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.

19. 1A: Ghouls n'Roses - Part 2 of 4

Notable OCs: Pegasus Lance's Bronze Saint Generation; Heracles Aguilon Silver Saint Generation; Gemini Akassius' Gold Saint Generation; Daemon Lucifer

Notable Original Concepts: Mt. Olympus Training Ground; Sanctuary forts, outposts, villages and institutions; Sanctuary Court; Teos & Athenian Empire mythology

Recurring/Cameo OCs of Jenny DeVic: Mrs. Schafurwatt

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

Please enjoy and review.

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Standing in the middle of the field of flowers as the sun finally rose, Aphrodite, covered head to toe in blood, tiredly wiped his face to his wrist and tried to ignore the carnage around him. Surrounding the young ten year old as far as the undulating landscapes of petals could let him see, the dismantled, disfigured and destroyed corpses of hundreds of 'dolls' laid in poses of interrupted attacks, halted roars and shattered curls, at least those still intact enough to form discernible shapes. The many limbs, broken weapons and shredded armors smashed the beautiful plants beneath their weight and the light of the new sun made the liquid red shine a mist of carnage around him, filling his sight with violent imagery.

The cyan-haired boy let himself breathe in the atmosphere of tumbled warriors and unrequited brutality, allowing the wind of the island to make his hair wave and the drops of blood to drip down his face. After hours of fighting and killing, it felt like paradise to take that short break. His eyes looked upwards at the sky as it turned from dark to orange to blue and the petals flew all around him.

The sound of careful steps approached him, announcing the presence of the tall woman of long, curly black hair raining down her maiden robe. Her sandals took great care in not stepping on the few flowers that weren't crushed beneath the massacre.

"Good morning, Aphrodite." She greeted in concern as she took in all the murdering. "I see you had… an agitated evening. Are you feeling better now that you've made it all quiet?"

The child shook his head. "No, I feel the same; same as always. Why would any of this make it any different?"

"You caused so much death. Doesn't that make you feel anything different?"

"They stepped on my garden…" Aphrodite whispered. His refusal to look her in the eye made him look even more demented in the middle of all that red. "These flowers take so long to grow. I take care of them with so much love and hard work… Why did they have to step on them?"

The maiden relented, sensing the inherent threat in the otherwise constantly frozen psychopathic mind. Aphrodite's garden was truly the only real reflection of what was inside his heart. Therefore, it was obviously the only thing in the world that could make him feel like this.

"Maybe it's because you filled the island with them?" she suggested, earning a twisted glare from the child. "You love them so much, and you planted so many, the people of the island can no longer go anywhere without them. Their pollen suffocates them, not to mention they spread like weeds through the crops, robbing the earth of its nutrients and killing the animals that step on or eat them."

Aphrodite shook his head in protest. "You told me I could go anywhere in this place; that I could plant my flowers wherever I wanted."

The maiden reached for the ground and plucked a rose that was pitch black, instead of red. The sacrilegious act made the child twitch. Its thorns were crude and sharp, not to mention it had no smell. Even as she held it in her hand and remove a single thorn, the cruel looking flower grew more in its place, cutting her fingers and scratching her ring.

"I did. This is the Isle of Gardens, where even the Devil's roses can grow aplenty; a paradise for delicate hearts who express their kindness through their gardens." Her hand waved towards the petals that flew upwards around them. "Here your heart can heal through the tending for the small lives of roses, which grow as beautiful and delicate as the love you give them. To mirror your hard work through beauty is their greatest reward."

"…Yet, all I grow is poisonous and full of sharp thorns, driving away anyone they don't get to kill…"

"True, but the evil in your roses could mean many things." The maiden said as she approached the child. She took her hand and wiped the blood off the child's face while moving away his dirty hair, exposing his eyes black with pain to the shining light of the morning. "And even if the world may reject you for your thorns and poison, I never will. I will continue to care for you, water you so you can grow, cleaning the blood off your hands as many times as it takes, no matter how much you make me bleed or how much my life is shortened by it, and shower you with all the light life has to offer, so your soul can grow more beautiful than any other."

"I've hurt so much and regretted so little of it. I've caused so much pain and been exposed to so much heartache and yet never cried. When others hurt me, I just answered in the same coin, but I never truly felt anything satisfying about it. Is that normal? I'm not sure if I'm even capable of hate." As if not wanting the woman who cared for him to get hurt, the youth took the obsidian treasure from her hands, allowing it instead to cut his own skin as he cupped it. He looked up pleadingly and asked, "Do you think I'm at least capable of love?"

She presented her finger with the cut in the tip. "Only you can discover the true answer for that question. In the meantime, I'll gladly offer you all the love you need, even in the middle of all that doubt, so that your hope never dies and the young cosmos flaring in your heart continues to glow."

With a feeling of empty darkness inside of him rendering him incapable of even showing a smile in response to the words of hope and light, the cyan-haired child slashed his fingertip with the black rose and joined it to the maiden's.

Then, as the wind blew more strongly to wash the two figures in a shower of red flakes of rose, darkness surrounded the scene so as to obscure the spectacle of wrecked warriors and the image of two blood-soaked fishes emerged, overlapping the two and uniting in a kiss that shaped the constellation of Pisces.

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Chapter 19

First Arc

Episode 14

Ghouls n'Roses – Part 2 of 4

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Meanwhile…

Village of Chrysanthos

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At the dawn of the new day, the small fishing boat from Sanctuary carrying Gold Saint Cancer Lance finally arrived at the shores of the Isle of Gardens after several nightly hours of traversing the mystical currents that protected the location. The hull of the boat was coated by a sheath of special alloy that reacted with the cosmos in the waters, allowing the boat to cross the defensive layers without being mysteriously derailed to the mainland, provided the captain still held a small degree of care in the sailing.

This meant that getting to the island, even having the right tools for it, took unnecessarily longer than it should since pushing the engine to anything faster than the average clipper would trigger the defenses that steered away unaware sailors. The dark of the night was then spent with the sound of the motor running at half-speed, something frustrating to both the Gold Saint who wanted to get things done with and to the young boy who kept asking if they were there yet. The triggered cycle of annoyance and inquiry nearly caused the boat to suddenly burst in Gold Saint rage before Lance finally convinced Mephisto to shut up and go to sleep.

Fortunately, things had been mostly uneventful after their conversation last night. Though he could have sworn Mephisto tried to sneak out at least once more during the night, it turned out that he was just restless from the shift of paradigm in his life and was looking around the boat. It was a poor excuse to hide the fact he was nervous about going to Sanctuary, but Lance was fine with it. At least the captain's wallet was still in place.

As soon as he saw the island in the horizon, Lance called him over to the ship's bow to take a look at the first piece of Sanctuary territory the kid would lay his eyes on. "So, what do you think?"

Mephisto, or Deathmask as he now insisted to be called, grumbled and stared at the far off rocky shores, fields of fertile green enveloping cliffs and the small coast community the boat was speeding towards. The rising sun set a beautiful glow on the little of the landscape they could make out, making the grass shine as it was eaten by the animals and the water reflect rainbows as it crashed against the black cliff sides.

"It looks gay!" A slap on the head set him straight. "OW! FINE! It looks…interesting."

"Look, I'm not looking for any sort of epiphany on how much you suddenly love Sanctuary-"

"Epipha-what?"

"-but the least you could do was make an effort to not make me wish I left you back at the shining beacon of luxury that was the street you were sleeping in. Chances are we're gonna spend the next couple of days here, so try to not get sick of the Isle too soon."

"Fine!"

Lance carefully packed the golden Cloth box on his back. "Remember, I'm Pegasus Lance, not Cancer. There's no need for people to know there's a walking talking H-bomb on the island. That goes for your superpowers too, Mephisto."

"It's Deathmask-"

"It's pee stain as far as I'm concerned." Lance interrupted. He was no fan of the nickname, since he had a small inkling Karkinos was giving the kid ideas when the Saint wasn't paying attention. The similarity with 'Deathtoll' was just way too suspicious.

He saw Mephisto's mood grow fouler and sadder at the tyranny he was being subject to and paddled back. "Look…Don't cause any trouble, and I'll do my best to get us out of here as soon as possible and back to Sanctuary Town, where you can eat warm food and play with your magic as much as you want."

Deathmask snorted and shrugged his shoulders, unconvinced with Lance's promise.

Upon arrival the boat immediately headed for a docking spot at the small shore town of Chrysanthos where the farmers and shepherd of the island resided at. The stone water breaks and boat-tying rocks were the most sophisticated looking thing in the palisaded rural town of short, wooden homes and quiet atmosphere. Lance and Mephisto made their way out of the boat and the Gold Saint proceeded to say goodbye to the captain.

"Your part here is done. Come back in a day or two when I send the flare signal. You know what to do if you don't get any word from me." Instructed the Gold Saint, who watched the captain nod, untie the boat and get it off the dock.

"Wait, they're not coming with us?!" questioned Mephisto.

"They have better things to do than wait around for Aphrodite. They're supposed to be fishermen, remember?" explained Lance as he guided them off the tiny port and into the dirt streets.

Mephisto formed a knowing 'o' with his mouth, but something else bothered him. "What did ya mean when you told him, 'you know what to do'? Is something going on?"

Lance's eyes shifted. "…Just a precaution; these kinds of places tend to block off mental communication with the outside to prevent enemies from pinpointing where they are. The downside is, if something happens inside the island, it's not easy to get an emergency message across."

"That sounds kind of inconvenient."

The older Gold Saint recalled his adventures in Arcadia and Andromeda Island. "You have no idea, kid."

Passing carts of wheat and animal feed kicked up clouds of dust as a greeting to the two of them. The village of Chrysanthos was the only town in the whole island, located in the only spot of the coast it was possible to dock in. This was because of a thin stream coming from the innards of the small isle that cut through the rocky outline, forming a beach entrance where boats could stop by and unload cargo and passengers. It was also dividing the village in two, forcing the construction of a few small wooden bridges to connect both sides.

A combination of Sanctuary law, the small amount of resources in the island other than what could be farmed and the presence of the temple complex that made the location so special to begin with forced the village to be small and compact. The houses were pressed against each other, the open streets were narrow and there were few to no alleys, creating a slightly claustrophobic atmosphere that made Lance and Deathmask feel they were passing through a fortified outpost rather than a rural town.

Still bored out of his mind, the Italian youth put hands in pocket as he followed Lance through the streets, his dazed off eyes looking around for anything even remotely interesting. "Geez,…couldn't ya've picked a duller place to stop by?"

Though he wished Mephisto was a little less uncooperative, it was true Lance himself found little of interesting in what was supposed to be a magical island of flowers. The Isle of Gardens was actually pretty quaint looking, looking for afar like its small surface was filled with cropfields, pockets of deciduous forests and tiny hills propping up and down in the landscape. At least this fit the description of the outer lines of the island, not fitting at all the name that suggested entire fields dedicated to decoration and petals.

The townsfolk contributed even further to the stillness of the whole place, not so much uttering a word as they passed by each other, barely kicking up any dust or even crack either a smile or frown at the few things they observed in their isolated community, such as the arrival of an emissary from Sanctuary. Compared to the Asian village of Arlia where conversation was abounding amongst the farmers and shoppers, the people of the Isle of Gardens looked like walking tombstones.

"This village is probably the only place to stop by in the whole island, Mephisto. Sanctuary doesn't need more than a few outposts in most of its territories. The inhabitants probably all live inside these walls. What did you expect? Big Acropolis filled with Greek god statues, temples and clay pot markets? This is a place like every other small community out there."

"You mean poor, dirty and smelling like cow shit?"

Lance sighed. "Unfortunately, yes. Now be nice to the people and watch your mouth. If I catch you talking like that when we meet the officials, I swear to God I will rip your tongue out!"

Deathmask spared a middle finger to the Saint as soon as Lance turned his face and tried to find something to entertain himself with. His dark blue eyes darted left and right, looking for anything remotely fun or at least something to 'appropriate'. Without Lance even noticing, his nimble fingers went through every pocket of every person he passed by, but failed to find anything other than shepherd lunches and tool shed keys.

He then realized something interesting. "Hey Lance, how come there's no flower shops? You'd think a place called the 'Isle of Gardens' would have one, right?"

Blinking with the first pertinent point Mephisto made the entire trip, Lance's red eyes searched for one and realized there was indeed not a single plant in sight. "Uh, good question. I guess since they aren't exactly allowed to have tourists they don't bother to sell them."

"I was looking for one to see what was so special about this place for such a fruity name. What's the deal with this island, anyway? They grow weird plants here or something?"

The Gold Saint recalled the details on his mission papers. He himself was not particularly cultured in Sanctuary matters and only knew of the place as far as the MMC's documentation allowed him to. "Well, it's the Pisces Saint's training ground for once but, then again, I don't really know why it is in the first place. I do know there is a temple complex of sorts deep within the island. In fact, that's where we're going."

"You mean, like, a temple to Aphrodite or some crap?"

"Or some crap. According to my info, it's taken care of by a Maiden who's been-"

"Maiden?"

"They're basically nuns of Athena." explained Lance, who then shuddered at the memories he had with them during his short time in Sanctuary's Heart of Sasha orphanage. In retrospective he brought a lot of the punishments on himself, but the methods applied were unnecessarily harsh. "I'd watch my mouth around her if I were you. Just like nuns, they don't use those rulers just to teach you math."

Having seen his share of Sunday school when he was younger, Deathmask knew exactly what Lance was talking about and shuddered in sympathy. "Tell me about it. Have you ever seen them correcting the left-handed kids?"

"Fortunately, no, though I had my share of other-"

"Well, I have." Mephisto showed off his backhand.

Lance winced when he saw an old scar. "Oh, sorry you went through that."

The child grinned maliciously. "Don't be; I gave the bitch a scare when I first found out about my magic. I was the most popular kid in the church for a while after that."

Suddenly losing all sympathy for Mephisto's story, Lance folded his arms and tried to change subject, but the naughty kid anticipated him. "Hey, wait a minute, you're from Greece! How come you know about catholic stuff? Aren't you…ort-odox?"

"It's orthodox, and no, I'm not." he explained. "It's only after I turned ten that I was discovered and spent a couple of months in Heart of Sasha before going to Mount Olympus. I was born in Athens but I was raised in a catholic orphanage."

"What? How come?"

Lance scratched his head. "Ugh… I don't know. I don't really remember."

Mephisto blinked, his curiosity unsatisfied. "You don't remember?! That's so stupid; how do you not remember your own childhood?!"

"Well, I don't remember a lot of things from before I came to Sanctuary, Mephisto. To be honest," his eyes shifted right in a serious effort to remember "the last couple of years I stayed in Athens are pretty much a blank. It's fine; it's normal to forget about your kid days when you grow older."

"Not to that extent!" He saw Lance groaning and took it as a hint to change subject. "So am I gonna have to attend Athena's church or something? I really don't wanna spend Sunday morning hearing some dude talk about Saint miracles."

"What do you want to do? You do realize that the biggest concern you're going to have is your obscene training, right?"

Having heard a few things about Saint training methods, Mephisto's face went pale and he gulped loudly. "W-Wait, you're not gonna… I'm not gonna have to punch a rock all day, right? Please tell me I'm not!"

Lance eyed him, pensive; since Mephisto could already tap into his 7th sense, this was unlikely. He would have to shape up, of course, but if he developed his cosmos he should be able to skip the most back-breaking part of the work.

Still, Lance only smirked as an answer to let the naughty kid cook a little at the prospect of what awaited him. Mephisto gasped and locked at the fingers that would soon be of exposed flesh and blood after hours of brutal training. It was a cruel thing to do, but at least this would help Lance put things in perspective for him, or shut him up at the least.

They then approached the palisade gate that would exit the village and lead to the inward sections of the island. The twin, wooden rectangular doors were wide open but a pair of guards stood vigilant. Taken aback by their appearance, Lance and Deathmask analyzed them.

Both of them were tall and very impressively armored. They even reminded Lance of Aguilon's Herculean Guard, as they possessed similar Greco-Roman style heavy equipment that covered most of their body though mixed with a few elements of Celt-Iberian attire. This included segmented lamellar, a belt crested with a crystal insignia, leather plate skirts to protect their thighs, tall roman sandals, legionnaire helmets, a single falcata sheathed by their waist, a large, round hoplite shield decorated with black Greek mythological patterns and an intimidating looking spear the size of a man that they kept on stand by, ready to skewer anyone suspicious.

Strangest of all was the brownish grey coloring of the exposed parts of their skin and an iron mask of bearded, frowning face hiding their true features. The stillness of their bodies showed off a statuesque discipline which, together with their perfect posture and nearly identical sizes made the two look like authentic robots.

Lance introduced himself. "I'm Lance of Pegasus, assigned by the Pope to meet Maiden Elisa of the Isle of Gardens. I am in search of the temple where a trainee named Aphrodite is preparing himself for the Pisces Cloth. Let us pass."

The two of them stood there waiting for an answer, but both soldiers remained in absolute silence.

The Cancer Gold Saint cleared his throat. "I'll repeat myself. I am a Bronze Saint on Papal assignment to this island. This child is under my care. Are you gonna let us pass or not?"

Once again, the two soldiers, almost as if mocking the Bronze Saint, completely ignored his question and staid perfectly still.

Mephisto irked and went in for the kill. "Hey, are ya deaf or something?! Let us pass before I kick your ass!" His foot struck the guard right in the knee.

Both their faces turned to him in a startling snap before the surface of the hoplite shield bashed Mephisto right in the face. The soldier stepped on the fallen child and held the spear menacingly, twirling the tip in his direction.

Mephisto screamed. "OW! W-wait, I was joking! Lance, help me, please!"

"HEY, what's the big idea?! Ar-"

"Wait, wait, wait. My goodness, it's no use." A third, approaching voice claimed, belonging to the village mayor who frantically interfered in the scene. The aged man of bald head, gray beard and blue coat approached the two guards. "They won't listen to you, Saint Lance. They're just dolls."

Lance pulled Mephisto away from the sharp weapons, whose owners immediately assumed their original guard poses. "Dolls? What are you talking about? Who are you?"

"My name is Charis. I'm the mayor of Chrysanthos." His wrinkled hand pulled the mask off one of the guards, revealing a smooth stone surface for a face which brought a scream out of Mephisto. "Welcome to my village. I'm sorry for the way the golems reacted, but you shouldn't have threatened them like that."

"G-Golems?! Those things are alive?!" whimpered Deathmask, who did his best to pull himself together before anyone saw how scared he was. "Are you people crazy? He almost skewered me like a pig!"

Charis helped Mephisto up, making sure to pat the dirt off him and check the place he was hit by the golem. "I'm sorry, my boy. Hopefully you can forgive them. They really don't know any better. My granddaughter is your age and keeps asking me to get rid of them, but I can't turn them away… They keep the village safe."

Lance, too, was a bit baffled. He stared at the smooth surface of stone that was beneath the mask, wondering what kind of trick was at hand with these fabricated soldiers.

Still he prioritized another important question. "You know of me?"

"Yes, Saint Lance. A messenger from Sanctuary arrived yesterday warning of your future arrival. I'm sorry I couldn't mount a proper greet-"

"It's fine. I prefer not to make a ruckus." Lance dismissed before pointing at the artificial guards. "This is quite the sophisticated defense system you got here. I can't say I've seen this in other Sanctuary towns."

The mayor wasn't particularly shocked by this exclusivity. "They do not? Well… I suppose it's only normal. These alchemical wonders were a gift from the talented sculptor Chrysalis, who lives in Sanctuary Town. I'm sure you heard of him. He was born in this island but the late Pisces Saint took him and his wife to Sanctuary before the Civil War."

While Deathmask had no idea of who the mayor was talking about, Lance had indeed heard a few things about the artist over the years. "Ah, yes, I see. I heard he designed the statues at the Twelve Temples. I had no idea he made living ones, though." He looked at the equipment they carried. "Isn't this unsafe? Why would you need these guys protecting the island when you got scores of foot soldiers back in Sanctuary Town scratching their butts?"

"We… prefer this method, Saint Pegasus." assured the mayor. "It's better than having armed strangers in a village that doesn't have much contact with the outside, lest they become more dangerous than the Black Saints and Specters who might attack us. This way, the golems sense evil intentions and react accordingly." His eyes then shifted warily. "Besides…they aren't affected by the poison."

"Poison? What poison?"

The Mayor walked the two of them through the two guards, who stepped away at the proximity of the villager they were assigned to protect. He waved his hand at the interior of the island before him. "This is the isle of Gardens, where many different plants grow. Not just normal flowers and trees, but also flowers of legend forgotten by time. Amongst them are the Royal Demon Roses."

Mephisto raised a brow. "Royal what?"

Lance widened his eyes, having been told about them by his Master in China. "Wait, you don't mean… the Demon Roses of Adonis?"

"The very same." confirmed the Mayor.

The young Mephisto couldn't feel more sidelined. "Wait, what's going on? Hey Lance, what are Demon Roses?"

Lance took a deep breath as he recalled the details. "It's a Sanctuary legend; it is said that in the age of myth the goddess of love shed tears for the dying Adonis, tears that then turned the white roses that were born with her into a deep red, toxic like demon blood. It is said that the Pisces Saint has strange powers over these plants that should be poisonous enough to kill a Gold Saint with their scent."

"What do flowers have to do with the Pisces Saint?"

"In the war with Typhon the goddess turned herself and her son into fishes to escape the Titan. Aphrodite's constellation is basically the goddess herself, which is probably why he named himself after her, so him having special powers of the roses as the Pisces Saint is not farfetched." Lance scratched his chin in preoccupation. "Still, if the island harbors those plants… This island might be a lot more dangerous than I thought."

Mephisto saw Lance suddenly sweat at the thought of walking amongst the roses of the island and found himself gulping. The Gold Saint, who basically tanked through his traps, neutralized his magic like it was nothing and dragged him kicking and screaming out of Italy, was afraid of passing through a few measly rose gardens? He didn't know whether to laugh or be terrified at the idea of how dangerous the plants were.

"I guess it's not totally insane to have guards like these." Lance added, looking back at the gate to the lifeless armored dolls given movement and purpose. "If things go wrong around here I suppose it's best to have someone nearby who can't breathe in all the poisonous air. Still…" Lance sighed exasperatedly and turned to the elder. "How far is it from here to the temple?"

"It's about half a day walking."

"Half a day?!" Lance protested, as there was no way the small island could be that big. "You're kidding, right?"

The mayor's expression darkened. "The innards of the island are dangerous for more than one reason, Saint Pegasus. The roads leading to the temple have spells on them. Without the Maiden's guidance, I doubt even your supersonic speed can find its way there without getting you lost in a myriad of labyrinth paths."

Mephisto looked at the far off fields. "We can see everything from here; how could we get lost?!"

Lance groaned. Another dumb layer of protection costing him more hours than it was worth it. He tried not to think about it too much and changed subject. "Is it true there is a Maiden guarding the Temple?"

The mayor seemed hesitant to answer, eying the two visitors back and forth. "…Yes. Maiden Elisa is a kind soul. She has lived on this island for nearly twenty years…She's from the time of the late Pisces Saint."

Lance feigned ignorance, as he knew the name of the Maiden from the file's side notes. "That's her name, Elisa, huh? What else can you tell me about her?"

Mayor Charis opened his mouth but hesitated once more. Lance tried to decipher what was behind so many reserves regarding from the villager's part towards the person looking after the island, since it didn't seem normal the mayor would be so nervous to talk about her. "…Are you here to fetch that child with her?"

Even Mephisto could read the sudden tension in the geezer's voice. He raised a brow, wondering if something was up. "Yeah, that's right. You got a problem, old ma-"

Lance covered the kid's mouth and stoically took charge. "Yes, we're here for Aphrodite. We're gonna take him back to Sanctuary. I take it you've seen him around."

"I have, but… trainees don't leave the temple very often. Miss Elisa herself rarely visits the village. She keeps us safe from the flowers and other threats, but… I'm afraid even she cannot protect us from everything."

The red-eyed Saint blinked, more confused by the mayor's talk than ever. "I'll ask this again; is there something I should know about her and Aphrodite before I go to the Temple?"

"No, Saint Lance, everything's fine. It's good to know the child will finally be taken from here to Sanctuary. I won't bother you any longer, I'm sure you have much to do." The mayor got out of his way and waved goodbye. "Give my greetings to Miss Elisa."

Both Lance and Mephisto watched with quizzical expressions stuck on their faces the elder reenter the village and order the palisade gate closed, something the stone guards wasted no time doing.

"…That wasn't weird at all." Mephisto replied sarcastically.

Lance groaned to himself, already guessing things would go wrong before he even got to meet the damn Pisces kid.

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Time passed on as the two visitors to the island made their way through the crop fields into the inner sections of the island. The first few areas they passed by still consisted of minor farm fields and cattle herds that kept the inhabitants fed and busy so much had not changed in terms of atmosphere since the village mayor so strangely left them at the outside of the coastal village of Chrysanthos. As such, it wasn't until later on that they enter what were supposedly the fields that gave the island its famous name.

The wheat and cows had ended abruptly to first give place to fields of untouched green grass that didn't seem to have anything special about them other than the occasional dotting of far off forests. Though the unmistakable sight of pollen and red petals could already be seen blown in the wind, there was still no true garden in sight. The path they walked on was that of a stone paved road carved into the ground that would apparently lead them straight to the Pisces Temple, but whenever they looked up at the end of it they just saw it go around slopes and small cliffs, escaping their sight.

Eventually, just like the mayor warned, the feeling that they were taking too long to get where they wanted settled in. Every twist of the road seemed to add kilometers to its extent where there should be none and the homogenous surface of the horizons masked even further the true length and direction of the path they walked on. Even the cliff and slope sides didn't offer much of a landmark reference, as every time they circled, climbed over or went between them in the road it was like whole new fields of grass and flowers unknown to them appeared, creating a sensation in the both of them of being tricked by the island.

Mephisto rubbed his eyes. "D-damn it! What is going on?! We've walked past these parts three times already! I feel like we're going in circles!"

Lance stayed calm, his red eyes darting left and right in search for guidance. "Don't worry, this is just a space illusion. The Island is making us think we're moving further than we actually are."

"That's what you said half an hour ago!"

Fortunately the Cancer Saint had seen this kind of illusion before, namely at Rozan and the Gemini Temple. "It's fine, Mephisto, just concentrate on the path ahead, don't panic and keep moving forward. You'll only get lost if you lose focus and let the road make you forget about how much you've actually walked forward."

Mephisto grumbled. "What makes you so sure about that?"

"Take a look at the flowers."

"What flowers?! There aren't any flowers here."

"Are you sure?"

The child scowled, more confused than ever, and tried to look at the fields of grass around him. At first he didn't see anything strange, but then he realized that the number of flowers amongst the grass was starting to increase even though they had walked that path at least three times.

Mephisto rushed to Lance's side, eyes widened in excitement. "Hey, you're right. These weren't here before! What does this mean?"

"It means we're in a transition field. Saga, the Gemini Saint, has told me about them. They're basically a finite space loop between two areas. The more you progress through it, the more the first area starts to look like the second until you're finally completely on the other side. It's a trick to discourage and delay invaders by making them think they're walking in circles, not getting anywhere."

Mephisto barely understood a word. "Yeah…So I guess we really just gotta push forward." Something then dawned on him. "Wait a minute, doesn't that mean you could just power through it with light speed in an instant?"

"Yeah, I guess. It would take a lot of cosmos, though. Besides, I don't want anyone to know we're gold ranks just yet, especially after that weird talk at the gate."

As they slowly made their way through the fields that popped up more and more plants, particularly daisies and sunflowers, the Italian child recalled the conversation with the mayor. "That guy was screwing around a lot! I bet he's hiding something from you."

"… Charis did seem glad Aphrodite would be gone."

"Yeah, how come?" Mephisto demanded to know. "What's to be scared of some Sanctuary goody two-shoes training for the Gold Cloth?"

"We'll find out soon enough." Lance then considered another hypothesis. "Since there will probably be Royal Demon Roses lying around, I guess it would be better if you went back to Chrysanthos, Mephisto. I don't want you falling to the floor poisoned because I let you come with me."

"What?! No way! I'm not getting ditched by you in that dumb port while you go off checking what's probably the only halfway interesting place on this dumb island."

The Cancer Saint wasn't so sure. "I don't know what awaits us in that Temple, Mephisto, you should-"

"It's Deathmask, and I can take care of myself." The pouting runt put his foot down. "I don't need anyone telling me what's best for me. I've survived long enough on my own and I'm not going to let you send me all this way back because of some stupid flowers!"

Lance rolled his eyes. "Fine, your funeral; don't come complaining to me if you end up dead in some garden!" Trying their best to ignore each other's stupidity, the two Cancer youths instead attempted to make their way through the road loop they were dragged into.

Lance followed with his eyes on the pattern on the surrounding fields. "The old man wasn't kidding. It's taking about twenty minutes of walk for the cycle to go back to the beginning. At this pace it's going to take hours to get to the temple."

Mephisto groaned. "Seriously, we're just supposed to walk for half a day through the same path? Man, this is bogus!"

"Get used to it. Moving between the Gold Saint Temples is going to be a lot worse. You'll learn to hate the Pope's calls for meetings at his Halls within the first month."

This got Mephisto's waning attention span. "Hey, now that you mention it… were you serious back there about the rock-punching regime? Am I really gonna have to smash my hands trying to break stone?"

"Well…" Lance tried to calculate Mephisto's strength based on the cosmos he had sensed so far from him. "You're going to have to do push-ups every day, there's no going around that. Right now you're way too skinny to make a decent warrior so we have to build you up a bit. To be honest, the most brutal physical training is used when you can't use cosmos at all or when you're in one of those regimes for Taurus or Heracles applicants."

This was more than enough for the preteen to sigh in relief. "Oh, thank God, that's good to know. For a moment I thought-"

"Since you'll train under me, though, I suppose we can make an exception-"

"…Shit!"

"-but it's not like I'm gonna whip you around until you can lift a car over your head. I'm not licensed to be anyone's Master so the best I can do is educate you and help you train for a Cloth. I can't teach you about its requirements or guide you in its Path. The best I can offer you is help settling in Sanctuary and get you caught up with the others. Tell me something, how good are you with your magic? Can you just move spirits around or do you have a few more tricks up your sleeve?"

"I can light small fires with them." Mephisto boasted. His finger raised itself to call forth local souls, causing a few wisps of pale blue light to emerge from the air and dance around his hand. He sighed in resignation. "Not much more, though. You're way better with this. All you had to do was lift a finger and all my stock of souls was gone."

The Cancer Saint disagreed. "That's where you're wrong, Mephisto. I'm actually not that good with Underworld Arts. The Cancer Cloth had to hold my hand throughout the whole first lessons just to get the basics. You on the other hand were able to learn that skill on your own, and that's pretty impressive if you ask me."

"What, really?" The kid stared at his hands with renewed perspective.

"Yeah, really, how many people have you seen moving ghosts around, Mephisto? It's not a cosmos trick, it's…well it is magic, I suppose." He worded, though he hesitated to do so because a more approximate description would be a combination of telekinesis and the Cancer Cloth's special cosmos. "The fact that you can tap so naturally into a power that can take years of training means you have a talent the vast majority of Saints do not and that the connection between you and the Cancer Constellation is extremely strong. Make no mistake, kid; you're already better at the Underworlds Arts than I'll ever be."

"Alright, that is awesome!" Mephisto laughed and rushed ahead of Lance so as to show off his excitement. "Since I'm a better at it, does that mean I'm really your teacher?" The Cancer Saint frowned and blitzed past the child, lightly tapping his heel in the movement so as to instantly trip Mephisto. "OWCH!" The adopted student rubbed his foot with a pained moan and stood back up as fast as he could. "That's cheating! You used light speed!"

"So?! You can use it, too!"

"But you use it much better than I-"

"I guess that means I'm your teacher, huh?!" Lance practically parroted, hands in waist.

Mephisto pointed a finger but was at a sudden loss of words. "Well, I…. I mean, you… SHUT UP!" he pouted, resuming the walk with hands in pocket and kicking pebbles around, his moment of glory utterly ruined. "…I can still beat you at ghost magic…"

The Cancer Saint harnessed his patience and tried to set a good example by not escalating the fight, instead following the embarrassed kid's pace and shifting the direction of the argument. "Yes, Mephisto, you'll still be better than me at it and chances are you'll see nothing but Saints and foot soldiers overspecialized in one move or two. Most people and Masters will back up that it is the optimal way to breed a Saint army."

"Aha, see, so I was right-"

"NO, you are NOT!"

The startled Mephisto staggered. "Alright, Lance, don't get angry, I just-"

Lance squinted and grabbed the kid's shoulder. "Listen, Mephisto, this is important. My first advice to you as your trainer… No, my first lesson to you as your teacher is that you should never, ever learn to rely on a single strength you have." He argued, the serious tone of his voice capturing the kid's focus for the first time. "I don't care if you see everyone else in Sanctuary doing the same; I don't care if you see Aries doing nothing but practice his teleport until none of us can catch him in sparring; I don't care all Taurus does with his day is slam himself into a wall with the force of a truck every five goddamn minutes; I don't care even if the effing Pope tells you the only use he has for you is either as an Underworld Artist or a toilet scraper; do not ever think magic is enough to keep you safe from the enemy. Do not let Karkinos' stupid necromancy define who you are!"

The child staggered, taken aback a little by the shift in Lance's mood. "Okay, Lance, I get it, I'll do my push-ups and study hard-"

"No, Mephisto, it's not that." Lance sighed and knelt down to Deathmask's height for a man-to-man talk. He recalled the conversation he had with Master Dohko about the Holy War and how even a fantastic fighter like Lance's teacher doubted he would survive. "Look, no one is invincible in this world. If something tragic does happen you'll have to take up the Cancer Cloth for me. Once the Pope sets his eyes on you and sees why I adopted you, you'll be first in line for my armor, whether I like it or not, remember?"

"Yeah, but-"

"If there is anything you'll retain from the time I'll spend teaching you, let it be this, Mephisto; the day you have the arrogance to believe victory is guaranteed just because you move faster, punch harder and take more punishment than your opponent is the day even a stupid little Bronze Saint might get the drop on you. Don't ever think the Underworld Arts make you a God or Death like you did back in Syracuse and never assume you have done everything in your power to prepare yourself for the future. Respect your opponent, Cancer Deathmask, and in a thousand battles you will never truly lose…"

The dark-blue haired kid stared, baffled, at the seriousness in Lance's face, the tone of his teacher's words sounding deeper than he had ever heard it before. For the first time since they met, Deathmask's immediate instinct wasn't to bark back at the Cancer Saint.

Truth be told, he didn't really understand Lance's final phrase. He was too young, after all, and too inexperienced in dealing with warriors at that to understand the finesse between two dueling fighters. It would probably be years before he got an inkling that the most important thing for a warrior to protect other than his loved ones and his duty was honor and how acknowledging the opponent's strength glorified victory and diminished failure rather than cumber hubris and intensify the shame of loss.

The temperament in his gaze reminded him a lot more of an experienced brawler than someone used to rely on cheap tricks. What was a guy like him doing messing around with magic, doing Sanctuary's dirty work and putting up with a kid like himself?

"Sorry, Mephisto, I didn't want to lay the responsibility of being first in line for a Gold Cloth on you like that." Lance insisted. "But unfortunately, I cannot change the fact that the only place that can take you in and protect you from your own strength is, unfortunately, the very same place that will hold you accountable for a power you did not choose to be born with. They will send you to the frontline and there's nothing I can do about it…"

Mephisto watched his teacher carry on somberly. "Geez, what a bummer mood, does he really feel that bad for me?" He caught up and counter argued. "Okay, Lance, I'll take training seriously, I get it. Look, you're gonna teach me so it's gonna be fine, right?"

"We'll see…"

The youth then realized something. "Wait a minute, since you just burped out all that talk about being a jack of all trades, I bet you got all kinds of cool tricks other than ghost magic. Are you gonna teach me a few techniques then?" He smirked hear to hear in excitement and showed off a few moves, punching and kicking the air as he marched along the path. "Yeah, awesome, I'm gonna learn how to fight!"

"Absolutely not; get your own damn moves!"

"What?! Oh, come on, don't be stingy! Teach me a technique or two if you're so damn worried about my future." He saw Lance narrow his red eyes. "Fine, if you're so darn worried about my future; how do you expect me to survive and stay clear of being a one trick pony if you don't give me anything else to work with?!"

Lance raised fingers to enumerate the reasons. "First of all, I wasn't angry at your swearing; second of all, I have not mastered my martial arts to the point I could teach someone else to do it; third of all, you're too wimpy for the Dragon Style anyway!"

Mephisto's interest was perked. "Dragon Style? That sounds awesome! Oh come on, you gotta teach me at least one move."

"FOURTH of all; the Dragon style is primarily defensive." Lance folded his arms. "How keen are you to spend the next few years working on getting your counters and postures right?"

Mephisto's interest died down. "What, defensive?! Crap…I knew it was too good to be true. That's so stupid, why would you learn martial arts just to block?!" He then executed a few more amazing moves to show how it was done. "When you're in a fight you got to attack, attack and attack until your opponent is down! Defense is a waste of time! Why did you pick a dumb style like that?"

"Fifth of all, from the looks of it, you have zero discipline and patience, so there's no way you'd be good at it anyway."

"Why don't you just teach me a technique then?" suggested the youth. "You know, the kind you just yell out in a fight and use to defeat the enemy in a single blow. That would be so cool!"

This time Lance actually gave it some thought, at first finding the hypothesis unpleasant but then realizing there was some pertinence to it. Should he teach Mephisto one of his techniques? He scratched his chin and pondered his choices.

The thing about Lance's moves was that, just like Dohko said, they were as a whole difficult to master and capitalize on due to relying to a great extent on a lack of self-preservation and quick reaction. Lance himself was pretty sure he was only able to use them effectively because of how comfortable he had grown with them as their creator and improver. Even before Dohko taught him the Dragon Style Lance knew every nook and cranny to his moves, from the amount of impetus picked up by Charge Fist, to what kind of attacks his Barrier could block or deflect, to how much of his reserves Flame Attack consumed to how tense his joints became under the layer of Blade.

It was a set riddled with flaws and strong points that needed insight and experience to balance. Teaching a single one to Mephisto, however, would probably not be detrimental…

…provided the kid used it responsibly…

And this kind of settled the matter.

"You're on your own."

"WHAT?! OH, COME ON!"

"I would pipe down and save my energy if I were you, we still have a long way to go."

Reminded of the space loop they were in, Mephisto pouted and focused on the road. He couldn't believe they still had five hours of marching to do.

There just had to be a better way. Mephisto looked up at the end of the path, seeing it twirl around the slopes in slight twists of direction that were somehow more than enough to making lose sight of their path. As long as they walked on that earth, there was no getting out of that headache of an illusion.

Enlightenment suddenly filled his brain. "Wait a minute! Hey, Lance, I have an idea!" he rushed over to his teacher and asked "You can open a gate for the souls, right? Where exactly does it lead to?"

Unaware of what the kid had planned, Lance decided to take the opportunity to teach him the first few things about the Underworld Arts. It would surely be better than relying on Karkinos' twisted perspective on it to do so. "It takes you to the pathway of the Well of the Dead….It's basically an entrance to the Underworld. Once there the souls eventually find their own way."

"Could the two of us hop there, too?"

"Yeah, I guess. The Well Gateway overlaps the physical realm as a separate dimension." He saw Mephisto raise a brow in confusion. "Picture a piece of Underworld plastic over a picture of us walking on Earth; Opening a hole between the two of them and walking through it lands you in different spots of the Well realm depending on where you use the Underworld Wave on earth."

"Is it the same on the way back?"

"More or less, yes."

Mephisto hummed loudly, lost in thoughts. He took up a stick and used it to draw on the ground. "So we are here." He drew a messed up line twirling around its own length in circles to represent the looped space they were stuck in. "And the Underworld dimension is here." He then drew a second line above the first one covering the same distance but completely straight. "If we hop into the underworld, couldn't we walk there the un-looped distance and then hop back into here at the end of the loop?"

Lance brought his fingers to his chin, impressed by the kid's reasoning. So much that he hated to break the news to him. "Interesting idea, Mephisto, except it doesn't work that way. Our bodies would drop to the floor the minute our souls left for the Underworld, remember? We'd just be spirits hopping back at the end of the loop pulled back into our bodies at the start of it, if we can even move that far without getting pulled into the Well."

"…Oh…"

"Mephisto, there's no going around this. Do you think I wouldn't kill to have the Gemini Saint come here right now building us a gate around this thing? I can't even cover long distances with light speed without spending my whole reserves on it. Just suck it up and walk. You don't see me complaining, do you?"

"Wow… I'm better than you at Underworld Arts, you can't use light speed….you're actually a pretty crappy Gold Saint, aren't ya?"

Lance groaned.

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

Several more hours passed with the two Cancers trying to make their way through the field of illusions. Over time it became clear to the both of them that whoever designed the defensive layers of the island planned for an almost complete isolation of the temple as it almost felt like the coastal village and the island's innards were on completely separate worlds.

As a result, the immense green that once filled the landscape was being replaced by a multicolored texture of petals, thorns and leaves as blades of grass gave way to a sea of red roses surrounding the road on both sides. A sweet perfume filled the air, alluring visitors to take a closer look at the plants yet to blossom in the field, but something told the both of them this would be a bad idea.

Spent to the brink of exhaustion, Deathmask struggled to keep up the pace despite the fact that his legs were killing him from the six hours march through the same boring fields. In spite of his earlier boast, Mephisto stared at the roses rather nervously and thanking the gods they were closed. He had no idea how truly dangerous the plants could be, but chances were that they were harmless whenever the petals were tightly closed around the hip.

And then there was the lack of birds in the air. Even though a few pockets of trees could be spotted here and there amongst the wide fields of petals, there was no chirping, no flapping of wings, no nest in sight, nothing indicating the presence of the flying creatures usually necessary to spread the seed of roses. Mephisto had seen a few gardens in his time in Syracuse and found it utterly bizarre how such a magnificent source of pollen was untouched by sparrows and hummingbirds.

All he could see at the edge of the horizon were flowers. Flowers, flowers and more flowers; an Ocean of red going up and down the slopes, threatening to open up to release their deadly toxins at any moment. He felt cold on the inside when he realized that, even if he tried to run, he'd be dead the second those plants opened.

He tugged Lance's pants. "H-hey, are we there yet?! How long is it gonna be?"

The Cancer Saint looked up to spot the familiar sight of marble building at the end of the road. "I'd say we're pretty close." He saw the terrified look on Mephisto's gulping face at the prospect of entering the dangerous gardens of legend. "I told you to go back earlier. Now it's another half a day back to Chrysanthos. Wanna make the six hours walk back on your own?"

Mephisto stopped to take a breather. "N-no…"

Lance sighed and hoisted him up from the ground. "Yeah, I thought so." He walked the remaining distance with the kid in tow and threw him back on the ground as soon as they finally reached the temple's entrance.

The stone arch inscribed with the Pisces emblem gave a welcome to those who entered the temple's premises. Its iron fence surrounded the large, gray stone building complex of ancient Greek architecture comprised of classical pillars supporting the structure, circular stone steps going up to the main entrance of large wooden doors and yet two more gardens of roses surrounding the yard path the two walked into.

Yet another pair of golem guards wearing a mixed Greco-Roman equipment stood on each side of the arch. Mephisto patted the dirt off himself. "Oh, great, these guys again. Are they gonna push me, too?!"

"They won't if you behave." reminded the Cancer Saint, who confidently walked between the two guards. As expected, the figures stood absolutely still, not having villagers to protect and seemingly trusting the red-eyed youth and the Italian ancillary. "See? Nothing to worry about."

Spitefully showing his tongue at the two dolls, the dark-blue haired rogue kicked one of their butts, but a stunning sight emerged before them at the temple's entrance that caught the preteen's attention completely.

The woman arriving before them from within the building was of stunning beauty, her unscathed skin of light texture and her brown eyes sporting a caring gaze. Long, curly black hair rained down her head from beneath her pulled dark veil and a friendly smile not too exaggerated with curiosity expressed a welcome without words. The influence of Greek mythology made its impact in what would otherwise be a nun outfit through the white coloring of her cloak, golden bracelets in each wrist and a Pisces symbol necklace in place of a rosary.

She carried a single black rose, which seemed to twirl itself around her hand rather than being held. A short bow was given at the not much younger warrior. "Welcome, Saint Cancer. I am maiden Elisa, guardian of the Pisces Temple. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Having expected an old crone in nun outfit, Deathmask was flabbergasted at the sight of the beautiful, young woman whose smile and kind look made his face go red and heart beat fast.

"H-hi, my name is Mephisto! I'm in charge of this assignment. How are you doing?" he rushed over to her, sporting the most charming smile he could form. "Lance over there is the Cancer Saint, but he's just here to help out, as you could see from him carrying me so I wouldn't get tired. What is your nam- I mean, you're very prett- I mean, I-"

Elisa couldn't help but chuckle a bit at the clumsy flirt of the young teen in front of her. "It's wonderful to meet you, young Mephisto. Are you a student of Saint Lance?"

"NO… Although he says I'm more talented than him."

"I thought you said you wanted to be called Deathmask." interrupted Lance.

Mephisto saw the taken aback look on the maiden's face. "What, no! I wouldn't pick such a terrible name even though it's so cool! I am Mephisto, as in Mephistopheles! It's a fancy name my parents gave me. So…y-you're in charge of this temple, huh?"

Lance pushed the boy aside before he made even more of a fool of himself and addressed the Maiden. He went just as red as the boy, though, when she turned to him. It was true that she was strikingly beautiful; lacking most flaws in both figure and face that most mortals would show.

"Maiden Elisa…" He carefully paced his wording so as to not stutter. "I am, indeed, Cancer Lance. I have been sent by the Pope to retrieve trainee Aphrodite. I've been told he's reaching the end of his training and should soon receive the Pisces Gold Cloth."

The Maiden nodded somberly. "I see… So the Pope has judged Aphrodite as ready to receive the Cloth. I suppose the inevitable has happened."

Lance squinted. "I would share with you reservations as I'm not a fan of bringing children to the Twelve Temples myself, but how did you know I was Cancer? I announced myself to the island as the Pegasus Saint."

There was an apologizing gesture from her hand. "Well, Saint Lance, I lived with a Gold Saint well before you ever became Cancer. Before he turned his back on Sanctuary during the Civil War, Pisces Aeneas inhabited this Temple with me." She then presented the black rose in her hand. "We grew roses like this together for years… I would never fail to recognize a cosmos like his."

The Cancer Saint hummed knowingly, having gathered by now that the Third Civil War was still fresh in the minds of many people in Sanctuary, even though he himself knew so little about it. "I see, so you were close to one of Daniel's comrades."

She calmly nodded, making Lance wonder how much of an effort she was making to not betray her nostalgia "Yes, so much I knew you were a Gold Saint the moment I felt your cosmos. As for the constellation, I'm afraid a simple look at your information when I learned of your future arrival was enough to guess your horoscope sign. I hope you pardon the impertinence, but it is my responsibility to protect this temple from strangers…as well as the other way around."

Taken off guard by the woman's perception, Lance staggered and felt disarmed, but her mention of the temple itself being dangerous to strangers piqued his interest. His eyes glanced at the black rose in her fingers. "So it's true that you grow Demon Roses here, then?"

"Correct, Saint Lance, but do not worry, this one isn't poisonous." She assured, though she stored away the black flower to calm the Saint. "Only those with the blood of the Goddess can grow the roses - Aphrodite, for example. It's far too dangerous for anyone else to handle them."

Though he wondered what the maiden meant with the 'Goddess' blood', the hint of emotion in her voice denounced something more pertinent. "You seem saddened by his departure."

"No, I understand the Pope's decision. I knew this day would come sooner or later." she said, her tone saddening once more ever so slightly, like a sigh was being held back at all costs. She waved her hand towards the entrance of the temple. "Would you like to come inside? I'm sure you're anxious for a proper update on Aphrodite."

The two of them nodded, Mephisto far more energetically than Lance, and followed the young woman into the temple's halls and corridors.

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

Their eyes looked around in curiosity. The divisions of the Pisces Temple were spacious and built in stone, allowing air currents and sunlight to flow freely into the corridors from the doors and windows. The very air had a freshness and warmth to it that seemed as inviting to flowers as to visitors. Their steps on the patterned rock floor echoed loudly in the divisions, bringing back memories of Christian cathedrals to the two arrivals.

"I hope you didn't have too much trouble getting here. The labyrinth can be misleading and… tiring." said the Maiden as she guided them.

"It was fine." assured the Saint. "I'm guessing you don't have a lot of visits because of it."

She shook her head. "Life in this temple is, unfortunately, a lonely one. It's an unfortunate requirement for someone who seeks to obtain the favor of Pisces to distance himself from the outside world. I must remember to offer you a blessing so you won't have as much trouble on your way back to Chrysanthos."

The first thing that caught their eye were the large paintings in the walls of scenes pertaining the mythology of the Goddess of love and the Pisces constellation. It didn't take long for Mephisto to spot the one depicting the myth Lance spoke of earlier, showing a red-haired woman weeping over a dying naked man as white flowers turned red beneath him from her tears.

Though Mephisto was trying his best to catch the beautiful Maiden's attention and impress her with his insight on the Pisces constellation, it was taking every bit of willpower he had to not yawn at full force with the dullness of the place.

The glint of gold, however, brought a shine to his eyes when he spotted the valuable objects stored here and there in the rooms and shelves the group passed by, such as ceremonial cups, twin fish statuettes, bracelets, necklaces and even a locked cellar door that was probably filled with vintage alcohol.

"Wow, this place is packed!" It should be, after all; Deathmask was no longer dealing with those boorish catholic churches bent on austerity. Greek temples were obviously filled with treasure ripe for appropriation. His plan to create a distraction formed itself along with his naughty smile. He had to make sure Miss Elisa didn't catch him. Lance too, but especially Miss Elisa.

"So, Miss Elisa, my assistant has been wondering for the longest about the history of this temple. Would you mind telling him in detail everything about it?" He then feigned wisdom. "I'd explain it to him, but Lance pays, like, zero attention to anything I say."

The Maiden's lips quirked upwards rather unexpectedly, her favorite topic brought to light before Lance could even protest Mephisto's suggestion. "Is that so, Saint Lance? I wouldn't mind telling you about it. I've spent my life studying the topics of the twelfth constellation, after all. I can recite most events of this island from heart."

Lance shook his hand desperately as Mephisto attempted to sneak the first few silver forks into his pocket. "Wait, I don't really think-"

"The Isle of Gardens was formed in the age of Myth, being originally a piece of the Hesperides fields, Hera's great garden of the West." she explained, the sadness of Aphrodite's situation disappearing from her face. "Once upon a time a great king of Europe tried to steal a piece of it for himself, to add to his extensive realm, by using his fleet to pull it from the Atlas Mountains across the Mediterranean. The Gods, insulted by his hubris, created currents around the island midway through the pull, trapping the piece in the sea. The golden apples stopped growing on this island, but the goddess of love allowed roses to be born instead."

"How interesting;" Hissed Mephisto as his hand discreetly searched the nearby furniture for more to take. "Tell us more, Miss Elisa."

"Well that explains the currents keeping this place from being found, but Maiden Elisa, I'm afraid I'd like to get things over with." He folded his arms resolutely. "You can tell me all about the wonderful mysteries of this place once I ascertain Aphrodite's situation. Can you take me to him? Where is he?"

The happiness was wiped off the woman's face, who nodded obediently. "…I understand. Forgive me, Saint Lance." The woman, however, had something in mind. "Unfortunately, Saint Lance,…. Before I take you to Aphrodite, I must speak to you of him… in private. Would you mind stepping into my study?"

Suspicious of her intentions, the Cancer Saint pondered his choices. He could insist more harshly since he was getting the feeling he was being led by a string, but what harm could there be in accepting and finding out more about the Gold Saint he was recruiting?

He looked over to Deathmask, who quickly pulled his hands back to his pocket from the shelves and tried to look innocent. "Mephisto, stay around here and don't wonder off. I'll be right back. Do NOT touch anything."

The kid nodded wide-eyed. "…Sure….I'll be good….I'll just… take a look around these books." He assured, looking over the textbook covers on gardening and mythology.

Lance eyed him narrowly, suspicious, but decided to give him a vote of trust and followed the Maiden inside her study.

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

Maiden Elisa offered the Saint a seat by her desk. The study room was as illuminated and pleasant as the rest of the religious complex, the thin, pale curtains opened to let in the natural light on her opened books. The young lady was obviously a person of studies, as the walls were even more filled with text and thick works of literate than most of the rooms they passed by. A rather unique, beautiful white rose that caught the eye of someone even as pragmatic and aloof to plants as Lance was placed in a glass bottle on top of the desk along with a number of pens lined up by size and color.

She cleared her throat, her brown eyes wavering left as if she feared the topic of talk she knew vital to speak of. "Saint Lance, I am… very well aware of the fact you have been most likely personally ordered by the Pope to come take Aphrodite to Sanctuary."

"You know of the urgency implied, then, and that there's zero tolerance for bullshit!" Lance sharply added.

She staggered, making him feel bad. The Maiden was most likely just looking after the trainee. There was no need for him to be mean. "I see, but I take it you haven't been… enlightened of the Pisces Cloth's Path?"

This caught his interest. "No, I have not, actually. Is there something wrong? Has Aphrodite jeopardized his Cloth's approval somehow?"

"On the contrary, Saint Lance, everything is going perfectly for him. The natural connection Aphrodite has with Pisces is the strongest I've ever seen. Stronger than mine and definitely stronger than Aeneas'…" She somberly looked out the window, from where she could see the many gardens the youth had planted over the years around the temple. "…and that is exactly the problem."

Lance blinked, intrigued for the first time by the situation. "Maiden Elisa… what are you trying to say?"

She touched her Pisces necklace symbol to stand it out. "As you probably know, the root of the twelfth constellation is Aphrodite's namesake, the Greek Goddess of Love, as well as her son, Eros. Most people would imagine then the Gold Saints representing her to be caring people… but when one's heart already burns in the blooming red beauty of the demon roses, which jealously put an end to all life that dares to gaze upon them, do you think the soul that flowers them truly loves?"

Lance stared at her, trying to curtail the message she was trying to pass on.

She continued, her gaze wavering downwards as if expressing the torment in the trainee's soul. "Have you ever seen a Demon Rose, Saint Lance?"

He shook his head. "If anything Saint Libra tells me about them is true, it is most fortunately that I say I haven't."

As if it somehow struck home as a personal joke, her lips quivered for just an instant before resuming her explanation. "I'll describe them to you the best way I can; they are perfect in their beauty, for they are the Goddess' sorrow and blood. Much like the deity who loathes contact with mortals the most beautiful plants in this world will kill you for merely being in their presence. First, they rob you of the very senses that you've had the audacity to enjoy them with, turning your vision dark, your hearing muzzled and your throat burned with the scent you smelled from them."

"That… sounds a lot like Scarlet Needle."

Educated in Gold Saint arts, Maiden Elisa couldn't agree more. "And much like the Scorpio's sting, it will torture you after robbing you of your senses. If you aren't lucky enough to be merely affected by their perfume, but also scratched by their thorns, the poison that seeps into your bloodstream will paralyze your muscles and send your brain into a state of shock. Unlike with Scorpio's needle, you won't bleed a single drop, but the pain that follows across your body will be just as agonizing. You will scream, but your bloated tongue will not be able to utter a sound…"

"Are there antidotes?"

And as if her description was not creepy enough already, a final point was made on the Demon Rose's depravity. "There are, but that depends if there is anything left to save from the poison."

"What? What do you mean?"

Her hand reached for tome in her shelf, which she opened on an imaged page in front of him. The gloved finger pointed at the drawing of a terrified Saint dropping to his knees on a garden of red roses that seemed to be wrapped around his arms. "The final stage; consumption. If you survive the perfume, the scratches and the pain, Demon rose gardens have been known to…envelop victims unlucky enough to fall in the midst of them… and leave little behind."

Lance staggered with this, gulping in nervousness. "Are you telling me these things eat people?!"

"Not at all, Saint Lance, for eating implies itself as an act of sustenance. Demon roses do not feed on flesh, however it is that they dissolve their victims, so the final stage is an act of pure murder."

The ruby colored eyes stared at the drawing, imagining the act of consumption live in his mind, including the confused look of shock and fear in the paralyzed Saint unable to scream for help as the thorny vines and red jewels of plants slowly enveloped him.

The Maiden easily saw the uneasiness in him. "It's hard to imagine such a thing to have come from a Goddess of Love's cry, is it not?"

"...It is." Lance put away the book, disturbed the imagery. "What of Aphrodite? How does he handle these things?" He recalled the earlier points of their conversation. "You spoke of him needing the Goddess' blood in him."

Sitting down at her desk, she rested chin on intertwined fingers and spoke of the protégé. "Six years ago, shortly after the Pisces Cloth was finally recovered from the Civil War, a four year old child was brought from Sweden to Sanctuary by the Pope and then to me to look after. He was smart, focused, dedicated and delicate. I sheltered him from the world, allowing him contact with the villagers but keeping him away from the soldiers and trainees visiting the island. I could see an inner fragility inside him that I desperately wanted to protect."

Obviously assuming a coming twist in the story, Lance inquired more. "How did he fare?"

Her eyes closed. "The villagers were… nice. They are used to the island and know of the Temple's ways. They did not bother him. However, over time it became obvious even to them that the child was not normal; a young boy who barely laughed, felt cold to the talk and shared almost no interest with anyone his age. On top of it all the time he spent in the gardens seemed abnormal, even for a candidate for Pisces."

"Like his predecessor, Pisces Aeneas?"

"Yes, but even the quietest of children talks enthusiastically of that one interest he shares with no one. Aphrodite, however, spoke of the gardens to no one. Though he affirmed them as the one thing he found sense in, he shared his passion with anyone but me. For you see, it was not that Aphrodite was unusually quiet…"

Lance's eyes narrowed as the truth dawned upon him. "… but more like he found no one worth talking too?" he dared to complete.

The maiden nodded, her slow blinking transmitting a tiredness associated to the predicament. "Saint Lance,… Aphrodite is an inherently cruel child who has naturally distanced himself from other people due to an inability to associate with them. To him other people are little more than a waste of his time. The natural warmth he would have as a human instead manifests itself in the care he gives to his Demon Roses. It's his only outlet of love..."

Silence replaced the talk between the moments that Lance spent contemplating her words. He shook his head furiously. "I find that all hard to believe! I've met cruel and evil people in Sanctuary before, but how can you be so sure of something like that?"

"I have watched over him all these years, Saint Lance. I know him better than anyone."

"Well, he talks to you, doesn't he?!"

She stood back up and guided him out of her desk, having already shared the gist of her point. "I… understand that he sees some value in me, who has guided him, fed him and taught him so much. I may be the only person in the world he sees as an equal, but perhaps only because I, too, breed the roses." This notion caused her to sadden visibly. "I know you might not understand Saint Lance, but… Aphrodite is not ready to be a Gold Saint."

"Are you ready to tell that to the Pope?!" Lance confronted. "I don't know if you've noticed, but he sent a freaking Gold Saint to fetch him. I'm not sure if Arles is expecting a 'no' from you as much as he's expecting me to nuke your island at the slightest hint of resistance."

Maiden Elisa, surprisingly, straightened her pose confidently, her eyes narrowing in what Lance could only assume to be a motherly protective stance before the ultimatum. "You are a young Saint, Cancer Lance, but you must already know the delicacy of the matter at hand. Surely you must see somewhere in your heart that in times of peace, a small lineage can be given to matters of principle and kindness. Will you then expose Sanctuary to an unready Pisces Saint of troubled heart? All I ask… is for more time."

Sighing loudly and folding his arms, Lance, reminded of past insanities regarding the Gold Cloths and Shion, couldn't help but take a frustrated second and think things over. With the Maiden's words in mind, the first thing that popped into his mind was Karkinos and the way it constantly tried to lure Lance into darker ways. For the sake of tradition, pride as a Cloth or simply for being creepy as fuck, the golden crab had demonstrated over time that becoming a Gold Saint had more effects on you than the prestige and power; the very character of the Saint would be constantly under test.

All she was asking was some consideration and time, how bad could it be? "What exactly do you have in mind?"

"Aphrodite has grown cold and heart-broken. He has an empty soul raised in a world that expects an empathy he lacks completely. This has confused and angered him over the years, but there is still a part inside of him that can live with others harmlessly; I know there is! Before the frustration others cause him and the Pisces Cloth's whispers cause him to completely withdraws his attention to his gardens… I wanted to instill in him a basic sense of ideals." An idea came to her. "Perhaps if you meet him? Perhaps if you see how absorbed he is you'll know for sure he hasn't overcome the Cloth's influence yet."

Lance rubbed his head. "I don't know what you're expecting me to do… It's not like I can go against Arles' orders." Mephisto's case then sprang into his mind. It wasn't like he adopted the child expecting Shion to fully embrace the idea, but he had clear instructions to ensure Aphrodite's smooth and swift arrival to the Golden Zodiac. He didn't have a lot of room to maneuver in his mission.

Yet, he couldn't bring himself to be that inflexible. He had demanded too much integrity from others over the years to be that kind of guy.

She gave him a 'what will it be?' look.

He gave in. "I can't guarantee you more than a few days. I'll talk to him and see for myself what kind of person Aphrodite is. After that… I'm afraid I'll have to carry out His Holiness' orders."

She smiled warmly. "Thank you, I'm sure it will be enough."

Lance looked around as he left the study. "Wait… Where the hell did Mephisto go?!"

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Mephisto walked straight into the temple complex central garden, looking for more concealable loot. From the looks of it he hit the exact opposite of the jackpot. All he saw everywhere he looked were roses which he prayed to all the Gods Lance was yet to teach him about they weren't the famous Demon Roses that killed with their scent.

At least the paths between the gardening grounds allowed him to move around safely. All he had to do was stay clear of the stupid plants and he'd be able to swiftly move between the main corridors of the Pisces Temple, get all the bling he could carry and be back by the Maiden's office in time for their long talk to end.

It then occurred to him. "Shit, I can't sell these things! Those morons in Sanctuary are probably gonna recognize the origin just from looking at these stupid fish logos. I have to get rid of this loot!... But I don't remember anymore where I picked up half of this stuff…" he looked around at the rose bushes. "DUH! Geez, Lance is right! I am a moron!"

The child proceeded to toss out all the cups, utensils and objects he had taken that carried the slightest sign of coming from the Pisces Temple in the isle of Gardens to the roses, disarranging the carefully planted and assorted vegetation in the process and even crushing a few flowers and arrangements while at it.

He jumped back at the sight of red petals kicked up in the chaos. "Agh, stupid flowers! Seriously, who the hell plants roses that can kill you?!" He took a look at the pens. "No insignia, no pattern… I guess I can sell these off as 'family heirlooms' for extra credit…"

A step was heard behind him. "…What are you doing?"

Mephisto practically screamed but calmed down when he realized that, in place of the Maiden or even an infuriated Cancer Saint, a cyan haired girl with a beauty mark stood in front of him. "Oh, you scared the shit out of me. I thought you were someone else. I'm just… putting up some Christmas decorations."

The girl stared at the destroyed plants. "So it was you… These took a long time to grow, you know? They were showered with a lot of love…"

Mephisto scratched his head. "Sorry… Can I… buy you ice cream to make it up for you?" He smirked naughtily. The girl was really, really pretty, perhaps even more than maiden Elisa. "Hey babe, I'm Deathmask, future Saint of Cancer. What's your name?"

The girl gave him a poisonous look. "It's Aphrodite, future Saint of Pisces!" he revealed before something red slivered down his hand. "And instead of an ice cream, how about I take your life!"

Mephisto gasped and Aphrodite unleashed an attack, striking the young kid's throat.

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Chapter End

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Next Chapter: Ghouls n'Roses – Part 3 of 4

Description: In Spain, Shura makes the last finishing touches to his training while in the Isle of Gardens Lance arrives on the scene of the central garden and gets a front row seat to Aphrodite's deadly side.

Author's Note: I originally intended to cover a lot more ground in this chapter, but the pacing of progress prohibited it, forcing me to extend this mission to a four-part rather than a three one. This will allow him to characterize the main trio of characters, Deathmask, Aphrodite and Elisa, far more adequately and at my own pace.

It took me a while to get the ideas in order for this whole assignment, but I was able to think up how to process the most important scenes and in which order so the chapter was actually complete ahead of time. I actually wish more establishment chapters flowed as well as this one.