Titus

Everything was absolutely perfect.

Rome, the Eternal City, glowed under the warm and golden morning sun. Titus sat on the grand, marble steps of the Roman Forum, taking it all in as Sol Invictus carried the sun across the sky.

The Romans were hard at work already, taking advantage of the crisp and cool day. There were tradesmen selling their wares in little shops, with the stuffed dates from a fruit vendor catching his eye from afar. Those looked most delicious. The people spoke with kind and soft voices to one another, not shouting or being rude. They displayed stoic virtue as they carried themselves.

There were even politicians mulling about the decently sized crowds. They spoke to other vendors and citizens, even acting polite to the laborers who passed by. A few of them even made light humored jokes with the young group of men waiting around one of the ivory columns for work. Titus had to blink again when he looked at the columns and the statues of the gods. They were so… pristine. They looked untouched by dirt or rain. They were almost blinding to look at because of the sun.

Regardless, it pleased Titus to see such harmony and beauty in Rome. He always knew that… that…

Wait a minute, Titus thought, struggling to finish the idea in his head. He wanted to mention someone, about how they brought Pax Romana. But he couldn’t.

Titus shook his head. Must still be waking up.

He took a deep breath through his nose to wake himself up more. Even the air was delicious. Instead of the sweat from laborers and dust from the ground plugging his nose, it was rather sweet like a rose, soft like lavender. He could sit here all day long and never tire of Rome’s beauty.

“Peaceful, isn’t it?” the most beautiful, gorgeous woman said next to him. She held Titus’s hand, glancing at him with playfulness and love. Livia. As always, the huntress filled his head with longing. Her short cropped hair was kept up in braids woven with flowers. Instead of her usual animal skin pelts, she wore a white stola unblemished by stains. Her garment complimented her tan skin and formed around her strong figure in just the right ways, inflaming his desires for her. Though she was in her late twenties, she could have passed for much younger, such was her natural beauty.

For a moment, Titus forgot about the rest of the world.

“Sorry, what did you say?” Titus said, as his senses returned to him.

Livia smiled, flashing unusually white teeth. “Why don’t we take a walk?” With her eyes, she pointed towards the friendly and clean Forum, where Roman citizens, soldiers, slaves, and children frequented about in harmony. The groups of children playing about filled the air with laughter, causing Livia’s blissful joy to falter briefly.

“Let’s,” Titus said, rising to his feet on the marble steps and taking her in his arms.

Descending the steps, he led them slowly to the fruit vendor he had seen earlier. Those walnut stuffed dates with honey drizzled on top were too tempting to resist.

“A snack already?” Livia said, smiling in surprise.

“A man must eat, especially one who forges,” he said, grinning in response. Although, he couldn’t remember the last time he was in the forge, which was the strangest thing. Perhaps Decimus—

Memories of blood flashed in his mind, like a searing hot pan pressed against his brain. A man, dead in his arms. Decimus. The sudden recall stopped him, almost bringing him to his knees.

“Are you alright?” Livia said, turning her body to examine him, concern painting her face.

“Forgive me,” Titus said, recovering himself. “I think I am too hungry.” He resumed their journey, taking her arm again and weaving past a handful of slaves who strangely smiled at him, as if enjoying their lot in life. Their eyes lingered on him a bit too long.

Titus found that his mind didn’t want to think about the strange image in his thoughts. But when he did, he began to see more things. He saw a red-skinned foreigner, deathly sick with smallpox who rode a spectral eagle. Then there was Sporus, fighting alongside Titus, then a volcano—

“Here you are,” the fruit vendor said, interrupting his thoughts.

Titus resumed focus, automatically accepting the stuffed dates from the merchant. “Uh, thank you.” He started to search for his coin purse but found he was only wearing a clean toga and rope around his waist. “You must forgive me, friend, I do not have my denarii.”

Titus attempted to give it back to him when the merchant politely warded him off. “No need. Take it, and be blessed by the gods.”

His generosity warmed Titus, who accepted. “And may you be as well, friend.”

“That was kind,” Livia said as they turned around and walked through the crowds.

Again, Titus wanted to thank someone for the blissful Rome they found themselves in, but there was only one man he could think of: Julius Caesar.

For some reason, when he thanked Caesar in his mind, it felt wrong.

Unknowingly, he led Livia away from the Forum. His feet naturally led them through the clean streets to Palatine Hill. Along the way, he popped one of the sticky dates in his mouth, expecting an explosion of sweetness as was normal. It took him a minute of chewing to realize how utterly bland the date was.

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Titus spit it out on the rather clean marble streets, receiving a few surprised glances from passing strangers and Livia.

“Not sweet,” Titus explained, examining the stuffed dates as they walked. They looked normal, nothing out of the ordinary. He tried it again. Bland. He didn’t bother to chew it anymore and threw the rest of the dates in the street.

“Something feels off,” Titus whispered to Livia as they strolled on Palatine Hill. A thought occurred to him as Domitian’s Palace soon came into view. “Do you know where we live?”

Livia frowned as if the answer was obvious. “Of course. We live…” When a few seconds had passed, she shook her head. “Wait, we live in that palace, right?”

“That’s right,” Titus said, her words unlocking more memories in his mind. They had a private forge near their room. A man named… Max? No, Maximus had given it to them. But why?

Standing watch at the entrance to Domitian’s Palace were at least fifty Praetorian Guards. They stood with spears glowing from enchantments. Even their armor and helmets shimmered with power.

“Maybe we should go somewhere else,” Livia said, as all fifty guards turned their helmets in unison to stare at them.

“Of course,” Titus, pulling her away. As they drew away from the entrance and as soon as they were out of sight, Titus pulled them into a nearby grove of trees to hide.

“What are we doing?” Livia said, confusion in her eyes.

“Something is very wrong,” Titus whispered. “I… I don’t know how to explain. But I need to see Caesar.”

“How do you intend to get past those guards?”

“This might sound strange, but I think I know how to get in. I can see it in my mind, though I can’t explain why.”

Livia looked like she wanted to protest, but she nodded in acceptance. “I trust you. Lead the way.”

For some reason, Titus knew where to go. He could see more of the palace and the layout of Palatine Hill in his mind the more he thought of it. And the more he pondered, the memories began to flood back in. Maximus, the civil war, the Orb of Morpheus, Caesar’s torture of them, all of it. As he explained it to Livia through quick whispers, her mind began to open up to.

“By the gods,” she whispered, tears streaming down her eyes as he led Livia to the lower slopes of Palatine Hill, where the vibrant grass bordered the walled terraces. “There is no hope, then.”

Titus shook his head. He was not ready to give up. He still had strength and fire in his bones. There had to be a way. If they could find Caesar, perhaps they could find a way to escape. After all, he was the god of their dream prison.

Caesar paid no attention to putting any of his guards down here, and why bother? The quickest way to access the palace would be one of the entrances at the top of Palatine Hill, not at the base of the mountain through the gardens. A handful of green and thick vines grew just slightly down the terrace wall that fed to the gardens of Domitian’s Palace. If they were fast, they could scale it and sneak up through the garden layers.

Livia frowned in confusion but nodded as he vaulted her up. She flipped over the top with ease. For himself, he leapt and caught the ropey vines on the top of the wall, heaving with all of his might to pull himself up. Though he was strong, he was not light enough for that task to be easy.

If Rome was unnaturally beautiful, these gardens were even more so. As they ascended the terrace layers, each one astonished him. Some sprouted the most exotic and enchanting flowers, olive trees, and herbs in Antiquitus, many of them glowing from some extreme enchantments. Other layers featured pristine, marble statues of the gods, beautiful nymphs, Venus, and countless others, some free standing or hovering over a trickling fountain, including many of Caesar.

As they tread upon the soft grass and took in the overwhelming grandeur of the terrace gardens, Titus almost forgot what it was he was doing. That was until he heard the soft and masculine laugh of Julius Caesar, followed by the coo of a newborn.

“Remarkable,” Caesar said, chuckling as Titus and Livia crouched down behind a rectangular hedge to observe Caesar’s family having a picnic in the shaded grass upon a white lined blanket. Julius Caesar lounged on his side next to two beautiful women who each were adorned in colorful stolas and glittering jewelry. By the difference in age of the two women, Titus could tell that one was Caesar's wife and the other his daughter, given how much she resembled her parents’ fair skin and hair. All of them were completely enamored by the little baby in the daughter’s arms. Tears glimmered in Caesar’s and his wife’s eyes.

“Caesarion looks much like you, father,” the young daughter said, rocking the newborn carefully as the child continued to coo and make playful sounds.

Caesar’s smile was like the sun, shining with warmth and kindness. It completely disarmed the hatred that had swelled within Titus’s heart that came from remembering his betrayal.

“Can I see him again, Juliua?” Caesar asked.

Julia smiled and handed Caesarion to her father. Caesar thanked her and nestled his grandson against his crisp toga. For a few minutes, everyone stared at the little bundle of life resting in his arms.

“The gods have shown me favor this day,” he said, looking up at his daughter. “Your mother and I thought about you every day, Julia. Life was never the same after you passed in childbirth.” A dark shadow passed over him as his brow knit together from thinking.

Caesar’s wife placed a gentle hand on his shoulder as he continued to rock the newborn. “Now we can rest in Elysium.”

Elysium? Titus thought. So he must be keeping them in the dark of this dream world, just like everyone here.

He could understand why, as much as Caesar angered him. Death in childbirth was an all too common experience for women. Livia had almost passed away with her first child. If Titus and her ever had children together and she died, Titus didn’t know what he would do. Would he become like Caesar, driven to create a false world where death could not darken the skies?

Certainly, that was partially to blame for Maximus’s death, who became singularly obsessed with America to find this Pocahontas to save Cleopatra.

Titus squeezed his eyes in pain. What was he to do now? Maximus was dead and they were trapped here, forever. What hope was there?

His dark thoughts shattered as a gleaming Praetorian Guard hastened across the garden. Caesar noticed and turned to greet him. The cloaked and helmeted guard stooped to whisper in his ear. Caesar’s joy vanished in an instant.

“If you would excuse us,” Caesar said to his wife and daughter as he handed Caesarion to Julia. The two women did not argue nor look at Caesar with fear, just curt obedience.

When they were out of range, Caesar spoke. “And he has all of his gear and energy potions?”

The guard nodded.

Caesar cursed. “By Hercules! I thought we had destroyed every shrine in the world. How is he pursuing Jupiter quests?”

There was only one person he could be referring to. Titus and Livia both looked at each other in surprise.

Maximus!

“Perhaps somewhere unknown or unreachable to us, my lord,” the guard said. “His dragon was seen flying south to the Mediterranean Sea.”

Caesar brewed in anger, pacing back and forth. “We cannot risk waiting for him to fall asleep.” Caesar paused, turning to look in the direction of where Titus and Livia were hiding behind a bush. Titus stopped breathing, afraid they had been spotted. “It is time we unleashed the Somnia.”