Something has gone wrong. Very wrong! Five of the Sailor Soldiers are in...Ancient Rome?!

And one is about to have a _really_ bad day...

Sailor Moon belongs to Naoko Takeuchi, Toei Animation, DiC, and Cloverway, in that

order. I make no money by this. More's the pity.

All other characters _not_ taken from History are mine, and you must ask permission to

use them, if you can find a way of using them outside this.

_This_ is emphasis. *This* is thought.

Kudos to the movie Gladiator, which was the inspiration for this.

And now, Scorpinac Fanfic Productions presents:

******************************************************************************

Sailor Moon

Roman Legends

by Scorpinac

Chapter 5: Rape

As it turned out, Ami eventually came to believe Hotaru's suspicions were unfounded.

After five days, nothing had happened, at least so far as she saw. Hotaru continued to feel

nervous about Eleutherios, but until he actually tried something, she wouldn't push it.

Iosif was always the perfect gentleman around Ami, and as the days began to pass, it

became increasingly clear that he was indeed infatuated with her. Ami chose not to dissuade him,

but did nothing to encourage him either, wanting not to get involved one way or the other.

Hrisoula proved to be a very decent "master", treating both girls well, and seeing that they

were both well fed, rarely raising her voice except when irritated. Though a bit eccentric in her

ways, she was clearly a good person to all who lived with her. Every now and then she'd

summon one of her servants to the third floor landing to debate a scroll's writings for a while, or

discuss the value of an item she was going to sell, or simply because she'd thought of an errand

she wanted run immediately, but all in all, she was harmless.

As it turned, Hrisoula acquired her wares from traveling caravans mostly, some of the

shawls and busts made by Iosif or herself in their spare time. Most caravans to pass the town

would typically stop along the outskirts during midday. She'd purchase several goods from a

caravan as it passed town, paying those who sold them handsomely, and then sold them out to the

townsfolk at her own prices. Sometimes tourists on foot in very small groups would stop by and

purchase something.

As Ami and Hotaru waited patiently for their friends to retrieve them, three days went by,

then four, then five, and then a whole week had passed since they had arrived. Then two weeks.

After fifteen days, Ami started to worry about what was taking so long.

As for Eleutherios, after six days he began making more sketches...this time of a girl with

short black hair, and violet eyes...

* * *

It was their fifteenth day in Ancient Rome, and Hotaru was washing the morning dishes.

She had found she actually enjoyed the quiet of the afternoon, and was quietly humming to herself

as she scrubbed the plates and pans clean. Iosif had been sent on a special errand to the other side

of the city by Hrisoula that morning, so the only other one in the big house was Eleutherios, but

he was upstairs tending the library on the third floor.

In her opinion, Eleutherios was still creepy, but she still couldn't put her finger on why. It

was as if he was constantly watching her, eyeing her, and at times it felt like he was downright

mentally stripping her! But as the days had gone by, she'd come to deal with her pent up tension,

and was letting it slide until he actually tried something.

What really crept her out more than anything else was that since the first night she'd seen

her mystery watcher at her door five times more after she'd retired for bed. By the ninth day the

recurrence of this, along with several times she felt sure she was being watched but hadn't dared

to look, had driven her to closing her door tightly when she went to bed. But so far on at least

two occurrences since then she had awoken to find the door had been reopened again after she'd

gone to sleep.

But in the end Ami's advice stood, and as the senior Senshi, she had prerogative. Hotaru

just hoped she was right. But for now it was quiet, and she was happy just to be alone with her

thoughts and her humming. Though she did wish the others would get a move on in finding and

retrieving them.

Behind her, Eleutherios stepped into the door, and stared at her, watching her. Hotaru

didn't notice yet, and he didn't make any noise. He just watched, examining every line, every

curve, every strand of hair. Finally, he walked forward.

"Hotaru," he said. Hotaru flinched, her eyes widening in nervousness, yet kept her back

to him.

"Yes?"

"Could you come upstairs with me a moment? I have something I want to show you," he

said calmly.

"What?"

"Come up and you'll see." Hotaru thought about it a moment. *Was this wise? Maybe I

should ask him to wait until Ami and Hrisoula get back... or at least Iosif...*

"I don't know..."

"Come on, you'll like it. Don't worry, I don't bite," Eleutherios told her. "Unless you

want me to." Gulp!

"Uh...that's nice, Eleutherios, but I still have dishes to wash, so maybe later?"

"Later?" Eleutherios's eyes darkened. *Why hasn't she even turned around?* "Like

when one of the others are back?"

"Can't it wait?" Hotaru whispered, sweat beginning to slide down her cheek. Eleutherios

stared into her head for a while longer, then softened, and turned away, raising a hand to his

chest.

"That hurts, Hotaru," he said, a note of pain in his voice. Hotaru blinked, and despite

herself, turned her head to look at him. "I thought you would trust me after two weeks. I

thought you would like me."

"It's not that I don't like you," Hotaru turned completely. "It's just...well...you sort of...

make me nervous..."

"Nervous?" Eleutherios looked up in surprise. *But is it genuine?* she thought.

"I don't know why...you just...do..." Hotaru said slowly, unsure of how to proceed on

this. Eleutherios moved forward and took her hand.

"All I ask is you come to see something. That's all," he said. "Surely it's not that big a

request?"

"Well..." Hotaru hesitated. *I just know this is a mistake!* "Okay..."

Eleutherios led her from the kitchen and up the stairs. He then drew her to his room, and

she glanced at the desk in the corner. Eleutherios then directed her to the table, quickly lighting

the desk candle so she could see. He lifted one of the drawings on it for her to look at. She

looked at it for a moment, and inwardly cringed.

"Uh, Eleutherios, I don't know what to say," she said. "They're very good."

"Really?" he asked. "You think it's a good likeness? I did try to capture your beautiful

innocence."

"Uh, thank you," Hotaru said as she continued to stare at the hand drawn picture...of

herself. What really bothered her, is that the picture depicted her sitting in a garden with small

animals rustling near her - squirrels, small birds, a cat - while in the nude. Eleutherios picked up

the other parchments and sifted through them, then handed three more to her.

"How do you like these?" he asked. One depicted Hotaru wearing an extremely beautiful

noblewoman's gown in a hallway. Another had her again nude, this time flanked by a pair of

cupids. The third showed her leaning against a pillar, staring at the stars in the night sky - and

once again, she was naked.

"Very...nice. Um, why am I naked in most of them?" she questioned, her brow now

beaded in sweat.

"The best way to capture innocence in art is to divest the subject of their modesty,

Hotaru," Eleutherios explained. "And you're so much more beautiful when nude." Hotaru's

loudest 'AWOOGA, AWOOGA, AWOOGA!' alarms went off at that. The paintings had made

her suspect, but now she was positive! He'd been spying on her, peeping at her, secretly invading

her privacy! She was now sure that _he_ was the one who'd been peering in her room those

nights! She set down the pictures and started to back away.

"Uh, I have to get back to the dishes now..." she said. Eleutherios grabbed her arm, and

turned her to him, something blazing in his eyes.

"You willfully tempt me and tease me, and now you think you can just leave?" he said. "I

heard the invitation, and I'm accepting. You know it's what you want."

"Excuse me?!" Hotaru gasped. "Eleutherios, let go!" Instead, he drug her over to the

bed, and flung her down, hard. He then leaned in, his hands beginning to move over her chest.

Hotaru stared up at him, fear filling her eyes.

"Eleutherios, stop it! Please!!" she screamed. Eleutherios grabbed her chin in his left

hand, staring at her with lust in his eyes.

"No," he said. He began lowering his other hand downward, reaching for her most secret

of parts. Hotaru's fear increased. *Oh, god, he's gonna...* Hotaru began reaching one hand for

her space pocket to get her Saturn Wand. She remembered what Ami had said, but this was an

emergency! She had to get him off of her, even if it meant running him straight through with the

Silence Glaive!

As she inched her hand closer, Eleutherios removed his own from her chin. He then

grabbed both her arms and placed them in one hand, holding them above her head where they

could do nothing. His other hand then returned to stroking her abdomen, then he pulled up her

dress, and stared at her panties in curiosity.

"What an odd loincloth," he said, then rubbed his hand against them, lust once again over

taking his eyes. Hotaru flinched at the unwanted ministrations, and tried to wriggle her hands

free, but Eleutherios's grip held firm. He began to slip his hand inside her panties, clearly wanting

flesh to flesh contact. She shuddered in horror as the end of her innocence drew nearer...

Suddenly a vase popped up over Eleutherios's head, and smashed against it, causing him

to release Hotaru as he fell away in pain and semi-consciousness. Hotaru sighed in relief, then

stared up at her savior.

"Ami?!" she blinked at the blue haired girl standing above her with a broken vase in her

hands.

"I'm guessing that was exactly what I think it was," Ami said, dropping the remnants of

the vase and offering Hotaru a hand up. Hotaru accepted it and got to her feet, fixing her clothes

immediately afterwards. She then aimed for the door, Ami right beside her. She didn't stop

moving until she was out of the house and five houses down the street! And only because Ami

grabbed her arm and stopped her.

"Hotaru, wait! Where are you going?!" she asked. Hotaru turned to look at her.

"I'm not staying in that house anymore, not if he's there! I'm getting the guards and

having him removed!!" Hotaru said flatly.

"Do you really think they'll believe you?" Ami asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it, Hotaru. Technically we're slaves, belonging to Hrisoula. She bought us

after we were charged with thievery! Also, we don't know how long Eleutherios has been with

Hrisoula; she may very well side with him!" Ami explained.

"I can't go back there... I can't!" Hotaru said, her eyes brimming on the point of tears.

"Just try to calm down, Hotaru. Let me think for a moment," Ami said, putting on her

thinking cap. She considered the facts: Eleutherios was obviously a dangerous pedophile, since

he'd specifically targeted Hotaru, and now that she believed Hotaru's uncertain suspicions about

the man, he'd done so most likely right from day one!

The good odds weighed heavily in his favor as the one who saw to the disappearance of

the missing Damris; Ami had to face the very real possibility that she had not run away, but was in

fact murdered by Eleutherios, and then discretely buried somewhere. The only problem was that,

by rights, Iosif should have known what had really happened...unless... She dismissed the

thought, not wanting to dwell on it.

At present, if they maintained the current setup with Hrisoula, even if they managed to

keep Hotaru away from him for the rest of the day, sooner or later he'd have an opportunity to try

again. And next time she may not be able to be there to stop him! The only reason she'd been

there this time was because Hrisoula had discovered she'd left a small statue of a Phoenix in the

library, and had sent Ami to fetch it. When Ami heard Hotaru scream when she got to the second

story landing, she'd run to see what was going on, and saw Eleutherios holding her down on the

bed, groping her, so she'd grabbed the vase from the sitting area and struck down as hard as she

could! And just in time. Wait a sec...the Phoenix!!

"Okay, here's what we're going to do. You go to Hrisoula's stand and wait for me. If

she asks, tell her the truth and pray! I still need to finish the errand I was on when I caught him

on you. Don't worry, I'll be careful," Ami instructed. Hotaru nodded and turned and headed

down the street. Ami then took a deep breath, summoned her courage, and headed back up to the

house and entered again.

She glanced around nervously, half expecting Eleutherios to jump out with a knife or meat

cleaver, ready to kill her for interrupting him. But there was no initial attack. She slowly edged

herself to the stairwell, glancing around for any sign of him. Then she slowly ascended to the

second level, ready for anything.

At this point she quietly pulled her Mercury Wand from its space pocket, and held it at the

ready, just in case. Transforming still held the possibility of alerting the current day Sailor

Mercury to her presence, but compared to the more certain possibility of Eleutherios trying to kill

her for stopping him from raping Hotaru, it was a calculated risk she was _more_ than willing to

take at this point!

She glanced down the hall, but there was no sign of the man. Deciding to chance it, she

nervously edged down the hall, and turned into the side hall to his room. Peering into

Eleutherios's bedroom, she blinked. Eleutherios was rummaging through his chest, shoving

clothes into a large bag, almost as if he was packing his clothes for a long trip. He then went to

his desk and began collecting the parchments into a smaller, lighter bag. If she didn't have her

doubts, she'd swear he was getting ready to make a run for it!

Quietly slipping back to the stairs, she hopped up to the third floor two stairs at a time,

and quickly glanced around. She spotted the Phoenix statue on the writing desk, and quickly

dashed forward and picked it up. It was a small thing, no more than a foot or so high, and the

wingspan was two feet wide at most. It looked to be made of silver, or something very similar.

Unfortunately, it was a little heavier than it looked; it felt like it weighed seventy pounds! It must

have been truly made out of solid metal!

As carefully and quietly as she could, she carried it back to the stairwell, and descended,

stopping briefly on the second floor to glance down the hallway for Eleutherios, but he was

nowhere to be seen as yet. So she dashed down to the first floor as fast as she could. The main

hallway was empty, so she made for the main door, and headed down the street toward the stand

as fast as she could move.

* * *

Hrisoula was accepting the gold for the payment of a small, jewel encrusted bust of

Mercury, the winged messenger god, when Hotaru came up to the stand. She blinked at this;

she'd sent Ami to collect the Phoenix statue she'd forgotten about twenty minutes or so ago, so

why was Hotaru here? And empty handed at that?

"Hotaru? What are you..." she started.

"Hrisoula...Eleutherios...he...he tried to rape me!!" Hotaru spat out, hesitant as she was

unsure as to what Hrisoula's reaction would be.

"WHAT?!" Hrisoula shrieked. Hotaru's eyes widened slightly at the velocity of

Hrisoula's voice. She hadn't thought the woman could scream quite so loud... "Hotaru, I want

you to tell me _exactly_ what happened, and don't leave anything out," Hrisoula instructed her

then. Hotaru took a breath, and recounted the incident, starting from when Eleutherios had

approached her in the kitchen. By the time she got to the point Ami smashed the vase over his

head, Ami finally arrived with the Phoenix statue.

Hotaru stopped short to gawk at the thing. Given the audible thump it made when Ami

set it down on the stand, and how out of breath she was from the exertion, it must have been

made out of solid silver! After setting it down, Ami quietly started panting, clearly exhausted.

"Thank you, Ami. Tell me, did you indeed break a vase over Eleutherios's head?"

Hrisoula questioned her. Hotaru understood why; she was verifying the story.

"Yes, Hrisoula. Eleutherios looked like he was trying to force himself on Hotaru, so I

acted to protect her. Sorry if it was worth anything," Ami replied. Hrisoula nodded.

"Can you tell me exactly what you saw?" she asked. Ami took few deep breaths, and

related her end of the story, reciting how she heard a scream, and ending after she told Hotaru to

come here while she retrieved the statue. Hrisoula listened carefully, and then she made a

decision.

"Eleutherios will answer to the accusation when we return. For now, Hotaru, you shall

stay here. You still look a little shaken up, so take a seat behind the stand if you wish. Ami, we

shall continue with the days sales," Hrisoula instructed. They nodded, and moved around behind

the stand. Hotaru took Hrisoula's advice, and sat down, attempting to steady her shaken nerves.

Now that her adrenaline was finally wearing off, she was feeling wiped.

As Ami moved to Hrisoula's side, the woman turned to get something below the table,

and stopped. She lifted Ami's hand, and glanced at the Mercury Wand still in her hand. Ami

blinked, having forgotten she was still holding it.

"Tell me, what is this?" she asked.

"Uh, just a trinket. It was the last present my mother gave me before she died. Made of

clay, I think," Ami quickly improvised. Fortunately, no one had really asked about where Ami

and Hotaru had come from, allowing them to give any tale they preferred if the subject ever came

up. They had discussed it, and finally agreed that they would claim to be sisters, orphaned and on

their own, though explaining the Wands had never factored into it.

"How interesting. What is this symbol in the crystal?" Hrisoula asked.

"Uh, just an old family sigil," Ami said. And it wasn't entirely untrue. A customer arrived

just then, and Hrisoula turned to help him. Ami quickly used the moment to shove the Wand back

in its pocket, and returned to work. After a little while, Hotaru got up and joined them, wanting

to do something useful. The rest of the day etched past slowly, at least to her, and eventually

night fell, and they closed up shop for the day. As they finished closing up, Iosif suddenly arrived,

looking quite pensive.

"Iosif, have you completed the errand I sent you on?" Hrisoula asked.

"Hm? Oh, oh yes, I delivered the message to Lord Julianus as you requested, and he held

me for almost an hour while he read it and prepared his reply, which he sent back with me," Iosif

answered, holding up a small scroll, which Hrisoula took. "My lady, something has happened."

"Oh?" Hrisoula blinked, stopping short on opening the scroll.

"Yes," Iosif said. "It's my brother. He...he is gone..."

"Gone?" Hrisoula blinked.

"Yes. I arrived home and began lighting the torches and candles for the night, and when I

reached his room it was empty," Iosif continued.

"I thought he might be," Ami said, and recounted what she saw in his room while

retrieving the Phoenix.

"I see. Then it confirms his guilt of your accusation," Hrisoula decreed. "Only a coward

would run rather than account for himself."

"What accusation? What do you claim he did?" Iosif asked, incredulous that his brother

would do anything wrong.

"It's not what he did, Iosif, but what he tried to do," Ami said.

"He tried to rape me," Hotaru told him flatly, no longer afraid now that Eleutherios was

gone for good.

"WHAT?! HE WOULD NEVER..." Iosif shouted.

"HE DID!!" Hotaru snapped. "The only reason he's still alive to run with his tail between

his legs is because I didn't have a knife handy when he tried it!"

"He raped Damris, didn't he, Iosif?" Ami stared daggers at him. "Her body's buried in

the grounds around the house somewhere, isn't it?"

"What? No, the last I saw of Damris was the night before she left, and she was still

perfectly healthy then! When I went to see why she hadn't come down for breakfast the next

morning, _that's_ the first I knew she was missing," Iosif defended himself.

"I suppose Eleutherios could have buried her in the middle of the night," Ami mused.

"Doesn't really fit the apparent pattern, though."

"Enough!" Hrisoula snapped. "Let us return home, and we'll discuss it there. It is

starting to get cold."

With that, they headed back to the house. As they walked, Hotaru and Ami told Iosif

everything, and he just stared, not wanting to believe it. Upon arrival, Hrisoula suggested he

prepare a simple dinner that evening, then went into the main dining hall. Iosif got started on a

few steaks and eggs while Hotaru returned to the sink to finish the dishes she'd left that

afternoon.

Taking a chance, Ami went upstairs and took a look in his room, and found that

Eleutherios was indeed gone, his chest and desk empty. She went back down, and started helping

Iosif with the evening meal. Before too long, Hotaru finished the dishes, and fetched some bread

from the food cupboard and placed it on the servant's table, then went into the dining hall, to find

Hrisoula sitting at the big table, her head in her hands.

"Something wrong?" she asked.

"Ten years, my dear," Hrisoula said quietly. "Ten years he lives in my house, serving me,

respecting me, and then this happens. I just can't believe he'd do such a thing..."

"Sometimes we never get to know someone as well as we think we do," Hotaru said.

"So wise for your age, child," Hrisoula said, looking up. "The truth is, I should have seen

it coming."

"What do you mean?"

"Early on, I had Eleutherios handle the messengering, but I got complaints from the

neighborhood. He was deliberately taking longer on some of his assignments than he needed to,

watching neighborhood children, making them nervous. So I gave Iosif the job, and confined

Eleutherios to the house. The complaints stopped. Then I bought Damris. Things seemed fine at

first, but then Damris started getting nervous, agitated. When I asked, she said it was nothing,

but then Iosif told me that she told him that she felt nervous because of his brother, like you did.

But unlike you, she wouldn't admit it. Then she disappeared, and you and Ami arrived, and

then..." Hrisoula spread her hands at this point, leaving the sentence hanging.

"Will you be alright?" Hotaru asked.

"In time, I suppose," she replied. "Why don't you go up and finish lighting the candles

and torches, dear."

"Okay," Hotaru said, and left the room. She obediently went upstairs and began checking

the rooms on the second landing. All the guest quarters were lit up, as were the hall torches.

Checking Iosif's quarters and the one next to it, she found the candles had not yet been lit, and

neither had the one in the room next to Eleutherios's.

Taking a deep breath, she opened the door to Eleutherios's room, and saw the chest

sitting open, bare. The desk was cleaned off, the only light coming from the candle on the candle

table. Taking another deep breath, she stepped in, grabbed the spare candle from the desk, lit it

on the other candle, then practically beamed herself out of the room, pulling the door closed

behind her, quietly vowing never to enter it again.

Hotaru quickly moved about, lighting the candles in the other three servant quarters

accessible from that side hall, then went to the other hall that accessed her room and Ami's. As

she came first to her door, she blinked to find it closed. She then blinked again when she heard a

voice on the other side.

"Oh, Lady Hrisoula got these for... wait... these aren't mine..." a young, feminine voice

said on the opposite side of the door. Hotaru's eyes widened. *It couldn't be...*

Without another moment's hesitation, she opened the door... and found a young girl of

about eleven or twelve with long gray black hair in a braid sitting on her legs in front of the open

chest, holding one of Hotaru's togas, who turned to look at her with quiet hazel eyes wearing a

light turquoise toga. Next to her was a barefoot little boy of about four or five, who looked like

he was desperately in need of a bath, wearing what amounted to a rag, with slightly darker hair

than the girl, and the same shy hazel orbs. He also had marks on his wrists and ankles, as though

something tight had been pressed against them until very recently, and he looked minorly

malnourished. Hotaru stared at them for a moment, and vice versa.

"Damris?" Hotaru asked.

"Who are you?" the girl blinked.

* * *

Ami and Iosif worked quietly, preparing dinner for the few who remained in the house.

Iosif clearly was still in shock about his brother, as he hadn't said anything in several minutes and

was just puttering away, as though on automatic. She hadn't really said anything either, not

wanting to upset him further. She had firmly decided that the next morning she was going to

closely examine the house grounds and some of the area slightly beyond. If Damris's body was

still close by, there would be some sign of where it was buried - a place that had been upturned

within the last few weeks.

Suddenly, Iosif slammed the cooking fork down, clearly getting agitated. His face

grimaced, his hands squeezing the clay edges of the grill.

"I...I just...I just can't...believe it," he said. "How could I be so...blind?!"

"What do you mean?" Ami asked.

"I knew he found them attractive, Damris and Hotaru. Attractive as women, not girls. He

practically came out and told me so. I heard him say it, but I didn't listen to him, not really," Iosif

said, his face showing his anguish. Ami watched him for a moment, contemplating whether or not

this was just an act. In the end, she decided his shock and horror were true.

Wrapping her arm around him comfortingly, she told him, "Sometimes we don't _want_

to listen. If it were my brother, I don't think I'd want to believe he'd be capable of such a thing,

either." Iosif stared at her for a moment, then placed an arm around her, too.

"Thank you for being here, Ami," he said. "You're so kind." Ami couldn't help smiling

warmly. Just then a voice cleared behind them, and they turned to see Hotaru standing at the

entry to the kitchen.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything, but you're going to have to prepare for two more

for dinner," she said with a small Cheshire grin. "Oh, and Iosif? You're off the hook!" They

looked at her incredulously. *The stress must have snapped her mind,* Ami thought.

"What do you mean, Hotaru?" Hrisoula asked, stepping into the kitchen via the adjoining

door to the dining area. Hotaru grinned a little wider, and ducked back into the hall a minute,

then came back in, dragging a young girl behind her. Ami blinked, and Iosif and Hrisoula's eyes'

went wide.

"Who...?" Ami started to ask.

"DAMRIS?!" Iosif and Hrisoula echoed each other perfectly.

"Hello, Iosif. It's nice to see you again," Damris said to the man. Then she turned to the

mistress of the house, and bowed before her. "Please forgive my unannounced trip, my lady, but I

dared not waste time."

"Hold on! Just a minute! _This_ is Damris?!" Ami shrieked. "She's supposed to be dead!

Eleutherios was supposed to have raped and killed her!"

"Misconception," Hotaru said. "She just went to get her brother, that's all."

"Brother?" Hrisoula's eyes widened further.

"You never said anything about a brother," Iosif said. Damris stood up and slipped into

the hall, then returned with a small boy. Ami gasped in shock at the child's condition. *What

happened to him?!*

"Lady Hrisoula, this is my brother, Zacharias. Zacharias, this is the mistress of the house,

Lady Hrisoula, and that's my friend and fellow servant, Iosif," she introduced him. Then she

looked at Ami. "You I don't know."

"This is my sister, Ami. She was brought in the same time I was," Hotaru told her.

"Oh," Damris said. "Pleased to meet you, Ms. Ami," she quickly bowed.

"Hello," Zacharias said.

"Um, Damris, if I could ask you, where exactly did you go, and why is your brother like

that?" Ami inquired.

"Indeed, what happened?" Iosif asked.

"In due time, my friends. For now, Iosif, finish the meal, and see that the boy gets a share

of the first batch," Hrisoula instructed. "Today I think we'll all dine at the main dining table, so

that Damris can explain herself fully to _all_ of us."

"As you wish, my lady," Iosif said, then realized he'd left the steaks and eggs sitting there,

and whipped around to see if he could still save them, Ami following right behind.

"We better get some more stuff for you two," Hotaru said, and went to the food

cupboard, Damris just behind. Zacharias started to follow, but Hrisoula stepped up, bent down

and took his hand.

"Why don't you come with me into the dining room for now and keep out of their way,

okay honey?" she asked. Zacharias looked at her nervously, then turned to his sister.

"Damris?" he asked.

"It's okay, Zacharias," Damris stopped and glanced back at him. "Lady Hrisoula won't

hurt you."

"Really?" he asked.

"Yes, really."

"Okay," he said, and walked into the main dining room with Hrisoula. Damris then

continued into the food cupboard with Hotaru and helped her get the additional food items for

dinner. The two young girls then helped Iosif and Ami prepare the meal, and in due course it was

dished onto the plates.

Hotaru and Damris took two of the plates in first, setting one before Hrisoula and the

other in front of Zacharias who was sitting just to Hrisoula's right. The boy was currently

giggling at some jokes Hrisoula was telling him. The girls then went back into the kitchen and got

their own meals, Iosif and Ami having placed all the remaining food onto plates. The four took

their plates into the main room, Ami grabbing the bread from the servant's table Hotaru had left

there earlier.

Damris sat down next to her brother, and Hotaru sat next to her, while Iosif took a seat to

Hrisoula's left, and Ami sat down next to him, lacing the bread in the center of the table as

she sat down. Once everyone was comfortable, Hrisoula spoke up.

"Well, this has been a _very_ interesting day so far. Eleutherios has run off to avoid

punishment for his crime, and Damris has returned to us, with a new occupant for the house

besides," she said. "I must say, it is quite unexpected." Hotaru noted that the woman seemed to

be regaining her equilibrium with the world, or was just putting up an act.

"I am sorry about leaving so suddenly, but it was urgent," Damris apologized again as

they began to eat their meal. "Wait, what do you mean Eleutherios has left? I thought he was in

the garden."

"Is all this for me?" Zacharias asked, his eyes wide at the plate of food in front of him.

"Yes, Zacharias, it's all yours," Hrisoula told him, and he began shoveling it in as though

he hadn't had enough to eat for a long time. Hrisoula then turned back to Damris.

"Eleutherios departed earlier today, Damris, after attempting to force Hotaru to sleep with

him," Hrisoula told her, and Damris's eyes went wide.

"He what?" she asked.

"Damris, did Eleutherios ever show you some pictures he drew of you?" Hotaru asked.

"Pictures?" she blinked. "Well, yes, once. I asked what he did with them, and he said he

sold some to some art collectors five streets away."

"Did he try and shove you onto the bed?" Ami asked.

"No, after he answered the question I asked how much he got for them. He said around

twenty to thirty gold a piece, so I volunteered to pose directly for some of his works in exchange

for half of what he was paid for them. That's how I got the money to save Zacharias," Damris

told them.

"Then he never tried to have sex with you?" Hrisoula asked.

"No! Never! Well..." Damris replied, then trailed off.

"What?" Iosif asked, his eyes filling with fear. At this point, Zacharias looked up from his

steak at his sister.

"Well... he said I'd owe him a favor for not telling you where I was going and covering

for me till I got back," she said reluctantly. "He didn't say what, just that I would, and it seemed

like he was indicating it would be done in his quarters..." Ami and Hotaru digested these facts

while Hrisoula rested her forehead in her hand again, her elbow on the table. Iosif just leaned

back, accepting the truth.

"I think I see it, now," Ami said.

"See what?" Zacharias asked, clearly confused, but aware something was bothering

everyone.

"Eleutherios was planning to rape Damris, after she got home with her brother," Ami said.

"But on the same day she set out, Hotaru and I wound up in Hrisoula's keeping."

"Suddenly he had a fresh target to work on, and eventually just couldn't wait," Hotaru

finished. "So he decided to take me in order to tide himself over until you actually got back, or maybe

he'd just decided to have me on account." Damris's head swam.

"I knew there was something wrong with him," she said, "what with the way he always

looked at me as though he were hungry somehow. I just never imagined he would ever intend to

go so far."

"Well, the only thing to be done now is to put a price out on him," Hrisoula said. "In the

meantime, dear, why don't you tell us what exactly happened to your brother. I think questions

were flying in that direction earlier."

"Yes, why does he look like he's been starved and abused?" Ami asked.

"You can thank Korudon for that. He was our previous owner in Jersthis," Damris said.

"He was always a brute to me and my brother. When he sold me to a slave trader named Biagio,

I begged him to buy Zacharias, too, but Korudon refused to sell him for anything less than three

hundred gold pieces! After that, Biagio brought me here and sold me to you, Lady Hrisoula,

cleaning me up in the meantime. When I learned what Eleutherios made from his drawings, it

seemed like a gift from the gods themselves, and I went for it. When I finally had a little over

three hundred gold saved up in my chest, I packed some food for what I thought would be a five

day trip there, and another five days back, a few extra items of clothing, and went."

"I take it the trip took longer than you thought," Hotaru stated.

"Three and a half days longer," Damris confirmed.

"And this 'Korudon' just sold you your brother, just like that?" Hrisoula asked.

"Well, not 'just like that,'" Damris said. "Actually..."

* * *

After eight long days of walking, Damris had finally made it back to Jersthis. The town

was as opulent as she remembered it - richly designed buildings, elegant statues of the gods, even

copper plated fountains. But to her, it was all a facade, just a cheap farce hiding the town's true

colors. Colors of greed, conspiracy, and decadence.

As she began to pass along the streets to reach the tavern she was heading for, she noted

that several imperial troops were in town. Looked like practically a whole regiment! As she drew

nearer, her stomach began to growl, so she found an empty place near a fountain and sat down.

Her food supply was starting to get a little low, but she had enough excess to cover refilling her

food bag before leaving the town, she hoped.

Quickly eating some bread and a couple of carrots, she felt a little better, and stood up to

get moving again. Just then, one of the last persons she wanted to have to see while she was here

turned up.

"Damris? Korudon's little slave bitch? Is that you?" the balding, greasy man asked.

"Hello, Panos," she told him, and turned to go. Panos grabbed her arm and held fast.

"Oh, no you don't!" he said. "I recall Korudon selling you to trader Biagio five months

ago. So what are you doing back here? And alone for that matter?" Fortunately, she had

thought ahead enough to prepare for just such an eventuality.

"I belong to the Lady Hrisoula now, in Tercham," she told him, bringing a copy of the

receipt scroll Hrisoula had gotten upon buying her she'd made up. "I was given her personal

permission to return and purchase my brother for her in her name." Panos looked over the scroll,

and tossed it aside.

"A fake, no doubt," he said. "I bet you ran away, and were planning to steal that

worthless ass brother of yours, weren't you?" Now Damris began to worry. She hadn't thought

the half truth would be taken for a total fib!

"Looks genuine to me," a voice said. They both turned, to see one of the soldiers

examining the receipt scroll. "Release her."

"Excuse me?" Panos said. "Just who do you think you are?"

"I think," the soldier said, "that I am a Lieutenant in the Caesar's army, and as such speak

with his voice. Now release her, unless you wish to die."

Panos stared at the Lieutenant for a few moments, then let go of Damris, turned, and

scurried away as fast as his legs could carry him. The Lieutenant then turned his attention to

Damris, returning the scroll, which she placed in her bag.

"Thank you, sir. I am in your debt," she told him.

"No problem," he told her. "I just named myself arbiter and made a judgement call."

"Um, could you retain that role a little longer?" she asked.

"Why?" he asked back.

"Well, the man I intend to deal with...can be...stubborn," she explained. The Lieutenant

thought it over for a few moments, then shrugged.

"Sure, lead the way," he said. Damris sighed with relief, and started walking again. Since

it had been so long since she'd been in town last, it took her a while to relocate the tavern, but

about thirty minutes later she located it, took a deep breath, and, with the Lieutenant just behind,

stepped inside one more time.

The place, as usual, had the air of rankness to it, several unsavory looking clientele milling

about, their noses in their drinks and food. Also around today were several soldiers, probably

ones off duty or on break. They seemed to be everywhere today. Some were carousing and

making other assorted noise.

Just then she saw her brother for the first time in several months, sweeping the floor next

to where one of the rowdier soldiers was sitting, his ankles still in chains, as were his wrists. He

looked actually worse than when she last saw him! As he turned around, his small eyes laid on

her, and lit up.

"Damris!" he cried, dropping his broom, and waddled over to her as fast as his manacled

feet could go. When he got to her, she kneeled down, dropped her bags, and squeezed him in a

hug as much as his chained wrists would allow. They hugged only for a few brief moments, then

she pulled back, grabbed her bags, and stood up.

"Where's Korudon?" she asked. Before Zacharias could answer, the man himself

appeared, all three hundred twenty bald, sweaty, yellow toothed, meaty handed, cruel coal eyed

pounds of him.

"I don't recall saying you could stop, brat!" he growled, then noticed Damris. "You?!

When did you get back? And who was stupid enough to take off your chains?!" he growled

deeper.

"In order of asking, sir, I got back today, and the chains were removed five months ago on

the order of my new mistress, Lady Hrisoula of Tercham," she said, once again pulling out the

receipt copy and showing it to him. Korudon glanced it over a moment, and then looked up at

the Lieutenant, who had quietly watched all.

"You believe this to be authentic?" he asked the soldier, turning the parchment to let him

see the writing. The Lieutenant glanced at it briefly, having already seen it once.

"As far as I can tell, yes," he said.

"So what are you doing back? Where is this Lady Hrisoula?" Korudon inquired.

"My Lady is back in Tercham; I came alone," Damris said, pulling the large money bag

from her clothes bag. "With her permission, I have come with the gold to pay for my brother."

She placed the bag on a table, and poured it out, dropping many gold coins upon the table.

"Three hundred gold, as you stated the price to be when I was sold."

Korudon stared at the money, his eyes wide. At this point some of the patrons had turned

to see what was going on, and some were also staring at the huge pile of money.

"Only three hundred?" Korudon finally asked. "And how, pray tell, did you get this

money? Were you selling yourself on the side while serving this 'Lady Hrisoula'? Or does she

run a whore house, using you to satisfy some of her own clientele?"

"No, I didn't, and she doesn't," Damris said. "I posed for several drawings and was

allowed a piece of the profits from them. That's why I didn't come sooner; it took longer than I

thought to make this much."

"Well, well done, then," Korudon said. "But I'm not selling."

"What?" Damris said, unbelieving.

"If I sell him, I won't have anyone left to clean this place," he said. "It became

troublesome enough to keep it even moderately clean after I made the mistake of selling you to

Biagio."

"With that much gold you can buy half a dozen slaves to replace us!" Damris snapped.

"I think someone's forgotten her lessons!" Korudon's eyes darkened, and his hand pulled

up a whip hitched to his belt. Damris began to cringe, not wanting to feel the thing again.

Korudon raised the whip, pulled back, and snapped it forward.

It never hit the target.

The Lieutenant's hand caught the whip in mid stride, and he shoved the man back onto his

fat ass. He then bent over, and quickly snagged the key dangling from the front of his belt.

"This the one for the manacles?" he asked.

"Yeah," Damris said. "He always wears it there to torment us." The Lieutenant quickly

moved over to Zacharias, and undid his manacles. "I've made my payment, Korudon. He's free

now. Goodbye," Damris said, grabbed her bags, and lead her brother out of the tavern, the

Lieutenant following after them.

Once outside, Damris headed for the edge of town, stopping briefly at a small food cart to

use her remaining funds to purchase sufficient food for the trip back. Near the edge, Zacharias

pulled on her skirt.

"Damris, where are we going?" he asked.

"To Tercham, Zacharias," Damris said. "Don't worry. No one will ever whip you or

starve you again. I promise."

"Would you like a lift?" a voice said behind them, and Damris turned to see the Lieutenant

behind her still.

"What?" she asked.

"My regiment is only stopping here for the day," he told her. "In the morning, we start

out for Rome. I believe we come within range of Tercham along the way. We can drop you off if

you like." Damris stared for a moment.

"Why you do this?" Zacharias's small voice asked.

"Yes, why are you doing this? And why did you stop Korudon back there?" Damris asked

him.

"Simple," the Lieutenant said, "I was a slave myself, once. My owner sold me off to the

army to avoid having to go himself. Doubt he ever expected me to make rank before the fighting

in Germania ended, or to survive that long, either."

"Oh," Damris said. "Well, then...okay, I accept."

The Lieutenant quietly sequestered them in his tent for the day, and the next morning, as

stated, they set out. After four days of travel, the Lieutenant dropped them near a small field.

"I'm afraid this is as close as we get to Tercham," he told them. "But I believe it's not

too far from here."

"That's okay," Damris said, as she recognized the path she'd used to get to Jersthis. "We

can make it on our own easy from here. Thank you again."

"Thank you, sir." Zacharias said. The Lieutenant just smiled.

"No problem," he said, "Anything for fellow slaves. See you around." With that, they

traveled on alone, and after two more days travel reached the city just as it was getting dark.

Damris decided it would be best just to go straight to the house, and quickly walked her brother

through the streets of Tercham. Arriving at the house, she noticed it seemed only partially lit, but

figured that Iosif and Eleutherios hadn't finished lighting the candles and torches yet.

She slipped inside, and quickly took her brother up to the second floor and to her room.

Slipping inside, she noticed the candle hadn't been lit yet for the night, so she left her brother and

bags in the room while she took it out to the nearest lit torch and lit it. Returning to her room,

she sat it down on the candle table, closed the door, and sat down on her bed to catch her breath

for a few moments. Zacharias was sitting on the bed already. After six days of fairly full meals,

he was starting to look healthier, unlike the bag of bones he was under Korudon.

"Damris, why are we here?" he asked.

"This is where we live now, Zacharias," she said. "Don't worry, the other people who

live here are nice, not at all like Korudon." Now all she had to do was convince Lady Hrisoula to

let him stay! Zacharias calmed a little, but was still a little nervous. Damris opened her bag and

set her dirty clothes aside to wash them later. Then she set the food bag next to the door,

planning to put the remaining food in the food cupboard later. Lastly she took the last of her gold

coins, the four or five she'd managed not to spend, and opened the chest to stow them inside.

Zacharias moved over to the chest and looked in it curiously.

"What are these?" he asked, pointing to the dresses.

"Oh, Lady Hrisoula got these for...," she said, then paused, lifting out a purple toga she'd

never seen before. And a few others she'd never seen before were sitting under it. "Wait... these

aren't mine..." she said. A few brief moments later she heard the door open, and turned to see a

girl that looked about a year older than her with short cut black hair and violet eyes wearing a

simple orange dress with yellow lacings standing in the door frame, holding a candle holder in one

hand, a lit candle in it.

"Damris?" she asked.

"Who are you?" Damris blinked. She'd never seen this girl before in her life!

* * *

"After that I introduced myself, and explained how you bought me and Ami to replace her

after she'd run off, and she told me why she'd actually left," Hotaru said.

"I am terribly sorry," Damris said once more, "But I was afraid if I waited any longer,

Zacharias might have been...dead...or sold to someone worse by the time I got there. The gods

were really with me lately."

"Indeed they were, Damris," Hrisoula said. "Indeed they were."

"So, can Zacharias stay?" Ami asked, concern for the small boy in her eyes.

"Of course he can," Hrisoula said. By this time the meal was generally finished by all, and

most of the bread had gone to filling Zacharias's tummy. He'd been quiet all throughout

Damris's telling of her tale.

"So, what are we going to do about sleeping arrangements?" Hotaru asked. "I mean, me,

Damris, and Zacharias can't all sleep in the same room."

"Indeed not," Hrisoula agreed. "How about this; Zacharias shall be given the quarters

next to Iosif's as his own, and Hotaru, you shall be moved into Eleutherios's. He won't be

needing it."

"Okay," Damris said.

"No," Hotaru said. The others looked at her, Iosif, Damris, and Hrisoula shocked at her

refusal. "I am never setting foot in that room again! Period!"

"Okay, how about this," Ami suggested. "I'll give Hotaru my quarters, and take the one

next to Eleutherios's. That way none of us have to go near it again."

"Okay," Hotaru said.

"I can live with that," Hrisoula accepted the offer.

"Oh, and one more thing," Ami said, "Could I have Eleutherios's desk?"

* * *

The move was made quickly, and soon everyone was settled into their new quarters.

Hrisoula agreed to Ami's request, and the desk was moved into her new quarters. Ami had

momentarily considered taking Eleutherios's quarters, but having seen what the man was trying to

do to her friend in there, it just felt too creepy.

The next day, Zacharias was the first to be bathed, and then was taken with Damris and

Hrisoula into town, and clothes bought for him. Soon after he was dressed in a proper blue toga,

and except for his thinness, looked like a whole new person. Shortly thereafter, Hrisoula had

gone and removed the price on Damris, and put a new one Eleutherios. And feeling torqued at

his crime, had added the stipulation, "Payment upon return - Alive or Dead."

Over the next three days, more food was put into him, and soon Zacharias's weight rose

to a level that made him nearly indistinguishable from any other healthy little boy his age. At the

same time he grew more and more comfortable with Iosif, Ami, and Hotaru, and Hrisoula doted

on him as though he were her own.

However, Damris had not told the absolute truth. When she had showed Korudon her

money, he had actually taken her and the Lieutenant into the back to talk privately for a moment.

After the Lieutenant had stopped the whip, in a sudden burst of anger and rage, Damris had

grabbed the sword from the soldier's sheath, and ran it through the pompous bastard. The

Lieutenant then quietly reclaimed his sword, cleaned it, and resheathed it while Damris calmed

back down. Damris caught her breath, and returned the gold to it's bag, and placed it back in her

travel bag.

"Guess I don't have to pay him after all," she'd said, and then the key had been taken.

Every other word had been true, except where the amount of money she had left had been

concerned.

* * *

Ami and Hotaru had now been living in Ancient Rome for eighteen days, and there was

still no sign of the others locating them to bring them home as yet. On this day, the ball game

changed again.

That day, Hrisoula had received a letter from a cousin in Rome itself, and had been

thinking all day whilst she worked. That evening, she called her household together.

"Tomorrow, I want you all to pack your things," she told them. "We're going on a

journey." Sitting in the room were two new bags freshly purchased from Tertius, which Hrisoula

handed to Hotaru and Zacharias. "You can use these," she told them.

"Where are we going?" Ami asked.

"The Caesar Commodus has returned to Rome and announced the starting of a special

series of games in the Colosseum. I have decided that we shall take a holiday for the next four

weeks," Hrisoula explained. "Until our return, I have asked Tertius to pass by the house once a

day, or have Kalie do it, to make sure it remains undisturbed. We shall be joining a small caravan

heading to Rome tomorrow that has stopped near town to purchase supplies."

"Commodus?" Hotaru asked.

"Yes," Ami said. "He was Caesar after Marcus Aurelius."

"Was?" Iosif asked.

"The news is that Marcus Aurelius only died about a week or so ago," Hrisoula stated.

"Commodus is the Caesar now."

"Right, that's what I meant," Ami said sheepishly.

"Any road," Hrisoula said, "Tomorrow, we leave for Rome."

******************************************************************************

So, anyone out there get the chills? Admit it, I'm good! Next time - Chapter 6: Reunion.

Don't miss it now!

Wanna talk? Wanna go for my jugular? E-mail me at Scorpinac@sa-tech.com! I'll be

waiting!