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WARNING: Themes of death, vague description of a corpse.
The Galaxian Conspiracy
Morning draped over Japan a few days later, the day unusually warm, sky exceptionally clear. Things were quiet ever since Graad transported all of the Kido's archived documents to their new hiding spot, meaning the Saints had little to do but rest, scout the surroundings, and live quite ordinary lives. They got used once more to the evolving situation in the city, both due to the fallout of the Galaxian Wars, and the many happenings that succeeded it.
The world had undergone a deep change since the floods; it was as if the ambitions of elites halted to ensure their survival, and, in conjunction to it, the welfare of the people they ruled over. It would have taken decades to undo the damages that Poseidon and his priests wrought on civilizations, had it not been for a series of unlikely events, both the unity between antagonistic blocs of humanity, but also the support of otherworldly factions — namely, cultists of Athena and Apollo covertly injected and steered aid where it would be best suited.
Where solutions were easy to arrive to, normalcy soon reigned, as was the case for the major cities in Japan. Even an archipelago like that resurfaced with might in face of catastrophe, thanks to fierce cooperation. Like this, affected infrastructure was rebuilt or reformed, struck families received assistance, and the economy went back to its pattern of flourishing.
Shops in the suburbs and downtown were open and working in full steam, thus the Saints experienced no hardship doing weekly groceries, if not ordering take-out. That particular morning, for example, Hyoga and Seiya went out to get some ice cream to fight off the intense heat. They took their cones with them, and walked in front of the mansion's front walls, nearing the entrance gates.
"She will only send Marin if our plans change," Hyoga told his friend in the middle of their conversation. "Marin must be busy enough as it is."
"True…" Seiya took a few obsessive licks off his ice cream before continuing. "But do you remember if she said something about when we're leaving?"
"It shouldn't take long," said the other. "She should be getting matters done in Sanctuary before coming over."
"Ah, okay…" Seiya licked the ice cream some more, coming to realize the punishing sunlight had ruined its consistency. He munched on the sides to avoid it dripping off, though fighting back would be vain. A genius idea came to his mind, being side-by-side with that man in particular; his curious sights were turned to Cygnus. Once his friend noticed this, he returned the look with a casually lifted eyebrow. "Hey… hey, man."
"Hm?"
"Think you can do…" Pegasus waved the cone slightly with a hand, bringing attention to its sorry state "… you know, the dust thing?"
Hyoga's brow tightened now. "What?"
"Like, the ice dust thing," the young man continued, pointing to the melting corners.
"Just eat faster," Hyoga curtly responded, looking forward again.
Seiya nigh instantly whined at that. "I don't like going fast! I like to enjoy it, and it's way better when it's frozen. It's called ice cream," he said.
A not awaited shadow was cast past those of walls and leaves, and with it resounded the clang of a thing landing atop the large bricks. A burst of Cosmos surprised them, yet the fact that it was so conspicuous meant the user did not mean to attack. Nonetheless, the way which Seiya flinched after his sentence made the droopy cream slide like a ball of slime onto the sidewalk, leaving only the contents still in the cone.
"Haah! No! My ice cream!" he exclaimed.
Once the two had stared up and stopped strolling, they saw this was Shaina, dressed in civilian clothes, as they did. "Gold Saints incoming," she warned them.
"Then she should arrive in a bit," said Hyoga.
"Shaina, you…" Seiya looked back down at the mess, then at the woman once more "… you owe me an ice cream!"
"Do I?"
"You made me drop mine, look!" he insisted while waving at his loss. "There was still a bunch of it!"
As she was wont to, Shaina paused awhile ere answering, haply stunned in some sort of disappointment. Her words came with a harsh calmness: "Stop acting like a petulant child, then I will give it a thought."
Seiya grunted, but did not dare question her, knowing it would be no use. Rather, he ate the remainder of the cone with a sense of ruined pleasure. The woman dropped into the side of the mansion's entrance, whereas the boys went on to the gate somewhat ahead.
By the time they arrived, they saw a black sedan turning the corner at the end of the long street, so they held the gate open, expecting this to be the one they served. Ichi and Geki exited the mansion to anticipate the same. The car went into the driveway, and the men slid the gate shut after it.
The driver who left and opened the back door was a suited man, certainly another Graad employee; from the other side, those who helped themselves out were Shun and Anka, both in plain clothes. Athena was escorted from the backseat, adorned in an expensive — albeit less prominent than usual — white dress, a fit for the weather conditions.
While Anka mostly stood in her space, and folk only bowed respectfully to Athena, Hyoga gave Shun a brief hug. Seiya nodded to the boy, saying: "Oh, what's up? You guys came too."
Andromeda walked towards the mansion as he explained: "We want to investigate a couple things before we leave."
"What's that?"
He smiled awkwardly, leaning the head to his peer, who followed along. "Long story!" he said. "I will make sure to tell you when we are done."
Seiya curiously accepted this, so the lot of them entered the mansion. As per usual, the perimeter soon was overseen by a handful of Gold Saints who traveled all the way from Athens. This once their identities were never revealed, and, like before, they never descended to as much as visit the others. No less, there was no doubt of their presence, for their Cosmoi could occasionally be sensed by those proficient in it.
An hour or so passed, and the day was no less warm and bright than prior. Athena sat on the living room's expensive sofa, legs crossed; the shadow cast from the sliding door was of a man, that being Hyoga staring at the reformed gardens through glass panels. Blocking the passage to the entrance hall was the driver, who ensured they would have some level of privacy.
"I don't think I can accept that," Hyoga spoke, lowering the head slightly.
"It is your responsibility," the goddess said.
The Saint turned back to her, some subtle plight in his expression. "It was Camus' responsibility," he countered.
"Was. It is yours now."
"I feel like it would dishonor him."
Athena frowned, but her tone stayed motherly and understanding. "What dishonor is there in having your greatest apprentice succeed you?" she asked.
Without a reply, Hyoga looked back out the door, thinking of his master's last instants in Sanctuary, abrupt as they had been. For an instant his motivations became clear, knowing how fatalistic of a man he was; even his being encased in everfrost upon failure made utter sense. Had this been his end, maybe Camus would be alive, though he would never have allowed himself survive alongside him. Either of them should live, but never both.
As frustrating as these truths were to admit, they were nevertheless truths, and only one course of action remained. "In the end, this is what he would have wanted," the youth uttered as a half lament.
"More than that," Athena said, as if to highlight that Hyoga succeeding him was no question of possibility, but of finality. "Remember, his life was taken by your hands."
Once more Hyoga looked, his stare quite severe. "I was given no choice," he told her.
"That proves this is not only something he would have desired in death. This is what he desired from the very start, Hyoga. He raised you to be Aquarius, not Cygnus," she said.
Once more Hyoga sighed, finding it difficult to disagree with such argument. No matter the exact foundation to Camus' actions, there was only one thing left to do, one thing righteous to no end. "I'll do it," he assured. "I'll be what he raised me to be."
Athena turned and breathed deep, relishing in his acceptance for several seconds. She got up, took a few steps towards the driver, but, before going to the office, instructed the Saint: "Upon our leave, you shall go on your own to Siberia. Encase the Cygnus Cloth as you once found it."
"I'm aware of that," he replied.
"Thank you, Hyoga." The employee thus took her upstairs, leaving the youth to his lone thoughts.
The afternoon eventually fell, and despite the elevated temperatures enduring, the sun began to approach the horizon, with orange clouds painting some spaces in wait for the moon. Part of the group drove out of the city and into a smaller, satellite town, obviously chased by the Gold Saints. With the sedan parked in front of Miho and Seiya's orphanage, they alighted, soon engrossed in chatter with her or the playing children.
Shun held a slim folder under the arms while talking to the young woman, apparently giving news of his brother's fate. She was surprised to hear of it, and asked: "So Ikki was alive all along?"
Shun shrugged the shoulders. "I was as surprised as you are," he said.
"That's such a relief! She's been crazy about seeing him again," said Miho, referring to the girl whom he saved back in Death Queen's.
"We would have brought him, but he is so aloof…"
"Tell him that she keeps asking questions, how he's doing, when he's going to see her… I'm sure it will make him feel guilty for not visiting," Miho suggested.
Unsure, the boy twisted the lip, saying: "If I get to speak to him for longer than a couple of minutes, I will try."
In that moment Seiya walked back from the playground, after spending some minutes joking around and catching up with the children. He smiled back at them before rejoining his friends. "I missed seeing them," he said.
Miho looked to the kids awhile, and Shun smiled back. "It seems they had missed you too," he told.
"Yeah! By the way, won't you give her the docs?" Seiya questioned while noting the folder under Shun's armpit.
"Ah, yes, Miho…" quickly the boy pulled it, surreptitiously offering it to her. "This is yours."
"What is this?" she asked, taking the documents without resistance.
"The files you sneaked out for Saori," Shun whispered, and to that she nodded in recognition.
"Were they of any use?"
"They were, but no signs of her yet."
"So unfortunate…" Miho held the folder close to herself as to not catch much attention from the other staff.
Thus Seiya walked in front of her, catching her shy sight. "Still, I'm very grateful for what you did, Miho. Thank you very much for helping us search for my sister," he said.
Only for an instant did the girl look, and awkwardly she diverted the gaze to the playing children. "Don't mention it," she muttered, cold in comparison. "It's what good friends do." Pegasus took that as strange, but she hinted at leaving back inside with her posture. "Sorry for the rudeness, but I'll go put these back in the cabinet where I got them, while the others are distracted."
"Alright," Seiya gave in and she went, though he was left with insecurities regarding such attitude. When she was long gone, he crossed the arms and turned to Shun, who was none the wiser. "Am I seeing things, or is Miho acting weird? Like she's mad at me or something."
"She sounds fine to me," Shun mumbled with another shrug.
"No way, she feels so cold, like she doesn't want to be around me too much. We used to be really close friends back when we were younger."
"She is much busier working at the orphanage now," Shun replied. "Give her a break, she is probably just stressed."
With an unsatisfied croon, Seiya said: "Right, I shouldn't overthink it."
Despite Shun wishing to further their conversation, in that instant he felt the smallest pressure call him from around the orphanage, by a building neighboring it. He expected this, therefore it came as no shock, and he saw the image of Anka spying from the corner, on a wall right off the sidewalk.
He softly tapped Seiya on the shoulder, since his attention went astray again. "I will check on Anka. You guys can go back without us," he said as he went off.
"Huh… okay!" a puzzled Seiya answered.
From there Andromeda went into the early evening shadows, skipped some edges up to the girl's height, and joined her over the building's ceiling. She had begun leaping from place to place, then lowered her speed so that he could catch up in safety.
"Anything?" he asked.
"I followed a bus from here, and…" her little voice stopped to gulp a little "… I know the route by heart!"
"Sure, but did you learn anything new?"
"Th… the bus route," she nervously stammered.
Shun looked down to the streets and sighed in a bit of disappointment, trying not to sadden her. "Well, the bus route then…" he whispered.
"But if… if we walk it together, we may learn something!" Piscis said.
"Go, and I will follow."
After scanning to ensure they weren't seen, the two leapt over an alley, scaling up to higher buildings each time, ever closer to the small town's center. They outlined the bus routes in such manner, Anka always pointing out those which intersected with the orphanage.
The town was far from being the densest, with suburbs surrounding it, hence the simplicity in its public transportation. As such, the girl was able to skip most of the lines over to the outskirts, where she traced a street with an index. "Down there! Y-you see?" her finger kept on going until a sign near a couple of public seats. "The bus collects people… all the way there, then it goes on to the city! That's where we go next."
"Are you sure there is no trace of her here?" Shun doubtfully asked.
"I am! You know why? Well…" she brought the finger back in thought. "Because… there are too few variables here. They would surely know where Seika went if she stayed here!"
Shun sang, finding this to be sound reasoning. "The smaller the city, the easier it is to find someone. That makes sense," he commented.
"So, let's go… back to the big city!"
She called that while pointing into the distance, the same direction where they flew in wide arcs afterwards. They went out from the town's edges, crossing hills, mountains, passes, small neighborhoods amid them, and back down into the urban sprawl. Indeed, Anka kept following the same route as if it had become second nature, regardless of the complex arteries of the city.
The closer they came to major commercial districts, the taller the buildings became, till Anka stopped by a busy street, sure to become busier an hour or so from that time. She waved down the road while crouching by the ceiling's edge, quite high up. "This continues all the way to the last stop," she said.
Shun analyzed the movement below, seeing that traffic would soon grow worse, and that, as the day darkened, it became difficult to make out the façade of each business. The roads unloaded into simpler districts, which in turn continued to residential areas, where workers would likely walk or bike to.
"It is sort of useless being this high up," he said.
"We could… we could see it from down below, as passersby would!"
Thus they dropped into another alleyway, dark as it was. Out to the sidewalk, visibility improved, and the way wasn't as full as it could be. The duo could weave their way naturally, excusing themselves if they ever rubbed shoulders with someone. Shun's attention in particular was focused on the walls, fronts, post signs, anything that as much as littered the place with words.
Anka, however, could do very little with her limited knowledge of Japanese. "What do you think Seika would look for?" she raised a question, her cluelessness apparent even behind the mask.
"That is a difficult question, not knowing what she knew then," Shun responded in passing, yet studying these colorful signs.
"L-let's say… if she came this way, could it be that she knew Seiya was driven here?"
"It could just be an assumption," the boy supposed. "She could have come because he was more likely to pass through here, at the very least. This had to be the direction the car that took Seiya went."
"Hm, of course…"
From that point Shun looked more carefully at the stores, shops, and even posters glued on the concrete and metal. As he saw old posters speaking of missing children — thinking of how their target had surely come somewhere into the city looking for her brother — he was sure that signs of her could be uncovered, provided diligent digging. He wished that day would yield useful leads.
While the posters piqued his interest, Anka chattered: "Ah, y-you know… if Nachi were here, he'd do really, really well! He loves exploring… streets and stuff. I kind of feel nervous leaving him in Sanctuary."
Shun returned with a vague tone: "He will be fine."
"Y-yeah! I'm sure."
Suddenly the Saint stopped and turned to a post, taking in its contents. After checking many things posted on its circumference, he found a strange call to action, or at least a thing of the sorts. Anka hurried to him, to not end up lost in a place so alien.
"Oh, what's that?" she said in a bit of wonder, since the paper he admired appeared to be quite new, with colors stark, and an image depicting Saints such as June, him, Hyoga, and Seiya.
"An interesting poster," he replied.
Anka accosted it, yet she could make out none of the text. "Uhm… what does it say?"
"The Galaxian Wars is real…" he told her "… the Saints are real, Athena is real, you are being lied to… and there is a phone number in the corner."
"It's talking about us!" the girl remarked.
Since the glue was somewhat fresh still, Shun shoved a nail under a corner with much trouble, then very carefully detached the phone number and naught else. That strip was all he ripped off, saying: "We might as well call whoever this is."
The Saints found a grocery store a couple meters away, and beside it was a small parking lot with a line of public phones. While Anka stood awkwardly beside the machine, Shun dialed the number in the strip of paper. After a long tone that made him wonder whether the individual in question was even at home, he reached someone on the other side, the muffled voice of an older fellow.
"Hello!" Shun said. "I am calling about a poster you put on the street." That quickly the boy's expression shifted to seriousness, and the voice on the line quieted into whispers. "Yes… yes. I will meet you there." That simply, he hung up the call, turning to his partner. "He sounds as suspicious as I thought."
"What did he say?" the girl said.
"He asked if I wanted to help unearth the truth, and told me to visit him. The building is not far."
Anka followed him along to the more residential areas, some blocks away whence they came. Although some of the gates and short stairs led to the narrowest of homes, most of the buildings there were two or three-stories tall, with plenty of little houses. Shun found the number they sought, and they entered without dealing with any security, going up the stairs of a small apartment building.
He found the door by the plaque at its front, and rang a bell beside it. "I am fairly certain this is where he said he was," Shun said.
Looking about her, Anka was surprised at the structure's signs of aging. "This building, it… is really old," she said.
"Yeah."
The voice of the very man they came to meet interrupted them from behind the door, interrogating them: "Who are you?"
Shun paused, breathed in, and brought himself close to what looked like a peephole under the door sign. "I just called you," he responded.
"Yes, but who are you?"
The boy pouted with the slightest of impatience, knowing their time to be limited. "My name is Kai, and she is Maria," he said the latter while motioning to Anka, who waved at the peephole.
"Hi! I'm… yeah," she muttered.
After a second, a process was initiated to unlock the door, which involved more than two mechanisms, and, by the sounds of it, also included a chain. In the dim interior was revealed a tall, chubby man, his beard sparse and grizzly, hair long, oily, and with round glasses that rested on his broad cheeks. He was dressed in a buttoned white shirt which, despite his size and presumed sedentary lifestyle, flaunted not a stain in sight. That and the jeans he wore depicted him as some sort of white-collar worker, despite the fact that he was home while most others sat busy in offices.
He took their bizarre appearances from behind the glare of his glasses, and turned on a light inside. "I see you are fellow Saints aficionados," he told.
Shun looked to Anka's mask, then realized he, himself, would look little different from what he was back during his fame, and so these words made sense. "Ah, you noticed!" he feigned. "We are big fans, that is why the poster caught our attention."
"Let me show you my collections," the man spoke and invited them inside.
"Sure…" Shun reticently said as he entered, whispering back to Anka in preoccupation "… stay close by."
No matter his strange demeanor and the rather cluttered house, the place was reasonably organized, with its living room beyond the entrance looking quite cozy. On a coffee table were lines of glue, adhesive tapes, cut papers, and pens; the TV had some recording of the fight between June and Nachi being played on it, though it had been paused.
The corridors to the other, similarly small, rooms had walls covered in corkboards, post-it notes, magazine and newspaper cuts, ripped notepad pages, and arrows seemingly connecting some reasoning between them. Anka realized that only a few of these in a short hall were about the Saints, whereas the others ranged across a variety of topics.
Turning on his way, the man addressed Shun: "What if I told you there is an organization of people who pull the strings in their own favor, hiding in the shadows, controlling governments, corporations, and even schools to do their bidding?"
Shun raised an eyebrow as he stopped walking. "Like yakuza?" he asked.
"No, bigger." The homeowner dramatically pulled a newspaper page from the wall to his left, making Shun yelp. This he brought close to the boy's face, exclaiming: "The Dark Organization!"
Andromeda squinted weirdly, having to move back to make out the words. "The three-hundred million yen affair…?"
"One of the greatest heists in Japanese history," the man told. "A young man reportedly disguised himself as police, then walked away from the bank with an amazing sum of cash, never to be found again."
By the nod he gave, Shun seemed to recall this. "Yes, I read about that. They are not even allowed to arrest him anymore, but even then, the culprit has not come forward," he said.
"Because the heist…" just as dramatically, the man shoved the paper back to where it belonged "… was a lie!"
"Woah…" Anka muttered a little behind, though Shun's eyebrows shook in his efforts to control laughter.
"H… how so?" the Saint prodded further.
"Using the heist as an excuse, police cracked down on thousands of university students, alleging potential involvement. Nothing was ever found, but they succeeded in one thing: squashing a growing student uprising that would've changed Japanese politics forever!" the older man told.
"No way…"
"Yes way!" he promptly spoke over him. "I have come to learn the Dark Organization was behind this, and that's just one end of a very complex piece of yarn."
While the man finished pasting the page back on a board, Shun sated his morbid curiosity, asking: "So, what is this whole Dark Organization about?"
"Totalitarian takeover," the other said without a thought. "For what? We don't know exactly, but there are plenty of theories. My opinion is that they're crazy rich people who think they know better."
Shun breathed out and briefly shrugged. "Also… what does this have to do with the Saints…?" he asked.
Lacking rhyme or reason, that large man pointed an index at Shun, arm fully extended, making him stare in anxiety. "Allow me some words first, my friend," he said.
"Oh… what?" the fearful Andromeda raised his tone.
"You are the best Andromeda Shun lookalike I've had the pleasure to meet. Kudos."
The boy could feel himself about to sweat. Had it not been for the man's almost pathetic mannerisms, he would have felt in greater danger. "Th-thanks, but about my question…"
"Wow!" once more Anka's naïve voice rose behind them, this instance from her looking at cut-outs on the opposite wall.
Once he looked and had sight of her, Shun complained with a hiss: "I told you to stay close!"
It was too late; the conspiracy theorist slid to her side, landing a finger on a print. "You know, people say the Galaxian Wars was all fake, just a bunch of state-of-the-art visual trickery, but no! It was real," he told her. "The Saints are real warriors of justice." His finger thus went up to news of the attack on the Colosseum. "The supposed terrorist attack at the last airing was, in fact, a ploy by the Dark Organization to steal the Sagittarius Cloth. Some who were at the event claimed to have seen their agents, all dressed in black, fighting the valiant Saints."
Piscis Austrinus was merely fascinated by the machinations of this man's mind, though Andromeda was at the verge of panic now, for he had gone from the kookiest of ideas to being half a step from reality, so off-point yet so on-point all at once. "A-are you sure about that?" he stammered.
"Absolutely! With the Sagittarius Cloth, any man would have the world in his hand! No army would be able to stand in his way. It makes sense that the Dark Organization went after it."
Even more worried, Shun gulped the heaviest gulp. It was no surprise that Saori's stunt would've echoed so far and wide, despite it being good bait for Sanctuary; however, an ordinary civilian was so close to unveiling the existence of the Dark Saints, in his view, that he thought of no other conduct but to pry deeper, indeed to lead him astray as to avoid any serious leaks.
"That thing about the Galaxian Wars, though… I always thought it was an excuse to end the tournament early," he said in vain hopes.
It was no use, the man had heard this before, and he replied: "Some fools say that. 'Oh, they were totally running out of money, weren't they?' Because of the electricity bills, and the special effects, and the medical staff — wrong, wrong, wrong!" He tapped the index as to emphasize this, then walked towards one of the doors in the corridor.
His hand reached for the handle, yet he stopped as if this required extra thought. For an instant he became mute, earning confusion from the visitors. Lowering the face slightly, he pushed the glasses in and ultimately muttered to himself.
"Should I… should I show them this? Few people have gotten to see it in all its glory."
"Hm? Were you going to show us something more?" Shun asked.
"I'm unsure if I should, partners," he turned to them, still not grazing the handle. "It is true beauty on display, but I fear even you wouldn't understand."
With a nervous grin, Shun pressed him: "H-hey, do not mention something like that and not show it to us!"
"Hah, of course! What cruelty it would be to tease you so!" the man whispered loudly, with the jazz of a character in an action movie. At last, his hand wrapped the handle. "Come in, but ready your hearts."
"Okay…" The door was pushed open, so the trio entered it. The lights were off at first, but once he switched them, the Saints seemed bewildered at the view. Not a corner seemed safe from what the bedroom hid within it. Andromeda barely spat out words: "What… the hell… is going on…?"
"Woah!" a more joyous Anka sang. "The walls are nothing but Miss June!"
No description would've been closer to the truth: the whole place was coated in posters, photos, covers, news, toys, memorabilia, and more; not an inch escaped Chameleon's semblance. As the man walked in, his shame escaped him, and he spread arms to present it like a proud parent.
"Behold my greatest collection!" he said. "I have turned my private quarters into an altar to Chameleon June, the most enigmatic of Saints!"
Being childhood friends with the subject, Shun appeared to gaze an infinite abyss. This was reflective of a teenage girl's obsession with a famous actor, but no, there lied the home of a working man in his forties, he thought. "I honestly am short for words," he spoke deadpan after some minor whiplash.
"Take it in, friend. I'm sure you get it, being a big Andromeda fan as you are," the aficionado said. He went on a tour presenting several of the collectibles amassed. "Tell me, how could they struggle financially when these pieces of merchandise sold in an instant? The official Chameleon June action figures," he showed these dolls mostly stored in locked glass shelves, and they looked the same, if not for the different poses, "the official Chameleon June bed sheet combo," and his single bed was neatly covered in pillows, sheets, and blankets stamped with June's face and Cloth, "the official Chameleon June mask replica," and a copy of that same mask she had worn at the time, with the red streaks below the eyes, had been placed on a small metal stand beside the bed, "the official Chameleon June promotional posters," these he had more than enough of, covering wall and furniture alike, "all of the official Galaxian Wars magazine covers with Chameleon June on them…" Graad hadn't even told Shun such a series was printed.
Baffled, perhaps a bit terrified, the boy barely believed his eyes. Of course, in kind to her previous attitude, Anka was no more than enchanted. From a corner of the room, she pointed at a poster as would a child. "That's not Miss June!" she claimed.
"Can you stop feeding the shark?" Shun whispered to her more furiously.
Like before, the homeowner slithered all the way to her, grinning at the image. Definitely this was not June, but some model in a wig and fake armor, heavily edited by some talented artist as to look more realistic.
"Ah, fine eye, my fellow fan, but this is a part of the Chameleon's nature, if you think about it," said the man.
"What do you mean?" a less patient Shun raised the voice.
"The true Chameleon June wasn't always the one we got to see. Thanks to the mask, they could hire actresses to fill in for her whenever she was busy doing more important things. True connoisseurs like me can tell between the half a dozen Chameleon Junes that appeared in interviews and promotional material," he explained.
"That…" Shun paused and sighed in defeat, knowing such an individual's brain power was better wasted on nonsense "… is probably the truth, actually. I never realized it."
"Now you know!" He was not done though, coming to one of the toys he had left out of the displays. "By the way, this action figure came with a factory error from Graad. The hair is off the correct shade of blonde. Cool, yeah?"
The Saints stared closely, unable to make out any details between the dolls. "Looks the same to me," said Shun.
But the man never minded this, and said: "We call her 'Green Hair June'. Sells for a kidney in the collector's market."
Andromeda spread the lips at this absurdity, but then shook himself out of it. "Wait, no, I get it! I already know enough about June! What I am wondering is, do you have anything connecting that Dark Organization to child disappearances?" he questioned.
After some silence, the homeowner raised a finger in front of his own face. "You have opened a can of worms, friend," he gravely spoke.
From that giant altar he took them back to the corridor, where at the end was another door that revealed a stuffed office, smaller than the bedroom, which had also been divided into several sections containing overarching theories. The smell within was a bit muffled with dust, as the place was full of cardboard and plastic boxes; it also possessed tools and a large table near the center of a wall.
Before a large corkboard, the man waved, saying: "This is my missing children section."
"A missing ch…"
Shun was interrupted by his half serious, half excited voice. "It is my conviction that the Dark Organization kidnaps them, raises them under their pernicious tenets, and turns them into loyal servants." Anka intently absorbed the man's ramble, and in the meantime, her partner slipped a few steps away to skim for any useful information in the cut-outs. "You see, as elites, the leaders of the Organization follow a hereditary system, much like the imperial family. Blood is important to them, so they rely on brainwashing vulnerable kids into super soldiers, which was most likely the case for…"
As he ran his mouth, the Saint learned of several cases, a boy who vanished before enrolling into elementary school, a girl believed to have been abducted by foreign agents, and a girl who vanished on her merry way to a park. What befell each kid was mostly a mystery, with the exception of those that gained — always unfortunate — follow-ups.
There was one, however, salient for its bizarre premise. A bold headline of a local newspaper announced the likes of: "Girl Implied In Stabbings Vanishes In Lake". Shun frowned and leaned hither, reading the lede, which claimed: "Police claims the moon grew ten times its size before child's disappearance."
Such a description was enough to force him to take the print along; thus he looked at the cut-outs around it, finding other versions from separate sources that reported the same occurrence. The more he read cross confirmations, the more estranged he felt.
"Very odd," he said to himself. When he was done, he went over to the rambling citizen, showing him the papers. "Sir, can I make a copy of these?"
The man stopped and looked at them curiously, recognizing the case. "That's a weird one," he remembered. "You know anything about what happened here?"
"I have heard of something similar, so I would like to investigate."
"Aha! Maybe you could independently uncover new evidence."
"Such is my intent."
"I knew I made the right choice inviting you inside, Kai! Let's go out before rush hour, there's a stationery shop down the street."
They were thus taken to a small local store selling papers, pens, scissors, and general office supplies. The cut-outs were given for a clerk to print copies for a few yen, which Shun awaited by the counter, whereas Anka had been rented out for more talks with the Galaxian Wars enthusiast.
By the door, he leaned against the wall, and the girl stood shyly embracing her dress. "You're very nice, Maria-chan!" he said.
"Th-thanks…" she said with the slightest of chuckles.
"I like that you adore the Saints so much, you even wear a mask like June!"
"The… the Saints are cool!" she replied, barely knowing what to say.
The man's face came the slightest amount closer, and his voice was lowered. "So, what do you say, can I see what your face looks like under the mask?" he suggestively asked her.
Her return was almost immediate, short, albeit for some reason joyous in its melody. She simply said: "No!"
Dejected, the older fellow groaned and looked down at the floor, bemoaning: "Uh, so direct too…"
By the time Shun got the copies from the worker, the man received his originals back, and they gave their goodbyes. Cicadas chirped merry and nostalgic outside, as the day was at the very tip of darkness, night overwhelming it.
While the boy studied the text on the articles, Anka peeked from the side. "Hmmm… what did you find, Shun?"
"It might be a new lead on Seiya's sister, but I cannot be sure yet," he said.
They brought these leads to the mansion. By the time they arrived, folk had already come from the orphanage, the evening was at its peak, and everyone relaxed from a tiring, warm day. Anka and Shun went upstairs to the office, where they worked out a couple kinks with Athena and Graad; in the other hand, Seiya, Geki, and Ichi sat at the couch in the living room, watching television.
The boys sat back in a deep bore, except Seiya, who leaned forth, hand aimed ahead with the remote controller to scroll through channels. His thumb only stopped once a news report came in, the photo of Tatsumi of all people popping up for a few frames. Their curiosities were piqued for the instant, and then subsided as soon as they remembered that these had become common since Poseidon's attack in Athens.
Sliding the door open, Shaina came from outside and shut it behind her, not letting the insects in. Once she approached, she leaned from behind the couch, so Seiya turned halfway to her. "Hey," he softly spoke.
"How was it at the orphanage?" the young woman asked.
"Same old, same old…"
"Be specific."
Seiya could not bring himself to think of anything else, so he shrugged and said: "Literally everything's the same as before."
Suddenly another image of Tatsumi appeared on screen, this once alongside Saori, so their attention was caught a second time. Seiya hummed, and Ichi furled a brow. "They must be talking about Graad," the latter said.
"Bet it's the usual," said Seiya.
Geki lifted a hand and suggested: "Turn it up."
The volume, formerly quiet, was raised so that it could fill the room enough. The news presenter's voice became clear, as was what he talked about: "… we have with us Mister Okada, an expert on Ancient Greek and Roman history. Welcome, sir."
The image cut to an older, well-dressed scholar, his beard large and graying. "Thank you for having me," he spoke with a nod, sitting behind a separate end of the blue counter.
"You argue against the assertion that the Saints are fictional characters, I take it?"
"Indeed, we have enough evidence that they are more than myth or fiction."
"Could you tell us more?"
The scholar signaled in agreement. "Yes, yes. There are remnants of the Saints' existence floating around since time immemorial, especially in and around Greece, where Saori Kido claimed they originate from. Hellenic mythology is sprinkled with reports of such warriors, and I take that Miss Kido has gone into hiding to protect herself from the fallout of exposing this truth," he revealed.
"Eh, the guy is just…" Seiya muttered to himself, shaking a hand at the TV.
"Can he do that?" Geki asked Shaina in particular, but she stayed silent, instead hearing what the presenter said next.
"Those are wild claims," the man said, and there was another voice echoing in the studio, though it appeared its microphone was turned off by production. "To challenge them, we have brought the figure himself, Mister Tatsumi, who worked with the family since Mitsumasa Kido's passing. Welcome, Mister Tatsumi, uh…" The presenter paused, and while he did so, so did the complaints echoing about him. He looked to the other side with eyes widened, losing the train of thought an instant. "You… you are looking rather different. Much better than the photos, sir."
Once cameras cut to Tatsumi, it was clear that he had not lost that formal sense of fashion, though something had surely changed about his demeanor. That bald head of his was rather covered, not by some distasteful hat, but by an even more distasteful, platinum blonde, side-swept wig. For an instant the Saints barely recognized him, even less with how the TV made him look thinner and paler, but soon there was no denying.
"From the get-go I must say that Mister Okada here is no specialist. He is a swindler!" Tatsumi spoke with vigor, slamming the counter.
"A what?" Okada gasped.
"That's…" Seiya was so at a loss that he got off his seat, and the other two leaned forward now. "Wait, is that him, or…?"
"That has to be… Tatsumi in a wig!" Ichi confirmed.
"That's Tatsumi wearing a wig!" Seiya reiterated once he went closer to the TV. "What the hell is that guy doing there?"
He spoke on: "… the Saints are not real, they were never real." For an instant he looked directly at a camera, as if referring to someone sure to watch him. "I am sorry, Miss Kido, but this has gone too far. The time to expose the truth is long due, for your well-being and of those around you."
"There is plenty of evidence for the Saints existing, going back thousands of years! Hundreds of authors are attested making mention of them!" Okada argued.
As quickly as the camera cut to one, it cut back to Tatsumi. "Rumors and myth are barely evidence, Mister Okada. If you believe those Saints we hired in the Colosseum were real, pay a visit to certain event halls where pro wrestle matches are held, and arrest all of the participants for assault! What they do is no different from what we did in the Galaxian Wars: modern theater!"
"That is no true analogy, sir. What compares to the destruction of the Colosseum? Or the reports of explosions next to Miss Kido's manor? Or the devastated office building in Athens, where it is known Graad had recently bought property? Greek workers claimed to have come face to face with an armored Saint that day, a Saint who saved them from certain death!" Okada countered with an index shaking in anger, haply Tatsumi's intensity rubbing on him.
"Terrorist attacks are no proof of so-called Saints, but of how unreasonable certain people can be, resorting to extreme violence in order to achieve their goals," the other said. "Attacks on Miss Kido's mansion became so ubiquitous, we were forced to relocate her, and even still those terrorist scum made chase. To have a swindler twist this into some story about superpowers only emboldens them!"
When Athena's meeting with intelligence was over, she left them alone in the office so they could focus on their investigation, and she came downstairs with two employees as to check on the other Saints. Ichi heard this, so he ran to the passage, calling her from the corner: "C-come quick! Tatsumi is toasting some guy on the news!"
Once she came in with the Graad men, Seiya motioned at the mess that was the debate. The presenter even had to shut Tatsumi down eventually, as to give the poor scholar the time to talk. "Do you see this?" Pegasus said.
The camera cut back to Tatsumi, and even Athena seemed somewhat surprised, albeit not for the same reasons as the others. No, it was only one thing that ensnared her. She hid her mouth, shut the eyes, and muffled a long breath. After rising above their distractions, the youths came to note their Lady was trying to hide in genuine laughter.
When her eyes took in the screen once more, she exploded in cackles, in fashion the Saints never expected to hear her do. Even the sharply dressed employees failed to maintain their stoic front, since they had worked with Tatsumi before, therefore they laughed along.
"Eh, what's so funny?" Seiya butted in. "He's saying we're not real!"
"Ah, Tatsumi is such a clown!" Athena commented between her high-pitched giggles, now refusing to look at the screen. "He does this on purpose!" She laughed more and more, and at that point the others were more confused than when it all began. She recovered a bit, clearing up: "I… I ordered that he lie about you in public, that he pose as a whistleblower, but the wig…" More chuckles afflicted her, as even the memory of it was too much for her to handle "… that was not planned for!"
Seiya shook the head left and right and asked: "Why would you make him lie that we don't exist?"
"Because of your stupid tournament," Shaina spoke up, posed behind the couch same as she was before.
Athena sighed behind a smile. "The Galaxian Wars was a miscalculation on my part, prior to my awakening," she told. "Graad did wonderfully in setting smoke screens, though what transpired in Athens undid their year-long effort. Tatsumi's act there comes out of desperation."
"So we can't let people know that we exist even a bit?" Geki asked.
"This has been our mode of operation since the Trojan War. If humanity regained knowledge of the gods, Heaven's reaction would be dour."
"Damn, to think Tatsumi would be the guy for the job…" Seiya said.
"I never questioned his ability, but the wig, I…" Athena held laughter again, hid her face, and walked out the living room to no longer make a fool of herself. While the Saints continued to watch the debate, the employees took her to deal with issues of her other companies, something she rarely got to do while in Sanctuary.
The remainder of the evening went, and then the night, so the Saints slept as they used to back during the tournament days. Early in the morning, most of them were still resting while Shun and Anka returned to Athena's office, where they worked on Seika's case further. They exchanged places, shifted strategies multiple times, and flipped much of the information the girl had previously collected, now having in mind this bizarre crime unveiled to them.
Hours into their search, the mansion became noisier. The others were readying to leave for Sanctuary that day, so their time would deplete soon enough. In the office chair, Shun found an article in an old newspaper, and read it in hands; Anka stood impatiently beside the desk, looking at scribbles in papers while holding a knot of glossy resin beads, which she idly rotated in a hand.
Andromeda laid the paper down, folded it, and pointed to the short piece he had singled out. "The year matches with when Seiya was taken, and here is one of the victims," he said, thus Anka quit fidgeting and stared closer, seeing a black and white photo of the woman's face.
Seemingly in her late thirties to early forties, the fair-skinned woman had raven hair tied in a loose bun, eye bags prominent, a mean stare, and a large cut running along the face, especially affecting nose and cheek. She looked the kind to be involved with tough people.
"Miss Rin Matsuda, widowed, mother of two. She was stabbed and died on site. The other victim is a man, unidentified, also stabbed," Shun read out.
"That's… really sad!" Anka lamented.
The boy read some more, pensive for the instant. "They say she was a physical education teacher, so maybe…"
While he went silent once more to think, Piscis raised further questions as to complete his words: "What if, uhm… we talked to her children? They must be, like, adults now."
"They likely moved," Shun assumed. "It would take long to track them down, and we have to leave today."
"Y-yeah, true."
"Here it says where she was buried," he said while pointing to a sentence in the block. "In the hypothesis that Seika's body was ever found, there exists a chance her remains were stored as a dead traveler in the same cemetery."
"They do that?"
"They do, or at least it must have been recorded somewhere."
"Then we should check!" Anka excitedly said.
Shun shook the head and leaned back on the chair, thinking deeper. "It might be prudent to bring Seiya along for this," he told, staring at his friend next. "There is no point in hiding it from him anymore."
Although they had certainty of nothing, the two did relay the nature of their investigation to Seiya, and Shun invited him to the same cemetery where this Rin Matsuda's remains could be found. They were deep into the city, but not extremely afar, meaning that Saints like them would reach it in a couple of minutes.
The convoy was readied to leave for Sanctuary, so they prepared their Cloth boxes, loaded up the car, and Athena left with Graad for the airport. Hyoga left earlier, presumably north, where he would encase the Cygnus Cloth. As such, Seiya and Shun left their boxes with Anka, who waited on top of a residential building.
This cemetery was surrounded by rather tall apartment sprawls; the place abode by Japanese Buddhist traditions, despite not being attached to any given temple. From corner to corner, rows of pagoda-like tombstones made with three blocks of stone could be seen, each inscribed with familial logograms at the front.
At the main entrance was a wide tablet of many names inscribed horizontally, in contrast with the vertical names deep into the cemetery. A small building with reception and offices came after, yet the two Saints ventured from a faraway entrance, well on the other side, forcing them to stroll between several burial sites.
Under the shade of trees as the morning sun shone brighter, they enjoyed the peaceful ambiance; Shun looked up to Anka, who sat in the shadows in her dress, ready for their eventual return. Knowing where to go, he changed paths towards the reception, which stood a decent distance yet.
"Are you sure about this, Shun?" Seiya asked.
"Not at all," said the other, "but we might as well give it a go."
Seiya gave in and followed, disregarding how unsure they were. Upon watching some elderly folk leave offerings to the dead, he concluded that the peace of this place was illogical to him. "I don't really feel cemeteries," he told his friend, then scanned around with the eyes. "I mean, what's even the point? Such a huge area just for dead people…"
Shun appeared subtly annoyed, but excused his friend, saying: "People want a nice place to remember their loved ones."
"If remembering is the issue, then look at a photo, I don't know."
"I bet you will change your mind in the years to come."
"Eh…" Seiya mumbled to himself and went on his pace. His eyes wandered curiously some more, to think that his sister could've been buried there, if she truly were deceased. They walked down a ramp, from where one could see a handful of other families visiting; no different from the others, they were mostly advanced in age.
In the distance of an adjacent corridor, he saw what appeared to be a younger woman who got up from a crouch, then walked away from a certain stone. Her head was covered in a red cap, but he swore at first that she had a head of red hair, the likes of Marin. She went to the opposite edge of the ward, then left on, so Seiya believed himself to entertain ludicrous hopes.
Nonetheless, his eyes squinted to make her out, and he even stopped an instant. She was too far to naturally reach, but no doubt within sight, and this made him inquire as would a little boy. Seika was real, he understood, and she could not vanish from existence without a trace. Whatever was left of her had to be somewhere, and the closest to an answer they had was that cemetery, no matter how far an answer felt. She could be there, but would she have been ashes under stone, or would she have been walking the premises?
As he snapped back to reality, Seiya turned to see that Shun had stopped, watching him in confusion. The boy waved for him to be fast, so he did, for it was a childish mistake to believe some random red-haired woman to be his lost sister — no different from Jabu, in a sense. With haste, he went to his friend and continued towards the reception.
"Did you see something?" Shun asked.
"I was just…" Seiya sighed through the nose "… you know, thinking about how those people feel when they come here."
Shun nodded solemnly. "It is a disarming thing, death…"
A minute or so later, the duo reached the offices, and they were greeted by a cemetery worker to whom they offered a rundown of the situation. Shun gave him copies of the documents given by Miho, and reiterated his belief that Seika might've drowned in the lake of a nearby public park.
As per procedure, the man invited them into the office; they waited there while he searched in a small corridor, the shelves therein padded with tall ring binders, some whose papers had yellowed with time. The storage conditions weren't ideal, though the one he came out with was in a nicer state. He left it on a desk, flipped through several documents, undid the rings, and pulled out a few sheets.
"This is the only unidentified child we have remaining," said the worker as he looked at it, walking closer. "The age is a hit, but, well… you should look at her yourselves." He offered the paper to both, yet it was Shun who raised the hand. Promptly the man had second thoughts, and pulled it back. "You're fine to see this, yes, gentlemen? It's a photo from the morgue."
Seiya and Shun traded stares; the first had no idea of what to say, so the latter raised the hand in reception once more. "Let me take a look at it first," he said. When he flipped the records, his face twisted bleak, robbed of its color. The child's state was truly deplorable. "This poor girl…" he whispered with a wince.
"No signs of drowning, and, as you can see, she had black hair," the worker told.
Shun confirmed that she was a brunette, and the morgue's findings had no hints of drowning, more something else. "Everything points to her not being Seika," he said, but once he looked back to his friend, he knew this would not satisfy him. "You likely want to make sure."
Seiya shrugged and nodded, replying: "I trust you, but yeah." Therewith he was offered those reports, and he almost gave up on taking them. When courage wasn't enough, he forced himself to grab it, then flipped through medical descriptions he could not comprehend. Taking the sight of that girl, for a moment he thought it was his sister, but soon memory of her youthful face came to him. This had to be someone else.
What terror came over that little one. There was no sign of peace even in her lifeless state. Her corpse had suffered with the days it was left unattended to, and even after she had been found, no person came to claim knowledge of her, a case so rare for such a country. The body was there, but those who were meant to miss her never came. Seiya's eyes watered — Athena was right to sing the pang in the sight of children dead, and worse, he imagined that this could've been similar to his own sister's end.
Finished, he shut the eyes and handed the documents to the worker. "Not her, no," he ascertained them.
"As I said, she's the only one we have left," the man said.
Shun landed both hands on his waist, speaking as if tired: "I guess the search is still on then."
They thus left the reception, going the same direction they once entered, sure to join Anka atop the building and travel their way towards Athens. An undeniable noise had invaded their minds when they saw that picture; Shun was fast to associate it with the same noise his brain produced in war, this oppressive barrage of horrors reverberating in memory. Seiya, however, was not so lucky to rationalize it, hence his being lost at its sea.
He could not move past the horrors Seika must've lived, not anymore, to be so ignorant and powerless in face of her destiny. Allowing his friend to walk up front, he slowed down by that same corridor where he had once seen a woman leave from, till he paused fully, remembering where she had stopped.
Shun, once more, turned to see what was the matter, encroaching a few steps. "Seiya…"
"I want to check something," the other instantly said, and, not missing a beat, he jogged into that ward of tombstones.
"What? Wait!" Shun hurried to not lose him.
"It's real quick."
"Wait! What is it, Seiya?"
Many meters later, he had reached the edge of the ward, where a burial site stood with a lone set of offerings, especially a clear liquid left in one of its depressions. Without as much as a climax or surprise, Seiya merely stopped and looked down at what the woman had left. There was nothing particularly special about the offering. She was like any other commoner.
When he came, Shun hummed inquisitively, and studied the stone too. He appeared to realize something familiar about the inscription in the face, though the stylized type made it harder for him to learn at first glance. His eyes widened at the characters: the bottom one was a common radical, yet the top one looked more complex.
"That is… Matsuda!" the boy spoke with a huff. "Could it be?"
Pegasus stayed still, a breeze taking their hairs as Andromeda turned the tombstone's perimeter. He read the identities inscribed behind it, and there were four, hinting at those whose remains rested therein. A particular name made it obvious what had been unveiled.
"Rin! This is Rin Matsuda's grave!" Shun said. "This is it, the murder victim's grave site! It would have taken so long to find it… what made you come here, Seiya?"
The other shook the head softly, answering: "Someone had just visited it, and I felt curious, I don't know."
"Here we can account for her husband, since she was a widow. The other two names, they have no ink either, which means…" Shun breathed deeply and took a step back, as if another loose thread had been tied "… her children probably passed too, I fear."
Seiya walked behind it and confirmed the same, and none of the names were of use to him, or at least he thought. Without a family, only those who worked with this woman would've served as useful witnesses, though, if police hadn't learned much, Shun doubted there were leads. The frustration of a cold case pestered him again.
But worst was to imagine that someone out there mourned the death of an entire household, and that a series of tragedies persecuted the Matsuda till none remained. "Imagine this family's pain," Shun murmured.
With an exhausted sigh, Seiya walked towards their previous path. Shun came to terms with what they learned before he left too, going towards Anka. Soon they continued their way to Athens, knowing that a future return to Japan was but a minor possibility.