<strong>Aulus/Antonious, amongst the guests of the Ludus, in the Study</strong><br/><br/>Once Aulus and the guests were settled inside the study of the Villa, already did two become distracted by one another, leaving them to depart from the study and wander a different direction.  A shame, but one that Aulus did take to heart, his eyes were distracted by the vast lore that the masters of this estate had in their possession.  Antonious on the other hand was compelled to the hospitality that the servants provided: water to parch his dry throat, and food to nourish his bleeding hunger.  To him just being able to dine like this freely was a blessing from the gods.  His talents as a merchant already allowed him a decent earning of coin from his trades earlier, but opportunities like this were a luxury he would not hold back on.<br/><br/>His wandering thoughts however would be distracted as a man approached him carrying with him a pitcher of wine.  Aulus could only discover it was wine until the man started pouring it into his goblet.  Aulus had hoped to stop him before the liquid filled his cup but it was too late. By the time he had slowly and nervously raised his free hand to have (Galo) stop pouring, the goblet had already taken in a few sips worth of wine.  It troubled the young man since he had only drunk water his whole life and knew what happened when man became entrapped by this liquid.  On the other hand he couldn’t let the wine pourer feel like he did a bad job, otherwise a rumor would possibly spread threatening him to be punished.  What little could he do but finish his goblet with the mixture of water and wine, swallowing it whole so to not let the intoxicating liquid linger.  He looked to the slave once more, “Could I perhaps have some water?”<br/><br/>Little time would pass however when his goblet would be filled once again with the clear, purifying liquid.  He took a small sip savoring the cool, cleansing drink.  He nodded politely to the slave so to assure him that his services were will performed despite that small hiccup from earlier, and ironically Aulus’ action were more justified out of mere politeness, a roman soldier kindly thanking a slave, how strange, if pacifying.  Now with drink in hand he could return to his observations of the Villa.  Now it seemed the hosts would distract their guests with their more materialistic prizes; their slaves, and gladiators.  For a Ludus it seemed bizarre that they would have so many female slaves as compared to the male slaves attending both the estate and being trained as gladiators.  Turning to where Antonious was, he was engulfed in a wave of attention from some of the female slaves hard at work.  Always carrying wares with him, he showed some of the female slaves certain jewelry, assorted herbs, and even aphrodisiacs.<br/><br/>But while it was amusing to watch his guardian become engrossed by the multitude of women surrounding him, Aulus attention however became broken by two souls present in the study.  To offer the possible investment into the Ludus, it would seem that the masters had ordered their gladiators to be on display in the study amongst the other slaves.  This would be in fact his first time seeing such gods of the arena.  His focus was first on the male gladiators.  No doubt their skills as warriors were at par if not superior to standard roman fighting techniques, but such a wonder did pass his mind seeing them combat. What was it like inside an arena match?.... Unlike most fortunate children he had never gotten the opportunity to see a gladiator match, but he has heard the stories, something that was outside his boundaries yet remain a hidden desire buried in his innocence.<br/><br/>Alas, after his brief interview of the male Gladiators he then came across a pale girl (Sorcha) who seemed to struggle under the weight of her shackles and her mouth gagged.  She was like one of the many slaves Aulus had seen, locked and shackled inside cages awaiting future masters/mistresses to serve.  For the young soldier it would be the first time he was this close to one and not in a cage at that.  He was cautious though, he didn’t want to scare her, and not to mention she seemed not all to enthusiastic about him looking at her.  As he got close to her he noticed symptoms of what possibly could be dehydration.  If this was some form of punishment it was quite cruel, even though he served an organization that threw men off cliffs for desertion. But Aulus saw the results of people dehydrated while out at sea, and no one should have to suffer that.  He checked his close surrounding to make sure none were watching, even as a guest he was unsure whether it was allowed to offer a slave some water.  Returning his gaze back to the young girl, using his free hand he positioned it in a cupping state, so to allow him to pour a small amount of the water from the goblet.  Once enough was poured he brought the cupped hand to his lips sipping at the water to demonstrate to her what he was doing.  With that done he slowly approached her being cautious to show no sudden movements.  Once close enough he poured some more water into that free hand, then rather than drink it himself he brought the hand carrying the cool liquid closer to her, he nodded offering her the liquid to rehydrate her, “Here drink….”<br/><br/>Despite his willing to help the young slave, his eyes would suddenly be distracted by the unique prize of this Ludus: the female Gladiator.  At that moment he took note of how her eyes were locked on him like a hawk to its prey.  But why, why did those eyes seem so familiar?  It was enough to take in her figure, a female built to be a warrior, yet still bare an attraction that few could see.  For it was past both the concept of woman against man, but a warrior intimidating another warrior (or in this case a soldier).  Her gaze though….so familiar to Aulus that it plagued him with a memory of his past, more recent even.<br/><strong><br/><br/>The Aegis Sea</strong><br/><em>Two days out at sea and already Pompey had secured enough plunder to fund his entire naval campaign.  Pompey’s navy had been fortunate to stumble upon a large pirate flotilla attempting to break through a blockade near the Canal between Spain and the Numidia tribes.  Despite the loss of two ships and a handful of Rome’s finest soldier the gains far outweighed the losses.  The captured flotilla carried a huge assortment of gold, stone carvings, wood, foods, and even slaves, especially slaves.  Some of the slaves had even been removed from their prisons to replace the Galley rowers that were dead.<br/><br/>With the prisoners transferred to the rowing section of the undermanned galleys the Roman navy could begin transferring the plunder to the transport Galleys, which would given a naval escort and returned to the closest ports so to have transported to Rome or whatever locations deemed vital.  For the slaves, what better then distribute them amongst the Republic.  A worthy gift for her people at least from Pompey’s mind.  Pompey had overseer the transfer of riches watching his loyal navy at work.  It was always amazing when a Roman military branch operated perfectly, like a perfect siege weapon, it completed its purpose fluidity.   <br/><br/>Unfortunately two slaves would have to disagree to such a gift.  Amidst the slave transfer, two men bound only by one long chain via their wrist broke silence, erupting in a fury of deviance and violence.  They were quick to have drawn their captors weapons and knocking them off the planks connecting to the two boats.  On a straight path Pompey was accessible to the two defectors, their eyes focused on their next target.  Despite some of the soldiers already rushing to his defense Pompey dismissed leaving it to one man.  That man stepped in the path of the pathetic assassins, weapon in hand, ready to defend his ground with his life, more than prepared to end their lives as well.  The screams of the chained men marked their final battle cry as the sound of two whips cracking echoed in the empty sea.  The sound of gurgling filtered through the echo focusing everyone’s attention of the escapees.  Their necks had been brutality slashed, almost stripped of flesh and muscle forcing blood to erupt like a crack in an aqueduct.  Dangling at the boats deck the remnants of flesh remained captured by strange metal teeth attached to a whip’s tail.  Using a flick of his wrist the weapon folded into multiple loops so as for Aulus to return his weapon to its sheath.  His face marked by the blood of the two taking a red “X” formation across his face, droplets escaping from his lips.  Such a horrible death and all Aulus was given in return was a stare from those surrounding him, both soldier and slave alike returning a gaze that carried pity, fear, perhaps even remorse, but one soul carried a feeling hatred now, or a wish to fight him on even terms…..</em><br/>