Something has gone wrong. Very wrong! And now all is coming to a final head.
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 12: Finalmente
It was past noon by the time Serena, Darien, and Mina reached the neighborhood of the
palace. And as they reached it, they saw a lot of commotion. People were bustling everywhere,
and a dozen guards were present on constant alert. Nevertheless, they moved forward to find a
way in and see to buying back Rini. All told, between the funds from the food stand and what Rei
and Mina had "earned" yesterday, they had three thousand six hundred and fifty seven gold coins,
easily enough to cover Rini's freedom. At least, they hoped.
"Did you hear? It is said that Senator Gracchus has been arrested on the Caesar's
orders," someone whispered nearby.
"And I hear others may soon join him," another replied to the first.
"Sounds like things are escalating, huh?" Darien commented to his companions.
"I'd heard he was having them followed by gossip amongst the general crowd, but this?"
Serena whispered. "You think there's any truth to it?"
"Hard to say," Mina commented. "With the mentalities of this era, anything could be
possible. Does it matter? It's not like it makes any difference in the long run."
"It could make a difference in the matter of getting back Rini and Lita!" Serena hissed at
her friend. Now that she was this close, she was tenser than ever.
"It's okay, Serena," Darien gently stroked her shoulder. "It's almost over, we're getting
her back, it's okay."
"It's not okay until she's back in my arms, Darien," Serena stated simply. "Not until
then." After a moment they spotted a door, and moved to enter through it when a pair of guards
blocked them.
"No admittance to commoners," one said aloud.
"I have business with the Prince, Lucius Verus, on an important matter," Serena stated
just as loudly. "Please allow me to pass or send word that Rini's mother wishes to speak with
him in regards to her daughter's freedom."
"Lucius Verus is at the Colosseum, and will not be back until...oh, never mind," the guard
started to counter, paused, then pointed behind them. They turned and saw the Prince and a small
group of guards coming up toward the palace, Rini and the red-headed slave with him. The
second slave, however, looked hurt, a thick bandage on her left arm, and Lucius looked mildly
distracted, an arrow in his hand.
Without waiting, Serena turned and jogged over to the entourage, but was again halted by
a pair of guards. This time she didn't bother to wait for the diatribe.
"Lucius Verus!" she called. "I need to speak to you! It's about Rini, your...slave." She
hated having to refer to Rini like that, but it was the only true applicable term given the
circumstance. Lucius stopped and looked up, as did Rini, who looked as though she'd seen a
ghost. The red-head also glanced over, looking just as shocked.
"Isn't that..." the red-head breathed.
"What about her?" Lucius asked.
"Momma?!" Rini cried, tears brimming her eyes. Lucius glanced at her.
"Your mother?" he blinked.
"Yes, I am her mother," Serena stated. "And I bring you three thousand gold, the same
you paid for her, to buy her back, to buy her freedom." Lucius stared for a long moment, almost
too long for Serena's taste, before speaking again.
"Now is not a good time," he said. "I will send someone for you before the end of the
week, and we will talk of this then, alright?" Serena felt her stomach do a flip-flop. *Well, it isn't
exactly a no, but it's not really a yes, either!* she thought. She stared at her child longingly.
"May I at least have a moment with her before I go, please?!" she asked. Lucius stared at
her again, then turned and stared at Rini, who looked at him pleadingly.
"_One_ moment," he decided, and stepped aside as Rini shot forward into her mother's
arms. Darien and Mina had the gold, and had been holding back a bit while watching the
interchange. Mother and daughter hugged quietly for a few seconds, and then Serena's curiosity
won out, and she reached a hand down the back of Rini's dress, feeling the skin of her child's
back...the six interlacing scars...
"That bastard..." she breathed. "I prayed so hard that he was lying to me..."
"I tried..." Rini breathed, understanding fully without needing to hear more. "I tried to
escape, but Cephiro caught us...it hurt so bad...I'm sorry I wasn't stronger..."
"Have you tried again?" Serena breathed, fearing the answer.
"No...I wanted to...once I could sit up again we were almost to Rome...and then the
auction...and then here...I'm sorry..." Rini replied.
"Nothing to be sorry about," Serena whispered. "Nothing at all..."
"Yes, there is," Rini gulped, and looked up at her mother. "I...I lost my brooch..."
Serena smiled and squeezed something into her hand. She glanced down, and gasped.
"Took it off some spoiled little brat on the way to town," Serena commented. "Thought
you'd like it back..." Rini smiled, then handed it back.
"You keep it, until I'm free again..." she whispered.
"Alright," Serena whispered back, and hugged her again. "It's okay, baby. It's okay..."
"Ahem," Lucius cleared his throat, making it clear that their moment was up. They
hugged tightly for a few seconds longer, then separated. Just as Rini started to turn to go back,
Darien stepped up and gave her a very quick hug, startling her, and she whipped around.
"Who...Poppa?!" she blinked. It was him, dressed in a green toga with a Roman sword
sheathed and strapped to a belt around his waist.
"Back from the war, I know everything, sorry I took so long," he said. "Don't worry,
we'll work this out soon, I promise!"
"I know..." Rini breathed, and quickly trotted back to Lucius's side. "Thank you, my
Prince," she bowed politely, and the Prince, Rini, and the rest of the entourage proceeded into the
palace. Darien held Serena a moment as Mina watched from behind, and after a moment they left,
heading back to the Rex's.
"I told one of the guards where we can be found while you were with Rini, so Lucius
knows where to send them for us later, when he's ready," Darien commented, Serena quietly
nodding as they moved.
"At least she's okay," Mina said. "How bad was it?"
"Felt like her whole back was covered in scars," Serena said, a sob in her throat. "I've
changed my mind. I don't care about being 'better' than him, I just want Barvus Cephiro to pay
for what he's done. I want him to hurt!"
"I know, Serena," Darien consoled her. "But that's not for us to do..."
* * *
Inside the palace, Lucius took Rini and Salina straight to their room, and had Salina go to
her bed to rest from the shock of what had happened earlier at the Colosseum. She only too
willingly obliged, her nerves still very shot. Lucius then drew Rini aside around his bed, out of
sight of Salina, and then pushed her against the wall, surprising the girl.
"Did you plan this?" he asked quietly.
"What?" Rini blinked.
"Did you plan this?" he asked again. "Saving my life, then having your mother come to
buy you back from me, to buy your freedom?" She watched his eyes searching her own, more
intently than she had ever recalled them.
"No, how could I?" Rini asked him back. "I had no idea that arrow would come near us, I
just wanted to make sure you stayed in one piece. And until today I had no idea my mother had
even made it to Rome, let alone my father. I thought him perhaps dead in the war, or forgotten
about me. I had no way to plan this, nor would I!"
"How can I trust you?" Lucius asked.
"How can you not?" Rini countered. "I won't lie, I do desire my freedom above all
things, but do you really believe I would be so desperate? So reckless? If I had been, I would
have simply smothered you in your sleep long ago. But I haven't, and I won't. I have...come to
care...too much..."
Rini felt herself begin to choke on her words, losing her ability to think straight as
Lucius's face drew ever nearer her own, and suddenly their lips were merged in the most
passionate, heartfelt kiss Rini had ever had. Okay, not really passionate, more like extremely
clumsy, but it was unexpected. Despite herself, she began to wrap her arms around him, enjoying
the feel of him against her in ways she'd never thought possible, or even imaginable, before.
*Is this love?* she thought to herself. *Am I in love...with Lucius? Like I believed I was
in love with Helios?* Since Helios had returned to Elysion, Rini had thought long and hard about
her feelings toward him, and had started to question whether or not she could really form a lasting
relationship with someone who couldn't even exist in the real world! But right now that was
moot - Lucius was here, and was quite real.
But as her mind raced, another thought occurred to her, and just as it fully formed, Lucius
broke away, staring at her. In a moment, the same words came to both their lips:
"I can't do this."
"It would never work, can never work," Lucius breathed, trying to slow his own rapid
heart rate.
"You are a Prince, I am just a slave," Rini added. "I am not meant for you, cannot be
meant for you..."
"And yet..." Lucius stared into her orbs further, and started to lean in again when they
were interrupted by a voice clearing itself.
"Uh, sir, it's time for your practice session," the servant said.
"Coming," Lucius pulled himself away.
"I have duties," Rini whispered. "I should get to them." Lucius walked away, and for a
moment Rini sagged to the floor, her body feeling spent in a way she'd never felt. She breathed
deeply for several moments before finally pulling herself to her feet and dragging herself to the
kitchen for her afternoon duties.
* * *
The practice session went well, as usual, and the rest of the day flew by for Lucius, but
part of him was still distracted by what had occurred in his chamber, and he felt the need to stay
away a bit longer, afraid of what might happen between him and his slave when they next met.
Finally, dusk began to settle, and he decided he needed a distraction, to settle his nerves, if
nothing else. Perhaps another practice session with his sword? Hmm, a game perhaps?
Legionnaires? Nah, that was kinda old...of course! He collected his sword, summoned a servant,
and settled into a very entertaining game of Gladiator.
* * *
Damris woke slowly, seeing only the face of Hotaru in the room. This did not bode well.
"Uh, am I in trouble? I'm not a cat now, am I?" she asked timidly. At least her voice still
sounded normal.
"Whatever do you mean, Damris?" Hotaru asked. "I was just about to wake you for
morning chores. I'm sure Hrisoula is getting impatient. And I must say, you fidget so when you
sleep. Was it an interesting dream?"
"Dream?" she blinked. "Don't even try, Hotaru! I know I didn't dream it!"
"Are you sure you're feeling well, Damris?" Hotaru asked, picking up Luna who was
nearby. "What do you think, Miss Luna Kitty?" Luna meowed in reply, and Damris felt warm.
*Did she really think I would fall for this?* she thought.
"Fine, play dumb!" she snapped and rose to her feet. "I'll be downstairs doing my work."
"Okay," Hotaru smiled warmly, and watched as Damris left. "I don't think she's falling
for it, Luna."
"Not a bit," Luna agreed quietly. "Nothing we can really do about it, though..."
Outside, Damris grinned as she listened to the brief pass, then sped on down to the first
floor to get started on the day's chores...
* * *
As Trista and Rei emerged from the Colosseum, the mother and twins bid them farewell
and went elsewhere, while they headed over to the gates of the holding area, and strained their
eyes looking for Lita amongst the other gladiator slaves.
"It looked like an accident," Rei said. "But..."
"I know, it seemed like she was going to do it deliberately for a moment at first," Trista
finished, still feeling shaken by what she had seen. Oh, she knew what the Roman gladiatorial
games were like, but actually seeing one that had a dear friend caught in it was something else
entirely! Very different...
"Hey, there she is!" Rei cried, pointing out an exhausted looking Lita dropping weapons
on a pile, her face holding a look of fatigue. "Hey, Lita! Over here!" she cried, gaining Lita's
attention, who stared in shock at her friends, and quickly moved over to them, only the bars
separating them from one another.
"Rei? Trista? What are you doing here?" she asked. "You better be careful, these people
play for keeps, they even chained up Rini..."
"We know," Trista said. "Serena and the others told us everything. Lita, were you
_trying_ to hit that boy today?"
"Lucius Verus, the Prince?" Lita asked. "Well, I...sorta...promised someone I would...but
at the last moment I couldn't go through with it...but I was grazed by that mace and...wait, you
saw...?"
"We were in the audience with two of your biggest 'fans'. A pair of twins, you may know
of them?" Rei stated, and Lita sighed.
"Maxos and Arete? Yeah, I've seen 'em," she said. "Twisted little things, aren't they?"
"Not twisted," Trista said. "Desensitized. They've been bombarded with the idea that
what their father does is okay, maybe even good, from the moment they escaped the womb,
leaving no room for doubts on the subject. Not something that can be easily fixed, if anyone ever
even tries to."
"Whatever," Lita said, then her eyes widened as she stared at something behind them, and
they turned to see her owner, Theophilus, being carried up in his portable chair by his handlers,
his servant at his side as always.
"You told Cephiro you'd kill Lucius Verus?" he hissed. "That's what he wanted me to
tell you to cancel? What in the gods' names were you thinking?"
"He said Lucius was having Rini whipped, possibly even molested," Lita admitted. "He
said he'd get me a pardon while everything was sorting itself out after Commodus and Maximus
do each other in, if they do each other in..."
"No one can say they will with any certainty," Theophilus countered. "And Barvus
Cephiro is a devious man, who I now see will do anything to get what he wants."
"And how could he possibly give you a pardon for something like that?" Semon asked, his
own voice getting taut.
"He said he was going to use his connections in the Senate to wriggle his way into power
after the fallout," she muttered, but by this point Trista and Rei had gone on full alert.
"Hold up!" Rei cut in. "Did you say 'Barvus Cephiro', the slaver?"
"Yes," Theophilus answered. "Oh, it's you, the one with the war god bauble. Still want
to try and trade for Lita?"
"Not right now!" Rei snapped, and turned to her friend. "Lita, you were played, you ding
dong!"
"What?" Lita blinked.
"Barvus Cephiro is the one who kidnapped, enslaved, and sold Rini to Lucius Verus!" Rei
stated. "Lucius hasn't had Rini whipped, Cephiro did when she tried to get away from him!" Lita
just stared at her for a moment as she digested this information, before finally screaming:
"That lying son of a bitch!!! I'll kill him!!!!"
* * *
As Serena, Darien, and Mina reached the Rex's place, they were met by Ami at the door.
She looked pensive, anxious.
"What's up, Ames?" Serena asked. "Damris not fall for the 'It was all a dream' ruse?"
"No, hard to tell, really," Ami replied. "Darien, Georgio says he wants to talk to you in an
alley...over there. He said to come alone..." She pointed towards the alley in question.
"What's wrong, Ami?" Serena looked at her seriously. But Darien had already hotfooted
it over to see what was up.
"Well, he was ranting something about Rini, and you, and..." Ami said, then finally took a
breath and stated, "Serena, I think he's gone mad with jealousy! I think he means to kill Darien in
order to claim you for himself!"
"What?!?!" Serena screeched, and the sounds of clanging swords could be heard in the
distance, and Serena's mind went into panic mode!
* * *
Darien stepped into the dark alley carefully, his own alerts on full. He remembered how
Georgio had been incensed at his arrival the day before, and how he had challenged him to single
combat for Serena's hand. It wouldn't surprise him at all if this was a trap. He saw Georgio, or
at least his silhouette, standing there, his back to Darien, oddly still.
"You wanted to see me?" Darien asked.
"You don't deserve her," Georgio hissed. *Yep, trap!* Darien thought, his hand resting
on the sword at his belt. "You let her home be destroyed, her child, _your child_, be stolen,
enslaved! I'd never let that happen! I'd never abandon her, not for anything!" He turned, a
sword now visible in his hand. "You don't even deserve to live!" he roared, and charged. Darien
yanked out his sword and parried the incoming blow, but he knew Georgio was just getting
started.
Georgio began swinging and thrusting rapidly, Darien carefully parrying each blow, and
every now and then swinging a return blow, hoping to knock the boy off guard and disarm him
before either was hurt. He didn't want to die, and he daren't harm Georgio as he might still have
something important to do for the timelines, like sire one of their friend's ancestors! Hell, he
could be the forebear of someone seriously famous, he didn't know! He just knew he couldn't
take the chance!
"You won't hurt her again!" Georgio screamed. "I love her, and I won't see her cry
anymore! Serena is mine!!!" At that point, Darien lost his footing and fell backward against a
wall, and Georgio bared down on him.
"Do you really think she'll love you after this?" Darien asked as he parried another blow.
"You say you love her, but how do you intend to prove it? After you kill me, if you kill me, do
you really think she'll just fall into your arms?! And if she doesn't, then what?"
"Silence!" Georgio snapped, swinging further, being blocked and blocking as Darien
continued to fight back. "I love her, and I know she loves me! She just needs you to be gone!!"
"And if that isn't it, how will you make her love you then, Georgio?" Darien snapped
back. "Will you force yourself on her?!"
"She...will...be...mine!!!" Georgio roared, and thrust...only to go into shock as Serena
suddenly materialized in front of him, catching the sword with her hand before it could reach
Darien. He stared in horror as blood dripped freely from her hand.
"No, Georgio," she said. "It's time for you to grow up. I don't belong to you, and I am
not meant for you. I am, have been, and always will be meant for Darien!"
"Serena..." Georgio looked at her, his eyes breaking, his throat catching. Serena released
the sword, and he fell to his knees again, tears streaming from his eyes as he stared at her, his
sword dropped from his hands. "Why?! Why won't you love me?! How can you still love
him?!"
"Because," she answered. "That's what love is." Darien sheathed his blade, and he and
Serena walked out of the alley together, Georgio still crying and struggling to comprehend the
incomprehensible.
* * *
As Rini helped clean and peel some of the vegetables quietly, her mind raced over what
had happened again and again. Lita's arrow almost hitting them, Lucius questioning her about
setting it up, her and Lucius kissing the way she'd once seen Serena and Darien kissing.
Especially the last part. Mostly, the last part.
"There a problem?" one of the servants asked her, breaking her reverie.
"Huh? Oh, no...nothing," she replied idly, looking up only briefly, her mind still
preoccupied.
"Who is he?" the servant asked, her eyes sparkling lightly.
"Huh?!" Rini blinked, now at full attention.
"You're thinking about a boy, aren't you?" the servant stated. "It's okay, just because
we're slaves and indentured servants doesn't mean we're no longer allowed to think about the
opposite sex in...that way." At the last, the servant smiled suggestively. To what, Rini wasn't
quite sure, but imagined it had something to do with what she'd seen some of the guards doing
with adult female slaves every now and then.
"No, no, nothing like that..." Rini quickly protested, searching the water for the radish
she'd just dropped.
"I knew it. You're in love, ain't you?" the servant continued to smile. "So, who is he?
Which slave?"
"Not a slave..." Rini finally admitted. "Not anyone..."
"You're not getting soft on one of them Senator's sons, are you? No good'll come of
that!" the servant commented as she finished peeling a carrot and started on another while Rini
switched to another vegetable. "There might be perks to being a powerful man's mistress, but
he'll ne'er let you keep any of the kids you eventually have, if'n any." Rini paused.
"What if he's next in line to be an Emperor?" she asked quietly.
"The Prince?!" the servant stared at her. "Oh, child, I really don't think he's looking at
girls like that just yet. He may know what he's 'spected to do with'em when the time comes, an'
all, but he's still a child himself. I doubt he's e'en got any interest."
"It's not like I'm looking to do _that_ with him, not if I don't have to," Rini replied, still
quiet. "I don't think he's thinking in that way much, either, but he has learned to kiss pretty
good..."
"Kiss?! You kissed him?!" the servant's eyes were like plates. "Oh, now you done it,
sweetie, now he'll ne'er let you go! Just you watch, he'll want to keep you till the end o' your
days!"
"Maybe..." Rini commented, more to herself than to the servant. "Maybe..."
* * *
Ami gently wrapped a simple bandage around Serena's hand while Darien watched from
nearby on the couch. Georgio had yet to return from the alley. Hotaru was in the kitchen with
Damris and Felicia preparing dinner, and Iosif and Galea were in another room doing laundry.
Thernacius and the rest of his family had gone out for an outing around the city, while Hrisoula
had decided to read a new scroll she had bought two days earlier in her guest room. Zacharias
was sitting quietly on the floor, once again amusing himself with Luna and Artemis, Diana having
slipped off somewhere.
"You're lucky, Serena, the cuts aren't too deep," Ami commented. "I think Hotaru's
healing gift should be able to repair them quickly enough."
"Yeah, wished we'd thought of that when we saw Lita in the 'pits'," Serena replied.
"I take it Lucius didn't want to sell?" Ami asked, changing the subject.
"Actually he said he'd send someone to brings us for negotiations later in the week," Mina
said. "So there's still hope there. The real question is what do we do about Lita?"
"No easy answer to that one," Serena admitted with a sigh.
"We just need to put our heads together," Darien said. "We'll come up with something,
hopefully..."
"Hello?!" a male voice called out, and Ami went to the door, only to find herself face to
face with a rather extravagantly dressed man, a timid looking woman, and a very spoiled looking
little girl.
"Yes?" Ami asked.
"Is this the home of Tatius and Ariadne Rex?" he asked.
"Yes, but they're not here right now," Ami answered. "They're out with their son,
daughter-in-law, and younger grandchildren. Can I take a message?"
"Who is it?" Serena glanced around the corner to see what was taking Ami so long, and
froze at the sight of who was at the door.
"Querian!" she gasped.
"There you are!" he growled, and pushed his way past Ami, who flopped back in shock.
"Where is it? I want it!"
"Yeah!" Julia chimed, following her father in. "Give back my favoritest jewelry now!"
Ami noticed that the third member of their party stayed just outside the door, seemingly too afraid
to do anything else.
"Sorry, already returned it to my daughter," Serena replied as she composed herself.
"You can go back home now."
"Oh, no!" Querian snapped. "First you reimburse me for it, and the pain and suffering you
caused me back in Ferrio. Then I leave."
"And I want the other pretty locket, too!" Julia added. Serena just stared.
"Sorry, flat broke," she said. "Now get lost."
"Who is it, Serena?" Mina poked her own head out, and then cringed at the sight of the
pompous ass and his mewling brat, as she thought of them anyway. "Ugh."
"That doesn't sound promising," Darien commented as he glanced around the corner
himself. "Oh, it's you. Didn't you get enough the last time, or do you want me to deck you
again?" He and Mina stepped fully into the hall then.
"Oh, you'll get what's coming to you, sir, you mark my words," Querian sneered. "But
first, your woman owes me some money, and then has an appointment with the brothels!" This
time it was Serena's fist that suddenly collided with Querian, in his stomach. While he struggled
to regain his breath, she glanced at the woman still waiting outside.
"I'm presuming you're his wife, and this little brat's mother?" she asked. "Would you
please take him away? Permanently?"
"I. . .I. . .I dare not," the woman finally said something. To everyone's shock, the little
girl glowered at her, and she cringed back a step.
"Jeez, talk about pussy whipped," Mina muttered aloud.
"The guy who bought Rini's brooch from Cephiro?" Ami asked.
"Bingo," Serena answered.
"What's going on?" Hotaru's voice carried over, and they glanced over their shoulders to
notice her and the other slaves coming into the main hall to see what was up. A moment later,
Zacharias came around the corner from the lounge, holding Luna and Artemis, seemingly
uncomfortably so, in each tiny arm.
"Ooh, what pretty kitties!" Julia squealed. "I want'em both!"
"They're not yours!" Zacharias snapped, squishing the two unfortunate cats closer to
himself, causing them both to let out a brief yelp. "You can't have'em!" Julia stared at
Zacharias, a look of intense shock and anger on her face, and then she charged forward, grabbed
Luna and Artemis by their tails, and pulled!
"Rowl!!!" they screeched, and Zacharias tried to pull back, tightening his grip further.
"Gimme!!!" Julia screamed.
"NO!!!" Zacharias answered. Suddenly the two cats were torn away from the bickering
children by Mina and Darien, the two staring daggers at Julia.
"When someone tells you that you can't have something," Mina said gloweringly, "It
means you can _not_ have it! You okay there, buddy?"
"Meow..." Artemis got out between breaths.
"I don't think there's any permanent damage," Darien said. "Thanks for trying,
Zacharias."
"Welcome," the boy replied with a small smile. By this time, Querian was finally
managing to re-compose himself, and was angrier than ever.
"Don't worry, Julia, you'll get the cats," he growled. "But first, we're getting the
guards..."
"For what?" a voice asked, and Hrisoula stepped into view from the stairs, a disapproving
look on her face. "I thought I heard children screaming," she added, noticing Zacharias and Julia
still glaring at each other, Julia also staring daggers at Mina and Darien, who were comforting a
still very upset Luna and Artemis.
"Who are you? Ariadne Rex?" Querian asked.
"I am Lady Hrisoula Vocusia of Tercham," Hrisoula replied. "And you are?"
"Terrarium Aurelius Querian," Querian introduced himself. "Of Ferrio."
"A jeweler, aren't you?" Hrisoula asked. "Yes, I believe I've sold some of your work at
my stand back home."
"And a self-centered egotist, at that," another voice cut in, and all turned to see the Rex's,
still minus Georgio who was apparently still moping in the alley, coming up to the house. Delia
immediately fell back, pulling her younger brother with her, while Tatius, Ariadne, Thernacius and
Vivian moved into the house to join the discussion at hand.
"Thernacius," Querian sneered. "How _have_ you been?"
"Better, worse, in-between," Thernacius replied. "Serena, did you not manage to regain
your daughter?"
"Still working on that one, I'll fill you in later," Serena answered. "Need to get rid of a
pest control problem first."
"Oh, I can't wait to see you break, you little..." Querian growled.
"Okay, it's getting crowed in here, I think I'll go back to the hotel for now, I'll come see
how things turned out for you all tomorrow," Mina piped up, cutting him off. She scooped up
Luna and aimed for the door. "I'll just take these two with me for safekeeping, 'kay?"
"Sure," Serena waved her off. "See you tomorrow."
"See you then," Mina winked, and made to leave. She noticed that daylight was waning
rapidly, and men were walking along and lighting the streetlight torches for the night, the street
crowds dispersing. Querian suddenly blocked her exit with one arm.
"You leave," he said, "when the cats are in my Julia's arms." Luna and Artemis began to
sweat profusely.
"Over my dead body," Mina said.
"That can be arranged!" Querian roared.
"Oh just let them keep the stupid cats!!" the unnamed woman suddenly snapped, then
cringed backward in total fright.
"When I want your opinion, Tersia, I'll give it to you!" Querian roared at her.
"Yeah, mom! Keep your nose out!" Julia snapped, then suddenly flew forward with a
shriek onto the floor, landing hard! Everyone stared wide-eyed. She'd been pushed...by
Zacharias!
"You don't talk back to your mommy!" he yelled. "She could be dead with Puto and
Hecte in the Lysion Fields tomorrow, and then you'd be sorry!"
"Zacharias?" Damris whispered. *He's known all along?*
"Wh..why you!" Julia stared back at him. "DADDY!!!" she zipped to her father's side in
tears. "He was mean to me!!!"
"You sniveling little worm," he growled towards Zacharias, who, with no one else
immediately available, dove behind Darien's legs, hiding. Darien reached to where his sword sat
against the wall nearby, pulling it from its sheathe, showing he was ready to use it if need be to
protect the little boy.
"You...will not...touch him," Darien glowered to the unpleasant man. Just then, a loud
ruckus could be heard from somewhere down the streets of the city. As everyone pondered what
the hullabaloo was about, a sudden roar erupted!
* * *
Lita glanced up at the noise. She'd been contemplating what Rei and Trista had told her
of what they knew about Rini's enslavement from Serena, and she'd been cursing herself at being
so easily manipulated and used by that bastard Cephiro. She was also still deciding whether or
not Serena would approve of her strangling Cephiro the next time he came to see her or not, if he
ever did since, according to Theophilus, he'd called off the hit to have a more professional killer
take care of it for some reason.
She saw Semon glance over the wall he was standing on an upper gangway of out in the
court, and decided to call out to him.
"Hey, Semon! What's going on!" she called. "It sounds like somebody's declared war
out there!"
"It looks like it, too," Semon replied. "Several Praetorian are at Proximo's gates! Looks
like they're trying to force their way...never mind, they're in!" More noise erupted, and Lita
arose from her bed and moved to the bars of her cell. Though her angle was lousy, to put it
mildly, she could make out an additional level of light from over the wall, and she could make out
the sounds of people fighting...and dying...
"Do I want to know..." Lita called up.
"They're everywhere!" Semon snapped back. "Proximo's men and the Praetorians are
slaughtering each other!" Lita felt a distinct chill, and then there was a loud ruckus at _their_
gates! Lita glanced over to note a second barrage of Praetorian guards banging for admittance
into their compound.
"THEOPHILUS!!!" one of them roared. "Open immediately! You will surrender the
woman warrior for questioning at once!! In regards to a plot against the Caesar!"
"It had nothing to do with the Caesar!" Lita called out. "Barvus Cephiro wanted me to
kill the Prince! The _Prince_ I tell you! And it doesn't matter, _I_ called it off!!" *Okay, a little
white one, but it _was_ called off!* she thought as the Praetorians went quiet, apparently taking a
minute to digest the information. Glancing back up to the wall, she noticed that Semon had
gone...
* * *
"What do we do, Theophilus?" Semon asked his master. He had gone to Theophilus's
room to inform him what was happening when Lita began to call out to the Praetorians.
Theophilus sat, as always, in his nightshirt upon his bed, a very calm, stoic look upon his aged
face.
"We have become caught in an unwinnable game, my friend," he said. "But maybe..."
"Maybe what?" Semon looked at him curiously.
"Something she told me once...something I ignored," Theophilus replied. "Maybe it's
time I took a chance. Semon...take the bauble, and return it to her. And unlock her cell." He
glanced up at Semon, a quiet look in his eyes. "It seems she may have won her freedom after all,
old friend." Semon looked at him quizzically for a moment, then smiled broadly.
He moved quickly, opened the case, scooped up the wand, moved to the desk, grabbed
the keys to the cells, and ran out and down to the yard toward Lita's cell. He got there just as the
Praetorian group at the gate started to get rowdy, and oddly enough, the noise from Proximo's
compound began to lessen.
"Semon, what...?" Lita blinked when he started to unlock her cell.
"It appears you might just win your freedom after all, my love," he said. "Theophilus
sends his wishes, and returns to you your..." Before he could finish though, the gate cracked
asunder under a moderate battering ram, and the Praetorian came rushing in. Semon grabbed a
huck of wood, and turned to fight...
"NO!" Lita screamed, and shoved the cell door open hard. She dove forward and
slammed her full body weight into Semon, knocking him to the ground just as an arrow flew over
to them. As the Praetorian closed in, she lifted to her knees and rose her hands.
"You do know that this means I give up, right?" she asked, trying her best to keep calm.
"Lita..." Semon whispered.
"Very wise," the lead Praetorian said, then waved upward with his sword. "On your
feet." Lita calmly stood up. Semon rose quietly behind her, one Praetorian disarming him and
holding him at bay.
"What of this one, sir?" the guard asked. By this time, the other gladiators and workers in
the compound had risen and come out to see what was up.
"Just let him go, he has nothing to do with this," Lita stated. The lead Praetorian stared at
her for several moments.
"You care about him?" he asked.
"He's a friend," Lita answered.
"Let's wipe out everyone in the compound!" another guard suggested loudly.
"NO!" Lita snapped forcefully, then fell back a step.
"You care about _all_ of them?" the leader asked.
"I've fought at their side several times, depended on them to stay alive more than I would
have thought possible," she answered. "How could I _not_ come to think of them as my
brothers?" The Praetorians held at bay for several minutes, then:
"Take them all!!" the leader barked, and one grabbed the keys from the ground where
Semon had dropped them, and all went quickly to work...
* * *
Rini looked out from the balcony, fear great in her mind. She'd gone to find Lucius when
it started to get dark, and heard him talking with his uncle. Commodus was telling him about
Cleopatra and her infamous affairs with Julius Caesar and Marc Antony, among other things, and
then Lucilla came in. As she listened to the conversation and watched Commodus's and Lucius's
faces, she knew something big was up, something that would cost Lucius his life if Lucilla
remained quiet.
She didn't.
And now the Praetorian were out collecting Lita and the Spaniard gladiator, Maximus.
She could still hear in her mind Lucilla spilling her guts about the whole conspiracy between her,
Gracchus, and Maximus to get rid of Commodus, and what Lucius had said afterwards:
"Uncle...I think there may be another enemy...an arrow almost hit me today at the
Colosseum...would have done if not for Rini...I think the woman warrior sent it...but it might have
been an accident...that's why I..." He'd stopped then, fear overtaking him completely as it had
been slowly grabbing at him since Commodus had started talking about Caesar Claudius and his
wife's betrayal when Lucilla came in.
But the damage had been done. She could see the extra light coming from the gladiator
compound's area as the Praetorian saw to their work. *Oh, Lita, please, just tell me it was an
accident! It just has to have been! You couldn't have done that on purpose, you just couldn't
have...* she thought quietly.
"Rini..." a voice whispered, and she turned to see Diana tiptoeing up from behind a
curtain. "I found a way out...you can escape, and we can go home...Rini...?"
"Go away," Rini whispered back. "I can't...I promised...they'll whip me again...I can't do
that again, I just can't..."
"Rini...?" Diana blinked, still whispering.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" a voice said behind them, and Diana watched as Rini froze up. A
man walked up, staring out at the area.
"Yes, Caesar, beautiful..." Rini breathed slowly, trying not to panic.
"Caesar...he's the emperor?" Diana whispered to herself alone.
"It's all come together now," Commodus said. "He's mine, and another thorn removed as
well. All...coming...together..." As he spoke, he reached out a hand and began to run it through
her hair.
"Yes, majesty," Rini replied. "As your will be done..."
"Do I scare you, little girl?" Commodus asked.
"Terrified, sir," Rini answered, falling back into a just audible whisper. "You terrify
me..."
"Why?" he asked. "And be honest. Your Caesar commands..."
"Because..." Rini tried to find the right words, "I think...fear...you have...become...sick...
in the mind...my Caesar..."
"Sick?" he mused, then gripped her hair tightly as he leaned in closely. "You think me to
be mad, do you? A small slave thinks me mad?!"
"I only know what I see, my Caesar," Rini whimpered. "And what I see worries me that
you are not as well as you think you are, as well as you should be. Please..."
"Not as well as I should be?" Commodus whispered into her hair, closing his eyes. "I will
be much better...very soon...little slave..." Rini quietly began to weep and shiver, utter terror
filling and contorting her face, while Diana, still half hidden in the shadow of the curtain, stared on
at the interchange.
"Please..."
"Rini...?"
* * *
Belen and Christos had come to Theophilus's chamber with his riding chair, and were
aiding him in dressing when the three Praetorian's entered.
"Theophilus, you are under arrest for aiding in plots against the Emperor!" the lead man
stated. "You will come with us immediately!"
"Very well, I was getting dressed to come out anyway," Theophilus responded. "I don't
suppose you could allow an old, nearly immobile man a few moments to collect his dignity, hm?
Trust me, I'm not going anywhere in a hurry." As the Praetorian stared at him momentarily,
Belen and Christos moved in front of their master defensively, which Theophilus noted with
admiration for their loyalty.
"Three minutes, Theophilus," the lead Praetorian declared, and he led his fellows out of
the room.
"Let's not keep them waiting," Theophilus addressed his carriers.
"Aren't we going to try to escape?" Belen asked.
"We could still make it!" Christos agreed.
"No, you two alone could," Theophilus said calmly as they finished helping him get
dressed. "Unless one of you is inclined to carry me in your arms, I, and therefor you with me,
cannot. For now, we go along with them."
A few moments later he emerged in his chair carried by Belen and Christos, and they all
followed the Praetorian down to the group waiting below. He noted that Lita and a few others
were especially chained, indicating either a struggle to bring them down, or those considered the
most dangerous. Possibly even both.
*Oh, yes,* he thought. *This will be interesting indeed.*
* * *
Cephiro and the dozen and a half men he'd brought with him snaked through the city
quickly, stealth and guile be damned! He wasn't quite sure what the hell went wrong, only that
everything had collapsed at once! Without warning a contingent of what appeared to be either
Legion soldiers or Praetorians, he wasn't sure which, had cascaded down on his business,
claiming authority of the Caesar in regards to a plot against the Emperor. Someone had a very
large, very loose tongue. In moments he had lost track of some of his most loyal, and Fernadus
had plain vanished, along with a healthy dose of his profits!
When things got really bad, he'd done the only thing he could. He'd ordered Cavinus to
take their wives and children and half of the remaining loyal men out the secret route and out of
the city to the secondary compound five days hard ride to the north of Rome. Meanwhile, he
took the other half and decided to see to a final, personal, errand before departing the city
indefinitely. Namely, collecting Pinky's mother for breeding purposes. What better way to land
back on your feet than to produce a series of very unique slaves? And maybe he'd even grab that
blue-haired slave girl he'd seen, if he found her...
The daylight was waning fast unto night when he reached around toward Fertitia Street in
the eastern residential area. He himself had no idea if Ariadne Rex was connected to the
Thernacius Rex Querian had been seeking or not, but like he had said, it was a lead. And then he
turned a corner onto the desired street, and saw a home with the door open, Querian and his
family just inside, and just beyond him the woman of his immediate needs. Without an ounce of
hesitation he charged forward.
"Barvus, what?!" Querian asked, but Cephiro shoved past him. Tersia dove aside against
the outside wall to the left, Querian passing Julia, whom he was holding, over to her. To the
right, a boy, girl, and fair-haired woman holding a pair of cats he'd never seen before, nor cared
about, did likewise.
"Commodus has better spies and hidden men than I dare dreamed, blondie," he grinned at
pinky's mother. "That or I have a traitor in desperate need of immediate termination of
employment."
"I had hoped I'd seen the last of you, you bastard," Serena hissed. "Do I really want to
know what you're doing here?"
"Probably not," Ami quipped, drawing Cephiro's eyes to her presence.
"A two-for-one! How convenient," he drolled, then indicated her and Serena. "Men, this
one and that one, in chains, now! Then we make for the northern boundaries of the city!" Two
men immediately charged inward and flanked Ami, while another moved for Serena. As they did
so, Hrisoula jumped forward.
"I trust you intend to _pay_ for my slave," she barked. "I do not let go of my best
servants lightly." Ami smiled at the compliment, and Cephiro glowered at the middle-aged
woman.
"Hrisoula of Tercham, I presume?" he sneered. "I do not deal with nor take orders from
_women_! Take them!" As the two men started to grab Ami, who instantly began to resist, a
sword suddenly plunged through one, and due to a serendipity of position, he fell right into the
other, the sword plunging into the second man's chest three inches as it continued to move
forward.
Iosif shoved the two men off the sword, then brandished it towards Cephiro. As the third
guard who entered paused to try and figure out what to do, follow his immediate orders or
remove the sudden attacker, Thernacius dove forward, shoved aside the sword arm with one hand
and felled the guard with his own mighty fist!
"You want my beloved? Take her if you can!!" Iosif bellowed.
"As head of this household, I demand you leave!" Tatius stepped up. Ariadne and Vivian
had fallen back further into the house, out of harm's way. "Neither you nor this Querian are any
longer welcome here!" Cephiro stared at the what had happened, thinking quickly.
"Best to cut my losses, then," he decided, and grabbed Serena by the arm roughly, who
screamed.
* * *
As Mina watched from behind, she could tell it was getting bad. *But then again, what
else is new?* she thought. Just then one of the slavers turned and looked at her, then moved to
her with an unpleasant smile on his face that practically screamed, 'I'm gonna take you in my bed
and break you!'.
"My, you're a very pretty lady," he said, leaning close. "I think I'll take you for myself."
"Oh, sir, you flatter me," she batted her eyes coyly, shifting herself suggestively on
purpose to distract his attention. "Not interested," she added, and swung a leg up into his crotch.
As he fell, she passed Luna and Artemis over to Delia and Mikhail, who without a word scooped
them up, and then she swung her hands, held together in a single fist, back into the side of the
man's head. As he fell semi-senseless, she reached down and grabbed his sword, pulling it from
its sheath, and held it out pointed towards the others.
"Next one to get lusty gets far more pain than him!" she declared, and the others
immediately took a minor step back, but she noticed they were all holding the hilts of their own
swords, and no doubt _they_ had a far better idea of how to use them than she did!
As she continued to think about the standoff she'd gotten herself into and how she could
go about getting out of it, she noticed the boy who'd been swooning after Serena, Georgio,
walking up, a sword in one hand...
And then she heard Serena's voice in one of her highest pitched screams!
* * *
As Cephiro attempted to drag Serena from the house, Darien lunged forward, slicing the
slaver's arm with his sword. Cephiro winced and pulled away, staring at him as Darien leveled his
blade at the man's neck.
"Who in Tartarus are you?!" he snapped.
"Her husband," Darien replied simply.
"And he'd like to talk you about our daughter," Serena added, still trying to get loose.
"I hate to interrupt, old friend, but I had first bid on her," Querian stepped up. Darien
swung his arm backward and nailed Querian in the face with the butt of his blade's hilt, the man
instantly slumping down like a sack of bricks. Darien then returned his sword to its previous
position against Cephiro. It was all one smooth motion that would make any soldier proud, and
indeed left Cephiro quite impressed.
"I'm willing to forget that you exist if you leave now and never show yourself before me
_or_ my wife again! And take him with you," Darien stated, nodding his head briefly toward
Querian.
"Really?" Cephiro commented quietly, and suddenly brought his sword up perpendicular
to Darien's with his left hand, knocking it away. He then released Serena for the moment, flipped
his sword into his right hand to sit vertically upright therein, and swung at Darien, who blocked.
Cephiro swung again, Darien parried, tried to disarm his opponent, Cephiro counter-parried, then
swung again, forcing Darien to give ground.
"You think you can beat me?" Cephiro growled. "The only one's in the empire better
than me with a blade are the Caesars! Your woman is mine!" He rose his sword for another
swing, and just as Darien contemplated using the opening to run the son of a bitch through, the
sickening sound of a blade smashing through flesh, hard, was heard as a sword tip shoved through
Cephiro's front from behind.
Cephiro stared at it in shock, his sword slipping from his hands to the floor. From the wall
behind Darien, Zacharias stared, wide-eyed.
"I told you," Georgio's quiet voice said. "Touch my beloved, and your next stop is the
River Styx. See you in Tartarus..." With that, Georgio jerked the sword upward, increasing the
damage to his enemy, and then pulled out the blood covered sword, Cephiro falling lifelessly to
the ground.
As Serena recovered from the shocking ending to the battle, she glanced outside and
noticed that:
A.) Delia and Mikhail were cowering behind Mina while holding Luna and Artemis
respectively.
B.) Mina was standing still, looking a little shocked herself, holding a sword downward
with an unconscious or nearly so man at her feet.
C.) Tersia and Julia had vanished.
D.) Of the remaining fourteen men that had come with Cephiro, nine were wounded and
holding back, three were clearly unconscious, and two were dead.
And E.) Georgio was sporting a small multitude of minor wounds.
"Georgio... I ...I don't know...what..." she finally breathed.
"I know you'll never love me, Serena," he said, turning to her and kneeling before her,
offering her his sword. "But I will always love you...always..." And with that, he proceeded to
pass out from the exertion and blood loss.
"What a mess," Mina quipped as Thernacius and Tatius dove forward and scooped up
their son/grandson and carried him into the house to treat his wounds, Ami diving after to help.
Just then several Imperial guards came up and surveyed the scene. With a wave from the leader,
they began to take the remaining survivors into custody and clean away the corpses. Serena
stepped out and over to the leader, and began to talk with him.
"There's a few in here, too!" Hotaru called from the door, and five or six came in and
collected the bodies of the two guards and Cephiro, as well as the unconscious carcasses of the
third man and Querian. Hotaru grinned to herself as the thought of Querian's reaction to waking
up in prison floated through her mind.
One soldier came over to Mina, and stared at the sword in her hands.
"Took it from him," she pointed at the man at her feet, still only semi-aware of what was
happening around him. "He got a little too personal. Here, you take it. Don't really know how
to use it anyway." She offered the sword to the soldier, hilt first. The soldier scooped up the
slaver quietly, then looked back to Mina.
"Keep it," he said, and drug the man away to a cart his fellows had brought with him. As
night settled fully, the last of the cleanup was finished, and the soldiers departed with their
'cargo', Serena finishing her conversation with the leader.
"And?" Mina and Hotaru asked.
"I gave a statement, apparently someone in the ass's employ sold him out to the Imperials,
they were gonna arrest and execute him anyway," Serena stated. "If he'd left the city he might
have lived longer, dumb bastard."
"Guess that's what happens when you think you have a way of salvaging your 'career'
options, huh?" Mina commented, ushering Delia and Mikhail into the house with one hand,
keeping the sword safely in her other. They all went back inside, Serena closing the front door
behind her as they did, and to the lounge, where the rest of the Rexs, Ami, and Hrisoula were
tending to Georgio. The other slaves - Iosif, Damris, Galea, and Felicia - were jumping
everywhere, getting bandages and clean linen to help. Fortunately, the eldest Rex had served his
time in war, and along with Ami's own medical knowhow, it was going smoothly.
Hrisoula signaled Hotaru, who immediately moved forward to help in any way she could.
Mina set down her new blade next to Darien's, once again securely sheathed, in the hall, and took
Delia and Mikhail upstairs while Serena plopped down next to Darien in the lounge, who was
sitting to the side, holding Zacharias in his lap to keep him from getting in the way of the others
while they worked.
"Quite an evening, huh?" Serena asked.
"Yeah," Darien mused. "So, how'd it go outside?"
"Nothing serious," she sighed, and leaned back, letting the adrenaline ease away.
******************************************************************************
Okay, this was supposed to be the last chapter, but it's running a little long, so I'm breaking it up,
thus there will be one more than originally planned. Next time, though, it all comes to a (semi)
happy end! So be here for Chapter 13: "Farewells".
R&R please!!
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 12: Finalmente
It was past noon by the time Serena, Darien, and Mina reached the neighborhood of the
palace. And as they reached it, they saw a lot of commotion. People were bustling everywhere,
and a dozen guards were present on constant alert. Nevertheless, they moved forward to find a
way in and see to buying back Rini. All told, between the funds from the food stand and what Rei
and Mina had "earned" yesterday, they had three thousand six hundred and fifty seven gold coins,
easily enough to cover Rini's freedom. At least, they hoped.
"Did you hear? It is said that Senator Gracchus has been arrested on the Caesar's
orders," someone whispered nearby.
"And I hear others may soon join him," another replied to the first.
"Sounds like things are escalating, huh?" Darien commented to his companions.
"I'd heard he was having them followed by gossip amongst the general crowd, but this?"
Serena whispered. "You think there's any truth to it?"
"Hard to say," Mina commented. "With the mentalities of this era, anything could be
possible. Does it matter? It's not like it makes any difference in the long run."
"It could make a difference in the matter of getting back Rini and Lita!" Serena hissed at
her friend. Now that she was this close, she was tenser than ever.
"It's okay, Serena," Darien gently stroked her shoulder. "It's almost over, we're getting
her back, it's okay."
"It's not okay until she's back in my arms, Darien," Serena stated simply. "Not until
then." After a moment they spotted a door, and moved to enter through it when a pair of guards
blocked them.
"No admittance to commoners," one said aloud.
"I have business with the Prince, Lucius Verus, on an important matter," Serena stated
just as loudly. "Please allow me to pass or send word that Rini's mother wishes to speak with
him in regards to her daughter's freedom."
"Lucius Verus is at the Colosseum, and will not be back until...oh, never mind," the guard
started to counter, paused, then pointed behind them. They turned and saw the Prince and a small
group of guards coming up toward the palace, Rini and the red-headed slave with him. The
second slave, however, looked hurt, a thick bandage on her left arm, and Lucius looked mildly
distracted, an arrow in his hand.
Without waiting, Serena turned and jogged over to the entourage, but was again halted by
a pair of guards. This time she didn't bother to wait for the diatribe.
"Lucius Verus!" she called. "I need to speak to you! It's about Rini, your...slave." She
hated having to refer to Rini like that, but it was the only true applicable term given the
circumstance. Lucius stopped and looked up, as did Rini, who looked as though she'd seen a
ghost. The red-head also glanced over, looking just as shocked.
"Isn't that..." the red-head breathed.
"What about her?" Lucius asked.
"Momma?!" Rini cried, tears brimming her eyes. Lucius glanced at her.
"Your mother?" he blinked.
"Yes, I am her mother," Serena stated. "And I bring you three thousand gold, the same
you paid for her, to buy her back, to buy her freedom." Lucius stared for a long moment, almost
too long for Serena's taste, before speaking again.
"Now is not a good time," he said. "I will send someone for you before the end of the
week, and we will talk of this then, alright?" Serena felt her stomach do a flip-flop. *Well, it isn't
exactly a no, but it's not really a yes, either!* she thought. She stared at her child longingly.
"May I at least have a moment with her before I go, please?!" she asked. Lucius stared at
her again, then turned and stared at Rini, who looked at him pleadingly.
"_One_ moment," he decided, and stepped aside as Rini shot forward into her mother's
arms. Darien and Mina had the gold, and had been holding back a bit while watching the
interchange. Mother and daughter hugged quietly for a few seconds, and then Serena's curiosity
won out, and she reached a hand down the back of Rini's dress, feeling the skin of her child's
back...the six interlacing scars...
"That bastard..." she breathed. "I prayed so hard that he was lying to me..."
"I tried..." Rini breathed, understanding fully without needing to hear more. "I tried to
escape, but Cephiro caught us...it hurt so bad...I'm sorry I wasn't stronger..."
"Have you tried again?" Serena breathed, fearing the answer.
"No...I wanted to...once I could sit up again we were almost to Rome...and then the
auction...and then here...I'm sorry..." Rini replied.
"Nothing to be sorry about," Serena whispered. "Nothing at all..."
"Yes, there is," Rini gulped, and looked up at her mother. "I...I lost my brooch..."
Serena smiled and squeezed something into her hand. She glanced down, and gasped.
"Took it off some spoiled little brat on the way to town," Serena commented. "Thought
you'd like it back..." Rini smiled, then handed it back.
"You keep it, until I'm free again..." she whispered.
"Alright," Serena whispered back, and hugged her again. "It's okay, baby. It's okay..."
"Ahem," Lucius cleared his throat, making it clear that their moment was up. They
hugged tightly for a few seconds longer, then separated. Just as Rini started to turn to go back,
Darien stepped up and gave her a very quick hug, startling her, and she whipped around.
"Who...Poppa?!" she blinked. It was him, dressed in a green toga with a Roman sword
sheathed and strapped to a belt around his waist.
"Back from the war, I know everything, sorry I took so long," he said. "Don't worry,
we'll work this out soon, I promise!"
"I know..." Rini breathed, and quickly trotted back to Lucius's side. "Thank you, my
Prince," she bowed politely, and the Prince, Rini, and the rest of the entourage proceeded into the
palace. Darien held Serena a moment as Mina watched from behind, and after a moment they left,
heading back to the Rex's.
"I told one of the guards where we can be found while you were with Rini, so Lucius
knows where to send them for us later, when he's ready," Darien commented, Serena quietly
nodding as they moved.
"At least she's okay," Mina said. "How bad was it?"
"Felt like her whole back was covered in scars," Serena said, a sob in her throat. "I've
changed my mind. I don't care about being 'better' than him, I just want Barvus Cephiro to pay
for what he's done. I want him to hurt!"
"I know, Serena," Darien consoled her. "But that's not for us to do..."
* * *
Inside the palace, Lucius took Rini and Salina straight to their room, and had Salina go to
her bed to rest from the shock of what had happened earlier at the Colosseum. She only too
willingly obliged, her nerves still very shot. Lucius then drew Rini aside around his bed, out of
sight of Salina, and then pushed her against the wall, surprising the girl.
"Did you plan this?" he asked quietly.
"What?" Rini blinked.
"Did you plan this?" he asked again. "Saving my life, then having your mother come to
buy you back from me, to buy your freedom?" She watched his eyes searching her own, more
intently than she had ever recalled them.
"No, how could I?" Rini asked him back. "I had no idea that arrow would come near us, I
just wanted to make sure you stayed in one piece. And until today I had no idea my mother had
even made it to Rome, let alone my father. I thought him perhaps dead in the war, or forgotten
about me. I had no way to plan this, nor would I!"
"How can I trust you?" Lucius asked.
"How can you not?" Rini countered. "I won't lie, I do desire my freedom above all
things, but do you really believe I would be so desperate? So reckless? If I had been, I would
have simply smothered you in your sleep long ago. But I haven't, and I won't. I have...come to
care...too much..."
Rini felt herself begin to choke on her words, losing her ability to think straight as
Lucius's face drew ever nearer her own, and suddenly their lips were merged in the most
passionate, heartfelt kiss Rini had ever had. Okay, not really passionate, more like extremely
clumsy, but it was unexpected. Despite herself, she began to wrap her arms around him, enjoying
the feel of him against her in ways she'd never thought possible, or even imaginable, before.
*Is this love?* she thought to herself. *Am I in love...with Lucius? Like I believed I was
in love with Helios?* Since Helios had returned to Elysion, Rini had thought long and hard about
her feelings toward him, and had started to question whether or not she could really form a lasting
relationship with someone who couldn't even exist in the real world! But right now that was
moot - Lucius was here, and was quite real.
But as her mind raced, another thought occurred to her, and just as it fully formed, Lucius
broke away, staring at her. In a moment, the same words came to both their lips:
"I can't do this."
"It would never work, can never work," Lucius breathed, trying to slow his own rapid
heart rate.
"You are a Prince, I am just a slave," Rini added. "I am not meant for you, cannot be
meant for you..."
"And yet..." Lucius stared into her orbs further, and started to lean in again when they
were interrupted by a voice clearing itself.
"Uh, sir, it's time for your practice session," the servant said.
"Coming," Lucius pulled himself away.
"I have duties," Rini whispered. "I should get to them." Lucius walked away, and for a
moment Rini sagged to the floor, her body feeling spent in a way she'd never felt. She breathed
deeply for several moments before finally pulling herself to her feet and dragging herself to the
kitchen for her afternoon duties.
* * *
The practice session went well, as usual, and the rest of the day flew by for Lucius, but
part of him was still distracted by what had occurred in his chamber, and he felt the need to stay
away a bit longer, afraid of what might happen between him and his slave when they next met.
Finally, dusk began to settle, and he decided he needed a distraction, to settle his nerves, if
nothing else. Perhaps another practice session with his sword? Hmm, a game perhaps?
Legionnaires? Nah, that was kinda old...of course! He collected his sword, summoned a servant,
and settled into a very entertaining game of Gladiator.
* * *
Damris woke slowly, seeing only the face of Hotaru in the room. This did not bode well.
"Uh, am I in trouble? I'm not a cat now, am I?" she asked timidly. At least her voice still
sounded normal.
"Whatever do you mean, Damris?" Hotaru asked. "I was just about to wake you for
morning chores. I'm sure Hrisoula is getting impatient. And I must say, you fidget so when you
sleep. Was it an interesting dream?"
"Dream?" she blinked. "Don't even try, Hotaru! I know I didn't dream it!"
"Are you sure you're feeling well, Damris?" Hotaru asked, picking up Luna who was
nearby. "What do you think, Miss Luna Kitty?" Luna meowed in reply, and Damris felt warm.
*Did she really think I would fall for this?* she thought.
"Fine, play dumb!" she snapped and rose to her feet. "I'll be downstairs doing my work."
"Okay," Hotaru smiled warmly, and watched as Damris left. "I don't think she's falling
for it, Luna."
"Not a bit," Luna agreed quietly. "Nothing we can really do about it, though..."
Outside, Damris grinned as she listened to the brief pass, then sped on down to the first
floor to get started on the day's chores...
* * *
As Trista and Rei emerged from the Colosseum, the mother and twins bid them farewell
and went elsewhere, while they headed over to the gates of the holding area, and strained their
eyes looking for Lita amongst the other gladiator slaves.
"It looked like an accident," Rei said. "But..."
"I know, it seemed like she was going to do it deliberately for a moment at first," Trista
finished, still feeling shaken by what she had seen. Oh, she knew what the Roman gladiatorial
games were like, but actually seeing one that had a dear friend caught in it was something else
entirely! Very different...
"Hey, there she is!" Rei cried, pointing out an exhausted looking Lita dropping weapons
on a pile, her face holding a look of fatigue. "Hey, Lita! Over here!" she cried, gaining Lita's
attention, who stared in shock at her friends, and quickly moved over to them, only the bars
separating them from one another.
"Rei? Trista? What are you doing here?" she asked. "You better be careful, these people
play for keeps, they even chained up Rini..."
"We know," Trista said. "Serena and the others told us everything. Lita, were you
_trying_ to hit that boy today?"
"Lucius Verus, the Prince?" Lita asked. "Well, I...sorta...promised someone I would...but
at the last moment I couldn't go through with it...but I was grazed by that mace and...wait, you
saw...?"
"We were in the audience with two of your biggest 'fans'. A pair of twins, you may know
of them?" Rei stated, and Lita sighed.
"Maxos and Arete? Yeah, I've seen 'em," she said. "Twisted little things, aren't they?"
"Not twisted," Trista said. "Desensitized. They've been bombarded with the idea that
what their father does is okay, maybe even good, from the moment they escaped the womb,
leaving no room for doubts on the subject. Not something that can be easily fixed, if anyone ever
even tries to."
"Whatever," Lita said, then her eyes widened as she stared at something behind them, and
they turned to see her owner, Theophilus, being carried up in his portable chair by his handlers,
his servant at his side as always.
"You told Cephiro you'd kill Lucius Verus?" he hissed. "That's what he wanted me to
tell you to cancel? What in the gods' names were you thinking?"
"He said Lucius was having Rini whipped, possibly even molested," Lita admitted. "He
said he'd get me a pardon while everything was sorting itself out after Commodus and Maximus
do each other in, if they do each other in..."
"No one can say they will with any certainty," Theophilus countered. "And Barvus
Cephiro is a devious man, who I now see will do anything to get what he wants."
"And how could he possibly give you a pardon for something like that?" Semon asked, his
own voice getting taut.
"He said he was going to use his connections in the Senate to wriggle his way into power
after the fallout," she muttered, but by this point Trista and Rei had gone on full alert.
"Hold up!" Rei cut in. "Did you say 'Barvus Cephiro', the slaver?"
"Yes," Theophilus answered. "Oh, it's you, the one with the war god bauble. Still want
to try and trade for Lita?"
"Not right now!" Rei snapped, and turned to her friend. "Lita, you were played, you ding
dong!"
"What?" Lita blinked.
"Barvus Cephiro is the one who kidnapped, enslaved, and sold Rini to Lucius Verus!" Rei
stated. "Lucius hasn't had Rini whipped, Cephiro did when she tried to get away from him!" Lita
just stared at her for a moment as she digested this information, before finally screaming:
"That lying son of a bitch!!! I'll kill him!!!!"
* * *
As Serena, Darien, and Mina reached the Rex's place, they were met by Ami at the door.
She looked pensive, anxious.
"What's up, Ames?" Serena asked. "Damris not fall for the 'It was all a dream' ruse?"
"No, hard to tell, really," Ami replied. "Darien, Georgio says he wants to talk to you in an
alley...over there. He said to come alone..." She pointed towards the alley in question.
"What's wrong, Ami?" Serena looked at her seriously. But Darien had already hotfooted
it over to see what was up.
"Well, he was ranting something about Rini, and you, and..." Ami said, then finally took a
breath and stated, "Serena, I think he's gone mad with jealousy! I think he means to kill Darien in
order to claim you for himself!"
"What?!?!" Serena screeched, and the sounds of clanging swords could be heard in the
distance, and Serena's mind went into panic mode!
* * *
Darien stepped into the dark alley carefully, his own alerts on full. He remembered how
Georgio had been incensed at his arrival the day before, and how he had challenged him to single
combat for Serena's hand. It wouldn't surprise him at all if this was a trap. He saw Georgio, or
at least his silhouette, standing there, his back to Darien, oddly still.
"You wanted to see me?" Darien asked.
"You don't deserve her," Georgio hissed. *Yep, trap!* Darien thought, his hand resting
on the sword at his belt. "You let her home be destroyed, her child, _your child_, be stolen,
enslaved! I'd never let that happen! I'd never abandon her, not for anything!" He turned, a
sword now visible in his hand. "You don't even deserve to live!" he roared, and charged. Darien
yanked out his sword and parried the incoming blow, but he knew Georgio was just getting
started.
Georgio began swinging and thrusting rapidly, Darien carefully parrying each blow, and
every now and then swinging a return blow, hoping to knock the boy off guard and disarm him
before either was hurt. He didn't want to die, and he daren't harm Georgio as he might still have
something important to do for the timelines, like sire one of their friend's ancestors! Hell, he
could be the forebear of someone seriously famous, he didn't know! He just knew he couldn't
take the chance!
"You won't hurt her again!" Georgio screamed. "I love her, and I won't see her cry
anymore! Serena is mine!!!" At that point, Darien lost his footing and fell backward against a
wall, and Georgio bared down on him.
"Do you really think she'll love you after this?" Darien asked as he parried another blow.
"You say you love her, but how do you intend to prove it? After you kill me, if you kill me, do
you really think she'll just fall into your arms?! And if she doesn't, then what?"
"Silence!" Georgio snapped, swinging further, being blocked and blocking as Darien
continued to fight back. "I love her, and I know she loves me! She just needs you to be gone!!"
"And if that isn't it, how will you make her love you then, Georgio?" Darien snapped
back. "Will you force yourself on her?!"
"She...will...be...mine!!!" Georgio roared, and thrust...only to go into shock as Serena
suddenly materialized in front of him, catching the sword with her hand before it could reach
Darien. He stared in horror as blood dripped freely from her hand.
"No, Georgio," she said. "It's time for you to grow up. I don't belong to you, and I am
not meant for you. I am, have been, and always will be meant for Darien!"
"Serena..." Georgio looked at her, his eyes breaking, his throat catching. Serena released
the sword, and he fell to his knees again, tears streaming from his eyes as he stared at her, his
sword dropped from his hands. "Why?! Why won't you love me?! How can you still love
him?!"
"Because," she answered. "That's what love is." Darien sheathed his blade, and he and
Serena walked out of the alley together, Georgio still crying and struggling to comprehend the
incomprehensible.
* * *
As Rini helped clean and peel some of the vegetables quietly, her mind raced over what
had happened again and again. Lita's arrow almost hitting them, Lucius questioning her about
setting it up, her and Lucius kissing the way she'd once seen Serena and Darien kissing.
Especially the last part. Mostly, the last part.
"There a problem?" one of the servants asked her, breaking her reverie.
"Huh? Oh, no...nothing," she replied idly, looking up only briefly, her mind still
preoccupied.
"Who is he?" the servant asked, her eyes sparkling lightly.
"Huh?!" Rini blinked, now at full attention.
"You're thinking about a boy, aren't you?" the servant stated. "It's okay, just because
we're slaves and indentured servants doesn't mean we're no longer allowed to think about the
opposite sex in...that way." At the last, the servant smiled suggestively. To what, Rini wasn't
quite sure, but imagined it had something to do with what she'd seen some of the guards doing
with adult female slaves every now and then.
"No, no, nothing like that..." Rini quickly protested, searching the water for the radish
she'd just dropped.
"I knew it. You're in love, ain't you?" the servant continued to smile. "So, who is he?
Which slave?"
"Not a slave..." Rini finally admitted. "Not anyone..."
"You're not getting soft on one of them Senator's sons, are you? No good'll come of
that!" the servant commented as she finished peeling a carrot and started on another while Rini
switched to another vegetable. "There might be perks to being a powerful man's mistress, but
he'll ne'er let you keep any of the kids you eventually have, if'n any." Rini paused.
"What if he's next in line to be an Emperor?" she asked quietly.
"The Prince?!" the servant stared at her. "Oh, child, I really don't think he's looking at
girls like that just yet. He may know what he's 'spected to do with'em when the time comes, an'
all, but he's still a child himself. I doubt he's e'en got any interest."
"It's not like I'm looking to do _that_ with him, not if I don't have to," Rini replied, still
quiet. "I don't think he's thinking in that way much, either, but he has learned to kiss pretty
good..."
"Kiss?! You kissed him?!" the servant's eyes were like plates. "Oh, now you done it,
sweetie, now he'll ne'er let you go! Just you watch, he'll want to keep you till the end o' your
days!"
"Maybe..." Rini commented, more to herself than to the servant. "Maybe..."
* * *
Ami gently wrapped a simple bandage around Serena's hand while Darien watched from
nearby on the couch. Georgio had yet to return from the alley. Hotaru was in the kitchen with
Damris and Felicia preparing dinner, and Iosif and Galea were in another room doing laundry.
Thernacius and the rest of his family had gone out for an outing around the city, while Hrisoula
had decided to read a new scroll she had bought two days earlier in her guest room. Zacharias
was sitting quietly on the floor, once again amusing himself with Luna and Artemis, Diana having
slipped off somewhere.
"You're lucky, Serena, the cuts aren't too deep," Ami commented. "I think Hotaru's
healing gift should be able to repair them quickly enough."
"Yeah, wished we'd thought of that when we saw Lita in the 'pits'," Serena replied.
"I take it Lucius didn't want to sell?" Ami asked, changing the subject.
"Actually he said he'd send someone to brings us for negotiations later in the week," Mina
said. "So there's still hope there. The real question is what do we do about Lita?"
"No easy answer to that one," Serena admitted with a sigh.
"We just need to put our heads together," Darien said. "We'll come up with something,
hopefully..."
"Hello?!" a male voice called out, and Ami went to the door, only to find herself face to
face with a rather extravagantly dressed man, a timid looking woman, and a very spoiled looking
little girl.
"Yes?" Ami asked.
"Is this the home of Tatius and Ariadne Rex?" he asked.
"Yes, but they're not here right now," Ami answered. "They're out with their son,
daughter-in-law, and younger grandchildren. Can I take a message?"
"Who is it?" Serena glanced around the corner to see what was taking Ami so long, and
froze at the sight of who was at the door.
"Querian!" she gasped.
"There you are!" he growled, and pushed his way past Ami, who flopped back in shock.
"Where is it? I want it!"
"Yeah!" Julia chimed, following her father in. "Give back my favoritest jewelry now!"
Ami noticed that the third member of their party stayed just outside the door, seemingly too afraid
to do anything else.
"Sorry, already returned it to my daughter," Serena replied as she composed herself.
"You can go back home now."
"Oh, no!" Querian snapped. "First you reimburse me for it, and the pain and suffering you
caused me back in Ferrio. Then I leave."
"And I want the other pretty locket, too!" Julia added. Serena just stared.
"Sorry, flat broke," she said. "Now get lost."
"Who is it, Serena?" Mina poked her own head out, and then cringed at the sight of the
pompous ass and his mewling brat, as she thought of them anyway. "Ugh."
"That doesn't sound promising," Darien commented as he glanced around the corner
himself. "Oh, it's you. Didn't you get enough the last time, or do you want me to deck you
again?" He and Mina stepped fully into the hall then.
"Oh, you'll get what's coming to you, sir, you mark my words," Querian sneered. "But
first, your woman owes me some money, and then has an appointment with the brothels!" This
time it was Serena's fist that suddenly collided with Querian, in his stomach. While he struggled
to regain his breath, she glanced at the woman still waiting outside.
"I'm presuming you're his wife, and this little brat's mother?" she asked. "Would you
please take him away? Permanently?"
"I. . .I. . .I dare not," the woman finally said something. To everyone's shock, the little
girl glowered at her, and she cringed back a step.
"Jeez, talk about pussy whipped," Mina muttered aloud.
"The guy who bought Rini's brooch from Cephiro?" Ami asked.
"Bingo," Serena answered.
"What's going on?" Hotaru's voice carried over, and they glanced over their shoulders to
notice her and the other slaves coming into the main hall to see what was up. A moment later,
Zacharias came around the corner from the lounge, holding Luna and Artemis, seemingly
uncomfortably so, in each tiny arm.
"Ooh, what pretty kitties!" Julia squealed. "I want'em both!"
"They're not yours!" Zacharias snapped, squishing the two unfortunate cats closer to
himself, causing them both to let out a brief yelp. "You can't have'em!" Julia stared at
Zacharias, a look of intense shock and anger on her face, and then she charged forward, grabbed
Luna and Artemis by their tails, and pulled!
"Rowl!!!" they screeched, and Zacharias tried to pull back, tightening his grip further.
"Gimme!!!" Julia screamed.
"NO!!!" Zacharias answered. Suddenly the two cats were torn away from the bickering
children by Mina and Darien, the two staring daggers at Julia.
"When someone tells you that you can't have something," Mina said gloweringly, "It
means you can _not_ have it! You okay there, buddy?"
"Meow..." Artemis got out between breaths.
"I don't think there's any permanent damage," Darien said. "Thanks for trying,
Zacharias."
"Welcome," the boy replied with a small smile. By this time, Querian was finally
managing to re-compose himself, and was angrier than ever.
"Don't worry, Julia, you'll get the cats," he growled. "But first, we're getting the
guards..."
"For what?" a voice asked, and Hrisoula stepped into view from the stairs, a disapproving
look on her face. "I thought I heard children screaming," she added, noticing Zacharias and Julia
still glaring at each other, Julia also staring daggers at Mina and Darien, who were comforting a
still very upset Luna and Artemis.
"Who are you? Ariadne Rex?" Querian asked.
"I am Lady Hrisoula Vocusia of Tercham," Hrisoula replied. "And you are?"
"Terrarium Aurelius Querian," Querian introduced himself. "Of Ferrio."
"A jeweler, aren't you?" Hrisoula asked. "Yes, I believe I've sold some of your work at
my stand back home."
"And a self-centered egotist, at that," another voice cut in, and all turned to see the Rex's,
still minus Georgio who was apparently still moping in the alley, coming up to the house. Delia
immediately fell back, pulling her younger brother with her, while Tatius, Ariadne, Thernacius and
Vivian moved into the house to join the discussion at hand.
"Thernacius," Querian sneered. "How _have_ you been?"
"Better, worse, in-between," Thernacius replied. "Serena, did you not manage to regain
your daughter?"
"Still working on that one, I'll fill you in later," Serena answered. "Need to get rid of a
pest control problem first."
"Oh, I can't wait to see you break, you little..." Querian growled.
"Okay, it's getting crowed in here, I think I'll go back to the hotel for now, I'll come see
how things turned out for you all tomorrow," Mina piped up, cutting him off. She scooped up
Luna and aimed for the door. "I'll just take these two with me for safekeeping, 'kay?"
"Sure," Serena waved her off. "See you tomorrow."
"See you then," Mina winked, and made to leave. She noticed that daylight was waning
rapidly, and men were walking along and lighting the streetlight torches for the night, the street
crowds dispersing. Querian suddenly blocked her exit with one arm.
"You leave," he said, "when the cats are in my Julia's arms." Luna and Artemis began to
sweat profusely.
"Over my dead body," Mina said.
"That can be arranged!" Querian roared.
"Oh just let them keep the stupid cats!!" the unnamed woman suddenly snapped, then
cringed backward in total fright.
"When I want your opinion, Tersia, I'll give it to you!" Querian roared at her.
"Yeah, mom! Keep your nose out!" Julia snapped, then suddenly flew forward with a
shriek onto the floor, landing hard! Everyone stared wide-eyed. She'd been pushed...by
Zacharias!
"You don't talk back to your mommy!" he yelled. "She could be dead with Puto and
Hecte in the Lysion Fields tomorrow, and then you'd be sorry!"
"Zacharias?" Damris whispered. *He's known all along?*
"Wh..why you!" Julia stared back at him. "DADDY!!!" she zipped to her father's side in
tears. "He was mean to me!!!"
"You sniveling little worm," he growled towards Zacharias, who, with no one else
immediately available, dove behind Darien's legs, hiding. Darien reached to where his sword sat
against the wall nearby, pulling it from its sheathe, showing he was ready to use it if need be to
protect the little boy.
"You...will not...touch him," Darien glowered to the unpleasant man. Just then, a loud
ruckus could be heard from somewhere down the streets of the city. As everyone pondered what
the hullabaloo was about, a sudden roar erupted!
* * *
Lita glanced up at the noise. She'd been contemplating what Rei and Trista had told her
of what they knew about Rini's enslavement from Serena, and she'd been cursing herself at being
so easily manipulated and used by that bastard Cephiro. She was also still deciding whether or
not Serena would approve of her strangling Cephiro the next time he came to see her or not, if he
ever did since, according to Theophilus, he'd called off the hit to have a more professional killer
take care of it for some reason.
She saw Semon glance over the wall he was standing on an upper gangway of out in the
court, and decided to call out to him.
"Hey, Semon! What's going on!" she called. "It sounds like somebody's declared war
out there!"
"It looks like it, too," Semon replied. "Several Praetorian are at Proximo's gates! Looks
like they're trying to force their way...never mind, they're in!" More noise erupted, and Lita
arose from her bed and moved to the bars of her cell. Though her angle was lousy, to put it
mildly, she could make out an additional level of light from over the wall, and she could make out
the sounds of people fighting...and dying...
"Do I want to know..." Lita called up.
"They're everywhere!" Semon snapped back. "Proximo's men and the Praetorians are
slaughtering each other!" Lita felt a distinct chill, and then there was a loud ruckus at _their_
gates! Lita glanced over to note a second barrage of Praetorian guards banging for admittance
into their compound.
"THEOPHILUS!!!" one of them roared. "Open immediately! You will surrender the
woman warrior for questioning at once!! In regards to a plot against the Caesar!"
"It had nothing to do with the Caesar!" Lita called out. "Barvus Cephiro wanted me to
kill the Prince! The _Prince_ I tell you! And it doesn't matter, _I_ called it off!!" *Okay, a little
white one, but it _was_ called off!* she thought as the Praetorians went quiet, apparently taking a
minute to digest the information. Glancing back up to the wall, she noticed that Semon had
gone...
* * *
"What do we do, Theophilus?" Semon asked his master. He had gone to Theophilus's
room to inform him what was happening when Lita began to call out to the Praetorians.
Theophilus sat, as always, in his nightshirt upon his bed, a very calm, stoic look upon his aged
face.
"We have become caught in an unwinnable game, my friend," he said. "But maybe..."
"Maybe what?" Semon looked at him curiously.
"Something she told me once...something I ignored," Theophilus replied. "Maybe it's
time I took a chance. Semon...take the bauble, and return it to her. And unlock her cell." He
glanced up at Semon, a quiet look in his eyes. "It seems she may have won her freedom after all,
old friend." Semon looked at him quizzically for a moment, then smiled broadly.
He moved quickly, opened the case, scooped up the wand, moved to the desk, grabbed
the keys to the cells, and ran out and down to the yard toward Lita's cell. He got there just as the
Praetorian group at the gate started to get rowdy, and oddly enough, the noise from Proximo's
compound began to lessen.
"Semon, what...?" Lita blinked when he started to unlock her cell.
"It appears you might just win your freedom after all, my love," he said. "Theophilus
sends his wishes, and returns to you your..." Before he could finish though, the gate cracked
asunder under a moderate battering ram, and the Praetorian came rushing in. Semon grabbed a
huck of wood, and turned to fight...
"NO!" Lita screamed, and shoved the cell door open hard. She dove forward and
slammed her full body weight into Semon, knocking him to the ground just as an arrow flew over
to them. As the Praetorian closed in, she lifted to her knees and rose her hands.
"You do know that this means I give up, right?" she asked, trying her best to keep calm.
"Lita..." Semon whispered.
"Very wise," the lead Praetorian said, then waved upward with his sword. "On your
feet." Lita calmly stood up. Semon rose quietly behind her, one Praetorian disarming him and
holding him at bay.
"What of this one, sir?" the guard asked. By this time, the other gladiators and workers in
the compound had risen and come out to see what was up.
"Just let him go, he has nothing to do with this," Lita stated. The lead Praetorian stared at
her for several moments.
"You care about him?" he asked.
"He's a friend," Lita answered.
"Let's wipe out everyone in the compound!" another guard suggested loudly.
"NO!" Lita snapped forcefully, then fell back a step.
"You care about _all_ of them?" the leader asked.
"I've fought at their side several times, depended on them to stay alive more than I would
have thought possible," she answered. "How could I _not_ come to think of them as my
brothers?" The Praetorians held at bay for several minutes, then:
"Take them all!!" the leader barked, and one grabbed the keys from the ground where
Semon had dropped them, and all went quickly to work...
* * *
Rini looked out from the balcony, fear great in her mind. She'd gone to find Lucius when
it started to get dark, and heard him talking with his uncle. Commodus was telling him about
Cleopatra and her infamous affairs with Julius Caesar and Marc Antony, among other things, and
then Lucilla came in. As she listened to the conversation and watched Commodus's and Lucius's
faces, she knew something big was up, something that would cost Lucius his life if Lucilla
remained quiet.
She didn't.
And now the Praetorian were out collecting Lita and the Spaniard gladiator, Maximus.
She could still hear in her mind Lucilla spilling her guts about the whole conspiracy between her,
Gracchus, and Maximus to get rid of Commodus, and what Lucius had said afterwards:
"Uncle...I think there may be another enemy...an arrow almost hit me today at the
Colosseum...would have done if not for Rini...I think the woman warrior sent it...but it might have
been an accident...that's why I..." He'd stopped then, fear overtaking him completely as it had
been slowly grabbing at him since Commodus had started talking about Caesar Claudius and his
wife's betrayal when Lucilla came in.
But the damage had been done. She could see the extra light coming from the gladiator
compound's area as the Praetorian saw to their work. *Oh, Lita, please, just tell me it was an
accident! It just has to have been! You couldn't have done that on purpose, you just couldn't
have...* she thought quietly.
"Rini..." a voice whispered, and she turned to see Diana tiptoeing up from behind a
curtain. "I found a way out...you can escape, and we can go home...Rini...?"
"Go away," Rini whispered back. "I can't...I promised...they'll whip me again...I can't do
that again, I just can't..."
"Rini...?" Diana blinked, still whispering.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" a voice said behind them, and Diana watched as Rini froze up. A
man walked up, staring out at the area.
"Yes, Caesar, beautiful..." Rini breathed slowly, trying not to panic.
"Caesar...he's the emperor?" Diana whispered to herself alone.
"It's all come together now," Commodus said. "He's mine, and another thorn removed as
well. All...coming...together..." As he spoke, he reached out a hand and began to run it through
her hair.
"Yes, majesty," Rini replied. "As your will be done..."
"Do I scare you, little girl?" Commodus asked.
"Terrified, sir," Rini answered, falling back into a just audible whisper. "You terrify
me..."
"Why?" he asked. "And be honest. Your Caesar commands..."
"Because..." Rini tried to find the right words, "I think...fear...you have...become...sick...
in the mind...my Caesar..."
"Sick?" he mused, then gripped her hair tightly as he leaned in closely. "You think me to
be mad, do you? A small slave thinks me mad?!"
"I only know what I see, my Caesar," Rini whimpered. "And what I see worries me that
you are not as well as you think you are, as well as you should be. Please..."
"Not as well as I should be?" Commodus whispered into her hair, closing his eyes. "I will
be much better...very soon...little slave..." Rini quietly began to weep and shiver, utter terror
filling and contorting her face, while Diana, still half hidden in the shadow of the curtain, stared on
at the interchange.
"Please..."
"Rini...?"
* * *
Belen and Christos had come to Theophilus's chamber with his riding chair, and were
aiding him in dressing when the three Praetorian's entered.
"Theophilus, you are under arrest for aiding in plots against the Emperor!" the lead man
stated. "You will come with us immediately!"
"Very well, I was getting dressed to come out anyway," Theophilus responded. "I don't
suppose you could allow an old, nearly immobile man a few moments to collect his dignity, hm?
Trust me, I'm not going anywhere in a hurry." As the Praetorian stared at him momentarily,
Belen and Christos moved in front of their master defensively, which Theophilus noted with
admiration for their loyalty.
"Three minutes, Theophilus," the lead Praetorian declared, and he led his fellows out of
the room.
"Let's not keep them waiting," Theophilus addressed his carriers.
"Aren't we going to try to escape?" Belen asked.
"We could still make it!" Christos agreed.
"No, you two alone could," Theophilus said calmly as they finished helping him get
dressed. "Unless one of you is inclined to carry me in your arms, I, and therefor you with me,
cannot. For now, we go along with them."
A few moments later he emerged in his chair carried by Belen and Christos, and they all
followed the Praetorian down to the group waiting below. He noted that Lita and a few others
were especially chained, indicating either a struggle to bring them down, or those considered the
most dangerous. Possibly even both.
*Oh, yes,* he thought. *This will be interesting indeed.*
* * *
Cephiro and the dozen and a half men he'd brought with him snaked through the city
quickly, stealth and guile be damned! He wasn't quite sure what the hell went wrong, only that
everything had collapsed at once! Without warning a contingent of what appeared to be either
Legion soldiers or Praetorians, he wasn't sure which, had cascaded down on his business,
claiming authority of the Caesar in regards to a plot against the Emperor. Someone had a very
large, very loose tongue. In moments he had lost track of some of his most loyal, and Fernadus
had plain vanished, along with a healthy dose of his profits!
When things got really bad, he'd done the only thing he could. He'd ordered Cavinus to
take their wives and children and half of the remaining loyal men out the secret route and out of
the city to the secondary compound five days hard ride to the north of Rome. Meanwhile, he
took the other half and decided to see to a final, personal, errand before departing the city
indefinitely. Namely, collecting Pinky's mother for breeding purposes. What better way to land
back on your feet than to produce a series of very unique slaves? And maybe he'd even grab that
blue-haired slave girl he'd seen, if he found her...
The daylight was waning fast unto night when he reached around toward Fertitia Street in
the eastern residential area. He himself had no idea if Ariadne Rex was connected to the
Thernacius Rex Querian had been seeking or not, but like he had said, it was a lead. And then he
turned a corner onto the desired street, and saw a home with the door open, Querian and his
family just inside, and just beyond him the woman of his immediate needs. Without an ounce of
hesitation he charged forward.
"Barvus, what?!" Querian asked, but Cephiro shoved past him. Tersia dove aside against
the outside wall to the left, Querian passing Julia, whom he was holding, over to her. To the
right, a boy, girl, and fair-haired woman holding a pair of cats he'd never seen before, nor cared
about, did likewise.
"Commodus has better spies and hidden men than I dare dreamed, blondie," he grinned at
pinky's mother. "That or I have a traitor in desperate need of immediate termination of
employment."
"I had hoped I'd seen the last of you, you bastard," Serena hissed. "Do I really want to
know what you're doing here?"
"Probably not," Ami quipped, drawing Cephiro's eyes to her presence.
"A two-for-one! How convenient," he drolled, then indicated her and Serena. "Men, this
one and that one, in chains, now! Then we make for the northern boundaries of the city!" Two
men immediately charged inward and flanked Ami, while another moved for Serena. As they did
so, Hrisoula jumped forward.
"I trust you intend to _pay_ for my slave," she barked. "I do not let go of my best
servants lightly." Ami smiled at the compliment, and Cephiro glowered at the middle-aged
woman.
"Hrisoula of Tercham, I presume?" he sneered. "I do not deal with nor take orders from
_women_! Take them!" As the two men started to grab Ami, who instantly began to resist, a
sword suddenly plunged through one, and due to a serendipity of position, he fell right into the
other, the sword plunging into the second man's chest three inches as it continued to move
forward.
Iosif shoved the two men off the sword, then brandished it towards Cephiro. As the third
guard who entered paused to try and figure out what to do, follow his immediate orders or
remove the sudden attacker, Thernacius dove forward, shoved aside the sword arm with one hand
and felled the guard with his own mighty fist!
"You want my beloved? Take her if you can!!" Iosif bellowed.
"As head of this household, I demand you leave!" Tatius stepped up. Ariadne and Vivian
had fallen back further into the house, out of harm's way. "Neither you nor this Querian are any
longer welcome here!" Cephiro stared at the what had happened, thinking quickly.
"Best to cut my losses, then," he decided, and grabbed Serena by the arm roughly, who
screamed.
* * *
As Mina watched from behind, she could tell it was getting bad. *But then again, what
else is new?* she thought. Just then one of the slavers turned and looked at her, then moved to
her with an unpleasant smile on his face that practically screamed, 'I'm gonna take you in my bed
and break you!'.
"My, you're a very pretty lady," he said, leaning close. "I think I'll take you for myself."
"Oh, sir, you flatter me," she batted her eyes coyly, shifting herself suggestively on
purpose to distract his attention. "Not interested," she added, and swung a leg up into his crotch.
As he fell, she passed Luna and Artemis over to Delia and Mikhail, who without a word scooped
them up, and then she swung her hands, held together in a single fist, back into the side of the
man's head. As he fell semi-senseless, she reached down and grabbed his sword, pulling it from
its sheath, and held it out pointed towards the others.
"Next one to get lusty gets far more pain than him!" she declared, and the others
immediately took a minor step back, but she noticed they were all holding the hilts of their own
swords, and no doubt _they_ had a far better idea of how to use them than she did!
As she continued to think about the standoff she'd gotten herself into and how she could
go about getting out of it, she noticed the boy who'd been swooning after Serena, Georgio,
walking up, a sword in one hand...
And then she heard Serena's voice in one of her highest pitched screams!
* * *
As Cephiro attempted to drag Serena from the house, Darien lunged forward, slicing the
slaver's arm with his sword. Cephiro winced and pulled away, staring at him as Darien leveled his
blade at the man's neck.
"Who in Tartarus are you?!" he snapped.
"Her husband," Darien replied simply.
"And he'd like to talk you about our daughter," Serena added, still trying to get loose.
"I hate to interrupt, old friend, but I had first bid on her," Querian stepped up. Darien
swung his arm backward and nailed Querian in the face with the butt of his blade's hilt, the man
instantly slumping down like a sack of bricks. Darien then returned his sword to its previous
position against Cephiro. It was all one smooth motion that would make any soldier proud, and
indeed left Cephiro quite impressed.
"I'm willing to forget that you exist if you leave now and never show yourself before me
_or_ my wife again! And take him with you," Darien stated, nodding his head briefly toward
Querian.
"Really?" Cephiro commented quietly, and suddenly brought his sword up perpendicular
to Darien's with his left hand, knocking it away. He then released Serena for the moment, flipped
his sword into his right hand to sit vertically upright therein, and swung at Darien, who blocked.
Cephiro swung again, Darien parried, tried to disarm his opponent, Cephiro counter-parried, then
swung again, forcing Darien to give ground.
"You think you can beat me?" Cephiro growled. "The only one's in the empire better
than me with a blade are the Caesars! Your woman is mine!" He rose his sword for another
swing, and just as Darien contemplated using the opening to run the son of a bitch through, the
sickening sound of a blade smashing through flesh, hard, was heard as a sword tip shoved through
Cephiro's front from behind.
Cephiro stared at it in shock, his sword slipping from his hands to the floor. From the wall
behind Darien, Zacharias stared, wide-eyed.
"I told you," Georgio's quiet voice said. "Touch my beloved, and your next stop is the
River Styx. See you in Tartarus..." With that, Georgio jerked the sword upward, increasing the
damage to his enemy, and then pulled out the blood covered sword, Cephiro falling lifelessly to
the ground.
As Serena recovered from the shocking ending to the battle, she glanced outside and
noticed that:
A.) Delia and Mikhail were cowering behind Mina while holding Luna and Artemis
respectively.
B.) Mina was standing still, looking a little shocked herself, holding a sword downward
with an unconscious or nearly so man at her feet.
C.) Tersia and Julia had vanished.
D.) Of the remaining fourteen men that had come with Cephiro, nine were wounded and
holding back, three were clearly unconscious, and two were dead.
And E.) Georgio was sporting a small multitude of minor wounds.
"Georgio... I ...I don't know...what..." she finally breathed.
"I know you'll never love me, Serena," he said, turning to her and kneeling before her,
offering her his sword. "But I will always love you...always..." And with that, he proceeded to
pass out from the exertion and blood loss.
"What a mess," Mina quipped as Thernacius and Tatius dove forward and scooped up
their son/grandson and carried him into the house to treat his wounds, Ami diving after to help.
Just then several Imperial guards came up and surveyed the scene. With a wave from the leader,
they began to take the remaining survivors into custody and clean away the corpses. Serena
stepped out and over to the leader, and began to talk with him.
"There's a few in here, too!" Hotaru called from the door, and five or six came in and
collected the bodies of the two guards and Cephiro, as well as the unconscious carcasses of the
third man and Querian. Hotaru grinned to herself as the thought of Querian's reaction to waking
up in prison floated through her mind.
One soldier came over to Mina, and stared at the sword in her hands.
"Took it from him," she pointed at the man at her feet, still only semi-aware of what was
happening around him. "He got a little too personal. Here, you take it. Don't really know how
to use it anyway." She offered the sword to the soldier, hilt first. The soldier scooped up the
slaver quietly, then looked back to Mina.
"Keep it," he said, and drug the man away to a cart his fellows had brought with him. As
night settled fully, the last of the cleanup was finished, and the soldiers departed with their
'cargo', Serena finishing her conversation with the leader.
"And?" Mina and Hotaru asked.
"I gave a statement, apparently someone in the ass's employ sold him out to the Imperials,
they were gonna arrest and execute him anyway," Serena stated. "If he'd left the city he might
have lived longer, dumb bastard."
"Guess that's what happens when you think you have a way of salvaging your 'career'
options, huh?" Mina commented, ushering Delia and Mikhail into the house with one hand,
keeping the sword safely in her other. They all went back inside, Serena closing the front door
behind her as they did, and to the lounge, where the rest of the Rexs, Ami, and Hrisoula were
tending to Georgio. The other slaves - Iosif, Damris, Galea, and Felicia - were jumping
everywhere, getting bandages and clean linen to help. Fortunately, the eldest Rex had served his
time in war, and along with Ami's own medical knowhow, it was going smoothly.
Hrisoula signaled Hotaru, who immediately moved forward to help in any way she could.
Mina set down her new blade next to Darien's, once again securely sheathed, in the hall, and took
Delia and Mikhail upstairs while Serena plopped down next to Darien in the lounge, who was
sitting to the side, holding Zacharias in his lap to keep him from getting in the way of the others
while they worked.
"Quite an evening, huh?" Serena asked.
"Yeah," Darien mused. "So, how'd it go outside?"
"Nothing serious," she sighed, and leaned back, letting the adrenaline ease away.
******************************************************************************
Okay, this was supposed to be the last chapter, but it's running a little long, so I'm breaking it up,
thus there will be one more than originally planned. Next time, though, it all comes to a (semi)
happy end! So be here for Chapter 13: "Farewells".
R&R please!!
