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"Pulvis et umbra sumus."

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"I'm freaking the fuck out," Dream whined, running a hand through his hair. "I am freaking the fuck out right now."

Dream paced the brightly-lit room; the leather soles of his sandals echoing across the polished floor. Kristin, a look of genuine empathy cast across her face, watched the ex-gladiator walk back and forth, muttering. She stopped him.

"Dream, it's okay," she assured him. "Everything will be okay."

"I can't do this. What if something goes wr—?" Dream went to ramble again, but Kristin took hold of his head, placing her hands on either side of his face.

She forced him to look her in the eyes, and he immediately stopped, gazing down into the kind eyes of someone he would now consider a mother.

"Everything will be okay, Dream, I promise," Kristin whispered, stroking her thumbs along the scars that swept over Dream's cheekbones. "Now, tell me what I just said."

"Everything will be okay." Dream's eyes were glassy with emotion.

"And again."

"Everything will be okay."

"And again, my dear."

"Everything," Dream took a deep breath, calming himself. "Will be okay."

Kristin released Dream's face and dropped her arms, smiling up at him. He smiled back, his breathing significantly calmer and the anxiety behind his eyes simmering down.

At that moment, Kristin took a step back to give her new son a once over. He was wearing a toga virilis; a plain white toga. A tassel of gold hung loosely around his hips, circled over the toga.

Gifted by Zephyr, he wore a few golden rings around his fingers, and a dainty golden chain around each of his wrists. Around his neck, another gold chain lay, along with the animal tooth necklace given by George (a piece of jewellery that he had not taken off in a long time).

His face had been scrubbed of any dirt and the rest of his skin, thanks to Kristin, seemed to glow with cleanliness and emit the fresh smell of roses.

Atop his head, upon his recently combed hair, sat a laurel wreath with leaves of dusted gold. It glittered against the dirty blond colour of his hair, and Kristin reached up, delicately moving it so it sat symmetrically.

And Dream, as stubborn as he usually was, even allowed Kristin to smear a small amount of kohl onto his eyelids.

"You look perfect." Kristin pulled him into a tight hug, and he buried his face against her shoulder.

"I'm scared." He murmured, voice noticeably thick with emotion, even from where it was muffled against Kristin's shoulder.

Kristin stroked his back. "I know. But you will be okay. There is no need to be scared."

Dream sniffed, before standing up straight and fixing his posture. Confidently, he nodded to Kristin, who motioned for him to hold onto her arm.

At that very moment, a knock braced the cold wood of the door. It was pushed open, and a blond-haired head popped through.

"Are you two bloody ready yet?" Tommy asked, stopping short when he took a good look at Dream.

"I'm ready." Dream said.

"Good. And, wow, you look really nice, Dream." Tommy said genuinely, and Dream smiled, reaching over to pull the door all the way open.

"Thank you, Tommy." Dream replied, escorting Kristin out of the room.

As Tommy bounded away, Kristin squeezed Dream's arm reassuringly and, with one last glance into her eyes, Dream rounded the corner and walked out into the garden of the imperial villa.

At the opposite end of the garden, situated before a large fountain, was a wooden arch decorated with ivy and flowers of white. Rows of wooden pews dotted the lawn in front of the fountain, with a narrow strip of grass left down the middle.

The strip of grass had been covered with a series of sheets and rugs, all supplied by Zephyr, ranging in colours from white to gold. Candles decorated the edge of the aisle, and Dream watched the flames flicker in the cool midday breeze.

Encouragingly, Kristin led Dream up the aisle, before taking a seat in the very front pew. Now, all alone, Dream stood at the front, hands clasped together in front of him. He rolled his shoulders and fidgeted with his fingers as his eyes remained glued to the back doors of the imperial villa.

"You nervous, big man?" Wilbur asked, now appearing behind the ex-gladiator and placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Not one to admit his weaknesses so easily, Dream shook his head. This caused Wilbur to roll his eyes, and repeat the question. This time, Dream answered truthfully.

"Yeah, I am pretty nervous," Dream admitted, shifting his weight on the spot. "I just don't want to mess up, you know?"

Wilbur nodded in acknowledgment. "Of course, and I completely understand that. But you'll be fine, Dream. Take a couple deep breaths if you're feeling a bit nervous, but I'm here, and I'll be right here the whole time. I promise."

Just as he said that, and retracted his hand off of Dream's shoulder, a commotion at the back door drew Dream's green eyes up immediately.

And, almost simultaneously, Dream felt the hot presence of tears begin to sting behind his eyes as the love of his life descended the stairs and approached, wrapped too in glorious silks of white.

George had his arm looped through Phil's, and the man walked the emperor down the aisle with a facial expression similar to that of a proud father.

When George got within a few metres of Dream, the blond bit back a happy whimper. He stepped back, thankful for the soothing presence of Wilbur behind him, and watched George come to a stop only a few feet across from him.

With little hesitation, Dream reached over and grabbed George's hands, holding them lovingly and stroking a thumb along the knuckles.

"Hi." George whispered.

"Hi."

"You look handsome."

"Thank you," Dream fought away a blush. "You look, uh, really fucking hot too."

George giggled as Phil stepped behind them, situated beneath the arch. He held open a large book, written intricately in gold ink, and looked between the pair with admiration.

"Are you two ready?" Phil asked, only loud enough for Dream and George to hear.

Dream nodded and George did as well. Smiling, and with his hands still being held rather tightly by Dream, George took a deep breath and said: "Let's give the Roman Empire another king."

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Hey homies, this is an authors note!

The first bonus chapter — I wanted to keep it short and sweet and let you guys imagine the rest of it <3

More bonus chapters coming soon! And, if you have ideas for them, let me know :]

This chapters question/statement: whats a song you're loving/got on repeat?

Until next time,

Blue :)