Notable OCs up until now that I own: Pegasus Lance; Andromeda Shinta; Taurus Daniel's Gold Saint Generation;

Notable Original concept (until now): Sanctuary Town;

Recurrent/Cameo OCs belonging to Jenny DeVic: Cassiopeia Cassandra; Behemoth Torak (Toruk); Mrs. Schafurwatt

Recurrent/Cameo concepts belonging to Jenny DeVic: 88 Knights Festival; Golden Line Heritage; The Great Bodyguard legend; The Sanctuary-sponsored orphanages; Andromeda Island's geography

Author notes:

-Important Note to Reviewers: Since my warnings about unsigned reviews have fallen on deaf ears, I will start responding to reviews from users without an account on Twitter. My account there has the same name as here.

-To old readers: During the development of the 3rd Arc of Version 2, I became increasingly concerned with the staggering difference in quality between the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Arcs as well as with the escalating number of retcons. After a bit of soul-searching, I decided it was for the best to revamp the 1st Half of the story so as to correct what was wrong and so that I could start posting this story in different sites with a bit of pride. I hope you understand my decision.

-To new readers: The age of original characters of the Saint Seiya manga/anime have been altered to fit with the events of the story. Moreover, always keep in mind that the story takes place during the 1970s, approximately fifteen to twenty years, depending on what I decide for the characters later on, before Seiya gets his Cloth.

Please enjoy and review.

{======================|0|======================}

Prologue

Sanctuary, Star Hill, early May of 1960…

{======================|0|======================}

It was the middle of the night and Shion, former Gold Saint of Aries and current Pope of Athena, was feeling agitated and with insomnia. The day had not been particularly difficult, but he just felt restless for some reason. He had left his chambers in the Pope's Temple and decided to go out for some fresh air. He contemplated a walk around Rodario or just gaze at the magnificence of Athena's statue, but ended up deciding to go to Star Hill for some night time reading.

As he stood before Star Hill's temple and gazed at the night sky, he found that the stars seemed to have little to say to him, if anything. Every now and then, he would go to this place to see if the future had anything reserved for him and his Saints. Exactly two hundred and nine years had passed since the Lost Canvas War, however, and the sky was yet to say anything interesting to the new Pope other than the birth of a more powerful Saint every now and then.

Reminded of the old conflict with Alone, Shion's eyes turned to the landscape of Sanctuary. In that high spot he could gaze upon almost all of Athena's holy hands and it didn't take even to his aged eyes very long to eventually spot the far off cemetery were Sisyphus's entire generation rested after the Lost Canvas War, one of the bloodiest battles in Sanctuary's history. If he squinted right, he could even make out some of the largest crosses and mausoleums there. It was in situations like these, when he was reminded of how long his friends were dead, that Shion realized how old he had become.

Oh how his body ache and his mind falter. After all, the Pope was but a shadow of its former glorious self. His hair had turned white and his face and body were marked with wrinkles and warts. To a Lemurian like him, who lived decades of youth and power well beyond the lifespan of any human, the inevitable fall into weakness and frailty he was now experiencing somehow felt even more devastating.

Still, he had been a good Pope. Sanctuary was safe and sound and despite the World Wars the human race was still in one piece. Yes, Shion could be proud of what he had accomplished as the one chosen by Athena to lead her Holy Land. No one could take that away from him. He took off his black mask, knowing that no one could be there in that sacred place to spy on him, and looked up at the starry sky. "Athena, the time for your next reincarnation is not that far off, is it? Don't worry; Sanctuary is waiting for you safe and sound, just like I promised when you made me the new Pope." He thought to himself.

Shion was about to head back to the Golden Zodiac when the sudden sound of a wooden cane poking the floor along with weak steps was heard. Initially he thought it was the familiar sound of his equally aged friend Dohko walking around, but his warrior sense told him otherwise. "This is one of the most sacred places in all of Sanctuary, so I hope you know the consequences of trespassing it. Who are you? Show yourself!"

"Good evening, your Holiness. It's a pleasant, well lit night to be outside, isn't it? Heh, Heh, Heh, Heh!"

Shion's eyes widened when the unfamiliar voice was heard, his golden cosmos burned and he prepared himself to face the threat that had deceived so many of the Zodiac's defences, most likely an assassin. However, much to his surprise, the 'assassin' was but an old woman, walking towards him with a cane and covered by a black hooded cloak. Her face was extremely wrinkled, even deformed, with a long pointy nose and warts that gave her a very witch-like appearance that made Shion feel like he shouldn't complain about his own age.

Shion raised his guard but remained calm. Though the ease of her infiltration alarmed him, he wouldn't let that get the best of him. "How did you get here undetected by my Saints?"

The woman chuckled. "I am Hecate, Witch of the Moon, and there are few places I cannot move into." she announced, bowing as much as her pained, hunchbacked body could, while the clouds seemed to clear away from the full moon to bring magical poetry to her introduction. She saw the Pope's eyes grow fierce with this revelation. "Don't worry, your Holiness. Despite me serving both Lord Chronos and Lady Artemis, I mean no harm to you or Athena. We're not your declared enemies, after all."

However, Shion did not lower his guard. It was true the God of Time and the Goddess of Hunt were not typical enemies of Sanctuary, but he had heard of this woman now before him through tales of deceit and betrayal brought to his ears by his informants and fellowmen of past wars. Hecate's name had no clean reputation on it. "Is that so? Why should I trust your word? What do you want with me?"

Hecate raised a brow at him. "Indeed, I sense distrust in you. Has someone told you something bad about me?" she asked. "Was it a mysterious young boy named Shun and his comrades?"

A punching feeling hit Shion's gut and the Pope widened his eyes, recalled of Andromeda Shun, his brother and his two other Bronze Saint comrades who mysteriously emerged during the last Holy War with Hades. He and Dohko had never really found out from where exactly the group came from, but Athena seemed to have undying trust in them. "Yes, that's correct. He told me you allowed him to participate in the Lost Canvas War, but that you had tricked him and Athena somehow."

"I see… I assure you, though, that I have done nothing of the sort in all of my life-"

"Speak your purpose, witch, or leave!" Shion insisted, sensing that Hecate was digressing. "This is one of the holiest places in Athena's lands and you should be trialed just for the affront of trespassing here. I wouldn't waste time with diversions if I were you!"

Hecate lost her wicked smirk and became rather somber. "Very well, then." She accepted, resting both hands on her cane. "I am of no threat…because I am dying, your Holiness. I have not long for this world. I was hoping to find a way to rejuvenate myself before that moment came, but it seems time is running out for me." She revealed. "You, as a Lemurian, have had a long life too and probably understand how I feel."

The Pope calmed down. Now that he thought of it, he was sensing great frailty in Hecate's cosmos, even beyond what her decrepit looks already suggested. If it wasn't for the fact that Hecate was not to be trusted, he would probably feel sorry for her.

Hecate saw that the Pope was without words giving her a chance to speak and she took it. "As long a life I've had, I have yet something to do, something to tell you, three things to tell you to be exact. Three great prophecies that I have had that you would do well to hear."

This time, however, Shion couldn't help but laugh. "So you've suddenly felt in the mood to offer me advice after decades of accumulating fame of trickery? Prophecies, you say? Now I know that you're lying." He accused. "While sometimes the stars can still tell us of what is to come, there hasn't been anyone capable of actually seeing the future or 'reading the wind', as you prophets have called it, in five hundred years."

"Correction, your Holiness," interfered Hecate "There hasn't been anyone born capable of predicting the future in five hundred years. Those born before that are still perfectly capable of listening to what the wind has to say." She saw Shion's gaze becoming impatient and aggravated. "Please, just hear me out. It is my destiny to tell you these things before I die. I promise not to waste your time."

Shion scratched his chin, pondering her words for a while. What harm could come from granting the old woman her final wish of letting her voice echo beyond her death? On the other hand, she could be looking towards manipulating him. However, Shion was confident that he would not be fooled by this woman. "Go ahead; speak to your heart's content."

Hecate seemed to regain her smile. "Thank you, your Holiness. You are wiser and kinder beyond your kin." She complimented. "However, I am afraid my first prophecy is a terrible one." She waved her walking stick around a bit and Shion found himself placed within an illusion together with her. "But let not my words alone guide you to it. Instead, allow me to show it to you."

{======================|0|======================}

Shion widened his eyes. "What? What is this, an illusion?! This better not be another trick, Hecate."

"Please be patient, your Holiness. I merely wish to illustrate you what I foresaw, for this is Sanctuary…in my dream."

Shion's eyes wavered at the scenery and his jaw dropped slightly at the spectacle. He was standing in the air together with the witch and below their feet was the Holy Land of Athena. However, it was a place burning with war and destruction. Clouds of black smoke emanated from everywhere, darkening the skies. Flames could be seen on the roofs of Rodario as soldiers clashed against each other on the streets. The earth shook and the blackened sky was ripped apart as many powerful Saints clashed with each other and with other warriors from different armies, such as Specters and Mariners.

The Pope of Athena gasped and his eyes immediately searched for his Saints, only to find them either massacred on the streets or contributing to the violence. By the Gods, what was happening to his land?

"Sanctuary? What is going on here?" The Pope demanded to know as he saw more fires burning destruction spreading through his Goddess' domain. "What is all of this fighting?! What are my Saints doing?!"

"I have dreamed of dissent, Pope Arles the Third." Hecate called him, as it was the name Shion chose for himself as a Pope. "I envisioned events of rupture and chaos in the future that will tear Sanctuary apart."

The elderly man stared at the many armies slaughtered citizens and shattered homes. However, Shion's eyes didn't truly widen in horror until he saw the soldiers marching with heads on their spears and planting flags on roofs and high spots. They were flags of war and of different Gods, claiming bits of Sanctuary as their own to destroy while the Saints themselves couldn't stop shouting at and killing each other for no apparent reason. The sound of explosions, strange shots, screams and metal clashing were a constant and the reek of blood and gore filled the air.

The Saints themselves did not behave much better, trying to put up different fronts while making their own additions to the chaos, trampling the people they were supposed to protect and turning on each other. The spears, shields and fists meant to uphold Athena's name now smeared themselves in liquid red, shouting for causes of war and calling themselves the true saviors while doing little to end the carnage. Walls fell apart, curtains burned, people ran through the streets screaming and crying for their loved ones.

Shion stumbled back, horrified and in denial of what was before him. His eyes looked upwards to the clouds, as if searching Athena. He found no consolation in them, though.

For he saw beyond them bright divine eyes watched the chaos and raining destruction and death down on top of it. Shion screamed as he saw Sanctuary be engulfed by the heavenly wrath.

{======================|0|======================}

The bright flash of light ended the illusion, returning the Pope and the Witch to the temple in Star Hill. The silent, calm environment of the peaceful Sanctuary brought little consolation to the Pope, who still saw flashes of the brutality he just witnessed running through his mind.

Sweat filled his face. "Do you expect me to believe any of that? You must be tricking me. How could any of that happen during my reign?"

"It's merely what I've foreseen, your Holiness." said Hecate, apparently finding the scene of destruction to be no laughing matter despite being no friend of Athena. "My first prophecy is one of a Great Age of War which scale hasn't been seen in a thousand years in Sanctuary."

"A thousand years? ...Is this because of Hades?!" He naturally assumed, grabbing her black collar and demanding an answer. "Is he the one causing this?"

The elderly witch remained calm. "If only... That would make the problem so much more familiar, wouldn't it? Unfortunately, the Age of War that is to come is not led by just Hades, but many forces and many great evils, godly and human alike."

There was a moment Shion faltered, wondering if what she showed him could actually come true, but he soon enough shook his head at the notion. "No, this is impossible!" Shion let go of her. "You're wrong. So many conflicts could not start in Sanctuary so suddenly and in a row. Not on my watch!"

"I do not ask you to believe me, only to witness my vision. You'll see it become reality with your own eyes. As the Pope, you'll have a front row seat to Sanctuary's Apocalypse."

Shion gritted teeth and tightened his fists. His first instinct was to call her a liar and expel her from that sacred place before she tainted it further. However, there was something in her voice that sounded too honest, but perhaps it was just because she really was nearing her end. Almost against his own will, Shion found himself asking "What are the other prophecies you had?"

Hecate's high pitched laugh returned all of a sudden. "My second prophecy is one that will please you immensely, for it is one speaking of the return of legendary heroes, friends of yours." She revealed. She created a second illusion, this one of many men in golden armor standing behind her, their faces shadowed by their helmets. "Their reincarnation is at hand, oh Holy Father. Your dead comrades are returning from the beyond!"

"…What?"

"Sisyphus, Aspros, Asmita and the rest of their generation… I have dreamt of their return to your side." Hecate's smirk widened with the look on Shion's face. "They will come one-by-one. Sagittarius and Gemini will be the first to arrive together with Leo, who is Sagittarius' baby brother, and then a new Aries Saint will be brought to your House by a crying child. I have even dreamt of their names; Aiolos, Saga, Aiolia, Mu, Milo, Camus, Shura, Aldebaran, Aphrodite, Mephisto and Shaka. The Libra Saint, however,-"

"Wait, what are you saying?" Shion shouted, waving his hand at the illusion of the eleven Golden men. "Are you saying that my lost comrades, my long dead friends,… are returning?" Hecate nodded at this. Shion couldn't believe his ears. "This is incredible. She just has to be lying! For my friends to all return from the grave and become Saints… is too good to be true! And a new Aries Saint 'brought to me by a crying child'? What does she mean?" He saw Hecate stare at him, wondering what kind of conclusion Shion was making. "My Master once spoke to me of the prophets of old and how more often that not they did not understand what the 'winds' told them, but limited themselves in passing on the knowledge they received to whom it was meant to. Could this witch be telling the truth?"

"Even though they carry different names and a new Aries comrade, they are your old comrades returned from the cycle of reincarnation, destined to take their old roles again." Hecate insisted. "They will play an important part in this Age of War as the new Saints of Gold. I understand you already have a fully active generation of Gold Saints, but you would do well in finding these children and recruiting them as soon as possible."

The Pope spent about a minute in silence, contemplating her words, as he leaned his back against a pillar of the Star Hill Temple, as taken aback as he was. If Hecate was telling the truth, a new age of war was coming but he would get to see his long lost comrades once more, comrades that had died at his side so that he could become the next Pope and that he missed so much. He stared at the deformed, elderly witch and saw a look of interrogation in her face as she tried to discern if Shion was believing in her or not.

"…What is the third prophecy?" Shion asked.

"Ah, the third and most important prophecy…" Hecate announced. This time, there was no need for illusions.

"What could be more important than an apocalyptic age of war during my reign as Pope and all my friends returning from the dead to fight it?" Shion wondered to himself.

"A child will be born… very soon…within this very year even." said Hecate. "This child will be born with eyes red like blood and a heart filled with the flames of hatred of the Phoenix. He will have a pivotal role in this great age of war, for him to be on your side or against you could determine whether the Goddess of Victory favors you or not."

Shion rubbed his eyes and composed himself. "A child, you say? ...With red eyes and the Phoenix's flames in his heart?"

Hecate nodded. "Yes. He, too, is the reappearance of a powerful warrior you have met during the last war. You must find this child and take him to your side. If you don't… well, not even I know what will happen, but it won't be for Athena's benefit." Her hand waved once more, this time to dispel the illusion. A bright flash followed and the scenes of destruction and returning Gold Saints were taken away.

The wave of light washed away and the Pope of Athena and the Witch of the Moon found themselves once again back in Star Hill. Hecate's three prophecies echoed in the elderly Lemurian's head, reminding him of the impending doom of Sanctuary despite all he had done over the years. He rattled his brain back and forth, trying to see flaws in her prophecies he could use to refute them, yet the hope of seeing his friends once more contrasted the terror the vision of destruction had brought.

With so much confusion in his old heart, he instead thought of the third council, trying to figure out who he was supposed to find. "The reincarnation of a warrior of the past with the flames of Phoenix in his heart?... Could she be talking of Ikki, Shun's brother? She must be! Not only are my Gold Saint comrades returning, but Ikki and his allies as well." Hecate then started limping away. He tried to stop her. "Wait, where are you going?"

"I have nothing more to say, your Holiness. I have given you my three prophecies. It is you who must decide whether to believe them or how to deal with them, though I recommend you follow my advises." Hecate then started to magically fade away into nothingness. "Farewell, Holy Father. I believe this will be the last time we'll see each other."

"Wait! What about-" Shion's hand reached out for her, but seemed to phase through her image. Shion stood there and watched as Hecate disappeared into thin air, leaving the Pope alone in that steep hill, talking to himself. "...Damn you... You're gone."

The wind blew strongly around him, making his white cloak wave and contributing to the way the witch just seemed to be gone with the wind. Shion stared at the emptiness before him, panting and unsure how to react.

Eventually, he calmed down and thought things through. "An Age of War, my lost comrades and a red eyed child connected to the Phoenix... This all sounds too ludicrous to pan out." He concluded. "Yet, some things she said made sense, so what if it 'is' true? What if Sanctuary really is standing at the edge of the abyss and I can't even see it?" Shion's eyes then turned to Athena's Colossus, which stood at the end of the Golden Zodiac. His eyes narrowed in determination. "Regardless of the answer, I vowed to protect Sanctuary and lead the new generation of Gold Saints until Athena returns. Whether or not that witch was lying, that promise does not change. But, if I see that Hecate really was telling the truth, then I'll make a new vow…of doing everything I can to stop that madness of an age she said would come at all costs!" Shion's fist then tightened as if to enforce this promise.

As the Pope placed his black mask back in its rightful place, he took one last look at the stars through its red glass eyes. He spotted the Pegasus constellation in the sky whose' stars seemed to shine unnervingly for a moment. Shion shook his head, believing himself to be too tired and seeing things, and left behind Star Hill for another star-gazing night.

{======================|0|======================}

Chapter 1

First Arc

Episode 1

The Discussion

{======================|0|======================}

16 years later (1976), Sanctuary, at the Pope's Chambers…

{======================|0|======================}

The eleven year old winged Gold Saint made his way across the grand halls of the Pope's temples as he adjusted his headpiece on top of his red bandana. He had been called a couple of minutes before to a Gold Saint meeting by a messenger from the Pope and he was already running late. Aiolos was not a tardy person, but hee couldn't help it, though; he was working at the hospital as a volunteer so he was away from his Temple, not to mention he had to drop off his younger brother Aiolia at the Leo Temple. Otherwise, Sagittarius Aiolos would never let himself fall so short in the Pope's expectations.

As he passed by the corridor leading to Athena's throne room where the meeting would be held, his blue eyes spotted a painting on the wall of a green haired Bronze Saint with a cloak and a shadowed face. The title "Great Bodyguard" was written on the frame's bottom. Aiolos smiled at the image, for the mysterious Bronze Saint who arrived with Athena during the Lost Canvas War was one of his favorite legends of the 18th Century.

The two foot soldiers standing guard at the large door, members of the elite Papal Guard, uncrossed their halberds. "Lord Sagittarius, His Holiness awaits you." They called.

Aiolos stared at them, amazed by their mechanized discipline. Sanctuary's foot soldiers had a poor reputation in terms of behavior and quality because they were mostly consisted of failed or quitting Bronze Cloth applicants, but the elite divisions such as the Papal Guard that resided in the Temples and the Herculean Guard that was formed by the current Heracles Saint, were of a whole new league. Many of them tried to set the example among their lesser brethren by showing off honor and disciple virtually unknown to the poorer divisions but could only do so far to subvert the images of unruliness, laziness and sometimes even violence the people of Sanctuary knew their foot soldiers for.

"Thank you." He said as he opened the doors and closed them behind him. He faced Athena's throne room where everyone awaited him. "I'm sorry I'm late. I was occupied at the moment of summoning."

All six pairs of eyes in the room turned to him. They belonged to the Pope himself, who sat in Athena's throne, and to five armored Gold Saints which included three members of the old generation of Gold Saints before his. Six years old Mu, one of the two from his generation, seemed to brighten up from his bored face when he saw Aiolos while twelve years old Saga just offered him a reprehending glance for being late. The Gold Saints took their spots before the Pope according to their generation and constellation.

The Pope got up from his seat. "It's alright. You're actually just in time for the briefing. Are you aware of the meeting's subject?" he asked. Aiolos shook his head as he took a spot next to Saga. "Taurus Daniel, if you please?"

The gigantic Gold Saint, one of the three older ones, stepped forward. He was a towering presence in that room, easily standing over ten feet tall and sporting long, blonde hair running down his back. Many tiny faint scars were marked on his face, denouncing both his particularly dangerous training past and his experience in the Civil War facing off Libra Dohko, and the large jaw, nose and neck drove home the strong brashness of his character. He crossed his arms. "We have been called here by the Pope to discuss the promotion of a certain Saint to our status." He said. "In other words, depending on what we conclude in this meeting, we may gain another Gold Saint comrade."

Aiolos widened his eyes and smiled. "Really, that's great! Lately its like an entirely new generation of our rank is being formed so I can't wait to meet the newcomer. Who is he?" But Aiolos then came up with a possibility that changed his look into one of dread. "Wait, it's not Aiolia, is it? You said once before you wanted a new Leo Saint and while I said I accepted the possibility of him joining the ranks, but only when he was old enough to make that decision for himself!"

"Calm down, already, they're not talking about your brother." said Saga, relieving his rival. He knew Aiolos and Aiolia ever since the trio's orphanage days and knew the Sagittarius would freak out. "They're talking about someone else. You and I set a good example for our generation, but you're not as strong as to make them believe your five-year old sibling should be automatically admitted, too."

Aiolos sighed in relief "Oh, thank the Goddess! Is this about Mu, then? I thought we had already formalized his position." he recalled, though he had also been against the Lemurian's promotion due to his young age.

"Nah, it's not me, either. I'm good to go as the Aries Saint. I know because now I finally have permission to work with pure oxygen torches, too." said Mu, the six years old Aries Saint. "It used to be that Master Shion would only let me work with propane torches of 3000ºC, but now I can work with pure oxygen ones that burn at 5000ºC!" he announced, so excited he shook his fists in the air. "I'm so happy! I can't wait to start working with the 10000 ones!"

"Five Thousand degrees's still too much for a kid to play with, Mu."

"It's not playing! It's working. I provide a very important service."

"It's hardly work when you're having so much fun you take apart the cloths just to repair them again, Mu." commented Saga. "But that's all neither here or there. We're here to talk about the next new Gold Saint, not Mu's alchemy habits."

Shion paused to look over the present members of the Golden Zodiac once more, especially Aiolos, Saga and Mu. He couldn't help but smile behind his mask. Aiolos and Saga were dead ringers of Sisyphus and Aspros and just like Hecate had predicted, they arrived at the same time with Aiolia, a toddler version of Regulus, in tow. More and more he believed in his heart that the witch's second prophecy really was true and that he would get to see all of his dead friends once more.

However, did this mean that the first and third were real as well? Were the Age of War and the red-eyed child's importance in it really as inevitable as Saga and Aiolos' arrival? He couldn't know for sure. All he could do right then and there was to focus on the second prophecy.

"The new candidate is a rather famous name in Sanctuary Town. After becoming a Bronze Saint two years ago he distinguished himself in assault missions and has been climbing the ladder ever since," said the Pope while Mu tried to contain a yawn. "He's currently running for the Cancer Gold Cloth after having proven to have unlocked the 7th Sense. You would all know him as the current Pegasus Saint."

Aiolos widened his eyes and Mu snapped completely out of his boredom. They now realized why the meeting was necessary.

{======================|0|======================}

Meanwhile, at the entrance of the Aries Temple

{======================|0|======================}

The foot soldiers standing guard at the temple spread out in front of the Bronze Saint and held him at spear point. "Halt right there, you red-eyed punk! This is the sacred House of Aries. You may not go through us!" warned the captain. "I don't care if you're a Bronze Saint. Only Gold Saints and those living under the protection of the Houses can go through here, Pegasus Lance!"

The Bronze Saint gritted teeth in frustration. He was a tall, sixteen years old young man with black hair whose most distinctive feature was the blood red color of his sharp eyes. He carried the Pegasus Cloth Box on his back and while most of Sanctuary's unarmored Saints wore trainers or the sort, Lance sported a casual red t-shirt, jeans and a set of bandages wrapped around his hands and forearms that were worn due to his harsh training regimen.

"Look, just get the hell out of my way, okay? The Pope can't just take the Silver Cloth I just won away, tell me he's going to discuss my future with the Gold Saints and then just make me wait out here in the dark!" Lance protested. He stepped forward but the foot soldiers just closed in their spears on him a bit more. "…I've been patient so far, but if you have five fucking seconds to stop pointing those things at me. I've done nothing wrong yet!"

One of the foot soldiers lost it. "Screw this! He put my friend in the hospital! This violent punk deserves to be in jail!" He then rushed ahead at the Saint with a sword in hand. "Take this!

"NO, YOU FOOL!" shouted the captain.

Lance's red eyes followed the sword swing, reading its trajectory. He side stepped to dodge the diagonal slash, stunned him with an elbow blow as they passed by and, when the foot soldiers tried to recover, Lance instantly hit him in the chest with a punch that shattered his armor before kicking him back to his friends. The foot soldier screamed and was caught by his friends, who stepped away from the Bronze Saint.

Lance narrowed his eyes and crackled his knuckles. "If you want a fight, you got it!"

"N-no, wait!"

Lance charged his white colored cosmos and swung his arm at the foot soldiers. They raised their guard and screamed in fear. Lance was about to smash the regiment with his punch when someone behind the Saint shouted. "Wait, stop, Lance!" The very familiar sound of rattling chains was then heard before something wrapped itself around Lance's forearm. The metal chain became tense, halting Lance's punch.

Lance's red eyes narrowed in frustration and looked over his shoulder to confront the person who interfered. "Damn it...Shinta, what are you doing here?! I told you not to come!"

The foot soldiers opened their eyes to see the shocking sight of Lance stopped in his tracks by the metallic chain belonging to the green haired feminine-looking Saint next to Pegasus. Andromeda Shinta waited until Lance relaxed his attacking arm to release his friend. "I followed you because I just knew you'd get in trouble trying to get inside the Temples. Nissan, please don't start a fight. I'm sure we can get inside if we just explain your situation."

A loud, frustrated groan filled the air as he watched the thirteen years old Andromeda Saint retract his chain and wrap it around his own pink forearm guard. "Shinta, first of all, I think I told you not to call me that dumb honorific in public. It's embarrassing and we're not actually brothers. Second, they're the ones who started the fight! I was just teaching them the error of their ways. If we don't pay people back, they'll never learn and keep coming back at you."

The pacifist Saint was resolute, though. "I can't believe you really mean that. That's an awful thing to say-"

"We're warriors! You were taught this 'awful thing' by your Master, Shinta!"

Shinta seemed horrified by this, widening his green eyes for a moment at his comrade as if he didn't recognize Lance for a second. However, he then smiled at him, being absolutely sure that Lance meant no real harm with his line of thinking. "Even so, Lance, you know I just don't like fights. Since I know you're worried about what the Pope's discussing, let's just try to not escalate the situation and work our way around it, okay? "

Lance gestured his permission.

The Andromeda Saint headed for the foot soldier captain. "I'm sorry. Lance was just trying to get in because he's very worried about whatever the Gold Saints are discussing about him. Can we get inside? We promise we won't break the rules and be always under someone's watch. Hopefully our Bronze Saint ranks can be a guarantee of our good intentions."

The captain composed himself, but he found himself hesitating to answer due to the fact that he couldn't stop staring at the contrast between the two friends. Not only Lance was a good chunk taller than the Andromeda Saint, but their looks were completely different as well. Shinta had long, curly green hair, emerald eyes and delicate face features that, if it wasn't for the fact that Shinta was wearing no mask, would have the captain believe he was talking to a girl. His soft voice didn't help the matter, either.

Even so, the captain stood firm. "I'm sorry, Saint Shinta, but I cannot allow either of you to get through. As I explained to your…friend, you guys just don't have the authority to go inside."

Shinta frowned. "Oh, I see. Are you absolutely sure? Maybe if we can just talk to the Aries Saint-"

"Please, leave this staircase. You guys have already caused enough trouble." The captain then had his guards stand tall next to the door.

"But, I-"

Lance grabbed Shinta's shoulder and dragged him out of there. "Come on, Shinta, they won't let us through, they made that perfectly clear." When they left the stairs, the two friends stopped by the entrance to Sanctuary Town. Lance sighed. "Shinta, I told you to stay in town, didn't I?"

Shinta covered his head. "I'm sorry, Lance, I didn't mean to make you angry, but I didn't want you to get into another fight when you've just been beaten by the Heracles Saint. You were in really bad shape, you know? Even you have to recover and take it easy from time to time."

Reminded of his recent match at the Coliseum with the unexpectedly powerful Silver, Lance irked. "I'm fine! I don't feel like a train just ran over me anymore so I can fight already. Besides, they're just foot soldiers, I can handle them-"

"That's no excuse for picking up unecessary scuffles, Lance!" Shinta interrupted, unusually determined to make his point as Lance was used to a meeker Andromeda Saint. "You're by far the toughest of the two of us but sometimes you really run straight into trouble without need. You've worked really hard to get a chance to win that Silver Cloth, so I can see that when the Pope took it away from you because you needed further evaluation, you'd feel like doing something crazy, but... I'm sorry, Lance… but I'm your friend and I can't let you lose your head right now and storm Sanctuary."

Lance sighed once more. "It's alright, Shinta, you don't have to feel sorry for every little thing. I know you had good intentions. I just wished you'd quit worrying about me. You got a Silver Cloth to go after yourself, right? I mean, we've met a year and a half ago and we've done nothing but dangerous missions together since then and you're still so... weird with your priorities, you know?"

The Andromeda Saint had a hard time arguing back at this. If there was one thing both Lance and Master had always berated him was for was when he drove his pacifism overboard and started putting other people's well-being ahead of his own without need. "I don't think I'm doing the wrong thing by it, Lance. I've always really hated when people would call me a wimp or think I'm a girl but I think it's important to find the least violent solution. It may not seem like it... but I think that's a way to be a good Saint, too." Shinta saw Lance seemingly ignoring him, lost in his own little world. Lance was really good at hiding his emotions. He was smart, too. Shinta could bet the Pegasus Saint was thinking deeply about something. "Do you think… that the Gold Saints are talking about demoting you, Lance?"

Lance's red eyes turned to the Golden Zodiac's thirteenth temple, the one where the Pope resided. He thought about how the whole thing started. "He called this weird meeting because of my match with the Heracles Saint. I thought I did really well but then he just took the Kentaurus Silver Cloth away, anyway. Shinta, they had you interviewed, right? What did you tell them?"

Shinta quickly shook his head. "Oh, don't worry, Lance. I didn't say anything personal or anything you wouldn't like me to talk about. I tried to be as truthful as I could but I also said you were a good person who deserves the Kentaurus Silver Cloth."

The thought of the Gold Saints talking about him didn't leave Lance's mind, however, and he turned his eyes at the far off Golden Zodiac. "Lately we've seen a lot of new Gold Saint candidates going back and forth the temples. Something has definitely been going on there. I wonder what."

Having also seen his share of signs of change in Sanctuary, the Andromeda Saint tried to formulate his own theories. "My Master, Cepheus Guardnia, told me once there are only a few surviving members of the old generation left. Maybe the Pope is recruiting new Gold Saints. Everyone says Holy War is in twenty years from now, right?"

The Andromeda Saint spoke of the common knowledge there was in Sanctuary's population about Hades' war tactics. It seemed pretty obvious to everyone when each Holy War would start when the God of the Underworld seemed to take recuperation or sealing periods of about two hundred and fifty years after every lost war, so predicting when he would return was not that difficult.

It was still a serious topic to be thinking about, though. Not exactly the most light-hearted of conversation topics when each war was said to result in the death of most of the army. "Yeah, I suppose."

"Maybe the Pope is currently renovating the ranks with fresh Gold Saints. I wish they were allowed to divulge their identies because I'd really like to meet them. They might be people we know, right? Whover the new Gold Saints are, I can tell they'll be very important for the next few decades." However, Lance only seemed further preoccupied. Shinta's eyes softened. He hugged his friend in a desperate attempt to comfort him. "Don't worry, Lance. I know for sure they'll do the right thing."

"Get off me, you pansy!"

Shinta smirked. It was nice to see Lance a bit up lifted. "They'll judge you fairly, Lance, I'm sure of it."

Lance's red eyes stared at Andromeda. "Judge me fairly, huh? Considering my past and what they think I've done, I'm afraid that's exactly what they'll do." he thought.

{======================|0|======================}

"I think we are rushing into things, though." confessed Kirin, the Gold Saint of Capricorn of the time. "We can't just award him a Gold Cloth just like this. The Pegasus Saint has a dubious reputation and this not exactly a meaningless position."

"Your Holiness, I believe myself as an optimistic person, but I agree with Kirin." said Taurus Daniel. "He doesn't even have a proper Saint's education. He's defiant to his superiors and he's uneducated in proper Sainthood. His fight with Saint Kerberos two years ago is enough proof of that."

"What do you mean?" asked a young Sagittarius Aiolos, intrigued. "I've heard a lot about the Pegasus Saint, but I don't really know his story."

"Me neither. Is he a bad guy?" asked Mu. He then turned to Saga and realized the blue-haired Saint and Lance would be neighbors if Pegasus became a Gold Saint. "I guess that'd be alright. You'd be able to handle him, right, Saga?"

Saga smirked. "Of course, he may be strong for a Bronze Saint, but he's not trained in the same way we are, Mu." He touched his chest. "I, above all, should have the least trouble."

"According to the files on Pegasus Lance as he's better known," answered Capricorn Kirin "he was sentenced at the age of ten to be sent to the training grounds on Mount Olympus to obtain the Pegasus Bronze Cloth within eight years."

Saga widened his eyes. "Why? Also, isn't the usual timespan for the Path of the Bronze Cloth just six years?"

"The actual name of the punishment is Jason's Exile and it is used to teach unruly trainees a lesson in humbleness. Essentially, the trainee is sent to a B-level Training Ground and given a Master for fifteen days. If by the end of those days the Master sees that the trainee hasn't learnt his lesson, the penalty is applied." explained Aquarius Malta. "The penalty is that you must take the Path of the Cloth on your own with an eight year deadline."

"What if you go beyond the deadline? What then?"

"Simple, you are executed."

Aiolos gulped. Deadlines with death were not a strange thing to Sanctuary's traditions. "I see… Just out of curiosity, why was Mount Olympus chosen?"

Shion answered this one. "The reason why was actually never recorded. When he was sentenced, a seer from the Virgo Temple was sent to the Sanctuary-sponsored orphanage he was in to determine if he was born under the protection of a constellation. I'm not sure what she concluded from her session with him, though. All that it is known is that a couple of days later Lance was shipped to Mount Olympus, where the Pegasus Temple resides in."

"The Master chosen for him was Kerberos Kastiel, one of the few Silver Saints available for the job at the time." added the Capricorn Saint. "Fifteen days after the start of training, Saint Kastiel made his decision about Lance."

{======================|0|======================}

Six years earlier (1970)

Mount Olympus, 'Second Level'

{======================|0|======================}

The valley of the Mount Olympus Training Ground was battered by the intense snowstorm which filled the haunting scenery of dead, blackened trees in irregular rocky ground with white. The road marks, already barely visible during the rare good weather, were now completely hidden by the snow almost as if to further isolate the lonely wooden cabin that provided the only housing in an otherwise desolate mountain range.

Sitting in a wide crossroad among the naked forests, the cabin was poor in construction but functional. The same could be said for the rocks and boulders around it, which were marked with bloody imprints of small fists and kicks but otherwise intact.

For Lance, this was a bad thing, especially that particular day.

Kastiel walked out of the small, stone house located in the tree-filled bottom of one of the valleys of Mount Olympus. Behind him, ten year old Lance desperately tried to keep up with him, "Kastiel, wait!" he cried out. Kastiel stopped and turned around, facing Lance, who caught up with him and also stopped, panting. The Silver Saint narrowed his eyes, irritated. Lance rested his hands on his knees and panted repeatedly. "Where are you going?! You're just leaving me here?!"

Kastiel frowned a little. "I'm going back to Sanctuary. From now on, you're on your own, kid!"

"What?!" Lance stared at the Silver Saint for a bit, who seemed to be dead serious "B-but, you can't leave me here! Master, I-"

"Don't call me that! I have renounced you as a student!" Kastiel interrupted, raising his finger. "The rules of Jason's exile are clear, you had two weeks to prove yourself humble and able enough to deserve my teaching. You failed to demonstrate both, Lance, so I'm leaving!"

Lance widened his gaze, eyes misty and visibly hurt by Kastiel's harsh words. He struggled to contain his frustrated, desperate tears, looking at his feet to avoid the eye contact with the Silver Saint. Kastiel rolled his eyes. He had a very strong suspicion that Lance had abandonment issues, which was most likely a result of the years Lance spent in the Athenian orphanage where he was found.

Lance's true origin was no big mystery. It was known that he was born in Athens and though his parents suffered a horrible accident in the streets of the Greek Capital that rendered him every bit as orphan as every other Saint in Sanctuary, there was not much else to spice up his past. His parents, however, were not properly identified and as a result, there was doubt regarding Lance's true ascendancy. Though born in Greece, the nameless child's parents could also have been foreigners, after all. Most Greek Purists in Sanctuary didn't take kindly to foreign trainees.

Taken to a nearby catholic orphanage, he would endure ten years of complete lack of healthy social relationships, shunned by the other children due to his red eyes and under the care of neglectful staff. Even the name Lance was given to him by the Silver Saint who found him and brought him to the Sanctuary, claiming he saw potential in the boy to become a Saint of Athena, while in the orphanage they simply called him Little Red as an allusion to the unusual color of his eyes.

The lack of any kind of direct affection or fixed identity, both in the orphanage and within the Sanctuary, caused Lance to develop an introverted, unruly personality, and the resulting psychological marks were causing Lance to be in denial towards the idea of Kastiel abandoning him in that mountain, despite having already warned him two weeks before of this when they first got there.

However, Kastiel, despite the boy's complicated childhood, didn't have any kind of particular affection towards Lance. There were too many orphans to count back in Sanctuary. In fact, he was eager to leave the mountain and Lance on his own as soon as possible after the two weeks of failed teaching he had to go through.

"I already told you when we first got here!" continued Kastiel "I would teach you the basics of cosmos, survival and personal training and, after that, I would leave if you didn't learn your lesson!"

"But..." muttered Lance, eyes shadowed, fists trembling, a tear falling down his cheek. Even in Sanctuary people just seemed anxious to get rid of him. "You can't just do this to me! You can't just leave me here in this cold mountain filled with wolves!"

"I'm leaving! You have eight years, remember? That's two years more than most trainees due to Jason's Exile's rules. Stop sulking, unlock your cosmos once and for all, beat the temple's challenge and get the Pegasus Cloth!"

"H-HOW AM I S-SUPPOSED TO DO THAT?! You won't teach me properly!"

Tired of the excuses, Kastiel just turned his back. "Eight years! If you can't even do that, don't even bother coming back to Sanctuary, you'll die anyway!"

Lance stood silent for a moment. He then wiped the single tear that fell down his cheek, not wanting to cry in front of the Silver Saint, and looked up, facing Kastiel with narrowed eyes. "Fine...Leave! I don't need you! I'll get the Cloth of Pegasus..." he then looked over his shoulder. "I'll show you! Everyone just keeps abandoning me anyway! Why would I need your stupid help?" Lance then turned his back on the man and folded his arms, furiously pouting.

Kastiel squinted at him. "That is exactly the kind of attitude that got you into this mess. Don't you get it, Lance? I could choose to stay here. I could choose to ignore the punishment Sanctuary gave you for being such a stuck-up brat and train you past the two weeks the Silvers decided to offer you. But you...You just ask for this!" Kastiel spat. "Don't kid yourself, Lance. Even if you do survive the training and get strong enough to move the temple's statue, you'll still have to pass the temple's challenge, something that no one has yet to do alone in over two hundred years! Just give up!"

Lance staggered, as he felt like he was being stabbed by Kastiel's sharp words. No one, not even Kastiel, ever had any faith in him.

"To be honest I'll be surprised if they tell me you lasted more than a year. Just look at this place," continued Kastiel " It's a B-Rank training ground, but it's more than enough to kill you. If not the training, the wolves or even the passing Black Saint, the cold will. Yet better people try and don't get the Cloth in even easier conditions, so who the hell do you think you are to be so arrogant? You're no better than any other kid that you trained with back in the Sanctuary!...The Silver Saint who brought you to Sanctuary didn't name you, Lance,… he named your tomb!"

With these words, Kastiel left in a blur of supersonic speed, leaving behind Lance, who was holding back a dam full of angry tears. Up to his knees in snow, Lance just stared teary-eyed at the void Kastiel left behind, eight years of isolation, cold and danger awaiting him.

He went inside the house, closing the wooden door behind him with a harsh bang, and sat on his poorly constructed bed, failing to hold the dam in his eyes any longer.

{======================|0|======================}

Present…

{======================|0|======================}

Aiolos and Mu widened their eyes. The Lemurian child turned to his Master, the Pope. "Master, is this true? Saint Kastiel really left him there to die?" Shion nodded at him. "That's terrible! Why would he do that?"

"Actually, it's quite normal in Sanctuary training for something like this to happen." commented Aquarius Malta, unmoved by the story. "In fact, I support Saint Kastiel's decision. All Saints are put to these kinds of standards and tests. Character is extremely important in a Saint. In some Training Grounds, such as Andromeda Island, Masters are required to kill their trainees in many of their tests in case of failure." A look of shock filled Mu's face. "You have just been sheltered from all of this by your special promotion conditions, but Kastiel was just doing his job."

Saga saw Aiolos and Mu holding their tongue in shocked silence and decided to intervene. "That may be true, Saint Malta. The three of us have not followed the traditional Path of the Bronze Cloth." he admitted. "However, from what I've learned, the killings are only required in advanced tests, well past the third or fourth year of training, or when the trainee demonstrates truly abhorrent behavior such as murdering the competition. You're not telling me that abandoning an underachieving Saint who was yet to unlock his cosmos in a B level Training Ground to fend for himself isn't worse than that, are you?"

Shion chuckled when he saw Malta at loss for words. "Well said, Saga! All our Masters have been very kind to us and tolerated many of our mistakes. You yourself, Malta, have done terrible mistakes with the powers your teacher taught you to use and he never abandoned you, did he?"

Malta scoffed. "Maybe not, your Holiness… but Jason's Exile has strict rules and the point to retain from all of this is that Lance failed to abide by them. How can we expect others to respect our law if we don't enforce it? You can feel sorry for someone failing the training, but it's another thing to comment that it's not normal."

The Pope nodded. "Correct. It's precisely because of these things, and more that will be mentioned in this meeting, that I simply had to summon you all here." Shion said. He joined hands behind his back and contemplated Hecate's words. He wished he could tell the Gold Saints the reason he had faith in Lance, but he had made the mistake of talking about Hecate's prophecy and the distant past to justify his actions before and he has lived to regret this deeply.

Shion saw the Gold Saints exchanging glances with these words. He knew they were aware of the risk it was to give Lance such a chance. Even the three younger ones were starting to realize that they needed to learn more about the Pegasus Saint in order to properly decide. The Pope waved his hand, causing the Cancer Pandora Box to emerge from behind the curtains and be placed in the middle of them via telekinesis.

The Gold Saints all stared at the golden, cubic box with the engraved crab, Karkinos, on its front face for a while. "Pegasus Lance's fate is in our hands, Gold Saints of Athena. Whether he joins us or remains a troubled Bronze Saint is entirely up to us." Shion reminded them. "Before we decide if he's worthy of the Gold, however, we should look at the past and see how he was worthy of the Bronze!"

{======================|0|======================}

Chapter end

{======================|0|======================}

Next Chapter: Pegasus

Description: Lance's final moments in Mount Olympus are recalled by the Gold Saints and Lance himself. Back then, young Lance had been told by Kastiel that he had to overcome an obstacle to prove his strength to the Pegasus, but he had no idea what it was.

{======================|0|======================}

Author Note: The story that is Lance's Role is the result of several failed attempts at fanfiction writing and a rapidly evolving idea regarding a group of original characters in the Saint Seiya universe. The original manifesto is still in my room, written in pencil, but is wildly different from the story you'll be reading in many aspects and I've written other stuff, too, but this is simply the fic that had me invest more of my imagination into.

If you are expecting romance, there will be, but only in a later stage of the story and I will very unlikely write anything 'yaoi' or 'yuri'. Regarding pairings between canon characters, I will try to follow what is the most general consensus among the fans while remaining faithful to the original story, rather than follow my personal taste.

The choice of it being a 'Saint Seiya' fanfic came from several factors, the main one being how unfulfilled of a story I always thought Kurumada's series to be. Not only it is incomplete, but its timeline has a lot of space for original ideas, so I was able to create a lot more in the Saint Seiya universe than in the others.

Evens from both the Next Dimension and Lost Canvas series will be taken in account. There will be a compromise between the two, as well as between the manga and anime differences. For example, Asgard will exist, but so will much of what was not shown in the anime from the manga's story.

Anyway, thank you for your patience and support. I work very hard on this story and I hope you enjoy Lance's Role, a shounen-style fanfiction story.