The car ride to a small and reserved airport. The flight of many hours in a private jet. Another brief ride in a very old car. The jolting of a train wagon. The white landscape passing through the window. A pair of staring eyes.
Two young men left by the side of a road with their Urns on their backs.
"You're going to freeze like that." said the calm voice of Cygnus noticing that Seiya had left his coat inside the car that had just left, leaving them there.
"If you're not wearing it, neither should I." he rivaled, to a side laugh from the slightly older boy. Barely older. Basically, there were two very young boys alone on the road.
"I've trained at this place since I was born. The cold doesn't bother me."
"I'm not cold." Seiya lied.
"Well then, try to keep up." he said as he left the road and entered the land on the side that was already covered with a layer of snow.Ahead of the white grass was a forest of Siberian pine trees through which Cygnus led them along a rough but clearly well-defined path among roots, rocks, and trees.
"So this is where the Sanctuary Outcasts are sent?"
"This is but one of the places." replied Cygnus.
"I bet you were banned from the Sanctuary too." ventured Seiya.
"I'm sure about that." he just said with a certain mockery. "And you too..."
"What do you mean by that?" Seiya shouted, putting himself in front of the boy.
"What I mean is that it is forbidden for Saints to use their Cloths for their own benefit." he said, looking deep into Seiya's eyes. "And that's why you're not welcome anymore in the Sanctuary."Cygnus walked again, leaving Seiya with the doubts that already existed in his heart.
"You didn't fight in the Tournament." Seiya said. "What did you do to get banned too?" Seiya asked.
Cygnus stopped walking for a moment and answered without even looking at Seiya.
"I disobeyed my Master."
Behind the mist that descends from the mountains to invade the narrow wooden and rope bridges, Shiryu and Xiaoling made their way from the city to the outermost spiritual centers of Rozan. The path followed deep into the forest and they passed through small villages that seemed to have stopped in time; in the areas open for visitation, they said goodbye to the Foundation's escort and continued their journey even deeper into the mountains to the region of the Five Old Peaks.
Five huge jagged stone spiers in the sky, surrounded by clouds and mists, from which huge waterfalls of mighty rivers plummeted. It is said in nearby villages that those five ancient peaks were actually five elders who watched over the historic park and the sacred rivers of the region. The old people there were often compared to the huge stones. An ill spirited joke.
"How beautiful." Xiaoling said to each new landscape they passed.
"It was really a privilege to have trained here." Shiryu said.
"I was born in Guizhou. And from there the Foundation took me straight to Palaestra."
"Palaestra?"
"Yes," Xiaoling agreed with her eyes wide opened. "A school some of us ended up going to before joining the trainings." She limited herself to say, without lengthening on what probably should have been a secret.
YOU ARE READING
Saint Seiya: The Legend of Seiya
FanfictionThe novelization of Saint Seiya. The story of Seiya reimagined, written and told with some important alterations on the story. Cover Artwork: Tiago Fernandes (@tfernandes)