Saint Seiya: The Legend of Seiya

73 - The Seal of the Seas

The intermittent rain seemed to take more and more of the Greek afternoons, instead of being limited to the nights that were no longer starry, thanks to the heavy clouds. That morning, in that shack where everyone chose to live together for a few happy days, everyone was busy preparing to leave. Shiryu would tidy up what little she had to return to China for a short period of time, as if for Shunrei to make sure she was okay.

Hyoga would also like to visit Jacob and his village in Siberia, a trip on which Shun chose to accompany him to learn more deeply about the environment in which his friend had grown up. On the other hand, Saori and Seiya would make a pilgrimage through the city of Athens nearby, to the despair of Alice, who would also insist on including herself on the tour, if it weren't her duties at the Sanctuary. Something she seemed to take much more seriously than the Goddess Athena herself. She was silent as she packed her friend's backpack, who noticed Alice's disgruntled silence.

"Don't worry, Mii. I will be on her side." Seiya said to Alice, very pissed off.

"She thinks she can do anything." Alice warned. "Seiya, she is still one of the most famous people out there. She has fans all over the world. You will have to pay extra attention to her. She thinks she is an ordinary girl, but she is not. Here she is the Goddess Athena. Outside she is Saori Kido. And I don't know which of the two is more famous."

"We'll find a way." he replied confidently when he saw that she had finished putting her friend's things together.

"Another thing, Seiya." she called after him. "When you find Seika, tell her I'm going to kill her."

Seiya smiled as Alice hugged him and wished them luck. He had already walked around Rodorio in the last few days asking everyone if they had seen a lost girl there many years ago, showing them a photo that the Foundation had taken of all the children for control profiles when they were little, but no one there seemed to have seen Seika.

But before they all departed for Athens, where they would each take their separate ways for their destination, they received a curious visitor on the second floor: Shaina.

The atmosphere was one of joy among them, wearing simple clothes and backpacks on their backs; in contrast to this, Shaina was fully dressed in her Silver Ophiuchus Cloth. Her eyes didn't seem to believe what they were seeing and Seiya felt her look away when she met his stance. That was the first time Seiya had seen Shaina since she had passed out in his arms after saving him.

Seiya even went to her hut, looking for her around Rodorio and even to Cassius' tomb in the hope that she was there. But in vain, he did not find her, as Shaina, in the role of Master at Arms, was too busy with the Sanctuary. And, in fact, she was also running away from meeting Seiya again, ashamed of having her heart revealed.

But that afternoon she was there on her mission.

"Master Mayura awaits you, Goddess Athena." she told Saori.

It was curious, but Shaina didn't seem to have the respect that one would expect when addressing the Goddess Athena, but Saori also didn't demand of anyone to treat her differently for being a Goddess. It had been many days since Saori returned to the Temple where she knew very well that she was expected on a daily basis. But that was the first time the Master at Arms had had to go and summon her in person.

Saori sought Alice's gaze beside her, but she didn't seem to know what it was. She slowly took the backpack prepared by her friend and turned to Seiya:

"Don't unpack it. I'll be back soon." she told him.

But Seiya could almost feel that this mission would have to be stopped; he saw the friends all loosening the straps of the backpacks they would carry and placing them on the sofa or on the beds. There was a certain tension in Shaina's summoning and they all had a huge unanswered question when Saori, Alice and Shaina left the shack for the Twelve Temples.