115 — REVENANTS
The rain in Rodorio had reduced to a very fine drizzle that only fell occasionally.
The cloudy dawn of that day had been awakened by the ringing of bells in the main square, announcing that a vessel was coming in the distance across the Aegean Sea. The entire population gathered at the port in the hope of seeing the crew of the Hope of Athena return. It was the first time the port had docked sailors in months.
However, the ship that arrived in the distance was certainly not that beautiful Galleon that had left full of celebration; it was a much smaller vessel, less elegant and too common to be Athena's ship. Still, there was some unrest and a fair bit of curiosity in the port as they awaited the arrival of their children.
Among them, however, there was a child who asked everyone's permission as he passed between hips, under legs, squeezing between women until he reached the front row, with the boat slowly docking at the port. It was Kiki, covered in anxiety with his eyes searching for a familiar face.
A sea sentry tied the vessel to a stump and extended the bridge so the crew could walk off. And with each one that appeared, someone in the harbor cried to see that a relative or a dear friend had been lucky enough to return. There was a funereal atmosphere in that port. Ophelia, Theo, Thales and other subordinates that Shaina had picked up in Germany on her return trip reappeared. Everyone walked tired and with a closed face, although they received a strong hug from their loved ones.
And with each sailor who got off the boat, Kiki seemed to become more and more anxious, because whoever he was waiting for didn't seem to have arrived.
Until at the end of the seventh or eighth sailor, he finally immediately recognized the lack of height of a small creature that descended from the vessel, making a small jump to cover the distance between the boat and the port, almost falling into the water. The boy broke away from the crowd, ran along the woodwork and lifted Lunara into Rodorio's tightest embrace, almost knocking her backwards.
"Hey, Kiki, enough!" she complained, almost breathless.
"Ah, Lunara, you're back! You're back, I can't believe it! Is everything ok with you?!" he repeated, with a worried expression.
"Let go of me!" she asked, being crushed by him.
"Are you really in one piece? Haven't they stolen anything from you?"
"Of course I am, you idiot." she replied, when she was finally placed on the floor.
"Haven't they cut your pigtails?"
"You're so silly, why would they cut it?" she asked, shocked, while placing her hand on her hair.
"Oh, I don't know." he replied, hugging her again. "Are you really okay? Don't lie to me, I'm older than you."
"I'm in one piece and I'm even taller than you, if you want to know." she replied, proudly.
The girl saw in Kiki's eyes that he was terribly torn between worry and an enormous joy at seeing her again, which made his face completely blank. She let out a smile when she realized what was going on and the boy finally noticed the role he was playing in that port and tried to hide it in his own way.
"You better be well, because Master Mu is worried sick about you."
"Oh, be quiet, Kiki! Just look! I brought you a gift."
"A gift?"
"Yes!" she shouted, reaching into her shoulder bag and taking out a wonderful gold bracelet. "It's from Asgard, the Land of the Northern Gods. I brought it for you."
Kiki looked at that bracelet and thought it was wonderful. It had a few gems of different colors and an inscription in runes that he couldn't read.
"What does it say here?"
"Oh, I don't know. It must be 'Kiki the Fool'." she added with a smile.
"You'll see the fool!" he protested, but he was already putting the bracelet on his own arm and adjusting the grip so that it wouldn't hurt him. "It's kind of cool."
"It's great!" celebrated Lunara. "They say you can throw yourself into a pool of magma and nothing will happen to you if you're using it. It's cursed!"
"They gave it to you and you're going to give it to me?"
"Well... they didn't give it to me."
She had stolen it, Kiki guessed.
"And won't they miss it?"
"Don't worry, they have thousands of treasures, you need to see them!"
"You listen here, if they start hunting me down because of this bracelet, you'll see!"
"Oh, shut up!"
Kiki looked in wonder at the gold bracelet on his child's forearm; He moved this way and that, making circles with his arm, throwing them into the air and enjoying how the light shone on that solid gold and projected on the hull of the schooner. He felt like a Gold Saint himself with his Golden Bracelet.
"Ah, it was made for me." he said finally.
Lunara was very happy and received another tight hug from Kiki, who couldn't contain the longing he had felt for the little girl.
"You will never travel to the seas again." he scolded.
"Oh, of course I will. I will become the greatest Captain of the Seas."
"No you're not."
"Hey, brat!"
The two let go and saw the furious Shaina appear at the port; If she had only caught Lunara's attention, her appearance also paralyzed everyone who was there receiving the crew. She walked with hard eyes towards the little girl, who felt extremely offended at being treated that way.
"Brat? I am Lieutenant Lunara, Ensign Shaina, at sea you answer to me."
"Be quiet for a moment." asked Shaina. "Geist... I mean, your Captain told me to tell you that you are relieved of your duties."
"Did the captain say that?" Lunara was surprised.
"And for my part, I ask that you stay away from any confusion. Get her out of here, Kiki."
And that was all Shaina said to her, as she left the two children with their toys there and stepped hard on the wood of the port to get out of that sad crowd as quickly as possible, crossing the corridor that opened between the people so that she could pass by everyone. She left in a hurry and away from that port, as she undoubtedly had more urgent matters beyond that reception.
The central square and the city of Rodorio itself were somewhat empty, as its few inhabitants were all in the port or on the beach receiving those who had returned from that crew. So no one came to ask Shaina any nonsense, nor did she need to straighten out any citizen who was out of line. Which immediately impressed her greatly. She quickly walked from the city to the road that led to the mountain of the Twelve Temples, always guarded by two Bronze Saints.
Making the rounds at the foot of the mountain of the Twelve Temples, Jab and Ichi noticed movement in Rodorio from a distance, which was a sign that a vessel had docked in the city, but as they could not and would not leave their posts out of pure curiosity, they both did not knew exactly what was going on.
"Ichi, pay attention!" Jab spoke worriedly to his friend, who was leaning languidly against the stone. "It's Shaina. She will kill you."
"Dammit."
The Bronze Saint quickly got up, fixed his mohawk and the two waited for the Master-at-Arms to appear between them.
"Ichi, Jab, tell me where Sirius is." she asked immediately, with the deepest fury in her eyes.
"Sirius?" Jab was confused for a moment and Ichi responded.
"Sirius hasn't returned yet, Miss Shaina. Neither do Jack and the others."
"They didn't return?" she asked herself, confused.
Shaina looked to the side, as if searching her mind for her next steps. She closed her eyes and punched the rock next to Ichi, who had to withdraw to avoid being hit.
"Shinato and Mirai are also still abroad." updated Jab, more courageous.
She let out what sounded like a snake hiss, as if the fury inside her actually boiled over and couldn't be contained in her body.
"Of course not…" she said, much more to herself.
"What's going on, Miss Shaina?" asked Ichi, curious and stupid.
"Nothing that concerns you, Bronze Saint."
She responded sharply and they both flinched immediately; another voice, however, spoke up behind Shaina's back.
"What's none of the Bronze Saints' business, Shaina?"
It was the huge Aldebaran, who was only wearing simple clothes and still had bandages around his head to treat the wounds from his cowardly attack, which she now knew was a huge betrayal within his domains.
"Aldebaran!?" she was surprised to see him standing. "What are you doing on your feet?! You should be at the clinic taking care of your injuries!" Shaina had the wavering voice of someone trying not to convey a certain joy at seeing that the giant was slowly returning to his normal mood, and that her carelessness had not caused his death.
"Don't worry about the great Aldebaran, his injuries are already minmal and he can climb a few steps." added Master Mu, very seriously, appearing next to her friend.
She, however, wore her wonderful Aries Gold Cloth, with the helmet at her side.
"Master Mu." the Bronze Saints were surprised, as was Shaina.
Noticing that Shaina would tell her what was troubling her heart right then and there, Mu asked her to be silent with her hand and spoke briefly.
"Save it for the Council. Your arrival by the sea was expected. But now we need to meet the other Gold Saints and Master Camerlengo. Whatever your report is, everyone should hear it."
"You're right, Mu. In that case, it would be good if Jamian came with us this time."
"Jamian?" Mu asked herself. "The Crow Silver Saint?"
"Yes. Jamian." confirmed Shaina. "Are you going to tell me that he didn't return to the Sanctuary as well?"
"Jamian hasn't returned yet, Shaina." Jab updated among them, as he was the one who had been in charge of checking the Saints' rounds in Shaina's absence.
The Master-at-Arms' face became livid for an instant and both Aldebaran and Mu noticed that something was wrong.
"Come on, Shaina." invited Mu, with a rush outside of her always so calm personality.
She looked up at the Gold Saint and nodded, although she was still lost in thought. Together with Mu and Aldebaran, Shaina climbed the first steps of a mountain that she had climbed many times since she was elevated as Master-of-Arms of the Sanctuary. Before they got too far away, however, the brave Unicorn Saint caught their attention one last time.
"Wait, Shaina!" ventured Jab, shouting from below. "What happened to Seiya… to Seiya and the others?"
She looked into his eyes as if she had fire.
"They're alive." she simply replied.
And finally the trio began to climb the steps of the Twelve Temples in great haste, leaving behind Rodorio's shock at those returns, and the enormous doubts in the chests of Jab and Ichi.
"Something went wrong in Asgard." he said to his friend.
"Have you seen her armor?" Ichi pointed out. "It was all cracked. Could it be…"
"They must have fought. And Seiya too."
"And what did she want with Sirius and Jamian?" Ichi asked.
"I don't know, Ichi, I don't know." replied Jab, worried. "Damn, Jack, where are you?"
Shaina, Mu and Aldebaran climbed the Twelve Temples in a hurry and in silence, although the Master-at-Arms tried to process the entire history of Asgard, which she would soon have to tell everyone as if it were the first time; Jamian's unexpected absence anesthetized her, as she hoped, at least, for him to have updated everyone on the disturbances in the North while he was imprisoned. But he wasn't there. And where could Jamian be? She was confused.
And when she crossed the House of Taurus she realized that, in addition to being confused, she was also enraged, because not for a day during the crossing of the seas to the Sanctuary did she stop thinking about Sirius, about how he had suggested treason to her and she dismissed him like a dog. She felt guilty and that trail of ice and blood in Aldebaran's temple were like the scars of her mistake.
Confused and enraged, Shaina crossed many other Houses of the Zodiac until she was greeted by an impatient Scorpio Miro, who was waiting for the last three guests at the entrance to the House of Sagittarius. Miro's eyes were serious and urgent; he escorted the three to the mezzanine of that important House, passing by Aiolos' beautiful will on the wall.
Leo Aioria and Virgo Shaka were sitting around a table, facing each other, with Master Camerlengo Mayura sitting at the end of it. The three Gold Saints spread out on the vacant chairs, but Shaina remained standing at first.
"We were waiting for you, Shaina." Mayura began, very seriously. "We learned from the ravens of the North that your arrival was expected these days. I hope you had a good trip."
"The seas were rough until they calmed down, but none of that matters. There's a lot we need to talk about."
"Well then, let's start at once." Aioria said, gravely, asking her to sit down.
"Master Mayura, forgive me, but where is Athena?" Shaina asked, with venom between her teeth. "We are in an unprecedented crisis. A tragedy has struck Asgard and we have huge problems within the Sanctuary itself. It was to be expected that she would at least be among us to hear us."
The harsh words hung in the air between everyone and Shaina noticed how the Gold Saints looked away from her accusatory gaze. Only Mayura could respond to that provocation, of course.
And her deep voice made Shaina aware of the tragedy.
"Athena is no longer with us." she began, with immense gravity in her voice.
Shaina took a step back, as if gasping for air to understand what that meant. And then, like a flash of light, she remembered the sad faces in the port that she hadn't paid a second of attention to, the concern of the Bronze Saints and the gravity on the faces of the Gold Saints. Something terrible had also happened in the Sanctuary.
"Athena?" she simply asked, in disbelief.
"She went to meet Poseidon to prevent the deluge from destroying the planet."
"So Poseidon really…"
"Has returned." added Miro, impatiently.
"When did this happen?" asked Shaina, with a distant look.
"More than a week ago." replied Mayura.
Exactly when the storms, which shook the vessel in which she was traveling, ceased and the boat stopped being shaken by the winds; She immediately closed her eyes again, keeping within herself the shame of misjudging that Athena, when she had probably been the cause of her safe return to the Sanctuary. Aioria had to help her sit at the table while she seemed to put together the pieces of her thoughts.
"What happened in Asgard, anyway, Shaina?" asked Aldebaran, echoing his doubt at the foot of the mountain, but now so that everyone could hear.
The Master-at-Arms looked at everyone before telling the story of the North's tragedy; and she did so automatically, trying to reconcile in her mind everything she needed to share with Athena's suffocating absence in the Sanctuary. Shaina felt that Saori needed to be more present at the Councils, but at that moment, sitting around the Gold Saints, Shaina had never felt her absence so strongly. For she was always among them. And then Athena was gone. She swallowed and continued speaking.
"Asgard was under Poseidon's rule from the beginning. Moses and his crew's mission was doomed to fail no matter what." she began, leaving everyone's faces surprised. "Seiya and the others sealed all the Relics around the World, but when they arrived in Asgard…"
She paused to remember.
"The Galleon crew was captured and imprisoned in the dungeons of Valhalla."
Surprised wails from the Gold Saints.
"Just as Jamian and the Cygnus Saint, who had left along the Path of the North, were also detained. As soon as they arrived in Asgard, they were also arrested."
"But if I understand correctly, Shaina, before we went up the Twelve Temples here, you believed that Jamian had already returned." Aldebaran commented to everyone, sharing part of the dialogue they had already had, so that everyone was aware.
"Yes. Apparently, Jamian was released even before the rest of the Bronze Saints and others arrived in Asgard."
"Corvus Jamian did not return to the Sanctuary, Shaina." confirmed Master Mayura.
"But how is that possible?" she asked herself, trying to imagine her friend's fate.
"You said that Moses, the crew, Jamian and Hyoga were arrested." asked Miro, leaning over the table. "Arrested for what?"
"Invasion." Shaina replied, remembering the story.
"They didn't believe our Letters." concluded Mayura.
"No." agreed Shaina, regretfully. "The Ruler of Asgard is Hilda, a woman considered to be the Representative of Odin, the God of the North."
"Odin." repeated some Gold Saints.
"Hilda is considered by many to be the very incarnation of Odin on Earth. She is the one who decides Asgard's destiny. And it was she who decided on war, blinded by the power she had in her hands."
"A war? What do you mean by that, Shaina?" asked Mu, calmly.
"Hilda had on her finger a Golden Ring capable of giving her power compared to that of the Gods and the wrath of hundreds of furious warriors from the North."
"The Ring of Nibelungs." commented Shaka.
"Exactly." Shaina agreed, and Mu took the floor.
"The Ring of Nibelungs is an Asgardian treasure that should only be used in the Northern End-of-Times. What was it doing on Hilda's finger?"
"Did they consider the Return of Poseidon as the End-of-Times?" Miro asked Aioria beside him, confused.
"No, no, if Asgard was under Poseidon's domain, that doesn't make sense. But they believed they would be invaded. Invaded by whom?"
"Let Shaina tell the story; Come on, Shaina, keep going." asked Aldebaran, interrupting the two.
"Hilda believed that the Ring had been a gift from Odin to guide the People of Asgard out of the Frozen Lands, but in fact it was nothing more than a trap."
Everyone's attention was on Shaina.
"What you need to understand about Asgard is that there is an ancestral rivalry between the most traditional families in that place. Hilda was envied for the position she had. And one of her main advisors, a man named Sigmund, surrendered himself to Poseidon and tricked Hilda into giving her what she believed to be Odin's Nibelungen Ring."
"That's a tragedy, one of her closest warriors?" Aioria asked and Shaina confirmed.
"So what was the Ring, after all?"
"The Ring carried all the power of the legendary Nibelungs and was able to give Hilda all the strength and wrath of the Gods. But there was something more to that Ring. Something we only discovered at the end of the battle."
"A battle. So that's why your Cloth is full of cracks." said Mu, closer to Shaina. "You had to fight."
"Yes." confirmed Shaina. "I arrived in Asgard and the battle had already begun. The Andromeda Saint told me everything that had happened as soon as the battle ended. Apparently, he personally went to a square in Asgard downtown to ask to be taken to Valhalla to speak with the Asgard Representative."
"With Hilda." Mu remembered, and Shaina nodded.
"The boy knew absolutely nothing about all this, not even that his friends were in the castle's dungeons. And yet, one of Hilda's Counselors who looked after the lower city, as they call it, granted his request and took him there. But the only thing Andromeda achieved in Valhalla was to be imprisoned with the others in the dungeons."
"How reckless." complained Aioria.
"The Phoenix Saint already suspected that something was wrong, since we had not received any news from the Galleon. From either Jamian or Cygnus, and convinced the Bronze Saints to allow herself to be arrested by the city's sentries."
"There's not even a sliver of a brain in the heads of these children." Miro complained.
"But it worked." said Shaina. "Because unlike her brother, who was imprisoned in Valhalla in a cell from which no Saint would be able to leave, Phoenix was taken to a common cell, as they did not know who she was. And there she was lucky enough to meet Hilda's sister, a girl called Freya, who was apparently being arrested every day in Asgard."
"What was the sister of the Voice of Odin doing in prison?" Aldebaran asked himself.
"It's like I said." Shaina continued. "This is a place where, although they have lived hundreds of years closed within themselves, sometimes apparently they do not speak the same language. Freya was against her sister Hilda and believed something was wrong with her. Freya spoke in all bars and taverns so that the people would rise up against Valhalla. And so she was arrested almost on a daily basis by guards."
"So she knew!" said Aioria.
"No! She just suspected it, because no one knew her sister as much as she did. She knew that the Nibelung Ring could not be used at that time and she knew how different Hilda looked. But didn't knew or even imagined the betrayal behind it. We only found out later. But that's how the Phoenix Saint learned that Asgard believed it was being targeted by the Sanctuary, which was interested in stopping her people's march to the sun."
"A lie to turn us against Asgard." pondered Mayura.
"Exactly."
"By the same man who had given the Ring to Hilda." added Shaka.
"That's what it looks like. Freya decided to believe in Phoenix, that the Sanctuary was not looking for any of that. That we were only interested in sealing the Sea Relic and that we had already sealed six of them around the world. Freya didn't even know there were more Relics of the Seas."
"As we didn't either." Mayura remembered.
"Poseidon must have hidden it from everyone." Mu imagined.
"But Freya told Phoenix that Hilda's power guarded the Relic of the Sea of Asgard. Only by going through her would it be possible to reach the Relic. But this could not be done, because possessed by the power of the Nibelung Ring, she would never allow the Saints to come close to the place."
"It would be necessary to break the spell." Miro guessed.
"And this could only be done with a legendary sword called Balmung."
"Making a genuine prayer to Odin." Shaka remembered her teachings.
"Carrying Odin's Seven Sapphires." added Shaina. "It is not enough to make a genuine prayer to Odin, he will only listen to you if you are a son of Asgard and are in possession of Odin's Seven Sapphires. Seven precious Sapphires that served as the guardian stones of the God Robes, the Armor of the Seven God Warriors, the main advisors and heroes of Asgard."
"That was the battle they fought." Mu concluded, and Shaina nodded.
"A terrible and sad battle at the same time. But a battle that we won. We gathered the Odin's Seven Sapphires after defeating all the God Warriors. The Cygnus Saint wielded the Balmung Sword and broke the spell of the Ring of Nibelungs."
"Hyoga?" Miro was surprised.
Shaina looked at him and nodded stiffly.
"The Cygnus Saint experienced a particular tragedy. Jamian was released to return to the Sanctuary, but Hyoga was left in the care of another Advisor interested in Hilda's position. This man was called Alberich. He was Camus's old acquaintance."
Miro's eyes filled with confusion.
"Alberich used Cygnus' feelings to manipulate him into defending Asgard for Camus. And so he gave him a Sapphire and a God Robe, which took the Cygnus Saint's mind, making him fight even against his friends."
"Bastard." commented Aioria.
"But at the same time it made him a Son of Asgard." said Mu, understanding the reasons why Hyoga was able to lift the Balmung Sword.
"Yes. When Hyoga got rid of the spell in his mind, he was able to lift the Balmung Sword and break the Nibelung Ring on Hilda's finger. And that's when we learned the terrible trap. Hilda was not guarding the Relic, but being used by her. The Relic was the Ring."
Everyone there held their breath in shock.
"The Relic that we should have locked with the Athena Seal, Hyoga ended up breaking it once and for all with the Balmung Sword."
"And then Poseidon woke up." Mayura repeated to herself.
There was a silence as everyone seemed to go over Shaina's words in their heads, each one holding on to one detail, thinking about the battle, about the cracks in a Silver Cloth like that, about the impressive strength of the God Warriors who were able to face Aldebaran, of all of them. In Hyoga's and everyone's drama. It was Aioria who broke the silence.
"But this man betrayed his people and let his brothers die to resurrect Poseidon before his time in exchange for what? Just to be the ruler of Asgard?"
"You shouldn't be surprised by the thirst for power that exists in humanity, Leo Aioria." said Shaka calmly at his side, for the first time.
"All we know is that, in the final moment, Sigmund was defeated by his younger brother, Siegfried, before the Colossus of Odin. He wore a Poseidon Scale on his body, which made us certain that he had indeed betrayed Asgard in favor of Poseidon."
"That's absurd." Miro broke off.
"And that was the tragedy of Asgard."
"A tragedy that culminated in the reappearance of Poseidon, the God of the Seas, and spread destruction to the four corners of the Earth." said Shaka, attracting Shaina's gaze.
"Shaka is right." Mu agreed. "While you were away, Shaina, the World was shaken by Poseidon's fury. Millions died in the four corners of the world."
"And his fury was only stopped when Athena decided to march to pacify the Oceans in front of Poseidon himself." said Aldebaran, with immense pride.
"How did this happen, Master Mayura?" she asked.
The Master, always sitting in her wheelchair, covered in bandages even over her eyes, attracted the curious looks of the Gold Saints. Even if they knew the reports, they had not yet heard from her what had happened at Cape Sounion.
"Athena went to the Temple of Poseidon. And there she called for him until she was answered. And she went down to the Sea Kingdom to demand that Poseidon stop shaking the Earth. And he stopped." Mayura said, attracting everyone's attention. "She never came back. And here we are."
They looked at each other for a moment, calculating that immense encounter between such ancient Gods, and pondering the consequences of that sad battle in Asgard. Shaina didn't seem to have finished her report.
"The Bronze Saints decided to stay in Asgard to protect the Northern Land, in case Poseidon decided to invade Earth."
"Athena seems to have taken care of this herself." Aldebaran said to everyone.
"Geist is with them awaiting our next steps." Shaina said to Master Mayura.
She took a deep breath, considering absolutely everything that had been discussed, and everything that Shaina had not experienced.
"I think we've already extended this far too long." said Miro, for everyone. "The Sanctuary cannot be left without its defenses, Master Mayura."
"You're right, Scorpio Miro." she agreed. "Tomorrow we can decide the next steps, for now, let's stay vigilant."
"Wait, Master Mayura." asked Virgo Shaka, making everyone sit down again. "I don't think the Master-at-Arms is finished with her report."
And, in fact, although Shaka always had her eyes closed, it seemed that only she had noticed that Shaina had remained sitting at the table, lost in the heavy clouds that flashed in her mind. Shaina immediately faced Shaka with her unmovable face, uncovered in thought. She didn't plan to hide them, she just looked for the best words.
"Shaka's right, Master Mayura." she began. "Princess Freya of Asgard confided to us that her sister Hilda, before fainting in her daze, confessed to her something that I needed to bring before us all."
"Well, then say it at once, Shaina." asked Miro, impatiently, still standing.
"The truth about the attack on Aldebaran." she said, looking at the curious giant and at Mu, his dedicated clinic. "And the truth is that Asgard had help from a person inside the Sanctuary."
"But that's treason!" shouted Aioria, getting up from the table.
"Yes. A traitor in the Sanctuary." she confirmed.
"And who is this traitor, Shaina? Come on, tell us!" asked Miro.
"Unfortunately, they were unable to confirm his identity."
"Then it's useless!"
"That's not true, Scorpio Miro." Shaka pondered, calmly.
"Well, I suppose you know who this person is?"
"No, but we can deduce some things. The Corvus Saint was sent to Asgard, released from his prison to return to the Sanctuary, but he never returned."
"What do you mean by that, Virgo Shaka?" Shaina tried.
"Are you insinuating that Jamian is a traitor?" Aioria asked Shaka.
"No, he couldn't!" Shaina said immediately, as he was her friend. "No, I'm sure of it."
"How can you be sure, Shaina?"
"I'm sure, Scorpio Miro." she said, and then looked at Aldebaran. "I'm sure, because I know who the traitor was. The one who allowed the God Warrior to invade the night Aldebaran was attacked."
All eyes were glued to her again.
"Are you really sure about this, Shaina? This may be too heavy of an accusation to make without complete certainty." said Mayura, before she accused anyone.
"Yes, Master. I have." she said, and although it was a little disconcerting to face Mayura with her headband over her eyes, Shaina faced her, as that information could not be in front of anyone else's eyes. "Apparently, Sirius, the Silver Saint of Canis Major is the traitor."
"Sirius?" Aldebaran asked, surprised.
"Sirius disappeared from the Sanctuary and hasn't returned since he was sent with the Bronze Saints to America." added Mu.
"Neither did the Bronze Saints return." Aioria recalled.
"Well, I'll go to hell if I have to find him, Aldebaran." she said, looking at the huge Gold Saint, the only one without his Cloth. "I'm happy that you're alive, but that doesn't make his crimes any smaller. I will get him, whatever it takes."
"Well, tell us, Master-at-Arms Shaina." began Shaka very calmly, but at the same time frightening. "Where does all this certainty come from that Sirius is this traitor to the Sanctuary?"
The question made Shaina lose her breath before answering, a question that made the atmosphere become so tense that it would be possible to split the air with a knife. The courageous Master-at-Arms, however, did not escape the question.
"Because he tried to convince me to turn against Athena too."
She, the mascot of the former Camerlengo, cruel and vile, powerful and respected by Saga's minions, was seen by the traitor as an obvious choice to be part of his own plans.
"I didn't arrest him, because I thought we needed all the Saints of the World against Hades." she said looking at Mayura, almost as if apologizing. "I also didn't believe that a wretch like that would be capable of anything alone."
"Apparently you were mistaken." added Shaka. "The Great Aldebaran may be alive, but there is someone who is no longer."
Shaina's blood ran cold from head to toe and her eyes fell on Mayura again, if before she was listening attentively to what Shaka was saying; They were all silent, as no one else could deliver the sad news. And she also chose the clearest and most respectful words.
"While you were away, Shaina, the astromancer Crater Nicol was killed on Starhill."
Shaina stood up from her chair in amazement.
Nicol was Mayura's trusted friend, a gift that the Sanctuary had recovered in a time of few allies like those; the person directly responsible for recovering the memory of the Sanctuary burned down by Saga. The main beacon of knowledge on the next steps of Athena's Army, especially in relation to the upcoming battle against Hades. And now he was dead. And Shaina couldn't help but feel it was her fault.
"Thanks to the actions of a traitor within Athena's Army, a Gold Saint was attacked and a Silver Saint was killed in the line of duty."
Shaka's voice reminded her of the crimes within the territory.
"It wasn't your fault, Shaina." Aldebaran spoke, gently with her, already guessing the clouds that were forming in her head.
"Don't say that, Aldebaran, I will never be able to forgive myself for what happened to you and... and to Nicol."
"If you had done your job, maybe none of this would have happened."
"Quiet yourself, Shaka!" shouted Aioria.
"I didn't want any of this to happen!" Shaina replied, letting her fist crack with hatred.
"But it happened. Asking for forgiveness will not erase your mistakes, Shaina, nor will it change who you really are…"
Shaka didn't complete the sentence, as Shaina jumped over the table that separated the two and threw a powerful punch towards the Gold Saint, so strong that the electricity from the Silver Saint's Cosmo broke the table in two.
"Shaina!" Master Mayura shouted, surprised, and even Aioria was about to join the fight when he was stopped by Mu.
Shaina's furious eyes burned with fire and her teeth gnashed.
"I won't let you complete that sentence."
"Do you happen to feel better now, Shaina?" asked Shaka, containing the Master-at-Arms fury with just one finger.
"I am not a traitor." she said between her teeth.
"No. What you are, Shaina, is the Master-at-Arms of the Sanctuary."
And pushed her back with her Cosmo away from her. Shaina painted with her eyes hidden by her hair.
"Enough." said Master Mayura. "Return to your Zodiac Houses. This meeting is over."
Aioria freed himself from Mu's first, bowed and left in a hurry, afraid that if he stayed a little longer he would be the next one to try to hit the Virgo Saint. Mu and Aldebaran also said goodbye and left with Miro. Shaka was the last one.
Shaina also stood up in the background after seeing the Gold Saints disappear, made a wobbly and crooked bow before Master Camerlengo and would also leave the House of Sagittarius if it weren't for Mayura's voice behind her back.
"Shaina, come with me."
"No, Master, I…"
"Come. With me."
Shaina obeyed.
In the House of Virgo, Leo Aioria, furious, paced back and forth after leaving the tense meeting in the House of Sagittarius. Mu and Aldebaran soon arrived and noticed the Golden Lion's impatience.
"Don't do anything stupid, Aioria." asked Aldebaran and he didn't respond.
"Aldebaran, my friend, please return to the clinic."
"Mu…"
"Let me talk to Aioria."
"OK." agreed the patient.
He looked kindly at Aioria, who only had anger in his eyes, walking away through the corridors of the House of Virgo.
"What are you planning to do, Aioria?" began Mu.
"Who does she think she is, Master Mu?" shouted Aioria. "She is no one to put her finger in Shaina's face. I'm tired of this."
"And what are you going to do? Will you fight her again?"
"No, I won't do anything like that, but she will have to listen to me."
"And will she listen to you?"
Aioria let out a laugh.
"Yeah, I keep forgetting that she turns off her senses whenever it's convenient. Doesn't that bother you, Mu? You were also accused of being a traitor to the Sanctuary back in the day and now Shaka points her finger in Shaina's face as if she is more than all of us, when in fact she was the one most defending Saga's wishes. She is the one who should least raise her voice to Shaina."
"She knows exactly that, Aioria." began Mu, trying to calm him down. "There is no one among us who knows better what it really is like to be seen as a traitor."
"Oh, for the love of Athena. I spent every year of my life being seen as a traitor." shouted Aioria.
"But you never were." returned Mu. "It's different for Shaka, isn't it? You still think she was a traitor."
"Wasn't she?"
"If so, isn't she the one who best knows the weight of a terrible mistake like that? Or like Shaina's?"
"Shaina did not betray the Sanctuary! She made a mistake. A terrible mistake, but she is not a traitor."
"Traitor or not, this is only the perception of each other. A mistake like this, however, is something that Shaina will need to understand within herself how to overcome so that it does not prevent her from continuing to defend this Sanctuary. Like Shaka had to do. Or still has to do."
"You are too lenient with her, Master Mu."
"And now you're against me."
Aioria finally stopped for a moment looking at Mu, who had a brief smile on his face. He took a deep breath, looking at the exit of the house and, incredible as it was, he let out a laugh.
"It won't do any good, will it?"
"No." replied Mu, and Aioria put his hand on his head, a little tired.
"Will I ever get along with her?"
"I don't expect that. But I know that you two, in your own way, allow the Sanctuary to be the safest place in the world. And that is your destiny."
"Oh right, Mu. I'll let her get buried by guilt by herself, then."
"Very considerate of you."
And together they left the House of Virgo, saying goodbye at the House of Leo, with Master Mu hurrying to make one last visit to the clinic to tell the patient Aldebaran the recipes for the night and the following day.
From the House of Sagittarius to the Temple of Athena, Mayura was accompanied unwillingly by Shaina, who walked behind her muttering to herself, imagining that the conversation they would have would be her replacement as Master-at-Arms of the Sanctuary for a position in which she didn't have so much responsibility and her mistakes wouldn't affect the direction of Athena's Army so much.
Athena who had now left Earth and its protection to the Sanctuary Saints.
When they arrived at the Temple, Shaina noticed that Athena's Staff was floating in front of the enormous Colossus of the Goddess that watched over the entire Sanctuary. Mayura sank into her wheelchair and looked at Shaina again for the first time from beneath her blindfolds.
"Shaina."
"Say it at once, Master." she asked, impatiently.
"I need you to carry out a personal request from the Goddess Athena to the entire Sanctuary."
"What?" she was confused. "I thought…"
"You thought I would spare you the burden of being Master-at-Arms…"
"No, I would never ask to be demoted because of the responsibility, but…"
"Shaka tricked you, Shaina. She knows better than anyone how guilt can be a weakness and, in a time of crisis like we are, you need to be focused. She took away all the anger you felt towards yourself in that attack. But the truth is that Nicol's tragic death could not have been your fault, even if you left Sirius free."
"How come?"
"Sirius or any other Silver and Gold Saint did not know Nicol's whereabouts. He was on the Starhill under my authorization and carrying my amulet. Nobody else knew. Sirius would have been unable to tell anyone in Asgard where he was."
Shaina thought for a while.
"So how could this have happened, Master Mayura?"
"I don't know. And I feel like we may never know the answer to this mystery."
"But if there is someone out there capable of killing a Silver Saint like Nicol in the Sanctuary's most restricted location..."
"None of us are safe." completed Mayura.
"We shouldn't be alone anymore." said Shaina. "The Gold Saints may be able to protect themselves, but I will ask everyone in the Sanctuary Army not to go unaccompanied wherever they go."
"We already gave that order before you arrived." said Mayura. "The order I need you to execute is a more important one."
She then handed Shaina an envelope, sealed with the sign of Athena's crosier, inside which a letter with Saori's beautiful handwriting bore the few affectionate and sorrowful lines of an absurd order. When she finished reading, Shaina read everything again. She inspected the back in disbelief.
"But this is absurd!"
"It's an Order of Athena."
"But Master Mayura, we can't. We already barely have Saints in the Sanctuary to defend against an invasion. If this happens, we will be lost!"
"It's an Order of Athena."
"You can't agree to that!
"I don't. But it is an Order of Athena. And Athena marched from the Sanctuary to pacify Poseidon and give Planet Earth a second chance in exchange for her life. The trail of destruction on the planet has ended and we have the chance to live and defend this World thanks to Athena. And all Athena asked in return was what was written in these lines."
Shaina remained silent, unable to retort, because even though revolt at that absurdity burned within her, she also felt the guilt of having let Sirius leave without paying for his sins. And she couldn't add one more mistake on top of that. She would have to carry out that order. An order from Athena. No, Shaina thought, correcting herself, an Order from Saori.
She would comply.
At the foot of the mountain, Aldebaran walked calmly to Rodorio's clinic, his home for the last few weeks. The gentle giant still remembered Seiya's miracle in his House of Taurus; the strength of that unshakable cosmos that he knew very well had something more than those few moments in which he had touched the Seventh Sense. Faith in that girl. Not faith in Athena, because he himself believed in Athena and would fight for her as hard as any Saint of that Sanctuary, but those boys and girls had faith in Saori Kido.
The giant entered the house and let out another smile when he came across a couple of children looking out the window at a shy party that was now going on in Rodorio with the crew returning in the evening. The two got off the sofa when they realized that Aldebaran had returned and the Gold Saint loved recognizing little Lunara in that stump of people; her hair was still tied into two pigtails on the sides, but completely disheveled. Her two little marks on her forehead were stained, her little eyes were droopy, her clothes were completely threadbare and she had a black chain-tipped pendant on her neck.
"Now, this must be the famous Lunara."
"Am I famous?" she asked the giant.
"I couldn't wait to meet you."
"I am Lieutenant Lunara." she introduced herself.
"And I am the Giant Aldebaran." he greeted the little girl's hand. "So you're the little girl who Kiki was missing so much to the point he was going mad. The whole month!"
"Oh, shut up, Uncle Aldebaran!" he complained, making the big guy laugh.
"I'm not lying! He couldn't stop talking about you, how much he missed you. He kept mumbling to himself, looking at the ocean waiting for you to arrive."
"He's delirious, Lunara! He's been taking a lot of pills and talking a lot of nonsense." accused Kiki. "I'm going to ask Master Mu to put you to sleep, to see if you stop talking foolishness."
Lunara loved the stories and ran after Kiki, like her shadow, while Aldebaran tried to laugh in a scenario that he knew very well was very sad. But perhaps that was exactly the fate of the world: where sadness spread like an ocean, the smiles of the youngest children were a beacon of hope.
ABOUT THE CHAPTER: Shaina and Lunara finally arrive at the Sanctuary. The Gold Saints gather to hear everything that happened with the Hope of Athena around the Seven Seas, as well as the whole tragedy in Asgard. These meeting scenes between the Saints discussing is something I really enjoy writing, because it is a chance to show how each one thinks about the subject and differentiate them in their personalities. It is also an important chapter to give a reality check to Shaina, who is always picking on Saori, but here she is surprised that she decided to march against Poseidon. Aioria and Shaka is a continuation of a clash that has been going on for a long time and the Leo Saint has less and less patience for her. Let's see where this will lead. And in the midst of so many meetings, the scene I like the most was the one of Lunara meeting Kiki again and all that childish and naive exchange between the two. They are very precious.
NEXT CHAPTER: Athena and Poseidon
Saori finally arrives at the sea kingdom to negotiate a truce with Poseidon.