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elfecassepied · 5 months

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What if... Ikki and Shun swap cloths?

Aka Andromeda Ikki and Phoenix Shun au

It's an ua I see pass by time to time and I really love it, I wish there were more contents about it. So I decided to give it a shot with a brainstorming post. Maybe I will write a fanfiction with it one day.

WARNING: I do this without having a re-watch of the full series or a re-read of the full manga. It will be full of spoilers, piece of all type of Saint Seiya contents even non-canon ones and my headcanons/theories. Enjoy the ride :)

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Ikki failed to convince Mr. Kido to switch Shun's and his faith. On this faithful day Ikki takes the boat to Andromeda's Island and Shun to Death Queen Island.

Now we know that the cloths have some kind of spirit/sensibility because they can choose their saint and "speak" in a sort of way. I believe this spirit is an echo of the original mythic entity behind the constellation. Since the greek mythology happened in Saint Seiya's canon.

ALL TO SAY. Andromeda watched anxiously at the brothers were separated. She always knew one of them will be her chosen saint, if Ikki awakes his cosmos successfully she will accept him with open arms. But Phoenix was more a picky chooser, even if he feels a connection with the boys it doesn't mean he will be soft.

I don't think the Phoenix spirit is about hate and revenge as Ikki's master said, the man only projected is own cruelty on the cloth. If it was the condition Phoenix would have rejected Ikki early in the series as he lets go his rage and hate.

On the contrary, Andromeda and Phoenix are the two faces of the same coin, that why they can bound with both of the brothers. They share this idea of sacrifice and reborn. Phoenix knows that something has to die and to be sacrifice for something new and stronger to rise from these ashes, he's willing to throw himself in death's arms to come back stronger, able to protect. Andromeda knows the way of resilience, that sacrifices need to be made for the greater good, she's willing to give up her own life to protect what she cherishs and to insure their safety.

On Death Queen Island Shun faced hell, half of the island is controlled by black saints and the other one is under his master, which is worst. Esmeralda was his anchor and so he was for her, two of the kinder hearts reassuring each other that yes goodness is still here, that there is more in the world that this blind hate the master teaches. Shun never wanted to hate anybody, neither to hurt them, but days after days his feelings toward his master became more and more... complicated. He didn't HATE him but as he hurts non stop his own daughter and the other disciples the boy starts to really really want him AWAY. Away from all of them, away from everybody so he couldn't hurt them anymore. Shun just didn't know how much away it need to be.

Then the others boys died or ran away to join the black saints - but he couldn’t run, he needed this cloth, he promised Ikki -.Then his master said that the only way for him to go back to Japan with the cloth was walking on his dead body. Then he killed Esmeralda because she tried to protect him.

For the first time in his life Shun felt pure, powerful rage. His heart was aching with sorrow and blind hate at the same time and it hurt so much and so indescribably that his cosmos burnt like it never did, like an eruption, or like pyre.

And in the ashes of this broken heart rise the Phoenix who for the first time in forever answered his call. A lot of sacrifices have been made, maybe even too much, and all sacrifices needed a payback so they won't be in vain.

Shun barely remembers killing his master, but he hates (truly hate) the feelings associated with this particular memory. The rage, the pain, the sadness, and then the emptiness as he watched the corpse, the disgust which made him throw up next to it and the, far more horrifying, satisfaction, knowing this man paid for his crimes and will never hurt anyone anymore. He was scared of himself, of what he can do, of what he did. He took another person life, just like his master used to do, now how was he different of that man?

The next days were at best blurry, he took back the Phoenix cloth the black saints had stolen, wearing it for the first time, it slightly calmed his racing heart as the cloth recognised him as its saint and anchor the bond deep into his soul.

I don’t know if he kills black saints on his way for the cloth, for the following arc to happen he need to have them at his side, so to gain their respect. But I wan’t to stay in character and I think even as the Phoenix saint Shun will kill as little as he can. However he certainly beats their ass, puts the fear of gods in their hearts and traumatises them in a way that made them sleepless for the rest of their life.

Then he received the letter from Kido’s corporation inviting/convoking him to the galaxian wars and he went ballistic. How dare they, after everything they (he) have to go through, to play with their life and their destiny once again like if they owned them ? They better be prepare because he’s coming, all claws and teeth out and cosmos raging as magma, for them.

On Andromeda Island Ikki faced hell, days hot as Sahara and nights cold as Siberia, but at least his master, Daidalos/Albiore (I’m not sure which one to use), was a good teacher, severe and rigorous but never cruel. On the contrary all the other disciples were brat, except for June, June was tough and the only one he liked a bit. He was clearly the strongest one of the group but his master was never satisfied, always telling him he missed something, telling him he didn’t understand sacrifices which made Ikki want to scream at his face. How could he doesn’t understand lose ? He, the boy who losed the last thing he had while coming here ?

Everything he did again and again tasted like defeat but he couldn’t abandon, he promised Shun. So in the last days of his formation, after his master repeated him that no he wasn’t ready to claim the cloth yet for months, Ikki used his last chance, the sacrifice. This ritual wasn’t really use these days, it was more common for the student to wait for his master approval but he didn’t have the time for that, six years had passed and he needed this cloth now.

Unlike what it can seem the most difficult part of the sacrifice was patience, waiting hours under the sun on chains, waiting for the tide to come, waiting with only his doubts turning non stop in his head. When finally he was under water he immediately started to drown, he knew he was strong but the panic of choking on salt water clouded his judgement and no matter how hard he pulled on the chains they just wouldn’t cede.

And in the desperate calls of this devoted boy drowned Andromeda who once again answered the prayer. Sacrifice wasn’t about fighting back, it was about letting go for something dearer in your heart than your life.

Ikki stood out of the water, chains in his hand and a cosmos profound and dangerous as the waves. Andromeda cloth had waited almost a decade for her saint and when he finally came, true to her words, she accepted him with open arms.

He wasn’t particularly interested by the little show the Kido planned but if it was the way to see his little brother again then he will participate even twice. As the tournament advance he saw, fought and reconnected with familiar faces but never the one he wanted to see more than everything.

Until he did. The little boy he knew and cherished, now surrounded by traitor saints and stealing the gold cloth, looks down at him with a crooked smile, a burning cosmos and eyes that now seems so empty. He stops his chain and stays deaf to his calls.

“Please ! Shun I know you.

-I don’t think you ever did.”

——-

Okay so I kinda lose control and started some angsty shit. I will try to calm down and had the rest of my thoughts by tirets.

-Shun is in a complicated place at the start of the canon. He genuinely thinks he does the best for everyone (at least for the other bronze and he) following what he learnt the hard way on his island: Kidos can't be trusted and neither can be the Sanctuary. He still unconditionally loves his big brother but has also been convinced he's now a bloody monster Ikki would hate and reject so he didn't even try to reach out to him.

-Don't know what to do about Django (leader of the black saints), in the manga Ikki kill him while taking his cloth and in the anime he comes back killing him later as the man tried to refund the black saints. I think either way Shun will ultimately need to kill him even if he doesn't really want to because he need to learn that sometimes a death is necessary to protect other lifes, he couldn't fight in the Sanctuary arc if he didn't learn that before.

-Ikki will probably be closer to the other bronzes than in canon, like he’s already the big brother now that he doesn’t loiter at the other side of the earth he becomes the parent friend of the group. In this au he’s more open about his feelings even if he’s still reserved so bounding with them is easier.

-Linked to that question not sure if it will follow the anime route (the kids are randoms picked by Mitsumasa Kido) or the manga route (they are all half-siblings and Mitsumasa is their father) because it will change the dynamics.

-things will probably stay the same till Sanctuary arc (at least close to the manga because Andromeda is such a damsel in distress in the anime it’s a crazy running gag). But I don’t know if their fights against the golds needed to be swaped or not. On pros: Shun get to be closer to Shaka which make more sense for the future-virgo-saint thing, he is the one with the armure which can reappear itself for the final battle against Saga, he will probably be in the I-need-to-save-them-at-any-cost-to-apologise-for-my-shitty-behavior mindset so it makes sense for him to do that, the whole fight against Aphrodite is about avenging Daidalos/Albiore's death and in this ua he's Ikki's master. Cons: the most homoerotic HyoShun scene of all time will be Hyoga and Ikki and I don't know how I feel about that, the whole twist in Aphrodite's fight is that it reveals Shun's true power he hasn't using and I think even as Phoenix and Andromeda respectively Shun will limit his cosmos and Ikki will be a 100%-or-nothing bitch like in the canon... Meh still need to work on this question.

-the fights in general is something I need to work on.

-Shun is youngest kid going in his rebel phase coded.

-Shun is still Hades’ mortal because why wouldn’t he be?

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I will probably do more post about this au in the future to go deeper in the different arcs. Maybe it’s a good occasion to re-watch the series.

PS: Shout out to @kainshana because it’s their fanart for saintober which give me the motivation to put into words what have been doing roller coasters in my head for x time.

#saint seiya #saint seiya au #andromeda shun #shun andromeda #phoenix ikki #phoenix shun au #phoenix shun #andromeda ikki au #andromeda ikki #swap cloth au #let’s spread this au #because I hate to prepare my own food

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