Well, some of you have been asking for s'more romance, as that is one of the genres of this story, and so there shall be more romance. The problem is, only one couple has actually been introduced to one-another. XD so I'm hoping this chapter will fix that. Seto comes in a lot later, just so you guys know, because he lives in Rome, not Pompeii.
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Bacura sighed, rubbing his temple. Overall it had been a good day for his school at the arena, but Gionoci's failure had been a huge disappointment.
"I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to keep you training for another couple of months or so before I can put you back in the arena. There's no other way around it- you've lost your chances at popularity, so you have to wait a bit until your defeat is forgotten. Not to mention you need more time to train and work on your balance and battle tactics. There's more to-"
"Yeah yeah, I know. More to battle than swinging a sword. I heard you the first fifteen times." Gionoci retorted, his pride still very sore from loss. His wounds would heal, but it had taken a huge chunk out of his self-esteem, and, to tell the truth, he was pissed.
"You have no right to speak to me like that." Bacura snapped, having little patience for Gionoci's whining at the moment. "You will stay at the school for three months!"
"But you just said two-"
"Keep arguing and I'll make it four! Now get to the dining hall and eat some dinner- I pay for your meals, so you'd better not be wasting my time and denarii." Gionoci wilted a bit under his master's fierce glare, and turned with a huff, storming off to the warm meal that he hoped would distract him from this mess for a little while.
Eugi looked down the row of tables, smiling as he saw his best friend approaching.
"There he is, Riou! Salve, Gionoci!" Eugi waved. Riou glanced at the expression on Gionoci's face, then leaned over to whisper to Eugi.
"Non est laetus, amici." Gionoci heard this, snorting as he sat down with his wooden plate and chalice.
"Damn right, I'm not happy! Who does that asinus think he is? I can't hang back for three whole months! I'll die from age or boredom before I get back in the arena!" Gionoci fumed, taking a swig of his cheap wine and slamming it down on the table, making Eugi jump a bit.
"I take it the battle didn't go well?"
"He wasn't that bad, actually." A strange voice floated over from nearby, and someone Eugi didn't recognise approached their section of table. Gionoci smiled a bit when he saw the man, however, and motioned for him to sit down.
"Eugi, Riou, this is Iami. We met before the battle, and spoke a bit afterwards." Iami nodded, seating himself with a certain poise that inclined Eugi to take a second look at this stranger. Gionoci suddenly remembered something. "Oh, Iami- how did your battle go?" Iami grinned, jumping at the chance to boast and make a good first impression. It was, after all, simply the way his mind worked.
"It wasn't much really- they stuck me in the arena with a bunch of lions and I had to fight them at all once. I think there were three or four, but I didn't have time to count." Riou's mouth gaped in awe; taking on four lions at once was hardly what he'd have called "not much, really." Eugi's eyes sparkled with interest, finding himself fascinated with how outlandish (even for the mixed races of gladiator ranks) everything about Iami seemed to be. From his dark skin and strange accent to the dignity with which he sat and tilted his chin.
"How did you fight them off?" Eugi asked eagerly, wondering how one was to take on wild beasts. He'd only been trained in man to man combat, and had thought that only Bestiarius type gladiators fought with animals. "Do you normally fight animals?" Iami laughed a bit, a smirk forming at the corner of his mouth.
"One question at a time, friend. What did you say your name was? Riou?"
"He's Riou. I'm Eugi." The younger man corrected politely, although quickly so as to sooner find out the details of Iami's battle.
"Ah yes- my apologies. Well, I don't normally fight animals, but they could only afford one really good gladiator, so they used beasts instead. It gave a pretty exciting show, so I'm told." Eugi nodded, absentmindedly taking a bite of whatever cooked meat they were being served that day- he couldn't tell but he was quite sure it was pigeon; Bacura wasn't so kind as to feed them all peacock.
"But how did you fight them off?"
"Well, one of them got scared by the crowd, and stood in the corner like a lamb," at this Gionoci actually chuckled aloud, improving his mood a bit, "while the other two or three came at me, fast as a chariot racing beside the Nile! I managed to hold them off with my shield, but I knew if I wasn't careful they'd bowl me over, and that would be my end. So I cut out one's eyes, then rammed my blade into the throat of another. Then the other tried to get me from behind, so I got him right across the face, and then struck him in the heart."
"Incredible!" Riou gasped, almost as enthralled as Eugi, neither having seen a real battle before. Iami smiled, sipping from his wine and grinning at their excitement. They reminded him of children. He had glorified his tale a touch- he hadn't exactly gotten away unharmed like he'd made it out to be. There was a bite in his left leg, and a long set of claw marks leading down his shoulder and back. The truth was, he didn't want them to feel sorry for him or make a big deal out of little injuries.
Gionoci got up, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. He'd gone through his plate of food quickly; eating was his way of dealing with his problems, and it was lucky he'd led an easy life prior to this. Otherwise, he'd probably look like a barrel of wine- and he'd probably be the same colour too.
"I'm heading up to my room- I could use a good rest."
"Okay. Vale! I'll see you tomorrow, then?"
"Yep. Valete Eugi, Riou, Iami."
"See you."
"Vale."
After Gionoci left, the three spent another good couple of hours conversing enthusiastically about battles and legends and heroes and conquerors, and many other things of that sort. When finally they decided to go to bed, they were the only ones in the hall, and most of the candles were already extinguished. Riou glanced outside at the sky, cursing lightly under his breath.
"I've got to go sleep- I'll be up early tomorrow for some new training program Bacura's introducing. I've heard rumours of running laps while carrying blocks of stone on our backs- I don't think I want to be half-asleep for that." Riou excused himself, and disappeared down the corridor. Eugi stifled a yawn, turning to look at Iami.
"I might as well be off too. I've exhausted my mouth and mind with all this chatter- it's about time I gave both a rest." Iami laughed at the comment, crossing his arms a bit.
"That's not to say I didn't get my fair share of talking in though."
"Oh no, not at all." They both chortled, although the laughter was softened by tiredness.
"Yes, we should probably get some sleep. I didn't want to mention this to Riou, but that new training program is my idea. I spoke to Bacura earlier about it, and he agreed to try it out." Iami grinned softly.
"You're really going to make them run with stone blocks on their backs?" Eugi's eyes widened, but Iami shook his head.
"No no, Riou said it himself- that's just a rumour. The idea is to run with packs of wood tied to your backs, adding more each week as you build up your muscles. The idea is that it'll help you adjust to the weight of the armour. I actually got the idea from Gionoci talking about how heavy the armour seemed and how slow he felt." Eugi nodded, obviously impressed.
"That's clever."
"Mens sana in corpore sano." Iami replied. "But I really must be going. Perhaps I'll see you again later. It was a pleasure meeting you, Eugi."
"Pleasure meeting you too."
----------------------------------------------A Week Later---------------------------------------------
Eugi grinned widely, although he seemed less child-like and innocent, the pride showing clearly in his eyes.
"Awesome! You totally creamed that guy, Eugi!" Gionoci praised, glad that his friend won his first match. "Even that jerk Bacura was impressed! I didn't know you had that kind of fire in you!" Eugi grinned.
The man he'd been up against was at a disadvantage from the moment Eugi had set his eyes upon him- he looked like the Roman soldier that had raped Eugi's mother in front of his eyes. Hatred fuelled his every swing of the net, passion for revenge burning as he rammed his trident right through the hardened leather shield of his adversary.
"Well done." Iami stated, patting him heartily on the shoulder. "I know that I'm impressed; who cares what Bacura thinks?" Iami watched his face light up, and he noticed absentmindedly how cute it made him look. Over the course of the last week, the two had bonded quickly, as if they were meant to be friends. Maybe even something more, if the signs were right- Riou had caught the way Iami glanced at Eugi while he wasn't looking, and how Eugi would watch Iami leaving without tearing his eyes from him once.
Riou had considered trying to get them together, but he figured that it'd be best not to get involved. In just seven days, Eugi had developed a huge crush on Iami. He was everything Eugi wasn't, not to mention lean and muscular from all the battles he'd been in. In fact, it would have been a good bet that Eugi wasn't the only one with a thing for Iami; popular gladiators were often admired by the young women (and some young men) of Pompeii.
"Hey guys," Gionoci grinned mischievously, "why don't we celebrate Eugi's win with a little fun tonight? I don't think any of us have training or practice of any sort." All of them shook there heads, but were quiet, interested in what Gionoci's idea might be. "I say we take a beaker of wine from the table instead of drinking it, and bring it to Eugi's room. We can drink and talk all through the night, as long as we keep our voices low."
They all agreed that this was a splendid plan, and each did their part to try and sneak the jug of wine from the dining hall into Eugi's quarters. The group of friends sat around the small room, sprawled out and relaxed by the taste of wine in their mouths. After a while they got to talking about their pasts, and Gionoci and Eugi told the other two about the destruction of their village. Riou was aghast, but Iami merely shook his head sadly.
"It's sick, really. A flicker of defiance and they beat you down. The great Empire of Rome… pah." Riou seemed a bit worried about his open show of dislike, but decided not to comment.
The conversation turned to politics, and after a while they all calmed down a bit, Gionoci falling asleep sitting against the wall; he'd had a bit too much wine. After a few hours more of confabulation, Riou closed his eyes for a moment, and dropped right into sleep. Eugi chuckled, but was a touch drowsy as well.
"So Iami…" He mumbled, leaning back against his bed and glancing over at his friend, "you never told me how you wound up as a gladiator." Iami, seated beside him, met his gaze.
"Well… I'm originally from Egypt. I don't remember much about my family back then, all I know is that a rich relative of mine gave me as a gift to some Roman nobleman to get on good terms with the boss, so to speak." Iami glared at the floor bitterly, and Eugi winced.
"It'd hurt to have your own relative just give you away like that…"
"Yeah, but I didn't go peaceably. I was about nine at the time, but I gave the guards a few black eyes before they managed to get me in chains. That was when I got my first taste of the adrenaline of battle." Iami smiled lopsidedly, and Eugi nodded, knowing what he meant. "Slavery wasn't bad, at first. My 'master' had another slave teach me how to sing, and he used me as entertainment for his big parties. But then when I turned twelve, things started to change.
His old hag of a wife (she used to yell at me a lot) died, and he started molesting me. It was really subtle in the beginning, but one day he called me to his bedroom and told me to take off my clothes." Iami's face was distorted with hatred and disgust, and his voice had lowered to the level of a whisper. Eugi's eyebrows furrowed in concern.
"So what did you do?"
"I kicked him in the nuts, told him to kiss my ass, and ran like hell. He caught me eventually, but instead of keeping me around the house, he sold me to a mill. Gods- that mill was hell. I won't go into that right now though. The way the story goes is, when I was eighteen I punched the daylights out of the mill owner. I don't even remember why anymore. They were going to have me killed, but the old master of the gladiator school asked how much they wanted for me. So they figured they'd get rid of me and have their money too, and so agreed to sell me to the school. The old gladiator school master is dead now, but he was a good-hearted man." Eugi nodded solemnly, looking at the floor thoughtfully.
"That's… pretty bad. I guess I never realised everyone here has some kind of story to tell… kind of selfish of me to think I'm the only one that had a rough life." Iami shook his head, putting an arm around Eugi without realising what he'd done.
"Not selfish at all. There are so many more selfish things people could do. Don't call yourself that… that word doesn't fit you at all." Eugi nodded groggily, only half noticing hand resting on his waist. No more words passed between them, and eventually the two fell asleep in each other's arms. They wouldn't wake up like that, but it only went to show that in vino est veritas.
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denarii – the currency of Ancient Rome
salve – hello, greetings
non est laetus, amici. – he is not happy, my friend
asinus – ass, donkey
vale – goodbye to you (singular)
valete – goodbye to you (plural)
mens sana in corpore sano. – a healthy mind in a healthy body.
in vino est veritas. – in wine there is truth.
UPDATE: I fixed my little error with the "mens sana" etc. quote. I apologise for that- I didn't have my latin notes with me and I wrote this at one a.m. I hope you can forgive me . And thank you, Anna, for pointing that out. Anyways, hope you enjoyed and that this minute amount of excuse for fluff was good enough for now. U