Chapter Text
Kiki, I order you to defeat the Pope and cripple the Sanctuary.
“So, it’s just us. Do you really think a person who abandoned his rank can defeat me?”
The Pope and his enemy were a distance apart, about eight meters now as one slowly made way for the throne, and considering who they were, the risk of engagement was still high. The Pope sat in his throne, unmoving, staunch, but tension folded the jaw beneath his mask.
“Do not preach to me when you lack a kind heart—Kiki!” The one opposite of him was none other than the elegant Aries, who died in the previous war, but one look at the Saint brought consternation and confusion. While The Pope was aware of Demeter’s ability to bring back the dead, adopting the abilities of her sibling in a limited matter, something felt dissimilar. Kiki stopped at about six meters, and his body---it was incongruous to say that it “radiated”. The Aries Cloth was stark black as if the sun it was bathed in had died forever. It was unlike a Hades Specter, rather, it felt deeper into the reaches of nothing. To perhaps consolidate with the Cloth’s change, Kiki’s long fawn hair had completely grayed.
“Stardust Revolution.” Kiki raising his arm was a trigger of a battle, and his soft pitch, a near whisper, was unlike a usual Saint’s battle cry. The entire Pope Chamber went dark; the same color also consumed Kiki’s skin, leaving hot white eyes. His body’s aura ran around him like snakes of the blackest clouds. Kiki lashed out his arm, and the attack emanated as smoky gray wisps rapidly zipped through the dark air. Even in a consuming darkness, the target wasn’t out of sight.
“Great Horn!” At the Pope’s call, the tailed wisps connected to a burst of light that entered the darkness. With normal eyes, it would look like an explosion that burned the retina, and faded, then the Pope Chamber would return to its normal colors.
“If it weren’t for my new abilities, the Great Horn would have probably defeated me. I truly respect your abilities and your tenacity. But—”
When everything cleared, the Pope was stiff on his throne. He tightly held the armrests; parts of his body were blemished by small, black pockmarks. Bloodless.
“Because you’re strong, you were able to at least evade a fatal blow.”
“What the Hell…” The Pope strained to get his words out, looking as if fighting inner pain.
“An uncanny man becoming Pope,” Kiki scoffed. “You may be a meathead, but I may have underestimated you. You do honor your star, Harbinger.”
Amid tensioned skin across his jaw, the Pope’s mouth managed to crook into a grin. “Come on now, you know that I’ve seen that move before.”
When his skin color returned, Kiki revealed a genuine warm smile. “True. However, I devoured your attack without receiving a scratch, and reached you with my attack. You will eventually die from the High Dark King (至高闇王)’s power. Do you think this is a War of a Thousand Days?”
“Don’t mock me. This body can’t fall from something as pathetic as this.”
“My Stardust Revolution has adopted the Aether. Since it didn’t destroy you, its impact expands and metastasizes through your body. You may have lived from the first and only strike, but even stars eventually explode and die.”
The Pope stubbornly believed what remained of his lifespan was up to his tenacity. He lurched forward a little in his seat; he could not describe what was going on. When the Stardust hit, even mitigated by this Great Horn, he felt a rush of pain like a true attack, and then it tapered, leaving numbness or tingling. Then, against his own will, his body fought back a myriad of spasms. Was it fatigue? He came to suspect that if his body wasn’t obliterated by Stardust, it was on a slow path to reaching there. To disappear or die.
“Let’s just see, Kiki you bastard. Until I do die, I believe you have a story for me?”
Kiki’s eyes narrowed; tucking his smile away, his face became solemn. He did say that he “would tell everything”, but he confidently foresaw the Pope being dead after his strike. With this presumption, he would spill out his plan while expecting it to not be leaked out. In other words, a taunt to a corpse. To see the despair of the victim of an assassination.
“I’ll start with this: Athena will die in Limbo.” Kiki’s words were on cue as the Pope Chambers sunk into complete silence. Only those with Cosmos felt the loss of a familiar life.
Athena…the Pope bit down further, veins popping across his half-veiled face. While they were not there to witness the moment, it was at this time that Hades projected himself as a temporary spirit, and stabbed Athena with his sword. As she fell, the traitor Cancer Hermes placed the Goddess into a black coffin.
“Looks like you failed, Harbinger.” Kiki crossed his arms in front of him, gleaming at the Pope. Should I attack him one more time, the Aries Saint wondered. Should I finish him off? Am I being wishy-washy? The one hint that he was losing his dignity as a Saint, outside of attacking his former companion, was his hesitation to act. He began to remember what he was advised before embarking on his mission.
It'll take time for you to get used to being an Umbra. Maybe you need to bathe in the Quintessence more. My concern is that your Stardust Revolution simulates the stars of the galaxies, so when you use it, you have to imagine not just smashing or exploding your target. You have to imagine their entire body disappearing, becoming empty. Their life sheds and contract to nothing. In other words Kiki, your attacks need to be entirely fatal. Also, with your abilities, it is possible to turn The Pope into one of us.
Leaving his thoughts, and standing on caution, Kiki instead began to ramble.
“Hades, the greatest enemy of Athena. To reawaken, would he resume his Holy War? Will he rule the world in Athena’s absence? We’ll have to see.”
“Quit your blathering,” The Pope said, his voice guttural and trembling. “Now I just won’t forgive you. We’ll take on anyone, including you Kiki.”
“Perhaps that is what Lord Hades desires,” Kiki said; he came to the belief that the Pope could live long enough to usher his orders, bait the Saints to come to the Underworld, and let Hades’s Army have their retaliatory war. He also believed that the removal of the Pope would be an advantage—or maybe, his heart wasn’t completely consumed by the void.
“I was ordered to kill you, while my group moved in an act of stewardship. The mass extermination caused by the Shadows will propagate the insufficient Limbo with souls, which will call out to Hades. Through the Ophiuchus Cloth medium, Hades can absorb the souls to revive himself and reconstruct his body, then release them into a new Underworld. Perhaps..this is a lack of moral cognition, but how is it different from Hades ruling the world that defied Gods?” For such words to come out of a former defender of Earth; The Pope was fuming, hissing back his retort to preserve his strength. At one point, the surroundings blurred before his eyes. One of the shorter Shadows, pitch black figures with hot white eyes, tugged on the Aries Cloth’s gray cape. It was like a little child of knee height.
“I see. Pull back?” Kiki looked down at the Shadow and then back to Harbinger. He smiled.
“I’ll keep watch. If you’re still alive, I’ll return to finish you, Harbinger.” Taking steps back, Kiki and the group of Shadows behind him melted into the hall’s darkness. Athena’s defeat, and the interference of the Shadows, may have given the Aries Saint hubris.
When Kiki faded from sight, The Pope remembered an anecdote from his own Goddess: when Athena crossed the Underworld and felt the nobility of the Gold Saints even after they lost their lives. While animating the Saints’ bodies, Hades couldn’t replace their humanity as soldiers attached to Athena. Nonetheless, Kiki may have surrendered his soul or it was completely seized; he’d like to think the latter. If Hades didn’t have that power of the Gold Saints, who did? Maybe The Pope could think better now that eyesore Kiki was gone, but he realized that the attack on him was unusual. He looked like he was sprayed with a shotgun, which could hit with 20 or so pellets. However, the damage wasn’t completely widespread; thanks to his Great Horn, the Pope mitigated the Stardust Revolution and ended up with less than half. Most of the inch sized diameter black holes were in his upper torso and arms. From Kiki’s description, the Pope slowly realized that the holes signified an attack on his vital points.
Without a scratch he said? Damn it…this can’t be the power of Hades…
“Lord Pope!” Someone called from a corner of the Hall. A Sanctuary assistant had arrived; promptly, he was given the order to retrieve the Gold Saints.
*****
Far outside of the Sanctuary’s Twelve Temples, Gemini Integra found herself flat on her back, nearly losing her senses simultaneously. Her consciousness teetered back and forth. Moments before, she was floating across an infinite space—the enemy before her was a near-mirror image of herself. The only difference was that the enemy wore a deep black Gemini Cloth. They expected their abilities to be on par, but when unleashing her Galaxian Explosion—a volley of planets summoned, thrown against the enemy, and then exploding to emit an unmissable fatal shockwave upon impact—Integra found herself swallowed. She clashed with the same technique. Spectators often assume the defeat of those on the Explosion’s receiving end. Integra felt confident that she would defeat her foe once and for all, but something unusual happened. As she attacked, she saw the planetary objects hurled toward her take a dark violet hue before exploding. They cracked open and the clap of thunder was lost. Integra didn’t make a sound and dropped high from the air.
“Hahaha, I keep holding back,” the Umbra cackled in a pitched cadence. “So you can suffer more. Your Goddess is dead! Oh, what should I do? Should we continue or should I finish you once and for all? But then, I won’t be able to see you again and kill you over and over. Get up Integra! Mustn't siblings continue to fight?”
The second person who joined Kiki in the Pope’s Chamber earlier was none other than Gemini Paradox. She was also revived by Demeter, but later, after collaborating with Cancer Hermes and manipulating her sister to trap the Gold Saints, she was sidelined and returned as an Umbra. As Integra was by the Pope’s side, she quickly became furious and was easily dragged outside to battle her sibling. She could not cool her frustrations to rest until she defeated her older sister and decimated Paradox’s love to destroy. No, she had died, and it had to stay that way; Integra thought her sister was being manipulated by her vices.
“I'm sure you can get up. Come on, take another lick of my Umbra powers!” Paradox glowed with a smoky aura, her eyes glowing white as her skin was smothered by a shadow.
Regaining her senses, at least her consciousness and movement slowly, the younger sibling slowly raised her torso. Integra knew that she was revived by Demeter, but they hadn’t met face to face. Is the older twin now saying that she is embraced by a new power? She had convinced herself that the only reason she survived was because they were Gemini Saints.
“You’re taking too long!” Paradox thrust her arm out, and a wave shot out toward the downed Integra. Then, a new face crossed their paths. With a swing of a glowing golden arm, the wave was knocked away and broken apart. A bright golden object cracking with energy—standing in between the sisters was another Gold Saint with blue eyes. They were directed furiously towards Paradox.
Integra became shocked by the image of a young boy standing before her, his Cloth as bright as the sun on the clearest Summer day.
“This is our home! Get out! Now!” The boy cried, his back to Athena’s Gemini Saint.
“Young Leo, stay out of this!” She said. The Leo Saint Shir Khan, about eleven or twelve years old, did not heed, his eyes still affixed on Paradox.
“Aren’t you cute?” Mocked Paradox. “Don’t be upset with me because you failed!” A sadistic grin split her face. She could writhe both of them with despair.
“I am Gemini Paradox of the Umbra! What can you possibly do against the Ocean of Darkness?” Staring at her sister and the boy Leo, Paradox raised her arms in a cross form and the entire air blanked.
“In the beginning, there was no space. In such an atmosphere, in the Aether, your Cosmos means not—”
The next words were cut off as Paradox was stunned by some kind of collision. In the space of darkness, Leo Shir Khan delivered one punch that only those of the Seventh Sense could see. By any other spectator, it happened in a flash.
“But why?!!?” Paradox was flustered as her entire body was propelled out of Sanctuary. The darkness she projected was broken. Wasn’t she a Gold Saint…
Another Gold Saint that held on to enough faith, Shir unleashed a Lightning Bolt with a raging shockwave that pierced the darkness. Using the fist as a nucleus, the Bolt narrowed to a trajectory to facilitate speed, and focused on one target at its center. Not even Paradox has personally seen or felt the move. Even in Aether, the Big Bang became the start of everything. Just because the stars and galaxies didn’t exist at one point, doesn’t mean that space was immune to energy. In the end, anti-matter, because of its rarity, was defeated by the superfluous matter in space. The power and development of one’s burning Cosmos made the answer. When Paradox flew away, later retreating into another dimension, she swore to kill her sister and whoever interfered with her again.
Both Kiki and Paradox weren’t meant to forsake the Cosmos which made them Saints. It was still too early to theorize how to battle within a vacuum and how to create vacuum techniques. The only reason Integra could stand was both this weakness and Paradox holding back to taunt her younger sibling. She still felt a bit shaken. She was about to rebuke her fellow younger Saint for interfering with her chance to wipe away the past demons nurtured by her sister, but held her words when he spoke morosely.
“I’m sorry,” Shir said, looking into the sky, “but I don’t want to see siblings fight right now.”
“Shir…”
“I don’t want to see a sibling die.”
This was Gemini Paradox’s 2nd strike.
****
The Saints of Athena.
Since the Age of Myth, these legendary warriors fought through fierce wars to protect peace on Earth. Using a power called Cosmos, burning inside their bodies, the Saints can rend the stone of Earth, and reach even the sky, God, time, and planes, to a point of divine singularity. As long as evil manifested on Earth, they came forth. Imminent battles between God and Man were called the Holy Wars.
Recently Demeter, the Olympian Goddess of Harvest and Agriculture, utilized ploys to have the Goddess Athena captured, and the key to Tartarus opened. All to revive her beloved sibling Hades, but more importantly—her beloved daughter Persephone. As a result, Athena loses her life to her mightiest opponent, who was expecting to return in a week or less. What was the fate of the Planet Earth—
There was one objective fact—Hades was not the victor of this current conflict. Having passed his time to revive with a human vessel, his so-called “strike down of Athena” was purely out of spite, and it was not possible if it weren’t for the actions of Demeter. The Goddess of Harvest herself walked on Earth as a politician named Josefien Baer; her offbeat actions have led her to face opposition after so long. As Subaru, or Saturn, once said--- Demeter was hardly a goddess for battle. As myth long suggests, it was Demeter who needed to be calmed and bargained with every so often. Having gained her wish, she took a step back and felt solaced in her Temple on Naxos Island.
Gathering before the injured Pope were Sagittarius, Capricorn, Leo, Gemini, Aquarius, Virgo, and Pisces. Along the carpet that stretched for the Throne, they stood parallel to each other. Are these the ones who remained? And without a Goddess? The bullheaded Pope—the former Saint of Taurus—spoke before any voice was raised about his condition.
“Don’t think for a single second that I’ll give you room to despair. The fighting ain’t over, after all.”
He was within this strange reality; the Aries Saint had arrived earlier, but revived as an enemy. Libra was late or in a dire situation; Cancer was a traitor. No Scorpio, nor a new Taurus, or an Aries. If the Golden Round wasn’t complete, then fate wasn’t connected, and the Saints weren’t ready for a true Holy War. No, did the stars really align correctly for this moment? Was it really a new war or were they cleaning up an old mess? The Golds turned to their Pope and kneeled.
“Hades killed Athena, and her body and soul were taken.” The Pope’s fingers flexed, scratching his throne’s armrest. It was either out of pain or frustration as his thoughts couldn’t fully connect, now depending on his impulses. The only thing he can do now was keep his Saints confident, prepped with a sense of justice and will to fight no matter what. Even if they died one by one during a Holy War, they never gave up until the end. However, no one could shake off the sentiment that their lives may end.
“Maybe in this age, this is our finest battle.” The Pope wanted to emphasize that there was no such thing as dwindling combat power. “We will go according to Athena’s plan and prevent Hades’s clutches from reaching Earth. No matter what, you hear? No objections!” The Pope paused to quietly catch his breath. The Sagittarius Saint raised his eyes to acknowledge.
“At this moment Lord Pope, the enemy’s den is still Limbo,” said Seiya. “Without a sense of navigation, it’ll be even more dangerous to approach Hades. In Dodona, the Jason’s Galley, or Argo, has a divine consciousness of its own that needs persuading. According to Dodona’s guardian—the Saint of Sextans, Agatha—there are two things. First, she predicted Hades’s revival and that Argo will only help us if ‘a great disaster falls on Earth.’ Only when humanity’s fortitude can shine.”
“Such nerve!” Integra protested. “It would be ludicrous to allow Hades to come forward at full strength.” Perhaps deep down, she was still fuming at the appearance of her sister. After all, Paradox used her to fool her companions and the result led to Athena’s capture and eventual death. She burdened feelings of unforgiveness towards herself.
“That boat needs to learn the ideals of our Goddess, Gemini. It is aware that Athena wishes for its aid.”
“There is also the appearance of a strange enemy,” said Capricorn Safar, a Gold Saint with long red hair and green eyes. His eyes reflected his signature weapon, which was called the Emerald Scimitar.
“Those shadowy guys right?” The Pope said. “I cannot confirm who they are yet, but Kiki and Paradox are with them, and they can create spatial vacuums.”
“Those things were not members of Demeter or Hades’s armies?” Asked Capricorn.
“Afraid not. Their presence was different. That damn Demeter—surely she is not alone. Sagittarius, what else did Sextans tell you?”
“Second: Libra Shiryu has disappeared. Sextans cannot tell if he left the world or not, but assumes he’s in his own battle.” There were a few gasps among the Golds; it was to be expected and the Pope followed up at once.
“I’d say that’s a relief,” he said.
Seiya furrowed his eyebrows. “Sir?”
“She didn’t say that he died, right? Either way, everyone, the way I see it, Hades’s resurrection cannot be stopped. If we could, then there would be no Holy Wars. That would be unprecedented in our destiny.” At a pause, the Golds lowered their heads and heeded carefully, expecting the Pope’s next words to be an assignment. Capricorn and Leo trembled with impatience coupled with helplessness. It was their form of lament for their Goddess; Gemini Integra kept her frustration under a cool barrier, but wasn’t less aggrieved. The same could be said for Seiya, Virgo Fudou, Aquarius Hyouga, and the Pisces from Sri Lanka.
“The nucleus of this resurrection plan is a Greek figure called Asklepiós,” explained The Pope, “ who now holds the Ophiuchus Cloth and is capable of spectacular healing powers. He would be a primary target, but his whereabouts are unknown. It is also unknown whether Demeter will continue to affiliate with Hades now that her goal has been reached. We also need to keep guard of this third party if they attack the Earth again, while also targeting Hades. The remaining Bronze and Silver Saints will stand as Earth’s guard; the ones that were sent to Naxos still need to recuperate in the hospital. When the time comes, they will face Hades in Hell. I was instructed by Athena that no living being should go down there without viable protection akin to the Gold Saints.”
To which, the young Leo shot up from the kneeling group.
“Please let me go Lord Pope!”
“The Gold Saints are assigned to defend Sanctuary kid, but I did think two or three of you should suffice as backup as an initiative.”
“I promised Ikki!” The Leo Saint’s words urged a prompt expression from both Sagittarius Seiya and Aquarius Hyouga.
“Shir! How is he doing?” Seiya asked.
“He’s gradually coming back and he wants to go to Hell! ” Leo flashed Sagittarius a smile; surely that gave Seiya and Hyouga confidence that it was a future sign of the Phoenix’s return. Leo looked back at the Pope and dropped the grin, becoming serious again.
“Also, there is someone down there who I must defeat!”
“Are you saying to use yourself as bait?” asked the Pope, which led to silence.
“Hah?!” Thinking of only battle for atonement with a tint of payback, the young Saint could not prompt an answer by being flabbergasted. The term “bait” gave him a little chill behind his neck. It may have represented all the punishment, purgatory, and satanic sin that accumulated in the Underworld. If he went down there, the end might truly reach him.
“Nonsense!” The next Gold Saint rose from his knee, placing a closed hand against his chest. “The most loyalist saint of Athena is Capricorn! It is I! The sword in my right arm can dispel any evil. Let me go!”
“Lord Pope, Hyouga, Shiryu, and I fought Hades and his army before,” said Seiya. “It is a broad matter that will require more of us. I think about what Sextans said: If Sanctuary’s strength converges, maybe Argo will understand.”
Another Gold Saint responded.
“Therefore, I will stand as a sentry and tell you when the Underworld has emerged for us to traverse into it.”
“Virgo Fudo, you have been in the Underworld. Do you think your insane plan will work?” The Pope asked.
“I am but a Kagemusha, but—”
“But,” the Pope interjected with a groan, “you’re the best person to do a convincing job. A man closest to God.”
Fudoh gave a warm smile. “Hades would be deeply upset if I do this,” he said, his eyes turning to Shir Khan. “If anything, young Leo, I’ll become the bait.”
“Lord Pope!” Entering the Chambers was a young servant. “We have a guest.”
The door leading to the outside rotated open to reveal two figures. One was immediately recognized by Safur as the man with the other emerald sword. The man who helped him at Rujm el-Hiri, a cloaked warrior with a cold state and black hair. Next to that man was a young blonde woman in Roman dress. Her skin was dark, and her scarlet eyes seemed to invite a threat. Everyone froze, despite a few being aware of who it was and her current involvement with the situation. The truth was that she was a former enemy and no one expected her to appear in person.
Athena had called upon the aid of 1st class Holy Sword Pallasite, Titan, and his Goddess Pallas. It was she who requested assistance from Saturn, who returned as Subaru.
“If I may, everyone. I owe Athena, my beloved sister, a debt. Since the last war, I’ve sought to make up for my ways. I’ve sent Titan around to help with the sealings of Hell portals. Lord Pope, a suggestion. Allow me to stand in Athena’s place.”
The Golds couldn’t help but express surprise.
“Is it because you are her sister?” The Pope said.
“We shared the same Cosmos, connected to one another. I can tell you now that while its faint, her Cosmos still exist. I cannot rule the world, but I can at least be a chain.”
“Right, the label of Pallas Athena, an infallible city guardian with a shield.”
An impudent grin from the Pope. “So, have you learned to become a more loving Goddess?”
“What I do know is that Athena respected you, Pope of Sanctuary. You wouldn’t be able to sit there, despite your abrasiveness, if your heart wasn’t in the right place. You wish to protect the weak, and surely, you don’t have mercy for those who invade in disregard for others. Have you finally come to respect Athena? The fury you have towards Hades will prevent you from dying.”
“Yeah?”
“Athena seems to have strange tastes. You really are a bull.”
“Trials given by God can be overcome.” Everyone turned to Fudou, who spoke up again.
“You could say that Pallas’s idea is the same as mine: To serve as a stand-in for the missing. Like this, I can project the framework of the Underworld and we can take the charge to Hades. Furthermore, I can interfere with Asklepiós.”
“Virgo Fudou, who said that you were able to do this?” Aquarius Hyouga asked.
“Someone told me. Someone who has seen Hell. Maybe it was a spiritual intervention.” Hyouga bit his lip at Virgo Fudou’s words. Right, he was the Saint of Virgo, the predecessor of the man who sacrificed himself to find Arayashiki.
“Nirvana is the ultimate aim, surpassing the usual cycle of birth, suffering, and death. I would like to challenge Hades, who is unfit to rule the world,” said Fudou.
Hyouga couldn’t help but hold his tongue at such impudence. But he could also respect the strength emanating from Virgo. Indeed—Fudoh Myoo was a demon of fire that extinguished evil. Hyouga couldn’t help but smile at an idea he had reached...where Fudoh felt like he could surpass death.
“Lord Pope, I too have a suggestion that the Lady Goddess and I have discussed,” said Titan. “Can we use Pallas’s blood to repair the broken Cloths?
*****
When the meeting ended, more messages when sent out, including to Dodona’s guardian. Sextans Agatha occasionally went to check on the Bronzes in the hospital and instructed to send the broken Bronze Cloths to Jamir. Not long ago, those Bronze Saints who battled Mars, Abzu and Saturn landed on Naxos Island to take on the Goddess of Harvest, Demeter. While a peaceful land, it was guarded by four warriors called Terrae. The Bronzes traverse the Terraes’ temples, battling almost as desperately as they did against Mars’s Gold Saints, Mars’s Four Divine Lords, and Saturn’s Four Holy Swords. It was believed that the Bronzes managed due to two things: Their exposure to the Omega Cosmos, and the Terrae’s lack of combat might. In the end, after being transported to Limbo and seeing Athena killed, they were sent into comas by a traitor Saint named Viento. Seiya managed to save them by using Agatha’s teleportation device to send them to the hospital. It was all a failure. Furthermore, before even reaching Naxos, Wolf Haruto was killed on one of the Cyclades Islands after a fierce battle against one of the Gold Saints revived by Demeter. When Hyouga returned to Sanctuary with the broken Wolf Cloth, he couldn’t help but shed tears. He broke down on his knees before Seiya, Shiryu, and Integra, and then accepted the Aquarius Cloth.
Agatha dreaded a battle with Hades; Hell was difficult to traverse and infiltrate without the right pieces, and the denizens of Tartarus have been Athena’s mightiest foes for generations. Athena knew that facing Hades would mean a true war— a relentless loss of life. She also feared that she would lose her closest friends, being Seiya and the others. As Hades’s era of resurrection on Earth had passed, he would be not allowed to commit to another Holy War against Athena.
In the hospital, someone opened his eyes.
******
Strictly 24 hours later, Aries Kiki returned to the Pope Chambers.
From the shades cast by the corners of the Hall, he slipped back in just like before. The Gold Saints were there again, and Kiki’s eyes widened at the new appearance of Titan and Pallas. Nearly every Saint recognized him despite his black Cloth and gray hair. Approaching close, and alone, his welcome was quickly met with a green flash. He saw Safur’s arm in a slanted motion; they had never met, but the aura of malice was immediately sensed between two subconsciousness. Or rather, the extraordinary senses of a Saint. As the Saint of Capricorn, Safur’s arm unleashed the shimmering wave of a sword, the Shamshir-e Zomorrodnegār. It pressed against a transparent wall that appeared between Kiki and the other Gold Saints, shattering. Kiki’s violet eyes were dour, which was rare to see from one usually poised. A tinge of anger pierced his heart. His Crystal Wall emanated from his hands held on.
“Are you Aries? My sword tells me that evil was welled up inside you, and to destroy it.” Safur’s words confirmed what gave Kiki consternation. If the Crystal Wall wasn’t put up, he probably would’ve dropped dead before the Pope. Zomorrod was an evil destroying sword after all, the more malice, the more power.
“I am here to relay a message only from the Queen of the Underworld, Persephone,” Kiki stated. He gestured to lower his defense, standing as if he were a welcomed guest. Maybe it was as if he continued to pose as a Gold Saint.
“As established by the will of the gods since times of myth, Earth and many lives will be spared. Because centuries have not passed since Hades’s rising and Demeter has been placated. However, there is one condition. Hades desires the lives of Athena’s Saints as ‘equal justice’.”
“Enough hypocrisy Kiki! I don’t want to hear that word from your mouth again. Even if you fell into an abyss, a sense of justice, as a former Saint of Athena, should never have left you. But, you serve a power that caused a mass genocide across the world with Shadows.”
The Pope’s words riled up Leo and Pisces, their toxic glares lancing towards Kiki. Pisces, a woman named Dione, had firsthand seen the massacre caused by the Shadows in Sri Lanka. Seiya quickly had to grab the younger Leo’s shoulder, holding him down.
Kiki alarmingly reached his arm out in hopes that his former companions will heed him. “There is a way to fulfill his wish. You do realize that Athena cannot die peacefully in this situation?”
A glimmer of hope immediately entered the minds of Gold Saints, and they surmised that Athena wasn’t completely dead. What they were told that until Hades was revived, the Underworld would be modified under another name and structure to home the Specters. They must come as the deaths of the Saints, the destruction of their Cosmos, can help revitalize the Underworld. If they didn’t come, Hades will use Athena’s Cosmos to destroy the world. Pallas declared that Athena’s body and soul can be saved; The Pope calls a bluff, to which Kiki smiled.
“Why would Athena’s most dangerous enemy lie?” Aries inquired before melting back into the shadows like he did before. He left a provocation: “Those are the conditions, now come. Avenge Athena, Saints. Defeat her evil enemy!”
Elsewhere, Kiki emerged from a shadow cast by a projecting cliff. High above with a bird’s eye, he overlooked Sanctuary. With Athena swept from the mortal world, her base would be less guarded, but that would be eventually covered by Pallas. The Saints were not prepared for a severe Holy War; then again, no one was prepared for Demeter’s actions.
“Before disappearing, the Heavens king Zeus established the three rules of Heaven, Earth and the Underworld. When the Underworld fell, it entered its primordial state, Limbo. It is then delegated by another until rule is restored. After all, before there was an Underworld, there was Chaos.”
Hades’s home reformed into the Chaos Underworld.
It was a bland, monochromatic morph of a land of mountains, rivers and lakes, deserts, flower fields, forests, and Roman structures. They were now blanketed by black paint, leaving plain borders and edges, dotted by faint stars. High above was a gray and white sky with a moon. It was either a moon or a distant bright star much like the sun. One would wonder, if a body was dipped into hellfire that lost its hue, would it burn? The spirits of the dead, including the evil 108 spirits, were under the protection of the High Dark King. It was only on the condition that they couldn’t leave; that includes the Shadows and no intrusion or attack was permitted on Earth. The gates to Hell were sealed unless a Saint neared one. Their own sanctuary looking different, the Specters felt like they were in a labyrinth, and awaited near familiar Prisons for their prey.
Even more Hellish—only battle was allowed in the Underworld. Baited to die, the Saints’ Cosmos will feed the Underworld and expedite the revival of Hades and his Kingdom. War sickened Demeter, but she was too far in mud to complain after what she had caused and done. For both mother and daughter—Demeter and Persephone—there was a slight, hidden fancy for revenge on the Saints.
Asklepiós was free from Tartarus and never wanted to enter that darkness again…as long as he pleased the Queen. Athena and the bluff to rule the world will be bait to bring the Saints. If the Saints were defeated, he wanted to use that as a proposal for his complete freedom and for Demeter to be the new ruler of Earth. Only if she wished it; she was in deep contemplation over the idea. In the back of his mind, Akel did think, “If only they accepted a half God like me, but I doubt it.”
Akel also proposed how to start this little Kill Saint game: Virgo Fudou would be the first bounty as someone seeks to throw him into the Fourth Bolgia in the Eighth Prison and twist his head. He would have severe guests.
The one who would tackle the “game” first was the youngest of the Gold Saints.
It was Shir Khan of the Leo sign. Awaiting him was his nemesis from Barren Island. The enemy was easily recognized by her sultry taunts. They were either tepid and subtle, or completely blatant, but it was all strange upon the ears of eleven-year-old Shir.
“You desire to touch, do you? As much as I wish to kill you, there is someone who slightly wants you more.”
On his left, Shir heard the trampling of hooves. That’s when he quickly bounded out of the way.
Shir held his head. From what he sensed, the sound egress from the object’s charge reached his ears and his senses.