This fanfiction is my take on what I wanted the Netflix show's source material to be like. It's essentially a rewrite and reimagining of Saint Seiya, made in prose so I'm free to express myself. It's a chimera out of fanfiction, head canon, manga, anime, and noncanon material (e.g. the 2014 film and Heaven Chapter).

Despite following the general timeline of the manga until Heaven Chapter, there are many major differences, some being: Chameleon June is in the main cast with her own background story, Shaina and Marin eventually appear a lot more, Seika is a reasonably different character in the end, and there are new Bronze and Silver Saints.

It's noticeable that I want to reinforce female characters in the story without ruining Saint Seiya's original concept. I believed Netflix wanted to update the themes to a modern, Western audience, and I'm seeking a middle ground that is not disrespectful of the manga's bishounen, although disrespectful changes are sure to come. I'll try to make it all work anyhow.

There will also be complete restructuring of underlying mechanics, from how the Cosmos and senses work, to training and the nature of the Underworld. Therefore, despite the story looking quite similar to the manga on the surface, it mostly just shares a similar timeline and concept.

I don't see this as "fixing Saint Seiya", I just see this as a fun exercise in creativity, a nice "what-if", as I was extremely disappointed with Netflix's usage of the franchise's license. I hope this is fun to someone else as well.

Prologue

Even before the Heroic Age, at the peak of Mount Olympus resided the twelve gods venerated across human cultures. They were known as the Twelve Olympians. It was one of them, the goddess Athena, who inherited the Earth from her father, Zeus, king of the Olympians. Athena took it to herself to vie for love and justice, and to protect humanity from all ill that might befall it.

Taken by pride and envy, Poseidon, the Olympian who presided over the seas, waged holy war against Athena and humanity for control over Earth. It was then that the goddess sought the aid of a race of alchemists, from the now lost continent of Mu, to select a group of warriors who would aid and lead her armies in their battle against Poseidon. Said warriors were called Saints, and they were wholly loyal to Athena.

For each Saint there was a constellation which protected them, and so each Saint was also known after the name of their guardian constellation. Athena asked the alchemists of Mu to forge suits of armor known as Cloth, and they obliged. Since there came to be a Cloth for each constellation, wearing a Cloth became proof that one was a Saint.

The time came when Athena and her Saints defeated Poseidon and his underlings, and she sealed his envious spirit away in the Arctic, where it was unlikely to be found. Seven generations after this holy war, the people of Mu erected a polis standing amid a dimensional intersection. In it, Athena and her Saints could dwell safely, and because her Saints often rested there, this place came to be known as Sanctuary.

Sanctuary was a massive structure, natural in appearance yet artificial in construction, contained within a dome of energy and suspended somewhere in the Milky Way. The stars shone brightly and colorfully in its skyline, cosmic dust weaving between them, and although some structures were founded upon the rocks and dirt, others were magically founded upon the very air, interconnected by wide floating stairways that culminated into the Temple of Athena. There her great statue was erected, watching over the Saints and soldiers, blessing all with her love.

One couldn't tell night from day in Sanctuary, but it's no matter to those who lived there. It was a quiet moment that once, most were already asleep apart from those in charge of patrolling the vicinity and the secret passages to Earth. Going up the floating temples, however, a struggle initiated, and this peaceful silence was soon broken.

"Traitor!" someone screamed. Several Saints moved at unimaginable speeds down the grand flight of stairs, already quite far from the Temple of Athena. A young man, the one being chased, could run so quickly he left a trail of light behind him, betraying his position for even if a split second. A voice from afar echoed once more: "Stop running, traitor!"

The hunted man stopped for a moment, hidden betwixt the pillars of a temple. His brown eyes stared down at something he held in his muscular, tanned arms. His short, curly hair was a mess from the chase, and he had some extra weight with him, an adorned golden box with the sign of Sagittarius in its sides.

"Aiolos, give up!" The other Saints had arrived at his location, and so he continued his escapade. As he did so, another bolt of light cut through the air from behind, striking the pillar nearest where he stood. The Saint who did this stopped and looked down at the stairway, and whereas Aiolos' skin was tan, his was light, and his tighter eyes frowned in a deep rage. This man wore a golden Cloth that covered most of the body, with horns crowning the shoulders, and a white cape that flew with his every movement. Wearing no helmet, his short black hair was exposed, as if he had little patience to prepare for the chase.

Other five Saints came after this one, Cloths nowhere as beautifully detailed. Once they arrived, the pillar that Gold Saint had hit exposed a cut at its base and began to collapse as a result.

"Shura! Did he already pass this place?" one of the Saints asked.

The Gold Saint didn't answer. He seemed overwhelmed with fury. "I will cut you in pieces and…" A sonic boom was heard as he, once again, went after Aiolos and vanished. The other Saints followed suit, although it was clear they would never keep up with the two.

A show of lights ensued between Shura and Aiolos, passing from stairway to temple, from temple to stairway, until they reached the Sanctuary's grounds and their conflict grew uglier. There Shura finally lunged at the other with a kick, hurling him against the side of a rocky hill. To protect whatever he held, the so-called traitor had to turn mid air and tighten his embrace.

He would've tried to get up immediately if Shura didn't so quickly appear by his side, right arm raised upwards. "Pay for your sin!" he said. His right arm produced a flash of energy, and once he waved it down at Aiolos, it magically sliced through part of his body. Surprisingly, Shura held back, having finally noticed what his former friend in fact carried, and he stared in shock as a river of blood splattered from the man's back. If for a few centimeters, the cut would've reached the precious someone Aiolos carried. "You…"

Aiolos didn't risk himself any further, proceeding to escape despite the heavy injury. For some reason, Shura refused to follow, so the Saint ran through a vast theater and crossed a one-way portal hidden in its underground. On the other side, he saw himself in a ruined temple of Athena, this time the sun casting hard shadows over marble, announcing he had been transported to Earth.

He ran and ran on, coming out this temple and into the ruins of an acropolis, the blue sky a huge contrast with the starry panorama of Sanctuary. As more and more blood left him, Aiolos began to lose strength, and he had his body fall behind a broken wall, He unstrapped the box from the back and looked down at what he carried.

An auburn-haired baby girl was deep asleep and unscathed despite the chaos of the chase, as if somehow the warmth of a Saint made her feel protected no matter the surroundings. "Thankfully, you are fine… you live. That is all that matters, that is all that matters!" he said, and now there was some joy in his tone, as bitter as it was. That man's time surely was coming to an end; such great volume of blood exited his body that the ground beneath became stained scarlet.

Shy steps approached Aiolos' predicament. An old tourist in a sharp black suit, a camera in both hands, and a black backpack around his torso. "What happened to you? Are you alright?" As he asked, he crouched near the bleeding Saint and scanned around to get him medical attention.

"Wait, do not call for help! Listen to me, and listen carefully," Aiolos said, revealing the child in his arms, "this little girl is the reincarnation of the goddess Athena. Without her, this world and its people are doomed."

"What? Athena?"

"Whatever you do, protect this girl with your life, and hide her identity until she is needed." He lifts the baby up to the old man, who hurriedly puts the camera into his backpack and takes her. "I am a Saint, a protector of Athena, and there are many others like me." Aiolos nods to the golden box beside him. "In there lies my Cloth. Once you've gathered other Saints, use this Cloth to lure the enemy."

"What do you…"

"Listen! This Gold Cloth is very precious to the enemy. All you must know is that our Pope is a traitor. Do you understand?"

"I… I think I do," the older man was almost taken aback now, but the seriousness in Aiolos' voice seemed to convince there had to be some truth in what he said.

"Remember every word I spoke here today. The future of the Earth depends on this girl! You must protect her!"

"Yes… yes! I give you my word."

"Good. Be on your way and do not look back. Leave a Saint to die in peace." Having said that, the Saint turned to the side and sighed, shutting his eyes. For a moment the older man faltered to leave, to think that a happening so bizarre could pick a tourist like him, as if fate had put him in that acropolis for good reason.

Haply it was fate, if there is such a thing, that granted the mortal vessel of Athena to this tourist. He had a great fortune under his name, with more than enough resources to ensure the girl was raised as one believes a goddess would. Returning to his home country, Japan, this man registered the baby as a foundling, raising her as if he were her grandfather.

This tourist — this businessman was Mitsumasa Kido, and he named the little girl Saori. The reason fate would've chosen one such as Kido is that, not only was he so affluent, yet he was also obsessed with Ancient history and Greek mythology, hence his traveling to that one acropolis in the outskirts of Athens. With such a fascinating story in hands, Kido did not shy away from researching the words of the Saint he had met.

Apart from the usual history encyclopedias at his disposal at the time, he had to use contacts and money to find further knowledge on Saints, esoteric insight that few possessed if not as rumors and local legends. To the end of this mission, Kido created the Graad Foundation. With a front of an organization seeking to promote the teaching of martial arts around the globe, the Graad Foundation was in fact a tool its founder devised to do as Aiolos told him before his death.

Once he learned more of the Saints, the Cloths, and where to unearth them, Mitsumasa Kido laid down a path for his organization, a path that would echo in the lives of Saori and the many affected by his deeds. The following is a retelling of those echoes in history.