Suddenly an Empress

III: A Land Unknown

"Maybe to become the next empress. . . " 

Barbara's answer to my question why she said that I might be chosen for something just because the jewelry box suddenly opened because of my touch, sounded weird to me. We were just together inside my stoic father's grand office but she sounded very distant as if she was speaking to me from miles away even though we were just standing next to each other.

Perturbed, I turned around to see where she was but before I could even see her, or anything else in the matter, my vision turned black and my body felt a strong pulling sensation. In the movies, I have always wondered how the characters felt when their soul is being sucked out by a demon or something, like we can see their real body lying on the ground while their soul was pulled out from it. I think I have finally felt it.

The moment I turned around, though brief, I knew that I was pulled away by some unexplainable force though something like that is impossible to happen. And even though my vision as to where I am or what happened to me after turning around was pure nothingness, I can hear a distinct sound of horses and their clamping footsteps along the pavement, the sound of the rushing stream, sounds of children playing and laughing, the rustling of the trees, I hear them one by one as if I was flying through them. . . I kept on hearing things that were not commonly heard back in England and what took my attention the most was the lonely voice of a man, from the sounds of it, he must have been speaking in a church or something big because of the way his voice echoes eerily.

"The Gods and Goddesses of Rome, heed my prayer. . ."

Rome? I thought to myself. The voice I was hearing felt like I have known it for so long even though this is my first time hearing it. His voice was deep and filled with sorrow, there was a slight hint that he was a wise and courageous man who lived too long to see and know everything. I felt like this is all a dream from what I have experienced so far, blanking out and getting pulled away, hearing uncommon noises, and now being given the chance to hear this man speak his prayers.

I was weirded out by everything and have no idea what to do so without uttering a word or a sound, I listened to his voice attentively since it seemed that it is the only thing I am able to do in this state.

"Please bless her soul and let her once again pass on to the next life, protect her soul as it flies into the distance. Bless me with the courage and strength to defend and protect my territory while I wait for her destined return. . . Please let me reunite with my beloved. . . Alexandria."

My eyes widened and I let out a small gasp after hearing him utter the familiar name that I have been hearing all day from my history fanatic cousin. Alexandria Perseis, known as the Century's Lover because the emperor's love for her was so strong that they were looked up to even after a hundred years after their death. She was the greatest empress according to Barbara because of her incredible intelligence that was not known before.

"Who's there?!"  The voice who was just speaking in a sullen manner suddenly turned defensive and alert, possibly from hearing my gasp just now. I immediately covered my mouth from making any sort of noise and began internally cursing myself for gasping. I can't see anything but I am also not sure if the others can see me.

But wait. . . 

I stopped from panicking and thought to myself. . . if he heard me just now, then doesn't that mean I am actually here with him? In Rome? In Ancient Rome? 

Before I could even dwell on that surreal assumption, I once again felt my body being pulled away by a crazy strong force and along with that was my consciousness slowly fading away as well.

"Hey! Tell me! Who are you?!"

Before I completely lose myself in the void, I managed to hear the man's desperate voice one last time as if he was chasing after me. To answer his desperation, and because I felt sorry for how lonely he seemed, I tried to answer him with my struggling voice since I was fighting the force before it completely suck me away from here.

"My name is. . ."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

"Alexandria."

I opened my eyes and found myself surrounded by a dozen of men who were dressed as if they were some part of a theatrical play, they were wearing a white toga, leather sandals, the straps of it were wrapped like a snake around their legs. They had spears pointed at me, their hands trembling as if they were faced with a beast when it was only me and them here in the middle of nowhere.

I quickly glanced around to see wheat fields spread all around, curving around, and waving over hill after hill. Sheep and other sorts of farm animals rested and grazed in the gentle pastures, and crossing straight through the landscape ran a weed-ridden, sandy road. 

"How on earth. . ." before I could finish my confusing question for myself on how I ended up all the way here and faced to face with a bunch of soldier wannabes, I was interrupted by a man who just arrived and made his way in front of me.

"So your name is Alexandria. . ." The man at the middle, wearing a much grander type of toga spoke, eyeing me from head to toe and then back at my face and then at my hair.

"Alexandria? N-no, my name is Elodie."

"Elodie? But you just uttered your name a few seconds ago when my men asked for your name, Alexandria. Are you trying to hide your identity by using a fake and odd name such as Elodie?" The man walked forward and when he was only an inch away from me, he roughly grabbed me by my cheeks and pulled me up for him to get a closer look at my face.

"T-that hurts! Let me go!" I tried knocking him off with my hands but the gap between our strength and even our height was so big that he is not even budging from his spot after being smacked by my fist.

"A feisty one, I see. You will do good in the arena, and your unusual hair would surely attract a lot of attention." He finally released me, harshly, may I add since I found myself losing my balance and plopping down on the ground. 

"Tie her up and take her to the arena before noon, she will be the main attraction for today's battle." He ordered before mounting his horse and riding away, leaving me with the dozen men that were surrounding me from every direction with a sharp-looking spear in hand.

"As you commanded, general Gladius." I heard one of the men say.

They were obedient as they did exactly what they were told by that violent man named Gladius, I was pulled up and they tied my hands quite tightly that I felt my flesh burning. 

"Walk." The man behind me commanded in an overpowering voice. I did not like being ordered around so I did not walk, but when I felt the tip of the spear touch my back, I felt pain.

This is not a joke or some random theatrical troupe, the spears they were holding were real and the costumes they were wearing looked very high quality to be called as a costume.

"Walk!" This time, he yelled. So I had no choice but to walk to where they were taking me and it turns out to be a wagon that was just a few meters away from where I was formerly standing when I woke up, there are about five other people already riding it at the back.

When I got closer to them, they were wearing rags and they were also tied like me, the only difference is that they were bound with heavy-looking chains, both hands, and feet.

When they all turned to look at me as soon as I got on the back of the wagon, they all gasped in unison from seeing my hair.

The wagon began to move while other soldiers mounted their horses and surrounded our vehicle as if they were guarding us, or more precisely, guarding us so we won't be able to escape.

"Umm. . ." I awkwardly squinted my eyes at them, confused why they are acting like this is their first time to see a woman with pink hair. Pink hTair is popular especially nowadays with the rampant demands of e-girls on the internet, it is like the national hair color for them.

"You are so pretty. . ." A younger girl who was seated across from me, commented as she kept staring at my face and my hair.

"Thank you." I abruptly replied, not in the mood to be conversing with a little girl since I have a far more important thing to figure out.

Where I am, how I got here, and how to get back to my home. The sun is already nearing the center of the sky so it must be almost noon, but it was midnight when Barbara and I infiltrated my father's office to acquire the empress's necklace.

"The necklace," I whispered to myself and quickly tapped my neck to look for it since I recall that I wore it before attempting to leave the office.

I sighed in relief after learning that I was still wearing it, hidden under my white sleeping gown. It was only then that I realized that my outfit sort of resembled what they were wearing, hence they were only looking at my hair since it is the only thing unusual for them, I think.

"You shouldn't lie about your name to the guards, you can be executed on the spot." Another girl who was seated next to the little girl spoke to me, she must have heard my conversation with that Gladius man before.

"Why?" I ask out of curiosity while also scrutinizing her appearance. She was wearing a ragged piece of clothing, her skin was so tanned as if she was working all day under the scorching heat of the sun.

"Because that is how it is in this place, you should stick with the name Alexandria if you do not want your head rolling off the road." She bluntly answered.

"What is this place anyway?" I ask again, shifting my gaze to the side to see the scenery slowly changing, from wheat fields and into a place I have never seen before. The landscape is gorgeous; steep, magnificent mountains, small, playful rivers, and small, hidden ponds are just a sliver of the appeal the place has to offer. There were buildings, establishments, that looked like one of those pictures that Barbara kept shoving to my face before, and what took my attention the most was the large building at the very center of the city. The Colleseum.

"This is Rome." She finally said.