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"All strange and terrible events are welcome, but comforts we despise."

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—•—

"I need your help. I've fucked up. I've really fucked up."

Kristin wrapped her arms around the gladiators shoulders, who crouched before her, gripping the front of her dress.

"What's the matter?" She asked, taking one hand to pat the gladiator on the head.

Catching his breath with a few rampant gulps of fresh air, Dream got to his feet, calming himself. He released the hold he had on Kristin as she dropped her own arms, bringing them down to grip Dream's hands in her own.

"I've lost George," he whispered. "How in the legitimate fuck did I lose the emperor of the Roman Empire?"

Kristin gaped at him for a moment. She was confused, to say the least, but she knew that she needed to help this poor boy.

"I saw him about ten minutes ago," Kristin came to her senses, telling Dream. "He was wrapped up in a shawl so that, presumably, no one would recognise him. It wasn't the best of disguises, though."

Kristin finished with a lighthearted laugh, before her face hardened, eyebrows scrunched in worry. "How did you lose him?"

Dream hung his head. "I... I don't even know. I left him for under an hour, and as soon as I open the door to his room, he's gone."

Kristin hummed at this answer, dropping the gladiators hands and leading him out of the stall. From there, she places two fingers past her lips, blowing out a sharp, abrupt whistle. Two short blasts echoed across the marketplace, causing Dream to grimace behind his mask.

Dream looked around. "What—?"

"Here she is." Kristin pointed into the crowd, where a tall, curvy girl, bedazzled in gold and silver jewellery appeared.

"You called?" The girl chuckled, approaching Kristin with a charismatic smile.

"I did," Kristin smiled back. "This is—"

"—Nightmare," the girl interrupted. "Yeah, I know who you are."

Dream shifted sheepishly from beside Kristin as the woman spoke again. "And Nightmare, this is Zephyr. She works with me at the apothecary."

"It's nice to meet you." Dream said, fidgeting with his fingers in nervousness.

Zephyr winked. "It's nice to meet you as well, domine. Now, what was it that you needed?"

As Zephyr conversed with Kristin, Dream retracted within his brain, bathing in the success that someone of higher status just called him domine. Gladiators were never referred to by this, as it was reserved only for the higher members of Roman society.

"You hear that, Nightmare?" Came Kristin's soft voice, coaxing the blond gladiator out of his concentrated stupor.

"What?"

"Zephyr last saw George across the market, and saw where he went. Why don't you go with her?" Kristin insisted gently, placing a hand on the small of Dream's back, urging him forward.

Dream looked from Zephyr to Kristin. The latter smiled kindly, like that of a supportive mother, and Zephyr beckoned him.

"Come on, Dream. This way." Zephyr said, and Dream followed after her.

He tried not to be startled at the fact that she knew his name. His real name, for that matter.

Across the market, Zephyr led Dream to her stall, flicking her hand across the space in front of it.

"I caught up to him here about ten minutes ago to give him something," she told. "About three-ish minutes later, someone had approached him, and he was led down here."

Dream followed Zephyr as she trekked past a few more stalls, before gesturing to a narrow alley that disappeared between two tall buildings on the edge of the square. The alley was narrow and dark, stacked along the walls with crates and pieces of broken marble pillars.

"Who was he with?" Dream implored, eyes darkening with worry behind his mask.

Zephyr clicked her tongue. "A group of guys that I've never seen before, nor do I recognise. They must be from out of town..."

She trailed off, tapping her index finger against her chin pointedly, four rings on that one finger glittering.

"I know some people that could help you find him, if you want." She said, and this time it was her following Dream as he jogged down the alley.

At the end, he unsheathed his sword, peering around the corner and down the street, which stretched for miles to the right, but nothing to the left, as the building continued.

"Thank you for the offer, but I don't want to drag you into this," Dream's palms were sweaty and his stomach prickled with guilt. "He was my responsibility."

Zephyr snorted. "Dream, no offence, but shut up. Let me and my friends help you."

Dream winced as if struck. "How?"

"How what?"

"How do you know my name?"

"What, the name Dream?"

"Obviously."

Zephyr snorted in laughter again. "I know everything."

"So you know where George is?"

"I was joking, clearly," Zephyr deadpanned. "Look, I've had a vision about you. That's how I know your name, okay? But, as for now, we've got more important matters on our hands."

She stepped past Dream, scanning the stretch of cobbled road before them with a slight squint. Up the road, a man leaned lazily against the wall of a nearby building. He had his arms folded across his chest, one foot kicked up behind him, pressed against the pillar.

"This guy will know." Zephyr said simply, walking up to the man.

"What?" Dream spluttered, but Zephyr had already greeted the man, making Dream run to catch up to her.

"Have you seen a group of men, about three of them, with another man, dressed in a light blue shawl, holding an umbraculum and a basket?"

The man blinked. "Can you be more specific?"

Zephyr blinked back, equally as confused. "Uh... the three men wore plain black plebeian clothes, and the other man wore a light blue one. The light blue toga... man was probably being pushed along, maybe forced at knife point?"

"Right, okay..." the man looked to the sky, appearing to ponder something. "Yeah, no."

"You're kidding me." Zephyr frowned.

Dream stifled a laugh, stepping forward, putting a hand horizontally to his chest. "The man in the blue toga is about this high. Real short."

The mans eyes lit up in remembrance. "Oh, yeah! They walked by a few minutes ago."

As Zephyr quite literally face-palmed, Dream smiled thankfully. "Could you tell us which way they went?"

"Even better," the man clasped his hands together. "I heard them talking about catching a boat down the river, and needing to arrive in Ostia exactly at midnight tonight."

"Shit... uh, thank you so much, domine." Dream bowed slightly, snatching Zephyrs hand and running back the way they came, dragging her away from the man.

Back at the mouth of the alley, he turned to her hurriedly.

"I'll take you up on that offer of help," Dream pleaded. "You heard the man; these men will be putting George on a boat, taking him down the river and over to Ostia. We can't let him get to Ostia."

[: modern day Ostia is a commune in the X Municipio, about 50 minutes outside of modern Rome. Although it sits quite away from the sea now, it used to be a large "harbour city" in Ancient Rome, sitting right at the mouth of the River Tiber.]

Zephyr composed herself, bracelets jingling as she brushed her hands through the air, stimulating waves of calmness. "Of course. But, quickly, do you trust me?"

"You want the honest answer?"

"Well, yes, that would be preferred."

"Then no."

"Oh."

"No offence, but I kind of just met you."

"Fair enough. But, if you want to find your lover, you're gonna need to trust me."

"He's not my lover."

"Oh, are you not his mistress?"

"..."

"No? Right, okay," Zephyr cleared her throat. "What I'm getting at is that you're gonna have to trust me, at least a tiny bit, if you wanna find the emperor. Got it?"

Dream hesitated. The girl before him... well, he'd never met her before, but she seemed to be trustworthy.

"Yeah, okay, I trust you," Dream admitted. "But if you do anything to compromise me finding George, I'll stick this sword down your throat. Understand?"

"Good lord, yeah, okay, I understand," she raised her hands, whispering the last part: "you fucking maniac."

"What?"

"Nothing. Follow me."

—•—

"Oh hell no."

Dream looked up at the large, derelict building before him. The walls were crumbling, covered with lichen and vines. The roof was half-collapsed, some parts hanging precariously from the marble awnings. Streams of water leaked down the walls, dampening the cracks in the marble, ending in a puddle on the pavement.

Dream had followed Zephyr away from the middle of town and towards the slums, located only a short walking distance away from his old ludus.

Zephyr admired the building with her hands on her hips as Dream exclaimed: "You live here?"

"I do."

"It's a shithole."

"Didn't you used to live in a cell underneath a gladiator training school?"

"..."

"Hmm, that's what I thought."

With that, Zephyr led Dream over to a thick curtain of vines, pushing it aside to reveal a large hole in the marble wall. Beyond, it was dark and damp, with a slow drip of water echoing from somewhere within the buildings interior.

Zephyr allowed Dream to follow her into the room, up a flight of crumbling stairs, down a narrow hallway with no natural lighting, up another flight of stairs, and up onto the landing of the top floor.

Unlike the two floors below, this floor was not dark and derelict. It was well lit by copious windows and flickering lanterns, with the floor freshly swept, laid neatly with a pinkish Persian rug. There were some sort of training dummies at the end of the landing, and Dream noticed four doors leading adjacent to where they were standing.

"Welcome to my home," Zephyr flourished, spinning around. "I live here with my friends."

"How is this going to help me find George?" Dream asked, eyebrows furrowing beneath his mask.

"This is how." Zephyr opened the closest door, entering the room with Dream right behind her.

The room was large, filled with lush seats and furniture to rest on. A wide window on the far wall lit up the room in glorious golden sunlight, and the room was stocked on each side with crates and boxes of precious belongings.

"Heya, boys!" Zephyr greeted cheerily, flipping down into a chair, braids bouncing. "How're we doing?"

"I'm bored as fuck."

"We haven't done anything all day."

"I'm hungry."

"I found this cool coin."

"I'M TIRED!"

Dream's ears tried to keep up with the kerfuffle of five equally loud voices that filled the room. They belonged each to a young man, sitting around the room with gloomy, bored expressions.

Their eyes eventually found their way over to Dream, who stood awkwardly in the doorway, one hand resting on the hilt of his sword, the other curled in a fist at his side.

"Oh, boys, this is Dream... er, Nightmare?"

"Dream is fine." Dream said to Zephyr, and she nodded.

"This is Dream, and we need to help him find someone. Dream, these are my friends. This is Tommy..."

The blond boy, who is apparently "bored as fuck", appraised the gladiator skeptically.

"...Wilbur..."

Wilbur, who "hadn't done anything all day" tipped his head slightly in greeting, causing his hair to bounce and his glasses to fall down his nose slightly.

"...Tubbo..."

Tubbo, having said that he was hungry, waved kindly at the newcomer.

"...Ranboo..."

Ranboo, tossing a gold coin in his hand, sent Dream a small wave from beside Tubbo.

"...and Quack—!"

"—YOU!" Dream suddenly lunged across the room, yanking out his sword as the last man jumped, panicked, to his feet.

Dream's blade pierced through the air, ending abruptly on the mans throat, forcing him up against the wall. At this, Zephyr sprung to her feet.

"What the hell?" She cried, looking at Dream.

Dream was seething. "This is the bitch that robbed the emperor."

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Hey homies, this is an authors note!

• apothecary - is a type of pharmacy and/or a pharmacist who works there (in this case, it's a place that sells medicines, medicinal/spiritual herbs, elixirs, oils, cosmetics, etc).

🦀 THE BOIS 🦀

This chapters question/statement: biggest pet peeve? Or what annoys you the most?

Until next time,

Blue :)