The dictator and the Senator

[greyerrant]

Darkness falls over Imperial City, as the dictator of Rome quietly looks out over the plateau, crystal sparking in the night. He stands at the railing of his guest quarters, holding a blank scroll in his hands, pacing back and forth. Troubled and disquieted, his once phlegmatic soul has been twisted by uncertainty, darkness and conflict as it has been since his summoning by Nero, not so long ago. He half crumples the roll, then unfurls it, continuing to pace, like a trapped animal.

Comments

[greyerrant]

"Neither. I must simply be careful that in changing, I do not compromise myself or my morals. Mostly... what I need to know, is what the world and humanity needs me to be? For a little while longer, Rome will require something of a tyrant, until it is sorted out. I have taken that mantle. I know I must fight, and at times I must lead, I just... am slowly coming to accept the Emperor as a God, instead of as a figure I knew in flesh. What he will be to me is always different from what he will be to his latter day followers, and I must strive not to resent or be disgusted by them. And I must accept a title that hurts more than any epithet Lucius threw at me. I must accept that I am now an Angel of Death, the Emperor's angel. And for me, knowing my own humble origins, that is the hardest step of all. There was once no mystery and mythology to me, and now I must become a sort of conduit to the divine."

He pauses, and smiles, "Forgive me for so ill-using you, Yukari, I simply needed a sounding board to fully resolve myself, before I take decisive action during the Summer Court."

[border_of_phantasm]

"There is no weakness in wishing aid," Yukari says with a smile. "None can act and work alone. What is important is that you stand by your ideals and decisions, but not to the point of rigid inflexibility. You will probably be fine."