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.

74. 3A: Making the First Move

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

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Author Notes:

-Lance's Role has officially gone past 1.600.000 words on with this chapter

-This chapter has been betaread by Zebulon_Wallace, from Discord;

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Please enjoy and review (^_^

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A month earlier,

Néa Delphi, Ghisi Manor

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Cerah backed away in fear, gulping at the terrible eyes staring at her. "P-Please, you don't understand, I came here to see someone from your family! I was invited here!"

They were at the hall of the manor, a beautiful wooden-floored entry with a big curved staircase to the upper floors, intricately weaved carpet with a family heraldry on it, a high chandelier above their heads and portraits of past men and women who had led the Ghisi household in Sanctuary for centuries on the walls. Cerah had convinced the guards at the metal gate outside to let her come inside, citing the letter she got from "A.G." The guards had told her to wait at this hall while they called for 'miss Ghisi'.

The well-dressed red-haired young lady they brought to Cerah, however, scoffed indignantly. "What? Is she taking me for a fool?"

The knight gulped. Even though Cerah had the cosmos of a Silver Saint, this imposing young lady in her late teens, dressed like a princess with her gem-incrusted dress, bow-tied red hair, jeweled necklace and high heel shoes, seemed to possess the strangest ability to make Cerah feel like she belonged in the dirt with a mere gaze of her cold blue eyes.

The much younger boy next to her, no older than ten years old, of golden blonde hair, sharply dressed in a blue suit and green tie, pointed his finger. "Sister Anastasia, she's lying! I caught her pilfering mother's watch while the help went to get you!"

She gave her young brother the kindest smile. "You did well, Atticus." and then returned Cerah the subtlest death glare. "Care to explain, dear visitor?"

The knight gritted teeth in terror. She had indeed touched some of the beautiful tiny watches they had displayed at the table by the stairs. As soon as the guards were gone, her eyes caught its shine on the table, belonging to the small silvery watch with a heraldry on it. Cerah wasn't sure why, but she felt a surge of curiosity and reached for it.

And, of course, the boy "caught the thief" in the act. Before she knew it, Cerah was surrounded by the guards and "miss AG".

Could this really be her? The person who saved Cerah's life? The woman who knew Cerah's most terrible secret? Who could on a whim send her to Arles' guillotine? Or worse?

"What is there to explain, sister? I saw what she did! Her hands should just get cut off right now!" Atticus accused, pointing his thin finger "That's what happens to thieves, isn't it?!"

Shocked by the boy's callousness, Cerah defended herself. "PLEASE, I'm the person…" Cerah then stopped herself, unsure how to word this. The letter had been very clear about keeping the encounter a secret. Maybe Anastasia was playing that part? Should Cerah play along? Should she lie and say she came to ask for a job? "I was called to this address by letter! By someone with the initials A and G!"

"A and G? While yes, I am Anastasia Ghisi, I do not recall calling anyone here by mail. Much less a… person of the people of Sanctuary." The young noblewoman affirmed, her gaze only growing sterner. "May I see that 'letter'?"

Cerah staggered, thinking about how it went up in smoke in her hands. "Uh…I… do not have it. I've lost it."

Anastasia covered her mouth in pretend-shock while Atticus just chuckled like she told a bad joke. The guards exchanged looks and encroached Cerah further.

"I suppose it… burned up?" Anastasia guessed. The way she covered her mouth made it look like she was pretending to conceal laughter out of kindness. It was the most bizarre thing. "Dematerialized by Zeus himself?"

"YES!" Cerah wanted to scream, but she picked wiser words. Was this all just a giant sadistic trap by these psychotic rich people? "I'm… I apologize, miss Ghisi. This was clearly a big misunderstanding. I will leav-"

The large, open Manor doors behind Cerah suddenly, by no hand, slammed shut, startling and trapping her in the Hall. Something in Anastasia's lack of reaction to it told her though that, somehow, she had done it.

The noblewoman held chin in hand, her eyes studying Cerah. "Leave? You step into our household under false pretenses, try to steal my mother's favorite watch, lie to us about it and now you think you can just carry on? Who in Hera's name do you think you are? "

Cerah widened eyes and nearly lost composure. "Miss Ghisi, I did NOT lie! And I didn't steal ANYTH-"

"Who asked your opinion?" Anastasia queried. "Thieves don't have permission to speak in our household. The next time you do, I'll have you blinded and tossed nude into the streets, understood?" Anastasia gestured at her security. "Andrew, Matthias, take her away. And call the guard."

Cerah felt her arms roughly grabbed by the two securities. "HEY, WAIT, LET GO OF ME! I'M NOT A THIEF!"

The two securities struggled to drag her out, feeling their grips shoved against back and forth like trying to take a cat from her cubs. "D-damn it, she's quite strong!"

"L-LET ME GO!"

"D-Damn it, would you j-just-" The guard's sentence was interrupted when his foot was stepped on and the back of Cerah's skull crashed against his nose as hard as a hammer, shattering it. He howled "O-OW, b-bitch!"

The other got the baton and raised it over her. "Alright, that's IT! You asked for i-" As soon as he swung, though, Cerah dodged with a bob and exploded her fist on his stomach, making Matthias back away with a pained cough.

Cerah stepped back, breathing angrily and coiling her fists. She needed to avoid using any kind of fancy move that denounced her Knight status, so it was better if she run straight away. Thus, as soon as she saw an opening, she dashed right between the two lunging securities, dodged their fist and baton swings, struck them both with a well-place punch to each of their kidneys and rushed towards the closed doo-

*SLAP*

Cerah gasped out, feeling time slow, her face turn, her neck twist, her body fling aside and her world blanked by the burning force of an open palm on her burned cheek blanking her world. Her foot broke her fall. Time regained its pace and she regained her senses, holding her scalded face in full alarm at what struck her. Her green eyes stared at the noblewoman in horror. Anastasia rubbed her hand with an uncomfortable frown, like the contact with Cerah disgusted her.

The force the knight just felt, as well as the palm-shaped heat now burned into her cheek, were unmistakable. This woman had cosmos. Cosmos used in a mere slap to silence the Knight. Cosmos that could have broken Cerah's neck just now, had she not her own powers.

"Y-you…." Cerah stuttered.

Anastasia's eyes stared like a snake's at Cerah. "…Who do you think you are? How dare you attack my family's employees? Do you think you're above the law? I will have you quartered for this."

At that moment, every ounce of Cyrulian blood in Cerah's veins burned, seeking divine retribution upon this witch. A decade training and studying under Daemon Lucifer had prepared Cerah for any kind of abuse, but nothing had readied her for how audaciously this woman was acting towards her for a simple misunderstanding.

She was already in this big a mess, wasn't she? Her fist clenched and her teeth gritted, aiming to teach this sadist a less-

A soft hand gripped Cerah's wrist, stopping her from doing the insane. "Calm down, miss Heloise. Lower your hand."

Cerah gasped. Standing next to her holding her angry hand, just arrived at the manor, was a strawberry-blonde young woman with a blue overcoat, sword, amber eyes and a silver-ring on the hand holding the guard.

"O-OH, miss Ghisi!" Matthias gasped. "Welcome home!"

Adriana's amber eyes surveyed the spectacle in the room before dropping on the guards. "I thought I could find the two of you here when I didn't see you at the gate. Mathias, get Andrew out of here, for Athena's sake." she ordered, making the security guard scurry to help his friend stop his bleeding. Adriana shook her head, sighed and helped Cerah up. "Are you okay?"

The blonde knight blinked, stunned at the turn of events. There was something familiar about this woman's touch, like she had held Cerah once in the past. "I'm… y-yes, thank you."

Adriana pulled Cerah aside protectively and turned to the other two nobles. Immediately there was a nigh-imperceptible scowl from the older woman that she disguised with a respectful head nod. "Sister, brother…"

"H-Hello, sister Adriana." Atticus greeted, bowing deeply from behind the curtain.

Anastasia bowed slightly. "Hello, Adriana. Back from… work, already? I hope it was another realizing day for you."

Cerah stood back, feeling the temperature in the room drop. "Adriana?" Now she understood the mess. "You must be the one who sent the letter?"

Adriana nodded at Cerah before facing her family again. "Yes, Anastasia, it was." Her stoic tone made her sound like she faced an ancient enemy, rather than a dear younger sister. "I was just finished putting Sophie at the stable when I heard the… shouting."

"Did you? Oh, let me have the help fix you a bath, then, sister! I'm sure you… are exerted from your travel?" Anastasia continued. "All those hours doing father's work for him, after all… and commuting? They're so terrible on your already humble beauty."

"Thank you, sister." Adriana assured, faking a smile. "I hope you had a full day as well, being useless around the house and torturing my guest. Goddess knows you and Atticus feel so bored at times. If only there was something worthwhile for you to do other than stand around pretending that you're pretty."

Cerah and the securities held breath, feeling the room grow as cold as Giudecca. Even Atticus, behind his curtain, completely hid away from his sisters, coiling his head like the slightest mistake would get him caught in a crossfire.

Anastasia kept smiling and held hands at waist. "Well, I do intend to marry someday, Adriana, unlike you."

Adriana smiled and tilted head. "Oh, do you, sister? Ah, I feel so embarrassed! I must be getting all the suitor letters meant for you by accident. Hera bless me, you must think I've stolen them."

Anastasia shook her head and chuckled. "No, no, sister, it's alright. I know you couldn't possibly be interested in all those sweet suitors. You've clearly …" and she paused tensely, smirking. "…given your heart to the horses."

Adriana shook her head. "Oh, little sister, that's not it at all! I just have a difficult time opening my heart to men. Unlike you and your…" and she glanced at their common brother Atticus, who backed behind the curtain again. "…open affections!"

A look of pure hatred finally flashed on Anastasia's face, breaking her friendly façade. She then disguised it immediately. It went by so quickly that the guards missed it, but Cerah was sure she caught it!

"Yes, well, have a good day, sister! And do come join us for dinner. You're such a rare sight at the table, after all…" Anastasia wished, taking Atticus by the hand. "Come, Atticus, let's leave Adriana to her hobbies."

Left alone with her rescuer, Cerah gulped, unsure what to expect. Even if this woman had saved her from her siblings, who could tell what she was like, and what she wanted to do with her secret?

"Please accompany me, miss Cerah."

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Cerah entered Adriana's study; it was a room off to the manor's side divisions with big windows facing the gardens. It had a main desk, a smaller one to the side, shelves on the wall filled with books, small family portraits, a grandfather clock, a set of chairs for both desks, a carpet and even a small fireplace guarded by an iron rail.

The noblewoman spent a minute checking the entire room up and down, making sure the thick door was locked, the curtains were properly roped, that there was nothing behind the sofa and that the ceiling itself was intact. Rather than looking for a belonging, Adriana seemed tense in her search, as if making sure there was nothing suspicious in it like eavesdropping devices.

Cerah gulped; were all aristocratic people paranoid like this? Or just Adriana? Then again, considering what she just went through at the hall…

"Make yourself comfortable, Miss Cerah, I just need a minute to make sure of something." Adriana invited, pointing at the chair in front of the small desk. "Oh, and don't touch the flowers."

The Knight saw the vase kept by the wall next to the smaller desk and sucked her breath; it possessed the most stunning display of roses Cerah had ever seen, so beautiful they looked from another planet. The red in their petals was a crimson as deep as blood, like Lucian's eyes, while their petals enveloped each flower core with rich textures and thick, seductive layers that made the idea of a passionate kiss pop into the mind. Their thorny bodies were kept inside a curiously thick-looking wrapping. Beneath it was a letter with the words "To a kindred spirit, signed - your Pisces friend" written in small, beautiful cursive handwriting.

To say these roses looked fantastic was an understatement; Cerah felt like every single one was as if gazing on the face of the Goddess of Love herself. Cerah noticed another odd thing; while there was no scent, there were marks of something dripping down a couple of the roses onto the wrapping.

How odd. Her fingers reached out to touch it-

Adriana swiped the vase away from her, startling Cerah!

The knight's face went red. "I-I'm sorry!"

Adriana observed Cerah curiously, comparing this new near-fatality in her mind to how Cerah just got caught messing with her mother's pocket watch. Cerah did not realize it, but this was the second time in the same turn of the hour that Adriana had saved Cerah's life. Maybe inviting her her to the household wasn't such a brilliant idea.

Why such frisky fingers on Cerah's hand, though? Adriana's amber eyes glanced briefly at the obsidian Cloth stone in Cerah's neck. It was supposed to be Corvus, correct? What if…

Adriana put the vase down safely, rearranging it. "You have a powerful sense of curiosity, don't you, miss Cerah?"

A horrible wash of shame came over the blonde girl. Why did this keep happening?! Why couldn't she keep her stupid fingers to herself? "I'm so sorry! The roses just-"

"These aren't roses." Adriana mentioned, now checking the plant itself for whatever she was searching, taking a second to stare with lost thoughts at their blood-colored beauty. "Royal Demons make wonderful gifts, but they must be kept out of range of the unaware. You'll notice they have no smell, because they've been stripped of their venomous pollen. The thorns are wrapped, but a careless touch from you could still kill. My grandfather, our patriarch, doesn't make use of this room as much as he used to, so I like keeping them by my side."

Cerah gulped at such a description, realizing how close she came to being sent out in a coffin. "But if they're so dangerous?"

Adriana stared at them contemplatively. "I'm not sure. I think it's…their particular tone of red. I feel attracted to it."

The knight nodded, seeing sense in this even though the red looked a bit too much like blood for her taste. In any case, these were the legendary poisonous plants of the 12th House? How did miss Ghisi get them? Maybe it was true that rich people could just buy whatever they wanted. Then again the note implied it was a friends' gift.

Adriana could guess what she was thinking. "Miss Cerah, considering your background, I would have picked a safer place for us to talk, but unfortunately, I have to give everyone the impression you're just another pair of hands I'm interested in educating. You see, I make it part of my business to train specialized staff for other wealthy families in Sanctuary and I'm known to conduct my contracts here at my study. The more people see you as the housemaid you've been working as, the better. Don't you agree?"

"Y…Yes, of course!" Cerah nodded, finally understanding the odd behavior. Then she was supposed to pretend this was an interview like all the others she had attended for doing work in Sanctuary. "Miss… umm…"

"Ghisi." Adriana patiently added. She then looked away embarrassed. "Speaking of which, forgive me for the mess my letter put you in just now. I didn't think it through. I had to write it right after surviving that awful Papillon Specter."

"Not at all! I was just… quite shocked." Cerah confessed. The force with which Anastasia struck her, however, was worrying "It's just that... Your sister, if I had been a normal person, rather than, … um…"

"A refugee? A spy?" Adriana guessed, folding arms. "An assassin, maybe? I suppose it's time to address the elephant in the room, isn't it? What are you, miss Cerah?"

Cerah gulped, reminded of her old teenage fantasies of killing the Pope. "Miss Ghisi, I swear I'm not in Sanctuary to hurt anyone. Not anymore. You wouldn't invite me here if you thought so, either."

Adriana nodded in accordance. "You're correct. So what IS your goal?"

Cerah's head sunk in depression, remembering the massacre at the Aries Temple. It was easy to say 'protect Eurydice', but the truth was that while Cerah had learned to care for the Nymph on her own drive, seeing her like a beloved godmother, Cerah had also been motivated by a desire for Lucifer's approval. Now she wasn't sure if she wanted that last one anymore.

"I… don't know anymore." she admitted. "But… right now I don't want Sanctuary to find out what I am."

"Yet, you risked life and limb and exposure of your abilities to fight the Specters." Adriana confronted. "There is a testimony by Saint Crane going around that a young girl of your description even battled a Cyclops False Specter. Using the Light Element, no less."

Cerah felt her throat tighten and her head grow hot. "BECAUSE… they were going to hurt people! What was I supposed to do?!" Cerah head sunk back down again, feeling her eyes well up. Images of the corpses at Aries and the fight with the Gigant-possessed Balgo still gave her nightmares. "I… had to do something! Make sure they didn't…kill! And in the end, Saint Yushira beat Cyclops, not me. I couldn't do anything, even as a…"

"As a Knight?" Adriana asked, her tone gentle.

Cerah stiffed at the forbidden title being mentioned.

However, Adriana felt it was about time the topic was broken into. It was important that Adriana found out as much as he could about Cerah, even if they had to play this game of not laying out all their cards on the table just yet. Adriana had something important to ask her, and making this particular bet on the wrong person could have catastrophic results.

Cerah's expression became stern. "No, as a human being." she asserted. "Miss Ghisi, I'm not sure what is expected of Sanctuary's noble families, but… Maybe you think it's fine to hurt someone as weak as your sister thought I was, but I don't!"

Adriana looked away, frowning in disgust, silent for a moment in thoughts, and rested against her desk out of the two in the room.

Calming down, Cerah realized the depth of her insult. "I'm sorry, I just-"

Adriana's hand shook. "No, you're fine. And you're right. My family… is old. Very old. And can be quite vicious. One thousand years of fighting for respect among Saints made into nobles has made the branches of my genealogical tree drip with poison. I didn't mean to imply you did all those brave things just because of your… secret."

"Miss Ghisi, you saved me just now, but I need to know if you're going to protect it." Cerah then paused, thinking of what to say. Adriana's eyes were much friendlier than her sister's, but this could just be a ruse to make her guard go down. "… I have someone I must keep safe in Sanctuary! Someone whose life depends on me. Whatever it is that you want to keep my secret safe, I will listen, but…"

Adriana smirked, curious. "But?"

Cerah stiffed again, narrowing her eyes in determination. "If you demand something outrageous or… or… or you threaten me and my loved ones, I will NOT obey you. In fact, I will fight you with everything I have, even if all of Sanctuary rains down on me! I may be a single Knight, but…, Athena save me, I was raised to have pride and honor in everything I do!"

The strawberry-blonde woman nodded slowly, taking this in. "I see."

"So just name your terms!" Cerah demanded. "But if there's the slightest attempt to extort me…!"

The noblewoman waved her hand reassuringly. "Miss Heloise, please,… I think you have the wrong impression of the power balance here. I'm certain I mentioned in my letter that if Sanctuary knew I was harboring a Knight of the Zodiac, my head would be rolling faster than yours."

The tension in Cerah's body dissipated "What?"

Adriana looked away, picturing the court's reaction with an exasperated scoff. "Gods, can you imagine? The Ghisis keeping a Knight in their service with the lost Corvus Cloth would destroy my family in an instant. People already say we traffic influence, but this would be grounds to have the entire household considered a Black Saint hove…The mob would be burning this building down by the end of the night."

Taken by surprise by these revelations, Cerah reset her assumptions, trying to figure out if there was truth to what this person was saying. Lucifer had indeed spent her life telling Cerah that the Knights of the Zodiac were blacklisted by the Pope, that anyone that didn't die in the war had surrendered their powers with the Cosmos, been stripped of their weaponry and sent to exile. Cerah, on the other hand, not only still had her Cosmos, but possessed one of the 88 Cloths of Athena. Sanctuary was also famous for not being kind to traitors and deserters, more often than not hunting them down to the ends of the earth sometimes decades after the original sin.

Yet there she was, putting Adriana's entire life on the line by just being there. It hit Cerah all of a sudden how much of a gigantic gamble this woman was taking with the Corvus Saint. For all Adriana knew, Cerah was a bloodknight, like Daese's commanders, who would cut Adriana's head off at the slightest sign of dishonorable extortion.

Cerah shook her head. "If you knew how dangerous I was, why save my life? Why ask me into your house?"

Adriana softened her gaze sympathetically. "I told you, I recruit people. You mentioned earlier you were protecting someone. Well, you've met my family; they're not nice people,…-"

The knight frowned with a sweat. 'Not nice' was a very nice way to put it. Anastasia looked ready to have Cerah killed without a thought.

"-but Anastasia and Atticus aren't my grandfather, and they're not the mission I was entrusted with."

Cerah's attention perked up. "Mission?"

Adriana took a glance at the larger desk in the room.

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"Adriana… your standing in this family, or in Sanctuary's society isn't what's important." His old hands held her young one's firmly. "Do you understand? Athena loves the strong and the weak equally. Our blood isn't any different from someone who just set their first foot in Sanctuary today. This ring in your finger is worthless unless you use it to bring light back into the world."

Her small head sunk and she stared at the silver on her finger. With it, she had the trust of the family's patriarch. The ring was as cold as death, though, like a tiny shackle.

She held her fist to warm it and tried to burn the cosmos she had unlocked. "I… can't feel it,... I can't feel the light's warmth anymore…"

He cupped her face gently and his eyes welled. Just a week earlier she was so happy, showing him a beautiful rose of red Cosmos she made in her hand with the light of her new power. He shouldn't have ignored what he saw peeking from behind the corridor's corner, though; the look of envy and terror in her evil parents' eyes…

Now that joy in her face was gone. They killed it. And very nearly killed her.

He wept and held her. "Adriana, listen… You're different from your father and mother. That's why they shoved you inside that horrible box, but you SURVIVED IT! They wanted to make you into another Ghisi and failed! This family…"

"Grampa?" she called.

He looked in her eyes, knowing one day she would be on her own in that snake nest of theirs. "One thing at a time… Come on, let's get those webs off of you."

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Adriana's whole body tensed, lost in thoughts. She could still feel the crawling in her skin sometimes.

Her amber eyes returned to Cerah. "Yes, mission. I'm sure you can understand the importance of them. Don't be alarmed, but I looked into your history in Sanctuary at the hospital and I can already guess who the person you're protecting is."

Cerah's senses went to full alert. "Eurydice!..." Cerah bit lip nervously. With all the trouble she has been getting into lately, she supposed it was a simple matter for someone as resourceful as the lady who saved her life to find out what Cerah's been up to and who Eurydice was.

Yet, Adriana's eyes softened sympathetically. "It must have been difficult for you; a year-long coma and then protecting someone who has lost their sight. How has it been, adjusting to Sanctuary? I know better than most that it isn't an easy place for newcomers."

Cerah had to nod. "I… try my best, but…"

Seeing the girl was ashamed of her limits, Adriana completed her sentence for her. "It's very difficult to feed two mouths on one teenage girl's housemaid salary, isn't it?"

At this point, the knight felt her eyes well up and she held back the tears.

"Eurydice… She looked after me the whole time I was asleep. She never left my side. She was so thin when I finally woke up. If it wasn't for the kindness of people in Sanctuary in that time, we would…" she then felt her throat squeeze shut at the prospect. Things had been difficult as they were, but then her stealing episodes started happening and after that Lucifer did all those horrible things in the war. "I just… feel horrible, like I can't do anything to thank her."

Adriana saw Cerah's hands shaking and gently held them to reassure her. "Do you feel powerless?"

Cerah's eyes finally broke tears, shedding her cheeks. "Y-yes!"

Adriana stood up. "I would like to help you, then. What would you say that I'd become your patron?"

Cerah widened her teary eyes. "Patron? H-How so?"

"Like I said, I recruit people. It's something our society often needs, since a lot of its people are poor, uneducated children awakening to the cosmos by happen-stance throughout the world. Many times, it's precisely because they are poor and under tremendous psychological stress that they unlock its power."

Cerah nodded, knowing this made sense. She herself unlocked the cosmos for quite literally being in a living hell. But that meant miss Ghisi was offering…!

"You noticed how my dear sister is quite… wise with the cosmos, correct?" Adriana recalled, as if Cerah could possibly forget the red mark still on her face. "That's because me and her, as well as every other woman in our household, have been taught at Sanctuary's Academy in Switzerland. It's a place that offers education to Sanctuary's elites. However, they don't just educate courtiers of Sanctuary, the kind of people like my illustrious sister, whose lifegoal is to be a human decoration for Sanctuary dance parties before being married off into some callous pig -"

Cerah sweated exasperatedly at this comment, trying to picture herself having such a toxic relationship with Daese.

Adriana continued. "- but they also train the Saintias, Athena's battle maids. In any case, this means the Ghisi have quite an excellent standing with their administration. A standing I can use to help people like you."

While she had a feeling already of where this was going, Cerah's heart beat fast and had to ask. "Miss Ghisi, are you…"

Adriana smiled. "Cerah, how would you like to be made into a False Saintia?"

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Chapter 74

Arc 3

Episode 2

Making the First Move

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A month later (Present),

Sanctuary Town,

First Acropolis

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The sun shone in Sanctuary, warming it in a battle against the cold Winter breeze of the mountains.

Leading the three kids through the crowded streets of Sanctuary Town, Lance took his first walk in the world as the demoted Saint of Pegasus, leading Aphrodite, Shaka and Mu through the streets. At first he was concerned about taking the kids through the town just to see his new house, but fortunately, Aphrodite was a diligent example to the kids, despite his inability to relate to them. The Pisces kept Shaka close to the group by hand whenever the Indian boy's attention got caught by some kind of trinket store or shrine, while also making sure Mu wasn't calling any attention by using his powers to do mundane things like teleporting through the streets or lifting objects with his mind.

The semblance of normality that Aphrodite helped the group maintain was sabotaged by the looks Lance himself was attracting. The last time he didn't have the role of Gold Saint was almost an entire year ago, when he was defeated by Herakles Aguilon at the Coliseum, and the last big assignment he had as the owner of the Pegasus Cloth was when he helped the Silver Saint order keep tabs on the 88 Knights Festival, which ended so horribly (*). The Pegasus Saint's reputation had never been good and the fact that Gold Saint identities were secret meant that, despite all of Shion's gratitude, his feats as the Cancer Saint meant squat as far as scrubbing Lance's fame went.

(*) "The Goodbye" Storyline

The teenager irked when he noticed people walking to the other side of the street to avoid him. This was precisely why he wanted to get away from Greece as fast as possible, rather than stick around in some random house. Noah had the right idea in spending their days operating away from Greece and its gossipers. Lance would probably look into the possibility of going to work with Noah, but he already had his own personal mission in Europe decided.

Heading west off the river separating the town from the Golden Zodiac, passing by the Fire Clock and skirting the municipal edges, the four eventually found the First Acropolis; a wide staircase leading to a section of the town enclosed in a protruded, lower hill of the western mountain range of Athena's Valley by old fortified walls.

Mu paused his ice cream licking for a second to admire it, his eyes looking up the arch-topped stairs leading to a plaza at the top enclosed by houses. "Whow, it's like the stairs to my Temple, but to a street!"

"So, just stairs?" Aphrodite chided. "Sanctuary's favorite thing."

Lance sweated, exasperated, imagining all his future commutes. "And just as tiring, I bet." He guided them up. "Well, I guess a single set beats four to the Cancer House."

Shaka and Mu stared curiously at the archways they crossed and the architecture, finding a charm to the semi-classical look many of the buildings had, like visiting a renaissance village. As the oldest street in Sanctuary Town, many of the houses had simpler looks, evoking the Lost Canvas period, plenty of friendly-looking people who proudly displayed flowerbeds in their windows below their orange-tiled roofs and lots of room for warm sunshine to come through, even in a Winter like the one they were in. Cats sunbathed in brick walls flanking them, the sound of water hoses in the hands of proud inhabitants were heard cleaning the stone brick floors into the grates, friendly-looking grampas and grandmas smiled at the two cute Gold Saint kids (while evading Lance) and seeing plenty of happy-looking children playing soldier or with chalks up and down the stair steps.

The Pegasus Saint noticed that Aphrodite, by contrast, couldn't care less, pouting bored at all the normal people they walked through, finding the copy-cat houses of Mediterranean white walls nightmarishly uninspired and resisting the urge to point flaws at the flower arrangements. Lance supposed that even if the cyan-haired boy disliked being in Sanctuary, at least at the Pisces Temple he had both his beloved solitude and his relaxing garden.

The central plaza itself at the top, much like the other three great acropolis of Sanctuary Town, was wide and quadratic, filled with store and café esplanades, and the buildings and houses forming the enclosures were all tightly packed against each other's flanks, a leftover characteristic from the need, two hundred years earlier, to give shelter to countless victims of the Lost Canvas War.

Taking a look around, Lance had to guess that at least four or five hundred people lived at the Acropolis. Pensively dangling the key with the street code in his fingers, he took a turn at one of the plaza's side exists and headed for the thicker residence streets located by the acropolis' walls.

Along the way, Aphrodite's eyes squinted and he tugged Lance's arm. "We got fans."

Lance nodded, having also noticed the faint cosmos signals that seemed to react their positions to the group's every movement, slowly moving through backalleys and always stopping by corners from where Lance's group could be seen. "Yeah."

The Pisces took one of his spare Royal Demons he always carried around to bite down on. "Would you like them to… 'unfollow' us?"

The Pegasus staggered, alarmed. "NO, don't!...And get that thing off your mouth before you hurt yourself again, Aphrodite! They're probably just hoplites sent by Shion to make sure we are good. I got my fair share of enemies and the three of you aren't exactly irrelevant."

"Ugh, fine…" Aphrodite rolled eyes and put away the Demon Rose. "Is Arles always this controlling when we are out?"

"He probably feels the need to be, after the attacks on Jamir and Andromeda Island." Lance explained.

"Lance, we're finished with the ice cream!" Mu suddenly chirped, showing off the leftover cookie holders.

Shaka stared at them confused. "What… do we do with these? Do we eat them?"

"Silly Shaka! You don't eat your food containers." Mu lectured, wagging finger. "You teleport them into your Cloth oven's nuclear react-"

"No, not in front of everyone, Mu! Yes, Shaka, they're edible. Knock yourself out." The bronze Saint turned back to Aphrodite"Like I was saying, Mu here was all alone at Jamir and got attacked by the False Specters just a month ago, remember? I got ambushed by that bastard Daemon myself. I can guess why Arles is a bit paranoid."

"Especially with the new attacks, I suppose?" Aphrodite guessed.

Lance's eyes widened. "Who told you that?!"

Aphrodite cringed his face like this was a weird question. "No one, I'm just not blind, you know? I saw Camus rush off the Zodiac, so I… took a look around." The pre-teen folded arms and smiled coyly. "You forget I've been watching my own back for a while, don't you?"

The Pegasus Saint sweated, reminded of Elisa, the maiden he saved Aphrodite from. "Hopefully you're the only one that's so observant." Lance then turned to the house ahead of them and stopped. "Mm, I think this is it."

Standing before them was the address indicated by Shion; a small home squeezed between two others that sported a small front garden full of weeds, white walls completely overgrown with dust and ivy, locked wooden window shutters, a first floor above the ground one1 topped by an orange-tiled roof, a tiny fireplace chimney and an emblem of the Leo Zodiac above a curved-topped wooden door with a gold-colored knob.

Shaka scratched his head, seeing the emblem. "Leo? Is this the right place?"

Lance folded his arms after double checking the address. "Yeah…" He tried unlocking the door with the keys the Pope gave him, but the lock wouldn't budge. "Damn it! It's rusted shut on this end!"

"Let me try, Lance." With a flash of light, Mu teleported inside the house with Lance's keys and, with a swift click, unlocked the door. "Ta-da!"

Shaka was impressed. "Interesting, an asymmetrical approach."

Lance grumbled as he guided them inside. "If I could teleport inside like Mu, I wouldn't even need a dam-… a darn door."

The four gold-ranks studied the interior. The entry gave way immediately to the dining room, which was where the kitchen was also at, with three paths out; two doorways to a small living room and a bathroom, and a set of stairs to the upperfloor. While the entry had a dining table, chairs and the kitchen counter with its utensils, such as tea pots, an oven, a microwave and other abandoned appliances, the small living room featured from where they stood a sofa, a small TV, various sets of weights, a shelf full of board games and only a few books.

Aphrodite pouted and folded his arms. "Hera save me, what a boring-looking place!"

Lance took a look at the infertile living room stacked with exercise sets. "It's a guy's place, Aphrodite. Whoever used to live here was a massive jock."

Shaka perked up. "Mm, so they were Leo."

"It's just like every other house in this ancient backwater. At least get a plant or two!" Aphrodite bitched, running a finger through the small kitchen table and irked at the inch of dust he harvested. "EW! How long ago was this last cleaned?!"

"The Pope said he just had it swept." Lance commented, before irking in realization. "Maybe he was just trying to get me to say 'yes'."

Mu flicked the switches on the walls but nothing happened. "There's no power."

Aphrodite opened the fridge and tested the oven buttons. "There's no gas or food, either." he shook head. "You've been had, Lance."

But the much more austere Pegasus Saint disagreed with a folding of arms. "I appreciate the concern, but there's a kitchen, water, a couch, a study and a bedroom just on the ground floor."

Shaka nodded head as he took a seat. "Yes, Aphrodite, and remember; moderation is key to inner knowledge. Every temple in the world can be as beautiful as the Mahabodhi with just a bit of love."

"See? Shaka likes it! Also, I've lived in freaking Mount Olympus for four years. To me, this is paradise. "Lance argued. He was just happy he didn't have to hunt in the cold for food. "You're just accustomed to how huge the Pisces Temple is. This just…needs a little cleaning."

Shaka's chair began creaking and then completely collapsed, making the poor boy fall on his butt. "O-OW!"

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

After getting lunch for the kids (and some pillows for Shaka's bruised butt), many hours passed, with Lance spending most of these getting room divisions clean and moving broken furniture out. Being used to doing the same with Roshi's place, Lance didn't mind it terribly, and after a whole month dealing with the fallout of the False Holy War, the courts, interrogating the False Specters, investigating the intel leak (that Saga insists has been plugged) and generally just dealing with the consequences of Lucifer's actions, restoring this small place to working order felt like a bit of a stress reliever. To help, Aphrodite, whose pickiness and hatred of filth eventually overpowered his disdain for the place, decided to help push the cleaning along, which just made things faster and easier. Shaka seemed happy to help as well, saying it was a good mind-emptying chore, but Lance insisted he'd just go play with Mu, much to Aphrodite's chagrin.

He had, however, to make sure Mu didn't get shocked or set the house on fire with the electrical box while trying to give the building electrical power again, which wasn't easy to do with a child that could teleport to the roof.

In any case, after many laborious scrubs, Lance proudly beheld his tidied up new house! The walls and surviving furniture were free of dust, there was a bunch more breathing room, the switches now worked, light actually penetrated the window glasses and Shaka wasn't sneezing anymore every time he walked into a different room.

He wiped his sweat and smiled at his assistant. "See? Looks way better now."

Aphrodite refused to get his dust mask off, though. "I guess we can now see the wallpaper, yeah."

Seeing the clock moving its hand past three, the Pegasus Saint frowned. "Crap, I have to take Mu and Shaka to Asia. Where did they go?"

Aphrodite shrugged. "I think they're tinkering with some game set they found in the living room."

Heading there, Lance found them unpacking and studying some strange chess piece set. "Oh, hey, what did you guys find?"

Mu smiled and showed him a piece. "It's a 'Holy War' set. It was on top of one of the shelves. I think it belonged to the old owner."

Lance studied it. It looked like a checker's piece, but each flat disk was engraved with a gold-colored engraving of a Zodiac emblem. 'Holy War', or 'flanker' as some people called it, was a popular variant of chess and checkers in Sanctuary that Lance had seen many people in Rodario and Sanctuary Town enjoy, but that he absolutely, positively did not understand any of the rules of. He understood the objective was for you to take out the enemy pieces in a way evocative of real Holy War strategy stories, but he had also heard that the game looked incredibly unbalanced for beginners, with the black pieces having all the aggressive moves and the white pieces being slow and inflexible.

"So wait, this house's owner was a Leo, a jock AND a gamer?"

Mu shook his head. "Tsk, tsk, Lance, don't you know? In Ancient Mu, warriors of the checkerboard were just as venerated as warriors of the sword! Keeping the mind sharp is important."

Lance gave Mu the piece back. "Well, at least you're having fun while we're cleaning."

Mu showed off all the crosses on his side of their record paper. "I'm winning this much!"

Shaka kept looking at the black flat checker equivalent of a bishop, which was inscribed, for some reason2, with a snake rather than a Pope. "This game is very confusing. I don't think I understand the use of this piece, for example. It should just be cut out so I can have more Specters. They're much better to trap Mu's Saints with."

Mu wagged his finger. "Shaka, I told you, it's just like checkers with Aiolia. Except completely different and far more chaotic, which is what makes it fun."

Lance took the box and read the rules, but felt like he was having an aneurysm by paragraph 8. "Ugh, who other than Mu or Camus would play this?"

Mu shrugged his shoulders. "The person who used to own this place? By the way, someone left this package at the door for you."

The Pegasus Saint blinked, taking the parcel. It was boxed in paper and tied with gold-colored threads. "Uh? I only just got this address. Who would…"

Aphrodite gave Mu a meaningful glare. Mu bumped Shaka's elbow, who went full alert at this. "So, who is it from?" the Indian boy pretended to ask.

Lance searched the box to no avail. "There's no sender!" He decided to then just rip it open. As the three kids stood up together at this, Lance blinked, discovering a letter and a small canvased picture.

The Pegasus Saint widened his eyes.

"Surprise!" Mu shrieked.

"We took it when Aiolos brought us to Rhodes last week." Aphrodite explained. "It was boring… but he convinced me to smile at least for that."

The Pegasus Saint' jaw dropped and his heart warmed. It was a picture of all the boys from the Zodiac, from Aries to Pisces, from short to Aldebaran, all standing in a ruined auditorium stair. Aldebaran was saluting in the back with Mu sitting on his huge knee, smiling like a sun. Shura flanked him with a thumbs up and Saga stood to the side with his reserved folded arms but reassuring smirk. Aiolos stood further to the front, ruffling little Aiolia's hair and with a very bored Shaka by his foot. Camus looked taciturn as always, but he had the vaguest smile that indicated that he was enjoying himself. Milo, on the other hand, must have caught the sun in his eyes when the picture was took and was covering half his face, ruining the picture.

Aphrodite was indeed smiling, something rare for him in a social activity, but Lance couldn't help but laugh a bit that Mephisto was standing right next to him, making finger horns over his head with the most impish face possible.

The Pisces immediately knew why his mentor smirked. "Now you know why I was mad at him for a week."

"Read the letter!" Mu asked, excited.

Still dazzled, Lance opened it and was greeted by Aiolos' careful handwriting.

Dear friend,

We, Gold Saints of Athena, in standing and in the future to be, who put our faith in you and made you our Cancer however very briefly, want to thank you for everything you've done in your short time with us. No matter where you go next and what challenges you face, know that the Houses of Sanctuary, from Aries to Pisces, will always have its doors open to you.

What followed then was a series of messages in different handwritings.

Thank you for saving my Master! And for all the ice cream!

You saved my life, bro! Way to go! Come play soccer with us again!

You are still a brave Saint of Athena, no matter what the Court says. Let's keep working together in the future, for everyone's happiness!

Thank you for giving me a home. And friends, I guess.

Thanks for being my neighbor, Lance! And for telling Mephisto to behave. Please keep protecting Aiolos!

Thank you for saving my life, Saint Lance, and your kindness. I am forever indebted to you. May the Buddha show you the way.

Dude, you're amazing! I still can't believe you rocketed yourself to space! Please teach me that someday.

Thank you for saving my little brother's life. You've left big boots for Mephisto to fill, but I am certain you raised him right. Look to the future with a carefree heart, Saint Pegasus. We'll all do our best to protect the Sanctuary you helped save.

You showed exceptional courage and sacrifice during the False Holy War, Saint Lance, the kind I dream to one day be able to surpass. My Master may have misjudged you. I'd be honored to fight side by side with you again.

I mirror Shura's sentiments, Saint Lance. Please accept my thanks. And Milo's.

Thank you for watching out for me in Sanctuary. And for defending me when no one else did.

Signed,

Aries Mu, Taurus Aldebaran, Gemini Saga, (future Cancer) Deathmask, Aiolia, Shaka, Scorpio Milo, Sagittarius Aiolos, Capricorn Shura, Aquarius Malta, Aphrodite3

The Pegasus Saint read the letter two more times in complete silence, holding it side by side with the picture. He looked at the windows and saw a bunch of young faces scurry away quickly.

He scoffed amusedly and asked Aphrodite. "So, we were being followed, uh? Who dropped this off?"

The cyan-haired boy looked away. "You know, just a bunch of creeps."

"Well? Did you like it?" Mu asked, smiling expectantly. "Aiolos went up and down the Temples collecting everyone's signatures."

The Saint put the letter away carefully, smiled and pulled in the three youths for a hug, surprising them.

He then headed for his new bedroom to store the picture. "Get your things ready, you two, I'll just rest for a bit and then take you to Asia before it gets dark."

Mu scratched his head as the Saint closed his door. "Uh, well? Did he like it or not?"

Aphrodite rolled eyes. "What do you two little dorks think? He never hugs anyone other than Shinta."

Shaka nodded confidently. "I think he liked it?"

Aphrodite folded arms. "Closest to God, indeed."

In the privacy of his new bedroom, Lance put his Cloth Box down and sat on the medium bed that he'd now get to rest on, studying the picture a bunch more times. He took a small frame on the bedside table that had been emptied of whatever its old owner had in it and put the picture of the eleven smiling kids on it, seeing how it looked in his room.

Even with his hardened personality, the Pegasus Saint couldn't help but feel a bit moved. What a thoughtful gesture. After everything they survived together in the False Holy War, this was exactly the kind of thing Aiolos would get the kids to work together on.

Dropping his back on the soft mattress, Lance sighed, laying arms over face as he realized how long he had been working to help Sanctuary get back on its feet since Lucifer was thrown in a cage. It didn't surprise him that he didn't even notice the kids were putting this gift together. First there was all the recovery and body counting, then going around the world checking on all the damage the False Specters caused, then apparently a whole group of them evaded Daniel at Crow's Nest (whatever that place was) which forced Lance to help out on a few scout and hunting missions, and this was all without counting all the bullshit fallout with the Court and Shaka.

"And Teos… holy shit." Lance remembered, his eyes widening.

The Cloth of Teos had shown up. And Lance wore it. And he still remembered the feeling of how boundlessly powerful it was, like there was absolutely no limit to the amount of Cosmos he could burn, if he so much as willed it. The memory of that feeling now pestered him every waking moment, making him think that, perhaps, he wasn't doing nearly as much as he could to live out his potential.

Perhaps this dissatisfaction was Teos' first curse?

One more to add to the list, Lance supposed. What was Shion going to do with it? And what did the armor have in store for Lance, on top of all the things he was already balancing out with Seiryu, Roshi and Death Queen Island? Was it really their friend? Lucifer acted ominous about it, plus the fact the armor seemed to suck up the user's strength to fix itself hinted at the Daemon being on to something.

And now the Specter attacks everyone at the Zodiac was worried about, which ended with Malta at the hospital. An attack by real Specters and real Judges, not the fake ones that Daemon Lucifer appropriated. Was Holy War coming? Or was it retaliation for the blockade around Pandora's castle? Things seemed to be rapidly heating in the world as a result of Lucifer's crusade. The world might never be the same by the end of the year. And Sanctuary seemed to be just sitting around, content, not expecting a thing out of its veterans but wait for Hades to make the next move.

…

And, so was Lance, wasn't he?

Springing out of his bed as if a battery had been inserted into him, Lance walked out, down the stairs and started gathering his things.

Aphrodite observed him curiously. "So? What did you think of the goodbye gift?"

"I loved it." Lance honestly answered, packing his Cloth Box. "That was very kind, thank you all."

The Pisces frowned, joined by the younger boys. "Then why do you look like you're running away to China again?"

Lance folded arms with a grumble. Sometimes he forgot how tough it was to keep his adult secrets from kids trained to stop Specter attacks. "You know, for someone so anti-social, you're oddly observant of me, Aphrodite."

Aphrodite rolled eyes with a confident scoff. "Oh please, you only get this way for three reasons; when you go to China to train with the old prune, when you go see pretty boy at Andromeda Island, or when you go practice riding Alastor with miss AG at the ranch."

Shaka gasped. "That's true,… how did I never notice that?"

Aphrodite's finger poked Lance's arm accusingly. "It doesn't take being Buddha to guess it, Shaka. Lance here just has very predictable habits. Seriously, his schedule is basically two things plus a big 'Training' written across the entire week."

"Well, tough luck, cause I'm not gonna go do any of those three things. Yet. In fact, a lot of things are gonna change about my schedule, now that I'm not a Gold things first, I got something important to do in town and frankly, Aphrodite? You should come as well. It will be a good chance for you to build some bonds with your neighbors."

The Pisces gritted teeth. "Oh goddess, what is it?"

"We're going to see Malta at the Hospital."

The Pisces gawked in horror. "NOO!"

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

Later,

Greece, Sanctuary Town

Ophiuchus Hospital

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

Entering the busy building with a dejected Aphrodite, Pegasus Lance dodged the nurses and medics rushing back and forth as they took in the injured from the battle that took place at the Heinstein Castle siege. Thankfully, due to lightspeed and great care by the gold ranks, the wounded could be transported with great speed to Sanctuary Town, where specialized medical care could be delivered safely and comfortably.

He frowned, feeling resistance from his companion. "Come on, Aphrodite! It's not that big a deal!"

"UGH, How could you say that, you monster?!" the boy dramatized, his eyes looking all over. "It's a hospital… There's germs and diseases everywhere!"

"You're just going to show Camus you came to offer some sympathy! He's your only neighbor, Aphrodite; in a tough situation he's the closest kid of your group you can count on! It's important you make at least one friend. I mean, you've been in Greece for over half a year! Name one that you have!"

"You hypocrite, vandal, neanderthal!" pre-teen Aphrodite accused, banging fists on an uncaring Lance. "H-how could you?! You're the biggest recluse of all!"

Lance's face reddened at all the eyes that Aphrodite's screaming was attracting, especially the nurses gesturing at them to be quiet. How did he land as the sixteen-year-old parent of a ten-year old germophobic brat?

His hand held Aphrodite away by the head so he'd stop with the punching. "Would you quit that? I'm going to have to talk to one of the most revered Gold Saints in recent history! For you it's just gonna be five minutes to say 'hello'!"

But Aphrodite escaped Lance's hand and stole a glass of coke with ice cubes some guy sitting at the waiting room had. "HEY, that's mine!"

Aphrodite pointed the glass at Lance like a gun. "Back off, cryophobe! I got ice cubes!"

Lance staggered and stepped back in fear, shaking hands appeasingly. "Okay, Aphrodite, give that back before you do something rash!"

"No way! I know your secret!" Aphrodite struck. "You're the only one worried about a cold piece of ice! I'll do whatever it takes; I am not letting you get me infected!"

The nurses got impatient. "Young Saint, would you please control your little sister?"

Lance wasn't sure what was worse; the way he was being threatened or the scene they were making at the hospital lobby. How was he supposed to discipline Aphrodite like a normal child when they were both equally capable of turning the building into a crater? That and Aphrodite was clearly a budding narcissist who would stop at nothing to get what he wanted out of a situation, including reacquainting Lance with the cold touch of negative temperature sodas.

Then, like an angelic savior, Aiolos stepped from the onlookers with his blue scrubs, took a hospital mask from the nurse counter and wrapped it around Aphrodite's mouth.

"Come on, Aphrodite, don't embarrass your guardian so much. You're making him look like Aiolia after a bath." Aiolos smiled at the sight of the cyan-haired boy testing the mask's flexibility. "Do you like it?"

Snapping it tight, the boy nodded. "Yeah, this is great! Can I take a bunch back to Pisces?"

Aiolos shook head. "Sorry, it's hospital property that we need to manage. We also need to save them for Saints that go into epidemic zones. You can have that one for now, and then come back later to ask for one more at a time."

Aphrodite gave a thumbs up. "That sounds perfect."

Seeing Aphrodite completely pacified, Lance held hand over head in exasperation and messaged his savior. "Damn, I wish I'd thought of that."

Aiolos chuckled and shrugged. "Don't beat yourself up. It's not a common thing in daily life to just carry a surgeon mask around with you, especially for kids. So, let's see the Aquarius duo?"

Lance nodded and the two followed Aiolos through the corridors.

As they did so, Lance realized it was a good thing he decided to leave Shaka and Mu at his new home for now; some of the injuries he was spotting in the corridor were pretty bad-looking. Even though the Golden Touch would eventually allow for the healing of any but the most severe of injuries, close wounds and keep bodies stable, there were wails of pain in the corridors and a rush to the blood banks. Down-to-earth medicine was still needed to finish the job of healing these hoplites and Saints caught by the Specters.

It was actually surprising the sheer number of people taken in from the combat. While not nearly as much as the dead caused by Lucifer at the Aries Temple, there were easily at least several dozen men being looked at by the doctors, likely a good chunk of the force blockading the Heinstein Castle. Their survival in spite of the famous ruthlessness of Specters was a testament to the feat that Malta pulled in getting them out of the fray.

Lance noticed an absence. "Your senior isn't around, is he?"

Aiolos sweated. "No,… but for good reason; he's at Rodario administering aid to those just arriving. Many of them need triage."

Lance's eyes widened. "You mean these aren't all of them?"

"Unfortunately, no. This hospital will have a busy week." Aiolos lamented as they reached the desired floor and entered its corridors. His optimistic side, though, pushed him to elaborate "However, I think it's good that Doctor Iaso gets some on-the-field work right now. He's been quite stressed and being in a place where he has to sneak around to smoke drives him a bit… up the walls."

The Pegasus frowned, disgruntled. "Up the walls, Aiolos? He's been acting like a lunatic. He was banging at the Aries Temple screaming about some girl spontaneously combusting! (*)"

(*) Chapter 60

The young intern paused and gulped. "You've heard it, too, uh?"

"Everyone's heard of it, Aiolos." Aphrodite, who lived all the way next to the Pope, commented.

Aiolos' face cringed in concern; Cosmos could do a lot of things, but he hoped to God that making you burn up all of a sudden, especially when you're a civilian, wasn't one of them.

"I got the story from the mouth of the man himself, but it didn't make it any less crazy." Lance stressed. Amidst the month they all just had, this was still the wildest episode of the post-war period. "He wouldn't leave me be, the entire time he treated me after the fighting! It was bad enough Teos made all the wounds he saw on me earlier disappear, but then he saw me at the Prison driving Lucifer in, too. He's been convinced I'm secretly the Cancer Saint since!"

Aiolos scratched head. "Well, I guess that's one good thing about what happened at the Court; you no longer have so much to hide from your friends." He then clicked tongue, remembering all the lying he had to do on a daily basis. "I can't tell anyone around here I'm the Sagittarius Saint, even when someone needs my Cosmos to live, so I kind of envy that."

Lance sombered, remembering how tough things were on Aiolos right now. "I'm used to having my word doubted around Sanctuary, so I don't really mind lying that much, but this kid doesn't have much of a choice, does he?"

Aiolos paused suddenly in a corridor with fewer people. "Speaking of which, Lance… I had something I've been meaning to ask."

The anxious tone in Aiolos alerted Lance; the highly dependable Sagittarius sounding like he needed help? Well, maybe this could be a way to get some pressure off of him from the whole Aiolia business. "Sure."

The Sagittarius scratched head hesitantly. "I know you're not with us anymore, but I was wondering if in the future you could take some time off to help me train."

Lance's eyes widened. "Help train? What for? That fight with Steiner's son?"

The young Gold Saint's eyes shifted nervously. "Yes. I didn't tell anyone about this, but…. I heard the other day he was doing some kind of demonstration in Bulgaria, where he trains. I've been feeling anxious about it since the Court, so I went to check it out."

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

It was right after finishing my day at the hospital. Traveling to the Balkan Mountains without anyone noticing it was the easy part; but the area Galarian Steiner trains at is property owned by Sanctuary up north. so there were a lot of eyes there that could recognize me. I didn't want to disrespect him by giving the impression I was 'spying on him' if I got caught, but… His Holiness' warning left me with a bad feeling. I just had to find out more about him.

I eventually found Galarian, way west of Karlovo, in an area nestled by the mountains. There he was; the son of Akassius, the man they want to replace my brother with.

I expected him to look more like his father; you know, a spitting image of Geminis of old like Saint Cain, but no; he's as blonde as Shaka and as tanned as me, not to mention taller than even you, Lance. He also looked like he trained in Death Queen Island. For a moment I thought I had the wrong person, but I saw him turn and spotted those same sharp eyes his father has, the kind that makes you feel like he could crush you under his thumb if you said the wrong thing about Sanctuary or Athena.

There were a lot of Sanctuary people around him, just like I thought, so I kept my distance, watching from afar. He seemed to be demonstrating the results of his training to all these people sponsoring him. They seemed like dignitaries to me, but I didn't know any of them. I remember feeling so awful that all these people I never even met in my life wanted me and my brother gone from the Zodiac, to the point they were spending money on all of this. I never thought I had… so many enemies.

In any case, in front of Galan was a giant cube of rock and stardust. You know, the sort of silvery rock you often see Shura practice his Excalibur swings so he won't cut the whole mountain in half. I'd seen this type of target before. Me and Saga would practice on and on with these, blasting them over and over with our Lightning Bolts and Galaxian Explosions. In my youth I had so many happy moments of finally getting a crack to form in them, since they were designed to just soak up all the cosmos you threw at them.

But those were small, barely the size of a person, just big enough that you could fire your moves repeatedly without changing stance over and over.

His block was… immense. As big as Saint Daniel. I thought you'd need a bolt from Zeus himself to crack this thing in half.

And….

….he pulverized it.

I'd never in my life seen anything like it!

In fact, I barely saw it happen at all! There was just a flash and then… it was everywhere.

Our bout for Aiolia's House is scheduled only a couple of months from now.

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

Lance stood there, stunned. He had a faint idea of what kind of practice rock Aiolos was describing. While Roshi preferred to use Symplegades for his exercises, or just focus on non-cosmos training, every now and then Lance had to practice a move or two on one of these blocks of stardust-lined boulders because Symplegades' whole point was that they broke down easily, and he understood why Aiolos described it as the kind of building block a Zodiac temple would use to withstand nuclear blasts

Which was why this was so unbelievable. "Aiolos… are you sure about that?"

Even Aphrodite doubted it. "How did he just crush a stardust block just like that? That's not possible! I use those things to make vases for my Royal Demons cause it's the only thing their roots won't just smash. What kind of crazy move could pulverize them? Your eyes need work, Aiolo-"

Lance tensed a grip around Aphrodite's shoulder. "Be nicer."

Aiolos looked down, his fist clenching. " It was a Lightning move, I could tell that much, but… it was nothing like my Lightning Bolt. If it was, it was too fast and fulminant to tell. The force with which he struck… I've seen a lot of the destruction Cosmos could cause, but that stardust block was blasted everywhere."

Lance had to question the reality of this. "Aiolos, maybe it was a publicity stunt for those observers and the thing had no stardust on the inside at all! You don't know what these people are capable of!"

Aiolos, however, needed no further proof. His mind replayed the image of the burnt crater that Galan turned that block of stardust into. Even several minutes after the fact, specks of silvery dust were still gently raining in the air.

Some had landed in his hands, where he had been hiding. "I know what I saw. Even if I wasn't… my 7th sense wouldn't lie to me. The only thunder I've sensed more powerful than that one… was Daemon Lucifer's."

Memories of the Specter's terrible dark javelins and blue Lightning Fangs assaulted the Pegasus, making his throat tighten. Furthermore, at this point, Lucifer's words from a month earlier rang inside Lance's head

You don't understand anything about true strength yet, Lance. Without Dohko, Andromeda and the Gold Saints, you'd be dead! You only won because of the Teos Cloth… Face it… You're a small fry.

Was this what Lucifer meant?

"If I want to protect Aiolia… I must perfect my own Lightning Bolt, but Saga and the others can't teach me anything new." Aiolos argued. "But you, Lance… you just unlocked Lightning, right? Your Lightning Charge Fist and my Lightning Bolt can perfect eachother! What do you say?"

Lance rubbed chin in preoccupation. "Aiolos, of course I will help. I owe you a lot and I want to perfect my techniques as well, but…" How could he explain this? "If anything you say is true, then you need more than the little I will be able to provide in the next few months."

Aiolos blinked. "W… What do you mean?"

"He means you're screwed." Aphrodite said.

Lance's hands gripped Aphrodite's masked mouth shut. "No, I mean I'm not gonna have as much spare time as you might think, Aiolos, but I'll do my best. Just… I can't promise much."

"Right, sometimes I forget you had Saint work before being a Gold, unlike us." Aiolos admitted, looking embarrassed. "You'll just be doing missions now, correct?"

"Well… we'll see." Lance just muttered. "I'll help you as much as I can, though."

Aiolos seemed to accept Lance's excuse for now, slumping his shoulders resignedly; Lance has already said yes to his bothersome request immediately after losing his Gold Saint post and that was generous enough as it is, as far as Aiolos was concerned.

They crossed the last few corridors to their destination. Spotting Camus by Malta's room, Aiolos guided Lance to him. "Hey Camus."

The teal-haired boy rose eyes at them. "Oh, hey, you two." He then saw the masked Aphrodite. "Uh…Why are you here?"

Aphrodite folded arms. "Lance said I should come to show sympathy."

Camus raised a brow at the Pegasus Saint. "But he's the biggest recluse of all."

"I KNOW, RIGHT?! That's exactly what I said!"

"I'm not popular around Sanctuary." Lance defended himself. "That doesn't make me a recluse!"

Aphrodite squinted so hard his eyes were practically lines. "Oh really? Name one friend your age that you have!"

Lance scoffed. "That's eas-"

"Other than Shinta!"

The Pegasus irked, suddenly stuck. He looked at Aiolos, but the intern shrugged apologetically. They weren't really the same age group, were they?

Aphrodite wagged finger. "Face it, you hate people as much as I do! I'm just following your lead as my guardian."

Lance felt his temples tensing. He could be out there accomplishing so much; training with Roshi, getting his new Underworld project going, finding out more about Teos, looking for a chance to debut his new Pegasus Cloth, finding a girlfriend….

…Instead, he was stuck with these callous-minded kids calling him out on how much like a loser he felt. Well, mostly Aphrodite was callous.

He tried to ignore Aphrodite's bitching and turned to Camus. "Have you been here for long?"

Camus looked at the clock. "Uhh… twenty hours and forty-eight minutes, more or less. You're the first visits after the Pope and Milo, but people have been sending things."

Aiolos smiled and got on his knee, holding the boy's arm gently. "Are you doing alright? How's your teacher? Is he feeling better after the emergency care?"

Camus peaked above shoulder at the room he guarded. "…Yes, he's chill."

Lance grumbled, folding arms. "Chill?! His teacher was almost killed by Specters and Camus is talking like he fell down some stairs!"

Aiolos shook head. "No, trust me, he's worried. Camus spent all night by this door and one of the nurses said they heard him crying in the bathroom. I think this is just his training forcing him to act like this"

"Oh… right, of course." Pegasus Lance then spoke to Camus. "Is it okay if I go inside? I wanted to ask a few questions and wish him a good recovery."

The boy got up and opened the door himself. "Go ahead, but please don't stress him too much." He welcomed. As Lance passed, Camus held him for a bit. "Wait, before I forget; I'm sorry about you getting fired."

Lance grumbled embarrassedly. 'Fired' was such a strong word. He was still a Saint.

Still, it was a nice thing. "Thank you, Camus."

"Did you get the letter with the picture?"

"Camus!" Aiolos called out. They had agreed to keep this subtle since Lance was so reserved about these things.

Camus just shrugged his shoulders. "I'd just like to know, that's all." And he turned to Aphrodite. "Well, did he?"

Aphrodite laughed. "Oh, you should have seen his face! You'd think he'd cr-"

Lance covered Aphrodite's mouth again. "… Yeah, I got the picture, Camus. I kept it in my new bedroom. Thank you all. It was pretty touching." He then released Aphrodite and hurriedly went inside.

"See, Aiolos? It was fine to ask." Camus said.

Aiolos folded arms, shaking head lamentingly. "You two really are too smart for your own good. I'm gonna go get some cards for you two or something while you wait."

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

Closing the door gently behind him, Lance's eyes widened at the state of the red-haired warrior in the bed; former Gold Saint of Aquarius, Malta, was laying back with most of his body covered in cast and bandages and a half-dormant look in his eyes. A IV drip hanged next to his bed, his face was bruised, his neck-length mane of red was unkept and limbs laid down, causing winces in the Gold Saint at the slightest movement.

The red-haired man himself turned his eyes slowly at the visit and sat up, looking surprised. "S-Saint L-Lance…. I didn't expect your visit."

Taking a seat by the veteran's bed, Lance surveyed him, shocked that Camus would describe any of this as 'chill'. "Malta… y-you… Camus said that you were…"

The red-haired man coughed out a laugh. "D-Don't worry, you're not the first. I'm in a better state than I look."

"Are you in pain?!"

Malta shook his head. "No, I was given a lot of the Golden Touch to fix my injuries. Being an ice Saint, as well,… well, let's say I can forego most pain killers. Besides,-" he then looked around. "-people have been sending me their prayers."

Contrasting with his poor physical state, indeed, bouquets of flowers and wishes of well recoveries from both friends, comrades, admirers and even fans covered the window's end of the hospital room. Lance saw signatures from the other teachers of the Gold Saints, mainly Daniel and Kirin, but also the Pope, Judge Merope and even Elder Yuzuriha who lived so far away. It seemed that despite having the same stoic reservation as Camus, Malta was apparently still a popular guy, especially now that the public knew he was the Aquarius Saint for over 15 years, including the Priam War.

Lance knew these didn't heal wounds, though. "But look at you! You look like you just got out of fighting Hades himself!"

Malta chuckled self-consciously. "It was the cursed barrier… It doesn't really matter how strong you are, if you're fighting a Judge of the Underworld with only a tenth of your Cosmos…"

Lance could imagine, having fought a Dark Prince of Hades with just a Bronze Cloth back at Rozan. "Ugh, that Camus! 'Chill', he says!"

Malta's hand tried to wave as dismissively as the bandages allowed him. "Forgive my student, Saint Lance. Camus is just… dealing with this in his own way. He fears that being worried will jeopardize his focus in training with Ganymede, the spirit of the Aquarius Cloth. I'm sure you understand the pressure, given…your experience with Cancer."

Lance cringed, albeit sympathetically. And he thought having to deal with Karkinos was tough. If Dohko was left in this state by Lucifer, for example, or Noah got hurt, Lance was pretty sure he'd be a mess. "Aiolos said the same… but dear God, it must suck to train under Aquarius. You can't even show concern about your teacher?"

Malta's icy blue eyes studied him, recalling something about Lance. "You're… a fire user, correct?"

"Yeah. Recently got thunder, too."

The ex-Aquarius nodded in understanding. "Then I suppose it must be especially hard for you to picture burning the cosmos in such a counter-intuitive direction… but please keep in mind, it's not a reflection of who Camus really is." Malta wisely spoke. Resting his head back, Malta sighed. "In his mind, he's simply doing his best to live up to me. Goddess knows why, but he admires me very much. He thinks the key to be like his teacher… is to act as afraid of his emotions as the Priam War made me… I fear one day that might end poorly for him."

Lance shook his head. "If anything I heard about what happened in Germany is true, then you deserve more than just his admiration. Malta, tell me,… what exactly happened? Did you really save an entire siege force from the Judges?"

The red-haired veteran took a deep breath to help gather his thoughts. "It was all very quick…just like all battles at our level, I suppose. I'll do my best to recall it all."

Aquarius Malta then described to Lance the events of the Specter sallying, from the sudden appearance of Pandora at the walls, to the expansion of the barrier, to Rhadamanthys' frontal assault on their encampment. Pegasus Lance listened attentively, asking clarifications on names and terms about the Heinstein site he was unfamiliar with, like who Rhadamanthys was precisely and the effect the barrier had on the Saints. It pretty soon became obvious to him how difficult Malta and Kirin's position became; with such a large encampment of men caught in the barrier's extended reach, even if Malta and Kirin weren't the only Gold Ranks, Lance imagined how impossible it would be to defend a front when you're made as weak as a child compared to your enemy.

Somehow, though, it seemed Malta and Kirin's experience salvaged the day; applying his time-tested techniques, Malta was able to delay the enemy assault at a critical moment and give most of the men a shot at falling back. Many were wounded, but a catastrophe like the Aries Temple was avoided.

"I b-barely got out there alive, though. After the initial clash with my Mirror Wall, the Specters kept pursuing us, skirmishing and assaulting our squadrons until we finally escaped that damn barrier's reach…" Malta recalled. His eyes closed briefly with the horror of his men's' screams. "We managed to save so many for such a chaotic fallback, but… you never feel you've saved enough. My generation is known to be so strong… I blame Akassius for that… but when Hades' barrier engulfs you, even a tiger is as mighty as a cub."

Lance absorbed every bit of this in silence, musing it over. It was important that he understood as much about Malta's direct account of Hades' castle as possible. "How's the front right now?"

"Kirin managed to organize the men outside the barrier, but I imagine he'll soon have to pull out of there, too."

The Pegasus' jaw dropped in alarm. "What?! Why?"

Malta's blue eyes suddenly flared with a flash of hatred. "The Valiant.4"

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

The Previous Day

Germany

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

It first came over the fleeing Saints and Hoplites like a gigantic, bloated shadow, as if a cloud had covered the moon suddenly. Yet, when the warriors of Athena rose their heads, they saw a gigantic mass of wooden darkness clad in Damascus hanging high above their heads, exposing its grotesque hull of arrow slits and gun ports to them.

The soldiers gawked. "W-What is that thing?!"

Garuda Aiacos' armored feet sounded loudly in the hull above until he was visible to even the Saints. "You think you can escape the hand of Hades, profligates?"

"Another Judge! QUICK, to Peloponesia!" the captains urged, leading the men out of the battlefield

Aiacos' hand swiped the air commandingly "FIRE THE HULL GUNS!"

What followed was a deafening cacophony of gun bursts which blasted ammunition and stardust shrapnel everywhere, exploding throughout the terrain, scattering the Sanctuary forces further and wounding and killing many.

Holding the bleeding Malta, Kirin beheld the destruction as troops fled past him. "D-damn it, what the hell is that thing?! Did Priam give them the Argo?!"

But Malta had to shake his head, seeing the stark ugliness of the bird-armored battleship. "N-no, that's the Ship of Darkness, the 'Valiant'! Judge Garuda is said to have sailed it against Saint Sisyphus of Sagittarius in the last Holy War. The design differs from accounts, but I'm c-certain!"

A small number of hoplites gathered and burned their cosmos in unison, creating a collective bonfire. "We'll shoot that thing down! Combine your Cosmos! FIRE!"

Aiming their hands, the armored soldiers unleashed a beaming storm of energy off their palms that fiercely coalesced unto the flying ship's keel, striking its metaled belly with a deafening bang and blinding flash. To their shock, however, and to Garuda Aiacos' amusement, the armored hull wasn't even singed.

"W-What?!"

Kirin gritted teeth. "They must have sheeted that thing with stardust!" and he caught a soldier on his wait out. "YOU! Take Malta out of here!"

"Y-yes sir!"

But Malta resisted. "KIRIN! What are you d-doing?!"

Coating his unarmored body with Kenturion Apparatus, Kirin formed his famous light drill in his hand and raised it guardingly like a sword, whirring it loudly.

"I'll delay that ship! At the very least try to disable that launch catapult! If it's anything like the Argo, the Specters will be able to use it to move Specters past our seals and barriers! They'll surround our men and slaughter them! NOW GO!" he announced, eyeing the arrogant Judge who stared out his ship's bow. "LONGINUS DRILL!"

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

Lance stood up, agape. "What?! A flying battleship that can withstand Saint attacks?! They have something like that?!"

"Yes, but more concerning than its defensive capabilities, it's its launch catapult, something they've innovated from the previous war." Malta specified. "With it, they could potentially launch Specters through the stratosphere, where stardust clouding is thick, flying past Sanctuary defenses like nightmares in the air. Imagine Specters assaulting our training grounds, our villages and our islands, killing our loved ones regardless of what fortresses we build…"

Lance blinked in bewilderment and his hands shook. This was so much worse than he imagined. "Wait, wait, wait, slow down! What do you mean, the previous war? They had it even back then?!"

Malta held his tongue for a beat. "…. Right, I forget you were… undereducated."

"Yes, I'm fucking ignorant, we all know that. Please explain to me what's going on, Malta!" Lance groaned, folding arms. Between all the rants Lucifer would toss at him during the False Holy War and all the secrets Shion kept from them till now, Lance felt like people kept spinning circles around him with Sanctuary's baggage. "Just give me the short version of whatever old story this one is."

Malta nodded, used to this kind of impatience from old friends like Paris and Kai. "Of course. The Valiant is a flying ironclad battleship that Hades unveiled during the Lost Canvas War. Thanks to Sagittarius Sisyphus' efforts, though, it was sunk."

Then why was it back in the air? "And what, they rebuilt it?"

Malta nodded like it was the most normal conclusion ever. "They've had two centuries to do it. Flying ships operate on Orichalcum engines. If it sounds familiar, it's the same material mariner Scales are made out of. This makes the critical material of the engine very rare, but if you have enough of the stuff, you can just install it on a new ship and it will fly."

Lance sat back, appalled. The major weakness of the Cosmos was precisely the fact that it couldn't make you fly. At best, you could jump really high and travel very fast, but this was all conditioned by the need to direct your movements around the Earth's terrain, curvature and civilized areas. With the experience of the False Holy War hanging on his head, and the way Lucifer flew past multiple Temples of the Zodiac with his Daemon Surplice's full-power-form when the Temple blessings went down, Lance tried to picture an entire army of Specters with access to a flying ship that could both resist Saint attacks, shoot back and parachute Judges of the Underworld straight into the Pope's front door.

Malta saw the concern in his face. "Fear not, Saint Lance, for not all is lost. While I was taken out of the Heinstein battlefield, brave Kirin was able to stop the ship's advance with his Excalibur. For now. Sanctuary simply needs to rally its forces and come up with an operation to be rid of that cursed ship, for good this time."

The tone in Malta's voice, however, was solemn, raising alarms in Lance's head. Sanctuary? Doing something about a real problem it had? Tossing away disunity and prejudice to work together on a solution?

Somehow, it seemed the wounded Aquarius was in a better mood for jokes than Lance.

Lance sat back, gritting teeth. "Shit, this is worse than I thought! I don't get it! A month of quietness and they were holding all these cards the whole time?! What the fuck changed in the Underworld all of a sudden?!"

"Kirin would probably say 'they just decided to murder people tonight'… but the truth is that it was likely a strategic decision." Malta argued, turning to the ceiling pensively. "On that subject, has Lord Arles told you anything more about Daemon Lucifer?"

Lance's nose exhaled. "No… We still only know about what he calls his 'Exodus'." Not being entirely daft, Lance guessed what Malta was thinking. "Are you suggesting… that Hades knew that guy would rebel?"

The veteran's blue eyes closed in reflection. "…It's a strong possibility, Saint Lance. One can only guess at the Gods' thoughts, but it's hard to picture a human, even one as resourceful as the Celestial Pride Star proved himself to be, to truly be more on top of things than an Olympian. Perhaps Hades foresaw the Exodus, and hid some of his cards even from his Prince until the time was ripe."

Lance folded arms, knowing this made perfect sense but also that it meant the worst was yet to come. "I'm guessing that Fort Peloponnesia is just waiting-and-seeing?"

"Against commander Ionia's wishes, yes."

Lance irked, remembering the tall freak that tried to enslave Alexis quite well. "I don't like that guy one bit, but for once… I may agree with him."

Malta squinted suspiciously at this. What was this young Saint thinking? "Well, Saint Pegasus… are you perhaps wondering about joining the front? It would be the ideal time, now that you're a Bronze Saint again. Is that what you came here to ask me about?"

Lance rubbed his chin, concerned. This was it. How much should he tell of his intentions? The truth was that he wasn't sure how much he could trust these veteran guys. While they had fought their own battles in the False Holy War, he still didn't know too much about them other than a couple of conversations he had with their students. Even Daniel, the most vocal and friendly of the four, had kept his relationship with Lance strictly professional and focused mostly on raising Aldebaran.

However, they were still the most experienced warriors in Sanctuary at the moment, and admired by many at that. They had also volunteered to help Sanctuary during the conflict with Lucifer, which indicated a desire on their part to keep track of things despite their retirement.

In other words, Lance knew that, if someone happened to have some kind of insane idea for how to fix these goddamn Holy Wars, their insight could be vital.

"Well, Malta, … I was thinking of helping where I can, yes, but not in Sanctuary's usual way." Lance worded. "I don't think that manning a wall and waiting for a ship to show up in the sky is what I should be doing to help right now. I'm an assault-trained Saint, so my experience is in taking the fight to the enemy. If necessary, all on my own."

Malta hesitated for a beat, before continuing. "I'd be careful, Saint Lance. Regardless of what you think of our traditions, many bleed every day to defend Sanctuary." The red-haired Aquarius stared intently now. "Some… may think you sound like Priam, our old Sagittarius Saint."

Lance looked down, frustrated and vexed. Of course, he should have figured this kind of skepticism would be in place at any kind of sign he intended to not toe Sanctuary's strategic line, but after the bloodshed of the False Holy War, an urgency had been born in Lance to question if this was really the best idea.

Sensing Lance's nervousness, with a gesture of his free hand, Malta's 6th sense suddenly made the window curtains telekinetically shut and the door glass blinders slide down. "We can talk privately. Tell me, Pegasus, what exactly do you want to do?"

Lance bit lip, but blurted it out. "I want to build an assault team to invade the Underworld."

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

Rodario

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

"A-AGH! IT H-HUURTS!" Aegeus, one of many Heinstein front hoplites, screamed.

The footsoldiers around him wiped the sweat off their friend's forehead. "It's okay, man, the doctor's here!"

They gave way to the medic. "Saint Iaso, please, help him!"

The brown-haired man in white coat walked through them. His beard-shadowed face was marked by blood splatters he hadn't had time to clean yet after hours and hours of tending to soldier after soldier coming in from Germany and his metal-gloved fingers held his operating bag with a tense grip. A strange water satchel also hang around his neck, tightly corked shut and engraved with a dragon on its side.

He beheld the patient, shook his head, set the bag down and sighed. "Aegeus, right?"

The footsoldier covered his face in horror. "D-Doctor, what took you so long? Please just tell me, am I going to l-live?"

Something twitched in Iaso's brow. The cringiest smile emerged on his face.

"Dear Aegeus, I've saved many lives today. Among your friends attacked by the blasted Specters in Heinstein, one was missing his arm, which I've reattached. Another had a spear shaft through his chest, which I removed and healed. Many others were coughing blood, had broken skulls, shrapnel covering their bodies head to toe. One had his entire body partially crushed by what I can only imagine was a contravallation collapsing on him. I witnessed a lot of bravery today, and rewarded them all with the curing miracle of the Cosmos"

The soldier's face brimmed with hope. "T-then…. then you can save me?!"

"YOU, on the other hand,-" The Ophiuchus Saint then gripped Aegeus' leg, making the hoplite wince and scream "-dislocated your knee when you ran from the battlefield! You saw Pandora popping her face out the castle and immediately took off before you ever knew that barrier would expand, causing you to trip over a rock in your rush and dislocate your tendons. Do I think you'll live? You idiots hold him, please!"

Aegeus friends gripped the hoplite firmly and before the hoplite could so much as voice his indignation, Saint Iaso pulled his leg to himself, causing the bent knee to instantly snap right back into place.5

"Thank Athena, he wouldn't stop whining." His friends celebrated, high-fiving.

"F-fuck you, guys! You have no idea how much this hurt!" Aegeus cried.

"There. Give him some ice and crutches, plus a lollipop for being such a good boy. You all owe me a beer. Now, excuse me, I have real patients to take care of around here." Iaso recommended, shaking head as he took off.

As he crossed the streets, he scratched his jaw anxiously, missing his beloved nicotine in stressful times like these. It had been a long day of being one of the few medics good enough with the cosmos to take care of a whole influx of war wounded. He didn't have time or patience to deal with these jocks in metal armor who never expected to so much get a scratch on their faces once training was done. For now, though, with all the urgent cases stabilized, and the whiny idiots taken care of, he could take ten minutes off his stay in Rodario to visit other people in need.

On the way, maybe he could get a pack of cigs off one of the shops without his pestering intern knowing.

"Do not expect me to heal your lungs when you run out of breath, Iaso." his armor reminded him.

"No one asked you a goddamn thing!" the medic spoke outloud, earning a couple of headturns from bystanders. "I don't want to hear the opinion of someone who wouldn't even take my side against the Gold Saints for one miserable thing!"

"You mean when you were shouting at them about the burning girl?" Ophiuchus reminded him. "Who do you expect me to be able to talk to, other than my bonded Saint or the blessed Pope Arles? Perhaps you'd like the Gold Saints to let you, a known conspiracy nut, into the Pope's Halls, simply because you saw some murderer girl spontaneously combust? I'm your armor, if anything your mentor, not your partner in crime."

Iaso groaned; a lot of times he really felt like Ophiuchus was the true cause behind half his nervous breakdowns.

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

At the poorer section of Rodario, where the newest residents lived, Eurydice sat at her humble sick house's deck, surrounded by men.

"Miss Eurydice, please accept this gift!" the first man, a poor farmer named Sebastian in his thirties, asked, offering the blind woman a bouquet of beautiful flowers he gathered on the fields he cleared. "You are the light of my life, the most beautiful woman I've ever seen! I would leave my house, my wife, even my children to be with you! I scoured all my family's fields to search for flowers that could match how your smile makes me feel… but I could only get these."

The blind secret nymph smiled gently, reaching out to touch the bouquet and feel the petals. It was indeed a grand arrangement and she could smell a scent of varied species that must have taken hours to get together. The kindness in the gesture, and in Sebastian's words, were touching.

Yet, she refused, carefully handing it back. "These are wonderful, Sebastian, but I can't accept them. You told me once that you still love Maria, did you not? And that you found her words enchanting and wished you could protect her from her family? You should surprise her, Sebastian. Give these to her." Eurydice advised. "You need love, companionship… and someone who can help you in the fields."

Sebastian gulped, ashamed of his weakness, and stepped back. "P-please don't tell her I came to you."

Eurydice laughed gently. "Of course not."

The second man, an accountant from Sanctuary Town named Theodore, moved past Sebastian and handed his gift. "Miss Eurydice, please go on a date with me! I do not know my way with words, but… I wanted to show you how much I appreciate the sweetness of yours! I've even learned Braille to convey my feelings in this gift. Take these."

Once again the blind woman chuckled nervously and tried to at least hold the present before turning it away. It was something big, shaped like a heart and with a ribbon over it. The smell of the chocolate shop Cerah liked buying treats from was felt, and there was a card with a long series of many Braille dots on it. They spelled a rather steamy message of affection which made the nymph gasp at the accountant's secret side.

"Theodore, you're such a kind person, but I can't." the nymph refused. The truth was, Theodore was simply a very lonely young man and Eurydice was one of the few that spoke gently to him and encouraged him to voice his thoughts. "I don't think you truly love me, not in the way you wish you would. I will always be happy to listen to you, but I would be dishonest if I said I cared for you in that way."

The accountant shook his head. "N-no, Eurydice, please! I've searched my soul and… and I truly love you! I…." but he then collected himself and gently took the chocolate box back. "No, you're right… I'm sorry."

The nymph shook her head. "There is nothing to forgive, Theodore. Just please come read to me again."

A third, bloated man of mustache, monocle and tie practically shoved his way past the first two. "Out of my way, plebs!"

Eurydice recognized the sounds of this man's footsteps anywhere. "Count Giles."

"Milady, I will be blunt! I cannot stop thinking about you! You are the most beautiful, most wonderful, most phenomenal woman I've ever met!" the fat, wealthy aristocrat listed. "For you, I'd do far more than…flowers or chocolates! Pah! I will build castles, temples to your beauty that would make Athena herself envy you! A Mount Olympus made of pure marble twice as tall as the home of the Gods, all for you!"

Eurydice gasped at the blasphemy. "Count, you mustn't say such things!"

The physically misshapen man weaved loudly as he tried to get on his knee. His gold-ringed finger held her hand. "I will say this and more! I will wage war with Aphrodite to give you her title of Goddess of Beauty! I will give my entire fortune to make you smile, Eurydice! Just please, take me as yours!"

Blind as she was, the nymph somehow still felt flustered by the eyes of the crowd of cosmos she sensed being attracted by such a scene. "Oh, I can't!... you are all so gentle, but…"

Sebastian, Theodore and Giles all widened their eyes in anticipation. "But?"

She smiled with genuine kindness. Humans could be so amazing, but Thanatos' treason had scared her too much. "I'm sorry, but I've let that kind of love behind me. I only seek to be happy among the people of Athena. I have to ask you all to stop offering me your hard-earned gifts. My heart has been turned into a castle itself by a very cruel man and… I fear I may never love again."

"No!" Theodore gasped.

"Eurydice, say not such things!" Giles wished.

Her head shook. "That is all I can say. Please, keep your gifts. Turn them, instead, to the ones who can still love you all back."

The three men let out sad, resigned breaths that broke the Nymphs' heart. Oh, if only things were simpler.

"You heard the lady! Shoo!" a gruff, male voice was heard, followed by a series of shoves and kicks. "Go serenade that old bat Agatha, instead! Eurydice is under treatment."

The nymph perked up. This voice, graved beyond its age by years of smoking and the hardships of being a healer… "Saint Iaso!"

The doctor let her touch his hand to confirm it and he scoffed amusedly. "So many suitors. It's a good thing I have resisted your beauty so bravely, Eurydice. I'd hate to have my heart broken like that. Let's see if I can make you see others' beauty as well."

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

Sitting by Eurydice's bed, Doctor Iaso took the canteen and splashed the towel gently with what was left of the Waters of Life before handing it to Eurydice. He watched anxiously as the blonde woman laid her head back on her pillow and carefully held the wet fabric over her eyes.

They had been doing it every day for a month, since the war ended, then waiting for the results afterwards. It took him a while to think of a way to administer it to the civilian woman in a way that wouldn't give her the same reactions that Saint Lance and miss Cerah had. Iaso had settled for letting her eyes absorb the moisture gradually. It was both safer and a way to save the miraculous liquid.

Even with this minimalist treatment, though, after twenty or so sessions, he was starting to run out of dragon juice. Hopefully he'd see some results this time.

After waiting a good half an hour, he helped the blind woman get the towel off, took his small flashlight and beamed it right in her eyes. He felt his hopes up, seeing not only a brief flinch from the woman but the round mirk in them shrink a bit.

However, the mirk swelled right back, refilling her eyes like a poisonous swamp refusing to be drained.

"Goddamn it, no!" He sighed, putting away his medical tools.

If he wasn't afraid of the shock that drinking the Waters of Life could cause her, he would wish he had just done that. However, there was a chance the curse sustained itself on Eurydice, explaining its constant recovery. Iaso feared she may be blind for the rest of her life. His metalled hand ruffled through his brown hair

The secret nymph rose from her pillow, feeling distraught at hearing his sigh. "Doctor, I think that, for a brief moment, I saw a white light."

But the doctor was inconsolable. "I'm sorry, Eurydice. I failed again."

She shook her head with a gentle smile. "No, not at all. That was wonderful as it was. Thank you for trying so hard, Dr. Iaso. I will always remember your kindness."

The medic felt his heart break, for her words actually made him smile a bit. Not only was Eurydice jaw-dropping beautiful, but her voice was as soft as a cloud and she had the one of the kindest, humblest and smartest personalities he had ever seen, defying Iaso's entrenched skepticism about people. It didn't shock him that so many men in Rodario had apparently fallen in love with her. Frankly he wished all his patients were like her.

Speaking of his other patients; "Where is miss Cerah? Has she had any further symptoms? That girl had to swallow a whole gulp of these Waters."

"I think she's been fine, Doctor, but it's hard to tell nowadays."

The doctor rubbed chin pensively. "Oh? How so? Is she keeping symptoms to herself? Has she been dizzy or vomiting?"

The nymph chuckled. "Oh, no, it's because she hasn't been living with me this past month."

Having treated her from a coma plus whatever she was doing by the Golden Zodiac during the time of the Specter attack, the Ophiuchus Saint widened eyes. "Wait, what?! Where is she, then?"

"She's in Switzerland, at the Saintia Academy!" Eurydice announced, beaming like a proud godmother, stunning the doctor. She took a pile of unopened letters on her bedside table. "I've been getting these in the mail every week… The neighbor tells me it's from there? Would you mind reading them to me a bit? If you're not busy, of course."

The brown-haired doctor gawked for a bit at the sudden revelation. That young girl? At the Saintia Academy?! How?! When?! It wasn't that it didn't make sense to him, based on her clearly strong vital signs for her age, but it took a heck of a lot more than that to get to that uptight rich girl place and it was a very sudden change. He had heard rumors that the Academy was actually struggling to finance itself and get new students, so it was likely loosening restrictions, but everyone knew it still as the place that women in the army would aim to get to only to end up a masked Amazon 95% of the times.

He took the letters and read them outloud to Eurydice. Maybe he could find out more through them.

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

Switzerland,

Saintia Academy

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

Sitting at the table of the room she shared with another young girl, Cerah Helóise was dressed in her black student uniform with yellow trim, a gift for her from miss AG to use at the academy, and finished up another letter for Eurydice back in Greece. She was surrounded with books she had spent the night going through for homework and her room was pristinely cleaned and organized, a habit from her normal life that had carried her well into the academy.

The teenage girl had kept her good friend Eurydice steadily supplied with updates of how she was doing. However, because Cerah knew the nymph was blind and needed someone to read these outloud, she made sure to keep it all innocent-looking, avoiding any references to Cloth Stones, Daese, Lucian or nymphs. This also meant not including any details about what she was learning, how she ended up there, how much progress she was making and especially who was sponsoring her. As far as the letters were concerned, Cerah was just a regular student at the academy who stumbled into a sponsorship.

The bells of the academy tower rung outside.

A blue-haired head peaked inside her dorm room door. "Hey, Heloise, let's go! We got Alchemy Basics, History and PE next!"

"Okay, I'm going! Putting her Cloth stone around neck, the secret Corvus Knight smiled at her roommate, finished her letter and put it in the neat pile of things to send back to Greece. Taking her slim class suitcase with her, arm warmers and black coat, she rushed out to the patio.

The Swiss winter was going strong, dressing the fields around the academy with snow and the pine trees in white dresses. The building was located in a secretive forested valley nestled in the Swiss Alps which had enough greenery during summer to make it looks absolutely beautiful, but during the Winter it turned into a freezer, as many classmates around her rushing to the heated lecture rooms could attest.

Cerah cursed her uniform. For some reason, the academy uniforms were designed after Japanese highschool attires, including the black and yellow one Cerah was gifted by her sponsor. She had asked around and discovered that apparently the academy was in more financial trouble than it looked and miss Olivia had been forced to accept Sanctuary's deals with some Japanese tech mogul called Mitsumasa Kido.

So to please some far away CEO's tasteless sense of academy style, when he probably didn't even know about Sanctuary, they all had to freeze to death in the Alps. Wonderful.

The only girl who wasn't bothered at all by the cold was the small, elegant one with pale skin, metal-blonde straight hair and sharp grey eyes that Cerah passed by in the corridor then. "Hello, miss Heloise."

The Knight cringed at her short socks and exposed arms. "Dear Goddess, Katya, aren't you cold?"

She blinked confusedly. "Mm, should I be?" And then the young girl noticed Cerah's elongated socks and arm warmers. Shook her head stoically. "I guess I'm used to this from back home."

Trying to keep in mind that Katya hailed from Russia, Cerah still accompanied her protectively. "Come on, let's get you to class."

The younger girl accepted this, but still voiced a small protest. "Alright, but you don't have to worry so much about me, miss Cerah. I'll have to take much harsher temperature tests for the Northern Cross Cloth."

Cerah's green eyes glanced at the girl trying to hide her slight trembling. The truth was, Katya was from Heart of Sasha, not a noble house, and had only earned a minor sponsorship to stay at the academy that barely afforded her a basic uniform and food, so she didn't have money for a coat like Cerah's.

So, though she had been raised in the Underworld as a child, Cerah shook her head and swung her own coat over the young girl's shoulder. "So? That doesn't mean you need to freeze like the rest of us until that."

Katya tucked the thick garment tightly around her. "Thank you…"

Cerah's teeth shook with the breeze and she rushed Katya along, shocked that the teachers were letting such a small girl walk around unprotected just because she didn't have Drachmas to spare. Overtime, Cerah had found out that most of the attendees were around her age, usually between twelve and eighteen years old, but Katya was an exception, having shown talent for ice cosmos at the orphanage and rushed to the Academy by miss Olivia, the head of Saintias.

The training for these young girls was also deceptively harsh. While framed in the context of academic gym classes, the things they had the girls do in PE rivalled Bronze Saint training at the least and was clearly designed to get the Cosmos developed or even just awakened in older girls. Cerah wasn't aware of too many gym school buildings that had a 'spike pit' after all, much less weights the size of large boulders. There were also very strict rules about when and where they were allowed to use cosmos, what and when they could eat, which kinds of things they could decorate their rooms with, how many hours they were allowed off campus and even who they could talk to outside the academy, all under the premise of training and protecting them as high-standard students.

Well, at least the people were friendl-

Suddenly someone rushing past Cerah briskly shoulder-bashed her, almost making her drop her suitcase. "H-Hey!"

"Don't just space out in the middle of the hall, airhead!" an older brown-haired girl dissed.

Katya helped her up. "Are you okay?"

Cerah nodded. "Y-yeah, don't worry about me."

When the two other girls got far enough to think she couldn't listen, her friend asked. "Why are those two together? Are they starting a Pale Club? They both look like they climbed out of a rock."

"They might have, actually." the first, older one laughed. "I think she got some sort of sponsorship. Every year there's a couple of those. You get used to them being around."

The Cyrulian girl frowned, seeing the small group of older girls laugh and march off to class like the act of coming in contact with Cerah was some kind of icky experience. Years in the Underworld sneaking around had paled her, yes, but also perfected her senses, including her hearing.

Okay, so maybe Cerah wasn't the most popular student.

Young Katya saw the frustration in her face. "Why didn't you stand up to them?"

Cerah shook her head. Even without her arrangement with miss AG to stay discrete, she had no intention to let people know she was capable of far more than passing PE exams.

She tried to smile. "Well, I'd really like to, but…that's causing trouble for a simple bump. It was an accident."

Katya stared icily at her, unnerving Cerah. "Miss Heloise, wasn't that what you said when they didn't help you out of the train pit? And when they tried to hit you for not letting them cheat off of you in class? I'm supposed to control my emotions for my Cloth, but you don't have one, right? Maybe I'm not as old as you, but I know people will walk all over you if you don't defend yourself."

Cerah hesitated to respond this. Katya was a nice girl, but she had a surprisingly ruthless code of demeanour and was very perceptive, likely all traits required of the Path she aimed for. "It's… more complicated than that, Katya."

Katya saw her classroom. "I see. I'll be going now." She tried to return the coat. "Thank you fo-"

Cerah's hand stopped her and she smiled gently. "Keep it. It's too small for me anyway. I'll ask my sponsor for a better one."

Katya blinked, seemingly surprised at the gesture. "Alright… thank you, miss Heloise."

The Knight nodded along and kept watch for a bit until Katya reached her class without getting bullied, before turning away to her own destination. Cerah wasn't afraid of defending herself, but that wasn't her priority right now; rather respecting Miss AG's rules and her own growth were.

After all, just attending these classes not only gave Cerah a better impression of how to act like a legitimate citizen of Athena, but gave her the alibi she needed to be in Sanctuary, should she ever get discovered by anyone less kind than Saint Aguilon, less impulsive than Saint Yushira or less generous than miss Ghisi. Already she felt far more confident displaying her smile around, no longer feeling like she had to keep her Cloth Stone hidden like Hades' Pendant or her Cosmos powers restrained like some kind of circus freak. Everyone could smash rocks in that school, so for as long as Cerah didn't use her Light Element and go beyond Mach 1, she could practice more openly. Her technique was getting better and she felt for the first time in years like she could be more direct with people about her fears and insecurities.

That was more important than teaching a pair of rude classmates a lesson. Daese would be so proud!

Cerah slowed down at the entrance of her next class, her mood suddenly sunk.

That's right… Daese.

"I wonder where you are… what are you doing?" Cerah mused. "Are you still with that Priam person?... Can you even imagine where I am? You'd probably go insane if you knew I was in one of Sanctuary's schools, no? Or would you even care?"

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

I met your sister on the way here, Cerah.

This may be difficult to accept, but Daese is dangerous to you.

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

The memory of Lucian's voice made Cerah's brain go tense, split even between these two figures in her life that had guided her every move so far, motivated her every choice. In just a couple of months, both her pillars had been cracked, leaving her with a void for a foundation of her life. Cerah would love to say that Eurydice's kindness had inspired her to admire the Nymph, but that was ultimately another one of Lucian's missions for her, wasn't it?

Her mind turned to the project miss Ghisi mentioned, the one motivating her to sponsor Cerah. Perhaps the Knight should hear it out and find a new path for herself.

The professor in black cloak welcoming the girls into class saw Cerah spacing out in the corridor. "Day dreaming about outdoor lessons, Miss Heloise?

Cerah yelped in fright. The Alchemic Basics teacher was the last one in the board anyone wanted to displease. Not only did he have a creepy robe and one of those threatening monotone voices, but he liked carrying and waving this pointer rod in every class he gave like he could blast someone with it for displeasing him.

"Perhaps my classroom bores you?" he asked, narrowing his black eyes. "If you'd like I can fail you right away, thus… ridding you of the scholastic hassle."

"I-I'm sorry, professor Severus. Not at all, professor Severus!" and she sped into the room, taking her seat.

The teacher's eyes sterned. "This academy is nothing but insufferable know-it-alls, but the lazy ones are the worst. Lily was right. I should have stayed in England…"

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

Rodario

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

Iaso sat the letter down. "I see, so she's becoming a Saintia…" he reaffirmed. Eurydice nodded happily. The doctor scratched his jaw pensively. "Now everything makes sense."

The Nymph's blind eyes narrowed worryingly. Did the doctor, famous for his conspiracy theories, suspect something critical? "… What makes sense?"

The doctor sweated and his lips quivered. How to voice this in a way that didn't offend his patient?"

"Well, to put it in a certain way, I've always found some things weird about Cerah." Iaso confessed, raising further alarms in Eurydice. He cleared his voice. "I don't mean… the thefts, but rather her… physical conditioning. Cerah spent a year in a coma and yet maintained a stature and health worthy of an Amazon Saint. However, if she was training to unlock the cosmos all along and just couldn't tell because of the Academy, now it all fits."

The Nymph exhaled in relief as imperceptibly as she could. She recalled Cerah's words about why she accepted the offer.

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

"Miss AG says… she will keep me at the academy, that it will be a good alibi for my cosmos." Cerah had said, before she packed her things. "Also, that she will pay for it all,… including money aside for you."

"Cerah, this is all… fantastic." Eurydice said. "But it's too fantastic, don't you think? Why would a complete stranger be so generous to us? There must be some kind of string attached."

The Knight nodded. "I think so, too. Miss Ghisi definitely wants something in return. I don't know what it is, yet, but she spoke of some kind of project a friend of hers offered…Somehow, something tells me she's telling the truth. And that I shouldn't refuse this opportunity."

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

Good, things were working out exactly like Cerah had said. Eurydice hated tricking Doctor Iaso, but his particularly suspicious mindset was a good test for how well this plan worked to hide their secret. Now all that was left for Eurydice to worry about was what exactly Cerah's new sponsor was after.

Eurydice's hands searched for the money mail sent her way days earlier on the counter, took the letter inside and showed it to the medic. "This is her academy sponsor. Do you know the name? Someone read it to me, but…."

Iaso widened his eyes. "The Ghisi?!" he scoffed, rolling eyes. "Of course! Eurydice, this family is known all throughout Sanctuary! You never heard of them?"

Being a nymph from Elysium, however, Eurydice could hardly say so. "I'm sorry, no. What can you tell me about them?"

Iaso raised a brow. He let it go, though. "Well, the Ghisi are rich patrons living in Néa Delphi, to the north. They sponsor artists at the Delphi School, upcoming Saints and the like. I have buddies in security and maintenance who were integrated into Sanctuary by them. Most of the family has a sketchy reputation, but not their Silver-Ring. She's even the one who saved Cerah's life at Aries."

Eurydice breathed another sigh of relief. "Oh, good, then Cerah's safe?"

Iaso tried not to make his cringe audible to the blind patient. "I'm not sure yet… this doesn't say much about what they want out of Cerah. However, most of the Ghisis are pretty self-interested snakes. Chances are they'll just charge you sponsor loans later. I'd save your money, Eurydice. The Saints they sponsor usually end up as private bodyguards to the Gold Rings, like Bear (*)."

(*) Two Towers – Part 2 of 2

The nymph tried to picture the brave girl who saved her from Gryphon Urial's Skeletons walking someone like Count Giles around. "That's… a bit of a waste, isn't it?"

"Yes, I doubt they want Cerah to do something meaningful to Sanctuary, like taking the fight to Hades for once." Doctor Iaso said, packing his bag. "That might be a good thing, though. No offense, but Saintia's physique or not, that girl's way too scrawny for Holy Wars."

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

Sanctuary Town,

Ophiuchus Hospital

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

Time passed as Lance explained his intentions for the future in detail to Aquarius Malta, whose face absorbed even the most shocking aspects with Aquarian stoicness. Finishing the details of his intentions, Lance relaxed and let Malta sink it all in and waited for an answer.

…

Feeling the weight of the silence crush him, Lance asked "Well?"

Malta took it all in in his hospital bed, looking away and then back at the Saint as if trying to decide if a completely insane person had visited him. Or maybe he was looking for the security button. Either way it didn't look like a good reaction.

Eventually, though, Malta sighed through his nose. "You want to invade the Underworld and you want my thoughts about it? I was right, you do sound like Priam."

"Maybe I do sound like that Black Saint asshole to you, but frankly, after everything Lucifer did, I don't really care." Lance confronted. "He tried to kill ROSHI and the kids! Any day now, someone could show up at Rozan again and do the same, simply because my teacher guards the Specters' seal!"

Malta stoically nodded. "That risk exists, yes."

But the seemingly indifferent tone only riled Lance further. "I'm not just gonna do the same everyone else in Sanctuary is and pretend that Holy War is something for the next generation to worry about. Some of the False Specters reached Mephisto. Others reached Camus too!" he argued, getting Malta to finally tense his eyes. Lance hated pulling this card but it was important to convey his own state of mind if he wanted a response from Malta other than calling Lance insane. "Shinta and his students were attacked on their own island! And none of Sanctuary's Temples or Allies stopped it!"6

The retired Aquarius observed him silently for a bit. "I know all of that, Saint Lance, but do you really think you're the first to have such fears?"

Lance stepped back, affronted. "What?! Of course not, but-"

"It's easy for anyone to say 'I want to protect my loved ones', Saint Lance." Malta argued. "It's the most basic feeling in the world, nigh-universal even. And because of that fear, you'll risk your life and that of others on a needless suicide mission?" Malta calmly pointed out. Just pointing this out seemed like a cold wash of water over Lance's angry chest. "Do you even have anyone else on board with this plan of yours?"

Lance sat back down. Technically he was working on this, but he couldn't lie. "Not y-yet, no!"

The blue eyes again pierced him. "I suppose you can imagine why, correct?"

Lance begrudgingly nodded. Of course he could guess why not many people were on board with such an idea. His intentions were as suicidal as his attempt to visit outerspace with Lucifer. In fact, the Koryuha was a better idea since Lance at least now had first-hand experience of it working.

He slumped on his chair, feeling crushed at the idea of being doomed to wait for the next 'False Holy War'.

Precisely in this moment of darkness, Noah's words rang to him, strong like tattoos in his mind.

There are things I still want to do as a Saint. Leaving Sanctuary would limit my options, not increase them.

The way I see it, you promised Guifi you'd become a great Saint and change this place. You're just gonna have to do it without him. I'd like to see that happen even more than you getting the Cloth.

"It's not… it's not just fear!"

Malta's blue eyes pierced him. "Then what is it?"

Lance tensed his eyes in frustration. Noah always seemed to know what he wanted as a Saint, unlike Lance, and the Triangle Saint did so despite clearly hating the way they were treated. On top of it, Noah also always had such unshakeable faith in Lance's potential. While Lance had fulfilled his promise to apply for the partnership program, which resulted in meeting Shinta and slowly healing Lance's psychological wounds from all his experiences in Mount Olympus and Death Queen Island, now, at the end of his time in the Golden Zodiac, he was at a crossroad, with one last vow to fulfill to Noah.

To live out his life and be the best version of himself he could be, even if the entire world fought against it.

So the words finally came to him. "It's what I want, Malta. Maybe not as a Saint, but at least…as a warrior! As someone who cares about doing something with the strength that I've obtained. Something for the people I love!"

Malta's expression seemed to shift ever so subtly, softening his gaze. "Go on."

"A long time ago, someone I care a lot about inspired me to become a Saint. They couldn't be my teacher because… because Sanctuary is fucked up and wouldn't let it happen… –" Lance sneered briefly, before getting back on topic "-but they still inspired me to use this Cosmos of mine, and this armor, to be someone in life! To do something good, something that actually changed things, something that might even inspire someone else to repeat after me!"

Malta took this in silence, looking away reflectively.

Lance continued. "And I can't stand the fucking thought of being anything less than that, to going back to rotting the way I did in my first three years in Mount Olympus! Maybe that makes me a bad Saint, but frankly, who cares?!" Lance finalized. "I survived the False Holy War, so I MUST be capable of doing more than just sitting around doing nothing! Malta, I spent the last month wondering why the fuck did that armor, Teos, show up to save me, and now I'm thinking that maybe it's because I can do some of these things I feel that I should do. Is that strange or illogical to you?"

Malta shook his head, accepting these thoughts. "No, Saint Lance…In fact, it makes perfect sense that someone who caught that armor's attention should aspire to great things in life, with it or not."

These words, however, didn't sound necessarily positive to Lance. The Pegasus Saint wondered what the retired Gold Saint in front of him was thinking; maybe Lancee just made things a lot worse and Malta thought he was a naïve hero-wanna-be who got drunk on having obtained Teos. On that subject, he also hated pulling the Teos Card, especially with how little they still knew about that armor and its contract with Lance hanging over his head, but it was almost too big a thing to not talk about.

"Frankly, I didn't think Sanctuary still had Saints that could inspire that sort of thing in our youths." Malta confessed, surprising Lance. The Aquarius' heart felt strangely warm, like the battles and sacrifices he made had been worth it. "Maybe we would have gotten Teos sooner if more Silvers were like them. What's their name?"

Lance spoke of it with the pride of mentioning a heroic parent. "Triangle Noah."

Malta paused. "Mm, I recognize it, but I could have sworn it was Noesis, instead... Maybe I should have paid more attention to my underlings. Between that person and Libra Dohko, I would say the world has more that made up for giving you Kastiel, Saint Lance, wouldn't you say?"

While a mention of Kastiel always made blood boil in Lance like a Pavlovian trigger, he held his tongue about it this time. He knew the reason Kastiel was mentioned was because he had made it seem to people like Malta so many times that Kerberos was the source of his discontentment with Sanctuary's ways.

There was some truth to this, admittedly.

"I suppose it has. I love both of them very much, yes. I guess you could say they both inspired me to want this, in their separate ways. Malta, I don't know what kind of Gold Saints you and your friends were like, but I don't want to be some hermit at the barracks or the Temples who just stands guard for Athena all day until the time comes to pass off my Cloth to someone else! Why not make the first damn move for once?!"

Silence fell between the two, in which Lance gave it a minute to see if any of this budged the Aquarius at all. The Pegasus had pretty much made up his mind already about what he wanted to do, but a very human part of him still sought approval from others, a confirmation that he wasn't crazy for feeling like things shouldn't be the way they were.

Perhaps, however, he was asking the wrong person. Not only was Malta a member of the generation that fought to keep things in Sanctuary the way they were, but he was the Aquarius at that, traditionally the nerd element who preferred not to take any chances. However, if he could score a victory on this guy, he could imagine being able to convince anyone else he came across after it.

Malta turned gaze at the ceiling, as if to look at the stars themselves in ponder. "Making the first move… That would be an interesting change of pace." Malta grumbled, self-conscious. "Let me just ask; is that really what people think of me and my friends? Hermits in their temples?"

Lance gulped. "W-well, not really, it's just that-"

"There's some that would call it a good thing, Saint Lance." Malta confessed, looking away solemnly. "It's better than the other thing they call us; a pack of murderers, casting judgement on everyone from our marble towers, judging people like Priam for something no one is sure they wouldn't have done in his shoes. Too much initiative in certain things can… have unexpected results. The Gold Saints of Akassius are famous, but not many people know about our pasts, Lance. Before we were Gold Saints, me and the others were already a pretty close-knit group, much like you and Saint Shinta."

While the open friendship talk from Malta kept surprising him, Lance then narrowed eyes in suspicion. "Even with that traitor Black Saint guy, Priam?"

Malta then did something incredible; he smiled. Not in a cocky I-know-something-you-don't way that Aquarius Saints liked, but in a gentle you-just-reminded-me-of-something-wonderful way that real human beings had.

He quickly hid it away, though. "Yes. Though, I'm sure you know how we feel about each other now." Malta sighed. "Some of my friends… were like you. More fit to be adventurers, troopers, assault Saints or warriors like you put it. Kai, our Leo, spent most of his tenure outside the 5th House, saying it made him feel caged…. And then there was Paris."

Lance took note of the pause in Malta at this name. "That name sounds familiar? What about him?"

Malta shook his head lamentingly, but a faint smile was on his lips. "You might have heard it before, yes. He's Saint Milo's uncle. And, well,… nothing seemed to make him happier than being an absolute scoundrel. He was rude, arrogant, deeply sexist, a bully to his friends, disrespectful, brash, unkept, cynical … just the picture of lack of knightly temperament. A sad, superficial soul who thought the only worthwhile thing in the world was treasure."

Lance scoffed amusedly. "And you were friends with him?"

Malta laughed, a reaction that stunned the Bronze Saint. "Yes. All of us were. Including the traitors. Bonds are easy to form when you're a child, especially when your survival depends on those friendships. It was… easy to forget Paris' faults when you're starving… and he shows up with a plate of food from his family's house for you."

The Pegasus Saint softened his gaze, guessing what kind of past Malta had.

Memories of the junkyard he grew up in assaulted Malta.

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

Child Malta held the plate of meat, rice and veggies in his hand. The stench of the junkyard around him had numbed his nose, but the food filled his nostrils like air from Elysium, warming his face with its cooked steam, and its colors brought tears to his eyes.

"I… Is this really for me?" he asked, his tiny stomach rumbling in his thin, sick body.

An equally emaciated Kai grabbed Paris by the collar. "What kind of trick is this?! Are you trying to poison him, rich kid?! Haven't you done enough?!"

The pale-blue haired brat shoved him off. "Rich kid?! Fuck you, you ugly brats! I just… I just can't stand the sight of you all starving!" he lied. "Just eat and fill your stomachs before I take it back to my dad's dogs!"

Kai held Malta's wrist from touching the beef. "Malta, don't eat it! He's gotta want something for this!" and he eyed Paris. "What is it, uh?! You want us to steal something for you, don't you?! What's the catch?!"

"He wants us gone, that's what!" Kirin's high-pitched voice accused, eyes steeling. "They took Aeneas away after he got you that ruby brooch, remember?! He's trying to frame us next! Beat him up, Kai!"

Paris wrestled against Kai. "There's no catch, you dirty junk rat! And your friend just got himself caught, is all! You wanna fight instead, uh?! Cause I will!"

Priam shoved them apart. "Stop it, you two! Look!" he pointed. "Malta is eating!"

The three watched Malta sob in happiness as he ate the delicious food, filling his stomach. "It's really g-good... it's so good!" His cheeks drenched, having never known food could be this tasty.

Kai held hand on Malta's head. "Uh, no sickness, he's not passing out…" his face went red. "I… I g-guess it's fine."

Priam held hand over his friend's shoulder, amazed. "Malta hasn't eaten in a week. After Aeneas left, he couldn't stomach the food we get around here anymore…" he turned to the rich kid and offered him a hand to shake. "Thank you, Paris."

"I told you!" Paris groaned, slapping the hand rejectfully and storming off. "Don't count on me so soon, you ungrateful punks!"

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

Lance snapped his fingers. "Hey, Malta, are you there? You didn't hit the morphine button, did you?"

Malta blinked, snapped back into reality. "Excuse me….As I was saying, however, things change. People grow apart, pick sides, find lovers… and before you know it, those bonds rot and are shattered. With it, so do the vows we make to be the ones who finally change the world."

Lance sat silent, seeing a side of Malta he had never encountered. It was true that the four of them, and Malta in particular, all acted and talked like they had great weights on them. Lance always just figured it was the responsibility of being a Gold Saint and raising their students, like Camus, but really, when you add in the Civil War, Priam and everything else, Malta and his friends went through a lot for a generation of interwar Gold Saints, didn't they?

Lance confronted. "Are you saying my friends might not agree with me? That they might try and stop me?"

Malta then gave him a look like he just said the most stupid thing ever. "I'm warning you… that there is a reason that things in Sanctuary take this cautious approach towards Hades… because without Athena with us, as much revenge as we want, as much as we want to change things, fighting a God isn't just something you embark upon like a child's afternoon journey. Some people prefer that peace, tense and bloody as it is, to the nightmare that is facing the world, Under or Surface. You understand that, correct?"

Lance rubbed his temples. "Y…Yes, I do."

"Duty was very important to me, Saint Lance. And so was… protecting my friends. You aren't the first Saint who has felt the need to shake things up, and you won't be the last."

The Pegasus Saint nodded, folding fingers. "Right…"

Malta observed him in silence. "You already knew this, right? You're an experienced assault Saint so you know better than many the risks in such an idea, and your primary friend that you might ask for such a thing is a known pacifist, someone who would tell you the exact same you've just heard from me, so you already know you're alone on this."

Lance rubbed eyes, feeling a deep anxiety inside himself. He still had the most decisive question left. "Yeah… All of that is true."

The Aquarius scoffed. "But you're still going to do it, aren't you?"

The red-eyed Saint sterned his gaze in determination. "That's right, Malta."

The veteran stood quiet for a bit, either admiring his bravery or lamenting his stupidity.

Eventually he spoke. "May Athena bless your mission, then, Saint Lance. My generation missed its chance to change the world, but perhaps yours won't. I just pray the force motivating you to do this, your want as you say it, is higher than just the need to protect your allies, which you can simply do from here."

From the former Aquarius, Lance could imagine this was the closest thing to approval, but there was a technicality brought up by Malta's words that popped into Lance's head, one that might help decipher the Aquarius' true thoughts.

"Can I ask you one important thing?" Lance begged.

"Of course. Go ahead."

"Are we now officially at war? With Hades, I mean."

Malta closed his eyes to reflect for a bit. "Officially? No. There was no eclipse in the night, nor the shower of blood in the Pope's dreams, nor the destruction of Mount Rozan's seal, after all."

Lance narrowed his red eyes. "Daemon Lucifer says things will be different this time, though, right? That Hades is gonna strike before Athena returns to the Earth. So what exactly does that mean, we aren't officially at war?"

The retired Aquarius returned a focused stare. "Exactly what I said; officially, we aren't at war. Much like the False Holy War, a Holy War isn't much of one if one of the Gods isn't there to fight it."

"Which is to say, Malta, that if something insane were to happen…" Lance suggested. "If some crazy out-of-control Bronze Saint that Sanctuary doesn't even like was to ruin Hades' day somehow…?"

Malta nodded slowly, a sly curve appearing in his lips. "The almighty Zeus might not condone open war with the kingdom of Athena as a result, yes. But a team of Saints attacking the Underworld without Athena's blessing?" and he scoffed slyly. "…Well, that would be ludicrous."

Lance hid a smirk with his hand.

Malta tried to lift himself as much as his thick bandage patches allowed. "Saint Lance, I've just had a thought…how would you like me to speak with Akassius about your plans?"

Lance blinked. "Wait, you're serious?"

Malta nodded, serious as ever. "If you don't mind, of course, but Akassius could help you. He has a lot of contacts throughout Sanctuary and has met and trained many Saints during the Civil War. He could help you find comrades. Forgive me for saying this, but… you strike me as the most…"

Lance scoffed. "Recluse?"

Malta blinked, wondering where he got such a pessimistic word. "No, I was going to say 'introverted'. Maybe 'unsocial', but if you prefer 'recluse'..."

"NO, no, 'introverted' is fine!" Lance assured, waving hands. He then groaned pensively, considering the offer..

It was true that letting the famous former marshal of Sanctuary on his side would be a boon. Not only had Akassius expressed an odd amount of interest in Lance in the past, but he was clearly the most admired figure in Sanctuary and could get a lot of doors open. Hell, the nobles wouldn't shut up about him in Court as their ideal to measure the Gold Saints by. He also helped them out big time against Lucifer at the end of the False Holy War, sending that 'Apocalypse' attack away along with Saga.

However, there was a side to this that didn't appeal to him; precisely because of his experience and renown, Akassius seemed to Lance as someone who liked to be in control of whatever he was involved in, and Lance also didn't want to get paired with people by him that he didn't absolutely 100% trusted on this. Lance wasn't doing this simply because it would be good for Sanctuary, but also because he felt he personally had to do something with his abilities and experience in assault missions.

Lance also just simply didn't know these guys well enough to put that level of confidence in them. He only confided his plans with Malta because he didn't want to be dishonest about why he visited him, not to mention Lance was trying to get a perspective of the war out of Malta and it would have been bad faith to not answer his questions honestly, but Lance wanted to keep certain things, like Adriana's involvement in his plan, a secret for now.

There was another big reason. "Right now, your friend's son is trying to take Aiolia off his Temple. Did you know that?"

Malta nodded. "Yes, I've heard."

"Your offer is generous, Malta, but I don't want to betray my friends' trust by siding with the father of a person trying to hurt them. I'm sorry." Lance said.

The red-haired veteran seemed to take another studious look at Lance.

It made the Pegasus Saint grumble. "What? You're looking at me like you expected something else."

"I did. I suppose you're no longer the same Pegasus Saint that walked out of Mount Olympus all those years ago." Malta confessed. "Saint Dohko has taught you well. Go with Athena, Saint Lance. I will keep your plan a secret, you have my word as a former Gold Saint."

Lance nodded in thanks and took off. He had to take Mu and Shaka to Shamballah yet, before going to meet his Master.

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

Meanwhile,

Japan, Tokyo

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

It was nighttime in the Far East already.

Leon was at his temporary apartment that he rented in one of Tokyo's residential districts, illuminated by his lamp and the TV's bluelight. The silver-haired mercenary bowman sat at the small table, watching the small monitor attentively, taking copious notes on the contents. The room had the door firmly locked and the curtains shut, while his work gear, including his carbon bow and assault equipment, were stashed aside for the moment so he could focus on his research.

"These have been the ruins in Algeria…" the Japanese man recording the footage said, running his free hand through the unicorn symbols on the sand brick walls. Leon stared at it sternly, knowing that site very well. "Only a true archeologist could uncover the deep mysteries of this far away foreign land in the Mediterranean. Join us next time on… Traveling with Kido."

The screen then went blank and the cassette was spat out. With a mere gesture of his 6th sense, Leon made another tape labeled "Sea of Somalia – AI?" float and enter the slot of the KidoCorp VHS Tape Player beneath the TV. There was a whole pile of big cassettes next to it with similar titles that Leon had acquired after arriving in Japan and investigating his first targets on the Kido Corporation.

The Japanese man set his camera down, pointed at the old sailor and his young gray cat. "Can you tell us your name and occupation? And of your cute friend?" he asked in French.

"Right, right! My name is Saul, I'm a fisherman… This is my ship, the La Patte de Singe. And this is Sebastian, my little mouse hunter."

Leon smiled, seeing the gray cat release a rather raspy meow when the sailor scratched his ear. Leon may be a hunter, but he loved animals anyway. His fingers took the chop skits and sunk them in his ramen cup, stirring before lifting a small portion of noodles for him to eat. Leon ate it stoically, but still hated the food from the city. There was something plastic and loaded with additives about it that he could never get used to.

"How long have you fished in Somalian waters, Saul?"

"Um…. A little over twenty years."

"The catch must be good then! Do you ever go further northeast, towards Socotra?"

Leon's attention perked up from the noodles.

The sailor chuckled nervously. "Ah, ah, nah, not really… You know why, don't you? You came to study it, right? The pollution up there? It kills all the fish and all…"

"Yes, that's correct. It's such a shame. Our home country has a lot of fishermen, too, who complain about runoffs in their waters. Is it true there's an island in that direction, other than Socotra, where the pollution is really strong? We'd love to get a closer look. Our university thinks it might have to do with a volcano."

"…Bastards." Leon whispered to himself. Shion needed to know about this as soon as possible.

"Yeah, there's definitely a pair of volcanoes that way, but I never get too close. There's a lot of those back in your country, right?" Saul, the sailor, asked, to which the interviewer nodded. "I think you've been beaten to it, though. There's a folk there who asks me to stay away, Greek. Nice fellow, bit depressed."

Leon turned to his notes to make sure of it; yes, indeed, at the date of the recording, the late Cepheus Guardnia, student of Sagittarius Priam, would still be the Master of the island. It was an interesting coincidence, especially if Priam really was conversing with KidoCorp. Did he sell the location of Andromeda Island for a pack of winter coats to be at Point Barrow?

The mercenary kept watching the tape a bit more, but it just went on about the sailor's pregnant daughter-in-law and how happy he was. Leon unfortunately had a task in hand, so he hit the fast-forward butto-

His blue eyes widened and he screeched the VHS into pause, seeing the footage change into something else entirely that he recognized much more strongly. Apparently, the Andromeda Island spying was recorded over something else.

"GET OUT OF HERE!" the aged woman in Ainu clothes shouted, brandishing her broom.

"P-Please, madam, we are researchers from Tokyo that want to study Mt. Daitets-"

The broom wacked straight on the camera, cracking it. "LIARS! I SAID, LEAVE! THIS IS SACRED LAND of our ancestors! My husband will be back soon and he has a gun! A big one!"

The team of researchers picked their damaged camera back up and fled back to their van. The engine roared right away and the team leader cursed in Japanese. "Blast it! That old bitch! She oughta get a gun pointed at HER face!"

Leon's eyes narrowed dangerously.7

"There has to be another road into the shrines, right?" the young assistant holding the camera asked. "The park is huge so we should be able to get another guide!"

"Matsuda, you idiot! Your camera is still on!"

"Oops, sor-" and the camera then went back into static for a second or two before the VHS hit its end.

Leon's fingers tensed on the pen. He tried to focus and noted down all the Training Grounds that Kido was poking his nose into. While the words 'Training Ground' were never uttered, there was no denying that the purpose of these recordings was to investigate their existence. Between the evidence he found in Alaska of his association with Priam's Black Saints and these tapes, the Kido Corporation was definitely, at best, researching signs of Sanctuary. At worst, they were actively aware of it.

This never ended well. Priam would pay for his collusions. Leon would make sure of it.

And after that last bit of the tape, now it was personal.

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

Chapter End

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

Next Chapter: Chapter 74 – Third Arc – Episode 3 – Back to Basics

Description: Lance takes Shaka and Mu to Shamballa, where he meets a Silver Saint he's never encountered, then heads off to Rozan to ask Dohko for forgiveness. Will Dohko pardon him for becoming the first Greek in space? Or will he order a new set of ridiculous training regimens? And how will Lance's crazy new project fit into his teacher plan?

Meanwhile, a shadow follows Cerah at the Saintia Academy…

Release Date: September 25th (Hopefully)

Author's Comments:

This chapter went through some tremendous amount of rewriting a cutting. It actually kind of screwed up my schedule of releases for the near future, to the point I had to replan the entire Arc on Microsoft Excel, including forcing myself to list what every character will be doing for the next 36 chapters. Yes.

The benefit of that is that I actually have a much more solid understanding of my to-do list and the pace with which I'll tackle everything. Zeb, my betareader, says I'm making progress in pacing and storytelling so I'm optimistic about future chapters, even if my one-chapter-per-month pace got royally boned in the process, frustrating me very deeply. Hence the 'hopefully' on the release date.

In fact, I got so tired from all of it that I spent my one-week vacation in August doing a deep rest, rather than more writing work. Another plan for my vacation that got screwed was my intention to start releasing the story on AO3. I just didn't feel ready yet, not with the stuff in jeopardy.

Attentive fans may recognise some of the details described in the photo Aiolos took of the Gold Saint children for Lance. It's based off a really great 2010 DeviantArt piece by Manechan. You will find it rather quickly if you google his name along with "Golden Days". Drop a comment in it that you like it, and that I sent you there.

Anyway, seriously, please leave a comment on the story if you like it. And even if you don't like it, actually. Regular feedback is extremely important to know if the story is on good track, especially considering its wordcount.