Jayr POV - Underworld, Second Prison - 1987
I notice the shocked expression on Orhpèe and Eurydice's face as they recognize the light released by the Specter, and soon Orphèe's face return normal as if nothing happened, but I can clearly notice that his body is tensing up and his Cosmo is sizzling waiting for the right moment to erupt, then look at the smug face of Sphinx Pharaoh with a small smile on my face and think, 'Aaand he fucked up... God how much I love the trope where the villains unconsciously make things easier for the protagonist!'.
Meanwhile, Pharaoh ignores what his action caused and asks "But why didn't you notify me of his presence as soon as you saw him? Or at least moved against him? You after all swore your fealty to Lord Hades... Could it be... that you're still on the Saints' side, after all?", but Orphèe ignores his question and asks back "I have a question for you... Was that light from years ago YOUR doing?", and still with that punchable smile on his face, Pharaoh challenges totally unafraid of the consequences "Heh... And what if it was?".
I feel Orphèe's Cosmo explodes as he declares "Then this place shall become your grave!!", hearing that Pharaoh asks with nonchalance "My grave? Heh... Are you serious, Orphèe?", but he doesn't answer and simply pluck a string of his lyre, and with a simple melodious note, I see Orphèe Cosmo invade Pharaoh's body and start to take control of it, and finally realizing what is happening Pharaoh exclaims "Huh? My hand... Why, you traitor! Have you forgotten our Lord's kindness?".
Then Pharaoh finally ignites his Cosmo to fight off Orphèe's one and now able to freely move again he starts to play his instrument and yells "Very well! Let's see who's the better musician!! Your lyre against my magical harp! A musical battle for the ages!!", at the same time, Pharaoh, in a burst of Cosmo, sends out a focused soundwave that snaps the third string from the right of Orphèe's lyre, then he declares "The outcome is already decided!".
Then Orphèe falls on his knee as the sound of the harp starts overpowering the lyre, and like the megalomaniac he is, Pharaoh starts explaining as he keeps playing that ancient tune of his "Orphèe, most of your attack melodies involve the G string... So by severing your G string, I've knocked out your fangs", and walking closer to Orphèe he adds "Lord Hades and Lady Pandora seem fond of your playing, but I'll never accept you before you came along, they only loved my harp... Now I'll show them that I'm a far better player than you!".
Pharaoh's requiem almost finished its crescendo, reaching its climax, and he finally fully releases his deadly technique "Now submit to Pharaoh's curse and die! Balance of the Curse!", a strange stone wall appears behind him, the wall is covered with hieroglyphs, similar to those that can be seen inside the pyramids of ancient Egypt, and in the center appears an image of the god Anubis performing the so-called weighing of the soul ceremony by which the souls of the deceased are judged according to ancient Egyptian beliefs.
Thanks to the sinister melody he produces with his diabolical harp, I feel that I progressively start to lose my strength, and the same is happening to Orphèe, to the point where our bodies almost become paralyzed, preventing us from being able to defend ourselves properly, but I'm still calm as this is one of the few techniques that I truly don't fear, because not only I'm pretty sure of the fact that my heart and soul are fully balanced, but also because even if Pharaoh tries to cheat and tip the balance with his Cosmo so that the judgment will erase our souls from the universe I can still overpower his technique with my own mastery of Cosmo.
But that isn't the only reason I'm calm, and indeed as the sounds of the harp are amplified in my ears as the deadly melody progresses and my energy fades, Pharaoh yells "Heart of Orphèe, I summon thee out of thy corrupt flesh!! Mount the sacred scale!!", but instead of Orphèe, it is Pharaoh's heart that sees the vision where his heart is ripped out, it breaks the ribcage and tears through the chest as if it had a life of its own, flies through the air and is placed on an ancient scale, which quickly tilts out of balance.
At the same time, I can now hear the lyre's music once more, and Orphèe stands up as he is playing his lyre and says "Look how far the scale tips, you must be very evil...", then the illusion breaks and a mirror falls from the gaps of Pharaoh's Surplice as he mutters in shock "It... it all was an illusion... No... It can't be... how can you stop my curse without your G string?".
Still playing, Orphèe moves closer to the mirror and stomps on it breaking it, and says "This is Pandora's mirror, isn't it? You used it on me to make me think I was seeing the sun", hearing Orphèe question, Pharaoh tries once more to destabilize him and asks " Heh... Regretting your stupid mistake?", and Orphèe surprise him by saying "No... Actually I'm grateful... A flower once it wilts, it never blooms again, humans, birds, insects... even the glittering stars all only live once...".
And with tears falling from his eyes and a sad and resigned smile on his face he says "I was wrong to want a dead person restored to life...", hearing that Pharaoh asks "So you've realized your mistake, now what?", and as he ignites his Cosmo once more Orphèe declares "Now, I'll fight! I'll strike at Hades as Athena's Saint", then Pharaoh yell as he prepares to play his harp once more "You fool! You may have been able to block my curse once, but you are helpless with the missing string!! This time I'll deal you a mortal blow!!".
But as soon as he said this, Orphèe put the broken string between his teeth and starts playing his final piece, and with a burst of Cosmo, all the string of Pharaoh's harp snaps, and with a final explosion of his Cosmo, Orphèe yells "Stringer Nocturne!!", causes the environment to fill with lightning in the form of a small tornado and channels electricity generated by his Cosmos through the air with the sound waves of his lyre, propelling a voltaic shock of considerable proportions, that project Pharaoh into the air and destroys his Surplice as well as dealing lethal damage to his body.
After killing Pharaoh, I see Orphèe looking at Eurydice with a melancholic smile on his face and simply says "Eurydice...", and she smiles back at him with tears in her eyes and says "Farewell... My love...", but before this drama could continue, I interrupt them and say "Could you guys please stop it with this tragic hero drama! I have never liked it to being with...", ignoring their stunned faces I walk toward Eurydice and carefully check her condition, at the same time, I mutter "Hmm... This is interesting... It seems that Hades truly revived her in body and soul, in fact, she is pretty much still alive now... the only problem is that her body is fused with the Underworld and if I destroy this connection the rules of the Underworld will kill her once again... Hmm, what to do...?".
While I was thinking about how to resolve this problem, Orphèe, who heard my muttering, moves closer and asks "Jayr... Right? What are you doing...?", I can clearly feel a hint of hope in his voice, and it is also natural, as impactful was his declaration before, it is normal that he doesn't want to give up the love of his life as long as there is hope, and my words just now reignited this hope once again.
I look between Orphèe and Eurydice and a bold idea surfaces in my mind, and at the same time, I say "True, I didn't introduce myself, my name is Jayr Pucci, currently the Sagittarius Gold Saint, and probably the best doctor in the world after the mythical Asclepius... And if there is one thing that we doctors do the best is to cure the illness and wounds of our patients and delay or even reject death as much as possible!".
Then I continue pointing at Eurydice "Now her case is truly peculiar... She is in fact alive now... When Hades allowed you to take her out of the Underworld he did revive her and protected her with his power allowing her to remain alive while staying in the Underworld, but at the same time, he cursed her, that in the case you turned around his protection would be gone, and she would be in her current state... Becoming a part of the Underworld forever neither fully alive nor dead...", and hearing that, Orphèe once again clench his fists, remembering the moment when his happiness and hope turned into grief and despair.
I ignore his current state and with a smile on my face, I continue explaining "But this also left a chance for me to work my magic... But it will be dangerous... Now the choice is yours, will you truly give up on each other, or fight for your own hope, love, and happiness as we Athena's Saints always do!?", Orphèe and Eurydice are momentarily stunned by my question, then they look at each other, and I can clearly feel Orphèe's hesitation.
But Eurydice with a smile on her face says "Let's do it! The worst that can happen is that I truly die... but even if that happens if the gods allow it, I'll reincarnate and reunite with you once more!", hearing her Orphèe nod, then with a new resolve in his eyes, he looks at me and says "What do we have to do?", and with a serious expression I nod and say "You have to make out...", and I smile as Eurydice intensely blushes and Orphèe.exe stops working as he stammers "Wh...What? How...? Why?".
I stop fooling around and explain "Well, you see she is a normal person as soon as I separate her from the Underworld, something that will put quite a burden on her body, its law will still kill her... But if you connect your Cosmo to her through a kiss and ignite your Cosmo to the 8th sense and protect her from the Underworld's laws, it will give me the time to heal her, and take her away from this place... of course with some help", and as I explain this, I use every ounce of my power to sense Mu's Cosmo and connect with him, as he is the only one on the other side with a teleportation ability so powerful, and after a while, I'm finally able to sense him and send him a message quickly explaining the situation and my request.
And after some back and forth, it seems that to save someone from the Underworld is more difficult than it seems as it needs the power of 4 Saints, me and Orphèe on this side to protect and save her, and Mu and Deathmask to pull her out, as his connection to the Underworld Hills, the most superficial part of the Underworld will also help in this endeavor.
Once everyone is ready, Orphèe and Eurydice look at each other and shyly kiss in front of me and as I feel Orphèe Cosmo totally merging with hers as he embraces her bust, I move next to her and quickly make my move, I put my hand on her back and send my Cosmo inside her body starting the regeneration process of the Dark Resurrection, the technique I learned from the Asklepios Imerológio (Diary of Asclepius), and with my other hand I focus my Cosmo and create a sharp ice blade, and with it, I cut Eurydice's bust from the stone, and at the same time, Orphèe takes a step back allowing Eurydice's body to regrow as our Cosmos keeps her alive.
Seeing her body regenerating quickly I think, 'Well, this method is a little brutal and barbaric, but it looks like it works...', after a few minutes her body is fully regenerated, and feeling her heartbeat, I nod and quickly summon a cloak from my Territory to cover her naked body, then I spike my Cosmo to send a signal to Mu and Deathmask, and soon Eurydice disappears in a flash of light, leaving behind only I and an exhausted Orphèe, who now looks at me with eyes full of gratefulness, relief, and pure happiness.
After a few minutes, he recovers from his state and says "Thanks Jayr! Words can't express how grateful I'm for what you have done... The only thing I can do is lead you to Hades... You probably don't know but he rarely shows himself even to his 3 Judges, let alone common folk, however, once every 13 days, I play my lyre before him, and today is luckily one of those days, this is the only chance we'll have to strike at Hades!!".
I shake my head and say "That could have been a good plan... But Hades isn't truly there when you play... in fact, Hades hid his true body in the Elysion, and only possess the body of a mortal with a pure soul each 200 and so years to fight with Athena...", Orphèe is shocked by my information and asks "Then what can we do? The Elysion can only be accessed by the Gods, and those who they approve!!", I smile and say "We know that... And Athena has already prepared everything for this war all we have to do now is follow her plan, right now she is moving toward Judecca unnoticed by the others, all we have to do is take the Judges' and Pandora's attention from her and, at the same time, move toward the Judecca ourselves to help her...".
As I explain this, I feel Seiya and Shun's Cosmo getting closer to our position, and at the same time, I feel Kanon's Cosmo explode and the Cosmos of 6 unknown Specters disappears, while some other are moving toward us 'It seems that Kanon dealt with Lune and allowed Seiya and Shun to pass, after that he killed some other Specters... At the same time, some other enemies felt my Cosmo as I was healing Eurydice and are coming here to check...'.
I then say to Orphèe "Now you go to the Judecca, and play your lyre as always but do not attack as Pandora called the 3 Judges to spectate too... Just keep Hades' focus on you with your music while we come, and be especially careful of Rhadamanthys, he will suspect you and won't listen and be entranced by your music! And most important be careful", he nods and moves toward the Judecca, while I wait here for the guest to come.
After waiting for a few minutes they finally arrive, and I find myself surrounded by dozen of Specters, and one among them laughs and says in a raspy voice "He, he, he! Look at what we have here? A lone Gold Saint of Athena who dares to come here in the Realm of the Dead, where we are at our strongest!", and hearing that the other Specters cheer, while I carefully check them 'Hmm, all of them are Terrestrial Star, small fry at that... I don't remember any of them, and their Cosmos seems only as strong as an average Silver Saint...'.
While I was checking them out, the one with the raspy voice now named Grunt A, says "Why don't you say anything? Too scared? Cat got your tongue?", I ignore his useless taunting, and cross my arms, at the same time, I ignite my Cosmo, which gather around my body and transform into a water-like aura that envelopes my body, then yelling "Pouring Rain!!", I quickly spread my arm wide, and release a massive amount of clear blue Cosmo droplets in every direction at once, that almost like heavy rain, hits everyone around me obliterating their Surplices and killing them on the spot.
I look at the result of my attack and nod at the fact that I was able to avoid damaging the flower field, then I mutter "It feels like I didn't use this move in a long time... But I truly don't need to use such attack if I'm not in a numerical disadvantage...", but my musing is interrupted by Seiya and Shun coming toward me yelling my name, 'It seems that they finally caught up...'.
Once we regrouped, they start to explain what they went through until now, how they woke up together, their meeting and fight with Charon where Seiya defeated him, and hearing of this, I remember an old joke that almost seems true, 'Pegasus Seiya, the Saint who always fights only the first and the last opponent, leaving all those between to the others... and now that I think about it it's true... Against the Black Saints, he fought only Black Pegasus and Ikki, the Sanctuary, only Aldebaran and Saga, and even in Asgard, from what I heard, he fought against the first God Warrior and the last!'.
Meanwhile, Shun explains how Kanon killed Barlon Lune and let them pass while he stalled Rhadamanthys, but just as he finished his tale, Kanon joins us and after chiding us for losing time chatting like old ladies, we all move toward the Third Prison together, which is found by traveling a dirt road, which is flanked by two high walls of rock.
The greedy and wasteful souls are punished in this prison, where they roll heavy stones uphill eternally for their sins, but the rocks will always inevitably roll back down again, this place is guarded by the Spectres Golem Rock and Troll Ivan, but when we reached them, we found out that they were already dead, as Shiryu and Hyoga just killed them, and so our groups grow once again and we move toward our next destination, the Fourth Prison.
After walking for some time we finally reach the Fourth Prison, the Swamp of Darkness, which is in reality a large valley covered by dark mountains and bathed by the dark waters of Styx, in this prison are punished those who suffer from extreme rage and despair, on top of a simple raft sailing these dark waters, we find the guardian of the Fourth Prison, Lycaon Phlegyas.
A tall, athletic, young man with blonde hair and blue eyes, donning the Lycaon Surplice, this Surplice represents a Lycaon, a wild dog from Africa, its color is deep purple, and is full of razor-sharp claws from head to toe, seeing him, Shiryu comments "Look, everyone! A raft! What perfect timing!", and Hyoga adds "Don't tell me we're supposed to pay a toll, like on the Acheron River...?", hearing them, Lycaon Phlegyas replies "Heh, no toll, I'll let you ride for free... But only after you died by my hands... Of the Divine Crime Star, Lycaon Phlegyas!".
(Image Here - Lycaon Phlegyas)
And after saying that, he jumps from the raft and ignites his Cosmo gathering it in his hands that are now shining in purple light, and yells "Howling Inferno!!", and he projects his Cosmo in both hands to directly attack us, but Kanon mutters "What a waste of time..." and concentrates all of his Cosmo energy to the maximum in between his hands, then yelling "Galaxian Explosion!!", he releases it in the form of a gigantic shock-wave capable of obliterating nearly anything in its path.
And for once I admire the vision of a myriad of galaxies and planets exploding and crashing on the target of this technique from a bystander position instead of being the one receiving it, and admire how it obliterates Phlegyas' Surplice and kills him on the spot, 'Still one of the most badasses techniques of this Universe, still it is nice not be on the receiving front for once...', as the dead Phlegyas falls in the waters, Kanon realizes something and says "Whoops! Forgot to ask him how long it takes to reach the Fifth Prison... Oh, well, too late now... Let's go!", and jumps on the raft.
The others follow after him, but I notice that we are too many for this small raft and so, I once again use the wings of the Sagittarius Cloth to fly and follow after them, and once on our way to the Fifth Prison, something happens, something I knew would happen one way or another, but even so, the way it happened, still took me by surprise.
After 10 minutes of traveling the Styx Rivers, all of the sudden, Shun's body stiffens for an instant, then his aura and Cosmo change, and like magic, he disappears like a whiff of smoke under the shocked eyes of everyone, as Seiya yells "Shun! What happened? Where is he!?", and starts looking around and calling his name, while Kanon looks surprised that something like this happened before his eyes, seeing the free space, I land on the raft and say "It is useless looking around for him... Right now he is in the Judecca fighting his greatest battle...".
Rhadamanthys POV - Underworld, Judecca - 1987
'Boring!!', I'm in the Judecca, the residence of Lord Hades, God of the Underworld, and Pandora, Hades's sister and commander of the army of Spectres listening to this boring music played by Lyre Orphèe, a former Saint of Athena who swore loyalty to our God Hades, for the favor of granting him a chance to fulfill his foolish wish, all because Lord Hades was moved by Orphèe music, something I can't really bring myself to like, if you also include the fact that I can't really trust him, lowers the chance of his music communicating something to me even more, I prefer Sphinx Pharaoh's one, at least I know for sure that he is loyal to Lord Hades.
At the same time, I look at the others present here that are indeed enjoying this Saint's music, sitting in front of me is Lady Pandora, probably the one that appreciates this Saint the most, being a musician herself, then on my right, there is my fellow Judge of the Underworld, Griffon Minos, he is a man with long, white hair and his eyes are light orange, while his skin color is white, he dons the Griffon Surplice.
The armor is black and has huge wings, they have 3 sets of feathers, and the arms of the wings have a series of articulated overlapping plates, the shoulder pieces are very long to cover the entire arm and are segmented into 8 overlapping parts that taper and become more angular and end in a pointed plate so that when viewed in profile it simulates the plumage of the animal, the waist pieces are long and pointed, covering the entire thigh, the tips are slightly raised outwards, and the headpiece is a helmet that covers most of his head, except for his face.
(Image Here - Griffon Minos)
Next to him, there is another fellow Judge, Garuda Aiacos, who has the appearance of a young man, with a white complexion and semi-long black hair with some purplish tinge and black eyes, he also wears his respective Surplice like every Specter of Hades has to do, dark in color, his headpiece is a helmet that is encrusted with gems that simulate Garuda's eyes.
It also has horns, wings extended vertically, its chest in great part carries a design that shows its wings, it has great protection since it covers all the body except for the face and some of its extremities, the arms and legs pieces do not differ much one from the other as both carry claws with protectors that protrude from their extremities.
(Image Here - Garuda Aiacos)
All of them have an almost entranced expression, as they are moved by this Saint's music, but just as I'm thinking of killing him just to stop him, all of the sudden, a figure appears in the middle of the hall right in front of the stairs leading to Lord Hades' throne, and as I recognize him as one of Athena's Saint that attacked Lord Hades' Castle, in fury I yell stopping the music and making everyone realize the intruder's presence "How dare some Athena's scum to tarnish Lord Hades' abode! Die!!" and I burn my Cosmo and move to attack him.
But he calmly looks at me and says in a familiar voice "Hold, Rhadamanthys!! I am not fond of battle, withdraw!!", and I finally notice that his appearance is very similar to the one Lord Hades showed us, but he is clearly sitting on the throne behind those curtains so I once again move and yell " Fool! How dare you pose as Lord Hades, just because you look alike? You can't fool me with such an act!!".
But the Saint this time commands "Did you not hear me tell you to restrain yourself? Rhadamanthys, Stop!!", and under his command, my body stops moving, and this time I recognize who truly is in front of me even if logic tells me otherwise "That dignified air... That Sanctity... That Cosmo... It's not an act! He is Lord Hades himself!!".
