96 — A SECRET IN THE SNOW

Days ago.

The Sanctuary was still tense, but good news was spread from Rodório's clinic, where Aldebaran, the huge Gold Saint, spent his days and nights hospitalized under the care of Kiki and Alice. He had finally awakened and there would be a relay guarding the Temple of Aries so that he could be visited by all who adored him. And there were many. The first visitor he received, however, already sitting up in bed, bandaged all over his head from his injuries and taking an icy crater from anything, was the Sanctuary's Master at Arms, Shaina.

Aside from the pleasantries about his injuries, Shaina got straight to the point.

"Taurus, I need you to tell me exactly what happened in the Temple of Aries. It is still unbelievable that you were knocked out with just one blow like that."

The huge warrior took another swig from his crater and finally spoke.

"It is as I told Mu." he began. "Maybe these sound like the words of a sore loser Shaina, but I still don't think I was defeated by just that God Warrior alone."
"A God Warrior?" asked Shaina, who was hearing the story for the first time.
"Yeah. That's how he introduced himself: a God Warrior of Asgard. But at that point we were already fighting in the House of Aries, for he surprised me in the night." confirmed Aldebaran. "He was an expert ice warrior, and may the soul of Camus forgive me, but as skilled as the late Aquarius Saint. And to make things even worse, he seemed to be able to move through the ice. I've never seen anything like it."
"Shaka was right, then." Shaina commented, remembering the Council many days ago in the House of Scorpio. "You said you couldn't have been defeated by him alone. What do you mean by that?"
"Well." said Aldebaran, very seriously. "I'm sure I was able to give him a good fight in the House of Aries, despite being surprised by the way he moved through the cold ar. I fought him. Fought him hard. The blood that spread through the house was not just mine, but his as well."
"And then?"
"There was something else." said Aldebaran, sullenly. "Something impossible to see, an energy that didn't seem to exist, but was there. Lurking in the shadows. And when I least expected it, I was hit from a place the God Warrior could never be. And so I fell, defeated."
"Someone else?" Shaina asked.
"I can't be sure. A shadow, no doubt."

Shaina pondered that information heavily and thanked the huge Taurus Saint, wishing him a speedy recovery. In the days that followed, he received as many visits as gifts, as he was loved by absolutely everyone in the Sanctuary, whether in the Twelve Temples or even among the simplest of Rodório.

Shaina, however, needed to take care of Sanctuary's strategies, and confirmation of a direct attack from Asgard, without any purpose, boded ill for the missions deployed to the North, after all, it had been many days and weeks without news of Athena's Galleon and it was not so long ago that the Bronze Saints had left for the North. Mayura fully agreed with her Master at Arms.

"If they were able to send two God Warriors to take down one of our top Gold Saints, perhaps we shouldn't trust so blindly to the letters we've received." said Shaina. "Just as Aldebaran was struck in the darkness, so there may be something hidden in the intent of these letters from the north."
"What's in your mind, Shaina?"
"We must alert Moses, as well as Ikki and the others. I will personally go to Asgard."

Mayura was silent, as she understood that no one else could be sent if they wanted to be sure that that plan would be carried out. And so Shaina left for the North, as Mayura saw more and more of the Saints abandon Sanctuary, leaving it vulnerable to any attack from the Underworld. Part of her thought that was the great purpose.

The half-open door of the house let some of the snow that was falling outside invade the main room where some flames that burned in the fireplace still resisted. With great difficulty, Princess Freia managed to bring the catatonic Hagen back to her home again. If Hagen knew those subterranean recesses like the back of his hand, Freia also knew that at least one of their exits was directly above that house, which was why Hagen was always around.

On a large sofa by the fireplace, she let Hagen's body fall to rest. He said nothing, but his eyes were open, as if mesmerized; both his hands were still badly burned from trying to contain the lava's fury so he wouldn't kill his beloved. As soon as he dropped onto the couch, however, Freia noticed how he took a deep breath and his eyes finally closed.

She despaired for a moment, but then noticed that his heart was still beating. He was just resting. She covered him with a white sheet and searched the big house for anything she could do for him, for his hands. But there was nothing there, for in the harsh winter in which they lived, everything that was there was taken to the Palace. She needed to go downtown to get something for the boy.

She changed her clothes with some pieces that were still in that place and fixed her hair as best she could before leaving. She closed the door tightly this time and within a few minutes she entered the lower part of the town through one of the side streets. There were few people on the streets, very few, as many were fleeing the cold and many others died in the preceding months. Close to downtown of the small village, a few establishments still operated, among them an apothecary that Freia entered, ringing a bell above the door.

"Bjorn." she called.

And from the back of the dark apothecary, a man with a bushy beard behind a counter answered her back.

"Princess Freia?" he looked astonished. "Princess Freia, what are you doing here?"
"I need food and some medicine, Hagen has some burns on his hands."
"Cursed boy. He lives with his hands in the fire, what is wrong with him?" Bjorn complained, searching his shelves. "I've already lost count how many times he came here for these, he's beyond any help. Take these balms."
"Thank you so much, Bjorn."

And in the half-hour that followed, she picked out some dried fruit, herbs, and whatever else she needed for a day or two in that big house. Closing everything in a bag she was carrying, she returned to the counter again when Bjorn called.

"Princess..." he said, all carefully. "I'm sorry, I know I'm not supposed to get involved, but I heard you were arrested again last night."

Freia let out a smile, as if to relieve the old man.

"Lord Siegfried was particularly stern last night. I may have went over the line a bit on my usual rant in the tavern."
"Be careful, Princess Freia. None of us want you to be in trouble. We have heard some stories of foreigners among us. Just this morning, the violinist took one of these to Valhalla Palace. These are strange times."
"A foreigner?" she asked curiously.
"Yes, a very young boy, must have gotten lost on the road. And Val from the store down the street said she saw about five strangers at the gate."

Freia remained thoughtful, but she was grateful for all the medicines she took along with the balms and food.

"Don't worry, Bjorn. I will be fine. Now let me go or Hagen ends up burning his feet too."

She said goodbye, left the apothecary and saw a certain uproar and an abnormal movement in the central square; there were no palace guards there, for she imagined they were all looking after Valhalla Palace in upper city, for it was customary to let Lower Asgard handle its affairs, especially during that winter when the guards were terribly low.

She approached a half-dozen villagers who took turns harassing a trio of wretches in the middle of the gray day. She approached and saw three suffering figures: they wore torn and old overcoats, their eyes were tired and, more than that, their tongues were far away. They were foreigners.

"Enough, stop!" asked Princess Freia, and her position in Valhalla Palace caused everyone to actually stop screaming.
"These are foreigners, Princess Freia." said one of them. "They're invading our land."
"Leave it to me." she said. "I will take them to the Palace. See, they're helpless and wouldn't be able to do any harm. Valhalla will take care of them."
"I'll go with you, Princess Freia." a brave woman offered, but she declined help.
"No. Go home. I'll take them to the bridge guards and they'll take care of them. Trust me. Go, run away from this cold."

The Princess scattered the crowd and approached the group with tender eyes towards the trio who looked like frightened rats from the crowd.

"Trust me." she said, in common language.

She put the bag on her back with what she needed and escorted them across town away from prying eyes; taking them as a guard escorts their prisoners. But once away from the prying eyes, but also hungry and cold, Freia spoke to them for the first time.

"Are you with Phoenix?" she asked.
"Do you know her?" asked Geist, as June was still helping Seiya walk with great difficulty.
"Yes, I was with her. Come on, say nothing more." asked Freia.

And in silence, Geist and her minions chose to trust this strange but respected girl. They set off along the side of the lower town to where the snow covered the plain, then climbed slightly up the mountainside to her villa, where Hagen was waiting for her.

She opened the door and everyone entered quickly, with June leading Seiya closer to the fireplace to get some warmth, when they finally noticed the figure lying unconscious on the couch. June immediately jumped on guard.

"Wait!" Freia asked, stepping in front of Hagen.
"We know him." said June. "He was one of the warriors who attacked us in the port."
"He can't do anything anymore." said Freia. "Phoenix defeated him."
"Is he still alive?" asked Geist.
"Yea. But he seems to be lethargic…"
"The Phantom Strike." stammered Seiya.
"What?" Freia asked him.
"Ikki must have hit him with the Phantom Strike. It is a technique that destroys her opponent's mind, making them relive their worst nightmares."
"Oh, by Odin, Hagen…"
"He will be fine." Seiya tried to calm her, who had one of his eyes closed. "It will just take some time for him to recover."

Freia looked at Hagen and immediately removed the balms she had brought to treat his hands; and, while tending to his friend, she spoke to that despondent trio:

"You're all safe here. No-one will come looking for you in this place. All the guards must be in Valhalla."
"You said you were with Phoenix." Geist remembered, as June helped Seiya down onto a huge shag rug on the floor. "Were you the one who told her about the Sapphires and the Cave of Surtr?"
"Yes." she confirmed. "She left with Hagen's Sapphire."
"I need bandages." June said, interrupting them, and Freia showed her where what little there was, but that, with luck, she'd also brought a lot from the apothecary to take care of Hagen. And she could use it however she wanted.

Geist noted that there was immediate care that needed to be taken with Seiya, who wavered in consciousness until he passed out for good, while June changed the bandages on his wounds for new ones. The boy had lost a lot of blood, but he was relatively well; he just needed rest, though she knew well that as soon woke up he would march out of that house and into the battle.

June even helped Freia care for Hagen's hands, also covering them with bandages to make the cream more effective. And it was only when they were finally all seated with the tied-up boys, guarded and unconscious, that they looked at each other.

"What happened to him?" asked Freia.
"We were attacked in the forest by wolves." replied Geist.
"Fenrir." commented Freia, who knew the girl, and then asked worriedly. "What happened to her?"
"She went back to the forest with her wolves. She left us with the Sapphire." confirmed Geist.

Freia's expression looked extremely relieved, but then they were all surprised by a sharp knock on the mansion's door. They all looked at each other very worried, when Freia asked the two to hide while she answered the door. And with June and Geist hidden in the shadows, Freia opened the door to find no one outside; and then she opened it even wider to make sure there was no one there. There wasn't.

But when she let her guard down to go back inside, a figure came down from the roof and attacked her, taking her to the floor of the big house. Above her a figure in a tunic hiding his face, but with very sharp nails squeezing her neck.

"Shaina!"

The figure turned to the side and found an old friend calling her name.

As Hilda paced impatiently in her enormous Hall, Sid and Siegfried were kneeling and tense before their out-of-control ruler. The ground fire remained hot and strong behind them and moved briefly as the hall's double doors were flung open by two palatial guards announcing Alberich's entry into the precinct.

He also knelt down and immediately brought the bad news to everyone.

"Hagen has fallen."

Siegfried's face twitched and his eyes were lost on the marble in front of him; Sid also glanced at the farther colonnades of the hall, letting his displeasure show. Even Hilda, ever so austere, sat down as if she had dropped onto her throne; the boy was really close to her and her sister, and even for a moment Hilda thought of Freia and the sadness she would feel.

"What on Earth is happening? First Fenrir deserted and now Hagen…" the huge Siegfried wondered in disbelief.
"Where is Freia?" asked Hilda from her throne, and Alberich answered.
"She was last seen at her home in the mountains. Safe."

There was a certain dismayed silence between them all, when Sid's voice spoke between the three of them.

"We shouldn't underestimate these Athena Saints." Siegfried looked at him hard.
"Sid, you were in Greece, in the heart of Sanctuary, when you were attacked, but you were able to take down one of the famous Gold Saints, one of the Athena's elite warriors."
"Not without a fight. A terrible one." said Sid, who still remembered the broken bones as well as the blood he left behind. "And it is said that these boys and girls were able to defeat all of the Twelve Gold Saints. We must not underestimate them under any circumstances."

Siegfried seemed to be trying hard to contain his anger within himself; he just didn't break the floor of that hall, for it was too sacred a place where, in the times of glory, the greatest gods of the North feasted.

"I don't think they're unharmed." added Alberich. "The guards reported a lot of blood in the forest. And although Hagen might have fell, I don't believe he was beaten without giving his opponent some scorched wounds."
"Alberich is right." said Sid. "Even if they are as incredible as these stories goes, there must be a limit to their miracles."
"They won't be able to face us." concluded Siegfried, standing up.
"Mime left for the ruins." added Alberich. "One of the Saints is already running to his traps."
"They won't get past Mime." Sid said confidently.
"Do you think we can trust him?" Alberich asked himself.
"We were forced to trust Phecda, Mime at least is a son of Asgard." said Siegfried, harshly towards him.
"Fenrir was also a daughter of Asgard." urged Alberich, drawing a sidelong glance from Siegfried.
"Mime's father was one of the greatest warriors in our history." Sid recalled.
"And he killed him." added Alberich. "He's a parricide."
"For that gives the greatness of Mime's strength." Siegfried ended, finally, before they were interrupted by the greatest woman in Asgard.
"Don't be discouraged, God Warriors." spoke the bright and decisive voice of Hilda, who if for a moment let herself fall, overcome by a certain sadness on her throne, rose again leaning on her ebony spear and making the Ring of the Nibelungs shine on her finger to restore the spirit of her Counsellors. "Our mission is Odin's mission and the Ring will lead us to Victory, I have no doubt about that."

And so it silenced the hearts and moods of those worried God Warriors.

Inside Freia's mansion, the women shared all the history they had passed, whether in the Seven Seas, the crises in the Sanctuary or even the despairs of Asgard. The men all convalesced in bed being tended to their wounds of body and mind. Geist and Shaina watched the snow falling through the window.

"I don't believe Moses was defeated."
"Meko." corrected Geist. "Captain Meko Kaire."

The friend looked at Geist and let out a deep breath. Geist invited her to sit next to June and Freia, as there was a lot to talk about. But as soon as Shaina turned on her heel, she saw Seiya's dirty, bruised face, though now he looked rested; it was still a face that deeply silenced her passionate heart, and to see him in that condition was disconcerting, as it was to see him for many days also under the respirators after the battle of the Sanctuary.

June sensed the brief hesitation and tried, in her own way, to calm it down.

"He'll be fine."

But Shaina let out a laugh to hide her feelings.

"What do I care?" she said hotly.

Princess Freia noticed the scene from afar and, having taken care of her dear friend Hagen, joined them too, sitting on crates around the still-burning fireplace. Shaina got to her feet and didn't apologize for the marks left on Freia's neck.

"So that means we need to defeat the God Warriors, take the Ring of the Nibelungs from this Hilda-woman, and then seal the Sea Relic in Surtr Cave."
"Yeah. Ikki, Shun and Shiryu have already left for the Palace after we met at the entrance to Asgard to retrieve their Cloths." June confirmed.
"Phoenix already has one of the Sapphires, the one that protected Hagen." said Freia to them.
"And Seiya has the forest girl's Sapphire." added Geist, patting Seiya's coat pocket.
"Why does he have it?"

June and Geist looked at each other for a moment and it was the Chameleon Saint who answered her.

"Because he's stubborn and stupid. And Shiryu is another brainless wash, who gave the Sapphire to him so he could join the battle when he recovered. One of their scenes."
"That's ridiculous, he's not even wearing his Cloth, look how the bastard's is!" scolded Shaina, reaching into the boy's overcoat and taking the Sapphire from him.
"Are you sure about that?" Geist asked her friend.
"Absolutely." replied Shaina. "I will join the battle and we will finish it before he even wakes up again."
"Be careful." warned Freia when she saw her with the Sapphire in her hand. "The Sapphires of Odin are gemstones that contain a mysterious power capable of taking over your body and causing you to fight uncontrollably. You must not use it under any circumstances. The God Warriors of our land use it within their protection so that it also gives them even more strength."
"More strength?" Shaina wondered. "I see. So that must have been why Taurus was surprised at the Sanctuary. He believed he was overcome by something incomprehensible, but in fact it could have been the Sapphire's strength."
"You said he was beaten, Shaina." Geist continued.
"Yes, he's not in any danger anymore, but Taurus believes that he was beaten by the shadow of the God Warrior."
"A shadow?" June asked.
"Did you say a Saint was defeated?" Freia asked them, and Shaina snapped back.
"At Sanctuary, we were attacked by one of your mighty God Warriors."

Princess Freia immediately looked to the side in disbelief.

"Sid." she commented. "Mizar Sid was the God Warrior who made the journey to Greece at Alberich's behest to contact the Sanctuary. And when he returned to us, he reported that he had been attacked and that Sanctuary would indeed rise against Asgard."
"That's a lie!" Shaina snapped. "He attacked Taurus cowardly at dawn and nearly killed him."

Princess Freia didn't fight back, because if that battle was really the result of a lie, maybe even Sid was plotting with Hilda to make all that mess really happen.

"Are God Warriors that strong?" June asked.
"Sid is. Along with Lord Siegfried, they are the most powerful God Warriors who protect the Valhalla Palace." she replied and continued. "But there is something else…"
"The shadows." Shaina guessed curiously, remembering Aldebaran's account. "What lies in the shadows of the God Warriors?"
"There's nothing in the shadow of the God Warriors. Not all of them, at least. Sid, on the other hand, may be haunted by a shadow indeed. I'm afraid not even Sid himself is aware of that, but I can't help to think about his Star in the Sky."
"What is that supposed to mean?" asked Shaina, barely patient.
"Mizar, the guardian star of Sid, has a twin star called Alcor, which follows her as if she were a shadow in the constellation of Karlvagn, now known as Ursa Major."
"So it's not all God Warriors, but only this one. Mizar Sid."
"Exactly." said Freia.
"In that case, I need to warn the Saints of this danger in Valhalla Palace." she said, already putting the Sapphire away and leaving the house.
"Wait, Shaina." asked Geist, standing up. "I will go with you. June, I want you to take care of Seiya and Freia. Shaina and I will leave together to alert the Saints."
"But Geist, you're not wearing your Cloth either." June said, worried about her Captain.
"Don't worry about Geist." Shaina interrupted looking at her friend, who knew exactly what she had in mind.
"Don't let Seiya out of here." asked Geist.
"You know I won't be able to do that." replied June.
"Moron." Shaina added, looking at the unconscious boy.
"Come on, Shaina."

They said goodbye and the two friends went out into the snow that was falling lightly outside. They looked at each other and saw women quite different from the girls they had been in Sanctuary times: Geist, a Captain wearing that gold-patterned overcoat, albeit very shabby, and Shaina, the Sanctuary's Master-at-Arms, in her haughty Silver Cloth.

"Like old times?"
"Like old times." Geist replied.

Shaina burned her Silver Cosmos strongly and the Serpentarium Cloth that covered her entire body glowed and separated in the form of Asclepius, the figure that the constellation represented. And with a new flash it separated again into the air, wearing both Shaina and Geist, who split the Cloth between themselves. They linked fists protected by the Silver Cloth and then leapt into the snow, each in a different direction.

ABOUT THE CHAPTER: Unraveling some secrets, like in the classic series, making Aldebaran remember his fight against Sid. This chapter was very difficult, as I set myself the challenge of trying to write the story from the perspective of the characters of Asgard, without following the Bronze Saints in every step they take, revealing their steps little by little.

NEXT CHAPTER: EYES OF SADNESS

Shun arrives at the ruins of Asgard where he re-encounters the violinist Mime in a battle that will leave him on his knees in grief.