[ Watashi ]

[ Tomodachi ]

[ Saint Seiya ]

[ Clamp ]

[ Fanfiction ]

Ophiuchus Shaina was in a very foul mood this morning. She'd felt the explosion of two powerful cosmos clashing right before dawn, and that had abruptly torn her off from her sleep. That alone would have been enough to irk her, but when she'd realized what the only possible explanation for the sensation was...she'd come fully awake in the blink of an eye, her heart beating frantically fast in her chest.

Challenge.

She'd rushed towards the Great Stairs, where she knew Marin had stood guard the whole night as was the stupid moron's habit, but all she had found there had been two distinct traces of dried blood in the stones. Whatever it was that had happened, it had been extremely quick. Ophiuchus Shaina had then focused her whole self towards the Twelve Houses and the temple of Athena, trying to feel for a presence, but there hadn't been anything.

Which likely meant that Aquila Marin had been the victor, but....

On her way to Marin's house, Shaina had walked along the Aquila Saint's two nameless apprentices' home, just in time to see kind but withdrawn Merle exit it with a small bundle and then leave towards the opening in the circle of mountains enclosing the Sanctuary. That could only mean one thing, exile.

But why?

Completely taken aback, Shaina had watched the young man slowly disappear in the distance, unable to fathom what to make of all this. Then the small house's door had opened, and the other apprentice had come out, and walked straight towards her, likely unaware of her presence, standing against the light as she was. This was the only reason why she'd been able to steal a fleeting glance of the smile on Clothless Lune's face.

Satisfaction.

Something within her had balked at the sight, but she'd shrugged the unease off and had stepped towards the young man.

So it had been Merle who had challenged Aquila Marin.

Merle....

Staring steadily at Lune, Shaina had had only one thought in her mind: this didn't make any sense. Any sense at all. For a few moments, she'd kept looking directly at the young man, but there had been no further knowledge to be gained from him, his clear green eyes two lakes whose calm emerald waters would drown and safely hide away any secret Lune might want to keep for himself.

Eventually Shaina had given up on trying to gather any other information from that source, and she was now following Merle's tracks from a distance. It was an easy thing to do, the young man wasn't trying to hide his cosmo. They soon left the Sanctuary's borders, going more or less in the direction of Athens.

While the Ophiuchus Saint wondered what Merle could hope to find in the vast, overpolluted and inhuman capital city, or anywhere else in a world full of people to whom his very existence was the stuff of legends either mocked or forgotten, the former apprentice stopped. Shaina followed suit, and looked around. They were still in the high hills surrounding the city, and there was a small abandoned monastery right next to them. She watched as Merle sighed heavily and then disappeared in the shadow of the ancient monastery's entrance gate. She waited for a few minutes, but the young man didn't reappear.

So, he intended to try to make his life in this lonely place.... Well, after all why not? It wasn't as if he could have fitted anywhere, not without sacrificing the core of what he was anyway. That thought set Ophiuchus Shaina's mind back on track.

It didn't make sense for Merle to have challenged Marin. She didn't know the former apprentice as well as the Aquila Saint of course, but still she knew the action was completely out of character. Shaina knew, like every other Saint in the Sanctuary, about the two eternal apprentices who'd never won the right to wear even a simple Bronze Cloth. Where many laughed about this, she had never been amused. She had eyes to see, and contrary to most she used them to watch what was going on around her.

She and Marin were among the--if not *the*--most powerful Saints left alive in the Sanctuary, and what she felt when she watched Merle and Lune train was a power beyond her and Marin's own, possibly even far, far beyond her and Marin's own.

Gold....

The possibility was appealing, as appealing as it was dangerous, for the two young men lacked guides who knew, who understood in the core of their beings what being gold meant. Neither she nor Marin could help past a certain point, and the thought of something going wrong, of potential Gold Saints going wild, turning rogue was terrifying.

Shaina hadn't so much worried about Merle as she'd worried about Lune. That one bore watching.

A master chess-player, with a formidable intellect to back up his power, one who would never waver in the conquest of his goal. A ruthless, merciless warrior.

Shaina had expected a challenge to come from Lune at some point in the future. She knew, now that all the Gold Saints were dead and their Cloths masterless, that the call must be almost impossible to resist. Both young men *must* reach the part of themselves that they still lacked.

But Merle would have asked, he would never have seized.

Shaking her head, she sighed in exasperation. Something didn't fit. She knew Merle's heart was drawing him towards Marin, stupid though it was, but could this have been behind the challenge? The Goddess knew the young man was sensitive enough to fell what her constant watch was doing to Marin; had he wanted to free her from that, somehow? No matter how incredibly foolish the attempt had been, he might have been driven beyond all notion of caution or reason by what his senses told him, but still....

Lune would have seen the madness there was in challenging Marin.

And Merle would have opened his heart to the only friend he'd ever had. That Lune hadn't talked him out of it, or had somehow failed to was more than worrying. There was no way Lune would have missed the danger and quasi-certitude of failure which would result of challenging a Silver Saint wearing her Cloth and experienced in combat whereas Merle not only hadn't been, but what was more must have come to the challenge with his emotions in turmoil.

Shaina had seen enough of the two young men together to know who led, and who had ascendancy over the other, and that wasn't Merle. If Lune had wanted to, he could have stopped his friend from making a grievous mistake. Shaina could only conclude that for some reason Lune had let Merle go alone to his doom.

And if that were to be true....

Lune's eyes narrowed as he struck with all his strength at his imaginary opponent. He then went through a series of lightning-quick moves, focusing his mind on targets and precision. Once h was done, he walked back to the protective shade cast by a huge, half broken marble column on the edge of the training field. Absentmindedly wiping the sweat from his brow, he reviewed each of his movements and smiled, quite satisfied with his performance. He'd worked for a long time honing his technique to reach perfection, and it felt as though he had at last achieved it. Of course, it would have been more convenient to put that to the test if Merle had been there to play the opponent's part, but....

Merle was gone now, a simple memory of Lune's past among countless others.

Lune shrugged, turning his mind towards a much more interesting subject. He'd observed Ophiuchus Shaina very closely while she was asking him questions this morning, and he had seen the wariness in her, the slightest of tensions in her body that she hadn't been able to hide from him. He frowned, forced to acknowledge the possibility that Shaina was watching him with more attention than he had though, and might suspect the truth of what had transpired.

The Ophiuchus Saint was a stern, silent and vaguely threatening figure who rarely talked for any other purpose than to deliver barbered, sharp and sarcastic comments. In a way, Lune knew that she was a bit similar to him, both of their minds finely trained weapons which would see clearly through deception and wouldn't shy away from reality, no matter how unpleasant they found it to be. And if Shaina started wondering about Lune, well....

It was high time he made his first move anyway.

Grinning widely, Lune walked away from the training field. the afternoon's sun was starting to annoy him, and besides he was done with exercises. What better way to spend the hottest part of the day than to take a long, well-deserved nap? At sunset he'd wake up rested and in a good mood.

Then he would have some fun.

There was something soothing in the repetitive, mechanical movements of my arms as I rubbed the hard piece of soap over and over the cloth I had laid down on the conveniently flat stone. The rhythm of the ceaseless motions drowned my mind, allowing it to relax somehow, and stop focusing on the past.

"What on earth are you doing, Marin?"

Without pausing to see who had come, I replied evenly, "Washing laundry, I thought it was obvious." There was almost no sound as Shaina joined my side and squatted down, looking at the small brook right in front of us.

She snorted. "In the middle of the afternoon?"

Rinsing the shirt I had just washed in the stream's clear waters, I shrugged. "Why not? The water's cool and works wonderfully to help one forget about the infernal heat. Besides, I couldn't have slept even if I had wanted to." I paused for a few seconds, reaching out for the next cloth to be washed, and then added sarcastically, "Why do you ask? Have you suddenly become the inspector in charge of judging how I spend my free time?"

She laughed at that, then silence settled back over the place, troubled only by the peaceful sounds of the stream and of my washing the clothes. I let it stretch on, content to wait until Shaina felt like telling me what she'd come here to say. Eventually she shifted her position and sat on the stone, sighing.

"For how long have you exiled Merle?"

My hands kept on rhythmically rubbing the soap on the cloth's fabric as I replied softly, "Forever."

"What?!"

Keep the rhythm.

Focus.

Rinse the cloth.

There.

In a flat voice, I repeated, "Forever."

Shocked silence followed my words, until at last she said, "I don't want to know what drove you to make such a harsh decision. I didn't come here for that. Have you considered how illogical it was for Merle to challenge you?" I nodded silently, and she sent on, "Good, at least a part of your brain is still functioning." I ignored the irony in her tone, letting it slide over me and aware it was at least partly deserved. "Have you also considered that the fool must have discussed this with his friend Lune, who did nothing to prevent Merle from rushing towards almost certain failure?"

I stood, gathering a pile of now clean clothes, and walked towards the side of my house where a long rope had been tied to two Olive trees. As I started hanging the clothes to dry, I told Shaina, "Lune may have tried to stop him and failed. Merle can be incredibly stubborn."

Shaina threw her arms up in disgust, exclaiming, "Oh sweet Goddess, Marin! Do you really want me to start being offending?!" I kept on hanging more clothes to dry, unmoved. She sighed loudly. "You know Lune's the one who leads and decides. For as long as you've trained them, Lune's always been the dominant of the pair, isn't that so?"

I smiled behind the newly repaired mask. "You're right, but Merle is convinced I am killing myself on the watch. If you knew the person you love is doing something that's draining her life away, would you let anything prevent you from stopping that person?"

"No, I wouldn't. But Lune could have stopped Merle anyway. I know I'm not wrong when I say this. I don't think you fully realize how dangerous that redhead is. And even if you don't tend to agree with me, the possibility of my being right is worth pondering." Shaina's voice reduced to a barely audible whisper. "*Think*, why would Lune let his only friend run towards disaster?"

To watch.

To learn more.

And eventually....

I turned towards Shaina, nodding. "Your point is well taken."

Her warning had really been unnecessary. Merle and Lune had been my students for years. I knew them, I knew them far better than Shaina or Lune suspected. I was not that much of a fool.

Merle and Lune, two young stars who longed to shine even brighter than they already did, to rise higher in the sky....

Beautiful young hawks, their talons restrained by slowly cracking leather laces.

Beautiful.

And lethally dangerous.

"All right, whomever it is who was crazy enough to come here now, show yourself so that I can teach you how bad a mistake it is you've just made."

Lune chuckled softly as he heard Ophiuchus Shaina's voice. She really sounded as if she was in a particularly foul mood. But then, it was true that he had likely forced her to wake up. He could sympathize with her, but unfortunately the small matter of his challenge couldn't wait until the morrow.

Stepping out of the shadows to stand in the faint starlight, Lune bowed at the slim Silver saint, and smiled.

I tensed as I felt the clash of two powerful cosmo, and turned towards Star Hill, my fingers gripping the stone beneath them so hard it was on the verge of shattering. I knew the owners of both auras, just as I knew by the sheer intensity of the power unleashed that Shaina had just used the Thunder Claw, her deadliest attack. Even Seiya had been beaten by that one, almost sliced to pieces; but I knew the terrible attack held almost no chance of success against one with a power close to or equal to a Gold Saint's. And what I had just felt coming form Lune....

A storm.

The wildest of storms which broke at the coming of spring.

Full of raw and untamed power.

Rushing forward and sweeping everything in its wake.

Unstoppable.

Still, Ophiuchus Shaina had faced a Gold Saint before, she'd faced two God Warriors and even Poseidon himself. She had a knowledge and experience of life and death combat which Lune couldn't hope to match. Perhaps it would be enough. Perhaps....

When Merle had faced me, he had refused to defend against the Eagle Toe Flash for fear of taking my life. I knew that, just as I knew I owed my victory solely to that one decision of his. As I kept staring towards Star Hill, I couldn't help thinking that Lune would never make such a mistake.

Lune set a knee on the cold stone beside the prone shape of the Silver Saint, and reached out to her, feeling for her throat. Her pulse was steady and strong. Looking at her appraisingly, he thought that her Cloth had saved her life, which was a good thing. To have lost someone like Shaina would have been a waste, a necessary sacrifice certainly, but one Lune was glad he had been able to avoid.

The young woman's left shoulder was broken in at least two places, her Cloth shattered on those spots. She had revealed herself to be a tough, interesting opponent, her Thunder Claw a surprisingly quick attack, but which lacked the raw, wild violence of Marin's Eagle Toe Flash; and as speed wasn't exactly a problem for Lune.... continuing to assess the damage he'd caused to the young woman, he thought she had some broken ribs as well, but nothing that wouldn't quickly mend. All in all, it had turned out almost perfectly for him. The Ophiuchus Cloth could be repaired; Lune knew the Aries Saint's apprentice and heir was still alive, he'd spied him near Marin's or Shaina's houses on occasion. He was quite sure that the brat had retained the most precious knowledge of all: the art to shape and heal the living beings known as the Cloths.

For a fraction of a second, Lune's hand hovered over Shaina's masked face, and then he chuckled silently. He couldn't deny he was curious, but deep within him he knew he couldn't do this to her. To use all and any means necessary to strike her down and reach his goal was one thing. To take off the mask covering the Ophiuchus Saint's face....

No.

Reassured that the young woman lying at his feet could be left unattended and would wake in her own time, Lune turned away from her, and started up the second largest flight of stairs in the Sanctuary.

Up towards Star Hill.

Lune stopped as he reached the Altar of Foretellings. It stood bare and unprotected at the peak's very top, open to the sky, to the night and the stars' sacred light. It was impressive in itself, but what had frozen Lune in his steps had been the sight of the corpse lying over the altar.

The *feeling* of the aura floating around the perfectly kept body of a man as beautiful as he was regal, his appearance at once young and ancient....

There was something divine about him, Lune instinctively knew it in his heart. Eventually he took a few respectful steps towards the dead, certain he had guessed who it was: Shion, former Chosen of the Goddess, Representative of Athena on Earth during the terrible war against Hades two hundreds and forty-three years ago, and also former Gold Saint of Aries before Aries Mu. Lune rested his right hand's fingertips on the marble, mere inches away from the body, puzzled.

He knew the Sanctuary's cemetery held a tomb for Shion, he could remember having seen the name engraved in the stone on a distant night. Now if there was a grave, why were the man's mortal remains still *here* of all places, and intact after so many years?

After a few minutes of silent and fruitless consideration, Lune shrugged. That mystery could wait to be solved later. He had come here for a reason. It was high time the power of this sacred place be put to good use.

Stepping away from the altar itself, Lune focused his cosmo and looked up.

Darkness.

Black.

Heavy and oppressive.

Alive.

Nothingness.

Lune breathed deeply, shaken. There was indeed power here, power vast, so infinitely vast it was almost frightening, even for him.

The power to know that which would come to pass.

The future, all the infinite possibilities of Fate that the stars knew and which could be read here. But.... Lune focused his whole self, calling up all the cosmo he had and *willing* the Altar of Foretellings to reveal its secrets to him. The knowledge was here, he knew it, he could feel the power swirling around him like a wild mountain stream, but...nothing.

Above him, the stars remained silent and hidden.

As if drowned under an ocean of darkness.

Eventually Lune stepped back, giving up for now. *Angry*. There was something wrong, but he had no idea what. Shaking his head and willing the burning anger away, he tried to understand what was happening, why the stars had remained sealed for him, and failed. There was no explanation for this absurd turn of events, unless....

Unless one had to reach the Goddess' Altar first, thus gaining the true right to use the power of this place.... Slight and unlikely though the possibility was, it was worth pondering. Besides, the solution to that was an easy one.

Lune would simply have to challenge Aquila Marin a bit earlier than he had intended to.

The night was ending. I hadn't felt anything more from Star Hill after the gigantic explosion of power, it had been as if a veil of darkness had engulfed the place. I could only hope that Shaina had somehow prevailed, and--

Breathing, labored.

Steps.

I ran towards the Stairs, and saw a distant shape staggering, fighting to come up.

Just one little step higher.

And that Cloth.... Unheeding of caution, I hurled myself forward and ran down the Stairs, reaching Shaina just in time to catch her as she collapsed.

I set her down as gently as I could, feeling something icy gripping my heart when I saw the shattered Cloth on her left shoulder. Goddess, what kind of strength was required to break a Silver Cloth with bare hands? It was--

"Lune...."

I looked at Shaina's mask, from which blood was slowly running down her throat. A part of me wanted to tell her to shut up and escape the pain in unconsciousness, but I desperately needed whatever information she could give me. So I held my peace and focused on her faint whisper. "He's gone...up. But he'll come...come for you. Beware, his power...." The fingers of her right hand gripped my arm with despaired strength. "His power is beyond...." I thought she had passed out then, but a last word reached my ears.

"Gold."

End of Part 4.

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