Work Text:
Seika had never seen a place like the Sanctuary before. It was almost like stepping back hundreds of years back in time, compared to the rest of Greece, as she had seen on the way from Japan.
“The Grand Pope finds it highly suspicious how 100 orphans from the same place were sent to various training grounds across the world to become Saints of Athena. This is his order to make a counter-attack, out of fear that this Mitsumasa Kido may intend to use the Goddess for his own goals somehow.”
She did not dare to say anything, only listening to what the person in front of the group of orphans from all over the world stood gathered together, most sharing her nervous glare and fear of this unknown place.
“Everyone born between February 19 and March 20, step forwards.”
The order was spoken in different languages, allowing the children to roughly understand what happened. Since her birthday was March 18th, Seika stepped forwards, along with maybe six other children who were not from Japan.
Pisces Aphrodite was not happy with the news he had just been told. The Grand Pope had made it clear that no, he was not intending to replace Aphrodite as the Pisces Saint yet.
“See it as a preparation to keep the poisonous blood around to protect Athena as the guardian of the 12th Temple, if you were to become another Pisces Saint who ends up dying in the Holy War against Hades, when that time comes. Remember, Albafica had been the Pisces Saint for seven years when he died, and he unfortunately had no successor, which forced the cycle to restart again with slowly making the posionous blood stronger for each passing generation.”
Yes, that was a returning problem for the Pisces Saints who fought in the Holy Wars. Pisces Albafica, who had fought in the 18th century Holy War, had been just one of many Pisces Saints who died without someone to take his place.
“I will take those brats to train if it is what the Goddess wishes, your Holiness, but do not expect me to be joyful over it.”
Seven children. Five boys and two girls from all over the world. If a single one of them survived the Red Bond ritual, which had ended with Aphrodite killing his master and predecessor, it would once again prove the cost of the poisonous blood running in his veins.
~X~X~X~X~X~X
It felt strange, Saori thought, the Sanctuary was the place where she belonged, and yet, the kneeling Saints in front of her were all strangers.
“Are you…all that is left?”
This was a nightmare scenario for her army, the warriors who were supposed to fight at her side to protect Earth. A good number of the Silver Saints were already dead from facing Seiya and his friends in battle, and five of the current Gold Saints had fallen.
“Yes, my Lady. You better be prepared to do trials to promote some Bronze or Silver Saints to the rank of Gold. Because not all of them had students like Camus and we Gold Saints are supposed to be guarding you here at the very heart of the Sanctuary,” Scorpio Milo explained in a serious voice.
“I see…”
Then, footsteps were heard, revealing a new person who came running from the stairs below, followed by a voice screaming in Greek-accented Japanese:
“WHERE IS MY BROTHER, KIDO!!”
A strong scent of roses came from the new person wearing the Pisces Gold Cloth, but another detail stood out against the reddish-brown hair.
“The mask worn by girls and women who train as Saints?” the remaining Gold Saints noticed.
“Do not make me repeat myself, Kido,” the female Pisces Saint said the surname like a curse, “Where. IS. Seiya?”
And in that moment, Saori realized where the missing sister of the Pegasus Saint had been all along. She had been here, in the Sanctuary, just like Seiya, but their paths had never crossed for some reason.
“Seiya…Seiya!” Seika whispered at seeing the brother she had not seen for six years, and then held him tightly against herself, knowing that this was possibly her last chance to touch him physically.
Before the poisonous blood of the Pisces Saint, which she now had inherited from her master Aphrodite, forced her to keep a new distance from Seiya for his own safety.
Over the following months, Saori did not doubt that the unspoken resentment towards her from both Seiya and Seika, was grounded in how her adopted grandfather Mitsumasa Kido was the one to separate the siblings. He was the one who had taken away Seiya from his sister first, and then basically ignored what might happen to Seika, allowing her to be drafted by the Sanctuary directly while Seiya arrived there months later, when Seika already had been taken in as a student by Pisces Ahprodite by the orders of Gemini Saga, who had posed as Grand Pope Shion.
Now Seiya and Seika were finally reunited again, but at a heavy cost:
They were serving Athena together, but Seika had been the only student of Aphrodite to survive the Red Bond ritual, where her blood was mixed with his, slowly becoming more and more poisonous as the deadly secret of the Pisces Saint.
And Saori, despite being the Goddess Athena herself, was a daily reminder of how one mortal man had not cared for the consequences of separating a young brother and sister from each other, the only family they had left.