All are now in Rome, but can Rini and Lita be freed? And what of Damris and what she has
learned by listening behind closed doors?! And with Querian back in the picture, even more
threats are raised, and dark clouds hide on the horizon...
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 10: Conspiracies
Just a short ways away, Darien and the girls stopped to take a deep breath of air. Rei
stared at her Prince sternly.
"Tell me, Darien, does the term 'Low Profile' mean nothing to you?" she asked.
"I'm sorry," Darien said. "But when he said he was going to turn Serena into a...into a...a
whore, I just lost it."
"Um," Artemis said, looking at Diana, "so you know, a, uh, brothel is..."
"A place where people, mostly men, solicit sexual activities, mostly from women," Diana
finished, as though she were repeating a lesson. "The Future Venus explained it to me because...
we...still have them in Crystal Tokyo..."
"World's oldest profession, indeed," Darien muttered. "At least now we know where to
look for Serena."
"We know where she was, Darien, not where she is _right now_," Amara pointed out.
"I know," a female voice said from nearby. They turned to see a woman with raven hair
down her back with dark brown, nearly black eyes wearing a blue dress. With her was a ten year
old girl with brunette hair as long as her mother's, and brown eyes wearing a simple red dress,
and a boy of seven or eight with brown hair worn down to his chin, and his mother's eyes in a
semi-fancy green toga.
"Who are you?" Amara asked.
"I am Vivian Sophia Rex," she introduced herself. "This is my daughter, Delia, and my
younger son, Mikhail. And you are...Darien?"
"Yes," Darien said. "How did you know?"
"Serena told me," Vivian replied, smiling gently. "Your wife is with my husband."
* * *
It had been a few days, almost a week by her reckoning, and Lita had taken some time to
think things over. Rini being flogged was a certain possibility, but being sexually violated, that
was a stretch. She'd seen Lucius Verus, and he wasn't much older than Rini was, if at all! *No,
that Cephiro guy was just saying that to get me riled up. But if Lucius is having her whipped,
then I have to stop him, and I did sort of promise I would do it.* she thought. But the more she
thought about it, the more she wanted to take it back.
"Lita!" a voice called, and she turned to see Urian and Vassos walking over. They were
having lunch at Theophilus's compound, waiting for their next trip to the Colosseum. She waved
to her friends lightly.
"Just thinking," she said calmly. "There's been a lot on my mind lately."
"Your friend's girl, the slave of the Prince?" Urian asked as he and Vassos took a seat.
"Among other things," Lita said. "Urian, do you think she's been flogged?"
"Well, if she has done something disobedient enough to deserve it, perhaps," he answered.
"But past that, I cannot honestly say."
"Has the girl been known to be willful?" Vassos asked.
"A little," Lita admitted. "But she does know how to mind her manners...most of the
time. And she would definitely know enough not to push her luck while a slave! She's not
stupid! Anything but!"
"Then I doubt she has done anything to deserve it, unless of course she actually tried to
escape," Vasso said, spooning some of the gruel they were having into his mouth. "Most slaves
tend be flogged after such an act."
"Hmm," Lita quietly had another bite herself. "If only I could see her up close, to see for
myself if she's been whipped..."
"Good luck," Urian grinned. "She's only the property of the Prince of Rome!"
"Yeah," Lita answered. "I know."
* * *
Ami and Felicia were working away at cleaning the sheets, while Iosif tended the dishes in
the kitchen. Ariadne and Hrisoula had gone to a neighbors to visit. It was Galea's turn to help at
the stand with Serena and the men. Hotaru and Damris had been sent on an errand, and would be
back shortly, she hoped. And Zacharias, oddly enough, had asked to stay and help her and Felicia
with the sheets. He was on her left, scrubbing away with his little hands, and apparently actually
enjoying himself.
"So you didn't know Galea before you were taken prisoner by the slavers?" Ami asked.
"Not really," Felicia replied. "I mean, I think we come from the same town, but we never
really talked or anything. Then my father got really deep into debt with the gambling houses, and
the next thing I knew they took everything to settle it, including me! Before I even really knew
what was going on, I was sold to Barvus Cephiro, changed into a slave's toga, chained up, and
tossed into a cage."
"Man, that stinks," Ami said. "Enslaved just because your father has a gambling problem.
That's harsh."
"Yeah," Felicia agreed. "Anyway, before we left town, Galea was thrown in with me, and
we've basically been together ever since. But Rini was the first to offer a ray of hope to any of us.
But you know how that turned out in the end."
"Don't remind me," Ami gritted her teeth.
"I don' really 'member ever bein' free," Zacharias said. "I was a slave to Korudon long as
I can 'members, til Damris came back and saved me, just like she promised."
"Well, you're not a slave now, Zacharias," Ami said. "You're free to do whatever you
wish."
"And is Damris free?" the little boy asked earnestly.
"Sure she is," Ami said. "I'm positive if she wanted to stop working for Hrisoula,
Hrisoula would let her."
"Really?" Zacharias looked at her with _really_ big eyes.
"Of course!" Felicia agreed. "Lady Ariadne said that when Galea and I turn fifteen, we'll
be free to go, if that's what we want."
"Is it?" Ami glanced at her.
"Well, I can't speak for Galea, but as for myself," Felicia replied, "Well, I don't really
have anywhere else to go. My mom died of illness years ago, and I don't think there was
anything left of my dad after the collection men came through. So I don't really know what I'm
gonna do with my life once I'm free, not that I'm really a slave per se now."
"Hmm," Ami lost herself in thought.
* * *
Hotaru and Damris carefully moved through the busy marketplace as they sought the
source of their errand. They had been sent to purchase some statuary from a particular salesman,
Marco Neralium, and been given enough money to make only the purchase, plus a little extra in
case they got hungry while retrieving the desired statuary.
So far, Hotaru, Ami, and Serena had brain pooled ideas, but short of a miracle in the form
of Trista, they didn't see any forthcoming ways of springing Lita from the gladiator pits. As for
Rini, Hotaru dearly wished she could get close enough to the palace to see her again, and maybe
talk to her. But the day after they saw her with the Caesar and his family at the Colosseum,
security at the palace had suddenly doubled, making the possibility even less than it had been
beforehand.
But for right now, Hotaru kept her mind on her errand. As she spotted the salesperson's
cart, with, *shudder*, a young girl chained to it like a watch dog of some kind, a head passed
through the crowd that Hotaru recognized. A head with light brown hair and sharp emerald eyes.
Eyes that made Hotaru feel suddenly cold. And then the head was gone.
"Something wrong, Hotaru?" Damris asked.
"Huh?" Hotaru blinked. "Oh, sorry, I just thought I saw Eleutherios for a moment."
"Eleutherios?" Damris blinked. "Seriously?"
"It was probably just my imagination, that's all," Hotaru shrugged it off. "Let's get that
statuary." They continued on their way through the rest of the crowd to the stand.
And off in the distance, two sharp emerald eyes watched them, and formulated a simplistic
plan. He hadn't forgotten his two lovely maidens, and now they had returned to him.
Eleutherios simply grinned.
* * *
"Okay, here's the plan," Darien outlined. "Mina, you and Rei go to the Colosseum, see
what you can find out about Lita, or her twin. Amara, you take Michelle and keep glancing
around the area, see what you can find out. And Trista and I will go with Mrs. Vivian to find her
husband, and Serena. We'll take the cats with us. We'll meet back together in front of the
Colosseum at sundown."
Vivian had told them about how she and her family had met Serena, and how Serena had
gone with Thernacius and Georgio to Rome. When she mentioned that Georgio had become
smitten with Serena, Darien had lightly glowered, but dismissed it. When he and Trista had asked
about Rini, Vivian had become evasive, saying it would be best to let Serena tell them about that
when they found her. Delia and Mikhail had become quickly enamored with Diana, and were
playing with her and petting her lovingly.
"Right," the others all agreed. They immediately split up as decided, Artemis and Luna
hopping over to sit on Trista's shoulders. Vivian looked impressed by the cats agility, and how
well they seemingly were trained. Delia quickly scooped up Diana, who purred merrily.
"So," Darien asked her. "Which way do we go?"
"This way, please," Vivian directed, and they followed her through the labyrinth streets
and buildings until they came to one house in particular, made of white washed marble. Delia and
Mikhail scooted up to the door and began knocking while Vivian calmly came up behind them
with Darien and Trista.
"This house belongs to my husband's mother and father," Vivian told them. "They were
going to stay here while they took care of things, and help Serena."
"Alright," Darien said, still wondering what she wasn't telling him. They waited a few
moments, and then the door opened...and a little boy was on the other side.
"Who are you?" he asked innocently.
"More to the point, who are you, child, and where are my mother and father-in-law?"
Vivian asked.
"Who is it, Zacharias?" a female voice called from within the house, and a young woman
stepped into view. A young woman Darien and Trista knew.
"Hello, miss," Vivian said, but then noticed the girl's eyes were looking right past her.
"Darien, Trista?" Ami blinked, seeming on the edge of tears.
"Ami?" Darien and Trista replied. "You're okay!!"
"Well, as good as can be expected," Ami said. "Given I'm technically a house slave."
"Excuse me!" Vivian began to raise her voice. "But where is your master?"
"My mistress, the Lady Hrisoula, is at a neighbor's with the lady of this house, Ariadne.
Only I, Zacharias here, Isoif, also Hrisoula's, and Felicia, a slave of Ariadne's, are present right
now," Ami answered. "And you are?"
"Vivian Sophia Rex," Vivian noticeably calmed down again. "Tell me, where is my
husband, eldest son, and father-in-law?"
"They're running a food stand near the Colosseum, sixty meters from the main entrance
along the west side," Ami said. "Serena's there, too, Darien. And Hotaru's also staying here
with us, but she and Damris are out on an errand for Hrisoula." she added. Darien immediately
turned around.
"Trista, stay here and talk with Ami, learn what you can," he said. "I'm going to go see
my wife."
"I will join you," Vivian said, then turned to her children. "Wait here for our return, or
your grandmother's, whichever comes first."
"Yes, mother," they chorused, and went inside. They greeted Zacharias, and Trista came
in, Ami closing the door. Iosif popped his head in to glance at the newest arrivals.
"Ami? Who are..." he started.
"Thernacius's other kids, his wife just went to see him," Ami indicated the children. "And
this is Trista, a friend from my home town. Trista, this is Iosif, he's with me, Hotaru, Damris, and
Hrisoula, as is Zacharias." Ami noted that the two kids had been carrying Diana, and were now
playing with her in the sitting room along with Zacharias, but she noticed that Luna and Artemis
had vanished from Trista's shoulders when she came in.
"Hello miss, children," Iosif nodded, and went back into the kitchen. Felicia stuck her
own head in, and the introductions went around a second time, and the slave girl returned to the
laundry.
"So, Ami, what exactly's been happening with you since you left home?" Trista asked.
"It's a long story," Ami sighed. "Between getting bought by Hrisoula, Hotaru almost
getting raped, and coming here and finding out what happened to Serena, Rini, and Lita, it's been
something of a nightmare."
"Wait, what do you mean, Hotaru almost got raped?" Trista's eyes widened in horror.
Ami pulled her into a side room so they could be alone, and sat them both on the floor.
"Okay," Ami said. "Better start from the top..."
* * *
Rei and Mina worked their way through the crowd carefully until they finally reached the
Colosseum. Then they began working their way around the building looking for someone who
looked like they worked there. They found a guard, and started asking questions.
"A female gladiator named Lita?" he asked. "Yes, there is one, in Theophilus's camp.
Lita the Magnificent. She took down five of Rome's best on her own about a week ago. As
beautiful as she is deadly, she is!"
"And where is this Theophilus's camp?" Rei asked.
"That way," the guard pointed down along the Colosseum wall. "Why?"
"Could you maybe write down some directions to the place?" Mina asked, holding up a
piece of paper. The guard shrugged, and took the paper and stepped inside for a moment while
they waited, another guard stepping out while the other was away, clearly spotting for the other
guy. While they waited, they asked the second guard about the bout the so-called Lita had been
in, and got more than a few gory details.
Finally, the first guard returned and handed back the paper to Mina. The two girl's
thanked him as politely as they could, and took off. Fortunately, direction words and place names
were sufficiently understandable through all of the Latin for them to get by.
"Let's see, first it says to go round to the northeast entrance to the Colosseum, the one
facing the palace, and then to go directly east from the entrance," Mina said as she looked at the
paper. They quickly and quietly followed along the Colosseum's wall 'til they found an entrance
facing a large structure on a hill off in the distance. They turned and headed east.
"Next," Mina said, again looking at the paper, "we walk up three streets, then turn north
at the fourth, and follow it straight there!"
"One...two...three...turn!" Rei said as she watched how many streets they passed as they
moved through the crowd in this part of the city, and then they turned on the appropriate street.
They walked forward quickly, and after several minutes, saw a small compound coming into sight,
with three guards on the front gate.
They walked up to the gate and approached one of the guards. He looked at them, with a
glance that spoke lust.
"Call girls, are you?" he said first. "We weren't told any were coming."
"Actually we're looking for someone," Rei said, restraining her temper at being called a
whore. "Is this the compound of Theophilus?"
"Yeah," another guard said. "So, you lovely ladies here to give us lonely men some
'entertainment'?"
"No," Mina cut in. "We're here to see Lita!" The three guards looked at each other in
surprise, then turned back.
"You'll have to clear that with the boss," the first one said. "Come, I'll take you to him."
With that, he led them through the gates into the compound, and round to the small house. As
they looked around them, they saw several gladiators training for impending matches. But they
didn't see anyone who looked like Lita.
The guard led them into the house, and up to the second floor, and to a bedroom with a
nice window with a view of the city, most notably the Colosseum.
And sitting at a desk, writing on some parchment, was the same old man they'd seen at
the fountain carried in a chair. Now that they thought about it, the other aged man he was with at
the time did call him Theophilus. Mina began glancing around at the rich decor of the room while
Rei focused on the gladiator-owner.
"Yes?" Theophilus asked, looking up.
"These girls wish to see Lita, sir," the guard said. Theophilus stared at them for a
moment, then waved the guard away.
"Return to your duties," he said.
"Yes, sir," the guard replied, and exited the room. Theophilus began writing again.
"Why do you wish to see my Lita?" he asked.
"Well, sir, you see, we think she might be a friend of ours," Rei started. "We'd like to
meet her so we can either confirm or deny this."
"I see," Theophilus said. "And why should I allow this? Of what difference would it
make if she is the friend you seek."
"If she is, we would like her released to us," Rei said. "If not, we'll go peacefully..."
"Rei, LOOK!" Mina snapped, grabbing her head and turning it to look at a small display
table in one corner. Rei gasped at what she saw set up on it in a glass case: Lita's Wand.
Theophilus gave only a brief glance at what they were looking at, and then returned once more to
his papers.
"Now we know it's our Lita!" Mina stated, then turned to Theophilus. "But why do you
have that?!"
"I purchased it from Petros, the man I bought my dear Lita from," Theophilus answered.
"Now that you know what you wanted, you can leave."
"Please, turn Lita over to us," Rei pleaded. "She can't be of any real use to you!"
"Are you kidding?" Theophilus looked up at her again fully. "Lita is my best gladiator!
She has yet to be defeated in the arena, and I will not release her for the world!" Rei and Mina
stared at him for a moment, thinking.
"We'll pay for her!" Rei said, and Mina felt her pupils shrink into pinpoints. How were
they supposed to do that without any money?!
"Oh?" Theophilus went back to his papers. "With what?" To Mina's shock, Rei brought
out her wand and walked over to the man, holding it out at arm's reach to him.
"I'll give you this, easily worth a small fortune," she said. *Provided you believe that's a
really big Ruby!* Theophilus looked up at her offering, and froze. Mina thought it over, took a
deep breath and took out her own wand, moving forward and offering it in the same way.
"You can have mine, too," she said. "They must be worth, like, a thousand gold coins a
piece! Please let her go." Theophilus stared at the two wands, almost transfixed, then finally
recovered his aged voice.
"SEMON!" he called, and in moments the servant that had been with him at the fountain
came in. "Bring me the bauble," Theophilus instructed, pointing toward Lita's wand, and Semon
took it from its case and brought it over. Theophilus took Mina and Rei's wands, and then Lita's
from Semon, and compared the three.
"Identical," he said. "Almost completely identical. An Emerald, a Ruby, and a Topaz.
The sigils of the king of the gods, the war god, and the love goddess. How very interesting.
Very interesting indeed." He then handed the Jupiter wand back to Semon, who returned it to its
display case, and the Mars and Venus wands to Rei and Mina.
"Keep your baubles," Theophilus said, "Unless you intend to trade them for money or
food. Lita is not for sale at any price."
"But..." Rei started. She never got to finish.
"Semon, please show these women out," Theophilus said, and once again buried himself in
his work. Semon did as instructed, and hustled the two girls out of the room, the house, and
finally the front gate to the compound. All they could do about it was fume.
"We've been brushed off!" Mina grumbled as they began to head back toward the
Colosseum to be in position for their rendevous. "And we even offered that man the power of the
gods!"
"Poor Lita," Rei's voice was quiet. "I hope she's okay."
"Yeah," Mina agreed, just as soft. "Me too."
* * *
Lita glanced up as Semon pushed someone out of the front gate. No, two someones.
Someones who looked _very_ familiar! Before she could get a better look, she heard a wooden
sword swinging in her direction, and she snapped back to the practice sessions and blocked the
incoming blade with her own.
"Stay focused, Lita!" Urian said. "Do you want to win your freedom or don't you?!"
Lita quickly disarmed her opponent, and knocked him to the ground, then turned back to the gate,
but now the two someones were gone.
"I could have sworn..." Lita said to herself, then shook her head dejectedly. "Ah, what
would Rei and Mina be doing here, anyway?"
* * *
In his private rooms, Theophilus continued his writing, then looked up at Lita's wand on
the other side of the room. He stared at it for a moment.
"'To me, it is power,' she said," he commented to himself. "I wonder..."
* * *
Trista looked almost mortified when Ami finished her story, bringing the Time Senshi all
the way up to when she and Hotaru had arrived in Rome and found Serena. Trista looked much
like Serena and Lita had...wanting to find and eviscerate Eleutherios! No, eviscerate was being
too kind. Dismembered and eviscerated, that would be a suitable fate. *But we won't,* Ami
thought to herself as she stared at Trista. *We are Sailor Soldiers, Scouts of Love and Justice.
We will not sink to that man's level over a personal grudge. We're better than that!*
"And he hasn't been seen since his attempt on Hotaru's innocence?" Trista finally
breathed. "This Eleutherios?"
"Nope," Ami said. "Not unless someone's picked him up and is waiting back in Tercham
for the bounty."
"Damn," Trista actually swore, a rarity for her. "Well, he gets his in the end, we know
that much. I just wish we could somehow find out how."
"It doesn't matter, Trista," Ami said. "He failed, Hotaru's innocence is still safe for the
one she comes to love, whoever that may be, and we're better than him. We have to be!"
"Yes, I know," Trista sighed. "The thought just makes me so...so mad! I love Hotaru,
she's like a daughter to me. The thought that someone tried to...tried to...I'm sorry..."
"Don't be," Ami said. "Frankly, right after I stopped him, _I_ wanted to kill him, too!
But I restrained my bloodlust, and put my focus where it was needed, on Hotaru's welfare."
"And you made the right choice, the choice I would have made, I hope," Trista agreed.
"Now, you said you went to meet Serena at her stand?"
"Yeah," a small voice said, and they turned to see Diana watching them intently.
Apparently the three children had found something else to amuse themselves with. "Where's
Rini? Is she okay?"
"Um..." Ami stammered. "Diana...I don't think you're ready for this part." Diana
scampered forward and hopped into Ami's lap.
"Please, Ami!" Diana said, her eyes full of seriousness. "What happened to Rini?!"
"Ami, please tell us," Trista said, her own eyes filling with fear at Ami's own comment.
Ami looked at each of them for a moment, then sighed.
"Okay..." she said. "You asked for it."
* * *
Amara and Michelle carefully moved through the crowd, stopping at various stands to try
and gain more information about Lita, Ami, and Hotaru. They were still getting nowhere, and
they were beginning to think it might be time to give up and return to the Colosseum for their
rendevous, when Michelle suddenly pulled on her chain.
"Amara, look!" she said pointing through the crowd to a cart marked "Marco's Statuary
Station!" The first thing that Amara noted was a slightly greasy man at the cart with dirty red hair
all over his head working the crowd around him. The second thing was a quiet, almost destitute
little girl with blonde hair chained to the cart like a wild animal. Amara wasn't interested after
that.
"Just a guy selling his wares and mistreating his slave," she said. "Come on, Michelle, let's
keep going."
"But look who's going up to _buy_ his wares!" Michelle said, and Amara begrudgingly
looked back...and noticed a young girl with short black hair next to another, slightly younger, girl
with long gray black hair in a braid. Ignoring the second girl for the moment, Amara looked
pointedly at the raven head. Yes, it could be...
"Do think it's her?" Michelle asked. "Hotaru?"
"Could be," Amara agreed. She didn't really want to go near that stand, but if that was
Hotaru, then she would. "Lets' try and get a closer look."
As they moved closer, the crowd started to get pushy with a few salesmen trying to hock
their wares...and a few others trying to get Amara to sell them Michelle. They studiously ignored
them til they started to block their path, and then Amara saw a light brown-haired man coming up
behind the two girls they were trying to reach as they paid for some statuary from that Marco guy,
which almost made Amara think it wasn't Hotaru.
*Where would Hotaru get that much Roman change, unless she's been...don't even think
that, girl!!* And then the man reached forward and grabbed the two girls, and their shrieks of
panic ended all inner discussions.
She was seeing a kidnapping!
* * *
Rini walked through the palace on her way to the kitchen with Salina, the two carrying the
used dishes from lunch as they'd been told to help with the cleaning while Lucius was studying.
Ever since Pherinias had tried to kill them, things had gotten tense around the palace. No, things
were tense before, now it was just more pronounced.
As they reached the kitchen and put the dishes with the others to be cleaned and set to
work, they heard another servant/slave talking...about the Emperor!
"He's obsessed!" she said. "I don't think he's thought of anything but that Spaniard since
he first appeared in the arena. I tell you, nothing good can come of this."
"Not our problem," another servant replied. "So long as we keep our necks, he can
obsess with whatever he wants. Besides, if you want to really worry about the Caesar, worry
about the fact that _I_ heard him saying he was going to announce the dissolution of the Senate!
He would have done it, too, if he hadn't gotten distracted by the Spaniard!"
"Maybe we should visit Proximo's compound and thank General Maximus," the first
servant joked.
"Except I've heard Caesar Commodus still intends to do it, just as soon as he can find a
way to see the General dead!" yet another servant commented.
"How far do you think Caesar will go?" Rini asked as she scrubbed a plate. The others
glanced at her.
"You're that slave of Lucius's, aren't you, the one said to have naturally pink hair?"
"Yeah, that's me," Rini sighed. "Now about my question?"
"How far he'll go?" the second servant said. "With Commodus, who knows."
"Maybe he'll challenge Maximus himself," a fourth servant suggested.
"I don't think he's _that_ obsessed!" Rini said. "Though he might be that crazy."
"Well, come what may, I hope we don't get caught in the middle of it," the third servant
commented.
"I've heard the Caesar's having all the Senators followed," someone else said. "Think
he's planning to have them all killed?" Rini's mind shot to Senator Gracchus, who seemed so
kind, like a grandfather almost.
"I don't think the people would stand for it," Rini said. "They'd probably storm the
palace, and then there's no _way_ we wouldn't get caught in the path!" Everyone stared at her
for a few moments.
"You have a very morbid view of the world, child," one servant said. "You might want to
rethink that reasoning."
"Gee, a slave, morbid?" Rini replied. "I think I'm entitled to a little morbidity, don't
you?"
"Rini, you don't really think the people will storm the palace, do you?" Salina finally
spoke for the first time since they'd left Lucius's quarters.
"If Caesar Commodus pisses them off enough," Rini said, "Anything's possible."
* * *
Darien worked his way through the crowd, finding the main entrance to the Colosseum
handily. He then turned left, to the west, and began moving through the crowd once more.
*Let's see, sixty meters, that's not too far, I think,* he thought to himself.
Darien continued to work his way through the square, avoiding the myriad number of
people coming and going from the latest games in the giant arena, or moving around among the
many stands, both food and otherwise.
It took several minutes, but he finally spotted a food stand in the approximate location of
his intended destination. An elderly man, a middle-aged man, and a boy of about fifteen or sixteen
were working it, which matched Ami's statement, but at first the only female he could see there
was a young girl of about Rini's age or so, but with dark raven hair. He then felt something furry
near his feet, and glanced down to see Luna and Artemis at his heals. He bent down to them to
speak quietly.
"Think that's the place?" he asked.
"Maybe," Artemis whispered. "I think I smell Serena close by, but I'm not sure."
"I am," Luna said. "I'd know her scent anywhere!" And with that, Luna dashed forward
to the cart.
* * *
Serena cooked as fast as she could, preparing meal after meal. It was being a really good
day that day, and with luck, by the time they closed up shop for the night, she would be only two
to three hundred coins away from being able to buy back Rini! Yes, going to see Lita had set her
back, but only by a couple of days at best, by her reckoning. *Soon, Rini,* she thought to herself,
*Soon!*
"Meow," a small cat roweled from nearby. For a moment Serena ignored the sound as
probably belonging to a stray looking for scraps, until Georgio spoke up.
"Hello, kitty," he said. "Aren't you a pretty little thing. What meanie shaved your head
like that? Like a little crescent moon? Who did that?" Serena dropped the utensils she was using
and snapped around, shoving Georgio and Thernacius aside to see the familiar black female feline
sitting atop the stand's counter as Tatius and Galea turned to look at her.
"LUNA!" Serena cried as she scooped her cat into her arms. "How'd you get to Rome,
my precious little pet? Did you follow me here?"
"Meow!" Luna replied in cat, and then another meow grabbed her attention. She looked
down to see the matching white Tom cat hop to the counter top.
"Artemis!" Serena felt herself fill with utmost glee, then looking back to Luna. "You
brought your boyfriend with you!"
"Not just hers," a familiar male voice said, and Serena looked up, scarcely believing her
own ears. There, standing before her outside the cart, dressed in a Roman armor dress complete
with a sheathed sword at his hip, was Darien. "Hey, babe," he said.
"Darien..." Serena felt herself sob as she stared at him, Luna hopping out of her arms back
onto the counter.
"Darien?" Tatius blinked. "Your husband?"
"What?" Georgio felt himself grow cold. "But he's supposed to be dead and rotting in
Germania! Isn't he?!"
"Oh, Darien!" Serena cried, and threw her arms around him in a tight hug, which was
quickly returned.
"It's alright, I'm here now," he said. "Everything's going to be all right."
"You'll find someone else, Georgio," Thernacius said.
"Yes, there'll be someone else," a female voice said, and they turned to see Vivian leaning
lightly on the cart. "Your husband moves very quickly," she commented to Serena as she took in
some deep breaths.
"Vivian?" Thernacius blinked. "What are you..."
"I got worried, so I took the first caravan to Rome to find out what was keeping you and
Georgio," she said. "And I wanted to know how Serena was faring."
"But I wrote letters," Thernacius said. "We both did."
"Told you the mail service stinks," Serena muttered. While they'd been talking, Georgio
was staring at Darien, anger filling his eyes...and a pinch of jealousy.
"There'll never be another girl as good as Serena, never," he quietly fumed, then snapped
at Darien, "I challenge you to single combat for the lady's hand!"
"What?" Darien glanced at him, and so did Luna and Artemis.
"He has a crush on me, ignore him," Serena said, still shedding tears onto Darien's
armored chest. She'd yet to let him go since she'd thrown herself on him. And her comment
smashed down Georgio harder than any weapon ever could have. He quietly sank to the ground,
defeated.
"So where are Delia and Mikhail?" Tatius jumped in. "You didn't leave them behind now,
did you?"
"No, I brought them with me, they are at your house with the slave girl and her son,"
Vivian said.
"Ami doesn't have a son," Darien said. *Unless she's been here a _lot_ longer than we
thought!*
"But Zacharias..." Vivian started.
"Is a ward of the Lady Hrisoula, and nothing more," Thernacius explained. "We'll fill you
in later, sweetheart." At that point, Darien glanced around the cart, but couldn't see who he was
looking for.
"Uh, Serena," he said slowly. "I only see one little girl here, and I'm pretty sure that she's
not Rini, unless she decided to dye her hair."
"No, I'm Galea, sir. I belong to Ariadne and Tatius," the girl replied, briefly glancing at
him. Serena felt a whole new choke coming on as she looked up into Darien's eyes.
"She's...not here," Serena said, her eyes filling with tears.
"Then where is she?" Darien asked. "Mrs. Vivian said you should be the one to tell me.
What happened to her?"
"Darien, I..." Serena felt herself choke up solid. "I...I LOST HER!" She collapsed into
his chest again, crying her eyes out.
"What?!" Darien exclaimed. "Serena, what do you mean?"
"I lost her!" Serena repeated, then said between sobs, "Darien...oh, god...Darien...our
baby...our baby's been enslaved!" Darien's face went pale.
"No..." he gasped.
* * *
Ami had finished telling Trista and Diana what she knew of Rini's unfortunate fate,
concluding with what they'd learned from Barvus Cephiro only a week prior, and was watching
the two carefully. Diana was currently weeping in her lap, quietly bawling that she was a flop as a
guardian to Rini for allowing this to happen on her watch. Trista, in the meantime, had apparently
decided to completely clock out. She was stiff as a rock.
They sat there for Ami wasn't sure how long, and finally Ami reached forward and tapped
the time senshi lightly on the shoulder to see how out of it she was. For a moment, Trista still
didn't respond, though her eyes were blinking.
"I'm a total failure!" Diana quietly berated herself. "My brother was right, I'm no
guardian, I'm nothin' but a worthless little runt!"
"DIANA, SHUT UP!!!" Trista suddenly snapped. "That's not helping anything!! Now
killing this Barvus Cephiro slowly and painfully, that'll help!!"
"Trista!! Contain yourself!!" Ami snapped back. "Do I have to remind you who you are?
What your duty is?!"
"And what about yours? Isn't it your duty to destroy all enemies of the royal family,
foreign _and domestic_?!" Trista rebounded on her. "I think Barvus Cephiro qualifies!"
"I think he's a man doing what his life experience has dictated he should do to survive!"
Ami retorted. "This whole damn Empire was basically _built_ on slave labor, in case you forgot!
He's a product of his time and rearing, nothing more! Okay, he's an asshole, but he's still a
product of his time!"
Trista stared at Ami after her frank use of expletives for several long moments before
finally replying once more. *I don't think I, or anyone else for that matter, have _ever_ heard
Ami swear like that before!* she thought to herself briefly.
"Alright, then, how about this?" Trista countered. "He chained up _our_ Princess like she
was...like she was...a piece of meat at the supermarket! And he physically _abused_ her! Now
does he count?"
"And most slaves now and up to the mid-nineteenth century American ones were!" Ami
replied. "You're the guardian of the friggin' Time Gate, Trista! You of all people should know
that!!" Again, Trista was taken back by Ami's use of profanity.
"Since when were you so good at swearing?" she finally asked.
"Amara was a good teacher!" Ami stated. "Now back off on Barvus Cephiro's case.
Once he sold Rini off to the Prince of Rome, he was out of the loop, he doesn't matter anymore!
What matters is being able to get back Rini!" Trista gritted her teeth soundly as she realized that
Ami was, unfortunately, absolutely correct.
"I'll turn my resignation in to the Queen as soon as we get home," Diana continued to
berate herself. "I don't deserve to be Rini's guardian anymore."
"Diana, it wasn't your fault," Ami rocked the poor distraught kitten in her arms like a
newborn babe. "The only one who's fault it is for Rini getting enslaved and flogged is Barvus
Cephiro's. No one else's."
"But...but I'm s'posed to protect her," Diana looked up at Ami with tear streaked eyes.
"An' I failed."
"In that," Trista said quietly, "We _all_ failed, Diana..."
* * *
Eleutherios had worked his way to Rome slowly over the past several weeks, not really
expecting to be able to go home ever again. No doubt Hotaru had accused him of being too frank
since he was interrupted by someone before he could please the girl as she desired to be pleased,
and Hrisoula would have put a price on his head. In fact, he had already dodged two bounty hunters,
barely!
Also, Damris would have gotten back by now, no doubt, and revealed _their_
arrangement as well. Providing, of course, she hadn't been killed while attempting to reacquire
her lost brother.
But that was the past, and Eleutherios now had a way to create a new start for himself
here in Rome. He was pretty good at calling the outcome of a fight, and figured he would do well
betting on the remaining series of gladiatorial games in the Colosseum, enough to get him on his
feet until he could properly support himself with his artwork, anyway.
As he worked his way through the crowd towards the Colosseum, he decided to take a
back way around and visit his old friend Marco, the sculptor. Marco had been the one to
introduce him to the world of art several years ago, and he could use a friend right then.
Especially now that he was on his own.
And just as he saw the cart come into view, he spotted two girls he hadn't expected to
ever see again. The short black hair and beautiful violet eyes. The gray black hair in the beautiful
long braid and shy hazel eyes. It was them. Hotaru and Damris. Clearly they had decided to run
away and strike out on their own, as no chains or other members of Hrisoula's household, namely
his brother and the woman, Ami, were in evidence. Also, either Damris had failed to retrieve her
brother, or she and Hotaru currently had him stashed somewhere 'safe'.
No matter. They were here.
He quickly moved around through the crowd before they could see him, and watched as
they approached Marco's cart. They were as beautiful as he remembered them. Yes, only when a
girl was first blossoming into a woman was she the most beautiful, and he knew they must still
have wanted him, for the gods themselves must have guided them here to him.
He began moving carefully through the large crowd to reach the cart and his two lovely
maidens, who were waiting to finally join him in his bed as they desired. He began to work his
way closer and closer, and noticed that they had begun haggling with Marco over some statues on
his cart, Hotaru pointedly ignoring the slave girl chained to the cart. *Odd, he must have bought
her recently,* he thought. The crowd was so thick here it was taking seemingly forever to get to
the cart himself.
They were still haggling when he saw something out of the corner of his eye that he
thought was a mistake. For a moment, he glanced fully over, and saw a short haired blonde man
with a woman slave on a chain. What stood out about the two as they stopped at a stand and
apparently bargained for information of some kind, was that the woman's hair, though only
shoulder length, was a remarkable sea-blue color. He then shrugged it off as a dye job. Some
people could be so weird with their possessions.
After a few more moments he was up to the cart, and Marco glanced up at him as he
accepted the money Hotaru had paid him for the statuary.
"Eleutherios!" he said jovially. "It's been a long time! How are you?" Hotaru and
Damris snapped their heads around to stare at him, shock and fear filling their faces.
"Same as always, old friend," Eleutherios said, and grabbed Damris and Hotaru each by
the arm. "Just making sure my wives here weren't in any trouble." But then something happened
that Eleutherios never expected. Damris and Hotaru screamed loudly and tried to get away from
him, and even tried to kick him!
"Wives? You got married? Isn't two at once a little overzealous?" Marco asked.
"Calm down, sweeties, calm down," he coached them, feeling a little nervous and
embarrassed at their behavior before the crowd, then to Marcos, commented, "Not at all, we all
love each other, and Damris and Hotaru are hardly the jealous types." Instead of calming down,
though, they began fighting even fiercer than beforehand. He found himself actually struggling to
try and hold onto them.
"Help!!!" Hotaru screamed at the top of her voice. "Someone help us, please!!"
Eleutherios reddened. She was still playing hard to get?!
"Enough teasing, Hotaru!" he seethed. "You know you both want me, and I intend to
please." Hotaru looked up at him, and he could see the burning desire in her eyes to have him, to
give herself to...
**THUNK!!!**
He stared down, shock and horror filling his mind.
A small, gold colored, now slightly dripping with blood, blade tip was sticking through his
chest, right through the middle. He glanced over his shoulder, to find himself staring at the
blonde man, the one with the sea-blue haired slave woman, staring back at him, anger filling his
face.
"See you in hell," he breathed, but it...wasn't...a woman's...voice...this...shouldn't...
couldn't...be...happenin...............
* * *
Hotaru stared as Eleutherios fell down, dead at last. Had he really believed she and
Damris had..._wanted_ him?! No matter, it was moot now.
It was ironic. This time she had actually been in a position where she could have pulled
out her wand, could have stopped him herself without even trying, yet she still couldn't because
of the crowd. The moment she transformed in front of that many she would have sealed herself a
date with a bonfire via stake!
And then deliverance had come, in the form of a very sharp blade. She stared at the fallen
body for a moment, not sure what to think anymore. Then a voice brought her out of her reverie.
A very familiar voice.
"Hey, kid, you okay?" a feminine, yet slightly masculine, voice asked, and she snapped up
her head to see Amara cleaning off her Uranus Space Sword and wearing a Roman toga. Beside
her was Michelle, wearing a Roman dress...and a collar and chain?!
"Oh, I'm so glad you're alright," Michelle said, eyes brimming with tears. "We were so
worried!"
"The moment you screamed, we recognized your voice," Amara added. "Though I must
admit, I never realized you could scream quite so loud."
"Amara! Michelle!" Hotaru finally found her voice, and jumped up into their arms, which
graciously wrapped around her in return.
"Hotaru, you know these people?" Damris asked. Hotaru pulled away from her surrogate
parents, her eyes filled with happy, relieved tears, and turned to her Roman friend.
"Damris, this is Amara and Michelle, friends of my family," she introduced them. "Amara,
Michelle, this is Damris, she's with the people Ami and I've been staying with. Michelle, what's
with the leash?"
"Now, Hotaru, you know perfectly well that I'm Amara's faithful and ever present pet,"
Michelle said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world as Amara sheathed her blade.
Hotaru stared for a moment, then dropped it.
"So," Amara said. "Ready to blow this town?"
"Uh, that would be a lot simpler if I wasn't currently a house slave," Hotaru chuckled
nervously. Then her eyes beamed widely. "The statuary, I almost forgot! C'mon, Damris, we
gotta get it back to the house, pronto!" She then turned around and picked up half the purchase
she and Damris had just made, while Damris hopped forward and grabbed the other half.
"Nice doing business with you!" they chimed to Marco, who was still staring in shock at
the death of his old friend. Just then, a group of six guards came up, and the crowd quickly
started to disperse.
"What happened here?" one asked.
"He tried to kidnap us to rape us," Hotaru said immediately. "This valiant woman saved
us. And he had a bounty on him, anyway. Just ask the authorities in Tercham."
"That so?" the head guard asked.
"Yes, I slew only in self defense of my friend here, and to get the bounty," Amara admitted,
and hoped they could go on their way quickly. "Wait...rape you?!"
"Well, until we can get confirmation of the bounty, you'll have to come with us, please,"
the chief guard signaled his men. "You can bring your slave."
"Wait!" Hotaru cried, and put down the statuary in her arms to dig through her pockets,
pulling out a copy of Hrisoula's slave identification papers. "This says I am a slave of the Lady
Hrisoula of Tercham, who herself put the bounty on Eleutherios's head after he tried to rape me
and ran off. _She_ will verify it!" The guard looked at it before he answered.
"Bring your mistress to me at the holding cell area, she can verify it there. Until then, the
woman and her slave remain with us. If I am not satisfied with her verification, they will be
charged with murder and thrown to the Colosseum with the next batch of Christians as punishment. You two,
bring the body for disposal."
With that, the guards led Amara and Michelle away, one taking possession of the Uranus
Sword, while two collected the body of Eleutherios. Hotaru stowed her ID papers, and picked up
her half of the statuary. As she did so, she saw a sack dropped near where the body had fallen,
and scooped it up, taking only a brief look inside to confirm the contents as Eleutherios's
belongings.
As she and Damris made all haste to get back to Tatius and Ariadne's house to fetch
Hrisoula, Hotaru felt herself enter a new conflict.
She honestly didn't know whether she wanted to keep Eleutherios's pictures of her or
burn them.
* * *
Rei and Mina leaned against the Colosseum wall as they waited for the others to come
back for the rendevous. As they watched people come and go, and listened to the roaring cheers
of the crowd within the gigantic arena, they felt themselves grow increasingly bored.
"One thing's for sure," Mina said. "The other's have _got_ to be doing better than us!"
"You said it," Rei agreed.
******************************************************************************
One step closer, two steps back! And more clouds are about to appear... Be here for Chapter 11:
Crises.
Want to talk? E-mail me at Scorpinac@sa-tech.com!
learned by listening behind closed doors?! And with Querian back in the picture, even more
threats are raised, and dark clouds hide on the horizon...
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 10: Conspiracies
Just a short ways away, Darien and the girls stopped to take a deep breath of air. Rei
stared at her Prince sternly.
"Tell me, Darien, does the term 'Low Profile' mean nothing to you?" she asked.
"I'm sorry," Darien said. "But when he said he was going to turn Serena into a...into a...a
whore, I just lost it."
"Um," Artemis said, looking at Diana, "so you know, a, uh, brothel is..."
"A place where people, mostly men, solicit sexual activities, mostly from women," Diana
finished, as though she were repeating a lesson. "The Future Venus explained it to me because...
we...still have them in Crystal Tokyo..."
"World's oldest profession, indeed," Darien muttered. "At least now we know where to
look for Serena."
"We know where she was, Darien, not where she is _right now_," Amara pointed out.
"I know," a female voice said from nearby. They turned to see a woman with raven hair
down her back with dark brown, nearly black eyes wearing a blue dress. With her was a ten year
old girl with brunette hair as long as her mother's, and brown eyes wearing a simple red dress,
and a boy of seven or eight with brown hair worn down to his chin, and his mother's eyes in a
semi-fancy green toga.
"Who are you?" Amara asked.
"I am Vivian Sophia Rex," she introduced herself. "This is my daughter, Delia, and my
younger son, Mikhail. And you are...Darien?"
"Yes," Darien said. "How did you know?"
"Serena told me," Vivian replied, smiling gently. "Your wife is with my husband."
* * *
It had been a few days, almost a week by her reckoning, and Lita had taken some time to
think things over. Rini being flogged was a certain possibility, but being sexually violated, that
was a stretch. She'd seen Lucius Verus, and he wasn't much older than Rini was, if at all! *No,
that Cephiro guy was just saying that to get me riled up. But if Lucius is having her whipped,
then I have to stop him, and I did sort of promise I would do it.* she thought. But the more she
thought about it, the more she wanted to take it back.
"Lita!" a voice called, and she turned to see Urian and Vassos walking over. They were
having lunch at Theophilus's compound, waiting for their next trip to the Colosseum. She waved
to her friends lightly.
"Just thinking," she said calmly. "There's been a lot on my mind lately."
"Your friend's girl, the slave of the Prince?" Urian asked as he and Vassos took a seat.
"Among other things," Lita said. "Urian, do you think she's been flogged?"
"Well, if she has done something disobedient enough to deserve it, perhaps," he answered.
"But past that, I cannot honestly say."
"Has the girl been known to be willful?" Vassos asked.
"A little," Lita admitted. "But she does know how to mind her manners...most of the
time. And she would definitely know enough not to push her luck while a slave! She's not
stupid! Anything but!"
"Then I doubt she has done anything to deserve it, unless of course she actually tried to
escape," Vasso said, spooning some of the gruel they were having into his mouth. "Most slaves
tend be flogged after such an act."
"Hmm," Lita quietly had another bite herself. "If only I could see her up close, to see for
myself if she's been whipped..."
"Good luck," Urian grinned. "She's only the property of the Prince of Rome!"
"Yeah," Lita answered. "I know."
* * *
Ami and Felicia were working away at cleaning the sheets, while Iosif tended the dishes in
the kitchen. Ariadne and Hrisoula had gone to a neighbors to visit. It was Galea's turn to help at
the stand with Serena and the men. Hotaru and Damris had been sent on an errand, and would be
back shortly, she hoped. And Zacharias, oddly enough, had asked to stay and help her and Felicia
with the sheets. He was on her left, scrubbing away with his little hands, and apparently actually
enjoying himself.
"So you didn't know Galea before you were taken prisoner by the slavers?" Ami asked.
"Not really," Felicia replied. "I mean, I think we come from the same town, but we never
really talked or anything. Then my father got really deep into debt with the gambling houses, and
the next thing I knew they took everything to settle it, including me! Before I even really knew
what was going on, I was sold to Barvus Cephiro, changed into a slave's toga, chained up, and
tossed into a cage."
"Man, that stinks," Ami said. "Enslaved just because your father has a gambling problem.
That's harsh."
"Yeah," Felicia agreed. "Anyway, before we left town, Galea was thrown in with me, and
we've basically been together ever since. But Rini was the first to offer a ray of hope to any of us.
But you know how that turned out in the end."
"Don't remind me," Ami gritted her teeth.
"I don' really 'member ever bein' free," Zacharias said. "I was a slave to Korudon long as
I can 'members, til Damris came back and saved me, just like she promised."
"Well, you're not a slave now, Zacharias," Ami said. "You're free to do whatever you
wish."
"And is Damris free?" the little boy asked earnestly.
"Sure she is," Ami said. "I'm positive if she wanted to stop working for Hrisoula,
Hrisoula would let her."
"Really?" Zacharias looked at her with _really_ big eyes.
"Of course!" Felicia agreed. "Lady Ariadne said that when Galea and I turn fifteen, we'll
be free to go, if that's what we want."
"Is it?" Ami glanced at her.
"Well, I can't speak for Galea, but as for myself," Felicia replied, "Well, I don't really
have anywhere else to go. My mom died of illness years ago, and I don't think there was
anything left of my dad after the collection men came through. So I don't really know what I'm
gonna do with my life once I'm free, not that I'm really a slave per se now."
"Hmm," Ami lost herself in thought.
* * *
Hotaru and Damris carefully moved through the busy marketplace as they sought the
source of their errand. They had been sent to purchase some statuary from a particular salesman,
Marco Neralium, and been given enough money to make only the purchase, plus a little extra in
case they got hungry while retrieving the desired statuary.
So far, Hotaru, Ami, and Serena had brain pooled ideas, but short of a miracle in the form
of Trista, they didn't see any forthcoming ways of springing Lita from the gladiator pits. As for
Rini, Hotaru dearly wished she could get close enough to the palace to see her again, and maybe
talk to her. But the day after they saw her with the Caesar and his family at the Colosseum,
security at the palace had suddenly doubled, making the possibility even less than it had been
beforehand.
But for right now, Hotaru kept her mind on her errand. As she spotted the salesperson's
cart, with, *shudder*, a young girl chained to it like a watch dog of some kind, a head passed
through the crowd that Hotaru recognized. A head with light brown hair and sharp emerald eyes.
Eyes that made Hotaru feel suddenly cold. And then the head was gone.
"Something wrong, Hotaru?" Damris asked.
"Huh?" Hotaru blinked. "Oh, sorry, I just thought I saw Eleutherios for a moment."
"Eleutherios?" Damris blinked. "Seriously?"
"It was probably just my imagination, that's all," Hotaru shrugged it off. "Let's get that
statuary." They continued on their way through the rest of the crowd to the stand.
And off in the distance, two sharp emerald eyes watched them, and formulated a simplistic
plan. He hadn't forgotten his two lovely maidens, and now they had returned to him.
Eleutherios simply grinned.
* * *
"Okay, here's the plan," Darien outlined. "Mina, you and Rei go to the Colosseum, see
what you can find out about Lita, or her twin. Amara, you take Michelle and keep glancing
around the area, see what you can find out. And Trista and I will go with Mrs. Vivian to find her
husband, and Serena. We'll take the cats with us. We'll meet back together in front of the
Colosseum at sundown."
Vivian had told them about how she and her family had met Serena, and how Serena had
gone with Thernacius and Georgio to Rome. When she mentioned that Georgio had become
smitten with Serena, Darien had lightly glowered, but dismissed it. When he and Trista had asked
about Rini, Vivian had become evasive, saying it would be best to let Serena tell them about that
when they found her. Delia and Mikhail had become quickly enamored with Diana, and were
playing with her and petting her lovingly.
"Right," the others all agreed. They immediately split up as decided, Artemis and Luna
hopping over to sit on Trista's shoulders. Vivian looked impressed by the cats agility, and how
well they seemingly were trained. Delia quickly scooped up Diana, who purred merrily.
"So," Darien asked her. "Which way do we go?"
"This way, please," Vivian directed, and they followed her through the labyrinth streets
and buildings until they came to one house in particular, made of white washed marble. Delia and
Mikhail scooted up to the door and began knocking while Vivian calmly came up behind them
with Darien and Trista.
"This house belongs to my husband's mother and father," Vivian told them. "They were
going to stay here while they took care of things, and help Serena."
"Alright," Darien said, still wondering what she wasn't telling him. They waited a few
moments, and then the door opened...and a little boy was on the other side.
"Who are you?" he asked innocently.
"More to the point, who are you, child, and where are my mother and father-in-law?"
Vivian asked.
"Who is it, Zacharias?" a female voice called from within the house, and a young woman
stepped into view. A young woman Darien and Trista knew.
"Hello, miss," Vivian said, but then noticed the girl's eyes were looking right past her.
"Darien, Trista?" Ami blinked, seeming on the edge of tears.
"Ami?" Darien and Trista replied. "You're okay!!"
"Well, as good as can be expected," Ami said. "Given I'm technically a house slave."
"Excuse me!" Vivian began to raise her voice. "But where is your master?"
"My mistress, the Lady Hrisoula, is at a neighbor's with the lady of this house, Ariadne.
Only I, Zacharias here, Isoif, also Hrisoula's, and Felicia, a slave of Ariadne's, are present right
now," Ami answered. "And you are?"
"Vivian Sophia Rex," Vivian noticeably calmed down again. "Tell me, where is my
husband, eldest son, and father-in-law?"
"They're running a food stand near the Colosseum, sixty meters from the main entrance
along the west side," Ami said. "Serena's there, too, Darien. And Hotaru's also staying here
with us, but she and Damris are out on an errand for Hrisoula." she added. Darien immediately
turned around.
"Trista, stay here and talk with Ami, learn what you can," he said. "I'm going to go see
my wife."
"I will join you," Vivian said, then turned to her children. "Wait here for our return, or
your grandmother's, whichever comes first."
"Yes, mother," they chorused, and went inside. They greeted Zacharias, and Trista came
in, Ami closing the door. Iosif popped his head in to glance at the newest arrivals.
"Ami? Who are..." he started.
"Thernacius's other kids, his wife just went to see him," Ami indicated the children. "And
this is Trista, a friend from my home town. Trista, this is Iosif, he's with me, Hotaru, Damris, and
Hrisoula, as is Zacharias." Ami noted that the two kids had been carrying Diana, and were now
playing with her in the sitting room along with Zacharias, but she noticed that Luna and Artemis
had vanished from Trista's shoulders when she came in.
"Hello miss, children," Iosif nodded, and went back into the kitchen. Felicia stuck her
own head in, and the introductions went around a second time, and the slave girl returned to the
laundry.
"So, Ami, what exactly's been happening with you since you left home?" Trista asked.
"It's a long story," Ami sighed. "Between getting bought by Hrisoula, Hotaru almost
getting raped, and coming here and finding out what happened to Serena, Rini, and Lita, it's been
something of a nightmare."
"Wait, what do you mean, Hotaru almost got raped?" Trista's eyes widened in horror.
Ami pulled her into a side room so they could be alone, and sat them both on the floor.
"Okay," Ami said. "Better start from the top..."
* * *
Rei and Mina worked their way through the crowd carefully until they finally reached the
Colosseum. Then they began working their way around the building looking for someone who
looked like they worked there. They found a guard, and started asking questions.
"A female gladiator named Lita?" he asked. "Yes, there is one, in Theophilus's camp.
Lita the Magnificent. She took down five of Rome's best on her own about a week ago. As
beautiful as she is deadly, she is!"
"And where is this Theophilus's camp?" Rei asked.
"That way," the guard pointed down along the Colosseum wall. "Why?"
"Could you maybe write down some directions to the place?" Mina asked, holding up a
piece of paper. The guard shrugged, and took the paper and stepped inside for a moment while
they waited, another guard stepping out while the other was away, clearly spotting for the other
guy. While they waited, they asked the second guard about the bout the so-called Lita had been
in, and got more than a few gory details.
Finally, the first guard returned and handed back the paper to Mina. The two girl's
thanked him as politely as they could, and took off. Fortunately, direction words and place names
were sufficiently understandable through all of the Latin for them to get by.
"Let's see, first it says to go round to the northeast entrance to the Colosseum, the one
facing the palace, and then to go directly east from the entrance," Mina said as she looked at the
paper. They quickly and quietly followed along the Colosseum's wall 'til they found an entrance
facing a large structure on a hill off in the distance. They turned and headed east.
"Next," Mina said, again looking at the paper, "we walk up three streets, then turn north
at the fourth, and follow it straight there!"
"One...two...three...turn!" Rei said as she watched how many streets they passed as they
moved through the crowd in this part of the city, and then they turned on the appropriate street.
They walked forward quickly, and after several minutes, saw a small compound coming into sight,
with three guards on the front gate.
They walked up to the gate and approached one of the guards. He looked at them, with a
glance that spoke lust.
"Call girls, are you?" he said first. "We weren't told any were coming."
"Actually we're looking for someone," Rei said, restraining her temper at being called a
whore. "Is this the compound of Theophilus?"
"Yeah," another guard said. "So, you lovely ladies here to give us lonely men some
'entertainment'?"
"No," Mina cut in. "We're here to see Lita!" The three guards looked at each other in
surprise, then turned back.
"You'll have to clear that with the boss," the first one said. "Come, I'll take you to him."
With that, he led them through the gates into the compound, and round to the small house. As
they looked around them, they saw several gladiators training for impending matches. But they
didn't see anyone who looked like Lita.
The guard led them into the house, and up to the second floor, and to a bedroom with a
nice window with a view of the city, most notably the Colosseum.
And sitting at a desk, writing on some parchment, was the same old man they'd seen at
the fountain carried in a chair. Now that they thought about it, the other aged man he was with at
the time did call him Theophilus. Mina began glancing around at the rich decor of the room while
Rei focused on the gladiator-owner.
"Yes?" Theophilus asked, looking up.
"These girls wish to see Lita, sir," the guard said. Theophilus stared at them for a
moment, then waved the guard away.
"Return to your duties," he said.
"Yes, sir," the guard replied, and exited the room. Theophilus began writing again.
"Why do you wish to see my Lita?" he asked.
"Well, sir, you see, we think she might be a friend of ours," Rei started. "We'd like to
meet her so we can either confirm or deny this."
"I see," Theophilus said. "And why should I allow this? Of what difference would it
make if she is the friend you seek."
"If she is, we would like her released to us," Rei said. "If not, we'll go peacefully..."
"Rei, LOOK!" Mina snapped, grabbing her head and turning it to look at a small display
table in one corner. Rei gasped at what she saw set up on it in a glass case: Lita's Wand.
Theophilus gave only a brief glance at what they were looking at, and then returned once more to
his papers.
"Now we know it's our Lita!" Mina stated, then turned to Theophilus. "But why do you
have that?!"
"I purchased it from Petros, the man I bought my dear Lita from," Theophilus answered.
"Now that you know what you wanted, you can leave."
"Please, turn Lita over to us," Rei pleaded. "She can't be of any real use to you!"
"Are you kidding?" Theophilus looked up at her again fully. "Lita is my best gladiator!
She has yet to be defeated in the arena, and I will not release her for the world!" Rei and Mina
stared at him for a moment, thinking.
"We'll pay for her!" Rei said, and Mina felt her pupils shrink into pinpoints. How were
they supposed to do that without any money?!
"Oh?" Theophilus went back to his papers. "With what?" To Mina's shock, Rei brought
out her wand and walked over to the man, holding it out at arm's reach to him.
"I'll give you this, easily worth a small fortune," she said. *Provided you believe that's a
really big Ruby!* Theophilus looked up at her offering, and froze. Mina thought it over, took a
deep breath and took out her own wand, moving forward and offering it in the same way.
"You can have mine, too," she said. "They must be worth, like, a thousand gold coins a
piece! Please let her go." Theophilus stared at the two wands, almost transfixed, then finally
recovered his aged voice.
"SEMON!" he called, and in moments the servant that had been with him at the fountain
came in. "Bring me the bauble," Theophilus instructed, pointing toward Lita's wand, and Semon
took it from its case and brought it over. Theophilus took Mina and Rei's wands, and then Lita's
from Semon, and compared the three.
"Identical," he said. "Almost completely identical. An Emerald, a Ruby, and a Topaz.
The sigils of the king of the gods, the war god, and the love goddess. How very interesting.
Very interesting indeed." He then handed the Jupiter wand back to Semon, who returned it to its
display case, and the Mars and Venus wands to Rei and Mina.
"Keep your baubles," Theophilus said, "Unless you intend to trade them for money or
food. Lita is not for sale at any price."
"But..." Rei started. She never got to finish.
"Semon, please show these women out," Theophilus said, and once again buried himself in
his work. Semon did as instructed, and hustled the two girls out of the room, the house, and
finally the front gate to the compound. All they could do about it was fume.
"We've been brushed off!" Mina grumbled as they began to head back toward the
Colosseum to be in position for their rendevous. "And we even offered that man the power of the
gods!"
"Poor Lita," Rei's voice was quiet. "I hope she's okay."
"Yeah," Mina agreed, just as soft. "Me too."
* * *
Lita glanced up as Semon pushed someone out of the front gate. No, two someones.
Someones who looked _very_ familiar! Before she could get a better look, she heard a wooden
sword swinging in her direction, and she snapped back to the practice sessions and blocked the
incoming blade with her own.
"Stay focused, Lita!" Urian said. "Do you want to win your freedom or don't you?!"
Lita quickly disarmed her opponent, and knocked him to the ground, then turned back to the gate,
but now the two someones were gone.
"I could have sworn..." Lita said to herself, then shook her head dejectedly. "Ah, what
would Rei and Mina be doing here, anyway?"
* * *
In his private rooms, Theophilus continued his writing, then looked up at Lita's wand on
the other side of the room. He stared at it for a moment.
"'To me, it is power,' she said," he commented to himself. "I wonder..."
* * *
Trista looked almost mortified when Ami finished her story, bringing the Time Senshi all
the way up to when she and Hotaru had arrived in Rome and found Serena. Trista looked much
like Serena and Lita had...wanting to find and eviscerate Eleutherios! No, eviscerate was being
too kind. Dismembered and eviscerated, that would be a suitable fate. *But we won't,* Ami
thought to herself as she stared at Trista. *We are Sailor Soldiers, Scouts of Love and Justice.
We will not sink to that man's level over a personal grudge. We're better than that!*
"And he hasn't been seen since his attempt on Hotaru's innocence?" Trista finally
breathed. "This Eleutherios?"
"Nope," Ami said. "Not unless someone's picked him up and is waiting back in Tercham
for the bounty."
"Damn," Trista actually swore, a rarity for her. "Well, he gets his in the end, we know
that much. I just wish we could somehow find out how."
"It doesn't matter, Trista," Ami said. "He failed, Hotaru's innocence is still safe for the
one she comes to love, whoever that may be, and we're better than him. We have to be!"
"Yes, I know," Trista sighed. "The thought just makes me so...so mad! I love Hotaru,
she's like a daughter to me. The thought that someone tried to...tried to...I'm sorry..."
"Don't be," Ami said. "Frankly, right after I stopped him, _I_ wanted to kill him, too!
But I restrained my bloodlust, and put my focus where it was needed, on Hotaru's welfare."
"And you made the right choice, the choice I would have made, I hope," Trista agreed.
"Now, you said you went to meet Serena at her stand?"
"Yeah," a small voice said, and they turned to see Diana watching them intently.
Apparently the three children had found something else to amuse themselves with. "Where's
Rini? Is she okay?"
"Um..." Ami stammered. "Diana...I don't think you're ready for this part." Diana
scampered forward and hopped into Ami's lap.
"Please, Ami!" Diana said, her eyes full of seriousness. "What happened to Rini?!"
"Ami, please tell us," Trista said, her own eyes filling with fear at Ami's own comment.
Ami looked at each of them for a moment, then sighed.
"Okay..." she said. "You asked for it."
* * *
Amara and Michelle carefully moved through the crowd, stopping at various stands to try
and gain more information about Lita, Ami, and Hotaru. They were still getting nowhere, and
they were beginning to think it might be time to give up and return to the Colosseum for their
rendevous, when Michelle suddenly pulled on her chain.
"Amara, look!" she said pointing through the crowd to a cart marked "Marco's Statuary
Station!" The first thing that Amara noted was a slightly greasy man at the cart with dirty red hair
all over his head working the crowd around him. The second thing was a quiet, almost destitute
little girl with blonde hair chained to the cart like a wild animal. Amara wasn't interested after
that.
"Just a guy selling his wares and mistreating his slave," she said. "Come on, Michelle, let's
keep going."
"But look who's going up to _buy_ his wares!" Michelle said, and Amara begrudgingly
looked back...and noticed a young girl with short black hair next to another, slightly younger, girl
with long gray black hair in a braid. Ignoring the second girl for the moment, Amara looked
pointedly at the raven head. Yes, it could be...
"Do think it's her?" Michelle asked. "Hotaru?"
"Could be," Amara agreed. She didn't really want to go near that stand, but if that was
Hotaru, then she would. "Lets' try and get a closer look."
As they moved closer, the crowd started to get pushy with a few salesmen trying to hock
their wares...and a few others trying to get Amara to sell them Michelle. They studiously ignored
them til they started to block their path, and then Amara saw a light brown-haired man coming up
behind the two girls they were trying to reach as they paid for some statuary from that Marco guy,
which almost made Amara think it wasn't Hotaru.
*Where would Hotaru get that much Roman change, unless she's been...don't even think
that, girl!!* And then the man reached forward and grabbed the two girls, and their shrieks of
panic ended all inner discussions.
She was seeing a kidnapping!
* * *
Rini walked through the palace on her way to the kitchen with Salina, the two carrying the
used dishes from lunch as they'd been told to help with the cleaning while Lucius was studying.
Ever since Pherinias had tried to kill them, things had gotten tense around the palace. No, things
were tense before, now it was just more pronounced.
As they reached the kitchen and put the dishes with the others to be cleaned and set to
work, they heard another servant/slave talking...about the Emperor!
"He's obsessed!" she said. "I don't think he's thought of anything but that Spaniard since
he first appeared in the arena. I tell you, nothing good can come of this."
"Not our problem," another servant replied. "So long as we keep our necks, he can
obsess with whatever he wants. Besides, if you want to really worry about the Caesar, worry
about the fact that _I_ heard him saying he was going to announce the dissolution of the Senate!
He would have done it, too, if he hadn't gotten distracted by the Spaniard!"
"Maybe we should visit Proximo's compound and thank General Maximus," the first
servant joked.
"Except I've heard Caesar Commodus still intends to do it, just as soon as he can find a
way to see the General dead!" yet another servant commented.
"How far do you think Caesar will go?" Rini asked as she scrubbed a plate. The others
glanced at her.
"You're that slave of Lucius's, aren't you, the one said to have naturally pink hair?"
"Yeah, that's me," Rini sighed. "Now about my question?"
"How far he'll go?" the second servant said. "With Commodus, who knows."
"Maybe he'll challenge Maximus himself," a fourth servant suggested.
"I don't think he's _that_ obsessed!" Rini said. "Though he might be that crazy."
"Well, come what may, I hope we don't get caught in the middle of it," the third servant
commented.
"I've heard the Caesar's having all the Senators followed," someone else said. "Think
he's planning to have them all killed?" Rini's mind shot to Senator Gracchus, who seemed so
kind, like a grandfather almost.
"I don't think the people would stand for it," Rini said. "They'd probably storm the
palace, and then there's no _way_ we wouldn't get caught in the path!" Everyone stared at her
for a few moments.
"You have a very morbid view of the world, child," one servant said. "You might want to
rethink that reasoning."
"Gee, a slave, morbid?" Rini replied. "I think I'm entitled to a little morbidity, don't
you?"
"Rini, you don't really think the people will storm the palace, do you?" Salina finally
spoke for the first time since they'd left Lucius's quarters.
"If Caesar Commodus pisses them off enough," Rini said, "Anything's possible."
* * *
Darien worked his way through the crowd, finding the main entrance to the Colosseum
handily. He then turned left, to the west, and began moving through the crowd once more.
*Let's see, sixty meters, that's not too far, I think,* he thought to himself.
Darien continued to work his way through the square, avoiding the myriad number of
people coming and going from the latest games in the giant arena, or moving around among the
many stands, both food and otherwise.
It took several minutes, but he finally spotted a food stand in the approximate location of
his intended destination. An elderly man, a middle-aged man, and a boy of about fifteen or sixteen
were working it, which matched Ami's statement, but at first the only female he could see there
was a young girl of about Rini's age or so, but with dark raven hair. He then felt something furry
near his feet, and glanced down to see Luna and Artemis at his heals. He bent down to them to
speak quietly.
"Think that's the place?" he asked.
"Maybe," Artemis whispered. "I think I smell Serena close by, but I'm not sure."
"I am," Luna said. "I'd know her scent anywhere!" And with that, Luna dashed forward
to the cart.
* * *
Serena cooked as fast as she could, preparing meal after meal. It was being a really good
day that day, and with luck, by the time they closed up shop for the night, she would be only two
to three hundred coins away from being able to buy back Rini! Yes, going to see Lita had set her
back, but only by a couple of days at best, by her reckoning. *Soon, Rini,* she thought to herself,
*Soon!*
"Meow," a small cat roweled from nearby. For a moment Serena ignored the sound as
probably belonging to a stray looking for scraps, until Georgio spoke up.
"Hello, kitty," he said. "Aren't you a pretty little thing. What meanie shaved your head
like that? Like a little crescent moon? Who did that?" Serena dropped the utensils she was using
and snapped around, shoving Georgio and Thernacius aside to see the familiar black female feline
sitting atop the stand's counter as Tatius and Galea turned to look at her.
"LUNA!" Serena cried as she scooped her cat into her arms. "How'd you get to Rome,
my precious little pet? Did you follow me here?"
"Meow!" Luna replied in cat, and then another meow grabbed her attention. She looked
down to see the matching white Tom cat hop to the counter top.
"Artemis!" Serena felt herself fill with utmost glee, then looking back to Luna. "You
brought your boyfriend with you!"
"Not just hers," a familiar male voice said, and Serena looked up, scarcely believing her
own ears. There, standing before her outside the cart, dressed in a Roman armor dress complete
with a sheathed sword at his hip, was Darien. "Hey, babe," he said.
"Darien..." Serena felt herself sob as she stared at him, Luna hopping out of her arms back
onto the counter.
"Darien?" Tatius blinked. "Your husband?"
"What?" Georgio felt himself grow cold. "But he's supposed to be dead and rotting in
Germania! Isn't he?!"
"Oh, Darien!" Serena cried, and threw her arms around him in a tight hug, which was
quickly returned.
"It's alright, I'm here now," he said. "Everything's going to be all right."
"You'll find someone else, Georgio," Thernacius said.
"Yes, there'll be someone else," a female voice said, and they turned to see Vivian leaning
lightly on the cart. "Your husband moves very quickly," she commented to Serena as she took in
some deep breaths.
"Vivian?" Thernacius blinked. "What are you..."
"I got worried, so I took the first caravan to Rome to find out what was keeping you and
Georgio," she said. "And I wanted to know how Serena was faring."
"But I wrote letters," Thernacius said. "We both did."
"Told you the mail service stinks," Serena muttered. While they'd been talking, Georgio
was staring at Darien, anger filling his eyes...and a pinch of jealousy.
"There'll never be another girl as good as Serena, never," he quietly fumed, then snapped
at Darien, "I challenge you to single combat for the lady's hand!"
"What?" Darien glanced at him, and so did Luna and Artemis.
"He has a crush on me, ignore him," Serena said, still shedding tears onto Darien's
armored chest. She'd yet to let him go since she'd thrown herself on him. And her comment
smashed down Georgio harder than any weapon ever could have. He quietly sank to the ground,
defeated.
"So where are Delia and Mikhail?" Tatius jumped in. "You didn't leave them behind now,
did you?"
"No, I brought them with me, they are at your house with the slave girl and her son,"
Vivian said.
"Ami doesn't have a son," Darien said. *Unless she's been here a _lot_ longer than we
thought!*
"But Zacharias..." Vivian started.
"Is a ward of the Lady Hrisoula, and nothing more," Thernacius explained. "We'll fill you
in later, sweetheart." At that point, Darien glanced around the cart, but couldn't see who he was
looking for.
"Uh, Serena," he said slowly. "I only see one little girl here, and I'm pretty sure that she's
not Rini, unless she decided to dye her hair."
"No, I'm Galea, sir. I belong to Ariadne and Tatius," the girl replied, briefly glancing at
him. Serena felt a whole new choke coming on as she looked up into Darien's eyes.
"She's...not here," Serena said, her eyes filling with tears.
"Then where is she?" Darien asked. "Mrs. Vivian said you should be the one to tell me.
What happened to her?"
"Darien, I..." Serena felt herself choke up solid. "I...I LOST HER!" She collapsed into
his chest again, crying her eyes out.
"What?!" Darien exclaimed. "Serena, what do you mean?"
"I lost her!" Serena repeated, then said between sobs, "Darien...oh, god...Darien...our
baby...our baby's been enslaved!" Darien's face went pale.
"No..." he gasped.
* * *
Ami had finished telling Trista and Diana what she knew of Rini's unfortunate fate,
concluding with what they'd learned from Barvus Cephiro only a week prior, and was watching
the two carefully. Diana was currently weeping in her lap, quietly bawling that she was a flop as a
guardian to Rini for allowing this to happen on her watch. Trista, in the meantime, had apparently
decided to completely clock out. She was stiff as a rock.
They sat there for Ami wasn't sure how long, and finally Ami reached forward and tapped
the time senshi lightly on the shoulder to see how out of it she was. For a moment, Trista still
didn't respond, though her eyes were blinking.
"I'm a total failure!" Diana quietly berated herself. "My brother was right, I'm no
guardian, I'm nothin' but a worthless little runt!"
"DIANA, SHUT UP!!!" Trista suddenly snapped. "That's not helping anything!! Now
killing this Barvus Cephiro slowly and painfully, that'll help!!"
"Trista!! Contain yourself!!" Ami snapped back. "Do I have to remind you who you are?
What your duty is?!"
"And what about yours? Isn't it your duty to destroy all enemies of the royal family,
foreign _and domestic_?!" Trista rebounded on her. "I think Barvus Cephiro qualifies!"
"I think he's a man doing what his life experience has dictated he should do to survive!"
Ami retorted. "This whole damn Empire was basically _built_ on slave labor, in case you forgot!
He's a product of his time and rearing, nothing more! Okay, he's an asshole, but he's still a
product of his time!"
Trista stared at Ami after her frank use of expletives for several long moments before
finally replying once more. *I don't think I, or anyone else for that matter, have _ever_ heard
Ami swear like that before!* she thought to herself briefly.
"Alright, then, how about this?" Trista countered. "He chained up _our_ Princess like she
was...like she was...a piece of meat at the supermarket! And he physically _abused_ her! Now
does he count?"
"And most slaves now and up to the mid-nineteenth century American ones were!" Ami
replied. "You're the guardian of the friggin' Time Gate, Trista! You of all people should know
that!!" Again, Trista was taken back by Ami's use of profanity.
"Since when were you so good at swearing?" she finally asked.
"Amara was a good teacher!" Ami stated. "Now back off on Barvus Cephiro's case.
Once he sold Rini off to the Prince of Rome, he was out of the loop, he doesn't matter anymore!
What matters is being able to get back Rini!" Trista gritted her teeth soundly as she realized that
Ami was, unfortunately, absolutely correct.
"I'll turn my resignation in to the Queen as soon as we get home," Diana continued to
berate herself. "I don't deserve to be Rini's guardian anymore."
"Diana, it wasn't your fault," Ami rocked the poor distraught kitten in her arms like a
newborn babe. "The only one who's fault it is for Rini getting enslaved and flogged is Barvus
Cephiro's. No one else's."
"But...but I'm s'posed to protect her," Diana looked up at Ami with tear streaked eyes.
"An' I failed."
"In that," Trista said quietly, "We _all_ failed, Diana..."
* * *
Eleutherios had worked his way to Rome slowly over the past several weeks, not really
expecting to be able to go home ever again. No doubt Hotaru had accused him of being too frank
since he was interrupted by someone before he could please the girl as she desired to be pleased,
and Hrisoula would have put a price on his head. In fact, he had already dodged two bounty hunters,
barely!
Also, Damris would have gotten back by now, no doubt, and revealed _their_
arrangement as well. Providing, of course, she hadn't been killed while attempting to reacquire
her lost brother.
But that was the past, and Eleutherios now had a way to create a new start for himself
here in Rome. He was pretty good at calling the outcome of a fight, and figured he would do well
betting on the remaining series of gladiatorial games in the Colosseum, enough to get him on his
feet until he could properly support himself with his artwork, anyway.
As he worked his way through the crowd towards the Colosseum, he decided to take a
back way around and visit his old friend Marco, the sculptor. Marco had been the one to
introduce him to the world of art several years ago, and he could use a friend right then.
Especially now that he was on his own.
And just as he saw the cart come into view, he spotted two girls he hadn't expected to
ever see again. The short black hair and beautiful violet eyes. The gray black hair in the beautiful
long braid and shy hazel eyes. It was them. Hotaru and Damris. Clearly they had decided to run
away and strike out on their own, as no chains or other members of Hrisoula's household, namely
his brother and the woman, Ami, were in evidence. Also, either Damris had failed to retrieve her
brother, or she and Hotaru currently had him stashed somewhere 'safe'.
No matter. They were here.
He quickly moved around through the crowd before they could see him, and watched as
they approached Marco's cart. They were as beautiful as he remembered them. Yes, only when a
girl was first blossoming into a woman was she the most beautiful, and he knew they must still
have wanted him, for the gods themselves must have guided them here to him.
He began moving carefully through the large crowd to reach the cart and his two lovely
maidens, who were waiting to finally join him in his bed as they desired. He began to work his
way closer and closer, and noticed that they had begun haggling with Marco over some statues on
his cart, Hotaru pointedly ignoring the slave girl chained to the cart. *Odd, he must have bought
her recently,* he thought. The crowd was so thick here it was taking seemingly forever to get to
the cart himself.
They were still haggling when he saw something out of the corner of his eye that he
thought was a mistake. For a moment, he glanced fully over, and saw a short haired blonde man
with a woman slave on a chain. What stood out about the two as they stopped at a stand and
apparently bargained for information of some kind, was that the woman's hair, though only
shoulder length, was a remarkable sea-blue color. He then shrugged it off as a dye job. Some
people could be so weird with their possessions.
After a few more moments he was up to the cart, and Marco glanced up at him as he
accepted the money Hotaru had paid him for the statuary.
"Eleutherios!" he said jovially. "It's been a long time! How are you?" Hotaru and
Damris snapped their heads around to stare at him, shock and fear filling their faces.
"Same as always, old friend," Eleutherios said, and grabbed Damris and Hotaru each by
the arm. "Just making sure my wives here weren't in any trouble." But then something happened
that Eleutherios never expected. Damris and Hotaru screamed loudly and tried to get away from
him, and even tried to kick him!
"Wives? You got married? Isn't two at once a little overzealous?" Marco asked.
"Calm down, sweeties, calm down," he coached them, feeling a little nervous and
embarrassed at their behavior before the crowd, then to Marcos, commented, "Not at all, we all
love each other, and Damris and Hotaru are hardly the jealous types." Instead of calming down,
though, they began fighting even fiercer than beforehand. He found himself actually struggling to
try and hold onto them.
"Help!!!" Hotaru screamed at the top of her voice. "Someone help us, please!!"
Eleutherios reddened. She was still playing hard to get?!
"Enough teasing, Hotaru!" he seethed. "You know you both want me, and I intend to
please." Hotaru looked up at him, and he could see the burning desire in her eyes to have him, to
give herself to...
**THUNK!!!**
He stared down, shock and horror filling his mind.
A small, gold colored, now slightly dripping with blood, blade tip was sticking through his
chest, right through the middle. He glanced over his shoulder, to find himself staring at the
blonde man, the one with the sea-blue haired slave woman, staring back at him, anger filling his
face.
"See you in hell," he breathed, but it...wasn't...a woman's...voice...this...shouldn't...
couldn't...be...happenin...............
* * *
Hotaru stared as Eleutherios fell down, dead at last. Had he really believed she and
Damris had..._wanted_ him?! No matter, it was moot now.
It was ironic. This time she had actually been in a position where she could have pulled
out her wand, could have stopped him herself without even trying, yet she still couldn't because
of the crowd. The moment she transformed in front of that many she would have sealed herself a
date with a bonfire via stake!
And then deliverance had come, in the form of a very sharp blade. She stared at the fallen
body for a moment, not sure what to think anymore. Then a voice brought her out of her reverie.
A very familiar voice.
"Hey, kid, you okay?" a feminine, yet slightly masculine, voice asked, and she snapped up
her head to see Amara cleaning off her Uranus Space Sword and wearing a Roman toga. Beside
her was Michelle, wearing a Roman dress...and a collar and chain?!
"Oh, I'm so glad you're alright," Michelle said, eyes brimming with tears. "We were so
worried!"
"The moment you screamed, we recognized your voice," Amara added. "Though I must
admit, I never realized you could scream quite so loud."
"Amara! Michelle!" Hotaru finally found her voice, and jumped up into their arms, which
graciously wrapped around her in return.
"Hotaru, you know these people?" Damris asked. Hotaru pulled away from her surrogate
parents, her eyes filled with happy, relieved tears, and turned to her Roman friend.
"Damris, this is Amara and Michelle, friends of my family," she introduced them. "Amara,
Michelle, this is Damris, she's with the people Ami and I've been staying with. Michelle, what's
with the leash?"
"Now, Hotaru, you know perfectly well that I'm Amara's faithful and ever present pet,"
Michelle said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world as Amara sheathed her blade.
Hotaru stared for a moment, then dropped it.
"So," Amara said. "Ready to blow this town?"
"Uh, that would be a lot simpler if I wasn't currently a house slave," Hotaru chuckled
nervously. Then her eyes beamed widely. "The statuary, I almost forgot! C'mon, Damris, we
gotta get it back to the house, pronto!" She then turned around and picked up half the purchase
she and Damris had just made, while Damris hopped forward and grabbed the other half.
"Nice doing business with you!" they chimed to Marco, who was still staring in shock at
the death of his old friend. Just then, a group of six guards came up, and the crowd quickly
started to disperse.
"What happened here?" one asked.
"He tried to kidnap us to rape us," Hotaru said immediately. "This valiant woman saved
us. And he had a bounty on him, anyway. Just ask the authorities in Tercham."
"That so?" the head guard asked.
"Yes, I slew only in self defense of my friend here, and to get the bounty," Amara admitted,
and hoped they could go on their way quickly. "Wait...rape you?!"
"Well, until we can get confirmation of the bounty, you'll have to come with us, please,"
the chief guard signaled his men. "You can bring your slave."
"Wait!" Hotaru cried, and put down the statuary in her arms to dig through her pockets,
pulling out a copy of Hrisoula's slave identification papers. "This says I am a slave of the Lady
Hrisoula of Tercham, who herself put the bounty on Eleutherios's head after he tried to rape me
and ran off. _She_ will verify it!" The guard looked at it before he answered.
"Bring your mistress to me at the holding cell area, she can verify it there. Until then, the
woman and her slave remain with us. If I am not satisfied with her verification, they will be
charged with murder and thrown to the Colosseum with the next batch of Christians as punishment. You two,
bring the body for disposal."
With that, the guards led Amara and Michelle away, one taking possession of the Uranus
Sword, while two collected the body of Eleutherios. Hotaru stowed her ID papers, and picked up
her half of the statuary. As she did so, she saw a sack dropped near where the body had fallen,
and scooped it up, taking only a brief look inside to confirm the contents as Eleutherios's
belongings.
As she and Damris made all haste to get back to Tatius and Ariadne's house to fetch
Hrisoula, Hotaru felt herself enter a new conflict.
She honestly didn't know whether she wanted to keep Eleutherios's pictures of her or
burn them.
* * *
Rei and Mina leaned against the Colosseum wall as they waited for the others to come
back for the rendevous. As they watched people come and go, and listened to the roaring cheers
of the crowd within the gigantic arena, they felt themselves grow increasingly bored.
"One thing's for sure," Mina said. "The other's have _got_ to be doing better than us!"
"You said it," Rei agreed.
******************************************************************************
One step closer, two steps back! And more clouds are about to appear... Be here for Chapter 11:
Crises.
Want to talk? E-mail me at Scorpinac@sa-tech.com!
