WARNING: Violence, blood, death, agony.
Last of the Gemini
It was while the battle in the South Atlantic had already started, but somewhat before its pillar had been downed, that two men were to meet in the neighboring temple of the North Atlantic. Initially only its guardian stood near the obelisk he was meant to protect, although he expected an arrival sooner rather than later; in fact, an enemy had long invaded the premises, so he only awaited his inevitable reveal.
A subtle sound rang in the premises, and the slightest of disturbance beset the air. These details were enough for one of that power, in a moment so scrupulous, to realize a thing amiss. The General scanned the area and carefully walked a different direction, no apparent rhyme or reason to his choice.
Athena's prayer and light suddenly blessed Atlantis, but this warrior had no leeway to admire this. After several steps, he stopped; as a raised boot touched ground, the fighter turned it and tensed the leg, such that he could face a threat beside him. A bit of Cosmos grew to a turbulent blast of flames that raced in, though he swung an arm and produced a luminous cut. Metal smashed against metal, releasing sparks, thus he followed the parry with a spinning kick.
The aggressor adhered to the momentum by flipping forward, canceling the counterattack's force, and then rolled to a stand some meters away. Both could now take the sight of their opponent, on one side Phoenix Ikki, and on the other one soon to be the last defender of an Oceanic Pillar.
That menacing Scale worn by the guardian was a frightening sight. Scalloped plates fluttered outward, always resembling the fins of fish, with slender, apparently sharpened structures sticking out from beside the greaves and gauntlets. The metal was orange in tinge, yet the trims and shoulder pads were in a yellowish gold, the latter which extended out from a band of metal. The nigh enclosed helmet only revealed the lowered half of the man's face, though his long, graying hair was exposed behind; more stately ventral fins had been sculpted on the head, one at the top, and two proud on the left and right. On the cuirass were golden depictions of creatures half-human, half-beast; at the bottom they had fish tails for hinds, and a pair of horse legs as fores. These beings assumed war-like poses, one of them blowing an elongated conch shell, and another raising a trident.
That appearance was one Ikki recognized, and just as quickly did the Mariner recognize him. "Oh, we clash yet again, though this time minus the nuisance of the Gold Saints," the General said, voice dark and tone acidic.
"Do you feel lucky?" Phoenix asked.
"Lucky?"
"For facing me rather than a Gold Saint."
The Mariner chuckled before the phrase hadn't even been finished. "I never said anything of the kind," he responded. "If it were Virgo or Aries who showed up instead, I would kill them just the same."
"This once, however, I do not face you merely for Poseidon's misdeeds."
"Hm?"
Ikki wandered sideways to a more proper position, and he waved at the enemy as he said: "Guardian of the North Atlantic Pillar, you are fated to be a Saint." Almost promptly the General lowered the face, though his grin could not be hidden. "You are the one who led Baian, Io, and Caça in a bloody revolt against the whole of Sanctuary. You are not the Triton General-Mariner. You are one of the Gemini! You are Kanon!"
By the end of the Bronze Saint's ramble, the enemy had done his best to shadow what twisted into a demented smile. Knowing there was no more point living in shadow, as his twin had once done, Kanon slid the helmet off and allowed it to fall to the floor. No doubt that man was a perfect replica of his brother, from every detail on the face, every shade, and the wavy, long, graying head of hair. Even his voice, previously made known, was identical.
"You must deem yourself a smart man, having learned all that on your own," he said from behind smiling teeth. "Had you plans to be a historian outside the Saint stint?"
Amused, Phoenix smiled in earnest at such caustic humor, though in that moment his little brother's titanic Cosmos rose in the distance to engulf the South Atlantic Pillar. Triton's stare subtly observed it, back to a more serious expression.
"It was not I who collected all this information," Ikki explained, "but one more intelligent than I could ever be."
The Nebula Storm was tremendously loud from that distance, as was the demolition which it so cautiously controlled. When it was clear that the pillar was condemned to ruin, Phoenix blew up in flames and strode at the enemy yet again, but the enemy was quick to defend.
Their similarity in power meant they soon met an impasse; both fighting styles differed by virtue of limitations and backgrounds, but they were able to strike well, oft knuckles meeting knuckles. Failure was barely an option in a battle so dire, though it was unavoidable with the passage of time, resulting in full-on hits to armor.
This the Triton Scale could stand well, no matter how fast and forceful Ikki's strikes were; in the other hand, the Phoenix Cloth suffered much more, cracking and harming its user past the flesh. For each of the blindingly rapid swings Kanon delivered to the chest and stomach, the Bronze Saint did his best to brush off and press on weakening the opponent.
While the two fought to the best of their abilities, a thin, tranquil cloud of dust traveled from the neighboring temple, nothing as terrifying as the torrent of debris from the others. It made the place harder to see, and both the fire and light the fighters summoned seemed to disturb the view further.
Rocketing himself past a blanket of flames, Triton came close to reaching with a spear-handed attack into the Saint's face, yet Phoenix hurried to slam the incoming arm up with the aid of both forearms. As the enemy slip past him, he kicked a small hole into the marble and spun to a stand several steps afar.
"The one who brought that pillar down was the boy who uncovered your identity," he told after signaling at the empty panorama of the South Atlantic. "He had to only connect the dots."
"And you purport to take down this one next," Kanon assumed.
"Do not be naive. I do not serve Sanctuary."
"Then there is no point in fighting me," the Mariner said as he raised both hands to the sides. "You are a great warrior — join me and you may hold the whole world in your hand."
Ikki shook the head lightly, silent so that Athena's song was in contrast awhile. "My loyalty is to the woman trapped in that Mainstay, no one else," he revealed. "The orders she gave me are to ensure the Saints have an open path, and if all goes as planned, Poseidon will be defeated."
The General grunted and aimed the hands forth now, burning a wicked aura. "That will never come to be," he affirmed, then charged at an impressive speed to restart their clash.
While this went on following the fall of the South Atlantic, Shun's arrival was almost immediate in Poseidon's temple. The greater was his proximity to it, the more obvious was the violence that took place therein, both by the constant spikes of Cosmos and the ruckus. The boy dared come through the front door, if such a thing even mattered then — slowly the structure had been torn open from several ways, and entry had become trivial.
The youth walked in fully alert, each step calculated, situating himself in the chaos of an ongoing battle. He walked up the initial stairs towards the main hall, which had now been reduced to open ceilings and mounts of rubble, much of the fancy furniture buried beneath.
Suddenly the crooked marble by his side was blown to large shards, and it was clear that one had landed harshly in that site. It was unbeknownst to him whether this was friend or foe, so Andromeda flipped away and landed with the legs outstretched, yet feeling residual stiffness from Sorrento's technique.
The one he saw was Seiya, whose eyes lifted to the heavens, whence an icy glow descended. He leapt to meet it halfway, and was sent flailing after the rough shock; Shun reacted at once by cutting the path between the two, lest the enemy strike his ally while he was stunned.
Poseidon landed and formed a crater much deeper in the decimated hall, pausing to ensure Athena did not escape his shackles. "Another one! Another cursed Saint! Another to be slaughtered like cattle!" he growled, as furious as when the goddess began singing.
The Saints had a full second to land and recuperate; momentarily, June and Hyoga, the most injured, saw Shun from the corner of their eyes and processed he had arrived. "Only one pillar remains!" Cygnus exclaimed.
"Two pillars," Poseidon corrected him, fingers stiffening to grasp the Cosmos of his last priest. "Yet withal, the North Pacific could vanish, the Mainstay shall hold for eternity. May it be Athena's grave in this present era!"
"Shut your DAMN MOUTH!" screamed an infuriated June, succeeding that with an impactful burst of neon-like, teal Cosmos. She sped mindlessly at the god, and so her friends were forced to follow suit for her well-being. Understanding this, Poseidon assumed the defensive like prior.
The fight had become more hysterical with her outburst and the arrival of Shun, requiring more care and effort from the god's part. Not just that, it was clear that, for everything he did to keep them back or grind down on their weaknesses, Athena freed herself just as gradually, and she was sure to feel safe escaping if that went on.
Nonetheless, without her Cloth, it would not be sensible facing her uncle. It was Kiki who, limbs aching from the last encounter with the trident, sneaked amid standing walls, rooms, and mounts of broken stone. The goal was returning to where he knew the box to be, regaining its possession, and proceeding to the courtyard, where he'd be closest to his Lady.
The tumultuous passing of the battle through several sections of the temple meant this kid was remarkably vulnerable. Many a time did he deaden his pace, afraid that the walls and columns in the vicinity would crush him; it was only once that he came to another close call, with Poseidon speeding after Seiya. As soon as the approach of their Cosmos seemed imminent, the boy threw himself back, then watched the corridor's divider bulge and crash to several pieces, many dropping onto him. Thereon the fighters continued forth in their chase, so Kiki felt safer while the god was preoccupied with the Saints.
Finally he entered the room he had last left the Cloth, more quarters for the cultists and servants, though these looked different from before. Furniture had been defiled, broken, covered in ice and dust, or with wood roasted shallowly at the tips. The ceiling had sunk atop one of the separators between bedrooms, and with an outer wall blown outbound, it became fully torn to the Atlantean landscape.
The container, once diligently cleaned by the priestesses, now was filthy with all sorts of dirt. Not minding such a small nuisance, Kiki ran to it and crouched, putting the straps back around the shoulders and making a more difficult stand. The weight was more troublesome to carry with aching flesh.
Of course, the violent romp was on, so the kid focused on skipping from shadow to shadow, avoiding Cosmos. In the one hand, it was problematic that the structure had been so devastated, as there were fewer corners to hide in; in the other hand, this forced the Saints to fight well into the courtyard, that was much more sound still. Where opportunity arose, Kiki ventured further to the same goal, where the Mainstay was erected.
It was well beyond that location, past the rubble in the South Atlantic's courtyard, afar from the battle in its northern counterpart, that an unconscious mind was afflicted with terrors. An olden nightmare came to this young man, as prey of humanity as he came to be of the sea.
Like swirling entrapped in the confines of the Nebula Storm, he felt heavy waves curve about his form, rendering any and all resistance futile. No less, this once, unlike against his latest enemy, he relented. His arms did not extend to the fleeting surface, and his chest only instinctively grasped for air, a need he would not sate.
Seawater invaded the lungs and stomach; he was weighed down, helped by the ocean's motion and a lack of endeavor. He was thus closest to unconsciousness than consciousness, but someone's body struck him from the side. Somehow, far from his supposed home and family, deep into the Mediterranean, a lone youth insisted on him.
Arms embraced him, then two hands took his, fingers thin and delicate. It was not for this that he recognized their owner, but by some ethereal intuition. In attempting to save him, this girl had in turn doomed herself, and although to his musical ears the gurgling, complex noise of the water was also musical, it now turned into nightmarish symphony.
The depth's ravenous maw went on to swallow them, for he had no strength in his limbs to fight back. Cold and dark enraptured both, and they were awake no more. They could feel naught, therefore, memory failed him.
Sorrento's eyes opened, but they stung from dust that covered the lids. He wiped off the debris and sat up slowly, some pain pulsating under the Siren Scale. From that position he looked up in the direction of his temple, hundreds of meters away. No Oceanic Pillar sprawled from within. Surely it was rubble filling the yard.
Appalled, he got up while continuing to gaze at the empty spot in the vain faith that it would reappear on its own. Emotions needled him, so he finally turned away his sight. "This was home when Earth was not," he whispered. "Here we found family, whereas on Earth, we had none."
Recollecting courage, he looked at the empty sky once more. Athena's chorus somehow did not challenge him, yet complemented his grief. "Ἆ δείλ᾽ τέκνον, ἦ δὴ πολλὰ κάκʼ ἄνσχεο σὸν κατὰ θυμόν!" she repeated those lyrics. "Ἀλλ᾽ μὴ δέ τί τοι θάνατος μελέτω φρεσὶ μηδέ τι τάρβος! Ἔλεε!"
Finally tears filled his eyes, yet only one came to drop. She called for mercy, not only for the Saints or humanity; above all, she called for mercy to the Marina, to all who lived, all to whom a second chance would reasonably be given. She asked this not of any particular people, but from all who were reasonable enough to give it, hence Andromeda's civilized ways.
The General's voice nearly failed as he spoke: "I lost." His head lowered to look at the ground, along with the dust and bits launched that far, mostly pieces of the pillar carried with him. Under a cracked block he met the sight of his flute, which he salvaged and briefly cleaned. His helmet, however, was nowhere to be found, so he did not bother seeking it.
His gaze diverted to the remaining pillars: the North Atlantic and the mighty Mainstay. There a comrade and his Lord fought enviously, and his allies continued to serve under Thetis' command in the front. For a moment he was compelled to resist.
"Only two sources of Cosmos dwell in the next temple, so we may have a chance," he spoke, but he took Athena's light and prayer from the Temple of Poseidon another instance. Her call made him doubt himself and those who fed his hatred. "After all, is this worth it? Is it right?" the man pondered. "Their words ring true; not only do I question our Lord's judgment, but perhaps my passion led me in error." Once more he aimed for the North Atlantic, but walked in its direction rather than staying still. "Why does it matter now? One cannot undo a pain, whether suffered or inflicted."
His eventual destination was the savage battle between Phoenix and Triton, who yet engaged in combat. It was the Bronze Cloth's weakness that became Ikki's greatest fault, and so, despite many strikes of his colliding with the enemy, it was Kanon's punches that caused the most damage.
After receiving a palm heel to the chest, Ikki felt the pain deepen into bone and flesh, and broke his stoic shell to grunt in complaint. The breastplate lost a chunk of metal, which bent and divided to shards. The enemy proceeded with further swings, alternating from the stomach, then to the sides of the head, to distribute smaller cracks along his protection. Few of these were parried or defended in a hurry, though Phoenix didn't have it in him to counter in such a state.
With a palm strike strong enough to push Ikki several steps back, Triton spread both arms and originated a bright white aura, screaming: "GALAXIAN EXPLOSION!"
In a haste and with as much Cosmos as he could muster, Phoenix replied by lifting a giant sphere of raging flame, barely fast enough to meet the fast growing arc of the enemy's technique. This did weaken the blast, although it did not cancel it, thus he was overpowered and launched further back.
The Phoenix Cloth could not sustain this intense energy. Much remained of it prior, though it soon got blown to minuscule pieces, disintegrating along with some of the clothes the man wore underneath. As the crumbling parts scraped through bare skin, tiny wounds were cut along it, and the faintest smudges of blood could be seen lifted and melted by the Galaxian Explosion.
He fell, and when the light waned, it was clear that much of his swollen muscles had been fully exposed to the Atlantean air, and that thin lines of bleeding flowed along them. His taupe skin had been superficially burnt in many locations, some areas instantly reddening as a result. The series of pains this caused pestered him, but he got off the floor nonetheless, the edges of his long hair and tattered clothes sporting ember after the ordeal.
"Finally, our battle comes to an end," Kanon said, understanding that Ikki would be killed in seconds without the Cloth.
To his surprise, Ikki's scowl to him was of pure fury, not fear or calculation. In a matter of seconds, the man charged, quick enough to produce a shock wave that crushed some marble behind. His speed was greater without the armor, haply out of feeling lighter and more mobile, like in the days he suffered under Guilty.
Kanon could push these suicidal strikes off by little, though such rapidness was so great that he saw no means to attack. Phoenix's death was a mere Cosmos-fueled hit away, yet the chance never presented itself. When he felt flooded by the fighting, the General instead dodged and skipped in a random direction, to open more distance between them.
Turning around, he saw that Ikki rather grinned, despite those furious lowered eyebrows from before. He took a fighting pose, a fist forward and muscles pumped. "What did you say of an end?" he asked, and as he did so his body was taken by a curtain of fire, its bursts long and loud. The Phoenix Cloth was suddenly built anew, from the feet to the head, protecting the wearer as well as it did before. "We are just getting started."
The Mariner's frustrated grimace was telling of his dire thoughts. "You impress me, Phoenix," he muttered, but he had no intent in backing down. If anything, this was evidence to him that he should offer no quarter, so he rushed in the foe's direction another time.
With a scream, Ikki attacked just the same, and the blows they traded spat blasts of fire, beams of light, and bright sparks to be seen through the falling haze. Relentless, Kanon risked himself with a large swing, the momentum of which the Bronze Saint utilized to safely evade.
Continuing this flow, the General brought both arms to the ground and sent the legs up. He took Phoenix by surprise with a double kick to the stomach, yet ere the man was sent afar, he charged a boot with Cosmos and flipped a slice of fire overhead. Due to this, Triton was unable to finish him off; he had to get up and stand back as to not burn the face.
With time, Ikki rolled to safety and walked in a great pace. Hard steps now echoed from within the temple, heading towards the courtyard, a sort of unexpected entrance for a war of this type. Seconds passed and the two evaluated whether to attack or await the stranger, to learn whether to feel more or less fortunate.
Alas, Phoenix became apprehensive to see that another General-Mariner exited from the passage, and this was Siren Sorrento. He wondered whether Shun, in taking down the South Atlantic, also had mercy on the enemy — this would've come naturally to him. That notwithstanding, he readied to face two powerful warriors at once, something he was less sure to succeed at.
In contrast, Kanon was relieved. "Sorrento! For a minute I came to believe you had died," he said. "How could you allow the South Atlantic to fall?"
Close to the pillar in the center, Siren stopped and pended to answer, staring blankly at his peer. Seeing that no explanation came, Ikki spoke instead: "The boy he fought took mercy on him. That is the only reason he yet lives." Sorrento's severe stare turned to the Saint now, as if he had referred to something undesirable. "Was that not the case? My younger brother allowed your life to continue, otherwise, death was certain to you."
"Worry not, Sorrento, for you have come just in time. Athena shall be defeated if we join Lord Poseidon in the Mainstay," Kanon claimed in face of his peer's silence.
But this silence was so soon broken, with the flutist shutting the eyes and admitting: "I am not so sure, Kanon."
"Hm?" Triton raised an eyebrow in doubt, then a hand in assumption. "Has your defeat brought the coward out of you?"
"I am not so sure our enemy can be defeated after all."
That same hand he raised, Kanon shut into a fist. He understood well, having suffered the power of a great Saint, having felt Athena's awesomeness, and having seen most of the Oceanic Pillars falling as quickly as Sanctuary descended into the battlefield, any warrior would falter in their beliefs. "Then so be it!" the General concluded. "Let us fight and down as many of them as possible, and once he must, let our Lord bring Athena down with him to the Underworld! If Atlantis falls, so does Sanctuary and Earth! Let it all be buried under sea!"
Sorrento's eyes opened once more to find Kanon from the corner, a glimmer of suspicion in his face. "Was that your plan all along?" he questioned. Though his tone was no different from beforehand, it was clear that he disbelieved an ally.
Relishing on what took place as he realized, it was Ikki who turned a grin back to the one he fought. Triton was sure in his justification, and said: "Do not doubt the man who saved your life and of that vain girlfriend of yours. If it depended on those who harmed you, you would have been both swallowed by the sea, to never be found again. I am your savior!"
"Rich words to hear from Sanctuary's most heinous of traitors," Phoenix interfered.
"This does not concern you, Saint."
Regardless, it was the Saint whom Sorrento inquired next. "You," he called. "You are Andromeda's older brother, you said."
"Indeed," the man confirmed, then pointing to Kanon, "and that man is no Mariner. He was born to be a Saint."
Siren's stoic semblance was at last changed by a squint of the eyes. There it was, something he was surprised to hear. "How come?"
No longer intent on proving anyone wrong, Kanon merely smirked out of pride for the deeds the enemy described. "Baian, Io, Caça — all men who once integrated Sanctuary's army and aspired to become Saints themselves. They served under Kanon, though that is not the name by which he was better known in history," Ikki said and raised his voice to reveal the truth. "His soul's first name is Pollux! In his every reincarnation, he is meant to serve under Sanctuary as the Gemini Saint."
A demented chuckle near slipped from between Triton's teeth. With lips parted, Sorrento beseeched confirmation from the supposed Gemini himself: "Is that true, Kanon?" However, the man just shut the eyes and laughed in quietude. "Talk!"
"He will not," said Phoenix. "He and his twin were the culprits for the last civil war in Sanctuary, and he is the culprit for the current bloodbath. He would never want you to learn this."
"But how? It was Lord Poseidon who chose humanity's destruction, all to cleanse the Earth of their sin!"
Kanon spoke over him: "And how could anyone believe he would be victorious this once? He could never." In the briefest of silence, Athena's melodic hums were the omen of a bitter defeat for the common Atlantean. This Triton knew well, and was therewith obvious to Sorrento too. "Atlantis falls short of Sanctuary in every front, and with Heaven's involvement, even Poseidon's brilliant plan of kidnapping the woman would go awry. He is a dimwit, surely a reflection of his thralls."
"So you see us as pawns for your selfish goals," an offended Sorrento remarked.
"No god shall stand before me once I am done," the other said, hands grasping onto his burning Cosmos. "Witness now, even the lord of the seas serves my whim without realizing! When I am finished with Sanctuary, Atlantis, and the Earth, Heaven comes next."
But, apart from Athena's radiating power, there was another cold energy that grew unbearable in the distance. Those who lived in Atlantis could recognize its owner without error, despite having only met it the past year. No doubt remained of Poseidon's grandiosity and defiance.
Sorrento took this in, how it dwarfed anything he or Kanon ever displayed. The fury it carried was honed, refined wrath, the likes of which no mortal could manifest. "Sense that," the Mariner suggested, and as Triton did so, he pursed the lips. "That is no ambition to be reined by men of our kind. We would be lucky to survive that god's ire, let alone the ire of those beyond him."
"And your solution is to join the enemy?"
"It pains me to admit that Lady Athena is our wisest option, though I have decided — I am to take down the North Atlantic Pillar myself!" Siren said.
Almost instantly, Kanon broke into a long, belittling cackle, while his soon-to-be opponents set up for the fight. Once he had enough of the diversion, he stopped and spoke: "Wrong choice."
That nonchalantly he sparked into a pale glow and raced for Phoenix, who preemptively escaped his path. Now the almost equal clash of the two received the involvement of Siren, who brought the flute near his lips and blew a long series of notes, interchanging their intervals.
The energy he raised from about him strategically aided Ikki in the strife with Kanon, making it hard for the latter to keep up. Though initially the General hunted the Saint down, in a matter of seconds the situation flipped, and Triton saw himself having to parry the foe's flaming sweeps while watching out for Sorrento's obstacles.
Stepping backwards to block Ikki's advances, Kanon was suddenly pushed off the feet by a swelling of Cosmos from his former ally's song; he corrected and flipped faster midair, kneeing Phoenix's slam away. No matter, he lost balance before landing by virtue of Sorrento's power, and this once the Saint was able to shoulder him many meters further.
Ikki did not quit, striding once, then twice, then almost flying at the twisting Mariner. When the tip of a boot reached the floor, Kanon would've been prepared if he hadn't been tripped by Sorrento yet again, thwarting his plans. He assured the situation was now urgent, stretched both arms above the head, then slapped the palms together. "ANOTHER DIMENSION!" he shouted.
Although the man's body was diagonal in reference to the floor and he yet moved from being tripped, his form was perfect and his speed was enviable. A slit was cut upon the air above the left hand, mystically tied to the tip of its third finger, and from it a freezing force exhausted matter around it.
The others watched time seemingly fluctuate in pockets, and as a result the view nearest this hole became scrambled. Ikki felt a push so strong towards it that, in the speed he was in, it was unavoidable. All light closest to the entrance stretched more and more until it went into the limbo within, and similarly, he seemed to become smaller as he got swept.
Observing he had committed a grave mistake, Phoenix did the best to return, though there was no sign of where the exit might've been. Lost where he was, floating in forbidden space, he could no longer see the small port by which he would return. Lacking Shaka's insight and power, he knew he would be unlikely to ever leave such a plane.
Then he could hear the haunting, whistling remains of Sorrento's song, morphed down to its apparent formants, frequencies mangled and incomprehensible. As it flowed in many rhythms to echo from infinite corners, they all appeared to ultimately originate from a singular point in space — this was a key out of there.
Before his limbs began to fail in such place, and before he drifted too far from an exit, the man burst with flaming Cosmos, being sent like a fiery star to Siren's call. Indeed, a brighter point grew larger and larger, till naught else occupied his vision, and he was able to force himself out of that forsaken place.
The rip in space was violently shut, and the sheer force of this launched the three men in separate directions, such that they reached the corners of the courtyard. Ikki struck one of the outlining pillars; Sorrento scraped along the ground and hit a corner; whereas Kanon flew up in an arc, striking one of the temple's architraves. Though they hurried to stand, each of the combatants were deeply pained and stunned, so animosities there fell silent for a short moment.
This could not be said for the battlefield far behind, where Sanctuary's most crucial push squeezed the last buffers among the Atlanteans. Despite enemy forces being spread thin to stop soldiers and amazons at the blockades, they kept on fighting, their remaining hopes tied to the last standing pillars far beyond. Nonetheless, it was clear that troops were perilously close to breaking.
Looking to their commander for morale was in vain; Thetis was deep in the most emotive of tantrums, slaying dozens of foes as she traversed the field. Upon Shaina's sparking arrival, lines of dead allies peppered the perimeter around Mermaid, and her body and Scale was awash with fresh blood. The only fluid other than the essence of her victims were the tears that cleaned her dirtied cheeks, streaming endlessly in mourning for one she yet believed to be dead.
Subordinates could barely keep up with their commander, though they convened on her; it came to a point that, faced with Thetis' wild swings and the presence of other Marina, Shaina was swarmed. Fast and deadly as she was, she could deflect attacks and tentatively counter them, yet the future didn't bode well in such a state.
Mermaid did not bother with any further care. Instead, she purposefully endangered herself by leaping into the fray after Ophiuchus' throat, her moves wild and unpredictable. Thanks to the edge of Cosmos, both women spawned a spectacle the likes of which only Mu and Aldebaran displayed in the field at the time; their gauntlets touched to release colorful lights, air pressure sharply shifting whenever a hit ensued.
In the defense was mostly Shaina, for lower-ranking Marina frequently strode to supplement their commander's ferocity, although Thetis was not akin on letting others fight on her behalf. Shoving friend or foe, she made it her goal to be the one always preying on that Silver Saint the most.
As a Mariner briefly replaced her for a spinning kick, Mermaid slid from behind, buried a hand in the sediment, and screamed: "DEATHTRAP CORAL!" Like many instances before, stony, vividly-colored arms sprawled from below to catch Shaina.
In a quick response, she had zero issue kicking through part of it, the thing blowing with electricity; she then descended to strike her rival, yet a Mariner took her by surprise and struck her in the cheek. She spun in the air and braced for further impacts, a hand instinctively reaching for the mask, since it had come close to slipping.
Ravenous for her life, Thetis' pink aura burned, and she prepared a bloodied hand to take the final steps and reap the woman's life. Suddenly a loud fuss of crashing ice grew to the forefront. A barrage of crystals and ice spikes washed along a strip of that area, something she had little trouble dealing with.
"ANGEL SPLASH!" "GLACIAL HORN!" Two distinct feminine voices came from the surroundings before this congealed torrent came to land.
Foiled, the commander rotated in the air with a shout and exploded with warm, iridescent energy, breaking the incoming ice which would've cleanly struck her. Some of her subordinates had expected solely crystals, thus they covered their heads to then be surprised with the sharp spears, which penetrated at once.
Those who survived rose a bloodcurdling cacophony of pain, bleeding profusely on the ground; many of the enemies there, however, fell dead or at death's door, with slender pieces of ice thrust through craniums and throats.
The two Bronze Saints who landed in front of Shaina were Dolphin Alicia and Piscis Austrinus Anka, en garde now that they had incapacitated most of the nearby Marina. Their greatest obstacle, however, was still Thetis, and so Alicia leapt at great speeds to meet her before she recovered from defending their attack.
In the meantime, Anka devoted herself to aiding the commander. "Get up, Miss Shaina!" she yelled so that her mild voice wasn't drowned in the clamor of war. "There are more of them coming!"
Shaina came to a stance mostly on her own terms, although her attention was soon caught by the fights ahead and above. Alicia was quickly overpowered by Thetis, who diverted the advance and kicked her off to a three-point stance. Knowing it was more dangerous for Dolphin than for her, Ophiuchus sped and left the other girl behind, bumping straight into the enemy's chest.
The two flew to the sand, making dust rise as they tumbled. Both rolled while throwing arms, at first in wild abandon, therewith with calculated furor. Still, Thetis didn't tardy to return to her careless ways, packing arms with Cosmos and reaching for Shaina's exposed skin.
With her claw-like nails, the Silver Saint sliced several rough wounds across the opponent's face, though this did not appear to affect her in any way; rather, she stepped forth and opened a shallow wound scarily close to the throat, spraying blood.
Mermaid did not quit, cutting every distance the other woman opened. Her arms spun, and rose, and fell, and stretched; wherever she missed, she exploded with Cosmos and gyrated fully, always finishing with a quick slam. These were mostly guarded, but another small wound was split in succession, again close to Shaina's jugular. A misstep would've meant death for either of them, though Thetis had the advantage of no longer tending for her own welfare.
The Atlantean commander's teary eyes went sideward for a moment upon another loud noise, this one deafening. A giant explosion preceded the arresting chants of Athena's troops in the distance. Debris of burnt wood, cracked metal, and much eviscerated sediment scattered up in spread-out clouds.
After having met Shaina's incoming attack, she returned to the battle, though many an Atlantean witnessed a beauteous, golden glow soaring above their comrades faraway. This was likely Mu, and his figure did not stop till it was well into General territory. It was clear that his front had breached the final blockade, and opposing troops sprinted for the temples.
Thetis' shaken soldiers were unsure of whether to retreat and reorganize, or to insist on a potentially deadly skirmish. Some Marina shouted and ordered for their squads to back up to the blockades yet standing in the center, meanwhile others expected the commander's voice.
What her velvety timbre offered was little if not hateful murder. Her brutality was unending, and even the most enthusiastic of soldiers seemed to falter in face of it. Such vengefulness was puny compared to their budding fear, their comprehension that this foe was not as vanquishable like they were told.
The woman did not even bother watching her troops regroup in the remaining lines. She attacked and attacked without end, coming so close to that throat she so hungrily wished to injure. Shaina, now more overwhelmed than prior, slammed the arm off and spun with the legs forward, the back of a boot striking Thetis' helmet.
In response, the Mariner fully rotated as she oft did, then kicked the Saint's body to a distance. Shaina succeeded in landing on a foot, canceling the impetus so she could just as severally take the brunt of the adversary's impending advance.
Seemingly equal in power, the two suffered this mayhem horrifically, feeling pain travel through vibrating armor. They fumbled to a fall and hurried to get up, groaning, side by side, and divided only by a few meters of stained ground.
"Her meditation…" Shaina whispered to herself. Her focus was odd for one of her kind — she allowed herself be surpassed in cruelty by an enemy, having come to the conclusion that they both reached the limit of the Sixth Sense. Indeed, as they combated, Ophiuchus concentrated on the words Athena once gifted them in Japan.
They swung once more, gauntlets striking midway. Sparks flew, and they engaged in further trades. Shaina's movements followed some higher nature, some innate code of an amazon, automatically parrying and avoiding whatever she could; for the time being, her mind externalized itself.
"Observation," she thought. "I must observe my own thought. I must witness consciousness." Her Cosmos-ridden hands continued to flail on their own, although they now seemed to flow more comfortably against the air. A palm strike strong enough pushed Thetis a handful of steps back. "My self, estranged from me, will contend for dominance. I must defeat it. I am to become my own slave, and my own master."
It seemed that Ophiuchus' already fearsome Cosmos grew greater, as did her aura. Slowly the light behind her lensed. Thetis took no note of this change, in fact, no note of her growing abilities at all, since she was blinded by deathlust.
For a second Shaina did not only feel as if she had separated herself from thought itself, but from herself physically, projected from the body. It was from there she could watch Cosmos pouring from her mind to her limbs like a fountain. Not only did the workings of such energy itself become clearer, but also how her higher sense brought it forth to action.
"My own slave, my own master," she repeated in meditation. "I turn this cruelty to my very self!"
Like a self-murderous headswoman, the Silver Saint forced her inner self to submit to this entrant, extrinsic one. This dark enlightenment was expressed with a grand aura the likes of Aldebaran, and was interpreted as a strange arrival in the battlefield. Even Mermaid, formerly frenzied, could no longer ignore it.
One, two, three strikes of the right hand broke through Thetis' defenses; the left hand was brought over that menacing, painted mask. Thunder spread from the Ophiuchus Cloth to disturb the ground below, marking it with fractal burns. A purple haze spread from her distorted outline, and she screamed: "THUNDER CLAW!"
Like an amaranth glow, she crossed Mermaid's image in a split second. The Mermaid Scale was crushed along part of the bust and left shoulder, and the helmet was cracked in a tip, flying off to uncover the woman's blonde head. Blood splattered from the neck and chin, that had already been superficially injured.
Eyes open in distress and terror, Thetis lost all strength for a minute. While Shaina bounced deeper in the field to slay dozens of enemies a second, the other fell and convulsed from the continuing shock. Only screams of suffering were overheard in such dazed state.
Imagining that this was the sure march of death drawing near, Mermaid sat up and turned when some autonomy returned her, so she saw as soldiers and Marina alike dropped with a diversity of bleeding wounds and burns. Ophiuchus' image lit up the skies like a lead to the last push for the temple grounds. As if certain that this would be successful, she went straight for the Temple of Poseidon.
Athenian troops raised spears and fists; they descried the heights darken momentarily, only long lines of thunder illuminating what was below. Almost at once, men and women started to reach the final barrier, seconds away from joining Mu's troops.
The Atlanteans fell in disunity, returning either to escape or to make haste for their defenses. Thetis got entirely up and watched this shameful scene, picking off weak incoming enemies. "Cowards! Cowards with your backs to the enemy!" she insulted her own. "Die as you will! I'd rather die fighting them head-on."
The situation would not improve, but rather worsen faster than ever before for them; while Shaina left her men and women in the fray to join Seiya and the others, Mu was a more thorough leader. After having crossed past the final defensive lines, he turned and swept like hellfire unto the enemies yet struggling. Each passage his was catastrophic, killing hundreds where Ophiuchus once killed several handful.
Every loud, bloody, impossible to predict passage of that Gold Saint, raining stars and nebulae over them, caused Poseidon's fighters to retreat in greater droves. Their screams were of anger first, and fear next. Worst for those who turned their backs and ran was that, as they left the view of dead comrades, they soon met the panorama of fallen pillars. There was no ignoring their loss.
Shaina continued soaring in the Mainstay's direction, hunting Athena's song. In her approach, Sorrento's flute could be heard faintly coming from the North Atlantic, something she so quickly ignored. From above she took note that Poseidon's temple had been trashed, ravaged through and through, and only the courtyard stayed presentable.
Indeed, it was in that yard now that the battle mostly took place. Ophiuchus' acquiring of the Seventh Sense was unsteady for the moment, and her perception floated between cognizance of movements below. Oft they were readable enough, but every now and then they seemed to race beyond her sensibilities.
No matter, she confirmed that her Lady had to be trapped in the Mainstay, and that Seiya was among those facing Poseidon. With this in mind, she descended with a sparking explosion to join the fight. Once she encroached, the sights became sharper, easier to discern; figures could be properly told apart, as could their conduct. She was envenomed by the vividness of her Senses with aid of that new one, and hunted for the god duly upon seeing him.
Even in face of so many strong Saints, Poseidon was never perplexed. Rather, as his path was cut by the amazon in the air, he was able to casually spin thanks to a sudden peak in Cosmos; this not only eluded her claws, but also allowed him to slip a foot to her side, kicking her to a statue.
Those present came to realize her addition to the fight, and Seiya, who chased him the closest, was able to catch the struck woman, then launch her safely to a corner of the open area. This act undid his path and made him skid along marble, quickly coming to a crouch. "Shaina?" he called. "What are you doing here?"
She had rolled a handful of times on the sand that inlined some of the courtyard's platforms, then got up as soon as was feasible. The battle carried on, with Shun raising winds in an attempt to push Poseidon to a precarious position. To not lose the opportunity, Shaina leapt to the nebula and used its volume as a means to send shocks along it.
Such a threat was unexpected even to the caliber of a god, yet he kept his calm. Countering Andromeda with forceful, icy winds much mightier, Poseidon spiraled to a stand somewhat ahead of his pillar, and once more Ophiuchus was sent away. This once her landing was more controlled, curling the body and flipping till she reached hard footing.
The Saints populated the courtyard, spread out unevenly, some farther than others. A few walked to locations they assumed to be more strategic, despite the fact that no reasoning seemed to function against an insurmountable obstacle. Seiya had gained a few smaller wounds, but remained the least harmed of the bunch — in contrast, June was still stiff from her past strikes, and Hyoga appeared much worse than when they first arrived.
Surely he would not make it much longer without aid. Cygnus' head felt light, and, being closest to Shun, he nigh tumbled behind him. The other boy's face slightly tilted in that direction out of worry. "Are you fine, Hyoga? Do you feel like passing out?" he asked.
"I… I lost too much blood," his ally said. "Even if I pass out, don't stop to rescue me. It would be the death of us."
"No!" Shun objected. "If you fall, I will save you, no matter…"
His voice was interrupted by Poseidon suddenly throwing the trident in their general trajectory. Its speed was as awesome as prior, but it first seemed to miss them. Instinctively, the two Bronze Saints shifted the bodies to safety, and it grazed the slower Hyoga's hand to cross betwixt the pair.
Also out of instinct, one raised warm winds, whereas the other raised cold gales in an attempt to push it up. The weapon kept on going far behind them, covering hundreds of meters in the yard; they did not dare taking their eyes off the god, for they knew he was one to distract them.
The target was the redhead near the exit — Kiki also burned his fledgling energy and threw himself off. Without anyone to save him, the box on his back was struck almost fully by the blades, so he lifted a shallow flight due to the push.
So great was the metal that covered Athena's Cloth it was only scratched by Poseidon's trident, though the vibrations were enough to cause pain in its carrier. Regardless, this act did not go unpunished; the Saints responded to the enemy's act by advancing as fast as they did in each attempt, now with the help of a much stronger Shaina.
Dazzled and fallen, Kiki looked up to see the spectacle of ice, light, and thunder that arose in that intricate fight. Once Shun lifted more harsh storms, the kid was forced to hold onto raised marble bricks, since it felt like he could be dragged along. It was when the winds lowered in intensity that he got up again and tried to sneak his way around.
The extreme danger in this effort was ever justified to him. Having kissed death so frequently now, he grew bold enough to run under a battle he could barely perceive.
Sorrento's flute, which once rung in agreement to Athena's labyrinthine musical modes, suddenly fell silent. In a matter of seconds, the goddess appealed for his accompaniment once more; she sang a series of circular notes over and over, spaced out by invitational silence. After long minutes of varying over the same Ancient melodies, she appeared to belt a composition more classical.
Somehow the tiring Saints were reinvigorated by this change, a sign that she reacted to things outside her prison. In face of the apex warrior, they preyed upon him, striking and skipping more aggressively than prior. Poseidon traversed their offenses with care, for he lacked the trident, and wished not to unchain the curse from the Mainstay by accident.
Kiki leapt as June was sent past a statue, then the column behind it, an effect of the god's response to her boldness. She was not in danger by virtue of her friends' zealous assault, though she was quick to crawl to a jog and rejoin the chaos.
The boy crawled, chest to the floor, the container's weight rendering this an effortful endeavor. Chunks of rock flew left and right, so he protected the eyes from particles and dust. He got up upon nearing the stairs to the Mainstay's base, and in that moment Sorrento's flute wholly responded to the new chant.
As this took place, their music ended its repetition and went on, the circular melodies a befitting soundtrack to the roller coaster that occurred above. Poseidon finally landed in the other edge of the courtyard, reacquiring the trident, which he forthwith swung back to spread ice and push back the Saints.
He proceeded by continuing incalculable, menacing lines amid the enemy. Like before, no one succeeded in touching him, let alone harming him, and he clearly scanned for the boy with the box. Eagle eyes encountered him undesirably close to the objective; the arm aimed true; the impulse was proper, and once more that weapon got thrown in Kiki's path.
Shun, from such distance, manipulated his storms with enough strength to likely divert the trident downwards. Shaina, who was closest to the boy at the time, swerved and attempted to push herself into the thing's handle, which came as a failure.
Unaware of what was taking place, the kid was finally struck. That quickly he tumbled over the first steps and screamed, a searing pang traveling across the body. He crawled some more and looked behind, to see pools of blood splattered from a wound in his foot. Andromeda's efforts weren't futile; had it not been for him, the blades would've been at chest height; instead, they penetrated Kiki's heel all the way to the other side.
"Bastard!" Seiya shouted at the same pace that he strode into the soaring Poseidon. Of course, the target had no issues evading, and another of the goodly sculptures was broken in the process.
Above the pain, Aries' apprentice had no other thought but his goal. His boyish scream was almost as loud as Sorrento's flute that close, even without Cosmos, though he did not falter in pulling himself further up the stairs. In that instant, all music faded to a halt. "Lady Athena!" Kiki called in agony. "Please, I've come to you! Lady Athena!" Added the trident's weight, it was a trial in itself to go on, oozing scarlet upon the cracked marble. He shouted more: "Please! Please! My Lady!"
He slammed palms to the floor, demanding his body to never mind the suffering. However heroic this was, his nerves trembled. Only the sound of fighting could be heard about him, and he assumed mayhaps those screams he uttered were a deathly song, and that he was to be slaughtered so close to the end.
The boy's brain had only fixations left: war, excruciating pain, and Athena's light. There it was, pale golden, emanating from within the obelisk's cold, enchanted walls; he pressed his numb flesh to reach hither, a living corpse if anything. The horrifying realities were drowned out in her warmth. Were he to die, he wished to die there, surrounded by the goddess' blessing.
Darkness became eclipsed by light. His vision beheld a sparkling ballet of elliptical galaxies. Brighter they became, and, at last, everything was gold.
What preceded and occurred in parallel to this in the North Atlantic Temple was a continuation of the intense battle between Ikki, Sorrento, and Kanon. After their timely conflict against the latter's Another Dimension, the trio got up, recomposed themselves, and restarted their aggressions.
Of course, the pillar's guardian had no qualms using each of his tools, since the Saint he faced was unbelievably powerful, and the Mariner who supported him was just as deadly. He returned to the rearguard, evading, parrying, and tapping off Ikki's moves while oft crossing paths with Sorrento, who was much more stationary.
Siren's playing was consonant with the shifts in Athena's merciful vocals, yet in line with the rhythm of their battle, turning an Ancient Greek musical form into true chaotic jazz. The notes which stabbed the air with Cosmos could serve as obstacles to Triton's escapades, or as pushes to spoil his balance.
No matter, Kanon was focused and avid, peremptory in his belief that he could defeat both if he separated them. Were he to spend five or ten minutes engaging Ikki without the other's shenanigans, surely he would come close to victory, not unlike before. He had to merely find a gap — exploit an instant of distraction.
Soon he noted how often he rushed near Sorrento, how the man was stagnant in his stance, only stepping or skipping short distances at the onset of danger. With his flute to the mouth, there was much he could do to defend against obvious strikes, yet not much when it came to seemingly innocuous threats.
With a plan in mind, Triton slid ahead of the Bronze Saint and took a fist in full, both arms crossed to absorb the punch. Rather than fighting against the force, he allowed his body to be pushed back, to the point of adhering to this impulse and flying faster than he usually would. Ikki gave chase, though this would bring no problem.
The General's velocity was unreachable. He twisted and strafed on the way, passing a meter or so of distance from Sorrento. Thereon his hand lifted, a finger aimed to the flutist's bare eyes; a dark aura crowned that extended index. "EMPEROR DEMON FIST!" he shouted.
Ikki frowned and exploded in flames, a desperate attempt to elicit evasion from his ally, if not put the enemy's aim off. A fading line of light invaded Sorrento's eye so accurately that it transversed the pupil before waning.
Soon Kanon lost much extra speed and was tackled into the ground, the force crushing some tiles and unearthing foundations. They struggled, each of the Saint's punches slammed with force, and the Phoenix Cloth cracked as it was wont to. With a kick from below, the General was able to free himself from underneath.
Ikki rolled and stood with certainty that he would be at a disadvantage, hearing that his new partner's playing stopped. From the corner of an eye he witnessed Sorrento crumble to both knees, a palm to the forehead. So quickly his hair had become disheveled as he attempted to fight an alien urge, and with each dispute, a piercing migraine sickened him.
"Listen to her song!" the Bronze Saint yelled, thereon he had to parry one of the enemy's incoming assaults. That quickly, the situation had flipped, as Kanon planned. "Pay attention to it!"
A blinding swing of the leg was enough to stun Ikki, but he did his best to block the following series of punches. With each trade, either sparks or pieces of the Cloth spread from impact, and soon Kanon planted both palms to the man's exposed chest.
Phoenix grunted and almost tumbled back; before the foe came forth, he proactively called a clap of red flames, only his shadow visible. The winds this generated were significant, yet his yells could be heard: "The song — it is not for the Saints!" Once Triton ventured into that fiery barrier, the Saint leapt to a different side, being grazed by the shoulder and spinning just slightly. He landed and ran a few meters before the next clash. "It is a prayer to the Atlanteans!"
Throughout this clash, Siren underwent an internal struggle, foaming from the corners of his parted lips. Hidden in the shadow of long hair locks, both eyes conveyed saturnine thoughts, pupils inflated. There was no point in listening for the prayer then, because it had been replaced with a classical melody, a playful hum reinforcing the same sequence over and over — this was a drone to reel him out of misery.
The ember and flash ahead were a detail now. As if reaching for a rope in his mind, Sorrento recollected whence came such pestering melody. It started with a note oh so high, then a quick succession of lower notes, all of which Athena expertly struck. She went on to three high notes, then another quick succession, then elongated the last as a call to his flute. She wanted him to play as she sang, the way he adored doing with Thetis.
As the Emperor Demon Fist attempted to reduce him to a devil, instead Sorrento found humanity within — there it was, such treasure, the musical piece which the goddess offered as truce. He knew it well, a climax among a series of etudes, and so he grasped the instrument more firmly. That he brought to the lips, coated in his own spit, then readied the opposite hand to make out notes.
His fingers suffered from paralysis, so the first notes came incorrect, quiet, and out of time. Unshackling the Sixth Sense slowly, he sparked some Cosmos, then the Seventh Sense came as natural, and his body's numbness became distant. The sound grew louder until it was overheard in the Mainstay, therewith Athena's voice reverberated in perfect reply.
In such state, on his knees, uncurling from a sorry position, he picked up the pace. The etude was obvious, and his exhausted eyes took in the view of battle. The goddess no longer mimicked his every note, rather stretching those of higher pitch, a sweet fellow to such virtuosity.
"What?" Kanon kvetched as he escaped Ikki's rising flames, noting that the flute resounded against his wishes. He flipped back and primed himself for the same assault from before, though even he wasn't ready for what was to come.
The cycling notes interacted with Phoenix's burning strides. For each move sent in the enemy's way, lines of fire cut along the air, spreading into loud blasts; thereon sound tinged in Cosmos ascended from within it, making it bloom. At first they were averted, but soon this mixture was enough to crash past his capabilities.
Though these fierce punches and kicks weren't sufficient to defeat the Triton Scale, they were enough to harm the flesh and bone it guarded, and the fire was enough to heat it up or burn the little exposed skin. This endured nearly two minutes till Kanon, tripped by a sweep of air pressure caused by Sorrento, suffered a straight fist to the face.
Ikki's hand was scorching upon touching him, and he was buried halfway into the courtyard's flooring. The General wished to stand, yet was shoved back with a foot, then kneed such that he spat blood; he crawled slightly out of the hole, then the Saint took him by the hair, ruining it with more ember.
He pulled the enemy closer to Siren, whose caprice had thus come to an end, and left him there. Kanon rolled and screamed, eyes tightened. It appeared some bones were broken in the bout, and his face had been burnt rather seriously in the latest move, a fate the rest of his body only partially shared.
While Sorrento slowly got up from his fallen stance, Ikki walked around the enemy and stood above him, as if to study his suffering. A ground-shaking boom interrupted the three, and even the pained Mariner turned to learn its source.
The Mainstay leaned in its righteous place. It deepened, shifted, and deepened some more into the earth multiple times ere crumbling to shards. With the volume of dust and debris that raised, so did a pure glow, angelical in sight. Even before the fall of the North Atlantic, Poseidon's obelisk would be no more.
Knowing what was to come, the flutist protected the face with a hand and lowered it; Phoenix did not mind, pinning Kanon down by the torso with a boot. That tsunami-like wave of darkness assaulted them, coating everything in more dust than ever before.
The defeated General bemoaned that situation, haply out of physical ailment, haply out of wasted effort. Still, the turbulent waves eventually slowed down, and they could hear one another despite the difficulty in seeing.
Gemini's burnt eyes could barely gaze at his tormentor, avoiding raining ash and stone. "Go on, Athena's slave," he demanded. "Kill me in that tyrant's name."
"Hm… did I not say that her prayer was not for the Saints, but for sinners such as you?" Ikki asked, and as if to paradoxically make the point, he forced the foot deeper against the cuirass. The other screamed briefly from the sensation. "You should be thankful."
"Ἔλεε, she sang! Mercy! What irony…" he mocked with a cough "… piles of bodies mount up in the fields, slain by warriors as bloodthirsty as us. Does that inspire mercy in you? And as you stand above to execute me, is that the mercy she prayed for?"
Phoenix's next words came with cruel sarcasm: "You are such a pathetic wretch, I find you undeserving of my fatal blow. Not that it matters — it was the woman whom you look down on that told me you must live, given the chance."
In humiliation, Kanon snarled. "I do not require her mercy."
"And that, too, you do not deserve," Ikki confirmed. "Perhaps there is no mercy in letting you live. It must be enough suffering being trapped in your mind." It was this mercilessness Phoenix offered him; he turned and moved to leave, the beaten foe now unpinned. In his agony, he posed no further threat.
The haze had vanished subtly, and Sorrento inquisitively stepped towards his leaving ally. "Wait, Phoenix!" he called. "What of the pillar?"
"That is no job of mine," the other replied without pausing the walk, "it is of Sanctuary. I will go aid Athena."
By means of a fiery explosion, Ikki traveled to what would certainly be an impressive destruction site in the Temple of Poseidon, leaving the two Generals on their own. Instead, Siren went past that former friend, who attempted once again to crawl. Clearly, the last of the pillars was his objective.
Kanon shamed him further: "Do it! Go! Side with those who ruined you! Side against your savior!"
These words were meant to tap into Sorrento's trauma, and sooth they obtained success, though he meditated in not giving in to mindless hatred. His new goal — which he had faith to be more reasonable — was ahead of him. A somber, slow song was what he offered to the structure sure to crumble in the coming seconds.
His Cosmos grew tenfold, an aura bright and large enough to tower over the temple's tallest buildings. This energy formed webs across and throughout the giant column, crawling its bricks up to a hidden zenith. The song became the loudest sound to exit that flute, and the retreating Atlanteans heard it from their amazing distance.
From where she spilled blood, even Thetis acquiesced her fury, surprised by the instrument resonating so starkly. Her thought was none else but of her oldest friend; she looked back with hope, and although the lack of the Mainstay sunk her heart, the sight of the North Atlantic Pillar vibrating to such intense music made her realize that he could've been alive.
"Sorrento?" she doubtfully mumbled, voice frail, eyes yet tearful. Soon the structure blew up from above, falling apart, but the sound did not distract her from incoming Cosmoi. Sanctuary fueled their forces further, and Mermaid was almost hit by the ferocious Alicia, who had been managing the squadrons upon Shaina's abandonment.
That deep into the war, however, both sides fell into disparate kinds of disarray. The remaining Atlantean soldiers and surviving Marina retreated with the others, although there was no plan of reorganizing. Thetis no longer cared to call them cowards, for the thought of Sorrento himself downing an obelisk likely meant resisting was no longer desirable to her, for whichever reason.
Her sights turned back to the endless horizon behind the Atlantean temples, then also being washed by the debris of their last bastion. Mermaid withdrew fast and silent, whereas others cried in horror, avoiding the corpses of their peers. Units behind the makeshift barriers to buffer the Saints were few and far between, and sure to join their routing brethren in the succeeding minutes.
As Aldebaran's front fully pushed past the barricades, the Saints were a single step from victory. Only a last obstacle lived between them and plenitude: the wrathful one who provoked this war.