A/N: Here's Chapter 11, which I hope you enjoy. And thank once again to everyone who has reviewed or followed or favourited this story. I reached 36 reviews, which is highly exciting and a very awesome number :)

I also want to point out a historical aspect that I should have referenced in the last chapter, and that MarissaWindfee reminded me of, because I used the terms 'gay' and 'lesbian' in a Roman context, despite the fact that 'lesbian' only recieved it's present meaning in the 19th century, and 'gay' not until the 20th century; in Roman times, they did not have a specific word for homosexuality - which is why I am using modern words - but it was mostly accepted, especially for men. I hope that clears that up :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee.

"So, where exactly are we going?" Nick asked Sebastian, as the older boy strode hurriedly in front of them.

They'd been walking for what seemed like ages, but didn't appear to be getting any closer to their destination. It didn't help that Naples was a completely unknown city to all of them, and as much as Sebastian tried to pretend that he knew where he was going, Nick was pretty sure that he'd already got them lost a few times.

"And, Seb, will you slow down," Nick cried in frustration, as the other boy managed to walk even faster.

"It's not my fault that your legs are too short to keep up," Sebastian sighed, halting and turning around, "I don't what's up with Jeff though, unless he just walks slowly." He caught sight of the fact Nick had a hold on Jeff's hand to stop him getting lost in the large crowds they were meeting further in the city, and he smirked. "Or it's just that you two can't go five minutes without touching each other."

"Shut it, Seb," Nick practically growled, "And keep walking before I shove something up your…"

"Alright, Nicky-boy, keep your fantasies to yourself," Sebastian quickly interrupted, "We're almost there anyway."

"Good," Nick muttered, dragging Jeff with him as they followed their friend down another street.

About halfway along, Sebastian stopped them in front of a large building, with ornate decoration surrounding the entrance.

"It's a theatre," Nick stated, "Why are we at a theatre?"

Sebastian rolled his eyes.

"Do you have to question everything, Nicky?" he asked, "Just have a little faith and go inside, would you?"

Nick frowned but didn't say anything in return. He and Jeff crossed the threshold of the theatre and were immediately greeted by a tall guard in front of them. Both boys remembered that they were still holding hands at that moment and quickly separated, hoping that the guard hadn't noticed.

"It's okay, guys, it's me," the guard said suddenly, removing his helmet. Nick and Jeff breathed out a sigh of relief when they realised that it was only Hunter.

"Hunt? What are you doing here?" Sebastian cried, noticing his friend and hurrying over, "You never said that you were coming down here as well."

Hunter smiled at the fact Sebastian seemed so pleased to see him.

"I only found out just before we left," he said, "I didn't have a chance to see you until now."

Nick and Jeff both watched their two friends with small knowing smiles on their faces.

"Seb, we're going to go in," Nick said, "We'll see you in there." Sebastian didn't appear to hear him though; he was too busy chattering away to Hunter about how wonderful it was that he was also there.

"I think Seb's reached the lovesick stage," Jeff whispered as they walked further into the theatre.

Nick scoffed.

"He reached that ages ago," he said, "If the two of them don't get together soon, I'm going to force them to sit down and confess their feelings to each other."

"I thought I told you not to interfere," Jeff said with a grin.

"But it's so frustrating," Nick whined childishly, "It's so blinding obvious; I don't think anybody else could be so oblivious."

Jeff laughed and agreed with him.

"Ah, Nicholas, so good of you to join us," Nick's father said as they entered the main body of the theatre, pointedly ignoring Jeff. "The performance is just about to start, so if you want to find your seat, you'll be sitting with Sebastian just down there." He pointed to a group of seats down in the lowest tier, just to the side of the main seats for the other senators. "And I've also made arrangements for your slave to sit with you," he continued, almost grudgingly, "Apparently Sebastian thinks it's a good idea for you two to say together; I don't know why, but I trust that boy's judgement. He takes after his father."

"Of course, thank you," Nick replied, wondering how great an actor Sebastian must be to have convinced his father that he not only took after his own father, but also to have persuaded him to let Jeff stay with them. "And, just out of curiosity," Nick added, "What is happening here? Nobody has told us anything."

Nick's father smiled.

"This is the Emperor's great surprise," he said dramatically, "This is the reason for our visit to Naples." He didn't appear to want to elaborate any more than that, so Nick just nodded in return, and led Jeff away to their seats. He gave his mother a small smile as acknowledgment as they passed her, but she barely spared them a glance; she was more interested in her conversation with Sebastian's stepmother.

"If this is just a glorified popularity speech, I will not be happy," Nick said, as they sat themselves down in their seats, "Seriously, why does he need a theatre?"

"He is the Emperor," Jeff pointed out, "He can't just stand and shout in the street, can he?"

"No one would listen if he did," Nick said, looking thoroughly annoyed that they were being forced to attend this event.

"Shh," Jeff quickly hushed him, "That's a dangerous thing to say, especially when surrounded by all of these senators and guards. Anyway, we're supposed to be keeping an eye on the Emperor for Wes."

Nick pouted.

"But we're by the coast, and I wanted to actually see it properly for once, instead of from a nasty ship in the middle of the night," he said, "We could have gone and walked by the sea, and it would have been amazing, we wouldn't even have to worry about the Emperor or my parents trying to treat you like a slave. We could have gone swimming, or something!"

"That does sound nice," Jeff mused, his mind wandering onto the thought of walking along the coastline with Nick, and then the two of them going swimming; not having to care about anything or anyone else, apart from each other.

"Instead we're stuck here," Nick said, "Waiting for show that'll probably bore the brains out of everyone here. I mean, seriously, why are all of these local people arriving to watch? Why are they here out of choice?"

"I see Nick's complaining already," Sebastian's voice interrupted them, "That's always a good sign."

"How nice of you to join us, Seb," Nick said, "How did you manage to tear yourself away from Hunter?"

"At least I'm able to function without him," Seb shot back, "Unlike you and Jeff."

"Fine," Nick huffed. "Actually, we should be thanking you for convincing my father to let Jeff sit with us, that was very, er, kind of you."

Sebastian smirked.

"It was nothing," he said, "Anyway, I knew this event would be more boring, so I thought that I could at least watch you two if I want some form of entertainment."

Nick rolled his eyes, but knew that he should be grateful for what Sebastian had done, regardless of his motives.

A sudden hush fell over the occupants of the theatre, and the Emperor himself appeared on the stage. Nick, mentally prepared himself to tune out whatever speech he was about to give, but nothing could have warned him for what did actually happen.

The Emperor began singing.

Nick and Jeff simultaneously looked at each other, the confusion evident on both of them faces. Nick listened to the words of the opera piece that the Emperor was currently performing; there didn't even appear to be political message hidden in it, it was just a song. He didn't have a clue what was going on, but everyone else around him appeared to be enjoying the spectacle. Meanwhile, Jeff was utterly bewildered. He'd been expecting a large speech, as Nick had said, and now the Emperor was singing in Greek, a language that Jeff himself didn't understand, although everyone else seemed to. If Jeff was completely honest, the Emperor was making an utter fool of himself, he wasn't showing himself as strong by making some vitally important ruling decisions; instead he was singing an opera, when he should have been leading the Empire.

Suddenly, as the Emperor launched into a new verse, there was a violent jolt as the ground started shaking. The audience looked panicked, but remained in their seats as the Emperor just kept singing.

"What was that?" Jeff whispered, as he clutched Nick's arm in fear.

"I don't know," Nick whispered back, gripping his seat as though he was worried he might be knocked to the floor. They both cast a glance at Sebastian, who looked terrified for once.

"Seb, are you okay?" Jeff asked, actually concerned about how pale the older boy had gone.

"Yeah," Seb nodded, "I'm fine, it just took me surprise, that's all."

Nick and Jeff nodded sympathetically, and then turned their attention back to the Emperor and his performance.

At the end, the Emperor took a bow and thanked them.

"Thank you for your kind applause," he said, and then he lifted his arms up to the sky, "And thank you to the gods for their kind applause, also."

Nick turned to Sebastian and Jeff.

"Surely he can't think that was the applause of the gods," he said, "More like a bad omen; I would have said the gods were angry about something."

Sebastian shrugged.

"Either way," he said, "I think it's a sign that something is about to happen; whether it's good or bad though, I don't know."

They left Naples that night, bidding goodbye to Brittany and Santana; promising them that they'd hopefully see them again. Britt had been very heartbroken to see them go, and had wished her favourite dolphins luck in whatever they did next. Nick and Jeff, still mildly embarrassed about the dolphins comment, had just smiled and hugged her. Santana said that they were hoping to visit Rome soon, so hopefully they would be able to see them there, and they had all promised to try and contact each other.

The boat journey back to Rome wasn't as bad as the first one. While Nick still insisted on travelling with Jeff and the other slaves, they'd at least hired a different ship that appeared to be a lot more seaworthy than the last.

Nick woke up the next morning in his own bed. He had to be up and ready in record time for the Emperor's sudden festival procession that he'd decided to hold. Not content with just his performance in Naples, Nero had organised an extravagant parade in honour of himself, before he left the city to relax at his villa in Antium. Nick thought it was overly excessive and unnecessary. The Emperor wasn't even bothering to stay in the city to connect with the citizens properly, he was just being hurried away to his magnificent villa to relax; most probably, while someone else ran the Senate for him.

Nick's parents had found them a prominent place to stand in the crowd, but Sebastian soon arrived, saying that Wes wanted to see them and he'd got another vantage point just further down the Via Sacra. Grudgingly, Nick's father allowed them to go, clearly disappointed that he couldn't force his son to stay with them and cheer the Emperor on with the support that he thought their ruler deserved.

They met up with Wes and David underneath the colonnades.

"Anything to report from Naples?" Wes asked, his voice dropping in volume so that they wouldn't be overheard.

"Not much," Nick replied, "We thought the Emperor was going to make a political speech, and all he did was sing one of the opera's that he composed himself."

Wes frowned.

"He sang an opera?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yes," Sebastian nodded, "Apparently the senators encouraged it because they thought that it would improve his popularity with the ordinary people; in truth, he looked like an idiot."

"Especially since the ground started shaking during it," Jeff added.

"The ground shook?"

"It did," Nick said, "Very violently as well. The Emperor claimed that it was the applause of the gods, we think it was a terrible omen."

Wes shivered involuntarily.

"I hope not," he said, "Because who knows what will happen then."

The others agreed with him, but their conversation was cut short by the sudden sound of the procession approaching. First, there came a number of the Praetorian Guard on horseback; Sebastian quickly spotted Hunter and began waving madly.

"Doesn't he look smart in his uniform?" he practically gushed, and Nick rolled his eyes, while Wes reached out and slapped the older boy.

"Who are you and what have you done with Sebastian?" he asked, "You're practically cooing over a grown man."

Sebastian, despite rubbing his cheek where Wes had slapped him, didn't appear to hear the rest of what he said.

"He didn't even wave back," he pouted, actually looking offended by this.

Nick practically snorted with laughter.

"He's on parade on horseback," he said, "He can't just stop and wave at you; he probably can't even hear you."

"Alright, Nicky-boy," Sebastian retorted, "If that had been a certain blonde up there, you'd have been practically throwing yourself on the ground to get his attention."

"Shut it, Seb," Nick said, he looked almost murderous, as he hoped that Jeff hadn't heard Sebastian's comment over the noise around them.

"But you don't deny it?" Sebastian asked, deliberately provoking his friend. Nick didn't say anything this time, he just shoved Sebastian violently.

"Hey!" Wes cried, noticing the two of them and standing in between them, "Do you seriously have to act like squabbling idiots all the time? Now, leave each other alone, or I'll drop some seriously obvious hints to both Hunter and Jeff. Do you understand?"

Both Sebastian and Nick gulped, nodding quickly in assent.

The guards had passed on, by then, and next came slaves bearing large statues of each of the gods.

"Wow," Jeff said in wonderment, gazing at the bright colours that adorned them.

"They're beautiful, aren't they?" Nick said in return, and Jeff nodded eagerly, seemingly mesmerised by them.

"That's going too far," Wes suddenly said angrily, motioning towards a large statue of the Emperor himself in the middle of the other statues of the deities, "He's proclaiming himself as a divine being already, even though he's supposed to be granted divine status after death only, and on the decision of the Senate." The others muttered their agreement, as Wes quietly seethed about the audacity of Nero.

Soon, the Emperor himself was approaching. He was being carried by a number of slaves, and was held aloft on a resplendent lectica. He waved to the populace who had turned out to greet him, but Jeff couldn't help comparing the volume of the cheering with the noise that filled areas of Rome, such as the Forum. There was a considerable difference, and Jeff knew that people were not applauding with as much effort as they could have been. Did this show the unpopularity of the Emperor? Or just a lack of enthusiasm on the part of the ordinary citizens for the showing off of such a lavish spectacle? Either way, Jeff couldn't stop thinking about that possible bad omen. Was it for the Emperor? Him and Nick? Or the whole of Rome itself?

A/N: So, this bad omen? Well, you'll have to wait and see about that one, unless you want to try and guess it?

Lots of historical points for this chapter, unlike the last one:

1. The theatre in Naples where Nero sings is actually still open to the public today - it is commonly known as Nero's Theatre, but it's real name is Napoli Sotteranea and actually lies under a modern home.

2. Nero did actually sing at Naples in 64AD, and it was the first public performance of his work: an opera in Greek which he composed himself. He refused to perform it in Rome because it didn't have the 'Greek' feel like Naples did. The minor earthquake in this story really did happen during his performance, and Nero continued to perform while it occurred; he thanked the gods and the audience for their applause at the end. The performance was encouraged by his senators to improve his popularity, but many other people felt that he'd just embarrassed himself.

3. Nero's villa at Antium is mentioned here, and does exist, being one of the most elaborate villas that is known, there will be another reference to this villa later on.

4. 'Via Sacra' means the 'Sacred Way' (literally: Sacred Street) in Rome, and was the path that most Roman processions took place along; Nero had it paved and fitted with colonnades.

5. Here, Wes talks about giving an Emperor 'divine status', which means giving them the same sort of status as a deity. Originally, and in Nero's time, it was granted to an Emperor after his death, and was decided upon by the Senate; although, later in the era, Emperors were granted divine status during their lifetimes.

6. A 'lectica' is mode of transport that was used by the Emperor and his family, it is a type of litter, and is often called a 'sedan chair' in English. It does not have wheels, and is instead carried by other people.

Sorry about the long author's note, and thank you for reading, please leave a review and tell me what you thought! Or ask a question about the story of the history behind it :)