Octavius POV
Chapter 4: The lonely task
I knew I made a big mistake, but I still looked behind me. We both looked at each other with an anger I never felt before. And on that very moment I started to hate that man on the opposite of me. I didn't care where I was and who I was anymore. I just wanted to bring that other man down. Fortunately, Agrippa gripped me by the shoulder and gave me a rope. I turned my back to Jedediah and started to climb.
~Jedie & Ockie~
"Octavius?" I was startled and got push out of my thoughts because of Agrippa's voice. After the battle I immediately went home. "Don't be discourage because of one rebellious German?"
"It's not a German," I said still thinking by myself. "It's a cowboy, or something like that."
"You don't believe those giants, do you?" Agrippa asked surprised. "You believe in his story that we ended up in a museum in the future? Octavius, that German is just a wizard that tries to makes us nuts."
"That's what you think?" I asked softly to my friend. "Then how do explain that we spoke Latin for centuries and now we fluent speak a language I never heard of before. And it doesn't matter how hard I try, I just can't speak a word Latin anymore." I saw how Agrippa went silent. It was obvious he hadn't notice we changed languages.
"And what did you think about the environment?" I continued, but a little louder. " Suddenly there is a giant ravine in the middle of Rome. And that huge building in the city. Someone could tell me that's the Coliseum and it stands there for ages. But I never noticed it before and that is pretty hard to believe because it is pretty noticeable."
I saw how Agrippa thought about my words and he didn't really know what to say. I waited patiently when he would say something. Finally he sighed and nodded slowly.
"I think you're right," he said like he never doubted me. I smiled to my friend and my most important general.
"You're definitely right, Octavius," Quintus, my other good friend who just came in, said. "But what are we going to do now? It looks like we have two enemies now. And we don't know if there are really three giants. We saw three of them, but maybe there are a lot more of them."
"Let we first focus on those cowboys," I said fast. I don't want to spill my time to fight some giants when one barbarian offends me all the time. "By this last battle we got disturbed, but by the next one we will conquer them."
"Don't underestimate them, Octavius," Agrippa said with a cool look in his eyes. On that moment I turned my back and walked away. I just couldn't be with my friends for a little moment. The emotions almost got me. I just couldn't handle it anymore.
Agrippa and Quintus don't understand what sort of burden I got on my shoulders so suddenly. Julius Caesar, my uncle, or actually more my father, is death. He got killed by the men he called his friends. And his last task for me was to lead and protect Rome. But how I'm able to protect the Roman Empire against enemies we never fought before, so those enemies are unknown. And how can I ever lead the entire city if I can't even trust my two friends, because maybe they want to kill me too, just like what happened to my father. How can I ever make him proud when I don't even know where I am? How can I ever fulfil this lonely task?
~Jedie & Ockie~
I sat in my room, just thinking. The battle last night failed entirely. I had to think about a whole new battle strategy. My sword was at least sharp. It took me hours, but finally he was as sharp as I wanted him to be. In the next battle I will easily defeat Jedediah. I will bring him to his knees and make him my personal slave. I will offend him and humiliate him every day. I only have to find a way to defeat his men. A way to make my father proud.
Slowly I went mad in my room, so I left my house and walked outside. Everyone on the outside was in panic and I immediately saw why. Cecil stood before our city with Jedediah in his hand. When he saw me his other hand reached towards me. I tried to get away, but I felt how I got lifted and got taken away. My entire folk looked at me with fear and I only could try to look back with courage.
"Jed and Augustus, that's what they call you, isn't it?" Cecil said when he putted us hard on the mountain.
"The name is Jedediah for you," Jedediah said immediately.
"I couldn't care less about your names. You should be happy I call you by your name," Cecil said irritated.
"But who is Augustus?" I asked, because I really don't know.
"Ignore that question, Cecil," Reginald, who suddenly stood behind Cecil, said. "He just tries to challenge you."
"I wasn't planning to talk about names," Cecil said and still looked angry at me. "I just want to arrange something and make a little deal with you." My curiosity couldn't be bigger that time. What would a giant want from me? I listened carefully. "Every night we have a problem with the lions. They always attack us when we try to lock them up. So that's why we need you to go into the hall of African mammals, distract the lions so we can lock the gates safely and then you can leave the hall through the bars in the gates."
I tried to understand what I just heard. Even Jedediah didn't reply immediately.
"You want to use us as lion bate?" Jedediah asked surprised. "The answer is NO!"
"It's harmless for you guys," Cecil said like he truly believed that.
"Harmless?" I said, because I thought it was time to get involved.
"Yes, you don't feel pain," Cecil said smiling. "Not even when a lion bites you."
"You know," Jedediah said while he took a challenging step forwards. "After our battle that Roman hit me in the face. Do you know what it still does? It hurts! So I definitely feel PAIN!" I felt a huge triumph when I heard that. But Jedediah was right, I also felt pain when Jedediah gave me that slam on the back of my head.
"You don't feel a thing, you are miniatures," Cecil persisted. "And otherwise, the three of us can hurt you a lot more than some lions."
"The answer is still no," I said and I also took a step forward. "And if you attack my city now because I refuse I swear I will protect my city and her people with all the strength I have."
And that was the fourth chapter of "Just call my name"! ^^ I hope you enjoyed it!
But what I wrote about the Coliseum in this chapter is true. When you look carefully at the Roman place, you see the Coliseum standing in the background. But the building was completed in 80 AD, when Octavius died in 14 AD, so it's impossible the Coliseum and Octavius stood/lived at the same time in Rome.
Octavius title was Augustus, and that's the name most of the historians call him these days. But when Octavius got this title he wasn't just a general anymore, so I think the Octavius in Night at the Museum was before he got Caesar (Emperor ^^), and that's why he doesn't understand the name Cecil gave him in the story.
(And yes, I really thought this through. ^^)