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.

10. 1A: Andromeda In Chains - Part 2 of 2

Notable OCs up until now that I own: Pegasus Lance; Andromeda Shinta; Heracles Aguilon's Silver Saint Generation; Taurus Daniel's Gold Saint Generation

Notable Original concept (until now): Pegasus Temple; Sanctuary Town; MMC; Sanctuary Forts and Outposts

Recurrent/Cameo OCs belonging to Jenny DeVic: Cassiopeia Cassandra; Behemoth Torak (Toruk); Mrs. Schafurwatt

Recurrent/Cameo concepts belonging to Jenny DeVic: 88 Knights Festival; Golden Line Heritage; The Great Bodyguard legend; The Sanctuary-sponsored orphanages; Andromeda Island's geography and tests

Author Notes:

Please enjoy and review.

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"There has been little progress both in motivating Shinta to fight more aggressively in his spars and in finding a way to help him unlock his cosmos. Unlike with unlocking the 7th sense, there are a few standard tricks to help a student burn his cosmos for the first time, but all of my current second years are already using it while Shinta still hasn't unlocked it. It is vital that trainees work on unlocking cosmos while as young as possible. The more time is wasted on this, the tougher it will be for Shinta to accomplish this task.

I've asked Saint Cynthia for advice. I dislike resorting to her for help both because I do not desire to intrude in her mission-filled schedule and also because her experience in teaching is limited to training graduated soldiers, not children trainees. I've even considered asking Kastiel, of all people, for his two cents, but he could not even handle a single trouble student in a B-Rank training ground. Athena knows I've done bad things, but I refuse to take teaching advice from someone who abandons kids in mountains.

I fear for the boy's fate. Shinta's frustration and sense of helplessness has been growing with each failure to break a rock, which means the odds of him failing his next False Freedom Test will keep increasing for as long as he's stuck. Cynthia answered me to have faith in my capabilities. She tells me that I'm a good teacher and that Shinta's cosmos, as hard as it is to tap into, probably is something really special.

I wish she is right...on both accounts."

-Cepheus Guardnia's notes on the 96th Week of Shinta Akiyama's Path of the Cloth

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Lance, already clad in most of his armor, rushed inside the dark, fuming cavern that lead inside what Shinta had described before as one of the tests he undertook as a trainee to the Path of the Andromeda Cloth. The dark, Colosseum sand beneath his feet was slowly replaced by black, sandy rock ground and temperatures started increasing dramatically. The scents of blood and sulfur also popped up. He slowed down and tried to focus on the small emanation of Shinta's energy that his locked sense of cosmos could pick up.

He found himself in a descent into the island's volcanic caverns. The area was dark, barely illuminated by the orange light at the end of the tunnel, probably from lava streams and veins coming from the two volcanoes Lance saw in the surface. He could just make out enough of what was ahead of him to not trip or hit any walls, but a creeping sensation started settling inside him.

The Pegasus Saint had been in volcanic islands before. He knew the dangers of them. He kept his head below the fumes moving through the low ceiling and paid attention to the ground for cracks, vapor emanations and the sort. Lava tubes such as the one he was in were formed by gas, not magma, and the danger alone of it being connected to a pair of active volcanoes put him on guard.

There was something not right about this cave, though. As he progressed inside, the lighting from the far off lava allowed him to detect more details on the walls. There were sections of it that looked more like ruined walls integrated into the rock, as if the whole passage was partially artificial. Amidst the noise of rumbling lava at the distance, he could swear he also made out whispers and the vague scent of blood was sickening.

He stopped in his tracks when he realized that the cavern's walls were also filled with faint marks of strange letters, most engraved on the rock but some were written in dry blood. He could not read any of the text. It seemed akin to Ancient Greek, but while the differences between modern and ancient Greek were mostly phonetic, the Bronze Saint could barely make out anything that was written. Some words like 'labyrinth' and some names like 'Poseidon' were clear, but the rest seemed like some sort of very deviant Greek. He imagined it was probably left by the inhabitants of the island.

Lance then saw Shinta, who had stopped in a spot where the cavern split into two different ways, one going upward and another going deeper into the network, probably where the so called labyrinth started."God damn it, Shinta! What the hell is the matter with you? We have to keep it cool!" he whispered as harshly as he could.

Shinta took a bit to react. It seemed like he had stopped because he realized the place he had rushed inside so recklessly. "I... Oh, no, you're right. I'm sorry, Lance, what have I done? This place is dangerous."

There was a small volcanic tremor, as if to drive Shinta's realization home. Lance looked at both paths before him. The one leading downwards to the right emanated the most heat and he could see at it's depth the light of lava streams. The one leading upwards to the left seemed much safer. Due to the mostly rocky ground of the cavern, footsteps were a lot fainter but specs of blood were more visible than in the sand. Lance spotted red drops staining the rocks to the path upwards.

"It's okay, you just got worried about your Master. We'll try to find him, alright?" he waited until Shinta calmed down enough to nod in accordance. "It seems like the scream came from deep inside this place. The Skeleton Soldier outside seems to suggest that your Master either caught someone infiltrating the cavern or Cepheus escaped inside this place and was followed by the Specters. What do you think, Shinta? You know this test."

Shinta took a deep breath. The calmness in Lance's voice as he analyzed situations always helped him feel like things were under control. He wasn't sure what was going on yet, but he would not let urgency get the best of him like in Arcadia. "Well, I... I think it's the latter possibility. He said in his letter he had new students. If he wanted to protect them from Specters, he'd guide them safely through this place."

Lance put down his Cloth Area box and started putting on the armor. "Why would he choose to go through here?"

"The labyrinth closes off cosmos signals and mental messages from the outside so he could lose the Specters and maybe get them lost in the Maze." Shinta explained "If we go deeper inside, we should pick him up... It leads beneath the volcanoes. It makes sense to me that in a Specter emergency he would take his students through these caves." He then pointed at the two ways. "The labyrinth starts at the right one. I don't think the Master would go that way. I think he would go left because, instead of the labyrinth which would be dangerous for the students, it takes to an upward cavern path to one of the volcanoes. From there he could exit to the Living Area."

"I see, so he's trying to make the Specters go through these paths?" Lance finished tying his forearms guards and then looked down, searching for anything like footprints or other hints that could corroborate Shinta's theory. He narrowed his eyes when he detected boot prints.

Shinta also saw them. They looked a lot like the ones he had seen in the ruined Ismara outpost. "I can't believe this is happening again... and in Andromeda Island, too. Is Master alright?" he wondered.

Lance's finger followed them but he discovered that they went down both paths. An interesting detail was that most of them went the path upwards while only two pairs of boots went downwards. "Do you think this place would kill a couple of them?"

Shinta nodded immediately as he also started putting on his armor. "Definitely. I had to use a special mask to know where to go in the labyrinth or I'd die in the lava."

Lance finished his preparation by putting on the horse helmet. More and more as he looked around and as Shinta told him of the place they were in, the test of Cassiopeia's Labyrinth seemed creepier and creepier. The sensation that he kept smelling blood and hearing strange whispers didn't help, either. At first he wondered why Shinta's Master, knowing the island so well, would be afraid of guiding his students through the Maze but now Lance thought that maybe Silver Saint Guardnia had a point in not taking that chance.

Both Saints gave each other a reassuring nod and Shinta took the lead to the left path that lead to the innards of the north-westernmost volcano. The passage was narrower and steep and the ground rose up so much that Pegasus could almost touch it with his fingers without leaning. As they rose higher and higher, the ground also seemed to become hotter. There was little doubt that they were approaching the core of a volcano but it was better than going through a maze right underneath it.

After a bit, they reached a spot where the floor spiked upwards, almost into a wall, but leading to a cavern turn of leveled ground. Shinta tossed his offensive chain which pierced a wall beyond that turn and used it to climb these last few meters. He then gave Lance a helping hand to get him up as well.

Lance dusted himself after crawling out of the whole. They were in a passage within the volcano. The right wall had several tears from where they could see the magma filled core of the main hollow section of the mountain. If they looked up through said crevices, they could also see the smoke rising out through the mouth of the volcano. The temperature was off the chart and some of the smoke seemed to be filling their passage through the tears. They moved carefully along the corridor so as to find a way into the innards.

As they did this, a doubt entered Lance's mind. "Shinta, what was that maze, anyway? What is it doing beneath a volcano?"

Shinta recalled his history class. "Well,... myth talks about the sacrifice but doesn't really tell you what happened to the kingdom because of it. The whole incident with Andromeda's sacrifice caused a lot of upheaval in the island. The King hid the Queen in the maze to protect her from Poseidon, but... well, the people weren't happy with Poseidon's curse and blamed the monarchs for it and they... found out where the Queen was."

"Oh, so it was like a 'Bastille' incident?...Wait, they were so angry they chased after the king's wife through a lava-filled, underground maze?"

"Back then the maze was at the surface, Lance. The climate change, eruptions and earthquakes that struck the island after the curse caused most of the maze to collapse and be buried during the riots, integrating it into the magma caves. There was even a legend that the Queen is still down there at the maze, punishing the islanders who chased after her and trying to find a way out, even though her spirit is now a constellation and you can talk to her through her Silver Cloth." Shinta shivered as he was about to turn to the entrance of the volcano's innards. "The maze is a really creepy place. I almost- AGH!"

Shinta's scream, caused by Lance's hand grabbing him, was also muffled by it as he was suddenly pulled back against the corridor's wall by Lance, who then laid them both down and gestured Shinta to be quiet. His red eyes nervously looked over the corner.

Walking along a stone bridge which went over the massive magma pool that was the volcano's core, was a huge man clad in black armor carrying a pair of Bronze Cloth Boxes. He wore a black helmet with long, curved, purple horns and a golden bull nose on the forehead plate and a second pair of horn-like protrusions sprouting from the cheek guards. His round shoulder pads curved downwards, his torso armor was reinforced in the breast areas, his waist was enveloped in a segmented metal guard and his long greaves and forearm guards had spikes coming out of them.

Lance had spotted him preemptively thanks to the crevices in the passage that oversaw the volcano's innards and immediately identified him as the Minotauros Specter, also known as the Celestial Star of Imprisonment. Shinta saw Lance sweating bullets despite the calm look on his face and realized how serious the situation was.

The Specter did not seem to have heard them talking or seen them walking along the passage despite the crevices. When he turned his back on where the Saints were, Lance relaxed his grip on Shinta's mouth, having enough trust in his partner to know Shinta wouldn't do anything rash. Both Saints carefully watched as the Specter looked around the volcano for something.

"Looks like we were right. This is a Specter attack." Lance concluded. He spotted blood on the side of Minotauros' arm. "He's probably the one that made your Master scream earlier, too."

"Is he looking for more cloths?" Shinta whispered. "He probably wants to destroy them. We gotta stop him!"

Lance wasn't so anxious. "If he's a Celestial Star, that means he should be a gold rank. I don't know exactly what's so special about that rank in particular, but I've heard the difference between it and silver is massive. After the tough time we had bringing Bennu down, we need to think things through if we're going to take this one out."

"But we have to do something, right?"

Lance narrowed his eyes at the distracted Specter. The blood on his arm and the fact he was just walking around despite Shinta's Master being on the island told Lance that the Specters must have already dealt with Cepheus. He kept that conclusion to himself. "...We've practiced working together to take down foes, but this one... needs special procedures."

Shinta looked at the bridge. "I have an idea, Nissan."

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Minotauros Guen walked along the rocky bridge passing high above the lava core of the volcano. In his left hand he carried by the straps the Cloth boxes of Bootes and Camelopardalis. He had no idea why these two Cloths, so unassociated with the myth of Andromeda, were doing on that island. He assumed that the Cepheus Saint was trusted with them by the Pope.

Regardless of the reason of their presence, their group was to take every Cloth they could find. Guen was not intent on disappointing their Lord. "Maia must have already dealt with that meddling Silver Saint. I wounded him pretty bad, but the bastard slipped our sight. I wish I could contact the others, specially after the blunder that it was to try to chase the Saint through that weird Labyrinth in the caverns, but there is something weird about this volcano that is blocking off mental messages." His eyes, shadowed by his helmet, looked around for potential threats or Cloth hiding places. It had been easy to detect the cosmos of the ones hiding at the entrance of the caverns, but they've had little luck finding more since. "The barrier our Lord lent us is active around the island to prevent the Gold Saints in Sanctuary from detecting our attack, but we should be able to communicate with each other within the Andromeda Island's premises, yet I can't contact the others right now... I suppose this volcano is more 'alive' than it seems."

Unbeknownst to him, at the end of the bridge he was walking away from, Andromeda Shinta and Pegasus Lance quietly climbed underneath the rock passage to a rough part of the volcano's inner walls they could hold on to. They took their time, always keeping an eye on the Specter and another on what they were doing. Once under the bridge, Shinta made his move.

He thrust his hand forward, launching his offensive chain across the lava chasm, controlling both its speed and flight trajectory. He waited until the volcano rumbled loudly with it's bubbling lava and small tremors before he made his chain pierce the rock underneath the far end of the bridge, thus disguising the sound of metal striking stone and creating something Lance could use to move to the other side right beneath the Specter's feet.

The Pegasus Saint promptly did so, grabbing the chain and using it to move across the dangerous lava pool. He made an effort not to look down and to ignore the burning heat of lava flaring up to his dangling feet. Once he reached the other side, he held on to the rough wall, unhooked the chain and tossed it back to Shinta.

Both were dead quiet, having surrounded the Specter from underneath the bridge without Minotauros noticing, and waited for the opportune moment to strike. The moment came when Minotauros put down the Cloth Boxes and paused to take a moment to think.

Pegasus Lance grabbed the bridge's edge and used it to launch himself in the air towards the Specter. "Pegasus Charge Fist!"

Minotauros turned around, startled, and only saw something white blur straight at him and crash a powerful bullet punch straight in the thinnest part of his chest plate.

The Specter screamed and stumbled backwards.

Shinta took his cue, charged his fist with pink cosmos and punched his end of the bridge as hard a she could, shattering rock and destabilizing the bridge. He then jumped high in the air and launched his chain downwards. "Great Capture!" Both his chains twirling around while descending on the victim, picking the two large horns of the tightly worn helmet of the Specter to wrap around. He twisted around in the air before descending on Lance, causing the chains to tighten and pull the Specter's head downwards to the ground.

The enormous man crashed head first on the floor, smashing his helmet straight on the bridge and feeling the vibrations course through his head, stunning him. Lance then rushed at him, grabbed the two Cloth boxes by the straps, struck the Specter with a dive kick that shot him back and tossed the Cloths to Shinta. Finally, he charged cosmos into his foot. "PEGASUS!" It came down immersed in white light on the ground. "CHARGE FIST!" The impact was tremendous, blasting through the top of the bridge and shattering it. Lance pulled back and watched together with Shinta as the end that the Andromeda Saint damaged also gave in, causing the half of the bridge the stunned Specter was kicked into to fall off its supports and down into the volcanic chasm.

"We did it!" celebrated Shinta. He high-fived Lance and watched, only a tiny bit bothered by his pacifism, as the dangerous Specter recovered his senses just in time to notice himself descending toward lava.

Guen saw the bright orange light fill his eyes as he fell. His right, blood-soaked arm was filled with purple cosmos. He then brought it down on the molten rock just as he was about to hit it. "Grand Axe Crusher!"

Shinta and Lance backed off when there was a bright burst of purple light and the sudden sound of liquid bursting upwards. The Saints backed off and covered their faces when geysers of lava shot upwards towards the ceiling. Lance's red eyes widened in horror. "What?! He cut the lava pool in two?!"

Something leaped from below and plummeted right in front of them, raising volcanic ash and dust into the air. The lava geysers kept on roaring and surging upwards as the shadow of the minotaur swallowed the two Saints.

Guen scoffed. "Pathetic Saints. You will not leave this island alive!" His arm was then raised and slashed in their direction.

Lance rushed to Shinta and covered him with a blocking stance. They were both run over by light and crushed against the wall.

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Chapter 10

First Arc

Episode 6

Andromeda in Chains

Part 2 of 2

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There was an excruciating second in which both Saints felt themselves crushed straight through the thick, black volcanic walls until the wave of energy that ran them over blasted them outside. They screamed in pain and fell down the mountainside amongst tons of rock and debris.

Shinta felt himself rolling down the mountain, his body screaming in pain and his Bronze Cloth taking the blunt of several impacts for him as he hit boulders and irregular rock formations that littered the volcano's side. He finally felt himself stopping at the step of the mountain and blacked out for a second.

The Andromeda Saint struggled to open his eyes. For a bit, all he could see was a trembling world filled with black dust and sand. He tried to move but his body hurt all over. The sound of Cloth cracking was heard as he raised his head and got to his hand."N-Nissan, we're outside. A-are you okay?" He then gasped. "LANCE!"

The Pegasus Saint was in terrible shape. Having taken the blunt of Minotauros' attack, his Cloth was very badly damaged, sporting nasty cracks in every piece and soaked with blood from its owner it failed to contain. Lance coughed repeatedly and tried to get up, only to fail miserably.

Shinta managed to get up and tried t help him. He looked over his friend and saw a large deep cut across the single plate he had protecting his chest and on both forearm guards. "Oh n-no, Lance! It's okay, I'll help you." Shinta grabbed his friend and lifted him up. He saw the Pegasus cough out blood several times. "W-why did you do that? You could have killed yourself!"

"...N-no time to...a-argue about that!" His red orbs looked up. "He's coming!"

Something large and clad in black armor crashed on the floor right in front of them, having leaped from the new hole in the volcano he blasted the Saints through. Minotauros Guen folded his arms and looked down on his two opponents. "You survived?... Hm, I suppose that's what happens when I use an unfocused Grand Axe to swat two flies at once."

Both Saints stepped back and raised their guards. The Specter was so tall he could practically block out the sun. Lance winced and grabbed his arm. Shinta gasped. "I-I'm fine, Shinta! Focus on your enemy!"

"What do we do, Lance?" Shinta asked, via mental message.

Weighing his options, the Pegasus Saint realized they were in serious danger. "He's a lot stronger than Bennu Yakos, I'll give him that. If the other Specters get here, we're in big trouble... Shinta, we're pulling back!"

"What?!"

"We're way over our heads. We can't handle this foe. We'll find a distraction, escape his sight and contact Sanctuary. Hopefully, they'll send a Gold Rank to help us. We need reinforcements urgently."

"But, Lance, what about my Master and his students?! We can't leave them here!"

Lance groaned. "There's little choice in the matter!"

The Specter, however, seemed to have guessed their thoughts. His raised his arms once more, and the two Saints instantly raised their arms in preparation. Guen swiped the air with it and there was a shock wave burst on the floor that went around the two Saints in a large radius, cutting apart the floor surrounding them.

Dust clouds raised by the sudden attack filled the area. "If you think you can flee from us, you have another thing coming. Our mission is a delicate one and I will not allow two runaway rats to mess up our plans." he threatened. "Curse your luck, Saints. You will meet your end at the Axe of Minotauros Guen!"

Once the dust settled, the two Saints found themselves now standing in a large makeshift platform surrounded by fissures caused by the Specter's attack, serving as a warning they could not escape. The volcano rumbled and the clouds darkened. The Specter's cosmos burned in the form of a purple aura of energy.

Both Saints stepped away from the Specter. Lance quivered in pain. "S-Shinta, get out of here now!"

"NO! I'm not leaving you here, either, Lance! You're hurt."

"Even with an unfocused attack, I'm surprised you survived, Pegasus." admitted Minotauros. "But my next attack will cut you in half. I also won't forget about you, Andromeda. That little stunt you pulled at the volcano of smashing my head on the floor left...quite the impression."

Shinta did not relent. "What did you do to my Master? What do you want from this island?!"

Guen seemed like he was going to answer, but something behind the Saints got his attention. "Comrades, you're here."

The Saints widened their eyes and turned to the side to see a large platoon of Skeleton Soldiers arriving on the scene. They were lead by the Gorgon Specter, a men of simple, dark colored armor, horned helmet that covered his mouth with a metal plate and shadowed his eyes and a full body, slender protection that left only the fingertips out the open.

Gorgon looked at his comrade. "What is this? Saint reinforcements?"

"They ambushed me in the volcano, but they bit off more than they could chew." answered Guen.

The Gorgon Specter raised his hand at his men, gesturing them to assume a formation. Most of his soldiers were crossbowmen sporting bolts dripped in transparent poisonous liquid meant to weaken Saints. "Nasty little rats! I, Gorgon Pell, will make sure you pay for interfering in our attack."

Guen then turned to the other side, to a third Specter that arrived on the scene. "Maia, you're here too already?"

As if the situation couldn't get any worse, the two Saints turned around to see yet another Specter, this one wearing a Surplice of large, pointy shoulder pads curving upwards, long, segmented arm and leg protections with horns at the upper ends and a tight torso armor of wide collar guard and plated front. A pair of medium sized wings seemed to hang down his back from the shoulder pads and his helmet was adorned with several horns curved around his head, a beak going down to the nose from the eyed forehead plate and a thin chin protection.

This Specter seemed the most powerful of the three, even more than Minotauros, as he emitted a thicker aura of dark purple energy that suffocated the atmosphere with its presence. The green eyed Basilisk Maia looked over the situation. "I received your mental message to come here. Did you find more Cloths?"

"Not before these two arrived." answered Minotauros. "What happened to the Silver Saint?"

"He headed towards the desert in the East, hoping to lose me or lure me to a trap. He won't last long, wounded as he was."

"What did you do to him?!" Shinta demanded to know.

The Gorgon Specter turned to Basilisk Maia. "Brothers, we should eliminate these two Saints as quickly as possible. Our Lord awaits us."

The Minotauros Specter nodded. "I concur. After Yakos' fiasco, we can't allow ourselves to stick around for a Gold Saint to show up." He charged his arm with energy once more. "I will deal with them.

Shinta took a protective stance next to the wounded Lance as the large Specter approached. Lance's red eyes turned left and right, trying to find an opened, but the Specters had them surrounded and pinned down. What were they going to do? "S-Shinta, we'll use that combo!"

Shinta nodded. "Sure! Go, Defense Circle!" The Andromeda's Saint tossed his chains around himself. The two chains hit the floor and rapidly slithered around the two of them in circles, creating a ritualistic whirlpool of protective metal links. The Specters kept their distance. "Stay back! Anyone who steps inside this circle of chains will be defeated!"

Laughter from the Skeleton Soldiers filled the area. Lance struggled to stay on his feet, but saw his chance in the mocking footmen. Gorgon's side seemed the weakest. If they focused their counterattacks on his platoon while keeping an eye on the other two Specters, there should be a chance to create an escape point.

"Damn these Saints!" complained Gorgon Pell. "Everything was going so smoothly! If a Gold Saint picks up our cosmos here our plan is ruined!"

Basilisk Maia analyzed things thoroughly. "Calm down, brother. I don't think these two came here expecting a battle. I think they only brought their armors as a precaution after all the destruction Yakos and Kairos caused in Germany." He saw Pell and Guen's eyes asking him what to do. "We'll just finish these off, go after Cepheus and then escape with the Cloths."

"Cepheus killed many of our brothers." Gorgon complained. "I want him dead!"

"He will be, but for now, we'll handle these two."

Gorgon signaled to the crossbowmen in his platoon to take aim. "Fire!"

The sound of strings shooting bolts was heard and a barrage of poison-tipped arrows flew straight at the Saints. Shinta's chains, however, exploded in reaction, shooting upwards in spiraling faction so as to create the usual pillar of moving chains that easily repelled the bolts.

The crossbowmen lowered their weapons and look in distraught at the sight of their felled missiles clink around on the floor. Shinta preyed on their shock. "NEBULA CHAIN!" The defensive chain fell once more to the floor but the offensive one shoot straight towards the platoon, striking it with an electrified, spear pointed attack.

Gorgon dodged the thrust but his crossbowmen were hit square on by the metal shattering attack, killing and stunning several of them before the chain retreated back into the circle. Gorgon Pell saw half of his crossbowmen on the ground. "Fucking Saint!"

"Enough of this!" protested Guen, the Minotaur. He advanced on the two Saints with raised arm. "We have much to do. I'm getting rid of these chains, and these two, right now!" His aura exploded and the two Saints widened their eyes at the sight of the Specter's large body overlapping with the faint image of a roaring minotaur. The horns of his helmet matched the position and shape of the illusion beast and his arm seemed to be immersed in the cosmos drown, blood soaked axe of the creature.

Basilisk Maia saw Pegasus smirking. "NO, YOU FOOL! He's seen through your attack."

Minotauros ignored Maia and charged straight at the Saint formation, raising his hand high in the air in a chop stance. "No weapon can withstand my attack! GRAND AXE CRUSHER!" The huge, black, double edged axe descended on the chain links, ready to shatter ground and metal.

"PEGASUS CHARGE FIST!"

As soon as Guen's arm came within an inch of the chains, something fast, compressed and wrapped in white came rushing out of the circle's innards and struck Guen's weakened chest plate with a powerful concentrated blow, stopping his attack straight in its tracks and forcing a scream out of the man's shocked face. The weakened Specter still tried to swipe the Bronze Saint, but Lance easily read his pained body's slowed movement, dodged the blow and struck the black armored waist as hard as he could, kicking the Minotaur away from the circle to the floor.

Lance immediately pulled back inside the formation and Minotauros grabbed his throbbing chest, feeling a shallow, fist-shaped compression on the metal. Maia rushed to his side and helped him up. "Idiot! I told you not to attack like that! Do you have any brains?! You're not supposed to go at them with the same move again! Either kill them with the first one or let someone else take care of the job!"

The two Bronze Saints exchanged smirks, seeing a chance to overcome their situation. Their formation was simple; the Andromeda Chains would encircle them, creating a powerful trap of electric reaction attacks against any foe that would try to approach them while also covering for projectiles and long range attacks with Rolling Defense. If any foe tried to take out the chains themselves with a powerful, heavy attack, like the Minotauros Specter just tried to do, Lance would take him out with his lightning fast Charge Fist, which was most suited for pining the opponents by the openings they create.

It was an emergency strategy that combined their techniques to increase their defensive capacity exponentially by covering each others' weaknesses, with the exception that it turned the two of them into sitting ducks.

Once more, perhaps do the sudden strain his attack put on him, Lance found himself quivering in pain and falling to his knees.

Shinta tried to help him. "L-Lance, are you alright?" Lance nodded, but somehow Shinta could tell he was lying. Minotauros' attack hit Lance pretty bad at the volcano. It was a miracle his Cloth hadn't shattered to pieces. This was why their 'Circle Defense-Charge Fist' combo wasn't going to see them through. If Lance wasn't strong enough to execute several successive Charge Fists, the three Specters would eventually break through their defense.

Lance shoved him away and got up. He started burning his white energy. "W-we can't afford to stay here forever." He kept on pushing his cosmos until it started to seem like it was changing color. He eyed the Basilisk Specter. "If you think you can take us out, go ahead!" he provoked.

Guen saw Maia eye Pegasus back. "You're going to fall for his taunts, too?"

Basilisk ignored his comrade and stayed focused on Pegasus. "They're either trying to buy time with that defense for the Gold Saints to notice what's going on or push us into using a reckless attack that will create openings they can take."

"Maia, the barrier our Lord lend us to cover the cosmos emanating from this island won't last much longer." Gorgon reminded him. "We need to take them out fast!"

Basilisk cracked his fists and charged his cosmos, immersing himself in purple energy that ran up his fingers. "You talk big game, Pegasus. Tell me something, was it you who killed Bennu Yakos?"

Shinta widened his eyes and Lance narrowed his. "...I took part in it. I o-only killed the Shaman."

The Andromeda Saint interfered. "Did you know those two?"

"Of course I did. We were brothers in arms." said Maia. "Of course, though, we did not fall from sanity quite as deep as Yakos had."

In a rare fit of anger, Shinta shouted. "Your comrade slaughtered hundreds of people! If we hadn't stopped him-"

"Then we would have." interrupted Maia, shocking the two Saints. "Yakos was strong in cosmos but not in...spirit. His rampage across Germany was but a childish tantrum he threw because he couldn't handle the truth. Quite frankly, I'm glad he's dead!"

Shinta stared at Maia in shock. "How can you say that?!"

Maia squinted. "You just called him a murderer and now you berate me for rejoicing in his death?... Let me guess, you think that, as his comrade, I should 'defend his honor'?" Shinta only reacted in the form of a surprised look. "Figures. From a society that has just gone through a Civil War not much more than a decade ago, you Saints are awfully judgmental about fraternity."

"W-what 'truth'?" Lance's weak voice asked, not interested in prolonging Shinta's idealistic outrage. "Y-Yakos also went on and on about something w-weird like that. What the hell is going on with y-you Specters?"

The Basilisk Specter did not seem interested in exploring that matter any further. "...I think it's about time I finish you off, Pegasus. I wonder how long your partner is going to last without you." His cosmos seemed to be finished charging, as the purple in it seemed to darken very intensely all of a sudden and the wings hanging from his shoulder guards suddenly stood up high in the air. "BASILISK!" He then focused the cosmos around his fist and punched forward at the Saints. "ANNIHILATION FLAP!"

A huge blast of air current was fired from his knuckles, aimed straight at the Saints. Shinta took this as his cue to action. "ROLLING DEFENSE!" he yelled a she pulled his defensive chain.

Just as expected, the chains shoot upwards before falling down into a pillar of twirling metal links, creating a barrier between the Saints and the attack. The air blast crashed against the rapidly moving protection and the currents were easily flapped away.

However, while the Pegasus Saint took solace in the fact that the attack was being successfully repelled, he also saw Maia adamant in keeping the attack going. The Specter controlled the flow of his cosmos so as to maintain the technique without burning himself out, but this did not seem to have any effect on their defense. "Is he trying to exhaust Shinta's cosmos by forcing him to keep up the Rolling Defense?" Lance wondered. "No, that can't be! That would take too long and those guys want to get out of here before the Gold Saints can pick us up."

Shinta gulped in effort and struggled to keep the defense up. Andromeda wasn't greedy with cosmos, but the way the Specter insisted on keeping the pressure on worried him. "What are they doing? Is he trying to create an opening for his comrade?"

Lance winced in pain and saw the world trembling. He tried to stay focused. "Why is he insisting? The air currents look too strong to not to interfere with a combined attack." Lance felt his body grow weaker with the blood loss. "D-damn it, that Axe attack hit me much harder than I thought." He struggled to keep his eyes on the Specter. He also saw Andromeda wavering a bit. "Is Shinta getting tired already? He should be able to keep the defense up longer than this." Lance's red eyes then widened in horror when he saw Maia smirking while keeping up the attack. "SHIT! Shinta, lower the chains!"

"W-what? Lance, are you sure?" The Andromeda Saint then also started seeing the world tremble and go darker, not to mention a sick, burning sensation filling his stomach and lungs. He coughed.

"Something's getting through the chains in the wind. He's poisoning us, Shinta! He'll kill us if you don't lower your chains." Lance started burning his cosmos to the max. He focused on making his energy swirl around like a dancing flame until it started changing color from white to flame. "LOWER IT NOW!"

Seeing little sense in the strategy, Shinta hesitated, but trusted that Lance knew what he was doing. "O-Okay!"

Lance saw the Rolling Defense drop to the floor, letting the wind blast through. His aura exploded and the image of a Pegasus immersed in fire emerged around him. "PEGASUS!" His orange cosmos flared up into a bonfire that then swirled up his arm to his fist. "FLAME ATTACK!"

"MAIA, WATCH OUT!" screamed Gorgon Pell.

Lance punched forward, matching Maia's attack, but a massive torrent of swirling flames was fire instead of an air blast. Basilisk and Minotaur watched in shock as the poison filled air currents were burned straight through by the fire attack and the two Specters were engulfed by a hurricane of flames that smashed them against the mountain side, immersing them in explosive cosmos and colliding them against volcanic boulder rubble that crashed down on top of them, screening the area with clouds of black dust and sand.

Both Saints watched as the flames burned and the rocks tumbled on top of the two Specters. Undoubtedly they would soon emerge. Powerful as the Flame attack was, it would not keep two strong Specters down like that. Lance fell to this hands, weakened by the poison, blood loss and the exhaustion brought by using his fire cosmos. Shinta, too, affected by Maia's attack, panted and struggled to stop seeing the world shaking.

"OPEN FIRE!"

Lance and Shinta screamed as they felt crossbow bolts piercing their bodies from behind. Shinta went down to the ground with a bolt in his side and Lance felt something sharp poking through his left arm. The Skeleton Soldiers and Gorgon moved in on the scene.

An armored gauntlet exploded on Lance's face. He fell screaming to the floor before Gorgon's hands grabbed him and dragged him through the sand.

The sound of rubble being moved around as Basilisk and Minotauros recovered was heard. The wounded Pegasus was dropped on the ground and felt someone snap the bolt impaling him before stepping on it, making him scream. A hand grabbed his hair and lifted his head. Lance looked up to the Basilisk Specter, eyes barely opened and blood running down his face.

"You...son of a...whore!" said the enraged Maia, between gritted teeth. His helmet had been knocked off, revealing his black hair, and his whole Surplice seemed smeared and scratched. "I'll make you PAY!"

A second uppercut forced his face upwards before a knee blow to the guts send it right back down, eyes widened in pain. The two other Specters grabbed his arms and lifted him as Lance endured blow after blow, valiantly taking all the damage without a fuss. A stronger, cosmos enveloped fist, however, forced him to gasp in pain when it collided with his chest, smashing his insides and robbing him of the last of his strength. Lance's body went limb in the two Specters arms, who gladly dropped him on the floor. A vicious, greaved, heavy foot, probably belonging to Guen then planted itself on his head, threatening to crush it if he tried anything.

"Strip him of his Cloth!" commanded Maia. "We'll take theirs, along with the Silver one and the three other Bronze ones we found, with us!"

Minotaurs put more pressure on Lance's head. "We'll make sure these two were worth the damn trouble!"

"What do we do about him?" asked Gorgon Pell.

"What the fuck do you think? KILL him!" shouted Maia. "I want his head on Pride Star's plate so he'll know what took so long!"

Pell nodded and knelt next to Lance, removing a small knife from within his cloth and imagining how he would use it to kill the Pegasus Saint.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" someone yelled, forcefully, interrupting them.

The three specters looked at the source of the sound and saw Shinta, trembling as he stood up, gazing at the trio. His chains were hanging from his arms, lifeless, and his Cloth's chest plate had been removed by his own hand, now lying on the floor behind him, revealing his damaged green shirt and the wound from the bolt he snapped off. His eyes were narrowed and a pinkish aura was emanating from him, calmly flowing like controlled anger. Minotauros Guen's foot released Lance's head and returned to the ground, his attention now focused on the boy. Lance managed to raise his trembling head above the ground a little, staring at Shinta...

"Shinta..." he weakly cried out. "Run, you idiot...Get out of here! You...you're not even wearing your...cloth...!"

Shinta remained still, his aura suddenly growing larger. Guen and Pell were merely intrigued but Maia seemed genuinely surprised. The three specters and the Skeleton Soldiers walked towards Shinta and stopped only a few meters away, ready to jump on him at any moment. Shinta wasn't intimidated. In fact, his aura only grew larger, and small currents of wind seemed to be now emanating from it, harmlessly colliding with the three dark obstacles and the mass of foot men.

"What the hell?" wondered Pell. "Men, open fire!" The crossbowmen took aim and instantly unleashed their bolts after immersing them with cosmos. The reinforced arrows, however, bounced off harmlessly from Shinta's pink aura, almost as if pushed away. "What?! Reload!"

The men started preparing another round, but Maia swept his hand at them. "Stop wasting ammo! I want as little evidence of our presence here to destroy as possible!"

"I won't let you hurt him!" declared the Andromeda Saint, trembling "For my master Guardnia and for my friend Lance, I won't back down!"

The winds suddenly jumped in strength, though still nothing more than breezes to the specters. Lance opened his eyes as much as he still could, sensing the boy's true cosmos slowly, but surely, raising. Maia grunted, tired of these games.

"You fool!" said Pell "Do you actually think you can stop ALL three of us?Why don't you take your friend's advice and run?"

"No!" declared Shinta "First Ismara, then Arcadia and now Andromeda Island, my home! I won't let you hurt anyone any longer! I'll make sure of it!"

"That's it!" said Maia, fists trembling with anger. "I've had enough! Let's kill him once and for all and be done with this!" He charged cosmos into his fist. "At least we'll get the pleasure of killing the ones responsible for Kairos' death!"

The three specters flexed their legs, placing themselves into different fighting poses, all with deadly serious looks on their faces. They then let out a war cry and took a few steps forward, only for the breezes to suddenly transform into purple, cosmic streams and entangle them, paralyzing their limbs with their sheer force. The three specters all staggered, shocked to find that the winds were preventing them from moving. Lance was forced to cover his face with his arm as dust was kicked into it by the streams, his body also paralyzed.

"What's...what's this power?" Pegasus thought, eyes blocked by the arm. He then widened them as much as possible, utterly shocked. "Is that...his hidden power that he used in Arcadia? It's...enormous!"

"Argh! I can't move!" said Pell, trying to walk forward and keep his fighting stance still.

"Wha...what's going on?" asked Minotaurus Guen, now scared.

"This...it can't be!" yelled Maia, incredulous, though still able to move only a little.

"We gave you a chance..." said Shinta, eyes narrowed "But you refused it! You harmed Lance, you harmed my Master...I simply can't let you get away with THIS!"

Maia then noticed, to his horror, that the bodies of the fallen Skeleton Soldiers were trembling, being dragged along the floor by the winds. Deducing what the boy was doing from his own experience with wind attacks, he narrowed his eyes and started walking as much as he still could towards Shinta, trying to stop him somehow.

"BASILISK ANNIHILATION-" yelled Maia, trying perform his technique, even if it meant using it a second time on a Saint, only for his feet to suddenly start rising into the air "What...What is THIS? NO! HAAAA!"

Shinta's aura exploded, releasing an enormous storm of purple winds as he waved his hand at the specters and cried out. "Burst out! NEBULA STORM!"

The three Specters screamed!

Even stronger winds emerged, now carrying small blasts of concentrated static electricity and cosmos, colliding with the three specters. The countless blasts hit them with tremendous speed, their surplices filling with cracks, purple streaks of light emerging from these, and the three Specters and Skeleton Soldiers were blown away into the air, yelling in despair and disappearing into the distance, tailed by numerous dark-armored bodies of their subordinates.

Lance then found himself struggling, grabbing on to the ground as hard as he could, a body and a bunch of rocks flying right past him and almost dragging him with it, but his legs were then lifted into the air by the winds and the weakness he was feeling finally got the best of him. Lance closed his eyes as he lost the grip he had on the ground.

"NEBULA CHAIN!" he heard someone yell.

He also heard something tearing through the currents and encircling his wrist, suddenly tightening around it and stopping his flight in mid-air. Lance opened his eyes and saw himself floating, strong airs battering on his chest, a sphere-pointed chain grabbing his right wrist, coming from Shinta. Lance couldn't believe it. The Andromeda Saint was still releasing waves of cosmos in the form of winds...and he was hanging in the air, completely helpless to fight them, tied to the surface by the chain,... like a kite.

He then felt the winds on his chest slowly weakening and his body slowly losing attitude. It came crashing down on the floor as delicately as Shinta could manage to control it and the Andromeda Saint, having rid the island of every enemy on it, rushed to his side, kneeling down next the floored Pegasus.

"LANCE!" he cried out, concerned and with hands grabbing him "Gosh, please be alright, Lance!"

Shinta turned Lance's body around and the Pegasus Saint grunted, eyes closed and teeth gritting, when his back hit the infertile soil. Shinta's smile slowly emerged when Lance opened his eyes, staring at Shinta, who quickly grabbed his head and pulled it to his chest. "You're OKAY!" he said, eyes closed with happiness, Lance grunting further as his head was hugged by Shinta "I'm so happy!"

A harsh hand suddenly shoved him away from Lance, obviously belonging to the Pegasus Saint, who then managed to, though with a lot of effort, raise his back from the floor and support himself on his elbows, coughing repeatedly. Blood was expelled from his mouth into the small, Pegasus Cloth plate right in front of his chest, tainting it's white with red.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" he said, as forceful as he could. He coughed repeatedly and felt like he was going to be sick. "...I think..."

Lance got up, helped by Shinta, and dusted his chest. He felt like crap, for more reasons than just the beating. "Are they all gone?"

Shinta's green eyes looked around. "Y-yeah, I think so?"

Red eyes looked at the distant see, picturing the Specter falling off to their deaths. He walked away from the boy, still trembling.

"Wait, Lance!" said Shinta. "Where are you going?"

"...We still have to find your master...Come on!"

"But..."

"What?"

"I..." Shinta hesitated "...Nothing..."

Lance grunted, spitting to the floor some blood in his mouth, and walked towards the big hut at the end of the clearing, hoping to find some clue inside to the whereabouts of Guardnia. Shinta suddenly felt himself concerned about the Pegasus Saint. He didn't really expect Lance to thank him for saving his life, but did he have to react so strangely?

Lance had been pushing him to release his true power in front of him ever since Arcadia and now that it finally happened., Lance would just not talk about it?

Shinta couldn't help but think that Lance was not taking any good conclusion about his true power. Sad, Shinta grabbed the Andromeda helmet and chest plate on the floor and rushed, trying to catch up with his Nissan.

{======================|0|======================}

Later that night...

{======================|0|======================}

Lance walked towards the edge of the cliff in which the Living Area sat upon, his breath visible in front of his mouth due to the extremely cold air that characterized the nights in Andromeda Island, hearing laughter and talking coming from behind.

The voices belonged to Andromeda Shinta and Cepheus Guardnia who, fortunately, was found safe. Having escaped to the desert in an attempt to trap the Specters in the swirling sandstorms and traps left behind by the civilization that once existed on the island, the Cepheus Silver Saint met the two exhausted Bronze Saints at the edge of it.

Though, safe, Guardnia was not exactly sound. He had several wounds and his Silver Cloth was heavily damaged by an attack from the Minotauros Specter. The three Saints, however, were able to get their hands on medical supplies and had treated themselves from the poison of the bolt wounds and the injuries from battle.

It seemed as if the students he was taking care of were away from the island, at the farm in Ethiopia that supplied it, so Guardnia was the only one at the island at the time of the attack. According to Guardnia, he was not even supposed to be at the island. He had only returned to it because he wished to leave a note for Shinta to head for the farm for the dinner he had been invited to, since he forgot to mention it in the letter.

"The Specters probably chose the moment to attack the island because they thought it would be empty with the Cepheus Saint away. This means that they've been watching Guardnia's movements for some time. It may have failed miserably thanks to Shinta, but their attack was a lot more organized and planned out than Bennu Yakos'." Lance deduced. "What kind of fucked up luck do I have to stumble upon two Specter attacks in a row? It's not even funny!"

He placed his Cloth box on the floor and took out from within it a report note he was working on and started writing his conclusion. It seemed as if the Specters had been intent on stealing as many Cloths as they could, not to mention information on Saints connected to the island. "Would they go after Shinta anyway later on if their attack had succeeded? What was their interest in this place's armors, anyway? Greed isn't enough to explain what happened here." Lance tried to focus on his writing, but he couldn't get his thinking straight. He sighed in frustration and rubbed his eyes. "What a bullshit day!... We ran into gold-ranked Specters, we almost got killed more than once and...W-what the fuck was that attack?"

He grabbed his hurting chest and remembered how many times he came close to death. He almost got cut in half, shot to death, ripped apart by an axe, blown away to his death, poisoned to death and beaten to death. Until Guardnia got them antidotes, the poison from the bolts hurt like a bitch, too, and the bandages and band-aids he got covering his chest, checks, cuts, bruises and wounds. It had been easily one of the most disastrous days of his career, ranking beneath Arcadia and Death Queen Island.

The Pegasus Cloth, which was still recovering from its damage, turned its head to its owner in its box. "You did your best, Lance."

The Bronze Saint locked red eyes with red orbs. It had been a while since he's heard the horse's voice. Now that he thought of it, he hasn't really talked to it even after learning from Shinta it can speak.

"...Thanks." They both then went silent and Lance tried to finish his report. Guardnia decided to call off the dinner he planned for Shinta at the farm and instead spend the day bringing order to the island. He would soon call in Gold Ranks and Lance would like to leave that place long before he had to deal with people like Ionia, at least until he got a good rest back in Sanctuary Town.

Cepheus Guardnia approached the Bronze Saint. He had heard much of Pegasus Lance after his fight with Kastiel, and, at first, he was concerned about Shinta when Cynthia told him His Holiness had teamed the two together. Fortunately, Cynthia also made sure to tell him the situation was better than it sounded.

"Is something on your mind, Pegasus?" The teacher asked.

Lance turned to the famous Cepheus Saint. Guardnia was a tall, white man of neck-length blonde hair and a strong build wrapped in blue armor on top of a classic trainer shirt. Hardened blue eyes and a serene expression gave him a look of experience and insight and the arm he had to his chest and bandages denounced the many wounds he took while trying to lure the powerful Specter trio into traps. A pair of chains hanged from the gauntlets, one tipped by an eagle circle akin to Nike staff's and the other by a small spiked sphere that resembled a blue sun.

"I'm fine. I feel better already."

Guardnia watched the Pegasus Saint put away his report and getting up despite his wounds. "Are you sure? You were tense all day." Lance shrugged him off with a head shake and a groan. "...Shinta has headed for the port already. I already called for the higher ups and they should get here soon to investigate. Care to join on the way down?"

"Fine, whatever." Both Saints then picked up their things and started heading down the path towards the Northwest end of the island. The Living Area was situated on a cliff not very far from the west foot of the volcano. The walk to the shore should take a bit and Pegasus deduced that the Silver Saint wanted to talk all the way through.

As they entered the dirt path going down the cliff, Cepheus was the first to break the silence. "Saint Lance, I would like to thank you for helping save my life." Guardnia said "I haven't had a chance to do it yet, at least personally, and I could tell from the wounds you suffered in the battle that you deserve my most sincere thanks. Shinta spoke much of how you stood up to those Specters."

"...You don't have to thank me." said Lance, still not looking at the man, eyes fixed in the sea beyond the rough, black terrain. "The Sanctuary will be sure to give me some reward once I return. What do you want, Guardnia? Why did you tell Shinta in that letter you wanted to see me?"

"I wanted to meet his partner and see what kind of person he was, maybe talk with you a bit." The Cepheus Silver Saint explained. "...So, what do you think of my island?"

"I've seen worse."

Guardnia's expression grew somber. "So the story is true; you've been to Death Queen Island." The two of them stopped and the tension between them spiked all of a sudden. The narrowed look Lance then gave the Silver Saint had been given to him by many students who believed, and sometimes prided themselves, of having gone through their own piece of hell in their lives. "Cynthia told me much about you. She said you were a powerful Saint but an unrefined one. It's a shame Kastiel couldn't bother himself to invest his time with you in Olympus."

"Saint Kastiel got what was coming to him for it!" Lance them resumed march. Guardnia followed. "What the hell do you want from me, Guardnia? Can't we just walk in silence?!"

The increasing frustration in Lance's voice was apparent. As they headed down the path northwest, his blue eyes spotted the looming presence of the ruined Castle of Cepheus the test site of Shinta's fifth trial on the island, just off the dirt road. Cepheus chose his words carefully. "I apologize. I did not wish to insult you by mentioning him. I know matters like that don't easily heal and how much Saints care a great deal about honor. Four years trapped on a mountain you can't get down from with no cosmos or Master... I can't imagine what that's like."

Lance's head lowered, perhaps to hide his eyes from the Master. "Teaching in Sanctuary is a farce. The whole Master system is nothing but a cruel set up disguised as tradition. I would be better off without having met your Silver Saint friend."

Silence marked their walk for a bit. Guardnia, as a teacher of Sanctuary, should be offended by the teen's words, if he didn't know exactly what Lance was talking about. "Sanctuary isn't interested in creating citizens, but loyal soldiers. It has a long tradition, yes, but that's the way things go. Kastiel once believed there was little meaning in Sanctuary's strict laws and that you could take them with a grain of salt, but now he has just grown adapted to Sanctuary's ways. I'm not justifying Kastiel's attitude. I may not be a good teacher myself, but what he did to you was disgusting." he opinionated. "That being said, I can't help but think how Shinta would turn out without a Master on this island."

"I'm sure he would be fine..." Pegasus said. The bitterness in Lance's voice caught Guardnia attention. "His cosmos is ridiculous and he doesn't have to deal with people questioning the color of his eyes. He may have trained in a tougher place, but he had it a whole lot easier than I did!" Lance then confronted Guardnia. "You talk about how it's a shame Kastiel left me behind, but what would you have done if I trained here instead?!"

Cepheus took a bit to answer. He had dealt with many anger filled students. Lance's attitude was nothing new. "I would have patience and I would certainly not abandon you here, no matter how terrible a student you were." Guardnia then narrowed his sight. "Of course, if you did something evil, I would not hesitate to put you down either."

"Why would I do that?!" Lance shouted all of a sudden. "What is it with everyone in Sanctuary thinking I'm some sort of monster?!"

Guardnia opened his mouth to answer, but hesitated. Instead, he turned to Cepheus' castle. "Well, I like to believe people judge others based on actions, as well as Shinta and Saint Cynthia. However, if you want to know why people react the way they do around you, there's an old, but well known superstition that red eyes are a mark of evil."

Lance blinked. "What?! Are you for real? What kind of bullshit excuse is that?!"

Guardnia shrugged his shoulders. "Pegasus, we live in a society that deals with the supernatural. I'm sure you've notice already that your armor speaks to you. Do you find it that strange that myths like these are born?"

"I..." Lance hesitated to answer. Outrage gave him words. "That doesn't matter! It doesn't change the fact that it's a ridiculous reason to hate someone. I didn't do anything wrong! But I guess Shinta doesn't have to deal with that bullshit either, does he?!"

"No, Saint Lance, he didn't, but he had to deal with people that were intolerant to his pacifism and his feminine looks." revealed the Master. "Despite the fact that Athena preaches peace, Shinta's attitude is abhorrent in Sanctuary, which is why I'm glad he has a strong, protective person like you partnered with him."

"He doesn't need my help!" Lance screamed. "I'm not sure if he told you about it, but he managed to defeated the entire Specter group by just unleashing his cosmos. In Arcadia, he pushed back an attack that would have me rolling over on the ground helplessly. He walks around like he's got no clue what to do about things but it turns out he's more powerful than you and me combined! Where the hell did that power, that Nebula Storm, come from?! THREE ELITE SPECTERS GONE! POOF!" Lance snapped his fingers to accentuate. "Just like that! And you're telling me he needs protection? Don't play dumb with me!"

Seeing Lance's pride come to the surface, Guardnia started seeing what was at the bottom of Lance's frustration. "I'm not playing dumb, he really needs someone to latch on to. Why do you think he refers to you almost like he would a brother?"

"That is a load of-"

Guardnia pointed his finger at the castle just off their path. "Let me tell you a story about him. It's about when I first discovered he had that immense cosmos. The ruins you see over there are the old Castle of the king of this island. I'm not going to specify the details, but let's just say that, for his penultimate test, Shinta was supposed to enter it with another person and only one would come out."

Lance's red eyes turned to the large rock ruins. It was a huge, square building of ruined battlements and corner towers. A cavern like opening was detectable on the front wall, but its innards were shrouded in shadow. "Yeah, so what?"

Cepheus' expression grew somber. "This was the test I dreaded the most for him. I knew Shinta was incapable of killing for cruelty, but he also did not have a choice. If the two of them didn't find a solution, they would perish by sunrise. He spent all night trying to find a third option." he explained. "All the other students I ever managed to trained to this point resorted to violence and ultimately failed. Shinta's pacifism barred him from doing such a thing. The other person kept trying to kill him, but Shinta refused to harm him. In the end, Shinta was forced to reveal his cosmos, using it to paralyze that person before something terrible happened."

The Pegasus Saint took a bit to speak, trying to figure out where Guardnia was going with all of this. "What happened?"

"Well," Guardnia resumed, "In the end, he found a loophole, but it didn't change the fact that Shinta refused to use that massive cosmos, even when his life was clearly at stake. He only used it because a person he cared much about was trying to force him into making a terrible option, whom he loved too much to take it. Saint Lance, I don't know why Shinta is so powerful, but the fact of the matter is, he can't control that power. The time he took to decide he should use that attack just to paralyze is opponent is proof that he's afraid of what his own strength can do."

Lance stayed silent for a bit, at loss for words. "He... could kill anyone he wanted. He could kill me so easily..."

"Is that what you are worried about, Lance?" he asked "That he's going to kill you? Or that he's stronger than you?"

"...He constantly hides behind me, asking me to help him...to protect him...And he is thisstrong...He played me like a fool..."

Cepheus Guardnia let Lance make his own conclusions. Part of teaching was knowing how to make others realize their own mistakes. As far as Guardnia knew, that was the best way to make others want to improve of their own accord. When he felt like Lance's anger was subsiding, he took a chance and patted the boy's shoulder.

Lance trembled with the contact, almost shoving the hand away. The Pegasus Bronze Saint was obviously not familiar with the concept of a friendly male adult figure. Every grown man who he met so far has treated him like shit.

"The truth is that Shinta has no fault of being who he is. He's gentle and does not like to hurt and he's certainly no more at fault for having a power he doesn't control than you are for not saving more people in Arcadia, for why Kastiel abandoned you or for what happened in Death Queen Island that you couldn't stop." reasoned Cepheus. "Besides, do you really think that he would spend the day telling me just how much you have helped him, how many times you saved him, how much you taught him and how much he cares about you...how many times you've been like a brother to him if he didn't need and deeply respected you?"

"...No." Pegasus looked away. "No, I don't think so..."

Sensing Lance was coming to a positive realization, Guardnia smiled and decided to change subject. "Let me ask you something, is he still holding on to that praying necklace?" Lance nodded as an answer. Guardnia chuckled. "I don't know about you, but I don't think I have anything to fear from someone who literally wishes the best for everyone he cares about everyday of his life."

Guardnia's chuckle made Lance feel ridiculous on the inside. Though still shocked for having witnessed the boy unleash such a tremendous power, Pegasus started wondering why he began suspecting the innocent, naive kid of some sort of foul play. He looked at his own hands. "I should have done more today. I wouldn't be in the state I am if I was stronger."

"There was very little you could do. Two of the three Specter were wearing Celestial Star Surplices, marking them as Gold Ranks. You're lucky you had Shinta by your side to use Nebula Storm."

Lance started thinking events over. Now that he realized it, it made little sense for Shinta to have used Nebula Storm in Arcadia. Lance himself was almost blown away by the attack and the fires in that village were already spreading fast enough. He seemed to be having a tough time containing just the power used against Yakos' Corona Blast and the attack against Maia's team took a bit to charge, too. If Shinta really couldn't control that power, he could have caused more damage with a reckless Nebula Storm that Bennu and Shaman put together.

The same circumstances applied in most of their other missions together, which required delicate operations rather than open combat. Maybe Shinta really wasn't on top of the situation as much as Nebula Storm made it seem. Lance tightened his fists. "I don't want to be pushed around like I was today. There's got to be a way I can reach Gold Rank!"

Cepheus noticed they were reaching the dock. Shinta was already preparing the boat and Saint Cynthia seemed to have arrived together with a second person. "Anything you want to ask me before you leave?"

"Actually, yes. Tell me something, how the hell does Shinta do that weird soccer trick of his?" Lance's red eyes squinted at the green-haired boy talking to Cynthia and the other man. "Damn it, I'm a good goal keeper but he keeps trashing my defense around!"

"Oh, that!" Guardnia chuckled. "It's a 'chanfle' trick to execute banana shots. Believe or not, Shinta is better at it than I am. And they say Asians can't play soccer! Seriously, some people..."

Cynthia and Shinta noticed the two of them approaching. The Cassiopeia Silver Saint rushed to their side. "Oh my gosh, Guardnia, are you okay?" Cepheus nodded at her. "I came here as soon as I could. Captain Kirin of the Papal Guard is also here with me."

The Pegasus and Cepheus Saints turned to the captain. He was a tall man of sharp, falcon-like eyes, of long, back length tied hair and wearing a heavy set of foot soldier armor. The slightly tanned tone of his white skin denounced Iberian features. Guardnia recognized him as the disguised Gold Saint of Capricorn. "Lord Kirin, you've responded to the SOS." the Cepheus Saint confided in mental message.

The Catalan warrior gazed at the island, trying to imagine the battle that occurred there. "I am here representing the Pope's military authority. A squad of Silver Saints will be here shortly to sweep the island for surviving enemies and clues. I apologize for not having been able to help."

"Where have you people been?!" shouted Lance. "Where are the fucking Gold Saints? We almost died here!"

Shinta held him back. "Wait, Lance, I'm sure they have an explanation. We couldn't detect the Specter's presence either until we found that dead Skeleton Soldier, right?"

Kirin eyed Pegasus intensely. He found it a very strange coincidence that Lance's team would be at the site of both Specter attacks. If the emergency call was true and they faced three Specters, it meant that the menace of the rogue warriors of Hades, as far as Pandora's envoys spoke the truth, was dealt with for good, but his refined warrior 6th sense tingled. Something wasn't right about this attack in how stealthy it was.

"Gold Saint operations are secret. Their resources and responsibilities are not to be divulged to or, for that matter, questioned by a Bronze Saint." He turned from the outraged Pegasus to the Cepheus and Cassiopeia Saints. "Saint Cynthia, I trust you with heading the investigative procedures. Saint Sagitta of Nam should reroute comrades to this location soon. Saint Cepheus, please head for the Golden Zodiac as soon as you're done recovering for report issues." Both Silver Saints nodded. Cynthia in particular, was relieved that help would come soon. Kirin was just as bit as strict and honorable as Ionia, but the Capricorn Gold Saint was far more reasonable and kinder than the authoritative Fort Commander of Peloponesia. "I apologize for not having been able to interfere in the attack. I will stake my honor in making sure that every last remnant of threats are dealt with."

Lance tried to get the man's attention. "Hey, are you listening? I need to know why my partner and I were almost killed while you guys were nowhere in sight!"

Kirin sighed and finally addressed him. "Saint Lance, if you are so outraged, you will be happy to express it at the MMC, where you've been ordered to go back to to report what happened here and receive a proper reward." This seemed to calm down the rebellious teen. "I will be looking over the battle scene. Athena be with you all."

The two Bronze Saints watched as the 'Papal Guard captain' headed inside the island to begin assessing the situation. "Are you feeling better, Lance?" Shinta asked, worried about his wounds. Lance nodded and Shinta sighed in relief. "That's good. I was really worried about you... Lance, you're not angry with me, are you?"

Lance got on the boat. "Yeah, but I'll change that soccer score in a second. 15-10... pfft! Your Cloth won't have enough rocks in all of Sanctuary to mark all the goals I'll soccer against you once we get back!"

Shinta's smile beamed up, relieved that Lance was not infuriated with Nebula Storm. He turned to the two Silver Saints. "Master, will you be alright? I'm sorry we won't get to have that dinner."

"Shinta, it's fine. I'm satisfied with just seeing you again." He patted the Andromeda Saint's back. "You did great, today. You should be proud of yourself, Shinta, you saved my life. I can also tell you've grown a lot. Being outside this cursed island has done wonders to you."

Shinta nodded, moved. "T-Thank you, Master. I'm just so glad you're alive. I don't know what I would do, if-"

"Don't think like that, Shinta, the important is that you saved Guardnia." said Cynthia. "I have to admit that the wimpy boy I knew is accomplishing all sorts of things nowadays. You'll surely get that Silver Rank you need in no time."

"Shinta, come on!" shouted Lance from the jet boat. "I'll fucking leave you here if you don't hurry up."

"Oh, I got to go. I promise I'll visit you soon, Master." Shinta then joined Lance and helped him start the engine. He waved back at the two Silver Saints as he sped off the island.

Guardnia and Cynthia waved back at him. When the Bronze Saints were off sight, the Amazon turned to Guardnia. "We need to talk, you know?" she asked very sweetly. The Master sighed, already feeling the familiar gaze of her expressionless mask somehow transmit her anger. "You see, I had a conversation with Saint Nam back at the MMC shortly after Arcadia..."

"Yes?"

"He told me that Shinta, after getting his Cloth, showed up at his office with a recommendation letter from you, which is very kind of your Majesty and all, but... I don't know! Your wisdom must really elude me, because I guess I can't figure out why you wrote in that letter to Nam not let Shinta go to Japan unless he got the Silver Rank!"

Guardnia folded his arms "That-"

"I thought you wanted the boy to finally go after his mother, but guess I'm just clueless like that! Why would you trick him like this? Is this because of the Cepheus Cloth? Is it putting you up to this?" Guardnia gave her a guilty look and headed to the island's innards to join Gold Saint Kirin without a word. Cynthia stared at the Silver Saint, wondering what on Athena's earth was going on in his head. "So you're just not going to tell me what's going on?" she asked. Guardnia didn't answer and moved on. "Shinta better not end up hurt over what you're doing, Guardnia."

The Amazon Silver Saint then rushed after her old partner, intent on joining Kirin in assessing the island's situation.

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Present Time

Golden Zodiac, Pope's Chambers

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Pope Shion presented in his hand a copy of the files on the Andromeda Island incident to the Gold Saints, which contained information on the several reports made on the area and by the involved Saints along with other documents, such as the letter Guardnia sent Shinta and the note Cepheus intended to leave on the island for Shinta to head for Ethiopia instead. "In total, it is estimated, via calculations made by Cepheus Guardnia and Pegasus Lance's team that two Celestial Stars, one Terrestrial Star and twenty-five Skeleton Soldiers were involved in the attack. Approximately ten soldiers fell by Guardnia's chains while the rest were wiped out by Andromeda Shinta."

Aquarius Malta, though normally unaffected, expressed surprise at these numbers. "Two Celestial Stars defeated by a Bronze Saint in a single, widespread attack? I find that very strange." he commented. "Are you sure, your Holiness, that it is Lance who must be discussed here as a potential Gold Saint?"

Taurus Daniel was also interested. "I agree. I have met the boy at Pegasus' fight with Heracles Aguilon, but I did not imagine he had that kind of power!" Daniel rubbed his chin. "What a shame that he's a Virgo..."

Shion chuckled. "The subject of the Andromeda Saint's capacity for destruction is not relevant at hand, though we will address it later on. Moreover, it is a brutish power that, though it demonstrates a tremendous level, lacks the refinement and properties of an unlocked 7th Sense. Andromeda Shinta, after all, can't move at the speed of light. Our next subject, however, deals with that precise matter though in regards to Lance. As you know-"

"Pope Arles, your Holiness" interrupted Capricorn Kirin, drawing the attention of the room to himself. "I apologize for this, but I must cut you short. The matter of the Andromeda Island attack is not settled."

"Kirin, is something wrong?" asked Shion. It was rare for one of the Gold Saints to refer to him by his Pope name when in such closed quarters.

Kirin nodded respectfully. "Yes, your Holiness. I'd like to express my suspicions on the matter. I find it extremely strange that a team of two Bronze Saints would be involved in both attacks of the rogue group of Specters." he claimed. The surprised whispers of his comrades filled the room. Kirin narrowed his tempered eyes. "In both occasions, Sanctuary was victim of daring raids by a small group of dangerous Specters and in both occasions, Pegasus lance and Andromeda Shinta 'happened' to stumble upon them and stop them."

The other Gold Saints glanced at each other, wondering what their comrade was doing. Saga in particular tried to decipher Kirin's thoughts. Capricorn Kirin was a member of what was nowadays called the 'Civil War Generation', one that was characterized by their temperate, loyal nature and suspicious outlooks of someone who had suffered a terrible betrayal. It was no wonder a member of it would find the case strange.

It took a particularly strict mindset like Kirin, who was raised in the dictum of the House of Capricorn, to point this out, though. Gemini Saga was he first to address him. "It's indeed a strange coincidence, Saint Kirin, but in both cases there are documents that prove that Saint Lance did just happen to stumble upon them. In Arcadia, he had been sent together with Shinta to Ismara because the fort had requested additional personnel, correct? In the case of Andromeda Island, there is the copy of the letter Guardnia sent Andromeda Shinta, in which he asks him to bring Saint Lance to the Island, a copy which the Pope has just shown us."

"While the letter and the note tell us why Saint Lance went to Andromeda Island," acknowledged Kirin "it's timing with the attack is too perfect. Now consider this, comrades, it has been concluded that the Specters were trying to steal the Cloths of the island. For what purpose, it's unknown, but what was the one Andromeda Island Cloth that was missing from its home turf? It was the Cloth of Andromeda itself, worn by Pegasus Lance's partner."

The expression on the adult Gold Saints darkened, but Mu protested. Wait, that does not prove anything! Isn't the fact that Shinta is a student if Guardnia, this holder of an Andromeda island armor, the reason for the invitation in the first place?"

"Well,..." Aiolos reluctantly admitted. "That does only prove that Guardnia is not at foul, Mu...It doesn't prove Lance's innocence."

"Correct!" enforced Kirin. "Now here's another possibility. While Ismara has requested the MMC for personal, it did not make a specific request for Bronze Saints, much less Pegasus' team. Pegasus Lance knew the fort would be vulnerable and that if he signed himself up, the MMC would not route forces for Ismara. While I said before that I headed the investigation of the Ismara incident and that I concluded that Lance's tracking of the Specters was genuine, it does not refute this suspicion."

"So you're saying Lance is a spy?" queried Saga.

"On both occasions, Saint Pegasus was in a perfect position to both denounce an opportunity to strike the Ismara region and Andromeda Island and take part on the attack while knowing or ensuring no interference from the MMC would be made. In both occasions, contact with Sanctuary was impossible due to extraordinary factors conjured by the Specters, making these two scenarios perfect for an inside operation to occur."

Aiolos tried to interfere. "But, Saint Kirin-"

"I'm not done. I would also like to bring to the table history and statistics. As you all know incidents of this gravity with Specters outside the periods of Holy War are extremely rare, if not non-existent, mostly due to the intervals of peace created by Hades' reincarnation cycles. Specter sightings alone are considered very uncommon and cause for investigation in said periods. Yet, since Saint Lance has joined the ranks, we've had two Specter attacks, one of critical atrocity and another involving Celestial Stars, within three months."

The Catalan warrior then turned to the Pope. "Your Holiness, I refuse to cast a vote of trust in someone of such questionable loyalty. Saint Lance had already expressed public several times desires to leave Sanctuary or oppose its authority. He has every reason to hate Sanctuary; a Master who abandoned him, a population who is aggressive to him, a Goddess he does not believe in and more. I will not support his promotion and I call out for my comrades to follow my example."

The room fell into tense silence. Gold Saint glances were exchanged back and forth. Malta remained calm while Daniel scratched the hair under his helmet. Mu quivered, feeling like the seriousness of the discussion just took a spike all of a sudden.

Aiolos turned to Saga. "What do you think of this? You've seen Lance with your own eyes at Arcadia, right?"

The blue-haired teen did not meet his eyes, trying to look unaffected. Eventually he spoke out his opinion. "I think Kirin has a point, but no proof." He felt Kirin's stare fall down on him. He couldn't tell if it was an offended or a surprised one. "The wounds I saw on Pegasus during the aftermath of Arcadia were no result of theater between a spy and his employees. Moreover, even considering Andromeda's naiveté, there are witnesses, such as Saint Cynthia, who saw him fighting the Specters, protect his comrades and saving people in both scenarios. Do I discount the strangeness of the coincidence? No. However, I believe there is much more to the matter than just the possible involvement of Saint Lance."

Shion joined hands behind his back after putting down the documents. "I do not ask any of you to make a decision right now. I say it again, there is a reason why I wanted your opinion; it is entirely within my power to promote Lance without any of your approval, but now I know you all see why I could not make the decision lightheartedly, specially when it involves your order, the most important one in Sanctuary, that of the Gold Saints of Athena. Hopefully, as we move on to the next subject at hand, we'll come to a righteous conclusion." Shion's hand waved at Taurus Daniel. "Daniel, if you please?"

The huge, blonde man stepped forward. "We have spoke of education, morals, comradeship and feats, comrades, but now we will speak of something more raw and just as fundamental to our order. We will speak of power!"

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Chapter End

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Next Chapter: Upgrade to Silver

Release Date: 12th October

Description: Near the end of the two years prior to the Gold Saint discussion, Lance is officially admitted as a Silver Saint candidate but must face a special foe to determine just how strong he is.