I'm gratified at the response this story has gotten so far, as well as that for Beautiful Destruction. Whether either of these stories will see the light of day as a full story is another matter, sadly, and for now, I'm a bit tuckered out with new stories. I'll try to work more on these, and hopefully, they'll get published as full stories.

It's worth pointing out something. Most of the time, I generally don't leave verbal tics or sayings or honorifics untranslated. However, I have to say, I just adore Nero's "Umu!" so much, I couldn't resist leaving it in.

OF EMPRESSES, SAINTS, HEROES AND WIZARDS

CHAPTER 2:

OF EMPERORS AND GRAILS

Any worries that Nero would be dangerous proved to be unfounded, even though she took with her from her 'tomb' a strange, jagged sword, a crimson thing that looked like a crystallised flame. While she was understandably shocked to see what Rome had become, including landmarks like the Colosseum (which admittedly not been built during her reign, though it had been built over the site of her Domus Aurea, the great Golden House of her own design), she seemed to eventually take it in her stride. There were some moments of culture shock, and her dress certainly drew the wrong sort of attention (and any protests to her that she was showing off her underwear with that transparent front of her skirt were met with explanations that she was letting people see her beauty), but still…Harry was surprised at, for example, how casually she seemed to take cars in her stride, calling them 'miracles created in Vulcan's forge'.

She was then brought back to their hotel. Fleur was distinctly unamused that her husband brought back a rather beautiful young woman in tow, and the ensuing conversation was…interesting, in the cursed sense of the term. It took some time for the part-Veela to accept that the young woman Bill and Harry brought back was Nero, and understandably so. Once that was over and done with, though, and Fleur accepted this was Nero, the two women surprisingly hit it off. Nero had had a Veela mistress for a time, in fact.

Early the next morning, after a rather large breakfast (especially for the former empress), Fleur took Nero shopping, though Bill warned Fleur to keep an eye on the budget. One thing that was truly common about all the accounts was that Nero had been a profligate spender and had extravagant tastes. Meanwhile, Bill and Harry went to find a café that served halfway decent tea, and found one.

As they sipped their cups, Bill sighed. "Well, that's complicated things. Then again, perhaps it's just as well we found her first."

"First?"

Bill nodded. "In truth, we were searching for Nero's tomb just in case there were artifacts to be plundered from it, so we could protect them. The Italians are, admittedly, pretty big on that, but still, there are some people who don't care. In the past year or so, there've been a distinct upswing in numbers of tomb raiding incidents and archaeological thefts across the world. I'm not just talking about thefts from warzones like in the Middle East. Most of them have been covered up, but many of them have one thing in common: Yggdmillennia."

Harry frowned. The name rang a bell for some reason. "Yggdmillennia?"

"They're a large clan of Magi based in Trifas, Romania," Bill said. "They take in a lot of Magi from families that are going extinct. All headed by Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia."

"And who's that when he's at home?"

"A rather nasty Magus, who's rumoured to be even more ruthless than Voldemort was in pursuit of immortality, though unlike Voldemort, he kept under the radar for the most part," Bill said. "He has to be pushing a hundred years old, but the latest photos show him to be in his twenties. Back in the Thirties, he was one of the few survivors of the last Holy Grail War of Fuyuki."

Harry remembered discussing that very thing with Lord El-Melloi II, whose real name was Waver Velvet. He had been a participant, and a survivor, in an auxiliary Grail War about ten years ago, shortly before he participated in the Tri-Wizard Tournament, though a Grail War made that pale by comparison. Seven Magi would summon the spirits of long-dead heroes, Heroic Spirits, as familiars. These familiars would be named Servants, and the Magi holding their leashes were Masters. They would then fight to the death over the Holy Grail, a powerful magical artifact capable of granting any wish, provided it was primed by the energy of six fallen Servants.

However, the Greater Grail, the main part of the Holy Grail, had disappeared, apparently stolen by the Nazis. Considering that the Japanese were part of the Axis powers, it seemed odd, even before the Second World War, for the Nazis to do such a thing, but presumably Hitler and his occult researchers in the Thule Society thought the Greater Grail could give them a badly-needed edge in the war to come.

"Okay, so…what's the problem? I'm guessing it's more serious than historical artifacts being…stolen…" And then, Harry remembered something that Waver told him. When summoning Servants, the Magi often used a historical artifact as a catalyst to ensure certain Servants were summoned. Waver had stolen from his rather nasty teacher a scrap of mantle that once belonged to Alexander the Great, and had used that to summon said man, as a Rider Servant. "…They're preparing for a Holy Grail War," Harry whispered in horrified realisation.

"Indeed. There are rumours persisting that Yggdmillennia are preparing to secede from Clock Tower. To even consider succeeding, they need an artifact of considerable power. And as Darnic is one of the few survivors of the Third Holy Grail War in Fuyuki, and had rumoured links to the Nazis…it's possible that he is in possession of the Greater Grail. The Greater Grail certainly disappeared from the possession of the Thule Society shortly before Germany annexed Austria. To have these thefts of historical artifacts linked to Yggdmillennia, particularly those linked to famous legends and historical figures, points to Yggdmillennia preparing for a Grail War of their own."

"…That's not good. And they'd be stacking the deck in their favour, wouldn't they?"

"Hmm. The Ministry is, of course, downplaying this, and so are many of the more hidebound people in Clock Tower. But, well, Zelretch is worried. And when you have a centuries-old vampire who defeated Crimson Moon Brunestud himself being worried, you know that is the time to worry too," Bill said.

Harry nodded in agreement. Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg, the feared Wizard Marshall of Clock Tower, a vampire (or Dead Apostle), a powerful Magus, and an unrepentant prankster who loved breaking those who caught his interest in the wrong way. If he was worried about something, then it was best to be worried as well. "Well, here's hoping Clock Tower can get it sorted. Say what you will about Magi, when they find a problem to be solved, they don't stick their heads in the sand, at least not as much as the Ministry back home did."

"True, but most of Romania is under the aegis of Yggdmillennia. They're practically the Second Owners of the country," Bill pointed out. "Plus, we've found that Darnic has expressed interest in artifacts relating to Vlad Tepes for some time. If the likes of Vlad the Impaler were ever summoned as a Servant, on his native Romanian soil where he's revered as a national hero…well, he alone would be enough to massacre an entire squad of Enforcers. Most of our Aurors, even with Fudge and Umbridge gone, would last a shorter period of time, unless they were good at combat Apparition, and even then, they could only evade the attacks or escape, not do any real damage to a Servant."

"…Shit," Harry muttered succinctly. "How powerful are we talking?"

"Servants are superhuman. Even Voldemort or Dumbledore in their primes would struggle to defeat one, and even then, those would be one of the weaker classes," Bill said. "Let's put it this way: if we had a few Servants back during Voldemort's coup d'etat, he would have been defeated sooner. If Voldemort had a few…well, we wouldn't be talking here and now. From what Waver told me, they're literally one-man armies. Hell, his Servant actually had an ability to summon his army as one of his trump cards."

"Yeah, Waver told me. Iskandar, Alexander the Great, had the ability to manifest a Reality Marble as a trump card, a Noble Phantasm. In it, he had his armies from life," Harry said. "But still…it's one thing to hear from someone, but…have you witnessed a Grail War, Bill?"

"I ended up in one of the auxiliary ones in France. Not as a Master, wizards are rarely chosen if at all, but I saw two of them clashing while trying to help Gringotts with some issues there. One of them was Charles-Henri Sanson, summoned as an Assassin, and the other was Cú Chulainn, summoned as a Caster. Those were two of the weakest classes, and yet, the earth shook as they fought." Bill shook his head. "Anyway, we'd better hope we don't get dragged into it."

"Amen to that," Harry muttered. While he would go out of his way to help someone in need if he saw them, his days of going out and being a more proactive hero were over. Most of the time, he recited his stories to Teddy, or to Gabby or Laeticia. According to Fleur, Laeticia's family was actually descended from relatives of Jeanne d'Arc, the famous French saint and warrior who beat back the English during the Hundred Years War. Harry felt sorry for Jeanne. He remembered how he martyred himself for the cause…only he came back. Jeanne didn't, being burned to ashes, all but betrayed by her own side to appease the British.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Nero cheering at them in Ancient Greek. They discreetly cast translation charms, as the vivacious ex-empress came along with an exhausted-looking Fleur in tow, looking chuffed as she carried shopping bags. She had been dressed in one of Fleur's dresses, though it had to be adjusted to suit Nero's shorter frame. "Umu! What a veritable bounty this era has in fashion! I do miss the apparel of my time, but these things make up for this! I wanted to buy them all, but I have been told that I have to stick to that most onerous of tyrannies: a budget."

Her pout was surprisingly cute. Harry snarked, "Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black, complaining about tyrannies?"

"Tis the prerogative of any ruler to overthrow tyrannies in their path!" Nero declared. "However, I decided to stick to said budget, if only because my purchases are reliant on the finances of my hosts, and abusing their hospitality would be somewhat discourteous, especially as you roused me from my eternal slumber."

How very kind, Harry thought sarcastically. As Nero sat next to him, and Fleur sat down next to Bill, he remarked, "Did you get more than clothes?"

"Of course! I had Fleur purchase a number of books on history. I appreciate that you gave me a broad synopsis of events since my slumber began, and despite my credulity that your island nation became an empire rivalling Rome itself, I also find it…perversely apt. But my old advisor, Seneca…he told me to never stop learning, that the mind was as deadly a weapon as the sharpest blade. It may be centuries too late, but I daresay following his advice would be prudent now." A miserable look came over Nero's countenance at that. "I had forgiven him over the conspiracy he had been involved in, allegedly or not, but he did not believe me, and thus, he killed himself. In truth, the fact that he did not believe me was the most grievous blow he could have dealt me."

"I hope you didn't buy her Suetonius," Bill remarked in English to Fleur.

"I managed to persuade her not to," Fleur said. "They didn't have many books in English or French. And virtually none in Greek. I found a couple with some Latin, but we'll have to find a library for those. She also wanted to buy a Game Boy Advance when we passed by an electronics store, to say nothing of a TV and a DVD player. I've persuaded her to wait."

Harry frowned. While that reminded him a little of Dudley's spoilt insistence on getting the latest stuff, he realised that, to Nero, a lot of this stuff was novel. In fiction, many of those from the past go mad upon seeing their future, our present…but Nero didn't go insane, unless it was with a shopaholic illness. Then, he remembered that Bill and Fleur had sent off a message to Gringotts about Nero last night. "Any word back from the Goblins?"

"About Nero? Not yet. It's extremely rare that someone is found in magical stasis after centuries," Bill said. "That being said, it's happened enough times that Gringotts has all sorts of procedures in place. There was apparently a fiasco back in the 1800s when Queen Nitocris turned up alive and well in a tomb in Egypt. There've been a few other cases since then, but they generally boil down to, if they're willing to integrate back into society, then they can be helped. I'm sure the Goblins will make her your problem due to your monetary reserves."

"Like they hadn't taken enough for that break-in," Harry grumbled. "We told them about the Horcrux, and yet they still fined me. I wasn't expecting a medal, but a 'thank you for ridding your vaults of a bit of Voldemort's soul' would have been nice. Not to mention Griphook backstabbing me over the Sword of Gryffindor. So, I've got to babysit her?"

"At least until she can find her own way. Still, look at it this way, Harry. As…boastful and boisterous as she is, she'd have seen many historical events firsthand, or heard news of them. She can tell us of life during her time as Emperor. Tyrant or not, she's also quite valuable to the right people. Clock Tower wouldn't slap a Sealing Designation on her, but there might be Magi who might come after her…to say nothing of historians either wanting her view on events…or wanting to stop her from refuting them. And if her identity became publicly known…well, there are Magi and even wizards who follow the Christian faith, and they may not react well to one of their most infamous persecutors being alive and well."

"Yes…she was asking questions about the Vatican, and she found it astonishing that the circus that her uncle started and she completed there was replaced with the centre of the Catholic Church," Fleur said. "Oh, and we picked up some medication. Apparently a common complaint she has are migraines."

"Migraines?"

Fleur spoke briefly to Nero, who nodded. "My mother…she poisoned me with a residual poison, and gave me the antidote as long as she lived, as a means to control me. After I had her killed…I had worse and worse migraines. Umu, I have heard from Fleur that modern medicine does wonders against such maladies."

"Huh…I heard Agrippina was a bitch, but I didn't know she was that much of one," Harry muttered, not quite realising he was doing so in Greek. Not until he glanced at Nero, and noted the conflicted look on her face. To Bill and Fleur, he said, "Did I just make like Ron and put my foot in my mouth?" They both nodded, and he facepalmed. He then turned to Nero. "Look, I'm sorry if I hurt you when I badmouthed your mother. But if she really did poison you…"

"Umu, it's okay," Nero said, waving off the apology. "You were angry on my behalf, and I find that heartening. I know I don't have the best reputation these days, but while I may not be treated as the emperor, to be treated as someone other than a villain is lovely."

Harry was actually struck by something then and there. There was a flash of something in her eyes, something familiar, something he saw in the mirror at times. He now knew that Nero was afflicted with something more insidious than headaches or poison. Loneliness. A desire to be loved. Something he shared himself.

How many true friends had Nero had in life? Harry was lucky that he managed to have some, despite his fame, and his isolation at the Dursleys. But a Roman Emperor was on another level entirely to the Boy Who Lived. Did she have any?

What he saw was, admittedly, different to the image of Nero he had in his head. Admittedly, some of that was due to pop culture (and the surviving statues attributed to Nero) portraying him as a rotund man, not a beautiful young woman. But the impression he got was not of someone truly evil or malicious, despite what was attributed to her, but rather, more self-centred and egotistical and opinionated. But he also saw something else, the desire for love, the loneliness, beneath all that.

Perhaps babysitting Nero wouldn't be so bad after all. Maybe it would be interesting. He just hoped it wasn't in the cursed sense of the word…

CHAPTER 2 ANNOTATIONS:

More 'umu!', and more of the background. Next chapter, some stuff from Nero's point of view, and the beginning of the Fate/Apocrypha storyline…

No numbered annotations this time.