FicWad

Suen was alone.

He was alone, even when surrounded by others. He understood this. They weren't really 'people'. He was, in fact, one of the very few 'people' left. Giants in the world of ants, and if he was not careful, he may crush them under his heel.

The thought made him smile.

He was living on Stanislav's estate, in his private wing of the villa. The floors were white marble, with glorious paintings and frescoes depicting some of the many battles the old owner's, some in-bred blue blood, family had been in. Though the scenes depicted showed the ancestors in a brilliant position in the middle of the fight, Suen knew the truth: they had been mere observers, officers hiding in their tents while others did the dirty work. The idea made him chuckle. Ants, thinking they were different from other ants. From above, there was no distinction. Rich, poor, old, young, all the same.

All that mattered was power, and Suen had power.

He walked into his chambers, and was stunned at the sight before him. A man in a heavy brown robe, hooded, sitting on one his klinai, eating a sweet.

The hooded man almost imperceptibly shifted to announce his attention has been brought to Suen's presence.

"Good day Suen. I've been waiting for you."

A frown crossed Suen's face. "Who are you?"

"Manners, boy. Know your betters."

Suen began to laugh, but found the sound caught in his throat. He paused, and noticed that his hands were shaking. Why?

The man stood, and Suen's knees nearly buckled. What was he feeling? What was happening?

"Suen, I want you to tell me everything you know about the boy travelling with Scipio."

Understanding struck him. Suen knew what caused his knees to buckle, his limbs to shake. It was the same feeling that he elicited in Stanislav and the other mercenaries, the feeling an ant feels when presented with a giant.

Fear. This man inspired fear.

"What... What do you wish to know?" Suen swallowed hard. "Sir."

Though he couldn't see it, he felt the man smile.



Konstantin sneezed.

"Not getting sick on me, are you?" Scipio looked to his companion, busy fussing with a robe he had acquired for Eva.

"No, I don't think so. Just a weird... It doesn't matter." Konstantin sighed, and scratched at the itchy fabric of the robe he was wearing. It had been a few hours since they had 'acquired' the robes of three pilgrims to Delci. Eva's had been cut up to better fit her short stature, and, though Konstantin said nothing on this, the same had been done for Scipio.

"How long til we get there, Tin?" Eva asked, yawning. They had woken her from her nap early, which tended to result in her being fussy for the rest of the day. Today, however, she was managing fairly well. It must have been all the excitement, Konstantin decided.

"I'm not sure, Eva. Scipio..?"

"Three hours. We'll hop onto the main road in a bit, then continue on our way. Do you remember the plan, Eva?"

A smile and a nod. "Yep!"

Scipio returned the smile, and ruffled her hair. "Good girl. Knew I could count on you." He straightened himself up, and adjusted his own robes. "Now, remember Konstantin-"

Konstantin rolled his eyes. "I know the plan."

"We're travellers from Jier-" Scipio began, throwing on his hood.

"-helped come up with it-"

"-On a pilgrimmage to visit-" If Scipio heard Konstantin, he gave no hint.

"-pretty much my plan-"

"-the holiest city in the world." Scipio finished, grinning.

"-came up with the damn thing."

"So.."

Konstantin sighed. "Yes Scipio. You can count on me too." He looked to Eva. "Can you believe this? He trusts you more than me!"

Eva shrugged. "I'm his favourite."

"That she is. Konstantin is a close third."

"Wait, who's your second favourite?" Konstantin frowned.

"Backpack."

"Oh, yeah, can't beat backpack."

Eva nodded, sagely. "Pretty great backpack."

The three stood there in silence for a moment.

"Hey Scipio?" Konstantin said.

"Yeah?"

"Those guys earlier.. They've been.. Robed." Konstantin grinned.

Scipio let out a long sigh.

"Get it? Like, robbed-"

Scipio pinched between his eyes, squeezing them shut, as if fending off a headache. "I get it Konstantin."

"-but it was robes."

"I hate you."



The infiltration of Delci was a much easier task than the three companions could have hoped. In their pilgrim's attire, not a single guard stopped them in their entrance to the city, through the vast blue gates, famous throughout the Empire. The stone was a rich turquoise, embossed with sacred symbols of protection, filled with gold. Their worth was said to outweigh that of all the rest of the city, and it's people, combined.

Granted the protection of the divine, the gates had never been breached by an invading force, not that any would dare. Delci was the spiritual capital of the continent, the one place of eternal peace in an otherwise tumultuous age.

"Next step, Scipio?" Konstantin whispered, head bowed.

Scipio took a quick glance to either side. "Absalom should be nearby. He's a servant of the Son, so he'll be here to greet the pilgrims as they arrive."

Eva, easily the shortest pilgrim, clutched Scipio's leg in apprehension. The three were surrounded on all sides by others in robes near identical to theirs, though often in better condition. Some were brought in on palanquins. Nobles, Scipio explained, who never really cared for the whole 'humble' act required by most pilgrims.

The group approached a man in his early fourties, hair graying at the temples, a slight paunch visible under his yellow robes.

Scipio, head bowed, spoke first. "Are you Absalom?"

The man stared at the pilgrim for a moment, a small, confused smile on his lips. "I am. How may this humble servant assist you?"

"I'm looking for a favour." Scipio raised his head. "For an old friend."

Absalom's eyes widened, and his mouth opened. His eyes shot from side to side, and he took Scipio by the arm. "Yes, ah, come with me, humble pilgrim, we will, ah, see to it that you are found safely." Absalom leaned in close. "By the gods Scipio, what are you doing... Here!"

Scipio shrugged. "I thought I'd come visit an old friend, see some sights, escape the Aurelian Empire..." Another shrug. "You know. Pilgrim stuff."

"This isn't funny, Scipio! Do you understand the danger you and.. Your daughter.."

Evan beamed.

"-and.. Lover?"

Konstantin snorted. He looked to Scipio, who looked as if he was going to strangle him if he said a single word.

"Could put me in?"

"Ah-ha.. Yes. That's why I came to you. You understand the dangers better than anyone." Scipio smiled at Absalom. "And you owe me one."

Absalom paled, and sighed. "I do. Follow me, I'll take you to where you need to go."

Scipio nodded. "Thank you, Absalom."



Absalom led the companions through the Grand Temple, the center of religious worship on the continent. The hall was nearly a kilometer long, of immaculate white stone. Originally a single white mountain, the inner city of Delci was carved out over generations using magic and physical labour. Necessary, some would say, to denote the devotion of the people to their gods.

"What do you know of the Gods, Konstantin?"

Absalom stared hard at the northener, who seemed pensive. "Not enough, I'd imagine. The Church doesn't quite reach to my homeland, beyond lip service." He blushed, realizing exactly who he was talking to, and where. "Sorry."

A shake of the head from Absalom indicated to not be embarrassed. "It is understandable. I was not a religious man for many years, until Lithnia." Scipio shot Absalom a hard look, though Absalom didn't appear to notice. "Would you like to hear the story of Creation?"

Konstantin looked to Eva. "What do you think? Want to hear a story?"

Eva grinned and nodded. "Yeah! I like stories."

Konstantin smiled, and looked to Absalom. "You heard the girl. Story time with Uncle Absalom!"

"Seriously, do you really want him to just... Dump all this information on you?" Scipio cried, annoyed that no one had spoken to him for the past while.

Eva and Konstantin exchanged a glance, then both nodded. "Dump away!" Konstantin said with a smile.

"Quite." Absalom raised an eyebrow, but simply shook his head. "It all begins at the Origin.

The Origin is, as you might imagine, the center of all the world. From the Origin emerged three mighty beings, the Son, the Daughter, and the Other. The Son spread life across the surface of the planet, at the time enshrouded with the blackness of the sky. The Daughter, in turn, spread death, the two encompassing all of our world in an elaborate dance. They continued this way for an age, until finally they both grew tired, and turned to the Other, who had been distant and avoided the pair since their emergence from the Origin.

"Other, please, we can dance no longer. For every life I breathe into the world, the Daughter ends another!" The Son cried. The Other nodded in agreement. This was true.

The Daughter scowled, and turned her attention to the Other. "And where have you been, Other? While the Son and I have danced, you have been nowhere to be found!" The Other nodded once more, as this too was true.

The Other pointed to the sky, and the Son and Daughter found it to be pinpricked with dots of white. The Other drew from the shadow of his being a cloak of startling beauty, sewn together with the pieces of fabric the Other had taken from the Sky as the Son and Daughter had danced. The Son and Daughter saw this cloak, and immediately began to quarrel over who should own it. The Other watched this, then took the cloak from the pair, and slid it over the two all at once. This sealed them together, creating our two-faced god of Life and Death."

As the companions passed through the Great Temple, they passed by many statues of famous heroes, and the gods of the Pantheon. Near the end of the hall there were three vast pedestals, that vastly outstripped the size and glory of the others. On the right-hand side stood the Son, strong and proud. On the left, the Daughter, beautiful and deadly. However in the center there stood not a statue, but a pile of rubble.

"What happened to the final statue?" Konstantin asked, noting the perfect condition of the others.

Absalom coughed. "That.. Is a mystery. Now, if I may continue...

While this happened, many other, lesser beings emerged from the Origin. These became the lesser gods of the pantheon that we worship, the gods of harvest and fertility, war and disease, sea and trade, their numbers reaching dozens. They divided into three groups, the gods of the Son, the gods of the Daughter, and the gods of the Other. This is often simplified into the gods of Good, the gods of Evil, and the gods of Balance. However this is unfair. Gods are not 'good', nor are they 'evil'. They simply 'are'. To pass our mortal judgements on the actions of gods is to drastically misunderstand our place in the world."

Konstantin stared at Absalom, wondering briefly how the story of the beginning of Gods had led into a philosophical diatribe on diefic morality. "And what is our place?"

The companions found themselves facing a solid stone wall, where Absalom revealed a hidden door, flush with the wall, seams nearly undetectable.

Absalom slid open the door with a heave, and ushered the companions inside a dark hallway. He lit a torch held in a sconce on the wall, and smiled at Konstantin.

Scipio felt a sharp pain in his side, and looked down. Absalom's other hand was on the hilt of a dagger, which he had slid into his side.

"Our place, Konstantin of the North," the light from the torch lit the dark hallway, revealing a number of legionnaires, the sound of steel scraping against steel echoing through the hall as they drew their swords, "is to serve."



"Will he do it?"

Crispus smiled, and bowed to Emperor Aurelius. "I trust Absalom completely."

"And why is that?" Amelius raised an eyebrow.

"He was a survivor of Lithnia. He served under Scipio."

A smile spread over Amelius' lips. "A survivor of the Lithnian ambush?"

Crispus nodded. "And one who has never forgiven Scipio his treason. Absalom's loyalty is without question."

"If I find I have diverted the Second Legion for no reason..."

"There are dozens of paths he could have chosen from, if they even find him. He has been stationed near the entrance, so Scipio will spot him. We need the manpower."

Tacitus stepped forward. "If I find you have failed..."

Amelius waved Tacitus down. "Hush, Tacitus. Crispus knows the cost of failure. However, if the worst should come to pass.." The Emperor locked eyes with his hooded and cloaked advisor. "Gather the Calm."

"The Calm?" Crispus sputtered. "My Lord, I don't... Why is there a need to..?"

Tacitus swept past the flustered general, the air crackling all around him. "Didn't you know, Crispus? The Calm comes before the Storm."