Lance's Role

by Thrudgelmir2333

A 'shonen' fic that sequels Next Dimension and Lost Canvas. In 1960, the Pope of Athena receives three prophecies from an old enemy that irremediably set the course of his reign over Sanctuary's tragic history and almost two decades later a Saint of Pegasus finds himself put through the unfolding of a new age of violence caused by the Pope's actions. Please enjoy and review.

90. 3A: The Chrysaor Goes South

Notable OCs: Pegasus Lance's Saint Generation, Civil War Saint Generation, WWII Saint Generation, Hades' Dark Princes, the False Specters, Maidens of Athena, Priam's Black Saints; Cyrulian Refugees; Genbu Atlae; Patrician Mariners, Shamballa Muvians;

Notable Original Concepts: Mount Olympus Training Ground, Sanctuary Court, Teos Cloth, Athenian Empire mythology, Isle of Gardens, Stardust Prison, Hades' Dark Princes; Desert Beyond, Sanctuary Town Layout & Buildings; Kido Mount; Pact of Seven; DQI Geography; Shamballa;

Recurring/Cameo OCs of Jenny DeVic: Mrs. Schafurwatt, Cyrus

Recurring/Cameo Concepts of Jenny DeVic: Great Bodyguard Legend, Golden Line Heritage, Sanctuary Orphanages, Andromeda Island's Geography & Tests, Sanctuary Nobility, 88 Knights Festival

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Author Notes:

-This chapter has been betaread by EpicElly;

-The fic has officially passed the 2 million wordcount mark on , and reaching half a million on AO3 soon;

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Please Enjoy and Review

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Solo Manor

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At the hall of the manor, Saint Aquarius readied himself to leave when he saw Patrician Arthur in the living room with his new child in the rocking crib, looking pensive.

He bowed. "Lord Arthur."

The patrician looked up. "Saint Aquarius, come in."

Malta did so, "It's getting quite late and I wished to-" then looked around and realized the spouse was gone. "Where is Lady Seraphina? I wished to say goodbye before I left."

Arthur shook head, looking indisposed at the mere question. "She… retired early to her bedroom. Seraphina wants to be alone. I'll pass it on, though, Lord Saint."

The Gold Saint hummed. Lady Seraphina seemed fine at dinner. The Patrician seemed tense as well, not to mention there was a blanket in the couch by Julian's crib like someone in the room was planning to sleep on it. Did something happen while Malta was looking through the titles in the Solo's book collection in the other room?

"I see." Malta anxiously diverted. He turned to the baby child in the crib and saw baby Julian sleeping soundly, hugging the bear plushie. "So, this is the new heir. I'm glad he likes my gift."

Arthur seemed to uplift a bit, curving lips back up. "He enjoys his toys, yes. It's interesting; it took me forever to find one that Marianne liked, while Julian latches on to anything made of plush and polyester."

"He was born an Aries, right? That could be his zodiac coming in." Malta commented, pulling Julian's blankie a bit more over him. "I've met a few. Even outside the Muvians, they love their toys and gadgets."

"Met a few? Like Aries Antenor, Saint Odysseus?" Arthur tossed in.

Malta's jaw tensed at the mere name. "Yes, I suppose…Back in the day, anyways. Before I leave, I'd like to apologize for what happened with Azrael." Aquarius begged. "I want you to know His Holiness fully backs the Mariner faction, regardless of what he said."

Arthur nodded, but inside, his heart wrenched with doubt. Too much of what the Castellan said struck a chord with his instincts. Between the proof that Ithaca may have incurred the wrath of the Muvians in the past and Azrael's words about how the Pope would likely back Shamballa and not the Mariners in the case of conflict, since Yuzuriha was Arles' old friend, Arthur was sure Azrael's visit would keep him from sleeping tight well after his current problems with Seraphina healed.

Combined with the Knight's ghastly armor and manner to carry himself, it was difficult for Arthur to believe it was the Bronze Saint of Serpens, and former Gold Saint of Aries, that had walked into Arthur's house that afternoon. Saint Odysseus, however, had known the man from before the war. Perhaps this was a chance to find out more?

"I wanted to ask, if you pardon the curiosity… whatever became of your Aries Saint?" Arthur began. He saw 'Odysseus' turning his mask away briskly like Arthur just asked for the Pope's keys to the Colossus. He rephrased as diplomatically as he could. "I mean no offense, Saint Aquarius. My son Julian was born under Aries, so… it's just difficult for me to see a Gold Saint of his Zodiac acting so… ill-tempered."

Aquarius 'Odysseus' looked at the baby and back at him, like he found the motive very strange. "I very much doubt he will rub off on your child, Head of Houses. The idea that Gold Saints have an impact on those born under their star during their tenure is just a Sanctuary superstition."

Arthur tried again, knowing this was a one-of-a-kind chance to learn directly from a former comrade of Azrael about the man that was emotionally blackmailing the Solo Patrician, not to mention a fellow Pact member. "I know he's a sensitive subject given his actions in the war, but every time the Pact meets, he causes tension with his distance and indifference to our affairs. Often times I think he feels he's too… good for the Pact."

The Gold Saint sighed. "That sounds very much like Azrael, it does. Alright, Lord Solo. What would you like to know?"

Arthur knew very well what the voice of a nostalgic friend sounded like. "You two were partners, yes?"

'Odysseus' shook his head. "We all loved each other very much, but I worked more closely to Capricorn 'Achilles', especially after the war broke out. No, Menelaus knew Azrael the closest, back when Azrael still went by his Gold Saint codename… Aries 'Antenor'."

Arthur immediately saw why; "An auspicious name; Antenor betrayed Troy to the Greeks."

"And Azrael betrayed the Zodiac Knights to us, I know. Hades himself named Antenora after that Trojan." Odysseus completed. "But I assure you, it was coincidental. Everyone thinks the codenames were picked during the war, because of how well they lined up with everyone's fates, but they were actually given to us upon becoming Gold Saints by His Holiness. Perhaps the Pope simply has a greater gift for foresight than even he thinks."

Concern for Ithaca rose to the top of Arthur's mind. "I will be blunt, then, Saint Aquarius. Is Serpens Azrael holding my bodyguard captive?"

The Gold Saint's mask sunk a bit as if a twitch of the lips happened behind it. "That depends. Did you send sir Ithaca to spy on Azrael after all?"

Arthur paled. He shook head. It was time to be truthful. "…To my great shame, I have."

Even through the layer of identity concealment in the Gold Saint, Arthur could feel in his bones how tense 'Odysseus' just got with this, as his posture stiffened and his breath subtly sighed out. Clearly this confirmation of Azrael's accusations made everything much more difficult for the Golden Zodiac to mediate, but Arthur knew that when dealing with the Gold Saints, honesty was critical.

"I don't think, Lord Arthur, that Azrael would do such a pointless thing, unless he's changed into a far crueler man than I thought." Aquarius 'Odysseus' finally spoke. "Your servant has been missing for months, after all. I don't picture my old comrade holding a Mariner captive this long. And if he had killed him, he'd be announcing it to the heavens ever since, just to make a point of how antagonized he is. There's just no motive for Azrael to be holding Sir Ithaca."

Arthur slumped his head. "Then he's right… the Muvians must have taken him." He sat down with his child, gently rocking the crib. His eyes closed. "Dear Poseidon, this is a catastrophe...!"

"That is not necessarily true, either." Aquarius reasoned, always the cooler head. "Many Black Saints hide in Central Asia because of its size, not to mention the Gerasimov in Bluegrad hold a grudge against you, do they not? Any number of things could have happened to Sir Ithaca. Azrael in particular is not the right voice to throw accusations at Shamballa. He's come to hate the Muvians very much since his Aries Cloth was taken."

The patrician noticed a pattern. "Saint Aquarius, you've mentioned more than once to keep that in mind, that he was different before. I know what Serpens Azrael is like. What kind of man was Aries Antenor, then?"

The Gold Saint stood quiet, perhaps thinking of how to explain it. Arthur couldn't imagine anything less than that this was a very difficult topic for the Gold Saints. Everyone knew that the man sitting in Serpent Rock was a double traitor; first to the Gold Saints and then to the Zodiac Knights. However, it was also famously known that this particular generation of Gold Saints was very tight by the hip, having all been raised together simultaneously. Arthur was therefore asking this poor man to relive the trauma of a painful betrayal just to get more information.

"He was a dedicated Saint." Odysseus finally spoke. "Obsessive, perhaps, but also one of the most virtuous of our generation. Especially as a Zodiac Knight, he was extraordinarily bound by his faith in Athena and his principles to protect her vision of the world and defeat Hades. However, perhaps because of that, he was also very unforgiving to himself. There wasn't a mistake he made he didn't flagellate himself, and others, for."

"I always thought Saints of Athena were all quite strict with themselves." Arthur commented.

Odysseus shook his head. "Not to his extreme. Call it an Aries trait, but Antenor deeply believed he needed to put every bit of his passion into what he did, whether it was combat, lightcrafting or the duties of a Zodiac Knight. In another life, he would have been the type of figure children would admire for their unbending heroism." Odysseus folded his arms tensely. "But make no mistake, in his current state, he is an outrageously dangerous man. As a fighter, he commands Lightcraft arts now lost to the world, plus all the knowledge of an Aries Gold Saint and the experience of a fighter of the Priam War. You should have never sent your man to spy on him, Patrician Arthur."

Arthur's heart sunk. What had he done? Doing his best not to give away his pain, he adopted a stoic pose of mere curiosity, as he intended to pass on.

"How does one go from being one of the most honorable Knights to one of the most dangerous men in Sanctuary, Saint Odysseus? Was it the loss of the Cloth?"

"Again, everyone thinks that." Odysseus rejected, shaking head. "It certainly played a part, but if that had been the case, why would he have put himself in the position to lose it in the first place? I reject such easy answers. No, in my opinion, what drove Antenor over the edge was loss."

Arthur rubbed his stubble, thinking back to the Gold Saints' history. "You don't mean… the Cancer Saint massacre?"

Odysseus nodded. "The very same. I remember the pain in Azrael's face that day. To him, not just those two members of our generation, Cancer and Virgo that is, but a common dream among our group died. Other than Menelaus, our Virgo Saint was the closest to Antenor. More importantly, he blamed the rest of us for not stopping it." The Aquarius Saint looked away. "I don't… entirely censor him. Part of me felt the same. After that horrible night, however, he became harsher, less patient, more critical. He started throwing more accusations, became less forgiving with our faults and even started openly criticizing the Pope, something unthinkable of a Zodiac Knight. He essentially became what you saw today, long before the Priam War ever began."

Arthur knew what was next. "I see. So, when that war broke out, he sided with Priam to punish you all."

"That is very likely, yes." Odysseus concurred. "And when the war turned against the Black Saints and Zodiac Knights, he used the Topaz Purge to earn a place back with us."

Arthur rubbed his chin. What a life to live. He was dealing with a vindictive former Gold Saint after all, one that massacred his own so he could get away with punishing his friends for a tragedy they all suffered together. Could he trust what such a man had to say?

He looked at baby Julian, who cooed sleepily in Arthur's sheets, oblivious to the peril his father Ithaca faced.

Right. His father, Ithaca.

"Can you really stand another betrayal from someone so close?"

Arthur clenched his fingers on the crib. He felt Azrael's insidious words ring in his head, repeating over and over again, as he beheld the object of Seraphina's betrayal. The child bearing the name of Arthur's father, who did not have a drop of his family's blood, and whose real father Arthur was now trying to rescue!

He breathed, relaxed, and cast away such thoughts into Poseidon's abyss. Now was not the time for such poisonous feelings.

"I'm sorry, Head of Houses, I know that answer doesn't put you at ease." Aquarius conceded, assuming the reason for Arthur's tense state. "But it's the truth about Antenor. Kidnapping a Mariner simply isn't something I see as a priority of his."

A dark, cold feeling came over Arthur. "Why would Sanctuary accept the return of such a traitor? With Priam and Aeneas, a manhunt went on for years!"

"Saints are still subjects to Athena, Lord Arthur, and her voice carries down to the 88 Cloths, who have a spirit of their own. When Azrael returned, Aries refused to keep serving him, but Serpens continued." Odysseus explained. "That might be difficult for Mariners to understand, but for us Saints, that was a sign that something in Azrael was not completely lost. From that, we interpreted that it's our Goddess' understand that the penance of having to murder his own people, who were so important to him, and the loss of his hard earned Gold Cloth, was enough to punish Azrael… for now."

Arthur reached down and combed Julian's hair. Though the babe's sleepy purr was the same, it felt less warm to Arthur than last time he's done so.

He rose, trying to stay indifferent to the coldness growing inside him. "Thank you, Saint Aquarius. I think our own God treats matters with… certain mysterious ways, too. Let me accompany you out."

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The next morning

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Golden Zodiac,

Capricorn Temple

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The morning sun of July rose over the mountains, shedding light over Athena's mounds. The sunrays hit the practice field of the Capricorn Temple, where student and teacher exchanged sword blows.

Shura cried out and charged, thrusting his metal sword in a sharp two-handed stab! It was struck by his Master's wooden blade, deflecting it, but he spun around to swing further, taking care to maintain the pace of the assault. Each and every time, though, the Capricorn Saint parried the trainee's weapon despite the significant material disadvantage between their weapons. Panting, Shura jumped high and swung his sword down as hard as he could, slamming his master's wooden edge to break it. Kirin held his sword up at an angle to absorb the impact. Sparks flew off when the metal blade was bit into by the cosmos surrounding Kirin's blade and Kirin let the child slide the contact point down with the force of his blow, sending flares of friction everywhere.

Shura backed off with some quick steps, holding up his guard. He felt his bones reel and his heels flare from the force of Master's weapon push. He looked at his metal sword and saw it cracked almost in half! Seeing his teacher lean back lazily and hanging his sword over his shoulder in a gesture of invitation for Shura to attack, Shura growled and dashed in again, aiming for a lateral, upwards angle to take advantage of the height difference-

Kirin bobbed aside to let the powerful swing miss! The Gold Saint then slammed his wooden blade down, fully snapping the student's metal sword in half, and bashed him with a light burst of colorless cosmos to floor the young teenager.

The boy saw his metal blade broken and staggered. "Yeesh!"

"You're not using your Cosmos very wisely, Shura." Kirin warned, his voice tense. The Gold Saint offered their wooden sword by the handle. "This is the second time I tell you; you keep trusting the strength of your metal to see you through when you should be relying on your own power. Make sure I don't have to say it again."

Shura stood up from the ground and took the offered sword with his free hand. He widened his eyes, realizing that despite all of his attacks, there was no damage in the wood, not even a single scratch. "W-Wow! Master, it has no dents in it! I kept hitting it as hard as I could!"

Kirin rose a finger in a lecturing manner. "Remember, Excalibur, the strongest blade in the world, has no metal in it. It's all the Cosmos of its Saint. If you want to earn that blade's blessing one day, you must internalize that lesson and forget all your preconceptions of what a weapon is."

Inspired, the young boy swooned. "Just like the Zodiac Knights of old and their light-crafted swords!"

Kirin grumbled, having been born when they still existed. "They aren't… that 'of old'."

Shura bowed. "Thank you for the match, master. I will practice everything you said with twice my strength!" He rushed to one of the targets and started practicing smacking it with the wooden sword. "I won't rest until I can break a metal sword with this, too! I will do it by nightfall in fact!"

"By nightfall you're going to make me take you to the clinic again, as hard as you're training." The Gold Saint thought, wishing the boy's natural instinct was a bit sharper, too. It was concerningly easy to get the drop on Shura at close range. He trusted the power of his techniques to keep adversaries at bay way too much. "Well, at least you're dedicated."

Amidst his strikes and martial shouts, Shura looked out at the practice field and saw the Aquarius Saint walking up the stairs. "Master! Lord 'Odysseus' has returned."

Kirin perked up. "Finally…" Kirin then sensed the tension in Aquarius stepping up the stairs, like he wanted to bang his head on a wall. It was imperceptible to most people, who knew Malta to be so stoic, but for someone who'd known him for almost twenty years, Kirin could tell something was up from a distance. "Stay here, Shura, I'm just going to chat with him for a bit."

"Yes, master!" Shura obeyed. He focused on his target and began practicing his strikes, making sure to protect the wooden material with his Cosmos. "Ay-ah! En garde, evil Specter!"

Attracted by the commotion, Milo, of all people, emerged from the entrance of the Temple. "Hey, Shura, is Malta back just yet?"

Without even pausing, Shura nodded. "Yeah. He just went upstairs with Master."

The Scorpio aspirant grimaced. "Yeesh, guess it's back to studying for Camus again. I was hoping we could go sneak into the movie theaters again today." Hesitantly, Milo reconsidered his options for a mischief peer. "Say, what about you, Shura? You were practicing all morning. You deserve a break."

"I have a mission from my master. I will not neglect my duty." Shura guaranteed, attacking the doll even harder. "DIE, SPECTER! For Athena!"

Milo saw the doll shaking with the force of the blows that struck it and held it still protectively. "Oh come on, this is not a mission, it's just practice. We're all pretty much at the finish line of the 7th sense already. Why not take a day off? Even the Pope says you're the one that least hangs out with the gang."

The apprentice groaned and wiped his sweat. "It's because I don't feel like hanging out with kindergarten Saints." He reminded Milo, being two years older than the rest of the gang. "Look, go ask Aldebaran. Or Aiolia. His brother is always begging you to spend time with him."

Milo pouted offendedly, clenching fists. "The hell, man! Aiolia's a baby! I can't take him to see the movies! You think I can sneak a toddler to watch 'Chainsaw Massacre'?!"

"Well now you know how I feel when you ask me to hang out with you. And don't say the h-word like that!" Shura rested his sword over his shoulder and put his hand on his hip. "You're just a year older than him anyway, so what's the big deal? You're a cosmos prodigy, Milo, you don't have to spend as much time practicing as the rest of us, so go spend your time with someone who needs it. Some of us, however, can't let up practice for a single day."

The blue-haired boy looked up at the Capricorn Temple's window. "Uh, you're starting to sound exactly like your teacher. That guy's stick up his butt is almost as big as Saint Malta's. You sure he ain't your dad or something?"

The Capricorn student's nose cringed and he struck the target hard, caving the sword in. " What is that supposed to mean?"

Milo shrugged. "You're both Spanish and all."

Shura squinted. "…Not everyone was born into the Temples like you, Milo. And besides, me and my teacher aren't even from the same region in Spain. Master is from Catalonia and I'm Galician."

The Scorpio squinted weirdly. "What's the difference?"

An angry growl came from Shura, startling the younger boy. "The difference is between whether or not I'll hit you over the head if you mix it up again!"

Milo staggered and rephrased "I'm just saying; you're always talking about how your Master is such a big 'man'! Maybe your mom thought the same once-"

This time, Shura pointed his wooden sword at him with a look on his face like he was considering switching practice targets.

The Scorpio staggered and held his hands up in the air. "I apologize! He's definitely NOT your dad! Okay?"

Shura sighed and put away the sword, wondering what kind of education a noble baby like Milo received for him to be talking about these things at age seven. "Look, I know for a fact he's not my dad, cause Master has always been famously celibate. He's dedicated his life to the sword, to Athena and to Sanctuary. That may be boring for you, but for me it's the mark of a true Saint, like a Zodiac Knight."

Milo squinted. Shura always went on and on about how much he loved the damn Knights. "Yeah, if that was true, me and countless other noble babies as you guys call us wouldn't be born, would we? We're all children of Saints, when we go far up the family tree enough." He put finger to lip. "Kinda like the Mariners, I guess."

Shura shook his head. "No, they're different."

"How so?"

"The Mariners all come from the same original small group of survivor families from the Myth Age, Milo. Saints earn the nobility in their blood." Shura argued. "You can be born a peasant and aspire to unlock the cosmos, serve Athena and one day be a Sanctuary golden ring bearer. Mariners are either born one or not."

"How the heck do you know so much about the Mariners?!"

Shura rested his sword in shoulder and smirked cockily. "Know the Cabrals? The pale ones with ugly kids? They live just south of where I came from, in Portugal. When I was a kid, I first got the attention of Master because I beat the hell out of this gang of theirs in Santiago. That's how I know so much."

"Right!" Milo mockingly bit. "You'd just beat their sons up back home. And they haven't sworn a vendetta or anything?"

Shura just struck the dummy again. "They have. And I just beat them up again. Last one that messed with me regretted it really bad. You can't humiliate a Mariner more than ripping off a good handful of their pretty blue hair."

Milo touched his dark-blue curls. "Blue hair? Really? Maybe I am a Mariner child, too."

Shura laughed. "Think again, you got the wrong color. Yours is so dark that it's almost purple. And besides, Milo, you dyed it that way." He pointed out, making the boy's face turn red. "No, Mariner hair is more like, um….Saga's. Yeah, his is perfect."

Milo hummed, folding his arms. "Is he a Mariner then?"

Shura shook his head. "I seriously doubt it."

That was a pretty quick response, in Milo's opinion. "Why?"

"He's too good a Saint of Athena, that's why." Shura argued. "And besides, Mariners keep strict records of their families. Some wild stuff would need to happen for one of their babies to just be born out of an Amazon and then left in the 'Heart of Sasha' orphanage."

Milo slumped his head. "Poor Saga. Every time I think about that story, it makes me feel so bad for him." He then perked up, recalling the noise from yesterday's Triumph. "But HEY, wait a minute, we ARE getting a Saint that is also a Mariner! That new Delphinus Saintia is from the Solos, or something."

Suddenly, Shura's new swing carved his sword hard into the target doll, breaking the doll right in half and startling Milo.

"Ugh, darn it!" He went over to fetch a new one. "Don't remind me of that. It boggles my mind that His Holiness decided to do that."

The Scorpio laughed, finally discovering something that ticked Shura. "They commended her and everything! She's going to be a really big deal among the Saints, apparently. And she's pretty, too. But yeah, she's a Mariner. Maybe you'll have to worry about that vendetta after all?"

Picking a new doll made of iron and equipped with maces that would swing back when he struck, Shura carried the new target back. "I suppose the grown-ups know what they're doing…"

With crashing disappointment, young Milo squinted and frowned. "Man, you're so boring. So even with something that clearly upsets you, you won't say anything bad about the adults? You're such a giant stick in the mud, Shura."

"And you're a rich boy rebel, Milo." Shura casually answered back, fixing the new combat doll in. He dusted his hands off, but wished he had access to his Symplegades targets from back in the Pyrenees training ground. "And if I can live with you, I can live with a Cloth being given to a Mariner."

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Upstairs, in the Capricorn Temple's resting rooms, Aquarius Malta explored the living hall that connected to the Saint's bedroom chambers while Kirin went to get drinks. The Aquarius Saint looked around and saw that his downstairs neighbor had decorated the welcoming hall with all the typical stuff expected of Saints of the Capricorn Temple; swords, swords and more swords. Some were crossed on the wall, others rested in displays like they belonged to Saint Cyrul himself and others were war prizes taken from the Specters during war.

However, there were also all sorts of pictures from the past; moments of graduation into new ranks of Saints and even faces of old, fallen friends. On a table by the wall with a big mirror, one captured his attention. It was by the box of makeup that Kirin used in conjunction with their mask to hide the identity of his alias, Capricorn 'Achilles', so Kirin probably saw it everyday.

'January, 1960' was written in the portrait frame. His throat dried.

Taking it to hand, Malta saw a group of twelve youths sitting at the stairs of the Aries Temple, plus His Holiness, the late Captain Marcus of the Papal Guard, a younger Ms. Schafurwatt and Saint Daniel. His Masked Holiness and Ms. Schafurwatt, who served Scorpio Paris, stood in the far flank. The Pope wasn't keeping his distance from physical contact with anyone yet and the maid still had a lot more brown hairs than grey ones. Malta knew the two were friends from back in the World War days, but did not know the story very well. Supposedly, Pope Arles had saved her from the Holocaust with the help of a squad of Saints, but it was tough to picture a two-hundred-year-old Muvian Pope going Rambo on the Nazis, even to save innocent Jews. It was probably just a coincidence during a Saint operation (*).

(*) 'Love you, Kill Me', by Jenny DeVic

The shocking sight of Sagittarius Priam laughing alongside Gemini Akassius and Leo Kai was seen in the far left. The three were inseparable back in the day. Now it was bizarre to see Priam and Akassius breathing the same air without it cleaving in half between them. Pisces Aeneas was just nearby trying to not look too exasperated by their boyishness. Not too long after this scene, Aeneas would have to return to the Isle of Gardens to continue training, but he looked happy to be with them all anyway.

Immediately in the center back, Malta recognized Menelaus standing together with their teacher, Daniel, behind the rest of the group. It was easy because of the duo's immense heights, but also because of Menelaus' wild black mane running down to his waist and his confident, aggressively excited grin of someone who was sure they'd get the Taurus Cloth eventually. A smile full of ferocious, yet pure, dreams. Then in the front, Malta's heart broke at the sight of Helen sitting in the lower middle in front of them, hands in her lap and smiling shily to the camera. It was all made worse by the fact that Cancer was sitting next to her, looking equally innocent, while Daniel was just behind them all, smiling like the gigantic proud father of the new Virgo Saint.

Finally, to the near right, Malta saw himself with much shorter hair and even a vague grin. Kirin had his arms pulling him and Paris together with a joyous grin and fingers making a victory sign. Malta laughed, seeing Paris scowling unpleasantly. Malta remembered Paris was complaining about having to take a picture with a bunch of 'junkyard boys'. He never shed that arrogance of his, did he, but had still come nonetheless. Their pseudo-Libra was also with them, sitting in the front, looking not too bright because of the complex prospects of getting their Gold Cloth, but still showing joy in being part of the group.

As for Captain Marcus, he was no longer with them, having died in the war with Priam. The Papal Guards were now headed by Maximus, a veteran of the same conflict. Malta remembered Marcus as a wise, kind man, unaffected by the trauma of war, unlike Maximus who, albeit being an honest, decent fellow, was clearly far stricter, conservative, and suspicious of others, having drilled the guards of the Zodiac into a stark new version of their former selves.

Finally, sitting between them and Helen was Azrael himself, or Antenor as he was known at the time.

He looked so normal.

Malta remembered Azrael had made sure to take a front seat in the picture. He was so proud that he had just earned his Aries Cloth. His neck-length green hair was still out, instead of encased inside an ugly goat mask and helmet, and he already had the two upside-down red triangle paint marks beneath his eyes that represented the slit eyes of the Serpens Constellation, his Bronze Cloth when among the Zodiac Knights. He wasn't scowling or shaking his fist or swearing revenge on anyone. He was just smiling.

And so was Malta now, looking at it. It was no wonder; the picture captured a moment where none of the sixteen people in it imagined the horror that would occur not but two years later.

Malta found himself absorbed into the picture. It was such a time capsule; a moment of sheer happiness and stability between friends that became frozen in time forever by the camera, right before it all came apart like shattering ice. The Aquarius Saint could swear something much deeper was shown in it, a common fantasy in all their eyes about everything they could become one day. It was like the final, punctuating dash of the brush on a painting that Helen was dead in the center of them all, holding the highest hopes for their futures in her heart and, tragically, the first to fall.

Did Kirin really keep this stuff? Akassius had advised them all to toss it all away, so they would feel no hesitation when battling Priam. Malta had done it without hesitation, knowing his part in winning the war was vital. Perhaps Kirin, who was of warmer blood than him, sought to spare at least one memory.

Malta now wished he had done the same. In fact, he altogether imagined an alternative outcome where none of that pain had happened, where all of their fallen, disheartened and ostracized ones were still there, in that Sanctuary. A world where their Scorpio hadn't run off to become a mercenary, where their Leo hadn't drunk himself into vagrancy, where their Virgo hadn't been murdered, their Cancer hadn't gone insane, their Libra and Taurus got their Gold Cloths like they hoped to, their Sagittarius and Pisces hadn't caused a massive traitor's war with the Pope and their Aries hadn't purged the Knights.

Without realizing it, Malta desperately felt the desire to live in that world deepen to bottomless levels. A desire to paralyze it forever in time so it wouldn't shatter again. The wish was so abysmal and true, that it made his Cosmos manifest and shine, lighting the whole room a soft blue. The air grew colder with that blue. Windows creaked and grew humid as water in the air condensed against them. Plants began darkening and wrinkling ever so slightly, dropping petals. His breath became visible, but he did not register it, feeling trapped in the fantasy of that photograph. If only he could turn back time. If only-

Eventually Kirin returned from downstairs with a bottle and a pair of glasses and shivered. "Athena almighty, did you open a window or something?"

Malta snapped out of it. He lowered his cosmos and put the picture in place. "Sorry, it's my fault, I… um…"

The Capricorn Gold Saint hummed, seeing what he was looking at.

"Feeling nostalgic? Nothing wrong with that. Here, take a seat." Kirin advised, pulling chairs for him by a table. Pouring wine from the Temple's cellar, Kirin put Malta's glass in front of him. "You sure took a while with the Solos; you were out all night. The Holy Father asked about you."

Malta sighed. He didn't drink anymore, but he held the glass in hand out of courtesy. "We hit… some unexpected snugs. After I left the Solo Manor, I decided to spend some time investigating a few things. Before I knew it, the sun was coming up."

The Capricorn sipped his, delighting in the flavor. "You can tell me all about it, then. So, starting from the beginning, what did the Solos say? Do we have a new Delphinus Saint or what?"

Malta nodded. "I think so. Miss Marianne was hesitant at first, but after last night, she declared her intentions to do so."

Kirin chuckled and clenched a fist. "Yes! Arles sure is shrewd, isn't he? He told me this was an offer the girl couldn't possibly refuse, and I didn't believe it at first."

This surprised Malta. "Really? You're often the one always backing up His Holiness. Is it because it's the Mariners?"

The Gold Saint shrugged, stirring his wine. "Not in itself. It's just, think about it; why would the Mariners ever give up their new generation's jewel to us, after all? But again, His Holiness sees what no one else does. Everyone says the Pope is way past his expiration date, but Arles hasn't kept Sanctuary safe through two and half centuries on just being Athena's word of trust."

Malta squinted boredly at such concerns. "I don't think the Households would ever be the issue, but rather Patrician Solo himself. Arthur spent the last twenty years defending his position among the Mariners from breaking his betrothal with the Gerasimov. He was getting ready to offer her up to the Vancouvers. Personally, I was shocked when he told me this morning he now fully backed this." He rubbed jaw, concerned. "I wish I knew what changed his mind so suddenly…He seemed… preoccupied last night."

"Can you blame him?" Kirin challenged, ignorant of the tension in Arthur's family. "Marianne Solo getting the Delphinus Cloth weakens the Saintias and the Mariners all at once. I bet neither of those parties were happy with this, despite what that academy girl, Olivia, said to Marianne at the Triumph, about how proud they were. But it strengthens Sanctuary. And that's all that matters."

The Aquarius Saint folded his arms in reprimand. "You shouldn't think of it that way, Kirin. The Pact is important for peace, whether the Saints like it or not."

The Capricorn pushed Malta's glass closer to him. "And you should drink, if you're saying such things."

Malta squinted at such irresponsibility of mind, especially from a Capricorn. "Oh, should I?"

Kirin narrowed eyes. "YES! Today is a day of celebration, Malta. That girl was poised to become a major problem for us in the future!" The Gold Saint laid out hand. "She was the first to earn a Triumph in Sanctuary since Akassius. Imagine how dangerous a Mariner she would become? But now she's going to be a Saint of Athena, instead, and under your influence, too, instead of another symbol of Mariner power. The planet doesn't benefit from them getting any funny ideas in their heads about 'going their own way'."

At this, Malta had to concede a dark amount of sense. He considered taking a swig, though, dancing the cup in his hand and watching the dark red liquid twirl. It made him frown, remembering how warmly the Solos received him. It just didn't seem right to Malta to treat people like chess pieces.

Yet, he felt poor in words to counter Kirin's. "That is the truth, isn't it?"

Kirin finished their cup with a deep swig and held it up in celebration. "Damn straight! Now if only we could stop her from marrying any of those other Mariner households, we could have the whole faction in our hand… The more these maniacs feel they have to stay under Sanctuary's wing, the better. Holy War with Hades is approaching, Malta. Our students are going to be soldiers in it. The last thing we need is another God for Shura and Camus to fight a two-front war with, wouldn't you say?"

A knot tied in Malta's stomach. With things put to these terms, everything was crystal clear, it seemed? Malta took the cup to his lips to sip lightly and felt the alcohol untie his guts. Feeling more relaxed, he met eyes with Kirin and wondered if he should just spit out his thoughts before his sudden courage disappeared.

Kirin saw him loosen up and smiled, refilling both glasses "That's more like it, Mal'! I missed you getting all red in the face with the rest of us." With the Aquarius' crimson mane, it was only appropriate. "Let's call Akassius and get blasted! I'm sure the wife will let us borrow him for a night. Hell, maybe she can join us! Cecilia has always been pretty freaky behind that sophisticated lady look she always has. And we can fina-"

"Azrael was at the manor, Kirin." Malta finally let out.

Kirin turned to rock, nearly dropping the bottle. "O…Oh."

Malta sat quiet, stirring his drink.

The Gold Saint's teeth gritted and his hand cringed the bottle. Kirin sat it down before he tossed it at the wall. "FUCK! What's the big idea there?! Are you serious?!"

Malta simply drank again, wondering when he was ever not.

"What the hell was he doing there, Mal'?!" Kirin demanded to know, banging hands on the table. "He's supposed to go by me if he wants to talk to Sanctuary! Years and years locked inside that damn castle, and now he decides to pay a visit?! What the hell for?!"

"You know he's never really respected you like that, 'Rin. And he came to see Arthur, not us." Malta explained, knowing full well this just made it all the stranger to Kirin. He breathed out, feeling the nightmare he had last night return. "Azrael made some very serious accusations that the Muvians may have kidnapped Arthur's bodyguard, Sir Ithaca of Delphi. His evidence was… not entirely misplaced. I think you should listen to this."

Malta then explained to his war comrade everything that went down between the two Pact members at the manor, and how he had to act as an impromptu mediator between the two. The Capricorn listened attentively, putting away the alcohol. The Capricorn's visage grew ever grimmer as Malta described the viciousness of the conversation and the photographs he personally verified.

When Malta was finally done, now Kirin understood why Malta was out all night. "Goddess save us! Do you think… there might be war between Shamballa and the Mariners?!"

Malta breathed out and shook his head. "No, I don't. The Sons of Arion are probably in a stir, of course, but Arthur is a cool-headed man, and he knows not to trust Azrael just based on some old pictures and a bunch of rumors about the Mount Kailash site. However, things are worse than you think in another way; Arthur told me he really did send this bodyguard of his to spy on Azrael."

"Goddamn it!" Kirin hissed, punching the wall. It almost shook the whole Temple. "So we potentially have three Pact Members conspiring against each other. What's next?! Is Hades going to crawl out of his hole and invade Sanctuary, too?!"

"Please don't joke. I don't know what to do here, Kirin." Malta confessed, lacing his fingers under his jaw and sighing sadly. "I was between those two and I couldn't do anything to defuse the situation. Arthur's daughter had to step in for me. Everyone says I'm the most intelligent of our generation, but… Akassius was always the one that knew how to deal with these problems. The only thing I can do is figure out armors and the weather."

Kirin scoffed. "There's no doubt Akassius would know exactly what to do, but he's not here anymore, man. We must trust the Pope's ability to maneuver these things as well. Arles is best friends with the leader in Shamballa, after all."

Malta sunk his face into his hands. "…You think so?"

The Capricorn saw Malta's slumped head and frowned, distraught. Kirin held his friend's shoulder. "Don't worry, Malta, you didn't cause any wars. The Pact has always been this way. And it's Azrael we're talking about. He's had nothing but poison in his mouth since… well, since Helen died."

The Aquarius nodded, patting Kirin's hand in gratitude. He glanced outside and saw Shura practicing and arguing with Milo. "Ever told your student about Azrael? He loves the Knights, doesn't he? Camus says Shura constantly talks about how he wished he could have become one, how it doesn't make sense that an Excalibur wielder isn't a Knight."

Kirin scoffed offendedly, looking outside "Are you joking? Absolutely not." The very thought made Kirin shiver. "Number one, fuck Azrael. Number two, I'm not going to tell Shura that the last Knight on the planet is a sniveling bastard and genocidal traitor. That would be like you telling Camus about the Gerasimov basically being a giant mafia group. Or Aiolos' baby brother about Santa. Let the kids have their dreams."

Malta cupped his glass tensely. "Dreams, uh? Azrael said something about those, too. I had this thought when I saw him there, right in front of me…"

Kirin rose a brow. "Of what?"

"I… wanted him back with us." He confessed, sounding on the verge of tears. Their old friend was under all that ugly metal, yet his voice was there, and so were his eyes. There was a time where they exuded kindness and a deep desire to be a great Saint of Athena, instead of cruelty and spite. The Aquarius Saint desperately wanted those days returned. He felt like they were just a hand reach away. "Why can't we have that anymore, Kirin?"

The Capricorn sighed empathetically. "Mal'…you know why."

"Do I?!" The Aquarius Saint questioned, laying out hands in distraught. "Arthur asked me about him afterwards. And…I didn't know what to say! I kept making excuses! I just couldn't bring myself to condemn him, despite everything that happened. I think… part of me still feels sorry for him. Part of me still hopes he'll come back."

Kirin leaned his fists on the table, looking him straight in the eyes. "Malta, you saw the bodies."

Malta nodded, eyes watering at the memory of the dead Knights over the castle walls and bailey.

"Some of those people used to train with him. Some of them were children." Kirin stressed. The Gold Saint didn't mean to bring such dark things to the light of day, but his friend needed a strong dose of the facts. "And he executed them all, cut off their heads like his life depended on it. Then he put their skulls in his walls. And then he was angry his Gold Cloth left him over it!"

In the face of this all, the great Aquarius Malta sunk his face into hands and his voice cracked. "I know. I'm a horrible person!"

Kirin's eyes softened. "No,… you're just a terrible Aquarius Saint, Mal'. You weren't cut out for this. I mean, an Aquarius Saint should be saying things like-" and then he made gestures like a harsh teacher. "'I have no warm feelings for anyone one way or the other, much less the likes of that traitor. And that's that!'."

A smile cracked through Malta's weeps. The Gold Saint cleaned his eyes and put away the glass. "That's why I don't drink. Especially from your collection."

Kirin laughed in confirmation. "You're a fucking sad drunk, yes. Look at you, one glass and you're a mess."

"Maybe I'm getting old, or maybe it's just from me watching the new kids together-" Malta continued. "But more and more I think about the good old days. Watching Azrael go on about our dream brought all that up to the surface, I suppose. I wonder what everyone is doing now. Where is Kai? What is Paris even doing? Is Aeneas really dead? I would hug even Priam if I saw him-"

Alarmed, the Capricorn Saint pulled him up off his chair. "Don't you fucking joke about such things. Come on, Malta, listen to yourself; you're talking shit that would get you court-martialed!"

Malta shook head in shame, getting up. "I know. I'm sorry… I'll… I just need a moment to myself to calm down." He tried to smile, after cleaning his tears. "Thank you for the drinks, 'Rin. I'll see you later at the Pope's meeting."

Yet, despite his assurance, the Capricorn Saint bit finger. He shouldn't let his best friend walk out of here like this. Malta might do something reckless or come off unbecoming to all these vultures around the Pope in the Zodiac. Malta needed healing, the strong kind, and preferably before any major Gold Saint decision he had to take came up.

Kirin looked out the window and saw Shura was still immersed in training. The boy was probably not going to rest until he unlocked the 8th sense.

"Wait just a second here." The Capricorn interjected, holding Malta still. "Look, you're not going anywhere just yet. The last thing you need right now is go to the Pope looking like you're ready to blow the whole Zodiac up. What you need is some fun, Mal'."

Before he could ask what the Capricorn had in mind, Malta saw the Capricorn take off their helmet, letting their long, curvy black hair flow out. He widened his eyes, often forgetting the beauty that was hidden inside the horned bucket of gold, and felt his heart beat when those sharp green eyes transfixed him with a knowing smile.

A smile Malta knew pretty well. "Kirin…For Athena's sake."

The Gold Saint flipped their threads to loosen it up down the back and smirked knowingly, stretching their arms up in the air in a chest popping manner. "I didn't say a thing."

Malta palmed his face. "No, but… you're doing that!"

"I just took off my helmet because it's such a hot day. Isn't it?"

Malta turned away, trying to abstract his surge of hot thoughts away. "The temperature is fine to me. Listen, Kirin, we're not teenagers anymore. I'm not going to feel better just with sex! This is a serious probl-"

With a click of a hidden button in the Capricorn Cloth collar, Kirin's entire torso protection unlocked and fell off to the floor in a clumsy cacophony of metallic sounds, exposing Capricorn Kirin's bare chest.

Kirin covered their mouth at their nakedness. "Oh. I guess I forgot to wear my trainer underneath, too."

Staggering with the bare, feminine beauty displayed in front of him, Malta held hand on the table, nearly falling back in the chair. He forgot how stunning her chest's roundness and Amazonian abdominal muscles were, hiding underneath that armor padding all day, all week, all month… too long.

Kirin rested their hand on his shoulders, rubbing them gently. Her fingers clenched his collar as if to find his unlock button. "Did you forget yours, too, I wonder?"

The Aquarius Saint froze his eyes on her sharp, emerald orbs, stuttering. "'Rin, I-"

She kissed his lips to quiet him. "You think too much. Don't worry about Azrael. He's just going to crawl back into his hole." The Capricorn took his wrist and guided him by it to the bedroom nearby. "Come on…The Pope has a meeting in court, and old man Daniel is all the way down those steps. No one will bother us for a good while. We could have fun once, twice…"

Guided up, by the hand, the red-haired Aquarius could naught but follow along, his concerns melting away before the shine of 'Rin's beauty "Maybe three or four times?"

The Capricorn laughed out loud in an impressed tone, letting him into the bedroom. "Anything is possible with the Cosmos, isn't it? Let's not waste any time breaking the ice, though…"

{======================|A3|======================}

Sanctuary Town,

Kopaida Bay Docks

{======================|A3|======================}

Sitting on his break, a Sanctuary Town sailor stared at the newspaper printed by the city, humming forebodingly. "Uh, what is the world coming to?"

A friend came by. "S'wrong man?"

He showed him the paper.

"Mariner-Muvian Friendship – A new pact within the Pact?"

In a dizzying turn of events following the Triumph of Marianne Solo in our beautiful city, the mariner household representatives in Néa Delphi have announced to Sanctuary their intentions to deepen diplomatic ties with Shamballa.

As the experimental contract of commerce headed by Arthur Solo almost three and a half years ago with the High Elder of Shamballa neared its end, many expected the tense relationship between Mariners and Muvians to return the two parties to its Myth-Age-old status quo of mutual suspicion and rivalry. The Pope favoring of the mariners in the most recent Triumph was also expected to have widened the gap between the two in the near future, laying the seeds for discord in the Pact of Seven.

It seems, instead, that the two groups seek to further ties after what has been a very profitable and successful period between them. Conversations of new treaties of friendship between the two Pact members have been in the air and the Solo Household Patrician in particular has told our reporters that he's optimistic in their signing. The Patrician of the Vancouvers and Weyprecht have also looked favorably to this, saying 'We will support the Head of Houses' when asked of the friendship with Shamballa.

We'd like to remind our readers that, while it may seem strange, alliances between individual members of the 'Pact of Seven' are not unprecedented; in 1218, the now extinct Zodiac Knights formed a temporary treaty with the Mariners to contain a rising Bluegrad, which at the time was suspected of encouraging the Mongols of Gengis Khan to invade Europe and weaken Sanctuary. Likewise, in 1588, the Zodiac Knights were on the receiving end of one when Asgard and the Mariners combined forces to resist attempts by the Castellans to establish a hegemon over Europe and the Americas.

As hinted, historically these alliances-within-alliances have been motivated by attempts to leverage mediation from the Pope, usually to contain a mutual enemy. Our commentary specialist says "Could Néa Delphi and Shamballa have found a common enemy big enough to mend a 5000-year-old rift? Rumors fly that a certain former 'Zodiac Knight', or treasonous killer if you ask me, paid Lord Solo a visit recently, after all." Or is this all a gesture of genuine enlightenment on their part to let bygones be bygones?

As our readers may know, Mariners have been a member of the Pact since (…)

The sailor folded the newspaper. "This history stuff is too hard to follow. All I know it's unnatural for those two gangs to be makin' peace together. Momma always said never to trust a Mariner and especially never to trust a weirdo with dots on their face, but those two trusting each other? It's like seeing lions and tigers getting along."

The other sailor smirked. "Wouldn't Lalibela be a lion? This is more like fish and tigers getting along."

The first made a nauseated face at his joke and tossed the paper out. "Lalibela, Mariners, Muvians, bah! If you ask me, that Zodiac Knight guy had the right idea; just wipe these factions off the map and let Sanctuary make all the decisions. The world would be safer that way. My brother is a hoplite, you know? What if he gets drafted into a Holy War?"

His friend lifted him off his ass before he went on another rant. "Come on, let's get to work before the captain gets angry."

Their attention, though, had to turn to a strange arrival to their area.

Happily whistling his way into the docks, Atlae searched the marina in the Sanctuary Town river for his favorite boat with tusks on it. It was such a beautiful summer morning! The breeze from the lake was fresh, the air smelled of delicious fish, the sun was rising strong over the mountains and he felt like saying hello and good morning to everyone he passed by, even the sailors showing him their middle fingers.

"Watcha so happy about, dotted dummy?" the second sailor asked, smirking.

"Good morning, sir!" Atlae cheerfully responded, waving. "What's there not to be happy about? Life is good! Love is in the air! I couldn't be happier to be here today."

"What, did ya get kissed the first time or something?" The first, grumpier sailor asked.

Somehow the man reminded Atlae of Caça. "I sure did, sir! How did you guess?"

"These Muvians have a loose screw, alright." A second sailor scratched head under his hat. "But I like the cut of this one's gib."

Atlae nodded and studied the sailor's collar back, finding it a bit untidy but still professional enough. "I also like the cut of your gib, sir. Say, have you seen the Chrysaor around? It was docked here yesterday. It's a mariner boat with-"

"With two big pig teeth on the front? Yeah, they moved it down to the bay side." One confirmed, pointing thumb at one sail among many down the river.

"Oh! Thank you!"

The sailor saw him leave and said to his coworker. "Nice kid, that one. Polite and all. I thought Muvians were all either really hyperactive or really quiet, no middle ground."

Following the directions given to him, the straw-hair indeed found the Chrysaor tucked away in a different spot of the dock. Captain Krishna was dragging his net out of the water and Caça already seemed to be finishing things for leaving, doing his best to push the heavy crates into the boat but more collapsing in exhaustion than budge them a single inch.

Atlae energetically leaped into it, completely skipping the walking plank. "Good morning, guys! Isn't today wonderful? Getting to work already, captain? Let me help."

The two stopped and stared at him quizzically, beholding the complete contrast between the way he left them last night depressed and gloomy and how he now returned like Athena herself had cast a rainbow over his head.

Krishna dared to speak first. "Hello, Atlae. You're cheerful today, aren't you?"

Caça rested a box and panted. "Yes, maybe you can use that energy instead to finish loading up the last heavy cargo-"

Atlae saw the big crates on the dock and leaped back out. "I'll get it!" Lifting it all up over himself, he cheerfully moved it all into the Chrysaor like he carried his favorite groceries. After piling the last big boxes into the cargo hold, he dusted his hands. "Sorry I'm a bit late. It took me a while to find you guys."

Krishna tossed a net over his shoulder after putting the haul in the refrigerator. "I decided to move the boat and hide the tusks after what happened with Baian yesterday, just to be on the safe side. I doubt he paid enough attention to it to find it on his own now."

"We wouldn't have to do it if you had decided to stay, though." Caça made sure to remind him. "So how was it, dining with the Solos?"

Atlae beamed. "It was pretty good."

Krishna and Caça shared another look. "You look like it went better than just 'pretty good', Atlae."

"Yeah, yesterday you looked miserable, talking about how you weren't fit for my idol, my goddess of the sea, Marianne." Caça added. "Now you're walking in here like you won the freakin' Sanctuary Lottery."

The Muvian happily shrugged. "I changed my mind."

The captain rose a brow. "So… will you join the Sea Dragon, after all?"

Atlae shook his head "Not about that." and helped Caça load the last big box of medicine in, getting it finished three times as fast as before. "I'm still going to look for something else to do. You guys were right, I'm not ready for that path just yet. I'm going to focus first on getting lightspeed and learning the Xu flute, then I'll think about it."

Krishna scratched head. "Then… what changed?"

"Hey, Atlae!" someone called.

The sound of horse hooves clopping against the stone brick dock was heard and the crew of the ship turned to see none other than Marianne Solo on horseback, rushing in wearing her usual navy uniform and her new Dolphin Cloth Box around back. People at the dock moved away from the prancing brown steed, who neighed and huffed until its own was given space to unsaddle.

The Muvian turned and beamed, rushing to her. "Mari'! I thought you had to head back!"

She groaned and hugged him, pecking his lips, shocking Krishna and Caça. "I managed to sneak away from my escorts." She then put hands in hips. "Atlae, you idiot! You didn't even say goodbye!"

The captain awed in pride and rubbed his chin. "Oh… now I see what changed. Nice going, Atlae!"

Meanwhile, the pale mariner's jaw dropped in horror. "THAT LITTLE DOTTED FREAK!"

Atlae scratched his head at Marianne. "I thought I did at the house? And you had to leave for the Sea Dragon, so I just rushed off, too. I was worried about my friends."

She rolled her eyes. "Okay, I can understand that, but you don't just leave your girlfriend without saying anything, anyway. I thought Baian had kidnapped you off my home! Please don't make me worry like that again. I mean, it's a good thing your captain-" Marianne froze. She hadn't seen the two sailors right there. "Oh! Oh no!" She gently pushed Atlae away from her. "H-hum, pay no mind to what I just did! T-that was just a goodbye kiss to my friend!"

But Krishna's glare and folding of arms rendered her hopes asunder. "Miss Solo, no offense, but it's a bit too late for that."

Marianne's hands covered her face in horror. And after all the trouble they went through to promise her dad they'd keep it a secret. "Oh Gods, no!"

"So you two decided to hook up, uh?"

"Agh! I'm going to puke!" Caça's fingers clenched deep into the boat's rail as he watched them being teenagers in love. "I THOUGHT HE WAS GIVING UP ON HER! HOW DID HE-"

Krishna covered his loud mouth. "Give it a rest, Caça. Besides, weren't you saying he gave up too soon? You should be happy for them." He the loudly cleared his throat. "Ahem, Atlae?"

Atlae realized he was being rude and hurriedly presented his friends. "Mari, these are my friends." He saw how disconcerted she was. "(It's okay, they're not going to tell a soul. We can trust them.)"

Marianne turned to them. She wasn't as trusting as Atlae was, but it was true Baian had threatened them as well. "(I suppose we can, yes. Alright, Atlae.)" She easily recognized Caça from school, he had barely changed. "H-Hi, Caça. It's been a while."

The sailor gasped and made an incoherent sound stuck between a groan of frustration and a sigh of glee.

She politely contained a frown. "He still does that, uh?" While the admiration was flattering, Marianne was starting to wonder if the Cabral son was capable of human communication when she was around. She then turned to the mohawk man next to him. "Captain Krishna Chola, correct?"

"A pleasure, miss Solo." Krishna confirmed. "Did Atlae tell you about me already?"

She smiled. "No, you look a lot like your uncle, the Chola household head." she looked away and gestured at her hair in a line. "…You have the same, um, style."

The captain laughed self-consciously, ruffling his high hair shaped like a high wave crest. "It's a family tradition, yes."

"Dad also talks about you a lot." She added, surprising him. "Between you and Atlae, he says he couldn't be prouder of the people he has sponsored."

The Chola heir laughed, flattered. "Tell him I thank him very much, if you can." Seeing the two teenagers together, though, made him ask the hard question. "I don't mean to be rude, miss Solo, but you and Atlae, um, well…. I can't help but wonder… what exactly is going on here?"

The two shared a complicit look. Atlae simply held arm around her tenderly and Marianne, being more eloquent, spoke first. "Me and Atlae, well, we, um,…connected."

The captain folded arms, humming worriedly. This sounded like a number of different things. "What kind of connection?"

Atlae beamed happily. "We're dating! But in secret!"

Caça scowled like he was about to hurl. "This looks like the worst-kept secret ever, then!"

Reading his concern on their faces, Atlae rushed to elaborate. "Captain, Mari' and I talked last night and we, well,… we've discussed what we wanted to do together. Marriage isn't really important to either of us and, well…"

"Maybe not, Atlae, but it is for Rear Admiral Baian, even if, well…" Krishna tried to find the best words to describe it. "…even if he's not passionate about women."

"This is going to sound uncouth from me, captain, but my Rear Admiral can shove it." Marianne simply put, looking dead serious. The directness only frightened Krishna more, though. "I already told him I'm not interested. I'm also not going to wed someone who clearly is looking to humiliate me. I don't think that's what his father, Admiral Vancouver, wants, either."

"But what of the Mariners, Miss Marianne?" Krishna calmly questioned. "You and I both know this wedding proposal of his didn't just come by from the Tartarian void."

The heiress frowned sadly. "I know. We need unity in the coming times, not to mention to protect my family, and our decision doesn't… help that." But Marianne then straightened up in reaffirmation. "However, I haven't forgotten my duty, captain. I want to be with Atlae, but I also don't want my parents or the Mariners in danger."

"We spoke with Lord Solo last night." Atlae added in. He quirked lips nervously just thinking about it. "We explained everything to him first chance we could and tried to… find a solution."

Atlae recalled the night before.

{======================|A3|======================}

Chapter 90

Third Arc

Episode 18

The Chrysaor Goes South

{======================|A3|======================}

The Night Before

{======================|A3|======================}

"This is… too difficult for me to accept! It's too sudden!" Arthur Solo laid out, sitting at his desk. "The political situation right now with the Mariners is very delicate. Marianne, I love you very much, but I have to do my best, as Head of Houses, to keep things calm! This…." He tried to find the wording for it, but it was still tough to digest. "This proposition doesn't benefit us right now!"

Atlae gulped. What a way to word it. Atlae had known Lord Arthur for a long time, but he had never seen the Patrician of the Solos so tense. Could he and Marianne really talk their way through this? The Muvian knew this wasn't going to be easy, but it was so much more awful to be actually asking this of Lord Arthur now. Atlae felt he was somehow betraying the trust of a man he admired and loved very much.

"You have to understand that this goes beyond just what I authorize or not!" Arthur continued, sweeping his hand across the air. He looked his daughter in the eyes. "Mari', you understand, right? I love the two of you very much. I want you both to be happy! But I can't publicly come out and tell the households you refuse to get married because you want to be with Atlae, instead. You know the wars that will cause!"

The new couple shared a brief look. Atlae saw the fear in Marianne's eyes, but didn't know what to say. He wasn't fit to handle these matters. All Atlae knew was how to punch, kick, play a children song on a flute and carry things into boats. He felt anything he could say would just make things worse.

Still, Marianne clearly needed help. He made himself appear solid by her side, silently promising that whatever she said to her father, he'd defend her.

With this bit of encouragement, Marianne was able to speak. "Dad, I do, but…" she held Atlae's hand for strength. The touch of him calmed her breath. "I want to try anyway. Please. I've done everything you've ever asked of me for our family. And I'll do even more. But for the most important thing in my life, I want to make my own choice, even if a hidden one."

Arthur slumped tensely, shaking head. He seemed to Atlae like he knew his daughter's words to be very true, or at least that she was trying to meet him half-way as much as possible. Atlae saw him swivel his chair and look out the window, pensive. The Muvian could only guess at the Patrician's thoughts. He wished Master Yuzuriha was by his side. She would definitely know how to help.

Marianne looked down, knowing her father wasn't in the best position. "If you want us to keep it a secret, we can. I can maneuver this, and… and Atlae isn't nearly as stupid as everyone says he is! You know he would never endanger us!"

The Muvian awed. "Mari'…"

"It's just the truth, Atlae, you're not." She held his arm close to reinforce her trust in him. "Dad, Just… please…For the little while the Dolphin Cloth is buying me, help us be happy. And then I'll be with anyone you wish me to. I just can't be with a guy like Baian who… who threatens my loved ones and clearly isn't interested in me, even in a fake way."

Arthur widened eyes. "Threatened?" He looked at Atlae. "Did Baian really, Atlae? Tell me the truth."

Hesitantly, Atlae nodded. "Not to me, but Captain Krishna told me he passed by his boat and… said very nasty things, Lord Arthur."

The patrician seemed to finally waver a little. Perhaps the idea of even the son of an old friend threatening his loved ones was offensive enough to make him forget about mariner traditions.

"Lord Arthur, I don't mean to shock you, but… I think Marianne wouldn't be safe with him." He worded, knowing this was an intense thing to say to a father. He placed hand protectively around Marianne. "If…If you push that into Marianne, I will fight it! Even if against you."

The two Solos looked surprised by this, in different ways, but it was just what Atlae felt on the inside. The more Baian threatened him, the more revolted Atlae felt that Marianne was being pushed to be with him, not out of any sort of pride, but because something inside him felt that it was a matter of time before those threats were turned to Mari', if she displeased Baian.

Arthur swiveled back and stood up. His height looked very terrible to them just then, and when he paced around the desk to study them together, the two felt beneath the glare of a great marine dragon. Arthur saw them clasp their fingers together to give each other courage.

"I have three conditions."

The couple brightened up. Atlae was the first to speak. "Yes, Lord Solo? Anything!"

"Number one, you two must and WILL exercise extreme caution. There will be no… reckless behavior in the public between you two! If anyone asks, you two are just lifelong friends. My second condition is exclusively for you, Marianne. I'm afraid that with everything that's been going on, you will choose for me someone to be officially announced to be betrothed to, if not to Baian."

Marianne paled. She recalled his promise the previous day that he wouldn't just marry her off against her will. She supposed, however, that if it meant her father would support her being with Atlae, it was a small price to pay. "Y-yes, dad, I understand."

He rested his fists on the table, feeling tired. "Marianne, I want you to know that I don't do this to hurt you. What the two of you are asking right now will require every ounce of goodwill this family has left with the Mariners! There is no one among the households, no one, that will look at this as anything but an attack on our most ancient traditions."

She gulped. "I… I know, dad."

He straightened himself, trying to show firmness, and sent her a private mental message. "I cannot show myself as a hypocrite to the Mariners. Not anymore. You know why."

Sensing a strange tone of confession in her father and remembering how terrible her mother looked when she returned to the house, Marianne widened her eyes. "Dad, did you… confront mom?!"

"We'll speak of it later, after Atlae leaves." He vowed. "Marianne, I must give the households an assurance that my eldest daughter will not dishonor them, especially if she's to become a Saint of Athena. Even if it comes to have to be a betrothal with the Gerasimov or the Cabral. Is that clear to you two?"

Marianne looked at Atlae, distraught, knowing he was an equal victim to this.

He said the only thing he could "Marianne, it's okay. We'll find a way."

Her father widened his eyes, surprised.

"Is that so? That's not something two people in love with each other would so easily accept!" He looked between them, and saw no sign of hesitation other than in Marianne's obviously difficult acceptance of being pawned off like an object. "Atlae? Aren't you going to say anything? You just said earlier you'd fight me to protect my daughter if you had to! Well, I've just demanded the most outrageous term possible for you!"

The Muvian staggered, unused to Lord Arthur sounding so harsh with him, but he puffed his chest and spoke as firmly as possible. "Lord Arthur, obviously I don't like Marianne being with someone else, but…"

The Patrician narrowed his eyes. "But what? What does a man say to this impossible condition?!"

Atlae remained firm like a rock. "I would rather deal with that than not be with Mari'. And if it keeps your family safer-" he rose chin proudly. "Then I'd definitely put up with it. What I want is Marianne's happiness and the Solos to be safe. Nothing more and nothing less."

The Patrician saw their held fingers tighten to each other. Though he remained stern, on the inside, the old mariner's heart budged. To him, the two were obviously in love. And they were willing to accommodate everything he demanded just for the chance to spend a short time in their lives together. And now that he thought of it, it made perfect sense that the two would have such feelings for each other. Atlae had always been Marianne's rock and his daughter had always been the star in the Muvian's eyes, even when they were little.

And in the end, wasn't Marianne better off with someone Arthur knew loved her, even if secretly rather than some mariner prince that would toss her out the second the Solos lost their influence? Was Arthur any better than his father, who used to mistreat Atlae so badly, if he stood in the way of this, especially when they were willing to go to such lengths to make it work for the Patrician? And was there anyone in the world that had proven more loyalty to him and Marianne than Atlae?

On the other hand, what they suggested made a pain echo in his heart. The faces of Seraphina and Ithaca flashed in his mind and he gritted his teeth.

Arthur breathed out, dispelling these terrible thoughts. What happened with Seraphina had nothing to do with Atlae and Marianne's feelings for each other. "When put like this, you two leave me little reason to not accept your... relationship."

The two youths gasped.

"Dad, does that mean…?!"

Arthur rose a third finger. "Don't forget; I have one last condition." And he eyed Atlae like a hawk, almost pining him to a wall. "And it's for you, Atlae. I am running a tremendous risk with all this, even if Marianne forges an alliance for me. With that in mind, you WILL be loyal to my daughter, understood?! Even more than to me. If I EVER hear that you've betrayed her trust in any way… I will chase you down and run you down like a dog myself! That is the word of the captain of the Sons of Arion. Understood?!"

Though intimidated, Atlae practically saluted his lord, standing up as straight as possible. "Yes, Lord Arthur, absolutely!"

Arthur nodded, though with a grave slowness. "Very good. I always have and always will appreciate your dedication to me and my family, Atlae. I will not lie that… in a small way it makes me happy to know Marianne can find love with you. I know that's not something she would find with any of the other households." He turned away. "Partners in life are the most important thing you can choose. I don't want Marianne to be with someone disloyal to her. That pain would be… too humiliating."

Marianne's eyes cried. She rushed in to hug him. "D-Dad, thank you so much! I promise I will do everything for this household's prosperity from now on, even more than I have!"

Arthur kissed her forehead in blessing. "Just don't do anything reckless." He then hugged Atlae tightly, patting his back strongly. "You too, Atlae. Amphitrite be with you two. And Atlae, thank you for being there for my family."

{======================|A3|======================}

Present

{======================|A3|======================}

"And that's more or less that." Atlae finalized. "Marianne and I will be together, but we can't make a big deal about it to everyone. I don't mind it at all, since…well." He scratched head in embarrassment. "We are still figuring things out, as you'd say."

Krishna held his jaw pensively. "That is quite the happy ending for that conversation. I know Lord Solo is wise and forward-thinking, but even from him this surprises me quite a lot."

Marianne leaned close to Atlae, concerned. "I expected such a harsher reaction, too… He was really focused on securing the alliance with a household. I suppose I still have to do that, but either my father really loves me or… something happened to change his heart." She grimaced and showed off her beautiful Delphinus arm guards. "For one, I think no one expected the Pope would give me this Cloth."

Krishna scratched his head. "Forgive me, miss Solo, but… well, I can't help but wonder-"

"What is that asshole Baian going to think of all this?!" Caça interjected, much more direct. "Don't mean to get in the way of all your lovey-dovey-honeymoon, but yesterday he paid us all a little visit here with some very explicit threats about Atlae backing off from you!"

"Baian is just going to have to accept I'll keep being his superior officer." Marianne added. She sighed, her look saddening. "With the Delphinus Cloth being given to me, a wedding right now would be incomputable. I don't know what I'll tell the Admiral yet, but he's not unreasonable like his son."

Krishna folded his arms, recalling how determined Baian was. "I still can't see Baian being okay with this at all, even if Admiral Vancouver is. He will definitely overreact."

"He's going to friggin' kill us, captain!" Caça protested, clenching fingers. "Atlae, you idiot, I wish I could toss a brick at your head! You two hooking up wasn't part of the plan! Now we're gonna have a captain of a war frigate with a grudge on us!"

Marianne staggered. "It's not like that! Atlae just-"

"It doesn't matter anymore! It's what me and Mari' decided together!" Atlae defended, stepping between them and Mari'. He turned to her. "Marianne, don't worry, I can handle explaining myself to my friends. If Baian gives us problems, we'll let you and your family know, too."

The blue-haired girl at his side smiled happily and nodded, her anxiety relieved. "Thank you, Atlae. Please be careful, though. Don't trust anyone who isn't from the Solos and Cholas, okay?"

He clasped hands his around hers to reassure her. "I promise, I'll be safe. I can handle myself." Kissing them, he then glanced at Krishna. "I've been training with the captain to unlock the 7th sense even before I got to Sanctuary Town. I'm going to make it so that even if they do come after me, I can keep me and my friends safe."

His determined tone at the very least set her at ease. She turned to Krishna. "Is that so? How well is he doing, captain?"

"Terrible. He's almost set fire to the boat twice, and Caça had to fish him out when we practiced speeding across the sea." Krishna affirmed, stunning her. "I usually compliment your 'boyfriend' in a lot of things, but his ability to focus leaves a lot to be desired."

There was a loud scoff from Caça. "That's putting it mildly! Atlae absolutely sucks with the Cosmos! Those people at Shamballa didn't teach him shit! He doesn't even concentrate it properly!"

"That's not true! They just practice it differently, is all!" Atlae defended, groaning. He didn't mind Caça making fun of him, but Master's school was a different story. "At Shamballa they defend decentralizing the cosmos. I'm not supposed to focus it, so I can keep all my areas covered." But Caça then slapped the back of Atlae's head like it was nothing. "OW!"

The pale mariner scoffed mockingly. "Were you keeping THAT area covered? What if I had been an assassin instead?! You'd be dead and I'd be next on the frying pan!"

Marianne frowned, no longer so secure in her boyfriend's discipline. She turned to the only serious person around. "Captain Krishna, please take good care of Atlae. I don't want him to get hurt again."

Krishna nodded like he was used to it. "Of course, miss Solo. I'll drill him pretty good in the cosmos from now on."

Thankfully, Krishna was much better at giving her a strong assurance. Marianne got back on her horse and sighed. "I'll be heading back. I have some difficult conversations to have with Admiral Vancouver and the sooner I cross those straits, the better."

Atlae went over to hold her hand one last time. "Good luck, Marianne. I'll come see you as soon as I can."

She smiled, feeling her chest warm. "Thanks. Where are you going next, anyway?"

Atlae recalled the plans. "The captain said Mogadishu, then Karachi in Pakistan and finally Trincomalee, where we first started. With some luck, I'll be able to see Master again afterwards." He frowned. "I'll be busy for at least another month. I'm sorry, Mari'…"

She hummed sadly. After what happened last night, she just wanted to spend as much time as possible with her new partner. "It's alright. I have my duties as well. I'll be campaigning throughout the Indian Ocean soon to terminate the rest of Wolff's terrorist cells. This whole triumph affair gave them all time to regroup after losing their leader." She held her finger to her lip pensively. "Unless…"

He perked up, hopeful. "Unless?!"

Marianne felt a eureka hit her. "YES, that's right! Listen, Atlae, if you're heading to Shamballa after all this, how about I schedule the Sea Dragon there a month from now?"

The three crewmen widened eyes. Atlae beamed. "Really?! That would be great! We'll be able to see each other sooner, then!"

"And we'll be on our own while the ship restocks so we can date for a while!" she celebrated, clenching hand.

"Can the ship fly that high?" Krishna asked, stunned. "Shamballa is all the way in Tibet!"

Marianne nodded. "Yup! The LPS Sea Dragon is capable of things most people wouldn't imagine! There's pretty much nowhere on Earth out of range of the Mariner's top war vessel. If the Saints could fly a boat to the Lost Canvas, then mariners surely can do a simple visit to Tibet." She straightened her pose, turning to serious business. "And besides, my dad has been looking for a chance to have the Mariners visit Shamballa like this, given all the work he's been doing with Atlae's Master. If I can do it and be with Atlae for a little while, then it's all for the best."

"Mm, as expected of Arthur Solo's daughter, focused on her duty." Krishna complimented, laughing at her coyness.

She winked. "What other reason could I have? Atlae and I are just friends, after all."

"Ugh, I wish!" Caça whined, slumping over the ship rails with a sickened look on his face.

Pulling for her horse, Marianne sped off, waving goodbye at Atlae. The Muvian waved back and his eyes followed her until she turned the street's corner. Already, he wanted to see her again.

Krishna patted his shoulder to call him into action. "Come on, Loverboy. We can't let Baian find us here. We're setting sail. Next stop; Africa."

Atlae saluted and immediately got to work unmooring the ship. "Yes, captain, right away!"

"UGH, he's going to kill us, captain!"

Krishna scoffed at Caça's whining and practically lifted him off his slump to his feet by the collar. "Then you better hurry up and help Atlae, right? Besides-" the Chola heir looked southwards to the mountain river pass. "- I feel a good wind in our favor. Something tells me we're going to be fine."

{======================|A3|======================}

"Where is their pathetic little boat?! Baian demanded to know, finding the spot the Chrysaor was previously moored at now empty. "It was here yesterday!"

"We've been looking for it since last night, Rear Admiral. They have to still be in the dock." Tobias, one of his underlings, guaranteed. "Unless they moved it to the loading bay, in which case-"

"JUST FIND IT! YOU'VE HAD ALL NIGHT TO DO IT!" Baian roared. "It's a sloop with boar tusks on it that stinks of Caça's sardine breath! You've all seen it once by now! And if it's not here, we'll chase it down Poseidon's seas with the Seahorse and bomb it to smithereens!"

They panicked. "Y-Yes, Rear Admiral, of course! Right away!"

{======================|A3|======================}

A month later,

Early July, 1974

Somalia,

Gift of Alone Orphanage - Mogadishu Chapter

{======================|A3|======================}

Hurrying to get her disguise ready in her assigned room, Aquila Daese, former Zodiac Knight and current Black Saint of Priam, took the maiden outfit out of the case and beheld it. The tunic was thankfully not one of the dreary black ones from the northern chapters of the Athenian church, but the clear, short-sleeved type worn by the Africa chapters. She put it on, tightening the buttons over her round chest, locking her bracelets around wrists, buttoning the long, silky skirt around waist, letting it drop down to her ankles and then adjusting her black shoes. Finally, she pulled her hood overhead, letting her golden curls stay visible around her neck but still appearing modest.

It was a good thing Sanctuary hadn't adopted ALL of the Christians' customs. She'd now have to look like a nun under the African summer sun otherwise.

Daese looked herself in the mirror. Adjusting her Cloth stone inside her collar to make it look like a regular rosary, she smiled "Perfect. I look like a true girl scout of Athena. Even mom would be so proud."

"(Are you doing well, Daese?)" a voice messaged her through the 6th sense. "(Does anyone suspect anything?)"

She combed her curly blonde hair and rested it carefully inside her habit's hood. Maidens of Athena didn't really dress this way, but when they were out 'in the world' Sanctuary required them to dress themselves as typical religious orders, preferably Catholic ones.

She smiled, looking a perfectly normal Maiden. "(I am. Gardnia has also taken in to me, I think.)"

"(Do you remember your objectives?)"

She nodded. "(One, establish contact with the White Tusks, the resistance against Cetus in New Lalibela. That will be taken care of first. I sent my group northwards and I expect to meet them soon.)"

"(Excellent. As always, I greatly appreciate your celerity in this.)" Priam praised. "(There are still good and brave people in Lalibela ready to fight Cetus, thank the Goddess. We must let them know they are not alone.)"

The female Paladin looked out the window, as if to turn to her interlocutor. Personally, Daese was quite skeptical that this would work out. In her personal opinion, the Black Saints of Priam could count on no one but themselves. There was no guarantee that other groups with Cosmos had morals, after all. They could take advantage of Priam's idealism, or worse, betray them to Sanctuary.

However, she knew the more allies they had, the better. And for that, they needed someone inserted between Saint Cepheus Gardnia and Lalibela. "(You can count on me, Priam.)"

"(And next?)" Priam asked.

"(A ship from Sanctuary with medical supplies will soon arrive at Mogadishu.)" She recalled. This second part was stranger, as she hadn't gotten all the details yet. "(I am to infiltrate it, and make my way to Shamballa from Karachi. It shouldn't be too hard, but… Priam, what is this about? Why do you want me in the Muvians' land?)"

"(Daese. It's Azrael. He's been making moves.)"

The moment at the mention of the name, the Paladin turned to cold rock. Her fists clenched and her blood receded out of her face as the memories of sweeping slashes of light through screaming brothers and sisters came to her.

Noticing her pause, Priam continued. "(We don't know what he's doing yet, but Sea Prince, our contact in Sanctuary, says he was spotted paying a visit to the Solos, the current leading Mariner household. It's caused quite a stir.)"

Daese paced around angrily, sweeping fist in the air. "What the hell for?! Are they getting together to decide who to murder next?!"

"(Daese? You're very quiet right now.)"

She turned red, remembering this was a mental conversation, and focused. "(Sorry, I just… had an outburst. Thank you for telling me, Priam.)"

The former Sagittarius Saint guessed her fears. "(Remember, Daese, your sister is in no danger. She's with Lucian right now. Azrael is capable of a lot of things, but even the most powerful Zodiac Knight in history wouldn't dare to fight the armies of Hades on his own.)"

The late teenager laughed darkly, understanding her leader's reasoning but also feeling her people's history disagree. "(The First Knight did, Priam. Saint Cyrul fought Hades all by himself.)"

"(But even Saint Cyrul wasn't up against Lucian too, was he?)" Priam reminded her. "(Besides, it's you Azrael might be after, Daese. I'm saying this so you'll be on the lookout. You had a run in with the Mariners at Argentina, did you not? If there's even the slightest chance Arthur Solo told him anything about it,… you know the rest.)"

Her head shook, proud of her competences. "(There's no chance. The Chola Mariner didn't recognize me as a Knight. I'd be dead otherwise.)"

"(Still.)" He insisted. "(In any case, your mission will be to monitor the situation between Shamballa and Serpent's Rock. If it turns out it's nothing, I want you to pull back immediately, understood? I'd send someone else, but…everyone has been tense since the screw up in Argentina. We might really have a spy. You're the only one I can trust for this.)"

The girl took a breath and smiled. "(Thank you for it, Priam. I promise I won't do anything stupid.)"

"(I know you won't. Take care.)"

Shutting off the mental connection, Daese breathed out loud. She was glad Priam let her know about this, but now couldn't help but feel anxious. What was that bastard, that treasonous, murderous snake, Serpens Azrael, doing out there, outside Serpent's Rock? He, who would stop at nothing to kill her and Cerah if he knew they were alive? The idea alone that he was active again, that he was on the prowl for Goddess knew what, rather than rotting away in the old Zodiac citadel, made her young nerves tense like electric wires.

What did he want with the Mariners? Hadn't he done enough?

{======================|A3|======================}

Seven Years Earlier,

December, 1966

Serpent's Rock Castle

{======================|A3|======================}

It was winter, seven years earlier. Snow packed the Ural Mountains, and the war between the Pope and Sagittarius Priam was nearing its end. The fighting still raged on, however, and the fortress in Russia was the last holdout of the Zodiac Knights. For a while, the massive structure had served as both headquarters and fallback camp. Later, as with every Zodiac Knight castle that fell, all its survivors escaped further eastwards into their remaining citadels.

Now Serpent's Rock was all that still stood, and the Saints were outside.

The sky was alite with fire and missiles. Shooting stars of Cosmos flew in and out, each side bombarding the other, but the firepower flying in was much greater than the one flying out. This great siege had been a testament to the famous resistance of Zodiac Knight castles; outnumbered five to one and still it held after many months. Food, however, was getting slim and the Saints grew bolder, anxiously aiming to finish the war the more time that passed and the more Zodiac Knights fell.

"TO ARMS, KNIGHTS OF THE ZODIAC!" an oath-sworn captain shouted from the bailey as a great new assault.

A young, pre-teenage Aquila Daese, dressed in a tattered shirt that hid the Aquila and Corvus Cloth Stone pendants around her neck, rushed through the halls of the keep to try to find her younger sister. After fleeing Crow's Nest (*), she had retreated like many of her age into the Ural Mountain holding, where she took part in the final defense of the order's homes against Sanctuary. She still couldn't operate either the Aquila and Corvus Cloth, but being the one entrusted with them by their owners and with no one else bonded to the stones yet, it didn't make much of a difference.

(*) Chapter 41, "Fall of Crow's Nest" Flashback

After many nights of patrolling the walls with the adults, she had finally gotten her turn to sleep. Mom and Dad insisted she did so, so she could get some energy back and look after her younger sister, Cerah, who wasn't old enough to fight.

The sounds of sudden fighting, however, had awakened her, and Daese realized her sister was nowhere near her bed. Now she rushed hall after hall, in full panic.

"CERAH! CERAH, WHERE ARE YOU?!" she cried out loud, tears of terror in her eyes.

How could she let her baby sister out of sight?! Mom and Dad had trusted her! Corridor after corridor she shouted for her sister, but it felt like the sounds of battle drowned out her every word.

At the keep, she bumped into Lionet Roland, a Castellan that had retreated from the Caucasus fortress of Lionet's Den. "L-Lord Castellan, what's going on?!"

The rugged man held her still to calm her. He was tall, had combed teal hair, a grizzled look, piercing green eyes, a powerful frame and a sword and shield light-crafted out of the Lionet Cloth to keep him protected alongside the Cloth itself. His clothes were blackened with soot and the exposed bits of his face and wrists were marked with dry blood. He looked exhausted, with baggy eyes and heavy breath.

"Calm down, oathsworn." His rasped voice begged. Despite the shaking going around in the castle, it was enough to make her stop, at least. "Also, I lost my castle, so I am no longer a Castellan, just a Knight."

She nodded apologetically. "I'm s-sorry, sir Knight! I'm looking for my sister! She's six years old and-"

"What?! We are under attack by the Saints. You should head for the basement floors to stay protected, not look for others!" Roland interrupted, startling her. He sighed and rephrased. "It isn't safe out here. Go. Now!"

"I can't! I have to find my baby sister!" Daese begged, grabbing his coated chest armor. "Her name is Cerah and she's only six years old! Her hair is yellow like mine, but shorter, and she's very shy so she likes to hide behind the curtains and furniture of the castle! I think she might be upstairs in the meeting halls!"

Roland irked. This might have well have described every Oathsworn child in the Order. They were all blond and curious about the upper rooms where the Knights staid. "This isn't safe for you! You must head-"

Suddenly his eyes turned and he panicked! Roland took Daese to the ground and shielded her as a huge blast of cosmos catapulted by some Saint suddenly struck the keep, shaking the entire structure and knocking down countless objects inside, from the armor stands to the chairs. Daese screamed, feeling her body rock with the shockwave and the sound of objects crashing to the ground all around her.

"G-Goddamn it!" he cursed, looking outside. He saw how many Saints besieged the castle and realized from their depth that enemy reinforcements had arrived. This explained the new attack. "If this keeps up, even Serpent's Rock will collapse. The Zodiac Knights will end! What are we going to do?! There's too many!"

A captain came in and brightened up at finding Roland. "Lord Knight, I have excellent news! The Castellan is here! He's returned from the field!"

Roland dropped jaw. "What?! Are you sure?!"

The captain nodded in elation. "YES! Lord Antenor is just outside! Saint Priam must have dispatched him to come save us!"

Even Daese brightened up. "Aries Antenor is here?!

"With him, we can save the castle!" the oathsworn soldier cried.

Roland, however, hesitated. "I… don't understand. I thought Azrael rode west, to reinforce the other castles. When they began falling one after the other, I assumed he fell as well." He shook head to dispel these thoughts. "I'll go see him right away after I care for this kid. Go open the portcullis."

The captain saluted with fist and chest and sped downstairs.

Roland turned to Daese. "I don't know if it was your sister, but I think I saw a little girl hide under the table in the next room. I told her to go downstairs but I'm not sure if she listened. You should grab anyone who might be there and head for the bailey, just in case."

Daese nodded obediently. "Y-Yes, sir Roland! Thank you so much!"

The two split ways afterwards, with Roland going to meet their savior and Daese following the direction he pointed to a room where some of the knights would discuss tactics. It was in the reinforced part of the fortress, where the shaking was less strong. Daese now understood why a small child terrified of the fighting would try to hide here. The shaking was a lot weaker and less frightening on that side.

And, indeed, when she looked under the table, she found her sister curling against one of the legs. "CERAH! Come here, we have to go!"

The crying little girl shook head. "D-Daese, no! It's scary outside!" She grabbed the table leg harder. "D-Dad got hurt! I saw it. A big blast happened at the walls and he… h-he… he looked very hurt!"

Daese gritted her teeth, imagining the rest. With tears in her eyes, she gathered her strength to appear brave to her younger sister and reached her hand out. "It's o-okay. I'm going to take you to Mom, alright? Just take my hand."

Cerah hesitated. Then a shaking was felt, almost throwing her older sister off balance, and she hugged the table harder. There was also shouting, screaming and the sound of steps all over the castle rushing towards the bailey.

Daese saw her sister shake in terror like a leaf. Like Daese had at Crow's Nest, when Capricorn Kirin broke in. Her blue eyes wept. "C-Cerah, please, I promise I'll keep you safe, no matter what! Just take my hand. And then… then it will all be over. We can go away."

Cerah wiped her tears. "Y-You promise?"

Daese couldn't even nod her head with her heart in distraught, knowing months of suffering were still ahead of them all. So, instead, she took out one of her pendants at random and offered it. "Here, I got this from the other castles. Do you know what this is?"

Cerah took it in her hand. It was an obsidian gem on a necklace. Everyone raised among the Knights knew exactly what it was, even a small child like her. She turned to her sister questioningly.

"Don't worry, I got my own, see?" Daese showed, holding up her diamond pendant and smiling. "They will keep us safe! For as long as we wear them…. Nothing bad will ever happen to either of us. So put it around your neck, okay? Go ahead."

Hesitantly, the little girl obeyed. The pendant was meant for adults so it slumped widely around her tiny neck. Still, Daese saw Cerah's shaking cease a bit.

She reached out again and, this time, Cerah reached back, taking her older sister's hand. Daese pulled her in and hugged her as tightly as she could as Serpent's Rock trembled even harder, kissing her little sister's head.

"D-Daese, please take us to mom!"

"I will, I p-promise! Don't leave my side, okay?" Daese begged back. Burning her immature Cosmos, she picked up her sister and ran out.

{======================|A3|======================}

Speeding down the steps, Daese searched for the path to the basement levels. She would have to go through the bailey and past the fountain inside. It should be safe enough if she stuck to the keeps end and away from the spots where the missiles could arc into the fortress from outside. All around her, soldiers rushed.

"TO THE BAILEY!" they cried, picking up arms. "Sir Caelum has fallen!"

"IT'S TREASON!" another shouted, distraught. "TAKE UP SWORDS, KNIGHTS! AND FIGHT! FIGHT FOR YOUR LIVES! FOR LIGHT!"

"FOR ATHENA!" the others cheered, roaring on their way out.

Daese paused, finding them unnaturally alarmed. Even teenage boys her age were rushing outside like the Saints had finally broken in. "W-what's going on?! I thought the Castellan had arrived! Why is everyone…?!"

Feeling her older sister stop, Cerah asked. "Daese, what's wrong?! Where's M-Mommy?"

She shook her head and kept going, crossing the lower keep level to the gate to the bailey. "Don't worry, Cerah, everything's okay! We just have to cross the big patio now-"

Once outside, she stopped, frozen, the blood leaving her face and the words dying out of her mouth.

Before her and the oathsworn soldiers stood a blood-soaked, armored man of dark green hair and red triangle marks under the eyes. His golden suit had large horns going over the shoulders while its plates were decorated with undulating carvings from shoulder pads to greaves, and his helmet had beaked antennae, a set of wing-shaped ear covers and a forehead Topaz gem that acted as a Clothstone. His chest panted heavily, he held a sword covered in blood and meat bits and he was surrounded with dead Knights and oathsworns.

His green eyes saw them and his cosmos burned, engulfing his blade with light. With a great war shout and taking its handle with both hands, he swung it at them in a rising diagonal shoveling, unleashing a blinding wave of light shaped like a thousand sword slashes given form.

It splashed the area like a rushing wave right in front of her! Daese screamed along with countless others that were rushing outside, all caught in the force of it! Armored oathswords right in front of it got instantly torn to pieces, while others in-between got sliced, ripped and blasted apart against her, all in the same cascading blow. Then Daese herself was struck and she rolled as she hit the floor, protecting Cerah, but a dozen bloody bodies fell all around and over her, caving the girl.

At first, everything was so bright, she thought she had died.

Then, as breath entered her chest, she thought instead some kind of artillery blast had blown up right in front of them. All she could see was red, grey and black over and around her, and all she could hear was further screaming and explosions all around them. Daese tried to move and realized dozens of bodies were over them, pining the two sisters. Cerah was unconscious under her.

Daese saw the pendant in their chests burned brightly. "T-The Clothstones… did they save us? W-What is happening?!"

As she coughed and struggled with all her strength to crawl out, moving a dead oathsworn off her little sister, Daese widened her eyes, seeing the most horrible sight of the war yet!

The man who struck them, Aries Antenor, otherwise known as Castellan Azrael, swung his sword again in a lunging arc towards a group of incoming Zodiac Knights, cutting off heads, bisecting torsos and sweeping legs off their waists. A second swing penetrated further into the Zodiac Knight formation, blasting through their metal armors and striking the floor, causing an eruption of spades of light to rise and impale dozens others. Desperate Knights aimed crossbows at him, but the Castellan swerved and swung again, shooting a wave of golden light that shaped itself into six 'Castellan Azraels' that ran over the shooters through the chest with their blades of cosmos before crackling away into vanishing light.

The little girl beheld as the last guarding of their people, the one so many whispered would one day come to save them from Sanctuary, the one they entered this war for, massacre Knight after Knight. With expert dancing of his sword, masterful stepping and a frightening ability to anticipate their attacks, Azrael blocked sword blows, dodged shots and counterstruck with ferocity the Knights typically reserved to Specters of Hades, splashing blood over the ground and walls as he cut down old comrade after old comrade.

He moved with extraordinary finesse and shocking ferocity, swerving elegantly between blows, slashes and shots before unleashing devastating swings of his broadsword. When struck, the scratches of his armor reforged instantly with Lightcraft, while his ragged caped danced flashed of light with every movement, blinding and confusing adversaries. There were even afterimages with every step that confused the knights, making them hit nothing, while trails of light left in the air by Antenor's movements seemingly had a deadliness of their own, shooting sharp points in every direction like real thrusts of sword that cut down dozens.

It was all masterful, a dance of blade and light that would be the aspiration of every Zodiac Knight to achieve. It was the pinnacle of generations of warriors who trained all their lives to defeat Hades, his Judges and their Specters, to cut light into the very heart of the Underworld, embodied in the talent of one man, whose every thought and movement was deadly.

And it was being turned to them, instead of to the Saints or Specters, massacring the Knights one after the other. The portcullis of Serpent's Rock was wide open, with no sign of forced entry. They had let him in, thinking justly he would have pointed these attacks at the Saints. Instead, the limbs of knights flew, their blood splashed the ground and the bodies fell to the piles, extinguishing all remaining hope.

Lionet Roland jumped into the fray with a cry of anger and tears, his body burning with fire cosmos, parrying Azrael's sword swing before he could hurt anyone else. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING, CASTELLAN AZRAEL?! STO-!"

Azrael adjusted his sword grip, bringing it up so his blade would make Roland's slide down to the floor! With a twisting step, he sliced the air to shoot waves of cutting light at Roland, whose shield took the blows and got cut a piece of ribbon. With the space afforded to him and Roland's distraction, Aries Antenor then swerved around with a slash, unleashing a tornado of light that shot deadly blades in every direction, finishing off the last few warriors of the castle.

Roland howled in heartbreak at the sight of his last men being cut down, while Daese just covered her mouth. She saw the path to the basement level blocked by the fighting. Was all she could do silently pray to Athena, stuck watching the horror from under those corpses?

The Lionet Knight eyed Azrael with unrestrained fury. "H-HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO US?! WE… WE JOINED THIS WAR FOR YOU! THESE ARE YOUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS, WHO'VE BEEN DYING FOR YOU AND PRIAM!"

Azrael silently reassumed his stance, holding his broadsword at a hanging right pose. It made the blood all over his golden armor and sword drip even more. Roland recognized it as the provocation it was. He had taught this stance to Azrael, after all, so it was a symbol of their friendship.

With his fire aura exploding, Roland braced himself with an inside right, a pose meant for a charging thrust. "Explain yourself, Azrael, or as Athena is my witness, I WILL CUT YOUR DAMN HEAD OFF!"

"There is nothing to be said." The blood-soaked Aries hissed, sounding fed up. "Just make your move and die."

Roland then flowed light cosmos down his sword to shape metal from his Cloth into it, reinforcing it. "BURN IN HADES, TRAITOR! LIONET ROAR!" He cried out, turning into a rolling ball of flames and charging at Azrael at the speed of light to thrust him through the heart, even if he had to puncture right through a Gold Cloth!

As soon as he hit Azrael, however, a clash of fire with light in the cosmos occurred, unleashing a screeching sound like burning hot metal hitting freezing water. Galaxies in their Cosmos shattered, unleashing a tremendous amount of energy that blinded everyone still alive in the castle, and a powerful counter execution was performed. "SERAPHIC FLASH!"

With Azrael seemingly splitting into multiple images of himself that struck the rolling Roland from every direction with all-cutting slashes, organ-puncturing thrusts, tendon slicing sweeps and armor shattering hilt slams.

The Lionet Knight screamed, tossed into the air by the force of the attacks. He landed not too far from where Daese and Cerah hid, back hitting the keep's wall. Multiple slash and stab wounds in his body oozed out dark red blood, pooling on the floor, and his eyes glazed.

Daese saw his eyes land on her. She froze, not knowing what to do, her eyes weeping as his face paled more and more with lack of blood.

"(Y-you're… the little girl… You found your sister… Good.)" The Lionet Knight saw she wanted to help, coughed and shook head as subtly as he could. "(NO! D-Don't move a muscle! For Athena's sake, w-whatever you see, don't move!)"

Daese could only gag, much less move, her mind too young to understand the slaughtering happening around them. Metal steps were heard and Daese covered her sister protectively under the corpses. She saw Azrael's shadow swallow Roland and the Lionet Knight look up. It looked terrifying, stanching of death and dripping blood that completely hid the gold of his Cloth.

"Old idiot. You never stood a chance. ?" Azrael lambasted, as if he had won a mere spar. "Priam perfected that technique to a higher level you could never imagine. Who do you think he tested it on all these years? Even then, if you had a Gold Cloth instead of a Bronze one, your Lightcraft is stale and your speed lagged by your age. It's heartbreaking that the last duel between Zodiac Knights in history had to be so pathetically short."

"I-It was you, wasn't it?" Roland realized, thinking back to the last few horrible months of hearing about friend after friend, castle after castle, falling to Sanctuary. "You are the one that's been betraying all our other castles to the Saints. One impregnable fortress one after the other lost, in just a couple of months…Our homes encroached or destroyed and our men killed. It was like a never-ending nightmare…Now it all makes sense."

The Aries Saint simply ran his hand through his blade's edge, resharpening it with a spraying of bright Cosmos.

Such silence only made Roland insane with anger. "W-WHY?! We were your brothers! Your k-knights! Thousands of refugees just these past months, fleeing from the Saints from the castles YOU slaughtered! H-how could you p-possibly…!"

"I will let nothing stand in the way of correcting my mistakes. Whatever it takes, our common dream, the one with my real brothers and sisters, will be restored." Azrael raised his broadsword aside, letting the blood on it paint the floor. "Even if the first step is the death of the Zodiac Knights."

The Lionet warrior took his words in, trying to decipher its meaning. He then slumped as he understood it. His mind rushed through years, remembering when he first taught this young boy to fight, to burn the cosmos.

It was so long ago, but he could still visualize it clearly. It was such a warm memory. In that cold, wet bailey, he didn't mind it being his last thought. "I s-see… I hope, Azrael, Sanctuary never does the same to you. This kind of pain…even Hades himself couldn't think of such horrible punishments. But know this…"

Daese saw his eyes glance at her briefly.

"Even if the Knights are g-gone from this world…" Roland continued, gulping. "We WILL be a-avenged! If not by our hand, then by the hands of someone who carries our hearts and souls with them! The weight of the centuries of our people… no, Athena herself will make it so! Someone will find you one day, Azrael… even if you hide yourself under all that metal… and make you p-pay!"

The young blonde girl's face soaked itself in tears as Sir Roland's voice grew weaker and weaker. She saw Aries Antenor raise his sword. "N-NO!"

"Take comfort, Roland of Lionet. Priam and I shall be the last Knights. And when he's gone, too…" Azrael vowed without words, like he spoke of carrying their very souls with him. "Now sing with me, brother…our song for those who at long last fulfill their duties."

The Lionet mustered strength for at least this much, pushing himself against the wall to raise his bleeding chest higher. "Brothers and Sisters, I n-now leave you behind! Let my sins and faults no longer weigh you or bind!"

Crying, Daese recited the middle in her head as they sung it between themselves. "Let the shine of my actions inspire your way! To fight for the innocent and enslaved, until that awaited day."

"W-where we free the world of the Gods' cruelty. W-where we've all fulfilled our greatest duty." Roland coughed out blood and felt the world grow darker. "To protect mankind… and the light of this world."

"That is my deepest wish, whether I'm bronze, silver or gold." Azrael added, emotionless and charging his cosmos. He then blessed himself with his thumb, forming the sign of the Goddess. "For Athena."

Roland's eyes searched for any kind of light, a sight from the Goddess that their struggles had not been in vain. It was getting harder to voice his death song. He rested his broken sword on his chest and spoke out his last words. "F-For the First Knight!"

Then Azrael swung his sword shining with Cosmos. "And for a world flooded with light!"

Daese staggered and shut her eyes as hard she could as the man lying in front of them had his head severed off his shoulders, sent flying and rolling over a wall. Daese screamed mutely against her hands, hearing it drop amidst her dead people.

{======================|A3|======================}

Present

{======================|A3|======================}

Daese held her Diamond Cloth Stone, which contained the Aquila Cloth, reliving that horrible night in her mind over and over. She was still sure this object had been responsible for her and Cerah's survival. Aries Azrael went on to search the castle top to bottom for it, as well as the Corvus Cloth, but by some miracle Daese managed to escape with her sister long enough for Priam to find them.

Every day since then had been a fight for survival. Even when she joined up with Priam, the civil war between him and Sanctuary was nearing its end, meaning the Black Saints could not protect her. Since Azrael had fought by Priam's side initially, Azrael also knew all of his tricks and hideouts, meaning it was only a matter of time before she and Cerah were found if Priam just left them in a safehouse somewhere. Then, Priam had the shocking idea of asking Daemon Lucian for help.

The last Knights of the Zodiac, begging a Specter for help. What would Athena say?

But it worked. Daese was still alive, and so was Cerah, somewhere in the Underworld. Neither Sanctuary nor Azrael had ever found them. They would continue to search for as long as the Corvus and Aquila Cloths were gone, but for as long as the gates of hell remained strong and Daese kept her head firmly on her shoulders, they'd never have them. For a while, Daese was happy with that.

But now, seven years later, her chest pumped in anger. It demanded revenge. It sought restoration of her brothers and sisters' wishes at all costs. The night Sir Roland sung that song, the chant of the dying Knights, every dying breath of it had planted itself in her mind. It followed her in her dreams and coursed in her blood like boiling water, igniting all her actions and choices towards one goal.

The destruction of Azrael, and the Sanctuary that helped him exterminate the Knights. For Athena, for the First Knight, and for a world flooded with light!

If Azrael was active, if he was making moves, then he was stepping out of his castle, out of that impregnable fortress he bathed in his compatriots' blood. That meant he could be followed, observed well outside the Horned Serpent's all-seeing tower, even conspired against. That meant Daese could cut him down! Cut him down, cut him down! Like the traitor he was!

Then she and her sister could be together, and the souls of her brothers and sisters would be avenged. Sir Roland, her parents, Castellan Corvus, everyone would rest in peace. Nothing but flowers, instead of tears and mud, would bloom around their graves forever after.

Her hand clenched the Cloth Stone. Could she do it? Could she travel north right now and try to catch him before he closed himself back up again?! All it took was a lightspeed jump. She already knew the way, after all. Could she avenge the Knights of the Zodiac once and for all, take the Emerald Cloth Stone and perhaps even give Cerah a place to live in the open world, rather than in Lucian's hands?

Her mind pictured herself facing those deadly maneuvers of his, those brilliant tricks of the cosmos, even his lightspeed mastery. Every way she thought about it… only headed in disaster; her head cut off with the rest. Or worse. She needed to be three, five, ten times stronger a woman. It needed to be a task she couldn't possibly fail!

Daese let go of her Clothstone and walked out to fulfill her mission to Priam. She wasn't ready to avenge the Knights. But one day, she would be.

{======================|A3|======================}

Chrysaor's Journey to Mogadishu

{======================|A3|======================}

A month passed since the Triumph of Marianne Solo, and the sailing ship that Atlae was in traveled further east, first towards Egypt, then down the long Red Sea. Temperatures climbed back up as they faced the African and Arabian summer, much to Caça's chagrin, but the waters also grew ever more beautiful, changing from the dark blue of the mediterranean to the crystal cerulean of the Indic.

"It seems that, somehow, we have eluded Baian's revenge. Welcome back to my household's Ocean, Atlae." Krishna had happily announced, once they passed the port of Aden. "We're finally near the end of our journey."

Excitedly, Atlae studied every coast they surveyed and every new waters they entered. Even if the days were getting really hot now, it felt like a nice final chapter to his circumnavigational trip. Everything was going so well recently, and even his music was improving.

He knew it when, sitting on the deck with Caça one day, he finished the last melancholic notes of the Song of Seashells and saw Caça groan hesitantly.

Atlae sweated, awaiting judgement. "Well?"

Caça folded arms. "You didn't make my ears bleed this time. That's progress, I suppose."

The Muvian laughed in relief. "That's good to know. Here, let me try again-"

Caça held him still. "NO, that's enough! I think it's better to end the day on a high note!"

The captain walked by. "Honestly, Caça, you should give him a couple more points. He's been doing his best. I actually found he hit all the right nostalgic points of when the song speaks of missing our home ports."

"Thank you, Captain." Atlae scratched nose, self-conscious. "I tried to think of how I missed Shamballa and, suddenly… the music made more sense to me."

"Of course it does! That's the power of saudade!" Caça said, gesturing hands in emphasis.

Atlae blinked. "Sow-what?"

The mariner rolled eyes at his ignorance and said it slower. "Sau-da-de! It means to miss someone. When you miss your home, or your beautiful lady, or your family went away, but you know you've lost them forever, a swelling feeling like no other builds up inside you overtime, an agony without peer. You have saudade of them!"

Krishna folded arms. "That sounds very poetic, but it just means you miss people, Caça. Why a whole word for it?"

"It does not! It's not enough to just miss your girlfriend, or whatever!" Caça hissed. He held his chest proudly. "It requires true loss! The knowledge that this shitty world has robbed you of something very precious to you. It's a far more complex emotion than just 'missing someone', bah!"

The captain grumbled. "Then how have I never heard of this concept in any other language I've seen?!"

"Cause you're all brutes and savages, that's why!" Caça pouted away. "I come from a true line of sensitive artists! A cultural palace!" He then scowled enviously, remembering his conservatory days. "Unlike that Sorrento Weyprecht, who could put a two-headed dragon to sleep with his quote-on-quote music!"

The blonde Muvian ignored the argument and reflected on this quietly. He supposed that, while he missed Marianne, Master and the Solos, he had 'sow-dah-dhe' of his actual parents, who he missed dearly but knew he'd never see again. When he focused on that feeling, he felt a deep pain unlike the one he felt about the others that made him want to take to the flute again, or even sing.

Was this the feeling his friend described? "Wow, Caça… I had no idea you were so sensitive."

The mariner scowled. "What the fuck does that mean?! For your information, I'm the most sensitive soul on the planet! My household holds the Lymnades Scale! That armor requires extreme emotional intelligence!"

"Then it's no wonder you're fifth-in-line, is it?" Krishna bit. He clapped hands incitingly. "Well, chop-chop. Get to work. We have to steer the ship into the next port soon."

{======================|A3|======================}

Mogadishu, Somalia

{======================|A3|======================}

Finally arriving on Mogadishu, the LPS Chrysaor sailed its way inside the enclosed harbor of the city, past the waterbreaks, and moored.

Atlae firmly tied the ship to the harbor and looked around, seeing the white, square buildings, the packed markets and the sunshine bathing the trees. "Wow, look at this place! It's so-"

"Oh, don't even start!" Caça groaned, folding arms. "Atlae, you've been amazed at every port we've passed by! Death Queen Island was pretty much the only one you didn't go ga-ga for. You're such a damn tourist, I swear to Poseidon."

The Muvian frowned, embarrassed. He thought back to their journey. "Have I really?"

The captain came between them. "Now settle down, you two. We're meeting with a Silver Saint today, and quite a stern one at that. I don't want him to think I run an undisciplined crew."

Caça turned and saw the groups of men armed with AK-47s guarding the market. "What's with all the guns around here, anyway?"

"It's because the country is preparing for war." someone said, joining in.

The trio turned and Atlae studied the man, impressed by his strong stature. The young adult of enviable mane of gold was tall, had a strong neckline and jaw, large biceps, the marks of intense training and heat on his skin in the form of many tanned scars here and there. His eyes, though friendly, had a piercing blue to them that was striking to the spirit and the large Cloth Box on his back had the emblem of a king with a sword and a mace.

"Welcome Mariners. I am Saint Gardnia of Cepheus." he extended his hand, smiling. "I'm the one responsible for speaking in the name of King Cetus, in these matters."

Krishna took it. "Saint Cepheus." He turned. "This is my crew."

Gardnia widened eyes at Atlae "Oh."

He wondered if there was something on his face. "Is… Is something wrong?"

The Captain spoke. "Atlae, you don't know him, but he's the Master of Andromeda Island."

The Muvian perked up. "Andromeda….?"

Gardnia collected himself and chuckled. "Captain, I believe he will understand better if you call it Lalibela. That's its name in Lemurian maps."

Lights went on in Atlae's brain. "OH! Yes, I would! I keep forgetting Sanctuary named it after the Cloth! You're it's Master? That's so cool!"

Gardnia shook his head. "It's not that impressive. All I had to do to get this armor was go to the island and find the pieces." He then leaned in slightly "(I'm sorry for asking, but… are these two putting you up to something? You're not in danger, are you?)"

Atlae was startled by the sudden mental communication. Why was the Silver Saint trying to speak privately? He shook head, confused. "(N… no, these are my friends, sir.)"

The Silver Saint shifted his eyes to the Mariners. "(Really? I thought…Nevermind.)" He supposed with all the things Shinta has taught him about how wide a gap can be bridged between people, it was possible for a Muvian to be friends with Mariners. "Did you bring the order?"

Atlae nodded, rushed in, and came out all on his own with a big crate that he rested next to the Silver Saint. "Here it is!"

"Food supplies for you, medicine for New Lalibela, correct?" Krishna asked.

The Silver Saint hummed, even more impressed. "Correct. You have… a strong crewmate. I barely sensed him burn his cosmos."

Atlae beamed. "I have Chi, so it helps! Plus, I'm a Taurus."

More and more, Gardnia liked this kid. He laughed. "Well, I'll be. I am, as well." He showed off his golden pin. "As you can see."

The Muvian stared in delight at the golden symbol of the circle with two curves up. "Ohhh, is that…?!"

"A Golden Zodiac temple pin, yes." Gardnia confirmed. "During the war, I trained under Saint 'Ajax' of Taurus. I learned my lightspeed with him."

"That is SO cool! I heard that guy was super, duper strong!" Atlae gushed, clenching his fists high and his eyes turning into stars. "Captain, do you think I could do the same, too?! Um, no offense, I will totally learn lightspeed with you, it's just-"

Krishna shook head. "None taken, but Atlae, if you really want to train under a Gold Saint, you should get in line. Every year each Temple gets dozens of candidates vying to get a Gold Saint for a teacher."

Atlae slumped sadly. "Awh…" He saw so many strong guys in Sanctuary. There was no way he was ready.

Gardnia looked perplexed by his enthusiasm to get his bones broken every day for three years, but then moved on. "In any case, thank you all very much. Both territories were in high need of this, and, well,… King Cetus is difficult to negotiate with when it comes to humanitarian aid."

"Earlier you said Somalia is about to go to war?" Krishna queried, tensing. "It wouldn't happen to be with Ethiopia, would it?"

The Silver Saint looked around for eavesdroppers. "Sanctuary intelligence suggests so. We are mediating the situation as best we can, because war between the two, if it happens, will cut off the Ogaden desert route for us. We may also have to change Andromeda Island's supply port from Mogadishu to Djibouti, which would be a shame. I have many friends in this city."

The captain clicked his tongue. "Understood. Thank you for warning us, Saint Cepheus."

"So there really is going to be war?" Atlae interjected. "Why?"

The Silver Saint sighed sadly. "It's complicated, Somalia juggles many interests between its government and its tribes, but me and the other Saints stationed in Africa are pretty certain of their intentions towards Ethiopia. It could be years before it happens, but since Mariners are friends of Sanctuary, I have to advise you all to be careful."

Atlae frowned sadly. While he wasn't what people called a 'pacifist', the concept of entire tribes of humans going up against each other in violent conflict still stunned him. The Holy Wars made sense to him, because it was about Gods disagreeing with each other about the natural world, but why did humans invade each other's homes like this? Wasn't there enough to go around for everyone?

The Specter he encountered in Argentina popped to his mind. Papillon went on and on about this, too, how humans were too violent and deserved punishment. He was still a bastard and a hypocrite, since his solution was just to kill them, but Atlae imagined that some Specters maybe had good reason to take Hades' side on this matter.

Sensing his lament somehow, the Silver Saint spoke. "I imagine that to Muvians we humans behave rather strangely, don't we? I, too, wish war wasn't an option my species resorted to so naively."

Atlae shook his head. "It's just sad to see, I think."

Gardnia looked their strange group over. "Well, since I'm today meeting a Muvian that coexists peacefully with Mariners, perhaps we're all made of better fiber than most think. Isn't that right?"

The Muvian perked up, surprised by the Silver Saint's wisdom. He smiled.

Sensing the tension in the Silver Saint, Krishna asked in mental messages. "(Is this about Cetus? Is he inciting this war?)"

"(I think so, yes.)"Guardnia responded. "(Cetus sees Ethiopia as an indirect extension of New Lalibela. If he provoked an invasion from Somalia and then helped Ethiopia win it, it would increase his power and make him look like a peacekeeper to Sanctuary. Everything about this just falls too much right into his hands, as you can see. It doesn't mean we have proof, though.)"

"(I see.)" Krishna then dropped the subject, making a mental note to review next years' travel notes.

"Let me help you all unload the rest of the food, since that's for my island." Saint Guardnia offered, putting his clipboard aside. It made Atlae, and especially Caça, perk up happily. "Next I'd like a chat with your captain, if you don't mind."

{======================|A3|======================}

Caça panted heavily, carrying the big crate full of crackers that made his spindly body shake. He unceremoniously dropped it on the dock and pushed it next to the rest, sweating.

He saw his blistered hands. "My poor fingers! I thought the Silver Saint would carry all the heaviest ones out!"

Atlae lifted one up thrice the size of the one Caça just brought out and gently deposited it out with the rest. "I think we're done; this is the last one." He beamed. "That was a lot of fun, wasn't it? Good exercise, too."

The mariner dropped on a bench, exhausted. "I'm going to pretend you didn't say that. At least it's just two more stops before the milk run's over for the semester." He looked up and saw the captain still chatting with Saint Guardnia. "What does the Saint want, anyway? They're yapping a lot."

Atlae tried to change the acidic tone of the conversation. "I think he's a pretty nice one. I always thought Old Lalibel-, I mean Andromeda Island was the second worst training ground, but I wouldn't mind training under Saint Gardnia."

"It is one of the worst. People make bets about how fast the first year olds bite the dust there." Caça took a crumpled piece of paper and tossed it at Atlae's head. "Besides, he only treated you nicely because you're a Muvian."

This took Atlae by surprise. Usually, his Muvian-ness had the opposite effect. "What do you mean, Caça?"

The mariner scowled. "The Andromeda Islanders or Lalibelans or whatever you wanna call them, they all hate the Mariners. They're taught from day one they leave the womb that we sunk their stupid mythical Kingdom, where everything was so great. Now, for real, why would Lord Poseidon, the manliest God of them all, get all angry just because of some human princess said 'no' to him? He can get any chick he wants."

While a crass reasoning, Atlae supposed it made some degree of sense in Caça's own special toxic way. "Was that why Saint Cepheus asked me those weird things? Did he think Caça and captain Krishna were forcing me to be here?"

"The real reason Lord Poseidon sunk it was because they were friends with your people, Atlae." Caça spat at the dock. "Old Lalibela liked the Muvians a heck of a lot more, cause you guys made special armors for them on their big whoop-dee-doo volcanoes. The Queen was having an affair with their Muvian alchemist and everything. It was a matter of time before the island fell slave to the Mu Continent, so naturally these guys needed to be freed of their oppressors."

Atlae gasped, feeling cold with these words. "By sinking them?!"

But Caça, as always, only grinned at his horror. "Better than Muvian chains, right? It was for their own good; the Muvians thought they could make Andromeda Island's waters theirs. Well, Lord Poseidon says otherwise…"

The Muvian paled, feeling something in his blood grow cold, perhaps a part of him that felt the pain of his people when their continent sank as well. He supposed these territorial egos was how wars began between everyone, from Gods like Poseidon to countries like Somalia.

It was Caça, though, and he knew to let it go by now. "Do you think there will be war here, Caça?"

The Mariner gagged at his preoccupation. "Who cares about this dumpy place? It's none of our business. Lord Poseidon will just sink everything up anyway one day. Let'em fight."

What a strange way to look at it. Chalking it up to the Gods just made it feel like humans didn't have to worry about fixing any of their problems. Atlae couldn't help but think that, if this kept up, then it was no wonder those same Gods thought humans couldn't take care of themselves. Or Muvians for that matter.

Caça leaned lazily on the chair. "And besides, that Silver Saint guy ain't fooling me! He has a reason to be all paranoid about war the way he does."

"What do you mean?"

There was a mean-spirited chuckle. "Don't you know?" He nodded his head in Gardnia's direction. "Before that Ajax stuff during the war he told you about, that guy trained under Priam."

Atlae rose a brow, confused.

Caça gritted his teeth. "Hello?! Priam, the former Sagittarius Saint?!"

Atlae beamed. What a cool honor. "Wow, so trained under two Gold Saints? He is that well-trained? That's super coo-"

"Priam is the one that punched the Pope, you idiot! And started the big war between the Saints when we were little?! Don't you know anything?!" The mariner scowled and pointed at Gardnia. "That Silver Saint's teacher is the reason your parents are dead!"

Atlae gasped, and looked again. Was he really? He saw Saint Gardnia talking pleasantly with the captain and couldn't picture him training under the man responsible for that terrible conflict.

Caça laughed again, puffing his chest. "Not only that, but the war also led to the end of those uppity Zodiac Knights. That's why this guy acts all polite, cause he knows the second he acts suspicious, Sanctuary will be on him like a dog on an intruder."

Something about this felt very wrong. "Really? But… but it's not his fault, is it? He's just that guy's student?"

"Don't be naïve!" Caça warned him. There were no depths to how much Atlae disappointed him, were there? "Students in Sanctuary always take after their Masters. They teach them everything they know and believe in because Sanctuary recruits its warriors through orphans and crap, rather than sticking to their families like us Mariners do. Ya'd have to be dumped in the mountains or something to not to get brainwashed by one of them Sanctuary Masters."

What a terrible exaggeration. "Caça, don't joke about that. If Master Yuzuriha left me in the Himalayas all alone instead of training me, I'd…" he couldn't even picture what would happen. "Well, it wouldn't be good!"

The Mariner squinted at the simplicity he spoke with. Every day Caça grew more certain the tree that fell on Atlae's parents must have hit his dumb Muvian head too or something.

{======================|A3|======================}

Time passed, and as they finally finished getting the boat ready for their next trip, Caça and Atlae saw the captain finish their conversation and join them. "Caça, Atlae? I have an important announcement for you."

"Yes, captain?" they both asked.

"Saint Gardnia has asked me to accommodate a passenger with us for the rest of our journey." Krishna explained. "She needs to journey to Shamballa and needs someone who knows the way to the Muvian city. Since Atlae will head there eventually anyway, I offered our assistance."

"Her? Oh, mama!" Caça celebrated. "Beautiful women are always good fortune on ships!"

Atlae grimaced. Hadn't Caça said Muvians were bad fortune when they began their journey? What incredible power governed these twists of fate? Lord Poseidon?

Krishna squinted. "Don't even think of upsetting her, Caça! She's a Maiden of Athena, too. I don't want any trouble with the Saints."

"I hope she's nice, captain." Atlae wished.

Caça grinned. "Oh yes, I'll let Marianne know ALL about how nice she was to you."

Atlae gasped. Caça was being so friendly today! "You will? Awesome, maybe they could be friends! Marianne has so few other than miss Adriana."

He growled at his thick-headedness "No, you moron, I'm going to make her think you're cheating on her so she'll dump you and date me inste-"

"Enough!" Krishna interrupted. "You will both be on your best behavior! This means zero arguments and one hundred percent discipline and respect!"

"YES, CAPTAIN!" they both saluted.

"I have to say, at least your crew is energetic." Saint Cepheus admitted. "Now if you excuse me."

There was a brief flash of light, one even more impressive to Atlae in its brilliance and speed than even when he had seen captain Krishna use the 7th sense, and the Silver Saint was gone. Then, before they even had time to wonder if he'd take too long, Saint Cepheus was right back in a second zip of light, accompanied by a startlingly beautiful young blonde woman in a black robe.

"O-oh." Atlae staggered, stunned.

Her golden curls reached down her back and she had blue eyes as pretty as Marianne's, but was taller, slightly older and had the elegant yet firm posture of a warrior despite her religious attire. Her smile, albeit gentle, was inspiringly confident, like someone who felt sure they could take on any challenge, yet her cosmos signature radiated a strong light, likely a reflection of her faith in her Goddess.

She nodded politely. "Athena be with you all. I am Maiden… Daisy." She lied, wishing Priam had given her an alias more different from her real name. Sooner or later, 'Daese' would slip out from her tongue instead. "You are the crew of the Chrysaor, correct? A pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise, beautiful!" Caça stepped up and offered his hand so she'd rest hers on his to kiss. "I am Caça of the Cabral Household, madam. And may I say your hair radiates like the sunlight in the wave-"

She beamed "A pleasure!" and gripped his spindly hand to shake it.

Caça screamed and fell to his knees, feeling his fingers in a vice hardened into steel by years of sword practice. "AAH! OH DEAR AMPHITRITE HAVE MERCY!"

She let go and covered a gasp. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" Daese tried to laugh it off. Another carelessness like this and she'd blow her cover. "The head of my chapter always told me to, um, mind my Cosmos. Ah, ah, yes…"

Caça crawled away, holding his injured hand and feeling his fingers twitch with cramps. "W-why is this nun so s-strong?"

"Whow! You're almost as tough as Marianne!" Atlae admired, sweating. "You must ring bells all day."

"YES, that's definitely it!" Daese latched on, nodding firmly. "T-Those temple bells, yes, they're really heavy. I should wear a mask like the Amazons at this point."

He laughed. "You're funny! I am Atlae," and he waved Krishna. "and this is our captain, Krishna Chola. He's super strong, too!"

Atlae saw her stiffen up suddenly, while Captain Krishna staggered.

Daese's eyes widened and she breathed in, horrified.

"Hey!" Krishna laughed, recognizing her. "We've met already, have we not?"

Daese stepped back, bewildered. Oh no! It was the same captain she asked about Ainsel back in Argentina! Was her cover blown?! "H-hum, I don't think so, no! DEFINITELY NOT!"

The captain snapped fingers and pointed. "Rio Negro, Argentina! You worked for that religious chapter, too, right?"

Daese tried to laugh it off before she got dragged to a Sanctuary court. "N-No! I get this all the time." she waved hand dismissively. "I-I look like all the other Maidens! You know, with these clothes, the hair…"

Krishna folded arms and shook head. "Absolutely not. There's no way I'd mistake a face like yours." He commented, making her stagger again. "Maiden, I'd like to take this chance encounter to apologize."

She tried to stay calm. "A-Apologize? For what?"

The captain rubbed his mohawk and cringed embarrassedly. "Well, when we talked in Argentina, you rushed off very suddenly, so I figured I did something wrong. If I did…It wasn't my intention."

Daese paused her panic, understanding better what he was pining her on. The Mariner seemed like a nice man and she did ditch his presence as soon as he answered her questions, so maybe it was natural he felt awful.

She smiled, relieved and feeling terrible now. "N-no! I mean, I am not the… I mean!" She felt his piercing eyes on her, yet sensed no hostility, only gentleness. Perhaps she was acting too suspicious. "Your name is Krishna, correct? No, captain, you treated me wonderfully. In fact…"

Krishna blinked. "Yes?"

Daese smiled awkwardly, lacing her hands around her back. He was an interesting man to have run into again, wasn't he? Confident in his style, gentlemanly and from a world completely different from hers. Considering she was worried she might have to be stuck on a boat with a bunch of Sanctuary sailors she didn't know, this Mariner was a wonderful alternative.

"It's nice seeing you again. I did feel bad about the way I ran off last time." She should take this chance to start things over. "I guess it is kind of an amazing coincidence we're meeting again. Are you here on your journey?"

"Yes. Last time it was just the two of us, wasn't it?" He glanced at Atlae, who was helping Caça put his fingers back in place and arguing again. "Those two buckos over there were off on an adventure without me at the time with Saint Noah. And now you're joining in on ours, I suppose."

"I guess I am." She saw the two sailors argue and wrestle and sweated, wondering if they were going to be a problem for her operation. "They seem… interesting."

"It's alright, Maiden Daisy, you can say headache-inducing." Krishna guaranteed. To his surprise, it made her laugh out loud. "By the way, I'm just curious, why Shamballa? Muvians are very spiritually closed off from Athena's church, with their cult of Genbu and all."

She recalled her fake backstory details and spelled it out by heart. "I am joining a chapter there for a season and I needed someone with experience in Shamballa to show me around and introduce me, if needed." She turned to his crew again. "Saint Gardnia told me you'd have a specialist on board."

It suddenly clicked to Krishna. "Ahh, that would be Atlae. Yes, he can take you up there. He even trained under the High Elder."

It was Daese's turn to widen her eyes. Really? The rowdy Muvian was that important? She should let Priam know she had an in on one of the High Elder's closest.

In any case, she should continue her story. "We are thinking of building up new orphanages there to look after the Priam War children and, as you said, the Muvians are protective of their cities." In reality, of course, she was going after the man that helped make the war so destructive to begin with. Getting an in on Shamballa was a good bonus for her as an agent, though. "Some lost their parents in that conflict when still extremely young."

Krishna recalled some of Atlae's stories about how tough it was for Lord Solo to secure his place in a Shamballa school. He couldn't imagine how tough it must be for those five, six or even eight years younger than Atlae was, with no Arthur Solo to help.

Sanctuary likely thought it could convert some of these desperate children into Saints, too. "A just cause for a Maiden of Athena. That's too bad, though…"

She widened eyes. "Mm? Why?"

He shrugged shoulders defeatedly. "I was just thinking that if by some funny extra coincidence, we meet again after this, it probably won't be for another long while." He smiled. "And, well, that's just a shame."

She hid an impressed smile with her hand. Daese had a feeling she would enjoy conversating with him along the trip.

Saint Gardnia cleared throat.

The two snapped into attention. "Excuse me, Saint Gardnia." Krishna honestly forgot he was standing there.

"No problem, I just have to speed this along, unfortunately." Gardnia assured. "You can deliver the final shipments of food to Pakistan, correct? Our depot there can then accompany it along with Miss Daese to Shamballa."

"Of course, you can count on the Mariners." Krishna assured. "Atlae, Caça! Quit fooling around! We are setting sail."

Gardnia nodded hesitantly. "Right, I suppose I can." He folded his arms, pensive. "The Myth Age was a long time ago, after all…"

{======================|A3|======================}

The next day

{======================|A3|======================}

In the lower deck, in a small enclosed space that acted as a student room for captain Krishna's sailing school students that Daese had been given to sleep through the journey, the Aquila Zodiac Knight reviewed her notes on her assignment and fed Priam the intel she gathered as the Chrysaor headed eastwards. She did so by sitting by her small bed, keeping her eyes closed to focus, clasping her hands around her Clothstone and sending enclosed mental messages. This way, if anyone knocked on the door or walked in unexpectedly, she'd just seem like she was giving her prayers to Athena.

Occasionally she actually did so. She was still a proud Zodiac Knight, after all. Daese would be damned if she didn't give her respects to her Goddess everyday.

Once she was done, Daese sat normally and thought about what awaited her in Asia. Making her way to Shamballa with the Muvian guide should be simple enough and, after that, it was just a matter of losing him while he went off to see his Master. Priam's agents would then take care of wiping off any trace of her in Sanctuary's records. Then, it was time to investigate her real target.

Serpens Azrael.

Her head felt hot. Daese was pretty sure that in earlier years, she would have flied off at the sight of him with sword in hand, ready to cut him down even if it killed her. Every day for so many years, the mere mention of the man caused every cell of her body to begin boiling with the cries of dead knights, oathsworn and family members. It was probably a good thing that Priam never allowed her anywhere close to the Ural Mountains for so long.

It was therefore a huge sign of trust from Priam that he allowed her to get so close to Azrael. She could not betray his trust, then. Her head would stay cool and her mind diligently fixed on her task; investigating his recent activities. She could cause more damage to him that way than her Aquila Cloth and Lightcraft ever could.

Her hand shined with cosmos, summoning bright blue particles of light out of her Diamond Clothstone that then formed into an Aquila Cloth plate light crafted into a knife. She was nowadays skilled enough with the art to instinctively decorate it with an eagle head in the guard and feather shaped indentations along the small edge, a level of mastery most Paladins would consider impressive. It had allowed the Knights to fund themselves somewhat by helping their metallurgy, repair their own Cloths and even sell jewelry to Sanctuary.

Yet, Castellan Azrael could make people out of this.

Entire human dolls, believable ones too, that could emit sounds, pretend to breathe and even attack you as hard as he would, just out of the light particles of his Emerald Cloth Stone. That was a level of dominion over Lightcraft that boggled the mind. And he could do it multiple times simultaneously, like a puppet master controlling an entire theater play of actors. Daese could only imagine how dangerous he was when he was still a Gold Saint. There was a solid chance that, if she happened upon him, she'd just be staring at a decoy made of altered metal and illusions of faces made to look like him. And since it was all so Cosmos-heavy, trying to distinguish it from the real Azrael with the 7th sense was pointless.

Could the mere knife of Silver Cloth metal in her hand have any hope of reaching his heart, then? Or was she cursed to forever carry the pain of her people? The last Zodiac Knight with an intact sense of honor doomed to spend her life going from subterfuge to subterfuge, always wishing to come out and avenge her home, even rebuild it, and yet forever unable t-

"Miss Daisy?"

She let out a startled shriek and dispelled her knife. "Atlae!"

He staggered. "I'm sorry! I knocked but you didn't answer. Everyone was wondering if you were okay. You haven't left your room all day…"

She held her chest to calm her heart, then shook her head and smiled, feeling silly.

"It's okay, I was just praying." She stood up and frowned, disappointed at herself. "Wow, I didn't sense you at all. Usually, I'm quite good at detecting Cosmos."

Atlae sweated, embarrassed. "Mine is sort of weak. I burn it differently from most people too. I know I look strong, but that's mostly Chi."

Daese blinked. Chi? She felt she had heard about this in the past from Priam. Apparently, it was some kind of extraordinary power some warriors like Leo Regulus had unlocked in the distant past.

"Would you like lunch, miss Daisy?" Atlae offered. "Me and Caça have fished it ourselves, and the captain is cooking. He's super good at it, too. He asked me to make sure to tell you he was adding special spices from his home."

Daese suddenly sensed the smell of fried fish in the air and her mouth drooled. "Oh, that does smell nice!" After years of surviving with Cerah, she developed a super appetite for food. "I'd love to, Atlae. I'll be right ahead."

He saw her pendant. "Is that your rosary, miss Daisy?"

She shrieked again and hid her Clothstone pendant inside her collar. "Y-yes!"

Atlae scratched his head. The Maiden was so easy to startle, for some reason. Not like Marianne at all, who could brave even sea monsters, or so he felt. He didn't want to think human women were cowardly, like the Muvian girls at his school mocked, but still. "Sorry, I was just curious. No one's ever taught me what the worship of Athena is like."

Daese recalled the stories that had been shared with her so far. "Right, you were raised with the Mariners, correct?" The more she thought of it, it seemed so wild. Some extremists among the neptunites said Muvians should be killed on sight, even. "Well, Atlae, it's not that different from how the Catholics and Orthodox Christians worship. We have masses and chapels and Saints and-"

"And Knight orders, too, right?" Atlae suggested. This was one of his favorite stories growing up. He even used to read comic books in Shamballa about quests against Specters the Zodiac Knights went on. "My friend Marianne used to tell me Sanctuary used to have this Order of super faithful Saints."

Daese hummed somberly. "Yes, Atlae, that's right…"

By contrast, Atlae giggled excitedly. "That must have been so cool! They had these amazing castles, and they fought Specters and they even carried weapons, unlike regular Saints!"

This last bit alarmed her. "What? That's not it at all, Atlae!" She rose a lecturing finger. "Knights follow all of Athena's rules! They just use their Lightcraft skills to make weapons out of their armor. That's why they were allowed to use them. Never get that wrong, okay? Using regular weapons was still not okay for them!"

Atlae held chin. "Oh… that makes sense. I had no idea." He tilted head in realisation. "That's even COOLER, though!"

"He's so boyish, isn't he?" she realized. But it was sort of endearing.

The Muvian clenched his fist and shadowboxed the air. "I wonder if there's any of them around… I'd love to spar with them, or see their powers in action. Master Yuzuriha trained me to disarm people, so it would be a great challenge." He then slowed down and slumped, recalling some harsh lessons from Master. "Master Yuzuriha told me once, though, that my people and them didn't get along… That's a shame."

She observed him curiously. Daese had figured out by now that Atlae wasn't normal, even for a Muvian. Maybe his outlook on the topic was interesting. "Do you know why, Atlae?"

He scratched his head. "I'm not good with history at all. I think it was about… trade secrets?"

She nodded. "That's right, Atlae. Knights were totally independent from Muvians because they could fix their own armors, and they even made Clothstones." Daese wondered how he'd react if he knew she was one; with excitement or rivalry. "Muvians felt threatened by this because they depended on these services to Sanctuary to feel protected. What do you think about that?"

Atlae hummed. "I guess a lot of people hanging around Sanctuary don't get along with each other over something or other. But still… it's better than the way Mariners and Muvians treat each other."

Daese nodded and smiled warmly. "I agree. But you seem to be proof that things are changing, Atlae. Is it true what Caça said? That you even have a girlfriend that is a Mariner?"

The Muvian turned red and scratched his nose. "It's supposed to be a secret, but y-yeah."

The idea of it still amazed Daese, who grew up with the staunchly conservative Knights. Her parents often talked about how the world was just doomed into permanent fractures until the threat of Hades was exterminated. "Maybe one day all these old grudges can be forgotten… and we can all walk into a world flooded with light, just as Lady Athena hopes."

Atlae turned. "What does that mean?"

She widened her eyes. "What?"

"A world flooded with light?" Atlae repeated. Now that he was meeting a Maiden, maybe he could get this cleared up. "I've heard it said here and there, but I don't really understand it."

The Knight hesitated. "W-well, Atlae…" What could she say? It was a big stock phrase in the church of Athena, but Daese never got the chance to pursue theology, given the Knights fell apart when she was barely a teenager, but she still wanted to make a good impression on the Muvian. "It just means a world for humans like Athena wishes, once Hades is defeated; absent of death and suffering. A world we can all aspire to."

Raised in the cult of Genbu, Atlae couldn't help but see holes in this. "But miss Daisy… people die."

Her eyes saddened, remembering her people. "Yes, Atlae, they do."

"That's just natural, isn't it? That's why Shamballa celebrates the Winter festival." He scratched his head, confused. He didn't like the way that Specter Ainsel worshipped death, but he still understood it as an important part of the Wheel of Life. "We celebrate death… because that lets more life have its turn, too. There's nothing we can really do about it, is there? Forests burn, but then new seeds sprout in their place."

Daese fell silent. She wished so hard this was true for the Knights. Unfortunately, the only one left to start things over for them was precisely the one person that burned down the forest in the first place.

Atlae sensed the tension in her. "I'm sorry. That was rude. Sometimes I… forget human lives are so much shorter than mine." He clenched his fists and shook his head in reprehension. He remembered Captain Krishna's warnings about how, one day, Marianne could be old and gone before Atlae even got his first grey hairs in his straw head. "It's easy for me to talk about death like it isn't a big deal, isn't it?"

"Actually, Atlae, that was more tact on the topic than I've heard from any Muvian I've met." Daese admitted, surprising him. She was used to Muvians just blurting these things out like facts and expect everyone to accept its fatality, especially dumb humans like her. "I don't know if it's your unique experiences or your time spent with the Mariners, but you sound to me a lot wiser than your own. Thank you for understanding our pain."

The Muvian felt a bit overwhelmed by the flood of compliments. "O-Oh, no, I'm just repeating the things captain Krishna always says."

She widened eyes curiously. "Really? He said that?"

Atlae nodded, smirking. "Yeah, he's really smart. And spiritual, too. He's helped me get back on my feet a couple of moments already when I was feeling sad, and I've only known him for about six months."

She smiled. Maybe she should get to know the Mariner better. He already seemed interesting, but now sounded mature beyond his young years.

Her nose then sniffed the air, feeling the delicious mix of fried fish meat and sauce intensify. "Weren't we going to have lunch?"

Atlae gasped like he had committed a sacrilege. "OH, I CAN'T BELIEVE I FORGOT! Come on, Miss Daesy, or Caça will eat my portion!"

Daese laughed. At the very least, this mission would give her the chance to know some very interesting people in Sanctuary. She wished Cerah was with her. She'd love to get to know this little gang Priam inserted Daese into.

One day, Daese's little sister would be free to walk the surface. One day, Azrael would be gone, the fascists in Sanctuary would be as well, and Daese's little sister could finally live a normal life, make friends and forget she ever set a foot in the Underworld to be hidden. One day, Cerah would forgive Daese for leaving her.

{======================|A3|======================}

Meanwhile

Néa Delphi, Solo Manor

{======================|A3|======================}

"… and that's the end of it, sir. The reports confirm that Muvians are standing guard around Mount Kailash." The mariner spoke.

Arthur drummed his fingers on his table. "And of Ithaca?"

The youth shook his head. "Still no trace, sir. We investigated the area around Castellan Azrael's domain and the inhabitants there do not recall seeing anyone through the area other than the Castellan in years."

The Patrician rested his chin in his fist. "They could have been intimidated by that dreadful man. However, I just can't understand why Azrael would go to all that trouble just to lie about this. It would give him an enormous edge over me in the Pact to present Ithaca as evidence that I tried to spy on him." He felt his head spiral into madness. "It could be as Azrael said; the Muvians could have taken him and… hid it to avoid problems between me and High Elder Yuzuriha. No one else has any interest in the area that Ithaca could have run afoul with."

The young Mariner spoke up. "Head of Houses, it pains me to say that another Son of Arion might have simply disappeared. Poseidon knows how many of them… struggle with memories of the war. We will continue to search if you wish, but… well, we are not very familiar with the area, especially with it being so huge, and the trail is growing cold."

Arthur waved his hand. "No, you've done enough. It's been too long." He stood up and walked the mariner out. "I want you to announce the tragic news to the Sons of Arion among our households. We are a very close-knit group and they would all like to hear of Ithaca's… passing."

The young Mariner saluted as he left the door. "Of course, head of houses. Poseidon be with the Solos."

Arthur nodded, saluted back and closed it. He felt the clinking sound echo through the silent house. It was dreadful, like he had lived alone for years.

Yet, he was not alone.

Seraphina stepped out from the living room. Her face was marked with tears she shed that night. "Then this is it; you'll no longer search for him?"

Arthur turned to her, his heart feeling cold. "Is this not what you wanted all these months? For him to disappear? Or are you now beginning to miss your lover?"

She staggered, struck through the heart. Arthur had never ever spoken to her like this before the night they just had. It still reeled through her, making it difficult to pick words. "You're in full right to punish me, Arthur. I deserve it! But please…" Her eyes grew wet. "P-please don't talk to me like I ever meant to hurt you. I didn't!"

His jaw clenched. "Did you mean to hurt Ithaca, then?"

The questioned staggered her into speechlessness. He did not blame her. Arthur felt in his bones how wild it was that he was taking the side of the man who cuckolded him.

"I was not oblivious to his pain all these months. I saw how you two rejected each other at Marianne's behest. Yet, I could not believe how bright you shone the closer Julian was to birth, while Ithaca shrunk ever weaker and smaller, especially in my presence. I know my Seraphina would never hurt me… but this is not something my 'Seraphina' would have done either."

Seraphina's blue eyes turned down, ashamed. The tears returned.

"So, tell me, how could I not feel in the presence of a stranger?" Arthur asked, as gently as circumstances allowed. "So many times, I now remember him wanting to say it, to confess what he had done…. I wish to Poseidon he had. It would have been so painful, but it could have saved us all, especially him. So many nights I thought I would wake up to a note left in his guard post, or a noose and a chair missing from the house." Arthur then tensed his eyes in confusion and horror. "Yet, the most horrible thing somehow was watching your smile just grow and grow."

"Because I was thinking of nothing but of Julian and you!" she cried out, desperate. "I… I wanted to forget what happened! I wanted to erase it all and make Julian yours! I thought he had tossed me out in boredom after fulfilling a sick fantasy of being with me! I didn't know Marianne had… had asked him to…" She collapsed on her knees and cried into her hands, powerless. "I t-thought he hated me! That he u-used me! A-Arthur, please, I can't…. I don't know what you want me to say! I just want you to not hate me, please!"

Arthur wanted that as well. He wouldn't have loved Seraphina so much if he didn't understand what grieved her so deeply. Yet, as he beheld her weep and voice the pain in her soul out, his chest could not feel any softer. He desperately wanted it to, but it just didn't. Perhaps his mariner blood was too blue, too proud.

How could he hope to change his people, when he couldn't even bring himself to forgive his wife? And now Ithaca was gone, vanished into the middle of Asia without a trace, certainly dead and perhaps involved in the greatest diplomatic catastrophe Arthur might have to deal with yet.

He turned away. "Please leave me alone. I need… I need to be away from everyone."

She reached in "A-Arthur!" but when Seraphina touched his arm, she felt how tense it was, like her husband was about to explode. She let go fearfully, recoiling. "Please don't hate me! I can't take that! You're the only one who never has! If you do as well, I-"

He exhaled deeply. "No, I was not. The other person who loved you is just dead now." He walked away, wanting nothing but lock himself away somewhere he couldn't hear her cries.

{======================|A3|======================}

Ural Mountains,

Serpent's Rock

{======================|A3|======================}

Azrael screamed, stumbling against the wall and holding his bleeding side, knocking over chairs and furniture. His gauntleted hand touched his side and felt blood oozing out from the crack in his Serpens Cloth.

He looked up to see the bastard Mariner with his caged head breathe exhaustedly after the blow he just inflicted on the Knight. "Y-you…!"

Ithaca gripped the sword he stole as hard as he could. He had escaped his cell yet again, this time through unprecedented means, and had ambushed Azrael as he returned from another patrol, striking him deep in the body with the old Zodiac Knight broadsword. He had wished to kill the bastard, but he supposed ending a former Gold Saint would never be this easy.

Azrael clenched his teeth inside his goat skull mask. "I walked inside with a random number Lightcraft clones ahead of me, like always. Yet, he knew this time the Azrael walking in was the real one! Is he finally…?!"Feigning ignorance, Azrael stood up. "How?! How did you break out? Those were made with stardust lining. A Gold Saint fully armored wouldn't have snapped them!"

"A-are you confused, you goat-horned prick?! I was too!" Ithaca wheezed. After months and months of torture, his voice sounded like that of a beaten old man. "The darkness of your cell was driving me mad… and every day you took more and more from me. Yet, this time….I felt it!"

"Felt what?!"

"The b-breath of the air." Ithaca let out. "And of the earth… and of the walls. Like the voice of the planet coursed through me and, suddenly… I knew!" His eyes widened inside the cage on his face. "That there was none of it in all those 'Azraels' walking in!"

Azrael grinned, his excitement hidden from the Mariner by his ghoulish mask. "Finally! He's unlocked his 0th sense!"

Ithaca's body burned, free of the stardust shackles, igniting his sapphire aura for the first time in months. Yet, now it carried the brilliant shine of his lifeforce, giving him a strength, he had thought forever stolen from him.

"N-Now you will pay… FOR ALL THE SUFFERING YOU HAVE CAUSED TO SO MANY PEOPLE! In the name of the Sons of Arion, I, Ithaca of Delphi, will smite you! A NEPTUNO!" and raising his sword, Ithaca charged. "TRIANGLE SLASH!"

While a single swing was done, three slashes from separate directions enclosed on Azrael. The top one crashed on a flash of light Azrael created over his head, releasing a shockwave that battered Ithaca back. The light then solidified into a sword and Azrael span, dodging the two other slashes before delivering a rising slash that blasted Ithaca with a wave of light, concussing him against the opposite wall.

Ithaca crashed on the ground and Azrael stabbed the ground next to him, warning him without words not to make a move.

The Zodiac Knight closed the crack on his armor with Lightcraft and then chuckled. "Brilliant! You would have made a wonderful Sea Dragon General, if you Mariners didn't still follow your backwards hereditary systems. No wonder Arthur's treasonous whore found such solace in someone like you."

"I w-will never stop! Put me back in that cell… and eventually I'll break out again!" Ithaca eyed him as fiercely as he could, given his weakness. "Sooner or later, I w-will kill you!"

"We're almost there! He's nearly perfect!" Azrael calculated to himself. Keeping Ithaca alive in these extreme circumstances and psychologically pushing him over the edge worked in helping him tap into his lifeforce, and now the stage was set to make him truly unrecognizable as a human. "You won't kill me, Ithaca of Delphi. It's not your destiny. I know it because it's not mine to be stopped by a little Mariner pissant like yourself. No, no, you're fated to do much greater things…"

The nearly maddened mariner held head, sick of the Zodiac Knight's twisted whispers. "W-What DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!"

Azrael grinned. "To bring about destruction!" he grabbed Ithaca and dragged him back to his cell. "And then…. With the power you bring me, all my dreams will return to truth!"

{======================|A3|======================}

Chapter End

{======================|A3|======================}

Next Chapter: Chapter 91 – 3rd Arc – Episode 19: Return to the East

Release Date: December 25th

Description: The crew of the Chrysaor guides Maiden Daise (or is it Daisy) to Shamballa, allowing Atlae to finally return to the land of the Muvians. Meanwhile, Serpens Azrael begins enacting his scheme, bringing Ithaca out of his cell at long last.

Author's Comments:

Well, this chapter, and the next one, really got out of hand… I am not proud of this. 28,000 words is certainly not what I intended for a chapter where the characters move from one area to the other, but there was a lot of stuff I needed to tackle in this one, namely bringing Daese back into the story and setting up what's going to be the final stretch of this Atlae flashback that has absolutely consumed the 3rd Arc.

What I suppose I should be proud about is reaching 2 million total words on in this story. Yay.

Today on etymology I decided to talk a little about Arthur and Seraphina; I'm not sure exactly what made my mind land on Arthur's name, I think it just felt like a standard English name with some reverence to it, derived from the way Julian is named. It may have been as simple as that, especially because he was named way back in the day when Arc 2 was ongoing and I was figuring out who the Pact of Seven members were going to be. As for Seraphina, Lost Canvas readers will know she is named after the female vessel of Poseidon at Bluegrad, during the Kardia-Degél Arc. She's pretty straightforward and even a major hint that she would eventually either mother Poseidon.

Anyway, be sure to leave a review or share the story if you enjoyed this chapter, or if you want to criticize it even. Like it on Twitter/Tumblr/Reddit and generally support this project if you enjoy it. You can find me in all those places under the Thrudgelmir2333 name.

See ya \owo