Chapter Five

SAORI

"Athena, are you there?" shouted Shiryu.

My knees went watery with relief.  "Shiryu!  Are the others with you?"

"Yes, we're here!" called out Shun's voice.

"Can somebody please tell me what happened to Seiya?  Is he all right?"

There was a pause.  "He's just unconscious.  There's nothing wrong with him.  
We think," Hyoga concluded.  The doubt in his tone alarmed me.  Could they be hiding 
something?  Hyoga continued, "We'll get you out, Saori-san."

"Well, be quick about it!" I snapped, then started guiltily.  When would spoiled 
Saori stop asserting herself?

That was a strange thought.  Wasn't Saori myself?  Then why was I thinking as if 
she was some unwanted intruder?  That could mean it was Athena thinking.but could 
she still be here, after her power had been sapped dry?  I put that away for later.  Right 
now it didn't matter whether I was Saori or Athena; getting out of this room did.

The door gave a clacking sound then sprung open, revealing Ikki's emotionless 
countenance.  I burst out, my eyes automatically searching for Seiya.  I saw him spread 
on the floor facedown, Shun kneeling next to him.  "Seiya!" I cried out.

"He's fine, Saori-san," Shun said soothingly.  

I went down on one knee, cradling Seiya's head carefully between my hands.  
Goodness, what sort of energy could knock Seiya out like this?  Remembrance sent an 
electric shock through me: the man in the silver armor.  "I'll take care of Seiya," I said to 
my four Saints.  

Shiryu nodded.  "Let's go after him," he said, gesturing at someone near the 
stairs.  

I hadn't noticed the man before but now I saw clearly who it was: Jason.  Yet 
there was something in his stance that was jarringly unlike the man that had approached 
me at the city park and brought me to this castle.  My mind conjured up the man who had 
materialized from the glass ball.  The man had apparently taken possession of Jason.  

"Wait, don't..." Before I could finish my sentence, Shiryu, Hyoga, Shun and Ikki 
flew at the man.  I wanted to go after them, warning them not to wound Jason, but the 
weight of Seiya's head on my lap stopped me.  I bit my lip, torn between staying with 
Seiya and protecting Jason.  Which one should I choose?


IKKI

Seiya was injured, but it didn't look very serious.  If it were, Shun would be very 
anxious.  Besides, he was used to injury, it was like his second nature.  He would recover 
shortly.  Meanwhile, there was that smirking redhead, whom Harmonia had called 
Busiris, to tend to.  I wasn't very certain what his place was in the entire scene, but from 
the look of things he was an enemy of the Cimmerians and he had had Athena locked up.  
Therefore, he couldn't be a good guy.  I wished - not for the first time - that we still had 
our Cosmos with us.

We launched a combined attack at Busiris - Shiryu and I closing in from the left, 
Shun and Hyoga from the right - but he didn't seem too bothered.  He was, in fact, 
smiling as he avoided our blows.  To my astonishment, he was edging closer towards the 
stairs.  It was as though he was seeking to fall down the stairs.

And that was what happened: one swinging kick from Hyoga forced him to leap 
back - either rashly or calculatedly, I couldn't tell.  He fell down the stairs, bouncing 
from step to step as he did so, and landed not far from Harmonia, whom he had clearly 
thrown down the stairs.  She shrieked something at us but I didn't pay attention; instead I 
watched Busiris closely.

Busiris rose to a sitting position, grinning.  He said something rather cryptic about 
finding another body, which seemed to make Harmonia both more frantic and more 
frightened.  Aristaios blanched.  Then realization streaked fire across my brain.

This was Hades all over again.  The redhead was their friend, Aristaios' brother 
maybe, but some evil spirit had taken hold of him.  They wanted to kill whoever or 
whatever it was, yet Jason's physique stood in the way.

I was deciding to kill or maim the man, whoever he might be, when I remembered 
Giudecca.  Facing Shun as Hades was the most hideous thing I had had to go through, 
equaled only by Esmeralda's death.  Aristaios' face as he stared at the man on the floor 
couldn't describe his turbulent feelings better.  If I killed the man, Aristaios' gratitude 
would be drowned by his hatred, and he would never rest until he killed me as a payback.  
I didn't need someone with a settle to score to be tagging along with me.  

Shun looked from Busiris to me and said, "Niisan..."  I knew that he had also 
grasped the situation.  

Busiris was getting to his feet.  "Come on down, Saints!" he said jovially.  "Don't 
tell me you're afraid of me, all four of you?"

"Don't try to provoke us, Busiris, or whatever your name is," Hyoga answered in 
a voice true to his name.  "You know very well that without our Cosmos we can't 
possibly do much against you."

The castle shook and we all swayed.  The ceiling began to sport cracks, and the 
railings on the stairs trembled violently.  Harmonia howled hair-raisingly, a sound of pure 
frustration and blind anger.  Aristaios went even paler.  Busiris just smiled, one hand on 
his hip.  I would dearly give anything to slap that smile off.

Abruptly Shiryu sprinted down.  "You are wrong to underestimate Saints, 
Busiris," he said, and I saw that he was still holding the sword Harmonia had lent him.  
"We've said time and again it isn't only Cosmos and Cloths that make a Saint!"

Busiris dodged easily as Shiryu swung the blade at him.  He deliberately stamped 
down one foot on Harmonia's hand.  She withdrew the hand with an oath.  Aristaios 
hooked a hand around her waist wordlessly and dragged her away from the battle arena.  
She clenched her teeth, beads of sweat glittering on her brow.

Shiryu pressed on with his attacks, but Busiris was agile despite his recent fall.  
No matter where Shiryu's sword hunted him, or how perceptive Shiryu was of his 
movements, Busiris always managed to evade.  Then with one quick jump he was already 
very near Shiryu.  Shiryu, caught off guard, tried to retract his steps, but Busiris' hand 
had darted out and clasped his wrist.  He twisted it vigorously, and Shiryu had no other 
option than to drop his sword.  It fell to the floor.  Busiris kicked it away.

"Well, Saints, I finally get what I've wanted," he said.  "This land is going down 
the drain and you all with it.  With no Cosmos you can't escape from here!"

Something long and thin coiled up from one of the corridors on the second floor.  
It entwined around Busiris' ankle and yanked.  Busiris fell on his face.  The object, which 
looked like a piece of cloth, glided off his ankle.

"Marpessa!" Shun called out.  He ran down the stairs, while I and Hyoga 
followed.  From the corridor a woman on a wheelchair came into sight.  I saw that it was 
her shawl that had tripped Busiris.  Shun rushed to her.  "Are you all right?"

The woman called Marpessa gave a brief nod, then looked at Busiris.  "Busiris, I 
never thought you'd dare to show up ever again."

Busiris, already back on his feet, sneered.  "I see you've been keeping on your 
toes, Marpessa."

Marpessa gasped and went paper white.  Obviously the biting irony wasn't lost on 
her.  Shun, on the other hand, went pink with anger.  It was a rare sight, and I wondered 
why he should be so furious at Busiris' jibe.

Suddenly Aristaios emerged next to Busiris.  "Busiris, I think you've done 
enough," he said.  His tone was low but all of us could hear his every word distinctly.  I 
noticed that Aristaios wasn't holding his writing slab.  Was he going to attack Busiris 
with bare hands?

"What can you do about it, Aristaios?" Busiris said neutrally.  He didn't appear to 
take Aristaios as a real threat, although Aristaios was standing very close to him.  "And if 
you do defeat me, how do you propose to stop Cimmeria from being demolished?"

"I haven't found a way yet," said Aristaios in the same low voice.  "But I do 
know you're not going to involve Jason in this."

He raised his right hand and it was holding Harmonia's sword.  With an accurate 
thrust he stabbed Busiris in the shoulderblade.


SEIYA

"...ya..."

Pain needled into my brain and I winced away from it.  The darkness was getting 
lighter, however.  I could vaguely hear someone's voice.  Who was it?

"Seiya...Seiya, wake up!  Seiya!"

Saori.  Saori calling me from a vast distance.  Then I recalled that she was locked 
up and I had to get her out.  I strove to swim out of the surrounding dark.  I couldn't be 
passing out when Saori had to be saved.  The dark parted for a second then closed in on 
me again.  I willed myself not to yield to it.  

"Seiya!" Saori's voice was now filled with relief.

Gradually the dark subsided. Her worried face was a blur that slowly sharpened 
into a focused image.  The tension I read on her expression loosened minutely as full 
consciousness began to insert itself into my mind.

"Athena..."

"Seiya, you have to get up!"  She was tugging urgently at my arm.  "The others 
are fighting, you can't be lying here helpless!"

Fighting?  Fighting with what?  I had no Cosmos left, and if the others couldn't 
take down whatever opponent they were up against, what good would I do?  Dull pain 
was beating rhythmically in my occiput, and my eyes were heavy.  I wanted to lie down, 
just a little while until the pain receded.

Saori was shaking me.  "Snap out of it!  You've got to go help the others!"

Drowsiness crept through my system.  "Yes," I mouthed, "in a moment..."

Through sleep-laden eyelids I saw Saori raise her arm.  It cracked across my face, 
sending bright jolts of shock throughout my head.  My cheek was scorching, my eyes 
brimming with tears, but the numbness was also swept away in an instant.  I sat bolt 
upright, staring at her.  She was trembling but defiant.

"You go down there and help them," she said, choked.

"How?" My hand went up to touch my cheek and I grimaced.  If she had so much 
strength in her, I wondered why she hadn't broken the door herself before we arrived.  "I 
have no Cosmos and no Cloth now."

She took a deep breath.  "That's what the Cimmerians keep drilling into you five.  
And that's what Busiris wants.  He wants you to believe that you're essentially disabled 
here.  That is not true, you hear me?"  Her lavender eyes sparkled, either with anger at 
our idiocy or with passion I couldn't be sure.  "Seiya, you and your brothers have reached 
a level no other Saints had ever achieved.  You had received my blood - Athena's blood 
- and don't you dare forget it!  I didn't do it so that you could whine and feel sorry that 
you have lost your Cosmos!"

I gazed at her.  Here before me was Saori, but a different Saori than the pampered 
young woman I had known.  Here was Saori with full knowledge and awareness of how 
she should conduct herself as Athena.  For that transitory moment I saw, with unbiased 
transparency, Athena and her only.

She was saying, "Even at the beginning no one gave Cosmos to the Saints.  They 
gained it themselves.  Their Senseis simply showed them how.  Are you paying attention?  
You'd better."  Her voice dropped half an octave, and the stormy look was gone from 
her.  Instead she continued in a more subdued tone, "Seiya, you are a Saint and your 
Cosmos is your own.  Not even Cimmeria can take it away from you.  Do you 
understand?  Your Cosmos will always be within you, never to be obliterated.  It is up to 
you to revive it.  Remember how you felt you couldn't go on in Elysion?"

I did.  Neesan's cry and Athena's faith had kept me from failing.  I blinked at her 
now, my spirit mounting along with a familiar heat that made me tingle - that made me 
feel fully alive.  "Who am I fighting for now?"

She stood up, her hand extended.  I took it and she pulled me to my feet.  "For the 
same thing as in the previous battles, and the ones after this," she replied.  "Athena - and 
your brothers."


SHUN

Busiris threw back his head and uttered a ululating scream that seemed to shake 
the rafters.  I clutched at my elbows, the hair on my nape stirring.  The sound was so 
inhuman, so eldritch.  Shiryu's eyes were slits of concentration, and Hyoga hunched his 
shoulders, ready for anything.  Niisan moved a little closer to me.

Aristaios let the sword drop with a suffocated sob.  Tears were spilling freely 
down his cheeks.  I was puzzled, then I recalled that Busiris was supposedly a soul 
inhabiting the body of a person named Jason.  I guessed this Jason must be someone after 
Aristaios' own heart.

Blood was turning the front of Busiris' clothes scarlet.  Busiris staggered and 
pressed his hand against the wound.  Tendrils of black smoke emanated from his back.  
Then he crumpled forward like a rag doll.  The smoke whirled up and began to take the 
form of a man.

Harmonia cried out, "Jason!" but she grimaced as she tried to budge.  Aristaios 
knelt down next to Jason's body, the tears falling harder.  He took Jason's hand and 
squeezed it, his expression that of a sleepwalker.

Hades, I thought dazedly.  It was just like when Hades took control of my body.  
Except that now Aristaios alone managed to drive out Busiris' spirit from Jason.  Yet it 
must have hurt him beyond words, having to stab - his own brother? - as he had done.  
My respect for the man increased.  I stole a glimpse at Niisan and saw that his eyes were 
soft with understanding and compassion.

The black smoke was taking the shape of a long-haired man in metallic armor.  
He rose above our heads, tall and full of wrath.  This must be the genuine Busiris, and he 
was no comely sight.  On my left Marpessa murmured something that sounded like, 
"He's become a lot stronger."

Busiris' eyes, twin red holes, bore into us.  "Saints," he said, his voice ringing and 
ugly, "I will make you pay for meddling in affairs which aren't yours."

"Think again, Busiris!"

We all looked up and I couldn't help exclaiming, "Seiya!"  For it was Seiya on 
top of the stairs, smiling and confident as always.  Of Saori-san there was no sign, but if 
Seiya was smiling like that she must be unharmed.  He descended at a swift pace, his 
lively brown eyes daring Busiris to do his worst.  My heart swelled with joy; Seiya was 
here with us, and the five of us would be capable to do nearly anything.

"Why are you so enthusiastic, Pegasus?" said Busiris, his tone contemptuous. 
"Without Cosmos how would you confront me, who has all Athena's power?"

"Not all," Seiya corrected him, unperturbed.  "Athena still saves some strength for 
herself.  And we will beat you too."

"With swords?" Busiris motioned at the two swords strewn on the floor.

"No, with our Cosmos." To my amazement and gladness, Seiya began to glow in 
white.  His red shirt rippled a little and his eyes seemed to be lit from within.  "We Saints 
are in complete control of our Cosmos and nothing can rob it away from us.  I know that 
now, Busiris.  If we believe and if we set our heart to it, everything is possible for us."

His cosmos highballed up and struck out at Busiris.  Busiris lifted his open palm.  
Seiya's Cosmos smashed into the palm, stopped, then diffused.  I was stung into 
speechlessness: Busiris had made it look so easy.  Beside me, Niisan made an articulate 
sound of exasperation.

"That's all?" Busiris flicked his fingers, as if repelling dust.  "If that's all the 
Cosmos you can kindle, then you won't stand a chance against me.  Better be calm and 
die along with the Cimmerians."

"Stop dreaming, Busiris!" This was from Harmonia.  She was still lying on the 
floor, seemingly unable to move because of some grave wound, but she didn't lose any of 
her temper.  Her condition only inflamed it, I guessed.  "If we do die it won't be like 
meek lambs!  Aristaios!"  Her voice rose.  "Aristaios, help me!  Set my shoulder right so 
that I can attack Busiris!  Aristaios!"

Aristaios muttered intelligibly.  He was still holding on to Jason's hand as though 
he would never let it go.  My heart went out to him.

"I'm wasting my breath talking to you."  Busiris turned back to Seiya.  "Ready for 
some feedback, Pegasus?"

Before Seiya could answer, Busiris swept up his hand and blinding blue light 
burst from him.  It closed the distance between him and Seiya in less than a second.  
Seiya was flung back several paces and landed hard on the steps.  I watched 
apprehensively as he wavered to his feet.

"Seiya, are you okay?" I called out.

"I'm okay," he said tersely.  I knew he would never admit it even had all his 
bones been broken.  He gripped the railing and once again faced Busiris.  "Nice shot, 
Busiris.  But not nice enough."

"I can do more than that," Busiris said airily.

"Busiris." Shiryu stepped to the fore.  He was calm, maybe a little sad, but steel 
determination flashed in his eyes.  "You forget us, I think."

Busiris eyed him up and down.  "No, I don't.  What do you want, Dragon?  
Attack me with your combined forces?  Go ahead.  No matter how strong you five are, I 
have Athena's Cosmos to back me up.  Besides, even if you can summon your Cosmos, 
you still can't wear your Cloths here.  And your power will be child's play when your 
Cloths aren't with you."

"You are wrong," Hyoga spoke up.  His eyes were crystal ice as he stood next to 
Shiryu.  "The force of Cosmos does not depend on the Cloth.  We have proved that time 
and again."

"Spare me your description of the eighth sense," Busiris cut in.  "Cimmeria is like 
a quicksand for a Saint.  Most of your power is defunct here."

Niisan said, "Would you bet on it, Busiris?  Would you truly want to test us, see if 
the five of us can't defeat you?"  There was a glimmer in his eyes I knew too well.  
Niisan was going to defeat Busiris regardless of the cost, if only to show him no Saint 
could be taken lightly.

Seiya was radiating his white Cosmos again.  "Enough jabbering!  Come on, 
Busiris, I'll make you sorry you have ever taken Saints for granted."

Could I call forth my own Cosmos?  Could Niisan, Shiryu and Hyoga?  I didn't 
know, but if Seiya could, why not the rest of us?  So I closed my eyes, my mind 
wandering to that day, a lifetime ago, when my Sensei chained me in the hope that I 
would be Saint Andromeda.  I had been thinking of Niisan, of my Sensei's teachings, of 
how proud Niisan would be if I returned bringing a Cloth.  Life-giving energy had ignited 
inside me, then became an exhilarating gush.  Cosmos...love...faith...Until now I didn't 
realize how those three were firmly linked.  I had love and I had faith, so it could only 
mean I still had my Cosmos.  It never went away from me - it was one of my elements.

Strong fingers caught hold of my wrist.  Opening my eyes, I saw that it was 
Hyoga.  He nodded, and I saw the same realization I had arrived at in his face.  Niisan 
gripped my other hand.  Shiryu twined his arm around Hyoga's.  Seiya, who had gone to 
join us while I was doing my thinking, took Niisan's hand.  Fleetingly I noticed an 
astounded expression on Busiris' face.

Cosmos scaled up through me, with me.

We are Saints and we shall not founder.

Blessed heat course along my every pore, and the unmitigated power of Saint 
Andromeda curled up from me.  I could sense my brothers' Cosmos uniting with mine.  
Colorful, brilliant fire mushroomed overhead.  I heard a far off cry of surprise, and 
wondered if it was mine.


HYOGA

Ice, snow, blizzards and the wind.  

I was Cygnus, White Swan of the Arctic Ice Plains, and my Cosmos was but my 
entire self.

Our five Cosmos were plaited into a single mass of energy.  It zoomed at Busiris.  
His arms shot up and an orange shield of power curved in front of him.  Our Cosmos 
clashed against it.  For a second it appeared that he was trying to drive back our attack.  I 
tightened my hands around Shun and Shiryu's, expanding my outpouring of Cosmos. 
 
Then Busiris' shield fractured before it shattered into nothingness.  His wail 
wasn't completely drowned by the rush of our Cosmos as it blasted him into - pieces?  
One second he was there; the next, gone.  A rainbow of Cosmos floated upstairs from the 
spot Busiris had been standing.  

Thunder slashed loudly across the sky.  The wind rose insanely.  The building was 
shaking and I had no doubt we would be buried alive if we didn't get out soon.  But there 
was Athena, and the Cimmerians.  How could we leave those folks where they were, 
knowing they were sentenced to perish?

Then I saw Athena descending from the third floor.  She was serene and 
indescribably beautiful.  She reached out alabaster arms and the rainbow of Cosmos 
wafted at her.

"Cimmerians," she said, "may you live in eternal serenity and peace."

The Cosmos turned white and gold on Athena's upturned palms.  It solidified into 
a huge globe.  Ribbons of sizzling energy cavorted around it.  Athena lowered her hands, 
her face deadly solemn.  The globe shimmered before it stayed still.  The energy ribbons 
evaporated.

The sound of rain abated, then was reduced so drastically it might have been a 
radio being switched off.  Thunder boomed for the final time, then fell silent.  No wind 
could be heard either.  

My knees suddenly trembled but I managed not to fall.  Seiya was radiantly 
jubilant, while Shiryu just smiled his tranquil half-smile.  Shun was positively beaming 
and Ikki blew out his breath.  For myself, I felt as though a boulder had rolled off my 
chest.  We were Saints, we always would be, and we had proved it too.  Momma would 
have been very proud of me.

"Athena, thank you."

An old man whom I hadn't noticed before was climbing to the second floor.  He 
looked more than a hundred years old, and showed it.  Athena nodded gravely.

"Cheiron.  I have given your land back to you.  From now on you can live here 
without fear."

The ancient man bowed his head.  "You know how much Cimmeria means to us.  
If it is destroyed we are as good as dead."  He was assailed with barking coughs that 
made him bend like a branch in a storm.  When his fit passed, he went on, "My thanks, 
and my apologies if any of my pupils have displeased you."

"Ha!" Harmonia snorted.  Apparently she wasn't about to alter her opinion of 
Athena just because she had saved the land. 

"Ungrateful," Seiya murmured.

Harmonia heard him.  "It isn't that," she retorted, gasping with whatever injury 
she was suffering.  "I admit we may have been rude, offensive even, but when the place 
you have thought of as home is falling apart before your very eyes, sometimes you can't 
afford to be good hosts."  

Cheiron hobbled to Athena, and she met him halfway.  She gave him the globe, 
which he handled reverently.  "I entrust the Center to you," she said.

He assented and began to move toward the third floor, the globe on one hand and 
his cane on the other.  It should have been a funny scene, if it hadn't been for Cheiron's 
simple dignity, which was apparent from the way he moved.  Watching his dogged steps 
made me realize the profundity of the love these Cimmerians had for their land.  At least 
the real villain had only been Busiris and not these people.

My hand slipped into my pocket and touched something.  I pulled it out.  The 
glasses had one cracked lens and both bows had snapped.  I must have broken it when 
Busiris tossed us downstairs.  I stared at the glasses for some time, then slowly re-
inserted it into my pocket.


SAORI

As my eyes fell to the inert Jason, I was pervaded with sorrow.  He had been the 
most ardent in seeing that his land recover, and this was how he had been paid for his 
loyalty.  I went to kneel next to him.

"How is he?" I asked.

Aristaios raised red-rimmed eyes which refused to look at me.  I slipped my hand 
under Jason's limp form.  Without a word Aristaios helped me.  Between the two of us 
we managed to roll Jason onto his back.  

I put my hand on his chest, concentrating my energy into flowing there.  Jason 
didn't even twitch; he simply lay there, unresponsive.  After a couple of minutes I 
withdrew my hand.  Aristaios absent-mindedly pushed back strands of hair that clung 
damply to his brother's forehead.

Jason was ghastly pale, but his respiration was regular.  The wound Aristaios had 
inflicted on him had dried.  It was his eyes that greatly disturbed me, however.  They 
were wide open and unseeing.  

"Is Jason all right?" Harmonia finally said.

Aristaios nodded perfunctorily and my heart ached.  

"Liar."  The accusation in Harmonia's tone was sharp.  "Athena, can't you heal 
him?"

I wanted to tell her what Jason required was a long, long rest, which might last for 
decades.  Even then he might not be able to completely mend.  Somehow during his 
occupation of Jason's body Busiris had wrecked his mind.  This had not when Hades took 
possession of Shun.  It gave me chills to imagine what would have happened if Shun had 
become like Jason.

Harmonia groaned and turned her head aside.  

"Let me set your shoulder," I said, a bit lamely.

"Aristaios could do it for me, or Cheiron.  You have done enough."  There was no 
mistaking her barely restrained fury and grief.  "Leave Cimmeria and bring your Saints 
with you.  You have outstayed your welcome."

Seiya couldn't have been more right when he called her ungrateful, but I 
understood very well how she must have felt.  Jason was now no more than a broken, 
empty shell and that hurt her a lot.  It was too tremendous a price even for Cimmeria's 
recovery.

I rose to my feet.  "Take care of yourselves."

A woman on a wheelchair, who hadn't spoken a word until now, said, "Shun, take 
care."

He smiled fleetingly.  "Thank you, Marpessa."

My Saints were looking at me in mute sympathy.  Tears blurring my vision, I flew 
down the stairs, silent sobs racking my body.  At least I could cry and let some of it out.  I 
stumbled on, mourning Jason, mourning the bitter turn events had taken.


Continued to Epilogue