WARNING: Blood, death, injury, minor gore.

Athena's Shortcoming

The noise of Cerberus' heads clanging in the air as they whirled above were the only thing heard for a few moments in the Kido Mansion's hall. With claws raised, Shaina felt the Cosmos peak, so she shouted and went after fellow Silver Saints. Hyoga followed her, whereas Shun sent the chains as support.

"THUNDER CLAW!" the amazon screamed, and Dio put all his effort into avoiding the lightning. In such vulnerable moment, the Andromeda Chain was finally able to catch his ankle and pull him to the ground.

"Got you," Shun said satisfied, but his expression changed when Shaina came to scratch the face of the fallen Musca. Were it not for Dante's flail, he would've died right there; the woman hurled her body up and flipped, avoiding one of the flying heads. Andromeda, however, was taken by surprise and tripped on the chain, falling with his back to the carpet.

Dante hurried to pull the chains back, as Hyoga had dodged them and approached to cover him in blows. He tanked well through them, and parried with enough speed despite how much of a honed fighter Cygnus had become. To his dismay, Shaina came after him too and dominated the front. With the Bronze Saint's aid coming through the means of icy punches launched around her acrobatic kicks and scratches, he felt failure encroaching dangerously.

"Too much!" he complained, then flung the flail again with much Cosmos, a desperation move. At that moment, Shaina booted him harshly in the breastplate, using it as a platform to somersault and avoid the oncoming ends of the weapon.

Hyoga felt that was the perfect moment to advance, yelling: "DIAMOND DUST!" The spheres continued on their radius towards a wall, but were that soon pulled back with Cerberus' body while violent cold winds thrusted him back. When he reached the back of the hall, he fell and grunted, pieces of his Cloth deeply frosted.

Seeing what he thought was an opportunity, Cygnus took a stride, but when Dante promptly slammed the heads down on the floor, he had to stop on his tracks. The swing had been so brusque that some of the ice on the right arm loudly cracked.

Shaina then attempted an attack from the side, thus Dante pulled the flail in that direction too, all the way into the wall behind, opening three holes dwarfed by Algethi's crater. First the woman rolled, and, although it seemed the heads of Cerberus were stuck, the Silver Saint potently pulled them in the opposite trajectory, forcing the foes to escape and stand each on one side.

Dante furled his brow and pulled the flail's chains closer, yet again rotating the heads above. "What cowardice, two against one…" he said.

"You know the reality of war, Cerberus," argued Shaina. "When your comrade dies, you are down a combatant and the enemy has the advantage."

His eyes wandered to Sirius' mangled body on the side of the room, and with that he felt angst fill his heart. "You will pay!" The heads spun faster as he transferred energy through the chains, and it had gotten to the point that the dark metal at the fangs and noses glowed orange, and even for fighters as trained as them, it seemed impossible to read their location.

What came was an incomprehensible flurry of tosses, each head acting independently and at unbelievable velocities. Shaina read what she could and went as far as stepping off one of them to evade the impressive attack, but didn't see a chain and got caught in it, losing balance in the middle of her leap. Hyoga bent the whole body back and was missed by the first swing, but from the other side came another head which he didn't read, and his upper thigh was fully pierced by the collar spikes, which penetrated the Cygnus Cloth with superior material and added heat. The weight meant he was lifted and dropped to the floor, yelling in pain.

Dante sped in with the intent of catching Ophiuchus, and he did throw her back, that was until she corrected herself mid air and grabbed at the carpet to land with both feet well planted. She counter-attacked by running and spinning in the air so that her boots struck him twice, the first weak and the second hard. The man was dizzied and stumbled slightly, and the helmet flew off his head, losing him precious protection.

She landed beside Hyoga, keeping eyes on the enemy. "Cygnus, can you get up?" she asked him.

"Yes… he got me good there," he said with a groan. Hands cold, he pulled out the hot head and spike out of its deep wound in the leg, but a stream of blood spurted out an instant, and a deep burn inside made him whine more.

Dante smiled and prepared the chains. "The teeth of Cerberus dripped with the poisonous aconite, which it used as a venom. The pain will subside soon, but it will take a while until you can move that leg," he explained, pulling the heads back and spinning them like before. "If you're lucky, I might kill you before you're fully immobile, traitor!"

Hyoga got up with difficulty, Shaina aiding him only with a single arm. The stiffness in his left leg was proof of that Saint's words, but, cold and ruthless as both were, neither of them seemed affected by it. "Do you have more where that came from?" the woman asked.

"Don't act tough when you're losing, Shaina! You know how that can end up," Cerberus said.

"We will see about that." Without further ceremony, she screamed and advanced at him before the flail was sent, but Cygnus remained still, raising Cosmos and holding the wound. He thought that by administering a moderated amount of cold, the toxin's action would be slowed down.

On another side of the hall, Shun still pulled on Dio's ankle. Both had gotten up, but no matter how slippery he was, Musca couldn't escape the chain now, and walked only with difficulty at the distance his enemy allowed.

Even in that situation, he giggled, saying: "While she's busy with Dante, you stand no chance against me!"

"I finally got you. How can you be so sure?"

Dio pulled on the ankle and tensioned the chain some more. "This is the famed Andromeda Chain… as hardened as the chains of the Cerberus Flail, if not more. I certainly cannot escape its grasp," he said.

"Then give up! There is no need to fight!"

"Oh, but nothing changed," replied Dio with a laugh. "I don't need to escape it in order to defeat you!"

Following a swing of the leg, the Silver Saint projected himself forward and swerved inhumanly on the way. He flexed an arm and wrist to form a pinching hook with the hands and fingers, and as he approached, Shun vainly lifted the square chain in defense. Those unpredictable movements proved themselves too much for him to keep up, and so Musca somehow pierced the skin in Andromeda's lower neck, having concentrated extreme levels of Cosmos into the hook hand.

The shorter man stepped off Shun's shoulders and flailed awkwardly before landing. As the pinch was pulled apart from the victim, a thin line of blood came with it, and the boy felt a subtle wave of warm energy shake the flesh underneath it. He fell back and pulled on the chain as he did, such that Dio was tripped, still amid bouts of laughter.

Shun looked appalled at the amount of blood the man had been able to draw from his neck. "I got you! I got you now!" Dio excitedly said as he got to his feet.

An itchiness grew around the tiny puncture, yet he attempted to ignore it, lest he worsen the situation. It was clear to him that the minute bleeding was nowhere as bad as the initial pull of blood. "I have no idea what else I expected you to do…" he murmured, thinking that a warrior's equivalent of a mosquito bite was the one vile ability befitting of the Musca Saint.

"Ah, see, I will slowly take more and more blood out of your body until you're so weak you can barely stand. Then, once you're tripping over your own feet, pale like a porcelain doll, I will finish you off and punish you for your sins!"

Shun had finally gotten up and frowned the brow confusedly. "Sins?" he asked.

"Right! Betraying Sanctuary, betraying Lady Athena, and even daring to expose your face," Dio told him. "How sad it will be to watch a girl so cute bleed out in front of me…" The boy noticed what had just happened and frowned more, face growing red more of fury than shame. At first he thought of correcting Dio, but decided it wasn't worth it just now. "Time for the second one!"

Dio used the chain's tension to fly in again. Shun knew to ignore those swaying, impossible movements, and instead focus on his ultimate destination. Upon predicting it, it was much simpler to quickly raise Cosmos, let go of the circle end of the chain, and grab Musca's limp arm before his pinch could strike. The foe gasped, face to face with the one he thought was a girl, but his ignorance was exacted by the boy's own words: "I am not a girl." Shun continued and threw him back, pointing a palm to his face. "NEBULA CHAIN!"

The Silver Saint seemed lost for a split second, but once the circle chain undid its wrap from his ankle to tie around further up, and the square end traveled in hard corners to slice exposed skin, he knew Shun had been holding back the whole time.

And he wasn't finished yet. When Dio fell down to the floor, he felt unable to crawl to an escape, since the circle chain had spun about a whole thigh which the Bronze Saint pulled on. "THUNDER WAVE!" Shun yelled, and lightning zapped the enemy painfully from the leg. For his standards, this was cruelty.

Musca gave a long and high-pitched scream, then eyed down at the square chain tightening around his neck. To him there was no reason to believe he'd escape that mansion alive, therefore he opened a decadent grin and twitched the eye. "Who would've thought that Andromeda is a boy, and he's as strong as a Silver Saint," he said without fear, since he felt a dying warrior had no reason to pull back on words.

"Keep your thoughts to yourself…" Shun ordered, choking Dio harder "… for now."

"I'm the one… being finished off… after all," the other commented, almost unable to speak. He gave a hoarse chuckle as saliva dripped from the side of his lips, then he fell limp, eyes lazing about in the skull.

"No," Andromeda said, releasing the square end's grip for a second so that the man wouldn't die, "unless my hand is forced, I refuse to take a life."

Meanwhile, June had walked from the battle and carried Athena in her bedroom's direction. The goddess' body still writhed slightly, and blood dripped from her shoulders, smudging the Chameleon Cloth's pads; worst of all, seeing that Hercules had compromised a good portion of the walls beneath, the floor showed a slight slump at a point. After walking over it carefully, the wood creaked and she felt that the structure wasn't as secure as before, and that a weight too heavy could lead to it crumbling into itself.

Upon reaching the door, she saw a seemingly hidden figure at the end of the corridor. When it noticed it was June, the shadow revealed itself to be Tatsumi. "It's you! Come, open the door for me," the girl called.

He came over and turned the handle to let her in, horrified to see his miss in that state, bleeding and unconscious. "What happened to Miss Kido?" he asked. June focused on stumbling in and laying her atop the double bed; Tatsumi turned on the lights and shut the door behind them, then once he looked more closely, he saw the injury was worse than initially thought. "She's bleeding so much!"

"I know! She got hit by one of those guy's attacks and started shaking. I have no idea what's going on," June told.

The man carefully lied Athena's face sideways, feeling how lifeless she felt, and stared some more with shock and a slight panic, soon turned to revolt. "Look at what you've done to Miss Kido!"

"It wasn't me! It was one of the guys attacking the mansion!"

"What's the difference?" he said. "She shouldn't be involved in all of this violence anyway, she's not one of you Saints!" Somehow, Chameleon couldn't help but agree, albeit with a tinge of frustration on top.

She crossed the arms and watched Tatsumi remove his suit to cover the bed under Athena's arm, then use a sleeve to clean off parts around the wound, revealing that they were ugly scratches dug somewhat into flesh. Hadn't she attempted to evade, her state would've been critical. "Oh, Miss Kido… what have they done to your skin?" he lamented.

Taking both aback, Athena that simply opened the eyes, looked around suspiciously, and sat up on the mattress. "Eh?" June unfolded her arms to prepare to lie the woman back down, but she turned to the side and sought to grab something on the bedside table. "She's reaching for the table!"

The two others gently pushed Athena back in place. "Now, Miss Kido, you must rest," Tatsumi told her.

She insisted some more and eventually stopped, staring up at the man with the brow tightened. Not speaking a word, Athena proceeded to lie her head back to the side and stare at the closed balcony. "Lady Athena, tell us how you feel," June insisted, and no response ever came.

"How strange." The employee pondered while brushing the woman's long hair away from the blood. "You said she started shaking after she was hurt."

"Yeah."

"I think I understand. It seems Miss Kido had another seizure," Tatsumi assumed.

"S-seizure?"

"She used to have tiny seizures as a little girl. Nothing as far as a convulsion, but I imagine the stress made things worse. It will take a while for her to come back to her senses."

"Oh." June stared at Athena's catatonic state, and her mishap came to mind. "Th-this… is actually my fault," the Saint muttered in guilt.

Tatsumi looked at the Saint for a moment, but his anger had been replaced with worry. He looked down at his miss and continued bundling up hair behind her head so that it wouldn't be ruined, as he knew how much care went into it. "Can you go downstairs and bring a first-aid kit from the kitchen?" he asked.

"I don't know if I'll be able to, but I can try."

"I'd like to clean these wounds before they become infected."

June nodded. "Makes sense. I'll get to it immediately!"

In the gardens, Shiryu still battled the powerful Algethi, who resorted to charging and crashing through beds of flowers and small garden fountains with the weight of his body. The Bronze Saint mostly jumped away, exceeding that speed, but whenever he dared charge back, he bounced off the man's huge arm like a puppet.

The two created some distance and calculated methods to tip the balance a different direction, seeing that they were more punishing the plants and sculptures rather than their opponent. "They put a lot of care into these flowers!" Shiryu complained.

"They won't be needing them anymore." Algethi growled and came forth again; Dragon dodged, but the following stride was close to immediate, and he nearly avoided it. Abusing his range, Hercules lifted the left arm, preparing to use the flanged gauntlet as a weapon. "FEATHERED MACE!" he yelled.

A swing came down straight for Shiryu's head, and the latter attempted to block with the shield and gauntlet crossed. The hit was so ferocious he felt his bones twist, and where the pain didn't come from a direct hit to the skin, the impact through the hardened Cloth alone hurt him. He lost balance and rolled on the tiles thereafter. Algethi thought of following with a weaker attack, but Shiryu was far and already lied flat on the ground.

He got up in a hurry, the pulsating ache in his arms and chest making them fail. Knowing the foe's technique was a step in the right way, but having been this badly struck, there was no certainty of a victory no matter the strategy. "I fear this is the strongest Saint I've ever met," he said to himself and almost missed a step, back afflicted by the force. "No, no… I'm certain he is, but I must defeat him. I can defeat him!"

Shiryu assumed a fighting stance and rose his Cosmos. Whatever came next, he had no margin for error. From Algethi's perspective, of course, this was insanity. "Poor heretic, sacrificing your life for an unrighteous cause!" said the Silver Saint, unable to understand how alleged traitors carried such honor for each other.

"My cause is righteous, and my life won't be taken tonight."

Hercules squinted briefly, estranged by how calm the enemy remained. Brushing it off as an inflated ego, he smiled with a hum. "How can you, a measly Bronze Saint, defeat a Silver Saint of my caliber? Listen to yourself talk."

"No matter your rank, you are the strongest man I've ever encountered, I'll give you that. However, fighting alongside friends and allies, I've learned strength only gets you so far," he said, fighters like Shun and Hyoga in mind, apart from Shaina's teachings.

"In that you are correct."

"I'm glad we agree. Next I will turn your awesome strength into your downfall!" Shiryu concluded with a challenge, then lowered the flexed arms and pumped the chest forward, as a way of physically exposing himself to the man's next attack.

Algethi chuckled at the sight. "You may be an honorable person beneath your dirty cause, Dragon, but you're mistaken in assuming I am all brawn and no brains," he replied. "I'll make sure this next move brings you the swift death a warrior deserves. Ready yourself!" He thus curled the arm in front, burning Cosmos as high as he could. Whatever occurred, he expected Shiryu's life to be over in the coming seconds.

After a long moment of quietude, Hercules screamed aloud and exploded towards Dragon with immense drive. Shiryu shut the eyes, and his long hair began lifting in an arc around him; sensing proximity between him and the other, he threw an uppercut to release an inverted waterfall of lights towards the heavens. His voice came like a roar:"ROZAN RISING DRAGON!"

That was the grandest display of power Shiryu had ever done, and Algethi did get sent far into the sky, taken by surprise. Nonetheless, he was intact apart from superficial cuts on the rough skin, and he grinned in preparation to descend with all his might. Gravity accelerated him more and more, and then he pushed further with energy. "FEATHERED MACE!"

The eyesight of Saints this trained could see details in the mildest movements; as if in slowed motion, Hercules watched a figure emerge from the bright show of lights still in front. That was his enemy, who now readied a downward punch. "SOARING DRAGON!" he screamed. Flaunting the absurd control over the Cosmos he had gained, Shiryu summed the force of that technique with gravity, moreover with Algethi's mass and Feathered Mace, and so the Silver Saint was harshly thrown to the garden's tiles.

A crater opened and the floor crumbled inwards, tilting foundations and puffing up dirt. Shiryu landed nearby and looked worriedly at the sight, but from within, Algethi's dark fingers grabbed outside the hole in an attempt to pull himself out of it.

Dragon was aghast; the man had to be alive in some way, groaning and gasping for air. It was in a matter of seconds that he rolled to the side and revealed his face, pupils static in suffering and shock, and the skin somehow paler than usual. From that moment, he no longer moved.

"What a fearsome man he was," Shiryu whispered in relief. "Hercules is yet another guardian of justice killed by the Pope's lies. Lady Athena is right, we must make him pay."

In the living room, Seiya focused on avoiding Crux's relentless attacks. Even being faster, his exhaustion meant he at times had to parry strikes, only doing so reliably with his better arm. Georg insisted on jumping back to the living room, so Pegasus had to block the path and come with a flurry of punches and kicks.

Georg easily blocked now that the young man was weakened, then crouched to bump Seiya's body from below, throwing him around the shoulders. Smoothly, Pegasus rolled to his boots and returned with a palm strike, so the other unceremoniously kicked the hand with an air spin, which allowed a heel against the face after.

Therewith the Bronze Saint rolled again, this once sideways, but was struck in the breastplate, such that he was pushed back onto a hall table and against the adjacent wall. The next attack was one filled with energy sure to hurt Seiya some more, but a boot came from behind and undid Georg's balance.

"J-June?" Seiya said, watching the girl engage in combat too. She swung the whip in cross sections, keeping distance, whereas Georg expertly swept the weapon with the gauntlets. He eventually jumped towards her, so she somersaulted and vanished into nothingness.

Crux frowned; the carpet's softness made it harder to hear a lightly moving amazon like Chameleon, and he still hadn't processed what happened. When he came to notice Seiya's approach from the side, he defended a punch and tried to counter it. At that moment Pegasus stepped back to allow June's whip to crack the man across the face.

He winced and grabbed the wound, blood dripping from a shallow cut as diagonal as the strike that split it. Then Chameleon advanced forth, closer yet in safe reach; Seiya took a large jump from behind in synchrony, falling from above. "PEGASUS METEOR FIST!"

Georg was forced into the range of the technique by June, who skipped forward to cut down on the distance and kick with violent energy, so he tumbled back and got hit full-on like before, this time covered in worse bruises. The crossed helmet of the Crux Cloth fell glancing off the hair, yet he took it and rolled back to his feet, drying saliva from the corner of the mouth. "Being humiliated by these two… what's going on?" he grunted angrily.

Seiya had jumped back and taken position by June's side, who whipped onto the carpet in the foe's direction. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Lady Athena is bleeding, so I came to get a first-aid kit," she answered.

Georg put the helmet back on and interrupted them after hearing that name a second time: "There's no way you truly believe that girl is what she claims to be."

"We know it is her!" June retorted.

"No, don't bother," Seiya said.

"Huh?"

"If he won't entertain the truth by himself like Hyoga and Miss Shaina did, reasoning is useless."

"R-right."

"We needn't speak to our enemies anyhow," Georg agreed with a nod, "and it's only proper that we continue fighting until one is defeated."

Seiya raised his good fist at him. "June, get the first-aid kit and return to Athena," he said.

"But I can help!"

"Go. She's more important than any of us." Chameleon turned to her friend, unable to get herself to escape the fight this easily, yet he intently stared at the enemy. "I will hold this guy back as best as I can. Trust me like I'd trust you."

June sighed through her nose and, without responding, ran to the open entryway to the kitchen, leaving Seiya behind against her own wishes.

"Pegasus, isn't it?" Georg genuinely said. "Seems as if you don't like winning."

They began stepping around each other, both with fists prepared to attack or defend, aimed like guns at each other's torsos. "I'm not here to win. I'm here to protect Athena with my life," said Seiya.

"In this situation, for you to win and protect that false idol are one and the same, you fool!" They growled and snapped at one another for an assault. Their gauntlets clashed above, Pegasus guarding while Crux agressed, and sparks fired with the unbelievable intensity.

Next to the living room, the heads of Dante's flails were spinning above, glowing a slight orange as usual. Distant, Shaina calmly walked around the hall, but Hyoga waited in anticipation, a weakness growing in his limbs. Eventually the weapons rained from the ceiling, and it became easier to evade them, however, spikes were about to strike Cygnus' near the head.

All of a sudden, he felt an ankle be pulled by the square end of the Andromeda Chain, which hooked to it, and he was saved from the Cerberus Flail by Shun. He slid to the floor groaning and saw the spikes pierce into the carpet, melting some of it with hot metal.

Dante lifted an eyebrow at the sight of Andromeda in the other side of the hall, an unconscious Dio's arms and legs tied tightly by the circle end of the chain. The boy came to check on Hyoga. "Are you alright?" he asked, but the other only got up with a moan, seeing that the venom burned too deeply.

In front of them, Shaina answered while preparing for Dante's next onslaught: "He is poisoned and will not be able to fight at all in a few minutes, so we will end this quickly."

Cerberus pulled the flail back and started to spin the heads like before, knowing it was his best tool to defeat the three after succeeding against Cygnus. His interest now, however, landed on the other Bronze Saint. "You're Andromeda. For long I've wondered how your chains would fare against those of my flail," he said.

Shun merely stood in defiance, holding the square forward; Dante was as serious as the rest, all of which prepared for the next move. Despite the difficulty, even Hyoga was on both legs.

At some point the heads moved so quickly that they emitted a steady tone, and that's when the Andromeda Chain extended towards him. "NEBULA CHAIN!" Dante screamed and flung the weapon down at them, which moved faster than Shun's. Nearly vanishing with how used she was to his attack, Ophiuchus elected not to use the spheres as platforms, and instead remained with boots glued to ground.

Hyoga noted Shun was about to be struck, and, owing his life, tumbled and tackled the boy to the floor. They were missed by a head and then a second didn't reach them because Cerberus had to skip back to evade the square chain.

Cygnus proceeded to pull on the middle of the circle end with a wrist, then hurled Dio's unconscious body towards Dante, Cosmos used where raw strength failed him. "Wait!" Shun yelled in an attempt to stop him, but he couldn't react in a way that wouldn't release Musca.

When Cerberus witnessed his friend placed in the line of fire, he wavered and stiffened hands to keep the flail from moving further. This prompted Shaina to go right in, explore the distraction, and grab the man's head in the clawed hand. Since he no longer wore a helmet, she had full reign over it and pressed the tips of the index and ring fingers into the foe's eyes. She held her wrist with the other hand and found some sense of balance with her boots onto the man's hips. "THUNDER CLAW!"

The raging Cosmos she applied into it all made the first sparks loudly roar in the hall, and not only did she and Dante get pushed forward until he fell to his rear, the larger fighter shook about and released a long, wobbly bellow. Smoke came out from the holes of the body, from ears, to nostrils, to mouth; the repulsive stench of burnt insides padded the room like miasma.

Seeing that he was being fried outside-in, Shun motioned to stop her. "Let him go!" he said, but Hyoga put a shoulder to his breastplate, hinting for him not to waste the time trying.

Shaina stepped off when she was finished and gently pushed the dead man's head to the carpet, casually turning back and pulling Dio closer to the Bronze Saints.

"Please, Miss Shaina, leave this one alive," Shun insisted, "he could be useful as a hostage." He believed appealing to her tactical sense would spare at least one life, but when she turned the dead eyes of that painted mask, he was no longer certain.

She stepped back from the body after a tense silence and begrudgingly agreed. "I guess I have to," she said, going straight to Hyoga next. She crouched and checked more closely the puncture in his thigh, studying the pool of blood and gauging the depth. "It will not do a thing to cauterize this. How are you feeling, Cygnus?"

"Not good. I'm nauseous and… my limbs are losing strength." His voice was never the liveliest, yet even in that situation it was easy to hear an odd dullness in his tone.

"Hyoga…" Shun worriedly whispered.

Shaina got up and began walking towards the hole opened to the living room, where they could still hear the sounds of Pegasus and Crux fighting. "Andromeda, you stay here and look after him and the freak. I will go check on Seiya and Dragon," she ordered, and the boy nodded.

The sight she had of the battle in the neighboring room wasn't pretty, with Seiya being overwhelmed by Georg's tremendous blows until completely defenseless, and so the enemy took advantage by following with a wild spinning kick straight to his temple. The young man was launched aside and spat some blood before tumbling.

He had, nonetheless, spare time to get up, since Crux's next move was interrupted by Shaina's claws and sinister Cosmos. Having noticed who it was, he seemed unhappy with the turn of events. "A lucky boy you are, Pegasus," he said.

"Must we kill you too, Crux?" the other Silver Saint asked.

"Y-you…" he babbled and frowned "… you don't mean…?"

"Canis Major lies open in the hall, Musca has been captured, and I finished frying Cerberus to a crisp just now," she told him, and he was baffled. A mix of annoyance and fear struck his heart, yet somehow he still believed in his own power. "What will be your end?"

"TRAITOROUS BASTARDS!" he shouted, pointing at one, then the other he was to face. "I can't let you live after what you've done! I can't!"

In his bout of rage, Crux ran at Shaina, although she easily dodged by crouching and bumping him off, so he jumped over her and rolled on the other side. Seiya approached to hit him with his good arm, so Georg parried from behind; the punch was repeated not once, but thrice, each time with greater force and slowness, which forced the man to take steps back. Crux ended this exchange by lowering the head and striking with the elbow to his stomach.

Seiya didn't allow himself to be stunned, instead punching harder, with much Cosmos, and the opponent's defense finally broke, allowing him to get hit on the side of the neck. Noticing things could go badly, he switched hands and planted a palm to the Bronze Saint's chest, generating a shock wave that pushed him many hasty steps back and stole a breath off his lungs. Shaina thereafter came with a flying kick that slammed him right across the face.

Spitting saliva, Georg was dazed and couldn't find balance, so Ophiuchus strode back in with a scratch to open wounds in his cheek, then buried a left hand to his gut. He folded forward and she went for a fatal blow to shove the sharp nails into his jugular.

Desperate, Crux kicked her away and slid himself far back, coughing. His voice was blown out as he asked: "What's… what's the… point in betraying Sanctuary? I don't understand. What do you gain… by serving a false Athena?"

"There are many reasons why I did not return to Sanctuary after all that happened," Shaina explained. Even if a brief chat gave time for the enemy to heal, it also gave them an edge, seeing that Seiya collected himself and was ready to fight more.

"What have you seen, Shaina?"

"It has more to do with what I have not seen," she said. "Tell me, would you ask to be let through to our Lady's chamber?" Georg shook the head negatively, not understanding the point of the question. "Would you not, Crux?"

"What are you trying to say?"

"I know I would have the courage to ask so. I also know that if I did, having come back from a botched operation, the Pope would have no qualms treating me with suspicion."

"Why?"

"Because she is not there!" she claimed, and Crux shook his head again. "She is not there, Crux, and I am sure of it at this point! Because I have always been told Lady Athena is behind that man since I was a child, yet I have never seen her spear, hair, or face, and I have never felt her Cosmos. None of us have!"

"Not seeing her doesn't mean she isn't there."

"Not seeing her, not hearing her, not feeling her…" Shaina waved towards the window behind him. "Why not go and try it yourself? Go back and request the Pope so that you meet her. Get proof, bring it over, and I will be the first to kill the girl who ended Canis' life."

Georg stared at her with surprised eyes, then at Seiya, who seemed uncertain of allowing him an escape. It was incredible to him that, after all of the blood they had shed, the loss of life and the power that he witnessed in the halls, that those he deemed as villains would allow him to leave the place alive. To him, it was clear that Shaina and Seiya could kill him, especially if the numbers got stacked further against him.

"I allow you five seconds before I finish you off," Ophiuchus said, as she was one to be straightforward. "One… two…" Seeing her raise those claws and that Cosmos, he started to believe retreating wasn't so cowardly anymore. "Three…"

Having made a hasty decision, Georg backed off and broke through a large window beside the closed glass door of the living room, disappearing in the darkness beyond the gardens. Seiya thought of following him, but the woman predicted this and did not allow it.

"It is not worth it," she said, touching his shoulder.

"But he…"

"He is more powerful than you think. I will check on Dragon next, and you need to rest that arm."

The two walked to the hall through the proper passage this time, and Shaina saw that a heated debate happened upstairs, whereas Shun and Hyoga had already left, presumably taking Musca along. Not hearing any more fighting outside, Seiya was pointed up by the woman, and she went to check Shiryu's situation by means of the craters Hercules had opened.

After she noticed Algethi's corpse lying lifeless like the other two who perished in the battle, a realization dawned on her that more of her old colleagues were gone, and this flipped her insides a little. Understanding her duty and reason, she breathed deeply and set those feelings to the back of her head, where they belonged for the time being.

When she went upstairs after Seiya, the discussion was clearer. It was Shun and June slowly but surely rising their voices at each other, while Dio lied — already awake — next to their boots. "Our purpose is to defend Lady Athena, not to fight for the sake of it!" the boy said.

"I wasn't fighting for the sake of it, Shun!"

Seiya approached Shaina and quietly commented to her, accompanying her step: "Sheesh… I've never seen them fight."

"Comes part and parcel with stressful situations of this sort," she replied, passing by them and leaving them be.

"Do you have any idea where we would be if she died?" Shun continued.

"She's not dead!" she replied.

"Thankfully! But you had the job of blocking that Saint's path, yet you were too busy testing out your new moves."

"Alright, alright, fine!" June's voice had raised so furiously that she yelled that final word. "I made a mistake, okay? I get too excited when I fight sometimes, I get it! Maybe I shouldn't be a Saint after all!"

"You are a Saint, so act like one!"

"FINE!" she yelled a final time, whipping the railing of the stairway to lash out the irritation, pacing downstairs and then outside.

"Aah, don't be so loud!" Dio said from that low position. "I have the worst headache right now!"

"Shut up," Shun that curtly responded.

"I'm the guest here, am I not? Treat me with some respect, girly boy!" Dio's lilt in that final sentence was annoying, and the cackle he gave after made Andromeda knock him in the head with the tip of the boot, so that he yelped back into silence.

Shiryu leaned back beside the closed door to Athena's bedroom. He came forward at the sight of Shaina and Seiya's approach, and the woman nudged him, saying: "Good job with Hercules."

"Thank you, Miss Shaina," he replied with a nod.

Seiya raised an eyebrow behind them and wondered why he didn't get a compliment, feeling a hint of jealousy. They entered the bedroom and closed the door, as Athena would most likely wish for tranquility at such a moment.

Tatsumi had already bandaged his miss' wounds, and spoke with a soft tone to her so that her headache wouldn't worsen. Visibly worse than before, Hyoga sat at the edge of the bed, looking down and holding his injury.

"What happened to her?" Seiya asked when he saw her situation. The goddess seemed much more aware than before, but still shifted about with languor.

"Speak quietly," Tatsumi requested. "She's still coming back."

Athena held the side of her forehead and sighed, deviating the eyes from the Bronze Saints that entered, as the light in the room made her uncomfortable. "This always happens," she complained like in the moments after her awakening, "it always does."

"What do you mean?"

"In Sanctuary, the Cult is responsible for observing my reincarnation. They raise me so that knowledge of my identity is carefully given to my vessel. When those traditions are not observed, well…"

Shaina shrugged and rested the knuckles on her waist. "And here I thought those cult women were a waste of space," she said.

"I believed I hadn't suffered any ill effects from being so suddenly awakened this time, if not for a migraine, yet it is obvious I was wrong. This seizure is proof of that."

"Then what should we do to fix it?" Seiya asked.

"There is nothing to be done. The seizures only tend to worsen over time, but I can manage," said Athena.

Tatsumi approached from the other side and whispered: "Miss Kido, we will be relocating you to one of your vacation homes."

"Is it necessary?"

"Seeing the circumstances, absolutely. The mansion has been trashed at this point."

"Oh, what a shame…" she lamented, then turning to the Saints with fingers blocking the light "… and the Silver Saints?"

Shaina took the reins to respond, as anything that was to be said regarding the state of the dead fighters would only make Athena mourn more than she already did. Instead, she shifted the topic and nodded at Hyoga. "Cygnus over there has been pierced with aconite. You must know what to do with it," she mentioned, apparently testing the goddess some more.

"Cerberus' venom," she immediately recognized. She looked at Hyoga's state, then at Tatsumi. "Get an ambulance for Hyoga and take him to our hospital. He needs immediate attention."

"Yes, Miss Kido. I will make the call right now," Tatsumi answered and walked around the bed to leave the room.

"Also," continued Shaina, "Andromeda insisted that we take one of the Silver Saints alive, so he is hogtied right now. Any plans for him?"

"Squeeze from him everything you can regarding Sanctuary's situation, the Pope's orders, the Gold Saints on duty… everything. Just leave him alive," Athena commanded.

Shaina chuckled shortly through her nose and went for the door. "I will try to," she said.

"Shaina, I am serious. Whatever happens, leave him alive."

Ophiuchus paused for a moment and only turned halfway through, standing with embarrassment for an instant. Finally she gave in, saying: "Understood." When she walked out, it seemed she chose to soften her tone referring to Musca. "Andromeda, take the prisoner downstairs to the gym. I will be there in a second."

Outside the mansion, June walked by a few potted plants and vegetables in the side opposite the kitchen's, some which were put on the ground, others hanging from the extended shed roof. She growled and whipped at the outer walls with ferocity, digging deep marks on the large bricks.

As the whip slid off her fingers, she sat down between pots and curled with the face into her legs, removing the mask so that she could weep in peace. Minutes passed and she noticed another person approaching, that being Ophiuchus herself, who sought healthy Saints to partake in Dio's questioning.

She saw Chameleon slide the hands off the greaves she embraced and put the mask on, face hidden behind the hair before that. Crossing her arms, she looked down almost as if the girl was an insect in that position. "Have you already admitted your mistake?" she questioned.

"I thought you heard us yelling just now," June commented.

"I mean if you have understood and admitted your mistake to yourself, Chameleon."

June looked up for a few seconds and took in the information calmly, the manner she knew she had to do as to not get on Shaina's nerves. Then she looked down again and accepted the truth: "No, I haven't." That was why she felt so frustrated after all.

"Then do it and come back inside."

It seemed at face value that the Silver Saint was devoid of any softness, but June felt that maybe she was the one person who knew a way to deal with this inner conflict. "I'm not ready yet," June answered.

"It is not difficult."

"To me it is! Because… do you think it's possible for someone to become a Saint by accident?" When the girl looked up as she spoke, her voice betrayed those feelings of insecurity, as did the words. "As in, someone becomes a Saint, but someone else was destined to do so in their place."

"I used to believe that, yes, but no longer."

"And what made you change your mind?" Shaina sighed out, pending an answer, which didn't come for several seconds. "Is it a private thing?"

"It was Seiya."

"Oh!" June exclaimed and seemed to liven up for a moment. "Really?"

"I had seen this multitude of what I thought to be useless trainees attaining Bronze Cloths left and right. Compared to Saints like me, Marin, or Lizard, they were so weak they might as well be an obstacle in the battlefield. Seiya was among them."

"I wonder how he changed your mind."

"I underestimated his power and paid the price. That is when I learned that there was no accident; he was the true Pegasus Saint, and the traditions were correct."

"You paid the price…?"

Shaina sighed again and let her head hang down. She hated it, but felt the need to openly expose one of her past failures, since the girl had been so sincere. "Before he left Sanctuary, he used his own take of the Meteor Fist on me, and I avoided each and every blow except for one. I only came to the realization when it was too late, and my mask was struck off my face," she explained.

"So Seiya was already that powerful back then…"

"He is…" Ophiuchus paused herself so as not to stutter "… he is an imbecile, Chameleon," and that came with staunch assertion in her voice. "One of the stupidest men I have had the disgust of meeting, sure, but he is the Pegasus Saint. So how can you say you don that Cloth by accident?"

"I just don't feel like I deserve it."

"All because you got lost in the thrill of a fight?"

"That too."

"I was like that once," Shaina revealed some more, "maybe I still am a little. The truth is that every injury and death you inflict adds another weight upon your shoulders, whether you come to ever notice it or not. Especially the lives of those Saints, people who…" She looked to the darkness in the gardens for a second and let the breeze hit her hair and mask, feeling her stomach twist some more. She new Algethi still lied lifeless in the gardens, and Dante's last moments were rendered terrifying by her own hands, and that Sirius suffered a worst fate than all of them, and so were the pains of Misty and Babel.

"Is everything alright?" June shyly said.

"Chameleon, you cannot let the fight control you," the other answered with immediacy, looking back down at her, "but you must assume control over the fight."

June kept staring at her longer and finally understood well what had been said. She knew now that the reason why Shaina could so nonchalantly end a life, no matter who it was, was her ability to gain personal control over the conflict. That in itself was both a tactic and a psychological shield. "That makes sense," the girl said.

"Once you absorb the meaning of that, you will have admitted your mistake." Shaina then offered her a hand for her to get up. "We have an interrogation to do, so get yourself together." June pulled herself up with that aid and took the whip in the process. She watched Shaina walk to the back of the gardens a while before she went after with a light jog.

"Wait for me!"