Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction / Saint Seiya Fan Fiction ❯ The Intense Clash of the Gods ❯ Tale 81 ( Chapter 81 )

All he saw and felt was darkness... the Spaniard wondered if Charybdis had sunk below his esteem again. It wasn't impossible, and...

"Ignacio!" It was Aphrodite's voice. So it seemed while she could create folds and ripples in the fabric of Space, to create actual tears was beyond her, even with Gram. Then Shura realized something. If he was still on Earth, in this dimension...

"COLADA!" he shouted, cutting through the Freezing Coffin and then collapsing on the ground. Looking up, he saw the surprised Sepal standing there without his cloth, the effeminate man blinking in surprise and a small scar on his cheek.

"What... what happened?" The Pisces Saint asked nervously, already knowing the first part of the answer.

"I lost... what else?" Shura answered, trying to catch his breath in between words. "That being said..." A grin lit up his face, "To face such a deadly woman in battle... she is more than worthy of requesting Tizone and Colada from me. One World, a truly terrible force..."

"And the ice?"

Shura looked at the shattered remains and shrugged. "I don't know. Presumably it was Krylov saving my life."

Aphrodite was about to insult the Kraken, but stopped mid-snort and sighed. "He really did that?"

"Of course he did!" The imposing voice of Shaina rang through the Capricorn Temple. The two male Gold Saints turned to see their female comrade leaning against a pillar, "You think Isaac's some sadist? That's Fenrir's specialty, and he fought Milo." She shook hear head, her associates... were less than stellar in some cases of critical thinking.
_
"Remind me the next time I have reservations about coming back here and give me the beating I deserve," Charybdis said as she pointed up at the sky and yawned. Her body felt a million times better after using the Yata Mirror's Reigouki power to completely recover, although the whole healing process required the Mariner to consume a great deal of food to fuel the rapid healing.

"Any time, boss," Isaac said as they leaned back in the beach chairs. "Such a shame Minos decided to hang back at Greece." He looked over, seeing Fenrir and Elly looking surprisingly normal together, watching another of those stupid giant robot anime inside the orphanage, or at least it sounded that way. "Any idea where Cecil is?"

"Don't know, don't care."
_
"SHIH-NE!" Cecil's fist smashed right into Horoki's massive Zweihander as Corona and Shadow God Warrior slid back from each other, Cecil currently cursing Asuka Soryu Zepplin for proposing such a stupid fight, Horoki cursing Pandora for repairing the warrior's God Robe.

"Your Violent Tiger Dance won't work on me this time," the kendo master said with a grin. "I've been practicing, big time..." She threw the absurdly heaving sword in the air as it slimmed into its rapier form and began rapidly stabbing at Bodu, who let Combat Awareness guide his moves, swatting away some strikes while others were simply evaded.

"So've I," Cecil answered, seeing the sword reform itself back into a katana. "And you're saying I talked you through those forms?"

Hikari nodded before slashing, seeing the horror in Cecil's eyes in spite of her missing him by a mile. He staggered back... running a hand along the breastplate of his armor. "It doesn't matter how fast you dodge, you'll still fall victim to the Tisiphone form!" Moving in for the final blow, she stabbed quickly, making sure her attack would stop just as it would prick Cecil's shocked forehead-

But then he suddenly vanished, his armor standing there as Horoki stumbled forward, turning around as if on instinct to see Cecil charging. "BINARY STRIKE!" He punched her in the head just as his armor sprang to life, pounding Horoki's gut hard with its hand and knocking her to the ground. Looking up, the Kusanagi Corona could only shake her head in surprise. "You've gotten better."

"Heh... that's an understatement for you," the girl groaned, standing up. With M--'s students on break and the college all but a ghost town, it gave the girl a chance to challenge Cecil to a rematch, although without the drive to protect her goddess, her fighting spirit was less than it had been when they fought in Atlantis. "That armor of yours... it's something else..."

"Thanks!" Cecil said with a grin, said Robe reforming into its figurine of a white tiger. "Although to be fair, you can't fight me on even footing since you lack Combat Awareness."

"Oh well," The class rep shrugged. "I got homework to worry about...unlike someone here."

"Whatever. I'm meeting with the others."
_
As night fell on the hospital in Greece, Angelo sat back in his hospital bed when a knock came at the door. Presuming it to be one of the other members of the now-defeated God Team, he called the person in.

The woman that stepped inside, however, was one he immediately recognized from the late Dohko's description... Hilda Polaris. She looked at the crippled Gold Saint and slowly smiled. She pulled up a seat and looked at Angelo without saying a word, although from the look in her eyes, he knew exactly what she wanted from him.

"Information," the woman announced. "About just one thing."

"That the only reason you came?" Deathmask injured, raising an eyebrow. She shook her head. "What else then?"

"That's to be discussed after you tell me what I want."

"Okay then... let's hear what's on your mind."

"Thank you," Hilda nodded. "Why was your team titled the 'God Team'?"

"Well, Mephistopheles, Shura, and Aphrodite. Easy enough, right?" Deathmask answered. Hilda shook her head, not content with the answer.

"Why didn't Dohko join the team of his student? It makes no sense. Was Dohko the teacher of you or Ignacio or Sepal?"

Angelo shook his head. "No... but he discussed teaming up with us well in advance and even came up with the team name. Sounded fine to me."

"Thank you," Hilda answered. "That's enough to clarify a few things for me. But..." she looked around, seeing a vase with a few flowers, most likely Sepal's. However, there were no other momentos or signs that any of the other Gold Saints had bothered to come in to visit. "You haven't had any visitors, have you?"

"Well, most of the idiots that your boyfriend and the others fought are in the intensive care unit, if you must know," Deathmask retorted. Hilda shrugged.

"They'll survive. But there are still five Gold Saints that Team Pentrine isn't set to fight for another two days. Yet I see none of them have left any kind of momento at all if they bothered visiting." Seeing Hilda's reaction, he shrugged, ignoring the pain. "You find that surprising, don't you?"

"When Sigurd, Thor, Mime, and Alberich were still alive... they did not have much more of a connection than their profession and that they were members, if only by adoption in Mime's case, of four of Asgard's wealthiest families. It seems the Gold Saints lack even that bond."

"Heh... some of us are conceited asses," Deathmask snorted as Hilda stood up.

"I know, and I'm looking at one of them right now." She didn't expect the man to visibly take offense to the line. "You... consider yourself-"

"I am an assassin of Sanctuary. I cope as best as I can with the men and women that have to die because the Pope declares it so," Deathmask responded coldly.

"An idiot crab you're not," Hilda said with a smile. "But never give up on yourself. I speak from experience. The person we find is the least willing to forgive us is ourselves. Good men lost their lives because my sister used me as a tool. Much of Fenrir's family died because of my father, the survivors branded as cowards and ostracized. Yet I refuse to succumb to self-pity while there are still men out there that fight for my well being. Some by oath, others by choice."

"You mean Sylphid..." Deathmask said with a grin. He expected Polaris to lose her cool, yet she matched his smug grin with one of her own. "He's something else, isn't he?"

"Indeed. If that is all-"

"Wait.... there's... something else."

"What?" Deathmask seemed to hesitate from speaking, but Hilda would have nothing of it, slapping him once while using her own infamous "Dammit, man!" exclamation. The matriarch of Asgard did not think herself a feminist, nor did she doubt Minos thought himself a chauvinist, but the action itself was fun. "What is it?"

Deathmask winced from the blow, but quickly answered. "Be careful where you repeat those words... and never let Aldebaran hear you say that."

"You mean the Taurus Saint?"

Deathmask nodded. "A devoutly loyal Saint and a better man than most of the people here... yet with a powerful philosophy that one can never break free of their status in the world... many enthusiastic recruits lost their will to live after one of his speeches."

"I'll keep that in mind," Hilda answered, nodding to the man before walking away. "Good day."
_
"I'm telling you, there is no way that Mizuki would beat Charybdis in a fight," Isaac announced as he moved his pawn. "They've both got Combat Awareness, but Chary has Gram and One World."

"So what? Mizuki's got all those 'Makai' moves and whatnot." Asuka retorted, having her knight advance. "Check."

Glaring at the redhead, Isaac had his rook bash through the horse. "Uncheck. And Chary can just jump through them and all now that her control over One World's expanded."

"Three words for you: Makai 108 Salute."

"Four for you: Galaxian Implosion and Checkma-"

An icy stream shot through the cafe, freezing a waitress solid as the floor frosted over. Men and women screamed and ran out the back door exit as Corona and Mariner turned, Isaac's mouth going dry at the sight of Hyoga standing there.

"Krylov..." he growled, "You desecrate my most treasured place and then torture the Capricorn Saint in a Freezing Coffin?!? WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!?!"

"That the crazy guy you were talking about?" Asuka asked as Isaac stood up. He didn't respond. "I'll take that as a yes." A few seconds later, Asuka stood in her Corona outfit, ready for battle, but Hyoga spat in their direction. "And I'll have you know... never underestimate the power of the Yasakani Magatama!"

Hyoga shrugged before walking forward, his one good eye looking into the one Isaac had recovered during the battle against Algol. "Isaac..." Hyoga growled, raising up his arms, Asuka and Isaac primed to counter, "You disgust me."

"Funny, I'd think it'd be the other way around!" Isaac responded. With Combat Awareness, things should go smoother for him in a one-on-one fight... and Asuka would very much help him out. "I expected that in those years apart, you would've grown up and be able to say goodbye!"

"And seeing you alive..." Hyoga answered, "I'd have thought you would be able to understand such a simple human emotion as attachment!" With lightspeed force, he brought his hands down, aiming straight at Asuka, not surprised that Isaac shoved her out of the way only to take the excruciating cold of the Aurora Execution in her place. Without his Scale, Isaac no doubt was on death's door from that simple exchange as Hyoga quickly and deftly dodged Asuka's first strike, although the explosive force behind her second knocked him back.

"Don't underestimate me," Asuka announced, grinning. "I know your every move before you can even make them!"

Hyoga laughed. "Really? Because last I checked, the speed of a human's neural pathways is far, far slower to the speed of light!" He charged, Asuka attacking at him, but the Gold Saint suddenly vanished, appearing behind her. "Freezing Coffin."

The girl's screams served as the perverse wake-up call for Isaac as he stared up at Zepplin, froze in a giant block of ice with Hyoga standing there. "You try to teach me to be detached? Fine. Let's see if you can learn to do the opposite!" Isaac's look surprised Hyoga, but he wasn't surprised too much by it as he walked to the Mariner and picked him up. "What's the matter? Nothing to say?"

Yet Isaac didn't hear those words, or even feel the pain as Hyoga threw him into a wall.

Here was a woman whose life was peril because of him... and-

Thetis would never have even been at the main temple in Atlantis if I hadn't asked her to tell Casa 'thanks!'...

"Anything?" Hyoga asked as he pulled Isaac up again, enjoying the surprised look on his face. "I expect to fight you in the finals. If not... she dies." He vanished, along with his captive, as Isaac lay there, horrified and shocked.