I awoke to the normal sounds of our small section of Rome we call, 'Home.' I searched through my dresser and found one of my favorite green tunics, putting it on as fast as my name. I put on my sandals, then looked at the calendar. I noticed the date, then grabbed two presents from underneath my bed: one wrapped in red, the other blue. They were small trinkets, but to my best friends, they meant everything. I opened my door, and quickly found my parents. "Mom, Dad, can I go see Terra and Aqua? I've got to give them their Saturnalia presents!" Mom giggled, then nodded. I ran out of the house, presents in arm's tow, heading to Terra's house first.
I pounded on Terra's front door, hoping that my Plebeian friend was awake. I heard some shuffling, then the door opened. Terra stood in the doorway, red tunic on, overshadowing me on height by about half my size. His blue eyes looked at me, then he said, "Hey, Ven! What's up?" I looked at him, then with a joking grin, I said, "You mean to tell me you forgot about today? I guess that I'll have to keep your present then." "I didn't forget, dummy. Let's go get Aqua." He said, putting his hair in its normal hairstyle, large spikes.
We had to walk all across town, but we managed to get to the nobilis side, where Aqua lived. We found her in her large backyard, her traditional blue tunic on, watching the clouds pass by. "AQUA!" I yelled, trying to get her attention. She looked over to us, smiled, then waved us over. As soon as we finished running there, Terra barely beating me, Aqua gave us both a hug. "Terra, Ventus, Happy Saturnalia!" I smiled, and we all broke apart. Aqua was as tall as Terra was, but instead of brown hair, hers was light blue, like water. However, one trait we all had was our blue eyes, all ready for excitement. Aqua went over to a nearby bench, and pulled out two large, round presents, one wrapped green, my color, the other red, Terra's color. I grabbed mine and tore the simple paper off of it, showing a small shield with my family's crest on it. I looked at Terra's to see a similar gift. "Thanks, Aqua." I said, strapping the shield onto my arm. Terra strapped his on as well, thanking Aqua, then pulled out two large presents for us. I got to mine second, then found that it was a small sword, the blade being as long as my forearm. "Ven, yours is meant to be used backhanded. Aqua, yours is mainly for defensive purposes." Terra said to us, explaining my sword and Aqua's thin one. I put my new sword in my shield hand, then pulled out the two presents out and handed them to their respective owners. I pulled my own, similar trinket out, as they were opening theirs. As soon as they saw their metal and glass stars, I spoke up. "It's something I'm calling a 'Wayfinder.' I made one for each of us. This way, we will always be together." Terra chuckled, and Aqua giggled. "Thank you Ven." Aqua said.
We were walking to town, trying to decide how we would celebrate the rest of our Saturnalia, when a boy as tall as me, dressed in a black tunic, with large, spiky black hair, stood in our way. By the many patches on his tunic, I could tell that he was a slave. "You people disgust me." He said to us, staring at us with his creepy, golden eyes. He pulled out his own sword, with gear marks on it's lower part of it's blade, and charged at Aqua. She raised her own shield to defend herself, while Terra and I pulled our own swords out. He easily knocked Terra out of the way, but I managed to block him. I knocked him away form Aqua, who had her own sword out now, and we each held out our swords at the boy. He got up, laughed, then went after Terra this time. We went over to stop him, but he turned, caught us off guard, and tried to swing at me. I blocked it with my shield in time, and Terra and Aqua pointed their swords at him. I was about to try and knock his feet out from underneath him, but another thought occurred to me. I sheathed my sword, and instructed my friends to do the same. I grabbed his sword arm, making sure that he couldn't try and swing at me, and I asked him, "Can you please calm down? I want to be civilized now, not a gladiator." The boy in black slacked his arm, so I released it. He sheathed his sword, then said, "My name is Vanitas. I was instructed by my father to do this. I never wanted to." He then hung his head in shame. Aqua frowned, then walked over to him, giving him a small hug, to which he started crying. Terra and I rushed over to try and help, and saw many scars on his back. Terra, Aqua and I looked at one another, then nodded.
"Hey, Vanitas. How about we spend our Saturnalia together?" I asked him. He looked at me, eyes filled with doubt, then asked, "Why would you? I just tried to hurt you guys." Terra patted his shoulder, which had no scars, and said, "It's Saturnalia, a day where the caste is nonexistent. We would love to have you here." Aqua ruffled his hair, then said, "We also forgive easily, to those who deserve it." He smiled, his eyes no longer red from tears, and nodded. We went into town, into the shopping area, where Terra got him a new, black tunic, which had small streams of blood red fabric making a multi-layered heart over his chest. Aqua got him his own shield, with a large blue snake's eye in the center. I bought multiple pieces of bronze, and amber glass, along with enough string, and made him his own Wayfinder. "Thank you, guys. This means a lot." He said. We all smiled, happy about our new-found friendship.