The arrival of Vitani to the Sanctuary took a little longer than expected, on the one hand it implied good news but on the other... that the Finn girl arrived there could only mean that finally, she had been left alone. The instructions that Milo received were short, concise and above all, communicated by Camus because he seemed to be the only one who understood: "She is twelve years old. Her father was murdered by his own employees and her mother has died of an illness, don't be a cretin with her; she is also a Scorpio so please, control yourself that you are already older. Explain her the most strictly necessary during the weekend, Athena will talk with her at length from Monday."
"Tsk, damn it... she had to arrive precisely on the weekend. *"
"Yes, so you have to put in extra hours, Milo. Refocus." Camus replied as if he had read his mind although it wasn't surprising, they had known each other since their earliest childhood.
The Scorpio saint smirked as he loved to see Camus so serious while he practically only noticed the movement of his lips until he made him lose patience but for some reason, Camus didn't give him the pleasure of seeing him angry that afternoon. At the end of their meeting, Aquarius went to his temple but not before warning his friend that if he had any problem, he should contact Elyn as soon as possible.
***
Around eight o'clock in the afternoon, the Pisces Australis cosmos in the eighth temple indicated that his future apprendice had arrived to settle permanently in the Sanctuary so that Milo went to the entrance of his home to receive them. He saw a girl much older than the supposed twelve years that Camus mentioned but perhaps it was due to the strange clothing she was wearing: a navy blue velvet dress that looked like something out of the 18th century, gold trimmings and white patent leather shoes next to endless accessories full of lace and rhinestones. Her face was made of porcelain, her long wavy hair would compete with the gold of the scorpion's cloth and her eyes, shone between red and violet, assimilating to precious stones such as... the rubies:
"You're very chivalrous welcoming us, Milo." Elyn said with a sarcasm's smile.
"Camus told me to do it."
"I suposed it. Ok, let me introduce you to Vitani, she handles English very well but if you feel the communication is complicated... you can talk to her via cosmos, she knows certain terms and even if she doesn't answer you... at least she'll understand you."
Scorpio nodded in agreement with the new directions he received. So he looked at the girl and introduced himself formally, receiving a delicate reply in perfect English that made him think that he would almost certainly be the only one having trouble understanding her due to Vitani's wonderful pronunciation:
"Well, as I told Shura back in the day... 'package delivered.' Now she's your problem."
"Camus told me that..."
"Yes, yes, if you have any problems let me know but I think if the goat managed to take care of Sira and not die trying… I doubt that you have any difficulties."
***
Sira. Problems? Shura wishes he had been that lucky.
To the surprise of the inhabitants of the Twelve Temples, the discussions in the home of the scorpio kept them in tension throughout the weekend.
It was impossible to keep Vitani and Milo together in the same room without both getting into a verbal fight, they looked as furious cats no matter what language they used to defend themselves; the thing was simple: Vitani had understood literally that this temple was 'her new home' and Milo compared the girl to a visitor. They didn't understand each other and argued for any details: the dinner, the rooms, the bed... even the SHAMPOO. It all seemed like a perfect excuse to start a confrontation:
"I demand that you make me dinner!"
"I've been telling you all day that you have the refrigerator there, Vitani! Take what you want and leave me alone!"
"I don't have to cook or take anything! I order you to make me dinner, I'm starving!"
"I'm not going to do it."
"ARG, MAKE THE DINNER, IT'S AN ORDER, SCORPIO!"
Tired of the girl's 'orders' throughout the day, Milo clenched his fist and hit the wall closest to him. This gesture scared Vitani but the girl tried to compose herself as quickly as possible and maintain her proud attitude over her fear:
"It's the last time... that you are going to pronounce that phrase in this temple. The only person who can orders me something is the Goddess Athena."
"T-Then stop protesting and make..."
"Enough, Vitani! Get the damn idea that you no longer have servants at your service or are you a spoiled little princess. Now, you are a damn pawn at the service of a greek goddess! So stop whining and learn to do things yourself or you will die just like your family."
"MILO!" Elyn yelled, entering into the hidden house of the eighth temple as a fury.
The place fell silent.
Scorpio took advantage of that lapse to think quickly about his words when he saw the expression of horror on Vitani's face and the enraged eyes of Camus's younger sister, he had undoubtedly screwed up to the bottom:
"Vitani" Elyn said, trying to keep calm "Take your things and spend the night with Sira, please go up to the temple of Capricorn and wait for me there."
The girl didn't waste a second, marching maintaining a dignified posture towards her supposed room, grabbed her travel backpack and left the temple, hiding behind her eyes the deep sorrow that Milo's words had caused her:
"What do you think you're doing here?"
"I have come to prevent you from tormenting people with your screams."
"MY SCREAMS!? SORRY BUT THAT 'GIRL' ALSO SCREAMS WHEN THE WIRES ARE CROSSED IN HER MIND!
"Of course she screams, damn it! EVERYONE SCREAM IN THIS TEMPLE BECAUSE YOU TRANSFORMING PEOPLE INTO MONSTERS! Are you asshole or what, Milo?! What the hell were you thinking for saying this to Vitani!?"
A new fight broke out under the walls of the eighth temple. The inhabitants of the twelve houses sighed in their respective homes, although luckily there were only a few hours left for Saori to return from the Sanctuary rest, so the control of the situation would soon be reestablished. The weekend was becoming chaotic, too much for the peace that exuded in the sacred place despite Sira's arrival months ago.
***
As she climbed the steps to Capricorn, tears were streaming down Vitani's face. Her mother, former servant of Shion as Grand Pope, had told her many things about the Sanctuary and its inhabitants, their customs and ways of thinking but to adapt to that place full of magical powers, shining armor and to top it off, anchored in a past worthy of Greek culture was too much for her. Everything that her mind had taken as fantasy turned out to be true in that part of the world far from reality, no matter how much the hidden homes of the twelve temples had electricity, hot water or internet.
Vitani stopped her pace before entering Sagittarius temple, continuing to climb implied accepting that she would end up living in the shadow of an entity that would direct her life and that she would be part of a fantasy circus that would try to remove from her mind the recent pain of having lost her mother and father; something that would plunge her from being… someone normal. The decisive question was then posed: Did she really want her life to revolve around training in a coliseum, developing the cosmos and protecting a unknow girl... who claimed to be the reincarnation of the goddess Athena?
* Headcanon: In this timeline, Saori decided that on weekends -except for urgent necessity- matters of the Sanctuary wouldn't be attended to.