WARNING: Violence, blood.
The Shadow Arrow
Under the dark night of a new moon, a deep sinkhole was open in the soil of Vouliagmeni. Reflecting only the shine of the stars, in its midst was a lake, that opaque water mirroring the skies with strange shades. In the deep one could observe hints of a greenish radiance, manifestly originating from its profundity, of which there seemed to be no end.
A Clothed Saint landed near the border, close to falling prey to the steep walls of the pit, but he stopped. The man was dressed in a blue Cloth, apart from magenta gems, the breastplate flowing from one side of the chest to the back. While a shoulder seemed circular and close to the flesh beneath, the other was long and arched; similarly asymmetrical, a gauntlet exceeded the other in length, and each greave had curves pointing to the same direction.
The center of his thin circlet bore a singular, upward crest, with a stone embedded above the forehead, all around his thin, black hair that fell to the end of the neck. The man had long yet narrow brown eyes and olive skin, flesh somewhat toned from excessive training. A beautifully decorated, recurve bow hanged about his torso diagonally, held by the tensioned string; strung off a belt was a quiver full of expertly fletched arrows.
From a hand he allowed that the head of a poppy slipped into the hole, in hopes that it would fall near the center of the lake below, which, after pushed by a stale breeze, it came close to reaching. The sight could not confirm the exact moment of its landing, but once any sign of the flower disappeared from view, he knew it had somehow submerged. All he had left was further patient expectation.
With the passage of every second, that alien shine from within only grew more noticeable, as if a source of light ascended in response. Once it was so bright that the majority of the place had been lit teal, the glow intensified much faster until something finally arose.
Flying up to the Saint's height, a winged being emerged, apparently a twin of the one who visited the Pope in his dreams. Although their features were so similar, his skin was paler, his hair was darker and untied, and the feathers of his wings were black and torn. He shook them to rid off any wetness and maintained flight, exhibiting their span, although his state was decrepit enough that some fell off to reveal the epidermis.
His body was mostly draped in a scarlet cloth, with eyes that shone a threatening blood red rather than his twin's pale white. The hand he hid underneath the veil called attention to how much skinnier he was, lacking the healthy fat of his brother, despite both being equally delicate and feminine.
Surprised, the awaiting Saint took steps back as he saw the creature flap wings and land in front of him, bare feet to the rocks. "You… are not the Pope," the young man said with a sarcastic tone more sinister, and being closer it was clear he was relatively shorter than the visitor.
"I am Sagitta Ptolemy, and was sent by him after an arrow said to be in your possession," the Saint replied.
"Ah, what a shame. Could he not come in person at the least? How undesirable it makes me feel, that he would dream of my brother yet not come to meet me…" the other said with a suggestive tone, approaching Sagitta with sure steps. "I guess you will do." There was both seduction and threat in those words, and Ptolemy would've become more defensive if he did not trust his superior.
"Do you have the arrow?" he uncomfortably asked.
The being appeared disappointed that his teasing received no answer. "Hm… a straightforward man," he commented and pulled his hidden hand from the fabric. This revealed an arrow mostly made of stained metal, inscribed in its length with what seemed like Akkadian signs. Its quality was so enviable that it was perhaps more art than weapon, reinforcing to any future user that it was not to be wasted in battle. "Here is what you seek." After carefully grabbing it, Sagitta studied the cuneiform. "I suppose he is aware of its curse, so I will take my leave…" he paused and swayed slightly back, nearly falling back into the sinkhole. There he stopped and continued "… that is…"
Ptolemy was about to exit, but he tensed up at the words. When he looked back, he took in that wicked smile and, worst of all, the redness of the eyes pierced him deep, scrambling his very soul into confusion. There was something nefarious about that arrow, sure, but the one who brought it was no less unholy.
"… if you would not come with me a while, that I may reveal what lies beneath… the Devil's Well." He smiled more openly with those last words, as he himself did not call the sinkhole that.
"I must return at once," said Sagitta.
"You held on till the new moon, so what harm comes from a few more instants?"
The Saint saw himself morbidly drawn somehow, and when the thought of following that devil occurred to him, he censored it and took more steps back. He frowned, as it felt like some pure corner of himself had been stained. "W-what are you?" he questioned.
"What… am I?" The wings retracted, yet that smile opened maniacally. Thankfully, his eyes looked to the stars for an instant. "I am Thanatos, offspring of the beauteous night above, brother of Hypnos, the one your Pope so eagerly speaks to in his sleep. I have been in solitude those days, Saint, as you have. It is natural that we…"
"No, no," Sagitta refused, understanding well who he was, "were I to come with you, I would never return."
Thanatos spat a brief chuckle. "You fear falling for me."
"I fear falling for your trap."
With a concluding hum, the winged being therewith turned with back fully to the pit. Maintaining eye contact with the visitor, he fell freely towards the lake for a moment, until he propelled himself to pierce through the foggy surface. His shadow sunk alongside the strange lights, that soon faded back into darkness, and thus the area became as mundane as it once was.
Having processed the happening, Ptolemy stared at the arrow he was given. There lied the weapon the Pope had ordered him to bring to Sanctuary, which he promptly did. All the way up in the Temple of Athena, said artifact was handed to the Pope, who stood off the throne and examined it with awe. Once he pulled out a gauntlet, what he revealed was the ashy, fair skin of his hairy hand.
Against the exposed palm, he forced the arrow's edge and pulled on it to split a wound. Sagitta gazed inquisitively as the whole metal — from the fletch to the point — was rolled in fresh blood. As the Pope did that, he concentrated calculated Cosmos into the act, soaking the essence with the stain.
"A false idol is coming, Sagitta…" he said, so the Saint looked back to the Pope's mask "… and she plans to fool the poor souls in the grounds that she is the true Athena. Our Lady expects this, and so she arranged that this arrow be in your hands."
"Yes! What must I do, sir?"
"Hit the deceiver in the heart with this, and I will ensure her death." The arrow finally responded to the Cosmos and the blood in contact with it, and from it came an aura as subtle and diabolical as Thanatos'. The Pope flexed his hand at the sensation. "I can feel it! The power within now responds to mine. Take it," he said, offering it back to the archer. The fresh liquid stained the blue gauntlet and fingers, and the metal felt exceptionally warm. "Care for it until the moment arises."
Ptolemy nodded and took his leave, so the Pope sat back down on the throne. The thought of that struggle finally coming to a conclusion seemed to relieve him, since, with the aid of those nearly as mighty as the goddess he wished to defeat, he was much closer to his goals than ever before. As he saw it, a war was sure to break out, but it was no use to delay it; quite opposite, he longed for the occasion.
On his way down, still between the temples of Capricorn and Sagittarius, Sagitta crossed paths with Leo Aiolia. As they passed by each other, the Silver Saint bowed the head in minute respect, yet shared no words. The other, of course, questioned the Pope's next move, although he had urgent matters ahead.
Faced with the sign of Capricorn, he entered and searched through the first hall as he went for the back passage. Its guardian was not there, so he continued to the back area behind. The House of Capricorn was divided in four sections: one large hall adjoined by two smaller chambers on either side, those being a bedroom and a bath; behind it was an open back area with an altar and a panoramic view of the buildings below.
There the man was, Capricorn Shura, watching the grounds in silent meditation. Aiolia took in the details of his Gold Cloth; the shoulder pads had horns shorter than the much longer ones of the helmet, which he held in a hand. The details were in the richest assortment of golds of any other Cloth, depicting a fish-tailed goat diving into a river, the god Pan and his favored flute, Zeus' many hardships as an infant, and a half-serpent monster that once terrorized the earth.
Shura took note of his colleague's presence. "Aiolia, it has been a long time," he said.
"Are you busy?" Aiolia asked as he walked closer.
Capricorn took in Sanctuary's eternal night and responded: "In all fairness, I'd love to be busy right now."
"I've got questions about the past, if that won't be an issue."
The other's expression soured into seriousness, so all attention was given back to Leo. He let an instant of silence go by, to ascertain the message was to be absorbed. "What your brother did has nothing to do with you. I know what you went through as a child due to it, but you've proven yourself better than him and those who belittled you. Anyone should be honored to fight by your side," he said.
Aiolia simply nodded the whole time to not seem rude. "Thank you, but it's not that," he said, "it's that I wish to know if you have ever seen Lady Athena in person."
"Hm?" Shura raised an eyebrow. "Yes, I have, back when she was a baby."
"What did she look like?"
Returning to olden memories, Capricorn smiled in earnest. "Well, we cannot have children ourselves, but at that moment I felt what a father must feel upon meeting his child. It was as if everything made sense in an instant," he told.
"What was the color of her hair like?"
"Oh? Castaneous, and her eyes I remember were a deep green, skin fair…"
"Have you seen her since?"
Shura shook his head left and right, and as he looked down at the younger Saint, he couldn't help but interpret the whole situation as bizarre. Nonetheless, he answered: "I have not seen her grow at all. Ever since what happened… well, as you know, the Pope put her on lockdown."
"That's unfortunate," Leo commented with a sigh, looking to the grounds.
"Is there a problem, Aiolia? Don't get me wrong, but you're acting strange."
"Yes, yes, for a fact there is," he said. "The Cult asked Mu for news of Lady Athena's health, and none of us has any report. At least now I know the color of her eyes, if they have not lightened with age."
"You should ask the Pope."
Aiolia turned with a raised brow and a subtle, ironic grin. "Of course. I'm going there, but I wanted to hear from the others first," he told him.
"Do you have any more questions?"
In silence, he thought longer, gathering courage to dig out the bones. "Why do you think he did it?"
Capricorn stared a while, then his gaze was averted and he shrugged the shoulders. "When corruption befalls a man, what it brings may seem unreasonable to the righteous," he replied.
"I guess I see your point."
"But you tell me, when you were a kid, didn't he show any signs? Was he never selfish or conceited in private?"
"My last memories of him are of a good and humble man, one who would never do what he did. Your last memories of him, however, are the opposite."
"Those are difficult perspectives to reconcile," Shura remarked.
Aiolia breathed deeply and lowered his head. "I'd better go," he muttered.
"Wait, actually, you're wrong. My last memory of Aiolos wasn't of a traitor, but it also wasn't of a good man."
Leo looked on with confusion. If his brother's killer did not believe what he had always been told, that Aiolos was a traitor and apostate… "Then what was he?"
"It's difficult to put into words." Having said that, nonetheless, Shura sought a particular rock by an amphitheater in the grounds, the place where he had last seen — and believed to have fatally struck — Aiolos. He raised the right arm as if it were on display. "When I struck him with Excalibur, I did not kill him. I could have ended it there, yet I angled my arm away in hesitation. If for a moment, for a split second, I saw someone in his arms… castaneous hair, fair skin, but the eyes, oh I could not see." Aiolia's expression shifted into consternation, and Capricorn turned to him, knowing he deserved such enlightenment. "It was impossible to tell whether it was a trick, an impression… I let him go. When about to follow the trail of blood to Earth, I did not dare. I could not understand, why not don his Cloth? Why not fight back to protect his own life? I never got answers, but it did not matter to me, because he confronted Sanctuary. Of that I have no doubts."
Aiolia's eyes glistened, but he shut them and walked off the platform whereon they stood. "Thank you for telling me that," he said.
"No problem, friend. I'll see you another time, or so I hope."
Heading towards the last temple, Leo waved nonchalantly. It was then that Athena's words felt so vindicated by evidence that he became certain of his next move. There was no more time for suspicion, only fact.
"… what do you mean, alive?" the Pope said later on, after his arrival. Aiolia had presented himself in front of the throne, helmet under an armpit.
"As alive as I remembered her, so it wouldn't surprise me if other Silver Saints survived and defected," said Aiolia.
"That is worrisome news. Upon Crux's return, he claimed no evidence of their survival. Did you deal with her?"
"I dealt with her and Pegasus, whom she protected."
The Pope chuckled quietly under the mask. "Perhaps I should have sent a Gold Saint before any else. I assume it felt personal, but you have purified your veins with their deaths, Leo. Your brother's soul weeps, and Lady Athena will be most pleased," he said.
"Right," Aiolia curtly spoke, digging fingers into a palm.
"And the Sagittarius Cloth?"
"They did not hint at its location."
"Sure, that's the least of our worries. Soon enough it will be in our hands."
"I expect so," the Saint continued, and thus he leaned to walk around the throne. "I'll go see Lady Athena now."
Seeing that sudden, rash decision, the Pope was taken aback, stood, and tilted his head at the man. "Excuse me…?"
Without eyeing him, Leo stopped. "The Cult has asked for a detailed report on her state a long time ago. Being here, I will be the one to finally do it," he explained.
"Lady Athena wishes not to be disturbed," said the Pope in response.
"When is she taking visitations?"
"Please, allow me to be the one that writes such report. We would not want to bother her at a moment so sensitive, with so many Saints dying and deserting."
Aiolia finally turned, this time with a smile that both exposed defiance and tranquil. "Sir, she's a goddess, she lives to be pestered. That's what the Cult exists for, so I'm sure she'll comprehend," he said, so he continued on to the svelte door behind the throne, and the Pope followed around it to stop only a few meters away.
"Leo!" he yelled.
In that instant, the Saint turned the handle, albeit without opening the door. "Yes?"
"Are you absolutely certain of this?"
Again, he did not look back, saying: "If she's angered, I'll take the blame. I'll lie that I stormed in." There was quietude thereafter, and without additional protest, Aiolia opened and passed the door to Athena's quarters.
His boots stepped over intricate tiles of marble, and in the dark chamber beyond was a smaller statue of the goddess, under a spear, helmet, large shield, and armor; although it was intact, the sculpture was not properly maintained, with signs of dust, spider webs in the edges, and darkened spots on the medium. He took quick note of that and swiftly went past to the side, entering the darker chambers beyond.
Seeing that he had disappeared in pitch black, the Pope slowly and cautiously ingressed the quarters, rising his Cosmos in preparation for a clash. It was clear to both what had just occurred, and with no signs of Athena ever being there, Aiolia had the final proof he needed to join the side of Seiya and the others.
Past the entry point, the Pope also invaded the area draped in total shadow, and therein he patiently waited, seeking to sense the Gold Saint's position. The first strike came. "LIGHTNING FANG!"
In place of the labyrinthine lights of his usual move, Leo sent a stupendously fast rend of space itself, the flash illuminating the chamber's contents for a split second. Caught by surprise, the Pope just about dodged, yet the helmet was hit in full and his head was uncovered, as was that long, graying hair.
He threw the robes aside and came with a similar speed to slam Aiolia's next punch off center. What ensued was a series of lightning bursts from both sides, the Pope somehow appearing as two whenever he advanced. Despite that, Leo was quick enough to see through the movements, and overwhelmed him with a series of energy bursts to the chest.
Aiolia's speed grew such that he tackled the enemy with brutal force back into the entrance hall, falling over him and slamming him down against the tiles by the throat. There was torch light coming from the throne room, barely illuminating a section of the area, and as soon as his eyes were accommodated to the dimness, he recognized whom he saw.
"It's… it's you!" he muttered in disbelief. Taking the chance, the Pope responded with a growl prior to kicking the Saint upwards in the chest. Aiolia rotated midair and counterattacked down with a claw-like strike of a hand.
This the Pope parried with the swing of an elbow, whose momentum he used to spin in place and then shove himself into Leo's position. As he saw the other lean back to defend, he extended the right arm ahead and pointed an index finger straight into the man's eye.
"DEMON EMPEROR FIST!" Violet light invaded his vision and glared to blind him momentarily, but the effect its secret had in his brain was the true horror. It gained a grasp on his mind beyond what Phoenix's Demon Fist could ever achieve, and even Leo saw himself paralyzed.
The Pope safely lowered the arm and took steps back, breathing deeply. Aiolia's muscles tensioned, and so he fell to a knee, curling fingers and grabbing the helmet with force. A pressure in the brain warned him that something was incredibly wrong, and as pain needled his skull, he felt consciousness begin to wither. "W-what… what is this? What have you done to me?" he said with a strained tone.
A grin was visible on the Pope's face as he spoke: "Hush now, Leo Aiolia. Return to your post and stand your ground against the traitors."
Leo's fingers lastly stiffened, and then he assumed a calm demeanor. He stood and stared blankly at the other's shadowed face, pupils bearing a glimmer of the same shade as the light that enslaved him. Within his mind was a struggle that he continuously lost against the grasps of that illusion, lacking the mental fortitude to escape it, and it was clear to the Pope that he had won. Overwhelmed by satisfaction, the Pope cackled loud enough that his voice filled the chambers where Athena should reside, certainly as an affront to her authority.
Indeed, Athena and the Saints would've regressed to Sanctuary at once if not for many reasons, one of them being the fact that Seiya and Shaina had been injured in their fight, the latter much more than the first. By necessity, they hid back in the vacation home and waited for the right moment, even though this came with special requirements.
It was early afternoon when Athena and Tatsumi waved at a woman from the porch. "See you!" the goddess said to her.
The woman, who worked as a nurse, waved back before entering a sedan. "See you, Miss Kido! Remember to clean the wounds every few hours!" she said.
"I will," Athena confirmed with a bright smile. With that the woman drove off, and so the two came back inside. Dressed in a long white t-shirt and jeans, Shaina was the only one in the living room, fixing the mask and covered in many bandages. "We're done, so you can come back in, everyone!"
"Alright!"
Seiya, Shun, and June were the ones who re-entered from the corridor, all of them in civilian clothes. They took places on chairs around a table by the entrance, apart from Seiya, who sat on the couch's arm next to Shaina. "Did it hurt a lot?" he asked.
"It hurts intermittently," she said.
"With how fast you're recovering, the pain should go away soon, Miss Shaina," Shun told her.
"You people don't plan to wait for me to heal before you go to Sanctuary, do you?"
"O-of course we do, Shaina!" Seiya said.
"That's ridiculous."
Shun cleared their choice to her, saying: "As it stands, you're the strongest of us. We're safer with you on our side."
"You will not be alone there one way or the other. You will have Marin in addition to whomever she recruited, and if Aiolia can come down from his temple, he will be a great asset."
Shun squinted and whispered: "Asset?"
"It's whatever, we can't go until Shiryu is back from China anyway," June reminded them.
In the back porch, first Cygnus and then Phoenix dropped from above, both wearing the Cloths, unlike the others. They noticed their arrival through the hazy glass of the sliding door, and could hear them exchange joyous words.
"It's not fair, I don't know the forest well yet," Ikki said to him.
Hyoga laughed. "That's your excuse?"
"You'll see how fast I can go when I'm used to it."
Cygnus opened the door and chuckled one last time, and after he entered, Ikki slid it shut behind them. "The coast is clear again," Hyoga said.
"But I doubt things will stay this way forever," Ikki warned and looked to Athena. "Your errand boy needs to come back quick."
Seiya agreed, saying: "Yeah! What was the errand you sent him to?"
"He is to warn his master of our imminent entry into Sanctuary," Athena answered.
"Oh, then he shouldn't take long." To that she shook her head negatively. "No?"
"Old Master is probably holding him back. That is something I planned for," she said.
"What? Why would he hold him back?"
"As the sentinel, we know Old Master is also a Saint. He is aware that, as you are, you will not stand a chance against the Gold Saints, not even as a team."
"Jeez, way to lower our self-esteem…" When Seiya said that, Shaina slapped his shoulder to shut him up. "Ow!"
Athena continued her explanation: "We learned that he has close contact with Libra. If Shiryu is held back, this means Libra has not left for Sanctuary."
"Eh? I don't get how that's connected," June commented.
"You see, what you lack and the Gold Saints possess is unlikely to be stumbled upon by accident. Only those who have achieved or surpassed it may teach to obtain it. Without that, certain death is the only end in store for you on the way to my temple, and thus Old Master would not permit Shiryu to come until he has learned it. Apart from me, Libra is his only viable candidate for a teacher, so he must be there."
"What is this power that we lack?" Hyoga asked.
Athena walked to the middle of the living room and shut her eyes. "In some schools of Buddhism, its equivalent is known as the Manas-vijnana, the Seventh Consciousness," she said and turned back to the Saints, "but in Sanctuary, we have come to known it as the Seventh Sense."