Chapter II: Titus and the Unconscious Pegasus.
A Praetorian Guard made his way through the palace to one of its many banquet rooms. Finding the room was easy with the constant noise of chatter, laughing, and music echoing through the palace as rain and thunder fell outside. Passing the drapes and people leaving and entering, the guard entered the enormous room surrounded by arches and torches. Tables of food and wine lined the walls, surrounding all sorts of smaller tables and chairs. The guard made his way towards the head of the feast, a table that held the only person wearing purple.
“Caesar Titus,” the guard saluted. “Forgive me for interrupting, but two plebeians require your presence at once.”
“Right in the middle of dinner?” the short man exclaimed, standing while still grasping his chalice.
“It’s a matter of great importance to the Empire.”
Titus took a quick gulp from his drink. “How important?”
“Well, excellency,” the guard explained, “I was told that one of them was selling his crops to the other when something large fell into the Forum of Augustus. It left the seller’s cart completely obliterated and his vegetables ruined.”
“I fail to see why this in any way requires my attention. Perhaps a statue was pushed over and fell onto the cart, which sounds like an act of vandalism if you ask me.”
“It wasn’t a statue, Sire,” the guard told him as a slave refilled the Emperor’s glass. “They even brought to the palace the very thing that fell from the sky.”
Titus raised an eyebrow. “What fell from the sky other than rain?” he asked taking another drink.
“This may sound unbelievable, but they’ve wheeled in an unconscious, armored pegasus.”
The wine was spat out onto the floor. “What was that?” Titus questioned. “Did my ears hear you say pegasus?”
The guard nodded. “The two plebeians are at the front entrance, and they’re the ones that helped carry the creature over here.”
The Emperor told his guest that he had to deal with a matter of the state before rising from his seat and following his guard. The two made their way to the front entrance of the palace where they found the two subjects waiting, along with a bundle of canvas on the floor with a pony’s head sticking out.
“Hail Caesar,” both of them said, putting their right fists to their chests and bowing their heads.
“Evening, fellow countrymen,” Titus waved at them. “I’ve heard that a certain pegasus has fallen from the sky. Is this the creature?”
One of them bent down and unraveled the pony and revealed, to the Emperor’s amazement, a white wing with several misplaced feathers jutting from the pony’s side. Titus bent down and felt that not only was the wing real but that it was firmly attached. Up close, the short man could also see the craftsmanship that went into the soaked armor. Although it was similar to Roman-style armor, there was a touch of skill in the engraved grooves that not even his most skilled metalsmiths could recreate. To top it all off, he noticed that the armor was made out of real, thin pieces of gold.
“Fetch my adviser,” he told the guard. The Praetorian gave up a quick salute before rushing off. The Emperor turned back to the two men. “Now I can clearly see why this has been brought to my attention. I must thank you for bringing this creature to the palace despite the weather.”
“If it wouldn’t be too much,” one of them spoke up, “might it be possible to have my cart replaced? I was using it to sell my crops before the creature turned it into kindling.”
“I suppose it’s only fair.” Titus rubbed his chin. “What are your names anyway?”
“Laurentius, sire,” the seller told him.
“My friends call me Otho,” the other said.
Titus nodded. “I’ll make sure that on behalf of the people of Rome, you will receive a new cart to replace your destroyed one, along with… oh, forty-five Denarius for your ruined crops.” He turned to Otho. “And what about you?”
“I ask for nothing. We had just settled on a bargain when the pegasus crashed, so I helped him move it here.”
Though the Emperor offered to give him some kind of reward, he declined. After dismissing them both and giving Laurentinus a bag of promised money, his attention returned to the still breathing pegasus. It was curious. Never in the history of the world had a mythical creature crashed into the forum during a storm.
“You’ve summoned me, Caesar?”
The man’s attention turned to his adviser. “I did, Zenous. Come here and tell me what you think of this.”
The slim man in a pure white toga obeyed. Overlooking Titus’s shoulder, his eyes widened. “Is that--”
“A real pegasus? Indeed it is. This is perhaps the most incredible thing that I’ve ever seen!”
“Agreed.” His adviser knelt down to examine the creature up close. “Where did he come from?”
“A couple of plebeians brought it here when it fell from the heavens. Apparently, it crashed into a vegetable cart in Augustus’s forum before being knocked out.”
“What do you think it means? Is this a gift from the Gods?”
“It does seem like it. Although, even I must admit that there’s something strange about the whole ordeal.”
“Like its entrance?”
Titus nodded. “If any of the Gods present a gift to us, they wouldn’t do it so sloppily. Why would it land in one of Rome’s forums and not here in the palace or any of the temples?”
They both of froze when they heard a groan coming from the pony. A blue eye peeked open. “Wha… where,” it managed before it passed out once more, leaving the two men stunned.
“Zenous,” the Emperor said, “you heard the creature speak as well, didn’t you?”
“I was going to ask you the same thing.” His adviser turned to him. “But that’s impossible; no animal possesses the power of speech.”
“What if…” Titus trailed off as he started to pace in a small circle with a fist under his chin. “What if this is not the same pegasus that was written in the poems? Could it be that there’s a reason for him to wear battle armor?”
While the Emperor thought, his adviser looked over the pony’s body and spotted something on its hind legs underneath the gilded armor. Carefully lifting one of the plates off, he jumped. “Titus! Look!”
Now, both eyes were glued at what the creature’s armor was covering. On its flank, a lightning bolt was encircled by two olive branches. From the thunder outside, the two men tried to piece it all together.
“My Lord Titus,” Zenous spoke first, “do you suppose that this, right here, is…”
“Jupiter,” the Emperor whispered. “By the gods, only a fool wouldn’t come to the same conclusion. Yes, I think I see now.” Titus turned to the window where rain continued to shower down, lightning flashing in the sky. “There’s a battle going on right now and Lord Jupiter, for whatever reason, has turned himself into this form to fight against something. He must have been knocked right out of the sky and down to our city.”
“Knocked down?” this adviser turned to the pony’s mark. “What could have been strong enough to fling the very king of the Gods to Earth?”
“It could be a number of things, but unfortunately, it looks like the only one who knows for sure is him,” he gestured over to the Pegasus. “But since we’ve identified him, we should have him cleaned and rested. After all, the people of Rome should be notified, and we should have him recover in his own temple.”
His adviser agreed, and the Emperor called forth his slaves to instruct them on the tasks that they had ahead of them.
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The plot thickens. The dialogue between the characters feels a little too colloqial and I feel like the characters are lacking description.
Well, this butterflies ANY domination of Christianity over the other Pagan religions. I'd say that after the event of this story, we'd see:
-Powerful Pagan Lithuania (Joined by marriage to possibly Finland, Hungary, or the Polanians)
-Poland very stronk! No clean toilet!
-Stronger Armenian, Nestorian churches in Asia.
-Longer-lasting Monophysites in the Levant.
-Easier integration and 'Romanization' of Germans into the Empire (No Arianism means simple joining of Pantheons)
-No Islam (This is a huge, unfathomable point of divergence in and of itself). Powerful Jewish (specifically a Hagarite movement. Hey, An Equestrian Pegasus is here in Rome! Anything is possible now!) state based out of Yemen and Oman, with hegemony over Hedjaz, Egypt and Mecca, anyone?
-HOWEVER, there will likely be an Arabian unification at some point, presumably kicking Rhomania out of Syria and Egypt. New/newly radicalized religion is not mandatory, but the conditions of this story's Late Antiquity will still be ripe for that. (Without Islam and its hardline stance towards "Rum", the Rhomaioi could still initiate a reconquest of that area aided by control over the Cilician Gates and Antioch)
-Goodbye United States of 'Murica. And the colonial age. Still might see a Scramble for Africa.
-Vikings still rampage. No English language as we know it will exist, though.
Any others? Feel free to tell me. Or if I'm totally wrong, correct me.
6491949 You're such a nerd, I love it!
I love it!
I'm almost literally squirming in excitement as I read this. Almost. I have a feeling that thee will not disappoint!
Well that happens. He's now the God-King of the Roman Empire as the embodiment of Jupiter, Lord of the Gods.
Hahaha. this is gonna be good.
Cue massive panic attack in four, three, two, one...
8590664
Same!
What is his height compared to humans?
9746787
Probably around 3 to 4 feet.