Death is NEVER an Option

Disclaimer: I do not own TCF/LCF. I am also NOT an expert regarding Ancient Roman beliefs, practices, language and traditions. Any inconsistencies here are for tailoring into the story. I'm just a mere scavenger, picking up bits and pieces to include in my AU like a scrapbook 🤣

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Morituri te salutant.

‘We, who are about to die, salute you.’

Words that were uttered to the emperor before every gladiatorial fight in the Mogoru Empire, a final desperate plea popularized by gladiators since time immemorial in an attempt to stop the violence.

However, the original meaning of these words went unheard, and it later turned into a declaration. An oath to lay your life in front of the current emperor, all for the sake of entertainment.

Ever since he ascended the throne, Emperor Adin relished the despair in those voices as they cried, shouted, cursed and whispered these words. He would just chuckle and wave his hand, and then the arena would be again bathed with crimson, until the sands and the water ran thick with the blood of the victims.

Adin always looked forward to hearing the familiar words that would signal a massacre.

Until one day, he didn’t.

Until this skinny, black-haired slave with fire in his deadpan eyes said something totally different. Spoke in the old, forgotten tongue of the Empire, voice flowing over the syllables so naturally.

“Morituri nolumus mori.” 

Then translated it into the common tongue, just to mock the emperor and the ignorant masses:

“We, who are about to die, don’t want to.”

Shocked silence. Adin scoffed, chuckled, then roared with laughter at the audacity.

Yet, he still sat back. Yet, his hand still sliced the air, the signal for the start of carnage. He sat back on his gold and velvet throne, watching the impending slaughter over the rim of his crystal goblet. The bittersweet aroma of dead mana wafted from his drink as he sipped it.

‘A pity that he's already in the arena. If he survives, maybe I can keep him around to translate the more obscure ancient texts. After I beat out that stubbornness in his eyes, that is. I have to make him obedient and dependent on me, not taking any step without my order.’

‘But if he dies today… well, too bad.’

Artificial waters roared in the middle of the arena, mimicking the seas that would one day be conquered by Mogoru. Trained soldiers and knights filled each of the Empire’s ships, all veterans in the art of war. They were instructed to put on a good show before crushing the slaves. Their promotions and their lives were riding on this. If they did not keep their emperor entertained, their corpses would not even be worthy to be monster feed.

Yet this black-haired slave—whom the other slaves and gladiators made into a commander—began to annihilate the opposing fleet with all the ease of a tsunami washing away a sandcastle.

Against all odds, the slaves were winning.

Adin straightened from his seat. Something was not right. Screams of the soldiers and knights rang into the stunned air. People who should have died or should have been loyal to the Empire were appearing, surrounding the black-haired Commander in a defensive ring.

The former holy maiden Hannah, who was demoted into a lowly guard. The former Saint turned healer, Jack, shone beside her with a radiant light.

The three strongest gladiators of the arena came to stand around him, one of which should have died weeks ago. (‘So how did Lee Soo Hyuk get there?’)

The surprise did not end there. Wheels appeared on the underside of the largest ship. The fortified ship easily rammed through the arena wall, likely engineered by the half-Rat, half-dwarf and the flame dwarf captives that disappeared yesterday. They burst out of the arena and into the city, followed by Adin’s screams of fury and the concussive force of explosions around them.

(Adin should have noticed from the start, should have noticed when only that bastard spoke up during the salutations. He should have KNOWN.)

(And yet, he could only do damage control as a young knight rose up and condemned him for his crimes. A bloody rebellion was formed, one that Adin could not suppress.)

(It would only take three days for the capital to fall after that, and the Empire to undergo a reformation in a month.)

***

At the center of the deck stood the now red-haired commander, overlooking the whole operation with a pleased glint in his eyes.

‘Not bad for a rush job.’

He was still clutching a piece of cloth to his chest. The ragged cloth that Crown Prince Alberu Crossman of Roan Kingdom dropped near him a few weeks ago. Alberu, whose lips wrinkled in the tiniest of frowns while watching the senseless bloodbath. Alberu, whose eyes widened in the smallest of fractions when he recognized the disguised Cale.

[Hey. If you manage to arrive inside Roan’s borders safely, I will grant you and any of your companions political asylum. And if you manage to destroy a palace or two inside the Empire, we’ll talk about your rewards.]

That crazy prince. ‘You better prepare your treasury.’

The corners of his mouth lifted in a wide smile, the chatter of an invisible dragon and the meows of two Cats filling his ears.

‘Let’s go home.’

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Posting this separately so I won't chicken out and abandon this AU. The whole fic will be a separate series.

This is supposedly just another oneshot. But like all my other AUs, I got lost in lore and world building. Next thing I know, I'm deep inside the makings of another AU 😅

Many things here might be confusing, so I'll give a quick rundown since I don't know when I'll be able to work on this:

Mogoru Empire is more aggressive in taking chunks of territory from other countries (think Roman Empire, TCF/LCF version). Korea here is somewhat nearer, but still mostly unreachable. Stuff happened and OG!Cale, disguised as KRS, becomes a slave in the arena, intent on destroying Mogoru from the inside. 

The multi-chapter fic might take a longer time to be published. My schedule has not been kind to me lately. Count this fic as a prologue of sorts. Or an epilogue. (The real epilogue will mostly be in Cale's viewpoint so some details may differ, but the flow of events will be more or less the same.)

Thank you for reading.

~Meowl