Echoes of Humanity

Part IV:

Compared to the individual temples of the saints, the temple of Athena was relatively sound. It had been the first place that the saints themselves had decided to work on, since none of them had really wished to spend their time in their own temples. The emptiness of being alone had far outweighed any desire for solitude that any of the saints had felt.

So instead they had exiled themselves to repairing their goddess’ temple, meticulously mending cracks and fissures; carefully moving each stone that was damaged beyond repair to an unseen pit behind the temple. At the time, Shaka had simply felt that the job was something that needed to be done. Now, however, after the wordless exchange at the steps of the temple, he wondered if perhaps he hadn’t been trying to prove himself to the goddess who was not in their presence. By fixing the temple, he was projecting his need to associate with the goddess he had inadvertently betrayed.

Shaka hid a wry smile. There were times when he really hated being so introspective. It was vaguely depressing and tended to make him feel somewhat pathetic.

Raising his head, Shaka studied the back of the goddess who walked before them. He was a bit disconcerted by the behavior he had displayed outside. He had intended a brief glance, perhaps, just to satisfy his curiosity, and then he had meant to look back down. When he had looked at Saori, however, he had seen something that he had never expected to see. It was what he was hoping for, but that he’d never dared believe could exist. It was odd, really. He had given up everything to become a guardian for Athena, but had never truly believed in her existence until Saori had met his gaze. Everything that made Athena a goddess worthy of serving had shone in her eyes. She radiated strength, but there had been a care and integrity that completed a picture that could never have been captured in words.

The presence of which had made her first words to him hurt all the more. To be forgiven by something so powerful was as frightening a concept as it would have been had she simply stripped them all of their Cloths for their mistake.

Saori’s position had been clear, and it mattered little whether they deserved her forgiveness or not. Now, they could only do as she asked. As Mu had said that first night, when Shaka had tried so hard to do, whatever he’d been trying to do, the only thing that they could do was prove themselves worthy of forgiveness. Shaka had never told the Aries Saint, but the words had stuck with him, and he’d spent not a few nights contemplating what the meant, and all of what they could mean.

Shaka shook himself briefly, bringing himself out of his thoughts back to the present, where Saori had turned to the right, and entered one of the many alcoves of the upper temple, where a large, carved table was set up in the center of the room. There were several stone benches around the edges of the room, and the table itself had thirteen chairs.

Now, they would only need six of them. After a brief hesitation, Saori took her place at the head, and the five saints took the places closest to her side. Shaka conceded the seat directly on the goddess’ right to Mu, while Aldebaran took her left. The others sat by the seats nearest them.

When they were all seated, Saori smiled awkwardly, placing a small notebook on the table, and pulling out a pen. She looked a bit sheepish, as though she thought perhaps taking notes on what was about to take place was a little odd. Whatever her thoughts, the purple-haired girl nevertheless got down to business immediately.

“I apologize for telling you so little about the intent of my visit.” She said. “But the truth is, I’m not exactly sure what the full intent of my visit is.”

Aiolia blinked. “Aren’t you here to tell us what to do?” He asked. Saori smiled dryly.

“Actually, I imagine that you probably know more about what you do than I.” She said.

“Mostly we just sit in our temples and wait until something bad comes along.” Aldebaran interjected.

Saori seemed taken aback. “Don’t you ever leave?”

“Some of us do, for a night or a few, but most of our time is spent in Sanctuary.”

“It is not as bad as the Taurus Saint made it seem.” Aiolia said to the quite obviously agitated girl. “We have freedom to do as we wish, within certain parameters.”

Aldebaran regarded Mu calmly across the table, and the corners of his mouth twitched, as though he were contemplating some private joke that Aiolia’s words had made him remember. Shaka was reminded of the many conversations that had occurred the night Mu had returned. Parameters were something that changed with time, place, and duty. Theirs were not far apart, at the moment, and Aiolia knew it as well as any at the table.

“We are not prisoners, Goddess. We are the guardians of this place, and it is home to us.” He said quietly. He couldn’t quite say what Saori wished to hear, because he highly doubted that some of the other Saints were fully satisfied with their living arrangements, but he could give her reassurance that they were not miserable.

“I suppose it is.” She replied, distracted. After a moment’s pause, she spoke again. “Is there anything you need, than? Either for yourselves, or for this place?”

“Other than stonemasons who actually know their trade?” Aiolia answered honestly, “I cannot think of anything.”

“There is nothing else I can get?” Saori asked, making a brief note on the pad, which Shaka found somehow amusing. ‘Stonemasons’ did not seem like something that would show up on the notepad of many people.

“Despite its appearance, Sanctuary is mostly self-sufficient.” Aldebaran said. “The tourists who come to see the wonders of architecture Ath…you have left behind leave donations behind, and resources regularly come in from the surrounding area, as well.”

“Exactly. You really don’t need to worry about us starving to death.” Aiolia added, “Our mattresses don’t even have lice, nowadays.”

Milo snorted from his place down the table – the first noise he’d made all evening – and he looked at Aiolia with an almost arrogant contempt. Regarding him, Shaka raised an eyebrow. He wasn’t exactly sure what was going on, but something about the Scorpio Saint seemed off, somehow. Milo simply met his gaze, challenging the blond to say something. After a moment, Shaka shook his head the slightest bit, and turned his attention back to matters more pressing.

Mu was speaking again, taking control of the situation like he usually did. “Sanctuary was built to be able to take care of herself even when the Goddess was not here.” He said. “No matter how much you may not believe us, we just wish to know how we can best serve you, Goddess.”

Saori looked at the Aries Saint for a long moment. “Oh, I believe you.” She said quietly. “But I would rather have the people guarding the world from those who would ruin it be comfortable and safe when not having to be heroes.”

She hesitated for a moment longer, waiting to see if the saints had anything more to say, and then continued.

“I’m afraid that was the most comfortable topic I came with.” She said. “But we need to move on to other business.”

Saori shifted uncomfortably, as though she couldn’t quite figure out how to broach the subject, and Saint’s watched her silently, not knowing what it was that she wanted answers to. After a moment, the goddess spoke.

“I…need to know how to make sure what happened doesn’t happen again.” She said. Aiolia looked purposely confused.

“We know who you are, and we aren’t going to allow it to happen again.”

Saori smiled. “I appreciate your confidence in me. However, it says a lot about the way Sanctuary was run that what did happen was allowed to occur in the first place.”

“Is there something specific you would like us to do?” Aldebaran asked.

Saori opened her mouth, then paused and shook her head. “I don’t know enough about how this place is run, to be able to ask you to do something.

“So, I suppose my question is, could someone please explain the structure of Sanctuary?”

After a long moment of silence from all the Saints, Aldebaran looked at Shaka. “You are a student of this, so would you like to take this one, Virgo?”

Shaka sighed, and considered for a long moment. He hadn’t thought about this sort of thing for a long time. For years, Sanctuary had for the most part run herself. There was a budget, that was split up between a couple of places, but most of the money was circulated back through the mountain, or used to buy new training grounds.

“I’m not sure what I can tell you that you don’t already know. There are Gold, Silver, and Bronze Saints, each with distinct responsibilities. The properties of Sanctuary are split up between this place, and several training grounds in various isolated regions across the world.”

“You say distinct responsibilities. Other than the obvious, what are they?”

“There isn’t much else.” Aldebaran replied. “The Gold Saints guard the core of Sanctuary, the Bronze Saints serve as liaisons with the people and the goddess herself, and the Silver Saints are the messengers of your will.”

Saori sighed. “My grandfather told me that much.” She said, getting to her feet and walking to the window, waving absently at the saints when they tried to follow her.

“I’m sorry, I understand that you know very little.” She said. “But, I just…” She stopped, looking out over the graveyard that very nearly covered the hillside at the edge of the temple. “How well did you know them?”

They all hesitated, none of them really willing to admit the truth. Most, they had known by name only. A few among them knew the faces of some. Milo looked haunted again, most likely recalling that he knew many of them quite well, if only through the intimate knowledge that comes from looking into someone’s eyes as they die. In war, it was difficult, but as Saints, connected to the life energy of those around you, the connection was stronger. Looking at the younger man, Shaka couldn’t help but feel pity for the Scorpio Saint. Ares had used Milo’s strengths well, buying into the passion and energy of the blue-haired man against the very thing he loved. The very thing that made him worthy of being a Saint had been raped and twisted into something vile; that had resulted in Milo becoming the assassin used to kill many of the Silver Saints who dared question the rule of Sanctuary in the past few years.

Despite the look in his eyes, however, it was Milo who answered Saori’s question.

“They reported to Sanctuary twice or three times a year if they received no instruction to do otherwise. They received their assignments from either the Master or one of us. It was the only time we saw them.”

Saori nodded. “Why was there not more contact?”

“We were not expected too.” Aldebaran said.

Milo shook his head in disagreement. “We did not have a reason to interact with them more often.”

The goddess pinned him under her gaze, and there was something powerful and almost angry in her eyes.

“Was there not a reason?” She asked, her voice dangerous and tinged with frost.

Amazingly, her anger seemed to rally Milo, who straightened and met her gaze for the first time. “Perhaps. But we were not allowed to see one.”

Saori sighed. She hated not knowing anything. She knew know of the way politics in Sanctuary had been handled, and the saints behind her knew just as little. This meeting was not going at all the way she wished it too. She reworded the question one more time.

“I ask you now, then, with the hindsight you have from these past months: Do you not believe that there might be a need for more contact?”

“I…” Milo began, than paused. “I don’t know.” He looked distressed by the answer.

Saori smiled understandingly. At least honesty was a start. She had the distinct impression that her Saints were trying to appear perfect, or at least whatever perception of perfect that they carried within them. “Neither do I, which is why I asked you in the first place.” She turned to the other Saints, looking them over carefully. Her gaze settled on Shaka. “You seem disinclined to offer your opinion on your own: Do you see a reason for more contact between the Saints?”

“I do not know, goddess.” Shaka said. “We only know of the present. Very few of us gained our cloths much before Ares took control, so this is all we know.”

It was true, the Virgo Saint realized suddenly. They only knew as much as Ares let them know, and they had been managed like cattle. Ares had been a master at keeping his legions separate. With the exception of a few saints, information had been kept to orders. It appeared that the ones kept closer had actually been those most likely to rebel, a move that had been pure genius. The naïve had been kept away from the core of Sanctuary, where they would not begin to think, and the ones most likely to cause waves had been kept close and watched carefully. It had been a management plan worthy of the world’s greatest masters of strategy. One worthy of a war god.

Shaka paused and looked at Mu, but said nothing, for which the Aries Saint looked grateful. Shaka shook his head. He could hardly assume that Mu knew anything else. “Perhaps,” He said, “If you really want to know about Sanctuary, or even more about who you are, you should inquire of the Libra Saint.”

Saori looked up sharply, and it was her turn to look fearful. She seemed surprised when none of the Saint’s showed any surprise at Shaka’s words. He wondered if she really thought that they expected her to be perfect.

“Perhaps I will.” Saori said. She remained silent for a few moments, before she walked away from the window, back towards her chair.

“I am truly sorry, but I’m afraid I must leave. I greatly wished to come here, but for all the marvels of modern technology, I still have other engagements that I must attend too.”

She gathered her stuff up, and the Saints quickly rose to their feet.

“I apologize that we could not tell you more.” Mu said, and but Saori shook her head.

“You answered the questions I had, and I believe that you may have told me more than you think.” She said, the words vague and unclear, although Shaka felt that they were directed directly to him. Although, as he looked at the faces of the others, perhaps they each thought that way. Then, she slowly walked back into the main room of the temple. Following her, Shaka was surprised to see that the goddess didn’t immediately turn towards the exit, but instead turned right, walking to the back of the temple. When she stopped at the one true wall and door of the entire structure, though, he no longer questioned why she had chosen such a path.

Without a word, Saori placed a single hand on the door reverently, bowing her head slightly. After a long moment of silence, she turned back to the saints, expression solemn and serious.

“This was my second reason for coming here.” She said. “I must pay my respects to those who have passed on. I would appreciate your patience while I do so.”

“Of course.” Aldebaran replied hastily, and the other Saints nodded in agreement. Shaka couldn’t help but think that Saori seemed relieved by the answer. He looked at her carefully, wondering what she was thinking.

Perhaps she thought that they still thought she was nothing more than an interloper to their cause. Perhaps she thought that they believed that she was the reason for the deaths of the saint’s whose bodies lined the graves and coffins that filled Sanctuary. Or, perhaps, Shaka thought, he was simply thinking his own thoughts and, in reality, Saori was simply giving them a moment to be dismissed before she left them while she continued on her business.

He couldn’t help but think otherwise, though. Saori struck him as being more than the goddess who he had dreamed of serving, and more than the egotistic child they had believed her to be such a short time ago. Now, she only wanted to offer the same rights to those who had died as to the very men who now stood before. Shake hesitated for the briefest moment, then took a knee before Saori for the second time that night.

“Thank you, goddess. We will be right here at your return.”

Saori smiled sadly. “I know.” She said, nodding at the men before pushing the door open with one hand, while drawing a lighted torch from the wall the other, stepping into the darkness. Although the flame didn’t even begin to penetrate the darkness of the main tomb room, it reflected disturbing off the half-circle of Gold Cloths sealed there. For a brief moment, the metal shined with brilliant clarity, before the door closed behind the goddess.

A/N: There is a point to all this talking, I swear. Things will come back to it, and it\'s oddly fun to write. Next part has physical assault and some emotional eunuch UST.