'It feels really hot...' Levon gets his eyes up a bit towards the burning sun. '...Is this how the sun really looks like!? I can barely look at it... Though my eyes can protect themselves from harmful rays. it's undescribable, the feeling it gives me...
And this is the sky...blue!' Graham recalls how Babel's sky looks like, dim, grey, cloudy and depressing.
'It's the total opposite, so clear and...refreshing, I could look at it the whole day...'
Levon's reflection lasted about a minute, before he switched his attention to those walking around him.
'...and for these, surely they're normal humans. But... So many things are catching my attention! They're indulging in weird activities...' Levon couldn't express or describe the scene very well.
"a lot of people are talking at once, some are louder than others... I must get near to see if I can understand what they're saying." After doing so, Levon gets surprised that he can understand it perfectly, as if he knows their language! "This isn't Babylonian at all! Yet, it translates in my mind as such...
Could this possibly mean that humans of old spoke in different forms!?
I shouldn't come to a conclusion like this so fast, I have yet to be sure whether this in fact a real setting from human history and not just a simulation... However, this ties heavily to what I've been told by King Axel and Robert!
They're talking about selling and buying things, for something in return that I don't quite get... they're calling it "Aureus"! must be something valuable to all of them..."
Suddenly, Levon hears someone yelling: "Attention, General Minerva is passing by!!"
He turns back to see a quite formidable sight, a half-naked half armored muscular female with a long thick sword placed between her voluptuous breasts is making her way between the people, who're bending their necks down in either fear or respect!
'...Who could this be!? And, why is she wearing differently than the rest!?
I mean...that's quite similar to what I've come to get used to in Babel when I think about it...
More importantly, they all got silenced from her presence only!! Could it be that she is their queen?"
She finally speaks, in an authoritative tone "Who is here called Maximus Nero?"
No one answers at first, she scans the crowd with her sharp eyes to see any suspicious reaction... but didn't notice any. She then looked behind, to the men accompanying her.
They understood the signal immediately, the silence breaks apart... "Aah...STOP!! Get your hands away from me!!
I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING...wrong!" She resists in agony.
The men drag her in front of Minerva then throw her to the ground in a humiliating manner. Levon is watching the scene develop with full open eyes, but can't make of it anything yet.
"Show yourself Maximus, we know that this is your...WIFE!" She says as if she revealed a dangerous secret!
The reaction of the crowd even solidified that, the chatter between the men and women begun to escalate and eyebrows were raised in disgust!
'...Wait, why are they're reacting like that!?' Levon weirdly questions himself.
Minerva takes the sword out of its sheath, in quite an erotic manner, then puts it right on the captured woman's neck. "You better surrender yourself, or you will witness your woman being tortured, raped, and torn apart by all of us here!" She says, with an evil smirk on her rather pretty face.
The crowd showed interest to that too, from the way in which many of them mumbled in agreement.
Only then, the man stepped to the middle of the scene!
A young, tall, and strong man. His blue eyes didn't show much fear or submissiveness like the rest, but rather resilience and worry... Calmly, he removes the clothing covering the lower part of his face.
Once again, the audience reacts differently to this shocking reveal!
Minerva. "Augustus Titulus, or so we thought... You are sentenced to death by the supreme Roman court. Your plans have been discovered, you must thank your wife for that!"
She then raises her voice higher so everybody can hear her well. "This man who called himself Augustus Titulus, fooled you into believing he is one of you, he is but a slave's son! He plotted to murder the emperor and make all of you abolish the law of polyamory!!"
...
"...Unbelievable!"
"It can't be..."
"...So his name is not Augustus!!"
"The son of a slave!"
"...The law of polyamory!!"
"Why?!"
...
All of these questions surfaced between the people!
Out of nowhere, a young kid runs from the midst of the crowd towards Maximus and hugs him, while he remains standing tall silently, with the same look in his eyes.
"Is this true Master!!?
Are they going to kill you Master Maximus!?" he sadly asks.
The dead man finally decides to speak. "... General Minerva! You and your 5 men will not be able to capture me... And it will probably end up in you being killed. I'll escape with my plan, and who knows what I can still do...
So, I will strike a deal with you, if you let her free to go and live in peace, I'll peacefully hand myself over to you. For sure, my death is worth much more than hers to the Roman empire."
Minerva wipes her smirk off and looks at him in repulsion, then she uses her sword and cuts the rope in which his wife was tied. The latter runs quickly towards Maximus and hugs him with all her power.
"Sssshhhh... It's alright Maria! We were prepared for this possibility...
I planted some seeds already, they'll grow sooner or later..." He tells her as he runs his hand on the little kid's head.
"This will be my last time cultivating..." he gets the two out of his way and takes few steps towards the center of all attention.
"MY PEOPLE!!
What crime did I make to have my life taken away? "He asks loudly.
"You will of course say I am an outlaw, or maybe even a slave's son, or that I'm against the law you got accustomed and grew to practice just like your grandfathers.
Have you ever considered loving someone truly? Instead of being human animals, lusting for sex for whomever comes in front of you!!
Have you not seen the effect it has on your lives? You have literally died from it, inside and out. Most of you don't even know their children!!
Yes, I am not just the quiet goldsmith that everyone can entrust his children with. I am against the law, and against everyone that support it.
This isn't what a human says or tells me to do... This transcends your human limited vision..
My law... MY LAW IS THAT OF G...."
"ENOUGH OF YOUR CRAP!!!!" Yells Minerva!
She cuts him off before reaching the climax of his speech.
She approaches quickly with her men to capture him. Maximus shows no resilience, they tie his hand and this time she puts the sword on his neck instead.
"And what of it?! No one cares what you think of the law... " She starts her own speech.
"As long as it's coming from the emperor himself, the son of God! Besides, let us see how many agree with you...
You!" she points her finger towards a random woman in the crowd. "Do you want the polyamory law to be abolished?" she asks.
"No!" quickly she answers!
"What about you!" Minerva asks again.
"Neither do I! I love it." He says!
And so she asked about 5 others, all with the same response.
"HAHAHAHAHAAHHA! You see! Only you stupid fool reject such pleasure and comfort, for this despicable concept that is marriage.
You'll be now taken to the emperor's castle! There you'll be crucified like the slave that you are." She concludes.
Levon has been following the events with all his supernatural senses, it was incredible to him. These exchanges, ideas, and titles are all new to him!
Suddenly, the imagery got frozen!! And the watch displays the final question of this 2nd sub-challenge!
· Choose the correct choice:
· 1- Maximus deserves his capital punishment
· 2- Maximus' assessment is personal (subjective)
· 3- Maximus' assessment is wholistic (objective)