The night in that region of the Sanctuary is silent and veiled by the most brilliant and wonderful sky that exists on the face of the Earth. A day torn by terrible and bloody battles, which had finally pacified that quiet night.
Far from the temples of the Twelve Palaces of the Zodiac, Aries Mu returned again to the plinth where the Stone Apple lay, where the disheveled Discord slept. Her chest still hardened with grief for the Gold Saints who had departed that dreadful day. Among them, Cancer.
"Death Mask?"
Mu's voice sounded in the Temple of Eris, but no one answered her. She tried yet another time, but then it seems as if she was speaking to herself. She looked with regret at that stone apple and pulled out the golden cylinder she had taken. She took out the papyrus inscribed by Athena, when finally someone answered her.
"I thought you forgot about me, Aries Mu."
"Death Mask." cheered Mu when she noticed she was still there.
"Spare me of your care, Mu. Can I retire now?"
"Yes, Mask. The House of Cancer awaits you."
Death Mask's laugh echoed through the temple.
"I will not return to the World of the Living." she said menacingly, and Mu looked confused by that as she knew she was fully capable of returning. "There is no place for me in a World like this. Here I see old friends marching into the oblivion of Hell. My place is with them and not with the one who killed them."
"Mask..."
"Spare me your cordiality as well, Mu. That's better, because if I were to came back it would be to bring that damned girl to this place forever. Goodbye, Aries Mu."
And, in fact, Mu never heard Death Mask's voice again in that place. Even though her chest went down with another Gold Saint disappearing, her mission there was important.
She took the Seal of Athena from the cylinder and brought it close to the petrified Golden Apple, so that the papyrus enveloped it completely and finally silenced the terrible moods of that Temple, which for many, many years would go back to being just abandoned ruins.
The battle in the Twelve Palaces occupied the minds and mouths of all the inhabitants of the village at the foot of the mountain. A village called Rodorio, which was also the name of its founder. It was the same place where Seiya had arrived for his training and where he fled from so many children who imitated him and sought to make fun of him. Where he lived in the more distant parts. A village founded by men and giants, so that they could together serve the Order of Athena in times of yore.
A silent and tense village, without imagining let alone guessing the result of that terrible invasion. If at the beginning of the day the quiet laughter ran through the alleys and squares that the rebellion would be easily repelled, as the day wore on, the inhabitants became more and more apprehensive.
In the main square, a woman came running, announcing to everyone that something terrible was happening and that Saints had returned from the mountain. The news soon spread and, on the main street of the village, many people gathered to see something incredible.
Three Gold Saints marched, one of them at the front carrying the body of a huge young boy covered in a white cloth.
"It's Gold Saints, look, they are Gold Saints!" repeated many voices among themselves, astonished to see Saints in Gold Cloths marching through Rodorio.
Aioria was ahead and little by little was recognized by passersby. His face was serious as he carried Cassius' body. Behind him came Miro and Aldebaran wearing their Sacred Gold Cloths. It didn't take long for them to be recognized too.
"Master Miro!" some guessed, and the news spread through the street; Aldebaran and Aioria were also recognized, although they did not have the same good reputation that Miro had among those who lived there. That was because, after the War against the Giants, their descendants were not well regarded in Rodorio and that included Cassius and even the gentle Aldebaran. Aioria, in turn, still had behind him a terrible bad reputation of being the brother of the traitor Aioros.
And his haughty gait, his deep voice announcing to everyone an absurd report made everyone suspicious of him.
"This is Cassius!" Aioria announced for everyone to hear. "A hero who fought bravely and will forever be remembered. Remembered as we still remember Rodorio, a giant like him."
The voice that spoke that night was Aioria's, but the inhabitants looked for Miro with their eyes, for Miro was cherished among all as a brave warrior. And Miro carried on with his bright voice.
"The battle ended with the return of the Goddess Athena." a hubbub settled among them all on the streets, but Miro went on. "The Sanctuary has lived a lie for fifteen years. Deceived by a terrible man who tried to assassinate the Goddess Athena in what we now know as the Sad Night. For it will forever be remembered as the Sad Night. But because it remembers the death of Aioros, a Hero of Athena."
The mention of that name made everyone shiver, first because it was said aloud, second because everyone was asked to absolve a recognized traitor for so many years.
Aware of his countrymen's confusion, Miro continued.
"Aioros was the one who saved Athena's life. And today, fifteen years later, she has finally returned to the Sanctuary, and the one who made friends and relatives of yours disappear into the darkness has found his final destination and will no longer bring terror to the Sanctuary."
Their Gold Cloths seemed to glow even in the darkness and the glimmer of them was perhaps what dampened the shock the inhabitants felt upon hearing those absurd words.
"And to the Giants, on whom the blame for Aioros' treachery fell," began Aldebaran's voice, like thunder. "also extends the machination of the same terrible mind that sought to separate those who had previously been united for Athena."
Miro and Aldebaran stayed there in the central square of Rodorio, where some more courageous children were gradually approaching them.
Aioria went ahead with Cassius' body without being harassed, as was usual. He crossed the entire main avenue and headed for the road that led to the forbidden region of the Starhill, where the ancient descendants of the Giants were said to live.
Rejected from Rodorio and frequently harassed, Aioria knew that region very well, as it was one of the few places where no one sought to end his peace. He especially knew where the giants' cemetery was, as he felt a special connection with that place, as they accused those of being the minds behind the madness of his brother, Aioros. When he was just a kid, Aioria made holes in their graves to defile the dead who rested there, which was his way of getting revenge for his brother.
Though he was often defiled by the men and women of Rodorio, not once did the Giants pester him for defiling his ancestors.
And when he arrived on a plateau he knew so well, Aioria found someone he still had hopes of not seeing that night.
It was Shaina.
As soon as she saw him with that huge covered body she went to the ground, roaring through the night the name of her pupil Cassius. She screamed his name, denied his fate. Aioria left him on the ground and Shaina ran from where she was to open the cloth that covered him and stare at his face one last time. It would be impossible to translate the sadness and anger of Shaina, who sought to revive her disciple with her mad words, to the point that she stood up and effectively attacked Aioria, blaming him for it. Punching his Gold Cloth with everything he had.
But Aioria then hugged her so that she cried her sadness with him. That he too felt dead with Cassius.
How Shaka felt, finally kneeling in front of the lotus flower cracked in the middle of her destroyed House of Virgo.
With the night sky slowly brightening with the harbinger of a new day dawning in the Aegean Sea, Seiya and his friends were all sitting on the stone spire he had once stood on to bid farewell to his master Marin.
Without their Cloths, and Saori with her dress still very stained, they all still carried their wounds and pain from that terrible day. They were completely silent, for they didn't even have the strength to speak and, in fact, what they needed at that moment was exactly to be together, and that they understood without exchanging a single word between them.
The sun's crown finally rose where the sea met the sky and a new day dawned for those boys and girls nestled in the cold experiencing the first light of day that warmed their faces.
Sitting on top of the ruins that rose from that spire, Marin watched those young ones who couldn't see her in the darkness. It was true that she was immensely proud of that stubborn boy standing there among them, but she also carried enormous relief to see Athena with such valued friends.
"Will you take care of her?" Marin asked.
"Always."
"Will you take care of them?"
"She will take care of them." replied Mayura.
A breeze blew their hair and Marin rose.
"What are you going to do now, Marin?
Marin turned to Mayura and responded with a smile.
"I'm going to find my brother."
And she leapt from the ruins into the darkness of the night that still stretched on the other side of the mountain. Mayura noticed a glow where Marin was sitting looking at that brave group of young ones. She knelt down and found a beautiful silver mask.
ABOUT THE CHAPTER: It was important to have the Epilogue to finish the Temple of Eris plot, as well as demonstrate that the village was not alienate to the battle, after all the result would have an influence on them too. The idea that Rodório was a giant hero of the past comes from Saint Seiya Online, in which Rodório is said to be the first Pegasus. I wanted to play with that idea, since Cassius would be Pegasus too. =) Marin saying goodbye and leaving behind the Silver Mask, I was inspired by the final scene of the musical Phantom of the Opera.
NEXT CHAPTER: LIFE GOES ON
Saori has to face the results of that hellish day, as well as the last few months away from the Graad Foundation.