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.

81. 3A: The Heart Beats Awake

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:

-This chapter has been betaread by EpicElly and partially by Jenny DeVic;

-Special thanks to Roseko for consultation on the 'Seer Hand Reading' scene;

-We are 7/8ths of the way to 2 million words;

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Please enjoy and review ^_^

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Greece,

Rodario

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Following the signal given to her by her leader, the disguised Aquila Daese searched the older part of town for Priam. She had finally been contacted by him with the meeting coordinates to be picked up and Priam, as usual, picked a spot right underneath Sanctuary's nose.

The boldness of his choices of rendezvous spots and spying tactics often bordered on the shocking. For example, Sea Prince, their Zodiac contact, was suspected by her to even be the Gemini Saint that followed after Akassius, while Blue Bomber, their primary agent among the Silver Saints, was someone that half the army met with quite some frequency and was known to have resented the aftereffects of Priam's war very fiercely. Priam seemed absolutely convinced somehow that the best way to evade Sanctuary's detection was to operate right where they had the most security.

Yet, Daese had to admit it worked; Priam was still alive after thirteen years of being public enemy number one to the most powerful and globally entrenched organization on the planet. It was a feat she doubted would ever be repeated by anyone again.

Daese smirked and folded her arms. "How did I guess I'd find you doing something like this?"

The cloaked, burned man turned from helping the elderly Sanctuary woman carry her bags home. "You say it like it's a bad thing."

The old lady inhaled sharply at the sight of Daese. "Ooh, is this your friend?" she asked, not having the faintest clue she was talking to a pair of terrorists. "She's so much younger than you. Are you two…"

Daese saw her crossing her fingers and laughed. "I could only wish. He's a married man, madam."

The old lady gasped and looked again at Priam's scars, "Taken? Hera really does look kindly on the ailed sometimes. Where did you get hurt, anyway, honey?"

Priam held his scarred cheek self-consciously, remembering Akassius' Hellfire Cannon. "…It was in combat. I used to be in the army before… I had to leave."

The old lady shook head lamentingly. "Oh, did your cosmos burn out? I know so many young men like you… My husband burned his cosmos out by the time he was thirty. He never quite adjusted to being a farmer after that. Good luck with everything, sweetie."

After kissing each other's cheeks goodbye, Priam left the old Sanctuary dweller to her simple life and joined Daese out the town.

"You better not tell your wife about her, Priam." Daese joked smilingly as they turned the corner northwards, towards the parts of Rodario shadowed by forestry.

The burned man laughed. "She has nothing to worry about. This face won't attract any lovers. Speaking of family, though, Daese…Did you see your sister?"

The Paladin felt her heart tug. "Yesterday, yes. She was still asleep. I think Cerah is going to be okay, though. Fortunately, the Saintia with her thought I was Thanatos' nymph bride so I was able to move in and out safely."

Priam hummed. "The Saintia, uh? Your sister is under some heavy protection. And you said something about the Pegasus Saint, too?"

Daese nodded. This was what was putting her mind at ease the most. "Yes, his name is Red, but he goes by his Saint name nowadays. Priam, I think… I want to ask him to join us."

Priam stopped. "Daese, we've talked about this."

She stiffened. "I know we have. And I know it's hard for us all right now…but I think we should consider it."

The former Sagittarius looked away, trying to think of how to put this. "Daese, you told me yourself; you haven't seen him in years. This 'Red' has been under Sanctuary influence all this time. You don't really know what he's like nowadays. And besides, he doesn't even remember you, right? What do you think will happen if you confront him?"

Daese, though, looked determined. "Listen to me, Priam. I've been asking around about him and …he fits your profile to a tee. I think he could be a great asse-"

"That's not the point, Daese." Priam folded his arms, looking frustrated. "I told you and I told Guardnia; I'm not going to wage war on Sanctuary anymore. There's no point in bringing more people onboard when all we have to do is survive. Why implicate more innocent people in this conflict I have caused? Haven't I ruined enough lives?"

The Paladin heated up as well, narrowing eyes but looking away from the man she respected. Rationally, Daese understood Priam's argument very well. She also understood his good heart and empathized that nothing was more painful to him than piling up more dead bodies on his consciousness, especially after Guardnia passed. However, just because the fire in Priam's heart had cooled down, it didn't change the fact they were wasting away.

So to Daese, this just felt like fear. "Priam… are you just going to run away from Akassius all your life, then?! What did we get the page of the Book of the Dead from Lucifer for, then?! To just stand around and not fight?"

But Priam narrowed his eyes. "We got it to watch his every move and prepare ourselves."

"Yes, but prepare for what?!" she shouted out.

Heads around turned towards them.

Daese went red and the two walked away from the village, getting some distance from onlookers.

The ex-Sagittarius looked around, making sure this time no one was around, and reminded her of what he was after. "Daese, the only reason you know where your sister is right now is because of that page. We're not exactly letting it go to waste."

The young Paladin nodded. "I know…"

"Lucifer's invasion has failed, as it should, but many of his men that stayed at Crow Nest survived and escaped. Some of them have abilities unique to Specters, like Nasu and Necromancer." Priam recounted. "You saw what they did to your people's old fortress, right?"

Daese's blood boiled, remembering Crow Nest being turned into a terrible cathedral of darkness. "How could I forget? They desecrated those walls. You're not telling me you plan to keep our alliance with them, are you?! Priam, they are killers!"

The rebel's face turned grim. "I will do what I have to."

Daese frowned worriedly. Over the past few years, her leader seemed increasingly strange to her. She could only pinpoint one cause. "Priam, that Teos Armor… you can't…let it drive you to do this!"

The rebel turned away, his fist clenching tensely. "Sea Prince first said it, but Guilty has confirmed everything to me now. Arles has the Teos Cloth with him. And it's every bit as powerful as we all imagined, if not more. I will obtain it. And with it, my hand alone will be able to change the future. No one else will have to shed blood for me and my family."

The ultimate argument was out; Priam's guilt. With it, he could disarm anything she about this. All of Daese's fears that their group was dying a slow death were nothing compared to the inescapable morality in Priam deciding he's had enough of putting everyone else at risk.

Unfortunately for Priam, though, she was old enough to see the problem behind it.

"Sea Prince also said it might kill you. That he saw it sucking the cosmos off the Cancer Saint to repair itself…." The Paladin narrowed eyes. "Priam, you may feel like all you're doing is your responsibility as our leader, but chasing after this Teos Cloth is also just another way for you to run away from your friends. Not just from the guys back at the base, but… from your old Gold Saint friends as well. It's suicide. Don't you see that?"

The brown-haired warrior closed his eyes.

She took this for the complacency it was and tried to hit where it hurt. "I get it, you don't want to listen to me on this. To you I'm still the desperate girl that came begging to help Cerah a decade ago. But what would your wife and your son think, Priam, if they knew what you were planning?"

"My son doesn't know I exist, Daese. I've never been a part of his life." Priam reminded her, looking grim. His son was the whole reason he had picked this path. "You, however, have the chance to one day be part of your sister's. I have nothing to gain. You have everything to lose."

She couldn't think of a more pathetic lie Priam could be telling himself. The Paladin bit her tongue and her eyes welled. "Just like that, uh? You make it sound like it isn't the same for you, like that sweet boy would reject you if he saw your burns…"

The reality was, as she saw it, that Priam's mind was just trapped in this war he had with Akassius, chained by guilt. He couldn't let go of something that not only caused the demise of his and his friends' lives, but had ended up with him separated from his family anyway and doomed to a life of animosity with Gold Saints that once been dear friends of his. Even his body reminded Priam of his failures, for every time he woke up in pain or looked in the mirror, the once gorgeous Sagittarius saw a half-incinerated body.

But how could she argue back? Daese had spent most of her life exacting revenge against Sanctuary and Aries Azrael, leaving Cerah to be raised by a cruel Specter. Their whole group was a bunch of pathetic, selfish nobodies chewed and spat out by Sanctuary and the Pact of Seven. That's why they loved each other.

The rebel offered her his shoulder. "It's getting dark. Let's go back to the others. We can discuss this away from Sanctuary."

Hesitantly, she nodded and rested her hand on it.

Priam looked up and focused his thoughts on his intended location. "Lightning Arrow!"

Turning into his untraceable beam of electricity, the two warped away instantly out of Sanctuary's grounds.

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Greece, Sanctuary Town

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Standing outside the Mission Management Center bored out of her skull, Yushira counted pebbles, waiting for her brother and Pegasus to be done reporting to Nam everything that happened in Tibet. She had already guessed they'd have to deal with a nightmare of procedures after what Acrisius pulled and would rather wait outside and flex her energy than sit in a chair while her brother dealt with the paper work he and Nam loved so much.

She felt kind of bad that Lance drew the short straw on who should accompany Suisho. He seemed tired.

Her senses perked up, seeing a distant flash over the peaks surrounding Sanctuary Town. "Whow…!"

Finally stepping outside, Suisho found her transfixed. "Is something the matter?"

Her head shook. "Nothing. I thought I saw lightning over the mountains. Are you guys done inside? Do we get to split Acrisius' share between us or what?"

Suisho gave his sister her part of the reward, a roll of Sanctuary drachma bills. "Unfortunately, no. Acrisius is now part of an ongoing investigation so everything related to him and Cross Faras is frozen."

The Amazon threw her arms up. "WHAT?! He tried to kill us!"

Sui shrugged. "That's what we claim, not what Sanctuary knows. It's the rules, Yushira. What if we had killed him during the mission to take his share of the reward and were just making up this story?"

She huffed and puffed. "What bullshit, Sui'! Why do you always take the side of the rulebook on these things?! What, you trying to apply to become a Sanctuary judge?!"

The Underworld Judge looked away. "Don't be ridiculous…"

Leaving Nam's office with the squad, Lance yawned.

"Boy, I thought I was tired, but you look like you're about to pass out, Pegasus?" Yushira noticed, laughing.

Suisho folded his arms reflectively. The two of them were just now ending an uninterrupted string of missions. "How long haven't we slept so far, Pegasus?"

Lance scratched his head. He felt like he was about to join Cerah in the coma-risk unit. "Close to three days, I think. My brain feels like a brick. I felt fine during the fighting and the feast, but now I almost fell asleep in that chair listening to you and Nam yapping about Acrisius. I don't know how you do it, Sui'."

Suisho smirked slyly. The answer was simple; Specters had to watch over the Underworld as vigilantly as Cerberus. "It's a matter of practice."

Yushira turned with a skeptical squint inside her mask. "Practice, sure. Either that, or you got to doze off inside that rock coffin for a while."

Suisho acquiesced with a raise of his hand. Better be mocked than raise suspicions. "Perhaps, sis. Either way it's a good day's work worth of bonus."

Lance squinted, being a bit annoyed. "You're awfully nonchalant about what happened, Sui, I agree with your sister on that much.". His blood still boiled that they wouldn't get a follow-up on this bullshit. "I wasn't even petrified, and I'm pissed."

The dark-blue haired team leader quirked lips tensely, vexed.

On one hand, Aiacos, the Judge of the Underworld, was livid. He had been utterly embarrassed and had half a mind of asking Minos to direct Acrisius directly to Aiacos' Circle, Antenora, for a chance at personal retribution. Aiacos' rule-bound nature knew, however, that Acrisius and Faras upon death would get sent to Cocytos instead. Even if they hadn't been Saints, betraying their vow to Athena was grounds enough for Minos to pick the Prison of Traitors for them. It aggravated him, but it was proper. This fair system, in fact, was another in the endless list of reasons why, in his opinion, Lord Hades' vision prevailed over Athena's; it guaranteed justice for all without letting human passion blind a jury over personal matters.

On the other hand, why should Suisho, the Silver Saint, care? While he missed out on basic-minded personal vengeance, Acrisius and Fargas were by this point out of reach and the Crateris Saint never even laid his eyes on the Cross Silver Saint that would meet their punishment in the Prisons, likely in Cocytos. At best he had to show frustration with a spoiled mission, but anything more would raise too much suspicion for someone known as one of the friendliest Silver Saints.

Suisho, the Silver Saint, played it off. "I'm just used to it, Pegasus, that's all. I trust the process by now. They'll handle the bad guys."

As they turned the corner, the Saints spotted a group of men plastering a giant poster on a house's wall. Yushira pointed at it. "Hey, look, speaking of bad guys!"

---

Come one, come all, to the exciting Coliseum Triumph, coming the 1st of May!

Celebrating our victory over the self-entitled "False Specters"' attack on the Golden Zodiac!

Events include:

-Golden Zodiac Parade (get your flowers at the advertised shops below);

-March of the Defeated (get your tomatoes at the advertised shops below);

-Papal address to the audience;

-Celebration games in honor of the Gold Saints;

-Execution of the Defeated (crowd choice of method);

Buy your tickets now and get a chance to see His Holiness the Pope and the Gold Saints of Athena! Only 500 SD!*

*200 SD for all children under 8

---

Lance groaned, disgusted. No wonder Olivia and Shinta disliked that circus. "Christ almighty! Public executions of prisoners?! With children attendance? What is this, Ancient Rome?"

Yushira shrugged. She had seen worse in that place. "Well, it's the Coliseum. I'm just wondering why only in May. That's a lot of time to be holding a whole army of Specters at the Stardust Prison."

Suisho squinted, realizing this was no coincidence that Lucifer's execution was being timed by Sanctuary just before Lord Hades' sacred barrier was predicted to reach Sanctuary's closest fortress to Heinstein.

He turned to Lance. "You see the 'address to the public' part, Pegasus?"

The Bronze Saint nodded with a grim frown. "Yeah."

"You guys mean the part where the Pope bores half the town with his church mass?" Yushira added. "Can't wait for that. Gonna be a nice nap I'll take."

"Wouldn't sleep through it if I were you." Lance folded his arms tensely. "He might announce Holy War."

…

Yushira looked for any kind of sign in these two that they were just joking.

Seeing none, she stepped back, fearful, "Oh… Goddess, you two aren't crackin', are you?"

Lance waved out his hand at the poster. "Everything points to it. The Specter barrier at the front has been expanding, the military has been mobilizing, and if our understanding is correct, Hades doesn't value these particular False Specters we captured in the least, which means they're not valuable POWs for Sanctuary we can use to hold off war. The Golden Zodiac has also been pressured to retaliate for the False Holy War. Pope Arles likely intends to use their execution to placate families of the dead Aries Temple guards and as a chance to raise everyone's spirits for the inevitable fighting."

Suisho gulped, wondering what the Zodiac's plans for Lucifer were. "The False Specters are not valuable, perhaps, but what of their leader? I've heard he's special?"

Lance squinted. Details about Daemon were Sanctuary secrecy. "Where the hell from, Sui'?"

The secret Judge darted his eyes. "Come on, Pegasus, people have been rumoring about him since December. They say he got pretty far up at the temples, that the staff saw him flying up to the Pope's Chambers. Some spread stupid stories that he might be Thanatos himself, even. I was wondering because you took part in the defense?"

The Pegasus Saint groaned. With all the leaking going on, this didn't shock him. Lucifer did make quite the spectacle of his flight, especially with how much he zapped Lance while at it. "Fair enough. I don't know what the Pope intends with him, Sui'. He's… really different from the rest. A true Specter, from what I understand, with a star of his own. In all fairness I don't know if he can stay dead. Arles might intend to keep him in jail till Hades' fall."

Aiacos restrained a surge of displeasure. This didn't suit his objective at all.

"What's he like? The Specter boss?" Yushira asked, interrupting their thoughts. She only had one reference. "Big gonk guy like Cyclops?"

Lance scratched his head pensively, trying to think of a genuine answer that omitted the color of Pride Star's hair and eyes. "He looks like a cross between that singer called David Bowie and the Count from Sesame Street."

She laughed so hard at the mental picture that her eyes teared up, and her mask almost fell off. Suisho gawked vexedly, feeling split between the sacrilege of describing a Dark Prince in such a way and the comical mocking of what was, after all, a failed traitor to his Lord, Hades.

Lance folded his arms, thinking, "I wonder if Shion intends to reveal the Teos Cloth to the public in that address, too? He's going to have to at some point. That armor is too important not to use. And if he does... will I get called to wear it in war? Ugh, or maybe I'll get asked to kill Lucifer with it, some kind of gross symbolic political gesture. Either way, it sounds like this date will be important in the calendar…."

Speaking of 'dates,' Lance looked at the hours on the Fire Clock. It was almost time to see Olivia.

"Mm, in a hurry, aren't you?" Suisho pointed out. He wanted to keep a closer eye on Pegasus after what happened. The idea that he owed a Saint his life revolted him, and all the people targeting Lance could give him a chance to rid himself of such debt. "Probably want a good night of sleep after 3 days of hard work, uh?"

Yushira chuckled. "He can't, Pegasus has got a d-a-t-e, Sui."

Lance's face reddened. "Shut up, Yush'."

Suisho folded his arms, impressed. "Ah, now I understand our talk at the MMC the other day. Do I know her?"

Lance scratched his head. "Y… Yeah. You do."

The Judge's eyes enlarged. He could count on Pegasus to have only one common acquaintance with him other than Yushira and the comatose Cerah. "Wait, is it… the academy girl, Olivia?"

The Pegasus Saint sweated, wondering what Sui's reaction was going to be. "I'm not sure how it happened, either."

Yushira chuckled, excited. "I can't wait to see what she looks like! You should see this guy around Malachite, Sui', looking for date gifts, all nervous, talking about whether or not she liked him... She's kissed him already, and yet Pegasus is terrified she might run away if he sneezes. Ain't that cute?"

Sui, however, to her surprise, was even more stunned. "Kissed him? Olivia did?" he hummed, impressed. He supposed women in Sanctuary always loved their knights in shining armor, so long as they weren't overbearing. "Pegasus, I've underestimated you! Not bad."

The Pegasus smiled, feeling strangely proud. He didn't have a lot of male friends of his age, so Suisho praising him felt good.

The Crane Saint rose a brow. "Wait, did I miss something?"

"You have no idea who she is, do you?" Suisho asked, scoffing. He wasn't surprised since Yushira tended to think Saintias were 'little daddy-princesses' not worthy of her attention or respect. "Normally, I would ask you to leave Pegasus alone, but maybe you should tag along this time. You might learn something."

Yushira saw Lance sway. "Yeah, if this guy doesn't pass out on the way…"

Lance shook his head to awake himself. "I'm f-fine, I just need some coffee….Hey, Suisho, by the way, um… any advice?"

The Crateris Saint widened eyes in affront that this Bronze Saint was asking him, a Judge, for dating tips. "You want my advice?"

Lance grumbled embarrassedly. "I would appreciate it, yes. It's either asking you or my friend Shinta and… you have experience, right?" he asked, remembering their talk about the woman Suisho loved and lost. "I just… really don't want to ruin it. I might not get another chance like this."

"Ah, what experience?" Yushira questioned, tapping her foot.

The Garuda Judge sighed. "Blast it… why did I ever tell him about Violate? Of all the things that could have compromised my cover…."

"My brother has never had relationships, Pegasus." his sister insisted. Friendly as he acted, Sui was way too socially isolated outside of work. Besides, she would have found out. "Or what, Sui, you've been man-bragging to him?"

The Crateris shook his head and tried to salvage the mess. "What do you think I'm doing in those periods you say I disappear, Yushira? I don't let you know everything about my life. You know why." He turned to Lance, deciding to give the damn Saint some real advice just to spite his sister. "Just tell me something, Pegasus. Does Olivia like you?"

The Pegasus scratched his head. "I… don't know. I'm trying to find out with this, I suppose."

"Sui', she's kissed him twice!" Yushira repeated. "The girl thinks he's the bees' knees. Pegasus is just being a typical… you know, Pegasus."

"If my sister is being serious for once, then you're going to be fine, Lance… even if it's a girl like Olivia, but if you really want to make sure you're in, so to speak -" Suisho told him. He understood perfectly why the Pegasus was nervous. Olivia was easily two or three levels above him on the scale. "Just don't talk on this date, hear everything she wants to say, ask questions, suggest places to go but still leave the choice to her… In simpler words, make the night about Olivia, not you, but don't act desperate to do so."

The teenage Pegasus nodded, seeing logic he could understand. "Uh… that actually makes sense. Thanks, Suisho. Is that how it worked out with you?"

Judge Garuda Aiacos smirked ironically, hand on his hip. Violate was far from the type to like teenage dates. The Garuda and the Behemoth had fallen in love with each other because, in the entire Underworld, the two understood the other, in each's particular manner, to be the strongest person they had ever met. Aiacos was the only Specter Violate had ever served who possessed such a ruthlessly mastering vision for others, while Violate was the only woman he had ever met with such undying willpower, confidence and strength in everything she did.

In Aiacos' eyes, the whores Minos filled his bedchambers with were practically leprose compared to Violate's stark, rough beauty. She was a gem of force, like a storm in the darkness, even when peacefully preserved inside Cygnus Hyoga's ice crystal. It was a superior form of love than anything this pathetic Bronze Saint and his fake vessel girlfriend could aspire to. In fact, it's what got both the Judge and Violate on Lord Hades' bad side last war… a mistake he would not repeat again.

The Crateris sighed, sounding nostalgic. "No, this is standard sensitivity advice, the type I think might work for Olivia. The woman I was with was… very unique."

"Pfft, you make it sound like you dated Ashley Graham, Sui'." Yushira mocked.

"As far as you know, Yush, I might have," Suisho commented. "(Not everyone burns all their bridges to protect their feelings like you do…)"

Yushira grabbed the drowsy Lance and dragged him out of there. "Come on, Pegasus! I wanna see this 'Olivia.'"

Lance scowled. He looked over his shoulder. "I'll see ya later, Sui'. Keep me posted on our next job! And thanks for the advice."

Suisho pretended to wave caringly. "Of course." He waited until they disappeared behind the corner and narrowed his eyes, feeling his blood boil hotter than the 4th Prison cauldrons. "Blasted Pegasus… you're definitely not just a regular Bronze Saint! Between your rank, your upgraded armor, and your story about just being 'part of the defense' during Lucifer's attack…You either have close contact with the Teos Gold Saint who defeated him, or you WERE him! Either way, I can't believe I now owe you my life!"

Suisho then moved to a darker part of the street and pressed his fingers to his temple to send a secure ping to Germany.

"(Aiacos?)" Lady Pandora asked.

"(It is I, yes. I have good news, lady Pandora. I've gained significant leads on my objectives.)"

"(Excellent! This is progressing faster than my brother thought!)"

"(Yes, I –)" Aiacos then paused, seeing a group of suspicious men watching Lance and Yushira and following after them.

"(Aiacos?)"

The Judge growled. Either those men were targeting his sister, or Aiacos wasn't the only person keeping an eye on Saint Pegasus' movements. This could be from the people who sent Acrisius to assassinate him. In either case, he didn't like it. (Pardon me, Lady Pandora. It was nothing. Sanctuary's chaos of influences is very distracting. I will go to you in Germany.)

"(That should be preferable, yes. I shall summon the other Judges.)"

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Northeastern Sanctuary Town,

Leo Block

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Located close to the Coliseum and the Solo Hippodrome, the Leo Block of houses and stores didn't surprise Lance much as the destination that Olivia's penned address took him to. This was Herakles Aguilon's house they were talking about, after all. Still, he glanced at the piece of paper she gave him over and over while searching for the house, almost feeling like the entire prospect of the date was in his hands. Carrying the gift bag with the book he got at Malachite, he tried to find the route and followed down the street.

Even after washing up, he felt so tired, but there was no way he was going to put this off now. His body just needed some kind of adrenaline or caffeine. Cosmos ought to do the rest.

Yushira looked over his hand and chuckled. "Nice star smiley. Does she put hearts as dots in the I's, too?"

Lance grumbled. Her comments were starting to border on insecurity. "You have a real problem with girly things, don't you? What are you so afraid of? That your mask will fall off if you don't act like one of the guys for one second?"

"Nooo! I find it cute! I swear, Saint Pegasus starry-smiley heart-heart!" Yushira lied, laughing. She couldn't imagine leaving some guy such a princess-winky thing. "Goddess, save me. What is she, a Saintia?"

"You'd like Olivia, you know?" Lance mentioned, cutting through her question. "You should give her a chance."

"I know I would; I have a Saintia buddy," Yushira assured, referring to Cerah. She still looked back on their adventure fondly (*). "I just think, you know… that 99% of them I would hate. So Olivia stands a 1% chance with me! A fair shot by Sanctuary standards!"

(*) "Labyrinth of the Mind"

Lance groaned and walked past her, finding the right house, then hit Yushira right where it hurt. "Olivia could also kick your ass, by the way…."

"UH!" she didn't expect this line. "Now that I doubt, mister!" Yushira followed him. Her mouth dropped, though, when she recognized the home. "Wait… isn't this Aguilon's crib?"

Lance sweated as he buzzed the door. "…Yup. She's his granddaughter."

She folded her arms. Yushira had no idea Aguilon even had a family. "Oh, now I see… She's got her grampa's genes? That's why ya think she could beat me?"

"No."

The proud Amazon groaned. "Then why, tough guy?"

"It's because she beat me in a fight, and you didn't." the Saint revealed, stunning the Crane. "Now, would you please shut up? My head feels like a wrecking ball and I'm nervous enough Aguilon will catch me picking her-"

The door opened, revealing a massive wall of walking muscles that stared down the two of them, freezing Lance. The gigantic, heavily muscled Coliseum star with grey hair and three scars over his left eye stood over the Pegasus, leaning hand over his head on the wall to threateningly show off his brawl. His colossal body blocked the light from inside his house, shadowing his solid frame over them with a truly intimidating effect.

Even without his Herakles Silver Cloth, something he was rarely seen without, Aguilon looked like an unsurmountable mountain. His round broad shoulders, sculpted chest and immense size made him look capable of punching even a powerful Saint over a street block, while his sharp blue eyes, grizzled beard and neck-length curls gave him a wild look unconcerned with the social drawbacks of using as much violence as his muscles threatened to keep Olivia away from strangers.

"Why, hello there, Pegasus..." he greeted with a menacing rictus.

Lance gulped. The last time Lance stood so close to Aguilon, the giant was punching him into a crater over and over and over. "Good evening, Aguilon…."

Aguilon saw his waning eyes and tired look. "You look like shit."

He groaned. "I haven't been sleeping much, lately…"

"Hey, old man." Yushira waved, earning a nod. She then scoffed amusedly at her friend. "Cute date you got, Lance. Real chemistry I feel in the air."

The Pegasus just growled, his patience for her jests wearing thin.

"I see you've already spent more than an hour of your life with Yush', Pegasus…." Aguilon observed, taking out an apple. "She is like background noise; certainly wears on ya, but before you know it, you don't know what your life is like without her around."

"Right, right. Is Olivia inside?" Lance asked.

The giant smirked evilly and pretended to stretch so that his muscled arm veins would pop out. "Now, why on earth would you want to see my granddaughter?"

The Pegasus sighed, seeing the game at hand. "I…It's private. Can you tell her I'm here?"

Aguilon just munched on the apple, ripping almost half off with his big jaw, looking Lance straight in his red eyes. He crunched surprisingly loudly for something so soft.

"Man, that apple looks juicy." Yushira complimented, salivating. She hadn't eaten since they left for Tibet.

"It doesh, doeshn't it? Olivia got a whole batch off the farmer's market today. She knows I love 'em and wanted to surprise me since I offered to let her stay at my place for a few days. Ain't she sweet? We're baking a pie tomorrow!" the giant asked. "Imagine my surprise when she told me it was a sweetener to letting me know someone asked her out."

The giant's hand crushed shut on what was left of the fruit, startling the two Saints and making apple juice go everywhere.

Aguilon grunted, "Oops…Fingers slipped." he wiped his dirty hand with an exercise towel and licked the rest, laughing. "Good thing it wasn't someone's head, right?"

The Pegasus Saint gulped. He should have expected Olivia would let Aguilon know; it was only proper. Lance tried not to look like he was too bothered by this intimidation display, but it was tough when you noticed there weren't even tiny seeds left on the man's hand.

He was pretty sure he'd had less tense stand-offs with Specters. "Is Olivia home or not?"

"She's upstairs, getting ready," Aguilon assured, licking the leftover sweetness off his fingers. "She's going to take a bit, though. I asked her to. I'm just old-fashioned, you see. The type that believes she should give her date time…."

Lance wasn't entirely sure if he should ask. "…Time for what?"

"Oh, eh, eh, you know… To think about his life choices. Get his affairs in order. Maybe even change their mind?" Aguilon then pointed his thumb at the fruit basket on his counter. "Apple, Pegasus?"

The Saint felt nauseous. "No, thank you. I got dinner plans."

Yushira resisted the urge to laugh. She wasn't that cruelly teasing. It took spheres to confront Aguilon like this.

Yet, her undying curiosity made her ask, "Say, old man, you never told me you had descendants. Is that why little scamp me always warmed your cruel, cold, Lance-smashing heart?" One of her fondest early memories in Sanctuary was of Aguilon triumphantly carrying her on his shoulder after she won her Sisyphean Challenge.

The giant shrugged, smirking nostalgically. "Ah, well, you know me, Yushira, I got an athlete's heart, so I always love people reaching for shelves they can't touch, like you. Sometimes they surprise you and manage to scrape it." He turned to Lance. "Pegasus here, on the other hand, was always more the type to trash the room as hard as he could till the shelf fell down…"

With exhaustion draining his patience, Lance narrowed his eyes at the Herakles Saint, fed up. "You're gonna grill me all night, Aguilon?"

"I feel I oughta, considering I got no goddamn clue how you talked Olivia into this." Aguilon suddenly confronted, getting serious. His granddaughter was off-limits to delinquents like Lance, whether or not they had been Gold Saints. He had already lost Partita to Kai. Working together on security during a festival was one thing, but Aguilon's family was another. "Could you explain that part to me, Pegasus?"

"No, I can't!" Lance flat-out admitted. "I didn't talk her into it, either, I asked, and Olivia said yes! It's a goddamn mystery why she would, but she did! And I'll be damned to hell and back if I let you or your 'protective grampa' act make me back out of this chance with her!"

The two of them blinked at his affirmation. Aguilon rose chin, humming.

Lance only bit harder, straightening himself before the giant's glare. "Got any more metaphors for smashing my skull in store? Or are you finally going to let her know I'm here and that I can't wait to see her?!"

…

Lance sweated as the bravado in his blood died down. He saw Aguilon's stare get tenser and tenser, his blue eyes looking like they'd freeze him from the inside out if one more word had been uttered. Lance had braved genocidal Specters, assassin Saints, murderous Phoenix cultists, the hazards of Mount Olympus, and even the mind-boggling, brain-shutting presence of a gargantuan Dragon God, but at that moment, Herakles Aguilon's narrow glare threatened to break his bravery in two, toss it at the garbage bin and then set it on fire.

Even Yushira was frozen still. Aguilon usually had a pretty good heart, but he seemed serious about guarding his granddaughter, and Yushira had never seen someone walk out of talking this way to Aguilon on serious matters without ending up waist-deep in concrete. She braced herself for having to dig Lance out of a wall.

Yet, while still looking pissed, the giant scoffed, mildly impressed. "You're lucky I don't want Olivia to find out your legs end up your torso, Pegasus."

Yushira's jaw dropped when she saw Aguilon go inside, practically smashing his door in their face.

Lance sunk his face into his palms. "FUCK ME!"

She turned to him. "Holy shit, dude! Did you really just do that?"

Lance grumbled and snapped. "You know, If I knew you would tag along just to make fun of me, Yushira, I'd have lost you at the MMC, Yushira! Now I've got nothing to show for this stupid night!" He looked at the present he had brought. "Or… Or for this!"

Yushira felt a guilty tug in her stomach. "Eh, sorry… I didn't mean to humiliate you. Really thought Aguilon would act fairer than this…"

Lance paced around, feeling like he could shove the gift in his hand into the woods. He tried to calm down with a deep breath. This wasn't Yushira's fault.

"It's okay, I'm not mad at you… I'm mad at myself. Once again, I go flying off like a bullet out of a gun and just end up making things worse! Chance of a lifetime…gone! No wonder I got goddamn assassins after me!"

The Amazon folded her arms, seeing him look genuinely frustrated. She guessed, all things considered, Pegasus had plenty of reasons to feel stressed out. "Geez, you must really like that girl. Is she, like, an eight?"

Lance narrowed his eyes. "No end to your curiosity, uh?!"

The Crane held her face pensively. "Umm… seven?"

"Christ, Yushira, why don't you climb up her window and find out?!" but he held up his hand, feeling like Yushira might actually do it. "Actually, don't, 'cause none of this has anything to do with what she looks like!"

What a typical guy excuse. "Right, right, you're getting all worked up because she's got a kind heart, then? Come on, Pegasus! Tell the truth!"

"She's not -" Lance felt himself boil over and paused. Olivia was, indeed, petrifyingly beautiful. However, Lance felt that if that was the real reason, he would have felt attracted the second he met her in Switzerland. "Damn you, Yushira! I'm upset because I just feel like I didn't deserve this chance to begin with! Alright?! Yet, somehow, I did something that got Olivia to like me! And I thought… I'd seize this chance because…"

Yushira folded her arms. "Go on, spill it out."

The tired Lance sighed deeply. What a nightmare. He supposed he should just be upfront.

"Because I've let everything else slip away!" He had antagonized half the order by attacking Kastiel, ruined his reputation as a Saint with half the town with his Death Queen Island blunder, got in a massive fight with Shinta over his teacher's death, made enemies among half of Sanctuary's elite, then bonded with the Gold Saints only to get cut off from them by scheming snakes like Gigas.

Then Olivia kissed him, and suddenly, he felt like he wasn't such a bad guy after all.

He finalized his thoughts. "And lately, after… I've lost my post at the Zodiac; I thought I was having a second chance at life! That it might have been for the best, even. And… and I think I might like her back."

The Crane Saint paused, realizing there was a chance Pegasus wasn't totally full of it. "Uh… okay. What do you like about her?"

The Pegasus Saint looked away reflectively, feeling his exhaustion lower his inhibition to talk about this. Why not just say it? The problem was he wasn't sure he could put words into it. He had never really felt this way. He could probably talk about how her smile made his heart jump or how her intelligence and sensitivity kept surprising him, but really Olivia's lynchpin over him was her sheer emotional confidence.

Lance wasn't stupid; he had noticed that Olivia was making many moves for him. It was even a bit embarrassing, considering that, as the guy, Lance felt she shouldn't have to. Yet, she had the initiative in both kisses and even steered the conversation to give Lance an opening to ask her out. Everything about Olivia seemed to suggest that not only was she interested in him, but was damn sure about it and knew exactly how to get Lance to move out of his own way to respond to her feelings. It was different from Adriana's way of getting Lance where she wanted in that Olivia was simply drawing his best side out because she liked who he was, rather than manipulating him into a political alliance because of his strength.

"I just do. She makes me happy with myself." Lance shortened, staring straightly. "There's nothing else to say about it… Happy?"

Yushira sighed, remembering an old friend of her own childhood she hadn't seen in years. "Ah, young love..."

"But I guess that's fucked now. This date was just another fantasy the whole time." Lance groaned. A horrible embarrassment then came over Lance that he just blurted this all out to someone he's known for twelve hours. "Christ, how am I saying all these things out loud to you?! How did I land in this situation? I would rather kill myself than say these things to even my best friend!"

She shrugged overconfidently. "I'm a good listener, I guess? Maybe I should open a clinic."

The Pegasus Saint sighed, and he squinted skeptically. "You're good at poking your nose; that's what you are. No wonder you're in Undercover…."

"Aww! That's so sweet!" she laughed. She patted the poor guy's shoulder. "Hey, cheer up, Pegasus. Come on. We'll get a drink with Sui' at the Grove. That will help you forget about this. What do ya say?"

The Pegasus Saint shook head. "Sorry, I think I'll head home. I appreciate it, though… Thanks, Yush-"

The door suddenly opened. "Saint Lance?" Olivia called, stepping out the door with Aguilon. "I'm ready."

The sight of her made him gasp. The black-haired, blue-eyed attractive girl had put on a light academy white button shirt and her foal-engraved Equuleus Cloth Stone pendant hanging on her neck. A bright yellow fabric band was over her hair, contrasting with her neck-length black threads, and her long parted Saintia skirt was belted by her Cloth's engraved waist circle. To account for the February cold and weather, a black jacket with lined sleeves hung over her shoulders, and a set of padded, thigh-high black boots protected her feet.

However, the anxious, earnest smile on her lips at seeing him made Lance's heart jump with joy; this intelligent, beautiful girl had not just said yes to a date with him, but she looked like she couldn't wait for it! At that moment, the excitement in her eyes to go out with him made all the darkness of that day still in his mind, from the assassin attacks to Aguilon's threats, melt away like butter. It didn't matter anymore. He was the luckiest Saint in Sanctuary.

Yushira staggered, intimidated. "W-what?! This is her?"

Lance stepped up. "Olivia? You look…"

"Yes?" the Saintia asked, anxious at what he'd say. She tried to prepare her best but couldn't get anything special put together on such short notice, just some makeup and an old academy formal shirt that she had to toss the tie out of. Hopefully, it wasn't too sloppy.

Yet, Lance smiled reassuringly. "You look perfect."

Her smile widened, and her nose breathed out as an incredible feeling of reassurance came over her. A great happiness then took over her chest, even though something told her she could have looked like a rag, and he'd say the same thing. "Thank you."

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

Chapter 81

3rd Arc

Episode 9

The Heart Beats Awake

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

Yushira held her mask tight, flabbergasted. She had no idea Aguilon underwent a secret government experiment to have descendants that looked NOTHING like him. "Man, my kingdom for a camera right now. And look at your big smile! I didn't even know your face could do that!"

"Oh, just shut up!" Lance grumbled at her.

"Okay, now give her the gift!" Yushira suggested. She saw Lance hesitating, so the Amazon pushed Lance up. "Hey, Olivia, he has a present for you!"

The Saintia widened her eyes at the Saint. "Y… you do? Saint Lance, you shouldn't have."

Cursing the Amazon for putting him on the spot, Lance handed Olivia his present, who widened her eyes at the beautiful tome.

"Listen, Olivia, I know this is the first time we're going out, but… I found this at the shop during my mission. It seemed quite rare, and I thought it might be a shame to pass it up."

Olivia gasped, seeing the Equuleus-themed masterpiece of Muvian star reading. She opened it and saw page after page of seldom-read knowledge about the movement and destiny of every star of her constellation, enough to write a Master's about every single one.

Lance gulped, wondering if it was too stereotypical. "What do you think?"

Closing it, she hugged it as tightly as she would a teddy bear and smiled with a flattered blush on her face. "Thank you! This is wonderful, Saint Lance! I love it!"

Aguilon raised a brow and scratched his grey head. "Don't you have one of those already, Olivia? There's a whole collection upstairs you got from the Acad-"

"No, grampa. I definitely don't." she lied with every word of her Saintia mouth. She had two copies, actually, but those were now going to be given away.

Yushira raised a hand to call attention. "I helped him pick it out, by the way. He was going to give you a crappy one about-"

"Yushira, shut up!" Lance interjected to her, looking like he'd kill her if she said one more word. "Olivia, this is Saint Suisho's sister. She's just… seeing me off. I'll explain why later."

Olivia chuckled amusedly. Saint Yushira seemed to be the active type that loved showing off and keeping others' enthusiasm in check. Definitely a Libra. "That was very kind of you. Thank you for helping Saint Lance, Saint…umm…."

The Crane stood up straight. "Crane Yushira. Don't worry, your grampa can tell ya all about me later. I'm like his unofficial, second favorite, non-blood-related granddaughter."

Olivia glanced at Aguilon, who panickily gestured a slit through his neck.

She laughed. "I see. It's great to finally meet my… unofficial, first favorite, non-blood-related sister."

"Olivia? Remember,…?" Aguilon called, looking Lance dead in the eye "One wrong move from him and…?"

Olivia nodded at her grandfather reassuringly. "And I'll punch him in the nose as hard as I can. I know."

The giant chuckled at Lance's nervous gawk. His huge hand patted her head with the gentleness of handling a flower. "That's my grand-girl! Have fun, honey."

Olivia beamed and took Lance's arm. She saw how scared he suddenly looked and whispered. "Don't worry, Saint Lance… I talked him down from adding a kick to the crotch."

The Saint feigned a breath of relief. "Oh… thanks."

Yushira laughed. "You were right, Lance; I do like her."

Yushira shook her head as they left. How did a dork like Lance land a girl like Olivia? "Holy shit, old man, no wonder you never throw pictures of your granddaughter around at the bar. Half the guys would be on her like that."

"Ah, ya think?" Aguilon sneered. This was part of why he went kind of rough on Pegasus, since he didn't really know what to expect of the Bronze Saint in this department. He then sighed sadly. "I don't have to try too hard to hide her… not with her at the Academy all year. Olivia went through something rough to be back in Greece, but a part of me is happy to see her again."

A lightbulb went off for Yushira. "Hey, that's right! She's a Saintia! I wonder if she knows Cerah? I should ask when I get the chance..."

Aguilon grumbled. Yushira had somehow met Cerah during the war and tried to find out more ever since. He couldn't blame her since Yushira really wanted friends other than the guys at the bar or a drillmaster like Cynthia. Still, Cerah had a dangerous secret, and the giant Herakles wasn't sure if it was okay for a nosy person like Yushira to learn more.

He tried to switch the conversation. "So, Yushira, you think Pegasus is an okay kid nowadays? You worked with him today, right?"

Yushira folded her arms. "Yeah, don't worry, old man, we hit it off alright. Olivia is gonna be fine! I'm more worried about him, to be honest. Your granddaughter looks like she can break a guy's heart in half with a look. Speaking of which, though-…" she remembered. "Do you happen to know where Pegasus gets his Gold-Rank training? He kind of saved my life today and… well…."

The giant nodded mockingly. "Oh, you're feeling a bit humbled? The great Yushira?"

Her foot stomped. "Come on, I just wanna know where he trains! He pulled all these Kung Fu moves during the mission, and you know most Saints don't do that!"

Aguilon's big face gawked mockingly. "AH, so that's the real reason you came with Pegasus! You wanted to question me!" The giant's eyes went stern. "I can't talk about other Gold-Ranks' details, Yushira, you know that. You're already on everyone's shit list for copying their moves. Now you get a partner that seems to not mind you so much and you want Pegasus mad at you as well?"

At this, Yushira hesitated, genuinely conflicted. Pegasus was a bit stuck-up and reserved, but he seemed like a truly nice person, and he had even looked over a lot of her screw-ups that would have gotten the rest of the Order upset at her. He even covered for her to Suisho. The idea of him being disappointed in her somehow triggered a lump in her throat that she didn't usually feel with the rest of the Order.

Aguilon saw the energy in her posture drop down, and he exhaled. "You understand, don't you, Yush'? This could be your last chance at a lasting friendship. Are ya gonna sacrifice it at the altar of your pride? Or gonna take a step back and think about it first?"

She sighed acceptingly. "Damn it… Okay, okay, I don't want him pissed at me, no. I just… I've been with Crane for seven years, working my butt off, and I feel like instead of getting somewhere, I'm just creating holes around me."

"Where you are in your life is nothing to be ashamed of, Yushira. You're a Silver Saint." Aguilon pointed at his own chest. "Like me."

The Amazon tilted her head tensely and pointed at the old man's gold-rank badge on his belt. "Is that right? Just like you? No difference at all?!"

The giant grumbled and covered it with his hand. "You have time to unlock your own 7th sense if you work hard, Yu-"

"Aguilon, get real. Look at my brother! Or look at Pegasus; he started way after me, and he's a Gold Rank, just like Sui'! I'm just tired of ringing at the wrong doors... I'm not like you; I'm gonna be able to burn Cosmos for ten, fifteen more years, tops." Her shoulders slumped sadly. "…And then it's over."

The aged Silver Saint rubbed his eyes, stressed. He hated seeing the kids without hope, but there was no way he could point at Mount Rozan without getting him and Yushira in trouble. He had to concede her point, though. In his long life, though, he had seen countless Saints reach the end of their careers as Saints, completely burned out of Cosmos, and then tossed out to the world with no marketable skills.

It was especially bad with Amazons, which was why Olivia, being such a studious Saintia instead, gave Aguilon enormous relief about her future.

He hoped he wouldn't regret feeding this stray cat. "If I give you a clue, will you get your sorry ass off my doorstep?"

She perked up. "Are you kidding me? Yes! I'll buy you a whole anti-Yushira alarm system for your house!"

"No one knows for sure where he trains nowadays, Yushira. Pegasus went off the grid after my duel with him, but…." He cringed, hoping he wouldn't regret this. "If you ask Nam, he might say much of his correspondence is forwarded to and from Arlia."

She widened her eyes. Arlia was a Sanctuary village far to the east. "Then… China? But that area is…." The Amazon then nodded, rubbing her masked chin. There were only a few training grounds in that direction, and most were highly barred. "No… No way!"

The giant Silver Saint nodded and went inside. "You didn't hear this from me. See ya later, kid. And good luck."

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

Olivia smiled self-consciously as she walked with her tall date into town. "I hope my grandfather didn't cause you trouble."

Lance shook his head nervously. He tried to remember Sui's advice and played the unaffected part. "N… No, don't worry."

The Saintia wasn't dumb. She could tell in Lance's evasive eyes he did. "I see. I'll talk with him later…."

The Saint tugged his collar. He tried to at least act like it was fine. "I'm guessing he's probably being protective. Is he the same with your… brother?"

"You mean Leon?" she scoffed lightly. "No…he's always treated my brother more permissively than me…." Olivia recalled. In fact, a bit too much, as it ended up causing their current complex family situation. "With his grandson, Saint Aguilon was always adventure this, hunting trip that, boys playing soccer here, wrestling in the Coliseum there… I'm always the one that he expected to be just cheering from the sidelines, preferably behind a wall of shielding plexiglass."

Lance sweated. He wondered if this was another reason for her to pick the Saintia path she hadn't confessed. "Sorry about that….I'm guessing dads and grampas are just that protective."

She chuckled. "Actually, I know that Grampa used to be way worse." She turned with a sly look, wondering what Saint Pegasus' reaction would be at this story. "Have you ever wondered where he got those face scars?"

Lance hummed. He knew immediately what she was referring to; Saint Herakles Aguilon was one of the most battle-hardened Saints he had ever met, famous for having a nigh-indestructible body tempered by spars with Taurus Daniel himself, yet he had three nasty old gashes over his eye, the kind that looked like a wild beast, such as a lion, had made them. These scars were, in fact, the subject of intrigue and rumor among the Coliseum champion's fans. Some theorized Taurus Daniel had made them. Others thought there were war scars, that an explosion or RPG had hit his eye. Some particularly zealous fanboys said Aguilon's scars were self-inflicted, made in a quest to see if anyone, even himself, could injure his behemoth body.

"Sort of. I know a couple of people who would pay to find out." Lance confessed. Aldebaran was unsurprisingly one of them. "They're the only wounds he seems to have ever gotten."

The Equuleus glanced off nostalgically. "My father did that to him."

….

Lance finally processed the revelation and staggered. "What?!"

She nodded in confirmation, her blue eyes tensing a bit like the story frankly scared her. "It's one of the few stories I've been told of when my parents fell in love. Mister Aguilon Iraklidis opposed his daughter being with a delinquent like my dad, even IF he worked at the Zodiac. He always threatened dad that he would kill him if he ever found out my parents were dating behind his back. Of course, this was in the early 60s, so grampa meant it."

The Pegasus Saint gulped, thinking back to the apple Aguilon turned to juice.

"Well…" Olivia sighed through her nose, lamenting Saint Herakles' foolishness. "One night he did…and grampa earned himself his only scars."

What a story. Having battled Aguilon, Lance could only imagine Olivia's father was either one of the bravest men in all of Sanctuary, which was saying something, or was really in love with her mother, to the point he harnessed the power to injure a man with skin thicker than the Main Breadwinner. Either way, the story put Lance's encounter with Aguilon that night into perspective; even if he was dealing with a mellowed-out version of that Aguilon who threatened to kill Olivia's dad, then Olivia was one hundred percent right about one thing; Lance got off easy.

He squinted in suspicion that she'd tell him such a story at the start of their first date. "You enjoy keeping my feet on the coals, don't you?"

The Saintia laughed. Even if Pegasus didn't know it, Olivia didn't have a doubt she would love the night they were about to spend together. Saint Lance had already proven he actually liked her. As an overachieving Capricorn, though, she just enjoyed nudging others past their fears. Saint Lance was clearly the type who lacked confidence in himself. A true Cancer.

"No, no, of course not. I could never, Saint Pegasus. Still, you know…-" She combed a black hair strand behind her ear and glanced playfully at him, enjoying his flustered look. "-…I would try not to screw this up."

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

Hours later,

Fourth Acropolis

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

Despite Lance's fears (and his sleep deprivation), the date went wonderfully, better than he could have hoped. Following Suisho's advice and possessing lightspeed, Lance offered to take Olivia anywhere she wanted, from Rodario to Rockefeller Plaza, but the Equuleus Saintia said she'd be happy with a simple night out at the Fourth Acropolis, the southern mound close to the Lagon River where many of Sanctuary Town's restaurants, coffee shops and stores were at. They picked a dinner place Lance's mission salary could afford, but still felt expensive enough to flatter his date.

"You should have seen the look on my teacher's faces when they saw my pet owl, especially my Alchemy one." Olivia spoke as she took another piece of delicious fish and soaked it in the tomato sauce, shaking her head. "I'd leave Partita in Greece but she gets so sad when I'm away that, unless grampa cages her up, she'll just fly after me. I ended up convincing them after helping the school organize a fundraise bake sale. Now Partita is their unofficial Athena mascot."

Lance nodded along. Suisho had advised him to stay interested, but he didn't have to try so hard. While he wasn't particularly interested in owls, he liked the way Olivia spoke about her interests.

Still, as he finished his fish meal, his head pounded in exhaustion. He felt his eyes shutting down…

Olivia looked up from her food and saw him tilting over. "Saint Lance?"

He snapped awake. "Umm… Nothing! I'm alright. I'm listening!" He called the attendant. "Could I get a coffee, please?"

Olivia laughed to herself, furrowing brows worriedly. She could tell he was trying to hide how tired he was from his recent mission. It was sweet of him, but hopefully she wasn't pushing him too hard with her boring school stories.

She decided to energize things. "I know something fun we can do next."

He paid the bill and perked up. "What's on your mind?"

She cleaned her lips with the napkin and smiled slyly. "How about a movie?"

Lance rose a brow. "In Sanctuary?"

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

While picking to stick to Sanctuary Town meant there was no high-tech entertainment around, Olivia revealed she was friends with the AV club at the town's amphitheater and that they tended to hang out at that hour in its dressing room, secretly cutting film reels pirated into Sanctuary and exchanging drugs.

"What? How do you know these people?" Lance wondered, surprised.

Her hands hid around back and she glanced away coyly. "It's simple. They make monthly 'trips' to the academy."

It was a surprisingly shady connection for the girl to have. Lance's eyes widened. "W-wow, I didn't think…"

Yet she laughed like it was the most obvious secret. "Think about it; the students in my school have money, are under constant exam pressure and they're kept under strict dietary and entertainment control, even more so than here." She shrugged her small shoulders embarrassedly. "People think the Saintias are all innocent school princesses, I know. To be fair, a lot of us are."

Lance scoffed in realization. "A totally deprived set of teenage customers with spare cash… So the Saintia Academy is a massive drug market?"

"Mostly for chocolate and Methaqualone, yes." Olivia detailed. "Lysergic acid diethylene is no good for exams and is too easy to detect by smell, especially for teachers like professor Severus."

The Pegasus Saint gawked, putting the letters together. "Lysergic acid dyel-…?… You mean pot?"

She looked away with a guilty smirk. "I find the long name cuter... and more discrete. Anyway, study aids are a common find in the girls' drawers, next to Nestle bars and pictures of Saints. A lot of times I need extra materials for club activities, so… I befriended these guys. They're useful to get us things the school denies us."

He laughed and they moved on. "Oh… I guess this makes perfect sense, if the school pressures you as hard as I've heard they do."

Olivia smiled slyly, noticing his curious gaze. "What is that look of yours? Wondering if I've ever ordered something other than Papier-Mache and archery club bows, Saint Lance?"

He smiled back. Olivia surprised him more and more. "I'm not judging. Just curious."

She gestured a cute shush in her lips. "Star reader's secret. That curiosity could get me in trouble…. Saintias sometimes sin, too." Olivia paused briefly, remembering something critical. "Oh, and don't tell my grandfather."

The Saint folded arms and studied Olivia with new eyes. "That you know sniffing glue dealers? Of course not."

She guided him to the amphitheater's side alley, where she spotted a group of young teenagers who nodded in recognition at them. "They're here. They can get us inside and let us pick something from their collection of last year's reels. So, Saint Lance…?"

He stopped "Yeah?"

She grinned expectantly, tapping the tip of her foot. "What's the program for us? Do I ask them for something romantic?"

Even though he had a couple of options in mind, Lance thought they might throw a girl like Olivia off, even if they were based on books.

"Maybe psychic teenagers blowing people up doesn't make for a good first date movie." so the Pegasus stuck loyal to Suisho's advice and gestured permissively. "I had something in mind, but…Saintia's sin, right? Then it's Saintia's choice."

She smirked, feeling challenged, and took him for his word. "Is that so? Then I want something scary. How about 'Carrie'?"

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

After leaving the amphitheater, they headed for a small coffee shop. Olivia was having a great time, asking questions about the movie and remembering memorable moments like the ballroom scene, making Lance really happy with how this turned out. All he cared about right now was make sure she had a good time.

Still, his instinct told him that after ninety minutes of blood and screaming in a secret AV club room, it was time to slow down and enjoy the night. He would need to take Olivia home soon, and he hadn't slept in almost seventy hours. He might as well have some more coffee to accompany her before he dropped dead in his bed.

Somehow, the conversation ended up landing on Cerah. After exchanging a few thoughts on what was next for the blonde girl in the hospital bed, Olivia told Lance what had happened that morning with the blonde stranger.

"She wasn't just thankful, but 'proud'?" Lance asked, bewildered.

Olivia nodded, twirling her coffee spoon. "Yes, but then it turned out she wasn't Eurydice at all. She said you wouldn't remember her but wanted me to pass this on to you. Do you have any idea who it could have been?"

Lance thought really hard about it. What woman of that age in his life could possibly know him so personally, much less be proud of him, on top of being so closely interested in a Zodiac Knight?

Olivia frowned in concern. "Saint Iaso and Eurydice are really worried. They think someone might be stalking Cerah. I saw that woman kissing her on the head. This isn't something some stranger would do, much less know these things."

This all implied a family connection, yes. "At first, I would guess my friend Adriana, who paid Cerah's tuition, but she isn't the type at all to be as mushy as you described."

Olivia blinked, curious, having met the woman herself. "Why not? She seemed nice at the academy."

Lance cringed. "She's a Pisces." It was enough to make the star reader Olivia nod in realization "Maybe… it's someone I've met during missions. But so far back?"

Olivia chuckled at his accidental bragging. "Wow! Have you saved that many people, Saint Lance? How heroic."

He looked away embarrassedly, smiling with a red face.

She rose a brow. "How many ladies?"

Most of the people he saved were actually other Saints, who were usually quite masculine. He didn't count Yushira because she was such a scraper it was tough to tell who rescued who. In any case, Suisho had advised him to make the night about Olivia, so he hesitated to respond. "Ah, well…It doesn't really matt-"

The black-haired girl's fingers folded into his on the table, and she transfixed his red eyes, smiling playfully. "No, think hard."

He could tell she wasn't being serious. Still, her semi-playful, semi-serious touch jumbled his thoughts, so he tried to give an honest answer anyway.

"Well… a couple, yes." Alexis came to his mind. "I only know one by name, though, and neither her age nor description matches. Besides, I haven't seen her since she joined the military. But it's just my job, Olivia, so-"

Her fingers tightened between his, pressing their palms together. "No one else?"

"Well… there's you." he realized. He noticed with a curious huff that she seemed to widen her smile at this and pretend to be surprised, like he had arrived at a spot she planned all along. "Is that… what you wanted to get me at?"

Olivia didn't seem to respond. In fact, Lance saw her lean her head on her other hand and stare at him, smiling in silence. He felt his heart jumping, wondering what it meant. Something told him he should just stay quiet, a thought so deep and instinctive he would have assumed it was Pegasus speaking had he not left the armor home.

Still, he took the chance that Olivia seemed happy to just relax in quietness to ponder seriously on who could say such a thing about him. Who was proud of Lance? A juvenile, wishful part of him that earned the acceptance of his heroes immediately thought of Noah and Dohko, two people who had inspired him greatly to become and grow as a Saint. However, while Noah was quite feminine, the Triangle Saint wasn't entirely so. Lance doubted such a unique-looking Saint would not be accurately described by Olivia, especially with their bleach-white hair and even mix of gender traits. Meanwhile, Roshi was stuck at Rozan, watching water drop by the millions of gallons.

Hell, then, who the heck was it? And the person was sure Lance wouldn't remember? Then… was she from the time he didn't recognize her as a child because of his seal? Noah did take two whole years of memory out of his life. He could have met hundreds of people during that time other than Noah and the orphanage nuns, even potential adoptive parents. Even Saints other than Noah or people from Sanctuary could have tipped Noah off to Lance. Noah did find him in the middle of Athens.

Could she even be connected to the cosmos he temporarily accessed in Death Queen Island? Now that was a critical question. While he was usually fine with having that time of his life gone, Lance suddenly found himself struggling to keep a straight face for Olivia as his brain boiled hot, searching for any memory trace Noah may have missed that could hint at him. Alas, Triangle Noah was a damn professional, and Lance felt he might as well have traveled through time between December 31st, 1967, and January 1st, 1970; such was the blank he felt in his memory from that era.

Olivia suddenly laughed, squeezing his hand "Look at you. Hypocrite. And you say I worry too much." Her squeeze drew her attention to his hand-wrappings. The Saintia remembered he always seemed to wear them. "I just noticed; do you always wear these?"

Lance looked at his left wrapping and frowned, knowing what was inside. "Yeah….It's just to protect my hands in training."

She stared at him intently, remembering he had mentioned having met seers before. While many Saints, such as Yushira, wore combat gloves and wrappings, Saint Lance seemed to keep these on very frequently, even after missions.

Drawing a conclusion, she gently turned his hand palm up and asked "Want to play a star reader game? I can take a look at your hand's points?"

Instantly, Lance began hesitating. His mind returned to Heart of Sasha, the orphanage he and Guifi shared. He gulped before her stare. "I…Olivia, maybe we shouldn't… I mean…"

She rested it, smiling. "I won't if you say so. It's just for fun, after all."

A sinking feeling of shame hit his gut. He decided to trust her. "…Alright, go ahead. Just that one, right?"

She nodded and gently began unwrapping the white fabric. Bit by bit, his palm and wrist became exposed. Olivia felt her stomach get cold, seeing a long scar running from near his wrist veins, going dangerously up along them to the hand and then splitting ways in nine different ramifications, all looking outgrown like they had been made in a much tinier hand. These weren't fighting scars.

As a star-reader, Olivia knew what the truth. It was an old method called 'Blood Reading'. It involved cutting the wrist up to the palm with either a finger of slicing cosmos or a knife, then fluxing your own Cosmos through the wound. That energy would enter the subject's hand channels, activating dormant Cosmos routes, and come out the hand's star points. It was the equivalent of putting water through a pipe to see which hole it would come out of.

However, it didn't mean it was any less painful or traumatizing, especially for a young child just joining Sanctuary. Having foreign burning cosmos pumped up your hand out your exit points was still invasive, not to mention anesthesia wasn't used to avoid suppressing the flux of Cosmos. Usually performed by one seer in private, as there were important social ramifications to letting one's zodiacs be known in Sanctuary without consent, the procedure often had to resort to restrains to keep the child from struggling against the seer. Because of it, it was only used once or twice, at most, as repeated uses could cause heavy scarring, both physical and mental.

Some older seers believed that opening the flesh was a more accurate way to ascertain someone's birth constellations, so as to uncover the full gambit of Bronze and Silver affinities one might be born with. When the birthdate was unclear, sometimes this method was used to determine the Zodiac as well.

The Saintia glanced at his right hand, the one he seemed more nervous about showing her. Blood Reading was traditionally used on your dominant hand, as it projected cosmos better. The off-hand was only picked when repeated, overlapping mutilations on the right one made new readings difficult.

Olivia and Lance had sparred together. She knew him to be definitely right-handed.

Her lips curved down in anger at her peers. "I'm sorry, Saint Lance, I didn't realize."

Lance gulped. He had to downplay this. "Olivia…It's fine, these are just…"

"I can stop if you want." she firmly voiced, so as to reassure him. "I'll forget I've ever seen these if we do."

He took a deep breath. "No, go ahead."

Her thumb followed the marks on his hand, feeling out positions, and she reproduced in her mind the placement, lining and meaning of each one. "(Alpha… Kappa… Mu… Beta… Nu… and Gamma Phoenicis…even the Ankaa. A perfect match for the Phoenix constellation.)" She frowned gravely. She saw his red eyes, a known curse mark. "(They must have suspected something terrible about him…Now everything makes sense.)"

Feeling his past coming back to haunt him again, Lance looked away, quiet.

But Olivia closed his palm back up and smiled brightly. "A perfect Pegasus, just like I thought! I read a great outlook on your romantic life, Saint Lance, but don't buy any lottery tickets this week, alright?"

The Bronze Saint stared at the Saintia, flabbergasted. Olivia couldn't possibly have read his birth stars wrong. He smiled, recoiling his hand into safety. "Thank you…" He rose when he saw the Fire Clock's shorthand nearing Aquarius. "I should take you home."

Olivia nodded, agreeing. She was feeling quite tired, too, after a day of catching up on her studies. Still, Olivia felt a strange energy in her chest, like she could go for another two hours, just finding sweet, fun poking holes in his shell. "I had a wonderful time, Saint Lance."

"I'm glad… I was hoping…" he gulped and pushed the question out of his throat. His eyes felt heavy from lack of sleep. "…That we could do this again?"

She leaned her head happily and looked away, appearing to think. "On one condition."

He staggered in alarm. A condition? Did he do something wrong? "S… Sure, what is it?"

All Olivia did was meet his eyes challengingly, gently tap her lips with her finger and smile.

He laughed shyly, feeling a mixture of happiness and terror. He supposed he should meet her simple demand and take the initiative for once. Following her lead, he slowly leaned in, gently held her, and approached his face down on hers….

Weighed by 70 hours without sleeping, the lowering gesture and the closing of his eyes made his mind shut down completely and Lance crashed down on a gasping Olivia's chest and arms instead of kissing her, planting his face right into her breasts.

… Her face reddened, feeling his face resting on her round chest. Her brain felt stuck for a second processing this.

"What the hell are you doing?!" The strong Saintia lifted his face off in outrage, ready to punch him in the nose! She stopped, seeing him unconscious, looking like a meteor strike couldn't wake him up now. "Oh…. He's passed out."

The Saint breathed in and out, completely at peace.

The girl laughed at herself, relieved. For a moment she thought the Bronze Saint took advantage of her invitation to kiss her to try something much bolder. He'd probably be really embarrassed of what just happened, getting on his knees and begging her for forgiveness for the audacity of faceplanting her boobs.

Looking around, Olivia realized people seemed to think they were just hugging. Smirking secretively , she pulled him close, supposing there was no harm in holding her knight in shining armor and letting his head stay in heaven for a minute or two before taking him home. No one had to know, including Saint Lance.

BEEEP-BEEEP! BEEEP-BEEEP!

The Saintia was startled, hearing the noise coming from the Saint's pocket.

BEEEP-BEEEP! BEEEP-BEEEP!

Carefully, Olivia dragged Saint Lance away to a bench and searched his pocket for the noise source. Olivia gasped, seeing it was a hospital pager with Cerah's name written on it by the Pegasus Saint. "This is… from Doctor Iaso?! He must have given it to Saint Lance!"

BEEEP-BEEEP! BEEEP-BEEEP!

Olivia realized what its ringing meant. "Cerah woke up."

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

The Next Day

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

Andromeda Island

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

The hot sun rose over Andromeda Island.

Walking back into the Living Area after a morning of training with a handful of letters, Cassiopeia Cynthia opened the living area hut door for the two kids. "Elda, Albiore, go write down your scores!"

The Master of the island, Andromeda Shinta, smiled, seeing their numbers raise again. "Nice job, you two! Look, Al, you're matching Elda's numbers for a week in a row!"

Albiore inflated chest, smiling proudly. "It's getting easier and easier, Master."

Elda pouted. "Hey, is that supposed to mean something, nerd?!"

"I'm going to mail your numbers soon to Sanctuary, so make sure to keep them high until March, okay?" Shinta added, before they argued again.

"Speaking of which, Shinta –" Cynthia stepped in and handed him a letter. "This arrived for you at the port. It looks important. You should see what it is."

Shinta took it and saw the red wax crest of Athena's staff. "But this is… from the Golden Zodiac." He looked at Cynthia, but her mask just stared impatiently for him to open it.

The Andromeda Saint took a knife and cut the letter open, taking out a three-bent letter. He stared quizzically, finding only a single sentence at the bottom.

Put your thumb here (X) and hold.

Raising a brow, Shinta obeyed. As soon as his thumb put weight on the X, words previously invisible started appearing on the letter, given pink color by cosmos sucked from his thumb, from the top left corner downwards. He staggered.

"Master? What's wrong?" Albiore asked.

Cynthia rose eyes and saw Shinta pale as a ghost. "Saint Andromeda?"

Shinta gripped the letter tightly and read it again.

---

Saint Andromeda Shinta Akiyama,

We hereby officially announce that you have, by recommendation of the Virgo's House previous Gold Saint, been declared a viable candidate to assume the most prestigious position of Gold Saint of the Virgo Temple.

While the Zodiac is not insensitive to your current responsibilities, you must, by order of His Holiness the Pope, respond to this letter as soon as possible to set up a schedule to come contest your claim on the Virgo Cloth. Also, that you must submit yourself first to the scrutiny of the House's testing against other viable candidates.

If you are for some reason unavailable, whether by physical or motivational ailments, you must respond with a justifiable motive. We would like to remind you, though, that these callings are not made lightly. We expect to see you soon.

Signed,

The House of Virgo

---

The Master of Andromeda Island gulped hard. They were putting it through a whole lot of jargon, but it really said it; they wanted Shinta to take over Shaka's position as the Virgo Gold Saint. Quickly, too. Releasing his thumb from the X, Shinta saw the letters instantly ignite and burn up in a flash of cosmos, destroying the paper.

Elda laughed, catching a bit of the cinders. "Wow, cool! Was that a secret mission letter? Are you going to whack someone, Saint Shinta? I can help!"

Cynthia, who had seen the golden lining and this type of self-destruction before, tensed and dragged the two students away "Kids, come do some exercises with me, Shinta needs a minute."

The two groaned. "But we just got back from the desert runs!"

The Cassiopeia tapped foot and pointed out. "Now!" After she was sure Al and Elda were off, she turned. "Shinta, was that what I think it was?"

The green-haired Bronze Saint nodded, frowning sadly. "They… want me to replace one of the two Gold Saints that went away after the December attack."

The older Silver stared pensively. She knew Shinta had become a Gold Rank since Guardnia died, not to mention he spent a season training at the Taurus House, so this was always a possibility, but that would have required an active, recently appointed Virgo Saint to suddenly step down. More importantly, Cynthia had never imagined Shinta to harbor that kind of ambition.

However, the months following Guardnia's death had definitely triggered a change in him. Perhaps it had been taking over the position as a teacher or even the absence of his father figure forcing the sensitive boy to step up, but Shinta had become more assertive, more self-reliant and had even started raising his fists more, to the point he got into a fight with his best friend, something previously unimaginable.

Cynthia, therefore, wasn't sure what Shinta would do with this calling. "Are you going to take it?"

The Andromeda Saint folded arms and paced around. A flurry of contradicting thoughts and concerns, ranging from Albiore to Shaka, went through his mind. "I'm… I don't know. What would you do, miss Cynthia?"

Her masked head shook. "I'll never be a Gold Saint, so I've never had to think about it, Shinta. However, if the House of Pisces suddenly called me… I think I'd say no. The Gold Saints… they are the icons we are supposed to aspire to be like, yes, but they also have completely different lives to our own. A lot of them never leave their Temples. Most have to sever their ties to families and friends, living lives of complete secrecy. It's not the kind of position that I think would help you do what you want as a Saint."

Shinta nodded, understanding. It was an argument of empathy, one that spoke strongly to him. "I see."

She laid out her hand appealingly. "But that's my life, Shinta, not yours. If you want to become a Gold Saint, then you shouldn't hesitate. It's a challenging opportunity, but an opportunity regardless. It really is up to your heart to know what to do."

The Bronze Saint nodded, but he felt a bit overwhelmed. "I need… a moment to think."

Cynthia turned away. "Don't worry, I'll go keep those two occupied. Think carefully, Shinta."

He smiled gratefully. "Thank you."

She stopped and tilted her head. "One more thing…even if you say no to the Virgo House, we are celebrating anyway. Guardnia would be really proud of you just for earning that letter. You should know that."

The Andromeda Saint beamed, touched. Miss Cynthia always knew the right thing to say.

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

Sanctuary,

Ophiuchus Hospital

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

Near the hospital's entrance, at one of the few phonebooths in all of Sanctuary, Lance took peeks outside while talking to the person on the other end of the phone.

He saw Iaso coming out with a blonde teenage girl in a wheelchair. "She's out, I should go, AG."

"How does she look?" Adriana asked.

"Pretty good, considering what that Alraune Specter tried to do to her." Lance admitted, seeing Cerah trying to balance herself on her feet with Iaso's help. He had to admire the speed of her recovery. "I can see why you think she'd be a good addition."

"I already primed her for it, so you shouldn't have too much trouble getting her to agree." Adriana reminded him. Lance heard her chuckle on her end. "Knowing her, she might volunteer before you even say anything."

The Pegasus irked hesitantly. Adriana always spoke of people like they were chess pieces to be programmed. "This feels… manipulative. Maybe I should wait a while, give her a chance to get her bearings with the 7th sense."

"I know you don't like operating this way, but you don't have a choice, Pegasus. Time isn't on our side." Adriana reminded him. "The academy is currently in lockdown by the Zodiac, remember? Let Cerah slip through your fingers and for as long as Aphrodite and Mephisto guard it, you're not getting her back anytime soon, much less for preparing for a mission like this. I only ever enrolled her there to give her cosmos an alibi. Keeping her there is against our interests."

Feeling the pressure on, Lance nodded unpleasantly. Everything Adriana said made perfect sense, he just didn't feel okay asking such an important thing of Cerah when she had already risked her life for him and Olivia in such a way.

"Right, I understand, it's just…Maybe I can find people more ready to-"

"You're looking at this the way you usually do, Lance; that you're unnecessarily putting her at risk. However, it's the opposite-" the silver-ringed woman argued "As a Knight of the Zodiac, Cerah benefits from operating outside Sanctuary as much as possible, because she'll be out of sight. Cerah, unfortunately, is never going to have a carefree life in Greece, even if you left her be."

Lance squinted. "Wow, that's a heck of an assumption to make of me, AG."

She scoffed challengingly. "Am I wrong?"

He grumbled. "That's… hardly the point!"

"I'm not, then."

The Pegasus Saint's ally was getting pretty skilled at pushing past Lance's usual concerns. "Alright, I get it. Still, I'll keep you posted who else I find."

"Do you have someone in mind? I can run a background check if you're unsure."

Perhaps Lance should come out with it. "Yeah. Heard of Crateris Suisho? He's my current squad leader."

There was a pause. "… I have, yes."

Detecting the strange pause, Lance rose a brow. "Something wrong?"

"No, not yet. I just… have very little on him." she confessed, sounding something between embarrassed and suspicious. Lance could swear he even heard her flipping through papers through the phone. "Other than his immediate family and some of his work, he's one of the Saints I know the least about. Have you considered his sister, instead? She seems like-"

"Forget it, Adriana, Yushira is a Silver-Rank." Lance informed her. "She handled herself pretty damn well for her speed, but we can't have someone moving at only Mach 5 with me in the Underworld."

"Good point."

Knowing that Adriana was so big on keeping tabs on everything and everyone, her hesitation on Suisho rose a couple of alarms. "You really don't know that much about Sui', though? I thought you knew everyone's underwear sizes. Should I be worried?"

"He's a Saint with a Cloth, right? So long as he isn't associated with the Pact of Seven or the court, you should be fine. I think I'll do a background check anyway, just to set our minds at ease." she promised. "Also, I don't know everyone's underwear sizes… just their workplace, associates and backgrounds."

The Pegasus chuckled. "Alright, AG. We'll talk later."

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

Saint Iaso gently held Cerah up from the wheelchair out the door, giving a rare smile. "Here she is, ladies. One Saintia freshman, alive and awake."

The blonde girl smiled weakly, waving her unbraced hand. "H-Hi, everyone."

"Cerah!" Eurydice cried, hugging her.

The bandaged, blonde teenage girl beamed, seeing Eurydice and Olivia waiting for her. "H-Hi, Eurydice. Sorry I made you worry about me."

The blind nymph kissed the teenager's face, her voice pitching in happiness at hearing the girl's voice. "I'm so glad you're okay! Thank you, Athena. Thank you!"

Olivia gave them distance, feeling her eyes humid with relief as well. Thank goodness, the nightmare was over. It felt so good to see these two hug each other. Eurydice really did care for Cerah like a goddaughter.

Cerah saw her senior standing there. "M-Miss Olivia?"

Olivia cleaned her face of tears and helped Cerah stand up by hand. "How are you feeling, first year? Ready for class?"

Cerah rubbing her temple. She felt like she had a lump of lead inside her skull. More importantly, seeing Eurydice and Olivia, Cerah felt the strangest sensation, like their cosmos was popping up in the form of a warm silhouette. Olivia's was like a pale blue breeze of an energy, while Eurydice, who was a nymph, felt like a crystalline person that didn't belong in the mud of the Earth. It was a surreal sensation, like a pair of energy bodies stood before her.

Iaso by her side, on the other hand, felt like a vat of purple, bitter acid waiting to spill over. What a strange aura from a man of medicine.

Was this the 7th sense? She smiled weakly and played it off. "I think I have a headache, but I'm okay. Do you think the academy will be mad at my absence?"

Iaso took her hand and put a bottle of aspirins on it. "Here, take this periodically over the next few days. Overburn your cosmos like this again, though, and I'll toss a whole box crate of these at your head. Understood, miss Heloise?"

Cerah yelped. "Y-yes, Saint Iaso!"

Eurydice sniffed and clasped her hands. "Thank you so much for watching over her again, Saint Iaso. How can I ever…?"

The irritable doctor scratched head. "Just don't let me catch her here again like this, please."

Though feeling frail, Cerah beamed in happiness, feeling surrounded by people who cared about her so much. After a decade living in the Underworld, never in her life she imagined she'd be so lucky to be surrounded by friends. It made her feel like she had a family again.

Just as she thought she couldn't feel happier, though, she saw none other than Saint Herakles Aguilon standing close by, afar from the group, being joined by none other than Saint Lance of Pegasus, who seemed to be getting off a phonebooth call. After weeks of darkness, the memory of her blurting out to Queen her status as Knight and loyalty to Lucifer in front of Lance returned and she paled.

Both of them knew her secrets. And both had a look on their faces like they had business to settle with her.

Olivia saw the look on her face and held her "Come on, Cerah, let me take you and your godmother home in Rodario."

Cerah began panicking, shaking, remembering the Saintia was also there at the moment her guts spilled out. "M-Miss Olivia, I-"

The Saintia shook her head and spoke mentally. "Not here, don't make your godmother worry. Saint Pegasus said he wants to talk with you in private. I want you to listen to whatever he says, alright?"

Terrified of the Bronze Saint, Cerah still nodded. If there was anyone in the world she wanted to trust, it was miss Olivia.

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

Lance approached the hospital and saw Herakles Aguilon standing guard by the entrance, smiling cockily, looking like he was guarding the doorway.

He frowned, feeling the tension. "Hey, Aguilon…"

"Hello, Pegasus." The giant sneered. "'Slept well?"

Lance's face then went red, cutting his sentence short.

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

"Olivia asked me to come pick you up last night at the plaza." Aiolos had said, getting ready to leave for the hospital. He scratched his brown curls, looking away. "We both carried you back to bed. She said you…um…"

Lance rose a brow. Why was Aiolos so nervous?

"Yeah, spill it out? What, did I pass out on her boobs or something?" he laughed out.

…

Aiolos just rubbed his eyes in awkwardness. The horror of realization crept up Lance's heart, chilling his blood and making his face pale.

Little Aiolia finished a spoonful of sugary cereal and laid out his dry bowl. "Aiolos, can I have more milk?"

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

"I slept fine, thank you!" Lance assured, straightening up. "Crush any apples this morning, old man?"

The Herakles laughed derisively. "Only practice ones for your head, you shitty punk!" he flatly cut. "Olivia told me everything went well last night, other than you passing out on her, so I'll just keep my hands sharp for now."

Lance breathed a sigh of relief and smile. "Thank goodness. I'm glad she did."

Aguilon smirked. It didn't fly over his head that Pegasus just showed more concern for Olivia's enjoyment than his own safety. He should give the boy a couple more checkmarks for that one.

"Here to see our little Zodiac Knight out, Pegasus?"

The Bronze Saint gulped nervously. "Ah, so you already know about that? Since when?"

Aguilon shook his head lamentingly. "Just cause I'm big and sexy, people always assume I'm the type that lets things fly over his head, but I've known for about half a year (*). I'm the one who accompanied her and Eurydice during Cerah's coma, you see?"

(*) The Growing Night

Lance's brow furrowed in surprise. "Why didn't you say anything to the Gold Saints?"

The Herakles Silver Saint waved hand at the sight of Cerah crying in happiness between Olivia and Eurydice's hugs. "Look at her, Pegasus… She's just a teenage girl. She couldn't be older than five or six when the Topaz Purge happened. Sure, she's got the Light element and a Cloth, but does Cerah really seem to you like some armor-clad crusader who will chop off the head of the first Specter she sees1?"

Seeing her slim muscle frame, short height, sensitive face and lack of hesitation in hugging her loved ones back, Lance had to admit that Cerah was a far cry from the knightly examples set by Shura.

Aguilon sighed. "That girl's got absolutely zero to do with the problems we had with her people. She's innocent."

"You sound so melancholic about it, Aguilon. What happened, anyway?" He'd already gotten a rather weak explanation from the captain of the papal guards once, but he didn't buy it completely. "Olivia told me her mom was… lost in this war."

The giant shuffled his leaning, uncomfortable. "She did, uh?"

Lance scratched his head, remembering the story he already knew. "Captain Maximus of the Papal Guard tried to explain it to me once, but…he seemed inconsistent."

"Maximus is an idiot." Aguilon sneered, looking up at the Golden Zodiac. "No offense, but a lot of the Papal Guards only met war when the False Specters came knockin'. Sanctuary doesn't commit wars of annihilation and exile just because of beads and necklaces, at least not anymore. No, what happened was that Cerah's people took Priam's side."

Lance widened eyes. "Priam? Again that guy? What the hell does Sanctuary not blame him for?"

"You better get used to hearing his name if you want to understand the 60s in Sanctuary, Pegasus." Aguilon assured. "He used to be a Zodiac Knight, that Priam, a long time ago, back when he was a Mach one fighter. He and Aries Azrael were the Lionet and the Serpent Knights, of the Ruby and Emerald Cloth Stones."

Lance rose a brow at the sheer waste of talent. "What for? I thought half of their generation were super strong from very early on."

Aguilon laughed, sounding rather nostalgic. "Well, cause Priam, Akassius, Malta and all their other buddies had this idea in their heads of going through all of the armor ranks before becoming Golds, regardless of how talented they already were. They thought it'd give them perspective, and a chance to meet every group Sanctuary was affiliated with. They always had their sight on becoming Gold Saints, even as kids, but they wanted to do it in style, with a full repertoire behind them, so they could become… a peerless generation."

Lance nodded, impressed. He had to admit it was an admirable attitude. Reminded of the power struggles in Sanctuary, Lance saw new sense in this strategy. Akassius and his friends did seem to enjoy a respect (or perhaps fear) among the golden rings that Arles' Children did not, and a ladder climbing story like this was certainly good for legitimacy.

The Pegasus Saint doubted any of them ever got ambushed in the damn woods by a Perseus Saint, that's for damn sure.

The Pegasus Saint could summarize the rest. "I guess when the fighting started, everyone became suspicious of Sagittarius Priam's old friends, then?"

Aguilon scowled, reminded of some ridiculous mistake of the past. "No. Priam hadn't been a Knight since he surrendered the Lionet Cloth back to them to become a Silver Saint. There was no reason to think they were sheltering him. It was Azrael, who stayed among the Knights, that attracted Sanctuary's suspicions over them."

"Aez…who?!"

"Former Aries Gold Saint. A real piece of work! Sanctuary has always looked for chances to put the Pact of Seven members down and take their armor tech, Pegasus. And when Priam punched the Pope, the other guy, Azrael, took his side." Aguilon hissed. He would spit to the ground if it didn't disrespect a temple of healin "Two Zodiac Knights attacking his Holiness? Ah, well, couldn't be a coincidence, right? Especially not to those power-hungry old men in court."

The Pegasus Saint suddenly felt the weight of the sheer danger that was hanging over Cerah's head. If all it took was this for Sanctuary to wipe out Cerah's people…

He widened eyes in alarm. "Fuck! So Sanctuary killed all of them? All because of Priam's past and the other Az' guy?"

"Not all of them. Aries-fucking-Azrael … The big Emerald Knight turned Topaz Turncoat himself, is still around." Aguilon pointed out, laughing derisively. "He saw the writing on the wall that said Priam was losing his war and, unlike Pisces Aeneas, he decided to switch sides back to us while he still could. Bastard was chopping off Zodiac Knight heads and delivering them to Sanctuary by the end of the day. Wouldn't be shocked if Cerah's family was included in the pile…"

The Pegasus' throat dried, imagining such a terrible thing. Of all the stories of wars in Sanctuary he had heard, he didn't think the most terrible one yet would come from Aguilon talking about the backstory of a girl like Cerah.

"They called it the goddamn Topaz Purge. I've seen a lot of cold-blooded acts in my day, Pegasus, but what Aries Azrael did tops all of them." Aguilon stressed. "Those people entered an impossible war with Sanctuary because of him and Priam. They considered those two to be blood of their blood. And Azrael rewarded them by opening up their gates to Kirin and decapitating all their Castellans… like they were no different from the goddamn Specters he swore to destroy."

"How… how could he do that to his own?!" Lance could only stutter. "Are you saying he might do the same to Cerah?! Why?"

Aguilon shrugged, resigned to the fatality of it. "Some people are more loyal to their egos than their tribes, Pegasus. Azrael didn't like being on the losing side and Priam, being the soft-heart he was, made a terrible adversary to Akassius. It just serves to show that being a traitor to Sanctuary is a matter of perspective."

While he had never heard of this guy, Lance felt a cold sweat at this tale of betrayal. It was recent, too, just a couple of years before the period in Lance's life blocked off by Noah's seal. Lance could remember being a little boy in Athens, not imagining that someone his age like Cerah could be enduring such a horrible war crime.

He felt sick, wondering what kind of guy Mu's predecessor was.

Aguilon laughed at his face. "Finding out not all Aries Saints are Muvian weirdos is a bitch, ain't it? I'm telling you this, Pegasus, so you'll understand the weight of the guillotine over Cerah's neck. If people find out she's a Knight, it won't just be Arles after her, but that treacherous snake Azrael too. He'll do it just to prove Sanctuary he's still loyal to us. Hell, he might do it for reliving the good ol' days of backstabbing his own people."

"Okay, I get it, Aguilon." Lance begged. "Olivia's mom, though…Don't you-"

"Partita made her choice." Aguilon stressed, though his stern face denounced a deep pain. "As the Aquila Saintia, she knew her Cloth was important to the Zodiac Knights, much like Olivia's Equuleus. They claimed it as the Diamond Cloth Stone, a big fucking deal to them, apparently. My daughter believed she could help Sanctuary achieve a quicker victory by serving Kirin as bait and I… I didn't disagree." The giant looked away, softly bumping fist into the wall like he could punch it. "…But I should have."

Lance frowned, sympathetic. No wonder Aguilon disliked all the big power struggles in Sanctuary. A mere overlap of influence over a single Silver Cloth got his only daughter caught in the crossfire, even though she was already a mother of two.

"The Zodiac Knights killed my daughter, Pegasus, but they've paid the price. I can't blame Cerah for what happened to her." Aguilon finalized. "Aries Azrael, on the other hand, gets to live in his mountain, even though he started the damn war, all because he promised us the head of every livin' breathin' Zodiac Knight and their Stones. And if he finds out Cerah is one, he won't hesitate to snuff her out, too."

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

Andromeda Island

Western Cliffs

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

Not far from the Living Area, but still a solid distance from the training fields miss Cynthia took the kids to, Andromeda Shinta tossed his Triangle End Chain, puncturing a rock to tense the chain. Climbing to the top of the western slopes of Andromeda Island through it, Shinta sat at their edge, looking out to the ocean. He tried to think about what he wanted to do.

Indeed, he wanted more as a Saint than to be just a tree-sitting, apathetic warrior dressed in gold. However, the bonuses he'd undoubtedly earn for the Training Ground under him now could make a difference in Albiore and Elda's education and the letter made clear to him that Shaka, of all people, had recommended him.

Shaka. The very prodigy that had rejected him for training at the Virgo Temple a year earlier. It was a show of faith he could not ignore.

There was a third, more selfish reason burning in his blood, though, that he felt a bit ashamed by; this was a chance to reach the same high-ranking position in Sanctuary's society that Lance briefly had. It wasn't that Shinta envied or resented Lance, quite on the contrary; if Shinta could become the Virgo Saint, the very first thing he'd do was look for a chance to not only share that triumph with his best friend, but perhaps even look for a way to repair his reputation and get him back to the Cancer Temple.

It seemed that, whatever he decided, it could change the course of his life for the next decade, perhaps even put him in the path of the upcoming Holy War. There was so much to consider it boggled the mind. Shinta took out his Yours Ever Pendant and stared melancholically, remembering the parent that gave it to him.

"Mom, what would you do?" he wondered outloud. What would she even say if she knew he was a Saint? He missed the times he could just ask a parenting figure about what was next. His eyes wetted briefly when Master Guardnia's face flashed through his mind. "I know what Master would want… He told me so himself. What I want, though, is…"

"What you've always wanted, Prince. To shine your torch of light to the rest of us." A stranger's voice sounded behind him.

The Andromeda Saint screamed and turned around, whipping out his Triangle End chain "N-NEBULA CHAIN!"

Tearing through the air, the pink-brimming lash blasted a chunk of rock the shadowy person was standing on, missing the dodging man by a hair.

"You're not getting away! GREAT CAPTURE!" Shinta continued, launching both chains in a tempest of metal links that encircled the intruder.

The Specter swung his huge scythe over himself, gathering his shadows with its bladed sweep. "Ending Veil!"

With a stunned expression, Shinta watched his links seemingly catch the man and even compress him, but the intruder burst into a cloud of shadows at the pressure, like a popped balloon. The shades regrouped nearby, reforming the man's silhouette before solidifying back into him.

He rose hands, looking truly frightened. "Prince, please! Do not hurt me."

"Miss Cynthia, there's a Specter on the island!" Shinta called, but his message bounced. "W… What have you done?!"

"I am jamming this cliff area. I needed to talk with you privately, even from the Judges." The Specter confessed, posing a surrender with raised hands.

While receptive to a man who did not wish violence, Shinta kept his guard up. "WHO ARE YOU?!"

The white-maned man lowered head. "Your faithful worshipper, Prince; Terrestrial Grim Star, Reaper Grim."

"P… Prince?" Shinta stuttered, remembering Lucifer's accusations that Shinta was the reborn Dark Angel Specter. "I am not that person! Leave now and I will forget this ever happened!"

The frightening man walked closer to Shinta, looking him studiously. He seemed a bit stunned, but his eyes showed recognition.

"You're not? Yet, your face is younger, but the same…And the spirit of mercy as well." His bone-gloved hand reached out at the sickly green strands on Shinta's head. "What in Hades' name happened to your hair, though? Green? It's supposed to be blonde like your Maste-"

Shinta's hand snapped at him "DON'T TOUCH ME!" but his fingers simply moved through the man's, harmlessly, startling him. The Bronze Saint screamed and jumped back, arming himself with his chains. "W…What?!"

Grim's sunken eyes rose, staring at the Yours Ever pendant on Shinta's neck. Activating his powers, Grim lowered arms and walked up to Shinta.

The Bronze Saint stepped back, raising chains warningly. "I said, LEAVE!"

"I cannot, not without honoring my Prince." Grim asserted, standing a good chunk taller above Shinta. He then tossed out his scythe as a sign of good faith. "Even if he doesn't remember me."

"He tossed his weapon out! Do it, cut his head off now, Shinta!" the Andromeda Cloth urged him.

Wrapping his chain around the frightening weapon, Shinta tossed it out of reach from the Specter. Eyeing Grim warningly, the Andromeda pondered his options; he clearly couldn't target this Specter easily, as he was using some kind of evasive technique, but he should be able to make him submit with Thunder Break or a dimensional Nebula Chain. However, the man's placating stance made him hesitate.

"Who sent you?! The Judges?" Shinta demanded to know.

Grim scoffed. "Them?! Never!" he assured, sounding almost disgusted. "I know a Saint has little reason to trust a Specter's word, Prince, but they don't even know you exist. If they did, they'd probably come down here themselves to eliminate you. Rhadamanthys in particular would want to eliminate any possibility a Prince could rise again between him and the Emperor. I, by contrast, have very little interest in his wishes."

"Circle Defense!" Shinta called, casting his field of rested Circle End links. "Any suspicious move you make, and I'll tear your Surplice to shreds, understood?!"

Grim gazed down, noticing the links crackling with cosmos. He sensed an especially powerful detection ability in this technique. There was a non-zero possibility that the Prince could find a way to damage his body. Not that his talent surprised Grim, nor that the chains that Andromeda Shinta(?) had used against Hades would also work on him, a lowly Terrestrial Specter.

"Now tell me! What do you want?!" Shinta demanded.

Lowering hands, Reaper Grim chuckled, surprised that the Prince expected to be able to touch him. "You really don't remember me, do you, Lord Absolute? That is fine. I am but a worm to your light. All Specters are."

Shinta was starting to get a little bit sick of this. "I don't know any Specter! How many times do I have to say that?!"

Grim frowned unpleasantly. "Don't lie, Prince. That is beneath you. I know you've met Lucifer. And there is absolutely no way he has not awoken a single memory of us in you."

Shinta irked nervously, trying to decipher what trap this villain was planning. "Are you trying to free him, then? Or are you after my island's armors again?!"

"You have me confused for the False Specters that Prince Lucifer has hypnotized with his vainglorious dreams of revolt." The bone-armored Specter mocked. He then did something that truly frightened Shinta; he knelt and lowered his head, like an obedient servant. "I am here… just to serve you."

Shinta staggered. "S… Serve me?!"

"Lord, please, hear me out. You must return to the Underworld, before it's too late, and assume your rightful place as the Emperor's Right Hand!" Grim Reaper appealed, sounding truly earnest. His sunk eyes rose at his Master. "Only you can stop the foolish violence knocking at our doors. Join the Emperor… and end this Holy War before it can even begin!"

The Andromeda Saint staggered. End the Holy War? Him?!

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

Sanctuary,

Rodario, Eurydice's House

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

Sitting at her bed, Cerah welcomed Saint Lance into her room with a nervous gulp. The Pegasus Saint even brought his Cloth box, like he was getting ready to arrest her. His fixating crimson eyes reminded her of Lucian so much. They had the same 'I will hurt you if you say the wrong thing' sharpness. She knew that in Sanctuary folklore they were a sign of a curse. In Lucifer's case, the curse was that he was made into a powerful Specter of close proximity to Thanatos. It was therefore both an oddity and an indication of the danger Daemon Lucifer represented to those that crossed him.

Was it the same for Saint Lance? Did he bring his Cloth because he expected a violent confrontation?

Instead, the Saint set it down to sit in front of her. "Hi, Cerah."

The tension in his voice was palpable, making her gulp. "S-Saint Lance."

He looked to grumble anxiously, like he was trying to start a difficult conversation "How are you? Still groggy?"

She shook her head. "No, I can talk. Miss Olivia said… you wanted to see me in private?"

He nodded, looking grimly hesitant. "…Do you know why?"

This was it. She was going to be sent to the same jail Lucifer was at. "Y…Yes. Because I said that Lucian… that Daemon Lucifer is my teacher."

The phrase seemed to make Saint Lance wince unpleasantly. "Shit…!"

The young girl inhaled sharply at his reaction, realizing how bad it was. Perhaps he hoped all along he had heard it wrong, but here was the confirmation from the Corvus herself and Saint Lance seemed to take it like a bitter pill. Dear Goddess, what had she done?

"I'm guessing this is the part of your past Aguilon doesn't know about?" he asked.

Feeling utterly cold in fear, Cerah shook head. "No, he does not… Saint Lance, p-please, I am not a bad person! I've never hurt a soul in Sanctuary! My one job for the Prince was to protect Eurydice! I…. I even fought to protect people during his war. I have a testimony! I can call Saint Yu-"

But he sunk his face into hands and gestured her to stop. "Slow down, okay?... Listen, Cerah. This is far more serious than you think. Your teacher… did something awful. And he has made enemies with the Pope himself. Anyone even remotely associated with him could join him down the death hall, do you understand? Your intentions and what you've done in the meantime won't matter a bit in front of a Sanctuary court!"

The already pale girl began trembling. "Y…Y-Yes, but…"

"So, I need you to calm down and stop saying that shitty part outloud. Okay?" he asserted. "Otherwise, I can't protect you."

Cerah's stuttering stopped. What? Saint Lance going to… help her?

"Wait…" Her eyes then narrowed, as she realized something was wrong. "Saint Lance, you're not who you say you are, either, are you?"

The Pegasus had to admit the girl was impressionable, but at least had her wits about her. "That's correct. I took part in the defense against Lucifer and his False Specters, yes, but I wasn't just a student of the Fourth House, Cerah. I was… the Cancer Gold Saint before Deathmask."

Her green eyes widened. This suddenly made everything click inside Cerah's head; from Saint Deathmask's strange conversation with Saint Pegasus, to the Bronze Saint's power level, to his relative intimacy with the topic of Daemon Lucifer. The girl felt her skin electrify, realizing she was sitting in front of a person who had worn one of the twelve Cloths of Gold.

"I'm sure this raises a lot of questions to you, but we don't have time, Cerah." Lance asserted. "Right now, only Olivia and I know about your connection to Lucifer. We have no intention of letting it out, though. My secret past as the Cancer Saint is your guarantee. I also owe you my life and Olivia owes hers twice over to you. I don't know if that sets your mind at ease about us, but…"

Now that her brain had a second to process all of this, Cerah realized that if Saint Lance and Olivia had any intention to hurt her, she would have woken up in a prison cell, not a hospital bed surrounded by loved ones.

As such, she nodded. "It's… alright. It does mean something."

Lance sighed in relief. "Good." Now that they've established trust, he supposed he should just spit the next part out. "You've spoken with Adriana, correct?"

The Knight thought about it. Her conversation with miss Ghisi at her manor came to mind and she perked up. "You're… her associate. That's right! She said… you'd have a project in mind for me."

The Pegasus scoffed, looking away. "A project…. She makes it sound so light-hearted." He then took a deep breath and spoke. "I want to ask you something. Something dangerous. Something unreasonable, even, considering how shortly we've known eachother."

The tone was so serious. Cerah was starting to get nervous, but miss Olivia asked her to trust Saint Lance. "W… What is it?"

"Cerah, I want you to join me on an invasion to the Underworld."

…

…

The teenager gawked. "W-WHAT?!"

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

Andromeda Island

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

Shinta shook head, confused. "End… the Holy War? Explain yourself! RIGHT NOW!"

"Even on this island, you must know Holy War is coming. I know you'd like to prevent it, too." The Insidious Star continued. His laid out his free hand. "I am offering you that possibility, Shinta Akiyama. I don't have the power to change you back, but Emperor Hades and lord Hypnos do. If you become the Dark Angel Specter once more, your authority will be higher than all the Judges!"

Shinta gritted teeth, revolted. "W….Why would I ever do that?! Why would it end the war?!"

"Because, Prince, as the Right Hand of Hades, you will also have the emperor's ear." Insidious insisted, anxious. "Lord Hades has never trusted any Specter as he did you. Your gentle words could reach into the very sanctum of Giudecca within the next minute and delay this war for another twenty years. Wouldn't you like that?"

Even if he accepted this claim that he was this Prince, the problem wasn't what Shinta desired. "That's nothing but an empty promise! I've spent my life as a Saint watching Hades' Specters murder people indiscriminately!"

Grim stood up "You're right…" and pointed his hand aside. "Levantine Door!"

Shinta saw a terrible dark portal open up in the air, creating a passage to a bird eye view point of a stark, hellish landscape. He gasped, seeing a glimpse into the Underworld itself. He even felt the cosmos of the dead through this passage. Namely, he felt masses of dark cosmos motivated by souls hungering for murder marching under a terribly powerful cosmos mounted on a big palace.

Grim noticed his face. "You feel that, don't you? That is the decadent Judge, Gryphon Minos, ordering our men out. Like you said, their objective is to murder, rather than guard the Underworld. Within months, they will all under Rhadamanthys carve a path of destruction into the heart of Sanctuary, while the iron of Lucifer's war is still hot. These are men that cannot be killed. Sanctuary's fall is inevitable…"

Though distraught at the blood thirst he sensed, Shinta's eyes narrowed. "Says you! Said Daemon Lucifer as he attacked the Twelve Temples!"

"Perhaps, Prince, but how many will fall to prove you right?" Grim challenged. "Or did Lucifer's failed war result in no casualties for Sanctuary?"

The Andromeda Saint felt his blood get cold, remembering the corpses littering the stairs of the Aries Temple.

"It is not just Sanctuary that suffered with his crusade, Prince Michael. Lucifer's fall has thrown the Specters back in the hands of the Judges. Lord Hades no longer has anyone to trust his 108 Stars with but Rhadamanthys and his ilk. Under their leadership, already they shine less brightly... and your loved ones are paying the price." Grim continued. "Even your friend, Pegasus Lance, has already been attacked."

Shinta snapped into sharp focus. "What?! What have you done to him?!"

Grim chuckled, seeing a chance to poke more holes in this Saint husk around his Prince. "Has he told you nothing? I wonder what he has to fear in letting you know…"

The pink-armored warrior blazed his aura threateningly, blowing out powerful winds and startling Grim. "TALK!"

Staggering, the Specter guarded himself from the winds. "I-Incredible! Such power!" And then chuckled. "I have done nothing, Prince, because I know you care for him. Queen, on the other hand, had his neck under his blade more than once. You can ask Pegasus yourself if you doubt me…"

Shinta's energy lowered, his heart struck with concern. Still, he stayed stern. "I am going nowhere with you, understood?! I am a proud Saint of Athena! And if I understand correctly, even your Prince was horrified by your God's evil at the end of his life!"

"Yes, he was… but you can change that." Reaper begged. "Prince… it is true that at the end of your life, you turned your Sword to the Emperor, but that is only because he lied to you."

The Saint paled, appalled. "How is that a defense?! You talk as if…" Yet a strange feeling of betrayal in his heart pained him, like an echo from a distant past.

Reaper continued. "What I mean, Prince, is that even if the Emperor's promises of Elysium for humanity were false, your mission to lead us was true and just! Under your leadership, the Specters were once again warriors of purity, not of carnage! While an evil hand directs the Specters against the Earth, you have a chance to steer it with your own away from those you love. If you don't…" His masked face then stared tensely. "… then even if your Saints are victorious, the violence of this new age of war will weigh on your consciousness. Is that what you want?"

Shinta's shoulders slumped, distraught. This man spoke like he knew him so intimately, like he was familiar with every little thing that tugged at Shinta's heart. He had either researched the Andromeda Saint extensively before coming to Andromeda Island or…

Shaking head to dispel his confusion, Shinta stopped himself from reaching the next conclusion.

"Leave." Shinta ordered, tossing Grim's scythe back at him with his chain. "NOW! And don't ever come back!"

Taking his precious weapon, Grim observed his Prince carefully, detecting all the signs that his words were hitting deeper than he had expected. "He, he, he… perfect. The seed is planted. It's now time for Atlae to do his part." He then casted his technique "Levantine Door!"

Squinting at the emerging dark portal, Shinta tried to decipher it's working. It seemed very similar to Lance's Underworld Wave. At the very least it created the same shilling sensation like someone opened a warm room's window to a nightly snowstorm.

"One last thing I should mention, Prince…" Grim added. "I am not your only loyalist, but there are few of us left. Even among those that did not resent the Princes, the period between the wars did much to make the men forget you and Lucifer. Do not expect them to be as courteous as I was, especially the Celestial Stars."

"Is that a threat?!" Shinta called out, ready to pull this murderer back in if needed.

The white-maned man shook head. "Never, just a warning to watch over your loved ones. I've heard Rhadamanthys is planning a new attack soon… and that he has a special assassin that Sanctuary won't know to watch out for."

Shinta's eyes widened. "What?! WHO?!"

"I'd tell you if I knew, Prince, believe me." Reaper Grim lied. "The last thing I want for these Judges to lead the Specters into another pointless, humiliating Holy War defeat against Athena. Goodbye, Prince. And please, consider my words. The ear of Hades is worth much, especially in an era of death."

With a shiver, Shinta then watched the tall man go inside the dark portal, like a snake of shadows, before it zipped up into nothing.

Gods, what was happening to his life? Shinta imagined he was the first person ever to be invited to become a Gold Saint and a Celestial Star Specter in the same day.

The Cloth's Round End smacked Shinta right over the head. "You IDIOT! Why didn't you capture him?!"

Shinta rubbed his sore skull. "H-He approached me peacefully. I can't hurt someone who just wants to talk. Besides, his technique is very odd…"

Her triangle hand wagged aggressively "Do you think perhaps there is no harm to words?! Look at you! All he had to do was mention that Pegasus Bastard and he had you wrapped around his creepy little fingers!" She slumped her chains. "Ah, Shinta, what am I going to do with you?... You're so lost without me. Maybe you should stay with your big sister Andromeda instead of going off to that Virgo Cloth."

Shinta gasped. "I completely forgot about that! Maybe that's the answer. I have people at the Zodiac I can ask for help."

In any case, he had no intention to lower his guard to a Specter, even one acting pacifistic. He waited until the intruder's psychic jamming receded and then held his temple to send a mental ping.

"Sanctuary? This is Saint Andromeda Shinta. It's important. I want to report a Specter intrusion on my island and an assassination threat."

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

Rodario,

Eurydice's House

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

As expediently and as calmly as possible, Pegasus Lance tried to explain what he intended to do with Cerah, leaving behind only unnecessary secrets like the Teos Cloth. He laid out all the considerations he and Adriana weighed in their decision to ask Cerah, from her light element, to her knowledge of the Underworld. He also tried, as best he could, to sound as least insane as possible.

Yet, the girl paced around her room frantically, unsure what to say. The grogginess of waking up from two weeks in the hospital had disappeared in the face of the outrageous offer she was made.

She stopped and turned. "I don't understand, Saint Lance. This is- " she stopped herself from calling it crazy. "- all very confusing. Why would you do such a thing? Do you know how dangerous the Underworld is? And isn't Sanctuary about to go to war with Hades anyway?"

"That's precisely why, Cerah." Lance laid out, calm. He had considered every other rational option. "Once again, Sanctuary is just sitting around waiting for the Holy War to explode. If we let that happen, it will just end up the same way all the other Holy Wars have; with a pile of Gold Saint bodies left at our doorstep and the clock of war snoozing for another pair of centuries."

His calmness bewildered her. "B-but… But it's the Underworld! It's…" Her tongue paused. Her polite nature prevented her from just bluntly crying out the insanity of this offer, even though she had seen for herself the kinds of defenses that Hades' kingdom had. "S-Saint Lance, no Knight, no Mariner and no Saint has ever done something like this! Ever! Not without Athena herself guiding them down the bowels of hell!"

"I know." Lance flatly answered.

Her face puffed and her arms folded tightly. "You… you know?!" she repeated, flabbergasted.

How could his face be so straight? Either Saint Lance was vastly underestimating the Specters, or he had a set of brilliant trump cards no Saint in history has ever drawn from their decks to play against Hades. All she could think about were the number of fortified prisons, the walls surrounding the City of Dis, the countless pits, cracks and fissures separating every sector of the Underworld, all without mentioning the barrier around Pandora's castle and over one hundred murderous Specters and thousands of Skeleton Soldiers protecting the place.

And Saint Lance wanted to go down there, with her, and blow up the Palaces of the Judges! The Corvus couldn't even move properly at lightspeed yet and was being asked to go on a quest that not even the twelve Gold Saints combined would take lightly.

Even if she was too shocked to talk, Lance could read her face. "Before you ask, I'm not out of my mind, Cerah. I get how this sounds. I only came to this decision myself because…"

An explanation as to how someone could land on such a decision was pertinent, yes. "Go on. Because?"

Lance hesitated. He was getting a vague feeling that this girl cared about Lucifer, insane as that was. "I'm not sure you'll like hearing this, Cerah."

However, this stance alone was enough to make her guess. She sucked her breath and straightened up, as if to fortify herself. "You decided this because… of what Lucian did, right?"

He met her in the eye as a sign of confidence. "…I saw what happens when you just sit around waiting for your problems to come knocking at your door, Cerah. A lot of my loved ones were hurt during the False Holy War, and this one promises to be even bloodier. Well, I'm not going to let history repeat itself."

Her straight pose faltered. She hiccupped even and turned away, her eyes welling. Her mind returned to that horrible night, to the sight of the butchered dead at Aries' stairsteps, all caused by her father figure, and she hugged herself, feeling cold and alone in the world. Her sister had abandoned her, her real parents were dead and Lucian was an ambitious monster who simply used her to keep Eurydice out of his mind.

The only people who truly loved her really were the ones who greeted her out of the hospital, and none of them knew her for more than a year. She understood why Saint Lance would value them so much.

But it was the Underworld.

The weight was crushing her breath. "Saint Lance, I need time to think about this."

Lance stood up. This was the best he could hope for right now. "Of course. You don't have to say yes, Cerah. I know this is an unfair thing to ask. If you say no, I will find other allies." He didn't want to put this kind of pressure on a young girl like her, but he had to. "However, I want you to know something that I think it's important; if you DO change your mind… please contact me as soon as possible. Unfortunately, I have a time limit on this."

A time limit? "How so?"

The Bronze Saint irked, shrugging. "It's a complicated story, developing as we speak, but basically my window of opportunity to do this will be when things in Germany finally boil over and a battle between Sanctuary and Hades happens. It's the only moment Hades might sally out the forces in his castle. Otherwise, there's no point in even thinking about this"

The Corvus Knight perked up, realizing this changed things. "Saint Lance, why didn't you start off with that?!"

If Saint Lance's plan was to strike when the castle was at its weakest, then maybe he stood a real chance with a solid enough team.

Her amethyst pendant burned, speaking to her without her realizing. "What if he didn't? Do you think Hades can be defeated by those who only look to the easiest path? Your response to his offer would reveal more about you the way he asked, not the way it'd convenience your fears. He needed to know what you reacted like in the worst case scenario."

Lance scratched head and stared, testing. "If I had, would you have said yes, Cerah?"

Cerah frowned embarrassedly. "… No, perhaps not, but…" She wanted to believe she would have at least thought about it. Her head lowered, ashamed, realizing she was just fooling herself. She thought back to Alraune's cruel words and actions. "The Specters are all like Queen, right? They're nothing like… like I thought Lucian was."

Lance folded arms. "What are you trying to ask me, Cerah? How dangerous this idea really is? Or my thoughts as a Saint about the people who raised you?"

Her green eyes looked up pleadingly. "The latter. You've faced them multiple times, right? I know the False Specters, but Lucian and Acheron are the only True ones I've met. Tell me, without prejudice… What are Lucian's people really like?"

The Bronze Saint sighed and paused. For a beat, he stood quiet, rubbing his head as if to jog his memory, looking to be thinking back on his experiences with both the False and True Specters or perhaps trying to make an honest effort to exorcise his biases like she asked. While Cerah had only known Saint Lance for a little while, she could tell he was honest and straightforward, but the way he spoke about Sanctuary with Saint Suisho back in Switzerland also showed he was not tied to Sanctuary's dogmas. If she was ever going to get an untainted answer to this question, Saint Lance was probably the closest person that could provide it.

"I hate to be dogmatic, but if there is one war Sanctuary fights that is truly black and white, it's with the Specters, Cerah." Lance reinforced, having faced more than his fair share. "Maybe you were raised with a different perspective on them, but in my experience, Daemon Lucifer himself is an outlier, because he has renounced Hades. The rest are still loyal to that god. They worship genocide."

Her heart sunk at the choice of words. "I s-see…"

He looked displeased with his own answer, like he had genuinely tried to give a more fair-sounding conclusion but failed.

"You know the crazy thing is, Cerah? They think it's good for you." He voiced, disgusted. "I've heard it right off the horse's mouth; they don't care if Saints have proven better at war than them, or are more consistent in their arguments. They don't even care if you give them a taste of their own medicine and kill them, because they'll just come back. You can't convince them of their mistakes because they don't care that they're making them. If the Specters had their way, every soul on this planet would have a place in a Prison, getting tortured until the heat death of the Universe, while they get to fuck off to Elysium with their stupid death Gods."

She tried to interject. "B-but the False Specters… they were capable of breaking away, right? That means something!"

Lance frowned sadly. "Does it? Or is the only reason those acted differently that they found out their pass to the Elysium nightclub was fake? And their reaction to it, instead of taking the side of humanity again, was to try to start their own cult around your teacher. They loved the lie so much, that even after leaving Hades they tried to make it true. What does that tell you, Cerah?"

Cerah nodded, taking this in. Her fingers clenched on her arms tensely.

Lance picked up his Cloth Box around back. "I suppose I'm making myself sound like a goddamn hero, but to me, it's not just that people die in these Holy Wars with Hades, or that every Saint in this land has to worry about Cocytus in their afterlife, but Sanctuary itself has used these wars to justify dumb bullshit, like having child soldiers and public executions. In the 20th century! So it's time to fucking stop already." He sighed resignedly. "Thank you for hearing my offer out, Cerah. Also, please keep this between us. Even my best friend and Olivia don't know yet what I'm planning. It could legitimately get me in trouble."

She saw him about to leave. "W-Wait!"

Lance paused, hopeful. "Yeah?"

But the girl froze. The silence made the images of the dead get stronger and stronger. Even the smell was returning to her nose. It was of burning flesh, copper and rot. Her body began shaking and her stomach turned.

Her face tensed. All that bloodshed… made her so angry. How could someone cause death so gleefully? And how could this situation have been going on for so long, for thousands of years even, like no one ever tried to change it?

Her back felt hot.

The Pegasus blinked, seeing Cerah look indisposed. "H-Hey, are you okay?!"

Cerah tried to focus. Even if she was weak, she had pride as a Knight. This was her chance not just to redeem her teacher, but perhaps to discover her own destiny as the Corvus Cloth owner. Her fist clenched and her Light cosmos burned. She had Lightcraft after all, why shouldn't she fight?

Saint Lance needed her. He valued Corvus Cerah's skills and knowledge of the Underworld. He also trusted her with a sensitive secret. Cerah could tell from how he fought Queen that he was every bit as passionate about ending these wars as he claimed to be. Perhaps, then, she could go along and see what he had in mind?

"I… I want to…" but then her body strength completely shut down and world then turned aside and darkened. "A-Agh!"

Lance gasped and caught her. "CERAH!" He called out. "OLIVIA, come quick!"

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

A bare-naked Cerah crashed into the dark waters, sinking deep inside, her mouth gasping for air and her hands clawing at the current. Yet, something wrapped around her ankle dragged her down and down into an increasingly heavy and murky abyss. She saw the bubbles of her air disappear along with the sunlight. The force of her movement downwards became such her muscles were stuck.

Down, down she went…

The chasm swallowed her, carrying her deep inside its throat.

The sounds of the water began disappearing along with the light, leaving her in a completely mute, deaf and blind world, floating in liquid.

…

A pair of thumps sounded, like drums.

…

Another pair sounded, same as the last.

…

It sounded like… a heartbeat?

And in the darkness, a pair of gigantic, slit eyes of green light opened.

Cerah screamed, letting more bubbles out, and held her throat. The air was running out. A thunderbolt flash pierced the depths and, in that instant, she saw, with great horror, a gigantic draconic silhouette flashed visible in the water in front of her, like a colossal predator just dancing in the darkness. The source of the heartbeat sounds became clear as the enormous body pumped its blood again. Unable to comprehend its size, her mind panicked, paralyzing her. She tried to swim away, but saw an enormous serpentine body mass speed around her, surrounding the naked Knight in a whirlwind of scaled muscles.

Resting, it approached its crocodilian, antler-horned head. Her green eyes shook, unable to understand what they saw. It couldn't be an animal. It couldn't be a god or a monster or even just a dragon from some kind of Asian art panel. It was a presence shimmering with life, possessing a vibrant brim in every single one of its green scales. Its unsurmountable muscular size made her small body shake with the water vibrations of its heartbeat and the sharpening slit of its huge eye reduced her to the dumb insignificance of a microbe.

There was no escape. This thing was too big!

Its mouth opened, releasing a shower of trapped bubbles, and a voice in her head sounded. "Ah, Ah, Ah, Ah…. You feel it, don't you? The desire to protect life on this Earth? Just like that red-eyed boy."

Cerah shook her head and fought, feeling every single cell in her brain trying to reject the thing in front of her, but it did nothing but fill her with adrenaline and terror.

"You've survived your second test against Hades' Specters, little Knight." The creature praised. "You've even unlocked the 7th sense. Soon the lingering effects of my Waters will disappear from your body, leaving you to fight your own battles, but seeing you considering Pegasus' offer, I'm now confident Hades will have great enemies to contend with, this Holy War. Now go. Find the Rozan Master. Pegasus can take you to him. Perhaps the last true Zodiac Knight will be the one who finally makes Hades see the light after all."

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

Cerah's eyes opened and she gripped Lance's shirt tightly in a lunge up, breathing as if she just pulled herself out of drowning. She coughed repeatedly, feeling like there was water in her throat, but nothing came out.

She looked up, seeing Lance and Olivia stare in distraught. "I'm… I'm okay."

Lance held Cerah up as she opened her eyes, trying to think of what he should do. He realized something was terribly wrong when he felt her back warm on his hand. "C-Cerah… what just happened?! Tell me!"

"M-My cosmos burned up and I… I saw something… a dragon!"

"A dragon?" Olivia asked, bewildered. She held her head on Cerah's forehead, but it was cool and her cosmos felt well regulated. Still, she was worried. "I'm calling Doctor Iaso."

"Wait, Olivia, not yet." Lance asked. He stared firmly, silently asking Cerah for honesty. "Cerah, a dragon? Like in eastern art? Are you sure you…?"

The knight nodded. "He told me… you could take me to the Rozan Master." Getting her bearings, Cerah spoke mentally. " I… I want to join your quest, Saint Lance!"

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

Warning: Violent content ahead!

Ethiopia,

New Lalibela, Ivory Crown Palace

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

It was dark in Africa, even at the mountain-topped citadel of New Lalibela, where stars shone brightly.

Entering the candle-lit hall of the Ivory Crown Palace with the two tied Silver Saints over his shoulders, Wolf Zenzou Masataka marched directly to Camelopardalis.

The tall Bronze Saint of green eyes, curly black hair and yellow armor raised his dark-skinned hand at the assassin to pause him. The Ethiopian touched his temple to communicate with his king mentally. After a brief pause, he nodded and gestured permission to Zenzou to go inside, even opening the giant wooden doors for him.

"(Second door to the left, down the stairs.)" he told the assassin. "(Be brief.)"

The Japanese man nodded and rushed ahead. Following the instructions, he descended the catacombs towards the central chambers. Cages lined up to the sides sounded with loud roars from large felines and cackles from hyenas, all starved. Raw meat they couldn't reach was left in front of their cages, driving them to an even more furious frenzy.

At that moment, Zenzou thanked his gas mask for covering his nose.

The next door ahead of him opened on its own, almost as a greeting. Zenzou stopped and bowed as much as the bodies he carried allowed him to. Before him stood one of the most powerful men in the world, stark naked, rattling a pair of red-smeared knives on a blood-soaked table with a mutilated female body strewn across it. The victim's stomach area, in particular, was a crater of red where flesh had been removed, and Zenzou preferred not to investigate further.

The naked, blonde King Cetus looked over his shoulder at the two failed assassins. His blue eyes were tense and cold. Despite the western man's modest height, Zenzou thought an 'oni' stood before him at that moment.

He pointed at a spot by the table with his knife. "Leave them over there."

Zenzou nodded and dropped them where indicated. Acrisius and Fargas struggled against their restraints in sheer terror, seeing the butchering around them.

"Your pay will be given on your way out, Zenzou," Cetus mentioned, plunging one of his knives deep into the female corpse. The bones beneath the flesh cracked with the angry force. "You can keep one of theirs as a bonus."

The ninja bowed. "Arigatou gozaimasu, ho-sama."

The King of New Lalibela watched the Wolf Saint leave. Usually, Cetus would cut off the tongue of any warrior that spoke anything but Greek to him in his halls, but he rather enjoyed the respectful, careful sounds of the Japanese language. They felt servile to him. Provided he considered this ninja nothing but a contractor pretending to be a Saint, it didn't offend him too much. It even reminded him of Guardnia's student.

Taking deep breaths of the iron stench in the room, the naked king walked over to Perseus and Southern Cross. He knelt over them and looked each in the eye, watching them panic and grow white at his golden eyes' gaze.

"Do you two realize… the trouble you've just caused me?" he asked, looking like he could barely contain his anger. "Tomorrow, I'm going to have to tell Sanctuary why two Silver Cloths under my care were in the hands of mercenaries kidnapping children."

They desperately spoke muffled noises against their gags, begging for mercy or making excuses.

Cetus danced the knife he had left in front of their eyes with his fingers, pondering which of the four orbs to cut out first. "What did you think, that I'd be happy with such amateur work?"

Again, they only responded with even fiercer struggling and panicking.

"You two are lucky, you know that? I already had my fill for tonight." Cetus asked. He looked up at the woman he carved up. "It just so happens that today was the nine-month anniversary that some ungrateful sow tried to enter my room and poison me, so my headache… is relieved."

The two Silver Saints breathed slower in relief, nodding in muted gratitude. If their bodies weren't tied, they'd kiss his feet.

However, Cetus then smiled wickedly, his eagle eyes locking on Acrisius. The Perseus Saint's green-dyed hair in the style of Medusa made him look like Sanctuary's cute new Andromeda Saint, pumping excitement into the king's veins.

"Then again…-" The king's hand grabbed him by the collar. "-…I do have to show Sanctuary that I do not tolerate such evil in my kingdom."

Understanding what was going to happen next, Acrisius screamed and practically tried to jump out of his restraints before the evil monarch defiled him, but the naked monarch's grip just dragged him out anyway.

Cross Fargas screamed, tears of terror flowing out his eyes as he watched his terrified partner get dragged by the King's hand out onto the table beyond Fargas' sight. On the wall ahead of him, cast by candlelight, he saw shadows of Acrisius being forcefully bent over the torture table. He saw his partner's shadow struggling until the King raised his knife and made it come down on him.

The Cross Silver Saint closed his eyes, wishing to disappear into Hades' deepest, darkest circle, but then the noises came. Muffled screams, bodies grinding together violently, and repeated rhythmic grunting.

He was going to be next.

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

Chapter End

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

Next Chapter: Chapter 82 – 3rd Arc – Episode 10: Meet the Hand of Talos

Release Date: March 25th

Description: Lance briefly returns to Rozan to learn more of how he can pursue the Sense of Chi before going off to meet Shinta for a celebration of Elda and Albiore earning their second year. Lance even decides to invite Suisho to it.

The forces of Hades, though, have a terrible surprise waiting for the two old Bronze Saint partners. At Pandora's castle, a dangerous soul awaits his time to earn the Emperor's favor.

Author's Comments:

After multiple rewrites, scene splits, cuts and even an overlapped Beta-reading, this chapter can be said to have been to hell and back multiple times. The date scenes, you see, were originally going to go at the end of the previous chapter after the Saints return to Sanctuary, but I didn't expect them to grow so much out of wordcount control. As it stands the entire date segment is about 12,000 words, so half a chapter, and Jenny Devic recommended I shoved it ahead to this one, along with the Cetus scene.

Speaking of which, I hope the scene at the end isn't too much of a tone swerve to you all. The storyline really needed to end with the explanation of where the Perseus and Cross Saints came from and yes, Cetus sent them. Old time readers will know he's been gunning to make Lance's life miserable since the beginning. Why? Well, let's say there's a hint in the stars, wink wink. (

Today we talk about Wolf Zenzou and his etymology;...

He's an Omega character, so he doesn't actually have one, at least as far as my story goes. Even if you've watched Omega, though, you probably don't remember him, because he only shows up in one episode playing the part of the leader of Wolf Haruto's Ninja Saint village. So yeah, that's who he is, in case you didn't figure out last chapter. I've tried to write him a bit like my impression of the Cyberpunk character Goro Takemura, who is a bonafide ninja bodyguard of his own right.

I've been feeling really excited about Olivia as a character. While I haven't gotten any reviews or comments for the Third Arc yet on any of my platforms I post, all my beta-readers seem to like her scenes and writing very much. I can't tell you all how long I've struggled to get her kind of character right and so I'm pretty happy something is going right so consistently for once. She's a pretty big source of 'yellow highlight' from Jenny DeVic, which is her way to outline the story bits she likes when beta-reading.

Cerah's character arc, on the other hand, is at a bit of a crossroad. This whole Rozan thing seems like the natural path to take her into and I've been discussing a lot with my friend Zebulon how best to handle it, but there's a lot at stake with it. If things go wrong, it might create another situation like Lance having too many Cloths interested in him in the story, which I'm dialing back nowadays from.

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

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

See ya \owo