Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction / Saint Seiya Fan Fiction ❯ The Intense Clash of the Gods ❯ Tale 74 ( Chapter 74 )

"Elly..." Fenrir said nervously... trying to pry the girl's stranglehold grip on his neck off. She really hadn't tried to kill him... her hands just ended up roving up there during the night. "Elly, would you please wake up already?!?"

The girl is question continued resting peacefully with a big grin on her face, but very slowly, she sensed some voice in the outside world calling out her name. Slowly, her eyelids slowly slid open... and she found herself her bed, staring at a slightly frightened Fenrir. "Oh, hey there, what's the matter?"

"You talked about 'killing them' in your sleep... who's 'them'?"

Elly brightened up as she released her grip, brightening up. "Oh, sorry about that... just the victims of Eirika Lightbringer and all..."

Fenrir shook his head and kissed her once. "What the hell are we ever going to do with ourselves?" They promptly got out of the bed, changed into daytime clothes, and the God Warrior sighed in defeat. "You know... I have to go back today..."

"Oh, that's okay. Just try to get back in one piece, you know!" She turned to him with an uncharacteristically sweet smile without any murderous intents behind it... it ironically scared Fenrir more than anything else. "I'll hold down the fort here... well, the Coronas will, so get going and do whatever you have to!"

Nodding, Fenrir grabbed his Robe and headed downstairs with Isaac, who had been sleeping on the couch, but woken up and prepared for the trip back to Sanctuary earlier that day. "Ready?" the Mariner asked.

His God Warrior teammate nodded, "Yeah. Let's get-" He stopped, turning around and seeing Elly waving from the top of the stairs. He waved back, smiling before turning back to Isaac. "Let's get going."
_
"You know..." Charybdis sighed, shaking her head in disgust, "You two could have, I don't know... called!"

"The price for that kind of phone service would have absurdly high though!" Isaac answered... knowing full well Fenrir was unable to. Not after so much torture and pain... the Sea Dragon was restoring her dominance... showing her unbridled power and experience on them as Cecil sat back, laughing all the while.

"Yet so much less than this, wouldn't you say?"

Fenrir's entire head and hair were soaking wet, he was choking helplessly after the last round of abuse...

The last swirly.

The opening of the door to the bathroom caused Charybdis to turn. If it were somebody trying to ambush them, Motion Stop. If it was just an ordinary person, she'd fold space and continue this in the girl's bathroom. It was, however, Minos.

"Charybdis, Hilda said you were in-"

His eyes bugged out at the sight of Cecil lying on the ground, roaring in laughter while Charybdis held Fenrir and Isaac above a single toilet bowl, using One World to squeeze both of their heads into the water at the same time. "Uh... Charybdis, this is a very... uh, thorough means of disciplining them for not contacting us, but they're okay, aren't they?"

"Merely celebrating," Chary answered innocently.

"Well..." he grabbed a few towels and threw them at Fenrir and Isaac before continuing. "We really don't have the time. After all... we have the semi-final match today... the 'Gods Team'."

"Who's on it other than Dohko?" Charybdis asked as she dropped the God Warrior and Mariner to the ground, where they did their best to dry off.

"Some of the older Gold Saints," Minos answered.
_
A few minutes later, Minos was sitting at the hotel cafe with the other members of the second Pentrine, pictures of Dohko, Shura, Deathmask, and Aphrodite. "A team of four, each one very dangerous."

"But it's a team of four, right?" Cecil asked. "That's no problem! We outnumber them so-"

"That... won't work," Minos sighed. "The final two rounds of the tournament, as they always have been, are sets of one-on-one fights. One of us will fight Shura-"

"I will," Charybdis put forth. "No reason not to... and since he's got a sword empowerment, I'm the only one that can fight him on even footing."

"There's also Sepal and Angelo 'Deathmask' Mephistopheles... I'd personally request that I be left to handle Dohko. He-"

"What, you think we'd deny you the opportunity to beat the shit out of an asshole you want to beat the shit out of when you've saved our butts in the past?" Fenrir asked. "Fine... Cecil can take Deathmask and Sepal can be mi-"

"Mine," Isaac spoke up, shocking Fenrir. "We have a score to settle from the last round of the tournament."

"Isaac, I was just trying to fight smart in this round..."

"What do you mean?" Charybdis asked, looking to Fenrir.

"We were lucky three of us developed Combat Awareness when we did..." Fenrir began. "We were also lucky to only fight one Gold Saint at a time... but if we fight three or four... or even two, our chances of victory if we just charge in blindly might blow up in our faces... Minos, what do you know about Aphrodite and Deathmask?"

"They're older Gold Saints, like I said before," the Griffon Specter said as he leaned forward and looked down in thought. "Unfortunately, they only began Gold Saint training a few weeks before my fateful duel with Shion... I don't know much more."

"What 'fateful duel'?" Isaac asked.

"I-" He had forgotten... Fenrir and Isaac hadn't been here for Hilda to tell, and he was not in the mood to explain again.

"We'll tell you later," Cecil answered. "But anyways... I don't know about everyone else here, but I think Isaac should get his shot at Sepal. I mean, sure he doesn't have Combat Awareness and all... but neither did we... and since we don't know what the driving force between it is yet, we just have to repeat the process that let us tap into it in the first place... fight Gold Saints!"

"Sad but true," Charybdis concurred. "Minos... concerning Zephyr... did he ever explain how he obtained it?"

Minos shook his head. "Nothing. He claimed many men and women have had it in the past... but he was the first one to coin the phrase. His range with it wasn't fantastic either... a weakness I exploited by having my string form a good distance away and then shoot rapidly at him... by the time he knew what was coming, it was already on him."

"Okay... but we still do have one Gold Saint left unaccounted for," Isaac began. "Cecil... Fenrir... want to do some sort of 'rock-paper-scissors' tournament of death or something?"

"Not after last time," Fenrir said with a grin. "Let's just leave it alone for the moment. Incidentally, how long until the match?"

Minos checked his watch. "Four hours."
_
"You sure that's what happened?"

"Yes, I'm positive! String, I'm telling you! String shot out of everywhere and strangled him!"

The woman was in near hysterics... and as Aiolia Talos, Leo Saint of Athena listened to her, she could understand...

Because it seemed that-
_
"Dohko Kido... Dohko Kido is dead!" He said sadly... glaring at the Griffon Specter standing there in the arena, who most likely had decided to kill his former master rather than face him in a true battle.

A moment of silence, of mourning, permeated the stadium as guards and Saints alike fell victim to the terrible sadness they had never dreamed. While they had aged, had died, Libra Dohko was always there... that man who forever remained a young soul, training countless Saints how to fight, use their armor, what it truly meant to be a Saint.

"SYLPHID DID IT!" someone shouted out. "He should burn!"

Mob psychology quickly took roots and spread like a predatory weed, although at later times, nobody could recall who exactly had shouted it out in the first place. They were roaring, some of them desiring nothing but to rip the Specter apart as Charybdis, Fenrir, Cecil, and Isaac suddenly realized they'd have a much bigger fight on their hands than they had expected.

"This... this is going to be bad..." Charybdis said as she clenched her fists.

"And me without my headpiece..." Fenrir sighed.

A few of the spectators had already jumped the railing and were charging at Minos, the Specter unfazed in the slightest. Yet another faced of the Sanctuary I have grown to hate.

A tremendous blast of lightning rocked the ground right in front of Minos... Pope Aiolos standing there as everyone fell silent.

"Br-brother!" Aiolia's mouth was dry... he hadn't expected the Pope to step forward for Minos's defense.

Aiolos turned to him, speaking slowly and carefully. "Aiolia... we have no concrete evidence that Sylphid did indeed kill the beloved Libra Saint. Athena is the goddess of wisdom... we, as Saints, must follow her path. Therefor..." he breathed a sigh of relief. It seems whoever tried to get the crowd into a frenzied horde was gone. That had been too close. "Therefor this match will continue."

Numerous Saints began to boo and scream in hatred at the Pope for his decision. He had expected this... but there was no reason not to panic. "HOWEVER!" he suddenly shouted, easily overpowering the others, "We are sure that the great Minos Sylphid..." he turned to see the glaring visage of the former Saint in training, "Would be more than willing for a little compromise!"

"What... would this compromise be?" he asked slowly.

Under the headpiece, Aiolos smiled. Even if the Pentrine did overcome this team... their defeat was imminent. "Quite simple, really. Since this was originally going to be a set of four one-on-one fights... it would have been very difficult to discern a fair procedure had there been a tie. This way, the match will be decided quite easily! Whoever has more wins at the end of the three fights will move on in the tournament!"

"What's this compromise, though?" Minos repeated, growing irritated at the man.

Aiolos shrugged. "Surely, out of mourning for your master, and to prove to everyone here that you had no part whatsoever in his murder," Aiolos said, his voice almost sickly-sweet. "Your team will accept two losses in the match right off the bat!"

"WHAT?!?" Fenrir shouted from the sidelines, "THAT'S NOT FAIR AT-"

"I make the rules here, boy!!!" Aiolos spat, Fenrir growling at Aiolos as the Pope's younger brother took a few steps forward, as if to assure the God Warrior that if he attacked the former Sagittarius Saint, it would cost him dearly. "And I say that if you want to keep fighting in this tournament, then you concede to this simple request!"

"It's okay, Fenrir," Minos said, turning back to the God Warrior. He then looked at Charybdis, Isaac, and Cecil. Looks like that dispute over who was fighting Deathmask had resolved itself. "What's three Gold Saints?"

Aiolos laughed as he walked away, Aiolia shooting Fenrir a look that would probably have killed him if his Robe hadn't been on before finally, the Gold Saint of the Cancer Constellation stepped into view.

As before, a sadistic grin was on his face, smug with the concept of humiliating a Specter on his home turf. Deathmask jumped into the arena, humbly requesting a temple battle as the pair vanished.
_
"I hope..." Deathmask said as Minos looked at him with disdain, "You're not expecting some easy fight..."

"I've handled hard fights before. I'm not afraid of a little blood."

"Good, neither am I," Deathmask laughed. "So you won't have any objections when I smear yours all over my walls!" He charged, ready to make these moments Minos's last on the planet.