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That time… the one who caught me using my teleportation to hide from master Shion hadn’t been Daidalos, but Aiolos.
Mu kept walking up the steps to the narrow rocky path. Of course he could use his powers to get to Lushan in an instant, but he liked walking, especially when the weather was mild like this.
“Oh, it’s you, Mu,” master Dohko greeted from his spot guarding the waterfall. “I haven’t seen you since before the battle, how is your little apprentice?”
“Kiki stayed in Sanctuary. Aiolia offered to look after him.” Usually Mu would leave him with Aldebaran or in their tower in Jamir, but because they’d been taking turns guarding the Fountain of Athena to monitor the state of the bronze saints, it was a little hard.
“Ah, then that’s fine. And how about you tell this old man about the reason for your visit, hmm? It’s not often you come over, and bearing wine no less; why, you’re always the first one to tell me to drink less!”
Mu felt himself flush, a little embarrassed that he was so transparent. “Ah, truth be told, I came to reminisce about the past.”
Dohko didn’t seem convinced by his reasoning, still he said: “Why don’t you come in? Shunrei made soup dumplings.”
“Say, master, Shiryu is fourteen, right?”
Dohko thanked Shunrei as she poured him another cup of wine. “Fifteen, actually. He came here just shy of nine years old, and left six years later. He was still fourteen when you met him.”
“And all the bronze saints are the same age?”
After a small sip that belied how loose he became when drunk, Dohko replied, “Surprisingly enough, all of them are younger. I think the youngest is Pegasus. He’s a Sagittarius, from what Shiryu told me. Stubborn as a mule, but… a good leader, just like any dragon should be.”
Mu frowned, but as he did the math… Athena, Andromeda and Pegasus were born in the year of the dragon, weren’t they?
Aiolos died in the year of the dragon.
“I was really surprised when he first came to me. You used to describe him as taciturn but diligent in his training as a kid, to see such passion ignited in him… I thought back then, ‘this friend of his must be really dear to him’.” He now had a number that could potentially confirm one of his suspicions. “Well, I must be gone now, master. It’s my turn tomorrow evening to guard the Fountain. I’ll let you rest now.”
Dohko scoffed. “Nonsense. Stay until breakfast tomorrow. You can teleport directly into your house afterwards. Now, eat another plate, you don’t want to offend Shunrei…”
“Hello Shun.” Shun opened his eyes from meditation and encountered Shiryu in a perfect Japanese bow. “I request permission to cross this temple.”
Shun frowned, then turned to look at his brother who just shrugged. “Don’t look at me. Shaka’s gone god knows where,” at Shun’s meaningful gaze, Ikki clicked his tongue, “I’m not his babysitter. Just let Mr. Know-It-All cross and get it done with.”
“R-right, Shaka is on a trip but you can cross.” He was so not used to being the adult (?) in charge. Could he be the adult in charge at fourteen? “What brings you to Sanctuary, anyway?”
Shiryu straightened from his bow. “My master asked that I retrieve the Libra gold cloth, I thought it would be best if I came in person.”
“I see…” Shun relaxed from his meditation position, “then I’ll come with you, it’s been a while since we’ve talked.”
“By the way, you’ve caught Mu’s attention.” Shiryu said once he had the Libra pandora box safely strapped onto his back.
“Eh?”
“My master told me he came some time ago, and tried to get him drunk to ask about my friends.”
Shun frowned. “How can you be sure he’s interested in me specifically? He could be talking about Seiya, or Hyoga.”
Shiryu stopped walking when they reached the entrance of the Virgo temple. “But you said something to him back then, right? I remember you entering, and then all of a sudden when you walked out you had a weird expression.” He adjusted the straps of the pandora box on his shoulders, and his expression relaxed on a casual smile. “Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s not too bad. After all, you’re used to weird things happening to you, right?”
Shun was sure he didn’t mean anything bad by it (Ikki didn’t, exemplified by how he flipped Shiryu the bird), so he just agreed. “R-right.”
“Anyways, take care.”
“Kiki, did you find out anything?”
Kiki clenched the edge of his shirt, a little nervous. “He noticed I was following him, master Mu.”
Mu blinked, “That’s fine, did he tell you anything?” He felt a little sorry for asking his disciple to spy on another kid, but if his hunch was right…
“He was talking to himself about the play, and when he noticed I was following him, he said ‘it’s fine, my brother likes him’.”
“I see…” Mu nodded. “Yes, it all makes sense.” Then he turned his head to the other two people inside his temple. “Aiolia, do you like Kiki?”
“Ha?” Aiolia stuttered a little, being put on the spot like that, “O-of course I do! He’s a cute kid, reminds me of Seiya when he just came to Sanctuary and—”
“Then that’s it,” Mu concluded. “Aiolos has reincarnated in Andromeda Shun. He was born just a couple of days after Athena came to Earth, around the same time Aiolos died.”
“How are you so sure?”
“During the battle last December, Andromeda was telling me about Daidalos, who had been his master. I thought it was cute, his attempt at comfort, but then he said something that only Aiolos had known about… it made me suspect.”
Aiolia’s expression then turned pensieve, “If it’s really him, then I know of a way to tell for sure.”
In the end, they had opted to invite Andromeda to dinner.
From the entrées to the desserts, Aiolia had arranged the menu to cater to the likings of his brother, or what he remembered at least.
“Thanks for inviting me,” Andromeda said as he sat down. “Truth be told, I’m no good at cooking other than some simple dishes, and I would feel bad asking Shaka to cook for me on top of training.”
“It’s no problem, think of this as a thanks for taking care of Kiki the other day.”
“That wasn’t necessary, my br— I’ve always wanted a younger brother, and Kiki is a good kid, if a little prone to mischief.”
Mu sneaked a glance at Aiolia, and realized that Aiolia had noticed Andromeda’s slip-up too.
“Regardless, please dig in. Have you had Greek dishes before?”
“Not many,” Andromeda said, even though his eyes were immediately drawn to Aiolos’ favorite dish. “But I’m always eager to try out new experiences.” Thankfully, a lot of it seemed to be fish dishes, along with the pitas, the salad, and something that looked like flakey bread.
Aiolia nodded, then cleared his throat before grabbing the wine bottle. Time for the trial of fire. “I heard you’re not even fourteen yet, so I cannot in good conscience allow you to drink full wine,” despite his words, he poured Andromeda a glass, “but since it would be disrespectful to not let you have a taste, I can water it down for you.”
As soon as Aiolia said this, something in Andromeda’s expression looked pained. “No, no! No watering down. It’s fine if I don’t drink it, but ah, wouldn’t watering it down ah, ruin it for you? Waiting to drink is not a hardship for me.”
Aiolia relented, and dragged Andromeda’s glass back to his side. “You seem to know the Greek language and customs really well. Seiya wasn’t as well adjusted when he first came; still isn’t almost seven years later.”
After a muttered ‘itadakimasu’, Shun started digging into the salad, and when he bit into a cheese pita, his eyes widened pleasantly surprised. “I really like learning. Before we came to train, the teachers at the orphanage were really insistent we learn Greek since it’s the birthplace of Saints. Seiya was… well, he doesn’t really like academic activities.”
“That sounds like him, I used to listen to Marin complain constantly about him falling asleep in class.”
Mu noticed that Aiolia had relaxed significantly, whatever it was about the wine… it confirmed that Andromeda was Aiolos.
“By the way, can we call you Shun? We know that calling on first names is a little impolite in Japan.”
Andromeda also smiled, and he looked so much like Aiolos had in his memories. “Of course, we’re all saints here, aren’t we? Some familiarity is fine.”
“I’ll walk you back to the Virgo temple,” Aiolia said once they were done eating. Mu had retired not too long ago, since he had to make sure Kiki slept at a reasonable time and check that Aldebaran hadn’t slipped him any sweets. At Aiolia’s insistence, they’d left the dishes there since he would wash them later.
“Thank you.”
“Before you leave, though… I wanted to apologize.” Shun frowned.
“Eh? What for?”
“For ever thinking you were the traitor in what happened thirteen years ago.”
Thirteen years ago… surely he doesn’t think…?
As subtly as he could, he turned to look at Aiolos. There was grief in his gaze, but there was also forgiveness.
“That’s not… it’s all past. And you came to your senses, in the end,” he said, a little vague.
Aiolia shook his head. “No, you don’t get it. At one point, I started dying my hair red, because I hated it any time people would mention my being your brother. I couldn’t carry the stigma of being the traitor's brother, not like you did all these years.”
“You’re giving me too much credit.” When Aiolia looked away, Shun traced the sigils for a partial possession and signed Aiolos to get closer. If they were doing this deception, it might as well be part-truth. “I don’t have all the memories, that’s why it was… easier. There’s a reason souls drink from the Lethe before going back, can you imagine carrying all that baggage?”
When Aiolos’ soul entered his spirit pathways, a golden glow illuminated the Leo temple, and Aiolia finally looked at the body hosting his brother’s soul.
It was weird hugging Aiolia, the little kid he remembered barely reaching his hip now towered over him, and Shun’s body was lean while his own had tried to emulate the perfect warriors from legend. But the way Aiolia desperately clung to him felt the same almost fourteen years later.
He’d apologize to Shun later, right after thanking him for this chance to grant his brother closure.