Chapter 21: Chapter 21 – Battle for the Gold Cloth Part 1

Saga? POV - Greece, Sanctuary - 1986

Sitting on the throne of the Pope's Chamber, that is located almost at the top of the Sanctuary, just right below Athena's Colossus, and above the Gold Zodiac, I'm waiting for Docrates to come and give him my orders, 'Finally! After long 13 years, I finally know where is Athena, now I can end what I started many years ago once and for all... And the good news does not end here, my control over my body is becoming stronger and stronger, and so is my control over the Sanctuary! I'm enforcing a more brutal training... And while the number of death spiked, the same applies to the strength of those who survive...'.

But I'm roused from my thoughts, by the coming of Docrates, the new leader of the Sanctuary's soldiers, he is a tall and imposing young man, 4.35 meters tall, full of muscles with wild purple mid-length hair, wearing a red armor that took inspiration from the mythos of the Hydra, but that isn't a Cloth, but a custom armor made by the Sanctuary's blacksmiths.

This armor's headpiece resembles the face of a reptile,  in the center of it are the "eyes" which are of reptile the same ones are of yellow color, the chest piece is red with the same yellow "eyes" identical to those found in the hull, below the same are two species of "gills" on each side, the arms pieces are "basic" but with the difference that on its sides in the area near the knuckle is a kind of "eye" dark green while the rest is red, at the level of the elbow above the arm are a kind of "crest" in the form of blades similar to those of the shoulders, in his knuckles are dark green, and can extend a total of five claws on each hand, and the shoulder pieces have a design with the shape of the head of a reptile both have a kind of "crest" and the colors are reversed each other, the left shoulder pad has a red and green color in the face, while the right shoulder pad is red in the area of the face and green the rest of the shoulder pad.

(Image Here - Docrates)

He enters the chamber and once on his knees he says "Docrates is here to answer the Pope summon, what are your orders?" and so I say "Docrates, I'm sure you know the information that those Bronze fledglings shamed themselves in circus-like battles in Japan... To punish them, I sent Cygnus Hyoga after them, but it seems that he decided to join them... What you probably don't know is that Phoenix Ikki betrayed Athena and choose to become the leader of the Black Saints and organized a death match against these Bronze Saints for the control of the Sacred Gold Cloth!".

And I continue making sure to not slip my act "This is a travesty I can't tolerate anymore! Your job is to grab the one that started all this, Saori Kido, taking advantage of the battle that will take place between the Black and Bronze Saints" and lowering his head Docrates says "It will be done, Pope!"

And after giving him the permission to leave, I think 'In the rare case he fails, I will send the Silver Saints... I only have to wait for them to gather and... Luckily everyone answered my summon to gather at the Sanctuary, the only ones missing are Crateris Jayr and Lyra Orphee, but that doesn't matter... Let's see I will send Lizard Misty, Whale Moses, Hound Asterion, and Centauros Babel under the leadership of Aquila Marin to kill the Bronze Saints under Athena, while Perseus Argol, Crow Jamian, Auriga Capella, Cerberus Dante, and Cepheus Daidalos under the leadership of Ophiuchus Shaina, will destroy the colosseum and kidnap Athena... But this only if Docrates fails... But it is impossible for this to happen, Docrates is the strongest soldier of the Sanctuary, in fact, he is as strong as a peak Bronze Saint, the only reason he isn't a Saint is that he doesn't have a Cloth, while the reincarnation of Athena is only a spoiled little girl, that doesn't even know how to use her gifts... But it is better to be prepared for everything'.

Then expanding my sense, I look at the Gold Zodiac situation and a smile appears on my face "And almost all the Gold Saint are here... Libra Dohko isn't a problem he is stuck in China... While Aries Mu is still refusing to return... Could it be that he really knows the truth...? Well, it doesn't matter, soon Athena and the Sagittarius Cloth will be in my hands... And after I kill her, the rest of those Gods will be my target, and soon the whole world will be mine!".

Seiya POV - Japan, Mount Fuji - 1986

A week passed since we received Ikki's challenge, and now,  Hyoga, Shun, and I are on a helicopter of the Graad Foundation, quickly flying toward our destination the Wind Cave at the foot of Mount Fuji, the place where we will be fighting against Ikki and his Black Saints for the Gold Cloth, at the same time, I'm still worried for Shiryu, I had a nightmare about him dying to revive our Cloths, but at the same time, I have faith that he will return to fight together with us once again.

After a while the helicopter's pilot says "We arrived!" and so we open the passenger door and jump off without a parachute, using our Cosmo to ease the landing, but without my Cloth, I still have some difficulties, and tumble a little before stopping in front of the Ten Wind Caves joined by Shun, and Hyoga who says "So it seems Shiryu didn't make it in time after all".

And I say trying to hide my worry and failing "Something must have happened to Shiryu, but I'll fight without my Cloth" with Shun that says worried about me "B...But you'll die for sure without it" but soon I notice something in the distance and say "W... Wait!" I see in the distance the vague figure of a man with a Pandora Box on his back, still, as I run toward it thinking that it is Shiryu, the vague figure disappears leaving behind only the Pandora Box, my Pegasus Pandora Box, that opens itself and my Pegasus Cloth in its Constellation Form appears as good as new.

Seeing this I say shocked "I can't believe it... Was it really Shiryu's ghost that delivered it..." and Shun quickly reminds me "Seiya, why don't you try it on", and I say "Y... Yeah..." and equipping the Cloth I think 'This is really it, it feels exactly right!! This is truly the reborn Pegasus Cloth!!' and yell "I'm ready for the battle!!".

Then I turn my attention back to my Pandora Box and say "B...But how did the Cloth get here? Could Shiryu's soul have really brought it? It seems impossible but... Hey!!" as I was speaking, the box starts hopping away, and Shun uses his chain to hit something in front of the Box, that soon reveals to be a boy of short stature, possessing tousled, reddish-colored hair that he keeps down to just past the nape of his neck.

Seeing the boy I ask "Who the hell is he?" and the boy looks at me and says in an annoyed tone "Don't be rude, I've gone through a lot of trouble to bring you this Cloth... That Shiryu fellow couldn't come, so Lord Mu told me to deliver this Cloth to you" and as worry and anxiety for his well-being crash over me once again, I grab the boy from his should and ask "Why couldn't Shiryu bring it? What happened to Shiryu!?".

And the boy replies "Whoa, I... I don't know! All I know is that Lord Mu said that Shiryu would risk his life to repair those two Cloths" shocked I ask if Shiryu is dead scared of knowing the answer, and unconsciously increasing the force of my grip, and the boy says "Ow, I... I don't know, I only know that much! Really, I swear! Please let me go, Owww...!".

Realizing that he is telling the truth, I let go of the boy and apologize "I'm sorry thank you for bringing the Cloth all this way" then Shun put his hand on my shoulder and says "Don't worry, maybe Shiryu's not dead..." then he pulls out four bells and says "We should carry these bells so we can hear each other in the Wind Caves" and Hyoga asks "You mean if we can hear the bells jingling, we'll know the other's alive?" and Shun nods.

So we all tight the bells to our wrists and Hyoga and Shun quickly enter the caves each from a different hole, I turn to the boy give him the last bell and say "This is Shiryu's bell, if Shiryu shows up here, give it to him if he is alive... No... He is alive and I'm sure he is coming" then I too walk toward one entrance at random and enter while saying "I'm entrusting it to you...".

I start descending the rocky and narrow cave, the temperature of the cave is slightly colder than outside, and after walking for a while, I start losing my sense of direction "It's even more of a maze in here than I imagined, Hyoga and Shun entered through different caves... I hope they are not lost already... Huh!" and now in front of me, there is a huge open space with sharp stalactites and stalagmites all over the place "Whoa! I had no idea that there was an enormous cavern like this under the Mount Fuji!!".

All of the sudden, I hear a male voice behind me "Heh, heh, I've been waiting for you, Seiya..." turning around, I see a young man, who I admit, is almost like seeing a darker version and slightly older of myself, and is Black Cloth, clearly shows who he is, as it is a copy of mine only black in color "Black Pegasus!!", who in an arrogant and confident tone says "You are late, I thought perhaps you'd chickened out".

(Image Here - Black Pegasus)

Raising my guard, I taunt him "You're alone... You better have a piece of the Gold Cloth", and to that he jumps high and yells "Here's my reply to that! אגרוף מטאור שחור(Black Meteor Punch)!!" and from his fist, hundreds of black light energy punches comes at me at the same time which makes it look like small black meteors, I'm able to dodge almost all of them, but the five or six that I couldn't dodge, I made it so that they hit the Cloth, trusting in its improved defenses.

And so Black Pegasus' attack is unable to hurt me, as the Cloth easily withstand his blows, but the power behind them still makes me crash against the stalagmites on the ground, creating a cloud of rocky dust, then I hear Black Pegasus' voice "Haa, so that was the Pegasus Bronze Saint? When I heard he had special training at the Sanctuary, I expected more, Ha ha..." but he stops when he sees me once again and shocked he asks "What the heck... Did you dodge them all?".

I check my Cloth and reply "Not all, five or six came through... If this had been my old Cloth, I might have been mortally wounded, but no my revived Cloth! There's not a scratch on it!! Such strength! It affords incredible protection...!", and at the same time, I think ' Shiryu, thank you for this Pegasus Cloth which you risked your life to give me! Perhaps your soul is within it, after all!!'.

Then Burning my Cosmo even more I yell "Watch carefully, Black Pegasus!! Withness the true Pegasus Ryusei Ken!!" and punching with all my power, I create hundreds of light energy punches, that are too fast for him to dodge and start hitting him all over his body, breaking his Cloth, and sending him crashing into the ceiling, then he crashes on the ground bleeding all over his body, unable to move, leaving behind a piece of the Gold Cloth.

I pick it up and say "I've recovered the gold belt! Now to find Ikki and take back the head protector too" but then I hear Black Pegasus's weak voice that says "Haa... You'll never reach Lord Ikki... Sorry to disappoint you, Seiya, but you won't win, because I struck the winning blow first... In a moment you'll know the terror of the Black Meteor Punch... The terror of the Black Death Punch... Heh heh heh..." then he slumps unconscious.

Even if worried about what he said, I still keep moving forward, but soon I notice something strange, my breath becomes more labored, my body feels heavy, I'm starting to stumble, and my body temperature is increasing with an overall feeling of weakness "W...What's wrong with me?", then I feel that the spots where the Black Meteor Punch hits me are throbbing, so I remove my wrist protector and notice that a black mark formed on that point and realize the truth of the situation "The Black Meteor Punch pass through the Cloth and slowly destroy the body from the inside!".

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Then my body starts burning, and I remove the rest of the Cloth and notice that the black spots are growing, turning my whole body black "This is what he meant by 'The terror of the black death'... I thought he was worthless... but the black pegasus is a fearsome opponent...", and I'm so much in pain now, that miss my step and start falling from steep cliff, rolling down the sharp rocks until I crash headfirst on something hard, most probably a rock, then everything becomes black.

Hyoga POV - Japan, Wind Caves - 1986

As I'm walking through these maze-like caves for some time, and now I find myself in a huge open cavern, and I hear the voice of Black Swan that was waiting for me "I've been waiting for you, Cygnus! Today, I'll finally show you which of us is the true swan" but I calmly say "If you give me the Gold Cloth piece, I'll let you go unharmed. We saw who was better in our first fight in the forest near the Kido Mansion, If it wasn't for the other Black Saints you would be already dead".

Enraged, Black Swan yells "What?!! We'll see who will die!! This time it's your turn to fall before my Musta Lumimyrsky (Black Blizzard)!!" and he quickly gathers dirt from the environment while creating cold air around the fist, instantly condensing the surrounding moisture in the form of black ice, which then shatters and manifests itself in the form of countless sharp, cutting black snow crystals, which are hurled at me through a powerful cold wind, but I use my Cosmo to easily convert and use his own ice as mine.

Black Swan is shocked by the fact that his attack is useless against me, and I say "I told you before, your Icy Cosmo will only coat me in a film of ice... And now it looks like you can't even manage that!" not wanting to lose any more time I point my finger at him and say "Koltso (Ring)!", I throw a small puff of ice crystals at him with from my index finger, upon reaching him these form a ring around the victim's body that quickly unfolds into several rings of ice, the number of rings increases the more time passes, and these close ever more tightly over their prey, momentarily paralyzing him.

Looking at the rings surrounding his body Black Swan and realizing its effect he says scared "W... What is this? A ring of ice crystals... Impossible! why can't I move..." and I explain "By now there is no way for you to escape the ring of ice, I'll say this one last time, put down the piece of the Gold Cloth and leave!" but he stubbornly refuse "Don't insult me! I'd die before I'd surrender! If you're going to kill me, then get it over with!!".

I choose to respect his choice "Very well... Out of respect for your courage, I'll bury you in the most appropriate manner..." I burn my Cosmo to the max possible and let it explode, freezing the environment by expanding the cold air under my control, approach Black Swan and hit him upward with an upward hook "Kholodnyu Smerch (Cold Tornado)!!", the punch releases a large tornado of air into the sky, in the center of which is Black Swan that crash into a stalactite and remain stuck there with his body frozen, only his head and right arm free.

I look at my defeated opponent and say "Normally, you'd be totally encased in a pillar of ice for eternity, but I left your right hand free... If you really are a Saint, you should be able to find a way to extricate yourself, somehow" but he surprises me, as with his free hand he simply pulled out his eye and teleported it somewhere, before losing consciousness 'Why would he use the last of his strength to rip out his own eye instead of escaping...?'.

I stop thinking about this and pick up the piece of the Gold Cloth he dropped, then moved forward while thinking 'In the end, I can't fulfill the mission given by the Sanctuary... I just couldn't hurt Seiya, Shiryu, Shun, and the others... Especially after what the fight between Seiya and Shiryu showed me, I can't hurt them, these victims of that bastard of my father that gathered those 100 orphans to send them to become Saint for his own enjoyment...' but I stop thinking as I hear the jingling sound of a bell, and starts looking around.

But I don't find anything out of place, and I don't hear the sound anymore, "I thought I heard jingling... It must have been my imagination..." I stop these distracting thoughts and once again move forward searching for Ikki.

Seiya POV - Japan, Wind Caves - 1986

I regained my consciousness, and as my whole body hurts especially my head, and while feeling my whole body on fire I, still dizzy, slowly try to climb the steep cliff, and after climbing for a few minutes, I'm close to the top of the cliff and in the distance, I see the blurry figure of Hyoga, I try to call him but he doesn't stop and keeps walking away "Uhn...", I decide to not give up and I try to grasp another rock to pull myself up, but I lose my grip and once again fall, crashing my head into the solid rock that I feel cracking under me, then all I see is darkness once again.

Ikki POV - Japan, Wind Caves - 1986

All of the sudden, I feel the presence of Black Swan's Cosmo behind me, but when I turn around all I see is his eye "What's this...? He teleported his eye...?", then I understand everything "So, Black Swan used the last of his strength to teleport a record of Hyoga's moves... Well done, now I'll see what was burned into your vision..." and using my Cosmo, I communicate with Black Swan's Cosmo inside his eye and see everything he saw.

After a while, the temperature lowers, and I hear Hyoga's voice "What did you see, Ikki?", and looking at him I say "The image of your defeat! Hyoga!!", he drops the pieces of the Gold Cloth and prepares to fight saying "You really think you can defeat me? If you fight me, you'll be the one who breaths his last breath here!".

Then he rushes at me yelling "The proof is in the outcome!! Here I come, Ikki! Diamond Dust!!" he gathers the cold air around his fist, instantly condensing the surrounding moisture into pure ice which then shatters and manifests itself in the form of countless sharp and cutting snow crystals that are hurled through a powerful cold wind through his fist, but I have already seen this move and know how to counter it, focusing my Cosmo in my right hand, I push forward and reflect back his attack, sending Hyoga crashing against the rocky wall.

Then looking at him from a higher place I say "Once a Saint has seen a move, It will never work on him again... This is especially true for me... And there is no way a sentimental fool too attached to his almost dead mother could defeat me" he is surprised by my revelation, and I take advantage of it "Surprised eh? But my next move will strike your mind instead of your body!! Hyoga, I'll tear your psyche to shreds!! Hoo Genmaken(Phoenix Phantom Fist)!".

And with a quick punch aiming at his head, I send a thin line of Cosmo into his brain, forcibly showing him the hallucination created directly in his own brain, inspired, in general, by his own life and his unconscious, in fact, I'm making him revive the moment his mother almost died, with a little horror twist 'I hope this will help make you stronger, Hyoga...'.

After a few seconds Hyoga lets out a scream, and I say "What is it, Hyoga? Do you feel the shock of Hoo Genmaken... Have you lost your mind?" but slowly rising his head and with fire in his eyes and his Cosmo slowly rising, he says "I... Ikki you tried to destroy my mind, but you've done just the opposite... By defiling my most precious memory... You have roused my mind and soul to fury... Now nothing can stop me from burying you...!! Taste the fury of Cygnus! Kholodnyi Smerch!!"

And with an upward hook, Hyoga releases a large tornado of air into the sky with me at the center, but once again, I knew what he was about to do and had the perfect counter ready, I quickly unequip my Cloth and move away from Hyoga's move making him hit my afterimage, then move behind him and as soon as he notices that he missed, I say "I told you, once I've seen a move, it won't work on me again" and he replies "But I've never used that move on you before...".

I calmly explain "As his last act,  Black Swan teleported his eye to me... No doubt you've heard that a dying man's last sight becomes burned into his retina, well we Saints can do something similar, and thanks to that, I recognize your move..." then noticing his bout of weakness I add "You're helpless now! My Hoo Genmaken did damage your psyche, sure you recovered from it, but that exhausted you".

'Still, it's amazing that you had the strength to do the Kholodnyi Smerch... But this s the end... Rest, for now, Hyoga!!' I gather my Cosmo into my fist and throw a powerful punch aiming at Hyoga's chest, unable to dodge I break his Cloth and penetrate his chest hitting his heart, making it stop, but at the same time, I send a small ember of Cosmo inside his heart that will protect his life until he burns his own Cosmo to stand up and face me once again.

But even if his heart stopped, with his impressive will, Hyoga grabs my arm and says "I... Ikki, you think you've won a great victory, but I won't let you walk away unscathed! My defeat will cost you an arm!" and he punches with his other arm aiming to break my arm stuck inside his chest, but I easily block it with my other arm while coating it with my Cosmo and as result, his arm protector breaks as it clashes with my fist.

Shocked by the result he says "Impossible... He shattered my Cloth's gauntlet with his bare hand..." and I explain "You still don't understand, do you? As weak as you are now, you don't have the strength left to kill an ant, now, let go of my arm!" but he concentrate his remaining Cosmo in my arm freezing it as he says "I told you, your arm is the price, I won't let go even in death!".

Then he stopped breathing and falls as he let go of my frozen arm, and looking at his apparently dead body, and feeling my Cosmo inside his heart protecting his life, I think 'You froze my right arm, as you promised... I'll give credit for that, Hyoga... You are going to be a strong Saint, so fight! Don't give up burn your Cosmo let it explode and rise once again, I know you can do it... Brother', at the same time I prepare to fight the others that I'm sure, will come to fight and defeat me.

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