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	The Cutting Edge by Cygny
	Author's note : You asked for Shura fanstuff, you got it. I was going to say something about Beware for you might not like it, but I really did my best to stay objective about Shura :P Although, well, you still might not like it ^^;;; This one's for you Derre-chan!

	I hit the wall in my temple with force, making it tremble and crumble under my anger. I doubted if I would ever be able to come to terms with what I had just done, less than an hour ago. I must say, the moment I went out there, the moment he asked me to kill my best friend, I had no doubts, no hesitation. I just went and killed, in cold blood. Not Aiolos' pleas, nor the presence of the infant, nothing made me doubt my actions. It was only now, when 'his' presence had subdued a bit, that I started thinking, and hesitating. Too bad now it was too late. I turned around, and faced 'him', who could make me forget about everything, who could be the downfall of me. I tried to contain my anger, all my feelings of despair, but I just couldn't, so I strode towards him, and punched him right in the face. He didn't flinch when he saw me coming, although the intention must have been clear on my face. He still didn't move when I hit him. Nor did any emotion show on his face when a trickle of blood slowly ran down from the corner of his mouth. All of a sudden, at the sight of the blood, which showed to me that he was a human after all, I got so angry, so … outside of myself, that I felt I could kill him. But I just gave him a furious look, and walked away, to my bedroom, hidden deep down in the darkness of the Temple's cellars. Maybe I should have known better than to go there, maybe I should have … just left. Maybe I was wanting him to follow me there, subconsciously. But when I heard him close the door behind him, I was startled anyway. I turned around to face him, this man, and knew that I could do nothing against him since after all, I was only a boy. I balled my fists. Just a moment ago, I had had the feeling I could kill him right there and then, and now I was scared, scared to be the one that would be killed. I was getting used to having these contradictory feelings around him, but didn't like them any better therefore. So I just stood there, while he approached me like a predator approaches its prey, slowly, deliberately, ready to strike. His body was only inches away from mine when he stopped and lowered his face to mine. His voice came ever so silently, but it was as if his words were directly inserted into my head and heart, so loud did they sound to me. "You did the right thing Shura, the Kyoko will be forever grateful to you. He told me he would be quickly recovering from the wounds that Aiolos inflicted on him, and then he would be sure to thank you in person for your loyalty towards Athena." He tilted his head, looking at me attentively. It stayed silent for a moment, and all I could do was just hope he would go away before the tears actually started pouring. I was just unable to speak, unable to utter another word. Then he nodded, ruffled my hair with his hand, and walked off, leaving me even more bewildered and confused than I was before. That night, I went to bed with a heavy heart, laying awake for hours, tears cropped up in my throat not wanting to come out, leaving me exhausted and forced into a restless sleep, filled with dreams of blood and betrayal. The next morning I was indeed called near the Kyoko, who talked to me, explained to me why it was necessary to kill Aiolos, told me that the infant whose life I spared would have been replacing Athena, and left Sanctuary defenceless against future enemies. Of course I understood the danger of that, but why did they choose me to kill him? Somehow it didn't make sense, but in this room, where I could feel the Godly presence so clearly, again my doubts left me. Saga however was nowhere to be seen, and I wondered why he wasn't here as well. He had been in the Kyoko's presence the evening before, when it all went down, so I would assume he'd... My thoughts were interrupted when they brought Aiolia in, kicking and screaming. He obviously had heard the whole story because he immediately adverted his anger from the guards onto me. "Shura! You traitor, you lowlife shit! How could you, how could you do this to my brother! He helped you on so many occasions, he was your friend! You never ever would have been able to kill him if it wasn't for that very fact!" "Aiolia! That's enough! Be quiet now!" "Why the fuck should I be quiet... Hmph!" He got interrupted by a guard who kicked him, and silenced him that way. My first impulse is to help him back up, but the Kyoko gets up from his seat and approaches him. "Aiolia, listen to me. Your brother tried to kill Athena, and replace her with another child. This offence could only be dealt with in one way, and it's death. Shura didn't want to execute this punishment, but he was under my order, so he had no choice. It was that or be branded a traitor as well." When I heard those words, somehow, my choice again felt wrong, but once again the cosmo that filled the room chased all my doubts away. I was torn between right and wrong, because I just couldn't tell the difference between the two anymore. But in this room, in the presence of this man, as in the presence of Saga, theirs seemed the right choice, the right path to follow. Aiolia fell silent now. It's as if he realized the truth, that his brother indeed tried to kill the Goddess. The moment children set foot in Sanctuary, one of the first things they should learn is that the Kyoko is the human representative of Athena, and therefore is always right. And hearing these words from that very person, seemed to have left Aiolia aware of the fact that his brother indeed was a traitor, indeed tried to kill Athena. The Kyoko looked at me then. "Explain his options to him Shura, I'm sure you know what they are?" I should explain his options to the brother of the man I killed only hours ago? Tell him that he should renounce the only family he had ever had, or be killed himself? I felt as if he asked the impossible of me. No, it was just another test. Athena's test. She must have felt my doubts, she must have known that I hesitated, and therefore she was testing my loyalty. I looked at my arm. Capricorn Saints were rumoured to be the most faithful, the most loyal ones among them all. She had granted them Excalibur for that very fact. So how could I fail her now? "There are in fact two options, Aiolia. The first is to renounce your brother, to renounce your bloodline, and become a loyal Saint of Athena." I saw him shaking his head, ready to object, to refuse, ready to defend his brother to the death. But I had to stop him. If I couldn't save Aiolos, make him change his mind about killing my Goddess, then I had to at least try to save his brother. So I approached him, and put my hands on his shoulders squeezing hard. I saw him flinch, but did not release my grip. He must be told, he must be reasoned with. "Aiolia, listen to me! If you don't renounce your brother, you will be marked a traitor and you will be expelled from Sanctuary, or worse, you'll be killed. And do you honestly think that Aiolos, even if he tried to kill Athena, that he would have wanted you dead. Because if there is one thing that I firmly believe in, then it's that he loved you. So just prove him wrong, by staying here, by defending Athena with your life and by becoming of the best Gold Saints Sanctuary has ever seen." His eyes still were looking rebellious at me, but as I shook him back and forth, all of his anger and hostility seemed to leave him, as he slumped at my feet, defeated. He bent his head and when I knelt beside him, I could see his teardrops falling on his legs, where they dried up, not leaving a trace of his despair. For some reason, I didn't want the Kyoko to see that Aiolia was crying, as if I believed he would still want him dead, so I asked permission to take him to his quarters, which I was granted. On the way there, I had to almost carry him, he couldn't seem to find the strength to walk by himself. When I put him to bed, he looked up at me once, and quietly said, a reproachful tone in his voice. "I still think you made a mistake Shura." Before I could answer, he turned his back on me, and pretended to go to sleep. But I knew better. He wouldn't be sleeping that day or that night, nor would he for many nights to come. And neither would I. It would be one thing we would share, along with the love we had for his brother. A love I had forsaken, a love I never gave a chance, because... Because of love. I got up and slowly walked back to my Temple. It was the advantage of being a Gold Saint. Apart from certain missions or assignments, Gold Saints were allowed to wander Sanctuary, to do as they pleased. And right now, I thought that it would do me some good to try and get some sleep as well, the sleep I had missed the night before. Some moments I was laying in my bed, eyes wide open, and thoughts running around my head. It was true, I was only a boy, but I was in love. And that love was the very reason why I had killed my best friend. I turned on my belly, and finally cried the tears that I hoped would bring me some kind of delivery. A soft hand gently caressed my hair, and when I looked up, he was sitting there, Saga. My first thought was to turn away and try to escape him, but the gentle look in his eyes just made it impossible for me to move. So I sit up, and he pulls me towards him, taking me in his arms, swaying with me, as if I were a baby that needed comforting. And it wasn't really far off, because I was indeed but a child, and I did need comfort. And all of a sudden I heard him whisper in my ear. "I'm sorry Shura, I'm so sorry. None of this was supposed to happen, I was..." His body tensed and I tried to free myself from his arms, but he didn't let me. "No, please, just ... let me hold you. Let me try to take away the pain I caused." How could I refuse that request, even more since it felt so good to be in his arms, to be held by him. Some time later, I couldn't remember how long he held me, I fell asleep, peacefully. When I woke up, he was gone. I wondered what made him regret his decision, what made him cry. Because now I realized it was the reason for him not letting me look up. It just made no sense to me, there was something seriously wrong. In the months after those events, it got through to me that the only thing that mattered in the end, was to keep Athena safe, with all means possible. And that I had done, even though it cost me more than it should have. I grew colder, without my good friend Aiolos to mellow me, with Aiolia who silently kept reproaching me, but most of all, with Saga who had disappeared, without a word of explanation. And I focused on the one thing that justified my acts, and that was Athena.

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