Notable OCs up until now that I own: Pegasus Lance; Andromeda Shinta; Heracles Aguilon's Silver Saint Generation; Taurus Daniel's Gold Saint Generation; Daemon Lucifer

Notable Original concept (until now): Pegasus Temple; Sanctuary Town; MMC; Sanctuary Forts and Outposts; Sanctuary Court & Nobility

Recurring/Cameo OCs belonging to Jenny DeVic: Cassiopeia Cassandra; Behemoth Torak (Toruk); Mrs. Schafurwatt

Recurring/Cameo concepts belonging to Jenny DeVic: 88 Knights Festival; Golden Line Heritage; The Great Bodyguard legend; The Sanctuary-sponsored orphanages; Andromeda Island's geography and tests; Golden Line Nobility

Please enjoy and review.

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"As I receive more and more reports of these prodigy findings, the more I am convinced Hecate was telling the truth, at least with the second prophecy of my 18th century comrades coming back. First Saga and Aiolos show up at my the finals of a major trainee tournament, then I start hearing about a kid in India leading a religious movement on Buddhism, and a supposedly prodigious squire that Kirin has acquired in Spain. Kirin tells me the boy's swordsmanship potential is greater than his own. When I recall what my current Capricorn accomplished in the Civil War, that notion makes me shudder.

Sanctuary has so many legends yet to be proven true; Northern Paradise, Teos, the Cursed Temple, the Lucian Bloodline… why did all of these prophecies have to be the confirmed at nearly the same time? Five hundred years without a word proven right out of those seers' mouths and then Hecate came and cursed me forever with her dying three breaths. How I wish I could have taken that night back just so that these findings wouldn't be terrifying me so much right now.

Because, if the second prophecy is coming true, then there's no guarantee that she was just tricking me… and if the second prophecy is so wonderfully fulfilling itself even as I lay down my pen and stop fighting for the reunion of my comrades, then what is stopping the first prophecy…from being just as inevitable?

By the Gods… By Athena…Let it not be true…"

-Pope Shion, date unknown.

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Three Months Later…

Early July, 1976

Nighttime, Rozan Mountain Training Ground

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The cackling of thunder, rumbling of clouds, soaring of the winds and falling of the rain on the waterfall valley all continued throughout the night, contributing to the intensity, or perhaps even exacerbated it of the battle going on at Dragon Bridge. Winter had long ended, spring had come and gone already and the coming of summer, season of the red bird, had done little to calm the famous rains of the legendary rest place of the dragon god. Perhaps the mountain was eternally cursed with wet weather or perhaps it was due to the tropical climate which dominated large segments of Chinese land despite how high in altitude they were.

The spectacle of light coming from the battlefield every time they clashed was one of short outbursts of golden light everywhere on the mountain and causing the ground and air to rumble in response, as typical of a skirmish between two gold-ranked warriors. The afternoon had been thoroughly filled with this intense clash of power, one in which the intensity had maintained itself but, as of the latest hours, had been slowly dying down as crippling exhaustion began demanding more and more from their muscles.

The ground of the natural bridge was cut, smeared and burned all over by countless foot drags, flailing swipes and power bursts that had waved back and forth with battle dance step, leaving behind lingering scars of brutality as the rain cleared off the dust. Their movements occurred at such quick but short speed bursts that many times it felt like they had just been facing each other with blasts all day.

In reality, countless blows, blocks, backhands and counters were being thrown back and forth almost at the speed of light, each attack possessing the power to rip the armor off a tank and each guard the toughness to stop the fiery blast of a rocket. Contrary to most of their other training sessions, neither one held back nor focused on technicalities. They certainly did not shy from cheating. Onlookers would probably say these two men were actually trying to kill each other.

Two pairs of soaring large blasts of cosmos clashed with each other, unleashing their light as another thunderous flash to reveal palms crashing with fingers intertwining in various power contests. Their auras soared in gold, the student that of a dancing fire and the master's that of a gently waving liquid. The already glass eyed student trembled all over under the rain, feeling as if his very bones, not just his muscles, screamed in pain not with the Master's grip and strength but with his own bleak exhaustion. His eyelids were so heavy and his body so rigid that he felt like he could pass out at any moment.

His mind was so tired from using the 7th sense and keeping himself awake well beyond what should be his limit that he didn't dare to spend a single remaining brain cell that wasn't in shutdown mode reflecting on that small victory.

The master was not in perfect shape either, but it was clear he could still hold on for a few more hours. Lance had been told by him, though, that this special training session would go on until one of them passed out and, even though he was not the type to surrender, he had started doubting several hours back already if it was even possible for the Master to be the first to fall over.

Both of them were wearing their Gold Cloths. Dohko had anticipated that the session would reach such a point in that both of them would be so exhausted that neither of them would be able to properly strike and defend at all times. As predicted, at the point they were at a point where one mistake could cause one's punch to skewer the other and it was best to have their Cloths on so as to avoid something tragic.

They kept on charging their power through their external cosmos aura, causing it to soar upwards and match the intensity of their glares, each fighter unwilling to give up a single inch to their foe.

Lance's aura, however, suddenly burst into little vanishing speckles of fire when he hit his limit, causing his superhumanly charged strength to collapse and the Cancer to stumble back and drop onto his hands.

Dohko also relaxed his cosmos but without letting down his guard. He had been prepared for the taxing demands this exercise would make from the start. Lance had already suffered three cosmos burn outs like this one in this session alone, something normal in Saints with an untrained grasp on their reserves. It could be dangerous to a civilian and some have been known to fall into comas because of it. Lance should be fine with all the training he's had and how tough he was, but it was still indicative of his level.

The old tiger saw his pupil struggling to get back on his feet, the eyes fighting to stay opened through the sweat, blood, rainwater and headache as the golden aura repeatedly tried to ignite itself back up. Only through much effort was he able to power himself back up to gold rank levels and with a battle cry rushed at his Master to deliver repeated punches and kicks.

The equally strained Libra received the assault head on, making use of his superior skill and experience to expertly block each blow with his palms, backhands and knees in a defensive flurry of parries and step-backs. Lance's skill with the primarily defensive Dragon style had increased significantly over the last few months and he had been starting to thread in a few offensive doctrines to it.

Still, the red-eyed fighter, too exhausted at this point, was unable to balance the defensive and offensive sides of his movements, resulting in an improperly executed kick to finalize his combo. It succeeded in rushing past the Master's wall of resistance but failed to do any significant damage upon hitting the master's rib side. The blow grazed as a result, giving Dohko the perfect opportunity to strike the Cancer cuirass in a stunning fashion before a myriad of punishing tiger blows struck Lance all over, ending by a sudden jump kick to his face that sent the Greek to bite the dust far off the teacher's zone of vulnerability.

Dohko coughed, grabbing his side and trying to keep his energy properly gathered. He easily surpassed Lance in most fields, but so many hours of skillful skirmishing was a big effort from his part which ate away at his mental strength. Tenma had most unfortunately joined the Holy War before Dohko ever had the chance to spar with him at a Gold Level, meaning this extreme exercise was, in a way, just as new an experience to him as to the student himself. Still, it was necessary, especially if Dohko had any serious ambition to sharp his student into what he envisioned.

He then saw Lance panting and whining in pain on the ground in the rain and took pity. "H-hey… you look like y-you can't take anymore… W-want a break a-already? Come on…" he mocked, trying to maintain a strong face but wishing on the inside Lance would agree. "It's only been twenty h-hours… you g-gotta have a few broken bones inside, r-right?"

Too exhausted to think about how Dohko could be offering him an honest chance at resting, the half-broken Saint struggled through the multiple sources of pain he had, his arms shaking as they tried to raise him from the ground, his leg muscles shaking all over as his feet took a stand. It was only through effort that he did not know himself to be capable of that he raised his head and blinked his eyes at his opponent.

The Master was right when he said that Lance was probably already at his limit, but part of the reason why he was surprising himself and others with how long he was lasting was due to the supposed fatality of that training session. The power training marathon he was going through was supposed to last until he passed out, after all. Other major reason was probably because of all the mental training he had gone through; he never really understood the point of meditating, but learning to clear his mind now and then had proven a strange balsam to his thoughts. Yet another major reason was the dragon style itself; just like the Master predicted, learning to defend more effectively and make more use of skill rather than cosmos in his attacks had reduced his strength expenditure significantly in combat.

Unfortunately, it didn't really matter the training one had when going up ahead with Libra Dohko for twenty hours straight. He was about to pass out and he knew it. For a few moments, like when at hour seven he landed that combo or when at hour fourteen his Charge Fist finally struck home after so many failed attempts, he had thought that maybe he had a tiny hope of scoring a surprise knockout on Dohko.

What a laugh, now he knew he never stood a chance to begin with.

If his mind was not so tired and fried, he'd probably dedicate thoughts to the other adult Gold Saints, perhaps even the Pope and Akassius, and how strong they truly were. If that day had taught him anything, it was that Gold Saints were truly monsters in terms of reserves and that maybe that strange law prohibiting meaningless scuffles between Gold Saints had some sense to it. If Cancer and Libra could last for so long just sparring, just how much destruction could two clashing Gold Saints seriously cause when going all out with their lives depending on it?

Still, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth, he struggled with all his might to concentrate his cosmos and keep the flame alive, both metaphorically and literally. His cosmos aura had seen much better days, but he made sure to power it back up yet again, even if it cost him the last amounts of strength he had left.

And as the waves of flaming energy raged upwards over and over again, so much hard effort was put into them that, all of a sudden, a single crackle of electricity surged upwards with them.

Both Gold Saints widened their yes at this and Dohko smiled in excitement. "That was… electricity?" he chuckled in happiness and roused Lance with a raised fist. "T-that's it, Lance! Don't give up now that luck is on your side! I wasn't really counting on this, but if you focus your energy all this effort might just unlock yourself a second element! Focus!"

The Cancer obeyed, doing his best to maintain his aura in search of a second sparkle of that strange new energy. Where did that came from? His eyes narrowed and his hope renewed itself. He hummed to himself to help him rouse his strength. His cosmos responded by crackling electricity around a few more times.

The teacher couldn't be happier. "Ha, ha, ha! This is fantastic! K-keep at it!" He pushed. Helping Lance to unlock a second element, especially the rare lighting, would be the ultimate cherry on top of his teaching cake and he was already getting excited with the new possibilities this offered. "And it's electricity, at that…I have no clue where you got that idea that your second element should be 'darkness'. Come on! Don't lose now!"

Unfortunately, Lance took the charging too far. With a rousing cry to the skies, he lifted his chest high and roused his little remaining strength as much as he could, desperately trying to bring the new power out before passing out. His mind started fading out, his thoughts losing clarity. His instinct took over more and more and his desire to fall asleep increased exponentially, and it was as he lost his last few ounces of strength and his brain couldn't take anymore that his cosmos exploded past its peak and the power inside was let out, but not in the way either of them expected.

As Lance closed his eyes in effort, his golden aura shifted color and the very sensation of his energy transformed entirely, for it was not into golden electrical power that the flames of destruction changed into. The orange-ish gold did not get brighter and the sparkles did not continue.

Instead, it turned pitch black.

Dohko saw Lance lose his senses, but his body hung up as the aura gained the new form. The teacher stepped back in fright and witnessed the flames gain a denser texture and a much, much colder temperature. His 7th sense screamed, recognizing the terrifying energy of what was one of the simultaneously most versatile and dense forms cosmos could take, one he was so used to associate with Specters. The waving of the power slowed down, grinding upwards rather than roaring like the fire, and the energy seemed to ooze from the surface of his aura like the flickers of a strange, new flame.

The aura of darkness collapsed into vanishing penumbras and the Saint's body fell forward on his face. Dohko stood there, taken aback, his body hurting all over but his attention focused entirely on the unconscious pupil before him. Only when the thunder bellowed before a large bolt of lightning flashed was his trance broken and his awareness fully restored from the sudden, frightful experience.

Dohko knelt next to Lance, his eyes opened wide. He touched his body, searching for any lingering cosmos. He found nothing, for all of Lance's reserves had been completely spent.

"Well…I guess that shoots Shion's theory out the window…" he commented, referring to the letter Lance brought with him six months before. He sighed and wondered what the future awaited them. "Of all the elements you could have developed as your second…it just had to be darkness, huh? I'm afraid Shion is gonna have a lot more trouble with you than he thought."

Dohko lifted the unconscious student off the ground and carried him back to the house. He had a long night awaiting him, and a long letter to write, too.

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Morning came calmly after a night filled with a seemingly never-ending storm. The sun was clearing through the fleeing clouds that illuminated the entire waterfall grove and tropical lush around the house. Dohko sat at his study, a room in the small upper floor of his house where countless books and documents detailing myths, martial art studies and Greco-Chinese subjects that were stored in the shelf next to his desk. A square glass window to his side allowed him to see Dragon Bridge by the waterfall, where Lance meditated in peace.

The master lacked a fireplace to warm the room but the division was in such a position that allowed daylight to enter the window to his desk all day long. Ma Chao the tiger even liked siting by the desk since the window allowed him to watch over most of his immediate territory while enjoying the warmth of Dohko's company, not that he would ever thank the human for it.

He wielded a fountain pen which tirelessly scribbled his letter to the Pope. It had been six months since the new Cancer Saint was sent by Shion to be trained under Dohko. It was high time Dohko answered, especially after what happened last night.

He had started by greeting the Pope, of course, and asking how things were in the Golden Zodiac. The first segments of the letter were, in fact, filled with questions regarding Sanctuary and the Gold Saints, both the new generation and the old. He paid special mind to inquiring about Saga and Aiolos, whom Shion had compared before to Aspros and Sisyphus.

One would expect that he would start by clarifying Shion about Lance, but truth was he still hesitated to write about that. He bit on the pen, thinking back to the latest six months. He began the section on Lance rather informally, jokingly agreeing with many of Shion's less than positive descriptions of the new Cancer Saint in his previous letter. He even added a few new stories from their time spent together, including when he tricked Lance to take care of his house for over a week with no reward in sight. Dohko then went on to write about the amount of fun he had stringing the youth along for his lessons and even more when the actual lessons started, something should surely surprise Shion who had grown to expect his boredom with each candidate the former Aries Saint had sent his way.

The topics gained more serious tones when Dohko began describing Lance's progress. At first the old teacher joyously spoke of the success he had in teaching the Dragon Style, as well as several other faculties one would expect a martial art student to have, making sure to mention the amount of times Lance fell off the tightropes and cliffs and gone face to face with the terrifying sight of a giant lake dragon's face. He described the overall improvements Lance obtained, from fighting skill to character, and to expect a Pegasus with a longer fuse than what the Pope was probably used to.

He then wrote of the sessions with Karkinos. "Lance has reacted well to the Cancer Cloth's approaches. He seems highly rejecting of Karkinos' arts, which is unfortunate for someone who should be working more with the Underworld techniques, but also demonstrates in turn a good degree of individuality and moral pride which has prevented him from misinterpreting the purpose of these powers. I don't think you have to worry about Lance snapping and going around Sanctuary killing people left and right." His thoughts on this continued, "He might make a better brawler than a necromancer, though. He can perform the Underworld Waves, but they're far from being the best card in his deck."

It was then that Dohko took a short pause as he contemplated on this paragraph. Lance had indeed demonstrated ineptitude with the Underworld Waves and, though there was not much a Libra could do about it, he wondered if his legitimacy as the Cancer Saint would be put in question because of it. He added a line warning Shion about this concern and moved on.

"Hopefully he'll be clothed when he delivers this to you so you won't notice, but I should mention that your new Cancer Saint has… gained a new 'expression of himself', namely in the form of a magical tattoo on his back. Before you get all up in my ears about putting him at risk of being eaten by Seiryu, know that this was entirely 'his' decision. And before you say it's my fault for mentioning it in the first place," Dohko then pause, struggling to find a good counter-argument for whatever scolding the Pope could have in store for him. He could just imagine the look on Shion's face, taken right from Pope Sage. "Look, I had everything under control! I put my faith in Seiryu and it turned out well. Your new Cancer Saint knows what is at stake and I trust him to uphold that risk. Besides, with my last point in this letter… I think you'll find this was worth it."

And it was then that Dohko reached said final point about Lance, which he dreaded the most. He recalled the latest night. In fact, he recalled the latest years and Shion's behavior with the old generation of Gold Saints and the Third Civil War. He had to mind the wording of his concerns very carefully. Though he was writing a letter to his best friend, he was also addressing someone with the safety of the whole world in his hands.

At first, he thought he could get away with not mentioning this, but it wouldn't be fair to Shion, who trusted in Dohko above all to be honest with him. With the Third Civil War in his repertoire, Shion could not afford to lose trust with his oldest friend forcing the old tiger to be honest.

Still, he wrote this part in code. He knew Shion would burn the letter once read, but it was best to be safe than sorry. "Shion, in your last letter, you mentioned as part of your incentives for me to train Lance in the first place was that he reminded you of an old ally of ours." Dohko looked out the window to where Lance was meditating by the waterfall for a bit before resuming his train of thoughts. "You went on to specify that ally as the one help we got who didn't seemed to have conveniently come out of nowhere." He mentioned, referring to Shun and his friends, who entered the Lost Canvas War without ever being honest about their strange but incredibly helpful arrival. "You said he reminded you of 'T'. After spending these last six months with Lance, however, I'm afraid… he might have more in common with 'M'."

Dohko stopped right there with that strange, coded wording meant to mean nothing to anyone except for those who personally experienced the core of the Lost Canvas War. As of then, only he and Shion remained from that pool of people, of course. To anyone reading the letter, that last phrase sounded like secretive garbage. To him and Shion, however, it would be a vital peace of info regarding Lance's possible role in the war.

He stared at the two mentioned letters like two weighing scales trying to be balanced. How ironic that this question would be left to the vigilance of the Saint of Libra. He would judge the weight of each letter based on his observations, yet be powerless to selfishly favor one of the other.

Dohko sighed and laid back in his chair. What a troublesome student. So many things to balance in him; his relationship with the Cancer Cloth, his nightmare deal with Seiryu and now Shion's suspicious regarding Lance's heritage. What a freaking mess!

Not that the Pope himself was not a handful; Shion had been a concern in Dohko's mind for some time. It seemed as if for the past two decades the Pope had been more paranoid, regretful and nostalgic than ever before. From the rapidly shifting bureaucracy in Sanctuary to the Third Civil War to the changes brought by both these two things and Akassius' generation of Gold Saints, so many things had passed in the latest stages of Shion's reign that Dohko could not help but wonder if something bad had happened.

What Dohko would not pay to know what was at the source of Shion's attitude. Holy War was approaching, of course, but that could not be just it. Did Shion feel like he was not measuring up to his predecessors? Was he still worried about any possible screw up from his part in the coming years? Didn't Shion know that, no matter how much he could make a mess of things, he'd always have Dohko and the Gold Saints to count on?

It wouldn't surprise him if someone had influenced Shion to act so strangely, perhaps someone at the court or one of those creepy ministers that always seemed to be able to climb their way through Sanctuary's politics. Still, what could anyone say to the Pope of Athena to so strangely affect his judgement? Unless Shion was somehow bewitched, which was ridiculous of itself, he couldn't imagine anyone having that sort of influence on who was to every effect the most powerful leader below Olympus.

It was these kinds of concerns that made him wish Shion would visit him more often, so they could talk face to face. Mental message chatting was not exactly ideal to uncurtail someone's concerns and secrets. Poker faces were the easiest thing in the world when you don't show up at the table, after all.

Dohko's trance was broken when all of a sudden he saw someone pass by his house from the window. Ma Chao the tiger, who got up and growled at the window, confirmed the threat. The tiger rushed off the office and down the stairs to prepare an ambush on the trespasser but Dohko stayed put, preferring to finish his letter to the Pope.

"Don't bother, Ma Chao, if it's an intruder, Lance can easily handle it." He laughed when he heard the tiger practically trample the front door downstairs on his way out, which meant the proud feline was paying him no mind. Nothing would stop Ma Chao from acting out his territorial instincts and rip off the head of whomever dared step on his turf.

Dohko relaxed and resumed the writing, but couldn't help but chuckle at himself, too. "My body is young, but my head's probably not. 'Could have sworn that was Shun, after all! HA, HA, HA, HA!"

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Chapter 17

First Arc

Episode 13

Legends of Sanctuary

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Sitting in meditation by the waterfall, the Cancer Saint intertwined fingers, folded legs, closed eyes and carefully breathing so as to enter new states of self-reflection and relaxation. Half his body was in a cast or bandages from the earlier night's fighting and it was a struggle for him now to find a position that wasn't painful. The meditating act relieved his soreness, however, and eased his thoughts. Lance did his best to stay that way. He had enough a headache without screwing up his mental exercises.

Part of the reason why he was meditating was because of the Dragon Style he was learning. Being a martial art focused on defense, it had a weakness in terms of training practicality. After all, he could not practice counters and blocks on dummies and rocks and Dohko would not always be available to test Lance's defenses. All he could by himself, as a result, was work on the mental aspect of the style, which required focus and calmness in battle so as to properly engage the opponent's attacks and openings.

Meditating was perfect for that. Asides from being a precious relaxation exercise, it was also an opportunity to improve his capacity to enter a focused state of mind since it involved relaxing the senses and create a serene introspection as a means to raise both inner and outer awareness. Through meditation, he also started to understand why things like anxiety and anger were detrimental to combat; spending a couple of minutes doing nothing but sitting under a tree was ideal to bring about to the surface those little insecurities the busy life would usually distract him from, and if he could not meditate while handling all that inner turmoil, how could he adopt a good dragon pose in combat, where stakes would be so high?

As the noise of the waterfall diminished, he tried to think back to the earlier night, particularly the very last moments of resistance he put up before inevitably passing out. What had happened? All he could remember was trying to boost his cosmos so as to unlock that strange new electrical energy when, all of a sudden, he burned out, everything turned black and his face hit the ground. He had a rough night, too, dreaming of the dragon god encircling him and putting out strange, black fires all around.

The black-haired youth had asked the Master that morning about it, but Dohko seemed distracted. In fact, the Libra Saint didn't seem very interested in lessons that day and had spent the entire morning locked in his study. Well, it was probably fine. Lance's body hurt all over and his head felt like splitting in half, but he wasn't seriously hurt. He focused on meditation, instead, to let the frustrations and soreness's wash away.

After several minutes of relaxation, he found himself opening his eyes. He stayed calm, but he could have sworn he sensed a presence, like a far off warmth that all of a sudden concealed itself upon being detected. Was it Ma Chao, the tiger? Lance's 7th sense had come a long way in maturity, now being able to detect others and raise his own cosmos at reasonable levels. This had not been his only improvement; Lance was pretty much a completely different fighter from six months earlier, when he first arrived to China.

Oh and how differently he fought. Dohko's tutelage had allowed him to not only confront several of the insecurities that had once held him back, but now the new Cancer Saint had some basic insight into the underworld arts, a dangerous martial art to make use of, increased strength, vastly improved technique and even a new trick or two to make use of in combat. He had been meaning to ask the Master if they'd get to work on weapons anytime soon. The new Cancer Saint had seen all sorts of weapons carefully stored here and there in the Libra Saint's house and felt curious towards some of the blades and how a skilled warrior employed them. The Master, however, had tossed that possibility aside, stating that Lance was not ready for that kind of practice.

It was fine, though, since he was in no hurry to get a finger cut off.

The noise of a twig snapping under a metallically booted foot alerted him. He stayed still and scoped the intruder behind him with his 7th sense, detecting an energy source struggling to camouflage itself.

"Go away, there's nothing for you to steal from us." The person, though letting out a cosmos flare signaling surprise, did not move. "Didn't you hear me? I said-"

His eyes widened when he sensed sudden aggression and an attack. He quickly turned, shifting his weight from his butt to his feet and catching the accelerated punch with his palm. He struck the wrist, diverting the attack to his said, before striking the cloaked stranger's chest and throwing him over his shoulder.

The red eyed warrior composed himself as the robber landed on his feet. "That was a mistake." threatened Lance. "You won't get a chance like that again! Are you ready?"

The short man recovered well, effortlessly landing on his feet and repositioning for a renewed assault which came right away, and put the pressure on Lance with a series of thrusting kicks and punches aimed at his mid-area. By this point Lance had assumed his pose, however, and rather effortlessly handled the assault, blocking step-by-step each blow and carefully stepping back so as to maintain distance. He watched out for the opponent's mistake.

He blocked a straighter blow with a cross wrist and swiped his hand menacingly to force the opponent back. He eyed the hooded semblance with a warning in his gaze. "A rather physical approach with little resort to cosmos… Is he serious about this? What is this guy trying to do?" The skirmishing resumed with the stranger rapidly getting close with a dodged jump kick and a follow-up side one that set up a new close-up combo. Lance patiently humored the assailant by keeping up his blocks and step backs. "He's employing a style too hands-on for his size, if he keeps this up," Lance leaned back after a failed back hand blow, struck the prick's foot with a trip and backed him off with a sharp elbow straight to the concealed face. "…he'll get over his head."

The foe stepped back and grabbed his nose, not particularly bothered by the pain but more like reassessing the danger in front of him. There was a slight tremble from his body when Lance dragged his foot forward and completely assumed the Dragon Style pose, ready to receive any attack.

"What's wrong?" taunted Lance. "Wondering where the fun in attacking people just went? It's not so easy to get the drop on me with your shitty attacks now your chance to sneak up is gone, huh?!"

Though he mocked the opponent's attempts, truth was, he was actually alarmed by this assault. The guy, whoever he was, was executing pretty good medium-weight combos. The footwork was nice because it had a pace suited to his offenses and he insisted in all the right angles and blows for his own speed and strength. Lance just happened to be too good at reading his movements and countering his attacks. Sooner or later, a mistake would be made and the fight would be over.

Said mistake turned up as soon as Lance's defensive movements forced the disguised person to pick up the pace and take a more daring step forward in preparation for a punch. He carefully slapped it away with a dragon claw swipe, stunned the foe with a sudden elbow blow to the chest and, determined to unveil the mystery, flashed a sudden burst of cosmos which flared the inside of the foe's hood.

The green hair and eyes revealed by the light startled the Cancer. "What?! Shinta?!"

The Andromeda Saint tried to take advantage of the surprise with a punch, but Lance caught it by the front and wrist, pulled it to his side and countered with a devastating knee blow to the stomach that forced a rather familiar, high-pitched yelp out of the foe.

The hood fell back, revealing tied green hair when as the Andromeda Saint rubbed his stomach. "Ow…H-hi, Lance…L-Long time, no see."

"What the hell are you doing?! You idiot! I could have killed you!"

"I'm s-sorry…" Shinta apologized as he pulled himself together. "I didn't mean to harm you…"

"Harm me?!" Lance stepped back but, all of a sudden, couldn't help but let out a chuckle with the strange reunion. Maybe it was simply because he was seeing his friend again after six months of absence or maybe it was because Shinta was the first human Greek voice he had heard other than Dohko's ever since he got to China, but his anger subsided almost entirely and the Cancer Saint helped the Andromeda back up. "Damn it, Shinta… worry about your own damn self for once."

Though they had just exchanged fists, Shinta rubbed it all off and stood up straight, his strengthened pose surprising Lance. "It's great to see you, I missed you."

The Cancer Saint dodged the sappy talk and instead ranted. "Geez, never would I thought that, of all the people with the balls to attack me like that, you'd be the first to not only try but actually get a few good blows in. You really took me by surprise." Lance admitted. "What did you think you'd get out of it, a can filled with ass whooping? This wasn't like you at all, Shinta. Still… I can't say it was a bad surprise…"

There was a chuckle from the Andromeda Saint, who couldn't agree more. "Well, it wasn't my idea. Aldebaran thought it'd be a nice way to show off my training."

"My guess is Aldebaran just wanted to get a laugh at you. Wait a minute; training?" The mention of the Japanese Saint's time at the Second House caused Lance to look him over once again. He noticed the new trainer clothes set and the slightly increased height and muscles. He smirked and grabbed his arm. "Wow, look at you! You got biceps! What have you been doing these past six months?"

Shinta smiled widely, his face going red, flattered as he was. "Saint Daniel took me in after you left for China. I've been training with Aldebaran ever since. Do I…really look that different?"

"You still look like a girl, if that's what you're worried about."

"Sorry I attacked you… I haven't seen you in so long and I kind of wanted to impress you so I went along with Aldebaran's plan."

Lance patted the youth's back. "Don't worry about it. Wow, I still can't believe the changes you've gone through. You could have fooled me completely with that fighting. I don't think I've ever seen you throw a combo, much less engage me hand-to-hand like you were doing. Boy…" he scratched his head. "Six months sure flew fast…"

Though he couldn't be happier with Lance's compliments, Shinta still frowned. "I still couldn't beat you, though."

"Not sure if you were ever the kind of guy bent on competing with me, Shinta. Don't tell me Daniel beat the pacifist out of you and now all you want to do is fight."

Shocked to his core, Shinta shook his head furiously. "Oh, no, absolutely not; Saint Daniel is a kind Master, not a cruel one that'd want me to hurt people… for fun at least. He taught me many things but he always respected the way I was. I'm every bit as pacifist I was." Shinta looked over and saw Ma Chao approaching them menacingly, growling at the newcomer. "Oh, look, Lance, a white tiger! Wow, he's so big!"

Lance protectively stood between the two. "Hey, back off, Ma Chao! He's a visitor, don't be rude. Don't worry, Shinta, I won't let him hurt you." The Tiger swiped the air menacingly with a roar. "I said BACK OFF!"

Shinta rolled his eyes, walked past Lance and, to the Cancer's shock, confidently put his hand on the massive wild creature. "Its fine, Lance, look." The tiger roared at first with the touch, but Shinta was unwavering. The Andromeda Saint smiled warmly and gently petted the grumpy creature, which slowly relaxed its growl and eventually lay on its belly at Shinta's feet.

The Cancer Saint saw the tiger that had been nothing but mean to him for the past six months be reduced to a purring kitty licking Shinta's hand "…What?!"

Shinta laughed when the tiger laid its huge head on his lap as he started scratching his ears. "Aw, look, he likes me!" Ma Chao grabbed Shinta with its huge paws and started licking his face. "Ew, ah, ah, cut it out, your breath smells like fish. No, stop it!"

"…That is some bullshit."

Shinta calmed the laughter down when he heard this. "What's wrong, Lance?"

There was a sigh and a folding of arms. "…Nothing, just…lamenting all the times I tried to get on its good side only to receive a fist full of swipes and angry cat hisses." He tried to change subject. "Well, Shinta, not that I don't like seeing you again, but, why did you come here?"

Before Shinta had a chance to answer, the two of them noticed a third party had arrived. The green-haired teen let go of the tiger, who flew off to the young, brown haired, jaw-dropped Master Dohko whose flabbergasted stare threw off the Cancer and unnerved Shinta.

Realizing he was probably in the presence of Lance's teacher, Shinta remembered his manners and bowed slightly. "Oh, sorry; pleased to meet you. My name is Andromeda Shinta Akiyama.

"Sh-…Shun?"

Lance scoffed. "Are you deaf? He said Shinta!"

"That's right." Shinta agreed, though with much friendlier tone. "Are you Lance's Master? It's an honor to meet you."

A strange, tense silence followed in which Lance observed, with a raised eye brow, the somehow shocked Libra Saint eyed the newcomer. He then recalled with renewed alarm that Shinta wasn't supposed to know about Dohko's age. "Uh, no Shinta, actually, he's-"

Dohko shook his head to snap himself out it. "YES, it is I, the Saint of Libra! I…What is going on here?" His student eyed him discreetly as if to ask him what the hell he was doing? Dohko shifted his eyes nervously. "Andromeda Saint, huh? And from Japan, as well, judging by the name…So, what are you here for?"

"I'm sorry for entering your land unannounced, but the Pope asked me to-"

Lance intruded. "No, Shinta, wait, he's not the Master, he's… His name is Raibura!" he made up on spot. It was Dohko's turn to give him a strange look, but Lance insisted. "He's the local blacksmith. Raibura, Master already told you to stop pretending you're him!"

Dohko's mouth formed an 'o', not realizing what he had just accidentally blurted out. "Yes, that's right." agreed the Master, his eyes shifting like crazy. "I am Raibura; Raibura Dohko is what they call me. Ha, ha, ha…"

Shinta smiled, his confusion lifted. "Ah, so you are the Libra Saint. Geez, Lance, I thought you stopped playing those tricks on me! Just because I had a hard time telling some names apart when we met because I'm from Japan doesn't mean it's okay for you to still prank me around like that!"

Lance sank his face into his palms. "What the hell is the matter with you?!" he asked Dohko.

"ME?"

"YES! Stop telling the fucking world you've been cheating your fucking age! What if Shinta mentions it to the Pope by accident?! Oh, hello your Holiness! Just been to Rozan to say hi to my friend and I got to know the famous 'old' Master living there. Say, your old war partner is so young. I mean, you look like a wrinkled piece of paper but he's young as a spring chicken on the nest. It's like he hasn't aged a day! I wonder what's his secret…"

Dohko blinked repeatedly, making Lance wonder what the hell was wrong with him that day. "Well, it's out now. You might as well roll with it."

Lance sighed and guessed he could just ask Shinta to keep it a secret later. "Sorry, Shinta, this is my Master. I just thought he'd like to keep his identity a secret, just like every other Gold Saint in history."

But the master had a very good reason for having blurted it out. He was so stunned by the sight of Shinta's face, most particularly its similarities to Shun's face, that he could not help but not be in his right mind when introducing himself. He rested his hands on his waist and played out the bravado. "Well, there's hardly a point in keeping it a secret when there is only one man with muscles as righteous as these!" he boasted. "It's good to meet you, Saint…Shinta… I can't say Lance has told me much about you."

"Well, like I was saying, Lord Dohko" Shinta resumed "His Holiness called Saint Lance back to Sanctuary. He's expecting him today."

"Today, right now, all of a sudden?" Lance scratched his head. This was unexpected. What did Shion want with him? It was probably some Gold Saint obligation he had to attend to, but Lance wouldn't be caught dead in another boring banquet at some douche's palace so soon, especially when he was making so much progress in Rozan. "I can't leave right now. I'm in the middle of train-"

"Perfect timing!" interrupted the Master. "I had just finished a message I wanted to deliver to Arles III; a response to the letter Lance brought from him to me when we first met." He pulled out the document and gave it to the student. "Don't peek; state secret!"

Lance doubted it. "What's on it? A new list of sake you want him to send your way?"

"Of course!" Dohko lied. "Some enemy might poison the boxes on their way here. Only Shion must know what I want him to send. It's for safety reasons!"

"…Master, we were just in the middle of perfecting my cosmos burning. What about all that electricity matter from yesterday? I really wanted to get back into that. Is it really okay to just interrupt practice like that?" Lance complained. The Andromeda's Saint ears perked with this. Was Lance actually sad for leaving the Master?

Dohko shook his hand. "It's fine. Just keep working on your dragon moves on your own for now. Remember, we got plenty of time to work on the rest."

The Cancer Saint seemed reluctant with this, something that caught Andromeda's attention even more. "Alright, then, I'll go pick up my Pandora Boxes and we'll go."

Dohko watched Lance trail off and waited until he was out of sight before talking to Shinta. "Well, I guess I'll be getting a few days off right now. I could use this vacation. Your friend is a handful." He analyzed Shinta's reaction, who didn't seem especially surprised with Dohko's complaint. "So, fan of me?"

To Dohko's disappointment, Shinta shook his head. "Sorry, Lord Dohko, I've only ever heard of this training ground. I don't know much about you. Saint Daniel has spoken wonders, though."

"Ah, Daniel…" he sighed. Dohko still remembered meeting the current Taurus Saint during the outbreak of the Third Civil War, back when the old tiger's allegiance was turned into a tug-of-war between the loyalists and the traitors. "Strong man; he has gone through a lot. Not particularly insightful, but he has his own sort of wisdom. He's not as strong as me, though, HA, HA, HA!"

Even Shinta doubted this, since he knew full well of the Taurus Saint's raw power. He wasn't about to get on Dohko's bad side, though. "There are lots of different kinds of strength. I'm sure the two of you surpass each other on several accounts."

"A true pacifist answer, people who don't like fighting often mean so both physically and verbally."

Shinta gasped. "You knew?! Oh, did Lance tell you?"

"Yes, but it was more of a feeling, and as soon as I saw you, that confirmed it," he remarked with a wink, slyly referring to the similarities with Shun he noticed.

Although he wondered what the Master meant, Shinta decided to change the subject. He looked around the grove and noticed for the first time the full spectrum of amazement of the waterfall grove. "This place looks wonderful, Lord Dohko. It sounds so peaceful, too. Have you really been watching over it for two hundred years? How do you stay so young?"

The master eyed him strangely; did the Andromeda Saint really fail to add the simple math at hand or was he just okay with the supposedly centuries-old guardian looking like a frat boy? He pressed a finger on his lips. "It's a secret. Don't tell anyone."

"Oh, I see." Shinta saw Ma Chao the tiger walk up to Dohko and rub its torso on his legs and smiled in nostalgia. "Back in Andromeda Island, Master Guardnia used to keep a pet lion. Well, Mufasa was only brought to the island now and then, he spent most of his time in Ethiopia, in the farms by Lalibela."

For some reason, the master's gaze suddenly sharpened. "You mean, 'New Lalibela', the city-state?" Shinta nodded in answer. "That's right, I forgot Sanctuary shared Andromeda Island with it. How's the city on the White Crown Mountain doing?"

The mention of the natural wonder the secretive city-state in Ethiopia was built on brought memories back to Shinta. Located at a spot where the Great Rift Valley penetrated deeply into the complex Ethiopian mountain ranges, the White Crown Mountain was dangerous to access asides from being concealed, but was probably one of the most breath-taking sights he had ever seen, called so due to the supposedly white peak being not snow, but the marble of the tall city walls hid amongst the rock.

"Well, I don't know much besides what Master Guardnia has ever told me. Despite being the Andromeda Saint, I never really visited it more than once, but the people looked happy and cheerful. Everyone was really nice there."

"Didn't Guardnia's predecessor become the new king some years back?"

Shinta nodded rapidly, as if demonstrating a point of pride. "Yes, he did, Lord Dohko. Master Guardnia never told me much about him, though, even though he inherited the Cepheus Cloth from the new Majesty."

"I see… So Guardnia doesn't talk of him, either…"

Shinta saw Dohko wonder his eyes back and forth in contemplation. "Is… something wrong, Lord Dohko?"

Before Dohko had a chance to answer, Lance arrived with two packed Cloth boxes and a small bag of personal affairs. "Well, are we going or what? Were you guys talking about something?"

"Nothing special, just getting to know each other." assured Dohko. He took Lance aside for a few last words. "Be careful out there. You are no longer the Pegasus Saint you used to be. As the Gold Saint of Cancer, you have new responsibilities and dangers to face. I doubt Shion called you to look at his wine collection, after all."

"Of course, Master, I know that." Lance affirmed. "If there's something I learned with Karkinos is that the fourth House has a more than unpleasant side to it that I must deal with."

"You are still a novice to the Dragon Style, but can already be said to be a dangerous person. Do not abuse your power."

"How could I, Master? Dragon is more of a self-defense style than anything."

Finally, Dohko patted his back, bringing a small smile to Lance's face. "I'll be waiting for you to get back. You still got a lot to learn. Break a leg out there, kid, and try to avoid beating people up the minute you get back to Sanctuary Town." Dohko then gave him thumbs up, took Ma Chao away and waved back at the two of them as he walked inside the house. "See you later!"

Shinta waved a respectful goodbye back. He turned to Lance. "Well, shall we go, Lance? We still got all the way back to Greece to make." He looked away in shame. "Sorry I arrived so short on notice. I meant to get here earlier, but… I…sort of go-"

"You got lost?"

Shinta gulped in embarrassment. "…Yeah."

Lance laughed. "Shinta, we're in China! Of course you got lost! It took me the whole day moving up the Yellow River just to get to Arlia, where the Master just happened to be passing by. No need to feel ashamed."

"So… you weren't lost for… three days like me…"

Lance blinked. "Three?! What did you do, take the wrong turn to the Great Wall? All you had to do was move up the river!" Shinta looked away, his face going full red. "Argh, its fine, Shinta, it's no big deal! I'll take us back."

"But the Pope wants us there today!"

"So?"

"Well,… we're still in China. Traveling at the speed of sound, even knowing the way back, I don't think we can make it back to Rodario before nightfall, much less Sanctuary Town."

Lance sighed. "Shinta, trust me, there's nothing to worry about. What if I told you I can get us there within the hour?"

Shinta widened his eyes. "Well, that would be amazing! But how?" The Cancer Saint made sure all his belongings and Cloth Boxes were properly tied to him, he then placed a hand on Shinta's shoulder and relaxed. Shinta stood there patiently for about thirty seconds of complete silence. "Uh, Lance?" His friend gave no answer. "What are you doing-"

"Be quiet, I'm calculating!"

"Calculating? Calculating wha-!" Shinta then had to let out a scream when all of a sudden everything around them seemed to warp away in a blur.

{======================|0|======================}

The world stopped spinning and blurring around them and Shinta fell on the snow with a frightened yelp, Lance landing by his side. He immediately felt the drop in temperature and the strong Siberian winds battering them. He coughed. "W-what? Where are we?"

"Shit!" Lance cursed as he put his hand back on Shinta. "I made some sort of mistake! We were supposed to be by the Aral Sea but I guess I overshot the latitude. Hold on! I'll take shorter steps and recalculate the earth's curvature."

"W-what? What are you talking about?" Before Shinta could even react, his whole body was pulled into yet another warp.

{======================|0|======================}

Three 'Leaps' later…

Sanctuary Town

{======================|0|======================}

The images of Bulgarian mountain ranges were viciously dragged away as Lance pulled Shinta into yet another light speed movement, though this one was significantly slower and traveled across several familiar Greek landscapes, through Rodario and across mountain paths until finally landing with a small shockwave in an alley amongst the streets of Sanctuary Town, no more than five minutes having passed since they first left Rozan.

Shinta dropped to the floor and tried to hold on to his stomach contents. "I-I don't feel too well, Lance." His older friend helped Shinta up and rubbed his back so he wouldn't make a mess. Lance had predicted this which was why he landed on an alley rather than the open street, but still felt sorry for the Andromeda Saint.

"Sorry, it takes some getting used to light speed travel. You'll be alright." Lance looked around, recognizing the Mediterranean architectures and warm sun of Sanctuary town. He took a deep breath, also strained by the trick. "If it makes you feel any better, it kind of exhausts me, too, to do this sort of thing."

"I-I'll be fine." Shinta said, quickly getting back on his feet. "Compared to training at the Taurus House, this is easy to work over. I just got taken by surprise. I had no idea you could use light speed so casually."

"You can't, it's not like it's a good idea to waste power you could then need for battle in things like this. Besides, I always got to take geography in mind so I won't crash into Everest or shoot myself off the earth's curvature. Anyway," Lance saw the people on the street and put on his cape and hood. "I should head back, are you coming to the Golden Zodiac, too?"

Shinta shook his head. "Not really, I just had orders to call you back, but I'm supposed to head back to training as soon as I was done." The Andromeda Saint saw Lance raise an eye brow. "Oh, Lord Daniel's not at the Golden Zodiac right now. He's been heading back and forth from Brazil for a while and Aldebaran has been sparring by the mountains."

Lance still found it strange. "That's kind of weird. He's part of the vanguard, so why isn't Daniel sticking by the Taurus Temple."

Shinta gasped. "Oh, that's right, you didn't know! He… Lord Daniel, Kirin and Malta…they're going to leave the Zodiac soon."

Lance widened his eyes. "They are?! Why? Don't tell me they're retiring, too?"

The Andromeda Saint nodded. "Well, yes, with Aldebaran nearly trained and Camus already assuming responsibilities at the Aquarius House, it's pretty much a matter of Shura finishing his path as well for them to finally make it official. I was pretty shocked, too; three Gold Saints retiring at the same time and after so many years on the job. If I really think about it, they've been in power years before you and I even got to Sanctuary."

Also taken aback by the news, Lance stepped back and contemplated the repercussions. Had Shion's summoning something to do with this? It wasn't unlikely. Even if he had just received the fourth gold cloth six months before, Lance was the oldest active Gold Saint asides from the three that were now retiring, meaning his role in the Golden zodiac was likely to receive new responsibilities soon.

Still, Shinta had a point, three Gold Saints retiring at the same time, and the last of their generation at that, was pretty groundbreaking. Though he doubted the news went public, he wondered how many people knew about it already and what was really going on between them for such a radical transition to take place. "I don't really know any of the three. I've only ever met their disguised selves and been with them for a few days at the Zodiac, but… their replacements are still just kids. Is it really okay to leave at a time like this?"

He recalled all he's ever heard about the Civil War Generation and how the Holy War Dohko spoke of was twenty years away. He supposed he could not expect Akassius' people to stick around in the Houses for another two decades, but they were still far more prepared and experienced than any of the new members, Lance himself included. Even if they were leaving behind some extremely talented students, Lance suddenly found himself shivering at the possibility of soon having to head a defensive operation in the twelve temples with nothing but preteens covering his back. "Damn you, Shion, even if you're the Pope, this is really pushing it for a choice of new Gold Saints you're making. I don't mind being on the battlefield and I suppose Saga and Aiolos are proud fighters of their own accord but Mu, Aiolia and the others? No, I can't believe he's accepting that retirement and leaving kids to protect the Zodiac!"

"Hey, Lance, is everything okay? You looked worried for a moment." asked Shinta, but Lance just shrugged it off with a hand swipe. Shinta then gasped all of a sudden. "Oh, that's right! I haven't even told you the coolest part!"

The Cancer Saint blinked, unused to see Shinta so excited. "What is it?"

"The ceremony for the Gold Saints' retirement is going to be a big event, but guess who's gonna be here to award them special laurels from the Pope! Master Guardnia!"

"Guardnia?!" Lance widened his eyes, recalling the blonde Cepheus Saint who played the part of Shinta's Master, most likely the only person Shinta looked up to more than Lance. "The Cepheus Saint is gonna do it? Why is your Master involved in all of this?"

The green-haired Saint didn't seem sure. "Well, I don't really know… I think it has to do with them wanting someone representing the Silver Saints and Saint Aguilon refused."

"Why did Aguilon say no?"

Shinta's eyes rolled right, trying to recall Lord Daniel's explanation. "Saint Daniel said Saint Aguilon didn't want to take a big part in a goodbye to them. I think the two of them go back a long time… Maybe Saint Heracles is sad Lord Daniel is leaving." Not being too sure about it, Shinta decided to shift the answer. "Well, I don't really know, but I'm really excited about it! I'll be able to be with my Master as soon as I finish my Silver-rank training. I can't wait!"

"I'm sure Guardnia is gonna be super proud of you. You'll be the same rank he is and in a way I guess he'll be here for your 'graduation'."

Shinta smiled like a Cheshire cat in happiness. Not only he'd get to finally go look for his mother, but also make Master Guardnia prouder of him that he could ever be. It was like the happiest day of his life was just around the corner.

The two of them prepared to head off to the street. "Anyway, Lance, are you going to stay here for long? It's been so many months since you've left Greece."

"It really depends on what the Pope called me for, but I wouldn't count on it, Shinta. I'm planning to head back to China as soon as I can."

Shinta hummed as they made their way through the streets. He wished Lance wouldn't be so keen on leaving right away since it had been a long time since they got a chance to even see each other, but he guessed Lance knew better. Still, for him to be so itchy to go back to Rozan meant that things with Lord Dohko must have gone really well. "Okay, I see."

"Shinta, what do you think about the Gold Saints retiring?"

Shinta found himself startled in surprise. Was Lance asking him a political question that had nothing to do with pacifism? "I'm not sure. I mean, I like Lord Daniel and it's kind of a shame he'll be gone as soon as he's finished with me and Aldebaran, but something must have set their mind straight because the Pope's already confirmed everything. There's even going to be a big ceremony and everything."

They entered a crossroad where they could part their ways and stopped. "If you ask me, this simultaneousness sounds kind of weird, but if you say they're gonna have a party on it, then maybe there's nothing to it…. Hey, that reminds me; why are you training with Daniel in the first place? You're a Virgo, right? You should be studying at the 6th House."

Shinta's face went red with shame at the memory of Shaka's refusal.

Lance squinted. "Shinta, what happened?" he demanded to know.

At much insistence from the former Pegasus Saint, Shinta eventually spilled the beans and confessed how he tried to apply for Shaka's apprentice, but got flat out refused on a strange spiritual technically he didn't understand himself, all while trying to reassure Lance it wasn't Shaka's fault. He went on to tell how he ran into the Taurus Saint, who took him in as a trainee for the Silver Rank, and how he then trained with Aldebaran in all kinds of physical arts of fighting instead of sitting under a tree all day.

Lance nodded along. "I see, so that's what happened."

"I'm sorry, Lance, I tried-"

"Shinta, you don't owe me any explanation. What Shaka did to you was unfair, period. I'll go talk to him-"

Shinta grabbed him by the arm. "What? No! Lance, it's fine! Everything turned out for the better."

"Shinta, you can't let people trample over your chances like that without a decent explanation or a fight! Come on, are you-"

"It's been six months, Lance! It's been half a year since I've had to talk to him. I'm fine!" Shinta put his foot down and shook his head, determined to not look weak. "I don't need your help on this, I'll get the Silver Rank anyway…One way or another, I think I'll manage…"

There was a folding of arms and scoff from Pegasus' part, who didn't seem completely convinced but, at least, abided. "Well, I suppose if it's a request from my little brother, I guess I can let you fight your own battle this time."

The irony in the older Saint's voice was clear, but Shinta still gave out a satisfied smile. "Thank you, ni-san."

"I don't remember giving you permission to call me that." He then sighed and relented. "Anyway, I suppose I can afford to let you take care of yourself without worrying too much. Good luck on your training. Don't worry; I won't go back to China without saying goodbye even if the Pope lets me off early." He took out the Yours Ever pendant Shinta had given him as a promotion present. "Don't make me ashamed to be wearing this, alright?"

Shinta shook his head with a firmness Lance had seldom ever seen in him. They shook hands, waved a good bye and each took they own way.

{======================|0|======================}

"Milo, would you knock it off, already?!" begged Aiolia.

"Aw, come on, don't be a baby! This will be quick, I swear!" assured the Scorpio as he examined the milk kegs in the truck by the elementary school day care.

Aiolia sweated bullets and looked around the street for any adults acting suspicious to them. How did Milo drag him into that mess? Oh no, Aiolos was gonna kill him.

"This is the stupidest idea I ever heard! I wanna go back!"

"No, shut up, this is brilliant!" Milo insisted as he tried to find a way to open the lock on the truck.

"I don't think the Pope's gonna think so when he finds out you tainted half the town's milk supply with red dye just to get back on a bully."

Milo shoved his Scarlet Needle on the lock and started trying to pick it. "Look, you wanted to get back on him for taking that lion plushy Aiolos gave you without cosmos and without telling your bro you lost it, right? And I'm trying to put the two hours I spent listening to Camus' boring explanation on lock mechanisms to use. I'll wash your back, you'll wash mine. It's the perfect plan!"

Young Aiolia disagreed. "This won't get 'Leo' back! Besides they've probably ripped it already." He assumed, tears in his eyes at the thought of his decapitated best friend.

Milo quivered. He couldn't stand to see Aiolia cry. "Trust me, Aiolia, the look on the guy's face when he sees 'blood' pouring out the cartoon is gonna be whatever teddy bears he could have taken from you-

"It's a lion!"

"… but the real kicker's gonna be when we get a front row seat to the carton exploding red all over his face in front of everyone."

"How are you even gonna know which carton he's gonna use?"

"I…" Milo paused, trying to think this step over. "I don't know! I'll think of something when we get inside." There was a click sound and the lock dropped on the ground, letting the truck doors loose and revealing the special milk cargo. Milo rubbed his hands together. "Aha! Come on, let's go. I need your help watching and getting the red dye inside."

Aiolia hesitantly agreed, all caught up in Milo's unstoppable plan and wanting to get the two of them out of there as soon as possible. Unfortunately, as soon as Milo put the first red bottle in, a sharp yell was heard. "What the hell are you two doing?!"

The two screamed and turned around to see an infuriated Cancer Lance back from China and catching them in the act. "L-Lance?! Hey, you're back. I…" Aiolia practically fell to his butt and pleaded mercy. "W-wait, Lance, it's not what you're thinking!"

Lance's red eyes instantly spotted the equally colored paint bottles on the blue-haired child's hand. "Give me that!" he snatched them away and took Milo by the hand. "You two are in a lot of trouble!"

"But, Lance-"

"But, what Aiolia?! What the heck is Aiolos gonna think when he finds out I caught you breaking into a locked school food truck five minutes before lunchtime?!"

Milo interfered. "Wait, it's not Aiolia's fault, I-"

Lance then turned to Milo. "And you, kid, how the heck did you even drag Aiolia into this?! What did you think was gonna happen, huh? You'd get to watch the kids drink red milk and get sick, the two of you would get a big stupid laugh and then run off into the horizon? When I find out how you snuck into the temples-"

"OW!" Milo whimpered with Lance's tight grasp. "You're hurting me! Don't hold my hand so tight, you'll-"

"When the Gold Saints found out what you did, I'll be the last of-" there was a sudden, sharp sound coming from Milo's finger like a dart shooting off when his index finger was squeezed and the Cancer Saint only felt something bite his thigh before all sensation were lost and his body paralyzed. "…youuur…concernsnssnssfbh….!"

The two kids stepped back and saw Lance spiraling towards the ground and collapse with a loud thud.

They stared, eyes widened, at the unconscious man with drool coming out of the mouth.

Milo retracted his needle. "…Uh-oh…"

"OH NO! AIOLOS! AIOLOS, HELP!"

{======================|0|======================}

Two Hours Later

Aquarius Temple

{======================|0|======================}

At the main hall of the 11th Temple of the Golden Zodiac, trainee Camus attempted to concentrate his efforts on extracting the poison off the latest victim of Milo's moronic antics. His cryotherapeutic treatment proved extremely effective against some degrees of Scarlet Needle poisoning, since the substance, though of the same color as blood, was denser and tended to stuck by the wound rather than move up the circulatory system. This was mostly because it needed to work on marking the scorpion constellation spot on the victim and on eliminating platelets to make the bleeding as bad as possible.

This allowed Camus to freeze the poison without the blood or tissue and physically extract the resulting bigger crystals off the wound. This was not particularly invasive or painful, as Camus froze the nerves to reduce pain anyway, but for some reason the new Cancer Saint quivered and squirmed like a child every time Camus tried to apply the cold.

"Ugh, would you quit being such a baby?" nine year old Camus asked as he finished extracting the last big crystals. "I know I look young, but I've done this a thousand times! There's nothing to be scared of. The pain from the Scarlet Needle should be more than gone now with all the cold I've been using, too."

Too proud to admit his cryophobia, Lance instead kept quiet and let Camus patch up the tiny hole in his leg. "…Thanks, Camus. I owe you one."

The blue haired youth didn't think much of it. This was the first time Lance was encountering the newest candidate to the cloth of Aquarius and the Cancer Saint really wish it wasn't in such embarrassing circumstances. "It's fine, it's certainly better than letting you bleed to death at the hospital. I'd be a poor future comrade if I didn't do my part covering for Milo's messes."

Lance heard Milo whimper in the corner, not knowing what punishment awaited him. "Okay, Camus, we've scared him enough. No need to be so harsh."

"Harsh? I'm making sure his screw up doesn't result in someone's death!" Camus turned to the Scorpio "I know you've been bored and out of ideas, but red paint in the milk, really?"

"I-I was helping out Aiolia!"

"No, you were taking advantage of him just to get a quick laugh. There's a billion other ways you could have gotten his plush lion back and I don't see how giving an entire daycare stomach problem would have done it. No wonder Aiolos wants you out of the Leo Temple."

"It wasn't actual paint, just a food dye!"

"…Doesn't make it any less dumb."

"Alright, Camus, that's enough." Aiolos interfered. The bandana-wearing Saint was luckily nearby since he occasionally worked at Sanctuary Town's hospital and knew immediately what to do in case of a Scarlet Needle poisoning. "There's no need to be so tough on Milo. He'll get the chance to say he's sorry."

Camus sighed, as he hoped this whole incident would teach Milo a harsher lesson on taking his role in Sanctuary more seriously. "Alright, Aiolos, I suppose you know best. I'll leave it to Milo to clean the rest of the mess."

Aiolos smiled to himself, knowing it would be very easy for Camus to tell the Pope after Milo had almost killed his precious new Cancer Saint.

"Good job, Camus." congratulated the red-haired Aquarius Saint Malta, who had been standing by the whole operation. He refrained from smiling or patting Camus back so as to respect his House's aloof style of teaching, though. "Your delicate control over cold techniques is improving by the day. Also, thank you, Saint Lance, for giving my student a chance to practice on a live subject."

Lance rolled his eyes. "Yes, Malta, you're fucking welcome!"

"It's a good thing we got to you in time." said Aiolos "The hospitals don't exactly have an antidote for Milo's poison considering it a sacred toxin created by a magical armor. It was either the Aquarius Temple or stopping your heart until we thought of something else."

"I just wish I didn't have to be seen by half the Golden Zodiac like this."

"You'd be seen by the entire Zodiac if Daniel wasn't away. Don't feel embarrassed, though. It's no shame to take a fall because of a Scarlet Needle. Poor Milo isn't allowed to scratch most people with a heart condition." He glanced at the Aquarius trainee. "Honestly I wished Camus would work at the hospital rather than the library and Malta's lab. His methods are surely better than anesthesia and the rooms get crazy hot this time of the year. It's not good for the patients."

Camus washed his hands and stored his instruments. "Well, I thank you, Master Malta, for your approval, but I would like nothing more than for Saint Lance to receive a proper apology. Isn't that right, Milo?"

Every pair of eyes turned to the blue-haired child, who shied away from the combined stare and look at the ground, teary-eyed. Milo trembled and walked up next to Lance. "I'm sorry, I p-poisoned you, Lance. Please don't send me to the Underworld or tell the Pope. I'll do w-whatever you want. P-please."

"Hopefully, you'll think twice before pulling off something so stupid and, worse yet, drag your friends into it, right Milo?" pressed Camus, who wanted nothing more than for the Scorpio to finally grow some sense. He quieted down, though when Lance glared at him for being so mean.

At first Lance felt mad and like yelling. It was humiliating enough the experience of nearly dying on the street, being carried in a paralyzed, shocked pose across the temples and enduring the excruciating cold of Camus' procedure. As he stared at the teary and clearly regretful kid whom he had no idea to be the Scorpio Saint, Lance could not help but soften his eyes.

"…God damn it, Milo!" he mumbled, before he pulled the kid to his side and patted his head to comfort the eight-year old. "You could have told me you were the new Scorpio. Its okay, I forgive you. I can tell you're being honest. I know you didn't poison me deliberately and it's half my fault anyway because I was too mean. I shouldn't have squeezed your fingers so hard, but scarlet needle me again like that and I'll straight up punch you, okay?"

Milo smiled and wiped his tears. "Okay."

While Aiolos smiled at Milo and patted him as well to help improve his mood, the doors to the room opened to let Mrs. Shafurwatt, the head servant at the houses of Scorpio to Pisces as well as Milo's current guardian, to come storming in. The woman, in her forties, approached the scene with an alarmed look on her face.

"Lord Malta, I left as soon as you called. What happened-" her glassed eyes saw Lance's bandaged leg, Milo's red face and all the blood around Camus' desk. "OH ATHENA! MASTER MILO, what happened here?! What have you done to this poor man?"

At first the red eyed Saint staggered back and went full alert mode with the woman's sudden intrusion. He calmed down, though, when he recalled seeing her around the Twelve Temples during that short week after his promotion he spent in the fourth house. The brown-haired maid was one of the servants watching over and cleaning the gold Saint residences and seemed to have a particularly common presence at the Scorpio and Aquarius Houses. They had never actually talked, though.

He had also forgotten all about the servants themselves, which was why he jumped back at first seeing her enter the temple. Having spent so much time by himself or with Dohko, Lance was not used to even be around the help, much less to the fact that they walked around freely through the houses and even knew the identities of the Gold Saints. He supposed since they practically lived in the temples, swore oaths of fealty and had privileged access to things far more private than the Gold Saints' names, the fact that they knew about the kids was probably inevitable.

"Everything's taken care of, Mrs. Shafurwatt." assured Malta. "Please accompany Saint Lance to the Pope's Temple. He has business to take care of there."

She bowed. "Y-yes, Master Malta." She obeyed, her Italian accent more often than not spilling into her Greek. She saw the Cancer Saint standing up to meet her. "Please, Lord Cancer, pardon Milo, he's still young and certainly…" she widened eyes and gasped.

Lance raised a brow at her shock "What's wrong?"

"…uh, nothing, Lord Cancer. Follow me, please."

The two of them left the room to head for the Pope's Temple, but Aiolos and Malta could not help but also notice the strange way the veteran temple maid reacted to the Cancer Saint. It was like she had seen a ghost.

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Moving up the stairs to the Temple of Pisces so that they could then move on to the Pope's halls, Cancer Lance quietly followed the foreign servant, even though he knew the way perfectly well. This was because he was taking his time walking up the steps, not only because his thigh still hurt like a bitch, but also because he had not been there in a while.

He looked around, spotting Sanctuary Town filling up the southern parts of the valley Sanctuary stood on and the Fire Clock by the west which always overlooked the stairs, day and night, filling it with sound every passing hour. He doesn't know why the massive time machine was called that, but he had been told by Dohko it had something to do with doomsday scenarios, which sounded extremely inconvenient and overly dramatic for something that seemed perfectly solvable by alarm clocks.

The last time he had been there was back when Shinta and himself were being dragged as prisoners by the Papal Guards, only for hours later find out that the promotion to Cancer Saint awaited him. Now he was returning to the Pope's Halls, as a trained Cancer Saint, but six months later and escorted by a servant rather than captives. The sense of Deja Vu felt twisted and hollow. After spending so much time with Dohko, he still doesn't feel like the Golden Zodiac was in any way his home.

He turned to Mrs. Shafurwatt, who diligently seemed to follow up the endless stairs like they didn't number in the thousands or anything. It was frightening how some of the servants living in the temples seemed to adjust so well to the stairs while history books would tell him entire armies of ferocious warriors had quit invading Sanctuary precisely because of them.

"Can I ask you something?" he queried "What was that all about back in the temple? Did you recognize me or something?"

The woman seemed clearly flustered by this question despite her easiness around the order of warriors. "Oh, forgive me Lord Cancer. It's nothing, really, just a silly thought. Imagine that I thought I recognized you from someone…whom I met when I was a little girl. Don't take this the wrong way, but you are the spitting image of one of the three Saints who brought me to Sanctuary after the Second World War."

Lance scoffed, as it was indeed a silly thought. The servant clearly had at least three decades ahead of him in life. "Well, it couldn't have been me since I'm just about to be sixteen. I barely even remember my life before Sanctuary."

"Of course, Lord Cancer."

The two of them marched on and Lance left it at that. He instead turned his attention to the temples he would soon spend the rest of his career defending. The news Shinta had about the Gold Saints returned to his mind and Lance realized he had not even asked Malta about it. Maybe it was best not to. Malta did not seem very open with his emotions, much less talking about the finale of a career dedicated to protecting Sanctuary to a new Gold Saint whose promotion Malta wasn't even keen on supporting.

Still, it kind of settled in his mind that by the end of the year things would change in Sanctuary and Lance would be thrown into a dangerous political and military position much more rapidly than he could have ever imagined. It was not the sort of thing he felt comfortable discussing with the three older Gold Saints, or even the nine new ones that would soon take over. A sudden feeling of responsibility started to take over, one accentuated by the fact he felt obligated to be an example to the kids along with Saga and Aiolos. There wasn't much he could do about it.

"Tell me something," he asked "Do you know about the Gold Saints retiring?"

The maiden stopped and turned to him. "…Yes, Lord Cancer, I do. Everyone working in the Golden Zodiac does."

"How long has this been circulating Sanctuary?" he demanded to know. "Why wasn't I told of this? You'd figure an entire quarter of my division leaving for the reserve would be something to be broadcast to the others, no?"

Blinking in preoccupation, the woman wondered if the young Gold Saint was for some reason angry about finding out so late. "Well, Lord Cancer, you've been absent ever since your nomination and the announcement is rather recent. I don't think anyone has adjusted to the news yet. But then again," she recalled, "it has been known for some time that Lord Daniel, Lord Kirin and Lord Malta were training students. Young master Aldebaran has certainly reminded us all of that with every quake his training has caused at the second house and so many other young masters have been taking over the Houses, too. To us, it is not particularly shocking news that they are passing down the torch to a younger generation."

Lance nodded, but narrowed his eyes at the whole thing as they approached the entrance of the Aquarius Temple. He could tell Mrs. Schafurwatt had a particular affinity to the houses of Scorpio and Aquarius and so he decided to twist the question. "What do you think of Camus and Milo becoming Gold Saints?"

She did not even hesitate in the answer. "It is not my place to judge."

He saw the wedding ring on her finger. "Why not? You're an adult. You think its okay for the Pope to put kids in the frontline like some third world warlord? I saw the way you looked at Milo and I'm sure you have kids of your own. Do you think it is right that the older Gold Saints are leaving the war to them?"

Once again there was no hesitation. "The affairs of His Holiness are not for me to wonder about. Greater things are at stake than a servant's opinion."

"They sure are, but you won't look me in the eye while saying that, huh?" Lance noticed.

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A few moments later…

Pope's Halls

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The large doors to the Pope's throne room were opened by the two sentry Papal Guards, who uncrossed their holy halberds to let the Gold Saint pass. A third one respectfully walked in and announced "Your Holiness, Lord Cancer has arrived and requests an audience from you."

The black-masked Shion raised himself from his throne. "Very well, he shall have it."

The third Papal Guard bowed, banged his fist on his cuirass and escorted the Gold Saint in while the other two harshly crossed their halberds back into position, as if to warn the harmless looking Mrs. Schafurwatt to not try anything funny with the Pope. The large, wooden doors closed with a loud, blaming sound followed by echoes that accentuated the wideness of the room.

Lance walked up to the Pope, having already put on his golden armor. He got on his knee at a respectful distance. "Greetings, your Holiness. You have summoned me from Mount Rozan?"

Shion gestured at him to get on his feet. "Yes, I have. Long time no see, Cancer Lance. It's good to meet you again." He looked over the Gold Saint, almost not recognizing the bratty kid from just half a year before. "You look different; I can tell China has done wonders for you. How is everything at Dohko's place? I take it from the lack of bad news he has been able to teach you a thing or two."

The excitement wasn't mutual, but Lance nodded in accordance. "I have a letter for you from Master Dohko, your Holiness." He took out the document and handed it over. "I assume it should answer your questions."

Shion frantically snatched it from Lance's hands. "Ah, yes, I've been waiting for this. Let's see what Dohko has to say…" He opened it carefully and took out the thick, folded paper, which cascaded down on his hands to reveal several pages of report and retort just for the Pope. Lance stepped back, giving the Pope his space, and awaited in silence as his Holiness read the entirety of the message.

Just seeing Dohko's handwriting brought a smile to Shion's face underneath his mask. It was now so rare that he got to talk to the Libra Saint that even just looking at his old calligraphy was enough to raise the Pope's spirits. The first few paragraphs of small chat then turned that smile into a cheek-to-cheek grin as the only friend Shion had left from the War answered all of Shion's questions about how he was doing, from the rain in Rozan to Ma Chao's diet, from Seiryu's mood to the pretty girls he courted in Arlia. Shion chuckled as he imagined the shriveled plump Dohko had unfortunately become over the centuries trying to court the local girls as if he was still young; knowing that Dohko still acted as young as back in the day rejuvenated the Pope's own inner youth more than any alchemic antioxidant concoction ever could.

His eyes moved left to right along lines, absorbing every detail and joke, and his attention was fully captured when Dohko shifted the subject to Lance's tutelage. Just as he hoped, Dohko succeeded in not only impressing the rebellious Cancer Saint, but turn him around for the better. Dohko stressed he doubted Lance was fully loyal, but now had good reasons to stick around and give Sanctuary a chance and this was more than enough for Shion, who quite frankly feared the whole idea to become a complete disaster.

When the letter started talking about the Cancer Cloth and Lance's interactions with it, Shion lost his smile due to the gravity of the subject. He still remember very vividly the massacre of fourteen years earlier and wanted nothing more than for Dohko to help Lance not go down the same path. Thanks to the Goddess, however, Dohko assured him that, though Lance's connection with Cancer was still flimsy and inexperienced, he was showing no signs of buying into Karkinos' temptations. Hopefully this meant that Lance would be able to further explore the Path of the Cancer Cloth without affecting his character. Shion needed a good Cancer Saint by his side, especially if Manigoldo was also to reincarnate according to Hecate's second prophecy and if the twin heralds of Hades were returning to join the Underworld's side.

And then the subject shifted to Seiryu and Lance's nightmares, something Shion had no previous knowledge of. He felt shocked to find out through Dohko that Lance apparently had recurring nightmares about fire, but now that he thought about it there was one possible explanation for it.

"The mission he took to Death Queen Island two years ago… I wouldn't be surprised if it has something to do with it." Shion looked up at Lance as if to confirm, who returned him a rather dirty 'what are you looking at' look. In any way, Dohko seemed to guarantee him the subject was dealt with and that Lance apparently had a new 'tattoo' to prove it. Shion rubbed his eyes. "…So you can reverse waterfalls now, huh?"

"More or less, I'm still working on getting Water Cosmos out of the tattoo. It's kind of a weird process through and through."

Shion kept on reading the long letter, which seemed, to Lance, to go on forever. He even started wondering when did Master Dohko take the time to write such an extensive document and it seemed pretty obvious the old tiger was talking about Lance. Unbeknownst to him, the Pope was finishing the letter, reading right there and then the part Dohko wrote about 'T's and 'M's. Shion stared at Dohko's conclusion, almost stunned, and took his time reading it four more times. He raised his sight and stared off at Lance in somberness. His fingers tightened, crumbling the large letter into a shriveled ball. A sudden ball of cosmos ignited in his palm, startling Lance and incinerating the letter.

"Your Holiness, you… Is it really okay to burn that message?"

Shion's mask turned to him rather briskly. "You… don't know what was written on it, do you?"

"Uh, no, your Holiness, of course not; is there a problem?"

Shion let the pieces of ash fall to the red carpet. "It's fine… there was nothing worth retaining from it anyway…" The Pope joined his hands behind back. "So,… you've been through quite a bit these past few months. Dohko has taught you much."

"Yes, but I still haven't mastered the 7th sense completely. I've got months of training ahead of me. Your Holiness, why did you call for me? Shinta said you wanted to speak to me right away. Is there something you want me to for you."

The Pope nodded. "That's right; I got a task for you, a retrieval mission that should bring you a couple of fun days if you miss your old life as the Pegasus Saint, but..." The Pope scratched his chin. "Why ponder on that right now, specially when I've just made you walk all the way from China, across the twelve temples up to here. You must be exhausted. How long haven't you been in Sanctuary? It's not often you get spare time and, even though you're a Gold Saint, this is the first time you've even been to my Halls without shackles on."

The Cancer Saint shook his head. "You Holiness, that doesn't exactly keep me up at night. I mean, no disrespect, but I've had better things to do these past few months."

"Still, would you like to see more of my House?" he saw the look of disbelief in his Saint's face. "Don't worry, I didn't call you because you're in trouble; I'd just like to share with you another piece of Sanctuary you don't know a lot of before I send you out of here yet again."

Relieved by the Pope's assurance, Lance decided to just go along with it. "Alright, I guess so."

"Excellent. I promise you there's more here than statues of Athena and empty corridors." The Pope walked inside, leading the way for the Cancer. "As I'm sure you've probably seen there are going to be a few additions to your order within the next few months."

"Yes, your Holiness, I've noticed the kids. I've also learned of Saint Daniel, Malta and Kirin's decision to retire."

Shion took them to a door by the room's right wall that Lance had never noticed to be there, mostly because of the curtain shadows strategically located over it. "Then you know the delicate position you'll soon be in as the eldest active Gold Saint."

"It has crossed my mind, yes."

"It's with that in your mind, then, that I have an important mission for my new Saint of Cancer, remember? There is a person of interest that needs retrieval and I only trust you to do so."

The Cancer Saint opened the enclosed file to reveal a data sheet about a young boy. He looked at the picture and, if it wasn't for the M on the gender box, he'd swear it was a girl framed in it. Dated to be only about a year older than Mu, the child had light blue, curly hair that ran past his shoulders, a sharp look in his blue eyes for his age, a beauty mark underneath the left eye.

"His name is… Aphrodite? Is this file accurate?" he wondered, his eyes squinting at the strangeness surrounding the child.

"There's nothing wrong with it. In fact, if it all goes well, he should be the future Saint of Pisces." Shion then received a sharp glare from Lance, who didn't seem particularly happy for yet another Gold Saint role being occupied by a child. "His looks are deceiving, I guarantee you that. He's about to finish his training at the Island of Gardens, located in the western Mediterranean. You will travel to this island, await the completion of his preparations and bring him back to become the next Pisces, understood?"

Lance groaned something to himself. "Understood."

Shion relaxed his posture. "Remember, Saint Lance, to treat this mission with the utmost care. Unnecessary… complications may arise." Lance stared at him weirdly. Shion gave him a subtle indication to keep reading the documents and Lance spotted a post-it marker on one of the pages, which he switched to and read carefully. "We wouldn't want needless distractions from getting in the way of Aphrodite's destiny."

Lance widened his eyes. "What?! You…You really expect me to-"

Shion silenced him by grabbing his shoulder in an encouraging manner. "I'm sure you've acquired more than enough skill to not let anything get in your way in this task...or in any other secondary affair you may have to take care of there."

Appalled by what he read but not wanting to confront Shion about it, Lance closed the document and took it to himself, intending on burning the copy as soon as he was out of sight. "Very well, your Holiness. Your wishes are commands."

With this, Cancer Lance departed from the corridor, intending to make preparations for his trip to the Island of Gardens. Shion stayed behind, staring at the objects of history all around him. He moved on to a painting of Athena sitting in a chair with Sanctuary in the background and reflected on the advancements of his agenda.

Soon he would have all the Gold Saints of the previous generation filling his ranks. He had not been able to find Manigoldo, but maybe destiny did not intend it to be so since Lance is currently occupying his spot. By the time that last members of Akassius' generation left for good, Hecate's second prophecy, the one most clearly speaking in Sanctuary's favor, would be fulfilled.

All that remained was dealing with the third one, whatever the true meaning behind it was, and making sure the first never came about. "Dohko, in the end, if that last paragraph in your letter is anything to go by, you did not see the same in Lance as I did, but I will remain optimistic. I must make sure Sanctuary is safeguarded, that is why I've been chosen as the Pope." Shion then turned to Athena's depiction. "That is what I promised you, Sasha, what I promised myself and, by the gods, I will yet see whatever catastrophe the gods plot against my Sanctuary undone!"

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Chapter End

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Next Chapter: Ghouls n' Roses – Part 1 of 4

Description: Lance departs to the Island of Gardens see his most recent mission through, but has to make a stop on the way in Sicily. It is there that he hears rumors of a dreadful ghoul assaulting the people.

Author Note: This chapter deals with Lance's return to Sanctuary after learning the basics of being a Gold Saint, but also sets up a lot of important stuff pertaining to the First Arc's finale. I meant to give Shaka a little exposure time and characterize Camus and Milo a bit more and perhaps even mention Shura, but this is all I could sensibly fit in the chapter's schedule. It wasn't worth splitting it in two just for tiny bits of extra content.

If you're wondering why Mrs. Schafurwatt recognizes Lance, don't think too much of it, because she's a LYKM character and Jenny DeVic has a special chapter in her story that cameos Lance and Shinta. Basically, they escort the Pope, fight Nazis and save the girl at the end. I recommend you check it out because she has a really great portrayal of my characters (not to mention LYKM being a great fic in general).