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.

73. 3A: Demotions and Departures

Notable OCs: Pegasus Lance's Saint Generation, Civil War Saint Generation, World War Saint Generation, Daemon Lucifer's Specters, Maiden Elisa, Priam's Black Saints; Cyrulian Refugees

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

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

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

Author Notes:

-This chapter has been betaread by Siena. Sorry my flight to Poland got cancelled;

-I will be thinking of publishing the story in AO3 in the near future, though not necessarily in the same order as it was here. I guess look forward to that;

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"The False Holy War, as the conflict started by Daemon Lucifer became known, changed Sanctuary's outlook on their prospects for the late 20th century. It was the second major conflict in little more than 10 years to not involve a deity attacking Sanctuary. Instead, it was just humans being as violent to each other as Athena hoped they wouldn't be. Again.

Coming off the heels of World War 2, the atom bomb and nuclear detonation tests, it's easy to understand why Lucifer's attack on Sanctuary ruffled some feathers. He even reached the Colossus. Someone had to pay for it.

And of course that 'someone' would be me and my friends.

Looking back on it, I realize how it was an omen of things to come. War itself was changing for Sanctuary. Gods were taking an increasingly smaller role in these all-out brutalities because we, humans, started to realize our own potential. It's interesting how it took the world wars and the exhaustion of Sanctuary's history to fall on our shoulders, rather than we discovering we could move at lightspeed and shatter diamonds in our hands, for us to realize that, perhaps, we had a bigger role to play in the world than we thought. That perhaps the fate of the world, all along, was entirely in our hands, rather than Athena's.

The question was; who would seize upon that potential? Who would assume that greater role? And would it be for evil or for good?"

-Sagittarius Aiolos' reflections on the post-Daemon Sanctuary, dated shorty before his death.

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January 1977

One month after the False Holy War

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Underworld,

4th Circle,

Giudecca Palace

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The Underworld stars shone brightly as always in the Underworld's stark landscape. After the hardships and betrayals of Lucifer's campaign against Arles, a new year had begun in the surface world, and so had a new era in Hades' sub-realm. With triumphant trumpets sounding at the palace's doors and flags of the Circle mansions waving high, the gates of Giudecca were opened to the three arrivers, who diligently headed for the throne room.

There, they were welcomed by a luxurious court of gargoyles and purple tapestries, where they knelt before the Emperor.

Flanked by Pandora, the doll behind the curtain rose his milky, fake eyes at them. "Welcome, my Judges. Thank you for your expedience."

The first on the far right, from Norway, with a dark blue avian armor bowed his head with a confident smile. "Gryphon Minos, at your disposal, your honor. Do you require my judgement on any matter?"

The English one in the center bowed as well, his rapine golden eyes stern and his draconic wings imposing. "Wyvern Rhadamanthys lives to serve you, my Emperor. Which enemy would you like destroyed?"

The third in the far left, Nepalese, practically bowed his entire upper body, as if to surpass the first two in devotion, yet his tone was far humbler. "Garuda Aiacos waits your command, lord Hades."

The doll turned to the raven-haired woman by his side. "And, of course, my beloved sister, Pandora."

She stepped up with a proud, happy smile. "I live to serve you, brother! Anything you wish, I'll make true!"

"You have all been summoned to my court for one simple reason;" the doll spoke, his tone pitched by his small body, yet authoritative. "To begin our crusade for justice against Sanctuary."

The three Judges nodded in unison. "Yes, Emperor!"

"As you know, a month has passed since the… awful betrayal I have suffered." Hades shuddered, earning a comforting touch from Pandora's hand on his shoulder. "Yet, thanks to your efforts and that of the revived Specters, my true Specters, my Prisons are back in order, freeing our hands to continue to cleanse the world of the sin of human existence. However, we are not free of troubles… of which I mean to count on each of you to solve."

The three Judges nodded obediently and again spoke in unison. "Point us at them, and they shall be eliminated, Emperor."

With a wave of his hand, the Emperor manifested in the mere air above them an image, like a vision of ether, of Pandora's Earthly Castle surrounded by a Sanctuary army.

"My sister's home, as you know, continues to be cruelly besieged by Pope Arles' forces. No matter how much the innocence of the Specters from the attack Sanctuary suffered is proven, our main doorway to the surface remains blocked by his vandals." Hades lamented, eyeing the Saints in the illusion with disdain. "Moreover, with Lucifer gone, I am lacking a military commander. For the first time in half a millennium, no Prince commands the Specters."

Wyvern Rhadamanthys rose his head at this. "Worry not, Emperor! We need no Princes! Trust us, your Judges, with the Specters, and we shall see victory achieved faster and more brutally than those two ever could!"

Minos smirked to himself in silence at this boast, reminded of the catastrophe Rhadamanthys caused in the Alps. If only Rhadamanthys realized how foolish he sounded sometimes.

"Rhadamanthys, your devotion is touching" Hades complimented "but I wish you not to be put at risk. I shall distribute their authority evenly down to you four for now. Pandora…"

Pandora perked up. "Of course, brother?"

"Since Sanctuary has ignored my olive branches, you will be the voice of reason that pushes these Saints out of my domain." Hades declared. His cosmos then shined red, empowering them. "They station their hoplite battalions right in front of my domain, thinking I am weak… but with the prisons stabilized, Pandora can count on my strength, meek as it is, to push the barrier of the castle further beyond. Teach these arrogant Saints that violence on my doorstep will not be tolerated!"

The woman felt the cosmos invading her through her snake ring like an electric chill, as if the Grim reaper himself embraced her, blessing her authority over the barrier.

The touch of her trident was now electrifying, thrilling a smile of excitement into her lips. "Of course, brother! Not an ounce of your blessings will be wasted."

The puppet turned to the center Judge. "Rhadamanthys, you will be accompany Pandora and be the hammer that pushes these worthless Saints out of my lands. Leave none alive."

Rhadamanthys banged his fist on his chestplate proudly. "Don't worry, my Emperor, barrier or not, me and my men will crush these hoplites back to their fortresses!"

"One more thing, for this assignment, I would like you to make use of Brute Star."

Rhadamanthy's eyes widened. "W… What? But Emperor, he-"

"The Terrestrial Brute Star has sworn to assist me in my Holy Wars. Consider this a test to his loyalty." Hades affirmed, silencing Rhadamanthys. "Go fulfill your mission. And remember…The more souls you free, the less sins will be continued on Earth."

Pandora and Rhadamanthys bowed obediently and departed from the room, vanishing like ghosts in the shadows.

The doll then turned to the bird-armored Judge. "Minos, you will stay here, in the Underworld, and command the garrisons guarding the passages while continuing your duties at the First Prison. I will not tolerate more infiltrations that we have suffered already, be it from the Well of Urd, the Yomotsu Hirasaka or any other crack into my domain."

"Rest assured, Emperor," Minos said, keeping his shadowed eyes low. "- that the Prisons will be protected. For as long as I command the garrisons, the Lemurian rat Rhadamanthys caught will be last vermin that entered your house."

As Minos also vanished in the shadows of Giudecca, the doll turned to his final guest. "Garuda Aiacos…"

The Asian Judge kept his head low. "Yes, Emperor?"

"Your responsibilities will be the highest of the three, I'm afraid. I have a special assignment for you. One of extreme importance and discretion." Hades warned. "It's weight it so that it actually pains me to burden you such, but out of my three Judges your talents are… uniquely fit for it."

Aiacos rose his eyes at the doll behind the curtain. "Emperor, you need only ask."

Hades smiled maliciously.

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Shortly Afterwards,

Germany, Heinstein Castle Fields

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Even a month after the triumph over the False Specters, the Sanctuary encampment outside of Pandora's castle was as vigilant as it was fortified, keeping watch over the large gothic fortification with nearly five hundred Hoplites and Saints from Sanctuary possessions all over the world, though mainly the Austrian fortress of Peloponesia. After so many weeks of work, though, the encampment was much more advanced, with contravallations facing the castle to further squeeze its access to the rest of the surface world, mounted ballistae, a steady supply line, troop refreshment and even a clearing of the terrain between it and the castle for any potential battle.

They would have dug the traditional 'cooking tunnels' Saint Kirin used against Cyrulian fortresses during the Priam War, but given the bottomless chasm surrounding the Heinsten Castle that belched green hellish fire every few minutes, that seemed like a pointless idea.

At the main tent, Fort Commander Ionia pointed at a map they created of the fortress's layout and spoke to the two veterans sitting in front of it. "Lord Kirin, Lord Malta, I believe we can create a breach in the castle if we strike it asymmetrically. I've had the men secretly build makeshift bridges with fireproof bottoms to cross the chasm. A blow to this section of the walls will give us the surprise element over the Specters."

Malta and Kirin, respectively the former Gold Saints of Aquarius and Capricorn, exchanged exasperated looks.

"Fort Commander, your initiative is admirable, but we still have no intention to do assaults of any kind. We've gone over this a hundred times!" Kirin started. "The problem isn't the chasm, it's the blasted barrier."

"Even Kirin's Tempest Sword was reduced to a whisp of cosmos by it." Malta recalled, having seen the attack devastate entire landscapes of Gold-ranked enemies. "Even the mightiest Gold Saint, reduced to a tenth of his strength, is easy prey to a Celestial Star."

But Commander Ionia shook his head and gasped. "My lords, that's precisely why we must strike! Imagine their overconfidence, safe in the knowledge we fear their barrier!"

Kirin folded arms and narrowed his rapine eyes. "No, Commander Ionia, imagine the bloodshed of all the soldiers that will die nicking their spears on armor ten times stronger than them."

"Even without the barrier, there would still be pointless carnage." Malta explained for the hundredth time. "If the intel from Greece is verified, then Hades might really not be responsible for the attacks perpetrated on us and we'd be triggering a costly Holy War without need."

Ionia banged his huge hands on the table softly, trying to balance assertiveness with respect. "Lord Malta, I implore you! It's precisely because we know the Underworld is weak from its schism that we should attack while we still can! Imagine the lives we'll save in the future if Holy War with Hades begins with us already holding his Castle!" Finding that the damn Aquarius would not budge, Ionia turned to his Zodiac-peer for sympathy. "Lord Kirin, surely you agree?"

While a bit of a blood knight himself, Kirin knew better, though. "That we can take the castle? Of course. But then what? Even if we do succeed, it doesn't mean that blasted barrier will go away. We'll be stuck holding a passage to the Underworld we cannot cross or destroy, in territory that cuts our cosmos down to a tenth. Any force we garrison there with will be ambushed and massacred from the inside within nights."

Ionia scoffed, irritated at their resistance, but it was difficult to argue with Lord Kirin's points. "We can't go back to Fort Peloponnesia empty-handed, milords. Not after the risks we took, the men we lost at the Aries Temple, the dead at Crow's Nest!…Certainly if we just breach it, we can find a way to block or perhaps booby-trap that blasted passage?!"

The pragmatic Malta's jaw-dropped. "Did he not hear a word you just said? Is he worried about the men or his own career?"

"Whichever the case, if it were so simple to block Specters from entering the surface, we wouldn't have needed Sanctuary around for all these thousands of years." Kirin pointed out.

"ALERT! ALERT!" a hoplite shouted, running inside the tent. "Apologies, commanders, but the enemy is on the move!"

The three veterans immediately ended the argument and rushed outside, their mental combat protocols engaged and putting on their basic armor protections. While none of them had Cloths, it didn't mean they couldn't make use of the basic iron-stardust alloy usually given to the foot soldiers, which was junk compared to a Bronze Cloth powered by a constellation but still better than nothing.

They climbed the wooden palisade of their encampment and eyed the castle. "What's the situation?" Kirin demanded to know, ready to pull Excalibur.

The hoplites pointed at the enemy barbican, where the indistinguishable female figure of Pandora, as well as the draconic armor of Wyvern, were visible along with an amassment of Specter troops.

Pandora confidently showed herself, tempting Sanctuary's sniper archers. "Men of Athena,… you've all soiled my homeland for long enough. The Emperor has generously given you every chance to prove your 'peaceful' intentions, yet day after day you refuse to budge your siege, blaming us for Daemon Lucifer's crusade."

Ionia growled at the sight of the woman, remembering past humiliations. "That heretic witch! How dare she?! False or not, those were still Specters that attacked us! She should be burned at the pyre for those lies! Which Underworld dog let that woman out of her tower, anyway?!"

"Easy, commander." Kirin stoically demanded.

Malta sweated. If only Ionia knew how much he was insulting Kirin right now…

Pandora showed off her trident as if presenting regalia. "But no more! My land will be free of your sinful presence! And the Emperor's wrath will be felt by all who insist to stay here but a second longer! Saints of Athena… prepare to be cleansed."

A hoplite by the ex-Gold-Saints' side laughed. "What is she gonna do? Toss that stupid fork of hers at us? With Lords Malta and Kirin here, all of the Underworld's forces COMBINED couldn't kick us out."

Malta, however, squinted. "I don't like this! Why is Pandora suddenly so confident? We are way past the barrier's reach. Unless…" his eyes then widened when he sensed a terrible cosmos gathering in her trident. "EVERYONE, ORDER A FALLBACK!"

Kirin was startled, but years of experience with Malta had developed a mechanized trust in the former Aquarius Saint's instincts. "You heard Malta! Pick up your weapons and organize a retreat to the fallback line, NOW!"

Pandora chuckled, seeing the Saints and hoplites in the besieging camp suddenly scurry around like frightened ants. "So, they are not as ignorant as I presumed? Still…" and she rose her trident, which shone like a crimson star. "It is too late! LORD HADES! Lend us your might! Extend your veil of death to its full span so we can bless these profligates with death!"

As the Saints and hoplites tried to follow Malta's order, the ruby in Pandora's trident burst out a massive, dark shockwave that roused the green fires encircling the castle and shook the air, bashing against the walls of Hades' barrier so as to push them out. With much strain to the woman, who bravely held the powerful object above her head like a burning torch, the terrible cosmos released by this continued to surge, pushing the barrier out and out and out…

Until, eventually, the invisible feeling in the air reached the contravallations, then the camp walls, then the tents, making all the men of Athena suddenly feel a ghastly weight in their souls that pressed down on their 7th sense. Many had to drop the great weights of equipment they tried to pick up in a hurry, while some of the weaker ones even gasped and held their chests like the cold hand of death had gripped their hearts upon finding themselves inside the barrier's reach.

Ionia held his neck, feeling short of breath. "W… What has she done?! Is this… the barrier?! But we're s-supposed to be out of…!"

Malta struggled to focus, gritting teeth. "K-Kirin, take the men out of here now!"

Burning golden cosmos, the Capricorn nodded, charged an Excalibur slash and cut a path out of the fort to the north. He stirred at how diminished it was from his regular attacks, but waved at the scorched road he crafted anyway. "Q-QUICK, EVERYONE, INTO THE PASS!"

Surrounded by dark forces, Pandora chuckled at this sight, lowering her trident. Two armored men in particular flanked her. "Rhadamanthys? Brute Star? Show our unpleasant guests the way out."

All the Saints felt was a great burst of darkness flowing out of the barbican and suddenly, among them, Judge Wyvern Rhadamanthys roared like an enraged dragon, crashing through the contravallation towers with a dark diving kick and slaughtering his way through the forward ranks. He was joined by countless Specters that swarmed out of the castle gate, including a massive one destroying the fortifications with mere swings of his arms. Screams of helpless hoplites being cut apart by currents of dark energy were heard and blood began splashing on the ground.

Kirin escorted the troops out and saw the Aquarius lag behind as he escorted the troops out. "MALTA!"

"I'll S-STOP THEM! Someone has to delay them or we'll get all massacred!"

Kirin hesitated, seeing the massacre already occurring beyond Malta, but he nodded. "Don't fucking die, you nerd!" and he rushed out, practically beaming entire scores of soldiers out of the area with the little sub-light speed he could still use.

Drenched in hoplite blood, Rhadamanthys presented himself before Malta, his breath steaming and his fists wrapped in tornados of cosmos. Immediately, the meeting of eyes sparked a clash in the cosmos itself, projecting the images of Ganymede and the great northern dragon facing against eachother in the skies.

His hungry golden gaze detected the energy building up in the red-haired man. "You should have followed the cowards… Aquarius."

The red-haired veteran scoffed. "So, you know my old rank, wyrm? Am I supposed to be impressed?"

The Judge's blood pumped, feeling subconscious visions of a long past Lost Canvas battle, and he held chest nostalgically. "There's something in my Surplice that remembers your filthy cosmos… perhaps in my past life in the Emperor's service I massacred a predecessor of yours? What do you say, Saint of Athena?" and Rhadamanthys' cosmos surged dangerously, dwarfing Malta's diminished forces. "Shall we make history rhyme?"

A golden brim surrounded Malta as well as he saw the Judge's Specters join him. Educated as he was, he knew the event Rhadamanthys spoke of. "Do you think me a martyr? I have no intention of dying here, Wyvern Rhadamanthys… and you will find me a much greater opponent than Degél."

Unleashing an ear-piercing shriek worthy of the most infernal of wyrms, Rhadamanthys made his purple aura explode like a geyser of death and focused all his power on his right arm. "GREATEST…-"

"BURN, OH COSMOS! SHIELD THE WORLD FROM THIS FLOOD OF DARKNESS!" Malta called out, raising his arms with diamond powder energy coursing unto his hands.

The judge thrust his palm out, shooting an explosive shower of dark wind beams. "-…CAUTION!"

Malta then smashed his palms together "MIRROR WALL!" and there was a massive burst of white light that collided with Greatest Caution's beam shower and blinded the entire battlefield, including Pandora in her barbican. The many Specters screamed in this flood of light, feeling their bodies turn into ice from the inside out, and the entire battlefield cracked, collapsed and cratered under the force of the cosmic clash.

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The Following Day

Sanctuary, Green Valley

Stardust Prison, Floor 8F

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Bringing the Pegasus Cloth Box by his side and escorted by a small company of hoplites, Arles III, Pope of Sanctuary, watched the elevator's floor marker make its arrow slowly swing to the left, indicating lower and lower floors below the surface. It was a spacious lift meant to take in large groups of prisoners at once, or perhaps a hand truck of a single chained person carefully escorted by many men of Sanctuary to their deserved floor of imprisonment. It was also suspended in a much wider downward shaft, rather than compacted in it, giving the elevator's move a slightly nauseous swing every time it made its way up or down that really upset Shion's aged stomach. This unfortunate amount of room was so that, in the event of the elevator having to be paralyzed, escapees couldn't use lightspeed to scale or beam off any nearby walls to make their way up.

After all, the cosmos could let you do a lot of things but unless you had a Cloth with wings, flying wasn't one of them.

Going down, down and down to ever darker recesses of the abandoned stardust mine passages felt even to the Pope like descending to the Underworld itself. He should know, having visited the actual place. This atmosphere was the reason many feared the Stardust Tower and, by extension, Sanctuary's law; for it could very easily subject you to one of the most claustrophobic and obscure prisons in the world. Unlike what the mothers of Sanctuary Town and Rodario told their misfits, though, the floors they were visiting were only reserved to the absolute worst of offenders, such as genociders and traitors, and people that Sanctuary simply couldn't afford to hold anywhere else because of their extreme levels of power.

Such was the person that Shion came to see in that floor. As the elevator finally grinded to a halt and unhooked its metal bar gate, Shion was welcomed by the deepest tunnel of the Green Valley mines, where the last scrap of stardust had been collected. With a gesture, he made the Cloth box telekinetically follow him in mid-air, wowing the guards, and entered the floor.

The darkness and silence were mind-numbing. Shion noticed the sound of his own breath against his mask for the first time since his last visit. They were now further from the surface than the peak of Mount Olympus, though in the opposite direction. The hoplite hit an electric switch, causing a series of candles to lit up throughout the tunnel, making visible a series of jail rooms had been improvised in side spaces where tools and machinery used to be kept.

The Pope gestured at the men that they could stay by the elevator and headed along by himself. As he crossed the tunnel all the way to the end, a primal part of his brain felt relieved that this floor was so seldom used that most of the cells could be counted to be empty and, therefore, the sensation he was being watched from their darkness was entirely imagined. Except, of course, for the very last corner one.

A pair of red eyes on a silver-haired head opened in the dark, noticing Shion approaching the cell bars. "Oh… it's you."

Placing the Pegasus Cloth box down with a telekinetic gesture, Shion sat on it and stared at the man sitting on the hard floor. The Pope saw his ruffled hair, bruised body and unkept appearance. "You look well for someone who's been down here for a month."

"I'm a man of the Underworld, Shion. I've survived far worse than your pantry bread meals and isolation." The Specter Prince assured. "What do you want?"

Shion chuckled. "Do I need a reason to come visit an old acquaintance, Lucian? I thought you might want some company for bit."

"From you? I'd rather be given back to Hades already." The Prince hissed, eyeing the Pope venomously. The sight of Shion in papal robes still made his blood boil. Getting up, he caressed the cell bars, playfully searching for weaknesses and fantasizing about strangling his visitor. "I'm impressed how strong these are. I was surprised when I woke up to find my shackles gone, only to realize you somehow made a cell strong enough to hold me."

Shion's chest inflated with pride. "Is that a compliment? I haven't lost my sense of alchemy, you know? I can't take all the credit, though; the cage is by my design, but the stardust bonding nullifying your electricity was Mu's work. He calls it… Faraday's cell."

Lucifer scoffed. "Cute…"

"But really, Lucian, do you think all this aggression is necessary?" Shion appealed. "Your crusade is done with and your men are dead or captured. Even if I opened this cell door and you killed me here and now, you wouldn't get any closer to what you want anymore."

"I still have men…"

"Yes, I know. The remnants who escaped Crow's Nest." Shion recalled, remembering Daniel's report. "Nasu, Necromancer and others, correct? They, too, sooner or later will be captured."

The former Prince of Hades gritted teeth like a chess player whose move backfired. He sat down resignedly.

In a way, it was sad to see it, like watching a lion that once ruled a whole kingdom in the savannah now penned in a zoo. "We are the last of a lost era, Lucian. Other than the two of, only Dohko and Yuzuriha remember the days we shared, and you remember days beyond that even, of my Master Hakurei's time. I'm sure there's thoughts you'd like to share with me."

"Before you have me hanged, you mean?" the Prince pierced, looking him straight in the mask's eyes. "Or perhaps guillotined? I forget what's Sanctuary latest Coliseum execution fad. Perhaps you'll skip that step entirely and just hand me back to Pandora in a silver platter? That way you can tell yourself in the mirror you didn't really kill me."

The Pope irked, tightening grip on his own thigh. The memory of the dead at Aries assaulted him. "… You speak as if you desired anything less of me and my loved ones."

"I did not, no, but I never pretended otherwise." The silver-haired prisoner argued. "I was always quite upfront with how I wished you hanged, lamb. Your cynicism, on the other hand? Coming down here to have a chat, pretending it's one of your sake-drinking sessions with Dohko? It sickens me. It's these fantasies of yours, Shion, playing the role of Sanctuary's wise Solomon, that led it to its current state; in the grip of your aristocrats and Allies."

"I see your… absolutist stance hasn't changed." Shion lamented. Did Lucian even realize how difficult it was for Shion to come down here, after all he's done? "I was hoping that being defeated would have made you more willing to negotiate."

The Prince scoffed through nose, looking away. "Don't talk like I've been stonewalling you. I've already given you so much; the story of what happened with the False Specters, my plans, the state of the Underworld… Even my blood. But you want more, don't you? You want my pride."

"… There's been an attack in Germany. Your former God struck my men's encampment, including two of my Civil War Gold Saints."

Lucifer's eyes widened. "Mm…. So you do have good reason to come here."

"If you collaborate, if you could help us understand how or why… you could save Sanctuary lives."

The red-eyed Prince sat silently for a bit, looking calculative. "…Who conducted it? Was it Aiacos?"

Shion shook his head. "It was Rhadamanthys. They struck after expanding the reach of the barrier. My men never stood a chance." He then pulled out a letter and passed it through the bars for Lucifer to read. "They identified these Specters. I'd like you to take a look at it and tell me what you think."

Running his finger through the list of Surplices, Lucian spoke. "I think it's very strange. Hard as he tries, Rhadamanthys doesn't actually have Hades' confidence in leadership. I made sure of that before I left. (*)"

(*) Chapter 34

Shion tightened his fingers on his knees. "So you're the one who ordered him to conduct that attack on the Legion?"

"Mm, mm, mm, order him? No, that was his own folly. Rhadamanthys can be counted for many things, not the least of which making a drunken, overcompetitive fool of himself. All I had to do was mention a little pass in the Alps that I wouldn't march my men through… He made sure to do the rest."

Shion shivered. So it wasn't just with the Saints that Lucifer could be so cruelly manipulative? No wonder he felt so confident attacking Sanctuary.

As he read the rest of the report, though, Lucifer's smile vanished. "Still, all these Surplices… Hades is recovering his True Specters at a faster rate than even I anticipated."

Shion's heartbeat quickened. "Perhaps because we annihilated so many of your False Specters? Can I expect an invasion soon, then?"

There was an imperceptible squint from the Prince at Shion's subtle comment about the turnout of the False Holy War. "I told you all already…. Hades isn't playing around anymore. This time he's going to try to end your Sanctuary before Athena gets her first diapers."

Lucian then visibly staggered when he found the name at the bottom.

Shion noticed it. "Do you recognize that last one?"

"The Terrestrial Brute Star? It…" Lucian thought to himself, reaching a new shade of pale that Shion didn't think was still possible. "Hades, you arrogant liar! Did my Eternal Darkness make you insane?! What did you promise him?! We locked Eatos away for a fucking good reason!"

Shion narrowed eyes. He didn't have to read the Prince's mind to tell that Brute Star meant something to Lucian. "Lucian, remember, anything you tell us can help me help you back. I'll ask you again, what do you think of those names?"

The Celestial Pride Star, however, disguised his reaction, returned the letter and told one of his fabled half-truths. "I think Hades is scraping the bottom of the barrel."

The Pope stared sternly. "I know you're not a liar, Lucian… but don't hide things from me."

"I think I've been quite honest with all of my visitors."

There was an affronted pause from the Pope, whose chin rose indignantly. "… Yes, I am aware you've been filling my Saints ears with poison. It's why I unfortunately had to order my men to cut you off from them."

"I'm just answering their questions, just like you want me to answer yours." Lucifer argued, indifferent to any of Shion's entitlement to authority. "Especially Michael's."

The Pope gritted teeth. "You snake! What have you been telling him?!"

Lucian chuckled malignantly. "Like always, the truth."

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Chapter 73

Third Arc

Episode 1

Demotions and Departures

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It was the first week after the False Holy War.

The minimal safety requirement of keeping Daemon Lucifer isolated until the restraints showed their work had passed and, despite the discovery he made about the Andromeda Saint, Lucifer was frankly shocked at finding out who his first visitor was.

"Saint Andromeda…" he greeted, his wrists and ankles still shackled inside his cell. Lucifer was yet to earn the privilege of walking around his tiny dark hole. "Welcome to my new throne room."

The green-haired teenager looked at him with pity. "Have they been treating you well?"

"Ah, what do you care?" Lucifer asked. He knew exactly why, because it was in Michael's ways to be this forgiving, but Lucifer felt like making him question himself anyway. "I'm your enemy, remember?"

Shinta shook his head. "I don't want anyone I've battled to be mistreated, even if they've done bad things. That's not what a Saint should do. My students were safe, so I don't hold any…. personal grudge."

Lucifer laughed at the emphasis on 'personal'. This reckless self-righteousness was so typical of Michael. "You must have been avoiding the families of the hoplites I've killed, then."

The Andromeda Saint irked, suppressing a surge of outrage. "In any case, Sanctuary is stable now, so I'll be soon heading back to my island with Albiore and Elda. I thought, however, that I should stop by before I did."

"What for? We have nothing to say to each other, correct?" Lucifer manipulated. "Unless, of course, you've been thinking about what I told you. Connecting the dots, if you will? After all, the thing about peace, Andromeda… is that it gives you clarity about the war."

Shinta frowned in disgust. What a terrible way to look at things. Yet, it was not strictly false; peace had indeed given Shinta time to process Lucifer's accusations, tie them in his mind with events of his life and even things that happened during the war itself, such as when he successfully repelled Eternal Darkness back to its caster.

That was good enough reason to come seeking answers, but it was also not in Shinta's nature to hate people, but instead to seek conciliation. The fact that people died as a consequence of their clash only reinforced the need for some good to come of it to the Andromeda Saint, not the opposite.

"Prince Lucifer…" he called. Even if it was a Specter, Shinta had been raised to respect people's titles. "When you said you thought I was your friend, what exactly did you mean? How could I possibly have been…"

Lucifer sighed and leaned back. It was, truly, a ridiculous matter in the best of circumstances. However, they lived in a world of Gods, resurrections and magical talking armors. Lucifer also battled a child who thought he was Buddha incarnated and had powers that tapped into the karma itself, so really, the idea of a person reincarnating was not that strange, especially after meeting the kids Shion was filling his Temples with.

"Believe it or not, I should have more reason to disbelieve it than you, Andromeda. I'm a Specter, after all, and we feel very strongly about the finality of death." Lucifer argued. " Yet here you stand. And not only is it horrifying to me that you would have become a Saint under Shion, but I killed Michael with my own hands, using Hades' own sword, with all its soul-devouring powers... For all intents your very soul should have been eaten by the darkness."

Hope that this was all a horrible mistake after all filled Shinta's face. "Then, surely-"

"However,-" Lucifer interrupted. "-what are undeniable are your looks, your personality and the fact you repelled Hypnos' technique back to me. Sure, you changed… hair color for some ridiculous reason, but no one but Michael could have possibly accomplished that level of Darkness cosmos manipulation. You being here, as a Saint, would also make it look like your soul did indeed go away from the Underworld. Also… I 'know' you."

The stress the Specter put on this last part made Shinta gulp. "What do you mean?! We never even met before the war! How could you…!?"

The Specter stared tensely, in a way understanding that it was a huge challenge to Andromeda Shinta's ego to accept this theory. To find out he owed his identity, his values and perhaps even his talents to a previous life as a villain, to destiny itself…. it was a shocking realization and an affront to anyone with even the slightest existential sensibility.

"I was Michael's rival for 250 years. I could recognize him as easily as your Pope would recognize Dohko." Lucifer argued. "I know what I believe in, Michael. It's up to you to decide how to handle your little identity crisis."

The Bronze Saint shook. "I'm… my name is SHINTA! SHINTA AKIYAMA!" He staggered, realizing his loud voice was echoing freely across the dark tunnel, especially for the part he was about to follow on. "If I was… a Specter, I would know!"

Lucifer stared intently at Shinta's neck, where a silver chain was visible leading down to some pendant hidden by the Saint's shirt.

"My entire life I've believed in hope, the light and doing what's best for others!" Shinta reinforced, raising chin high. "It's the ideals that my Master Guardnia instilled in me! They're not a Specter's inheritance!"

Lucifer surrendered the point with a nod, knowing it was pointless to push at this stage of their discovery.

However, there was one thing that needed to be stressed to Shinta. "Perhaps they are, 'Shinta Akyama', but be sure of this; I won't be the only one to think you are Dark Angel Michael, the Celestial Absolute Star. Hades and Hypnos have a vested interest in you; and they would move mountains and seas to see Athena's efforts to purify their deadly Prince be destroyed. Watch yourself."

The Andromeda Saint sterned his usually soft look, unsure if he was being given genuine advice, being manipulated into thinking what Lucifer wanted or just being deliberately frightened by an enemy whose lifelong ambitions Shinta had helped ruin.

None of the options were good. "His Holiness the Pope insists that… there is a side to you that is victim in all this. The others laugh at it, especially Lance, but I… I think it's true."

Lucifer folded arms and smiled warmly. "How very 'Michael' of you, Shinta Akiyama."

Shinta just ignored the comment. "Prince Lucifer, Sanctuary means… to kill you. But I don't believe in that. I would like if you did your best to aid us as much as possible, so His Holiness can argue for your arrest, instead of…"

"My execution?" Daemon non-chalantly completed, to which Shinta nervously nodded. Lucifer then cackled so loud it alerted the guards at the elevator. "Again, a very Michael gesture of you. He, too, believed in at least talking to the Saints before he incinerated them, as if getting them to admit their sins somehow made his Flaming Sword any less agonizing to the touch. As if he could avoid the necessary cruelty of his condition…"

But the Andromeda Saint rose chin proudly. "Fine, believe what you will, Prince. It doesn't matter to me. I would just like you to think about what I said."

The worried guards flanked Shinta. "Saint Andromeda?"

He gestured them to be at peace. "I'll be done soon." And then gave Lucifer his final words. "Prince Lucifer… No, Lucian. Remember that you're no longer a slave of Hades, and that the lives of your men that we've captured hang in the balance as well, like Cait Sith."

At this, the Specter Prince finally seemed to give it some pause for genuine thought.

Shinta had observed his enemy carefully during the War and could tell that, despite everything, Lucifer took real pride in being a considerate commander, likely a trait developed as condition of being Hades' top military leader and his hatred for Sanctuary's style of leadership. While the Andromeda Saint thought ransoming his warriors was wrong, Sanctuary did have a sword hanging over their heads no matter what Shinta would wish, so this was the best way to help everyone.

"On two conditions, Andromeda. First of all, that you never dare to call me by that name without permission again. And second of all, that you listen to my words as well… After all, I would hate for Michael to fall in Hades' filthy hands after everything the two of us sacrificed to get away from them." He then extended his hand through the bars as much as his shackled wrists allowed and smiled. "Do we have an agreement?"

Shinta folded arms pensively.

Lucifer just sat there with his hands offered. "Well?"

The green-haired Saint looked around at the soldiers watching them and decided to make his next question as a mental message. "Tell me something,…. was he strong? Was he able to change the way things were around him for the better, at least how he saw it?"

The Prince softened the tension in his expectant eyes at this. In fact, he breathed out loudly, as if recollecting old forgotten thoughts that he usually kept at bay so he could focus. He despised having to talk about this to a Saint, but his pride as a truth-teller spoke loud.

He thus admitted something that he normally wouldn't. "Michael was…the strongest in the Underworld. The Specters admired him in a manner that they never did me. All I could ever do was make the Judges and Celestials fear me, but… he seemed to inspire them instead. I deeply envied that. They had nothing but fear towards me, but to him they had… respect." He then rolled his eyes. "Except for Kagaho, of course."

Shinta blinked. "Who?"

They didn't have time for that nonsense. "I'd love to say that Michael may have moved the Specters to act closer to how we all saw Hades, but the reality is that making a pack of 108 scums follow a lie is just fool's gold. When Michael realized that… he turned his sword against the God he once emulated." He then cut the talk short by gesturing at his hanging hands. "Well? Deal or no deal? It's rude to leave an offering hand hanging."

Shinta went to take it. It wasn't the worst offer and he had nothing to fear from Lucifer's speculations about reincarnated souls. "Ye-"

The hoplites gasped, stopped him before the Specter could grip his hand and dragged him out of there. "Are you insane?! You actually reached for him?!"

"Saint Andromeda, visitors are not allowed to touch Floor 8 prisoners! The last guy who got too close to this one had to be pried off his grip by the Gold Saints! Please follow us to the top floor!"

Shinta heard the Prince cackle loudly and felt horrified. "Oh, g-goddess, I'm so sorry! Yes, right away!"

The Prince's eyes followed him amusedly. He could always count on Michael for these little naivetés.

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

"You absolute fiend! You call that telling the truth?!" Shion accused. "I don't care how much intel you give us anymore, you are not allowed to be in contact with my Saints again!"

"It's they who come to me, Shion. I'm locked down here, with no contact with the outside, remember? They want answers to the questions that you refuse to answer. And YOU are the one who stole Michael…" Lucifer accused right back, unconcerned with the Pope's tone. His red eyes narrowed venomously, for Michael becoming a Saint was still the worst thing Shion had done to him yet. "What did you think, uh? That there would be no consequences to train him as a Saint, like Sisyphus' friends? If I were you, I would raise vigilance over Andromeda Island, Lemurian. If Hades really is taking his first steps outside his Castle, he is going to want his Prince back!"

The masked Pope rose his chin, proud of his young knights. "Perhaps, Lucian, but I have faith in them, as does the Goddess. All my Saints, and especially Shinta, are defined by their values and training, not their similarity to my old enemies. If Hades thinks he can convince Andromeda Shinta to emulate Michael in the slightest, he is soundly mistaken."

The Prince held his tongue for a bit. It was probably pointless to expect anything from Shion than his typical 'I have faith in Athena' responses. Something also told him that Shion, despite his brave words, had already signed orders to keep contingents around Michael's new home.

As such, he moved on. "Well, I suppose I would feel confident as well, with the Teos Cloth in hand. Remember, though, Shion…. That armor didn't save your friends last time, either. Hades knows its sting by now."

"Teos or not, I know my Saints will prevail." Shion answered flatly.

The Dark Prince rose suspicious brow and stared at the old man silently, noticing the tension in his tone.

…

Lucifer chuckled in realization. "Mm, mm, mm… you're having trouble with Teos, aren't you?"

The Pope of Sanctuary remained silent. He wasn't about to discuss something as important as the mystical armor that came to their aid in the False Holy War, the armor that Phoenix Haisaku gifted Sanctuary with to battle the Specter Princes, the armor that Lucifer intended to use to deify himself as Sanctuary's ruler, with this vicious snake.

However, to say that the outcome of the war had not been a monumental cascade of problems was a lie. Just the coming of the morning afterwards brought a tsunami of questions from everyone in Sanctuary's World – starting from Akassius himself, down to the defenseless citizens. All asking about what on Earth had actually happened. After that, it had only gotten worse and worse, going through dealing with the traumas Shaka, Mu and Aiolia all suffered, the hospitalized Saints, the dead soldiers, the dead soldiers' families, the eldest daughter of the Ghisi family somehow being injured in the conflict, Lance having to answer questions to the Astraea Court as the current Patron Saint, the burned down Jamir, the recovered Crow's Nest, the attacked colonies of Lemurians…

There was also just wild speculation, like Saint Ophiuchus Iaso going around claiming that an innocent girl had spontaneously combusted after murdering her entire family during the attack. Fortunately, the Silver Saint had come to accept it was likely a stress-induced episode as he tried to make his way through an attacked Sanctuary Town, but still, quite frankly, Shion had more than enough on his plate to handle without Hades now also sallying out and attacking Malta and Kirin's encampment.

… And then there was the Teos Cloth.

"It's a beautiful piece of armor." Shion diverted. "Mu spent the month demanding to check every nook and cranny of it. It's amazing properties of adapting its liquid metal to its owners' guardian stars are still as remarkable as in the last war."

"But it won't do what you want, correct? What a shame. It seems Dohko's student will have to keep relying on his lesser armors." His red eyes then lowered towards the box by Shion's feet. "Speaking of which?"

"Yes, the second matter I've come here to investigate." Shion admitted. "Lucifer, would you mind telling me what my Cancer Saint came down here to talk to you about? And how he convinced you of this?"

Lucifer chuckled to himself. "I do mind, actually. I like keeping you guessing, Shion."

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

It was the second week after the False Holy War.

Thanks to a couple of generous confessions about how he planned his attack, Daemon Lucifer had just earned the right to further visitation, plus a couple of hours without shackles and not getting meals with hoplite urine on it.

His first visit since Shinta's appeal, however, had him agape. "What?! Did I hit you in the head even harder than I thought?! What you're saying is insane, even if it were me suggesting it!"

Standing in front of him was none other than Cancer Lance, who brought his Pegasus Cloth Box from Rozan. Even after two weeks, he was still covered in bandages and healing bruises from his battles and, in particular, his wrists, which already typically sported his fighting hand wraps, now had pretty thick medical bandages over them.

According to Lance, these last ones were from him offering blood to repair the Cancer Gold Cloth, and now he stood there, before his enemy, demanding he did the same for Pegasus. He even had a bucket.

"Insane is to just sit around here doing nothing, waiting for your old boss to try the same you just did, like Sanctuary always does!" Lance argued, firm. "So you're going to tell me everything you know about the Underworld's current state, including what you didn't tell Shion!"

The arrogance of these demands was astounding to the Prince. "And you want me to fix your Bronze Cloth, too?! Why in damnations should I, Daemon Lucifer, the Slayer of the Godslayer, give my blood to TENMA's armor?!"

"First of all, it's MY armor now!" Lance then practically shoved the bucket on his face. "Second of all, consider it the bare minimum after everything you've done to me and my Master. You fucking broke it, after all! I'd say it's a pretty simple request!"

"How about some shiny new faults to protect the balls with which you're asking all of this from ME, Daemon Lucifer?! Why in Hades' Hells should I do any of this?!"

Lance then squinted. "Because if any of your False Specter stories are true, something tells me that you hate Hades a fuck of a lot more than me or even Roshi. Am I wrong?!"

The silver-haired quincentenarian Specter folded arms, his teeth gritting in outrage. "Let's say that is true; you intend to attack the Underworld without the Gold Saints?! With what, the Cancer Gold Cloth, some inside references from me and your boiling youth drive?!"

Putting the bucket down, lance folded arms. "You beat Hades and we beat you. Something tells me this isn't as impossible as everyone makes it seem."

"Don't waste my time, Lance! You have a heck of a lot more to learn from Dohko before you can call yourself a full-fledged Gold Saint, and the Underworld is FULL of armored fanatics in monster suits who spent the last real Holy War slaughtering your teacher's equals!" Lucifer shouted. "You had the entire apparatus of Sanctuary to help you stop me and I had to plan my Exodus for decades! The true Specters are not the same as my False Specters, especially once they start awakening their powers! What makes you think you'll even set foot past Hades' barrier?!"

But Lance only narrowed his eyes. "You let me worry about that. Besides, what do you got to lose, other than being woozy for an afternoon? I either get myself killed or I ruin your old boss's day. Either way, you win!"

The Pride Star scoffed at the boldness in this, especially with the risk this carried in putting Michael in the hands of Hades.

…

Yet this last point wasn't that outrageous.

Still, the associated risks were mind boggling. "A persuasive point of view, Cancer Lance. I suppose you intend to drag Andromeda into this suicide of yours? Maybe tell Hades which cell he can come get me at so he won't torture you?"

At this point, Lance seemed to hesitate. "… No, Shinta doesn't know. Yet."

It just made Lucifer's jaw drop more. "… You've frankly stumped me at weather or not this is more irresponsible and reckless of you. Does Dohko know of this? This sounds exactly like something he would come up with."

Once again, the depth of Lance's foolishness stunned him when the Cancer shook his head. "No, this is my idea. The only person who knows of it is… in consideration."

The Specter's red eyes were as wide as they could get. "Your idea?!… Did…did getting the Teos Cloth make you lose your sense of reality?! Or did you really get affected by my Eternal Darkness and you're still completely delusional from it?! Do you have any clue what kind of abominations exist in the Circles?!"

Cancer Lance folded arms. "I survived you, didn't I?"

There was a hateful recoil from the Specter at this. "…Yes, I suppose someone willing to rocket me into outer space to save Shion would be the type to think this was anything close to a good idea!" Lucifer unpleasantly admitted. "So how does Tenma's armor factor into this? Sentimental value? Or…?"

The teenage Gold Saint went quiet, even folding arms tensely.

Lucifer rubbed chin pensively. "…You must not be able to use any of your other armors for some reason, correct? For Teos, I can imagine it's gone back inside its box until you prove yourself worthy again, but Cancer? One would think it essential for a plot to invade the world of the dead."

Lance gritted teeth. "It's none of your business! Will you help me fix Pegasus or not?!"

The Specter sat back, folding arms in solemn realization. "I see, Sanctuary has betrayed you…"

It was unnerving how perceptive the Specter was, given he was isolated in a prison more than a mile below the surface. "I know you'd love me to give you more reason to rant about Shion, but it's not that simple, Daemon."

But the Specter acted strangely empathetic. "You don't have to pretend with me, Lance. I, too, was done in by Sanctuary's political selfishness once. I'm sure it's not the first time they've robbed you of what you deserve, and trust me, it won't be the la-"

"Oh will you shut up with that?!" Lance interrupted. "I've been dealing with Sanctuary's bullshit my whole life. However, unlike you, I don't intend to make it the cornerstone of a personal crusade against it. So call it sentimental value that I want Pegasus fixed, if you like, but you DO owe me, Lucifer! I could have killed you with the Teos Cloth. You gave me plenty of fucking good reason to do so. Fixing the damage that you caused my life isn't too much to ask from a man who thinks himself proud and honorable, correct?!"

The Specter just sat silently, looking offended.

Lance grumbled, took the bucket and armor and walked off. "Fine, I'll give my own blood, then."

"Hold it!" Lucifer called, making him stop. "… I haven't said 'no', yet. Tell me exactly what you intend to do, and how. Every single detail. I'd love to know if it's any better than Tenma's plans."

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

"Would you like to see it?" Shion offered, opening the box' lid.

Admittedly curious, Lucifer straightened himself and watched the Pope unlock and pull the chain off the Pegasus Cloth Box, causing its lid to pop up and reveal its contents.

The Specter recognized the shape. "Version 3? Interesting…My blood must be of higher quality than your average Gold Saint.""

The Pope was impressed, not by the Prince's boast, but by his ability to identify the armor's rank correctly. "Oh, you know of Lemurian armor class terminology?"

Lucifer scoffed. "I'll have you know I'm a very avid reader. Five centuries is too long a life not to get bored, especially in the Underworld. I can look past my hatred of your kin to study their accomplishments. Besides… I've battled this Cloth before. I'm even the one who killed it in Rozan (*). Again."

(*) Chapter 45

"Which is why I was quite surprised you accepted to offer your blood to revive Pegasus, Lucian." The Lemurian admitted. "Do you mind if I ask why?"

The imprisoned Daemon just chuckled to himself.

Shion insisted. "It was exceptionally kind of you. You can imagine my shock when Lance arrived at the Aries' Temple workshop and explained he got all that blood from my hated foe." Shion commented. "I almost wanted to ask if he, well,… forced your hand."

"That kid? Force me? Ah, don't you know your Saints? Your Cancer is brash and short-fused, Shion, but he's got Dohko's sense of honor."

Shion scratched his head self-consciously; Lucifer should have known Lance back when he was hunting Black Saints, often beating them in torturous ways to get answers. The Pope still remembered the piles of reports about his behavior. "Then why?"

Lucifer smirked. "Curiosity, Shion. You above all people must understand that. I wanted to see what would happen if you fixed a Cloth of Athena with Specter blood. Also, I suppose Lance was right; I did owe him…"

Having known this man for so long, Shion knew Lucifer engaged in half-truths often as a way to lie without breaking his personal pride code. "Is that all? No other reason?"

The imprisoned Specter only kept smirking. Curiosity was, truly, a lot of what was behind his decision; beyond the excuse he gave Shion about wanting to find out if it would turn black at Lance powering his cosmos, Lucifer also wanted to see how far Dohko's student would get with this new personal mission of his.

There was, however, an extra reason Lucifer could use to mask his real intentions. "I suppose spiting Hades is another big factor. It revolted me at first, but then I realized that if I actually helped revive Tenma's armor, it would send that lying bastard crawling up a wall with hatred." He then chuckled. "Why, I'm laughing at picturing it already…"

The masked Pope nodded, half-appeased. He supposed these were more than enough reasons. Lucifer made it clear to him, after all, that he now hated Hades as much, if not more, than Sasha and himself.

"I also suppose seeing it upgraded all the way to Version 3 does give me a pleasant feeling of superiority over your pathetic Gold Saints." Lucifer added, his lips curving up even more.

Shion scoffed at this arrogance. "You mean the ones who defeated you?"

The curve on the lips collapsed like a pile of rocks. "The Teos Cloth defeated me, not them. If it weren't for it and Michael, your Golden Zodiac would have fallen to me! I'm sure you know how hard it is to win a battle with Eternal Darkness afflicting you."

"Yes, and I'm happy that at least you give Shinta his credit, if not anyone else. But that was solely your fault for playing with powers beyond your control, Lucian." The Pope bit back. "Shinta has grown into a remarkable Andromeda Saint. It doesn't surprise me he would make such a contribution to the war. Even Shaka has acknowledged him."

"That would be impressive… had it happened before I humbled Virgo."

The Pope's masked eyes narrowed. "… You demon. Even after all this time, that is all you have to say of it?!"

Lucifer stared uncaringly. "I'm not the one who put him in my way."

"No, Lucian… but you're the one who destroyed him!"

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

It was the third week after the False Holy War.

Another long day of repairs in the Golden Zodiac was coming to an end.

Shion looked for the Indian boy, finding him at the entrance of the massive building, sitting in the marble stairs with a depressed, longing look at the setting sun..

Shion approached him quietly so as to not interrupt his thoughts. "Shaka?"

Shaka turned to him, his eyes open. They had not closed themselves for storing cosmos since the False Holy War ended.

"Your Holiness." The boy politely greeted "Why are you here? Have you come to try to change my mind?"

Shion noticed how sunk his eyes looked. The Pope knew from first-hand experience how terrible Eternal Darkness was, so Shaka's decision to relinquish his post didn't shock Shion. Moreover, the nobility of Sanctuary was currently breathing down the Zodiac's neck in anticipation for the upcoming Astraea Court session the following week and they would likely push for Shaka's dismissal regardless of anyone's intentions.

It was, in other words, an inevitable catastrophe.

He sat at the boy's side. " How do you feel? Are you alright?"

Shaka nodded his head shakingly.

What a normal response. A nod from a frightened boy, rather than a comment about how the physical was paltry next to the spiritual. Shion felt like he was talking to someone he didn't know. It's like Shaka never communed with Buddha at all.

"Can you use your powers yet?" the Pope dared to ask.

Shaka wavered a bit with this. He cupped his hands together and formed a tiny star of golden cosmos above it. "I can use my cosmos. But I can't move at lightspeed…"

Shion noticed that the cosmos star he formed felt completely different from the power he once emanated. It no longer emitted that transcendence it had to it, that unreadable feeling that it was reaching out to a sense inside of you much deeper than the Seventh. Shion watched Shaka focusing his senses on the ball and make it grow stronger. He then tried to perform one of the techniques he used to be able to before with that cosmos, pushing the star into the air with his hand and trying to channel his enlightenment through it.

The star only faded away. "I….I can't do anything I used to be able to do."

"What about Lady Astraea and Lord Buddha? Have you been able to hear their voices at all?"

This question seemed specially puncturing to Shaka, who began shedding tears as if his very parents had been lost. "N-no. I can't even form the barrier or read karma anymore. No matter what I do, those powers I used to have are just…o-out of my reach. I…For the first time since I left home, I don't know what to d-do."

Even the aged Shion felt his throat tighten at this heart-breaking scene of the once mighty Shaka reduced to a normal, traumatized boy. A parenting anger swelled in him, only consoled by the fact that Lucifer already paid a tremendous price for his transgressions, including falling victim of this terrible spell as well.

The damage done to Shaka, however, seemed to vastly surpass the one done to Daemon Lucifer. More than experiencing hallucinations and emotional turmoil, Shaka seems to have lost the little footing he had gained in the realm of the 8th sense, having compared it verbally to falling down several flights of a staircase he had spent years trying to climb.

Shion wrapped his arm around Shaka and pulled him next to himself. "It's okay, Shaka. Remember, it's not your powers that define you, but the bravery you showed that day to continue defending your brethren, even after your battle with Lucifer."

Shaka nodded and stood back up. "I don't want to stop being a Gold Saint, your Holiness," he said "and if I could, I'd like very much to help you all recover from the Specter's attack and study the Teos Cloth, but…I…"

Once more, Shion wavered. The boiling he felt inside was comparable to the one he had felt many times during the Lost Canvas War, especially when Lucian murdered Rasgado.

However, Shaka needed love, not revenge. "… but you don't feel like you're strong enough to do anything for your comrades right now."

"Yes." Shaka agreed. "I need to leave this place, your Holiness. I can no longer serve you as the Virgo Saint as I am. I need…to find myself. If I am to hope to achieve the 8th Sense one day, I must follow the same words I once told Saint Shinta, and settle the issues in my heart."

Shion could guess Sanctuary Town wouldn't be his destination, nor anywhere where he could be a risk factor to the Gold Saints. "Where are you going?"

Shaka looked away. "…I don't know yet. But I don't know anything other than to pursue the path of Enlightenment. After everything I already learned… I can't just go back to being normal. I need to go to places where I can get in touch with Virgo and Buddha once more. Your Holiness, what would you do?"

Shion took a moment to think it over. Shaka was just a kid now, so the idea of him going on the same lone pilgrimage through the Ganges he was first discovered on was unacceptable.

"Shamballa, the capital of the Lemurian colonies in Tibet." Shion suggested. "It's where my old friend Shijima trained and my dear friend, Yuzuriha, presides over my people's council from there. She would love to house you at one of Shamballa's many temples to the Enlightened One."

The boy perked up immediately. "Your Holiness, that sounds perfect!"

"However, you're too young to be just travelling out there on your own, Shaka. I don't want you to take such an irresponsible decision." He said. He hated to do it, but he had to bring up the war perspective to Shaka. "Lucifer proved that the Colonies are vulnerable despite… the assurances of my aristocrats. What if there's another attack? What if the real Holy War begins and you're still out there? Hades would love nothing more than kill off my Virgo candidates."

"What if he does? Do you really think I would make a difference? " Shaka protested. " The truth is that, in the state I am right now, I wouldn't hold a candle against any of the others. I'm no longer the strongest of the Gold Saints, but the weakest of the children here. And you don't need weak children; you need strong, determined Gold Saints guarding the Houses, don't you?"

Shion hesitated to answer. "If I were to let you do this, when would you be back?"

Shaka shook his head. "I don't know."

The Pope nodded in comprehension. He stood up and walked over to him. "I can't force you to stay here if you don't have the power to uphold your Gold Saint responsibilities, quite on the contrary. We won against Lucifer, but I'm afraid I'll have to lose my two of my best Gold Saints because of it."

"Your Holiness, I-"

"I'll let you go." Pope Arles accepted. "So long as you let me keep track of your location at all times. More than just control you, I want to help you recover your strength by guiding you."

Shaka closed his eyes and turned his face away. "Thank you, your Holiness."

"Will you say goodbye to the others?"

It was Shaka's turn to hesitate. "Won't that make it harder to leave?"

"Yes," said the Pope. "But it will also make it easier to return."

Shaka smiled. "Then yes, I will."

The Pope smiled back. Maybe Shaka really was in a delicate state and was definitely altered by his battle with Lucifer's Eternal Darkness, but he couldn't help but feel glad to see such a human side of him. Hopefully, he would be able to retrain some aspects of it once he reacquired his divine-like powers.

Also hopefully, he would do this sooner rather than later.

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

"What a sad story." Lucian commented, his face completely unmoved. "I suppose next you will tell me about all the widows my men created at the Aries Temple and Crow Nest? If those men even mean anything to you, next to your precious Sisyphus Gold Saints?"

The Pope was more than wise enough not to take the bait. "The death of those men is tragic, yes, but they were sworn warriors who would die to save the innocent just as gladly as I would. Shaka, on the other hand, is a child."

"A child who lobotomized my men. Rather casually, too, like a boy burning ants."

"A child your men threatened." Shion steamrolled.

Lucifer scoffed. "A child who tried to toss me into Jinkai, who tried to crush me with the weight of all of humanity's emotions."

Shion stood up. "A child you chose to use Eternal Darkness on, a spell meant for destroying the minds of even the greatest warriors. A child who would have peacefully slept through that night had you not chosen to invade Sanctuary!"

"We can do this all day, Shion... It is daylight outside, right? But nothing changes the fact that Shaka was only there because YOU put him in that position." The Prince defensively argued. The truth was that it didn't personally please Lucifer to hurt children, unlike some Specters he could name, but Shaka made it clear that he wouldn't let any of Lucifer's forces past him. "However, now I understand why you're SO worried about Hades… Down TWO Gold Saints, you mentioned?"

Shion sighed. Nothing slipped by Lucian, especially when it came to Shion's failings. "Yes…. I've actually just came back from the fallout of the most recent court meeting held with the crème of Sanctuary's society… It seems that despite failing in your objective to kill my Gold Saints, you've still caused us… casualties."

Lucifer smirked, feeling his theory from Lance's visit confirmed. "Mm, mm, so tell me, Shion, how did those decadent magnates bend your arm this time?"

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

It was the fourth week after the False Holy War.

The Court of Astraea's auditorium was filled once again by the elite of Sanctuary society, whose faces were hidden behind porcelain masks and whose hands sported either a golden ring or a silver one. Their silent stares were as creepy as the last time, all pointed directly at the defendant group, while their representative was once again the dwarf Gigas, who spoke heartedly about their accusing case.

Sitting on the defendant seats were once more Cancer Lance, Sagittarius Aiolos and Gemini Saga, the three oldest and most capable members of the current generation of Gold Saints. In addition, young Shaka had also been summoned in light of his decision to leave his seat at the Virgo Temple. Finally, rather than defended by Camus like last time, they were joined by His Holiness, Arles III, who led their party at the slightly bigger seat of their table.

Most intimidatingly, though, were the seven seats in the Witness Box, who were partially held by the allies of Sanctuary, mainly Yuzuriha of the colonies and Cetus of New Lalibela, two figures already known to the Saints. A third unfamiliar one was Arthur Solo, a pale-blue-haired, bearded patriarch of sharp green eyes in his forties dressed in white cloak with trident-crested buttons who seemed to have a constantly disappointed look on his face, like nothing that Sanctuary did could ever please him.

The fourth seat was held by commander "Nidhogg Falken", a very tall metal-blue haired man who participated at the siege of Crow's Nest during the False Holy War and was there to speak for King Thorkell of Asgard and assisted the recapture of Crow's Nest during the False Holy War.

The other three seats were empty, like usual.

"How come only four of the Allies' council showed up?" Aiolos asked. "This will be a battle of votes, much like Lance's original promotion, except the matter has become not merely internal due to the False Holy War, right?"

Saga explained, more politically savvy than his friends. "Maybe the other three felt confident these four could decide the matter. A lot of times people with power don't bother taking the trip if they feel the more diligent ones will already vote their way. They can then just tell us they had urgent matters back home…"

"Who are the other ones anyway? There's always those three that are never around?" Lance asked, folding arms. "We're supposed to have our fates decided by these Seven Buddies of the Apocalypse or whatever and half of them don't even bother to show up!"

Pope Arles sweated, knowing Lance had a good point about this, but feeling powerless to change any of it. "Unfortunately Saga is right, it's actually good for us that those three didn't come. They always hated my Gold Saint choices the most…"

To Shaka, who was still inexperienced in these legal things, it was bizarre to see Pope Arles in a position where he had to answer to someone. Lance and Aiolos also seemed upset at the situation; the former folded his arms and squinted venomously at Gigas and the aristocrats, while Aiolos showed gasps of indignant outrage and an anxiety to defend the Gold Saints from Gigas, only to be gestured to be calm by Saga. The Gemini, in turn, took copious notes of all the arguments being made and exchanged whispers with His Holiness, who often nodded along with the Gemini.

While the court was summoned under the guise of 'investigating the False Holy War and its consequences', the mood was tense and expectant, akin to an interrogation. Gigas' words, in fact, reinforced such a mood.

"In short, your honor – " Gigas pitched, approaching the Lemurian Judge, Merope. "- it is the understanding of my clients that it is in their right to demand answers from the Golden Zodiac over what happened a month ago, in this very Sanctuary of Athena. As we all innocently slept, guaranteed by his Holiness and our dear Patron Saint that the Temples were as secure as ever, a… pack of False Specters as you call them -"

Saga and Aiolos exchanged a disgruntled glance; the attack of Lucifer's forces had been streamlined in narrative down to a real invasion of Specters by their accusers, who found it much more advantageous to ignore the important details of its nature as an 'Underworld schism' so as to make it seem like even more of a blunder from the Gold Saints. After all, an attack by the God Hades was a much graver thing to neglect than an attack by the mere mortal Daemon Lucifer.

While Saga was used to these dissimulations, Aiolos, on the other hand, felt a knot on his throat at watching the truth being twisted so hard.

"- not only attacked Sanctuary, the capital of Athena, making their way past all of our holy walls, but their commander reached the very Colossus itself!" Gigas exclaiming, pulling out an handkerchief to wipe a fake sweat at the very horror of this. "These, your honor, are not our facts. They are of His Holiness himself, who has asked us to fund the repairs of his Hall (which we gladly will, of course!)."

Shaka groaned. "I don't understand. Why is he mentioning that part so often? The Temples exist to protect the sanctity of Athena's land, it's only natural they will get damaged."

"It's a lawyer tactic. Gigas is trying to prove we acted incompetently, and if he can use our own words against us, his case will be much stronger." Saga explained to him. "Basically, they can't argue on the details of the combat as efficiently as we can, since we are the fighters and everyone at the Zodiac who witnessed them is too grateful to us, BUT he can prove how much damage we've allowed to happen by just showing the receipt of the Temple repairs."

"It's a measuring ruler for how much we fucked up." Lance shortened, revolted at the ill-intent.

Pacing around the courtroom dramatically, Gigas tapped the floor with his staff as if to appeal to Athena's grace. "I ask you all, oh prestigious people of Athena, to contemplate the depth of this catastrophe. The Colossus… soiled by a Specter!"

There was a collective murmur and shaking of heads from the auditorium. The Allies were not too happy themselves, with Falken appearing concerned about Sanctuary's security, Yuzuriha shaking her head at the spectacle Gigas was mounting and Cetus taking a sadistic delight in watching the Gold Saints squirm.

"As if that weren't enough, we've lost so many loyal hoplites…" Gigas reminded, turning his tone weepy. "Young men who trained for years to serve the Goddess, dead at the steps of the Aries Temple! Sacrificed at the bailey of Crow's Nest! All because… our Gold Saints fell asleep!"

At this point, Aiolos stood up in revolt. "THAT'S NOT TR-"

But Lance pulled him down and covered his mouth. "Don't! You'll just get yourselves into more trouble!"

But the Sagittarius struggled. "Lance, how could you be so calm?! Look at how grossly he's distorting what happened! Mu was ambushed at Jamir, he wasn't even in Sanctuary, and Aldebaran was put under a spell by the Bat False Specters! And we didn't even know what was going on in Romania until well after Lucifer took over that fortress!"

"I KNOW, but do they LOOK like they care?!" the older Gold Saint pointed out, glancing at all the masked faces. "This isn't about the truth, Aiolos! It's about what they can argue! If you try to make excuses for the vanguard not being there, you'll just get Saga in trouble! He was absent too, remember?! And so was I!"

Aiolos looked back and forth between his friends, trying to get at least one perspective in his favor, but Saga looked like he very ashamedly agreed, even though his absence was due to him saving lives in Tibet from the very Specters that attacked Sanctuary.

"Trust me, I hate it even more than you do, but they're holding all the cards when it comes to who was guarding Sanctuary when Lucifer attacked." Lance added. "Let Arles handle the damage control."

"Yes, Saint Aiolos, would you like to add something?" Gigas asked, smirking.

The Sagittarius slumped in his seat, ashamed. "… N-no."

"Forgive my Gold Saint, he passionately wishes to defend his comrades." Shion argued. "Sir Gigas, the framing with which the invasion occurred is not as simple as that, and the men who fought and died to save Sanctuary from Daemon Lucifer's attack, both in Sanctuary and at Crow's Nest, would do so again with pride, if asked. Their families will be amply compensated for their sacrifices. That was never in question. You know we are not here to discuss that."

"Councilor Gigas, please restrict yourself to the accusation at hand." The Judge demanded.

Gigas seemed to hesitate at having to interact with the Pope, rather than an underage Gold Saint. "W-well, yes, your honor, and I respect His Holiness' wisdom! However… it is not as if the damage was contained to just the army. Why, even lady Adriana, the silver-ring of the Ghisis, was victimized by this war, viciously attacked by Specters after being unexpectedly caught in the tide of this attack!"

Aiolos frowned. "Great, so one of the rich people got hurt?! That's so much more important than everything else, right?!"

"They're just using her, Aiolos. I know the person they're talking about and she's not okay with what Gigas is doing." Lance assured.

"How do you know that?"

Discretely, Lance pointed Aiolos to a particular seat of the auditorium, where he could see a smaller, slimmer masked figure who gestured a feminine hand up to show him her silver-ring, which she tapped with her thumb, before pointing at Gigas and gesturing a pulling of her mask's "eyelid". It was a common Amazon gesture for being repulsed, the closest thing they had to a raspberry.

Aiolos scratched head embarrassedly. "I guess we got some allies among them, after all."

Lance chuckled. "Past the bullshit ceremonies? Yeah, she's alright." Defeating Papillon Ainsel and turning the course of the war when she could have just run definitely rose AG high on his list. "The rest is a snake pit, as far as I can tell though."

Unfortunately, the nobles weren't allowed to show their identities in court due to one of Sanctuary's many weird traditions that Lance didn't understand. There was even a barrier set up against mental messages between court divisions. She was effectively soft-barred from taking their side in that Court unless it served the interests of the whole audience group.

"In FACT, the damage was so severe that our precious Virgo Saint, which are so rare to obtain –" Gigas added, pointed staff at Shaka. "-has decided to… surrender his sacred position. And why? Incompetence, your honor! Pure, sheer incompetence from a generation of Gold Saints appointed without consulting the people of Sanctuary! Why, now the people of Sanctuary demand justice!"

"YES!" one masked man demanded.

"Our land has been breached by Specters! How could that be?!" a masked matriarch gasped.

"Duke Akassius would never let this happen!" another patriarch added.

"ORDER!" Merope demanded, banging his gavel until they quieted. He then turned to the Pope and hesitantly spoke. "Your Holiness… I must ask you to respond."

The masked man nodded. "Of course, Merope."

The Pope stood up, causing the entire audience to become quiet in reverence. A sharp contrast to the previous minute of mouth-foaming protesting that unnerved Lance. Shion commanded respect even among these corrupt assholes.

The Pope then turned to Gigas. "I will adhere to the law that I and Athena have established; Daemon Lucifer and his surviving False Specters, currently detained at the Tower, will face the gravest of punishments. Moreover, the treasury of the Temples will support their reconstruction and the pensions of the families who suffered. However, to go a step beyond and punish the young Gold Saints as well, who sacrificed blood, sweat and tears to STOP that brutal attack… People of Sanctuary, is that what Athena would want? Or is it mere desire for retribution at all costs?"

Immediately, Shion's wise, compromise words seemed to have a balsam effect on the feverish audience, who quieted their murmurs and exchanged ashamed looks.

His wisdom continued. "You are not merely asking for reparations, but to replace not one, not two… but THREE of the Gold Saints who saved the Temples. A quarter of the Golden Zodiac is a heavy demand to be made in the name of security, is it not? Counter-intuitive, even, especially when we have triumphed over the enemy?" Shion continued. "Cancer Lance, Virgo Shaka and candidate Aiolia all shared the pain of this attack, if not took it upon themselves for others. They risked their lives numerous times within the span of a Fire Clock's burn cycle to stop the enemy. When you decide their fate, remember, the precedent you will create for the future… and what its Gold Saints can expect as reward for their sacrifices."

Aiolos and Saga smiled, seeing the mood in the room shift in their favor. The nobles, despite their thirst for blood, seemed sensible to the arguments Saga wrote and, delivered through the authoritative voice of the Pope, it seemed to have the desired effect.

Lance, however, sweated, noticing the smirk in Cetus' face.

In fact, the blue-armored king stood and raised his hand. "Your honor, if I may?"

The room immediately went frigid. Even Shion and the Judge hesitated. Falken folded his arms tensely while Yuzuriha looked away, as if she could already guess what Cetus would do and found it revolting.

But the Judge was forced to let him speak. "Yes, King Cetus?"

The golden-eyed king then met Lance straight in the orbs. "To me, and hopefully to all of us, this matter is fairly simple; the security of the Zodiac is paramount, for it is the fortress of mankind against the tyranny of Olympus. In exchange for our patience, we were promised in the last Court of Astraea that this Sanctuary would have a Patron Saint, a member responsible for answering to these youths'… shortcomings."

Saga held head. "Oh no…"

Lance gritted teeth. He looked over and saw Adriana's gesturing him to be quiet with a frantic self-muting gesture of her hand across her throat.

Cetus continued, his predatory smile expanding. "Would the court be reminded of who appointed himself to that role?"

Lance immediately stood up. "It was me."

Adriana palmed her mask, nearly knocking it off. Aiolos and Shaka looked distraught, while Saga and Shion merely sat quiet, already guessing this outcome.

The monarch chuckled and shrugged his arms lightly. "Well, there he is, so what is there to be discussed? Saint Lance assured us that this generation of Gold Saints appointed by Lord Arles would protect Sanctuary. They have not. Do we have to wait for the children of Greece to be snatched from their cradles by Berserkers or Sun Jaguars? Or is the word of Gold Saints worth nothing anymore?"

The auditorium reignited their offended protests once more, with many masked patriarchs fighting the urge to stand up and raise their fists as they gestured and voiced accordance with the King of New Lalibela.

To make things worse, a second person from the Allies stand stood up. "Your Honor?"

Shion lowered chin, distraught. "No, Arthur…"

Judge Merope nodded. "Yes, patriarch?"

The pale-blue haired man gave the Gold Saints a severe look. "I fear that I am in agreement with Cetus; the frank reality of the three Gold Saints in question is that they aren't fit anymore to stand in their Temples. Saint Lance wavered his position in the Zodiac in the name of these youths who have, regardless of what faith he may have in them, failed him. Moreover, if Saint Shaka doesn't respect his office enough to hold it, then why should Sanctuary? As for young Aiolia…"

Aiolos visibly tensed at the mention of his brother.

Patriarch Arthur Solo seemed to notice it, as he turned to the Sagittarius. "There are… those among us who believe he would be safe and cared for at the House of Leo. However, while I've been told the young boy shows a shocking amount of talent with the Cosmos… will he stop a future invader? Or will he fail to commune with the Leo Cloth, and repeat the abandonment of the Hall of Herakles? You ask me to trust my family's safety to a Zodiac that will surrender Temples, to lend it our ships, horses and sons in time of war, … but your House is not in order. I must vote with the accusation."

It was then Commander Falken's turn to stand, something that made everyone take immediate attention thanks to his enormous Asgardian stature, herculean build, exotic northern armor and exuberant metal-blue beard.

"I fear my lord King Thorkell will concur as well." he tragically added. "Asgard is a friend of Sanctuary, yes, but a good friend will call out the weakness he sees with honestly, and not stay quiet out of pity. The vote of Asgard will be to support the accusation."

Everyone's eyes landed on the last ally who bothered to show up, Elder Yuzuriha.

Shion saw her pensive, her arms folded. She probably knew her vote would count for nothing at this point, with three out of four supporting Gigas, but Falken had just raised a point that she'd be swayed by and the Pope's heart still beat nervously at what she would say. "Yuzu, please, not you, too…"

Finally, the Elder stood up and faced the Judge. "Your honor, my colonies owe a debt of gratitude to Saint Saga. I disagree with my peers that Sanctuary has neglected its duties. If anything, its sirs tasked with protecting my people have. When my villages were attacked, Saint Saga battled the False Specters while my people found the mansion gates of Sanctuary's lords locked."

The auditorium once again protested. "What?!"

"Lies!"

"You insult the honor of our lords!"

"Order in the court!" Merope demanded. "Elder, what is your vote?"

She scoffed. "Not that it matters anymore, but I support the defense, naturally."

Shion widened his eyes, his heart warming, while the auditorium protested more, much to the gaveling of Judge Merope.

"Even if these youths couldn't prevent Daemon Lucifer from reaching the top of the Zodiac, they still stopped the attack and captured the enemy. As a veteran of the Lost Canvas War-"

Cetus scoffed so rudely that his blonde stubble waved. "Arrogant Muvian mummy…Couldn't forget to mention THAT, could you?"

"- I personally know the danger that the Celestial Pride Star represents. I've lost friends to him. Friends braver and more powerful than anyone in this courtroom." Yuzuriha continued, meaning Pegasus Tenma. "To me, that's nothing short of a miracle. It proves they are worthy Gold Saints, not the other way around."

Gigas grumbled, but kept his thoughts to himself, knowing his party had won anyway.

"This court rules in favor of the accusation." Merope announced, turning to the Gold Saints and the Pope. "Saint Cancer, Saint Virgo… you are hereby stripped of your Gold Saint titles. You may keep your Gold Pins and stay on your Houses' reserve, but you have until the end of the week to surrender your Gold Cloths to the next in line."

Shaka and Lance lowered heads in surrendering.

Aiolos frowned. "I'm sorry, guys. We tried. I can't believe that they voted you out…"

Lance shook his hand. "Don't sweat it, the Pope did his best. Me and him have been talking and we already guessed this would happen. I was the Patron Saint, so it really couldn't be helped. Besides, that Gigas guy has had it for me since the party at Kastoria… And Cetus is just a fucking psycho… Oh, sorry, Shaka."

The smiling six years old Indian boy already had his ears covered, though. "No worries."

"The hope was that we could get the Solos and Asgard to support us, but they seem to be pretty traditional, too." Saga concluded. "They depend on Sanctuary's laws to keep themselves safe, or they'd both be treated like historical enemies by dumb people, so naturally they will demand them to be enforced."

Aiolos insisted "But you worked so hard to become a Gold Saint! And Deathmask-"

Lance rolled eyes. "Aiolos, it's fine! We'll work some solution out. Mephisto and Aphrodite aren't exactly soft. Besides, you heard the Judge; I'm still a Cancer House member."

"Yes, since he kept his Gold Pin, Lance has been merely moved down the succession line. He could theoretically work his way back up, especially if Mephisto screws up." Saga added. He then scratched his own cheek pensively. "Which, well,… let's be honest; it might happen before we even break the news."

"Yeah, you seem more upset about this than I am, Aiolos." Lance commented.

The Sagittarius folded arms, disgruntled. In truth, he was anxious about his friend, yes, but also about how this could cascade down to Aiolia. "Of course I am upset! We voted you in, remember?! But it's like they don't care anyways. You rocketed yourself to outer space to save us! This… isn't fair."

Lance watched the courtroom emptying and Gigas speaking with the Judge. He knew the look in their faces to be one of conspiracy. "That's touching, but I get the feeling you will have more to worry about."

Before Aiolos could ask for clarifications, the three adults joined them. "Saints Aiolos, Saga, Lance." Greeted the dwarf, who then extended his hand with a big smile. "Congratulations on that wonderful bout of words! We can always strive for a purer, more righteous Sanctuary through the law of the Goddess, can we not?"

Seeing that Lance and Aiolos were too utterly disgusted, Saga shook it himself. "Of course, Councilor Gigas..."

"His Honor, Judge Merope, was just telling me the terms for settling the matter of the Leo Temple. Given the vote was not unanimous, candidate Aiolia will stay at the Leo Temple, for now."

Aiolos sighed in relief. No worrying about Aiolia's welfare for now. "Oh, thank the Goddess."

Saga, however, squinted. "What do you mean, for now?"

Gigas feigned ignorance. "Oh, Saint Saga, I thought it was obvious; since he cannot make use of the Leo Cloth yet, there is no possible justification for him to BE the Leo Saint… unlike the sons of my clients."

Aiolos stepped ahead of Saga. "What is that supposed to mean?!"

Tucking his toga defensively at the Sagittarius' approach, the dwarf put on his best nervous smile. "The court has decided; young Aiolia's will stay in the succession line, but we will present a challenger to his position."

Lance unfolded arms, alarmed. "Challenger? Who?!"

The dwarf rose chin proudly. "Why, who else? Galarian Steiner, son of duke Akassius! He has finally finished his training in the land of the Bulgars and will be coming to Sanctuary eventually to contest his claim on the Leo Cloth."

The Cancer Saint saw the panic rising on Aiolos eyes and demanded more answers. "Wait, how exactly is he going to contest it?!"

"Why, by duel of course."

Aiolos grabbed the short man's collar. "YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE MY BROTHER FIGHT A GROWN MAN?! WITH COSMOS?!" he shouted, attracting the attention of many masked faces. "HE'S FIVE! HE WOULDN'T EVEN BE ALLOWED ON A TRAINING GROUND! HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY SUGGEST THAT?!"

The dwarf gasped at the sight of the three furious Gold Saints. "S-Saint Aiolos, with all DUE RESPECT, if he wishes to stay in the House of warriors, then as a warrior he shall be treated. It's only just!"

The Sagittarius brimmed brightly with a menacing raised fist. "JUST?! HOW DARE Y-"

Saga and Lance gasped and held him with all their might. "AIOLOS, NO!"

Seeing this, Shion intervened, harmlessly releasing Aiolos' grip off the frightened Gigas with a telekinetic pop. "Aiolos, calm yourself!"

Sweating waterfalls, the councilor tucked his clothes. "Y-Your Holiness, he's out of control! All I did was lay out the terms we agreed!"

The Pope resisted the urge to rub his eyes through his mask. "Aiolos, Gigas didn't explain everything; Aiolia doesn't have to fight at all. You can pick someone to defend his claim."

"Then I will defend it!" Aiolos immediately declared. He eyed Gigas in a way the others had never seen in him. "If he wants a fight, tell Galarian Steiner to come see me, not my little brother!"

The dwarf nodded along. "Y-yes, of course, Saint Aiolos. Now if you excuse me… I must settle accounts with my clients." And the deceitful man trailed off, muttering between breaths. "Lowborn rats… How dare you lay a hand on me?! By the time I'm done, you'll all be replaced with proper Gold Saints!"

Shion shook his head in lamentation. Gigas often forgot how keen a Muvian's ears could be. He turned to his Gold Saints. "I'm glad you are all dealing with this so… well."

"Your Holiness, they're trying to persecute us!" Aiolos protested. "First, they went after Lance, and now they're coming for the rest of us! It's obvious!"

"Obvious or not, I cannot help you if you prove them right. Remember, as Gold Saints, you will always be held up to unfair standards." Shion reminded them. He couldn't blame Aiolos for wanting to protect his brother, though, and held the teenager's shoulder comfortingly. "Aiolos, you do well in taking Aiolia's place, but remember… Galarian, or Galan, is no mere son of the wealthy; in some ways, as Akassius Steiner's son, he carries a weight almost as terrible as yours. He will want to prove himself to his father and to Sanctuary at all costs. I also don't want you to judge him for the ambitions of the court. In the end, he is the same as you."

Calmer, Aiolos nodded. "Y-yes, of course, your Holiness. I will remember that."

Shion then turned to the biggest victim in all this, the now former Cancer Saint. "I'm sorry, my boy…"

The red-eyed teenager looked away. He would be lying if he said this didn't all sting, especially after the False Holy War, but he had to stay objective. "There's no helping it. We knew they would pull the Patron Saint card, didn't we? I'll get things ready for Mephisto to lead the Cancer House."

Saga folded arms, impressed. "I admire how well you're taking this. You're basically being punished for saving Sanctuary. If it were me…"

There was a sudden cringed of Lance's fist, which he quickly disguised by pretending to have a cramp. While Saga and Shaka missed it, Shion and Aiolos, of keener senses, saw it clearly and frowned empathetically.

"Yeah, well, I think I'll take a demotion over floating in space." Lance concluded, his tone tense. He gestured to the crowded exits. "Can we go now? I hate this fucking place."

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

Lucifer scoffed. "I can't believe you let those snakes walk all over you and your warriors, Shion. Have you no shame?"

"Shame? More than being the leader of a pack of rogue murderers, Lucian?" the Pope countered. "You speak in such simple ways because you prefer to eliminate your problems, rather than solve them. To live in peace and light, however, one has to learn how to keep the candles burning, Lucian, not just snuff them out. A lot of times… that requires sacrifice and compromise, especially to the families of the Saints who bleed for you and your vision."

"Yes, but under me, your Cancer Saint would be getting a promotion, not being fired for stopping my greatest enemy!" The silver-haired prisoner argued, naturally provided that Lance gave up his old loyalties. "Now I understand why he needed his Pegasus Cloth repaired… it's all your blue-blooded vultures left him with."

"Well, technically he has a claim on the Centaur Cloth, but thanks to your generous donation...-" Shion patted the Pegasus Box. "-his Bronze Cloth will do well enough."

The Prince folded arms and gave an incredulous snort. "If Hades is making his first moves… I sincerely hope you're right."

This brought to mind why Shion first came to visit. "Lucian, let's speak of what matters, then… So far, you've been very helpful to us, but I want to talk about something that has nothing to do with your old boss."

The Prince perked up curiously. "And that is...?"

The Pope leaned in. "… You, of course."

….

"Lucian, it's not too late." Shion reminded him. "Even as the Pope, I can't change what will be done to you, but if you're just upfront, if you repent what you've done… I can do something."

The prisoner tensed his eyes and only seemed to get more uncomfortable, leaning against the austere prison wall.

"Lucian, you say you saw Sasha at the Colossus, do you not? That you spoke with her?" Shion appealed. The notion of Athena coming down to address a Specter was revolting, but Shion didn't believe Daemon Lucifer would lie about such a thing. "Did that not… change anything in you? Make you rethink things at all? I… especially as the Pope chosen by her, simply cannot believe your heart came out of all that happened in your crusade unchanged."

The Prince rubbed his eyes. He wished he could just shove a javelin of darkness through the cell bars without it getting sucked up by the stardust.

Shion leaned back, his eyes softening in lament. It was like asking Mystoria or Degél if they could shed a tear through those ice walls of theirs, but in this case, there was no tradition of ice cosmos justifying it. Just a desperate man's foolish pride.

Still, he tried one last time. "At that terrible battle in my Hall, I saw in your eyes, Daemon Lucifer, that the young boy Lucian that my Master failed to protect wasn't dead. Half a millennium of darkness danced around him, chocking him, but his heart beat anyways." The Pope said. "I know you wouldn't have let Hades' side if that was untru-"

"I'm not interested in your heart-wrenching." Daemon cut, gritting teeth.

"…You wouldn't be the first to save himself, Lucian." Shion appealed. "Remember who came to visit you first."

"Who do you think I am? Michael? Kagaho?" Daemon Lucifer confronted. "Those two… they were soft on the inside all along. They became Specters to run away from their sad lives. It's only natural they would run under Athena's skirt, too. But not me!"

Shion rubbed his chin pensively. During the Lost Canvas War, when he was still the Aries Saint, Shion had noticed this particular pair, Dark Angel and Bennu, to certainly have a number of strange things in common, ranging from their fire element to their eventual redemption. The Pope always had a theory that Lucifer knew more about why than he let on.

"Don't you think that's unfortunate, Lucian? That you will let your pride drive you to a death full of regrets?"

"I regret nothing! I fought for my pride, broke my shackles and I lost only to the Teos Cloth. I won't let you turn me into another soul for Athena to recycle into her army like you did to Michael!" Lucifer stressed, before looking away. "It's too late for me, anyway."

Shion stood up, ready to leave. "… Remember, Lucian, we will be hunting down the rest of your men. We'll find Priam too. Don't think they will come save you."

"Quit the Catholicism, will you? Do you want my advice on what to do about Hades? Then I want my next consultation fee. Books will be fine, preferably philosophy. I get terribly bored down here. Don't worry about lighting, I can still burn my cosmos, even if these bars hold me." Lucifer then knocked on his cell bars to make noise. "GUARDS, come get your Pope!"

As the sound of steps was heard, Shion stared at the invisible wall that Lucian was putting between them. "Should I mention 'him' again? Should I say Leon's name?... Athena, what can I do to save this soul you chose to speak to?" he pondered, feeling great hesitancy after Lucifer's insane reaction and ensuing amnesia from the last time he tried. "Should I tell this man obsessed with being the last of a great bloodline… that he isn't the last? Would that pierce the walls around his heart, or would that crush what's left of it? Do I even have the right to keep this secret?"

The elevator operators joined him. "Your Holiness? Would you like us to carry that box?"

The Pope shook head and once again made Pegasus float in the air with a mere thought. "Thank you both, just accompany me out the door. And tell the library to bring that Romance collection that young Camus organized to the prisoner."

"I SAID PHILOSOPHY!" Lucifer roared.

The guards nodded. "The Pink Package it is, your Holiness."

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

Sanctuary, Golden Zodiac

House of Cancer

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

Waiting patiently by the 4th House's door along with Mu, Shaka, the former Gold Saint of Virgo, watched in fascination the bickering taking place inside.

Lance tapped his foot with folded arms "Well? Did you get all that?"

Mephisto picked his nose and held arms around his head lazily. "Yeah."

"Then go ahead, list it back!"

The dark-blue haired boy groaned. "Train four hours in the morning, study four hours in the afternoon! Cook my own meals, do my chores and if I have trouble, I ask the adults, but I don't keep any of the servants. Even though there are dozens in this mountain and they're PAID to take care of us kids!"

"Don't say it like it's a bad thing, Mephisto! Geez, you don't even sound like you already lived all by yourself in Sicily!" Lance said, exasperated.

"It's Deathmask! And just because you liked being independent when you were training with the wolves, doesn't mean I did!" The Sicilian boy got a whack in the head for his troubles. "OW!"

"Keep going!"

The boy groaned and counted with his fingers. "Clean my room, don't bully Aiolia OR Camus, don't bait Aldebaran into chasing me around, don't steal, don't lie, don't write graffiti on the Temples OR the ruins, don't go in the basement full of coffins by myself, don't resell Coliseum tickets, don't have ANY FUN whatsoever…!"

Lance rolled his red eyes. "You can have fun, just learn to do it without it being at the expense of others. It's not that hard! Kick a ball or something!"

"Don't kick balls at people's heads OR the Pope, don't send spirits after Aiolia, don't go into the Underworld Well by myself, don't push the dead off the Underworld Well road, don't bring Aiolia to the Underworld Well, don't get Underworld Well sand on the Temple floor, don't tell Aiolia you'll leave zombie heads on his bed at night, don't have ANY RECREATIVE ACTIVITIES whatsoever…!"

"The Yomotsu Hirasaka isn't a recreative activity, and you almost traumatized Aiolia with that shit!" Lance interrupted. "If you want to go into the Well for training, do it only with Karkinos around."

"OH, I'm so happy you mentioned the Cancer Cloth!" Deathmask shrieked, who resumed his listing. "Don't go near the Cancer Cloth outside of training, don't listen to what the Cancer Cloth says about how to live my life, don't take it seriously when the Cancer Cloth says I should try putting ghosts in the walls of the Temple, if I see it crawl out of the box at night, don't follow it down the basement…in fact, don't do anything remotely interesting with MY zodiac's Gold Cloth. Gee, I'm just so happy I live in Mussolini times again!"

Lance groaned, but tried to be content with this; even if Mephisto was acting spoiled about it, at least he was paying attention. "And…?"

Deathmask folded arms. "And I'll make sure to give Shura a stupid birthday gift, fine!... Should be simple. All he ever does is collect tabletop figures anyway."

Lance handed him some money to pick something at the game store for it. "Alright, then… Remember, this is your shot at having some responsibility. If you show Arles you can take care of yourself and the Temple, it will only get you the freedom you want."

Deathmask shifted eyes and scratched nose. "Yeah, okay, that makes sense."

Ruffling the ruffian's dark blue mane, Lance smiled amusedly at his unpleased reaction and headed out. "Okay, Mephisto, I'll see you later. Don't forget t-"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll send you mental messages of how my day went, dad!" the boy then rubbed hands in anticipation at what he would first do with his independence. "Let's see… I think I'll start by opening all those caskets in the basement."

Finding Shaka outside, Lance blinked, seeing him packing almost nothing. "Uh? Are you sure you're ready to go?"

The blonde boy nodded. "Yeah, I am. I don't really own that many… material things."

Lance scratched head. He really meant if Shaka wasn't packing any food. Maybe Lance could share some of his packed snacks with the kid on the way to Shamballa, wherever that place was. "Right, Buddhism and all."

As they headed down the stairs, Shaka spared some looks at the closing Cancer House doors. "Are you sure it's fine for Mephisto to guard your old Temple? He doesn't strike me as… diligent."

This was a rather polite way to say Mephisto was a total punk. "I don't have much of a choice, but the way I see it, if Aiolos can trust his little brother to be at Leo, it should be fine to leave Mephisto as well. Besides, this isn't the first time I've left him in charge… it's just that now it may be permanent."

Shaka tried to read the emotions on the older Saint's face, but without his old abilities, he found it much more difficult to figure out what the stoic Cancer was really thinking. Before he could just read the karma and figure out if he was committing the sin of dishonesty or forming layers of guilt, but now it was like there was a thick wall between Shaka's mind and that old knowledge that would just come to his senses in the presence of someone's karma.

Now, he was just normal, and had to figure it out the normal way. "You sound… sad. I'm sorry you lost your post, Lance."

"Aren't you going to say it's a material loss?" Lance asked, to which young Shaka shook his head. Taking out his golden pin with the same symbol that was above the Temple's doorway, Lance sighed. "Well,… I get to keep this, which is good because I gave the original one to someone else. So long as I have it, I guess it's a symbol of Sanctuary at least acknowledging that I made it gold, and that I can always come pay a visit."

Shaka searched his pocket for his own. It was a badge with the Virgo symbol, similar to a cursive m with an extra tail, engraved on it. He hadn't ever given the object much thought, perceiving his position as the Virgo Gold Saint almost like a redundant acknowledgement of what was already universally clear about his powers.

"Will you say goodbye to the others?"

"Won't that make it harder to leave?"

"Yes, but it will also make it easier to return."

Then hearing these words out of Shaka's mouth, Lance blinked. "Uh, is that what the Pope told you?"

"Yes." Shaka nodded. "I thought it might cheer you up. I know you said you were okay, but I felt like I should make sure."

It was so weird to see Shaka employing empathy in a normal way. "Arkes has his moments for a doddering old Muvian."

"Maybe these badges will be the key for us to both return someday." Shaka suggested, staring at his own.

Lance was silent, noticing their glint which was so much like one of the Gold Cloths. "Maybe…or maybe they're what's been blinding us so far."

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

Aries Temple

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

At the Hall of Jason, which was finally finishing repairs from all the tremendous bloodshed and destruction it suffered at the hands of the False Specters, Aries Mu left the workshop in one of the siderooms and joined Aphrodite and Master Shion at the hall, smiling sheepishly at what he held secretly in his hands.

Aphrodite stared anxiously. "Come on, show me!"

But the Aries Saint guarded it. "Na-ah-ah, what kind of craftsman would I be… if I didn't get my pay first?"

"I'll pay you all the ice cream you want when we go into town, okay?" Aphrodite promised. He should have enough saved up from his flower sales.

The Aries Gold Saint presented him with a piece of paper. "Sign the receipt, please."

Keeping the Pegasus Cloth box by his side, Shion shook his head to himself. "Mu…We've talked about this."

But Aphrodite yanked the paper, took a pen and signed in his name right away. "Okay, there, done! Do you want my blood next, or what?"

After checking it for forgeries, Mu smiled and unveiled his creation. A flash of golden light occurred and an object was teleported from afar into Mu's hands. "Ta-da!"

The Pope gasped; it was a beautiful snow sled with intricately carved mahogany handles, a red rest with white outlines and symbol of a rose with a text in English above it.

"Great work, Mu!" the master complimented. "I see you've been taking carving classes seriously."

The lilac-haired Aries Gold Saint blushed at his teacher's compliment. "Thank you, master."

But Aphrodite was outraged. "MU! That's not what I asked at all!"

Mu blinked. "Uh? But… you said you wanted-"

The Pisces folded arms in disbelief. "A wooden ROSE BUD! Not the Rosebud!"

Mu counted the syllables in his fingers and noticed a spot where a space could be in. "Oh…"

The Pope shook his head. "Ah, ah, oh, the dangers of verbal contracts. I believe I've warned you about this, Mu."

Young Mu sweated. "I thought Aphrodite missed his home country, Master."

Aphrodite cringed. "Ew, no! I hate the snow…. Not as much as Lance, of course, but it ruins all my plants. Even Demon Roses. If you want a great time to invade Sanctuary, do it in a snowstorm." Part of the wonders of the Isle of Gardens was it being in the Mediterranean, far from any stupid ice. Speaking of hating ice, he looked over and saw his guardian arriving with Shaka. "Oh. Hello, you two."

"Your Holiness." Lance greeted the Pope, before turning to the kids. "I heard shouting coming in here, what's going on?"

The Pisces child pouted. "Nothing… Mu just got my order completely wrong, like a dummy."

Seeing the sad look in Mu's face, Lance groaned. "You look like you got something for your trouble already, Aphrodite! Say thank you."

The Pisces took the sled and looked it over, admiring it some of its finer details "Well… I guess it's still good work. I can use it when I go up north. But I'm only paying HALF!"

Mu pouted. "Man… I still worked hard." But he saw the master's masked stare and took the offer. "… Alright."

Seeing the Pope rest his hand on the Pegasus box, Lance gestured the kids to leave. "Aphrodite, take Shaka and Mu to town, okay? I'll be with you in a moment."

Setting the sled aside, the older cyan haired boy dragged the two away. "Come on, you two. And you better do what I say while we're out! I'm the oldest one, after all!"

"Mm, I wonder if it's alright to send them out?" Arles wondered, always concerned about Mu's antics.

Lance's hand waved dismissively. "Don't worry, Aphrodite is more dangerous than anyone they can run into. We train together pretty damn well."

The Pope waited until they had some privacy, which came when the Temple doors closed, and noticed how quick Lance's mind assumed he was talking about their safety, rather than Mu's sugar-fueled chaos. "Ah, sometimes I forget how much you and Aiolos care for them."

Lance grumbled to himself; it was closer that he felt it to be his natural obligation to keep an eye on these many walking nukes. "Aiolos cares. I just kind of help out. He'll have to do without me from now on, I suppose."

"Yes, speaking of which-" Shion then handed Lance his Pegasus Box. "Here is your Bronze Cloth."

Immediately packing it around his back, Lance tested the straps, smiling with the feeling of his oldest armor returned. "Thank you. I can't wait to try it."

"Actually, Mu asks you to hold off on that." Shion requested, surprising Lance. "No particular reason, he is just very proud of our work and wants you be surprised. Needless to say, though, you'll be able to use it even against Gold Rank threats, should it come to it."

Lance's eyes widened. "Gold Rank?! That's quite the upgrade!" he thought. The last time he used Pegasus it was against Alraune Lemon and Daemon Lucifer and it felt like actually had to compensate for Pegasus' inability to keep up with Lance's speeds. "Man, now I am curious…"

The Pope beheld him like a son about to depart from home. Admittedly he still felt trouble addressing this. "So… Pegasus Lance…"

Lance grumbled embarrassedly.

Shion chuckled. "It's been a while since I've called you that, hasn't it? Why, I feel like I've travelled back in time!"

"I didn't miss it. I don't have good memories of how we used to get along when I was still just a Pegasus." He then sighed in frustration. "I suppose… this is a trap I set up to myself. You never told me to challenge the court and declare myself patron."

"Perhaps not, but I did congratulate your faith in the others for it. I can't help but feel that I bear part of the weight. All you did was put your trust in the Saints that I picked to be your comrades. Despite your short time as my Cancer Saint, you also performed a great service to me." Shion stressed. "I can't say many people would have done what you did at the Colossus."

Rather than proud, Lance felt distressed at this, his crimson eyes scurrying away from Shion. Looking back on everything that happened, the Saint felt rather foolish at having used the Koryuha. While he had no idea that the Teos Cloth would show up, enough distance had been gained from feeling like the whole world would fall apart if Lucifer succeeded in doing whatever he wanted at the Colossus that, in retrospective,… it felt shocking how the urgency drove Lance into making such a literally suicidal decision.

It was frightening what he could apparently do if the situation pushed him far enough, like even Lance wasn't aware of the limits of his lack of self-preservation. Hopefully it wouldn't happen again, so, to Lance, it wasn't as complementary to him as it was startling to revisit that memory.

"I want you to know that, no matter what, pin or no pin, you'll always be welcome back at the Golden Zodiac. And…" Shion promised. His hands then searched his pocket for some kind of jingling metallic object that he then placed in Lance's hand. "… I want you to have this."

Lance stared at it, stunned. It was a key. Not to a safe or a box, but clearly for a door. "You're giving me a house?"

Shion nodded. "Yes."

He then noticed the code indicating the street and gasped. "At the First Acropolis?"

Shion nodded. "That's right."

The Pegasus Saint blinked in disbelief. The reason why he was stunned was not just because he was being given his own place when most Bronze and Silver Saints were normally expected to sleep at the Winged Slopes' huts and hovels, far from Sanctuary Town's civilians, but the location wasn't even the cheapest. Sanctuary Town had four big acropolis hills with fortified enclosures and they were all dedicated to some specialized purpose or another. The Third Acropolis by the mountain pass to the city, for example, housed training yards and watchtowers, while the Second, which was right at the cusp of the Golden Zodiac itself, was a famous rich neighborhood.

The First Acropolis, to the west end of Sanctuary Town, on the other hand, was just as the name implied the oldest street in Sanctuary. People said that it was at that hill that refugees from the Lost Canvas War were gathered during the conflict and where Taurus Rasgado had fallen in combat to protect them. While it wasn't the most expensive place due to being relatively out of the way of the modern town center, it was still a relatively coveted place to have your home.

Lance handed it right back. "Forget it, Lord Arles. This is… very generous, but-"

But the Pope's wrinkled hand pressed it on his palm like a reassuring parent. "But nothing; I don't want a Saint that performed such services to me to be housed at the Winged Slopes again, where the ignorant can target you. You've earned it, Pegasus. Take it."

But the austere Saint felt incredibly uncomfortable with this and kept staring at the key with vexation. It wasn't just that he never really felt at home in Sanctuary Town, not to mention the amount of time he spent in Asia training anyway, but his plans for the future didn't exactly include laying around with a thumb up his ass while Hades made more moves. Also, a part of him felt that this was Shion's way to anchor him to Sanctuary, now that his Gold Saint post was gone.

"I'm… not sure about this, your Holiness." He confessed. "I was never comfortable with the Cancer Temple's luxuries either, and –"

Shion scoffed at this. "I'm not offering you a mansion, Lance. First Acropolis houses have a long tradition of being offered to Saints who perform great services to me. Please, I've even had it swept clean beforehand. Spend a night there before you turn my parting gift away."

Grumbling, Lance pocketed it. He could always just give it a shot. "Well, if it's a tradition…Very well. Thank you, your Holiness." Being made to think of the Specters, however, alerted Lance to something else he meant to ask. "One more thing, Your Holiness, was there any news from the front?"

Shion held hands over back. "About the most recent attack? You're not planning to… volunteer there, are you? You just survived your first Holy War, after all."

Lance shifted eyes and shook his head. "No, I am just worried. I… saw Camus rushing out."

Rubbing his mask's chin, Shion nodded. "I see. Yes, Malta has been taken to the Ophiuchus Hospital. You can find out more about what's going on from his mouth. I plan to visit him myself as soon as I can. If you don't mind me asking, though, now that you're free from this horrid month… what are your plans for now?"

"Well, first things first, I will take a look at this house you gave me. Then I'll take Shaka to Shamballa and Mu to Jamir as soon as I am able to." Lance listed. "Along the way I'll try to see if I can check on Camus' teacher, then I'll have to go see Roshi. I still, um,… well, I have to apologize for using the Koryuha. Heroic or not, it's still against his rules."

The Pope nodded in approval. "That's quite the schedule."

Lance grumbled. "Yeah, I can't say I lack things to do, despite being fired."

"And then?"

Lance tensed unperceptively. His new objectives were the part he wanted to keep to himself, so he decided to pull a Lucifer and tell a half-truth.

"Well… I'll likely sign myself up for missions at the MMC again. I need a living, after all."

"Ah, sounds like a good plan! Lance…" the Pope then laid hands on his shoulders. "I sincerely wish you the best on this new phase of your life In Sanctuary. May the Goddess bless your future, my son."

The Saint patted the old hand respectfully. "Thank you, Your Holiness, for everything." He then bowed his head respectfully and departed.

Shion watched the teenager disappear out the Temple's doors and sighed. "Tragic… to think that even without killing them, Daemon Lucifer would take two of my Saints anyway. Athena, please watch over these young men.., and so will I." He then sent out a ping to his Chambers. "Maximus?"

The Captain of the Papal Guards way at the top of the mountain responded. "Yes, your Holiness?"

"I've handed the key. Did you assign the patrol already?"

"Yes, your Holiness. A small group of hoplites will keep a watch on the address you gave me and report to me directly. If I may ask, though?"

"Yes?"

"Wasn't this address… Saint Leo Kai's house?"

The Pope rubbed chin pensively. "Yes, I believe it was."

There was a pause before the next message. "Very well, your Holiness. Your wishes are Sanctuary's commands."

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

Germany,

Pandora's Earthly Castle

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

A great shadow moved over the terrain, which swarmed with Skeleton Soldiers marching out the gated barbican of the Heinstein castle in a great column of scythes and arbalests, flanked by the fortress' geysers of green fire.

Standing at the barbican's battlements, Pandora beheld the glorious sight of her brother's troops clearing the Saints' fortifications and taking control back of her lands. "Ahh, wonderful! After all these dreadful weeks, I am rid of the sight of those Saints!"

Wyvern Rhadamanthys bowed next to her. "They stood absolutely no chance, Lady Pandora, but many fled back to their hiding place at Peloponnesia. Give me permission and I'll give pursuit! By the end of the week, all of Germany and Austria will be rid of Sanctuary's profligates!"

She smiled. "A wonderful idea… but my brother has other plans, unfortunately." And she looked up at the source of the great shadow around them. "Isn't that right, Aiacos?"

The Wyvern also turned up with a draconic sneer at the sight of envy of all Specters, even Judges like himself.

Far above them, blocking the little sunlight peering through Heinstein's dark clouds, was a gigantic object of absolute terror. As long as two hundred and fifty feet and wide, what looked like a great, bloated, winged worm of dark-painted petrified wood sheeted with Damascus. Its wide belly hull, dotted with gunports, possessed countless enormous cannon barrels marked with Underworld symbols, all aimed at the ground below it. Two gigantic forward guns, in particular, protruded out its proud chest, looking to possess enough force to destroy a Temple of the Zodiac, while a launch catapult was positioned on the forward deck, meant to propel powerful Specters through the air over enemy defenses.

Above the main forward guns, a massive bird-headed keel rose. Its open beak was alite with a mysterious burn, making it seemingly belch smoke, while its three wide eyes shined with Underworld rubies, gazing down on the horizon threateningly and promising destruction to all of Hades' enemies. Its protective sheets were shaped like feathers, running down the neck and extending into the rest of the vessel's hull armor before protruding into small wings, giving it an even more avian appearance. It's bow deck, right behind the bird head, sported what looked like a gigantic rail ballista, which was in truth a launch catapult for shooting Specters far across Sanctuary's walls and stardust clouds.

Its stomach was three decks of Skeleton crewmen, who manned the gigantic guns or protected its deck with their scythes and arbalests. None seemed to be manning the ship itself and there were no masts, giving the impression that this bird was but a platform of guns that breezed through the air by magic. The only indication of anyone controlling the ship's movement was but a steering wheel that existed at the forecastle, handled by a heavily armored Specter.

It was 'The Valiant', the ship of darkness and despair, the carrier of lost souls to the afterlife which once battled Sagittarius Sisyphus' ship of hope, now refitted and enlarged to modern times. With its air dominance, its belly of guns could spread hellfire on Saints and its flight and catapult carried Specters into the rear of the enemy, making any organized attempt to resist the will of Hades impossible.

Close to the launch catapult deck, a single throne chair was placed at the rear center of the top deck, upon which Garuda Aiacos sat, flanked by his closest warriors.

Hearing Pandora's voice in the cosmos itself, he answered. "For Lord Hades, Pandora? Of course. The Emperor will have his revenge… both on Sanctuary and Daemon Lucifer as well."

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

Chapter End

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

Next Chapter: Chapter 74 – Third Arc – Episode 2 – Making the First Move

Description: After checking his new house and getting quite a surprise, Lance takes the kids to Shamballa and begins his first arrangements for his new project to invade the Underworld

Author's Comments:

I should have called this chapter "Growing Pains". It was quite the transition moving away from the Death Queen Island's story structure and pace back to my regular format. On top of it, I'm no longer doing the False Holy War, so Im overtrained in a way to tell the story that is no longer useful for me. Final edits actually occurred on the day of this chapter's release on and I had to move a whole bunch of stuff to the next chapter cause it was taking too much space (nearly 6000 words, no joke)

Relatively to V2, this chapter's structure is more or less the same. The old one was also about the Pope visiting Lucifer and recounting the events of the 1-month-timeskip between "The Cloth of Hope" chapter and this one. However, yada yada, version 3 is more wordy so I had to do a whole lot more with a whole lot less this time around. All in all, writing the first 2 chapters of this Third Arc was a very stressful experience and some unrelated events made me question the point of continuing the fic. Nothing serious or permanent, just a moment of self-doubt about weather I had the skill to do everything I wanted to.

The reason for that is because this time around I'm actually keeping a detailed plan of this Arc's layout and chapter number. The Third Arc, according to it, will be 36 chapters long. At least. That's 3 years of writing at my pacing, if everything goes well. It will also be *extremely challenging* because I'll have to introduce and develop characters at a pace I never have before. Hence the temporary panic crisis.

However, after getting this chapter back from Beta (thank you, Siena) and finishing the Alpha of 74, I'm feeling a bit more confident that I can tackle this if I just manage my wordcount carefully. Thankfully some characters, particularly Yushira and Cerah, this time around in V3 have been pre-introduced and pre-developed, so I don't have to spend so many resources getting them to work. The challenge will be mostly some other characters that have already been hinted at in the story but will still be big untapped territory for me.

This is it, guys. We are almost at unknown frontiers. V2 only got as far as more-or-less 3 chapters ahead of this point. It feels weird to be writing without the /Ξ\.◊./Ξ\\ symbol I had for the scene separation bars for Arc 2, which, btw, was supposed to look like how imagined Lucifer's head piece to look like, before Balasdan's fantastic artwork of the Daemon Surplice. This time around Im going with a simple |A3| because I just had no idea what to pick for this Arc, since it's gonna talk about to many different characters.

It took a long time, but I'm finally back where I last stopped this story ;w;

ANYWAY, please make sure to share the story, review it, like it on Twitter/Tumblr/Reddit and generally support this project if you enjoy it. You can find me in all those places under the Thrudgelmir2333 name.

Also, make sure to check out the Saint Seiya Reddit Discord server, where I'm currently one of the co-admins. Other writers like Jenny DeVic also can be found in it. You can hang out with the rest of the English-speaking SS community and we host several weekly events, like episode streams, live streams and games.