Aiolos' last day
Una fanfic di "Saint Seiya" written by Vane Nascimento.
Chapter 1
After
the breakfast, Aiolia went out to play. It was Sunday, hence there would be
no training that day.
That was every Sunday's routine : Aiolos woke up about 7:30, and right after washing himself, he prepared the breakfast ; Aiolia was woken up between 8:15 and 8:30, ate rather hurryingly and left right away, quickly going downstairs, in order to meet other children and enjoy the most of the only day of the week when he didn't have any tasks to fulfill; the day when he was not seen as a Saint to be, who should get used to a life full of heavy responsibilities and endless dangers since an early age ; the day when he had the right to be simply a ten-year-old child. Aiolos, on his turn, was always sure to see his brother off the entrance of the temple of Sagittarius and watch him while he moved away.
This was a very awaited moment to both of them, a sort of small ritual : Aiolia only got really livened when he began to descend the flights of stairs, and while he went on his way, his childlike mind worked frantically, trying to plan the best ways of enjoying that day off, choosing in advance the plays and the friends he would dedicate his time to. And while watching his brother leaving, Aiolos lost himself in a number of thoughts... he allowed his mind to wander... he thought of the love he felt for Aiolia, he remembered his past, his parents... he said prayers... One day, his friend Shura had come to visit him at that moment, but, seeing Aiolos so absorbed in thoughts, the Capricorn Gold Saint found he'd better not to interrupt him. When it was not possible to spot Aiolia anymore, Aiolos, as usual, twirled to enter again the Sagittarius temple and do some housework, and got surprised when he encountered Shura:
- Shura? What are you doing there so quiet? I didn't even notice you had come here!
- I was observing you - answered Shura.
- Why ?! - asked Aiolos, intrigued.
- It's that you... your cosmo... was vibrating in such a... pleasant, relaxing manner. That's why I stayed here, observing you. I had never felt your cosmo vibrate like this before. I felt so good.
- Hey, now what is it? Flirtation? - Aiolos asked in a jocular tone. Then Shura pretended he would punch Aiolos, who avoided the "attack" ; the both of them guffawed and entered the ninth Zodiacal temple, laughing away that short dialogue.
That had been a joyful day. However, at present, Aiolos was dispirited. This time, his thoughts and his silent prayers were not addressed to his brother nor to his passed away parents, but to people who were not part of his family.
This was atypical. Aiolos was very attached to his family. His parents had died three years before. They were spies at the service of the Sanctuary, and although their cosmos were rather developed, they were not as strong as the Saints. Thus, they didn't survive to the fly accident happened to the airplane which would take them to Italy, where they would fulfil one of their missions. Aiolos, trained to be much stronger than any normal human being and face the most terrible hazards, was driven to despair upon receiving that fatal news. His superhuman strength, his gold armour, his ultrapowerful cosmo, nothing could protect him from the devastating distress that assailed him. Curiously, Aiolia, who was only seven years old at that time, prooved himself to be much stronger than Aiolos. He suffered, obviously, but it didn't take him that long to be resigned. And it was precisely his older brother's intense and evident grief what had motivated him to accept the facts as they were : he felt he should help Aiolos, and it would be impossible unless he forgot his own pain and devoted himself to his brother, being mostly obedient, keeping him company even on Sundays, trying to distract him with games and chattiness. When Aiolos finally recovered from the depression, he was very surprised upon realising that his love towards Aiolia had strengthened considerably ; he never thought it possible to love his brother even more than he used to. On the other hand, he was ashamed of himself : he should have been the one to fondle and soothe Aiolia during that painful period, not the opposite ; he was the older one, afterall. Despite being a child, a beginner apprentice, Aiolia had been much stronger and more mature than him, who was a nearly sixteen-year-old Gold Saint. Finally, he decided to put an end to that inversion of roles and let Aiolia be again the younger sibling : he would continue the training, for Aiolos was sure that serving Athena was the best thing that could happen to anyone, but his Sundays off would be back and he would be spared from concerns and problems. Besides, Aiolos was willing to provide his brother that marvellous cozy sensation that their parents used to pass on them, and which they missed so much. Aiolos didn't want that intensified love he felt now to simply remain kept on his heart, he wanted to offer it to Aiolia, and that his little brother could benefit from such strong feeling, a feeling Aiolia himself had originated, through his tenderness and his dedication. And Aiolos succeeded : Aiolia couldn't feel more loved.
The fact that Aiolos was so much attached to his family didn't mean that he wouldn't care for anyone else. On the contrary: he had always been generous, and had sincere concerns for the welfare of the whole Humanity. And those were not forced worries, as if he was only performing his duty as a Saint ; in reality, those feelings were totally spontaneous. Moreover, he also valued his friends. Notwithstanding, he couldn't help devoting to his parents and his brother the most and best part of his zeal.
Now he noticed things were beginning to change. For he felt melancholic and empty, and normally it happened only when there was a trouble involving Aiolia (or during the long absences of their parents, when they were still alive), and for the moment his little brother was doing very well. This time, the cause of his deep dismay were people who didn't have any kinship to him : the friends who were so far away from him, and who he longed to meet again.
After all, he was glad with himself ; the cause of his sorrow also carried its own heal : if the nostalgia of his friends caused him so much weigh, then it meant that eventually he was learning how to direct his deepest feelings to persons who were not tied to him by the bonds of blood. He had always been afraid that, at bottom, he was an egoist, which would be a shameful fault for a Saint, but now he knew this fear was unjustified, and that was a comforting thought.
Chapter written on September, 2002.