Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction / Saint Seiya Fan Fiction ❯ The Intense Clash of the Gods ❯ Tale 44 ( Chapter 44 )

The sight of it stripped Fenrir, Cecil, Isaac, and Charybdis of all words... Death Queen Island was beyond their imaginations.

A smoldering, volcanic island that looked moreso to be found on a different planet.

"That's it..." Minos said as the plane creeped closer to the island, a feeling of dread welling up in the others. "What's the matter? Didn't you guys all say you could handle it?"

"I... didn't think it would be that bad..." Fenrir stated.

The plane landed eventually, Minos popping the door open and slipping outside. "What's the matter?!?" He called it, "Seriously, don't be intimidated by it!"

Clenching his fists, Isaac stepped out first, followed by Charybdis, Cecil, and finally Fenrir. True, Minos was encouraging them to not quake with fear, but this was like nothing they had ever seen at all.

Minos, on the other hand, was tersely biting his lip nervously... he had thought he could do this...

"Okay, what's the game plan then?" Charybdis asked him. He turned to her, suddenly looking more uneasy then them.

"What else? Scrape out a living here," he answered.

"Something the matter?" Cecil asked.

"It's just something I thought I... thought I could handle," Minos answered. "But the date of the Galaxian Wars just looms at me with each passing second and..."

"Shion," Fenrir blatantly announced, Minos flinching at the word. "What the bloody hell is your connection with him?"

Minos turned away from them all, gritting his teeth. This certainly was not like him at all... not the inspirational and indomitable Specter who could stare down unstoppable enemies without a bead of sweat.

If only they knew why I focus so much on my battles... Minos thought as he began walking away. "I don't have to explain anything to-"

"WOLF CRUELTY CLAW!"

"FENRIR!" Cecil, Isaac, and Charybdis shouted as the God Warrior had quickly slipped on his gauntlets and slashed at Minos, who turned and quickly bent out of the way. As soon as he passed by Minos, however, Fenrir spun around, backhanding Minos away.

"I asked you a question," Fenrir said as Minos wiped the blood away from the side of his face. "You're stronger than me, I'll give you that. But that's no reason to shirk away from a stupid answer!"

"Believe me... if you knew of half the dirty secrets surrounding Sanctuary, you wouldn't want to dig them up from your memory either." Minos turned and walked away, Fenrir pulling back for a Buster Wolf all the while before a hand suddenly popped out of nowhere and gripped it. Fenrir growled, seeing Minos's armor appear on him, his wings spreading wide before he took off flying.

"Leave it," Charybdis commanded, Fenrir noting she had grabbed him, through One World, with her right hand. "Leave it or I'll turn on Gram's power and shred your arm to ribbons. I don't know what Minos's problem is, but there's stuff I don't talk about with Sanctuary, and I'm sure the same goes with Isaac."

"Never set foot there," Isaac plainly stated, "But there were plenty of Saints that visited Hyoga and I up in Russia... never spoke a word about a billion things. Good enough for me."

"So is Sanctuary a bad place then?" Cecil asked.

Charybdis shook her head. "Far from it... but with an organization that has 88 armored warriors, PLUS a considerably large force of basic foot soldiers, and then the Pope who is supposed to hide his face from for his entire tenure save for his successor... there's been enough scandals and backstabbing there that it's not the best place for the inexperienced, gullible, and unlucky. Calypso and I learned that the hard way."

By now Minos was merely a dot in the sky.

"Fenrir, leave him. He's done enough for us already." Isaac asked, Volsung's expression slowly becoming less hostile.

"Fine then... can't afford to worry about anything other than survival, right?" he asked, looking around. "We've got work to do..."
_
Eurydice paced through the streets of Tokyo, keeping a low profile in the night. She hadn't expected the priestess's power to suddenly jump through the roof... or maybe it was different.

The damnable Griffon had killed enemies more then a hundred times his strength, his victory over Malphas Zephyr was a testament to that time and time again, and for years, Eurydice had wondered how Minos had ever pulled that win off.

Comparing their abilities on paper, Zephyr should have killed Minos in less than a second... but then again, Minos was the most inventive Specter in all of history, save for Samuel Laimi.

Perhaps her defeat at Minos's hand had taught Mizuki the importance of improv during battle.

It WOULD explain a lot-

"Miss, you can't be here," a security guard said. Eurydice quickly regained her bearings, realizing she was already in the morgue, the guard's pistol pointed at her head.

"You won't shoot me," she said plainly, moving towards the storage area. "Stringer Fine."

There was the sound of blood bursting everywhere as a gigantic host of string bound and ripped the guard apart, allowing Eurydice the privacy she needed.

True, Nerve had only planned for two Hakkeshu to be something special, but she had put her own investment into the program secretly... and with the Pentrine out of the city, she could easily fall to her Ambrosia back-up plan.

And Isabeau would be more than willing to show the sun goddess who was the true mistress of flames.

Sliding out a dead body, Eurydice looked down and smiled.

"Awaken, Kaede. Assume the mantel I wished for you..." she smirked and walked away, hearing the sounds of the young man groaning... Chary certainly had done a number on him... The gigantic scar across the middle of his face was a testament. But the Sea Dragon had met her match in the form of Seiryu... the Azure Dragon of the East.

"Wha? Who are you?" he asked. Kaede then realized he was somehow alive again... a tremendous shock to his system.

"I am, technically speaking, your mother," Eurydice stated. "You were created in a genetics program I helped organize for Nerve. While one of you was meant to become the perfect human, Shinji Ikari, and the other would be a bargaining chip with Sanctuary, Rei Ayunami, you were my secret weapon. You are not something as lowly as just an Orochi head... there is a greater duty for you to accept." She held out her hand. "Would you like to join your partners? I have a plan for all of you, and Kaede, you will discover power beyond that of even Project Tear."

Kaede looked at her and answered immediately. "Certainly."
_
"Oh, Minos... it's good to see you again. As you can notice, the flooding wasn't too bad here."

Minos looked around at Hilda's suggestion, noting much of the water had been frozen solid, most likely by Hagan. "Sleipnir, I assume."

"Naturally. You should have seen the look on his face, you'd be proud," Hilda said, noting Minos was still looking around.

"Speaking of Hagan... where is he?"

"Oh, he decided since the disaster of the week was averted that he'd go into the wilderness for a bit, try to find in it what made Fenrir and Cecil unstoppable. I really don't know where he is, though. I mean, if Fenrir and Cecil were able to live in there for most of their lives without running into civilization, let alone each other, I think we'll just have to wait."

The words echoed as Minos nodded his head. His discipline from Laimi kept him from cracking as he walked away from Hilda, rounding a bend in Valhalla.

That was just how it was.

BUT WHY THE HELL DID IT HAVE TO BE THAT WAY!?!

Minos's fist pounded into the wall as tears welled up in his eyes.

Why the blood hell was fate trying to make him go back to Greece! Anything else... just not that! Fighting powerful opponents was one thing...

He just couldn't... he just-

"Minos... what's wrong?"

He felt Hilda's hand on his shoulder, and he turned to see the Polaris matriarch standing there. "It's the most painful memory anyone could ever have, if you must know."

"Tell me about it."

"I'd rather die," Minos said as he started walk away, but was tugged back by Hilda's ironclad grip on his arm.

A hard, painful smack was landed on his face, and he turned to see Polaris looking sternly at him.

"Is the great Griffon Specter so scared of something in his past he'd rather flee and just tell someone?" she asked, irritated.

"You have no idea how much it-"

Another smack cut him off.

"It doesn't matter! Where's the Minos that would face a challenge no matter how tough the odds and do it without fear?!? This isn't like you dammit! Dammit, man! TELL ME!" She struck at him again, but Minos caught her hand.

Their gazes met, and slowly, Minos let go, squatting down on the floor, biting his lip nervously. This was probably the most difficult thing he'd ever do in his life...

"It started four years ago..."
_
Sanctuary usually holds smaller-scale tournament for trainees to fight for a Cloth without an owner. I had just turned nineteen, and Shion was just five days away from being nineteen too. At stake was the Coma Berenices Cloth... it was just a Bare Cloth, but it was still something, or so I thought at first.

It was just us two, the final round... we had both been trained by Dohko Kido, and like every single day of training we ever had, we were perfectly matched. As hard as one of us hit, the other hit back just as hard. As you would imagine, however, I was a lot weaker back then, and had nowhere near the kind of expertise with my string that I do now.

We battled... what seemed like hours... we tired at an even rate, we found our second winds at the same times, and it continued to be a stalemate.

But then... then I began to think. What was the point? I was nineteen... trying out for the lowest rank of Cloth there was. The Coma Berenices cloth didn't really do much of anything, and it offered hardly any protection whatsoever. I decided to take the high road out and just let Shion's next move bowl me over.

It was then he decided to use his secret weapon... the Starlight Revolution.

I wasn't expecting it, and when it hit... the move nearly killed me.

When I woke up, I found myself in the Underworld... and being a Saint, the Specters naturally wanted me to not even get my entitled shot at the Trial of 108 Fates. Even Aiacos and Radamanthys didn't think I deserved it.

Of all of the Specters at the time, the only one that spoke up for me as Samuel Laimi, a low ranking Specter... the Worm of the Terrestrial Hidden Star. Since Hades's incarnation hadn't been found yet, the final say-so rested with the eldest Specter, the then-Griffon Specter Aberfica Laocorn.

He decided I'd get my Trial, but I'd have to get through two rounds before fighting him for my chance of revival. The first, ironically, was Laimi. That will go down as the fight that opened my eyes. Starting with that battle... I vowed never to just let the other guy win. Not only that, I'd think on my feet and use a constantly changing style.

In a long fight, I managed to win. My second opponent was to be the Basilisk of the Celestial Swift Star, but nobody had claimed that position yet. Laocorn decided it was good enough and he fought me. That was another tough fight... but as all the Specters and I found out first-hand, when you end up rolling for a Specter position in the Trial of 108 Fates and you end up with an unoccupied position, you might end up becoming that Specter. Aberfica discovered that the hard way... on the receiving end of the very first Basilisk Mind Shot.

My undying determination also helped win over some Specters, at least a little. I thanked Laimi for his support and returned the Basilisk Surplice, returning to the land of the living. I found myself back in the arena, now vacant, but I heard Dohko shouting at someone from far away. I found my master and Shion arguing with two girls... I recognized them as the sister of Seiya, Seika Miho, and the childhood friend of Shiryu, Mei Shunrei. Dohko, being essentially immortal, trained numerous students each generation, and Shiryu and Seiya were two of his recent ones.

Words were exchanged between the four of them... Shunrei and Seika wanted Seiya and Shiryu to have normal lives. Dohko eventually grew tired of it all and struck them down.

They were barely alive. They needed medical attention immediately. Dohko emotionlessly told Shion to kill them or he'd denounce Shion as a traitor to Sanctuary.

Shion did it without a second thought.

I fled Sanctuary under the cover of darkness... seeing Dohko and Shion do that... that's why...
_
"That's why I'll never set foot in Greece ever again," Minos finished. "And with this Galaxian Tournament, I was hoping that Hagan would take my place in the group."

Hilda nodded. "I... I understand. You can go."

"Thank you, Hilda." Minos turned and walked away, but he froze up at the sound of a knife being drawn.

"DEFEND YOURSELF, SYLPHID!"

He turned in time to see Hilda charging at him, a familiar blade in her hands...

The blade from Gungnir... he hadn't taken it to be trapped in the Pandora Box... something he would pay for dearly at that moment.

He jumped away, doing his best to avoid Polaris, confused by this all.

"It's time you just suck it up, Minos!" She shouted. "This is your life and those you know are counting on you!"

"They'll find a way to go on without me!" Minos answered.

She grit her teeth, charging. "HOW CAN THEY FIND THE RESOLVE TO KEEP FIGHTING WHEN THE STONE WALL THEY'VE FOUND SUPPORT IN WON'T?!?"

Minos was shocked by the words... shocked enough he didn't even feel the blade go in.

Hilda suddenly blinked, looking down as Minos collapsed on the floor. "Mi... Min... MINOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSS!!!"
_
"Are you serious?!?" Julien whispered to Mina and Mizuki as they sat in class. The seminar wouldn't be starting for a few more minutes, and Mizuki had been filling him in on her battle last night. "So Eurydice was orchestrating everything from the get-go?"

"Yeah," Mizuki answered. "And she might go after Mana and the others next... and they're still trashed from their defeats from Fenrir, Isaac, and Cecil."

"Well then... there's always that Radamanthys guy and Aiacos..." Mina said, "We could try to get in touch with them and find out what we can..."

Julien was about to speak when the professor walked up to the front of the class.

The man looked around before speaking up. "We have a new student transferring to M-- from a prestigious Italian university Imatitore Da Anime, Isabeau, would you please come in?"

The said girl, wearing blue jeans with images of stars around the bottom and a white and blue T-shirt, came in looking like everything was hers, her blue eyes quickly sweeping the crowd that contrasted her long and fiery-red hair.

Mizuki felt the urge to Makai Tempest her well up almost immediately.

Standing in front of the class, and speaking flawless Japanese, she announced herself. "Hello, my name is Isabeau Iginia Straffi."

 

A/N: For those that know the two characters in fiction Isabeau is based on, you know full well that she's is very much despised and hated in gaming/anime communities. For those that don't, Isabeau's first name stems from the Mugen customized character of the same name that spams overpowered fire moves constantly. Her middle and last names stem from the creator of a certain “magic girl” rip-off show that will not be named here… and she will suffer.