Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction / Saint Seiya Fan Fiction ❯ The Intense Clash of the Gods ❯ Tale 88 ( Chapter 88 )

"Wait a second..." Hilda suddenly spoke up, looking around her to see the rest of the group. They were in the stadium's seating, waiting for the conclusion of the third match of the final round... but she noticed something... Charybdis, Cecil, Minos, Radamanthys, and Pandora were there... but, "Where's Fenrir?"

"Fenrir?" Cecil repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Come to think of it... I think we lost sight of him when we came to Sanctuary today... you think he's alright?"

"Perfectly," Pandora said with a smirk. "In fact... I have a pretty good idea where he is, too."

"Where would that be?" Charybdis asked, although Pandora shook her head.

"It's not important... at least not yet..."
_
"So you don't know why the Virgo Temple is completely bare either?" Fenrir asked Rei as they continued walking up the stairs of the twelve temples, having passed the sixth one not to long ago.

"No," the blue-haired, red-eyed reincarnation of Athena responded. "I must admit... the Pope has been... less than cordial to me. It is rather obvious he has plans of his own in regards to the Kamui, yet amongst the Saints he is highly regarded."

"Loyalty blinding people from the truth..." Fenrir snorted, "Sounds just like the conflicts in Asgard and Japan all over again. Why don't you just do something about it? After all, you're the top gun here."

Athena shook her head as they continued walking up the stairs. "Normally I would do so... but I can't afford to jump the gun in this situation. As the goddess of defensive warfare, taking the initiative and striking first isn't like me. Even though it's tempting, I know some more simple-minded people here would consider me an imposter and rise to the Pope's defense, including those that might side with me otherwise. Due to my... questionable background with Nerve, there are at least the seeds of suspicion on me already. My only option then, is to wait until Aiolos makes the first move. But... here we are."

They stood at the entrance of the Libra Temple, Fenrir understanding what she was talking about now.

"The cloth is located here, correct?"

"Yes, and also the weapons that can cut through even a Gold Saint's Freezing Coffin."

"I see..."

A short walk later, they found themselves staring at the golden cloth box of the Libra Cloth, which Fenrir quickly opened, finding the scales inside. Grabbing up one of the swords, he gave it a spin and smiled. "These... these are the true forms of those golden daggers Cecil had before?" he turned to Rei who nodded. "Damn ironic if you ask-"

He immediately shoved Rei out of the way as a tremendous blast of electrical energy shot at them, but the gesture was unnecessary, as the attack was solely aimed at him. Fenrir took the force of the blow, but was glad to know from Combat Awareness that it wasn't too painful. Sliding back a few feet, he looked in the direction of the attack, seeing the brown-haired Leo Saint, Aiolia Talos, standing there.

"Stealing Dohko's cloth?" he growled.

"No such thing," Fenrir answered. "Just borrowing one of the swords," Fenrir answered.

Suddenly a red bolt shot out from behind Fenrir, striking the ground near Aiolia's feet. "Athena's with him, Aiolia. Let it go." Milo stepped into view, preparing to fire a second Scarlet Needle if the need arose. Aiolia's fists were clenched; he was about to strike, yet the Scorpio Saint showed no fear as he motioned with his head to Rei and Fenrir to go past him. "I'll keep him at bay, at least until you get to through the other temples. Don't worry about the others, Aiolos is up in his palace and wouldn't dream of attacking you in front of Athena and Shura's on our side anyways, so get going!"

Rei and Fenrir just looked at the Gold Saint for a moment before taking off sprinting full-speed, leaving the two Gold Saints behind.
_
With another battle cry, Isaac and Hyoga's blows struck into each other, the two warriors of the gods resorting on simplistic hand-to-hand fighting rather than their various ice techniques. With the Seventh Sense, and the lightspeed powers it permitted, Hyoga technically had the advantage over Isaac, yet Combat Awareness enabled the Mariner of the Arctic to keep up with every move Hyoga tried, an effective counter-balance that left this fight in a stalemate.

The ground beneath them, however, immediately became slick with ice, Hyoga looked down in surprise as Isaac punched him into the air with the Hieha Suicho, the Gold Saint being struck painfully in the back by the gigantic pillar of ice before being slammed into the ground. He vanished, teleporting thirty feet away from Isaac before firing off another Aurora Execution. Without his Scale, Isaac knew full well the move would kill him if he didn't act fast, yet once again Hyoga blocked off his escape with numerous Freezing Coffins.

Just make room to dodge it then, Mime suggested, and Isaac nodded in agreement, screaming out "ATAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!" as his fist slammed into the ground, freezing the entire temple solid and cracking open the floor beneath him, making a hole big enough for Isaac to dodge the attack in before springing up and retaliating with an Aurora Borealis. Hyoga braced himself for the attack, fighting through the pain as Isaac charged again.

Thanks again, Mime... Isaac thought. In another life-

Don't talk like that, the spirit of the Benetnash Eta God Warrior responded. We only have one life to live, that's how it works provided you don't take reincarnation into account. At least I could die as a better man than the one I lived my life as.

Fine then, Isaac said as he finally reached Hyoga and swung at him, only for the Aquarius Gold Saint to disappear and teleport back to where Isaac had been a few moments ago, picking up one of the Freezing Coffins and launching it at him. Using the icy floor to his advantage, Krylov slid sideways on it, avoiding the attack as it smashed into a wall, although Hyoga immediately threw another at him. Creating a much smaller Coffin of his own, Isaac used it as a springboard, jumping on it and then up into the air to barely clear Hyoga's impromptu attack. He reached Hyoga and kicked at him, yet Hyoga continued his game of cat and mouse, this time teleporting directly below Isaac and knocking him into the air with a Kholodnyi Smerch that knocked with wind of the Mariner long enough for Hyoga to kick him away.

"You ripped me from my mother's arms..." he growled, pointing accusingly at Isaac. "YOU RUINED MY GODDAMN LIFE!!!!!!!"

"Bullshit!" Isaac answered as he got back up to his feet. "You're living in past! I've known good men and women that have died... do you see me continually visiting their dead bodies like that?"

"MAYBE YOU SHOULD!" Hyoga responded, teleporting in front of Isaac and punching at him. Raising his arms up to form an X, Isaac softened the blow before punching Isaac back in the face, only to receive Hyoga's retaliatory kick to the side which sent the two fighters sliding away from each other due to the minimal friction on the ice. "How can you tear the one thing that defines a person's life and think it's the right thing to do, Isaac? HOW THE HELL IS THAT JUSTICE!!!" He raised his hands for an Aurora Execution, Isaac surprisingly moving to preparing for his Aurora Borealis.

"Because it's not right to define yourself just by one thing," Isaac calmly responded.

"Well... it's a shame you're not using that 'Aurora Sphere' thing... in case you haven't noticed, your Borealis can't match my attack!" He fired the stream of ice, Isaac responding in kind.

"You're mistaken... on so many levels," Isaac answered, the two attacks colliding in between the fighters and not moving an inch, much to Hyoga's shock and awe. "The Aurora Sphere was a one-time move... so that I could understand the ideas of Absolute Zero while not having to worry about the move creating them was about to kill me. That way..." he grinned, "That way my Borealis could match the Aurora Execution!"

The two fighters continued the stalemate, but slowly, Isaac felt himself losing strength as Hyoga smiled. "So much for that idea! Since you have to actively work for having your move be Absolute Zero..." with a roar of triumph, his attack overpowered Isaac's, smashing into the Mariner and slamming him into the wall. "Game over."

He turned and walked away, but froze at the sounds of Isaac chuckling.

"You... you know something funny?" Isaac suddenly grunted out, breaking free of the ice that had bound up much of his body before pointing at Hyoga. "Your attack was pretty shitty... you just held a better poker face in that exchange... the strength behind the Aurora Execution when it hit me..." he smirked, "Well... it wasn't that lethal."

"You bastard..." Hyoga answered raising his arms up again. "AURORA EXECUTION!"

Without showing fear of any kind, Isaac watched the attack shoot straight at him, at the last second raising his hands up to guard against the attack as Hyoga shook his head.

"Like anyone can hold that thing off?"

Groaning in pain, Isaac staggered back, his arms turning blue in the process. Suddenly, however, he was blasted back again, screaming in complete agony before being frozen in a gigantic block of ice. The look on his face was one of shock... and no doubt defeat. Hyoga walked up to him, spitting on the ground-

And then Isaac's fist suddenly broke free of the ice and nearly gutted Hyoga with absurd force, sending him smashing into a statue of the Water Bearer as the ice cracked and Isaac feel free, his skin blue and the Mariner shivering uncontrollably.

"Quite... quite the last act of desperation... right?" Hyoga mused as he stood back up. "That didn't hurt too bad... you're running out of steam, aren't you?"

Isaac fell on all fours, looking at Hyoga, but shook his head as the color slowly returned to his body, as if there was still one last trick up his sleeve. "On... on the contrary... I needed to do this to make my finishing move unstoppable..." Standing up, the Mariner finally had regained most of his color and folded his arms across his chest in the pattern of an X.

"Your final move? Optimistic aren't you?"

"No... just the cold shower of reality," Isaac responded. "Your actions really lowered my body temperature a whole lot. But remember, you can't destroy heat or a lack of it. You can just redirect it..." His arms began glowing faintly white, Hyoga finally realizing what he meant.

"You... you don't meant..." he took a step back in complete shock, Isaac charging at him.

It was crazy... it couldn't have been done... Almost instantly, the Aquarius Temple was melting away... only the Freezing Coffin remained strong against the heat. Isaac had found a way to absorb the cold... condense it right into his hands...

"HIEHA... KASSATSU!!!"

He punched Hyoga in the face brutally, the Aquarius Saint screaming in complete agony as spikes of red ice... his very blood frozen... burst out of his body at numerous points, the Gold Saint helpless as he felt his body nearly rip itself apart.

"You're damn lucky..." Isaac said as he walked away from the defeated Hyoga, "That I only froze all your blood, rather than all your bodily fluids. Otherwise..." he turned back, seeing Hyoga struggle to move, "You'd have one hell of an ugly death."

Hyoga's groans were silenced as his body went limp.
_
The first thing he heard when Hyoga managed to regain consciousness was the sound of a lyre... he blinked, sitting up and finding himself in a grassy field, two figures leaning against a tree, one male, one female.

"Ah... so you're the Hyoga kid that Isaac kept talking about when he fought me..." the man said with a smile, putting the lyre down as the girl suddenly took a look at a picture and nodded.

"That's him, alright... although I see he took the fact Isaac lost an eye a little to personally..."

He blinked in confusion. "Where-"

"Elysium, where else? Of course... be glad you're just visiting," the woman answered. "The way you've been living... it's a waste of life!"

"But-" Hyoga started to say, but the man walked up to him and punched him once, sending Hyoga to the ground.

"Hyoga, I lost my parents at a young age to a brutal man. My hatred of that man ruined my life..." the man started, "Yet the man that fought me, a brave Mariner named Isaac Krylov referred to inspiration of a friend he once knew... a Hyoga Camus that fought on in memory of his mother with the hopes of a better tomorrow. But that's not what you are... not what Isaac thought you were! You spent more time with that corpse than with living, breathing people! You need to let go!"

"Hyoga, it really hurts. Isaac... when we were alive, Isaac had a certain level of interest in me, and the feeling was mutual. I died, and he didn't. And even though it hurt, he said his goodbyes. He's lives each day and smiles, because that's what I want him to do. He should be happy, not mourning my death and visiting my grave regularly to the point that it encompasses his life. He'll never forget me... but he won't forget about those around him just for my sake either."

Hyoga turned and walked away from them, fists clenched. "But... she... she was my mother..."

"And surely she must have cared about you more than anyone else. But she's gone. Isaac's actions may have been a little extreme," the man said, putting a hand on Isaac's shoulder, "But they were necessary for the time. Now... answer me this. If your mother were still alive, would you spend so much time with her? You're a man... you need to go out there and live your own life."

"But... it'll be hard..."

"Of course it will!" the woman exclaimed, but with a surprisingly level of understanding in her voice. "But that's only provided you don't try to be happy, find friends. Look at Isaac! I died and yet he never lost his spirit, and he's found a much closer level of connection with Boss Lady Sea Dragon and two friends his own age, one of which he initially vowed to kill yet now fights alongside! If you fall to despair and hopelessness, Hyoga, you'll never truly be alive! You'll just be drifting in the water like the bitter, crushed remains of your mother!"

Those last few words... if they had been said to him mere moments ago, Hyoga knew he would have lashed out against them. Yet now...

"Fine... I'll... I'll do it. I'll do it... I promise I will!"
_
The next thing Hyoga knew, he was coughing controllably but slowly sat up, seeing Athena and Isaac kneeling over him, Fenrir standing behind them with Zepplin slumped over his shoulders.

"Lesson learned?" Isaac asked.

Slowly, very slowly, Hyoga nodded. "Lesson learned."