Notable OCs: Pegasus Lance's Saint Generation, Civil War Saint Generation, WWII Saint Generation, Hades' Dark Princes, the False Specters, Maidens of Athena, Priam's Black Saints; Cyrulian Refugees; Genbu Atlae; Patrician Mariners, Shamballa Muvians

Notable Original Concepts: Mount Olympus Training Ground, Sanctuary Court, Teos Cloth, Athenian Empire mythology, Isle of Gardens, Stardust Prison, Hades' Dark Princes; Desert Beyond, Sanctuary Town Layout & Buildings; Kido Mount; Pact of Seven; DQI Geography; Shamballa

Recurring/Cameo OCs of Jenny DeVic: Mrs. Schafurwatt, Cyrus

Recurring/Cameo Concepts of Jenny DeVic: Great Bodyguard Legend, Golden Line Heritage, Sanctuary Orphanages, Andromeda Island's Geography & Tests, Sanctuary Nobility, 88 Knights Festival

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Author Notes:

-This chapter has been betaread by Jenny DeVic;

-Happy 100th Chapter, Lance's Role. Suppose I'll say something down below in Author Comments about it;

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Switzerland,

Saintia Academy

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"Here we are." Lance presented, letting her off the bike in front of the Academy gate. "I'm sorry I took you from your classes."

Olivia shook her head and laced her fingers. "No, I had a wonderful time." Besides, after what she pulled in front of her teachers, Olivia decided she might as well risk and enjoy a full day out with her beloved boyfriend. She smiled, still remembering the sweet taste of the seasoned fish Lance had packed for her lunch, complete with perfectly cooked rice, carrots, and salad; her eyes narrowed coyly. "You never told me before you were such a good cook, Saint Lance. How come?"

He detected a sparkle in her eye. It really made her happy, uh? "Ah, well… I had to cook for myself and then for Shinta and my Master. And I figured I shouldn't show up here empty-handed, especially if I was going to kidnap you from your school day. Again, sorry about that."

By Athena, was he joking? Saint Pegasus could kidnap her every day of every week if it meant Olivia would taste such evenly cooked, tempered fish melting in her tongue buds, making her eyes weep with joy. "I should have guessed as much. You know, they say fire users are the best chefs."

Lance groaned lightly. He had heard this one before many times, especially from Master, who expected Lance's gastronomy to evolve as much as his martial arts. "Everybody says that, but it's not like it's any easier, you know? We just got a good feeling for the heat and mixing from all the burning ourselves in battle we already do."

She laughed, remembering the neat little boxes Lance put all the food into, likely taught by Shinta. It was such a nice touch. "I feel so treated. A Saint of Athena riding to my rescue on my boring day and even cooking for me. I will start thinking that you like me, Saint Lance."

He flushed and scratched his head. Olivia's coy remarks made him feel his heart jump over the moon. "Ah, well,… I just really missed you, that is all. And I wanted to apologi-"

Leaning over, she pecked his lips, silencing him. She laughed at how confused he looked. "What were you going to say? It wasn't anything ridiculous, like 'Olivia, I'm sorry I was in the hospital for a month after saving your life,' right?" Her lips curved up, happy that he was there with her and not in a coma. "Don't ever think that again, okay?"

Lance breathed out, feeling a wash of relief over his chest. He was so lucky to have her. It was enough to think that Athena did exist and watch over her Saints. "I get it, Olivia. Thank you." His eyes darted away. "I was just really worried how you'd feel after all this time apart. I'm glad that… you know…nothing has changed."

"What in the name of…?" Olivia gawked. Did her boyfriend think she'd find some other guy? How much of an erratic pop star did everyone think she was, that just changed boyfriends on a whim like picking fish in the market? "Saint Lance, that's so ridiculous. File that under the 'never think that again,' too, or I am punching you in the face next spar. I'm serious."

The stern glare he got eliminated all traces of doubt in Lance, leaving behind only a startle. He needed to trust Olivia more, didn't he? How could he ask her such a stupid thing after how happy she looked when he showed up? What was wrong with him?

Gently, he held her bandaged right hand. "Speaking of punching me in the face, you never explained this. Did you get hurt in practice?"

The girl staggered. She got this wound fighting him as 'Knight-Girl' back in Germany. Olivia tried to maintain her composure. "A-Ah, well, I had an adamant sparring partner recently. Things got a bit out of hand, no pun intended."

The Saint stood up straight, narrowing his eyes. Was it another Saintia? Or someone he had to have a little conversation with? "What's their name?"

Olivia grumbled, exasperated, remembering the Lightning Charge Fist coming straight at her in Emden. "Dear Athena, it was YOU!" How was her Knight-Girl costume so effective at concealing her identity? It barely changed her Equuleus Cloth form other than adding the owl mask and a longer skirt. She supposed it was a huge relief and she shouldn't complain. "Just a… giant jerk I run into a couple of times. It's really nothing I haven't handled before a thousand times."

Lance scratched his head, turning his eyes away. He wasn't sure he liked the fact Olivia was being bothered by some person, but he supposed he should let her handle it, strong as she was. "Listen, I must go back to Sanctuary with Sui' soon. When will, um, … I see you again?"

Olivia hummed pensively. "Well, let's see…All the Saintias will be moving to Palaestra soon, remember? So, sooner than you think. We'll be with the Training Ground students, too, so there won't be a big iron fence between us next time…" She laughed in embarrassment, darting eyes. "There will be a big castle wall instead."

So Olivia was going to be a lot closer to him? This was great news, excluding the wall part. However, after watching Olivia jump over the iron fence to join him, Lance wondered if it even mattered.

Olivia held finger over jaw. "Mm, I'll also be able to stay at my grampa's house so we could spend my off time together there?"

The Pegasus Saint completely forgot about this. "Really? That's great!" Her being in Sanctuary Town would make him feel more at ease, too. A sudden terror came over him when he pictured himself knocking at her house and being answered by Herakles Aguilon again. "So… you'll be with your old man, then?"

She turned her face and glanced at him slyly. "Are you afraid of getting welcomed at my house by some sort of… angry-looking 1600-pound bloodhound with over thirty-two Coliseum Saint-Mania belts?"

The Bronze Saint sweated. "Well,… yeah." Lance folded arms, remembering his duel with Aguilon. "Olivia, your 'guardian' once smashed me five feet deep into the Coliseum's floor. Aguilon is nothing to joke about in a fight."

Olivia chuckled. It wasn't that she disagreed; she just wanted to fish a specific reaction out of him. "No, no. Try a cool line, like 'Oh, Olivia, I wouldn't let the gods themselves stand in my way to be with you!'"

The Pegasus knew he wasn't that type, but he tried anyway. "Okay, ahem…" Seeing her expectant look of being swept off her feet, he hesitated. Olivia sure loved to play these games, didn't she? He should think of something that maybe something that appealed to her tastes? He stood up straight to try to look like a confident movie guy. "Olivia, I, uh,…I don't believe in astrology, but I'd move the stars themselves so we could be together."

First snickering, Olivia let out the frankest, loudest laugh he'd seen her do.

Lance turned red. "HEY!"

The Saintia cleaned her eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! You're just so bad at this, but you try. I love it." He delivered it so awkwardly, too. It sounded so unnatural that it triggered funny bones she didn't even know she had. Olivia kissed his lips to make him feel better. "Thank you so-"

"Ahem!"

The two startled teenagers practically jumped and turned, seeing a gold-armored, masked youth with cyan hair standing atop the iron fence poles in perfect balance.

"Saint Pisces! I'll go inside straight away." Olivia stuttered. She rushed through the gate. She waved goodbye to her boyfriend. "Saint Lance, I'll see you soon!"

Heartbroken at their time cut short, he waved back and watched her disappear into the halls. Already, he wanted to see her again.

He then narrowed his eyes at their interrupter. "Aphrodite!"

The Gold Saint jumped down and took off his mask, smirking. He wondered if Lance would recognize him as Top Hat Lad up close. "Hi, dear guardian. It's been a while."

"Yes, it has. I've been in a coma for six weeks!" Lance reminded him. He could just chop his head upside down right now. "Thanks for not visiting, by the way!"

The Gold Saint shrugged. What was the point if Lance wouldn't know he was in with him in the room, anyway? "Frankly, you expected that from the two of us?"

"Not from Mephisto, but yes from you, geez!" the teenager lamented. Despite all of Elisa's threats about Aphrodite's psychotic tendencies, he always thought the young cyan-haired boy, if anything, was at least the most emotionally responsible between him and Deathmask, even if still incredibly anti-social. "I don't care what Elisa said; I never raised you not to give a shit about other people!"

Taking one of his roses and scenting it, Aphrodite retorted with a deeper voice than his age would indicate. "You have not… but the world has!" he then smirked cockily. "See? That's how you deliver a 'cool line' to a woman. I can't believe I am teaching you that."

Lance snorted like an angry horse. "And I can't believe you were just watching the two of us, you little sneak!" He had to admit that Pisces was getting fantastic at disguising his Cosmos signature, though. Lance imagined that, if he wished, Aphrodite could dart him with a Demon Rose before he would ever realize he was in the area. "You couldn't let us have a bit more time together, could you? You know I haven't seen her since I got knocked the fuck out!"

The boy tossed his rose out as if he had found a disgusting flaw. "Oh, please, you two are so disgustingly sweet together, like a candy bar drenched in boiled sugar. I just had to put a stop to that before it gave me diabetes. Besides, the strong, silent type guy and the coy, mature gal? What a stereotypical mixture. As if you both having horse armors wasn't bad enough as it was-"

"I get it; you disapprove of us!" Lance cut in.

The cyan-haired boy hummed, then shook his head. "Well, not exactly. I think it's better than you getting together with the green-haired one. I never bought those oil-and-water romantic dynamics, either."

The Pegasus palmed his face. "You assumed THAT about me and Shinta, too?! Does everyone in Sanctuary think the two of us spent our missions taking turns on each other's asses?!"

Aphrodite put a hand on his hip, smirking about his adventures as Top Hat Lad that Olivia's escapades have allowed him to have. "And besides, she has a better idea of having fun than you might think. I respect that in her. You just need to learn about not nauseating everyone with your romance."

"You're never happy about anything. Like me." Lance looked around to make sure no one was watching or overhearing. "Listen, Aphrodite, I need to talk to you about something serious for once. Especially considering you're already here, protecting this school."

Aphrodite rolled eyes. "I'm named after the sex goddess, not the cupids. I'm not delivering any love letters to your girlfriend for y-"

"That's not it, damn it!" Lance cut in. Besides, he had Olivia's owl to share a communication line with her, for that kind of stuff. He sighed. "Look, I can't ask Mephisto this because, like you said, he takes nothing seriously. But you do. Aphrodite, you may not be the most social type, but… you're powerful and talented, and you let no one stand in the way of your job. So, I can only trust this to you."

Finally feeling his unique talents acknowledged, the Pisces Gold Saint's ears perked up. "Okay?"

Lance hesitated. This was going to be a heavy topic. "You've heard of what happened to me at Andromeda Island, right? Well, it's only going to get worse from now on. If everything goes according to plan, I will not just be a mere foot soldier in the frontline against the Specters." More than anything, Lance alluded with this to his intentions to take the fight straight to the Underworld. He let out a resigned sigh. "I need you to… make sure Olivia stays okay during the next few months. Please."

Aphrodite widened eyes. If the boy weren't more intelligent than this, he'd think Lance had figured out he was Top Hat Lad.

Picking his words carefully not to give away his plans, Lance continued. "I'm going to be doing something that will keep me away from her and will likely also pull the person I usually watch over her for me, Cerah Heloise," Lance explained. A coldness sat in his throat when he admitted the next bit. "And honestly? Once I venture out to it… I may not come back."

At this, the Pisces Gold Saint stepped up. "Hey, wait a minute, what do you mean? What are you planning?!" He grabbed Lance's arm. "I'm a Gold Saint of Athena now. You tell me why you're talking like you intend to go wake up Hades himself right now!"

Lance shook his head. "Another Gold Saint of Athena already knows, and he approves." He said, referring to Dohko. He didn't mention Camus' teacher so not to make everything more confusing. "I'm afraid you'd have to contest that authority with him. And he's not the kind you can beat in an argument, I'm afraid."

Aphrodite stepped back, alarmed. He knew his guardian well by this point. He knew Lance was all about doing insane shit like busting his way out of a coffin, setting fire to a whole temple, and even covering you from debris to be the day's hero, Gold Cloth or not. The guy had never been shy about it, either. All this suspicious half-talking could only mean one thing, then; Lance had in mind something that would probably surpass everything he'd done so far in outrageousness, on the level that it might even get everyone he cared about furious at him.

Knowing Aphrodite would likely not respond, he shrugged. "Well, do what you think is best, Aphrodite. I'll be seeing you later." Lance wished, driving off, hoping this wasn't the last time he'd see the kid. "Say hello to Mephisto for me."

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Chapter 100

Third Arc

Episode 26

The Triumph - Part 1

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A Week Later,

Early May, 1977

Five weeks until Hades' Barrier reaches Fortress Peloponnesia

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Sanctuary Town,

Sanctuary Library

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Feeling like a total stranger to the inhabitants of Sanctuary's repository of knowledge, Pegasus Lance made his way through the bookshelves, looking for the person he was supposed to meet. He wondered to himself why this place was packed. Everyone who knew Lance would know that the instant they saw him at the library, something had to be up with him being there.

And as if the Gods themselves wished to point that out, Aquarius Camus turned his head from the shelf he was organizing, noticing his arrival. "Saint Pegasus."

"Hey, Camus." He greeted. "You know, you don't have to call me that?"

The dark-blue-haired boy shook his head and removed his reading glasses to clean them. "It's your full title, so it's the most respectful way to greet you. Are you here to borrow a book?"

He scratched nape, searching the area with his eyes for Adriana. "N-Not exactly. Say, can you tell me which one is row 6-I?"

Camus widened eyes. What on Earth was Saint Pegasus looking for in that section? "Y…Yes." He pointed a pencil at the space on the second floor. "Up the stairs, down the hall, to your left."

Lance breathed a sigh of relief, no longer wholly lost. He rushed past. "Thanks, Camus, I owe you one."

Running his eyes through the signs identifying the bookshelf divisions on the second floor, Lance stopped when he encountered '6-I'. Quickly looking through the books in it, he was irked, realizing what the division was themed after.

Still, he sat at its reading desk, red as a beet. "I got your reply as soon as I returned to Sanctuary. You just had to pick this place, didn't you?!"

The person sitting at the reading desk next over, in 7-I, smirked, pretending to read an extraordinary novel about the poetry of Sanctuary. "Why not? It sounded perfect to me. You and I have wonderful memories together in this building."

"Yeah, of you having your goons toss me out the door!" Lance whispered, keeping his eyes down. If this was how Pisces and Cancers treated each other, it was no wonder to Lance that Mephisto and Aphrodite were always putting each other down. "But did you have to sit me in the damn pornography section for this, too?!"

Adriana chuckled, keeping her almond eyes focused on her reading. "Saint Lance, the sexual texts of the Pisces Temple are an important part of Sanctuary's cultural legacy. Love, after all, is the ultimate source of the cosmos. I also needed you to be in a place with fewer witnesses. A place full of books no one reads and it's only fair I get to pick the location of our secret meeting." Adriana pointed out. "I was in the middle of an important business arrangement when you called. There's much money to make in this upcoming Triumph."

Intrigued, Lance wanted to ask what the Triumph was about, but guessed AG likely knew as much as he did. "Let's get down to business, then, so I can leave this place? You know what this is about, correct?"

"Of course I do. Our little 'entente'." Adriana acknowledged. She saw the librarian Camus stroll by her division and smiled at him to reassure him she didn't need anything. She waited for him to leave before continuing. "The plan was to get your team of trustworthy allies to help invade the Underworld. And now you find out Sanctuary is accidentally helping you out, to boot."

"Not just Sanctuary; I may have found support in Aquarius Malta, of all people," Lance added, surprising her. "It's not certain yet, but I think that when the time comes, he may be our 'in' with Akassius' group to let us go through with this."

She set her book down, stunned. "Mm, I wasn't expecting that. Excellent job, Pegasus. And him, too, of all the members of that generation. Aquarius Malta has to have been one of the hardest personalities to access in Saint Akassius' generation of Saints."

The Pegasus Saint widened his eyes. It was so rare to get a frank-sounding compliment out of Adriana it kind of stunned him. "Thanks."

With this, Adriana felt her mind open up to a whole world of possibilities. "At the very least, having someone on that group's authority level on your side will be useful. It will make the task of sending you to Heinstein exceedingly simpler, for example. I must ask, how in all Eight Prisons did you manage that?"

Lance grumbled. She was starting to sound like she thought he was socially inept. "With honesty and an appeal to reason?" he pointed out. "Not everyone needs to be bribed and manipulated to get them on your side, you know?"

She chuckled. "Of course. I'll remember that when paying off the people tidying up the chaos of our little operation."

Lance wasn't sure if this was a criticism or a stealthy show of faith from Adriana that he would come back alive to have to deal with it. "Thank you for sending Cerah my way, by the way. I appreciate you are doing your part, AG."

The woman perked up like some long-awaited acknowledgement was finally sent her way. "Don't mention it. I saw potential in her that only she could fulfill. Cerah has a unique background and talent that I knew immediately would be indispensable to all this. All I did was create the conditions for her to work and live openly in Sanctuary as a fake Saintia." She reached inside her blouse to pull out a paper with her secret annotations. "However, there's the rest of your group to discuss."

Lance nodded. "I have two other people on my shortlist, but they're not… compatible with each other."

The aristocrat didn't need any further hints. "Crateris Suisho and Crane Yushira, correct?"

Lance widened his eyes. He remembered letting Adriana know about Sui', but Yushira? "HEY, how did you-"

She hushed gently so he wouldn't raise his voice. "I met with Cerah too, remember? I've been paying her tuition, after all." The strawberry-blonde woman reminded him. "She told me you took the Crane Saint to your Master in China. It's ironic that these two are the 'incompatible' pair, considering they're brother and sister."

Lance relaxed. For a second, he thought Adriana had been spying on him. Maybe she was anyway, but still. "Well, okay. What do you think, then?"

"Mm, Saint Crane Yushira seems like an inspired choice if you ask me." Adriana acknowledged. She reviewed her list of everything she gathered about the Crane Silver Saint. "Trained in stealth and undercover, diligent, skilled, possesses unique talent in copying her opponent's abilities, and while she lacks the 7th sense, a skilled Master like yours can easily fix that. More importantly, though, she is an outcast like you, so few people will look into what she is doing as especially odd."

The positivity in all this surprised Lance, especially after all the stiffness everyone showed to anything involving Yushira. "Wow…I expected more resistance."

Adriana hummed. She read the stuff connecting the Silver Saint siblings to 'Laodamia the Ogre'. "There's… a few hiccups in her past, yes, and she isn't well-liked among her peers, but I don't think these will be a problem. Not in this group."

The Pegasus Saint grumbled. "I'm not a big fan of how your idea of complimenting her says she is as much of a freak as me."

"Monsieur, I am just being factual." Adriana defended herself, sounding distraught. "Crane Yushira's poor status in the community is an asset in her favor for this operation. As I said, my only concern is her fighting abilities not being up to par with yours and Cerah's. That should be fixed as soon as possible. Frankly, compared to her brother, that makes her a stellar candidate. As for Cer-"

The Saint once again widened his eyes. "Hey, wait a minute, back up! What about her brother?"

Adriana exhaled, knowing this would be the most challenging thought to get through him. "Yes, her brother… Crateris Suisho. I am not entirely… enthusiastic about including him."

"What the hell? Why not?" Lance tried to whisper, folding his arms. "He's got every advantage you could list in Cerah and Yushira, plus more! And he's a Gold Rank! He's also got a clean record!"

"That's precisely it, Saint Lance." Adriana pointed out. She waved the paper in her hand with the guy's cotton-clean record. "Remember when I said I'd look into him? Well, I have."

This time, Lance took pause. He knew Adriana well enough by now that, even if she acted playful or manipulative to him, she had her head on straight. She also sounded serious, throwing no demeaning joke or French words, which alerted him more than anything else. Standing up, she slid her paper through the shelves so it would poke out between the books on Lance's side. Lance took it and opened it up. It was a stunningly thick report on Sui's background, so much so that it was hard to believe the man himself didn't write it.

He had to express his shock. "How did you…?"

"I found out you recommended him to your friends recently for a security posting in the upcoming Coliseum events. Well, that's what he presented to the Temples." Adriana explained, like she just hadn't basically gotten her hands on someone's diary. She laced her fingers. "Go ahead; I can't wait to hear what you think of him."

Peeking through the shelves, Lance detected the intensity of her expectant look. It frankly worried him. Adriana stared at her side of the shelf like she found something he'd only believe if he saw it with his own eyes. Scanning through the papers, though, Lance only found the kind of track record you'd expect from a talented, skilled Silver Saint like Sui. There were missions with glowing statements from Sanctuary about their success and professionalism, recommendations from fellow Silver Saints to work with Suisho, and even a letter from a captain of hoplites thanking him for saving his life during a battle.

Lance paused the flipping and stared at a page filled with green check marks on Sui's performance reports. Everything was near perfect. He had never imagined Sui had such a stunningly positive record, the complete opposite of Lance's long list of mission screw-ups. However, the harder he dug into it, the less information he seemed to find on where exactly and from whom Suisho got his training.

He rested the dossier. "He has no Master? How can that be?"

"For a Saint of his preparation, it's bizarre, isn't it? That and three other suspicions. Number one; there is virtually no details regarding his common past with Saint Yushira, even though the two are siblings, and Sanctuary likes to favor that kind of thing when choosing Saints. Number two, while he has cooperated with numerous Saints before you, he has never picked a solid, consistent partner until you, which, forgive me, is strange given your propensity to antagonizing your peers. Number three, during all his time in Sanctuary, despite his numerous missions, Saint Suisho has never requested repairs or maintenance on his Cloths." Her almond eyes narrowed. "Not ever."

The Pegasus Saint widened his eyes. "What? Adriana, that's…" He shook his head. To any Saint, to not have ever needer repairs on your armor was like a farmer with no hoe blisters on their hands. "No, that can't be! He must have worn it out at some point, like when we all fought Genbu Atlae!"

Adriana folded her arms. "Did you see him wear it back then?"

He thought hard. When he went to Andromeda Island, Lance had rushed for Olivia immediately. Shinta was the one who rescued Sui. "W-Well, no, but…Wait a second. What are you suggesting here?" He protested. "Maybe he's just really good at fighting! Or maybe he doesn't want to show his Cloth off! He once told me he dislikes using his armor because people think it's supposed to be some kind of… sacred cup that lets you see the future!"

Adriana nodded on her side. "That is correct. The Crateris Cloth is said to have powerful mystic abilities that many envy. Don't you find it odd that a Saint of his experience would be bothered by something like that during important missions? Because of Genbu Atlae's attack, Andromeda Island has sunk. He could have helped stop that tragedy if he had his armor on. That doesn't sound like a sound decision for an experienced Silver Saint to make in a tough situation. Does it to you?"

Lance put down the paper, feeling trapped. "I… I don't know."

The young woman sighed. She wasn't entirely insensitive. Adriana could tell Pegasus was excited to have someone he could work with who was a bit more solid than an unpredictable copycat or a half-pint Zodiac Knight. "Saint Lance, I understand perfectly why you would like to include him in this project, but I have to protest as the other half invested in this operation. At least until we know more about your friend, I'd like you to put him as 'pending review' on your list."

Adriana was being serious, wasn't she? "What do you want me to do? Interrogate the guy? If even the Zodiac trusts him, what am I supposed to think? That he's a Specter in disguise?!"

"Of course not, but perhaps you might want to think he'd turn you in for what you're trying to do, at the least" Adriana pointed out. She frowned at this, looking like she knew exactly how she'd eventually get in trouble for it, too, by association. "Who says, after all, that a professional like him will be happy with what you're trying to do?"

Lance gawked, losing words. He shut his mouth, realizing she had an excellent point. "I see what you're saying, yes…"

She leaned back against the shelf to approach her voice to his side without making it look to others like she was kissing a dusty book about lyricisms. "Remember, Saint Lance, what you're going to do here will either change the world for countless people or ruin you. Your trust in the people involved in this project must be absolute."

He laced his fingers under his jaw, tensing. He hated to admit it, but… "I know. You're right, AG. I mean… this might as well be called Project Clown Show, insane as it is.."

She sighed in relief. The good thing about this particular Pegasus Saint was that he could counter the usual stereotype of stubbornness, when the facts were presented. "Well, there's no need to look at it undignified, especially with my name attached to it. Let's call it a Cirque du Soleil, instead, bringing the sun's light down the stairsteps to hell to scorch the Underworld."

Lance grumbled. What a lame way to put it. "I don't know if our group will have a name yet, but I'm picking something better than that."

"At the rate things are going, it will be a harem instead of a troupe." Adriana pointed out. She took another look at her notes. "Seriously, do you have not one male ally in all this? It's Sanctuary we are talking about."

The Pegasus Saint turned bright red. "You just rejected the one dude I managed to find!" he pointed out. What was she suggesting his intentions were?! "And what does it matter anyway?! Since when am I the kind of guy you'd have to worry about hitting on women?!"

"Mm-mm," Adriana gave him a sly look. "What about Miss Iraklidis, then?"

Lance stood up straight from his chair, ready to smash the barrier between them to hell and confront the woman. "AG, how the hell did you…?!"

Her shoulders shrugged with obviousness. "Again, I meet with Cerah. The tiny girl with the Zodiac Knight powers?"

Lance palmed his face and sat back down. "Right… of course. I'm going to bend her into a pretzel after this!"

She shook her head in lament. "Don't you dare. The cute little chevalier has a good heart, but it's also full of desire to celebrate the burgeoning love between her two senpais, as the Japanese call their academic seniors they look up to." Adriana grinned, admitting there was some enjoyment in completely controlling this emotional little group of teenagers. "She can't help but geek about the two of you falling in love as if it's a precious part of her Saintia high school experience."

Lance turned red, targeting Cerah in his brain for his next Lightning Charge Fist. Cerah probably didn't mean anything by it, but it still left Lance bargain-less before this information weaver of an ally he had in Adriana. "Look, if you think I'm going to let you 'protest' he-"

"By all means, relish your time with Miss Iraklidis like a precious treasure, Saint Lance." The silver-ringed girl interrupted. "I hope the two of you share many more wonderful moments before your crusade."

The Saint paused in his wrath. This was a stunningly kind thing for Adriana to say. Lance honestly did not expect it. "Wow. Gee, AG… thank you. I mean that."

The noblewoman chuckled to herself, knowing he couldn't see her devious smile. "From the way it's been driving my darling younger sister insane, I hope the two of you continue to be happy together for a long, long time." She saw how nasty Anastasia's mood was when she visited the Ghisi household last week. The middle child looked like someone had kicked her out of her gaudy private quarters. It still brought a smile to Adriana's lips. "Don't mention it. Who says I'm not your best friend in Sanctuary, Saint Lance? Other than your wonderful Andromeda Saint, of course?"

Lance got up to leave. "I have to concede to that. Thank you for everything, Adriana. I'll let you know who my final choices are."

"No problem. But remember, Pegasus, we don't have much time." Adriana stressed. "Everything points towards the barrier of Hades reaching Peloponnesia within five to six weeks, the same time your little coma lasted. The Saints aren't going to wait until then to make their move. You have, at best, one or two to form this team."

"Right." Something made him hesitate to leave just yet, though. "AG, one thing?"

"Yes?"

He walked over to the shelf just once to ask this to her face. "I know I am the one who first asked you for help, but…what do you get out of all this? Helping me this much? You said you'd like to see 'change in Sanctuary,' but… you never explained what that means."

Her eyes turned away. "It means exactly that. I'd like things to be different around these parts. You're not the only one grieving about how people go about things in the sanctuary, especially during Holy Wars. However, that change isn't going to happen until Hades is finally dealt with."

Ever since he's known her, Lance has only known Adriana to be motivated by one thing: the power she has in controlling people. "You said I should only involve people I trust, right? Well, I will need you to give me a straighter answer than that, then, Adriana."

She sighed. "Using my own words against me, uh? Gosh, must you make everything so difficult?" and faced him. "Have you never heard you should never press a Pisces for their secrets? You might regret what you find out under those rosy rocks. Not all of us have a picture-perfect dream of what the future should be, Saint Lance, and in mine, Hades being knocked out of the picture just happens to be included. We can figure out the rest after that."

This made Lance even more suspicious, since she wasn't working directly with Sanctuary on this. "But-"

"Maybe I just want the glory of financing Sanctuary's most successful military operation? Have you considered that? Even the women of Ancient Greece have been occasionally remembered for their glory rather than attracting the wrath of some jealous Goddess." Adriana suggested, looking annoyed, like she wished she didn't have to explain something so simple. "Should you return with your two friends from that black pit, with Hades' palaces ruined to the floor, stopping an entire Holy War dead in its tracks, I'd be forever remembered in history as the woman who made it all possible, wouldn't I?"

Lance's red eyes narrowed. This sounded like a lousy deflection to him. Adriana was the most from-behind-the-curtains person he knew. What did she care about getting fame and glory? Adriana seemed more like the type that believed she'd benefit from the change in status quo he was about to cause, should he succeed. He just wasn't going to get the truth out of her, though, was he?

"Alright. But remember, AG…" His red eyes narrowed. "I appreciate everything you've done for me, but… if I return from the Underworld to find out you used me and my friends for some awful plan of yours? I am coming after you next."

The young woman curved her lips at the threat. "Oh? Can you promise that?" That he thought himself a potential menace to her was such an adorable idea. "Please do. Unless your shows of Homeric heroism now reserved only for that girl who stole your heart? If they're not…I'll be waiting in my loveliest, blackest underwear, Saint Lance."

Lance groaned and departed. He had no time for Adriana's jokes and teases.

Adriana rested her jaw in her fist as soon as she was alone, wondering when the Saint would learn he had nothing to fear from her. At least for the moment. What she had in mind for the future, after all, was nothing compared to what everyone else with real power in Sanctuary did, should he succeed.

"That is, of course, assuming there will be a world left to live on after this conflict with Hades and his minions." Adriana thought to herself, returning to her books. "Or even one worth living in."

{===========A3===========}

Sanctuary Town

{===========A3===========}

"How is everything proceeding, Aiacos?" Lord Hypnos asked, shuffling his tarot deck in the darkness of his tent. Only the crystal ball's light shone on his face, hand, and cards.

"Wonderfully, my Lord." Crateris Suisho responded, sitting on his Cloth Box. He took out the security pin he had just gotten from the Cancer Temple. "Thanks to my friendship with the Pegasus Saint, I will be able to execute our plan much better now."

The God of Sleep nodded with a pleased smile. "Excellent, excellent! You have been doing fantastic work. Keep this up and Violate will be free of her prison and into your arms." The God of Sleep shuffled his Tarot deck with the invisible hands of his Cosmos. "As you know, however, that will not be possible until you complete the final piece of the puzzle."

"Yes, and then I can finally leave this filthy world behind…" Suisho thought, feeling his heart beat fast at the very idea. "Leave behind everything and everyone I hate…"

The golden-haired God made the cards practically fly between palms with a buzz of paper, smiling. "Shall we peek at your future while you still walk among the mortals?" With a nod from the Judge, Hypnos rested the deck on the table and drew the first card, laying it down.

The Wheel of Fortune.

"Powerful change is coming. The cycle of Holy Wars will begin again." Hypnos announced. "With today's Triumph, a new phase in the world around you will initiate, yet little of yourself will change."

"Of course. The Pope's pathetic event will change the lives of countless in Sanctuary, but mine will be the same as it always has: a servant of Hades." Aiacos concluded.

The God of Sleep then drew his second card.

The Chariot.

The God chuckled. "Ah, an appropriate card for the current festival in Sanctuary, but one that means far more to you, personally, Aiacos. A great conquest awaits you soon, liberating you from your old self." His lulling, golden orbs fixed on him. "A good omen. You have prepared yourself well to fulfill your mission, indeed."

Again, no surprises for Aiacos. To him, success in his mission had always been guaranteed, just from his determination in rescuing Violante from her torment.

Hypnos drew his third, final card.

The Emperor, Reversed.

Hypnos frowned.

Aiacos sweated. "My Lord?"

"And yet, arrogance fills your thoughts. Perhaps you are overlooking or underestimating a factor you believe to be beneath you." Hypnos mused. He collected his cards, frowning. "You should reflect carefully on your plan and review it for faults. Remember, the Emperor will not tolerate failure in this critical task."

The Judge sweated. "What?! What could I possibly be overlooking?! Or who? This can't be the card I am getting as my final omen." He gulped and stayed quiet and humble. "Thank you for the honor of your foresight, Lord Hypnos. I will do my best. No, more than it."

"Of course." Hypnos granted, making the tent open behind him with a wave. "In the meantime, I will prepare your fellow Judges so they can all be ready to assist you when the time comes. Do not take it personally; the Emperor recognizes the merit of all your efforts so far. He just wishes to be certain you do not lack any means when the time comes."

Aiacos' nose twitched. He was okay working with Minos for a bit, but Rhadamanthys was too much to stomach. "We will be as blood brothers in this, my Lord. Until you next honor me with your presence, then."

Hypnos observed Aiacos bowing reverently and departing. Once alone, the God of Sleep hummed to himself. Even if initially mystifying, his card readings had never been too far from the truth. Hypnos had always found that, retrospectively, they hailed something profound about the events preceding them, like when he once predicted through them that Lord Hades was losing the battle of wills against Alone.

Did Aiacos miss something? Perhaps the importance of his Saint sister? Or possibly the group he's been manipulating? Or maybe even Michael's vessel? "Perhaps I should remain in this filthy land for a bit longer until Aiacos completes his task."

{===========A3===========}

Pacing around in front of the Mission Management Center, Lance perked up when he finally spotted his squad leader arriving. "There you are. Nam is waiting for us."

Suisho smiled. "I'm sorry I was late. I had an important business to attend with an old teacher of mine."

Lance hummed, feeling paranoid. Adriana's report said he had not one. Was this a lie? "I see. Your Master?"

To his relief, the Crateris Saint shook his head as he took the lead. "Mm, no, I was… self-raised, a bit like you." He darted his eyes in reflection. "It was someone who guided me out of all sorts of wrong ways. I still convene with them from time to time."

The Pegasus let out a sigh of relief. When the Crateris walked past him, Lance tensed up, seeing the Silver Cloth box on his back closed tight. "Hey, Suisho?"

The Tibetan paused. "Yeah?"

The Pegasus scratched his head. How were we going to ask about this? "Mm, I was just wondering… How come you never wear your Cloth for events?"

"Uh? What's he on about?" Suisho folded arms. He was pretty sure he had explained this already. "You know why. Everyone would be asking me for lottery ticket numbers. And this Triumph will be the worst, too, so I'm keeping Crateris shut tight. Now let's go see Na-"

He grabbed Sui's shoulder to stop him. "Wait."

Suisho rolled his eyes and turned again. "What is it?"

Lance paused, thinking hard about what to ask. "Could… could you do me a reading?"

The Crateris growled. "Pegasus!"

Although it was a fair reaction, Lance couldn't help but notice that Suisho refused to show his armor. "I-I'm just curious, okay? Who wouldn't be? You got a freaking future-seeing Cloth! Holy War might be coming next, and I want to know if I'll survive it! Olivia has been scared and-"

"Since when do you give a damn about that sort of thing?! Man up!" Suisho sighed, looking disappointed. "Seriously, I didn't expect this out of you, Pegasus. Do you know how many people I have already put up with this? And now you ask me to check your future, too? I'm seriously disappointed in you!"

The Pegasus Saint irked, shamed into silence. He supposed he had no polite way to ask Suisho to show him his armor, but… "What am I doing? What will I even get out of seeing it, other than admit I let Adriana get to me? I'm sure I've seen Suisho wear it here and then. How could I have not?" He shook his head, ashamed. He even invoked Olivia's fears, something terrible to do. And for what? Because Adriana is paranoid? "I'm sorry, man. I guess I'm just scared. Forget about it."

Suisho led him inside. "Fool. I don't need this armor to tell you that you won't live through this Holy War. None of you profligates will."

{===========A3===========}

Mission Management Center

{===========A3===========}

Sagitta Nam looked up from his desk, seeing his two favorite Saints of the week approach. "Hey, if it isn't the Crateris Squad. How are you guys? Nice job on the Karl Sargasso case. That really helped out with the guys in the Strasbourg HQ."

Suisho grinned, taking a seat. "Thanks. We've also just finished the new job in Moldavia with that pyromaniac group. It was easy to bring them down on our way back from the Warsaw job."

"Excellent, excellent." Nam put on his glasses and reviewed his papers. All signs pointed to a gradual decrease in illegal activity with the Cosmos. The Golden Zodiac would be happy. "Things are really looking up. I think other gangs might be getting the message that Sanctuary isn't baring its rear end wide open just because our guys are being brought back to Peloponnesia. And how is the Knight-Girl case?"

Suisho eyed Pegasus like it was his turn to explain a mess.

The Bronze Saint flushed. "That one… isn't done yet, Nam."

Nam widened eyes. "Really? How come? That was the easiest one on the whole list for you two!"

"Ever since she got away from Pegasus at Emden, she's been much harder to track," Suisho added. "Not only is she probably wiser to how we first cornered her, but that Top Hat Lad guy has been interfering with us every time we clinch her in the streets. Pegasus also believes she may somehow be on the verge of unlocking her 7th sense."

Nam hummed, tilting head resignedly. He eyed them briefly, wondering what was wrong with both their heads, letting this drag so much. "We should probably evaluate raising the danger level in that case. She isn't operating alone, after all…"

The Pegasus Saint grumbled. This was so humiliating. Those cartoonish Black Saints were no real threat to a dedicated Saint duo like himself and Sui. Knight-Girl and Top Hat Lad avoided this by pulling dirty tricks on Lance and Sui to evade capture, like that Rose Storm technique or making them busy capturing the bigger bad guy in the area.

"For the moment, I'd like you two to run security for the Triumph that's about to take place." The Sagitta Saint instructed. He exhaled. "As you two know, anything that brings crowds to Sanctuary Town is usually big trouble."

"You tell me. Last time, we lost Cepheus Gardnia at the 88 Knights Festival." Lance recalled. He could tell Shinta was still sometimes sad about that. "Is this Triumph going to be like the big event two years back for that Mariner girl that took out those pirates?"

"Yup. Full fanfare, just like the Triumph for Marianne Solo." Nam confirmed, sounding like the least enthusiastic man on the planet. "However, this one will end the parade at the Coliseum, not the Hercules Road. The reason is that the Golden Zodiac has a series of announcements planned for the event, plus some matches to celebrate."

Suisho widened eyes. "This sounds pretty big. How many people can we expect?"

"Everyone." Nam flatly said. He then shrugged. "Well, everyone that we can fit in the Coliseum, anyway. But that still means every Golden Ringer, Saint, Fort Commander, village governor, and even Pact of Seven members you can think of. They say even King Cetus might attend, and you know how much trouble that alone spells, don't you, Pegasus?"

The Pegasus Saint irked angrily, remembering the first time he met the bastard king when he tried to have some woman and her child skewered by spears for stepping in front of his carriage for ten seconds. This wasn't even getting to the rest of the shit he witnessed that day. Like mysteriously forcing Shinta to mortally injure Gardnia.

"That brings us to why I called you two here. Despite the terrible circumstances of the Andromeda Island attack, Sanctuary was happy with the results of your team's effort, Suisho." Nam mentioned. "While the island sunk, Saint Shinta and his students were safe, and the Cloths recovered. We also put a dent in the enemy's plans. Because of that, as well as the success you saw against Specter and internal enemies over the last few months, Sanctuary has decided to give your Crateris squad a promotion."

Suisho beamed. "Nice!"

"So, we're getting expanded as a squad?" Lance asked.

"Correct," Nam confirmed, smiling. "The Pope has made it clear in no uncertain terms that these are not 'holding back' times. Most of the teams are having their training and funding expanded, but yours was given a bigger boost. Rather than operating firmly as a duo with Suisho as the senior partner, it's been decided Suisho will be given the chance to form his team of up to five people, plus support."

"Alright! This is great news, Nam!" Suisho celebrated. Suisho saw Lance's hesitant reaction. "Aren't you happy, Pegasus? You've always complained how the MMC never gave you enough support in your missions."

Nam widened eyes. "He has?"

"I just meant that it often felt like if Shinta and I got in trouble, it was almost impossible to get reinforcements." Lance quickly excused, giving Sui a discrete hard look for ratting him out. "So, we can form up to five people in our group? That seems oddly big for a Sanctuary task force."

"Like I said, no holding back." Nam reinforced, looking worried. "Considering the number of attacks we've been suffering; I'm surprised our Saints aren't traveling in bigger teams already. It used to be during the Civil War; you couldn't go anywhere without a team of ten because Saint Akassius thought Sagittarius Priam could swoop in with his Lightning Arrows and capture you too easily otherwise. His Holiness similarly treats this tense period, thanks to the battleship the Specters got…"

"How terrible. Even the Saints don't feel safe anymore from my Ship of Darkness." Suisho thought, his smile expanding. "Nam, please tell us what kind of people I can bring over. I will need time to think about how to organize this and could use some tips."

The Sagitta Saint puffed chest, flattered by having his experience recognized. "Of course. If you want my recommendation, I'll start with Pegasus here." Nam suggested. "Even if he IS a trouble magnet, he more than makes up for it in combat effectiveness, as I'm sure you've noticed by now."

Lance grumbled to himself. This characterization of being a 'trouble magnet' was a bit unfair.

"As for your other three members…" Nam mused, flipping through his notebook of the Saints for thoughts. "I'd consider picking someone with some Cloth science fundamentals who can do basic maintenance on your armors until a real alchemist gets a good look at them. You wouldn't believe the kinds of problems armors get that make them frail over time, especially in periods of sustained combat." Sagitta bit into his pencil, a sign of pensiveness from him. "Unfortunately…. the obvious choices like the Sculptor Saint are unavailable. You're going to have to think outside the box for that."

Suisho hummed. "I don't think I know anyone, unfortunately."

"Didn't you and Yushira grow up with the Muvians?" Lance asked.

The Crateris folded arms. "Yes, we did, but so what? Are we supposed to know every single one of them, Pegasus?"

The Bronze Saint flushed. He said a pretty stupid thing, didn't he? "I guess you're not…" Lance, however, felt a familiar face pop into his mind. "Wait, speaking of outside the box, Cerah has that Lightcraft of hers, doesn't she? She can't use it on other people's armor, but she might be able to do what Nam suggested, such as basic maintenance. It would also be a good way to keep her by my side training. Maybe I'll bring it up with Sui later if I decide he can be trusted with her secret."

"Other than that, you should get an undercover specialist, someone good at sneaking in and out and fighting asymmetrically." Nam then irked. "I think you know who I'm going to suggest, Sui."

The Crateris Saint folded his arms immediately, tensing like an oak tree. "It will be a hot day in Cocytus before I bring my sister over, Nam. Forget it."

"Well, that shoots my next suggestion out the window." Lance thought to himself. He saw Yushira have friction with her brother back in Malachite. At first, Lance got the impression it was more so because Yushira was the kind of hard-to-babysit fuck-up you couldn't plan a good mission for. Yushira sounded like she had a tough time understanding why Sui kept her at arm's length if her sobby speech at Mount Rozan was anything to go by. After the mission to go after Knight-Girl, however, Suisho revealed there was some sort of tragedy involving their parents' deaths that he blamed Yushira for.

"I wish you'd reconsider, Sui'." Nam also added in. "The Malachite mission reports suggest she has unexpectedly nice sync in combat with Pegasus and good adaptability."

"Nam's not wrong about that, either." Lance realized. "Yushira's instincts are great. Hell, she survived battling a Gold-Ranker with me even though she's a Mach-Fiver. It's no exaggeration she might have saved my life that day."

"I said, forget it." Sui asserted, firm as a statue. "What else do you recommend, Nam?"

The Sagitta scratched his head, looking at his list. "Well, alright. As for your fifth one, I suggest you pick someone who operates well with Lance in direct combat." Nam pointed out with his pen. "The two of you make a decent duo, but based on your reports, you're better at coordinating Pegasus than fighting with him. You seem to get cut off from him in combat, probably because the two of you are so used to fighting in your lightspeed ranks."

Suisho and Lance exchanged a look, silently acknowledging that this was happening often, not just with the Specters but with Knight-Girl.

Nam played with his pen in contemplation. "I'd like you two to think about this carefully, trade ideas, and consider all possibilities. If you can't find enough people, you could always stick to just four or three, but I think we'd all feel better that you got significant reinforcements for your future missions after what happened on Andromeda Island."

{===========A3===========}

Patrolling the streets, the two Saints paused to discuss their next move. "Well, any thoughts, Pegasus?"

"On the team make-up? Sure, but I want to dwell on them for now." Lance responded. While he was pretty firmly set on Cerah, she had her secret status as a Zodiac Knight to consider, while with Yushira, he would need a way to convince Sui' to look past their family grievances. After all this time, he also wanted to find out how well they were doing in Mount Rozana. "I'm just not sure about that fifth member… I don't have a lot of experience fighting side-by-side with other people. Well, except for Shi-"

"Absolutely not!" Sui' cut in. He needed to keep Pegasus as far away from that Andromeda Saint as possible, or when the moment came to finish Pegasus off finally, Aiacos would have Dark Angel Michael to deal with. He saw the stunned look on Lance's face and darted his eyes away. "Um, I mean, I just think it's improper to include a Master and someone who is getting tested by the Zodiac, to boot. We do dangerous work. I don't want to rely on someone who is unavailable. I've had bad experiences in the past because of it."

"Geez, fair enough. I wasn't going to suggest him, anyway." Lance thought hard about who else they could bring over, but unfortunately, all the other candidates were Gold Saints; he fought side-by-side within the False Holy War, and these were people he also definitely didn't want to involve in his proposition to invade the Underworld. Who, then? "Sui', just… call Yushira, then."

The Crateris Silver Saint groaned. "Again? I said 'no'! Pegasus, don't you understand I don't want to be with her on a mission with me?"

"No, I don't. You won't freaking tell me straight what happened between you two!" Lance bit back, a bit sick of the strange stubbornness. Sui was supposed to be the reasonable one of the two. "What is this about?! How responsible could she have been for what happened to the two of you?!"

"How about 'completely'?!" Sui growled back. "Listen, Pegasus, I respect you as a partner, but this is family business. I don't care what she's told you, but Yushira knows what she's done very well!"

"And is that more important than us building a good team?!" Lance pointed out. There was no way Sui was being reasonable about this, especially since he sounded so much like whatever happened, happened when they were little kids. "If that's the case; why even accept her as a Saint?! Why not just ask Sanctuary to kick her o-"

"Who says I do accept her?!" Aiacos snapped out, glaring. "Just because she has a stupid Cloth?!"

It startled Lance, who had almost never seen the guy raise his voice. "You don't?!"

It also attracted more than a few looks, so Crateris Suisho took a breath to calm down.

For the first time, Lance felt he could get genuinely mad at Suisho. "You know, Sui, my status as a Saint is only because of my Cloth, too! Or do you think my so-called Master took me by the hand to be baptized by the Pope? How am I different from Yushira, then? At the end what matters is if you're willing to do something good with your Cloth, isn't it?!"

Tentatively, Suisho smiled and put hand on his shoulder. "Let's… take a day or two to think about it, alright? I'm sure we can come up with the ideal partners to fill the team up. I know plenty of good Saints that would work even better with you than Yushira does, I promise."

Lance nodded. "Alright, Sui…" He glowered though. "I need to find out ASAP what the heck happened between these two. Bringing Suisho along on this project could spell the difference between life and death. Whatever it was, I'm sure Yushira will at least be more receptive to explaining it to me. She's the one that doesn't seem to get why Sui is mad, after all."

He pointed thumb at the main streets of Sanctuary. "Come on. Let's forget about all this for now, okay? We have to prepare the security plan for the Triumph. This could be a good chance to earn a big bonus from the Zodiac, if everything goes without a hitch."

"I'm coming, I'm coming." Lance assured. He looked around, noticing how open the Hercules Road, where the Triumph procession would march through, was compared to the labyrinthic side streets of Sanctuary Town. "Yushira drama aside…Boy, protecting this festival is going to be a nightmare. I hope no terrible surprises happen like they always seem to do whenever Sanctuary Town throws a party. As far as I know, this entire town could already be filled with enemy agents just waiting for the day Shion comes out and announces Holy War."

{===========A3===========}

Greece,

Sanctuary Town

{===========A3===========}

"Isn't this nice? Two deadly enemy gals like us just having a cup of coffee under the Mediterranean sun, right before Holy War begins and Hades turns this place into a pool of blood." Nasu Erika provoked, adjusting her huge sun hat. "And such an unholy alliance for what? Why, the men of our lives, of course."

Daese felt her stomach twist and turned her face, following the pale woman of purple lipstick hair-dressed like a witch. "This is not an alliance. It's barely a truce. You're still a Specter and I am still a Zodiac Knight. If circumstances were different, I'd slice you to pieces and set your Surplice on fire, for good measure."

"Excuse me, ma'am Paladin, I am a False Specter. Don't you dare put me in the same boat as those hopeless fanatics." Erika corrected. She smiled at a waiter and asked him to fetch them one of those wonderful Sanctuary yogurts. "I hate Hades as much as you do. Perhaps more. And we both want to save the leaders of our group from Sanctuary. Doesn't that make us kindred spirits?"

Daese huffed out her nose in disgust that she would even think it. "Absolutely not. I'm a Zodiac Knight. And even if you turned your back to Hades, you still sold your soul to him in the first place. You'll find no 'common ground' with me there."

"Then in your cute little sister, then?" The curly-haired, pale woman suggested, lowering her sunglasses with an evil smirk. "We both have stabbed her in the back in service of our masters by now, after all?"

The sheer horror of this comparison almost made Daese jump out of her chair and punch her so-called ally. "…Don't make me hear Cerah be mentioned out of your glossy lips ever again. Or as soon as I'm done helping you, the next one to have a blade sting them through the back will be you!"

The bewitcher only chuckled at her reaction. She leaned back to let the hot little waiter place the yogurt on their table. "Thank you, cutey." Erika tipped the young man rather generously and blew a kiss goodbye, making him smile nervously. She tilted her head and admired the sight of his tight bum as he departed. "I swear, I envy the Amazons here. Look at all these men of Sanctuary, rawr! Ahh… It makes me wish the Prince had conquered this place even more."

Daese was stunned at her blasé posture. "How can you be so relaxed?! We're here to figure out how to save the ones we care about; have you forgotten?!"

"And the Book of the Dead, too, that the silver guy stole." Erika reminded her. "If Sanctuary returns that thing to Hades, the False Specters are dead, Prince or not. So really, if anyone has good reason to be urging for alarm, it's me, aren't I?"

The Paladin could care two craps about it, now that the False Holy War was over, but still had to play her part in their partnership. "And that, yes! Yet, you don't act like you have your boss on the line!"

Her eyes rolled as she drove her spoon into the white, spongey foam, making it release strawberry syrup from the inside. "Oh please, the Prince isn't some amateur revolutionary like Priam. He prepared us for this eventuality."

The Aquila Paladin had to scoff at this, remembering the arrogance with which Daemon Lucifer carried himself everywhere. "Really? The mighty Celestial Pride Star thought he might lose to Sanctuary?"

"You tend to underestimate all your enemies, you know that?" Erika pointed out. "Of course, he thought he might lose. He already had once, and this time he was fighting a war against not just Athena but Hades himself, and the Prince wanted to be sure he got to spit in those two's eyes if they cheated against him. The False Specters are, therefore, ready to keep doing our thing even if Sanctuary cuts his head off." She took the first taste and let the sweet mixture melt in her tongue. "Mm, this stuff is divine! I could kill for this!"

Daese was sure she could. "You said your friends can resurrect your fallen, correct? That you even managed to bring your Lycaon False Specter back to life? Is that what do you mean, by being ready to operate without a head?"

"It doesn't. Not anymore." Erika revealed. "We had the Crow's Nest fortress to use as a power base, plus Elites on our side that allowed us to retain and route their souls, including one that could even open her own gate to Yomotsu Hirasaka. Then, Necromancer and I would insert them back into their bodies, provided they'd be in one piece. If the Prince happened to fall, we'd just get his body and spirit back up. And unlike the rest of us, he wouldn't even lose his Surplice." Even the delicious taste of her yogurt didn't prevent Erika from scowling. "But then Sanctuary went ahead and killed Ainsel, Neferti, and Torak, didn't it? The only guy we ever got to resurrect was that loser, Coronis. Blagh."

"Then what's your backup plan?!" Daese whispered. Her sunglasses looked up at the Golden Zodiac. "That Pope could be gearing up to execute them both in front of everyone any day now!"

"And THAT is our advantage." Erika counter-argued. "The Prince knew that if Arles caught him, he wouldn't resist making a spectacle out of his demise. Now look at what's happening; Sanctuary is gearing up to reward that silver-haired guy for taking down your boss. Do you think handing some laurels is all the Pope will do when that day comes? Or will it take the chance to really 'wow' everyone with the execution of Sanctuary's two biggest enemies in the last twenty years?"

The Paladin widened her eyes, feeling the cogs in her head finally produce a result. "Are you saying… we can rescue them at once?" Daese's eyes narrowed. "And I suppose I am going to be the sacrificial pawn of your plan? We'll see about that."

Daese let the scenario play in her mind; how they would swoop in and save Priam and Lucifer. There was no way the two of them would get even remotely close without standing in front of all of Sanctuary's Gold Saints, let alone the dreaded Pact of Seven. A shiver went through her when Daese realized that Erika was right about how Serpens Azrael would probably be present. The last time they met, the bastard handed Daese her own behind in a Bronze Cloth platter, and she had to be rescued by Captain Krishna and Priam. Had her training in the two years that had passed prepared her to run into him again? Or had Azrael grown in power and mercilessness in equal measure to hers?

Her eyes rose to Erika. "What if they don't intend to execute them? What if your boss is a bargaining chip for the war? I can just save Priam and be on my way."

Erika sighed in annoyance. "The thought has crossed my mind, yes…But a nice girl like you wouldn't do that to her new friends, would she?" She playfully sang. It only made Daese groan. "If it were to happen that they'd ransom the Prince, they'll probably ship him straight out to Peloponnesia, which will give us an opportunity to rescue him. In any case, if they give Hades the blasted Book of the Dead back along with him, the False Specters are minced meat, so it is vital we get that back, too…"

For the first time, Daese realized that, underneath her demeanor, Nasu Erika seemed to be taking a huge risk here, too, and not just playing with Daese's precarious position for her benefit. All while putting her trust in a Zodiac Knight.

Erika snorted, seeing the look on her face. "I know what you're thinking, Miss Paladin. How ironic a position I am in? But I don't have a choice, do I?" She shook her head and beheld Sanctuary, the land of her pursuers. "The lot of the False Specters has been utter shit since the beginning. That's what happens to groups with no God to protect them in this world. At least you get to pray to your virgin in-desperate-need-for-a-party goddess and get a little bit of comfort when things go poorly that she might back you up. But we?"

"You have no one in the dark." Daese realized, feeling a bit sorry for the woman sitting before her. However, even if she is a victim of circumstances and Hades' false promises, Erika still chooses to become a Specter. "You brought this all on yourselves. How did you think everyone else in the world that would get left behind by Hades when he eradicated the world would feel should he have treated you like a real Specter?"

"We all do dumb things as teenagers." Erika simply answered. A smile at her favorite memory returned to her. "Mine just happened to involve sacrificing my stupid evangelist parents to a god of death. I couldn't care less about the world around me back then. And I still don't."

The idea alone, to someone like Daese, who watched her parents get slaughtered by Azrael, made her tremble. "Just like that?"

Erika nodded, remembering the first time they hit her for looking at a boy from across the rail lines. "Just like that. Though I am sure, your parents were very loving… After all, there must be a reason you turned out that way."

Daese gulped. Azrael's cruel words about how she didn't even know her parents' real names because she hadn't reached the proper level in the Zodiac Knights yet came to her.

"Ugh, I'm sick of all these tourists around here." A familiar voice groaned. "Sui', when will we set up barriers for the coming parade?"

"Not until the Triumph, you know that."

Turning her head at the two voices walking by the street, Daese saw the face of the first guy who spoke and practically fell off her chair!

Nasu widened her eyes, seeing Daese scurry around on the ground and hide behind her. "What?! What's the matter with you?!"

"SHH!" Daese hushed.

Bewildered, Nasu then turned and saw the red-eyed, charcoal-haired Bronze Saint from Mount Olympus passing by, accompanied by none other than Garuda Aiacos in disguise, whom Daese had fought back in Switzerland. However, Nasu knew of no reason why the two should even look their way, much less recognize the two women. They seemed too busy arguing about street placement and junk like that, probably running security for Sanctuary.

Crateris Suisho looked around at the alleys and the road pavement lamps. "We'll need to put them there, there and there. This will help our guys keep all the crowds out of the procession's path to the Coliseum. They can then keep watch from the rooftops."

"Sure." Lance agreed, marking the places with a red marker for later. "Listen, Sui', did you think about what I asked?"

Sui rested his clipboard. "You mean about your Saintia friend? Cerah Heloise?"

Daese's green eyes widened. She tried to get closer, going from behind Nasu's chair to next to Saints, hidden by the café's sun umbrella shadows.

The Underworld Judge hummed. "I think you made some pretty good points. She could be a good asset to our expanded squad. I'm just wondering what drew your eye to a random Saintia who accompanied us on a mission, even if she fought so bravely. Is Olivia putting you up to this?"

Lance shook his head. "Not really. She was upset when I told her I was interested in recruiting Cerah, actually."

Suisho widened eyes. "Oh? So, this was entirely your idea? That's surprising." He patted the Pegasus' back. "You're learning to be more of a team-builder, uh?"

Daese gulped, her heart beating as she watched Aiacos laugh and wrap his arm around the unsuspecting Lance. She pictured it clad in his Surplice, ready to crush Lance into a pulp, and felt cold inside. She wanted to scream at Lance to get away from the Judge, so she firmly covered her mouth with her hands.

"That's not it at all. I got to know her a little better after she healed up, and some things Nam said made me think she'd fit in well." Lance explained, sounding self-conscious. He was darting his eyes back and forth like he was hiding something. "I know she's still studying, but her training is much more advanced than it seems, and with all the Saintias moving here to Palaestra, I think we can work something out with that school to let her follow us to work."

"I like the idea a lot better than making Yushira join us, that's for sure." The Judge guaranteed, nodding. "We'll talk about it more in the future, though... Come on, let's check the fountain plaza next. That place is a security nightmare. So many windows..."

Daese followed them with her eyes intently, her mind rushing with a thousand thoughts. She knew Lance had already met Cerah in Switzerland. However, his interest in her as a fighter was new to Daese. What was happening with the Pegasus Saint, and how did he and her younger sister become friends to the point Lance was interested in partnering up with her?

"Mm, that kid looked familiar? I wonder if he fought in the Prince's invasion…" Erika watched the Zodiac Knight follow the Pegasus Saint with her eyes. "Mind telling me why are you so interested in him?"

Daese snapped out of it. "Excuse me?"

"The Bronze Saint that just walked by. "You almost had a fit just now when he showed up. What, is he your boyfriend?"

The Paladin squinted, unimpressed. Her thoughts turned to the missing captain she met three years earlier. "No, my boyfriend is gone…"

Fascinated by this mystery, Erika held her chin. "Oh… what could make a scout girl like you react like that, then? I wonder, I wonder…"

"It's none of your business!" The last thing Daese wanted was Lance wrapped up with Lucifer's False Specters, like Cerah. She turned away, watching Lance disappear from her life again with Garuda Aiacos in tow. "Lance, please be careful. You don't know who you're letting into your life. And until I get Priam out of this, I can't protect you."

{===========A3===========}

A Week later,

Late April,

Four Weeks until Hades' Barrier reaches Fort Peloponnesia

Day of the Triumph

{===========A3===========}

Palaestra Fortress

{===========A3===========}

"Miss Olivia!" Andromeda Shinta called back, rushing excitedly to her. He looked her over, having never seen her in her Saintia uniform. Strangely, it looked like the dresses girls wore back in Japan at school, but with shorter sleeves to account for the warm Mediterranean weather. Still, Olivia had primmed hers up with a parted veil skirt evocative of her Equuleus Cloth's, a pin indicating her third year, and her yellow headband. It made her look so pretty! "It's so good to see you here. How are you?"

She smiled. "It's good to see you too, Saint Shinta. I'm fine. We're finally settling the students down here at Palaestra, and that's a huge load off all our shoulders as is."

Shinta breathed out. "I'm glad you've been safe since, well, you know…" his eyes darted away.

"Since you saved my life at Andromeda Island?" she suggested, detecting his hesitation.

The green-haired Master flushed. Olivia was so friendly to phrase it in that way, as she owed him when, in reality, Shinta felt horrible he had put her in danger. "Y-Yeah."

Olivia tilted her head slightly and smiled to set him at ease. "Well, welcome to Palaestra! I hope your students and we, Saintias, get along well. I'm afraid, however, that we've already taken the first pick at the dorms. The Saintias will be housed at the northern buildings, up the spiral ascent. That should leave the bigger one further down to house all the Training Ground trainees."

Elda swooned. "Cool! We get to stay closer to the way out!"

Albiore shook his head. "Elda, it also means we must climb higher to the classrooms. The school buildings are at the top, remember?"

The Hawaiian girl gawked and looked again at how far up the path spiraling around the lake island mound went. "Aw, man…! But that's like way UP there! What, are they training us to have to fight up our own Temple stairs?!"

Olivia tried to frown empathetically. "I'm afraid it can't be helped, guys. The Training Ground students have a lot of special education needs, like preparing for specific Cloth tests, while Saintias have a more generalized education."

Shinta widened eyes. This made perfect sense. "Of course! This means it's to our benefit to be closer to the fortress exit so the Masters can take their kids out for advanced training."

"Yup. Headmaster Albus may look loony, but he's got everything figured out." Olivia reinforced. "The most important thing, of course, is that, in the event of an attack, everyone can take safety from the shelters up the Palaestra mound. We also have the Amazons nearby, further to the north, to keep an eye on us."

The Andromeda Saint admired the structure again. "Wow, so security wise, it's like one of the four Acropolis in Sanctuary Town, only better!" He chuckled. "I can't help but feel a lot better about the kids being safe here. I almost wish I had trained here."

Albiore fidgeted, his nose twisting unpleasantly.

Shinta took notice. He knelt. "Al'? What's wrong?"

The Argentinean boy looked around at all the students arriving, Saintia and otherwise. He leaned close to his teacher. "(Master, I don't like it here. There's… there's too many people.)"

Shinta's eyes softened. He held the boy close with his arm. "(It can't be helped, though, Al'. This is where you and Elda have to stay for now.)"

But the blonde boy hid his face closer to his teacher. "(I know, but… can't you talk with someone?)" He looked out again and saw even the likes of Dante arriving, laughing with his friends about soccer or something. The last time they met, Dante threw Albiore's sketchbook to the dogs in the orphanage pen, and Albiore had to jump in and rip it out of their mouths. "(I don't want to be next to those guys again. Please.)"

The Andromeda Saint frowned. Poor Albiore. As much trouble as Elda caused him, she was the closest person he had to a friend, uh? He hugged the boy. "(Don't worry, I will.)"

{===========A3===========}

"I see; so Albiore has introversion problems with the other students?" Olivia asked, walking with the Andromeda Saint through Palaestra's gardens. She sighed. "That can't be easy for him. The orphanages keep the children pretty close together. They have virtually no privacy."

Shinta nodded. "He keeps to himself often and has trouble voicing what bothers him. Sometimes, he will be pleased, and others, he will be in a terrible depressive mood, where I often have to speak very gently to get him to tell me what's wrong. In this case, I think he has bullies from his days in Gift of Alone that he doesn't want to be with anymore."

Olivia nodded. "I wish I could help, Saint Shinta, but the best I can do is try to speak with the teachers to put him and Elda in a class with the Saintias instead of the trainees. Elda might not mind that, but I don't think being seen with the girls will improve Albiore's situation with his friends."

The Andromeda Saint understood completely. Above everyone else, he knew how bad it could get when other boys thought you behaved too much like one of the girls. "I wish I could help him somehow. Not just because he's my direct student but also because I always thought being as good a teacher as my Master's was so simple. Saint Gardnia made it look so easy to be this wise, kind man I could ask everything, even if the training was tough…"

Olivia's ears perked. "Did you say… Saint Gardnia?"

"Yes? Did you know him?"

The Saintia turned completely red. Olivia covered her face in shame. "Gosh, I'm so embarrassed. I met him once and said some… very stupid things(*)." She'd never forget the look of horror she inspired on the Silver Saint's face as she shouted at him that he was taking away yet another potential Saintia from the academy. Olivia was going through a tough time back then, and the pressure of her position, talking to the Pope she hated, to boot, had driven her a bit too crazy. "Tragically, it was right in the day that… well, that tragedy struck him. I've felt terrible about it ever since, and now I can't even apologize for how rude I acted."

(*) "The Goodbye" Storyline

But the Andromeda Saint shook his head. "Miss Olivia, I'm sure that whatever you said to him, Master Gardnia forgot about it right away." Reaching the small inward pond of the gardens, he took a rock. He remembered when Gardnia first taught him the cosmos by showing him a rock being torn to pieces in his fingers. Shinta had cried over and over from his own hands, bleeding, trying to repeat the same feat, and Saint Gardnia would always wrap them up and help him push the next day. "He was a very serious-looking man, but when you got to know him, you'd discover he was also extremely kind-hearted. He didn't mind small things like that at all. That's why I… loved him very much… And he loved me."

Olivia smiled, admiring how sensitive the Saint in front of her was, openly talking about how much he loved his teacher and yet not having a hint of embarrassment in his voice a man would have. That kind of emotional bravery probably helped Saint Shinta become so popular with many people he met, including her boyfriend.

"I never quite understood how he died," Olivia confessed. That day had been all sorts of awful, with some people even rumoring Sagittarius Priam showed up. "After the festival, everyone was up in arms about it, saying all sorts of things, but it all sounded like hear-say. Even the 'Marathoner' reported he turned his back on Sanctuary and that the Saints had to fight him. Then, before I knew it, Grampa was telling me they had this awful funeral for him in Sanctuary Town."

Shinta sniffed. He remembered well. It was a day he felt alone in Sanctuary, watching everyone throwing tomatoes at Saint Gardnia's coffin. At the time, he was fighting with Lance, too, so if it hadn't been for Aldebaran and Saint Daniel, Shinta was sure he'd have broken down.

Olivia shook her head. "I don't want to believe a Saint like him would betray all his comrades just like that. That never made any sense to me. My grampa knew what happened because he went to Andromeda Island that day, but…"

"Master Gardnia wasn't killed in action, Miss Olivia." Shinta looked up, praying the Gods would forgive him. The image of his chain going through his teacher's chest was still burned in his mind. "He was murdered. By me."

Olivia widened her eyes. "W… what?"

"Everyone will tell you otherwise, especially Lance." Shinta confessed. "They will say… King Cetus controlled me. He used to be the Cepheus Saint before my teacher and so could exert some strange power over me. But the truth is, I just wasn't strong enough to stop him."

Olivia relaxed. Shinta's words had startled her momentarily, but now she understood their true intent. "I've read many times that some Cloths have special power over others, as they reflect the spirit of the constellations themselves. Perhaps the same way the Vela Cloth can never go against the other two Argo Cloths, or how a Sagittarius Cloth could never fire its arrow at Athena with lethal intent, the Andromeda Cloth can never oppose the will of the Cepheus Saints? If that's the case… then it sounds like Saint Shinta was subjected to something horrible beyond comprehension."

While his fingers clenched on the rock as he would smash it, Shinta breathed out and peacefully tossed it into the pond. He then smiled. "But now things have changed. I've grown a lot since then and won't allow such a terrible thing to repeat itself. I am much stronger now, and soon, I will prove it."

It was good to see that the Andromeda Saint had a path he was headed for. "Really? How so?"

At this, however, Shinta hesitated. "Lance warned me once that Olivia may have some underlying emotions about Gold Saints. I should probably not tell her I might become the Virgo Gold Saint. I don't want her to dislike me. He also said she was upset when Aiolos lost Aiolia's Gold Cloth to Saint Galan." He scratched his head. "Ah, well, I may be getting… a special stipend from the Zodiac if I pass a certain test. It's going to take place soon at the Zodiac."

"Oh, that's wonderful, Saint Shinta!" Olivia congratulated. He was probably referring to earning the gold-rank officially, something that could get you all sorts of extra resources from Sanctuary to do the job you were passionate about. "You deserve it! Saint Lance says you're a wonderful Saint of Athena who's been long due for a promotion!"

The Andromeda flushed. "Oh, he did?! U-um…"

Olivia nodded, giggling at his nervous face. "Yup. He also said you don't recognize that enough in yourself, and that you should be prouder of everything you've achieved." She put hands in hip. "And I said right back that the pot had no business calling the kettle black. I swear, you two are the most self-punished Saints I've met. No wonder you're best friends."

Shinta chuckled. "Funny. I remember thinking the same about why the two of you were together."

"Miss Olivia!" someone called.

The two turned, seeing a blonde, green-eyed, short girl huffing and rushing down to meet her. "Cerah? What is it?"

The first-year student rest, breathing from her run down the spiral path. "U-uh, well I wanted to say I'm going to be out this afternoon. I have something important arranged with someone, before the Triumph." She then blushed. "Leon is in town for our date today, but I don't have the courage to let miss Olivia know about that yet."

"Oh!" Olivia rolled eyes at herself. Duh, it was Friday already. "Of course, I completely forgot. The Triumph is today…"

Cerah noticed the green-haired Saintia and nodded. "Oh, I'm sorry. Hello, miss! Nice to meet you. I am Cerah Heloise, a first-year student here. Are you a friend of miss Olivia's?"

Shinta didn't even correct her misgendering, stunned by the sight of her cute looks. "I-I… um… y-yes!"

Cerah beamed. "Oh, that's wonderful! She's so cool, isn't she?" Her fists clenched. "Miss Olivia, I took care of all my class homework ahead of time and helped everyone get the clubs pick their new rooms at the school. You won't have to worry about that anymore."

"Already?" Olivia glowered; while this was indeed a load of her shoulders on such a stressful week, she wished the short girl wouldn't fangirl herself dry for Olivia, sometimes. "Thank you, Cerah, that was very kind, but… You didn't have to work so hard, you know? Getting all those girls to agree on something must have taken a lot out of you. People will think I abuse your kindness."

Cerah shook her head fiercely, her nose huffing. "It's my mission to help you, come hell or high Mariners! And if people think you whip me to do it, I'll make it clear to everyone I do it in full heart, all on my own!" She packed her suitcase over her shoulder and nodded happily at the two of them. "I'll see you at the Coliseum, miss Olivia! Oh, and nice to meet you too, mister Saint! I'm sorry I can't stay, but I must get going!"

Shinta nodded and waved, watching her rush off, amazed. "Who… who was that incredible person?"

Olivia blinked. "Mm? Do you mean Cerah? She's friends with Lance, too."

"She is?!" Saint Shinta gawked. When did Lance meet such an amazingly pretty and determined Saintia that could make your heart stop in a second? The girl talked about how cool Olivia was, but her demonstration of loyalty to Olivia was one of the coolest things Shinta had ever seen! His eyes practically spun with his friend's insane luck. "H-H-How?"

Olivia held her finger to her lip, pensive. What was going on here? Was Saint Shinta…?

She then smirked coyly. "Saint Shinta, you wouldn't be… interested in getting to know Cerah, would you?"

Shinta shook his head. Falling for a Saintia, at first sight, could be all sorts of trouble for a Virgo-Gold-Saint-to-be. "It's not like that, I just, um…!"

The Equuleus Saintia chuckled, and her eyes sharpened on her prey. "Truly? Because I could absolutely get you two to have lunch together? Or go for a movie? Cerah is my trusted first-year and she would definitely take my recommendation in getting to meet a new friend." She watched as the very idea of it made Shinta's face threaten to erupt in sheer flush, his eyes shutting. Olivia pretended to sigh. "But, oh well, if you're opposed to it, I guess it was just a thought-"

"I'm!... I'm not opposed to it!" Shinta asserted, surprising even himself. He held chest, feeling his heart beat strangely fast. He hadn't felt like this since Lance saved him from falling into a pool of lava once, catching him all cool like a superhero, and for two whole months Shinta began questioning the nature of his feelings of friendship for him. Was Shinta mature enough to control his intense feelings this time? "B-but… what is she like? Would she be… a good friend?"

Now that she thought of it, Olivia realized the two were quite alike in some aspects. "Well, Cerah is brave, kind, patient, dedicated…and a very moral-driven person. I'm not sure she is as open about her thoughts as you are, but I don't think that'd create any friction between you two. She's even saved my life once and watches over her senior, a poor blind woman living in Rodario. You wouldn't find a more amazing Saintia in this whole school."

This was high-praise, coming from Olivia, and Shinta had seen an example of it himself just now. Should he say yes? What would Lance do? What if Cerah wasn't interested in him at all just from the half a minute they shared together of Shinta gagging at her basic questions?

"Hey, it's just a meet-up, right? It's nothing to get so worried about." Olivia darted eyes to check for eavesdroppers. "And just between you and me, Saint Shinta? As popular as you are with the girls from the Academy, I bet Cerah will be sent over the moon for you, too."

{===========A3===========}

Nearby, Cancer Deathmask stretched arms as he stood in the walls of Palaestra, watching all the Saintia girls come into the gate through the lake bridge. "Ah, it feels good to be back in Sanctuary Town. Back in the important place. Back in the sun! I was sick of that chilly Swiss-cheese mountain air. Ain't this great?"

Aphrodite only hummed annoyedly, sitting in the shade of the wall tower.

The Cancer Gold Saint groaned. "What the hell is it, man? You've been acting all week like the stick up your ass grew three sizes?!"

The cyan haired boy exhaled, knowing there was no hope for his Sicilian comrade. "I've just been thinking a lot."

"About what? Which make-up you'll try next?" The Cancer teased, laughing. "Yeah, I think the girly-pink lipstick is so last-Spring. Maybe blue or purple would look good on you next?"

Aphrodite turned his glare at him like he pictured Mephisto wrapped in Demon Roses, freezing the Cancer.

"W-what?! I was joking!" Deathmask defended himself. Even with the Cancer Gold Cloth on him, if there was one thing Deathmask learned from his trip to the Isle of Gardens, it was not to push Aphrodite into actually fighting you. He growled. "Why do ya gotta direct your bad mood at me every damn time?! It's not my fault you've been staying up all night lately, doing… whatever!"

Jumping from his seat, Aphrodite moved to the wall, where he could see the students. He saw they all had lives and dreams, naïve as they may be. "That's just it, isn't it? Don't you ever stop wondering what you should be doing with your time?"

Deathmask shoved his pinky deep into his nose cavity to mine the gold. "I don't know…The heck do you mean by it?"

The Pisces exhaled, laying arms over the battlements. Ever since he became the superhero Top Hat Lad, the mysterious savior of Knight-Girl capturing the hearts of everyone who read the Marathoner, Aphrodite had looked forward to nothing more than putting on his costume and beaming into the night, ready to do his flashy entrances and burst into the crime scene like a rose dart into one of his adversaries' hearts. It was everything he hoped to do; allowing him to shower the scene with the brilliance of his cosmos and make use of his beloved Demon Roses, the only things in the world he considered immaculate.
Aphrodite already knew being a Gold Saint wasn't precisely his calling. This tenure as Top Hat Lad, however, just sealed it. When he was having more fun running around in rooftops and dressed like a cheap magician than in being one of the Earth's twelve mightiest heroes, how could it not? It made him wonder even more why the Pope went through such a length to put him specifically on the job, like Arles could somehow see a future for Aphrodite as a member of the Golden Zodiac that no one else could. However, now with his guardian more or less implying he was about to flip the table of the Holy War and do something so outrageously out-of-bonds, he may not live to tell the tale, Aphrodite felt there was nothing else left stopping him from wondering if, maybe, he should follow his example.

He saw the Equuleus Saintia pass by the gate to greet the newcomers, spot him and wave her hand at him, having no idea the Gold Saint she greeted was the guy that had been saving her butt from the Gold Saints. Half of him wanted to flash his top hat in his hand as a response just to see her reaction.

Instead, he waved back, getting her to smile at being recognized by a Gold Saint. "So, you want me to watch over her? Alright, Lance… I'm already falling on doing that, anyway, it seems."

{===========A3===========}

Golden Zodiac,

Aries Temple

{===========A3===========}

Under the watch of Taurus Aldebaran and Pegasus Lance, Mu handed Shinta the last part of the Andromeda Cloth. "There you go, Shinta. Full check-up complete!"

The green-haired Saint beamed. "Thank you, Mu." He wore his Andromeda shoulder pads and admired how snug they now felt. "They're great. You did an excellent job."

"He-he, I knew you had that big trial coming, so I put 120% brilliance into my job!" Mu bragged, sitting on his workshop desk and dangling his legs.

Taurus Aldebaran patted the Bronze Saint's back as hard as possible, nearly knocking him over. "You're going to be a shoe-in, bro! By the end of today, we'll all get to call you our new Virgo Saint!"

The bronze Saint flushed with all the support everyone was throwing at him. "Y-Yeah, hopefully. Thanks, everyone."

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay and support you?" Lance insisted.

Shinta shook his head firmly and smiled. This show of care was more than enough. "They need you down at the Triumph reception, don't they? I think you watching my test will just make me nervous right now. What if I fail?"

"You won't. I told you, you're just going to fight some entitled jerk; the Pact is backing up on this." Lance folded arms. "There's zero chance those guys could pick someone who can follow in Shaka's shoes."

Mu nodded. "He's right, Shinta! Even Shaka threw his support behind you! How could you possibly risk losing?"

But the Japanese teenager would have none of it. "I would still rather if Lance wouldn't cut his duties time just because of me. He's helping run security, after all. That is way more important, for today."

Lance groaned. "You know, Cynthia told me the same thing; that you'd want me far away from your test. Do I make you that upset?"

The Andromeda looked away. There was no way he could make Lance understand fully because Lance never cared too much about these examinations. "W-Well, a bit. It's like when your older brother comes to watch you play a soccer match. You can't help but feel the pressure is somehow up."

This was far from the first time he'd heard this comparison from Shinta. "Fine, I get it. I won't hassle you. Still, I wanted to come wish you good luck anyway."

The green-haired boy sniffed. He was so lucky to have met Lance. "Thank you so much. I'll remember that the whole way through."

The Leo Gold Saint, Galarian Steiner, arrived from the superior Temples in the Hall. "Saint Shinta, are you ready?"

"Mm-mm! I mean, yes!" Shinta nodded, joining the gold-armored, tall man.

Galarian turned his green eyes to the other visitor. "Saint Pegasus."

Lance felt his hair stand up slightly. The man was already tall, but with his mask and armor on, Galarian Steiner looked like some unstoppable agent of the Gods, the kind you'd worry might stomp you flat if they noticed you looking at them the wrong way. And now Lance knew he had some kind of childhood connection to Olivia. "…Hey."

"It's good to see you awake again." Galarian worded, his voice low. It seemed to surprise everyone and Galan couldn't blame them. The Gold Saint himself felt frankly unsure about what to say to this Bronze Saint. He was standing before the man who had captured Olivia's heart away from him, but also a courageous Saint whose feats Galarian respected. It was challenging to know what to feel. "Many worried for you during your time asleep. And we will need brave Saints like you for the times of war."

"R-Right, of course." Lance could only say. He scratched his head. This guy almost ruined Aiolos' life right before Lance, Olivia, and Aiolia, but maybe he should hold some reservations on that, considering a few things he learned. "Listen… I heard you watched over me during all that and that… you saved everyone's lives at Andromeda Island. I wanted to say 'thank you.'"

"Perhaps you will soon have the chance to return the favor when you and I fight together against the forces of Hades." Galarian eluded. He saw Saint Shinta retreat at this and regretted his choice of words, despite meaning well. "Or perhaps in some other…confrontation."

The Andromeda Saint reeled. There was such an uncomfortable atmosphere in the air, as if the two tall Saints in front of him didn't truly like each other but also felt chains on expressing such animosity.

Galarian reached for his armor pocket and pulled out a letter. "This is for you, Saint Pegasus. It's from His Holiness, Arles III."

Perking up, the Pegasus took it in hand and saw Shion's seal on it. "I wonder if…"

Shinta formed a quizzical expression. "You've been talking to the Temples?"

The Bronze Saint opened the letter and read it. It was apparently all white except for a line on the bottom.
PS: Please place your thumb here 'O'.

Lance obeyed, pressing the letter. The stardust circuit ignited, and every bit of invisible ink in the paper brightened.

Dear Lance,

How are you, my boy? It gives me great joy to hear you are well and active again. Everyone at the Zodiac worried about you these past six weeks, but I had complete faith in the Goddess you'd be with us again. I've met my share of determined Saints in the past, if you don't mind me reminiscing, and I know a little cosmos coma or two isn't nearly enough to keep our type down.

Lance grumbled. What a reckless thing to think. A coma was a coma, even if you had cosmos.

Regarding the Cloth of Hope, it is time to consider employing it in the conflict. However, I ask patience for now, as we still need to understand its inner workings and how using it might fall into the enemy's plans. Every precaution is necessary when handling a weapon of this importance and impact, primarily when so little is understood yet and how much Hades and his followers might realize about it that we do not.

While frustrating, Lance had to admit this was a reasonable stance. He would just have to let Shion do whatever he thought was necessary and hope he didn't make a final call before it was too late. It wasn't like Lance was thrilled to let that strange Gold Cloth have its way with his body again, not when they knew so little about it.

I've heard the request you passed to me through Mu. This case of 'Genbu Atlae' worries me immensely, and I want to see it looked into as soon as possible. Pegasus Lance, I am making it your responsibility to investigate the matter. Considering the results of your last encounter, however, I ask, for the sake of all your friends at the Zodiac, to exercise extreme caution while at it.

I want to apologize, too, for my apparent lack of support for my Saints lately. I'm happy to hear you have been thriving lately as a Bronze Saint and have even become a productive member of a small squad, Pegasus. Remember, you will always have a place here at the Zodiac to return to, even if not one clad in golden armor. I promise I will soon be there, body and soul, to help you all in these trying times.

May Athena be with you,

Pope Arles III

"YES!" Lance cheered, clenching fist.

"What?" Shinta asked.

"The Zodiac gave me the job to find that Genbu bastard!" Lance confirmed, waving the letter triumphantly. "I might even get to interrogate Daemon Lucifer about it now! His ass is going down!"

As Lance moved his thumb out of the 'O' to fold the letter, it ignited even brighter, startling the three of them and turning the paper into cinders in a flash.

The Pegasus Saint dusted the ash off, his fingers rattled. "I always forget the Zodiac letters do that." But at least he had good news to show: two people to ask about Genbu Atlae and a signal that the Pope didn't forget about the little guys fighting the war.

Galarian then spoke. "So, you've taken it upon yourself to find Genbu Atlae? Even though he crushed you?"

Lance irked. This guy could have put it to more amicable terms: "Of course I am!"

The Leo Gold Saint folded his arms. "Aren't you worried you are out of your depth? This isn't like the Daemon Lucifer situation, where you could count on your friends to support you in Round Two with him. If you go after this man… next time you meet, you might be on your own."

He wasn't an idiot. Taking on Atlae a second time would only happen after he's prepared extensively for it. "I can assure you, Saint Leo, that I'm serious about this. Genbu Atlae is going down. And I am the one best equipped to do it. You may have knocked him on his ass, but that's only because you took him by surprise. You have no idea what his techniques are like when he isn't a monster, but I do!"

The Gold Saint observed the firmness in Lance's red eyes. He saw no hesitation or cowardice in him. The Bronze intended to go after that monster Specter, come hell or high Mariners. Galarian laughed out loud, startling both of them.

The Andromeda Saint now felt riled, too. "Hey, don't laugh at Lance! He means it!"

The Leo Gold Saint shook his head. "I believe you, Saint Shinta. I see it in him." Galarian now understood some of what may have charmed Olivia about this guy. He wasn't the type to let the world knock him on his rear? "I just hope he can burn his cosmos hotter than he currently can… or I will have to come rescuing him again."

Lance's fists clenched, making a faint brim of his fire ignite around it. "Oh, trust me… it will."

{===========A3===========}

Aguilon's House

{===========A3===========}

"Just a minute! I'm getting ready!"

The Pegasus Saint relaxed and tried to be patient. He didn't mind waiting for Olivia at all. Still, he looked around curiously, having never been inside Aguilon's house. Part of him expected the furniture to be three times the average size of regular people's. Still, it was to his surprise that most objects looked rather typical, except one sofa that looked clearly like a butt bigger than its breadth had pressed on it many times.

"Hm, I guess when I think about it, life must be pretty rough for Aguilon." He realized, noticing how little of the house seemed adapted to the Herakles' Saint's enormous size. The windows were at average height, the ceiling of divisions only seemed a bit bigger than usual but not enough that someone huge wouldn't have to hunch over, and even the kitchen, where he likely made many meals for Olivia, looked average. "Anything made for his size is probably too expensive, so I guess he must have had to make do with stuff meant for much smaller people all his life."

Even the fireplace was quaint-looking. Lance realized a series of family pictures were held above it.

"Olivia once said her dad gave Aguilon those scars of his, right? Maybe there's a picture of the guy." He took a closer, curious look to search for it, but found something else just as intriguing. "Oh, what's this?"

A picture of a grinning Aguilon sitting on the sofa behind Lance, the dented one, with… two children on his big lap: Olivia and someone else. He approached the frame to study it better. Lance laughed softly at a young Olivia sitting in Aguilon's huge thigh, smiling at the camera. She looked so goofy with her tiny pigtails next to her gigantic grandfather's presence. He got half a mind of teasing her about it later.

However, someone he did not recognize was sitting on the opposite thigh. Lance took the frame to hand, squinting, trying to decipher the mystery of the boy sitting opposite Olivia. He had to be closer to Lance's age, if not older, considering the date of 1976. He could eight or nine, and yet, Lance did not understand how you could carry such an intense glare in your eyes above such a young smile. It was almost watchful, like the young boy secretly considered himself the guardian of the entire family in the picture, Aguilon included, to all who dared lay eyes on them.

Most of all, even in the weak colors of the picture, he could tell he had a shiny tone of silver to his hair, making the boy seem even older. He gulped. "How creepy. He looks so much like…Luci-"

"You're not impressing your girlfriend's grandfather by snooping through his belongings like that," Aguilon said, arriving in the room from upstairs.

The Pegasus staggered, guarding what he held. "Sorry, I just…I was looking for the guy who did that to your face."

Aguilon joined him, scratching his face scars he got from Olivia's dad keeping his body slightly hunched to fit down the pass way and each stepped creaked loudly with his weight. "You're not going to find pictures of Kai around here. That bum doesn't deserve a place in my house…"

Lance wasn0t going to ask what the story behind that was. Olivia had made it clear to him Aguilon never liked her father. Instead, he looked again at the boy, still swearing the child could see him through the captured instance of Olivia and Aguilon's past. "Olivia never told me she had a brother."

Aguilon raised his chin and folded his massive arms. "Maybe she doesn't. Maybe you have competition that you should watch out for." He then grinned; if everything he ever heard about Akassius Steiner's son was accurate, Aguilon could count on this warning being technically true. "Maybe you should think about really dedicating yourself whole-heartedly to making my granddaughter happ-"

Lance squinted, resting the picture. "Right, and you'd just let her boyfriend sit on your lap? Give me a break, Aguilon!"

The giant scoffed in bemusement. He touched the frame with his giant finger to adjust its placement so that Pegasus wouldn't mess up, taking care not to snap it with his great strength. "It was worth a shot to scare you a little bit…"

Lance noticed the gentleness in the gesture, and a thought crossed his mind. "Is he dead?"

Aguilon breathed out and locked eyes with him silently, a frightening thing to many who had faced him in the Coliseum. It was terrifying to Lance then and there, and he had faced the leader of a Specter invasion.

Yet, the Pegasus held fast. "I'm sorry, it's just… it's Sanctuary, in the end. It's not a difficult guess. Young men die in this place all the time to train and work. And it's the only reason I could think of that Olivia wouldn't talk about him to me."

The giant huffed out a resigned snort. "I suppose you're right," Aguilon confessed. "No, Pegasus. He's not dead. Not anymore."

Before Lance had time to be bewildered by the response, Olivia came down the stairs, dressed in the same light academy attire and skirt she brought for her first date with Lance. "I'm ready!" She saw the tense mood in the living room. Her arms folded. "Did… something happen here?"

Aguilon laughed, covering Leon's picture with his vast body. "No, honey. Have fun with your boyfriend. I'll be at the Coliseum later, soon."

{===========A3===========}

"I see, so you saw my brother's picture." Olivia realized, walking with her boyfriend out in the streets.

"Sorry. The pictures were right there. I was looking to see what your parents were like." Lance explained, hoping she wasn't mad. He scratched arm self-consciously when he saw her glance. "It's just, you told me so many crazy things about them that I just had to check… and then I saw that kid sitting with you on Aguilon's lap."

Fortunately for him, Olivia shook her head in reassurance. "It's okay. Anyone would be curious from how I talk about them. And the fact I even have a brother tends to surprise most people. We haven't been seen together in almost a decade. That picture you saw is the last one we took together." She smiled self-consciously, looking away. "Most people at the Academy think I'm an only child. Or that Saint Aguilon's descendants would all be… hard to miss in the streets by now."

Lance noticed the sad tone with which she spoke. "I won't ask about it anymore, don't worry."

The Saintia widened eyes. "Oh! No, it's okay." She held her arm around his tightly and chuckled to reassure him. "You can ask one thing. I don't mind. Choose wisely, Saint Lance!"

The Saint scratched his head, trying to pick. "Well, alright… Your grandfather said something extraordinary. That he was 'no longer dead'?" He revealed to her. He saw Olivia tense her eyes in annoyance. "I'm guessing he exaggerated?"

Olivia rolled her eyes at herself. "For Athena's sake! Did he? Yes, Saint Lance, he's just messing with you. My brother isn't dead and he hasn't risen from the grave."

The Pegasus sighed in relief. As a former Cancer Saint, he could never discard the hypothesis. "Y-Yeah, I figured."

"Grampa loves to do this; talk to people about serious topics in mysterious ways that leave you befuddled." She shook her head, wondering how often this has created the wrong impression in people. "Honestly, my brother was just the same… I'd ask him something; then he'd stop to think about it for a little and then answer something that made me feel like he was making fun of me."

"So, the guys in your family like fucking with people." Lance irked, remembering all the times Olivia has played around with him in conversation. "Aren't you a bit of the same, though?"

Then, Olivia sighed, her eyes softening sadly. "My brother never shared anything with me… Sometimes, I'd find out he was upset about something vital through Galarian, and then he'd lie to my face and say everything was fine. And then…" Her throat tightened. "Then he left for years without a single explanation for why. Saint Lance….I'm his younger sister, right? Didn't he trust me? Doesn't he… love me?"

Lance shrugged passively. "I don't know. I never met your brother. I don't know what he's like."

Her blue eyes turned back to him as if to say something, then her lips hesitated, and she stared as if Lance had said something that hit her unexpectedly. "Hmm…words straight as a dagger into my heart, Saint Lance, like always."

Confusion hit him. Hadn't she once signaled to him she appreciated that directness in him? Women were so vexing. "But now he's back, right?" Lance guessed from the way Aguilon spoke. He said this with some apprehension, wondering if this guy would spell trouble once he found out Lance was dating his sister. "You'll get to see him soon enough."

Olivia nodded. She wondered, though. "Yeah, you're right…"

"So, I'm sure you'll get to ask him anything you want, especially with all the years that have passed." Lance reinforced. He never had a family besides Master Dohko and Shinta, so he could only do his best to advise. "Hell, we might even run into him at the Coliseum."

The mood in her face seemed to improve to Lance's eyes, with her frown softening. "Right, that makes sense." Her eyes, however, then tensed, remembering how Leon had been back for a while, and she had yet to see him. "Unless, of course, he's out there with some braindead hussy hopelessly in love with him, instead of with his family!"

The shift in tension in her made Lance gulp. Did Olivia carry some of the ferociousness of giants in her? Maybe Aguilon's threats were less threats and more friendly warnings not to earn his granddaughter's wrath.

{===========A3===========}

"-and then Diana said, 'I see you met Princess Ana-b-word-ia'!" Cerah recounted, making Leon laugh out loud. She giggled, glad her dumb little story and fear of saying swear words entertained him. "I was so horrified at the time! But at the same time, I was like, yeah! She flicked me in the head so hard I almost died! She does deserve that name!"

The mercenary chuckled. Somehow, he found Cerah's inability to spell out something as mildly crass as 'bitch' the most endearing part of the way she told the story. "I remember Anastasia well when I still lived in these parts. She once tried to call her parents on me because Adriana and I were infiltrating their father's study. AG wanted to show me his collection of artifacts from the Holy War and all of the sudden they were bringing the hounds inside the manor to catch the 'thief'. Anastasia stopped short of accusing me of convincing her older sister to let me steal from their family."

Cerah gasped. So Leon knew exactly what she meant! "I was so shocked by the things she said to my senior! She even told her I tried to steal from her house but then accused my friend of all kinds of nasty… racial things. I never heard such terrible things in my life."

The mercenary spooned his tea, shaking his head. "Again, it doesn't surprise me. Adriana always told me her sister would turn out this way. AG said their parents encouraged all of Anastasia's worst instincts, so she grew up to thinking everyone else was inferior to her."

Cerah recoiled, having recalled stories from Diana about how creepy the Ghisi family supposedly was. "But… Miss AG always treated me wonderfully. I don't understand how… you know."

"How can they be family?" Leon guessed, earning an embarrassed nod from Cerah. The mercenary hummed, lacing fingers under his chin, making Cerah wonder if he was reflecting on a personal experience. "Well, unfortunately, family ties may make you kin of blood, but they don't necessarily make you kin of heart…Especially in Sanctuary."

Cerah tucked herself in her chair, her eyes lowering down. "I have a sister I haven't seen in a long time… Leon, do you think that…"

Leon turned his gaze to her, wondering if Cerah was among the many in Sanctuary separated from their siblings by recruitment. "Don't worry. I'm sure it's not the case for you two. I may not know the Heloise family, Saintia Cerah, but I can say they are not the Ghisi." He then reached for his pocket. "Speaking of lost things, however… I got something for you."

The Zodiac Knight widened eyes when he presented a small box to her. "Oh! Leon, you didn't have to!" Still, curious, she opened the box. When she saw what it contained, her breath skipped.

"Remember the day we met in Rodario?" Leon recalled. "Later I passed by and the shopkeeper told me you had been eyeing these."

Cerah retrieved the pair of silver earrings shaped like crow wings, stunned. She still remembered the day she first saw them, beyond the glass of the store. She grasped them and beamed, red. "L-Leon, I love them! Oh my goddess, I… I completely forgot about these! Thank you so much!"

"No problem" Leon wished. He sighed, then laughed at himself. "I may not look like it, Saintia Cerah, under this dirtbag mercenary look of mine, but I pay attention."

The Saintia laughed. How could Leon call himself a dirtbag, especially after a gift like this? He was so gorgeous, with his chiseled face, silver hair, muscled arms, and piercing blue eyes, not to mention all his kind words, that Cerah could die from being out with him. She even wondered why he was spending time with her. It was impossible to her that a guy like Leon didn't have tons of girls after him. Especially after what she saw at the Academy.

Still, it made her ask. "You go out a lot as a mercenary, right? You must have worked hard to pay these off, then? I feel terrible…"

He shook head. "Don't. My job… isn't easy, but I do love the independence it gives me. One of the perks is that I get to train outdoors all the time, for example, one of my favorite things." He glanced at the Zodiac, specifically the far-up Leo Temple. "One of my closest friends is a real gym freak, but I could never stand being cooped up inside a building all the time. I don't know if you feel the same way, but…"

"Oh, I DO! I love the track field at the academy!" Cerah beamed, almost cutting him off in excitement. "D-Don't get me wrong, I like the classes, too, but what I love above all is the exercise out in the field! I grew up in a dark place with no room at all, where I had to keep my head down all the time? So when I finally got to train outdoors, in the sun?" She tilted head, smiling like the sun. "I…I just almost exploded in joy!"

Leon blinked. No room at all? Finally out in the sun? Cerah sounded more like she had never been outdoors until very recently, period. Still, she had such a pretty smile. "O-Oh, I see."

Cerah gulped, detecting a sudden hesitation in Leon. She spoke too much and said a weird thing, didn't she? Her whole body shrunk like a dying violet, ashamed. "S-Sorry."

Leon saw her gulp. He wished she wasn't so guarded with him, but he didn't mind giving her a hand. "Not at all. Though… you don't have to be so nervous around me, you know? I'm not going to bite."

Cerah stared at his glorious hotness as he said this, like a beautiful God of the Hunt off on vacation from slaying Poliphemus himself. "Do you seriously think that? Look at you! I wish you'd carry me up the stairs like a princess in those arms or ask me to marry you! Diana would probably be drooling if she sat here instead of me. And then you gift me something like this? How could you think… I should relax?!"

The mercenary spooned his tea, looking concerned. "In any case, you sound like you had it rough growing up. Your Master didn't keep you in a harsh place, did they?"

She waved her hands "W-well, yes and no. He did… but he didn't have a choice." she assured. Cerah sighed, however, wishing her teacher had made a couple of different choices. "He was, however, pretty harsh. I can't say otherwise. Not in that usual training way, but… nothing I ever did seemed to make him happy or pleased."

Somehow, this seemed to strike a chord with Leon, who gave her a curious look. "Could you tell me about that, if you don't mind?"

"No, not at all." In fact, Cerah felt like it would be good to finally share it with someone. Her entire life in the Underworld had been that; Lucian always put down every little thing she did because, according to him, any Zodiac Knight should be able to move at the speed of sound and do Lightcraft. She slumped. "My teacher of the Cosmos, he… he never seemed satisfied with anything I did. Even when I was bleeding out in the desert or tearing my fingers in rocks."

He looked up, meeting eyes with her. "Or smashing your hands flat on rocks until you could feel your bones raw? Or when you pull so much out of yourself just to burn a bit more cosmos, you pass out right on the spot? And then always asked for more?"

Cerah beamed, feeling a borderline psychic connection. "Y-Yeah, that's right!" But she gulped. "A-Ah, well, that's what expected of us all as Saints, right? But… Part of me always felt that I wanted at least a little bit of recognition." Her eyes saddened and her body recoiled in reflex, remembering all the harsh stares whenever she so much as peeped. "And then he'd always make me feel so spoiled for wanting that…like I shouldn't dare to think it."

Leon shook head to himself. "Mine was the exact same, I'm afraid. I think the worst year of my life was when I discovered he was eyeing someone else to teach. He always told me it didn't mean anything… but I couldn't help but feel it was a sign I had finally disappointed him one time too many."

The Zodiac Knight reeled. What a terrible thing for Leon to experience. At least Lucifer never tried to replace Cerah, but maybe it was because he had no choice. She couldn't help but be curious about how it turned out. "Did he ever get one?"

Leon nodded and chuckled. "Yes, but only after I did something so stupid to get my Master's attention, that I had to leave Sanctuary altogether!" The mercenary was yet to gather the courage to go meet this 'Mu' boy, too. "I tried to go meet this kid, after the first time you and I met. I saw him for a brief moment, but he didn't know who I was. He looked… like a very bright child. I'm sure he will go far, with my Master."

The Knight awed. She had no idea how she'd react if she met someone who had replaced her in some kind of position she thought so important to her. Cerah paused to think about it, reviewing her whole training. The first thing that occurred to her was how Lucifer taught her Lightcraft. "When I was young, my first teacher thought I should be able to do this insane thing…"

There was an expectant look from Leon. "Yes? Tell me about it."

"How do I explain this? I can't speak plainly about Lightcrafting." Still, Cerah did her best. "I come from a… 'tribe of people'… who can do something particular with the cosmos. However, that 'thing' might as well be like learning to pull gold out of thin air. But because I was from that tribe, my teacher scolded me every time I failed."

Leon stared at her, mystified. "A tribe, you say? With an ability like pulling gold out of the air?"

Cerah nodded. Now that she thought of it, pulling gold would have been easier. "That's right… I can't explain it. But my teacher made me feel the way you described. And that's like saying it should be easy for my Pegasus Saint friend to get back up from a beatdown. Or… Or…"

"What? She's friends with a Pegasus?" he noticed, but focused on her words for the moment. "Or like saying that miracles should be easy for you just because you're a Saint?"

"YEAH!" Cerah found herself shouting; such was the meeting of minds she felt. She recoiled embarrassedly. "S-Sorry."

Leon shook his head, chuckling. "It's fine."

Cerah smiled, relieved. She liked so much Leon was so patient with her stuttering and spazzing. It made her feel so safe talking with him, like she could say anything. Oddly enough it reminded her of miss Olivia. "Well, one day I failed so badly he threatened to replace me with someone else, too. It was impossible, but for a moment I thought he was really going to find a way!" She trembled a bit. "I think, above all else, that was the worst day I ever had, too. Even with all the pain and misery of my training… it sucked the worst that my teacher was so willing to just trade me off…"

"Or probably all the worst because of all of that pain." Leon concluded to himself, finding more and more about this girl to relate to.

The girl flushed. "You said at the Academy it surprised you I've come so far but, the truth is, I just got… I got extremely lucky." She laced fingers nervously, but smiled. "I met some wonderful people on the way that helped me rise up and become something, like miss Adriana."

Leon shook head, snorting out in an affirmed manner. "I don't believe in luck. Miss Cerah, your fate has been nothing more and nothing less than what you made it to be. You were there in that hole for Adriana to find you because you were brave enough to help people in the Specter invasion, and you lasted this long in the academy because you didn't let any of its teachers put you down. There was no luck in any of that."

Cerah staggered, feeling this be said with such confidence that she couldn't help but feel her characteristic insecurity melt a little.

"In fact, that's, well, I think why I like you." Leon reinforced, voice firm as steel unsoiled by any doubt. "Let's face it, you're strong, beautiful, determined, and if what you say is true, you even who's put your life at risk for others and done things you're your teacher found impossible, all because you believed in doing them. And that's, honestly, really cool."

The blonde girl practically eeped, feeling all of her own feelings voiced back to her in such a beautiful, earnest way. He liked her? He really, really liked her?! No one's ever said these things to her! What should she respond?

In any case, Cerah couldn't believe how happy she felt. Everything was going so well! Was she dreaming? Or was she really having a wonderful date with this cute guy who was so thoughtful and said she was cool?

"You're really over the moon for this guy, aren't you?" the Crow Cloth spoke to her. "Mm, mm, mm. I'm not surprised, greedy a creature as you are."

A familiar, cold wash of shame overcame Cerah's stomach. She shrunk once more visibly.

Leon widened eyes. "Miss Cerah? What's wrong?"

"Have you forgotten what he is, little girl? A filthy sell-sword; a mercenary who kills people for money, instead of paying due honor to Athena. And you? You're a Zodiac Knight, parley one as you may be. Have shame." Corvus emphasized to her, letter by letter. "All that wondering of what his mystery is, all those doubts about him, and all it took to wash it all away was a couple of earrings and some words of emotional camaraderie…You've always wanted everything to yourself, Cerah, so I suppose its not shocking you'd want both ways with this guy, too."

The girl quivered. What was she doing? Why was she on a date so frivolously like this with someone like Leon? At the end of the day, she knew almost nothing about him! Was she that selfish, that greedy, that she was willing to toss away every caution she had learned just to get this guy for herself?!

Meanwhile, Leon's sharp eyes detected a shine in her upper chest. For a moment, he thought the impossible; that sitting before him was the heir of an extinct lineage of warriors that wore their Cloths shining on their necks like gemstones, instead of in a box, and that said gemstone was possessing her thoughts.

"And don't you think he acts a BIT too much like your teacher, in any case?" The Cloth mocked Cerah. "Forget how he looks… you see it in him, too, don't you; he has the same air, the same confidence…? Really, Cerah, just how badly did you want your teacher to fuck you, back in the Underworld? That you're letting this man who looks so much like him have his way with you, despite all your peoples' principles?" The crow cackled in her mind. "Now I understand how you let Eurydice be blinded! You had just met her that day, and she seemed SO important to Lucifer. Deep inside, you must have been jealous of he-"

Leon stood up briskly. "Miss Cerah, how would you like to go for a walk?"

The Zodiac Knight blinked, snapped out of what felt like a terrible nightmare. "L-Leon? I… what?"

The mercenary held out hand. "You seem… indisposed, and I thought you might be sick of this place." He smiled gently. He needed to get her moving so her mind would stop dozing under the influence he felt. "You do love the exercise, don't you? In the meantime, I can help you put your gift on?"

Cerah nodded, still feeling woozy. She was feeling so many doubts just now, but Leon's proposal sounded wonderful. "Y-yes, of course. I'd love to!"

The mercenary handed the waiters some money to pay the entire tab and collected her things for her, then turned to help her with the earrings. "Hold your hair up, please?"

The blonde girl nodded and picked up her curls in a tie, exposing her lobes. She felt his fingers take the earrings and gently place them on her lobes. Cerah wasn't sure where her mind went just now, but taking notice of how careful he was being to not hurt her, she smiled, feeling so happy.

As he did, though, his blue eyes glanced on the metal-chain necklace that Cerah wore. Leon saw it tipped by an obsidian stone he never noticed before, as it was rested in her blouse, right beneath her small chests and her blouse. It couldn't be.

{===========A3===========}

Sanctuary Town

{===========A3===========}

Cerah observed the enormous amount of people rushing towards the Herculean Road. "W-Wow, there's so many faces I've never seen around here today. There must be people from up to Bluegrad and Asgard in Sanctuary today."

"It's the Triumph. They're a pretty big deal in these parts, even in the modern day." Leon added, walking with her away from the confusion of people. He exhaled tiredly. "I can't say it's what I enjoy, though. I'm more, you might say, well…"

"The outdoors type?" Cerah hesitantly guessed, remembering his bow and his earlier words.

Leon smirked. "Yes, that works to describe me." He observed her and noticed she seemed a bit more awake. Whatever influence was falling over her at the café seemed to be weaker. "How about you, Miss Heloise? Excited for the event?"

Cerah adjusted her blonde curls anxiously. It was time to appear dumb about things, she supposed. "A-Ah, well, I don't know what's going on with all that, so I don't have an opinion. I think they're honoring someone. I guess it's cool because it's only a few times a year you see these many people around. I hear even the Pope is going to be present."

"That's right. And in front of all those people, too." Leon alluded. His blue eyes turned to the crowds, looking for threats to his Master. "Hopefully, nothing dangerous will happen."

Cerah widened eyes. "How so?"

Leon chuckled. Cerah was really out of the loop on the Pope, wasn't she? "Nothing. This Pope has had a lot of bad luck in recent years with his public events. Every time he shows himself, someone tries to attack him. I suppose the world is just full of unhinged people like that."

The blonde girl glowered to herself. "I guess if I still had those old thoughts of mine, I'd be one of those people, too. Maybe Leon is just like that, too? Maybe he's…not a bad killer?"

"Do you believe there's such a thing?" Corvus still managed to whisper to her. "Daese wouldn't."

Moreover, she happened to know Saint Lance was involved with security. "It's okay. There are so many Saints of Athena, and I bet Hades himself couldn't get even a spear-throw distance from His Holiness. So I don't worry about those things."

"Really? Tell me, Cerah, what do you worry about?" Leon asked, smiling. "You look like a pretty happy-go-lucky type to me."

Did she? Cerah puffed up her height to appear more mature, like Miss Olivia. "A-Ah, well! Yeah, of course, I worry about things. Tons of things! I worry about my friends at the Academy. And about my other friends in Sanctuary and my… my family." She gulped suddenly. Cerah didn't mean to mention that last bit.

Leon stopped, looking serious. "Mm, strange, for some reason, I remember you saying 'I'm not important' when we met. But if you have so many family and friends, surely you are important to someone."

Cerah staggered. How did he remember things she said so well? She nodded and stepped up to him, even standing on her toes to appear taller. "W-Well…you said at the time your family had been gone for years, remember? But you were visiting your sister at the Academy, or so you said!" Unable to maintain a brave posture for over a few seconds, the blonde girl receded. "So,… yeah, which is it?"

The mercenary looked genuinely stunned. He hummed. "Mm, not bad…I honestly didn't think you'd remember that."

The Zodiac Knight shook her head, refusing to leave room for further misdirection. "I guess I'm not the only one shy about my past, between us?" Cerah frowned. It was time to have the 'talk,' wasn't it? "Leon… I think… that I like you. I also understand that I don't really know anything about what you've been through and that sometimes, people can't talk about the things they do. Especially in jobs like yours, but…"

The mercenary sighed, laying hand on his hip. "At least it isn't the Cloth talking for her. Very well, then, let's face the music." He faced her. "What would you like to know?"

Cerah sunk head. At the moment, it felt like a shameful thing that was keeping her from being happy. "Is it really okay for me to ask?"

"You won't know until you try, correct?" Leon confessed. He looked away longingly. "Or, perhaps… you're afraid of what you might discover under these rosy rocks, as Adriana might say?"

The girl tucked her hands into her waist. She desperately wanted to accept this in him, that Leon was only who he was because of the force of circumstances. Still, every drip of her blood burned furiously against the idea that even this was remotely acceptable.

He then had an idea from the days his Master used to try to pry stuff out of him. "How about a game, then?"

Her eyes widened, intrigued. "A game?"

"Yes. One for a couple of shy people like ourselves: Three questions." Leon suggested, smirking. "We both pick three things the other must answer truthfully, no matter what, no judgment." He scratched his head. "It was something my Master used to do with me when I didn't want to confess something bad. Somehow, it made me feel better, that it was easier to let it out…"

The blonde girl hummed, intrigued. This could be a unique chance to find out more about Leon, but she also risked having to divulge important things herself. Cerah wasn't the kind of person with 'safe secrets'. More the type of 'hiding the fact she belonged to a group classified as traitors in these parts' secret.

Still, the potential seemed challenging to pass on, and Leon was making a real effort to meet her halfway. After all, what were the chances Leon suspected she was a Zodiac Knight? "Okay. Let's try it."

Leon widened his eyes in pleasant surprise. He laid out his hand. "Ladies first."

The blonde girl paused to think about it. She should ask something that would dispel some of the mystery about Leon, but also give her a hint about whether she should give this guy a chance, right? It would also be good to see if she could test how serious he was about this challenge.

Cerah finally chose, tensing. "What was your last job?"

There was an equal spike in tension from the mercenary, who stopped walking and turned to her with an uncomfortable frown as she asked him what he had hidden in his closet.

The Knight held hip. She sweated under his quietness but stood her ground. "I guess you don't like that one already."

The silver-haired youth folded his arms and hummed gravely. "No, I am just thinking of how to say it without putting you at risk." Leon studied his surroundings like he feared being overheard. "In my last job…I ended an era."

Cerah widened her eyes at first but then squinted, feeling cheated. "No! You don't get to answer like that! Answer me thoro-"

"You're not going to believe me, but that is my answer. It's what I was asked to do." Leon reinforced, looking completely serious. "Word by word, I was told to find and end a particular man, but what I was doing, Cerah was ending my client's long decade of fears. And for that, I was finally allowed to return to Sanctuary. For that, my sins were forgiven by the Goddess."

Cerah stood back "Y…your sins?"

Leon sighed out his nose. "I suppose I am cheating already, but… if I say anything more, I might really get you in trouble. Please don't make me do that."

The Knight reeled, feeling like she got way more than she bargained for with her question. Leon sounded like someone might want her dead for knowing about it. Was she right and Leon really did assassinate people? The girl gulped. Things were so much more serious than she imagined. "Y-Your turn."

He paused to ponder carefully. "Where do you come from?"

Oh no! Had she made a terrible mistake? "Leon, I'm not going to answer that now that you've-"

"I don't mind if you don't answer me. I was pretty vague about my own answer after all." Leon admitted.

"I come…" Cerah stopped herself, though. What could she answer honestly to him that wouldn't put her a million times more trouble than he said?! "I… I…"

Seeing her in distress, Leon made his own calculations in his mind. Wherever it was… she ate poorly. And had little sunlight. And Cerah wished to speak as little of it as if she came from the Mausoleum of Hades himself. However, at the same time, Cerah boasted the strength of someone who had years and years of training with the Cosmos, likely from training under her mysterious harsh teacher. Everything pointed at her being a Specter spy, but then there was the presence Leon sensed more and more in her necklace.

The more he tried to figure out on his own, the more contrasts he felt in her. Her sudden panic at the question just confirmed it. "I'd like to think, Cerah, that you and I both have dark origins. That it's one more thing the two of us have in common. Am I right?"

Hesitantly, Cerah nodded. "Y-Yes." She sensed, somehow, that this was his way of letting her skip her turn. "My question next?"

Leon nodded. "Go ahead."

She harnessed herself and picked her next one. "Why didn't you tell me about your family, back in Rodario? Why the lie?"

Nodding, the silver-haired youth acquiesced. "The truth is…I didn't know enough about you at the time to trust you."

Cerah stepped back. She supposed it was not an abnormal reason, but she'd be lying if she said this didn't hurt a bit.

"I don't speak of my family to strangers for a variety of reasons." Leon confessed, looking ashamed. "My sister works hard for other people, but she values her privacy, even in that Academy you two share, while my… caretaker is someone who has suffered his entire life for a condition he was born with. Most important of all, our name is just too strong."

What a strange way of saying it. Was Leon implying to Cerah that his family was special? "Your name?"

"Yes. We are not aristocrats like the Ghisi, but we have a legacy of our own among Athenians." Leon advised, narrowing eyes. He sounded like this was a cross he had to bear his whole life. "Just hearing it is enough for people in Sanctuary to shape their opinions about me. You said earlier you like me, Cerah. I'm sorry I wasn't honest with you about my family, but, assuming you meant that, I don't want that to be because of who my family is. Or ruined by it."

Cerah flushed and turned her eyes away, her fingers twisting together behind her back. She supposed that, in the end, she couldn't blame Leon for doing this. After all, Cerah, too, was only able to talk openly about being an 'Heloise' because no one knew enough about Zodiac Knights anymore to pinpoint what it meant about her.

"You're… not. You're not p-presuming, I mean." Every word of this sentence out of her throat made it tighten like a chocker on her neck, realizing very well what she was implying to him. "Leon… nevermind. Your turn."

The mercenary exhaled somberly like she said something he wished she hadn't. Leon studied her again, then chose his query. "Why are you in Sanctuary?"

Once again, Cerah tried to think hard about how to answer. Leon was giving her leeway to choose how to respond, after all. "I was on a mission for my teacher. He wanted me to protect someone. I also wanted… to do something foolish here. But things changed. Now I have different reasons for being in Sanctuary."

The mercenary held a hand on his hip like he found common ground in what she said. "A mission…I see."

Cerah raised her head proudly. "Right now, I am doing something very important for someone I've come to believe in. Something I cannot afford to fail at. Even if I am… weak." Cerah's meekness then resurfaced, silencing her about her insecurities regarding Saint Lance's crusade. "But it's something I feel I cannot afford to not help with."

Leon nodded, satisfied. "I knew there was a reason someone like you lived among these cowards." Then spoke. "Your turn. Final question. Think carefully about it."

She had several possibilities, including the one she almost blurted out earlier. Still, the more she thought about it, the more Cerah's mind landed on one question. "Leon…answer me honestly. If you don't… I will never speak to you again. What is the worst thing you've done?"

This triggered the most guarded reaction of them all. The silver-haired mercenary recoiled visibly. He folded his arms in deep thought, perhaps trying to think of how to dissuade her from asking this or possibly thinking how to answer coyly.

All sorts of red alarms went off in Cerah's head at this.

"Finally, some sense!" Corvus gloated. "Now you will see with your own eyes, Cerah, how a mercenary leads their life."

"That question… could also get us both in a lot of trouble." Leon pointed out. For a second he wondered if she was falling under the 'influence' again, but Cerah looked too alert. "Are you sure you want to know the answer?"

Cerah shook her head at the evasiveness. "It's plenty straightforward from where I am standing. Did you murder a family? Kidnap someone? Betray them? You either answer it or you don't. It's not that complicated." Her eyes softened with regret. "Perhaps… that is the real difference between us. I may not be willing to answer where I come from, but that's because I fear for my safety. You, however,…I get the feeling you don't because you're hiding something terrible. Something you don't think anyone could possibly understand."

"Hm, how sharp of you." Leon admired, feeling the knife plunge straight into his heart. He wished he could live in her world, where every morality and choice was simple and straight as an edge. "Can I just ask, Cerah; why do you want to know this so badly? Nothing good can come out of it?"

"Because my teacher taught me never to lie, to always speak in concealed, polite ways instead…only for me to find out it was because he had done shameful things, too, and just wanted to feel superior to others anyway as he murdered people." Cerah pointed out. She looked at his beautiful silver hair. Her eyes teared up a bit in terrible embarrassment. "And right now, y-you remind me a lot of him. Maybe I'm a crazy girl, which is why I like you. Talk about a complex, uh?!"

Leon's eyes narrowed dangerously. For the first time, he exposed to Cerah the look he gave his enemies, the look he gave Priam as he challenged him to a fight right after slaughtering every one of his rebels. The look he'd give anyone who would so much as touch the Iraklidis family. It was something he never intended to do, but it happened anyway.

The Zodiac Knight narrowed her eyes, finally seeing stamped in his face the dangerous man Leon claimed himself to be. It, too, reminded her of Lucian's rage in battle. "I see. So that is who you are. Thank you for answering me, Leon. This date is over."

He saw her turn to leave. "Wait."

She paused, unexpectant. "Yes?"

He glared at her, letting the lightning crack in his eyes. "…And what if I am a villain, then? What if I have murdered? Not because I was fighting for Athena, but for what I believed in for myself?" he challenged. What was this frustration he felt? Why didn't Cerah understand where he was coming from? How he couldn't talk about it without ruining himself? Wasn't she the same? "What will you do when you learn all the cruel things I have done?"

Tightening her chest to show herself resolute, Cerah raised her chin. "I will walk away, of course. I am a Saint of Athena, after all."

Leon's eyes narrowed back. He had heard these words before. "And what if I what I've done is kill Athena herself? And robbed this world of every hope it has had to survive?"

Her green eyes narrowed back to meet his crackling thunder with shining stars of light. "…. Did you? Because if you've done something as evil as that, I'll forever be your enemy! And I'll kick your ass right now!"

The world around them disappeared. Only two faint auras of two powerful souls remained in the dark, confronting each other's deepest, darkest secrets. The stars of Unicorn and Dragon manifested themselves in their energies, heightening their senses to a level far beyond what a human could, and, for a moment, they could hear each other's heartbeats, see each other's breaths and feel each other's worlds crash against each other in the deep cosmos. In that darkness, they could suddenly perceive themselves as what they really were to the Cosmos; two flares of light rays and crackling thunder dancing together without touching each other. Admiring each other, yet unable to make contact, for all their willingness to breach that gap.

Neither had ever felt anything like this. It was like two alien objects of the universe crossing by one another in a mathematical miracle—an event so rare that it made them make contact to signal their unlikely reunion, yet every law of the universe forbade them from doing so.

Cerah inhaled deeply, making her cosmos cool down. She was a bit surprised at herself, pulling a 'Saint Lance line' she just did, but she had to make clear to Leon, and herself, how she felt. Cerah had to admit Saint Lance's brash style was excellent for that, at least.

"Thank you for answering me. That counted as your final question, Leon." She took her earrings off and presented them. "P-Please, take these back. I-I can't have them anymore."

He reeled, taking them, and feeling her continue her journey through the cosmos without him. Was she not someone coming from the darkness, just like himself? How could she answer this way, then, as if she was ready to lay down her life for a banner of platitudes? Even Galan had learned that was nothing but a dead end!

Cerah's eyes softened in sadness. "I guess you now realize I'm not the kind of girl you thought I was, right?" If only Leon knew how deep the rabbit hole went with her, straight down to Giudecca. She turned away to leave. "Thank you for the tea, Leon. I… I had a good time despite everything. I have to go to my friends now, though. The next time we meet…maybe we can settle our differences…one way or another."

He watched the girl disappear in the crowd, rushing as if to hide tears. The mercenary took the earrings she returned and carefully placed them back inside their box. He closed fingers gently around them and sighed.

"This is where we part ways, then… for now." Leon thought to himself. The only thing in his chest that burned as hotly as his frustration right then was the fascination he felt. "I must admit, this is the first time I've ended a date with a vow of rivalry." His heart beat so fast. Was he falling in love? "Cerah Heloise… Just who ARE you?"

{===========A3===========}

Pacing around the Coliseum's streets, Lance perked up when he saw the familiar short, blonde girl arriving. "Oh, there you are. Cerah, Olivia's been asking all about you."

Sniffing, the Zodiac Knight shook her head. "S-Sorry I took so long. I was with a friend." She put up her happiest smile. "But I'm here now! I can't wait for the big festival!"

The Bronze Saint stared. He saw Cerah's face was as red as a beet while her eyes' veins were showing. She also had a poorly hidden tissue that looked wet with tears in her pocket.

The girl staggered. "W-What? What is it?"

"What's wrong, Cerah?"

The girl's green eyes darted. "N-Nothing. I'm fine!"

Lance's finger pointed all over her. "Yeah, you say that, but you have what I call the Shinta Signs all over your face that you've been… You know." His crimson eyes darted away. He didn't want to embarrass the girl by pointing out she'd been weeping her face off. "It's fine if you don't want to talk about it. It's just that if you don't wash your face better, Olivia will be worried."

Cerah shook. Saint Lance cared about Miss Olivia, didn't he? It was so lovely to see they found each other. Some people were fortunate. "Y-yeah, you're right! I just… I just…." She shut her eyes. "...this guy… he seemed nice but…! No, never mind! " Cerah sniffed. "I-I guess…I guess it isn't that important, is it?" She nodded to herself. "We're Saints of Athena, after all… And a Holy War is coming."

But the Pegasus Saint folded arms. So that's what happened. "That's not true either, Cerah."

She looked up. "It isn't?"

Lance sighed. She sounded so much like Shinta sometimes, especially in these moments where he was picking her back up on her feet. "There's no point in winning this Holy War against Gods of Death if you're going to be miserable in life, you know? I know you come from those Zodiac Knights, but that doesn't mean you should be some… monastic war machine like everyone tells me they were." He folded his arms and beheld her, truly impressed. "I don't know what happened to you today, but something tells me you made a brave choice about it. And maybe one day? You're going to get everything you desire for it."

The girl felt the heaviness in her chest lift. She smiled. "T-Thank you, Saint Lance."

He laughed. "No problem."

She stood up, cleaned her face and beamed. If only Leon was more like Saint Lance. "I can see why Miss Olivia likes you. Y-You're pretty good at this! Plus, you cook so well, too!"

"Christ, Suisho was right; they seem to love that in a guy, uh?" Lance realized. He wondered how he and Olivia were ending up in the role of this little blonde tick's pseudo-parents. "Sure, just… don't make Olivia worry about these things. If you need something about guys, come to me."

The girl stood up. She clenched her fists, feeling her determination to invade the Underworld triple! "Saint Lance, when the time comes, I will do everything I can to back you up in the Underworld! I will get Lord Dohko to teach me every dragon technique, and we'll end these Holy Wars! And I'm going to find Daese!"

Lance froze up, suddenly.

Cerah gasped, realizing her mistake. "O-Oh, I guess I should explain that. Daese is my sister's name. Daese Heloise. She's the Aquila Silver Saint." She chuckled in embarrassment. "I guess I never got around to mentioning that, did I? With all the crazy things that have been going on…"

"You…. You didn't." Lance confessed. "Cerah, could you go to Olivia? I'll… be right with you two, after I go meet with Saint Suisho."

"Sure!" and the Corvus Saintia ran off.

Left alone, Lance sunk his face into his hands. "Daese…?! Her sister is Daese?! Aquila Daese?!"

{===========A3===========}

"Thank you for getting me out of that hole… Where are we?"

"You live here? Dear Goddess…. How could Sanctuary do this to a child?"

"... I see, so you're here to get the Pegasus Cloth. You're doing it all wrong. Here…-"

"-When you think about unlocking the cosmos, the first thing to do is…-"

"-Are you kidding me?! You're not getting off that drop until you give me 100 more push-ups! This is baby stuff, Red, pull yourself up right no-!"

..

"-No! Close your fist like this! Keep this distance between your feet! No, not like that! You're leaving yourself open! Think carefully about what you see! See, I just kicked you so easily-"

"-Don't think about the time limit. Don't think about the Wolf Winter. Don't think about anything at all…All you need to think about is getting the cosmos and leave!-"

"-Listen to me, Red… you're stronger than this mountain. You're stronger than these wolves, and this cold, and these traps, and all this blasted Sanctuary. And you WILL make it out of here. I promise you.-"

"- someone's out there! A hunter! I don't think they're alone! We have to hide you! I'll fight them, don't worry-"

"-AQUILA CHARGE FIST! R-RUN, RED! RUN TO THE CAVES! YOU CAN'T FIGHT THIS THING!-"

"-D-Don't give up! Don't you want to leave this place? This mountain?! This is all just a nightmare you're going through! Are you going to let these bastards stop you?! Don't you WANT TO LIVE?! S-SAY YOU WANT TO LIVE!"

{===========A3===========}

Thirteen-year-old Lance stood between the blood-soaked Daese and the monstrous, gigantic wolf with sunken eyes baring its yellow, almost orange fangs. Its eyes were two orbs of darkness, and its fur was dirty and cascaded from his body, making it seem even more powerful and less realistic. Worst of all, its mouth had the appearance of curving slightly at its corners, creating the faint image of a predator's smile.

His body shook from the cold and bleeding, yet he kept his left palm pointed, and his right fist clenched. He shouted from the top of his lungs. "G-Get away from her! G-GET AWAY!"

The gigantic wolf stepped in the snow with its paw, letting his long fingers palm claw deep into the white. A broken shackle was in its wrist, as big as the type you'd put on a colossal statue's feet. Its saliva dripped, melting the ground like acid, and its breath smelled like a million wailing corpses, making Lance sick to his stomach.

The picture of absolute terror made him stiff to his core. A terror greater than any pack Lance had ever faced in Mount Olympus. Nothing about the creature made sense to his young brain. It couldn't be an animal. It couldn't be from the Earth! It could only come from the depths of hell or the top of the mountain he stood on, the home of the Gods!

And it eyed the two of them with such hunger like they were nothing but a pair of snacks. It could gargle up entire countries full of people right after Lance and Daese and still feel ravenous.

Daese tried to stand up, but her wound made her collapse with a gasp. Her hand pushed at him. "R-Red, g-get away from here! You don't stand a chance! RUN!" But when he touched his ankle, she felt a familiar warmth. Her eyes widened at the aura birthing around her student. "R-Red?!

"I want to live, Daese… I WANT TO LIVE!" Then, Lance threw his first technique, shooting himself at the snarling 'wolf'. "CHARGE FIST!"

"NO, RED!"

{===========A3===========}

Lance's eyes wept, soaking his hands. His body was completely paralyzed like a dam broke in his mind and flooded his soul with memories he thought were phantoms. He hadn't lost control of his tears like this since he locked Guifi inside that volcano. Everything about him shook uncontrollably, unable to process what he just heard.

"Daese… is real? She was real?! She was with me in that mountain and is out there and… is Cerah's sister?!" His mind raced furiously, trying to make sense of his nightmares. "That… can't be. It can't be! How could I forget… forget about her?!"

{===========A3===========}

Chapter End

{===========A3===========}

Next Chapter: Chapter 101 – Third Arc – Episode 26 – The Triumph – Part 2

Release Date: October 25th

Description: Reuniting with Sui, Lance confesses his doubts about his past, now that he discovered the woman he met in Mount Olympus was real. With his mind clouded in doubt, he runs into a certain man of silver-hair in the streets of Sanctuary.

Meanwhile, Aquila Daese and Nasu Erika investigate the Stardust Prison, looking for an opportunity to reach Priam and Lucifer, but discover that a certain group beat them to it.

Author's Comments:

Yup, coming in with the chapter over a week late. A number of things caused that, mostly a mix of difficulty writing the Cerah-Leon scenes (rewritten a whopping 5 times) and me trying to figure out how best to structure what's likely going to be a four-to-five part episode.

Given that this is chapter 100, I suppose I should say something, right? Mm.

I want to first give my thanks to Jenny DeVic, who, even with a sick throat and two children to raise, continues to support me and be patient with me through this project. This has been a long, arduous journey and she was there to back me up from the start. Jenny, if you're reading this, I seriously love ya and all you've done for me : )
Next I want to give EpicElly my thanks, who's been my second most supportive and reliant beta-reader. She also does an amazing job and, right now, she's going through a tough time with the hurricane that hit the US. I also want to thank all my other friends who've supported me online and given me cheer-up words and advice, like Mahogany and Zebullon_Wallace.

Next, well, this is where I think I want to get a few things off my chest. These are just some reflections on what it means to get this far, I suppose. I am merely processing some old feelings that have accumulated in me over the course of these 100 chapters. Unfortunately, when I sat down to think about if I should say something about this milestone, the more I realized I had nothing but nastiness and struggle to share around. And that's not worth it.

When I grew up in the 2000s, before I started this project, I did so watching a lot of online artists I admired just… give up on their works. Usually it was silly things, like Stage Select, a Megaman hand drawn comic that I just really liked and whose author suffered from fibromyalgia, or some ambitious Newgrounds passion project that just petered itself out after a while. Surprisingly, it wasn't even for lack of support; these were great, fun projects with tons of fans that even did artwork and forum participation for them. However, precisely because of that, it always bummed me out when they'd just suddenly stop, usually because the author couldn't burden the effort anymore. They would just stop updating, sometimes they'd stop hosting their works altogether and you'd be lucky to get a word of why. Beginning LR, I really wanted this project to NOT be that, especially since I knew it was unlikely I'd get any kind of meaningful support (remember, this was before meeting Jenny and others). I wasn't going to be the guy that gave up on his thing out of nowhere, before it was done, even if it was getting no traction.

Those feelings have not changed. I still have that determination. But something else has changed. I've become… harder as a person online. Meaner and less forgiving. Not just to myself, but also to others. Writing isn't something I do to enact a fantasy anymore, but rather something I constantly, ruthlessly try to do better to very little avail, just to prove to myself that I can.

With this chapter, I will be reaching 2.35M words of work, but the reality is, the project is really 3 million words long at this point, because of the 700,000 words I discarded when I shifted from V2 to V3. And at the end of those 3 million words of work I've discovered that I've only barely gotten better as a storyteller. I'm certainly capable of far more things than I used to, I wasn't thinking when I started off that I'd ever be able to write half-way decent romance, for example, that's for damn sure. But when it comes to my ability to 'wow' people, to really hook them or incite a reaction or emotion, I honestly feel like barely anything has changed. Or even that I have somehow grown weaker.

Along the way I guess I always kid myself that somewhere, at some point, in those millions of words, something really special would happen. I would somehow hit a gemstone in my writing that would accelerate me like a catapult into finally telling that really exciting kind of story that captures your imagination. And writing LR would become just as exciting as reading the stories that first inspired me. It hasn't. However, that's not the reality of creative pursuit. To be creative is to practice and to inch every closer to something that halfway satisfies you, without ever making you feel okay. We wouldn't get up in the morning and keep working if we ever felt 'happy' or 'satisfied' with what we've done.

What I am getting at is that, I don't have the energy or heart to pretend I care anymore about keeping up a fantasy of this being a fun thing to do lol. I'm finally past that. I think. Part of me debated if I really wanted to upload this chapter or just keep my story going privately.

The last straw was me having a pair of truly rough weeks at work recently, missing the September 25th deadline and realizing I cared a heck of a lot more about getting the chapter right and not overstressing Jenny than trying to keep up some kind of 'reader-friendly release pace'. The only reason I can think of to keep that deadline up is because I already have the next chapter on Beta and to make myself finish these stories and not let laziness and lack of discipline win. For myself.
So, yeah, I'm not going to do author comments anymore, I'm not going to say anything special about the fact that this is the 100th chapter (other than this screed) and am certainly not going to pretend there's anything to be gained with 'having a conversation' with my readers about what I'm doing here and the things I am achieving on it. Maybe I'll say something here and there, but Im going to stop forcing myself to go through these ceremonies because, the reality is, I don't care about being friendly to online ghosts lol

I guess if there's anything to be learned with this milestone, is that I've come to understand a bit of why those creative people I used to admire would just… drop off the map, cause once you reach it, all you think is… crap, what else do I aim for next? At some point, it becomes diminishing returns, and the only thing still making you going are your principles, not the ghosts of your 'fans'. I'm not giving up on LR, but I am giving up on the idea that it will ever be more than it really is; creative therapy for myself lol

Anyway, IF YOU WANT,…be sure to leave a review or share the story if you enjoyed this chapter, or if you want to shit on me because you think the chapter didn't have enough punching or kissing or whatever else you log into fanfiction sites to look for. This will probably be the last time I'll ask it, though, don't worry lol