Follow me down the Rainbow Path
Prologue: Follow me down the Rainbow Path
(c) 1999/2007 by Stayka
Darkness descending -- shades crept through the luminous depths of the crystal cave, eclipsing the myriads of rainbows that sparkled from the walls of the cavern.
In the middle of the spacious cave lay a woman. She was clad in a flowing white robe of Classic Graecian style, and her deep brown hair hung down to the floor.
She stirred and moaned, as if caught in a nightmare, and suddenly she opened eyes of the deepest green which were partly hidden behind long lashes.
Slowly, she sat up and extended her senses, before her face contorted into a mask of pain.
"What have you done to my body?" she asked incredulously. "For aeons I slept in the Cave of a Million Dreams -- but now the pains of my poor torturted body woke me from the sleep of eternity..."
The Earth Mother arose and stepped from the dais.
"Too long have I allowed my children to play without restraint! Where have you led this world? Oh yes, the first generation was overcome in the primordial strifes -- but the second discovered the joys of this playground and hacked bleeding chasms into my body and clawed gaping wounds into the scattered pieces of my soul that animate the living."
A halo of blinding multicoloured light appeared around the ancient Goddess.
"Zeus! Poseidon! Hades! I can sense your handiwork. Still you haven't managed to rise over your petty squabbles. Each of you was given one of the Realms of Earth, and still you craved for more and more. You paid for your childishness, grand-children of mine, as I can sense your souls waiting for the next incarnation in the world beyond the worlds. But still there is one left who inherited the power."
The rainbow glow turned into an incandescent blaze.
"Athena! Hear my voice -- You will justify yourself for your deeds. You will answer to me and prove that your fights were just and appropriate. For what good is a fight that leaves only destruction in its wake even if the so-called righteous side has won? Meet me at Delphoi at the slopes of the Parnassos to plead your case. I shall listen and if your justification does not satisfy me, I shall return the Earth to the chaos as a failed first attempt, before I start anew and form a brandnew world from the shattered remains of the old."
* * *
The world around trembled and fell apart. Stones defied gravity and floated upwards to the sky, while flames leaked from chasms and charred screaming people on their futile attempts to escape.
Helplessly, the white-robed girl watched as the planet she was sent to protect crumbled apart.
"Justify yourself!"
With a scream, Kido Saori woke from her nightmare. She was bathed in cold sweat, totally unbecoming the reincarnation of a Goddess.
"Justify yourself!"
A cold, grating thought-voice chased the last remnant of the nightmare away.
"Who are you? What do you want?" were the first two questions that came to her mind.
"I am the Goddess born from Chaos and Mother of the Earth. But I am also called the Goddess of Death, Avenger of Sin and Crime, and Harbinger of the Future -- it's up to you in which of these guises I shall walk upon the soils once more."
"But what do you want of me? All I ever did was defend peace and justice..."
"A fine peace is it that your fighters have brought! They left death and destruction in their wake."
Suddenly Athena's mind was once more filled with pictures of scorched earth, flaming volcanoes, trembling grounds -- screaming and dying people and collapsing buildings.
"But this was caused by my enemies --"
"So what? Maybe the Earth would be still hale if you were not here? I shall listen to your defense at the slopes of the Parnassos. You may even bring your warriors -- I shall be curious what they have to say."
"My warriors? They still haven't recovered from the last horrible war -- those who are still alive..." Athena's eyes filled with tears when she recalled all the deaths in the depths of the Underworld.
"So." The thought-voice sounded pensive. "I shall return them to you -- and be it only for a little while."
"Return them? How?"
"I am Gaia, little one. I am the World. And I await you."
* * *
"We are to go where?" Seiya asked. Saori still couldn't believe that he was sound and hale again - the picture of him run through by Hades' sword was still etched vividly in her memory.
"Delphoi in Phokis, at the slopes of the Parnassos," Saori explained. "Delphoi is one of the oldest holy places in Greece, older even than Sanctuary, dating back to the mists of time. It is there where Gaia was worshipped, and it is the place she has chosen for us to meet."
"Does this mean we have to fight once more?" Shun's voice contained a weariness that didn't agree with his young age.
"I don't know", Saori replied truthfully. "Gaia demanded that I justify myself for all the battles that were fought."
"But what is our role in her game if we aren't there to protect you, Athena?" Shun inquired.
"I guess we have to go to Greece and find out", Seiya shrugged. "So let's go!"
* * *
Kido Saori's private jet landed near the holy temple. Befitting the Mother Goddess it didn't lie in ruins anymore, but was pristine white and imposing.
Saori and her five favourite protectors (rather untypically, Ikki had decided to accompany them from the start) left the plane and looked around. The landscape was slightly hilly, and on one side a high mountain range towered over them. Gaia's temple stood within fruit-laden trees and colourful flowers, and peaceful flute music filled the air.
'Thank the Gods, no harp,' Shun thought when he became aware of the melody. In fact, even flute music raised rather uncomfortable memories, but then, he had to live with it.
"I can't believe it," Seiya said with a grin. "We're near some mountain, and I can't see any stairs we're supposed to run up..."
"Don't count your chickens before they are hatched," Shiryu warned. "After all, we are near a mountain range..."
"Welcome." Without any warning, Gaia stood in front of them. She was clad in an elegant white peplos, and her long, deep brown hair was swept up in elaborate curls. A long translucent white cape trailed behind her like a bride's veil, and she seemed to glow from within in multicoloured fire.
'Such a powerful cosmo', Shiryu thought. 'She might even be more powerful than Athena!'
"I greet Thee, Mother Gaia", Athena said formally and curtsied before the ancient Goddess.
"It is good to see you, little one. So you have decided to justify yourself?
"I do." Athena bowed her head. "I shall show you the justifications and appropriateness of the acts done by me and my Saints."
"Very well. Follow me down the Rainbow Path and prove your mettle. First I shall see what you are made of, and then I shall judge what you have done and why."
"So be it, Mother Gaia."
The ancient Goddess waved her hand, and a giant arc appeared before them. "There are twenty-two steps to wisdom. Go through the Gate to meet your first challenge. Who dares to pit himself against the Fool?"
"That's ridiculous", Ikki complained. "Give me a real adversary anytime!"
Gaia chuckled. "So you're a brave warrior, Ikki of the Phoenix? Don't underestimate the power of the Fool."
"Don't mock me, Gaia. You may be old and powerful, but we have yet to meet an enemy we cannot overcome!"
"Very well. Then you should not object to cross the Gate."
"If you insist..." Ikki made a face. "I'll be right back". Without looking back, he stepped through the Gate and disappeared.
"Where is he gone?" Shun asked worriedly.
"He did the first step on the Rainbow Path", Gaia replied. "I shall be curious to see what he will learn in the Realm of the Fool."
Arcanum 0: Ikki - Mirror of the Fool
Arcanum 0: Ikki - Mirror of the Fool
After Ikki had crossed the gate, he wasn't aware of the Cosmo of his brothers anymore; not even Athena's presence could be felt.
When he turned around, the gate had disappeared. Ikki growled like a caged animal. So Gaia wanted to separate them? It would do her no good! He was used to fight alone.
All through his life he had never been able to rely on anyone. His earliest memories were those of the aftermath of the bombing that laid waste to the town he had grown up in with his family. During the ordeals he had to endure when he was turned into the Phoenix Saint, he had all but forgotten how he had to carry his little brother over endless plains of debris, the only soul left alive beside him.
If it hadn't been for Virgo Gold Saint Shaka, who had evoked his ancient memories of this trip through his personal hell, he surely would have kept this forgotten, but the cold and impassionate keeper of the sixth temple had tried to break him not only in body, but also in spirit.
Yet he had persevered, as he always had.
In the ancient Egyptian myth it was said that the Phoenix returned every 500 years from Arabia to bury his father. In the sacrificial fire, he burned himself and returned newly living.
Ikki laughed humourlessly. He had also returned, but had his father not been dead already, he certainly would have helped him to pass the final gate.
It still puzzled him that the Phoenix Cloth bore more resemblance to the Chinese fenghuang which allegedly symbolized the advent of a wise and just ruler while he had only experienced injustice.
The Phoenix Saint looked around. The landscape around him was infuriatingly peaceful. He stood on a high plain that opened onto a vast, fertile, green grassland strewn with colourful flowers. A clear sea lay next to the meadow and stretched out until it met a high mountain range at the horizon. The sky above was of a bright blue, mirrored in the perfectly still lake.
Ikki felt the sudden impulse to launch one of his attacks to disturb the threatening quiet of this annoying spring landscape.
"How many more times do you wish to die?" a familiar voice asked him.
Ikki whirled around, only to face Shun.
"Shun?!" Ikki asked incredulously. His little brother was stark naked and held a white rose in his hand. "You are not Shun!" the Phoenix Saint growled.
"And you should not be the Phoenix."
"What are you talking about?"
"You have died too many times already."
"How dare you take my brother's form? Who are you?"
"Maybe I'm your conscience. Maybe I'm what you have lost."
"Don't talk in riddles!" Ikki spat.
"Or else? Would you attack me? Would you hurt me? Would you kill me?"
"Why not? You are not my brother."
"So you kill what you fear rather than face it?"
"I face what I fear before I kill it!"
"Ah, but wouldn't it be better not to kill it than fear your face? Or would you prefer to be killed before you face your fears?"
A mirror appeared in front of Ikki and soulless eyes stared back at him.
"Your fate led you through an abyss of guilt..."
"Shut up! I don't want to hear any more of this nonsense!"
"Is it nonsense? It is what defines you. Like the snake sheds skins, the Phoenix sheds lives - his own and those of others."
The image in the mirror changed, and a neverending row of dead persons walked past Ikki. Desperately, he tried to smash the mirror with the Phoenix Gen Ma Ken.
"Nothing in the Realm of the Fool can hurt you but you yourself," the image of Shun cautioned him.
Blindly, Ikki struck again, but this time he hit his mirror image.
Again he stumbled over the horrible, desolate plain, clutching the tiny form of his little brother in his arms, desperate to leave the ruins behind.
"This was the first time a piece of you died," Shun told him, "even though you didn't know it then. It was when Pandora managed to infuse Hades' soul into your little brother's body. When you later learned what happened, you drowned in a sea of guilt."
"Leave me alone!"
The scenery changed. Ikki was hung upside down in the punishment chamber where Tatsumi beat him half dead.
"This was the second time. You managed to take your brother's place on Death Queen Island, but when Tatsumi told you that the dangers Shun would fear at Andromeda Island weren't less, another part of you died for fear for your brother and again you felt responsible."
"Please... Let me go!" Ikki didn't want to beg, but he knew what had to come now, and he didn't want to face it another time. Not again... Please, not again! But the demon in the image of his beloved little brother knew no mercy, and in the next instant Ikki was back at Death Queen Island, his Master once more beating him up mercilessly.
"No, no again," he moaned like a mortally wounded animal. "Haven't I lived through this often enough?" He knew what would come next, it was burned forever into his memory. The image of fair Esmeralda, struck down by her father's own hand. Then she would die in his, Ikki's, arms - and there was nothing he could do about it. Nothing... The despicable feeling of utter helplessness, and then the raging hate that let his Cosmo explode and erased all remnants of sanity.
"This was the third time a part of you died," the voice of his brother and yet not his brother enumerated mercilessly.
"Does it please you to torture me?" Ikki cried out in anger.
"No one tortures you but you yourself. You have to accept the occurrences and let go of your guilt. Have you ever wondered why you felt so protective of your little brother?"
"Because he is the only person really dear to me, and he needs my protection."
"Does he? Does he really? He is a Saint of Athena, too."
"And what do you suggest? Do you think you know me better than I know myself?"
"I do. It was because he is all that you have lost - Purity and innocence. Even after all of his ordeals he managed to cling to an innocence that was taken away from you far too soon."
"The chicken can't return into its egg once it's hatched."
"But there is still the chance to reconcile you with your deeds."
"Who says that I want to?"
"I'm the Fool. I know of many things. I can see into your heart without prejudice. I do not judge, I pass no sentence. I simply go... and look... and see..."
"I'm in no mood for such mystical nonsense," Ikki shouted angrily.
"Your refusal to listen is a refusal to begin anew."
"How should listening to your bullshit help me with a new beginning?"
"Is it all ...bullshit?" The Shun simile gazed at Ikki out of ennerving blue-green eyes.
"What else should it be?"
"Maybe the truth?"
"Never!"
"Do you accuse me to lie?"
Ikki stared perplexed at the apparition. Well... If he thought about it... He couldn't say it was really untrue. But still... "I don't want to hear anymore about it," he said gruffly. "I don't want to be reminded of these memories!"
"Because they are painful for you? The only way to overcome pain is to accept it."
"I refuse to accept! Why didn't I do anything? I should have protected Shun... I should have saved Esmeralda..."
"You should?! Who says that you should have done it?"
"I do!"
"As was to be suspected." The Fool nodded sagely. "So you prefer to be in pain to punish yourself for the things you have not done."
"I don't need to be insulted by some demon who takes the form of my brother!"
"So the truth does insult you? Isn't it more an insult to your intelligence that you deny the truth?"
"Why do you always twist the my words around as you please?"
"Because you don't listen if I say them straight." He smiled at the Phoenix, a smile that was oh so painfully Shun's. "But it's not my place to tell you, it's your place to understand."
"So what do you expect of me?!" Ikki demanded in utter desperation.
"Expect? Nothing. Wish? Everything. The Fool seeks no punishment to give, but release."
"How can you give me release by making me remember?"
"Only by remembering you will understand. See your guilt, recognize its futility. See your pain, release it and acknowledge the happiness it sours. See your hate and understand that it only puts chains around your heart."
"You can easily talk - you never had to live through the hells I have seen!"
"Ah, now there is even another fetter that chains you to the pain: self-pity."
"How dare you!" Ikki looked as if he wanted to strike the simile of Shun.
"Because I hold the mirror, I'm entitled to. And of course there is no one else who would dare."
"What do you hope to gain by tormenting me this way?!"
"I am The Fool, I seek no gain, nor do I need it. It's all your pain, as you do feed it."
"I don't have to take this any longer..."
"You feel so cool, yet try in vain and you're defeated. My counsel's plain and you should heed it."
Ikki refused to answer the mocking voice. He only wanted to get out of here. He needed time - time to think... Some of the words of the demon had struck something deep within him.
He wished to return to the volcano on the island of Canon in the Mediterranean Sea to heal himself once more - but the life-giving fumes of the ancient volcano only cured the body, not the soul.
The Fool looked at Ikki, and a faint smile touched the corners of his mouth.
"Go back to your friends now. Whatever you do is solely your own decision. Know that the Fool never leaves anyone with answers, but leads the way to new beginnings."
The shimmering gate appeared anew in front of Ikki and he staggered through.
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The Phoenix Saint was only gone for a very short time until he reappeared from the gate.
"Ikki! What happened?" Shun hurried to his brother's side, but Ikki seemed to stare straight through him as if he were made of glass. His eyes held a profound sadness that almost made Shun cry in sympathy.
"Did you do this to him?" Seiya demanded of the ancient Goddess who stood some steps aside from them.
Gaia smiled. "I didn't have to do anything. He did it all to himself. He will need some time to regain his mettle. So who is the one who will dare to face the Magician?"
Seiya, Hyoga and Shiryu exchanged glances. Shun was still so much in worry about his big brother that he hadn't listened to Gaia's words.
"I'll do it," Shiryu volunteered. "The teachings of my Old Master should help me to overcome anyone who dabbles in Magick."
"So be it." Gaia pointed at the Gate. "The Magician awaits you, Shiryu of the Dragon."
Arcanum 1: Shiryu - The Helplessness of Mages
Arcanum 1: Shiryu - The Helplessness of Mages
Shiryu stepped through the shimmering Gate. Slightly disoriented, he looked around. But he knew where he was!
He stood at the edge of the plateau that the last time he had only reached by overcoming a multitude of dangers, ghosts of ancient Saints and deadly natural phenomena. But now a single step through a mystical arc had brought him here, to the mountains of Jamir where Mu's Spire was located!
Suddenly Shiryu became aware that he wouldn't meet Mu here anymore. The Aries Gold Saint was dead, just like all of the other Gold Saints who had died in one glorious explosion of Cosmo to make it possible for Seiya and them to vanquish Hades.
He felt tears trickle down his face when he walked closer to the Spire. Mu... Aldebaran... Aiolia... Shaka... Dohko... Milo... Aiolos... Shura... Camus... Even Saga, DeathMask and Aphrodite -- they all had sacrificed their life in the name of the Goddess.
"Regrets?" a familiar voice asked.
Shiryu whirled around. Next to him stood a man with long, light violet hair who was clad in brown leather breaches and an ochre coloured tunic with a dark brown sash.
"Mu?!" Shiryu exclaimed.
"Why did you come here, Shiryu?" the Aries Saint asked.
"Well, Gaia asked Athena to justify herself -- and we as her Saints have to face certain trials, too."
"Trials, yes," Mu smiled. "So you are going to sacrifice yourself once more for your friends?"
"Sacrifice myself? Well, if that is needed..."
"Needed? For what? If Athena has to justify herself, why do you think it means you have to sacrifice yourself again?"
Shiryu frowned as he looked at the simile of Mu.
"Isn't there anything you want for yourself?"
"For myself?" Shiryu echoed.
Sadly, Aries Mu shook his head. "It is worse than I had feared. Do you know what the Magician represents?"
"You will tell me, will you?"
"You're a good student, are you?"
"The Old Master never had cause to complain about me, I guess."
"I thought so. Dohko told you to train, did he?"
"Of course."
"And why did you train?"
"I wanted to become the strongest Saint of them all."
"And why?"
"Well..."
"Why do you want to become strong, someone who can move things, when in fact you stay someone who keeps to be moved?"
Mu made a gesture with the magic wand he held in his right, and suddenly Shiryu found himself back in the time when he followed the gruesome training.
"If I hadn't done what my Master told me, I'd never become a Saint," Shiryu defended himself.
"Maybe. But then you went to the Galactic Tournament - why did you fight there?"
"I got the order..."
"So this was why your heart wasn't fully in the fight?"
"How can you accuse me of not fighting properly!"
"And? Did you?"
"Of course! I almost died during that Tournament!"
"Indeed - but what for?"
Shiryu looked at Mu. That Tournament hadn't been for the sake of Athena in the first place, that was true. He had to go there because he got the call from the Graude Foundation that had taken him from the orphanage and sent him to train to become a Saint.
"What would you do if you had the choice? Would you be able to take up a life of your own?"
Suddenly Shiryu found himself sitting in his bed, blind. Shunrei passed him a cup of tea, but he let it fall down. The feeling of utter helplessness and desperation made him cringe.
"My life belongs to Athena and my friends," Shiryu protested.
"And what about Shunrei? She was there for you much longer than any of the others."
"But as Saint of Athena my duty does not allow me to live the life of a normal boy."
"So she's a jealous Goddess, wouldn't you say?"
"Who are you to speak ill of the Goddess! You're a Saint, too!"
"I'm the Magician, I form worlds and souls with the power of the mind -- and with the force of the word."
"You mean you try to confuse people..."
"That, too," Mu laughed. "After all, the Magician was always also the Juggler, the one who lives by tricks and lies. But as a Trickster I can also see through lies..."
"So why should I listen to you if you only tell me lies anyway?"
"If you would but listen, you would know. After all you are the one who lives the greatest lies."
"And what would that be?"
"That you think that you live."
"Pardon?"
"What life is it to live a life that's lived by others?"
"But I do live my own life..."
"You live a life that's defined by others, you never ever lived for yourself."
Again the Magician waved his wand, and colourful sparkling energies swept Shiryu on a way through the past.
"When you where little you were taken from the orphanage and told to train..."
Shiryu saw himself doing yoga exercises and spar against other children of his age. No one of them was allowed to slacken a bit; if they ever did they were punished.
"Then you were sent all over the world to complete your training..."
Shiryu went to China, to the Five Old Peaks and his Old Master put him through the hardest ordeals imaginable until he finally managed to attain the Dragon Bronze Cloth.
"After getting your Cloth you returned to Tokyo to partake in the Tournament on behalf of the Graude Foundation..."
Once more, Shiryu found himself in the ring fighting Seiya in a deadly duel.
"You wanted to return to China, but right away you found yourself under the command of Kido Saori and had to continue fighting for her..."
Shiryu saw himself hunt for the stolen Gold Cloth, then he set once more out to Jamir to repair the dead Bronze Cloths.
"When you were told that you might die to repair the Bronze Cloths, you agreed because you feared that Seiya and the others might lose their fight. It never occurred to you once to worry for you or Shunrei or even the Old Master..."
Shiryu felt his strength leave his body when his life-blood poured from the cut veins in his arms. He was saved, though, and still mortally weak, he returned to the fight.
"Again you didn't battle for yourself, but only for your friends. It was never ever your wish to fight, you only kept going on for fear that the others might be hurt. Didn't you feel guilty that your Black Dragon counterpart died because you infused your kind of thinking into him?"
The Black Dragon died in his arms, and Shiryu experienced the feeling of hurt and helplessness again.
"It was necessary, for Athena..." Shiryu said weakly.
"For Athena. And what about you?"
More stations of fights went by in front of his inner eye, and finally the sequence of battles halted when Shiryu faced Perseus Algol and the Medusa shield.
"In this battle you once more sacrificed yourself," Mu explained. "But that didn't hurt you as much as suddenly being helpless and not able to help your friends anymore."
Suddenly Shiryu was back in the forecourt to Hades where DeathMask beat him mercilessly, until the Cancer Saint decided to attack Shunrei to break Shiryu's spirit once and for all.
"Isn't it frustrating for you that you are not able to reach the true mastership of your forces on your own?" the Magician asked. "If DeathMask had not attacked Shunrei, would you have ever managed to let your Cosmo explode to triumph over him?"
"Is this your only goal, to humiliate and hurt me?" Shiryu asked desperately.
"I don't need to humiliate you, you do as much for yourself. I only point out stations of your life. Maybe there will be a day when you will take up the magic wand and create a life for yourself."
"But I live the life I want to live! I'm a Saint of Athena..."
"Your words sound well-rehearsed. Do you have a life beyond the fights?"
"Well, there is Shunrei..."
"Is she? How often have you thought of her during the fights?
"So what about you?" Shiryu made an attempt to defend himself. "Do you have a life of your own?"
"I do. I'm a Healer. And I create things." The Magician waved his wand again and a myriad of flowers grew from the barren ground. "But what would you do if one day you were not able to carry your Cloth anymore? Without it to define you, would you wither and die?"
Once more, Shiryu had to encounter Tiger Ohko, first the cold humiliation not to be able to help Shunrei out of the water, then the fight and his relief that he was able to vanquish Ohko after all.
"You only returned to the living when you felt that you still could be a Saint of Athena, no matter whether you were blind or not. But as much as you thought this to be a success, it again showed how much you depend on the view that others have of you."
"Fine, so you say I'm totally worthless?"
"No. I would like you take up the wand to create your own life." Mu smiled at him, but in his eyes still shimmered the profound sadness. He didn't think that Shiryu would be able to overcome his weakness so easily. The boy needed time to think, and maybe he would even get the time before he died in another battle for his Goddess. "Always remember that by sacrificing yourself you will never be able to do anything more afterwards. -- You are free to go back now."
The shimmering Gate appeared next to Shiryu, and the Dragon fled back to his friends.
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"Shiryu, what happened to you on the other side?" Seiya asked in worry. The Dragon was pale like freshly fallen snow.
"Nothing," he said wearily.
"Did you have to fight someone?"
"Yes. Me."
Seiya, Hyoga and Shun exchanged puzzled looks.
Gaia shook her head in amusement. "These were only the first two steps, and somehow I have the feeling these two will not want to enter the other side again..." She looked at Ikki who sat on a stone and still looked as if he had fought some terrible monsters and lost and Shiryu who was likewise stricken.
"What did you do to them?" Athena asked in worry. "How am I to pass the test if you destroy my fighters' will just like this?"
"So you want more of your fighters here? So be it!" Gaia laughed and waved her hand. In the next instant, the twelve Gold Saints who were killed during the attack on Hades stood on the plain, attired in their Gold Cloths and looking severely disoriented.
"But..." Athena opened her mouth and closed it again. She marvelled at the powers of her 'Grandmother' and would certainly not argue with Gaia on bringing back her Gold Saints from the dead.
"Well, who of you all dares to face the High Priestess?" Gaia challenged.
As the Gold Saints exchanged irritated glances, Athena hurriedly filled them in on the situation, and when Gaia repeated her challenge, Shaka stepped forward. He was the reincarnation of Buddha, he would be intrigued to meet this High Priestess.
"I'll do."
Gaia smiled. "Very well. Meet the High Priestess, Shaka of the Virgo constellation."
