realityshifted

[Ikki frowns but says nothing at first he's not going to ask about the reasons his mother could have to do so or the whys. He knows his own mother refused with all her might to give up both his brother and him, but that was to the man who was their father and who only was interested on them as tools. He can't know, if it had been someone from the Sanctuary, someone in search of Saints candidates instead of talking about them as if they were tools so directly... Would she have done the same?]

Did you know? From the start, when you were taken to the Sanctuary, were you told about Saints and Athena properly?

[Rather than just being told they had to train to win an armor, a Cloth, without reasons as to why other than a fake promise of freedom once they had done it. Ikki never cared before about this, never asked, not even to the others, to know if at least they had been told things more clearly while he was kept in the dark, because reasons weren't needed for him to gain hate and anger. But seeing the Sanctuary from the previous Holy War, he starts to want to know, to need to know.]

At first, no.

Just until we arrived to Sanctuary I came to understand what the main purpose of our journey was. An ancient place of strong and courageous men and that we had to become like them ['I don't want to be here, big brother. Let's go home!'... Kanon's voice resonating in his mind from his first night in Sanctuary. 'This is our home now, Kanon. We can't leave anymore...' as he tried to calm his younger twin down.]

Our master talked to us about what our mission was and why we were born in this time and era. About the Goddess of War and Wisdom, Athena... and her Saints.

Since that day, we dedicated our body, heart and soul to become the most powerful Saints of the Order and serve our Goddess. [Chuckles.] Or at least, I believed so.

[There's a grunt on Ikki's part. So was it really just them? It was just the Bronze Saints of their era the ones who didn't know anything about the truth until they were trapped in it? Not that Saga and Kanon had much of a choice themselves, but still... They weren't lied to, at least it doesn't sound like that.]

You were correct.

[Even if some of them had had a distorted sense of justice, Ikki really wasn't one to judge them. He had done things he shouldn't have done as well. And at the end they all demonstrated that they were truly Athena's Saints, nothing else matters.]

... I thought that the whole Sanctuary was just as Kido was. That all the Saints had been all but kidnapped and forced into their roles, or fooled into accepting them and then unable to leave. That Sanctuary wasn't a good place, just as most of the places related to it, where sadism was an excuse to train children or watch them die.

But it was never like that, right? Nor before we were born, neither in the previous Holy War.

[He sighs, annoyed as he closes his eyes. It was easier when the Sanctuary were "the bad guys" with few exceptions or just to think as the place as a bad place in general even if Athena lived there, even if the people in it weren't that bad themselves at the end of everything.]

[Saga turns fully to face Ikki, noticing the discomfort in his expression.

Mitsumasa Kido... Was he the reason of Ikki's initial hatred towards everyone and everything and his living hell in Death Queen Island?

And there was Seiya. The hard training, the injuries and mistreatment of the other trainees -- even so, a smile always shined on his face.

... It was different to every Saint.]

Sanctuary may seem a horrid place to live in. There are rules, of course, but Shion always cared for the Saints and their trainees. He is strict, but kind.

[Even if his brother had to endure the hardest of lives, only to hide his existence because of need. 'Kanon... my brother... I came to understand you after all.]

Hn... It does seem that way. It felt as if I had stepped into the wrong world when I first saw the Sanctuary like it used to be.

[It was strange, disturbing. To meet the Saints of that time, to see how they were, fighting together rather than against each other... And all of them happy with where they were, or at least accepting of it. He didn't go around asking if they had gone to the Sanctuary by their own will or not, but... It certainly seemed like the place they had come to call home, even with the rules, training and everything else.]

... It would have been nice if our Sanctuary had been able to remain the same.

[Even if the results would have been the same. Even if, rather than Kido coming asking his mother to let him take Ikki and the new kid, it would have been someone from the Sanctuary asking her to give up the children. Ikki frowns and shakes his head, shooing away the thought, the brief wonder of if she would have been able to live on if that had been the case, without having to run away, without dying because she couldn't risk to go to a hospital to get medical help.]

Whatever, it doesn't matter anyway. Thanks for your answers.

[Sanctuary is his home. Everybody‘s home. A home that gave him brief happiness and pain. He lived and died there. He will be attached to that place until his body turns to dust.

And because of him, his beloved Sanctuary had become other people‘s hell.]

I would have wished for it to happen.

[He looks at Ikki with a puzzled expression.]

Does this have to do with what you‘re seeing in the Sanctuary of the previous Holy War or... because of you? Or both?

[Ikki visibly tenses at that question, frowning.]

What do you mean?

[Saga frowns.] ... Why did you ask me all this?

[There's a brief pause before he answers, not looking at the Gemini Saint.]

Shion isn't in a state to be asked anything about the Sanctuary and he wouldn't know what I wanted to ask anyway. Even if he had known, I knew you wouldn't lie to me for sure and you would know the answers.

[Shion isn't a man who would lie, or he seems so... But Ikki can't be sure he wouldn't sugar coat things about Sanctuary to get things his way. Even now it's hard to fully trust the figure of a man, no matter who it was, that was in control of the Sanctuary and went around gathering children to train them.

Of course that's not all, but it's also Ikki's way to say that out of everyone he could contact in the Plane, Athena included, he trusted Saga's answers the most.]

... I have another question. I never bothered to check, are there any villages left close to the Sanctuary? Like Rodorio village, there was a place called like that in the previous Holy War.

[He had kind of assumed there were none, until he saw that village. It's probably a stupid question but he doesn't care.]

[Saga chuckles. A mix of a bittersweet and ironic one.

He doesn't know if he should feel glad to be someone of trust. He always hoped for the day when his comrades will set aside the reminiscence of his crimes and just accept him as he is... Gemini Saga. But coming from Ikki is even more unexpected.

Why not ask Mu? Is it because he is the eldest Saint along with Aioros then so he would know all the functioning in the Sanctuary? ... Or is this some kind of unintentional test?

All he could do was to reply.] That's right. Rodorio is the only village that is close to Sanctuary. And there's also the Agora, which is a bit far away from it.

These locations are the closest we have.

[Ikki isn't the type to do subtle tests, he would rather take the direct route. He made mistakes as well, the difference is that he was stopped before any real wrong could be done, there's also the difference that, unlike Saga, it wasn't some hidden part of himself who did it. If he's allowed to keep fighting and fulfilling his duty, if he still has his brother's love and the others still appreciate him enough to actually be even a bit happy when he comes... Saga should be forgiven the same way, the man sure showed that he was a true Saint, just like Aphrodite and Death Mask.

Ikki hums at the answer, so the village still exists. He won't ask if it's inhabited, if it wasn't then he wouldn't have mentioned it, would he?]

Did you ever go there? To the village, I mean.

[It is okay. He had Athena's forgiveness... and Shion's... and the Gold Saints'. Even the Bronze Saints accepted him with a smile on their faces.

It is okay. Despite his comrades have a hard time to be near him because of his taciturnity at times... he understands.

It is okay. He has a reason to move on...]

[Saga laughs while he stands, so he's face to face with Ikki.] I've always gone there. [But then his smile turns into a nostalgic one.] The people are kind and they always looked at us with such admiration. As if we were some kind of demigods. ['Saga-sama! Everyone! Saga-sama is here!' The youngsters, the elders and even the children surrounding him everytime he visited the village.]

We're not demigods, we're just soldiers.

[Ikki frowns and shifts as if trying to shake off from his back something he is carrying and doesn't want to.]

At least in our war they didn't get involved. The Pisces Saint died protecting that place.

Our presence and considerable strength make them think so. They have faith in us because we are blessed with our Goddess' gift to fight.

[But then, he tenses and slightly frowns.] Albafica... [His first impression of him wasn't what he expected. He truly was a Gold Saint.]

You met him?

[Funny, he had n ever really considered that could have happened, but now that he thinks of it it's possible. Ikki would agree with Saga, the Pisces Saint had been the biggest shock for him so far. Though all of them, the whole Sanctuary, was turning out to be a complete shock for him.]

[An amused smile.] Thanks to the Plane.

[Yes, Ikki, he did. Pisces Saints aren't very humble when it comes to protect the innocents... or so he thought. He's still in the process of assimilating that fact.]

Everything is like that. It feels like some bad joke at times.

[He's starting to wonder if they will really be able to do anything for Seiya after all. He also sounds annoyed and disturbed. Maybe Saga now has a better idea as to why.]

[Oh... He does notice and just, sighs in nuisance. Both can agree on that part.] Who did you meet?

Does it really matter? Anywhere I look in that place is something I supposedly should recognize, but it's so different it feels like a different world. Even Athena, when Sasha is in control, is different like day and night.

I suppose I just wanted to know why things were so different.

["Saga did it" isn't a valid excuse. After all, Ikki's mostly talking about the people, their wills and actions. It's not as if Saga used mind control on everyone in the Sanctuary.]

[Frowns.] You say it as if Sanctuary wasn‘t Sanctuary at all. How different it is?

[Because he can‘t imagine Sanctuary in any other way. Some structures and old habits may have changed with the course of time, but still...]

It may just be us, from the way you talked about the Sanctuary before it didn't sound that different from what I've seen there. The Sanctuary there is... Not everyone knows each other, and there are doubts and hesitation against other Saints, but overall they... Are united. All of them, Bronze, Silver, Gold, trainees, it doesn't seem to matter what their rank is, they are regarded as equals and of same importance even if in terms of strength there are differences.

And Sasha is... Not like the woman who is Athena in our time.

[He's not going to start on the differences there, it should be obvious already that he doesn't think high of Saori given how he rarely, if ever, calls her for her name.]

Who knows, maybe I'm just getting the wrong impression. And the only example of Sanctuary I have to compare to wasn't at its best moment.

[Oh... that...

He knows what he means. Actually, it is similar and different. In a way.

Saga and Aioros were the oldest Saints and the rest were still... kids. Some of them were absorbed into their own affairs and ideologies. And honestly, Saga himself detached from any partnership just to become a loner. Mostly it had to do because of his so-called image and what he was dealing at the time.

Though the mention of both Athena's vessels gives him a sort of discomfort that he visibly frowns for a moment. But of course, Ikki doesn't give a damn about and he knows it. No comments on this matters because the answer is obvious: Sasha became a Goddess from an early age while Saori grew up as a human girl of a wealthy family. Thanks to him.]

[His voice is filled with bitter acknowledgment.]

Admittedly, I agree. [Sighs.] It is... not a wrong impression you have. Not as serious as you can think.

[Saga didn't choose who would be the man to raise Saori, neither did Aioros, really. Much less did any of them decide how the man would do it or what other ideas he would have. Part of him knows he shouldn't be so hard on Saori but as herself she really has done nothing he feels he owes to her and even Athena he doesn't feel as if she's more than just decent. He performs his duty because that's what he's to do, because he takes pride in being the Phoenix Saint and Esmeralda told him to get the Cloth, it was her last wish. He doesn't care who Athena is or how she is, he will do his part and will give his life for her regardless of personal feelings. Besides, it's not as if he could ever do anything else.]

Not as serious?

[Neither does Saga. He barely knows how Saori's life was and how she is. But the little he could see is that she's very kind to him.

Even so, as Ikki, he has a duty as well. To protect his Goddess at any cost, until his Cosmo ceases to exist... his life was hers. He promised to himself do things the right way this time.

He meditates for a moment what he's going to say to him.]

Aioros and I were older than the rest. So we had other... interests. It didn't mean we had to treat the children badly.

I suppose. That's not what I meant though.

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