WARNING: Death, blood, severe burns, severe injury.
Athena, Who Fights On The Frontlines
That utter shock in the Temple of Aries was cut by an undeniable symptom of survival. Athena choked for air, and they saw that those womanly fingers holding the arrow were indeed her own, willing to live no matter the difficulty. As her lungs fully breathed, her chest was lifted, and the wound's ardor made her grab it with the other hand.
The sudden and absurd nature of what took place left those present immobile, that was until the goddess slid both legs to the side with effort, supported by the palm holding the arrow. Visibly without strength and yelping from the pain, only her apparent need for support prompted Mu to get off the floor and come out of his trance.
"My Lady!" he called, and so Kiki and Aldebaran also approached to help her stand. Once her cold skin pressured against the shoulders of their Gold Cloths, such that they felt her weight, they understood that was no delirium. Everything pointed out to Athena, against all odds, soldiering through the curse.
Somewhat limp, she found strength onto her feet. Kiki handed a tourniquet to his master, and he offered it to the woman so that she could pressure the wound.
"How do you feel?" Taurus asked.
She looked at the boy's red hair, then the Saints' Cloths, so she recognized them and offered a reassuring smile. "Kiki, Taurus, Aries Mu," she spoke with such frailty, "help me to my temple. Time has come to purify Sanctuary of its corruption."
"O… of course," Mu agreed, seemingly surprised that she read him so immediately. The group thus ascended upstairs, Aldebaran going ahead of them so that he could offer whichever aid was necessary along the trip.
First they passed by Taurus, which was obviously empty and presented no obstacle. Gemini, too, despite its atmosphere of unease, was no hindrance without Saga's Cosmos to feed its traps. When they arrived in Cancer, Aldebaran had already long crossed it, and the place was left neatly tranquil after the Angels' passage, every stray soul trapped in the Hellmouth.
Athena was distraught at the sight of a dead Cancer Saint, and she could do little but wish him a kind trip in the Underworld. Mu, meeting the corpse of his colleague, wept and offered him blessings. The goddess touched Deathmask's forehead with her lips before continuing, a fine goodbye to Sanctuary's escort of souls.
Next they reached Leo, and by then Aldebaran had already crossed it too. Having felt that turbulent Cosmos running up the stairways, Aiolia awakened and left the quarters, tired, looking a mess, though in time to meet the image of his Lady and his old friend.
When she walked through a pillar and noted the man's sight, she was relieved to learn that he lived, as were Mu and his student. "How joyous I am to see you breathing, Leo," she spoke with a gentle smile.
Leo would've said the same of her instantly, though he chose to kneel and bow before her, helmet under the arm. "Forgive me, Lady Athena. In my doubts of your identity, I have put myself and my fellow Saints in harm's way," the man confessed.
Athena shook the head left and right and leaned down slightly, prompting him to look up. "What is that which you have done?"
Having stared at her and Aries, he strayed the eyes, fearful of telling what he had seen. "When I arrived from Japan, I wanted to prove your absence in the chambers above. Mu had sent word from the priestesses that they needed a report of your status, and so I pressured the Pope to allow me into your chambers with that excuse. Evidently, you were not there, and the rooms had been abandoned, left dark and filthy."
"You need not blame yourself for your doubts. Oh, Aiolia," she lamented, sight to the ground, "to imagine the torment you endured, how crassly they accused your brother and you… I can do naught but comprehend your actions."
"But I was wrong in doubting you so," said the Saint. "With the truth revealed, the Pope attacked me, and in the romp, I revealed his identity. It was Gemini Saga who lied behind that mask."
"What? How is that possible?" Mu chimed in with a gasp.
"I do not know, but as you might imagine, he was a great match for me. He used a technique that robbed me of my will, and then…" Leo's fist clenched, reminded of the drone-like state he experienced for the past days, and the angst induced by being shackled within the confines of one's own consciousness.
"Gemini…" Athena pondered. The Saints turned to her inquisitively, but she sighed after a couple seconds and continued: "Haply revelation lies in reach, yet this moment exists that we may retake the temples and tend for our injured. Let us speculate only when such is becoming."
"You are right, my Lady," Aiolia said, and so the group continued ahead towards Virgo.
Not long after they had left the porch, however, Aldebaran returned and landed nearby. Over his shoulders he carried the bodies of two amazons, that being Scorpio Milo and Chameleon June. Thanks to Milo's mastery of her technique, they did not bleed and both still showed mild signs of life, though the severe injuries told him it was best to rescue them as quickly as possible.
"Aldebaran! Have you met anyone else along the way?" Mu asked.
He didn't seem optimistic, and said: "Virgo is dipped in darkness, and these two were half-dead in Scorpio. Things aren't looking so good."
"Take them to a hospital with haste," the goddess ordered, then she turned to Aiolia, "and you should go ahead and rescue any others."
Matters having been revealed as urgent, Leo went on and Taurus proceeded to the bottom, so only Mu and Kiki were left behind to care for Athena. They confirmed that not only was the next house entirely dark, but no sign of life could be found therein, and the helmets for the Phoenix and Virgo Cloth lasted as clues.
Onward, they cleared Sagittarius and saw the state left behind by Camus and Hyoga, although the place was empty. Leo returned with Shun in his arms, and this was further proof that the situation above wasn't getting any better. Indeed, the group met the sights of fallen allies, destroyed temples, and even ruined foundations, as was the case of Capricorn's.
By the end they had left the situation in Pisces behind. Aldebaran had come to collect Aphrodite, and they found that the road of roses had been washed clean, therefore they could clearly see the grounds far below. There was permeating peace, despite the war's devastation, only broken by fire and fighting in the corners of the city. The largest clash took place in the academy, where a rebel siege was led by Shaina — since this was the last and most well-defended position the loyalists possessed, they expected the conflict to go for several days more.
Although this was not the first time she witnessed that kind of ruin in her lifetimes, Athena appeared heartbroken. She knew it not to be, but dreamed of a world where said issues could be solved easily, without violence. The woman looked forward and met the sign of the owl, the temple behind it exhaling black smoke. Her statue, looming from behind, was a stark reminder of a goddess' duty, and so she entered through the open door to take in the sight.
She found Pegasus lying on the corridor, and Kiki ran to check on him. "Seiya!" he yelled and studied the vital signs, but the boy was too ignorant to ascertain whether he lived or died.
Far ahead they observed the destruction brought by the Pegasus Comet Fist and the Galaxian Explosion. The walls to her quarters had been crumbled to an open plan, then flattened under the ceiling's weight. The backyard was wide open from there, blocked solely by mounts of rubble.
Closer to the dais was the burning rug, reduced to ashes and some amber. Black marks on the marble were signs that the fire had gone as far as charring the walls and flooring, and the desecrated throne hinted at the battle's sheer violence. They also saw that Marin lied maskless and motionless to one side, and that Saga, in his deformed Cloth, lied with his stomach to the sinking overhead.
His breathing was shallow and hoarse, yet he insisted on muttering Pandora's name, echoes of the same tantrum from before. The hard sound of Mu's boots stopped a while later, discerning the features despite his old friend's deathly appearance. "It is you, Saga… it all makes sense now. How could you have done this to us?" Aries asked, but the dying man could barely move or speak.
He felt someone approach and a wonderful Cosmos warm up above him. That image came, the radiant beauty of his ultimate target, Zeus' favored daughter, patroness of Athens, and rightful head of Sanctuary — even a wretch like him was fortunate to meet her gaze.
"Answer me, Saga!" Mu insisted.
"Leave him be," said the woman, and the Saint was estranged. Hearing her tranquil voice made Gemini hide those bloodshot eyes behind its lids, so severe was the shame for his deeds. She neatly knelt beside him and lifted the fallen's body with the arm that formerly held her wound, the other yet grasping Thanatos' artifact.
"But, my Lady, that whom you soothe is the enemy, the cause of those mindless deaths! He is undeserving of your very sight, let alone your Cosmos!"
"Indeed," she reinforced the man's words, though she did not let go, instead bringing the traitor close to her chest. Following a soft breath, she came close and whispered: "Pollux, is it you?" Saga finally opened the eyes and took in her face, caring and tender despite his crimes; as best as he could, he nodded the head left and right, so Athena tilted her own in confusion. "Then where is your brother?"
The man's lips parted as if to speak, so she brought an ear closer. Mu was alert, afraid that his Lady could be hurt yet again, but no such thing as a threat remained there.
"Rotting," Saga answered so curtly and silently that it could barely be made out, but the goddess paid heed and seemed satisfied.
Next she both lifted her head and the arrow, edge aimed down at the false Pope. Instead of a corrupt energy, she infused the object with endearing power, regardless of the brutality about to ensue. A single swing was enough to pierce the thing all the way through the body, so Gemini gurgled in his own fluids, vomiting dollops of blood. As death inevitably came to caress the man's soul, Athena tightly embraced him, no matter how it stained her dress, and gave him comfort amid agony.
She then looked on to Marin, then back to Mu, who was now accompanied by Kiki once more. Tears assailed her and she cried, unfettered by any formality. Her holy tears hallowed that heretic's dying self, and not only that, she burned the Cosmos to gargantuan dimensions. The temple, formerly illuminated only by sparse flames, was suddenly plunged in pure light and heat.
The sky outside had grown ever closer to its nightly self, that being after Shiryu's twilight. Now, however, it got painted gold, centered with a bright white coming from that point far above, encircling the goddess' statue. The power's essence was recognized by every being, appearing as Sanctuary's own sun in that location, the dawn of a new day. All anguish had come to a conclusion, whether to loyalists, rebels, or those caught in the middle — Athena reclaimed her home, and no more motive remained for warring.
To those capable of sensing it, Saint, soldier, or otherwise, that intensity was more than obvious. They stormed outside and admired that light so goodly, soon falling baffled and speechless. Those who could not sense it were overwhelmed by the warmth, the sun-like nature of the shine, reminders of joyous days on Earth.
Jabu, his friends, and a group of Saints watched from the streets close to the barracks. Nachi held the first's shoulder after a while, apparently overcome by emotion. That golden aura they knew to be a beacon of their victory.
"It's her again," Wolf said, voice breaking. It was no different from the Cosmos Sanctuary experienced at her arrival, apart from its grander manifestation.
"Somehow she reached the temple," said Unicorn. He teared up and looked back to his colleagues. "So it means we won, right?"
Nachi signaled positively with the head before they all looked up at the summit once more. "Ban didn't die in vain."
Running up ahead, Ichi waved the arms and sparked a clamor with the sentries above, screaming amid tears and laughter: "YOU HEAR THAT? ATHENA SURVIVED, YOU BASTARDS!" They responded in kind, but more people only commemorated with further confirmation. "SHE'S ALIVE, YOU DAMN BASTARDS!"
"Athena lives!" People shouted. "Our Lady lives!"
Their jubilant uproar reverberated and grew throughout the grounds, as far as where skirmishes were held, and as far as the academy's worsening siege. The same way Athena's blaze amplified above, so did their riot, till it could reach the ears of Shaina and her subordinates.
Nearest bringing the loyalists to their knees, an army composed of many rebels had already taken the walls of the vast academy, and stood guard over it. Below they observed clashes that pointed to the enemy's decisive defeat, many bows shooting at those in the distance, or those hidden in the building's interior. Cassiopeia Reda had many Andromedan fighters at the ready, as did Lepus Ethel and the bloodthirsty amazons from Paximadia.
Their hair flowed with the fire that raged under, such had been the structural damage done to the buildings, although soon Anka, who accompanied Shaina and Alicia, felt that the shine's heat had quickly surpassed that of the flames. She stared up and was surprised by the vision above.
"L… look!" she stammered to her colleagues. "Lady Athena's temple is…"
The folk started to turn one by one, and Alicia walked closer to the edge, to lean against the side of a merlon and appreciate that glimmer. "First dusk, then morning," she remarked as if speaking of a prophecy, or perhaps a law of nature. Finally, the people's clamor reached them, and Shaina's troops laughed in earnest at those news.
Ophiuchus raised an arm in rotating motion, ordering: "Bowmen, settle down!" The archers obliged, and she came a toe away from falling into the yard where the battle took place.
"What do we do, Miss Shaina?" Reda asked.
"They lost long ago, so here is their last opportunity to give up arms." That said, she allowed herself to swing off the ledge and drop heavily against the ground, speeding to a skirmish thereafter. Other Saints and warriors followed, the amazons particularly giggling as they did it.
Although they shouted their victory, loyalists were confused. They understood that Lady Athena sent a message from her throne, but their foes sang victorious; some assumed no more reason to fight and handed themselves over without a fight, and many Bronze Saints yet siding with the Pope instructed their subordinates to respect such decision.
Many units, however, were lost in their will to fight. Not only the rebellion's deadly final assault failed to pacify their rage; their goddess' Cosmos wasn't enough either. They fought for the sake of violence itself at that point, and Shaina responded without mercy, slaying each and every one who refused the opportunity to surrender.
Those commanded by her reacted similarly, although they screamed at them to kneel and leave petty aggression aside. "Yield!" the rebels demanded. "Why do you not yield?" "Give up, idiots!"
That resistance fell in a matter of seconds following the heavy push, thus rebels stormed the academy in full, where they encountered trainees, officers, a few civilians, and loyalist Saints. Those inside, however, were not keen on fighting, and promptly capitulated, despite some outside insisting on their deaths.
When no more enemy resisted in their sight, the rebels arose a festive song. "She has come home!" They embraced one another, yelled, laughed, and cried, unafraid of those who yielded, whom they now saw as the comrades they always were. Whether Marin's gamble was wrong or right, there was no denying that energy in the Temple of Athena. Her true servants had won either way.
Shaina, despite being congratulated by many, was not intent on participating. At that instant she stared up and saw the rebellious flag hoisted over the building, then she strolled amid the bodies of those who perished in the siege. The disfigured corpses were covered in armor of varying weights and decorations, masks painted or otherwise, strewn on grass and wall alike. The trebuchets had demolished wings and sentry towers, and the dead piled up at these early entrances where the invasion first began.
She recognized only a handful of bodies, but thanks to fate's acidic sarcasm, there was one among the loyalists adorned in heavy plates. That was the most familiar, the man's dark skin and broad, rough build being one she knew well, therefore she came closer and kicked the Corinthian helmet slightly off his head. The eyes were small, but remained opened in a perpetual, lazy stare; his cheeks were broken, and he missed one of the ears. The amazon gazed in meditation.
In focus was one among thousands of the war's dead, and so that victory ultimately didn't come without great loss. However, turning to see the fallen among those who stood or knelt, Ophiuchus questioned whether they had won at all.
Sanctuary steadily bathed in peace, after the long weeks of little but fear and death. In Heaven, however, their preoccupations arrived late, and their policy to steer clear of Athena's affairs meant inaction under tension and doubt. Icarus and Atalanta had long returned to bring their Lord news of what took place there: an uprising, a civil conflict, a traitorous Pope, a storming of the temples, the death of the Cancer Saint, and the likely successful attempt on Athena's life.
Ahead of their throne, while the court had sparse attendance in the end of a long day, the information would've stayed secret. Still, no later than that last truth exited Icarus' lips, Zeus stood from his throne, large shadow cast in terrifying fashion.
"Dead, you say?" he uttered to the Angel, and in that moment his immense Cosmos turned turbulent.
"So it seemed, my…" Icarus, who knelt and bowed next to his peer, was unable to finish that sentence before a sound of thunder boomed to fill the whole court, such that those yet present jolted off their seats and ceased their chatter.
The god growled and hurled lightning, thus pieces of the marble struck by it crumbled to fall down the stairs, lifting dust along. Such was his fury that he placed both large, rough hands against the edges of the passage, threatening to come down and reveal his visage, though he stopped shy of it.
"You bring news of my dear Athena's death… you best have brought the killer's name too, so his severed head I may hang in punishment!" he finished by shouting, that limpid tone reflected by every wall and pillar.
Atalanta eyed Icarus from the corner of the eyes, for she expected him to respond. Since he never did, she made the mistake of speaking in such a situation: "Lord Zeus," she started, and the colleague attempted to shoo her subtly, to no avail, "we heard it was their…"
The Angels were thankfully saved by a duo of women who approached to calm Zeus' animosities; first was his wife, Hera, bearing a mature vessel of graying hair, visibly curvaceous under prudish robes. With a younger hair tone of dark blond, tied to many knots that formed a crown about her face, came another woman influential among the gods.
They gently pushed the man back and convinced him to no longer worry, though they had barely heard the matter. "My love, be at ease," said Hera.
"They have murdered Athena!" he replied, and the youth tightened her brows upon hearing it, whereas the wife merely brought him back to the throne.
"We do not know that for certain now, do we?"
But the girl insisted on that matter: "Why would anyone do such a thing, father?"
"A culling, is what it is. Cancer is slain, and her throne is occupied by those who wish her ill," Zeus explained.
"So that is why Pandora traveled up to the court."
"Hebe, if Sanctuary does not come to peace on its own accord, I will have no choice but to task Artemis with setting them in place!"
"No action this rash shall be necessary, father," the daughter assured him, "leave this matter to me, for you have been bothered long enough. Allow me to speak with the Angels in your stead."
Zeus sighed and had a shoulder caressed by his wife, whom he nodded to. "See, dear? It will be alright," Hera confirmed while the girl descended from the dais.
Icarus and Atalanta finally stood, and when they took in the vision of that goddess who eclipsed the blinding light, they saw her shapely hazel eyes, long eyelashes, and ivory skin. The back of her medium-length hair was hidden behind a thin, white veil, which she used to symbolize her status as a maiden. Her narrow, full lips, and the hourglass shape under the twisted fabric carried strange resemblance to Saori Kido, as would an older sister per se.
Her expression was nowhere as charitable as she had been to her dad, nor was her stern speech: "To give him such terrible news without first consulting my mother — is this an exemplar of the Angels' famed intellect?"
The duo lowered their heads despite the insult. "Lady Hebe, pardon us. It pertained to our Lord's request, so we brought it to him without question," said Icarus.
"Come," she ordered after walking between them with the exit as destination. Atalanta rolled her eyes and followed, as did her partner, to endure the courtiers' pesky ogling. "There lies no danger in giving a man word of his children's death, but the one back there is no ordinary man. Father is a passionate person, especially when it comes to Athena, and he could have undone the temple in the blink of an eye. You endangered us, Icarus."
"I suppose I should have given such news through your mother. I apologize."
"Tell me, what is it that you learned? What is behind this war?"
"A Gold Saint told us it might've been their Pope who betrayed them," Atalanta revealed, so Hebe rose her brows in surprise. "Cancer was killed in the conflict, which is how we found out there was a war in the first place."
"This means Persephone is unlikely to be behind it," Hebe reflected, "although she was never a troublemaker."
Icarus butted in: "Lady Persephone may be innocent, but when I saw Lady Athena's body, an arrow inscribed in cuneiform was lodged in the leftmost of her bosom. This artifact carried an energy not unlike that of the Specters, so involvement from the Underworld is a plausible theory."
"That an investigation would uncover," said the goddess, and they had finally reached the outside circle, past the guards. They stopped near the stairs, lit by vespertine heights. "Well, since you so enthusiastically wish to serve my father's will, inform Artemis of this. In the unlikely event that he decides to suppress Sanctuary, she should be aware by then."
"Aye, my Lady."
Atalanta nodded along and suggested: "I have to speak to her anyway, so leave that to me."
"Good. Remember that I am in charge of this matter for the time being," Hebe told them, therewith they bowed and parted ways, with her reentering the hall. The formerly curious folk within thus came hither, aiming to gather clarifications, seeing that they were too fearful to ask Zeus directly. Anticipating many a murmur, the daughter raised a hand while strolling and addressed them: "It is a serious matter, but we know not the fullest extent of it."
"Is it Athena?" a woman asked from the back.
"Yes, it does seem so," she said, and so quickly a man who slipped from the side passages barged past a patch of people.
He had bright chestnut hair, short, albeit neatly curled at every point. His skin was somewhat tawny, while his eyes looked the darkest shade of brown, tight and slender. His rough, chiseled face bore strong features, including a rather broad nose, and the rude muscles were occasionally visible from under the white tunic.
With an arm lifted, he reached to Hebe and yelled: "Hey, hey, what's the matter with Athena?"
"Ares…" she muttered as if peeved by his presence "... we are not too sure at the moment." Hebe seemingly wished to shrug off his concerns, and, knowing that he would raise a ruckus, she made it to the chambers, chased by some of the small crowd.
"Hebe! What did they do to my sister?" the man insisted. "Answer me!"
"Do not bother our father," was what she harshly spoke last, not turning to him.
"What's the matter, huh?" Because it would be of no use, he stopped and let her leave, although some courtiers insisted on whispering for clues. "She's my sister too, I deserve to know!" Already too far from her, he spread both arms and let them fall limply out of frustration. A whisper was all he mustered: "Hebe, what's going on?"