NOVEL WEB Chapter 14 – Meeting Athena
Chapter 14 - Meeting Athena
Jayr POV - Siberia - 1984
I'm looking at Camus's display of power as he easily melts the surface of the frozen sea and pulls out from the water a big broken cruiser, the ship in which Hyoga's mom died, which starts levitating toward our position, 'Yup, Gold Saint Level Telekinesis, with it you can easily move a mountain, let's not talk about something as light as a small cruiser' at the same time I hear Seika and Isaak gasp at this display of power.
And soon, the ship carefully lands near our position, and Hyoga with already some tears in his eyes, quickly bolts toward it, and while Isaak yells at Hyoga, Camus says "It seems he totally lost control over his emotions...", but before I could say anything, it is Seika to reply "I think it is better that it happens now that there is his master near him, then when he is fighting... Some things just can't be controlled and must be released... And I think that grief is one of those...".
And hearing that, for the first time, Camus acknowledges her presence and says "It seems that your companion is also wise, despite her young age..." and I quickly notice my mistake, I quickly apologize to Seike and then say to Camus "This is Seika, she is my girlfriend and Hyoga's half-sister, sorry for the late introduction, but I kinda got caught in the pace... Now, let's follow after Hyoga...".
And listening to my suggestion, I, Seika, Camus, and Isaak, quietly follow Hyoga, Camus, and Isaak easily jump on the deck, while I take Seika in my arms and follow after them, then we walk through the narrow corridor until we reach the cabin, where Hyoga is kneeling near his mother's body, with a stream of tears falling from his eyes.
As soon as I walk inside, I see Hyoga looking at us, and his mother's corpse and notice something, so I quickly act, using telekinesis I pull Hyoga away from her body and yell with a strong sense of urgency "Quick, Camus! Use your strongest Freezing Coffing on her!", thankfully Camus listen to me and raise his right arm then as his Cosmo explodes once again point at the body and release a freezing wave, that quickly encased her body in a big block of clear ice of -273.15°C.
Enraged Hyoga tries to attack, Camus, but he points his index finger at Hyoga, throws a small puff of ice crystals at him, that upon reaching him these form a ring around his body that quickly unfolds into several ice rings, the number of rings increases the more time passes, and these close ever more tightly over Hyoga, momentarily paralyzing him, then he says "Calm down, Hyoga! I don't know why Jayr asked me to do this but there must be a reason for this... So why don't you calm down and listen!".
As he was speaking to his disciple, I moved closer to Hyoga's mom's body, and touching the ice that surround it, I send a wisp of Cosmo inside, to check once more, and this time I'm sure of it, so I turn to the others and say "Hyoga, I have a good news and a bad news for you... The good news is that your mother is still barely alive..." hearing that Hyoga and Isaak look at me in shock with eyes and mouth wide open, Seika covered her mouth with her hands, and Camus's only change is that is eyes widen for a second.
(AN: Before you start bashing, let me explain my reasoning for this conclusion, from what I researched a human body in freezing water still rots, it takes around 4 years for this to happen, but in the end after all that time, all that will remain is a barely recognizable skeleton, now Hyoga's mom is still as good as new even if 5/6 years passed, I know that this is anime logic, but that give me the chance to put in my own logical spin to this)
Hyoga then says "This is impossible! I saw her drow, and a few seconds ago I held her cold body, it is impossible that she is still alive!!", but with a calm voice, I reply "Trust me when I say this but when it comes to medicine, there isn't anyone alive that knows it better than me... And I just confirmed that your mother is really still alive, even if barely so... It's a miracle, in fact, it seems that just before she drowned, she awakened her Cosmo, and that kept her alive long enough for the water to freeze her body and keep her stable and alive... Just like a weaker version of this technique of Camus, Freezing Coffin!".
Hearing that Camus nods and says "I see that is why you told me to use it on her... But even if it can keep her alive, she is now too weakened to survive, if we release her from it... Even a Saint would be so weakened after being inside my Freezing Coffin for a few hours that he needs another Saint's Cosmo to help them survive and recover... A normal person like her will soon die!".
And I nod and say "Yes, that is the bad news... If she stays outside your technique she will die soon after..." then with a smile I say to the downtrodden Hyoga, who is going through a rollercoaster of emotions that would cause in an older man a heart attack, "But luckily for you, the great me as a solution for this, it's just that it needs your effort for it to work...".
With hope, and strong and resolute will in his gaze he asks "What I have to do!?", and with a serious tone I explain "You see, I know a technique where you can use your Cosmo to sustain, nourish and protect your mother soul and body, while I heal all the damage done in these years, bringing her back to full health... And the Cosmo has to be yours, because as her son, your Cosmo, like you, is also born by your mother, she and her Cosmo won't reject it, if I try to do this without you, as soon as I or someone else try to inject his Cosmo in her, her Cosmo will unconsciously fight it and extinguish itself as weakened as it is, resulting in her instantaneous death...".
Hearing that Hyoga quickly says "Then what are you waiting for! Teach me this technique and save her!!" but I shake my head and say "I can't" and before he could say anything else I continue "As you are now, you are too weak to sustain her..." then patting the ice that encases his mother's body I say "You have to be strong enough to break this ice if you want to be able to save your mother...".
And seeing his face I add "Do not be in hurry to gain strength, thanks to Camus' fine control your mother will remain in the same state as now for many years, you have the time to reach that level of strength... As for the strength needed to break this ice, you have to ask your Master about it", and hearing this, Camus nods, and later we all move Natassia's body to a safe location, in a hidden cave near the village, then Camus block the cave's entrance with a Freezing Coffin, saying "When you'll be able to break this... It means that you are ready to rescue your mother, now go rest tomorrow we will restart training as usual!".
As we are walking back to the village, Seika suddenly asks "Say, Jayr... Won't this situation, push Hyoga to make a mistake and take the wrong decisions, in his desperate search for strength?", and I let out a sigh and reply "Yes it is possible... I never expected that his mother, could survive such a situation, all I wanted was to change the location of her body, to prevent an event that would end up with Isaak becoming a Marinas of Poisedon...".
Hearing that Seika stays in silence for a few seconds thinking about something, then she asks "Could we stay here a little more? I want to try to help him..." hugging her lithe body and kissing her I reply "Sure...".
And quickly a few weeks passed since the shocking reveal, and the impact on Hyoga was great, in his pursuit of strength he almost killed himself 7 times, luckily I was nearby and was able to save him, then after the last time, Seika couldn't sit still anymore, and slapped Hyoga hard in the face then crying she yelled, "Get yourself together!! You think you are helping your mom by being so reckless!!! Hell, if you die then the only chance that your mother has to survive will die with you!!!".
Hearing that Hyoga's eyes open wide in realization, while Seika continues "Sure, you have to get stronger to save her, but you also have to take care of yourself! And what's up with you Saints that want to shoulder every little thing yourself!! You have your friend, Isaak, and your master Camus, watching over and supporting you, for the love of Athena! Don't disappoint and betray them, in your quest for strength, they are already showing you the way, you just have to calmly walk it!".
After that Hyoga calmed down and recovered, he apologized to Isaak and Camus for his reckless behavior and thanked Seika for scolding him and making him realize his mistakes, and with a smile she reply "Don't worry as your half big sister it's my duty to watch over my little brothers..." and what followed after was the reveals that she too was a child of Mitsumasa Kido, like all the other "orphan" gathered by the Graad Foundation and sent to the others Saint Training Grounds, and Hyoga was once again stunned by the fact that Seiya and the others are in fact all sons of his bastard father, his brothers, making his hate for him grow even more.
Meanwhile, I didn't only watch over Hyoga during this time, but I also sparred with Camus, enhancing my control of Cosmo and making my Ice reach the freezing point of the Gold Cloths, the absolute zero -273.15°C, it was hard but with my mastery of the 7th sense, I was able to quickly learn how to lower the temperature to that point, I also learned the Freezing Coffin from Camus, as I like it's potential in both saving a life, and as a second option in dealing with enemies in the place of outright killing them 'Yes thanks to grandpa's training, I'm able to kill, but it is still my nuclear option, the very last one I'll ever use if everything else fails... Somewhat hypocritic, I'm aware, but this is who I am!'.
Jayr POV - Siberia/Japan - 1985
After staying for a few months in Siberia, making this a whole year since I started this journey, me and Seika finally said goodbye to Camus, Isaak, Hyoga, and the other villager who we helped and made friends with during our stay, and finally took a plane to Japan, on the plane, Seika asks "So, what is our plan for Japan? Where will we wait for Seiya to come!?".
And after thinking for a few seconds I say "We will first meet with Saori Kido, the current reincarnation of Athena, I'd like to know her current plan, and how much she knows about the coming threat..." and Seika asks "Isn't to use the tournament that she will host to gather the Saints, and then recover the Sanctuary!?".
I nod at that and add "Yes, but that changed when I warned the other Gold Saint about Saga's plot, And my countermeasures are amateurish at best, and while she is the reincarnation of a Goddess she isn't omniscient... With the info I gathered from the future, she can come up with a better plan... Remember that she IS the reincarnation of the Goddess of War and Wisdom... She was able to take control and expand the Graad Foundation to become the top business organization in the world, at the early age of 8... Surely she can find the flaws of my plan and fix them!".
Hearing that Seika says "You sure have a lot of faith in her even if you didn't even meet her...", with a wry smile I reply "Well, she did protect humanity since the Age of Myth... And I saw it in the visions that she was always ready to put herself in danger, or even die, to protect humanity, It's not something that I can ignore...".
Jayr POV - Japan, Tokyo - 1985
After more than 5 hours of flight, we finally lands at the Haneda Airport in Tokyo, and we did the boring operation of changing our currency from Ruble to Yen, then we called a taxi, and once we sit inside the taxi's backseats, the driver a bald old man ask in Japanese "Where should I take you, customers?" and I quickly reply "To the Kido Mansion in the outskirt of Tokyo" and the driver starting the car says "You have a really good pronounce for a foreigner..." and I quickly dismiss him as I look at the scenery holding Seika's hand.
Next, as we slowly move through the busy streets of Tokyo, due to the heavy traffic, in the distance we see the shadow of the Graad Coliseum that is still being built, and Seika who notices what I'm looking asks "What is that? The last time I was here, it wasn't here", but before the driver could reply, I speak "It's the Graad Coliseum, the exterior architecture seems almost worthy of the coliseums of antiquity, it is a gigantic combat arena of a scale never seen before, its design is directly inspired by the colosseum in Rome, the most famous vestige of the Roman Empire whose exact name is "Amphitheatrum Flavium", its the place where Saori chooses to reveal herself, and the Saints to the world to draw out the hidden evil in the Sanctuary".
And the driver comments "The customers really know a lot, do you come to Tokyo often?" and I reply "Not really, in fact, this is my first time here...", while Seika whispers in my ear "Is it fine to say these things in his presence...?", and with a smile, I say "Well, do you think that one of the most powerful organizations in the world, won't know about my presence once I set foot in their territory? Especially when the one that controls said organization is getting ready to fight against the Sanctuary?".
As I said this, realization appears on Seika's face while the driver becomes clearly nervous, so I quickly say "Please, Tokumaru Tatsumi-san, be calm, I'm not here as an enemy..." then in a teasing tone I add "... But I can't say the same about my lovely companion here, I'm pretty sure that she would like to have a few words with you on how you treated her little brother Seiya, and the others half brothers, in your quest to mold them as the perfect protector for your young lady".
Then looking at the fury on Seika's face and apparent calm on Tatsumi even if a clear sign of nervousness can be seen from his shaking hands, I think, 'Well, I've got to hand it to him, the ride is still smooth even if he is fearing for his and his lady's life... And to be honest, I can't really blame him for how he treated the "orphans", yes he was overly violent, rough, and strict with them, but it is a fact that 10 of 100 boys under his care later survived the hellish training and became a Saint, that is a really amazing achievement, as I know how difficult something like this really is, and for the info, I gathered about the other 90, while some of them truly died, many other survived, so his strict attitude really prepared them for what's to come and saved their lives...'.
And with a wry smile, I remember 'And now that I think about it, while grandpa never mistreated us during normal times, in fact, he was really doting, but during training, he was a brutal sadistic asshole that would make the demon from hell cry and run away in fear, many times I, Shaina, and Geist ended up with wounds all over our bodies and broken bones or even very close to death... But as soon as training was over he was once again the kind grandpa, who quickly brought us all the medicine needed to heal, sometimes I thought he was bipolar, but later when I saw many trainees die before my very eyes, I understood that he was doing everything possible to make us strong enough to survive'.
Using my telepathy I tell Seika the same, making her calm down a little, even if she still glares at Tatsumi from time to time, and before long we are finally in front of Kido Mansion, a stately white villa surrounded by gardens, and coming out of the taxi, Tatsumi finally reveals his true butler self, Tatsumi's overall appearance is that of a tall, completely bald, burly man with a tanned complexion and without eyebrows, who quickly bows and says "Welcome to the Kido's Mansion, the young lady is waiting for you inside".
(Image Here - Mansion, Tatsumi)
Then Tatsumi lead us through the mansion's garden as he briefly explains the mansion's history, and Seika looking around says "So this is where they took Seiya after they separated us...", and once inside the mansion, Tatsumi called another servant and ordered him to inform Saori of our presence, while he leads us to the hall used to entertain and meet the guests.
And after waiting for a few minutes, the door of the hall opens and I finally see her, a beautiful young girl, with long light violet hair, and greenish blue eyes, she has a lean, curvy body, a delicate face, and full lips, and is wearing a simple white dress, she is, of course, Saori Kido, the present incarnation of the Goddess Athena.
'But one thing about her confuses me, while all the other Gods, who use human bodies as vessels for their spirit, Athena is instead actually born as a mortal girl underneath her statue in Sanctuary every 200 years, in fact, it's like there are two Athena, one who acts unconsciously through her Divine Cosmo, and the other is the mortal girl who grows and acts like a normal human and slowly learns how to once again act like a God, Why would she do that? Is it to understand humanity better? Or it is simply her love for humanity that makes her want to have a chance to live like one?'.
As I'm thinking this, I'm jolted awake by her voice that says "Welcome to my home, I'm Saori Kido, CEO, and owner of the Graad Foundation, to what do I own the pleasure of having a Saint coming here?" and under the shock of Saori and Tatsumi, I kneel like a knight and say "I, Crateris Jayr, greet the current incarnation of Athena, Saori Kido, I'm here to inform you of the current and future threat that we are about to face!".
I see that Saori quickly recovers from her surprise and with a stony face she soon says in a calm but warn tone "You may rise... But please, quickly tell me how you found out about me being Athena, because the only ones that should know that are my dead grandfather, the Saint that saved me, and Tatsumi here" and standing up, I look at her and pointing at my Pandora Box, I say "It's my Cloth's ability, it shows me some instances of the future connected to me... This is also why I know about Saga's plot, and our future enemies".
Hearing that Saori nods, then she turns her gaze to Seika and asks "And she is...?", and at that moment Seika introduces herself "I'm Seika, Seiya's sister, and technically your aunt..." then the emotions that she kept bottled up explodes as she says "...Like the other 100 kids that you tortured and almost sent to die in hope of gathering enough forces to resist the evil force that took control of your Sanctuary!" at that Saori seems to have almost an ashamed expression, while Tatsumi yell "Watch your mouth! You do not know how much Mitsumasa-sama and Saori-ojousama sacrificed to be able to protect the world from these evil forces!!".
And Seika on her own yelled "I don't know! But I saw how much your old master sons, my brothers, suffered every day to become Saints! And the worst thing is that they didn't even have the choice!! They sweat, bleed and some even die for something that they don't even understand!!!" at that moment, I notice that both Saori and Seika have tears in their eyes, so I move close to Seaika, and put my hand on her shoulder I gently say "Stop, Seika... It's enough..." but she snaps at me and says "What!? Are you gonna take her side too?".
And still, with a calm smile, I point at Saori and say "Look yourself, is that the look of someone who will willingly put children through that? And think about it... There are so many children in the world, but who did Mitsumasa Kido choose? It's his own sons... To you and them who suffered for it, may seem a cruel and heartless thing to do, but all I see is a sacrifice he made to protect the world! He put this burden on his and his children's shoulders not on those of some unknown children that he could use without remorse! With his money, he could have brought some children from some poor families around the world, and they would've been happy to do so... But no, he choose to put his own sons through that!".
Seika calms down a little and looks at the sad expression on Saori's face, and at the tears that fall down her beautiful face, at the same time I notice that Tatsumi's eyes are also glittering, but he still steel himself, and as he looks at me he give me a subtle nod, soon after a few seconds, Seika let's out a sigh and says "Very well, I understand... I understand that no matter what, you will always take her side because you are a Saint of Athena! We are done!", then she turns to Saori and asks "Is there a place here where I can rest?".
And Saori turning to Tatsumi says "Tatsumi, lead her to one of our guest rooms" who replies "Yes, Saori-ojousama! Seika-sama follow me please" and as the two walk away, I'm woken up by my stunned state by Saori's voice who says "I'm sorry about that, it seems that my presence hurt your relationship..." and with a sad smile I say "It's not your fault, but mine that I didn't notice this problem before... It seems that to protect this world, I too have to make some sacrifices... Well, it is better that my heart hurts than the many deaths that will follow if I don't do all I can to prevent that... It seems that until this story is over I can't be free to live a happy life..." for an instant I feel an immense and warm Cosmo touch mine, comforting me with its love and hope and pushing me to move forward, and making the room fall in a serene state of silence.
Then after a few seconds of this blissful silence, Saori says "If I remember well, you have some information for me?" and hearing that, I do all my best to temporarily forget about Seika's issue, and focus on the task ahead and nods thinking 'Who knows, maybe with my information, she will be able to come up with a plan that will make the coming two years peaceful... so that I can focus on fixing things with Seika... If it is possible... But should I!? As it seems that my Blessing really enhances my libido, because while I wasn't the best man on earth in my previous life, I at least was always faithful to my lovers, but now, even if I really love Seika, I'm using all my will power to tear my gaze away from Saori!'.
Seeing my gesture, Saori then says "Come and follow me, we will talk in a more safe place..." and led me out of the mansion, as I quickly follow after her, while mentally listing everything I can say to her about the future threats.
Seika POV - Japan - 1985
As soon as I'm inside the guest room, and I hear Tatsumi going away the first thing I do is jump on the bed and hug the pillow tight, I start to cry 'Why did I snap like that!? Why did her presence bother me so much!? Why didn't he follow after me!? Am I going to always come after her!? Did I do the right thing!? How can I compete she is a Goddess!?' as this and many more doubts and questions swarm around my mind, while at the same time all the good and happy times together come one after another, making my mind a chaotic mess.
'Why did I do it? Are my own insecurities getting the better of me? Is it because all of it happened so fast? Because we never told each other "I love you"? Because I feel that I can't satisfy him? That I'm not beautiful enough? Did I do it because I was afraid that he would leave me? What I'm gonna do now?'.
As I turn around, I notice the medicine book that Jayr wrote for me, and wanting to take my mind away from these thoughts, I quickly pick it up and start studying 'Yes, Seiya still needs my support... After all, he will go through many fights, he'll need me to look after him!' and with a new purpose, I diligently study, taking my mind away from my situation with Jayr then think 'Later, I have to find a chance to apologize to Saori-san... Despise what I feel, what Jyar said is right...'.
(AN: If there are females reader, some insight on a female's mind would be helpful, as I'm no expert, thanks, hope that at the least her reaction and motives seems plausible)
