WARNING: Violence, injury.

What Lurks In Darkness

Everyone had been escorted out of the arena at the end of Pegasus and Dragon's fight, and many speculated that the next fight would no longer happen after a near death. Rumors spread around as they tend to, until production decided to ask Saori herself. It was Tatsumi who approached her in her cabin for a definite answer. "Miss Kido, excuse me."

"Yes?"

"Do we continue with the Hydra and Cygnus fight?"

"Of course," she answered with immediacy. "We will probably have to postpone the next Pegasus fight, so it is best to let this go on, lest they start demanding refunds."

"Understood," he said and left to pass on the decision to crew members.

Saori was preoccupied, no matter the fact she had just seen Hyoga help Seiya and his friends. There was no telling what would happen next. "Without any other Saints prepared to fight, Hyoga might cause the death we have been meaning to avoid," she said to herself. He was visible from where she sat, waiting in the Saints' benches. "Do not do it, Hyoga."

With a go given, the announcer dispelled the speculation in the audience; the second match was indeed going to happen. "Sorry for the delay, we are back for the last fight of the second stage! Come in, Cygnus Hyoga! Hydra Ichi!" he spoke into the microphone.

The two convened around the center of the arena. Ichi seemed much older than his age of nineteen, with a skinny, angular face, deep set eyes and caved in cheeks. He had a taste to shave his black hair down to a long mohawk that fell to his lower back, despite being marginally more rebellious than his friends. Covering the body over a white sleeveless t-shirt and white pants was the Hydra Cloth, a purple-tinged set of armor entirely made of plates shaped like scales, placed in series to form each individual piece. The head part covered it decently, with long cheeks and edged tops. The circlet part was decorated with three oblong glass gems, the largest one placed in the center of the forehead. Unique to this Cloth was the inclusion of three long curved claws like fangs, each rising from behind the gauntlet's knuckles. With how lengthy and gaunt they were, one would expect them to be at risk of breaking; in the other hand, with such sharp ends, it didn't seem they would break without causing damage.

That Saint seemed like an unsavory individual through and through. He couldn't help but snicker whenever he spoke, and his voice was hoarse like a snake's hiss. "Oh, I'll make you pay for what you did to Ban!" he said. Hyoga breathed deeply. On second thought, there was nothing he could say to deal with that grudge, so he simply prepared for battle.

With its start, Hydra advanced uncontrollably at Cygnus, always swinging and spinning the fangs as weapons. Hyoga preferred to dodge, which came easy at first. A couple bumps against the hip were enough to push Ichi off balance, however, he constantly responded using the fangs without fail.

Then came a moment when the weapons could not be avoided, and Hyoga was forced to defend. They penetrated straight into the small shield in the left gauntlet, drawing tiny cracks around the entrance point. With a sweep of the other arm, he broke off three of the fangs and smacked Ichi in the face all at once, rolling back afterwards.

Hydra spat on the floor and cackled with that revolting tone of his. "Break them as many times as you want." He lifted an arm to show the results: where the fangs had just been broken, new ones slowly sprouted, ready for use. "My fangs will regrow, like the Hydra's head, and I will continue piercing you over and over again, filling you with my venom. By the end of this fight, your lungs will be paralyzed, and either you will end up in a hospital bed like Ban…" a vengeful grin came to his face "… or in an early grave. Give up, Hyoga!"

Without changing expression, Hyoga simply leapt in for his offensive. Hydra could barely keep up with the rush, but he abused his fangs much like before. To his dismay, the opponent abused something else, gelid punches that soon stiffened his joints and cooled his greatest weapons.

He was soon surprised by a kick that struck the side of the neck, and the weight was such he got thrust out, spinning and landing onto the hands and knees to brace for the continuous onslaught. In a desperate move, he hit Hyoga in the chest with the fangs, but this time they crumbled into dust, as they had already been frozen. Cygnus responded with a punch so violent his fist created a shock wave before hitting Ichi's head.

Hyoga walked over to the fallen foe, who now bled from the mouth. He stared at Cygnus in terror, babbling: "A-are you invincible? You should be stumbling from the venom by now!"

"Much like your fangs are worthless when frozen, so is their venom," the other explained. "It was frozen once it touched the surface of this icy Cloth." He showed the cracked gauntlet, only a chip now left in the spot of Ichi's attack. "In other words, your fangs were rendered useless by the Cygnus Cloth."

As Hyoga raised an elbow and pointed the fist down, Hydra shut his eyes at the prospect of death. "Ban... I tried, but I just couldn't do it. I'm sorry!"

"DIAMOND DUST!"

Hydra was partially covered in ice and, with the blasts of wind it sustained, his Cloth cracked into many pieces. Seeing that the Saint was no longer moving, the countdown began, yet Hyoga loomed over him. Saori stood again and walked to the edge of the cabin, watching intently. "Stop. It's over," she whispered, trusting that the young man had a change of heart.

Cygnus lowered his gaze and sighed in regret. "I am sorry for what I did to your friend, Ichi," he mumbled before walking to the exit. Soon the countdown ended and he was declared the winner as soon as he had left the arena, not bothering to stay any longer. A sigh of relief escaped Saori's lips. Shockingly, this was the least serious battle of the two for the day, unexpected of Hyoga after his clash with Lionet.

Ichi wouldn't have to receive a lot of medical attention once consciousness returned him, however, the same could not be said of Seiya and Shiryu. They spent the next few days in a Graad Hospital, built beside the Colosseum especially to take in Saints who were hurt in the fights. It was in Miss Kido's interest to offer them the best healthcare available after all.

Shiryu rested faster than his opponent. There were no serious repercussions after how Seiya helped him, but the latter would have to stay a little longer until he was carefully discharged. Lying in his hospital bed, Pegasus had large bandages tied around the forehead and the sides, with smaller ones over certain wounds of the face and body. The swelling and bruising had mostly subsided, if not for some funny-looking spots here and there.

Who came to visit him that day were two people: a similarly bandaged Shiryu, and Shunrei with a bouquet of yellow carnations. As soon as Seiya saw the flowers, he grimaced and complained: "Aw, man… now I'm the one getting flowers."

"Oh, is there a problem?" Shunrei asked.

"No, no. Put them in the jar by the window." Shunrei did so as the men chatted.

"Seiya, I am very thankful for what you did in the Colosseum. You had no obligation to save me, but you did so nonetheless. Thank you," Shiryu thanked him and bowed, to which the other waved the hands to brush off.

"Ah, don't mention it. Despite all of those years, I can't help but see you and Hyoga as my friends. I couldn't let you die like that."

They fell quiet for a few seconds. Shiryu widened an eye a few times, catching attention to a large swelling on his brow caused by one of the harder hits he took, thus the two laughed at their own appearances.

"We really roughened each other out there," Seiya said.

"Yeah… but what was the point?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why do you want the Gold Cloth so badly?"

"Huh?" Seiya shook the head negatively. "No, you got it all wrong! I don't care about the Gold Cloth. We didn't even know about this Gold Cloth thing when I decided to participate."

"Is that so? Why fight like that then?"

"It's Saori. She promised me the Graad Foundation would do everything in its power to find my sister if I won. Not just to me, she promised the same to Shun, to find his brother."

"Ikki…"

"Mhm. She might be playing us like a fiddle, but I have nothing else to go with right now, so I decided to take part in it despite disagreeing with the tournament," Seiya explained. "Even if I lose, I'm on TV, and my sister might see me that way."

Shiryu gave a nod and clarified his own reason: "I was sent here by my master to take the Gold Cloth. He feared it could fall into the wrong hands, though now I believe he did not speak of Saints like the two of us."

"Shiryu and I have been noticing strange movements around the Colosseum, as if someone watched from the shadows," said Shunrei.

"Yes. I noticed them the first time I visited the Colosseum, but once Shunrei told me she caught a decent glimpse of them too, I was certain of it." Shiryu crossed the arms and rested a hand against his chin. "I wonder when they first arrived in Japan."

Seiya's thoughts raced, and the logic behind this seemed obvious to him. "Then… this means…"

"Someone has come to steal the Gold Cloth, and they are planning to strike while we are at out weakest," Dragon concluded.

Pegasus slammed the mattress. "Damn it! We're at our weakest right now! Do you think Saori knows anything about it?"

"I highly doubt it. She seemed too worried about Hyoga's antics to give this the attention it deserves."

"Then what should we do?"

"There is nothing we can do but wait. Without our Cloths, you and I are sitting ducks, so I'll have to find a way to repair them."

"That's true. I'm not even sure repairing them is possible."

"Old Master must know something about repairing your Cloths," Shunrei suggested.

"Hmmm, good idea…" Shiryu spoke with a nod. "We should return to China with the Cloths and ask him about that."

"Alright, and what do I do while you guys are away?" Seiya asked.

"It seems only the three of us are aware of this at the moment. You should warn Shun, June, and maybe Hyoga."

"And Saori…?"

"I... am not sure." Shiryu closed the eyes in thought for a brief moment, unable to make out her character. Compared to her grandfather, Saori seemed like a less predictable person to him. "I don't know if I trust her."

"We're on the same boat," Pegasus reiterated.

"Shun is the first one who must hear this though. Do you remember how his fight with Jabu went?"

Memories of the match between Andromeda and Unicorn came to them, especially the way Jabu tried to negate Shun's chain, to no avail. Seiya confirmed it: "Oh, I do. Shun's chain tracked Jabu when he attacked from above."

"Exactly. The Andromeda Chain is able to sense and track down Shun's enemies whenever they are nearby. If these shadows are our enemies, we should be able to find them using the chain."

"I will warn Shun as soon as I meet him," he assured his friends. "I hope this works, Shiryu."

"Shunrei and I will leave as soon as I have my discharge papers."

"Alright. They took the Pegasus Cloth back into the mansion with the others. Tell Tatsumi that I've entrusted it to you."

Shiryu smiled. "I promise I will come back with it, hopefully restored."

"Great!"

"See you later, Seiya," Shiryu walked away with a wave.

Shunrei waved too, wishing him health: "Get well soon!"

"Thank you, you two. Good luck!"

The Saints didn't have to do as much promotional work at that point in the competition, and since most was optional in the end, the Saints who won no longer found reasoning in accepting requests from magazines and TV shows. Shun was the most popular by far, followed by June after Jabu was taken out of the competition. For a while his liking was all over Japan, at times as far as advertisements he hadn't given permission to be in. The attention — initially tolerable — became a nuisance.

It wasn't long for the boy to grow tired of it, as it was never his intention to be a celebrity. Being much more friendly with Saori meant he had trouble saying no at first, though with the photographers and journalists following him nonstop, his patience grew thin.

He rolled his eyes during a visit to the Graad Hospital that afternoon. June and Miho came after him, being escorted by security to cross a way opened solely to permitted visitors. An unending torrent of flashes blinded them; Shun had already learned to deal with them and wore round sunglasses even when it was dark out.

"The fans want to know, June, what do you look like under the mask?" a journalist with a recorder asked.

"Very cute!" June answered simply.

"Shun, is it true that you and June are dating?"

"No, we are friends," he answered, monotone.

"So is this other cute girl your girlfriend?"

"No, we are friends."

"Oooh, so does that mean you're single?"

He had enough, it seemed. With an uncharacteristic brusqueness, the boy turned and pointed to the street, yelling: "Alright, leave!" The paparazzi nearby jumped in place. To those who wished to uncover every detail of a famous Saint's life, it was already known that one could smite them with naught but a punch. When one's strength was this notorious, dealing with nosy people was as simple as frowning at them or ordering them to leave, and with that the journalists shut their mouths and apologized.

June whispered to Miho in between giggles: "See? I told you he gets scary when he's mad."

The other girl giggled at that as well, but they were interrupted by Shun calling them far ahead. "Let's go in, girls."

"Right behind you, Shun!" They hastened their pace to not toy with his patience any longer.

The three went all the way to a room, Andromeda having already taken off his sunglasses. Upon entering, Seiya's disappointment was instantaneous at the sight of a bouquet of red roses in Miho's arms. "You've got to be kidding me, man! More flowers?" he said.

"I told Miho you would not like them, but she insisted," Shun revealed with a chuckle.

It was Miho who first jogged to Seiya's side, crouching there and inquiring: "Hey, are you feeling better?"

"Yeah, don't worry. It was just a little knock to the head."

"A little knock to the head? A little knock to the head!" She pouted and pointed at his face. "Your face is one big wound! Do you have any idea how worried I've been?"

"Sheesh, calm down, Miho. I'm fine. The doc said I'm healing fast."

"Do not worry too much," said Shun. "Saints heal fast, and Seiya is a tough guy."

"Hm, just make sure to rest well," the girl muttered.

"I will, I promise, okay?" Seiya assured, so she nodded and got up to leave the flowers in the jar by the window. Seeing Shun and June, he remembered the talk he had earlier that day. "Oh, before I forget, I need to tell you guys something."

"What is it?"

"Shiryu and his girlfriend went to find a way that our Cloths might get repaired, and they told me we might have a problem."

"Eh?"

"They've both seen signs of people planning to steal the Gold Cloth."

Shun nodded slowly, saying: "Hm, of course, I would have expected an attempt at this point, but with so many Saints about, it makes sense that they would wait."

"So you noticed it too?"

"I thought I was overthinking." Shun remembered how his chain reacted in the Colosseum. "There were a few moments while I wore my Cloth in the Colosseum that my square chain reacted. It first happened when Hyoga was around, but he could not be the threat. The chain refused to point directly at him."

"Shiryu did say your chain would be our best bet at finding whoever this is."

"He is probably right."

June rested her hands on her waist, head falling to the side in exhaustion as she spoke: "So now we're expecting to be attacked in the next stage, as if we didn't have enough problems."

"This sounds scary," Miho commented.

"Without your Cloth, they have postponed your fight with Shun, but my fight with Hyoga is still up," June reminded. "I'll stall it, then Shun can use his chain to search for those people."

"Should we tell Hyoga about it?" Seiya wondered.

Hyoga had been nicer in the last stage of the tournament, even helping save Shiryu's life, but Shun preferred to err on the side of caution: "Not yet. Let us approach him more carefully."

"No worries, I have an idea on what to do about Hyoga. Do you guys have any suggestions on who these people might be?" June said.

"No idea."

"It could be Saints from Sanctuary," was Shun's hypothesis, "it would not surprise me if they wanted the Gold Cloth back."

June disagreed: "Sanctuary is brimming with Saints much stronger than us. They would've probably attacked before the tournament even started."

"You make a good point."

"Well, there's no point in speculating! What matters is that we need to be prepared for when they attack," Seiya said.

Crossing her arms and walking to the open windows, June took in the orange sky and the darkening clouds, then looked down at the few journalists yet insisting in front of the hospital. The media and the audience would witness something much more serious than the battles the Bronze Saints took part in, and this time there would be no limit to how much blood could be spilled. "Seems there will be even more to the Galaxian Wars than these people expect."