Well, thanks to a lone reviewer (thank you so much by the way, that really lifted my sprits!) this story is now off hiatus! Updates may still be slow, though, because I am working on another fic as well. But, I will update.

Les Mis folks: FINALLY!

Disclaimer: I do not own Les Mis or Ancient Rome

"Road trip!" sang Gavroche, bouncing in his seat. "Road trip! Road trip!"

"Road trip!" Grantire joined in, horribly off key. "Road trip!"

Marius groaned and rolled his eyes. "You guys do realize we aren't even out of the parking lot yet, right?"

The two males in the back blinked once. Twice. Thrice. "Road trip! Road trip!"

Marius banged his head against the steering wheel. Stupid traffic jam. With all the students hurrying out to Spring Break, the roads were completely full. Police had to be called out to direct the traffic. Marius sighed and looked around, not really paying attention until a person caught his eye. It was Eponine, Gavroche's older sister, who was a design major. A design major! Of course! Eponine could tell him where Cosette was! Marius's eyes widened as he saw who was behind Eponine. A young girl, about nineteen, with long brown hair and blue eyes. Cosette! He hurriedly waved at her. She met his eyes, her eyes widened, and she blushed and gave a small wave in return. Eponine seemed to see who Cosette was looking at. Her face pinched in irritation, she quickly pushed Cosette behind a dorm building.

Marius blinked. What had that been about? He heard a stifled laugh from his right and turned to the passenger's side. Courfeyrac was snickering. "Pizza boy," he mouthed.

Marius, needless to say, was very glad when the traffic cleared up.

"... and here is our Roman Room," said the docent as the group walked into a large room painted to look like the Roman Forum. Hung on the walls were glass cases full of weapons, suits of gladiator armor, and diagrams of the Coliseum.

Grantire suppressed a yawn. "What are we here again?" he whispered loudly.

Courfeyrac took a deep breath. "Because Eponine wouldn't let Gav come with us unless we did something educational, and besides, there's something I want to see."

Grantire groaned. "Merde, you're starting to act like Combeferre."

Marius and Gavroche walked over to where some of the bigger weapons were. Gavroche pointed to a trident (used, according to the description, by a gladiator) about six feet high. "I want that one!" he said.

Marius smiled. "Do you now? You couldn't lift it."

Gavroche pouted. "I could too!"

Marius rolled his eyes. "It's taller than you are, and probably twice as heavy."

Gavroche stomped his foot. "I could too!" He looked expectantly at Marius, who was staring at the case. Gavroche cleared his throat. "Ah-hem! I said, 'I could too'!" No reply. Gavroche tapped his foot. "You realize that this is the point where you say, 'No, you couldn't,' right?" He stood on his tiptoes and waved his hand in front of Marius's face. "Hello, anyone in there?" Marius stood there, staring at one of the objects in the case. Gavroche looked to see what was so interesting.

It was a sword hilt. A huge one, for a two-handed sword, made out of silver. The blade looked like it had been broken clean off.

The description read:

Sword (hilt)

Location Origin: Unknown

Time Origin: Unknown but thought to have been made in the early 400s

Notes: This is indeed a strange piece. The design is not Roman, and since Rome was sacked in 410, it is unlikely anyone would have had time to make a sword like this anyway. It is thought to have perhaps come from one of the tribes invading Rome. How it was broken is not clear.

Marius stared at the hilt. He couldn't take his eyes off it. He could have sworn he heard voices, whispering. He could barely hear what they were saying at points. The hilt seemed to be glowing...

Marius yelped in pain as someone hit him over the head. "-to Marius! Earth! To! Marius!" Grantire rapped Marius's head with his knuckles. "Wakey wakey! Eggs and bakey!"

"I'm up, I'm up!" snapped Marius. He jumped back from the case. Somehow, he has started to lean against it without knowing. "Weird," he muttered.

"Marius," Grantire said slowly, as if he were talking to a three year old, "I know the weapons are shiny and sparkly, but the tour group has moved on. So, let's go see the shiny things in the next room, shall we?" He didn't give Marius time to reply before grabbing his elbow and hollering, "Onward to shiny, pizza boy!" as he dragged him out of the room.

"Not you too," muttered Marius. Both of the them missed the worried look Courfeyrac cast at Gavroche, who glanced back at the case, shivered, and ran to catch up with the others.

So... yeah. Review, please!

Grantire: (sings) I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell...

Marius: Oh, shut up!

Me: Also, the song Unwell belongs to Matchbox Twenty