Disclaimer: I do not own the Yu-Gi-Oh! Series (The Original and ZEXAL included). Therefore I do not own the characters used in this story but I DO OWN the plot and the OCs used. Thank you.

Okay so this chapter is a bit longer than the other previous two chapters (combined), at the moment I'm thinking of how chapter 4 will be. I'm sure I'll think of something but in the meantime...

Enjoy chapter 3 :D


3 - Hatred

The Novian Palace was a vast residential complex found proudly on the hill of Ravaline in Rome. It contained several large rooms and suites of rooms; the main rooms were located on the North Wing and South Wing of the complex. The first part of the palace that was visible from the road, which connected the Roman Forum to the Ravaline Hill, was commonly known as Flavian; which were a group of three rooms. The biggest rooms were situated in the North Wing, known as Auma Regia. The Emperor and his family lived there. The walls at the Auma Regia had a marble veneer; there were Phrygian marble columns and an elaborately carved frieze. The Novian Palace was opened to two courtyards with fountains to the north and south. A famous poet described the splendor of the Novian Palace to be:

Awesome and vast is the edifice, distinguished not by a hundred columns but by as many as could shoulder the gods and the sky if Atlas were let off… so great extends the structure and the sweep of the far-flung hall, more expansive than that of an open plain, embracing much enclosed sky and lesser only than its master.

However, in the East Wing and West Wing were the smallest and most poorly reserved rooms in the palace; where the slaves would stay as they worked in the palace. It had a simple design, nothing that could ever compare to Flavian and Auma Regia.

The scenery outside the palace was breathtaking. One look at the palace on a hill, everything seemed peaceful.

"Achoo!"

One look at the palace on a hill, everything did seem peaceful.

In one of the rooms of the Auma Regia, the Roman Princess, Marcella sat on her bed feeling a bit lightheaded and sniffing slightly after she had sneezed. Footsteps echoed down the hallway to her room as a middle-aged woman dressed in the plain white housemaid outfit ran over to the sick princess. The woman quickly made Marcella drink some herbal tea, after much protesting on how it tasted disgusting Marcella agreed to obey her personal maid, Dacia.

"That is a good girl. If you keep drinking this and getting some rest, you will be better in no time," believed the optimistic Dacia. Marcella responded with a displeased sound after gulping the last drop of the tea in the cup. She tried getting rid off the bitter taste of herbs in her mouth, with a cup of water that was beside her bed. Dacia watched the princess silently as a small smile graced her face. "You certainly are a stubborn princess…" Marcella did not take into heart Dacia's words because she knew it was true. "But I do not understand why you have been like this for the past two days. You were perfectly fine before, dear. And you know what is happening tonight…"

"How can I forget…?" Marcella whispered before smiling brightly at Dacia. "I will be fine. I have gotten much better since I got sick. I will be able to attend tonight's event especially for our guests."

"That is good to hear, dear. Now get some rest. You need it."

"Thank you Dacia. For everything."

"It is my pleasure, dear." As she slowly left the princess alone, Marcella could not help but reminisce at what transpired in the Colosseum, two days ago…

Marcella adjusted her eyes and tilted her head to the side; she caught sight of a new figure, definitely a gladiator but unlike the other one from before this one, she noted, had a tanned complexion with an exceptionally well-built body even though they were only dressed in a black loincloth, confidence seemed to be radiating from this young-looking gladiator.

Much to Marcella's disappointment, which she did not understand why, the new gladiator wore a helmet therefore hiding their face from the world. She also did not understand why but there was definitely, to her, something different about this gladiator.

Her curiosity was rising.

"Who is he?" inquired Lucia to no one in particular, even though that was the same question running through everyone's mind as they stared down at the mysterious gladiator.

They watched in amazement as the lions charged after the new gladiator on the arena, leaving the collapsed one for a later meal. As they approached the gladiator, he never flinched standing his ground until the lions got very close to him. He swiftly unsheathed two swords kneeling down a bit and pierced each sword through each lions' heart. The lions began to grasp for air and took their final breathe before collapsing onto the ground, dead.

No one dared move or uttered a word.

The gladiator shoved the lions to the side with a kick, taking his swords out of their hairy bodies. The fairly overweight official grew angry at the current events and commanded some guards to go down to the arena and arrest the intruder.

6 soldiers assembled below pointing their spears at the gladiator, who did not seem to acknowledge their presence. This rude behavior got one of the guards irritated, which gathered up his courage to strike the gladiator with his spear.

And that was a fatal mistake.

The next sight the remaining 5 soldiers witnessed was their fellow comrade falling on his knees and remaining lifeless on the ground. They tried to negotiate amongst themselves with frightened voices, on who would try and apprehend the gladiator. Yet in the end, they were all killed by the gladiator.

The victorious gladiator made his way towards the fallen gladiator, while sheathing his blood-dripping swords. He stood above them in silence as they looked at each other. Then another unexpected person ran towards the gladiators. Everyone gawked at the short, lean but fairly muscular, pale skinned young man with light pink hair and emerald green eyes; wearing only a brown loincloth which meant he was also a slave. Marcella smiled faintly at the thought that unlike the other two, this shorter gladiator did not have a helmet on, at least she could see his face. The pink haired gladiator knelled beside the barely alive slave and called out to anyone in the Colosseum to help this gladiator, that he held in his arms. Marcella turned at her father then the Emperor nodded slightly at her, before commanding some guards to take the gladiator to the infirmary immediately.

The guards watched in astonishment as the other two gladiators, especially the one that could kill them, moved aside for them to let them carry their comrade away. When the injured gladiator was being carried out of the arena, the other two followed closely behind.

"Stop!" Emperor Vitus shouted at the two gladiators below him.

"I wish to speak to you." The two addressed by the Emperor remained standing on the arena as the Emperor, with his guards and Marcella, with her friends stood in front of them.

"Who are you?" The Emperor started off. He was curious, just like anyone, on who these gladiators were after what transpired today. The short, pink haired gladiator spoke first, after bowing slightly to Vitus.

"Your Imperial Majesty. The injured slave, the lion slayer slave and I are brothers. I am the youngest of the three. We are from a small settlement located in the East. We are known as the TriArc gladiators."

"Hmm I see. And what might be your name?"

"My name is III."

"The numeral 3? Strange… You have no real name then?"

"My name is III." The short gladiator repeated.

The Emperor understood not to go farther with the topic and asked no more. He turned to the lion slayer gladiator who had yet to utter a word since his appearance.

"Identify yourself gladiator."

No response.

"Gladiator. Identify yourself now."

No reply.

"I will say this one last time gladiator. Identify yourself!" But the gladiator merely ignored the Emperor as he turned his gaze to his young daughter. Inwardly, Marcella felt her heart beat increase by a small fraction for those brief seconds, when she sensed the masked gladiator look at her.

He turned his gaze away from her as he began to casually walk past the Emperor but 2 guards blocked his way out of the arena with spears, in an X-formation. Emperor Vitus looked shocked at the gladiator's boldness against him. Then another party member ran towards the Emperor, bowing down in respects to Vitus.

"I am their slave master, Domitian. I deeply apologize for my slave's unforgivable conduct towards you, your Imperial Majesty. I will severely deal with him." Vitus glanced down at the normal weight man, speaking on behalf of his rude gladiator. The Emperor smiled down at him as he decided to be the bigger man, in this situation.

"Think nothing of it Domitian. Do not punish your gladiator, I forgive him. I would like to apologize for what happened to your badly injured gladiator. That is why I am inviting all of you – all your gladiators and yourself – to my palace for a night banquet in two days."

"Your Imperial Majesty… I do not know what to say… I accept your invitation." Domitian had never known that there was another side to the Emperor before today. He was exceedingly grateful for the Emperor's leniency on him and his gladiators.

"Splendid."

Crack!

With the peal of thunder above their heads, the heavens soon gave way as heavy rain descended on the Earth. When the guards blocking the mysterious gladiator's way stared up at the dark clouds, when the thunder strikes, the gladiator took this distraction to his advantage. He grabbed their spears, turning them over, and used the edges of the spears to deliver a couple of hard blows on their heads and chests. They were knocked out in seconds.

The gladiator tossed the spears away before walking out of the arena, through the gates to the infirmary. III thanked the Emperor for the invitation then politely excused himself, as he ran after his older brother to the infirmary below the arena.

Instantaneously, everyone exited the Colosseum due to the sudden rain to seek shelter. Mariana smiled listening to the animated conversation that Marcella and Lucia were having, mostly Lucia, about the mysterious gladiator.

"That gladiator sure is something. Did you see that way he killed those lions with one move?! Who does that?! Even how he knocked out those guards? He even killed 6 guards without breaking a sweat. No one came even close to touching him." Lucia exclaimed. "Bet you do not regret coming after all, hmm Marcella?"

"I guess… It was quite entertaining and very interesting. I just feel sorry for their brother in the infirmary. I hope he lives…" Marcella sighed.

Mariana nodded in agreement. "I hope so too."

"Aaa.. Achoo!"

Both Marcella and Mariana sneezed at the same time.

"Seems like you two have come down with a cold…" Lucia chuckled lightly as they made their way to their transportation back to the palace. "I am sure you will be fine. We do not want to chase away that mysterious gladiator during the banquet." Mariana and Marcella shook their heads at how their friend was only thinking about that gladiator.

Marcella smiled after thinking about Lucia, chuckling to herself. She was walking around the hallways in the North Wing of the Novian Palace, watching as the workers attended to the preparations of the banquet her father had planned. She let her thoughts slowly wonder about the gladiator and if he was going to come that night. Why did she care anyway?

"Well well well, if it isn't my favorite sister in the entire Empire." A sarcastically cheery voice rang through Marcella's ears, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"And what do I owe this pleasant visit from you, Tori?" Marcella replied with an equal tone as her step-sister. Tori walked gracefully towards her little step-sister with her long green hair flowing elegantly, as she glanced at Marcella with her hazel eyes.

"I witnessed the events that took place in the Colosseum two days ago. I was surprised to see you actually enjoyed watching the games. It seems there is always a first time for everything, for you I mean." Tori smirked at her.

Marcella glanced back at her. Oh she was not going to get away with that so easily. "I am more than surprised you were actually there. You are usually too busy to attend such events, flirting with gods know who." Yes, that was 1 point for Marcella. She giggled as she was able to make that smirk disappear from Tori's face. "I would love to stay here with you sister but I have someplace to be." Marcella turned on her heel and strolled away from her sister except it did not go as she happened. She soon tripped and fell to the ground.

Tori started to snicker at Marcella. "You really are such a clumsy girl. You cannot even walk straight; after a few steps you falter. Although…" This gained Marcella's attention. "It is odd how you never stumbled when you went to the arena with father to meet the gladiators… I also wonder why the gladiator looked at you…" The last part that Tori said was murmured; even Marcella did not quite hear clearly what she said. Tori left Marcella by herself, while Marcella thought about what her sister had just said to her.


The sound of music had resonated from the Ravaline Hill, with the cloudless night sky above. The Novian Palace was overflowing with senators, noblemen, just wealthy men from all corners of Rome. They ate, danced with exotic young ladies and drank the finest beverages, to their hearts content. Soon the main guests arrived. The TriArc gladiators (only missing one member), their slave master and their other gladiator comrades walked into the enormous room, where the banquet was being held. The gladiators were all dressed in their normal attire, loincloths and torn sandals. They all, except the TriArc, made merry with the various forms of entertainment available. III tried to have fun but his older brother never attempted to, as he wore his helmet not wanting to reveal his face.

Marcella and her friends stayed at a certain corner of the room observing everyone else. They watched as Tori boldly, but foolishly, went over to the man-of-few-words (or none for that matter) gladiator. She fluttered her eyelashes at him, trying to get his attention with a sweet, innocent voice and terribly failed at it.

"Ouch. You just got rejected Tori." Lucia called out to Marcella's sister when she passed them, looking very angry. Lucia laughed loudly but stopped all of a sudden when the sound of the Emperor's voice echoed in the room for silence.

"Thank you. I would like to make a toast to the TriArc; III and his brother who are present with us tonight. We pray that your oldest brother makes a quick recovery. "

The Emperor raised his cup of wine high above his head. The rest followed suit. "To the TriArc!"

"To the TriArc!" Everyone cheered.

III thanked Emperor Vitus, while his brother remained quiet throughout the whole ordeal – as far as he was concerned – when people applauded him for the entertaining battle back in the Colosseum two days ago.

Time soon passed by, then out of the corner of her eye Marcella noticed III's brother leaving the banquet soundlessly without being seen by anyone. She excused herself and left her friends with her mind set on following the lone gladiator.

He had decided to take a personal tour of the palace, seeing as he grew bored of the banquet and needed some fresh air. His peace and quiet was soon short-lived, when he sensed something or someone following him. He approached a corner along the hallway and successfully hid himself in the shadows. He waited patiently for the stalker to draw nearer to him; at that moment he grabbed their arms and pinned them against a marble pillar only to realize it was female. She must be the Emperor's daughter or a nobleman's daughter…

Marcella did not know what to do. She felt silly to have thought that he had not figured he was being followed by her. She had felt her heart beat racing when out of the blue he disappeared. In addition to this, she was now pinned against a pillar fearing for her life because she knew that this man was capable of anything.

"Let me go!" She cried out but that only made his grip on her arms become tighter. Marcella winced a bit. "Alright… I am sorry for following you…" She said what she thought he wanted to hear, and miraculously he let her go.

He took a step back and soon began to retreat back to the banquet; Marcella could not let him get away. She wanted answers.

"Please tell me your name." Marcella's eyes widened when he stopped walking and just stood there. She took a deep breath, taking in all confidence she had as she moved forward and took off his helmet. That was way too easy… Did he want her to take off his helmet? Why did he not stop her?

But luckily for him, he stood under the cover of darkness so she could not see his face clearly. She carefully placed the helmet on the ground then raised her hands to where she thought his face was. She ran a finger down his left cheek – she felt his body tense up a bit under her touch but quickly he recovered. Marcella was beyond surprised at how soft his skin was; it was not what she thought it would feel like. A small light tint appeared on her cheeks, she inwardly thanked the gods that it was dark around them, when she accidentally stroked the corner of his lips. Fortunately for her, the gladiator did not seem to mind.

A finger then ran down his right cheek and Marcella felt something strange. It was rough and covered part of his right cheek, shaped like a cross. Was that a scar?

When she stroked it gently, in one blink of an eye she was pushed away roughly by the gladiator. Marcella hit a pillar behind her and fell unconscious after suffering a heavy blow to the back of the head. The gladiator bent down for his helmet and placed it back on. He glanced down at the unconscious princess and walked away heading back to the banquet.

"I'm sorry..."

Those were the last words that were mouthed in that hallway.


I am so sorry to all those Tori-fans out there on how I've made Tori completely OOC but it is for a good reason. Trust me... Hehe I do not want to spoil it.

Thanks for reading. Reviews are much appreciated, gives me motivation to keep writing.

Until next time, ToonTail signing out. Peace!