For Peace
Voices spoke with carefulness in a lone room of a barracks in Sanctuary. Behind the veils of curtains and a closed door, a group discussed in a secretive volume the results of recent findings. Nachi, Anka, and Kiki sat in plain clothes over a handful of marble seats raised off the floor, solely lit by starlight and torchlight bleeding through the pale coverings of the lattices. Much like them, Shun, who stood betwixt the team, had a notepad with many a paper folded in between, carrying a pen in hand.
"By the time Aiolos passed, Saga was likely the Pope," the boy reinforced the obvious, seemingly starting from the beginning. "There would be no explanation as to how Lady Athena was taken out of her quarters otherwise. Had the Pope been on our side, he would not have allowed Aiolos to even touch her. It is either that, or Saga was the one who kidnapped her and killed the true Pope later on."
"That doesn't sound like it's the case," Nachi said.
"I agree," Shun went on, "but we must take the improbable as nonetheless possible."
"It doesn't really matter when he became the Pope, at least not for us," Kiki offered his thoughts. "What matters is that there's no sign of an election since Shion. This means that Saga killed him without anyone noticing."
"Such is our ultimate conclusion on this question. It would be of interest to look for a body, but with the Gemini's powers being as they are, it might be in vain," Andromeda spoke pensively. "About what preceded the war, Anka, could you…?"
Anka looked left and right and, after an exasperated second, nodded as a response. "I… I checked as many documents as possible… from the past intelligence. The key figures were the leader, Crow Jamian, and his right-hand man… he was Auriga Capella. As you might imagine, they… they were both Silver Saints. They first wrote on the Galaxian Wars," she told. "Initially they investigated things themselves, and later sent their immediate subordinates, Hound Asterion, Lizard Misty… they wrote on Cygnus and the Dark Saints."
"So they had been stalking us since then," Shun assumed, scribbling some things down.
"Y-yes!" the girl responded. "They arrived before the Dark Saints, because… because they had a detailed report about when they arrived in Japan. They knew their hiding locations and knew that they wanted the Sagittarius Cloth."
"But what was the point of waiting so long?"
"Their reports... say nothing about that," she said.
"If I may make a guess, they saw the Dark Saints as an opportunity," Nachi chimed in. "The Pope had no sign of Aiolos, and he couldn't tell them Saori's true identity, so he first sent Hyoga to deal with us. That was ineffective, but once the Dark Saints showed up, he understood they would be the perfect red herring and postponed the strike."
"Of course…" Shun agreed with a hum "… for a while we believed the Dark Saints were the only threat. It was only when Lady Athena awakened that we understood the greater issue."
"If Lady Athena hadn't awakened in time, they would've hit us when we were completely unprepared." Wolf shuddered at the thought of such a bleak alternate timeline.
"That would have been the end of it."
"So… so…" Anka stammered with her tiny voice, eager to continue as she flipped to a page in her own notes. "In Auriga's notes, between the part where he describes their arrival and the initial attack, he also describes findings from documents they took from the mansion."
"Somehow I knew in my gut it was them who had stolen those. Have you found the papers themselves?" Shun asked.
Yet the girl shook her head negatively. "I think… they burned it all," she supposed.
The boy sighed and shrugged that off, saying: "Fine, I guess there is no more use to those files anyway." He looked back to the items on his writings and focused on another topic. "About the other Gemini, Kanon," he said more softly, then looked back to his colleagues. "According to the High Priestess, it will take too long for us to tell whether he is dead or not through the prophecy. Instead, I asked the men in charge of feeding those condemned to the same dungeon he and his allies were thrown into." Shutting the eyes and sighing a second time, he apparently let go a weight off the chest and shoulders. "Everything points to him being dead," he revealed, "swallowed by an aquifer while he attempted to escape."
Kiki curtly chuckled and looked away, whereas Nachi shook the head upon hearing that. "I guess it's in character, with how he betrayed us," the latter commented, "but I don't see what else he expected trying to escape from a place like that."
"Evil men may fall to desperation too," Andromeda said with a somber tone. "This leaves us without further leads."
"Yeah," Nachi confirmed. "Back to square one."
"Or maybe not so. It could be we just have to look for answers in odd places." The boy took a last look at the notes and smiled. "Despite it all, we collected a lot of valuable information. I am sure Lady Athena will be satisfied with our final report. Good job, everyone!"
"Good job!" Kiki sung, and the others happily thanked their friends too.
"Oh," Nachi stood a tad off the seat, reminded of something, and flipped his notepad to the leader. "I finished getting information from the civilians at the strip."
Shun stared and comprehended immediately what he meant, although he had little time to take in how much he had written. "Do you think it is worth bringing it to her too?" he questioned.
"I do," his colleague responded forthwith. "This is more serious than we thought."
Being offered the notepad, Andromeda finally took it and apprehensively absorbed its contents. With that the group were allowed to return to their respective roles, although for Shun, that report had to soon be presented to the goddess, and her decisions would have to be relayed to the rest. The matters of the war, as crucial as they were, did not seem to leave him as anxious as did Nachi's latest findings.
Whereas the greater burden of the investigations had come to an end back in Sanctuary, Marin's trip to China continued, and from there she would surely travel towards Japan, to exchange the usual communications with those at the mansion. It was there that the Saints always waited, as casually as ever, for her arrival.
Although Shun had left since Athena's visit, the mansion remained tranquil, a stark contrast to the tensions before the war. None of them felt the need to wear their Cloths; during the extent of that sunny day, for example, all of the folk in the mansion wore their preferred attires. Their task, of course, was never forgotten, and they occasionally scanned the surroundings for any strange signs. The appearance of a common routine was a good mask for their scouting work.
At that particular time, Shaina, the group's main scout, actually lounged at the backyard park with Seiya, both taking seats beside each other on a bench. From afar, their voices were nigh washed out by the sound of splashing fountains, birds, and leaves caressed by waves of wind. In the background, Geki and Jabu did some light sparring, watched by Hyoga and Ichi. June had separated from the fray, now walking over paths of stones towards the two near the back door, feeling the harsh warmth of the sunlight on her mask.
Crossing ahead of them, she hinted at the couple with a nod, which Seiya promptly imitated. He appeared curious about something, calling out: "Eh, June, I was wondering something…"
The young amazon stopped and turned fully to them. "Hm?"
Pegasus waved at his own face. "Your mask used to look different," he remembered, "you used to have red paint on it. Did your last one break on your fight with Milo?"
"It chipped a little bit, so I got a new one," she explained.
"So you must've gotten tired of the last design."
"I guess you can put it that way," said the girl, "but I just felt like it made sense to keep the mask clean like this."
"Ah, it used to look cool though." Seiya turned to Shaina and tilted the head at her covering. "Shaina's looks pretty neat, and she had to fix her mask once," he said, reminded of when he had first gotten his Cloth.
Ophiuchus briefly sighed through the nose, and somehow he knew he had pestered her patience again. "I thought it would be interesting to add some personality to these plain masks, is all," the Silver Saint told.
"Yeah, I guess it makes sense," the young man agreed. "I still don't get what's the point of the masks. They made June and the other orphan girls wear them back when we were children too, and I never got the reason."
Here came June's cue to make up more fun lies about mask usage, one of her favorite genres of comedy, it seemed. "Ah, you know, amazons are really ugly!" she spoke to her friend with a lilt. "I look like a bear getting shot in the butt under this thing!"
Seiya frowned. "Wh… what does that even mean?"
"If people saw our bare faces, there's no way they'd want to be on our side," she continued, shrugging with both hands up. "It's an unfair world — the pretty girl wins!"
"But…" he turned for Shaina's advice, though she was as unreadable as ever "… that can't be true." Thereon he turned back to June and made his point: "I've seen Shaina and Marin's faces, and they were both beautiful."
While June seemed disappointed that her charade had been for naught, Shaina landed a palm heavily on Seiya's shoulder and brought that masked view close to his nose. "So you saw Marin's face," she spoke with a dark tone he knew well at that point.
The young man babbled, and both of the girls waited for him to explain himself. "H-hey, wait a minute there, hey, don't get any funny ideas!" he told before clarifying. "Aiolia was under Saga's spell and attacked her, so her mask fell for a moment! I didn't try to look at it on purpose."
For the upcoming seconds, it appeared as if the excuse had not been enough for Shaina, who stayed immobile, though eventually she looked away to the end of the garden and warned: "You should not have looked at her face still."
"Right, right!" he kept the tone of his voice high. "That's what I want to understand: why? Why is it so bad to look? When I first saw your face, Marin gave me one of the hardest slaps to the head ever, and let me tell you, she has slapped my head plenty of times."
"Maybe that is why you ended up this dumb."
"Ah, again with the dumb thing…"
Shaina turned to him once more, albeit leaning more nonchalantly against the bench. "Back in Sanctuary, you were taught how to act proper in front of our Lady's statues, were you not?" she asked.
Seiya's lips parted, and he confirmed: "Yeah, Marin told me it was important."
"You are instructed not to look her directly in the face."
"She told me I should hide my face away from the statue's, to only look at her feet or at the ground in front of them. When we found Saori was Athena, I instinctively dropped to a knee and hid my face from hers, just like I was taught."
"Because her face is sacred," she said. "The vessel of a being as sacrosanct as her is of equal sanctity. Staring alone is a blessing not to be taken lightly."
"Sheesh, that's kind of formal…"
"It is, but it does not come without precedent." Now Shaina's index touched the chin of her mask. "Amazons wear masks since they joined Sanctuary's forces in order to portray themselves after the image of female Saints, meaning we wore the masks even before them. Being women like Lady Athena, people believe that we carry part of her semblance's light in our own."
"So your face and June's are sacred too…?"
"Such is Sanctuary's superstition."
"That's why Marin got so mad when I saw your face," he deduced, but something yet piqued his curiosity.
June landed her hands on her waist and gave him a haughty chuckle. "We're totally holy, keep that in mind," she bragged.
Pegasus asked something else next: "Then why didn't you get mad when I saw your face last time, Shaina?"
The Silver Saint took a few seconds to enact her reply. "Well, there are exceptions…" However, in that moment a commotion stole the three's attention. The sparring in the background had stopped, and the other Saints walked further under the trees; a cycling Cosmos had preceded this, and it was clear that a visitor had arrived.
Jabu was the one who returned to shout the news back at them: "Marin is here with the reports!"
The others exchanged stares. "Speak of the devil," Shaina whispered.
The group made their way near the back wall, Seiya jogging to meet his master. Once he met her while she chatted with the others, he offered her an embrace, although her response was more half-hearted, only an arm wrapped around the shoulder. "You are late by a few days, aren't you?" he remarked as their hug was broken.
Marin greeted June and Shaina with short signals, then turned to her apprentice at once. "Intelligence has finished a long report on the Gemini, but you should never mind this. We have no spare time for pleasantries today," she told them.
"Are you in a hurry?" Jabu instantly asked. That sort of tension reminded them of the days prior to their invasion of Sanctuary, when their survival was never assured.
"In a way. I already gave Libra the summary, so all that is left is telling you," Eagle said as she adjusted her pouch. "I will not stop to eat either. After we are done, I must leave back to Sanctuary, and you have to do the same as soon as possible."
"Marin…" Seiya called her with a frown "… what's this about?"
"Poseidon has reincarnated and wishes to arrange a meeting with Lady Athena," she told them. "The courier said it would be a peace meeting, but I am sure she will want you in her convoy."
"Poseidon…" Ichi mouthed that name, as aghast as were the other folk.
"That's about it," Marin spoke and walked towards the tall wall behind her. "Take your Cloths and be on your way."
"Are you leaving on an empty stomach?" Shaina wondered, and the other seemed unbothered.
"I am returning at double the speed, so I should be back by tomorrow's breakfast," she explained. "See you there." With that she skipped off to the heights and then weaved past the trees to meet the city's tall buildings, from where she initiated her return.
Shaina was the first to turn and leave towards the mansion, for she wished not to waste any more time. The other colleagues slowly turned and hurried after her, only Seiya being left behind; Hyoga prompted him not to stay there for long, therefore he snapped out of his thoughts for the instant.
Walking back towards the mansion, the reformed rooms no longer fooled him — that air was as thick and uncertain as it was before this one-year break of theirs. Seiya was a Saint. He had been reaped away from his sister at an early age to be forced into a deadly gamble, and somehow survived. He was now reminded of that feeling for a while so common to him, that of palpable mortality. After the addicting life of an ordinary man, had come the occasion to return to his previous ways, to face the dangers of Sainthood once again.
If men and women like him did not take these roles, Sanctuary would surely fall, and the Earth would succumb to Athena's enemies. While the guardians of humanity answered their duties, the warriors of Poseidon's cause debated their own. In the depths of oceans, one could traverse to a land thought to be legendary by lay folk; it was in this hidden continent that a colossal temple had been erected to honor and house the god of the seas, and where he carried out a supper for his Generals, the highest rank among his Marina — as one would expect, they stood atop the Marina as the Gold Saints did atop other Saints.
The Doric marble flourishes were tinted greenish by enchanted sets of crystal light, cast from above a long stone table; ahead of it were many seats of similar material, whereon rested men armored with red-gold, seemingly scaled suits. Besides ceramic plates, some of them left ornate full helmets they would've once worn. At the end of the table was the tallest seat of all, accompanied by the sculpture of a mermaid embracing and emerging from a side. On this chair was a familiar man dressed in a white robe and tunic, the harsh shadows painted from above outlining his features rather boldly, despite it being obvious he looked no different from Saori's love interest, Julian Solo.
Another familiar figure entered the room, coming from the widest passage in front of a set of stairs; the ruddier hue of her armor and the luscious blonde hair demonstrated this to be Thetis, who returned from her latest assignment. She walked up to the table with a subtle bounce to each step, and crossed past one of the attendants who served seafood to the Marina. Once she had approached Julian, she whispered a long phrase into his ear, and he smiled in satisfaction.
The voice that exited his mouth was not his soothing masculine tone, but a more offending one, deeper, hoarse, malicious... that man spoke unlike he ever did prior, both in tone and content: "You did well, Mermaid. Athena is sure to contact us soon."
Thetis no longer leaned in to speak, but stood guard on the opposite side of the chair, watching the dinner as did the sculpture. "How can you be so certain that she will find us, my Lord?" she asked.
"Of course she is acquainted with finding Atlantis," he so quickly replied.
"I see," Thetis shut her eyes and announced to the Generals as she did to him, "our contact has learned that Athena's vessel has developed epilepsy due to a lateness in her awakening. I am sure this could be used in our favor.
Poseidon grinned at the thought. "Then negotiating with her might not even be necessary," he amusingly said ere being served a portion by an attendant, whom he thanked.
One of the Generals was also given his share of food, one of extremely long hair. His gravely voice, too, was a familiar one, and he said: "We are not to wait until Athena is out of the way before handing the humans what they deserve. She is only a minor obstacle."
"You underestimate my niece," the god responded with a harsher hint to his timbre. "I have lived long enough to know wisdom in patience, though fret not, that humanity shall receive its due punishment."
To that his servant could do little but hum joyously before enjoying the supper. The Marina had to wait until it was time to put their plans in motion, but it was thus far unknown how headlong Sanctuary would be in their inevitable response. With frictions in the Underworld known to be high, apart from the looming threat of Hades in the horizon, ensuring Poseidon's neutrality would've been a great asset going forward.
Marin's speed on her way back was enviable. As inhuman as it was even for a Saint of her caliber, she was able to soldier through hunger to reach Sanctuary by the next morning. Just as hurriedly she ascended the Twelve Houses to arrive in the Temple of Athena; therein only a white-clad priestess cleaned the halls with a broom, readying to wash it with cloths later. With the Cult finally allowed back to their duties, the reformed temple was ever tended for and pristine, as was desirable for the home of someone so important.
With the courier's approach, the priestess recognized her and walked to the door of her Lady's quarters, which was open. Before venturing in, she signaled for Eagle to wait, saying: "Allow me to get Zamira. I suspect our Lady is busy with a report right now."
Marin nodded and watched the woman enter, awaiting her return for several seconds. She exited accompanied by Athena's main servant, the acolyte who once brought the Silver Saint to the Cult before the war. The girl smiled to meet the woman once more, especially in such different circumstances, although she seemed focused on the matter at hand regardless.
"It is good to see you again, Miss Marin," she said.
"I was told Lady Athena is busy."
"Her field agents have come with piles of paperwork not too long ago, and so she is stuck writing down notes and debating her next course of action."
"I would simply leave my own reports this once, although this is a different occasion. I return with urgent word from Atlantis," said Marin.
"Oh," Zamira's eyes deviated in thought upon hearing that, but that quickly met the Saint's mask afterwards. "Did a Mariner come in contact with you?"
"While on my way to Rozan, a Mariner intercepted me and handed me this sealed package," she explained, fumbling with the container to pull out what Thetis had given. "I would rather leave it to Lady Athena and allow her to decide what is to be done."
"Aye, that is the proper course of action," the former acolyte told. "Go in and straight to her office, though enter with caution. She has had enough stress these past weeks."
"Thank you." With subtle bows, the two women separated once inside the quarters, and Marin saw the extent of the clean-up headed by priestesses and acolytes within. All sculptures, statues, sheets, veils, floors, walls, and furniture were kept as immaculate as they could, a contrast with the abandoned rooms of Saga's time. In truth, the state of Athena's quarters served as a gauge for her influence over Sanctuary and Earth.
Carefully did Marin open the wooden door to the office, knocking softly against its surface. The place inside was the most disorganized she observed thus far, due to the many papers, books, and notes scattered on shelves and the goddess' desk. Athena herself seemed involved with her work, writing findings on a book of things she read on papers given by Shun and the rest of intelligence.
Entering the place and shutting the door behind, Marin awaited her to give her attention, and remained silent in respect to her focus. "Marin, I apologize for leaving you hanging this long," she softly spoke, wrote more words, tapped the pen, and finally looked up to the courier. "It feels as if those piles are never depleted."
"Do not worry, I'll be quick as to not waste your time, my Lady," claimed the Saint. Therewith she slid the package over the desk, sealed as it was, and immediately Athena knew that not to be something sent by Old Master or the folk in Japan. "This here is claimed to be a delivery from your uncle."
"Uncle Poseidon…" the other presumed.
"His messenger told me he wishes for a peace summit of sorts, so that both you and him can focus on Hades when he does reincarnate," Marin continued. "This might've been a mistake, though I preemptively summoned the Saints in Japan. I assumed you would want to take them in a convoy."
"It was good deduction on your part." The goddess brought the package close to her and began carefully prying it with the aid of a thin metal ruler. "Whatever are my uncle's true intentions, it is paramount that I send Atlantis a message and schedule a meeting with immediacy."
"I expected that to be the case."
The woman pulled an empty sheet of paper from a pile and brought it over the work she previously did, having emptied the contents of the package; the type of parchment used was what gave its thickness, and the ink for the long message took the shape of a more modern Greek script, nonetheless recognizable as the handwriting of a relative. While she took turns reading the words, she wrote her own and occasionally spoke to the courier.
"It is his after all," she confirmed after a handful of seconds and words set down. "After we are done here, I shall guide you on how you are to find your way to Atlantis."
"Understood, Lady Athena."
"You must not go alone," the woman warned. "Travel alongside Dolphin and Piscis Austrinus. Not only will it be safer, but their powers shall serve you well on your search."
"Safer?" Marin questioned. "The messenger who intercepted me was rather pushy, but if it is a peace meeting they seek, why would a courier's safety be a concern?"
Athena rose her eyes up to Eagle's mask and stopped what she did awhile. "With uncle's track record, I refuse to take any chances. Any cynicism is justified when it comes to him and his servants."