In the House of Taurus, another meeting took place between the Goddess Athena and the Gold Saints with the presence of the Camerlengo Mayura and the Owl Alice, the Master-at"Arms Shaina and the Astromancer Nicol. Always with the purpose of warding off the anxieties and anguishes of the Gold Saints, who all they had to do was stay in their temples waiting for an invasion that never came.
Aldebaran, the huge Golden Bull, apologized whenever he could to his guests when any of them tripped on some unevenness in the punished floor of his temple. If the first meeting had been in the House of Aries, Saori thought it was fair that the next one was in Taurus and so on. The gentle giant, who if he never received a visit, was certainly not used to receiving such an important entourage, found at the last minute a round table that could accommodate all the guests on the second floor of his house.
Mu couldn't help but find it amusing to see his friend so disconcerted when he got up to speak at the table.
"It is an immense honor to receive your lordships in my House of Taurus." he began in an artificially stilted voice.
And then he sat down while everyone was still looking at him, as if something was missing.
"You can begin." he said, totally awkwardly.
"Thank you so much, Aldebaran." said Saori, with a brief smile on her face.
The mood was far from tense, despite the Gold Saints' anxiety. And the reasons were soon put by Saori to everyone.
"Nicol and I were at Cape Sunion and found that Captain Kaire and the Galleon have already managed to seal two Relics of the Seas." she announced to a small, satisfied voice and then asked the friend to proceed. "Nicol."
"Our most excellent Goddess Athena is right. The pedestal where Poseidon's sacred Trident once rested, now gone and awakened, is inscribed with some precious gems that become brilliant as the Relics are sealed. And we find that two of them are lit again."
Aioria nodded to Aldebaran and Mu, as if they were somehow satisfied, after all the plan was working.
"I suppose he's gonna do it again." Shaina said to Miro beside her, as if alluding to Seiya.
"What about Hyoga and the Raven Saint?"
"Jamian." Shaina corrected beside him.
"They must have arrived in Asgard by now, but we still haven't received any news."
"If I remember correctly, there was great concern about Asgard. Do you think they might be in danger?" asked Aioria gravely.
"Yes, it's true. There are warnings in the Tome of Atlantis noted by its former owner about the Kingdom of Asgard being a possible threat." recalled Nicol.
"Saga." Shaka spoke between them and they all looked at her. "I see no point in erasing the name. It is good that we never forget who deceived us."
There was an absolutely tense silence between everyone.
Nicol looked at Mayura and Athena, as if seeking permission to continue talking. She nodded.
"In the Tome of Atlantis, Saga, the Gemini Saint left as many notes as mysteries. Among them, a warning to beware of Asgard."
"But that's not something befitting the Kingdom of Asgard, isn't that what you confided in me, Nicol?" Mayura asked.
"Yes, Master. The Kingdom of Asgard has historically been a peaceful, albeit much-suffering country." he paused, and became even more serious: "But Asgard apparently is also one of the locations that guard one of the Seven Relics of the Seas. We thought it prudent to send them before Captain Kaire's arrival with his Galleon to avoid any misunderstanding."
"I don't think we should have too many problems." observed Aldebaran, still very tense, and trying to comment on something.
"That's what it seems." Nicol agreed, and then looked at Miro. "We found out from Camus' records that, as a matter of fact, he knew someone very influential in the region, so we shouldn't have any problems."
"Excellent Nicol, Miro." praised Mayura the two.
And then she looked at Aioria, as if to change the subject, but Nicol interrupted her.
"Forgive me, Master Mayura, but there is one more matter I would like to share with you all."
She felt surprised, but then asked her to follow.
"As you know, I have dedicated myself with special attention to the studies of this very precious Tome of Atlantis, because I am very interested in understanding beyond Saga's very useful notes. And, by Athena, I don't want to sound too whimsical here, but I'm afraid I've found a certain inconsistency in Saga's studies."
"Now it's one thing to speak his name, quite another to treat him as if he were revered." complained Aioria harshly.
Again, a curious and terrible tension was installed for the always polite Nicol, who now didn't know whether to dislike Shaka or Aioria. Between the devil and the abyss.
"Go on, Nicol." asked Mu, calming the situation.
But Nicol was completely destabilized, so he tried to recover before informing everyone in a rather uneasy way.
"What I mean is that Saga seems to have indicated in his notes that Poseidon's reincarnation could arise in Asgard, hence the threat." he said, to everyone's prying eyes. "It is true that Poseidon, like Athena, resurfaces after many years among mortals, but unlike Athena, who is reborn at the foot of her own statue, Poseidon actually possesses the body of a destined mortal."
Everyone looked at each other very surprised by that information.
"And the inconsistency I found is that Saga was wrong, as nothing indicates that this person is in Asgard. In fact, what the book says is that the person usually chosen to be the vessel of the God of the Seas is always the one who, of all people, experiences a great loneliness. It's solitary. A person destined to be alone, through an immense solitude. It's a wordplay that seems to revolve around that. A sole person."
The golden encounter was silenced at that startling information. There was, of course, among them the idea that they would find him sooner so that they might be able to control or even prevent greater disasters. But for everyone there was the same huge question: how would it be possible to find the most solitary person in the world?
Out of the huge storm, the Athena's Galleon found calm seas all the way to the Japanese coast, which was where Nicol's Nautical Chart, always deftly operated by Ensign Lunara, indicated the next Relic of the Sea was.
Having overcome that huge challenge of navigating through a terrible storm made the entire crew extremely confident, in such a way that Lunara looked even more like a little monkey on board jumping from rope to rope, adjusting everything that needed to be adjusted on that boat while humming songs of piracy.
On the deck of the ship, Seiya had the helm alive in his hands, making corrections to both sides quite often and his face very stern. Captain Kaire played with his helmsman.
"Who would have thought, Pegasus. In the early days you couldn't stand the slightest shake of the waves, now you're righting this ship so precisely that it doesn't even seem to rock."
He glanced at him, realizing that there was a slight joke there and a tremendous compliment to his abilities. Seiya nodded and followed his lead across the Japanese seas, while Kaire went to join Geist at the bow castle. Her hair was blowing in the wind, flapping against her pretty colored overcoat; her face always very serious. Perhaps the only one unmoved by the immense victory against the maelstrom, but Kaire knew she was just like that.
"Is it really true that you blew up ships in the Caribbean?" Kaire asked, very abruptly, catching her attention.
"That is not true." replied Geist, after noticing the Captain's good mood. "Our group just took control of a select few ships and destroyed the goods. Or, on some rare occasions, we distributed among the fishing peoples of the islands in the region."
"A Robin Hood of the Seas."
"The Camerlengo didn't think that way."
"And how is everyone?" Kaire asked of the Skull Island warriors.
"They chose to stay on the island."
"Someone could say they wanted to get rid of you."
"Would you say that?"
Captain Kaire allowed himself to smile frankly in front of the sea.
"I'm sure that's not it." he finally said.
"The dream of returning to the Sanctuary was mine, not theirs."
"Do you think they're still hijacking ships in the Caribbean?"
"I hope so." said Geist.
She wore her finely cut red-trimmed overcoat with a golden insignia on her chest in the shape of the Staff of Athena. He took a compass from one of his inner pockets and assessed the direction they were heading. They were interrupted by Lunara's footsteps, who climbed up to the forecastle.
"We are almost there." she announced, pointing to their left.
Geist and Kaire looked in the direction and saw a small landmass appear in the distance. An island that was in the south of the Japanese Sea, close by some leagues to the cities on the mainland.
"Captain's log, day fifteen of voyage. The exploration team again took the auxiliary boat to seal the third Relic of the Sea, which lies on a Japanese island called Yakushima. Of all the locations, this was the easiest one to reach as Nicol's Nautical Chart was very specific and detailed. It appears to be the only Relic among ordinary people. We don't know what to expect, but we are confident."
Yakushima Island is a natural preserve of unparalleled beauty, which has inspired many Japanese stories, books and legends. A world heritage site that is home to ancient trees, pristine beaches and wild animals that can only be found on that tiny island. Because it is such a venerated place, it is also very visited by tourists on guided and restricted tours so that the minimum impact is caused in its preserved territory.
That morning, however, the auxiliary boat of the Galleon of Athena docked on a beach far from the small harbor that received the ferries that came from the mainland with tourists. For some strange reason, the island did not receive its tourists that day, as well as a dense fog prevented the few natives of the island from leaving their homes. It was as if she was deserted.
Well, it wasn't.
A single man was waiting for the auxiliary boat to dock.
When Kaire stepped onto the pristine beach, followed by his crew, he introduced himself cordially.
"I'm Captain Kaire."
The man wore a beautifully cut dark suit, a scarf around his neck, and his hair was full and pale. On his chest was a small symbol embroidered in gold on his dark suit: a trident.
"My name is Sorento." he introduced himself, and though he appeared to be of delicate features, his voice was curiously deep and beautiful. "I'm an emissary of the Solo Corporation, which owns this island and the largest maritime conglomerate in the world."
Kaire found it absolutely strange to be welcomed by a bureaucrat for a mission that had divine outlines. At first, he thought it prudent not to share his mission as he had done before.
"Were you waiting for us?" Kaire asked, testing the terrain.
"Of course. It is known to the Civilizations of the Seas that the Athena's Galleon is crossing the Seven Seas to seal the Poseidon Relics."
Kaire and Geist looked at each other, somewhat suspiciously, and the Captain looked back at that secretary.
"Do you know about Poseidon's existence?"
"But of course." he replied. "As I said earlier, the Solo Corporation is the largest maritime conglomerate in the world. The oceans are in almost everyone's home in one form or another. We couldn't be the biggest company in the Seven Seas without knowing about Poseidon. Please follow me."
"Where are we going?" Kaire asked suspiciously.
"Well, five Saints of Athena shouldn't fear a mere bureaucrat, I imagine."
He also knew about the Athena Saints. All of that was mysterious.
Kaire looked back at his crew and together they decided to follow that brave businessman.
He led them across the strip of sand to a path of wooden planks overgrown with lichen that led through an ancient forest. Of huge trees, twisted, intertwined and of a strong and vivid green. The weather was humid and the path seemed to rise subtly as it snaked and crossed some small streams over bridges made of ancient planks.
The sensation of walking on those trails was that of walking on a primordial type of land, such was nature's song of insects, birds and mammals hidden from the eyes of visitors. The area they roamed was a long way from the places intended for daily tourist photos, so Kaire soon noticed that the man in the suit really did have some sort of access beyond the ordinary in that ancient place.
If before they climbed slightly, little by little, they went deeper into the roots of the old trees until they ended up in a beautiful shallow lagoon. Its deepest part reached Seiya's waist, so they walked without difficulty along a path of waterlogged sand in the center of the body of water. Even the finest administrator did not think twice about putting his linen pants or shoes into the water to guide them to the trunk of a wonderful tree that rose in the middle of the pond.
And inside the ancient tree trunk, they saw the inscription of Poseidon's trident against the wood and a small golden tree gleaming, for the Relic of the Sea before them was a golden bonsai.
"The Relic of the Sea." introduced Sorento.
"That easy?" asked Kaire.
"As I said earlier, I'm just a bureaucrat. And here I am following orders."
"I would like to meet this benefactor of yours, if possible." said Kaire.
"It's not possible." said Sorento.
"Of course not."
"He is an extremely busy man." said Sorento.
Kaire and Sorento looked at each other tensely, but the Captain broke their attention and ordered Geist to go ahead with sealing the Relic. She took out the golden cylinder with the Seal of Athena and it molded perfectly to the tiny branches and tiny leaves of that golden bonsai.
The moment the Relic was sealed, a flock of birds rose from a nearby tree, as if reacting to the alteration of the cosmos.
"It's done." Sorento said and pointed back the way.
And as they came, they went back. Safely and silently.
As they moved away into the Japanese sea, they saw on the beach that the strange secretary was watching them leave. Seiya approached Kaire and Geist:
"I could feel a slight Cosmo from this man." Kaire looked at him.
"Yeah. He is not who he says he is." Kaire agreed. "But our mission here is to seal the Relic of the Sea. So we accomplished our mission."
"I'm worried that it's all so easy." said Seiya.
"Just as Sanctuary knows it's not the time for a war against Poseidon, it's possible that those who follow Poseidon also know it's not the time for a battle. Those we battle are not savages, Pegasus." said Geist beside them.
Kaire smiled at her, for she was right.
At the Giants' Cemetery in the Sanctuary, Shaina is once again holding back tears in front of Cassius' grave, when she again realizes that she is about to be harassed. She turns furious, but realizes it's Aioria. Very serious and silent.
He approaches her and also kneels before that tomb; then stands up, looking at Shaina.
"You should be in the Lion temple." Shaina of his duty.
"I should." Aioria agreed. "Are you going to report this to her?"
Shaina took a deep breath and looked again at the stone inscribed with the name of her former disciple.
"No."
A breeze blew from the mountains and Aioria stayed beside her, at first in silence, but then he tried to confess some of his pains.
"This was the place I came to since I was a child to runaway from my days and my sorrows. And now I come back here so that I can feel something. Feel the sadness I need to remember my duties."
Shaina looked at the mighty Lion Saint, who was not wearing his Holy Gold Cloth there, but still imposing.
"I won't come any more." he told her. "The Time of Battle is coming. We need to be ready."
"Don't worry about me, Aioria." she guessed, for after all he was there to bring her back to Sanctuary, even if her heart was dead.
A heart.
Shaina never thought that she would have a heart filled with feelings other than hate and anger. And often she returned to that cemetery, for it was easier to admit her sadness and longing for Cassius, for whom she blamed herself, than to admit that another huge piece of her longing was sailing on the high seas.
"Come on, Shaina." called Aioria.
On the bridge of the ancient ruins, looking out to the distant Aegean Sea and the stars in the warm night sky, were Saori and Alice, as well as Shun and Shiryu.
"I wonder if Seiya is okay." Shun said.
"Do you have any doubts?" asked Shiryu. "No matter what happens, Seiya finds a way for things to work out."
"Yeah, you're right."
Saori looked at the two talking and thought about him too; Alice remembered Seika and how the two of them were similar in that resilience. Deep down, they were sure they would come back all right.
At Cape Súnion, another brilliant gem lit up on the pedestal.
ABOUT THE CHAPTER: Another calm chapter, breaking the rule of always having battle in Saint Seiya. But after a storm comes the calm, as they say.
NEXT CHAPTER: THE NAKED TIME
The music of the sea intoxicates the entire crew bringing the deepest chaos among them all, with the exception of a single person who must save the mission alone. Poor kid.