———————————————————————

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginnings end."

-

———————————————————————

—•—

Just as Schlatt had intended, Dream's litter arrived at the golden gates of the emperors villa at sundown. The large, marble building glowed gold and pink in the colours of the setting sun, bathed in a hibiscus hued warmth as Dream hopped out of the litter, and ascended the steps to the front door.

The guards which had flanked him at the arena appeared by his sides; one of them slamming his first into the door, knocking loudly.

The door opened to reveal a young man dressed in an impeccably styled purple toga, with soft hair and a welcoming smile.

"You must be Nightmare," the man said, opening the door wider. "Please, come in."

Dream went to step over the threshold, but the two guards on either side of him dragged him back onto the front step. Instead, they moved inside first, causing the man at the door to throw up his hands.

"Hold on! I invited Nightmare inside, not you two. You both can leave, but thank you for bringing him here," the man uttered, shooing the two large guards out of the villa. "Goodbye!"

With that, the young man closed his hand around the gladiators wrist, yanking him inside and shutting the door behind him. Nightmare stumbled slightly on the slickly polished marble floor, but regained his footing when the young man placed both hands on his shoulders, steadying him.

The young man removed his hands from the gladiators shoulders, standing back to admire the new arrival.

"My Gods... you're even more attractive close up." The young man mumbled, assessing Nightmare with his hands on his hips.

Dream wanted to laugh, but remained silent. He bowed respectively, thus causing the young man to hum appreciatively.

"I'm glad George changed his mind," the man said. "Okay, follow me!"

Startled at the speed of the man before him, Dream hurried to keep up as the young man lead him down a series of hallways, each occupied by servants lighting lanterns and torches to repel the shadows of the night.

Soon, the young man brought Dream into a circular room, with a long table in the middle. The walls were lined with portraits of former rulers, the edge of the room lined with white marble statues of those rulers as well.

At the table, surrounded by exotic looking foods, Dream let his eyes rest on the newest emperor of Rome.

Immediately, Dream folded himself into a bow as the emperor stood from his seat, approaching the gladiator and the young man with an emotionless expression.

Dream corrected his posture as he retired from the bow, locking eyes with the emperor, who was now only a few feet away. The emperor smiled coyly at this, turning to the young man with a flourish of his wrist.

"Leave us, Karl."

The young man, Dream now identified as Karl, gave the emperor a knowing look, winking before bowing quickly and exiting the room.

The emperor turned back to Dream, muttering: "Well, you certainly look... strong."

"I'm glad I meet your expectations, emperor."

Dream's response was cocky, almost daring, and when he met the emperors gaze, his stomach flipped.

The emperor smirked, facing Dream with a slightly raised brow and calculating eyes. Dream remained silent as the emperor raked dark eyes down his body, pursing his lips when the man before him spotted the mask.

"So it is true," the emperor muttered, reaching out a hand. "You really do wear a mask all the time."

The emperors touch was soft and delicate as his fingers ran down the curve of Dream's mask. Dream remained still, almost rigid as the emperor ran a thumb along the smooth base of the mask, lightly grazing the gladiators jawline.

Dream decided to speak. "Is that a problem, domine?"

The emperor hummed, retracting his hand. "No."

Beneath the mask, Dream's eyebrow quirked, head moving only slightly to the side in a subconscious gesture of confusion. The emperor merely hummed again, turning his back to the gladiator and gesturing to the table.

"I was just finishing my dinner," the emperor spoke, his voice echoing around the room. "You're more then welcome to sit."

The emperor retook his seat and Dream marvelled in how regal and poised he looked; how powerful he looked.

A pink heat crept across the gladiators face as he looked at the emperor, the weight of his mask on his face a comforting reassurance. He then scanned the room, wondering if the emperors statement was merely a test.

Dream cleared his throat. "I don't think it'd be appropriate for me to sit with you, domine."

The emperor swallowed his mouthful of food. "Nonsense. I'm the emperor. Is anyone going to oppose me?"

Dream knew this was a rhetorical question, but by the way the servants dotted around the room shifted on their feet uncomfortably, he knew that no one was going to question his motives.

Reluctantly, Dream crossed the room and took a seat at the opposite end of the table, causing the emperor to roll his eyes dramatically.

"I don't bite," the emperor motioned for the gladiator to sit closer to him. "Well, unless you really want me too."

Dream ignored the emperors last comment, getting to his feet once more and accepting the chair offered to him by the emperor.

The emperor grinned, almost triumphantly, and resumed his meal, eating in placid silence. Dream stared at all of the different foods laid out on plates of gold. He had never seen such things before: peacock, wild boar, venison... a bowl of honey-covered dormice?

[: all of these foods were popular with the richer people of Rome, including other exotic foods, even sometimes as odd as flamingo tongues and giraffe meat! However, the poorer people of Rome did not often have access to meat, and lived mainly off of vegetables, bread and soup.]

The emperor indicated to the different array of food. "Please, help yourself."

Dream shook his head. "I shouldn't."

"You should," the emperor replied simply. "I insist."

Almost begrudgingly, Dream took some bread and some foreign roasted meat, and tucked in, immediately enjoying the food he was putting into his mouth. Each time he ate, he had to move his mask ever so slightly upwards, and he could feel the eyes of the emperor watching his movements.

The emperor smiled. "Nightmare, is it?"

Dream nodded. "Yes, emperor."

The emperor grimaced. "Domine is fine and, for the record, my name is George."

Dream nodded as the emperor, George, continued. "You didn't win the games, but here you are, sitting in my royal villa, hired as my new bodyguard. Do you find that strange?"

Dream replied honestly. "I do find it strange, domine. Why was I chosen?"

Emperor George spooned another heap of unknown food into his mouth, chewing pensively, watching Dream. Then, he swallowed, spinning his spoon between his fingers.

"You proved your abilities in the ring that night, when you were blindfolded and fighting in the rain. I was impressed, to say the least," the emperor said. "You really are one of the best gladiators in all of Italia."

Dream felt that same flush as before appear on his cheeks again, rosy beneath his mask. He placed down his eating utensils, and thanked the emperor for his kind words.

Emperor George took a sip of his wine, eyes drawing back to gaze into the goblet of swirling red liquid, a silence falling on the pair.

As Dream sat idly, a scuffle of noise, as quiet as the rustling of fabric, drew his attention across the room. There, he saw a man creeping into the room, hurriedly approaching the emperor from behind.

Dream eyed the man skeptically, just before the man produced a long, curved dagger, and lunged at the emperor.

Wordlessly, Dream sprung to his feet, the chair he was sitting on falling over, clattering to the floor. He seized the knife he was using to eat and, despite it only be small and rather blunt, he leaped.

Putting his body between the seated emperor and the attacker, Dream blocked the mans dagger with his own small knife. The metals clanked together and the emperor spun around, just as Dream disarmed the assailant and tackled him to the floor. He rolled the man onto his stomach, pressing a knee into the mans lower back, grabbing a hold of his two wrists in one hand. The other hand held the assailants dagger.

Emperor George got to his feet, hands pressed over his mouth in shock. He watched as Dream pulled the man to his feet, using one large hand to bind the assailants wrists.

"I— Guards! Escort this man off the premises immediately!" George yelled. "And make sure that he appropriately dealt with."

Two guards entered the room, retrieving the angry man and dragging him from the room. Dream discarded the dagger, tossing it onto the floor as he took a careful step towards the emperor, dinner knife still gripped harshly in his hand.

"Are you alright?" Dream asked.

The emperor took a deep breath. "I'm fine. Thank you."

Dream just bowed, moving around the emperor to place the knife back onto the table and pick his chair off of the ground. Instead of taking a seat, however, the gladiator pushed the chair in and stood behind it, hands resting on the top of the backrest.

Emperor George let out another wary exhale. He pushed his own chair in with a shaky hand, and Dream watched beneath his mask, eyes narrowed.

"Domine—?"

"—I wish to be escorted to my chambers." The emperor interrupted, beginning to walk towards the door.

Dream bit his tongue, following closely behind the shaken emperor, walking down the halls of the grand house. Night had very much fallen, as the sky was an inky void beyond the villa windows. The moon shone brightly through the windows of the hallway as the emperor walked briskly down it, his regal being bathed in a light so ghostly that Dream's footsteps faltered.

When the pair reached the emperors bed chamber, Dream reached out and placed a hand to the emperors chest. The emperor went to protest, but the gladiator gently pushed past him, entering the room with catlike ease.

George watched as Dream surveyed the room, peeking around each marble pillar, investigating the room as if it were a crime scene. The emperor admired the gladiators work, and as the light from the moon brushed through the sheer curtains of George's window, he couldn't help but admire the gladiators form as well.

"All clear, domine," Dream informed, allowing the emperor to step into his premises.

He arched an eyebrow at the gladiator, who gripped the leather belt of his tunic, almost as if clutching a phantom weapon.

"You don't have a weapon?" George asked, pointing at the empty belt around the gladiators hips.

Dream shook his head in return, causing a whisper of a scowl to brush over the emperors soft features.

"Do you usually have a weapon?" The emperor asked and Dream nodded.

Emperor George hummed, tapping his foot slightly on the ground, saying: "I'll have someone sent over to your ludus to retrieve your weapon. Would you like that?"

Dream once again nodded, and the emperor mentally frowned at the bodyguards lack of speech at this moment. He sighed, waltzing over to his bed as the gladiator watched, intrigued from the doorway.

"Your room is the first door on the right," George said, back to the gladiator as he walked up to his closet. "I'll see you at first light tomorrow."

Dream accepted this gratefully, bashfully averting his eyes as the emperor began to unwind his toga.

"Rest well, domine." He bowed once more, bidding the emperor goodnight as he left the room, closing the door behind him.

In the mirror hanging beside his closet, George watched the gladiator leave and he smiled.

He liked this new bodyguard.

There was something about him...

George mumbled to himself: "Let's see how long he lasts."

———————————————————————

Hey homies, this is an authors note!

Ugh cuties

I hope you all are staying safe and healthy and thank you for reading so far <3

Also, chapters may start to become slightly inconsistent as school's a bitch rn *sobs*, but I'll try my best! :]

This chapters question/statement: what's your favourite season and why?

Until next time,

Blue :)