I just had this damn plot bunny in my head for the past week and I needed to write so here it is.

Summary: Knowledge is power. People seek power. Some good, some evil. In the end, those who use knowledge for good will defeat those who use knowledge evil. But knowledge is also sacrifice. The question is not "How much knowledge do you have?" Rather, it is "How selfless will you be with your knowledge?"

Rated T because of swearing and violence.

Disclaimer: I do not own Hetaila.

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"A red rose is not selfish because it wants to be a red rose. It would be horribly selfish if it wanted all the other flowers in the garden to be both red and roses."-Oscar Wilde

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Rome was selfish.

Even he himself knew that. In his mind, he was top priority. Although, he did love all his little ones very much but….somewhere in his twisted head, Rome always came first. But Rome felt like he was dying. He wasn't supposed to ever feel like this. He was the Great Roman Empire, after all. His empire was never supposed to fall.

Where are the others? Rome thought. Aren't they coming to save me? We'd promised to stick together against these gods-awful foes. Rome let out a whimper. Everything hurt. How had his foes so easily defeated him? He had super-strength. But he had been outnumbered.

Seven.

The Seven.

The Seven, as Rome and the others liked to call them, were formidable foes. There were only seven of them and they had still been able to defeat Rome and multiple other empires. Even with the help of the help of those from the far west, they could not defeat these hooded figures.

"Aliquis adiuva!" Rome cried out. Was anyone coming? Rome had said he'd be back by now so shouldn't the other empires be looking for him and finding him? Perhaps he was well hidden? He didn't recognize his surroundings at all. He cried louder, "Aliquis adiuva!"

"Hush up child!" Called a voice. Rome glanced in the direction of the voice (he was chained to a wall). A man in a red robe came forward from the darkness along with 6 other hooded figures following him.

"I am not a child!" Rome practically screamed. He lunged at the man but his chains held him back. Rome struggled against them anyways.

"Do not strain yourself, Great Roma. It will only make things worse."

Rome laughed but not in a very friendly way. He asked, "Why am I here?" It was the man's turn to laugh.

"Oh, child, are you really that daft? You have discovered our true identities, have you not?"

"I have but I don't see why I am the only one here? If I remember correctly, you plan to dominate us all?" All seven of the hooded figures laughed. A woman in a green robe stepped forward, standing next to the man in the red robe.

"You are very selfish, Rome. We don't value selfishness. We value knowledge."

"Wrong. You only value knowledge if somebody is knowledgeable of you and what you are cable of." Rome snorted.

"Perhaps that is true but we also value Earth and all She brings forth. All Her diversity. You, Rome, are the only one here because you are the must powerful, you challenge diversity, and you challenge equality." Rome could here the disgust in the woman's voice.

Rome shrugged and said, "I'm simply expanding my empire."

"And destroying diversity and equality."

"Maybe so. But you plan on enslaving everybody and making everyone the same. You'd be ruining diversity and equality."

"No. With everyone the same, there is no diversity and equality to destroy."

"But you said you value those things?" Rome was confused now.

"We do but I wouldn't expect your simple mind to understand that. We also need to use you to help us get what we want. Since you already know what we want, we can cut the chit-chat." The man in the red stated.

"I will never do what you want." Rome turned away from The Seven. He prayed to the gods that the others would show up soon. He felt someone cup his chin with their hand and slowly turn his head back toward The Seven. It was the green-hooded woman. Her face was only inches from his own and Rome still could not make out the details of her face. He could make out her sinister smile, though.

"You are rather close to those long gone, aren't you? You are a rare one, Rome. And you know it." The woman began. Rome cringed slightly. "To become so powerful so fast, Romulus…. Do your so called "friends" know that you killed your own brother to be more powerful? Do your precious "little ones" know that deep down you love yourself more than them?" Rome cringed even more at the mention of his brother. "I will give you two options: Everyone else, including those of the future or yourself?"

Before Rome could answer, there was a loud explosion and everything shook. When the dust cleared, Rome saw a large hole in the wall on his left. Rome smiled. His friends had arrived. The first one in was Gaul. Although, she was a bit boyish, she did come in handy while fighting quite often. She was a very dirty fighter.

"Well zat was one BIIIIIG explosion!" Gaul shouted. The other empires slowly filled in behind her. She glanced at Rome. "Bonjour, Rome!"

"Gaul, I'd hate to be a downer but could you, uh, help?" Rome asked sarcastically.

"Oh, right!" Gaul faced all the other empires and shouted, "Let's get rid of zese bastards once and for all!" The empires all shouted in agreement and they charged The Seven. However, Rome saw Britannia go off to one of the corners of the room and open up a dusty looking book. She began chanting something. Good, Rome thought, whatever she's saying will send The Seven back to their prison. It wasn't one of her spells. Oh no, it was something so ancient that it even predated China. This spell (or saying, which is perhaps the better word to use) would be the end of The Seven (at least for the time being).

"Choose, Rome. Everyone else or yourself?" The woman in green, who was still holding his chin, asked. Rome knew The Seven wouldn't be bothering him for a long time so he thought, Why not?

"Myself. Because we are going to win and it doesn't matter what I say. It won't make a difference." Rome said, a smirk on his face.

"You truly are selfish, Romulus. And for that you will be punished." Rome felt a sharp pain shoot through him. The green-hooded woman backed away as Rome slid down the wall, a knife sticking out off his gut. He groaned in pain. The green-hooded woman bent down; a cocky smile was all Rome could see on her face.

"That wasn't the only punishment. One day, in the future, there will be another nation just like you and all of this," she gestured to the fight behind her, "will happen to him. And it will be all. Your. Fault."

Rome replied with a grunt of pain.

"Also, someday not soon or perhaps not someday far, the Great Roman Empire will collapse." The green-hooded woman gave Rome one last sinister smile and then slowly walked towards the fighting. Slowly, Rome could hear Britannia's chant above the fighting and when she stopped chanting, The Seven began to glow. They got brighter and brighter and screamed in agony and pain. In the blink of an eye, they were gone. All the empires cheered, except for Rome who felt like he was dying again. It was over. It was really all over.

But Rome was still selfish.

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So is this story crap or not? Let me know by reviewing! And if you couldn't figure it out, Gaul is France's mom.

Translations:

Aliquis adiuva-Somebody help

Bonjour-Hello

Thank ya'll so much! Bye!