greeting politely, the Griffon spectre smiled, not indicating to the Gold Saints before him the intention of his visit.

"Griffon Minos," Standing in front of the Aries temple, with his body blocking the entrance in a protective manner, Mu greeted in response. "If I remember correctly, we should no longer be at war."

"No, we aren't." Minos shrugged his shoulders and indicated his attire. "I came today on friendly terms as you can see, I am not even wearing my surplice."

"I see." Stating so, Mu continued to study the man before him, also not showing Minos how he planned to react to an unexpected intruder to the Sanctuary. "In that case, why have you entered Sanctuary uninvited?"

"Well," Not sure if he wanted to provoke Mu on purpose, Minos took a step forward. "I am here to deliver a message on Lord Hades' behalf."

"On Hades behalf?" Still not showing the spectre any indication of his intention, Mu calmly replied. "If it's official business, Athena and the Pope should have been notified. Yet we have not heard any formal announcement of this sort…"

"It's because the message wasn't for Athena." Taking another step forward, Minos continued to smile. "The message is for the Libra Gold Saint Miyabi."

Not expecting that, for the first time an arousal of emotion appeared on Mu's face. At the same time, Miyabi, who was waiting inside the temple, thought her ears malfunctioned with what Minos just said. If she was the reason Minos came, she ought to be the one to deal with him instead of causing trouble to Mu. Like reading her mind, before she moves, Shaka stops her.

"Stay put. Mu will deal with him." Speaking to her cosmos, Shaka's voice was stern. "Meanwhile, use this opportunity to practice extinguishing your cosmos."

"But…"

"It's fine, Miyabi. No matter the reason, as the protector of the first constellation temple, I can't allow him to freely enter." Mu also spoke to Miyabi's cosmos.

Despite wanting to resolve the situation on her own, she knew both her seniors were correct so slowly closing her eyes, Miyabi extinguished her cosmos as Shaka instructed.

"Miyabi?" Mu asked with a frown. "Why would Hades have any dealings with her?"

"Oh, have you not heard?" Chuckling, Minos continued forward as he spoke. "Miyabi is a respected friend of Lord Hades. I too would love to see her again."

Finally understanding Minos' true intentions, reaching out his arm to stop Minos from moving further, Mu warned. "If you step any further, I will be forced to carry out my duty as the first protector of the Sanctuary. So, Minos, I would think twice if I were you."

Letting out a sigh in exaggeration, Minos' honey brown eyes landed on Mu. "I really only wish to see Miyabi and not here to fight." Despite saying so, totally ignoring Mu's threat, Minos continued forward.

Raising his finger, Mu sent an attack that landed right by Mino's feet. "Final warning."

"I guess you're not letting me through?"

"Minos, please return to the underworld. It's not my intention to break the peace treaty both the Athena and Hades had signed."

"It's not my intention either. So I guess I will reach her in the most peaceful way possible." Saying so, Minos raised his hand.

To Mu's surprise, he felt as if there were invisible cords that caught onto him, and when he quickly struggled against it, he had found his body no longer controlled by himself as against his will, his body stepped aside and made way for Minos.

"Thank you." With a leer, Minos nodded to Mu as he passed through. Unexpectedly, a force out of nowhere lifted his body up and threw him out of the Aries temple.

Landing skilfully on his feet, Minos saw Mu was still standing aside just as he had controlled him. With a certain realisation, Minos nodded. "Oh, I see. I have heard of the extraordinary psychokinesis ability of the Aries Gold Saint, so even if I have restricted your body, it doesn't stop you from using your psychokinesis on me."

"That's correct." Releasing a burst of cosmos, Mu broke the cords that were controlling him. "Is this all you've got? Though I must say I expected more from the Three Judges of the underworld." With that, Minos' body flew up again and was thrown further away from the Aries temple.

"Very well." Instead of backing down, Minos started laughing as he got back onto his feet. "This is great, I love it. I haven't had this much fun since the holy war." Brushing his fringe off his face, Minos' outstanding face was beaming with excitement. "I guess I should have known better that it wasn't going to be a walk in the park against the Gold Saints without my surplice."

Calmly raising his hand, Minis summoned. "Come, Griffon."

The moment Minos adorned his surplice, Mu, Shaka and Miyabi instantly noticed the huge increase in the cosmos of the spectre. He was indeed a man who possessed the power enough to rank on top of the 108 spectres of Hades.

"Oh?" Minos' eyebrows lifted a little with a certain realisation the moment his abilities increased drastically after wearing the Griffon surplice. "This is the thing, Mu. You were able to break free from my cords because it wasn't the true Cosmic Marionation I used on you. For there is no running away once I have chosen a person to be my marionette." Raising his hands, a confident smile came on Minos' face as he stated. "No matter how many times you break free, there will always be one cord that connects me to my prey…"

Understanding Minos was about to cast his skill, Mu raised his arms immediately in defence ready for what's to come when to his surprise, the cords went past him and reached inside the temple onto its true prey, Miyabi, the Libra gold saint.

Not expecting that either, Miyabi regrettably found the cords trapped her arms and legs and once again she found herself being pulled to the Griffon spectre against her will.

The moment Minos felt the soft body in his arms again, with unexplainable joy, Minos muttered, his voice in elation. "I finally get to see you again, Miyabi." Gently picking up a strand of her soft silky hair, Minos landed a kiss on it. "You are still as beautiful as I remembered you to be…"

Feeling her body cringed in response to the spectre's action, Miyabi struggled to free herself but only found the moment she tried, there was excruciating pain through her joints. Naturally letting out a moan in pain, she found Minos leaned forward and rested his forehead against hers as he whispered, "Oh, don't fight against it. I don't wish to cause you pain…"

"Seriously…let go!" Ignoring Minos' warning, Miyabi struggled harder for she too was a saint of Athena, she will not allow herself to be toyed like this. Unfortunately, Minos' Cosmic Marionation is the powerful judge's ultimate skill. Even when against someone as powerful as Kanon and Shion, they too weren't able to break free.

It was then, all the cords restricting Miyabi were suddenly broken when she felt someone pulled her away from Minos' grasp, and at the same time a most destructive attack struck Minos.

"Tenma Koufuku!"

Upon the impact, the entire building behind them blew up and collapsed, bringing Minos down with it. Astonished by the impact, Miyabi found the person was no one else, but the almighty Shaka in his Virgo gold cloth ready for battle.

"Shaka, I think Athena will be extremely upset that you tore down the buildings again…" Joining them was Mu, who too came to the rescue but appears, Shaka was faster.

"At least I didn't aim at your Aries temple." Totally unrepentant, the godly Shaka remarked.

"Hahaha! Minos, are you finally dead?"

To the three gold saints' surprise, a laughter appeared from above them and turning to the voice, they found another spectre sitting on top of one of the pillars while he spoke to the ruins caused by Shaka.

Recognising the person to be one of the Three Judges, Garuda Aiacos, who unlike Minos came without his surplice, in contrast, Aiacos was prepared.

"Garuda Aiacos, I hope you are not here to join your friend in battle." Mu said to the new intruder. "Considering we were supposed to be at peace, I would hate to see you end up like Minos."

"No, no." crossing his arms, Aiacos gave a sigh. "First of all, Minos is not my friend. Second of all, though I am wearing my surplice, it doesn't mean I am here to fight. I am simply not stupid enough to walk into enemy territory unarmed. Thirdly, I am only here because I knew Minos would stuff up." Moving his eyes to the ruins, Aiacos called out again. "Hey Minos, can you stop causing a ruckus and do what you're supposed to do?"

"Why are you even here, Aiacos…?" As the dust started to settle, Minos walked out of the ruins calmly as if nothing happened.

Unable to believe how Minos could take Shaka's skill face on without a scratch, Miyabi felt her heart beating fast realising this was the level of battle the saints during the holy war took on. Shaka too gave a frown when he knew as a top tier warrior, Minos was able to cast a strong protective shield around him right before he was struck by Shaka. To be able to do so in an instance, Shaka knew Minos' ability to control his cosmos would be on par to his. With that, Shaka realised the situation might be more dire than he had anticipated. If Minos alone was able to take on his attack unscathed, with the addition of Aiacos, a serious battle could possibly ensue.

Seeing the concerned looks on the saints, Aiacos smiled. "Oh, don't be so shocked. Minos is famous for having really thick skins. Don't forget he survived the blast you guys caused at the Wailing Wall." Pointing to the ruin, Aiacos laughed. "Compared to that, this is nothing."

"Why are you here, Aiacos?" Minos asked again, irritated his colleague made him sound like a freak before Miyabi.

"Let's see, why am I here…" tapping his chin Aiacos replied. "I went to find you in First Prison because I was bored, then saw Lune wiping his tears while working, telling me how you threw him your work to do so you can run an errand as a messenger, that got me very intrigued."

Moving his eyes onto Miyabi, Aiacos teased. "Then when I found that the person he was supposed to deliver the message to was you, Miyabi, then it all made sense."

"What do you mean?"

"You see," Hopping off from where he was, the Garuda spectre landed before Miyabi. "You are probably not aware of this, but we the Three Judges of the underworld are extremely high ranked spectres. We each have at least twenty or so spectres reporting to us, so it really isn't our job to be a post boy."

"Stop talking, Aiacos." Minos threatened, for the first time the prideful judge no longer seemed cool.

"Oh, are you feeling shy Minos?" Aiacos started laughing even more, entertained by the reaction from his rival spectre. "Haha, I can't believe how cute you'd become when you are in front of the girl you love."

"The…what?" Miyabi blinked in surprise.

"That's right. Miyabi, I think it was what you call it, love at first sight?" Obviously enjoying teasing Minos, Aiacos ignored the deadly glare and continued to expose his fellow colleague. "Ever since he met you that day in Japan, you were all he could think and talk about. From what I have heard, apparently, he returned to Japan a few times in hope to bump into you. So now, when there's a chance to finally meet you in Sanctuary, of course he would jump at it."

"Aiacos…" unlike how he was against the saints before, this time Minos' killing cosmos was really directed at the fellow spectre.

"Why are you getting upset? Am I wrong?"

Yes, Aiacos was right about his feelings for Miyabi, still, it wasn't nice to be embarrassed like this, especially since he had better plans to woo the girl, sweep her off her feet with his romantic advances.

"Mu, give me an update on what's happening at the Aries temple."

Coming through was Saga's voice speaking to their cosmos. It was no surprise considering what took place, the entire Sanctuary went into alert mode.

"Err…" Tilting his head to the soap opera scene before him, Mu reported. "I would say Athena is safe, the world is in no danger, the Sanctuary continued to prosper but I think Miyabi is in trouble."

"Miyabi? Why?"

"I will update you when I find out more." With that, Mu cut Saga off because he wasn't going to miss out this drama before him.

Clearing his throat, a shade of pinkness came onto the powerful Griffon spectre's fair face as he finally turned to face Miyabi. "Well, everything Aiacos said aside, I guess I just need to know if you will be willing to…"

"No." Miyabi declined straight away.

"I haven't even finished my sentence!"

"Hahahaha, oh my god Minos. You got rejected!" Coming from the side was Aiacos' irritating laughter that was like applying salt on Minos' bleeding heart.

"Whatever it is, Minos. I have to decline." Shaking her head again Miyabi said. "You are a spectre, and I am a saint, it's against all political interests for us to have any dealings. Besides, I don't know you well enough to…"

"Oh, does that mean we just need to get to know each other better?" This time it was Minos' turn to cut Miyabi off.

"What…"

"You are right, Miyabi. We need to spend more time to get to know each other better. That way, I will be able to prove my worth to you." Completely ignoring Miyabi, hope and joy returned to Minos as he handed an envelope to Miyabi. "Here, an invitation from Lord Hades."

With that, Minos walked off laughing happily as if he finally got what he came for.

"Oh well, good luck to you Miyabi. Though I must say once Minos set his mind on something, nothing can make him change his mind." Waving goodbye at Miyabi, Aiacos grinned before he too followed after his fellow spectre.

It was the first time since the day Miyabi joined the Gold Saints rank were the twelve Gold Saints summoned together at the Athena temple once again. With the unexpected intrusion of the two Judges, Saga, the Acting pope summoned all to deal with the situation.

"So, let me get this right." Deathmask frowned. "We are summoned here because Minos wants to date Miyabi?"

"I am against it!" Aiolia jumped in. "He doesn't deserve Miyabi!"

"I am surprised you are so fired up about it, Aiolia." Shura laughed. "It's not like Miyabi's your girlfriend or anything."

Blushing immediately with what Shura said. The Leo saint justified immediately. "No, I meant he is a spectre, an enemy!"

"It's okay Aiolia, Shura is just teasing you." Patting the flustered Leo saint, Milo laughed, though he agrees with Aiolia wholeheartedly.

"So, how did this even happen?" Camus asked, bringing everyone back on track.

"First of all, I want to confirm that we are still at truce with Hades and Poseidon." Saga held onto his head and gave a sigh. "But something happened a few weeks ago, when we were in Japan."

After Saga explained the incident that occurred, Miyabi gave everyone a bow of apology. "I am sorry to have caused this trouble. I really didn't know he was Hades…"

"So now we understand Miyabi ended up becoming friends with Hades, why is this a big issue?" Unlike the rest, Aiolos smiled warmly. "This is the perfect sign that we are really no longer at war."

"I guess being friends with Hades isn't what I am concerned about." Saga explained as he held up an envelope. "But this has now arrived from Hades, he has requested for Miyabi to join him for a tea party in the underworld."

"Wait," With his arms crossed Aldebaran asked. "Is he asking her to go there alive? I thought living humans can't just enter the underworld. Or is this an actual death threat?"

"No, it's not that." showing everyone a platinum necklace, Miyabi explained. "Hades gave me this necklace as a way to enter the underworld unrestricted. So even if I have not yet awakened the Arayashiki, it will not be a problem."

"Then I guess it comes down to, what do you want to do, Miyabi?" Aphrodite asked. "Do you think this is a trap or do you trust Hades?"

"I," Miyabi paused for a bit and recalled the time she spent with Hades in Japan. From the way he spoke to her, he appeared to genuinely want to be her friend and appreciate the little time they spent together at the sushi place. At the same time, this is Hades, the King of the underworld. The god that warred with Athena several times, causing endless death, and the god who wanted to rule over earth with darkness.

"We are no longer at war, aren't we?"

"You made me see kindness in humans and made me realise why Athena fought to protect the earth and its people."

Miyabi remembered the gentle pure smile Hades had when he spoke that to her. Maybe Hades truly changed and wanted to be friends. Because logically speaking, what benefit would he get out of kidnapping or trapping her in the underworld anyway?

"I will attend the tea party." Finally making up her mind, Miyabi stated. "I want to believe Hades wants to genuinely make peace with us, and he meant no ill." Looking up at her seniors, Miyabi gave them a beautiful smile. "Besides, if anything happens, at least it would just be me, and it wouldn't make a difference to the Sanctuary…"

"No, it's not right to make you go alone." To everyone's surprise, Shaka interrupted. "I have already been to the underworld before, it would be safer if I came with you."

"Hey, Shaka, last time you were there, you got completely lost and didn't arrive Giudecca until the very end. In comparison, I have walked everywhere, and no one knows the underworld better than I do." Jumping in too was the other Gold Saint who have also awakened his Arayashiki, Kanon. "I will go with her."

"Well, I know you guys are like proud of having awakened your Arayashiki, but it doesn't mean we can't do it either." Shura protested.

"To be fair, we were also alive when we met at Giudecca." Aiolia nodded. "Me, Milo, and Mu all awakened our Arayashiki then. So, it wouldn't be fair to exclude us."

Though he too would like to recommend himself, unfortunately as the Acting Pope, Saga knew he wasn't allowed to leave Sanctuary. "Anyway, I agree it's not safe for Miyabi to enter the underworld by herself. Not that I doubt her ability as a Gold Saint, but there are 108 spectres there."

"To be honest," Mu chuckled as his beautiful green eyes glanced over at Miyabi in tease. "I think the only person I would worry about is Minos. From the way he is obsessed with Miyabi, I am afraid if she went alone, she might never come back."

"Yeah, I would hate to see that." Aiolos spoke up. "But if too many Gold Saints went with her, the spectres might see it as an act of war against the underworld. Besides, I think Shaka and Kanon are the most experienced in the underworld compared to us. They would act as the best protection for her."

"Aiolos is right," Saga nodded. "In that case, Kanon, and Shaka, you will accompany Miyabi to the underworld. But remember, do not engage in battle because we are not at war with them, and by no means should we give them an excuse to start the war again."