Saint Seiya Fan Fiction ❯ Kage no Seinto (Saints of the Shadow) ❯ The Third Generation ( Chapter 1 )

Hebrides Islands, Scotland. March 2nd 2005. 

A female saint had just arrived at the Sanctuary, a place she had been wanting to see since she was very little. The guard on the entrance approached to her.
-Name, please.
-Haruna, former apprentice of Midori of Shadow Virgo.
The guard checked her name on his list.
-Alright, come in.
It was an amazing place, just like she had imagined it. In front of her, there was a long marketing avenue. She  walked through, looking at all this old ladies selling food and all kinds of weird things. She then saw the residential area, apparently where the guards and saints like her lived. Then she saw the training area, on the houses' right. It seemed pretty big: There was a coliseum, and smaller battle zones. All of this was amazing, but in the distance, there were thirteen temples built on a huge mountain, arranged in spiral shape, that caught her attention. Haruna recognized them: They were the mythological Houses for the Zodiacal Saints.

-It's amazing... All these things...
-Unnoticeable by the normal human eye? Yes, I know.-
Haruna turned around. It was another female saint.
-Well, hello Bianca! -Haruna said- I'm surprised to see you here...
-I am, as well -Bianca said.
-Do you know why they called us?
-It must be some sort of meeting in which we all need to be present -Bianca said- I'm not sure.
-Yeah, probably.
-All I know is that we are going to meet other saints pretty soon, and that we might need to work with them.
-Finally! -Haruna said, excited- I've been wanting to have a special assignment for so long...

Now inside the Sanctuary, they ask for directions when they meet Tsai, a fellow saint. He shows himself as a very cordial person.
-Well, excuse my ignorance about this subject, but from what I've heard, it's an important meeting. The Pope himself will talk to us. Can you believe that?
Both saints looked at him, even more excited. No one could have a meeting with the Pope just like that. He was the most important person in the Sanctuary.
-Hey, have you seen any saint who's going to be in the meeting as well? -Bianca asked.
-Yes -Tsai said-, I've met the saints Rao and Arukai.
For their surprise, the last one was just running towards them, apparently from the House of Shadow Aries.
-You... -he said, trying to catch his breath- You must come, the Pope is waiting for you. The meeting is going to start now.

Tsai, Bianca, Haruna and Arukai ran through the 12 Houses. Finally, they reached the Pope's Temple at the top of the mountain. In front of the temple, the Pope was expecting them.
-Welcome, Saints of Athena. Please follow me.
Instead of going inside the House, they go to a small chapel on its left. The Pope tells them to come in.
-Haruna, Bianca, Arukai, Tsai... I present you Rao and Yuki, who have arrived a few days before you.
Tsai opens his eyes wide. He recognizes Yuki, and blushes. Yuki recognizes him as well, and tries to remain silent.
-As you all know, a couple of weeks ago we saw the highest-ranked Shadow Saints leave this world.
No one was expecting for him to say this. All of them remembered the death of the highest-ranked Shadow Saints. Their sadness was obvious in their faces.
-I know it is really sad. What is sadder is that we will not have the time to weep them, for we will soon deal with a lethal crisis. Evil is uprising, and we have little time to act.
Some of the saints look surprised.
-That is why you are here to be promoted.
The saints look at themselves, with open eyes. It was such an honor. They must remain humble at all times, but they couldn't avoid to smile, proud of themselves.
-So, I now name you -the Pope said and looked at them, in order- Haruna of Shadow Aries, Bianca of Shadow Taurus, Arukai of Shadow Cancer, Tsai of Shadow Libra, Rao of Shadow Scorpio, and Yuki of Shadow Sagittarius.
The saints kneel down as a sign of gratitude and respect.
-Thank you, Your Holiness.
-Stand up -he said-. Now, let's introduce you to the rest of your new partners.
The new Shadow Saints realize there were five shadows around the Pope, awaiting for his order.
-Reveal yourselves now.

As the Shadow Saints revealed themselves, the Pope introduced them. Gradually, a scarlet fog had appeared, apparently being emanated from a saint. He reveals himself as Tamiel of Shadow Pisces.
-Tamiel is a very elegant person; in fact, his elegance can only be matched by his strength.
A lightning storm swallows the fog quickly, and Souki of Shadow Gemini appears.
-Julius' apprentice; he proved to be more powerful than we could have possibly imagined.
A figure appears behind him, then in front of him; he is Sid of Shadow Virgo.
-Trained by Odin himself. That is enough of a description.
A beam of light ran quickly towards them, and when it stopped, the saints could see another saint: Mai of Shadow Leo.
-The first female American Shadow Saint ever, which has impressed as all for her lightning tactics.
She notices the ground she's standing on begins to turn soft, like pulverized. As a shadow walks slowly near her, he reveals himself as Celsus of Shadow Capricorn.
-Having such powerful fists and legs, there's no wonder why Celsus is a Shadow Saint.

-The Saint of Shadow Aquarius is not present, -the Pope added- but anyways, now that you are here, there are things that I must inform you about. As mentioned before, we're in a serious crisis. That is why you will begin training in here as long as possible. Remember, each of you has a House, according to your zodiacal sign. Guard your Houses with your lives, and let no one pass through unless they have permission.
The new saints had no idea of how the Houses were like. Although Haruna and the others had passed through them, they didn't stop to look. Now that they look at them, they were amazed when they saw such big Houses, of such an ancient time, still standing. It was not hard for them to get used to. The only bad thing was the amount of time they spent walking to their Houses. Most of the saints started to interact with each other, except for the Shadow Aquarius saint. In fact, most of them believed he didn't exist.
-Perhaps the Pope didn't find a suitable successor, -Tsai said- he has never talked about it, but… it's just a thought.
-Well, no one can really replace Reiko of Shadow Aquarius, -Arukai said- I heard he was one of the strongest saints of all.
They were distracted by Mai, who told them that the Pope is calling them.

None of the them had left the Sanctuary, so they were gathered quickly. The 11 Shadow Saints went to the Pope's chamber, inside his House. He stood in front of them.
-I had forgotten to let you ask me anything you are not sure of. Please, if you have any question, inform it to me now.
-Your Holiness, -Sid asked- from what I've heard, we're fighting against the Source. Who or what is actually the Source?
-He's the one of the first demons, the right hand of The Evil One.
-Who is this demon?
-We never knew his name. Although, during the last battle, we all called him Dæmonicus.
The Shadow Saints were very surprised. Mai could not keep her curiosity and astonishment to herself.
-You fought in the Secret War of 1012?! That's impossible! You'd be almost 1000 years old!
The Pope looked at her, smiling.
-After the Secret War, I became the Pope of the Sanctuary. Both Athena and I knew she would not be able to choose another Pope if I died, since she will be dedicating her time with the other Saints of Athena. She gave me a gift, Misophetamenos, which allows me to live a longer life.
He didn't want to mention that he was actually the only survivor of the Secret War. It would've probably scared them.
-I faked my death in 1910, and cast myself to sleep -he said-. I woke up a decade ago, and began preparing the Sanctuary and the Shadow Saints since then.
-There's something I don't understand, your Holiness -Haruna said-, why does the Shadow Saints Order exists, anyways? Doesn't Athena has her own Saints? What happened to them?
-Well, Athena's Saints were always there for Athena when she needed them. But she knew that some entities might want to backstab her while she is busy, so she came up with this secret order to protect her from any other harm. The Shadow Saint Order was reactivated when the Golden Saints were defeated and trapped after the great battle against Hades. But after the defeat of Hades, Artemis, Apollo, and the other gods, we were not required, until now.

The saints leave the Pope's chamber, wondering if they'll become even stronger than they already were. They were wondering, as well, if they were strong enough to defeat the Source, Dæmonicus. Some were very interested in the Pope's past; they perceived he was hiding something from them. Others left the chamber without commenting anything.
They were the toughest weeks for them. Most of the saints were out in the fields, practicing their techniques, comparing their powers, and talking to each other.
-You've become stronger -Haruna told Bianca, -much stronger than back then with Midori.
-Yeah, well… I've been practicing.
-We've all been -Tsai said-. Except for Sid.
-Just leave him -Rao said-, he may think he doesn't need to train.
-No -Celsus said-, he must be training somewhere else.
-Yes, maybe -Souki said-, I sure hope so. I wouldn't want to take care of him.
They laughed, and continued training.

Sid is in a training arena, near his House. He noticed his hands were bleeding.
-I need to resist more...
Rao found Sid practicing. He stopped for a moment and looked at him.
-Hello, Sid.
-Hey.
He was far too concentrated in his training, and did not notice that Rao was trying to talk to him.
-Are you going to come down and practice with the rest of us?
-In a moment, I need to see if I can break this with just one hit…
Sid tried to break a pillar, and he did. It almost fell on him, if it wasn't for Rao who pushed him in time.
-Watch out, we need you alive -Rao said-. You don't have to die. Not now.
There is silence for a while.
-Thanks, Rao -Sid said-. Let's go with the others.

This is a work of fiction. Original story by Masami Kurumada. Copyright 1986 Saint Seiya. All rights reserved.