betweenrealities | [Fic][Saint Seiya] We'll Be by Your Side, From Now and Forever

Title: We'll be by Your Side; From Now and Forever

Fandom: Animanga – Saint Seiya

Summary: As he watches, Aiacos realises that Shun has has his loyalty long before they meet as a Lord and his subordinate. [Set after 'His Duty as A Human']

Warning: AU. Maybe OOC-ness abound.

Disclaimer: Not. Mine. Happy now?

They walked down the stairs, the new Lord of the Underworld walking between them quietly. Rhadamanthys was behind him, attention only on the young boy. Once in a while, Minos glanced back towards the top of the stairs, where Athena and her Saints stood watching them.

Aiacos looked down at the boy on his left, not knowing what to think of him.

It was a shock, for all of them, to find out that their Lord is coming back to them. Their happiness, however, was cut short when their Lord will be in the form of a 14-years-old boy who was once (and supposedly forever be) their enemy.

Rhadamanthys, to their most surprise, accepted the news in a calm manner, even volunteering to meet and escort their young Lord back to their domain, if others refused to do so.

"No matter what we think, it's Lord Hades' decision, and we as his Judges must follow everything. Maybe something good will come out from this. For us, and our new Lord."

He had to admit, he was amazed with Rhadamanthys' calm response to it. He had expected for the Wyvern to burst out angrily, not willing to accept a young human who once fought them like nothing else matters.

But then again, Rhadamanthys had been the one who faced him and that Pegasus Saint, and watched the interaction between them as the young boy possessed by the Underworld God for the first time.

'Maybe he knows something that we don't, and decided to wait and see…'

"Aiacos?"

He snapped out of his thoughts when a voice called his name softly. He looked down to his left again and straight into the green eyes looking up at him curiously.

"Yes, Andr-- My Lord?"

He almost let out the boy's previous status, before quickly covering it up. His fellow Judges stared at him for his slip-up, but Shun only looked at him with his head slightly tilted up, before smiling gently.

"Nothing, really. It's just that you seem to be quiet," the young Lord said, the smile still on his face, ignoring the slip-up of his name.

"I'm sorry. I have my thoughts on something else just now."

"And you dare to turn your attention away from our Lord?" Rhadamanthys huffed from behind them, obivously displeased with the other's excuse.

He glared at the other Judge, daring him to continue. Minos just shook his head, and Shun giggled quietly before leaning slightly towards the Garuda. Out of instinctive respect, he moved closer.

"It's alright. It's understandable why you are still thinking and in doubt. I would be, if I'm in your position," his Lord said quietly, eyes still focused to the front.

He almost stood still there, before hastily picking up his pace beside Shun again, before the two Judges make another comment. Shun, looking at him again, gave him another one of those gentle smiles again, as if reassuring him. A smile that was, for some reason, strangely familiar.

'But this is the first time I met him face to face. Unless he has been…'

Something clicked in Aiacos' mind. The shadow they have been seeing; the very same one that had been walking around with them to guide the dead souls to their rightful place in the Underworld…

It amazingly resembled everything about their new Lord. His height, his face, his way of talking and walking, his smiles…

Aiacos remembered it just like yesterday.

Without the God of the Underworld to provide the balance needed, the mortal world was not the only one in a chaotic state. The spectres, who had been amazingly revived by their God, were not able to go out to the mortal world. Not with Hades still weak after having his immortal body injured and losing the latest Holy War.

But that was the least of their worries. Gods could recover the vitality of their body, no matter how long of time they have to take. The matter was how the two worlds could remain balanced until the God of the Underworld gained enough strength to rule once again.

Until the mysterious shadows started to appear.

At first it seemed to avoid coming close, as if afraid of the Specters. After millenia of experience with dead souls, most of them realised quickly that this mysterious existence was not of the dead ones, but a soul that was not truly meant to be with them. Curious but did not have time to deal with it; they simply ignored it at first.

Rhadamanthys was the first to approach the unknown being, feeling that it might help them. From where he got that idea, Aiacos and Minos never learned to know. The Wyvern did not say anything, just went closer and held out a large hand.

And imagine their surprise when it accepted the hand that reached out with a smaller hand; so fragile and so… human.

Since then, the shadow started to become more apparent, as he moved along with them, helping them in their task. No, not helping; but guiding them through their task.

Bit by bit, they started to see the shadow as not just an entity; but also someone they respected. His capabilities not only to handle the souls, but also the always-restless Spectres astounded them and deep inside their hearts, slowly accepting him as the one who lead them in place of their God of the Underworld.

'Those smiles, the small gestures, everything about him; is all about our Lord in front of me. It is him, our Lord, who has been guiding us even before he made up his mind in joining us.'

That final realisation brought Aiacos to a new understanding. And by then, he was already standing in front of the carriage that would be carrying Shun to his new domain; the Hades Castle just above the gate to the Underworld.

His new Lord, too young and was most probably scared and nervous in doing this just as they were feeling in accepting him, stood there watching Rhadamanthys preparing for them to leave. The smile given to him previously was no longer there, just a gentle look and a flicker of curiousity remained on his face.

Then Shun did something that sealed Aiacos' loyalty to this one human, just after his God; he turned to look at the Sanctuary behind them and said quietly, "Goodbye, my old life. I'm leaving for my new family now."

A quiet look of mixed happiness and sadness appeared in his expression.

Stepping in front of the young man between him and the carriage, Aiacos held out a hand to his Lord, bowing low.

Surprise was obvious on the young face, and he could feel the same feeling radiating from the other two Judges beside him, but he remained firmly there.

"My Lord Shun, please remember; no matter what happen after this, we will be by your side, forever if you want us to."

As the young Lord put his smaller hand in his, the smile Aiacos received then was the brightest light he had seen in his life as a Spectre.

Yet he was not blinded by it.

Never will.

A/N: I always see Aiacos in The Lost Canvas as someone who can be very loyal to his Lord if he is given enough reasons to give that loyalty. Since we never get to see Aiacos' real personality in the original series (except that he was damn confident of his skills, only to have it biting him in the ass), I'm just making his personality here the same as in TLC.

Thank you for reading, and C&C are always appreciated.