Author's Note: It's late and I can't think of anything clever to say, too tired I'm afraid... Blegh:
Disclaimer: I own nothing; copyrights to the different series and/or franchises that appear in this fic belong to their respective owners.
THIS CHAPTER IS UPLOADED ON THE 03/02/2024
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Prologue
IN THE COMPANY OF THE DEAD
Part 8.2
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Ikki said nothing as Aiacos grasped him by the arm, keeping his eyes closed while the sound of metal being stressed could be heard poignantly in the suddenly silent devastated throne room. Eventually, he decided to open his mouth again. "Aiacos… What exactly do you think you're doing by interrupting my fight…? Are you so eager for me to kill you a second time that you simply cannot wait any longer? Is that what this is all about?" He said with no small amount of undisguised scorn as he turned his neck in the direction of the judge of hell.
"Shut that filthy mouth of yours at once, Phoenix! You must be out of your mind if you think I will simply remain standing still while you continue indiscriminately killing and humiliating my underlings… Besides, you and I have pending business Phoenix! I need no justification about killing you, your life belongs to me as compensation for all the shame you caused me when you last defeated me, only your broken corpse at my feet will be the only thing that will allow me to wash away the disgrace of my defeat…!" Aiacos declared with so much open hostility that made no one doubt how much he wanted to kill the Phoenix Saint.
Ikki couldn't help but scoff dismissively at that. "Well, good luck on that front, Aiacos. You will clearly be in desperate need of all the help you might get if you wish to succeed in such insurmountable task, because there's no chance of you and the rest of your useless Specters to be able to defeat me, not even in a thousand years. Now… Take your filthy paws of me and get off my face!" The Phoenix saint declared with great rudeness as his Cosmo flared and a whip of flames swirled and swiftly coiled around his frame, causing Aiacos some discomfort at being so close to the intense heath, but nonetheless, the judge of hell refused letting go of Ikki no matter what.
The flames then lashed out against the Garuda Specter, moving like a living serpent before striking Aiacos on his right shoulder in full with such strength as to forcibly remove him away from Phoenix, pushing him several steps back against his will and carving a small trail of grooves on the marble floor as he tried to resist against the force of the attack. The entire exchange taking less than five seconds but having sprung so sudden and violently as to disquiet some of the onlookers.
Aiacos flinched visibly and grunted under gritted teeth as he came to a stop, turning to look at his shoulder on the spot where Ikki's Cosmo had struck him, only to see the armor of his Sapuri had been crack, hairline fractures spreading across the front of his pauldron. Obviously, he was less than pleased with this development, but there wasn't much he could do about it.
Ikki said nothing towards the judge of hell and decided instead to address his younger brother. "Shun… What's the great idea? Weren't you supposed to be keeping anyone from interfering with your chains?" He inquired in a tone that told he was none too pleased with the Andromeda Saint.
The Green-haired youth became rather abashed at the observation and began to rub the back of his head with his free arm that wasn't holding Athena's Scepter in a carefree manner. "Whoops! Sorry, brother… I forgot to re-expand again the defenses of my chains to cover other people after we made our way back from the bottom of the cliff when Behemoth destroyed the floor." He confessed with some embarrassment.
That immediately brought Ikki to a pause. "Wait! You're telling me you're not covering Saori and the others right now?" He demanded with sudden urgency.
"Eh… No…" Shun admitted.
The ground around Athena from where she was standing near the edge of the newly created cliff, suddenly burst open as a small swarm of black tentacles with amber eyes on the tips appeared in a flurry of erratic motion all around her. Saori could just look in bewilderment at her surrounding as the writhing tentacles closed on her while she still carried Seiya's body.
Only for Cygnus Hyoga to ran interception and pushing her away with his shoulder at the last moment, taking her place as the tentacles wrapped all around his body and restrained every single one of his limbs in place, keeping him from moving a single muscle.
"HYOGA!" Saori exclaimed as she stumbled to the floor, clutching the body of Seiya close to her armored bosom while staring at the now trapped Cygnus Saint.
"S-Shiryu! Shun! Don't worry about me! Focus on protecting Saori, we are still surrounded by enemies!" The Blonde youth declared, having a little difficulty to speak due to the tentacle wrapped around his throat.
"On it, Hyoga!" The Dragon Saint stated as he placed himself in front of the downed Goddess, his emerald shield held high.
"Well, I didn't expect I would end up trapping a Saint instead of a Goddess, but I'm not displeased by this result!" A raspy creepy voice declared whose origin couldn't be easily determined. "So, how about it, Phoenix!? Surrender now, or your friend is going to pay the ultimate price! Keh, keh, keh, keh…"
Ikki just scoffed once more and turned his gaze away, showing his back uncaringly towards his fellow Saint in distress. "You speak as if he were in any kind of danger in the first place. Hyoga, would you please stop playing and deal with that maggot already…?" The Phoenix saint said out loud, bringing a rueful smile to the face of Cygnus.
"He, he, he, he. C'mon, Ikki… Don't spoil my fun… You've been hoarding all the fights for yourself and leaving none for the rest of us since we arrived…" Hyoga stated with a chuckle between his lips.
That comment was particularly hilarious for the Bluette. "Ha! It would be way overkill for more than one of us to intervene in dealing with these losers…"
"Yeah, well… It is kinda' boring to stay in the sidelines doing nothing…" Hyoga simply replied in a pretty nonchalant manner for someone that was being restrained against his will.
"Okay, I'll grant you that one…" It was Ikki's succinct response.
The hidden Specter holding Hyoga wasn't pleased at being ignored by the two saints who were acting as if they were having a nice chat on the park rather than in a life and death situation. "SHUT UP THE BOTH OF YOU! DO NOT IGNORE ME! Do not forget who has the upper hand in here!" The voice declared, the tentacles around the Cygnus Saint's neck beginning to constrain further in order to strangle him, causing Hyoga to mildly flinch as result in annoyance.
Ikki simply smirked sinisterly without turning around. "Yes… Us…"
"WHAT!?"
Suddenly, the temperature in the demolished throne room suffered a sudden noticeable drop, icy mists swiftly coalescing in the environment, creating a fine cloudy crystalline sheet floating a few centimeters over the floor as a sharp chill began to stab deeply on the skins of everyone present.
"Brrr…! Who turned on the air conditioning?!" Masane Amaha said aloud as she begun to rub her arms at the sudden sharp drop in temperature, her breath visibly misting as she spoke.
"W-what! What is happening!? What are you doing!?" The voice controlling the tentacles exclaimed with mounting anxiety as he felt his grip upon the Cygnus Saint slowly faltering.
Hyoga just smirked as if the entire situation was inconsequential. "Eh? Don't tell me you cannot stand a little breeze…?" He stated, before a clear frigid wind began to emanate out of him and the tentacles holding him into place began to froze solid, turning into literal popsicles in front of everyone's eyes, an effect that slowly began to spread through the entire length of the armored tentacles as it head all the way back to its source.
The Specter holding Hyoga went into a full-blown panic by this point. "N-No! This cannot be possible! STOP IT!" He wailed, trying to retract his tentacles back in a fit of trepidation. The sudden yanking causing his frozen appendages to shatter, sending small sparkling ice fragments flying all around that looked pretty close like tiny shining diamonds. The Hidden Specter could do nothing but wail in dismay at the loss of his limbs.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Just as the long appendages finished breaking into a thousand pieces, a small tremor suddenly began to take place, as if something was making its way towards the surface from deep underground. With a small shower of debris, an armored figure suddenly bursted out from the floor.
"Y-YOU! BASTARD!" An armored specter declared with a face that only a mother could love. "I'll show you for trying to make a joke out of Worm Raimi!" The newly introduced Reimi declared in a fury. Unsurprisingly, Ikki couldn't help but make fun out of the Specter after such an introduction.
"Ha! With a name like Worm, there's no need for any of us to bother into saying anything, your mere existence is a joke all by itself… Truly, you are an example to your name…" The Phoenix Saint declared with boundless disdain, causing Reimi to grit his teeth in impotence, knowing he was incapable of standing up against Phoenix in the open.
"Raimi, that is enough… Retreat! You cannot hope to face the Saints on your lonesome…" Radamanthys commanded, ordering his underling to disengage immediately. Reimi couldn't go against a direct order from his superior, but that didn't mean he had to like it, so he could do nothing but click his teeth in annoyance as he returned among the ranks of the surviving Specters with a single backwards skip.
"Yes… Run away little worm, get back to groveling at the feet of your Masters!" Ikki mockingly declared as parting words.
"That is enough Phoenix! We are growing tired of your constant impertinence!" Rhadamantys declared warningly as he stared at the Phoenix Saint with a fulminant glare.
The only response he got from Ikki was a smug smirk. "Then why don't you do something about it instead of whining aloud like an old lady… Come, wipe this smirk from my face if you can…!" He taunted while pointing at his face with a finger, such disrespect caused Rhadamanthys to almost lose his shit and throw himself at Phoenix, but he managed to rein himself in with steel-like resolve.
"By all rights I should! But no… I know you're just trying to goad me into a mistake, such banal tactics are useless against the honor of Milord Hades' specters. Besides, the privilege of your execution has already been promised to my fellow judge of hell…" Rhadamantys stated, gesturing to a side as from behind him his fellow judges, Micos and Aiacos appeared, flanking him in a show of support.
"Ah, yes… Aiacos… Fu, fu, fu, this shouldn't take long…" Ikki declared arrogantly, only for his younger brother and Hyoga appearing from behind and flanking him the same way as the Judges of hell just showed.
"Three against one seems hardly fair, perhaps you could do with some help…?" Hyoga declared, assuming a battle stance on Ikki's right as Shun did the same on his left.
"Pffft…! As if any kind of help is necessary to deal with these chumps. Aren't you two supposed to be guarding, Saori…?" Phoenix asked aloud uncaringly.
The Cygnus Saint simply shrugged without taking his gaze away from the Judges. "Shiryu can protect Saori well enough on his own…"
"I supposed that's true… Very well, if you and Shun want to make yourselves useful, Hyoga, by keeping these nuisances from getting in my way while I deal with my unfinished business with Aiacos, then fine by me." Phoenix declared as he raised his guard, preparing to launch himself at the attack. "It shouldn't take long."
"You shouldn't be counting your eggs before they hatch Phoenix, for you are still facing the three Judges of the underworld at the same time, the commanders of all the Specters in Milord Hades' army…" Minos spoke in an ominous voice.
It did nothing to wipe the arrogant smirk from Ikki's face. "Oh, how scary… I'm shaking on my boots…"
"ENOUGH! TIME FOR YOU TO DIE, PHOENIX!" Aiacos yelled, all of his patience spent before rushing towards Ikki and throwing him into the air with a single move.
"GARUDA'S FLAP!"
The Judge of hell declared as he sent Phoenix upwards with a single beating of his armored wings, Ikki being ejected with such speed that he broke through the vaulted ceiling of the throne room with ease and continued on his way until his figure became lost in the blueness of the sky. Meanwhile, Aiacos began to carve lines on the floor with an armored foot, forming a giant X to mark Ikki's inevitable landing.
"There! Once Phoenix smashes into the floor he will end up crushing his skull!" The Garuda's Judge declared sinisterly; however, his declaration didn't seem to have much of an effect on Shin and Hyoga, who looked rather disinterested on his words.
Seconds passed in tense expectation, Aiacos barely able to contain himself at the thought of finally achieving his vengeance, yet he managed to keep a tight rein on his emotions by sheer will in order to witness the results of his attack. And thus, he waited, and waited, and waited, and waited…
…
…
…
It was clear that something had gone wrong. Phoenix should have already slammed into the ground by now. Aiacos looked up towards the hole in the ceiling in confusion, wondering why Ikki was taking too long to fall. Only for a giant fireball in the shape of a bird to crash through the roof, blowing the hole the Phoenix saint had made in his ejection into oblivion and heading distressingly fast in the direction of Aiacos with the express intent of slamming into him.
The judges of hell were not asleep on their feet and quickly scrambled away in a hurry in order to avoid the ball of fire, the conflagration smashing in their previous occupied spots and exploding with the force of an artillery round, causing the entire chamber to shake by the sheer strength of the impact. Smoke and debris being strewn everywhere, creating a thick blinding cloud that hindered visibility, but it was quickly dispelled by a swipe of the flames before they quickly started to recede and reveal the unharmed form of the Phoenix Saint.
"PHOENIX!" Aiacos sneered through gritted teeth, seeing how his attack against his despised nemesis had failed utterly. Ikki, on the hand, simply rolled his eyes at the expected reaction from the judge of hell.
"Seriously, Aiacos…? Did you truly expected that a technique I have already overcome in the past would work on me? Did your brain rotted somewhat during the time it took you to resurrect after I last killed you? Don't you remember that I told you that a technique used against a Saint of Athena can only work once?" Ikke stated with undisguised derision in his voice.
Obviously, it did nothing but piss Aiacos even more who began to growl by this point. "SHUT UP, PHOENIX! As if I would believe what comes out from the lips of an enemy!" He replied in outrage before raising back to his feet.
"Believe it or not… It doesn't change the fact I'm about to send you back to the grave for a second time…" Ikki declared as his Cosmo began to burn again, enveloping him in a whirlwind of flames as he took a single step forwards and began to slowly walk towards Aiacos.
The Garuda judge grimaced a little before turning towards his fellow officers. "A little help here would be nice…" He stated as he faced the Phoenix saint again.
Rhadamanthys tried to intervene, but the chains of Andromeda began to act in response to his actions, standing on alert like a Predator about to pounce on a prey, the Wyvern judge clicked his teeth at that. "Sorry… Aiacos, but it seems we too have our hands occupied with our own opponents…" He confessed, much to his chagrin.
Minos let out a chuckle in response to his fellow judge's words. "Then it is clear we have no other choice but to defeat our enemies quickly if we wish to lend a hand to Aiacos…" He declared as he leered menacingly towards Hyoga, who simply scoffed in reply.
"Feh, I'd like to see you try…" The Cygnus Saint said as he assumed a guard stance and began to slowly go through several motions and poses that reminded of a bird flapping his wings, as Hyoga proceeded through his stances, a cold wind slowly began to seep into the throne room. A fine shimmering dust began to rise from the floor, like small diamonds glittering in the air, very quickly the temperature began to drop below de zero degrees.
Obviously, many of the people lingering in the throne room did not appreciate the cold. "Brrr… Is it me, or is it cold all of a sudden…?" Masane Amaha said out-loud as she began to rub her arms as she embraced herself in an attempt to stave off the chills.
"Come Euphemia, let us share some warmth." Cornelia declared as she pulled her sister closer into an embrace so that they might better resist the frost, Hades' blessing might preserve them from succumbing to the cold, but it did not shield them from feeling its effects.
Meanwhile, Minos was preparing to face Hyoga's challenge. "Mere posturing is not enough to dissuade a Judge from Hell, Cygnus! Prepare yourself to feel the tortures of the nine levels of the underworld on your flesh!" He boasted before launching his attack.
"COSMIC MARIONATION!"
Small thread lines as thin as strands of hair came out from the tips of Minos' fingers and launch themselves towards Hyoga, who was at the expectancy of the attack, only for the threads to suddenly change direction mid-flight and headed towards the Andromeda saint instead.
"SHUN!" Cygnus exclaimed at realizing he was not the real target of the assault.
The Andromeda Saint could just stare perplexed as Minos' thin strands flew towards him, but as he had previously stated, his chains automatically react when an attack is detected. And thus immediately, the chains with the ball end began to stir and swirl around Shun in a spiral as to create a funnel that would shield the green-haired boy against harm.
Nevertheless, Minos threads were simply too thin that they were easily able to pass unimpeded through the gaps between the chains and reach the Andromeda Saint at last before turning completely taut. All of a sudden, Shun felt how his movements were forcefully restrained and began having great difficulty to even make a single of his fingers twitch.
"Wha- What is happening!? Why cannot I move…?" The green-haired boy exclaimed aloud as he uselessly fought against his bindings.
A small trace of concern began to seep into Ikki's voice as he turned towards his brother, forgetting completely about his feud with Aiacos. "Shun…!?"
"Fu,fu,fu,fu…" Minos began to sinisterly chuckle at seeing how his ploy had worked as planned. "You're now under my complete control Andromeda, thanks to the effects of my Cosmic Marionation, you've become nothing more but a puppet dancing on the palm of my hand…" He declared triumphantly.
"You Bastard! You better release my brother before I kick your ass!" Ikki demanded scathingly, trying to threaten Minos into compliance.
"Careful Phoenix… We wouldn't want for a fatal accident to befall on Shun if you were to suddenly attempt something unwise…" Minos mocked in a sing-song voice, enjoying the feeling of triumph at being the one who finally managed to turn the tables on the odious Phoenix Saint.
"Excellent work, Minos! Thanks to your ruse, we've finally managed to gain the upper hand against our hated enemies! With this, your end will finally be at hand Phoenix!" Aiacos exclaimed aloud, intoxicated with joy with the belief he would be witnessing the end of a despised nemesis, there was clearly very little love lost between him and Ikki.
"You deceived us by pretending you were going to attack me!" Hyoga declared in affront, pointing at Minos with an accusing finger.
The Griffon judge simply chuckled even more at the outrage of the saints. "But of course, I did! You think you're the only ones capable of learning how to counteract the techniques of their enemies…?" He derided with great contempt. "I knew right away that the threads of my Cosmic Marionation would be useless against you Cygnus after seeing how easily you destroyed Reimi's tentacles with your freezing Cosmo… So, I instead decided to change my target for Andromeda, whose chains have also been causing quite the annoying hurdle to our Specters. Yet, I knew they were not going to be enough to stop the fine strands of my technique due to their width being lesser than the head of a needle, it was all perfectly calculated to bring about your defeat!" He triumphantly exclaimed while celebrating their (in his mind) impending victory.
Ikki could do nothing but girt his teeth in impotence, unwilling to do anything to risk the life of his younger brother. "Tsk!"
Minos took notice of Ikki's new reluctance and couldn't help but twist the knife a little. "What is it, Phoenix…? Nothing clever to say for once? Did a cat get your tongue, or did you finally learn how to keep your mouth shut in the presence of your betters? Whichever the case, I'll make sure you never utter a single word ever again either way…" He exclaimed as he began to gesture with his arms to manipulate the strands on his fingertips, making Shun start to move against his will.
"B-Big Brother!" The green-haired boy yelled as his body moved on his own before lashing with his chains towards his older brother, who immediately skipped back in order to evade the assault, the length of chain striking the ground he had been previously in with such force as to break the floor and carve small depressions on the fractured marble.
"Shun, snap out of it!" The Phoenix Saint exclaimed with some annoyance and irritation at being forced to dodge, nevermind the underlying feeling of concern for the sake of his younger brother.
"Sorry Brother, I can't control my own body…!" Shun apologized as his arm lashed out again and sent the length of chain swiping towards Ikki once more, who again was forced to quickly evade if he didn't want to get brained.
"Goddammit! Knock it off already!"
Minos began to gloat at the sight of his enemies' distress. "Bwa Ha Ha Ha Ha! How does it feel getting a taste of your medicine Phoenix!? Not so funny when you're the one who is helpless am I right!?" He mocked contemptuously as he began to fiddle with his fingers as to manipulate Andromeda's actions for his next attack. "Now, take this and die will you!?"
"Get away, Brother!" Shun pleaded as his body began to move against his will again. Only for the chain with ball end to snap in the direction of Minos in an instant, catching the triumphant judge of hell of guard.
"W-What!?"
:CRACKLE:
The snapping sound of a leash breaking the air suddenly echoed poignantly in the devastated throne room as the assaulting chain was stopped in cold by an intercepting whip just before it was able to strike Minos in the chest, saving him from being speared by the Iron ball end.
"Lord Minos!" Balrog Lune, Minos' right hand declared as he revealed himself as being the owner of the whip, his hands clutching tightly around the leather handle of his weapon.
"Lune! Great job my loyal assistant! You've saved my life!" The Griffon judge declared with boundless gratitude towards his aide.
"Tsk… J-just doing my duty milord…" Lune replied humbly, but everybody could tell he was having great difficulty in containing Andromeda's chain which began to writhe violently in an effort to break free. It wasn't like before when the Specter of Balrog had faced the Saint of Andromeda previously and had managed to succesfuly block every single one of his chain's attacks and overpowered him easily. Now that Shun's Cosmo had unbelievably increased after his many battles across the underworld and evolved his cloth into divine levels, it was Lune who was barely able to keep the Andromeda's chains at bay.
The inevitable happened and the chains proved themselves the winner their little tug-o-war, rearing back and dragging the entirety of the Balrog's specter with it, who was swept across the air in a long loop before being thrown against one of the pillars behind Hades' throne. Lune yelled in pain as his back impacted the pillar, cracking the marble surface before he unceremoniously dropped to the ground among loose pieces of masonry.
"Lune!" Minos declared with clear worry towards his underling, and expression of complete shock in his face. "How is this possible!? Andromeda is under the control of my Cosmic Marionation! How is it that he's still able to fight back with his chains!?"
"Did you already forgot that my brother's chains react automatically against any perceived threat, you dumbass!?" Ikki scathingly stated without a single ounce of mercy, having zero fucks to give towards the Specters.
Minos quickly recomposed himself from the surprise and settled himself for glaring banefully towards the two brothers. "Curse you Saints! Why can't you lot just die and spare us of your undesired presence!" He exclaimed back in outrage.
"And deprive us from the opportunity of seeing you clowns helplessly flub about like fishes out of water? I don't think so…" Phoenix replied, his mocking arrogant smirk back with a vengeance before raising his arms and assuming a battle stance. "Now prepare yourselves to get reacquainted with your coffins!"