The date is January 24, 41 AD.
"Traitors! Die!"
*CLANG* *CLANG* *THUD*
A man falls.
"Aaaaaaaahhhhhhgggg!!!!!!"
*CLASH* *SCREECH* *CLANK* *THUD*
Another man falls.
"You'll pay for your treachery!!" A guard screamed at their attackers.
*ZZING* *THUD* *THUD* *THUD*
Three men fell.
"You're the one's that brought us suffering!" the attackers countered.
*CLANG* *THUD* *CLASH* *THUD*
And two of the six remaining men fell. Leaving four people.
A mixture of blood and old mold is can be smelled in the air. Metallic and musty. It is suffocating.
"Haaaaah haaaah ugggggghh!"
*Splorch* *Squelch*
*Swish* *Swish*
The emperor stumbled backward, his eyes full of anger. He is shaking. Unable to control his body. The elite guards that are supposed to guard him have now tied their Emperor up!
'This is blasphemy!'
Blood is can be seen oozing from his expensive robes, inflicted by the traitorous blade that cuts his flesh.
'How dare they do this to their God!'
*Swish* *Splat*
A guard holds him and made him drop down, kneeling on the bloody ground. He is seething from getting treated like this.
'The humiliation!'
The tunnel's darkness beneath the palatium seemed to have come alive with the glint of steel, as more and more figures emerged from the shadows.
*Squelch* *Squelch*
The emperor thrashed about, trying to break free from his bonds. He looked around for someone or anything to untie him. But all he can see are his four fallen guards.
'Useless! And the others are traitors!'
He looked up and stared at the faces of the other three backstabbing guards standing beside him. Holding him in place.
His blood boils even more.
"Struggling is of no use.." the head of his guards quietly said, breaking the silence.
"Untie me this instant! Obey me!" the emperor said in his commanding voice.
"Why would i?" the guard ask, his eyes is empty.
"I AM YOUR EMPEROR!" he roared.
"Down here, you are nothing..." and as if the guard timed it, a loud cheers boomed and a thudding sounds of what seems like a hundred or more peoples' step is can be heard echoing through the whole tunnel.
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"Listen to the people above.. they are celebrating your downfall"
"I WILL KILL YOU! I WILL KILL YOU!!!" the emperor screamed.
"Thirty stabs for the Tyrant!" the first assailant that emerged from the shadows stopped the emperor's rage and stabbed him.
"Aaaaggggggghhhhh!" A searing pain shot through the emperor's whole being, as if a hot iron had been thrust to his flesh. It's a bit different from the cut wounds that he received earlier.
He looked down in time to see a sword struck at his side.
"Aaaaaaggghhhh!!"
"You forced our children to prostitute themselves in the palace!" the second assailant spat, stabbing the emperor in the shoulder.
"Raaaaghhhhhhh *blegh* *bleghhhhh*" warm blood forces its way out of his mouth.
"You slaughtered our families, our friends, you demon!" the third attacker shouted, plunging a dagger into his back.
The litany of accusations continued, each attacker striking their emperor with a blade.
Each wound is the evidence to his cruelty and excess.
As the last attacker closed in, the emperor's vision began to blur. He tried to look around the faces of his attackers, their eyes blazing with hatred and vengeance.
Another one struck him in the back. It's the head of his guards. "This one is for my wife".
Then he shoved the emperor down the ground.
*Splat*
'Ugggghhhh.'
*Squelch* *Squelch*
He tried to crawl, but a walking feet clad in leather sandals stopped in front of him, a few inches from his head.
Effectively stopping him from crawling forward. He craned his neck weakly, looking up, trying to make out the face of the owner of the feet.
Green expressive eyes met his eyes.
It was Lepidus.
'You!'
Then everything went dark.
*****************************
*Ta-ta-ta-Taaa*
A trumpet blared loudly. The vibrations of the trumpets' sound waves resonated through the air.
The people, busy celebrating the Ludi Palatini, stopped and wondered why. A low sound of murmurs spread through the crowd.
The trumpets had already been heard once when the celebration began on the first day, after the emperor's speech.
But why were they being used again? On the last day of Ludi Palatini at that? Another celebration? What was the occasion? The people wondered.
Then people came running from the palatium, "Go to the palatium! They are announcing something hurry!" They called out to the masses.
The people, curious about the announcement, decided to go.
Once they gathered, instead of the emperor or a high-ranking magistrate, a herald stood before them.
Unrest spread among the people, afraid it was one of the emperor's whims again.
When the large crowd had gathered, the herald stood straight and, in a loud voice, said:
"We are celebrating the end of the tyranny of the MAD EMPEROR!"
You could have heard a pin drop as silence ensued. The herald looked around at the faces of the people.
"As of right now, the mad emperor Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus has already died."
A long pause, then one person broke into cheers, and like a wave, the entire crowd erupted into cheers. The news spread rapidly throughout the city, with people gathering in the streets, forums, and public spaces.
"Hurrrrahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!"
What a joyful news that is!
*****************************
The news of the emperor's death spread like wildfire, igniting a frenzy of jubilation and destruction.
Mobs of people surged through the streets, targeting the numerous statues and effigies of the fallen emperor.
In the Roman forum, a massive marble statue of the emperor stood tall, until a group of enraged citizens, armed with hammers and chisels, attacked it.
The sound of cracking stones echoed through the forum as the statue's arms shattered, its face splintered.
*Thunk* *Thunk*
Nearby, a bronze effigy of him stood atop a pedestal. A bonfire was lit beneath it, and the flames engulfed the metal, melting its features into a twisted, grotesque appearance.
Throughout the city, similar scenes are happening. Statues were toppled, effigies smashed, and images of the emperor defaced.
The once revered symbols of his power now lay broken, a proof of the people's rejection of his tyranny.
As night fell, Rome's streets were glowing with fires, illuminating the destruction. The air resonated with cheers, shouts, and the clanging of hammers, as the city purged itself of the emperor's presence.
*Clack* *Clack* *Clack*
The sound of creaking wood and scraping wheels mixed in on the air.
*Clack* *Clack* *Clank*
An ox pulling a plaustrum, a wooden cart, is making its way out of the city. The driver halted the ox and gazed back at the riotous scene unfolding behind him.
His face is illuminated by an orange glow coming from the fire that is lit. It was Lepidus.
Then his eyes dropped down to the plaustrum.
There is a thick large cloth covered in a shape that unmistakably resembles a body, breathing slowly and quietly under it, hidden from the world.
The driver's expression remained inscrutable, but his eyes betrayed a flicker of concern.
Then he continued driving the plaustrum, a little bit more quickly now.
*Clack* *Clack* *Clack*
*****************************
INDEX:
PALATIUM- emperor's palace
LUDI PALATINI- ancient roman festival games held in honor for the gods or goddesses
ROMAN FORUM- public places/market place/parks
PLAUSTRUM - a wooden cart for transportation used