As the four men entered the mausoleum, it instantly filled with light. Shun looked around uncomfortably. The light source was non-existent, it just simply was. He remembered the last time he had been in this place and absolutely nothing had changed, except the walls.
The walls were carved of fine marble. The last time Shun had been
here the walls had been bare, flat and lacking any character. Now, the
walls seemed to move with images. The images appeared to tell Seiya's
story. From the Galaxian Wars to the final battle with Hades. In the
story the walls were telling, he could see himself as well as Shiryu,
Hyoga and Ikki. As the story unfolded he recalled each battle. Whether
it was The Quest for Sagittarius or Final Confrontation with Poseidon,
Shun's soul longed to return to those simpler times. True they were
filled with violence and bloodshed but it was a time when all his
friends were alive and happy. As he turned his head away from the
constantly moving walls, it dawned on him that the only thing had not
changed in this grim tomb was the floor.
** Ten Years Ago...**
"I'm sorry," Soari said looking confusedly at Shun, "You're doing what?"
Shun stood there with a look of shame on his face. This was a decision that would affect the rest of his life, but his mind was made up. "I can not be a Saint anymore. I'm sorry Athena but the only other way to put it is, I resign."
Soari stood in utter shock not wanting to understand what she had just heard. It was the first time Shun had recalled seeing Soari speechless. Then the shock slowly vanished from her face, Shun knew that at that point he would be explaining himself to Athena directly.
"Shun, one does not renounce the position one has been destined to carry," Athena said calmly, "You are a Saint, you shall always be a Saint. Nothing will ever change this."
Shun looked at her, she was developing into a woman quickly. No doubt he was not the only one to notice this. The gossip about Sanctuary was that Jabu had been busy trying to court Soari, much to her utter annoyance. Shaina had told him that the Unicorn Saint was like a faithful puppy that needed to be neutered. But now was not the time to think of spring romance but rather a time to start a new an already harsh life.
"I'm sorry my goddess, I've tried to carry on to the best of my ability," he said to her with pain in his voice, "But I no longer have a place here in Sanctuary. It is time for me to cast the armor off and be a normal man".
Having said that Saori's expression faded from shock to wrath. Her usually soft eyes now turned a harsh gray. This truly was Athena Shun was addressing not some scatter brained teenager. For the first time in his life he began to fear Soari Kiddo and the power she truly wielded as the 'Gray Eyed Goddess'. Without so much as a sound she spun on her heel and turned her back on him.
"You will never be a 'normal' man," she stated coldly, "know that from this point on I renounce you just as you have me".
Shun stood there trying desperately to understand what he had just heard. I'm not turning my back her Shun thought I just want to have a chance to live for myself and not just for Athena. He began to gather the words in his throat to protest Athena's rejection but she was already walking away from him. Leaving without saying so much as 'Good-bye'.
All that remained in Shun's mind was the thought that for the first time in his life he was truly alone. He felt cold, almost empty. Shiryu and Hyoga had left Sanctuary as well. Both stating that now was the time to let bones mend and life begin anew. All he could do was look down at the cold marble floor and think of how devoid of life it was. "I don't want to be like the floor," Shun screamed as Saori walked further away, "I want a life where the fight has..."
"Ended?", she asked grimly.
Shun fell to his knees weeping on the barren floor. The cold marble sent a chill through his entire body. "Is my life worth so little to you, that you don't care whether or not any of us are truly happy?", he screamed after her, fighting through his tears. "How much do we truly mean to you Athena? Are we just soldiers fighting in your name with no other reason to live?"
Soari was out of sight, not even acknowledging his presence. "Why did Seiya have to die for your cause?" he muttered to himself, "Why did his sacrifice mean so much to us yet so little to you?"
Having said his part, Shun placed both of the boxes he was carrying on the floor. Without looking back he walked to the door and stepped outside into the warm sun where Ikki stood waiting for him. He looked longingly at his brother, the one person he felt he could always count on to be there for him.
What Shun wasn't expecting was the response his brother gave him upon seeing him. Ikki raised his hand and struck his brother with great ferocity. With shame in his eyes he looked at Shun. "Never again question Athena's will," he said bitterly, "She mourns Seiya in her own way and it is not your place to question your station."
Shun stood there holding his stricken face. The shock of his brother striking him was to much for his already delicate mental state to handle. "We shall not speak of this again Shun," Ikki stated, "Go from Sanctuary if you wish, I no longer care what you do."
Ikki then closed the mausoleum gate and left without saying another word to his brother. Ni-san, thought Shun If you have abandoned me, for the first time in my life I am truly alone. Silently, against the harshness of a blowing wind only he could hear, Shun left Sanctuary, hoping that he would never have to return to the pain that he left there.
***********************************************
"Since then, I have been alone," Shun said under his breath, "and even now, I remember this floor. This barren, lifeless marble that has become a reminder of what I didn't want to be."
"You are more like the marble now than you were ten years ago," whispered Hyoga sadly.
"I hate this floor, if it were not for the fact that Seiya rests under it, I would rip it out with my bare hands" Shun replied.
"You hate the floor because you think it lacks life Shun of Andromeda," said a gentle voice, "But it has more spirit than you give it credit".
Without a word Shiryu, Hyoga and Ikki dropped to one knee. Shun looked into the eyes that he had come to loathe in his dreams. "All hail the great Athena," Shun retorted sarcastically, "You grace us with your presence."
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