Everything is Ready

Saori POV - Japan - 1986

I'm looking at the excited faces of the reporters, that are discussing the new information about the Galaxian War with a small smile on my face, when all of the sudden, a voice is heard "Humph... Sorry I'm late" and looking at the point of origin, I say "So you are the 8th... Seiya!", in front of the doors of the conference hall, I see the figure of a a young man with light skin, brown eyes and hair with clear asian features, he is wearing a sleevless red shirt, jeans, and white running shoes, he also has red bandages on his wrists and bicipids, and on his back there is the Pegasus Pandora Box.

(Image Here - Seiya, Pegasus Box)

I can clearly feel his dislike for my presence, and I don't blame him, I was really spoiled back then, but I ignore it and say "Welcome, Seiya, 7 others have arrived before you, please join us in this 'war'!", but as expected Seiya replies "Sorry, I've got something better to do..." and before Tatsumi could act, I stop him with a sign and wait for Seiya to explain himself.

And he quickly do it "There's a promise you have to keep, Saori-san... That you wouldn't separate siblings from the orphanage... You sent me to Greece, against my will... Telling me to come back with a Cloth, well, I've done that, so you have to keep your end of the deal..." then he loses his calm and yells "For the last 6 years, I've endured the abuse of the special training to get this thing! So tell me! Where is my older sister!?".

But before I could reply, Jabu comes out and yell "Shut your trap, Seiya! No one wants to hear your whining! We don't care what happened to you! Just drop the Cloth and get out of here! If you don't then I'll take it from you!" and I notice that Seiay easily recognize him, meanwhile Jabu continues while cracking his knuckles "If you stopped talking so much, you might get an idea of what's going on around you... You should be proud to be one of the few selected to partecipate in what Ojou-sama has planned".

And raising his fists and taking a classic boxing pose Jabu says "Tell you what, to atone for your rudeness to Saori-sama, why don't you kneel? Then leave the Cloth and away, far away" and annoyed Seiya replies "Keep your nose out of this, Jabu... I kept my end, all I want is for her to keep hers".

Feeling that they were going to continue with this useless fight, I say in a firm tone "Enough! This is not the time nor the place for you two to be getting into one of your old fights!" hearing that Jabu mutters "B-But he's so rude..." and to stop him I say "Jabu, you heard me" and at that all he can reply is "Yes, Ma'am" in a shaky tone, and I add "Save your hostility for the battle arena".

Hearing that Seiya once again snaps "Stop talking about this stupid war! All I care about, right now, is seeing my sister after 6 years!" and at that letting out a sigh I say "Enough, Seiya! To be honest, I know everything about your sister... A year ago I met her, and since then while we had a rocky start, we now have a quite cordial relationship... I you want to find her, all you have to do is to go to the Star Children Academy, she works there and is taking care of the children".

Seiya for a moment is stunned that I told him this so easily and he quickly calms down and stutters a thanks, before turning aroung and moving toward the exit Tatsumi want to stop him, but I tell him to let him go, as I'm sure that he will come back and take part in the Galaxian War.

But then Jabu once again attacks Seiya with a quick series of jabs, so fast that most of the people here didn't even see it saying "I think he still needs to leave his Cloth here!", and the next moment, the straps of Seiya's Pandora Box breaks in many pieces, that to the air blasts generated by his punches, making the Box fall into the ground with a loud tump then Jabu says "Heh... You're pathetic, you're not even going to fight back are you?".

With his back still turned Seiya say "I'm happy that I'm about to finally meet my sis, and in hurry, that's why I'm going to go easy on you this time..." and before everyone, even Jabu could react, his clothes becomes full of tears but no injures can be seen on his body, and the screen and the wall behind him starts crumbling creating a huge hole into the wall.

Stumbling back shocked by Seiya's display Jabu says "...The wall behind and the screen also... He... He meant to keep it quiet... Damn! He's got a strong Cosmo! I didn't even sense it coming! I wouldn't be surprised if his attacks reached Mach 1! Incredible!", and while this happens, Seiya leaves the hall ignoring everyone else, and leaving behind the Pegasus Box here.

Tatsumi moves closer to me and whispers "Saori-sama is this wise... Seiya, his attitude towards you..." but I calm him down and say "Hn... Don't worry, he'll behave, after all Seika knows what is at stake here... After all, she spent a whole year together with Jayr as he did everything possible to prepare for what is to come, and he didn't hide anything to her, about the current situation".

Seiya POV - Japan - 1986

Right now, I'm running with a happy spring in my step, after 6 torturous years, I will finally reunite with my sister Seika, at the same time I remember everything I went through to finally reach this moment 'The training at the Kido mansion with the bald bastard Tatsumi and his team of trainers, the journey to the Sancutary, my meeting with Cassios and Jayr-sensei, then my training from hell with Marin-san, and the continuos scuffles with Cassios, until Jayr-sensei came and first beat the shit out of us then he told us, how we shouldn't fight with hate, between each others, as we both had the same objective, becoming Saint of Athena to protect the world and those we hold dear, and while we were competitors for the Cloth, in the end we were in truth fighting on the same side'.

Cassios took Jayr-sensei' scolding very seriously, after all he is the brother of his master, and when he asked why he didn't like me, Cassios replied that he didn't want me to become a Saint as he feels that I'm not really commited to it... that stunned me as I didn't know that the brutish Cassios was so sharp, and at that Jayr-sensei nods and says that is true that right now I'm not truly committed to fight for Athena, but he also told Cassios that if I didn't have it in me to become a Saint, a Cloth would never accept to be used by me, but the fact that the Pegasus constellation has already accepted me means that I have in me the right qualities to become a Saint of Athena.

Then he turned to me and said to think about the scenario of a great disaster hitting Japan or even the world, and my dear sister Seika would die because of it, and I could do nothing to prevent that... At that thought I almost felt my world break to piece, but the Jayr-sensei added that if I had the power of a Saint I could not only stop the disaster and save my sister, but also my sister's friends and their families keeping her safe and happy... then with a pure smile on his face that I'll never forget he says "That is the sacred duty of the Saint! Protecting Athena and the world to keep everyone safe and happy, that is why we suffer so much to become Saints, to protect!".

'After his speech, I invested myself in training even more, and Cassios stopped being an ass with me... Yes, during a fight he is still a brutal animal that is able to rip off an opponent head with his bare hands, but outside of training I notices that he is much more noble and kind than his apparence could suggest, hell, one time I saw him helping Jayr on his trip to the Plaka Village by taking care of the ill and playing with the kids... It's like he was a totally different person outside of a fight... And after that we slowly became friends'.

After 30 min of running, I finally reach the Star Children Academy, the place that was my home before, I was forcefully separated from my sister and later sent to Greece to train to become a Saint, and sweeping in front of the building is a familiar girl, she has fair skin tone, mid-length blue hair styled in a twin-tail, and light blue eyes, wearing a simple lilac dress, with a light blue apron, and after a few seconds I recognize her and running toward her I yell "Miho-chan!".

(Image Here - Miho)

Miho hears my shout, and after looking at me, she quickly recognizes me and yells "Seiya-chan! You are finally back! Wow, Seika-san said that you would return soon safe and sound, but seeing you in person makes me much more relieved!", and excited I say "I'm happy to see you too! But it is true!? Seika-nee is really here?" and with a smile, she explains "Yes... When you left 6 years ago, soon after she disappered without saying anything, and we didn't receive any news from her since then... But a year ago, all of the sudden, she returned, saying that she found you, but couldn't meet with you as it could distract you from your training and put your life in danger... She then asked the reverend to work here as teacher and caretaker for the kids".

I'm stunned by the fact that my sister followed after me, and was even able to reach the Sanctuary, then remembering the perilious area around the Sanctuary, I quickly ask worried "Is she fine!? The areas around the Sanctuary are really dangerous, no normal person can safely travel through them..." and Miho replies "Well, she is fine... But she did say that she had an accident, and that is why it took her 5 years to come back...".

While relieved that she is fine now, I'm still worried about what happened to her, so I ask "Miho-chan, where is Seika-nee now?" and she with an understanding smile says "Right now, she is teaching math to the children, but it should end in a few minutes, so while you wait, come and help me clearing the playground...".

And so, we move to the back and start cleaning the playground, and while we work Miho says "You know? I'm surprised to see you, I never thought I'd see you again, Seiya-chan?" and I reply "I'm just as surprised, I didn't think you would still be here, Miho-chan..." and with a smile she say "Well, I don't have any family, and there is nowhere else for me to go... So I asked the reverend, and he agreed to let me work here... I enjoy working with kids and on top of that, this is my home!".

After that we spent, a few minutes chatting about any thing, from Miho day to day life, to my training days, until we heard the sound of child laughter coming from the distance, and I head the voice, I longed for so much in these 6 years "Makoto-kun, be careful when you are running!" and quickly turning my head, I finally see her, with a warm smile on her face surrounded by children as she lead them into the playground.

I yell "Seika-nee!!" and run toward her, as she turns to me and with a smile she says "Welcome back, Seiya!", then I quickly hug her, and unable t hold back, a few tears fall from my eyes, and as she hugs me back and says "I'm happy that you come back safe and sound..." I finally notice that she is now smaller than me, and how weak and small her back and shoulders are, and once again, I remember Jayr-sensei's words 'It's true that I didn't choose to become a Saint, but with the power, I gained I can protect nee-san and those like her... I can't hide behind her back anymore, now it's my turn to protect her!'.

Then after, asking Miho-chan to watch over the childrens, Seika-nee takes me to a quiet place, and she asks me about my story, and so I tell her about it, about my training, about Jayr-sensei and how he helped me, the friendship I made with Cassios despise our rocky start, and with Geist the little sister of Jayrs-sensei, about my master Marin-san and her methods, my fight with Cassios for the Pegasus Cloth, the parks that Geist pulled on me, my farewell party with Marin-san, Shaina-san, Cassios and Geist.

I could help but notice the warm smile on her face, every time I talked about Jayr, and so I asked her about it, and in turn, she told me her story, how she followed after me soon after I was sent to Greece, about the incident and the fact that she lost her memories, about her meeting with Jayr-sensei, how he helped her recover her memories and tole her about my situation, how they traveled together, and how she fell in love with him during their journey, but how she chose to distance herself from him because of her insecurities.

But if what she just told, shocked me, what she said next almost made my soul fly out of my body, as she talked about what Jayr-sensei told her during their journey, about what is happening to the Sanctuary, the fact that spoiled girl Saori-san is, in fact, the reincarnation of the goddess Athena, and that the true purpose of the Galaxian War is to train them and at the same time bring out the evil forces hidden in the Sanctuary as the only quick and sure way for a Saint to grow stronger is to fight to their limits, and about the coming Holy War where should Athena lose, would mean the death of all the people on the planet.

'My goddess! If it was someone else that said this I would have called a bullshit! But it is Seika-nee, who said it, and she heard it from Jayr-sens... No wait... should I call him Jayr-niisan? That not important at the moment! The important thing is that now for sure I have to take part in that Galaxian War... I have to get much, much stronger, if I want to protect Seika-nee and those I hold dear!'.

Jayr POV - Japan - 1986

A few days passed since I left the Kido Mansion, and came to Dr. Asamori's Laboratory to build a Steel Cloth for Cassios, and thanks to the knowledge that I have accomulated, and the fact that the three prototypes are complete and working, in fact only the Steel Saints still need some more time to further train and learn how to use the Cloths.

The Steel Cloths are a technological imitation of the Saints' Cloth created by Dr. Asamori under the request of Mitsumasa Kido, and unlike the other Saints, the Steel Saints' powers come from their robotic armors and not from the Cosmos, the advantage is that everyone with a fit body can have power comparable to a Saint with it, the disadvantage is that without the Steel Cloth, the Steel Saint is only and above average human.

Fun fact, while it is called Steel Cloth, it is in fact made of an alloy of magnesium, titanium, and tugsten, making one of the hardest materials that the technology of this world can create, but it is still useless in front of the might of the Saints, in fact, these Cloths are only a little bit harder than the Black Cloth, and those things are brittle as fuck for my point of view.

I'm now studying the already made Steel Cloths, the Sky Cloth that is in the shape of a small jet plane or air glider in mainly maroon red color, the Marine Cloth that is in the shape of a small submarine or water glider in mainly blue color, and the Land Cloth that is in the shape of a small race car or skate board in mainly yellow color.

(Image Here - Steel Cloths)

In these few days I made a lot of progress with Cassios' Cloth following the theme I designed his Cloth after a vehicle, and of course for Cassios I choose a tank, and plan to paint it black, and many pieces of the Cloth are already made and they have to only be programmed and assembled, but I still wasn't able to think of a good special technology to support Cassios.

But I must admit that Dr. Asamori is a genius, he is able to raise a trained human being to the level of a Bronze Saint with only technology, and gave the Steel Cloth abilities that are effective even against a Saint, the Sky Cloth has four turbines on its left forearm that can absorb the Cosmos of any attack made by the opponent and store it to project it back as a powerful blast against the enemy, the Marina Cloth has a psychic wave emitter in its helmet, thanks to the waves generated by this device, it is able to repel any type of mental attack, be it psychic or telekinetic, and the Land Cloth is basically a walking flashbag, made with the only intend of disorient every sense of an opponent, quite the scary combo, one take care of the Cosmo, another of abilities like telekinesis and telephaty, and the other weaken the senses, most of the Bronze and some Silver Saints won't be able to deal with them.

Then I had a eureka moment 'Right what is Cassios greatest strength? It is his physical might! His weakness? He is a brute that doesn't even know how to skillfully use it! So why don't I use my knowedge to program his mask to analyze the opponent's body and armor and tell him where to hit... This way all that ridiculous strength will focus on his enemies' weak point!'.

And soon I tell my idea to the Dr. Asamori, who quickly agrees and together we start programming the mask, while his assistants, finish the last details on the other pieces of the Cloth, in the end to finish everything and put together the Cloth it should take at most a few weeks.

After I did my part, I went out of the laboratory for the first time in 3 days, and calmly walk trought the streets of Tokyo, and everywhere I turn my gaze, I see news about the coming Galaxian War 'The bait is in the water, we only have to wait for the fish to bite...' and right at that moment, I recievie a telephatic message from Camus 'Jayr, Saga just ordered me to send my disciple after those that are taking part in the tournament organized by the Graad Foundation to kill them, and at the same time is ordering all the Gold Saints to come back, and also summoned the Guardians of other training grounds and every other Saint that is out of the Sanctuary... Does this mean that it is finally the time?'.

I stop in place, and using my Cosmo to send a telepathic message to Camus that is currently at the Sanctuary, I reply 'Yes... Athena has finally made her move... now it is up to us to make this a smooth as possible, be careful to not reveal yourself to Saga... I'm afraid that the evil influence now has control over him most of the time... I'll warn the others, and tell them to get ready'.

And so, I start to send the same message to Aiolia, Milo, Aldebaran, Mu, Master Dohko, my sisters, Marin, Diadalos, and Ikki 'It's time, Athena has made her move and Saga just started making his own, everyone, be careful!', and after that, I quietly return back to the Kido Mansion unseen.

Aiolia POV - Greece, Leo Temple - 1986

I just received Jayr's telephatic message, and this tell me two things, first Jayr reached my level of power, only someone with his 7th sense awakened can comunicate telephatically across the world like this, and second and most important, it's finally time to free the Sanctuary of the evil influence that took reing for 13 years.

So I quickly move further inside the Leo Temple and what greet my sight is the golden Leo Pandora Box, laying on a pedestal, putting my hand on the box I say in a low tone "Its time for the lion to awaken and bare its fangs to Athena's enemies!".

Shaina POV - Greece, Sanctuary - 1986

I almost couldn't believie it when I received, Jayr's telephatic message, It's been two years since I last saw him, and while he always sent letters to me, Geist and the rest of the family, he never told us about the fact that he awakened his 7th sense, that means that Jayr is now comparable to a Gold Saint, he is now a lot stronger than me, but while I have a sense of loss about the fact that my little brother is stronger than me, under my mask, a proud smile can't help but form on my face, and at the same time, the worry I felt about the coming chaos lessened a great deal.

But I'm broken out of my musing by my little sister Geist, that rush into the house yelling "Shaina!! Did you heard it too!? It's really him? When will he co..." but I quickly stop her and say "Calm down! Be careful of what you say, you know and have seen how is the situation at the Sanctuary! Be more careful, especially now that the storm has started! All we have to do now is do our part and be always alert... We have to conserve as much of the Sanctuary's strength as possible!".

And in a rare moment of seriousness Geist asks "Will Saga send us after Seiya and Jayr...?" and with a smile under my mask, I say "I hope so... I still have to kick Seiya's ass for defeating my disciple... And I want to reunite with Jayr, he has to teach me how to awaken my 7th sense!", Geist nods and says in a regretful tone "And I miss his cooking... Why do we have the same talent of grandpa when it comes to cooking?".

Jayr POV - Japan, Graad Coliseum - 1986

I'm inside the Graad Coliseum standing hidden behind Saori in case something unexpected happens, and different from its outside appearance, the interior of the colosseum benefits from modern technology, the most striking is that it has a dome cover that can be placed in an open or closed position, allowing to completely close the roof of the stadium and produce darkness inside.

In the dome configuration, the roof can be illuminated by a sky representing the constellations, a starry universe that creates the desired "galactic" atmosphere, and this vault also includes electronic scoreboards that provide information on the various battles.

In terms of audience, the Colosseum has a seating capacity of 100,000, which makes this construction a major sports facility, capable of hosting a large number of spectators and journalists from around the world to attend an event of global magnitude 'Really all this money spent only to make a bait...'.

But even so too many people came, and many were turned away at the entrance, but to compensate, large screens were installed so that everyone could watch the fights.

Once all the seats are occupied, the colosseum dome closes completely and the giant quad screen descends from the ceiling to welcome them, it also displays the fight table, but instead of the name uses the name of their constellation.

And now, everyone is waiting for the start of the tournament and the first public fight between Saints to start, and I admit that I'm curious about how my presence and interference changed Seiya and the others, will they be stronger, weaker, or the same, anyway I have to be ready to act at a moment notice to save their lives if I screwed up badly and something goes wrong, no one will die on my watch.