Rome
5 kilometers offshore of Herculaneum
August 24, 0079
In the final moments of her life, before the lack of oxygen blocked everything out, Livia met her husband’s gaze one last time, seeing her own agony reflected back in his tear-filled brown eyes. And then the darkness swamped her.
But not entirely, because there was a glowing silver light approaching her. In the darkness, she saw a raised lantern. So the mythology was real. Mercury had come to guide her to the Realm of the Dead and free her from the sorrows of life.
But it wasn’t exactly what the tales said. He stopped, standing over her small form, and smiled a terrible smile.
“Lady Livia, the Jewel of Herculaneum.” He said.
“M-m-my l-lord?” Livia asked softly, wincing at her stutter. She never stuttered.
“You’ve become a coward. Dying without seeing your people to safety. Crying and making a fool out of yourself in those last minutes. How disgraceful to your family and your people.”
Two tiny souls drifted out from behind Mercury, the souls of her children, and with a cry Livia lunged for them, only to be paralyzed by the god’s power. He smiled again, nudging her with a golden-sandaled foot to push her back. “Nuh uh. You don’t get to have them back. However, I’m willing to give you another chance at life.”
“L-l-let me have m-my… g-give me m-my children!” Livia cried. “I-I’ll do anything if you give me my children.”
The god paused as if to consider it. Then he shook his head. “Even I cannot break the rules of the dead to that extreme. But…” he let the thought trail away for a moment. “But another deity has requested your service. You will be reincarnated with all of your current memories, but not in the same time. It would not do for you to find your little husband again and make more little coward children.”
“I… I j-just want my c-children. A… A m-mother’s f-first d-duty i-is to… to h-her f-f-family. W-w-without m-my children I… I-I’m nothing.”
The god bent down and raised Livia’s chin, forcing her to meet his eyes. Such a thing would have paralyzed a mere mortal; as it was Livia felt as though she might disintegrate from the power contained in the god’s dark silver eyes. He rose, once Livia’s eyes were trained on him, and seized her children’s spirits roughly. They squeaked and made hissing noises, though Livia couldn’t understand them (although she supposed she was dead too.) She tried to lunge for her babies, but the god just laughed and took a step back.
“You foolish child. A mother’s first duty is to her children, yes, but a child’s first duty is to her mother. And your mother is Imperia Roma. You would do well to remember that.” The god let her children’s spirits go and they fled away, further into the darkness behind his lantern. Then he knelt again, faked sorrow and hope in his eyes as he put his hand on Livia’s knee. “Lady Livia Domitia… Forgive me. It is not my intention to be cruel. But I will be if I must.” All the emotion went out of the god’s eyes, replaced by cruel calculation. “You see, the empire needs you, Lady Livia. If you agree to this second chance, you will be the force that will turn the tide of the Divine War. If you agree, Mother Roma will live eternal against the usurpers. If you agree, your whole bloodline will be granted prosperous lives and guaranteed entry to Elysium.”
Livia froze, her mind racing, scrambling for anything to say. “And if I do not agree, or if I fail?”
“Your presence alone will allow the gods enough power to succeed over their usurper. You cannot fail. But if you do not agree, well…” His eyes went hard again. “Your reward will be reversed. Your whole bloodline will suffer in the pits of Tartarus.* And as my lord Pluto has decreed, the Dirae^ will be set firstly upon your children to satiate their never-ending lust for agony.”
Livia couldn’t breathe. All she had to do was agree and even if this new existence was to be torture or some other vile concept incarnate, the empire would live forever. And her family would be eternally blessed. Why was she even still considering it?
“I will… I will accept the premise of the agreement, if it is to be sworn upon your honor as the god Mercury and upon the River Styx.”
The god smiled again. “By the River Styx and my honor as a deity of Rome, I swear that your family will be granted eternal bliss in the afterlife for every generation to come.” Dropping the formal tone, he pressed something into Livia’s hand. “This will help you on your journey.” He snapped his fingers and vanished, along with the souls of Aulus and Aelia.
Livia tucked the small item into her belt purse without looking at it and started to cry, shamefully, at the sheer hopelessness of this situation. Of all her education, she’d learned precious little of how gods operate. Then another voice spoke, seemingly all around her, and startled her out of her tears.
”Volunteer number 0002, Livia Hadriana. Time period: Early Roman Empire, Cataclysm of Vesuvius. Participation confirmed. Calculating location…. Location confirmed. Calculating temporal discrepancy… Temporal discrepancy confirmed. Standby for upload and transport.”And then searing pain as she watched her own limbs start to disintegrate into a stream of bright blue, glowing pixels. With the last thought of her conscious mind she realized that the god hadn’t promised anything about Rome’s future.
But her family was to be safe. Surely that was at least a small victory on her part.
(*=For those unfamiliar with the mythology (the actual mythology, not the Percy Jackson mythology) Tartarus is actually what is referred to (in the PJ books) as the Fields of Punishment.)
(^= a Dira is the Roman equivalent of a Fury. The plural of Dira is Dirae.)
