The Hidden Athena

Under a morning sky, Shaina eased the muscles by sitting with her back to a tree in the Kido garden. When Athena's long conversation with Marin came to an end and the latter left the mansion, the remaining Bronze Saints came out to continue their endless patrols. The one who rushedly approached was June, and although Shaina had something to say to her, she waited to hear her out.

"Hey!" June called, while Shaina simply looked up. "I'm not bothering you by coming here, am I?"

The other briefly responded: "No. I am not busy."

"It's because you seem like you need a rest," she assumed, "I'm just… I'm really happy that there's another female Saint here." Her initial unassuming tone gradually morphed into ever accelerating excitement. "Shun kinda fills the shoes, but he's still a guy! And also, he's too smart for me, so he used to be friends with Saori too — Athena — I mean, Saori is Athena before she found out she was Athena, right?" At that point the girl began running over her own sentences while playing with the whip between an index, yet the other stared on without reaction. "So they were friends, and they're both really intelligent, and they played chess all the time — I can't play that game, it's too many things to think about at once. And now that Hyoga is around, Shun always spends time with him, I don't get it…? So I kept thinking, wow, if another girl showed up, maybe I would have someone else to chat with that gets me, so I was so relieved when I saw you and Marin that…"

It had been enough. The message had been communicated and June was too awkward to stop talking once she got into a rhythm, so Shaina did the favor of interrupting: "Where have you buried Asterion and Moses?"

"Huh?"

She got up, and thus Chameleon seemed tense with the weapon in hands. "Where are their bodies?"

Astounded, the Bronze Saint pointed behind to a corner of the mansion's outside section. "Over there in a mound," she replied.

"Are you able to carry a body?" She became even stiffer than before, straightening the back and thinking the question through. Quite soon it made more sense, so she nodded with tiny movements of her head. "I'm getting the other two Saints we defeated before someone finds them," Shaina told her, "and you are coming with."

"Oh, okay." The girl saw the Silver Saint turn and walk to the back wall of the gardens, followed suit, and then they proceeded beyond it at great speeds to the neighboring walled community.

The two went between the thickest branches of the trees, June having trouble to keep up at times. When they had been at it for several seconds, Ophiuchus stopped and pointed in the distance, where the top of a pine seemed awfully tilted as if it had been felled. "They are around some fallen trees in that direction," she said, and the girl continued accompanying her.

When they finally dropped to the dirt, Chameleon was able to assess the situation, and it was clear by the spots and the scratches spread in the vicinity that a violent struggle had taken place. Shaina, in the other hand, went straight to Misty's corpse, leaving Babel to her new colleague.

"You are carrying the short-haired one," she ordered while throwing Lizard around a shoulder.

June took a good look at Centaurus' clawed face and body; nowhere as bad as the other's situation, but a terrifying view regardless. "This was… worse than the two guys who died at the mansion," the girl commented.

Having seen her put the dead man to her back too, Shaina said: "The stronger the fighters, the uglier the messes."

Therewith they returned, and when those patrolling noticed what they carried, they went inside with haste to call Athena. She and the other Bronze Saints convened at the resting place of Asterion and Moses, where June led Shaina to bury the ones they brought. The bodies were respectfully lied upon the dirt near the wall, many steps far from a tall tree, and the other Saints winced at Lizard's state.

Athena sorrowfully lowered her head and lamented: "These Saints dying in manners so despicable, at the hands of their own comrades... the Pope will pay." Shiryu and Hyoga took nearby shovels and, beside the elevated spots where they knew two graves had already been made, dug space for two more.

"Help me take off their Cloths, will you?" Shaina said, nodding at the other three Saints who idled. They carefully did so, and apart from their suffered flesh, the Cloths were so sturdy and well-maintained that the metal only had scratches left on select surfaces.

While taking the pieces dangling off so decadently from Misty's lower torso, Seiya could no longer hold his curiosity back. "How did this even happen to him?" he asked.

"Marin had to use a last resort," said Shaina.

"A last resort?"

"The Comet Fist. Long ago she insisted on this technique, even before becoming a Saint."

Ophiuchus recalled a time eight years before then, when both Marin and her were only amazons, and she visited the training grounds looking for her. In general, much like Mitsumasa Kido did to the female orphans, amazons were expected to train in isolation from men and civilian society, and only allowed to return at the end of each day; some took this tradition further, as did the amazons of one of the Paximadia islands, where June had been prepared for Sainthood.

However, that day Shaina left her colleagues in search of Marin, who had gone radio silent for the week. Many soldiers, male Saints, and trainees practiced vigorously over the marble platform, but one of them sat to rest. It was Aiolia, a sheen of sweat rendering his skin oily under a loose linen outfit. He stopped drinking off a canteen of water once he saw the young girl approach.

"Have you seen where Marin has gone?" she asked, and her tone was almost as direct and sharp as it would become in later years.

"Oh, Marin?" he muttered. "She was here talking to me before I did some sparring, then left Sanctuary for some practice."

"She left Sanctuary?"

"She says the peaks around the portal are better for what she's doing."

"Alright, I'll go check," said the girl, but before she left, Aiolia got up and put a hand near her shoulder. "Hm?"

"Are you really going after her?"

"I am. She promised to help work on my Cosmos, but it seems she never has spare time for me anymore."

The man tilted the head left and right. "Look, Shaina…" he stepped closer and lowered his voice to a more serious tone "... at our age, Sainthood is both the closest and farthest it can be. Marin is awfully dedicated, and right now she's doing it all to succeed. Leave her some room to breathe. When this is over, I'm sure she will guide you without issue."

Shaina remained still for a few seconds, her painted mask staring coldly at Aiolia before she sighed and turned to leave. "Okay, never mind then," she mumbled. After watching her go, the man took another sip of water and looked back at the hordes of fighters. As unconvinced of the young amazon's tone as he was, he found solace in knowing a young girl so difficult would never be his responsibility.

It was expected from her personality and tendency that she would've left Sanctuary after the amazon she admired the most, and that she promptly did, crossing the portal to Earth and navigating the tops of the hills and mountains which still proved perilous to a novice of her level.

In her aimless searching, despite being an inexperienced Cosmos user, she felt a pressure signal from a particular direction, one she chose to follow. The echoes of Marin's yells and huffs became audible, after the deafening shock waves of what could've been only the hardest releases of energy Shaina had so far felt.

Having traversed a wide mound, the image of the older amazon came in frame. Atop a long cliff in the distance, a teenaged Marin hurled moves against the air, most filled with intense power. The bright aura around her only hinted at the amount of Cosmos she kept dispersing at each swing.

Succeeding a quick spinning kick, she rotated by sliding on the rock, then took a long step onward and yelled: "COMET FIST!" Her fierce timbre reverberated through the section below, and from the fist came a large ripple of light, traveling in waves and dissipating somewhat ahead.

Shaina flinched. "That…" She paused, lacking words, only to come closer and stare in awe. Whereas what she had just seen was impressive to her, Marin's body language showed she hadn't achieved what she sought; she was disappointed in herself.

So the amazon pressed on, distributing hits, her pace increased such that the younger girl could no longer keep up with the punches. They cut through space quite past the speed of sound, crashing into its barrier every time without fail. "COMET FIST!" Marin growled and then yelled again. Her fist birthed one and the same ripple, and once again she saw her failure, so she crouched a moment and lowered the head towards the floor. Not having noticed the girl in the distance, she mimicked the movements a few times and practiced the timing of rising the Cosmos as she did it, then stood back up to continue.

"I wonder how many years I will have to train to become like that," whispered Shaina, slumping back behind the mound in fear of being seen. Nonetheless, Marin wasn't done. She now rained a diverse assortment of strikes in quick successions. "Look! What formidable power that is…"

After a flip and an elbow strike, she swung that same arm back and came forth with a brutish strike, bringing the opposite arm over her head. "COMET FIST!" This scream was the loudest, almost savage, carving a shocking memory into Shaina's mind.

The blast of light was no longer a mere ripple, but a full sphere that went whistling ahead towards the hill on the other side. Such force affected everything around the woman, opening a fissure and shifting the cliff whereon she stood, which made her fall back and sit with legs straight ahead, arms as support behind.

Both watched that bolt eat through rocks and dirt like they were cotton, and when it finally dissipated so far it was nearly obscured, it left behind clouds of dust and particles of stone.

Shaina felt paralyzed, imagining what would be the end of a foe who challenged such an attack head on. "If I… if I cannot become as powerful as her…" she stuttered, recollected herself, and closed a fist with intent "… I will not dare ever call myself a Saint."

"… I imagine Marin avoided using it straightaway as to not kill an innocent in its wake," she explained to Seiya now many years into the future, "but she had no choice against Misty, who was someone well at her level. Had she not held back its power, she could have cleared an entire gallery or hit a house. It would have been catastrophic."

"S-so Marin… really is that powerful!" Seiya said with a shocked frown.

"Indeed. I almost had to fight her today, but it is best not to come to blows with someone such as her."

"I wonder why she didn't teach me this Comet Fist."

Shaina and Seiya groaned as they lifted the Clothless body of Misty, carefully lowering him into one of the holes. "It is no simple technique…" she said, and they both let him go, so Shiryu started throwing dirt over him, "… and not just anyone can use it. You will have to learn much more about the Cosmos before you qualify." She saw June and Shun lie Babel to rest as well, then used her boot to make sure every piece of their Cloths had been properly removed. "Seems I am done here, so now it is back to work."

"Miss Shaina, you will teach us, won't you?" Seiya asked quite casually.

"Unless there is something else to do during our free time, yes."

June pumped her fist. "Awesome!"

"There is a patrol, so you will take turns, provided that all of you want to be taught by me."

"We need all the help we can get," Shiryu replied, finishing Misty's burial and proceeding to aid Hyoga with the other.

Shun nodded and confirmed: "Especially facing Silver Saints. We were kind of useless last time."

"Good," Shaina agreed, then returned to her stern tone. "Then be ready to listen."

"Yes!"

All the way in Sanctuary, Mu had fully settled in the House of Aries, and wore a long cape which, upon being pulled to the side, revealed a Gold Cloth in its splendor. With two large, twisting horns like a ram protruding from the back to the front, his neck was well protected on the sides, as were the shoulders under the rounded pads below it. The cuirass had petal-shaped plates on each side of the torso, forged over softly ribbed yellow gold. In white were trims and figuring on each piece, rounded in the corners, but detailed in the centers.

He left the equally ornate helmet on the marble table in his bedroom, boasting many decorative bosses and extending up into a central crest that ended at the top of the forehead, bearing a pink sapphire in the middle. Mu left that place and went up the stairs behind the temple, taking a while to reach the House of Taurus it neighbored. The sign of the bull decorated the front before he crossed its first pillars, and therefrom he went straight to the quarters, peeking from a corner.

What he saw was a surprisingly tall, hulking man. Part of his gigantic Cloth was hidden by a cape that began narrow at the top and widened at the bottom, such that the enlarged shoulder pads — with curved horns like those on the horned helmet — were visible. The Saint seemed to place a vase with water onto a lip of marble by his bed, a foreign flower inside.

Noticing a presence, he grunted and turned around, revealing dark skin contrasting with the white of his small, piercing eyes. He had a square nose with a broad bridge, and thick eyebrows that almost touched at the center, brushed upwards. Caught in the act, Mu walked in to reveal himself, which brought a smile to the man's face. "Look who it is!" he exclaimed in surprise, voice as manly and scary as his appearance, despite the playful lilt.

"Ah, hey, Aldebaran! I didn't see you arrive, so I came to…" Mu was interrupted as both walked closer to greet each other, because he was trapped in his friend's bear hug — or a bull hug, if one could do such thing.

"Haaah, come here!"

"Guh!" Mu chuckled, muffled by the man's shoulder, then hugged him too. Despite how big Aldebaran was, he avoided tightening the hug so as to not suffocate his much shorter friend.

"Missed you, old buddy!"

Aries' face burned then, and when they let go, he bore a bright and dumb smile, prompting the other to give a couple taps on the shoulder. "I missed you too."

"Hey, you don't look any older! What's the trick, some sort of new cream?" Taurus laughed loudly, but Mu scratched his long hair in an awkward fashion.

"A-ah, no, don't say that. You're looking great too, Aldebaran!"

He responded by resting fists on his hips and cackling much louder, so much that it boomed all over the temple. "Thank you, thank you! I had to hear that. I stayed at my family's place and there are so many new little cousins, I felt as old as that geezer Saga!"

Mu smirked more shyly at that, staring back in hopes that they weren't being heard. "Y-yeah, he is kind of old," he said and stretched the neck to the side, spying at the vase Aldebaran so carefully handled before "What is that flower?"

"Eh?" The other Saint looked back and pointed at it with a thumb. "Oh, that? It's some local flower my younger cousin gave me. Cute, isn't it?"

Approaching to take a closer look, Aries seemed to have some idea of the plant's genus, especially knowing where it came from. "Hmmm, this won't be enough," he mumbled.

"I thought about asking Aphrodite, but he's all the way up…"

"Oh, no, no, you don't have to go all the way to Pisces," Mu promptly told his friend. "B-besides, his specialty is roses, this look like a wild hyacinth. I can deal with it."

"Really?"

"A hardy species, but you will need to pot it."

Aldebaran tapped Mu's back and chuckled, saying: "See? This is why I need a wise friend like you nearby! I'd be really sad if this flower died because of my ignorance."

Once more Mu blushed and stumbled awkwardly to grab the vase. "No worries, I will pot it for you," he said with a smile.

After quickly grabbing some ingredients from the grounds and preparing a wooden vase, the two looked at the tranquil state of the plant on Aldebaran's marble side table. They didn't know if it was possible to tell in such way, but the plant looked cozier and livelier.

"There you go. Give it lots of light from the stars, keep the dirt moist, and it has a good chance at surviving. This is an extremely prolific species, I am sure you can manage," said Mu.

Taurus hummed in satisfaction. "Thank you for helping me, Mu. Really!"

"No need to thank me."

"Tell me, it has been quite long… how have things been? Since when have you been in Sanctuary?"

"Not too long," Mu replied. "In fact, I know from the courier that your duty call was sent right before my own."

"So you don't know much about what's going on either."

Aries shook the head in denial. "Worst, I have no orders, so I stay in the temple although everyone is allowed to pass. I am spending all this free time repairing Cloths for some Bronze Saints. It should take a while, but I have got nothing else to do."

"They're always breaking those Bronze Cloths of theirs!" Aldebaran mentioned with a hearty laugh, and Mu giggled along.

"Yeah, yeah, it's a big problem!" When they were done, a discomforting silence came, and it became clear that Aries didn't have much else to say. "Might as well go work on those Cloths."

"Alright! You come over whenever you feel like it, don't be a stranger."

"You can come over too, Aldebaran." He began walking away and waved to his old friend. "Take care."

"Take care!"

It had turned to night at the Kido Mansion, and despite being prepared to sleep, Athena stood in a nightgown at the balcony. As she took in the breeze and the stars, she pondered about what was likely an inevitable war against the Pope, and processed the infighting and death of Saints who would otherwise protect her.

At all times she wondered if there was no better way, and what would make someone as important as the Pope turn against her at such a crucial moment, at the foot of a Holy War. She thought of past enemies and the possibility that they, too, had some hand in this matter. That being true, it meant the influence of other gods had seeped into her haven, and things were unlikely to solve themselves without further bloodshed.

Following an exhausted sigh, her eyes perceived a shadow fluidly moving through the outskirts of the garden, and at first she thought it to be Shaina coming back from scouting the area. Soon it was clear that couldn't be her, and it made its way beneath the balcony ere so calmly and quietly lunging up to the opposite rail.

She stared on and saw the orange hue of the Phoenix Cloth illuminated by the bedroom's light, and also saw that familiar face, helmet under the armpit. "Ikki," she said, "I was wondering if you would ever return."

The young man stepped off the railing and approached, so Athena looked away in a mix of shame and regret. "I took time to think. I decided to come tonight, and I no longer hear the name 'Saori Kido' from their mouths, but a godly one." The goddess met his eyes, yet he was the one who now looked to the gardens. It was clear what he found out by himself. "Have you been hiding it the whole time?"

"No, it was hidden from me until recently. Ikki…" she called and rested fingers on his shoulders, hunting for his expression "… please, I ask nothing of you if not this: have mercy on Tatsumi! He is an ignorant and boastful man, he hurt you like no other, but do not seek revenge on him." Ikki gave a serious stare back. "Please."

"That is not the issue whatsoever. After all that you people have done to me, I have become a broken man," he said, tears pooling under the eyes. "After all that island has done to me and my hope…"

Athena teared up too, and grabbed a pain that tightened her chest. "I understand. Oh, how selfish of me… this is not the time to speak of such matter."

"Killing Tatsumi or you will not fix me; I searched healing elsewhere. I have meditated on my brother's words, yet found no such innocence in me. As I said, I am a broken man."

"There is still a chance for you."

"Then why…" his voice wavered, and Athena looked down again, letting tears run down a cheek "… does this still rage inside me? What chance must I take to be cured of this flame?"

"Ikki, it is not a cure you seek," she said with a muffled voice. "This is now a part of you which has been out of control, left disorganized, and used to destroy for its own sake. What if you returned to the heart of your suffering and used that revolt for something good? It cannot cure you, but it could help you come to terms with it."

At that moment Ikki's eyes diverted to nowhere in particular, and he slowly nodded as if enlightened by something. Someone else's advice came to mind to corroborate Athena's. "I know what to do," he said and went back to the railing, balancing the boots over it.

"Where will you go?"

"To the heart of my suffering, like you said."

She understood and knew it would be futile to stop him. In fact, it was probably best to allow him with naught besides these words: "Be careful."

After putting the helmet back on, Ikki looked back to say: "Athena."

"Hm?" When she looked at the Saint, he bore a sarcastic grin.

"You asked me not to hurt Tatsumi… as long as he no longer appears in front of me, that can be arranged."

Athena sweetly chuckled back. "He is quite afraid of you, so it should be fine."

"I will come back again." With that he jumped away, and Athena walked to edge of the balcony to watch his leave, wishing that he would encounter relief at some point in the future.

The next day, the patrol was on as usual, albeit training would have to continue differently with Shaina's classes. It was noon and Seiya had been paired for a class alongside June, so both followed the Silver Saint down the gardens to a collection of trees. There, the older woman sat down on the grass, and both Bronze Saints stared at her in confusion.

"Sit down," Shaina ordered with a scoff.

"We're going to train while sitting down?" Seiya asked.

"Yep."

He looked to the side and raised an eyebrow at June, who shrugged and did as they were ordered. "O-okay."

Once both had taken their place on the grass in front of the new teacher, Shaina assumed a much more aggressive pose, with both hands firmly planted on her folded knees. "While like this, I want to see you rise your Cosmos as high as possible," she said. "Now."

They had no idea what was going on, thus they obeyed by assuming more comfortable positions, Seiya shutting his eyes. Utilizing the most honed focus they could achieve, the two Saints burned their energy greatly, outlines bearing a faint glimmer, and the Chameleon Cloth exhibiting its iridescence.

"That is enough," said Ophiuchus, and so they stopped. "Can either of you tell me what it is about Silver Saints that we have a greater Cosmos than yours?"

Seiya needlessly raised a hand, saying: "Because you guys have been training for longer?"

"That cannot be," she countered. "Shun is younger than both of you, but when he did this with me before, he did much better."

"Well, I have no idea then, maybe we're just weak!"

"You imbecile, quiet down and listen." Shaina's harsh tone turned his frustration so immediately into shame, his eyes became glued to the grass below. "You are weak not because you were born to be weak, but because you have not refined your understanding of the Cosmos." She lifted three fingers to continue explaining. "Once we are done, you will burn your Cosmos faster, higher, and manipulate it more freely. The difference between the average Silver and Bronze Saint is that the Cosmos is more like second nature to us." She tapped her own knees and the two seemed much more open to what she said, despite the severe manner of speech. "We will be sitting like this for the first days, because our goal does not reside in bone or muscle, but in the mind and soul. Our consciousness is the one piece of us tethered to the Cosmos, and so it is the only tool to achieve this. Strengthening the body only goes so far."

"Oh, that makes sense!" June exclaimed. "So how do we work on this, by meditating?"

"You can call it that, but it does not fit the definition. You will sit and do nothing but rise and rest your Cosmos until it is your turn on the patrol."

"Oh…"

"I will sit here and watch. Each time I want you to make it faster than before. With enough practice, maybe you will get the hang of it," Shaina finished. She kept looking at them, seeing how clueless they were and how inactively they still sat, so she waved hands to pressure them. "Start it. What are you waiting for?"

They straightened the backs, shut the eyes, and did as they were instructed, although to them burning the Cosmos was a comparably slow ordeal, with very few exceptions out of luck or desperation. As a result, trying to autonomously make this process faster was an exercise in frustration, and as is wont with such practice, the beginning felt fruitless.

Five minutes in, Seiya sighed out and said: "Ah, I can't do it."

"Focus," Shaina demanded, paying closer attention to him, although at face value the two suffered similar difficulties. "Feel the way your mind interacts with the potential and energy, detail by detail, grain by grain. You are acquainted with the Cosmos, however, you have little intimacy with its mechanism. You must master this mechanism like a sculptor masters the chisel."

They went on for what seemed like no end, and eventually it all became a hypnotic workout of the thought; resting and activating the Cosmos didn't feel any simpler or faster, but in fact a casual prospect, seeing how many times they had done it at that point. Somehow, no matter that all the effort had been mental, the two felt tired.

The sun had moved a good lot in the sky and now slowly descended towards its resting place in the horizon, and Shiryu approached the three. "How are they doing?" Dragon asked Shaina.

"Badly."

Seiya opened one eye and looked at his friend disapprovingly. "Ah, man, I was in deep concentration just now!" he told.

"It does not matter," the teacher said, "you two have done enough for today." She got up and motioned that they did the same. "Up, come on. Seiya can go rest, June and I are joining the patrol."

The girl sighed and cleaned the back of her Cloth alongside Seiya, taking the whip off the ground and following Shaina's exit. As Pegasus watched them leave, he couldn't fathom how that woman had patience to sit there for hours doing nothing but watch them struggle.

As the days went on, their training continued, mentally arduous yet physically devoid. Whereas they had been shown a different path to greater power, all the way in Sanctuary, the rest of the group still insisted on constant sparring. This could soon change with Marin's eventual arrival, although her return wouldn't come without ill consequences.

The Pope's cynicism grew with the disappearance of Misty, Shaina, and the others, and so his measures turned more careful by the day. That evening in Sanctuary, two tall shadows stood before his throne to take new orders.

"There are couriers returning from their trips at this very moment. You are tasked with tracking them, allowing them to settle, and searching their abodes for signs of treason," he told them.

One of them seemed to gasp as he asked: "Treason, sir?"

"Indeed, thus the severe measure."

"Who may these couriers be?"

"The Saint of the Dolphin constellation, that of the Piscis Austrinus constellation, and, most importantly, that of the Eagle constellation."

"Eagle Marin…" the other shadow said, also the voice of a man.

"She has been sent as far as China, close to the traitors' headquarters. Pay her extra heed," the Pope ordered.

These two Saints would indeed stalk Marin as soon as she had arrived in Sanctuary, which didn't take long after that. Coming out of the curtains in the grounds, she finally came, this time to a quiet square rather than the lively one Jabu saw in his first moments there. At that point, she had little to do apart from waiting for the Pope's call, if it ever came.

The first thing in her mind after the talk with Athena was to speak to Aries as soon as possible, however, seeing that it was late, she imagined he would be asleep. "I'll take a proper bath first," she whispered to herself. "It's about time."

Thus she made her way to the women's baths, undressed herself, brought a towel, and descended into the warm water, crossing a veil of warm mist. In such a late hour, few people bathed, so the building was silent if not for the reflections of tired chatting in the background.

Relaxing the stress and the aches of Lizard's technique, Marin wet the shoulders and then lied with the back against a wall, head back at the edge. She allowed her body to float forward and nearly fell asleep in that position, until she heard the water shift with someone's approach.

In that dimness she looked forward and saw that it was a long-haired teenager, one she recognized from her last time at the stoa, when the late Babel gave news of the Pope's request. After she lowered herself again, that girl inquired: "Excuse me. You are a Saint, are you not?"

"I am, and I suppose you're an acolyte."

"Aye, that I am. I come as a humble maiden under the High Priestess' guidance," said the girl, her head lightly nodding.

"Then please, go on. I'm at your service."

"There have been talks among us who maintain the Cult that something is brewing. Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, and Taurus have returned, and we noted activities from others. Is anything amiss?"

"I thought of asking you girls about it, but we're all left in the dark."

The acolyte sighed in disappointment. "I thought this would be it — such a shame. I have heard many a complaint from the High Priestess." With a nod and a kind smile, she suggested something else: "Would you mind following me to her office? You could be of assistance."

"Are you sure of this? The High Priestess doesn't merely speak to a Saint like me, so this could get you in trouble."

"Believe me, she will not mind."

"Fine then."

Having concluded their baths, the two dressed themselves and left to a corner of the grounds where the Cult of Athena resided and did most of their work. Apart from some rites, the women of the Cult were allowed to portray themselves with bare faces, unlike the female Saints, and they composed a parallel power structure to the military-religious one directly subservient to the Pope.

These structures intersected, as was the case of the Cancer Saint's substitute, taught under the High Priestess' watchful eyes. Nonetheless, at any moment after Athena's reincarnation, authority was instead handed to the side of the Saints, and the Cult was expected to follow their orders with little questioning. Even though this was the case at that time, the Pope's cynicism towards the Cult remained highlighted as a historical exception.

Back into her Cloth, Marin followed the acolyte, who was now dressed in a white mantle and a fig necklace. They came by a long and curved double door inscribed with the proceedings of the Cult of Athena. It was attached to marble pillars built into a rocky hill, probably covering a deep passage into it built by the alchemists who erected most of Sanctuary.

"Through here," the girl hinted, inserting a brass key into a hole and spinning it. Pushing the weight of the material itself seemed a more difficult step than opening the lock, and then Marin crossed into a corridor illuminated by torches on each side.

The two walked and reached a narrow passage, which so abruptly widened into a great chamber. Its contents were impressive, polished pedestals with busts of women placed atop, in stones their names and the eras of their offices engraved. To Eagle, the atmosphere there was both solemn and surreal.

In the center of it all was a vast raised platform, short steps coming from its every angle, and in the corners it exhibited series of sculpted benches. No one was sitting then, but three women in white garments listened to an older woman speak in the middle. She was wrapped in a pale mantle, tied intricately around the waist and shoulders, and wore a crown of figs in place of her colleague's necklace. This woman had a sheet of paper in hands, which she then passed to the one next to her. "… so with her family's record, she is sure to be a liability to us. See that she is barred from ever receiving this privilege, as bad as it might look to her father. Just make it as private as possible," she said, and Marin felt she had listened to some ruinous ultimatum.

"Yes, Lady Aleka," one of the women answered.

The acolyte motioned for Marin to wait before she as much as stepped onto the stand, and then went on to the three women. "Lady Aleka," she called, and the crowned woman looked at her. They whispered for a second, and the one Eagle assumed to be the High Priestess gazed from afar to see her Cloth.

Both returned, yet the acolyte stood back while Aleka came down a step, standing just above the Silver Saint. From up close the slight signs of aging were quite visible on her olive skin, as was the tidy way with which she tied her long black hair around the head. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Saint. I am Aleka, and I oversee our Lady's worship in Sanctuary," she presented herself.

Marin bowed slightly, and the older woman did the same. "The pleasure is mine," she answered. "I am Marin, presiding over the Eagle constellation."

"I believe it has been communicated to you how intrigued we have become over recent happenings."

"I share your sentiment."

"We have aided our Lady's reincarnation eighteen years ago at this point; I was not a priestess then, but the records tell me everything I need to know," said the woman, and Marin was inquisitive.

"So I wonder… aren't you supposed to be at Lady Athena's temple?"

"By the time I took office, no priestess was allowed beyond the Pope's dais. His reasoning was fear of infiltration by the enemy, and since then, none of us have come in contact with her."

"Have you not even seen her face?"

Aleka raised the eyebrows and nodded with a disbelieving smile. "That is another good point. I, head of this Cult, have never seen the face of our Lady's vessel."

"That's absurd," Marin muttered.

"So I thought of sending a priestess to the top, yet a Saint gave me the Pope's word that if entry was denied, she could have been killed as far back as the Temple of Gemini, where one would have encountered the first Gold Saint." Hearing that, Marin couldn't help but frown under the mask. "I don't wish to question the Pope's tactics, only to know if we should set up for war. I am certain he knows there are rites at the precession of battle, and we debate whether to maintain our preparations for the Panathenaia in the upcoming months."

"Of that I have no clue, however, if this stays between us, I've returned from my duty as the Pope's courier. I delivered three duty calls to Gold Saints in the field, and something definitely feels off. The Pope demanded it all remain secret," Eagle revealed, and Aleka breathed deeply with some preoccupation.

"Strange. Can I ask something of you, Eagle?"

"Of course."

"The House of Aries and Taurus are now occupied, and thus speaking to them might be a possibility. Do you think it would be worth a try?"

"I can definitely speak to one of them, without issue," she replied, referring to Mu.

"Do so as long as it does not present you any danger. In particular, we would like to know the health of Lady Athena's vessel, and if her quarters and statues are kept clean."

Marin gave another bow of the head, assuring: "It will be my honor."

"I am very thankful," said the High Priestess, who bowed back. "Feel free to enter this place at any time, Eagle Marin, as long as you respect its silence." The Saint nodded and was dismissed, so she walked to the exit while Aleka returned to the meeting, the young acolyte going to the quarters.

Eagle went to her stone hut and lied on the bed, having stepped out of the Eagle Cloth. She looked up at the ceiling and planned the day ahead before going to sleep. The experience she had of Athena's light in Japan revealed that the Pope's unexpected behavior was a sign of ulterior motives, and so she felt no guilt in breaking the courier's code by uncovering all of that private information to the High Priestess.

"There was no doubt in my mind," she murmured, "but if I had any doubt left, it would be gone now. Lady Athena is not in her temple." The woman sighed and turned to the side, facing the wall as she slid the mask off in preparation for a night's sleep. "I only hope Mu doesn't meet resistance from other Gold Saints. Even with our Lady safe, a civil war would be devastating, and with the history of Aiolia's brother…" she paused in fear of her own imagination "… he would become Sanctuary's primary target."