From that day on, Shion had no courage to interact with Bafi again and the supposed bitter sensation that seized the Sanctuary the day the box was opened, settled in the heart of Aries. Mu and Kiki witnessed how the oldest of them - spiritually speaking - faded with the passing of days. Such was their concern that the Saint of Aries was forced to personally expose the problem to Athena:
"I understand that you, my Lady don't know what to do with him... but I also don't know; suddenly, his personality has changed."
"Since when do you notice him like that, Mu?"
"It will be a couple of weeks, I completely rule out the possibility of a cold or being sick."
"I understand" Saori was thoughtful for a moment and then, she fixed her gaze on the young man "Talk to Dohko. He is the one who knows Shion best, surely he will know how to tell you better than me."
***
The only thing Shion kept in his routine after coming back to life were the long walks before sunset. Sixty minutes a day that he left to clear his mind of the hustle and bustle of the day or the worries of his heart and, thanks to this, he hadn't yet seriously considered the idea of disappearing from the Sanctuary. He no longer had anything else to teach because the technology and the future was moving very fast for him, the new warriors had proven to be up to the task without his help, so staying there... it was pointless but where to go? Jamir seemed unknown to him, the real world too complicated and the Sanctuary... had begun to remind him of things he considered buried deep in his heart:
"NO, LEAVE ME!" he suddenly heard.
"Come on, Bafi! I have to take you to the infirmary."
"NO, DON'T TOUCH ME, LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Shion's eyes moved in the direction of the commotion, the lower part of the coliseum where some apprentices began their training as Saints. There, he discovered Elyn, cornering a hysterical Bafi who insisted on keeping her at a certain distance:
"Get away, don't touch me!"
Those words stuck in his heart and the decomposed face of a little boy made his stomach turn. History was repeating again.
***
Elyn didn't know what to do. In a loss of balance, Bafi had fallen to the ground with such bad luck that he had rested his right hand on a stone and this, when yielding under the weight of the child, had torn the palm of his hand causing it to bleed abundantly. Her first instinct was to take him in her arms and run in search of Shun since the Virgo Saint demonstrated that he had a very good hand to heal the wounded, but that gesture was in an attempt because Bafi, before feeling her hands near him, had decided walk away and panic at the thought of being touched. The Pisces Australis Saint tried to make him see the reason for to get him but the closer she got, the more he maintained his posture of marking distances and the wound, it was bleeding with greater intensity:
"We don't have time for this." she said, determined to take the child by force.
"NO! DON'T TOUCH ME, STAY AWAY FROM ME!
Pisces Australis ignored that warning and walked to the boy with determination, taking advantage of the fact that a wall had cut off the withdrawal of the child. Without warning, Shion's body materialized between the two:
"Leave him."
"But he's bleeding!"
"I know."
Elyn sharpened her gaze in a clear challenge before the ancient Pope, however the girl remembered that although Shion was no longer the one who ruled the Sanctuary but Saori had granted him an honorary title that allowed him to act and receive the same treatment as Saga, so she couldn't counteract it.
For his part, Shion turned to look at Bafi: the boy was holding his injured hand and trying to keep it as far away from the two adults as possible. He was trembling but perhaps it was due to the fear that ran through him for to be touched:
"That must be cured, Bafi." Shion said with all the sweetness he could muster.
"I will heal it, I promise, Sir! Only I can do it." The boy knew that he couldn't go against certain people but he wasn't willing to allow anyone to touch him "It's dangerous, only I can heal my wounds! I have to talk to Saori... nobody can touch me when I'm bleeding!"
"Enough, Albafica!" Shion exclaimed losing his patience for a second. Finally, when he saw the fear in the blue eyes of Bafi, he sighed and speaking again "Your blood is poisonous, right? The people can die if they touch you... is it?"
Bafi was petrified because in reality, he didn't know what was happening to his blood. All he knew was that every time someone had tried to heal him, that person died hopelessly. Only a caregiver had contemplated and he gave him an advice that burned into the child's heart: If someone discovers you have a deadly weapon in your blood , they will want to investigate it and you will be a guinea pig that will never see the sunlight. Don't let anyone discovers you.
"How do you know...?"
"Please, in this life... Let me help you, Albafica... Trust me."
"In this... life?"
Bafi looked at the young man who was watching him with some anguish. Since he was little, his heart spoke to him and made him feel other person's things for some reason. He had never understood what was happening, simply the knowledge and the strange dreams about other person was there... Shion seemed to know the answer to that strange emotion. Bafi must to trust in Shion... the child knew his name even without meeting him before, he knew the Sanctuary even without ever hearing about it... And Shion knew why:
"O-Okay…" the boy whispered, taking a step forward. "B-But don't touch... the blood."
When the boy was close enough, Shion touched the boy's left shoulder and moved to where he knew the person who could best understand the seven-year-old was.
***
"Gloves. Mask. Cotton..." Tara* listed "Everything I need not to touch your blood, okay?"
The child nodded although still somewhat suspicious. The woman placed him in a chair and placed his injured hand where she could heal it without too much trouble:
"Well, well... To be so young, you can bear pain very well." Bafi smiled, thanking the compliment "Let's see, tell me, what happens to your blood? Why can't others heal you?"
"They ... die."
Tara stopped short, although she already suspected the reason why Shion had decided to take the boy home, hearing such a statement bluntly and directly took her by surprise:
"And why do they die?"
"He knows better than me." Bafi confessed "I... I just know they don't survive if they touch my blood."
Tara looked at Aries, Shion was leaning against the wall and once again, Bafi's words took him with low defense:
"The Pisces blood has been poisonous since the Age of Myth, you know... Aphrodite was the only one who hasn't been."
"So history repeats again. How is it possible?"
"I have a theory."
"Well, that doesn't matter now, we have to cure this little one as soon as possible." Tara smiled turning his attention to the boy who was watching them "Ready, Bafi. I hope that next time it will not take you so long to come, remember that I can heal you without problems, I am a special nurse."
"Yes! Thank you."
The boy got out of the chair and walked towards Shion, on the way, both looked at each other for a moment, knowing that later they would have a serious conversation about it.
***
Aries transported the boy to the temple of Pisces, now that he was healed Bafi could continue life normally and Shion hoped not to cross a word with the child until he could really help him. He didn't want to risk suffering again after knowing that he would experience the same rejection as in the past:
"It's almost dinner time, go inside and don't worry for Elyn, I'll talk to her."
They both looked into each other's eyes for a few seconds, establishing a connection that only they seemed to understand. Shion's heart raced, like all the times he had long ago traversed the twelfth Temple in search of the Saint of Pisces. Bafi raised his arms and Shion felt a chill that left him breathless. The child's hands opened and closed in unison, urging him down as a smile played across the Bafi's face. Shion knelt down, not even blinking, and at the end, the Bafi's arms clutched at his neck:
"Thanks for helping me, Shion..."
Tears welled up in the Aries's gaze. Those words penetrated deep within him. It was Albafica's voice, his tone when speaking. The destiny was giving him the only thing he had needed in the past to feel full of happiness.
Biting her lower lip, Shion hugged the little boy back, unable to help but cry right there; however, for some reason, his crying made Bafi start laughing and the more the boy laughed, the more tears came out of his purple eyes. In contrast to his poisonous blood, Albafica's laughter could cure any evil on the face of the Earth and the child was demonstrating it with the darkness of his heart.
Finally, Bafi's laughter caught him and the Aries laughed as he parted with him:
"Your hair tickled me."
"Oh I'm sorry." He replied wiping away the tears.
"It doesn't matter, you smell good. Is it because you take a shower every day?"
Shion blinked with surprise because precisely in the last few days not that he had followed that rule to the letter but, obviously, he preferred to assent and lie:
"I knew..." Suddenly, the child's belly roared.
"You better go to dinner."
"Oh yeah! I'm hungry!" The little boy started running towards his home in to the Pisces Temple but halfway decided to stop and turn around "By the way, Sir... You forgot it! My name is Bafi but I will forgive you for taking me to the special nurse!"
And then yes, the boy ran until he was lost in the house of the twelfth temple.
*Tara: Original character of @YuunSoda whose relationship with Shion and the previous Holy War seemed perfect to include in the history of Bafi.