Chapter 41 – End of Atlantis
Poseidon POV - Atlantis, Main Breadwinner - 1987
I use my Cosmo to rise from the ground once again after recovering from Athena's Saints attack 'This host mortal body is too weak and fragile, even with my Divine Cosmo's protection, if it is hit by a certain threshold of power, it will still get overwhelmed and blackout for a little while... But the Solo bloodline is the only one with a connection to the seas strong enough to accept my soul...'.
Then I look at them as they gather together to prepare to attack the Main Breadwinner, 'Even so, they were able to defy my Will and overcome my Divine Cosmo, not once, but twice... No matter the era and how much time passes, Athena's Saints are always able to surprise me... But now it's enough! I have finally adjusted to this host and can now finally unleash my true power! It's time for me to finally cleanse this corrupt world! It's over! I have won Athena!!', and gathering my Cosmo, I once again point at the Saints with my Trident, and from it, I release a lightning bolt once again, hitting them all and making them fall on the ground.
But this isn't enough to kill them as the Gold Cloths protected them again, then I hear the one wearing the Aquarius Cloth says "This is bad! Poseidon is once again back on his feet!", and the one wearing the Libra Cloth adds "And his Cosmo became even stronger, it seems limitless... Now he really is untouchable...", it seems that they are ready to finally give up, but the one with the Sagittarius Cloth, stands up again and says "We still have a chance... Can you guys... stand up?", instead of answering, everyone stands up and once again surround the Sagittarius one in a barrier, while the other two wearing the Gold Cloth take him on their arms ready to throw him.
Seeing that they don't give up I raise my Trident again, to strike them down once and for all, but as I release the lightning bolt, the other two Saints stand in front of it, and the older-looking one yell "You guys focus! We will hold him off...Waaaah!!", and they are hit by the lightning bolt in their comrade's place, while the younger one, still suffering from it, says "Don't mind us! Focus on saving Athena!!".
I feel all their Cosmo once again merge together, as the two Saints release their techniques at the one inside the barrier yelling "Aurora Borealis!", "Cosmic Inferno!", ""Take flight, Jayr!!"", their attacks break the barrier and throw the Saint, who is now surrounded by a rainbow-colored aura, at the Main Breadwinner with tremendous force and speed, at the same time, I release another barrage of lightning bolts sending all the remaining Saints into the ground.
I then look at the remaining one, who is flying toward the Main Breadwinner, and aiming at him with my Trident I yell as I urge my Cosmo to act "Fools!! I will not permit you to touch the Mainstay with your dirty mortal paws!", and hit him with a full powered lightning bolt, strong enough to destroy even a Gold Cloth, but I quickly notice that my attack is ineffective, as the rainbow aura protected him from it, in fact, he even picked up more speed.
And with growing surprise, I look as he gets closer to the Main Breadwinner 'What? My Trident could not stop Crateris? What is happening to his body? He has already surpassed the speed of light! He looks almost like a meteor! Crateris looks like an arrow of light flying toward the Mainstay!', I can only look as the Saint is about to hit the Mainstay, 'D... Don't tell me the Mainstay... Will be destroyed by a mere mortal! Impossible!!'
Then I have a dreadful realization, and the answer comes that explains what is happening in front of me, 'No! There was just one... Just one fearsome gift the Gods bestowed upon humans! One power that allows mortals to emit more than human strength and approach the Gods! The ability to create Miracles!! Is the mortal Crateris about to cause a Miracle? In front of me, the Sea God Poseidon!?'.
I can only silently gaze as the Crateris Saint disappears from my sight, into the Pillar "He... He vanished... Crateris disappeared into the Mainstay...", there is a slight hope in my heart that the power was too much and he ended up self-destructing, but it soon disappears as I notice the cracks that start to appears all over the Main Breadwinner, and soon it starts crumbling "Th-The Mainstay... The Mainstay's breaking apart!!".
At the same time, my whole realm starts shaking and I see that everything around me is breaking apart, as the water of the oceans starts flooding it "And my Underwater Sanctuary is crumbling along with it!", and see in the distance, the Crateris Saint walking away from the Mainstay with the unconscious Athena in his arms, while the waters come flooding behind him, then he fell on his knees exhausted, as he gently lies Athena on the ground.
Looking at him I shout "You are such consummate fools, you dared to interfere with a God attempting to rebuild a world tainted by corruption... If you are allowed to continue, you mortals will eventually pollute not just this earth but the galaxy", the weakened Crateris Saint looks back at me and slowly replies "Th-That's still no excuse for killing innocent and children... And not just humans, but all of earth's creatures... Have the right to live!!".
His words enraged me even more, urging even more of my Divine Cosmo, I say "How dare you, a mere mortal, dictate thus to me? You, humans, have never had any rights, even from the birth of the heavens and the earth, everything you have was granted to you by the Gods, the ability to speak, to see... Even your loving hearts...What have you done here is Blasphemy! It shall not be forgiven!! Your bodies shall be drawn and quartered and the pieces scattered to the far corners of the Galaxy!".
Seeing his weakened and exhausted figure, I'm sure of the fact that this time he will be unable to oppose my might, so I rise my Trident, and aiming at him, I gather my Cosmo and yell "Die, Crateris!! Feel the wrath of the Gods!", but just as I'm about to kill him, a strong force stops me, blocking the Trident from releasing its power, "What? What is this power that has stopped my Trident!?", then I see the figure standing next to the Saint and understanding what is going on, I yell "Athena!!".
Jayr POV - Atlantis, Main Breadwinner - 1987
As the water level keeps rising, I threw a brief look at Poseidon's surprised expression, before turning to look at Saori's figure, as she unleash her Cosmo at its full force for the first time, and is now on par with Poseidon's one, so huge that it almost encompass the whole Universe, in my weakened state, I can only say "Saori...", as I look up at her stunning figure.
Saori squats next to me and putting her hand on my shoulder, looks into my eyes with her enchanting green-blue eyes, and says "Jayr... Thank you, thank you for rescuing me... And not just now, but the countless times all of your Cosmos bolstered me when I came close to faltering inside the Mainstay, that's how I managed to cling to life for this long".
I use my remaining strength to smile and reply "I-It was the same with us... Your Cosmo supported us over and over, and we found the strength to keep getting back up no matter how many times we were knocked down!", as I'm speaking, I notice that tears gather in Saori's misty eyes, as she smiles back and only says "Jayr...".
After this brief exchange, she steels her face, and stands up to face Poseidon saying "At this point, Poseidon, you have no choice but to admit defeat! Now go back obediently to where you came from", but Poseidon calmly replies "Your narrow brush with death seems to have addled even your brain, Athena... Where do you propose I return, eh?".
And with a grin, I look as his arrogant and confident face, transforms into a shocked one, as Saori shows what she has hidden behind her as he yells "What? What's in your hands?", a small and seemingly fragile porcelain urn, and finally recognizing it he says "A-Athena's Urn!! Wherever did you find the urn in which I slept for so long?", at the same time, I finally recovered enough to stand up again, and so I move next to her as she replies "Inside the Mainstay, of course, ironic, isn't it, that the urn and I reappear before you together? Now do you understand, Poseidon?", and still shocked he asks "What?".
Pointing the urn at him, Saori replies "With this urn once more in my hands, your defeat is decided! Now, Poseidon! Go back into the urn!!", but he is still stubborn and as he raises his Trident once more, he says "No! Athena if you insist on protecting those foolish humans, then I cannot leave you be! I have the vital mission of cleansing this earth!", and Saori still tries to make him see reason "You cannot use your godhood to meddle with the earth... Humans are not so ignorant to destroy their own home, one day they will realize their folly and repent".
But Poseidon doesn't listen to her and yells "Silence! Be impaled on my trident and die!! Die, Athena!!", and throws his Trident at her, on instinct I move in front of Saori to take the blow in her place, but someone is faster than me, all of the sudden, Kanon appears in front of Saori and me, and is pierced by the Trident in the stomach in my place.
Both I and Saori yell "Kanon!", and as he falls on the ground he says with a voice full of regret "Th-This Trident was my fault, to begin with... I was the one who pulled it out of the rock... I profaned the Gods... I'm the one who deserves to be skewered... And 13 years ago... you saved my life countless times, Athena... Th...this is the least I could do to repay you... A-Athena, this was all a result of my foolish crime... P... Please... Please forgive me... A... Athena...".
I quickly grab him and do everything possible to make sure he survives, while Saori once again turns to Poseidon and says, while sending her Cosmo inside the urn that starts glowing in a golden light as it generates a strange attractive force "Poseidon, you have lost, the mortal Jayr and his comrades pursued you this far... If you are a true God, you ought to acknowledge them and admit defeat... Your awakening in this age was not of your own volition, Poseidon, but before you go to sleep once more, I have a proposal for you... I hope that you'll accept it so that this fight between us that lasted since the Age of Myths will finally end...".
While still trying to fight the force generated by the urn Poseidon asks "What is this proposal?", and Saori replies "I have come to know about the existence of countless Universes... Some are similar to ours, others totally different... And there is a particular Universe, where it lies a world that I think is perfect for you... Still relatively pure, and while there are many corrupt and wicked humans, many more are also pure-hearted and just, my proposal is to send you this world and Universe to rule as you like, just promise me that you will spare the innocents... In exchange stop this useless fight between us once and for all!".
Still skeptical he asks "And how did you come to know about this Universe, if even I and Zeus never heard of it?", and at this point, I finally speak "That is thanks to me... For reasons I won't tell you, I know about the existence of many different Universes... And how to reach them" then I focus on my Cosmo and send to him my memories about the Universe that Saori and I decided beforehand, and says "And I can swear on my soul that everything you'll see is the absolute truth!".
Poseidon closes his eyes for a few moments, as he looks at the memories that I have sent to him, then he laughs and says "Ha, ha, ha! This is interesting! A world almost totally dominated by water and bigger than Jupiter with countless islands all over it, not only that but there are also oceans in the sky! It seems almost made for me! If I can rule over it, my powers will for sure grow even stronger... But for sure, some of these mortal needs to be drowned... And about these Devil Fruits... Something about their existence rubs me off... Very well, I accept your proposal!", and as soon as he said this, his soul comes out of Julian's body, and then as he is attracted toward the urn he says "I'll sleep for now... But be careful Athena, if you keep aiding these foolish humans, you will incur the wrath of the other Olympian Gods! And they will punish you! Remember that, Athena!".
Once Poseidon's soul is inside the urn, Saori closes it with the top and whispers "Poseidon... Though siding with the humans may anger the other Gods, I will continue to do so, even if I make enemies of all the Olympus! That is my duty as Athena!!", at the same time, I notice that the water level is quickly rising to dangerous levels and that Atlantis is close to being totally submerged, so I yell "Saori! We must evacuate immediately!!", she breaks out of her reverie and quickly reminds me "Jayr! We must also rescue Solo!".
But before I could start searching for his body, I hear a familiar female voice that says "Don't worry...", and turning toward the point of origin, I see Tethis holding Julian's body as she continues "... I shall escort Lord Julian to the surface, even at the cost of my own life, this is the least I can do to repay him, as well...", hearing that, I remember the fact that Tethis true form is that of a fish, and that Julian in his youth saved her when she was trapped in a fishing line, so I simply nod.
Right at that moment, I notice a huge wave coming, so I yell "Watch out, Saori!", but just before it crashed down on us, I felt Saori's Cosmo envelope my body, and the next moment, I find myself on some beach and the first thing that I notice is that the endless rain stopped falling, and next, looking around, I notice that all around me there are Isaak, Rigel, Agol, Juan, Georg, Kiki, Kanon, and Saori, they are all laying on the ground unconscious, and so I slowly move my weary and broken body to check on them while thinking, 'Damn, fighting against Poseidon wasn't a joke... He threw me around like a ragdoll... And from his Cosmo, before Saori made her move I noticed that the whole time he was playing with us...'.
Once close enough the first thing I do is check on Kiki and Saori, luckily they are simply very exhausted, of course, if you ignore the fact that Saori almost drowned she is mostly fine with no long-lasting repercussions, so their lives aren't in danger, then I checked on Kanon, he lost a lot of blood and has a lung perforated, but even if heavily wounded, his life isn't in danger, as his strong Cosmo is protecting him,
Then I check on Isaak, Rigel, Agol, Juan, and Georg, and they, like me, have taken quite a beating from Poseidon, burn wounds from his lightning, and broken bones from our reflected attacks, not only that but there is also the backlash from using attacks well over our usual power levels, our Cosmos exploded with such power and strength that it also damaged our bodies, but once again their lives aren't in danger as the Gold Cloths protected us from the worst damage we could receive.
Once made sure that they are all safe, I quickly turn around to see where we are, and quickly notice the cliff of Cape Sounion, in the distance, 'We are still in Greece... So Saori teleported us to the nearest location to the Temple of Poseidon...', once I made sure that we are safe, with my last strength, I send a telepathic message to Mu about our location, and the next moment, I blackout, and fall face first on the sand like a puppet with its string cut.
Jayr POV - Greece, Sanctuary - 1987
I wake up with a start, and quickly raise my guard and look around me, but soon, I recognize the familiar environment, 'I'm in my home in the Sanctuary... ', then I look at my body and notice the hasty bandage all around my body, and let out a sigh I say "Geist handiwork... For Athena's sake, that girl is only good at fighting... I pity the poor soul that will fall in love with her... not only he as to survive Shaina's assassination, and my tort... character test, but he will also have to survive her poisonous cooking and crude manners", and while saying this, I use my Cosmo to heal all the remaining wounds.
As I'm doing this, I notice the full condition of my body 'Hmm... It seems that a few days passed since then... My passive regeneration did heal most of the superficial stuff, now I only have to focus on the worst damage caused by Poseidon and my own Cosmo...', then the door of my room slams open, and Geist walks inside and yells "Good morning, bro! The most beautiful little sister is here to change your bandage!!", but before she breaks more of my bones in her effort to help me I say "Good morning, Geist... But I don't need your help now that I'm awake, give me an hour and I'll be as good as new!".
Geist nod and says "Okay...", then I ask "So what happened while I was unconscious?", Geist sits on the bed next to me and says "Well... A whole lot of things happened... First, Aiolia, Milo, Mu, and a group of Saints and Soldiers went to the beach near Cape Sounion to recover you all, by the way, from what I know, Isaak, Rigel, Agol, Juan, and Georg are still unconscious, but their lives aren't in danger, Kiki is already up, he recovered after a day of rest, and for what I know Athena is still a little weakened by what she went through...", I interrupt her and ask "What about Kanon?".
She shrugs her shoulder and says "After a day in the Asclepeion, he disappeared on his own... Anyway, the same day Julian Solo, the host of Poseidon was found floating in the Aegean Sea alive and well, and says that he has no memories of what happened, but at the same time he donated a lot of money to help all the victim of the flood worldwide... But what happened the following days is also out of this world!".
And with a hint of excitement she continues "A few days ago, the Sanctuary received a request for help from the High Priestess of Odin Hilda, as the Gothi, the leader of the God Warriors, Heimdall Drbal, under the command of the god Loki started a civil war that split Asgard in two, one side lead by Drbal that what to take advantage of this moment to declare war on Athena and her Saints to take control of the world, while on the other side there is Hilda, that still follows Odin's will and simply want to protect Asgard and the world, preparing for the coming of Ragnarok... Unfortunately on Hilda's side, there were only five God Warriors, while on Drbal's side not only had eight of them, but as the leader of the God Warrior he also had control over the Soldiers of Asgard".
Hearing that my eyes open wide, 'What the holy fuck happened!? I know about Hilda from the anime... but who the hell is this Drbal...', but once the surprise settled in, I take a deep breath and calm down 'Come on, Jayr! You knew that there was a lot more to this world than the anime showed when you learned that Jesus is still alive and leading a group of warriors called Angels and that there is also some cultivation crap in China...', and after thinking this, I look at my sister and say "Go on...".
Geist then says "And so, the Pope Saga, decided to help, but since we are on high alert and couldn't weaken of defense too much by sending a Gold Saint, he decided to summon Seiya and the others, under the leadership of Marin and Shaina to help them... And after a series of hard and brutal fights, we were able to help Hilda win, and regain control of Asgard...in fact Shun, Shiryu, Seiya, and Hyoga are now also recovering in the Asclepeion... Sister and Marin are fine since their job was to watch over and protect Hilda and her sister Freya... But I think Ikki died... as he made his Cosmo explode to max possible to redirect Loki's attack back to him and buy enough time for Hilda to summon Odin's power and seal Loki...".
I raise my hand and pat her on the head and say "Don't worry about him, he is the wearer of the Phoenix Cloth, he won't stay dead for long, in fact, I'm pretty sure that right now he is on Death Queen Island, spending some quality time with Esmeralda...", after that, I get up from the bed, and say "I'm fine now, I'll go to check on the guys in the Asclepeion...", and my sister replies "Okay, but remember to come back to cook dinner, if I eat once again my or Shaina's cooking, I'll go crazy!".
And so I move out of my house, and move toward the Asclepeion, and once there, I quickly greet Seiya, Shun, Hyoga, and Shiryu, then move to first check my teammates, 'The medics did a good job, they are all recovering well, in fact, they too will wake up today, and just need some more rest...', then I check on Seiya and the other, while at the same time I tell Shun, "Shun don't be sad, Ikki is alive while coming here I searched for his Cosmo and felt it on Death Queen Island, and while he is weakened he is alive... As the wearer of the Phoenix Cloth, truly killing him is one of the hardest things to do in this Universe".
Then I focus on their wounds, 'Seiya has many broken bones and torn muscles, but nothing too serious I can easily fix him, Shun is also wounded but he also has many cuts wound... Something this thin and sharp... maybe some kind of Cosmo thread... but nothing too serious, Hyoga gots all kind of damages but there are easy to fix, but there are also sign of some kind of mental manipulation, but he overcome it on his own, and Shiryu left me almost speechless, how the hell did he become blind? And from the frostbites on his body, I can already tell that I'll have to bonk him again as I'm sure that he once again removed his Cloth for some strange reason...'.
After patching them up, I go to the Gold Zodiac and meet with my nemesis, the endless set of stairs that lead to the Great Temple, on my way there, I greet Mu and the others, and once reaching my destination, I greet Saga, and move toward the Athena's Temple to check on Saori, and find her calmly sitting on the bed reading a book, and say "You should rest... Even if you are a Goddess, your body is still that of a mortal, and with what you went through, and what will soon happen, you need all the rest and peace you can... Doctor's order".
Saori raises her head from the book and looks at me and with a small smile on her face she replies "Well, good for me, I have the best doctor in the world at my disposal... And I'm resting, I'm simply reading a romance that Seika recommended... And by the way, you still owe us a dinner, after all, not everyone is as magnanimous as us to let our guy see another girl unpunished...", I sit next to her and caressing her hair I say "After this whole storm with Hades, I'll cook for you the best thing you have ever eaten in your life... I'll give you a foodgasm...", then remembering the Power of Poseidon is add in a somber tone "... If I survive...", but Saori holds my hand with hers and say in a tone full of confidence "We will survive! I'm sure of it!!", and feeling her warm hand and comforting Cosmo with I smile I simply say "Yup!".