Saint Seiya: The Legend of Seiya

36 - Athena's Heart

The night breeze blew her very dirty dress torn at the ends. The rose still held a sweet perfume that brought her enormous comfort; Saori stuck her finger, however, in the hard thorns of the stem, and saw a drop of blood dripping onto the beautiful tile of that balcony.

She stood there watching, as she had done so many times in her life, how quickly her skin healed, stopping the blood. She went into her old room; now overturned, stuffed and very dirty. She found her desk empty of her things except for a flowerless vase that was part of the wooden structure itself. And there she placed the rose which, even in that darkness, seemed to vibrate a beautiful shade of red. Everything around her was purple and night-time shades, but that enchanted rose seemed to glow by itself.

She sat on her old bed, now very dusty and with a lot of junk on top of it. She took a deep breath with the staff lying in her lap as she remembered the horrific events of that night; as if the dimensions she had crossed had delayed a few hours of her memory.

She remembered Seiya and got up desperately, very worried.

Shee ran to the door and found Alice's worried face.

She hugged her crying, her hands touching her body to make sure she was really there.

"What happened?" she asked desperately.

"Mii..." she tried to calm Saori, but she continued to hug her friend in a very emotional way.

Saori well knew that for her to be desperate like that it was because something serious had happened. But, before anything she needed to know, Saori knew she had a heart there that she needed to calm down. She left the staff and hugged her friend as tightly as she could, so she could see that she was right there. And that she was still strong.

"Where were you?" Alice finally asked, seeking her face.

Saori looked over her friend's shoulder, who turned to look at the golden staff that remained standing without any support in the air.

She told what had happened in the canyon until the miraculous visit of the Gold Saint. Her fateful encounter with the Sanctuary Camerlengo and the gift she had brought back along with a mission.

"It's been three days since you're gone." Alice finally said. "The entire city is looking for you."

Saori was amazed, because until then she thought that Seiya still suffered in the canyon needing her help.

"Seiya is at the far hospital, badly injured, but he'll be fine." said Alice. "Ikki disappeared again, for a change, and Shun went to Jamir."

"Jamir?" Saori asked and Alice confirmed.

"He said he's going to get something for Shiryu's eyes."

"What about Hyoga?" asked Saori finally.

"He's in the Coliseum. He was sure you would come back."

But not her, Saori felt. Alice cared about her too much, as she was so much more than a Goddess to her.

"I'm fine, Mii. I'm here now." she said.

Alice was still crying, though. She was crying, because if Saori was there it wasn't thanks to her. She had failed. With her Goddess, but much worse than that. With her friend.

"I'm so sorry, Saori." she wondered aloud. "I'm not up to protecting you."

"Don't ever say that, Mii." Saori spoke again hugging her. "You were there with me since the beginning."

Allice wanted to be with her forever, but she had many doubts inside her chest whether she was even capable.

They embraced again in the midst of a destroyed room; both one and the other looked at that place full of memories for them. When Saori started to learn to play the piano and couldn't get out of those damn repetitive three notes, when Alice dropped breakfast on the mattress, or when they danced together in pajamas on that same bed. The day Saori wanted to wear makeup and the two became like circus clowns. The day she mourned her grandfather's death. The study hours.