Subject: [FFML] [Fanfic][Evangelion] The Fate of Hearts - Chapter 5
From: "Joshua 'Gargoyle' Trujillo" <gargoyle@glasscity.net>
Date: 12/6/2000, 1:44 PM
To: ffml@fanfic.com

Greetings all...



Ech...When I screw up, I do so big time...I looked over Chapter 4 after it
went out and 'bout got sick...



It had SO many errors and logical phalacies (this IS a Roman fic, after
all) that I just had to fix it...The story itself has NOT changed, it just
reads better and those of you that want to read it can do so at either of
my sites after this afternoon because it's what I'm going to do with my
time today...



Meantime, I checked and double-checked Chapter 5 before the damn thing goes
out...So this SHOULD be better...



*sigh*...Hate it when I do that...



Disclaimer:

Evangelion doesn't belong to me or anyone else on this list. Live with it.

I've borrowed the characters with situations to make a grand story of love

and betrayal and men in skirts...Er...Togas...Live with it.



C&C, as always, is wanted and welcomed;

gargoyle@glasscity.net

gargoyle9@hotmail.com

or

gargoyle4@hotmail.com

Flames will be sacrificed in the name of Caesar!



Many thanks to me prereaders...Adrian Forest and Dave Menard and David Anez
(sorry about the tilde)...Thanks! ^_^



So...Sit back and enjoy!

Salud!



***



It was still drizzling. Little tears from the Gods. Caeles felt like he

should cry, but he couldn't. He looked out across the fields and

hills at the mass of bodies. Romans. Barbarians. Men. Boys. One

was heaped on top of another in an unending sea of death. Caeles

wanted to cry. He wished that he could somehow be sick, to purge

the feeling from within him. It didn't come though. A small sigh

escaped in the coldness of the salty air. He watched it dissipate out

to the sea and began to pick his way back toward Fragosus.



***



The Fate of Hearts

By

Joshua Trujillo



***



Part VIII - Offerings on the River of Blood and Hate



***



"Commander," a legionnaire said from his right, "Are you alright?

We have everything well in hand here, sir."



Caeles looked at the man, a dozen years older than him.



"But-" Caeles began.



His left eye began to hurt and Caeles reached up to hold it. His

hand came away covered in thick, dark blood. His own.



"You're injured, Commander," the older man said.



"Arm..." Caeles looked down at his left arm.



It didn't look much different from the rest of him. Covered in blood

and bits of earth and people and mud. He knew that he'd been

gashed on his arm too, though.



"I'll get back to the city," Caeles said barely above the drizzle, "Try

to gather everyone up and regroup. We don't know how much

more of a force is out there and we're in no condition now."



"Yessir!"



The man turned and hurried off. Since when did Caeles start giving

orders? And since when had the troops actually begun to follow

them? Since this morning, that's when. The mud sucked noisily at

Caeles's boots as he slogged through the terrain towards the distant

city. Many of the horses had been killed in the battle and the

remainder were being used to get the severely wounded back to the

city before they died. Caeles looked around for his own mount

among the dead, but didn't see him. Caeles smirked slightly.

Knowing that beast, he was back enjoying a good rub down and

bucket of oats.



Many troops were lost. Too many. Caeles rounded a tree and found

Mistura, being propped up by Vivo. Caeles smiled. He had

wondered where his new teacher had gone. Caeles stumbled to

them. He winced as he passed a horse that wasn't quite dead; it's

breath rising in a shallow column above it, a monument against the

cold gray sky.



"Caeles!" Vivo smiled, "I'm glad you made it. The General's

heavy..."



Caeles got under one arm and helped prop her to a more vertical

position.



"She's been hurt, but I don't know what to do," Vivo muttered, "I'm

no healer!"



"We've got to get her back to the city," Caeles said as he tried to

look into her face, "If you could, get a horse so we can get her back

to the city. I'll stay with her and walk her back as much as I can,

but I'm hurt too."



Vivo nodded sharply and looked right and left quickly.



"Vivo!" Caeles barked wearily, "Calm down. The fight is over.

Take a breath and go get some help, okay?"



Vivo breathed out and nodded, a new determination set in his eyes.



"Caeles," he began, "I...Thanks for not getting killed."



Vivo turned and began to run up the nearby hill. He slipped in the

icy mud at the apex and slid down the other side, cursing all the

way. Mistura stirred and lifted her head to Caeles. She smiled a

weary smile as a thin line of blood appeared on her lips. Caeles

helped her turn towards the city and the two warriors began to

stumble home.



"A good first fight, huh?" she croaked, "I'm sorry for this Caeles. It

was my pride that got us into the fight..."



"Don't talk."



"We vastly underesti-estimated," she tried to say, "-the enemy."



"C'mon Mistura, shut up already," Caeles muttered, "We'll get you

back to Fragosus and Certus can fix you up."



"I'm sorry..." she whispered.



"Isn't your fault, General," he said, "There were mistakes we all

made..."



***



"We spotted'm about an hour ago, General," the sentry remarked,

"They just look like they're standing there."



Mistura looked out across the makeshift battlement along

Fragosus' east wall. There was a small group of barbarians up the

beach, just far enough along to make sure that they could run

away. The storm that she and Caeles had spotted at dawn was now

almost on top of them and it looked like it would be a bad one, too.

There were simply too many for a scout party, or even a small

retinue of advance troops. There were also small fires into the

distance in the same direction, which meant that there were more

barbarians that could reinforce this group. Which meant a stand-up

fight. Mistura smiled.



"Commander?" she turned to a grizzled man, who saluted smartly.



"Sir!"



"Get your troops together to march before the storm hits," she said

smoothly, "I don't want to be caught out in the muck fighting

someone who's used to it."



"Yessir!"



Caeles wondered what the trouble was. He looked out across the

wall at the little men in the distance, jumping up and down. They

seemed rather silly to him, but Mistura had said that they might

have arrows, so armor was necessary up on the battlement. Caeles

didn't want to argue the point of the armor not being able to stop an

arrow, so he just followed the order. The grizzled commander

turned and hurried down the battlement, calling the battle orders

out to his messengers, who would run it to the rest of the troops.

Mistura smiled and began to climb down.



If it was a stand-up fight they wanted, she thought to herself, Then

it would be a stand-up fight they'd get.



"General!" the sentry shouted, "There's something happening out

there!"



Mistura climbed up the ladder again and looked to where the

sentry indicated. The barbarians had lit torches as the darkness of

the storm began to close in around them. There was a man they had

pushed out to the front of the group. By the Gods, he was dressed

as a legionnaire! One of the larger barbarians raised his crude

sword and brought it down, cleaving the legionnaire almost in two.



How dare they...How DARE they! Mistura fumed.



Caeles felt his breakfast coming back to him and quickly hurried

down the ladder.



"Saddle up as many as we can, NOW!" she shouted into the

barricade below, "They want a damned fight, we're gonna go

give'm one!"



Mistura almost flew down the ladder as Vivo came out of the

hotel. He had heard the shouting and had donned his armor.

Mistura flashed both he and Caeles a smile and shouted more

orders to the troops.



"It's time?!" Vivo asked excitedly.



"You and Caeles get saddled up," she said, not looking back,

"You'll ride in my group."



Caeles looked to the men on the battlements and below in the

barricade. Everyone was scrambling around and shouted at one

another. He figured there'd be a fight sometime and had learned

how to get into the uncomfortable armor fairly quickly. He didn't

want to fight, but he'd make sure he was protected if there was one.

He adjusted the armor around him and sighed at the weight of the

sword at his hip. Vivo grabbed his left arm and dragged him

towards the stables, where horses were being saddled with amazing

speed and effectiveness. The horses kicked and brayed against

having to be out with the incoming storm. Caeles had similar

reservations, but he supposed the enemy wouldn't wait.



"You take that one," Vivo shouted as he swung into his own

mount, "He seems to like you anyway."



Caeles turned and looked up at the monster of a horse that looked

back at him. The horse snuffled once and nudged Caeles in the

chest, knocking him down. Oh yeah, he remembered. Caeles

picked himself up and swung easily into the saddle. The horse

looked back at him questioningly.



"Well?" Caeles said, "The battle's THAT way."



The horse whinnied once and trotted out to the line of legionnaires

that had gathered, all on horseback. Caeles looked over the group

and frowned.



"General," he shouted to the front.



Mistura rode out in front on her black charger, it's nostrils puffing

in excitement.



"Today, we fight for Rome," she shouted at the group, "Kill every

one of them."



An icy wash of fear and uncertainty settled Caeles back into his

seat as a cheer rose around him. He looked to his right and was

almost disappointed that Vivo was another who broke out in cheer

at that.



"General!" a voice barked from the barricade, "Not all the troops

are ready yet!"



"Commander, have them follow as they can," she shouted at him,

drawing her sword, "We ride into battle!"



Another cheer rose as the barricade was opened and Mistura threw

her steed into a full run. The others followed and it was all he

could do to keep his own steed from galloping away from him. The

barricade flowed quickly behind him as the rain began to fall.

Caeles pulled sharply around the dunes at the coast and came up to

Mistura's horse, Vivo close behind.



"General," he said bouncing along, "We have to wait for the

troops! We don't have enough to take them by ourselves!"



Mistura barreled ahead, as the rain began to pelt harder. Caeles

figured that she hadn't heard him and looked over to Vivo, whose

horse had fallen off a little bit. Caeles looked between Vivo and

Mistura as he tried to keep between the two. A flash of lightening

cranked the rain up to new levels as it pounded on the small leather

cap. Caeles threw off the cap and rode a little faster as they came

upon the fallen Roman. He figured that, if they had something to

hit him over the head with, then the cap wasn't going to protect

him better than his hair.



Mistura almost flew off her horse as she came to a stop,

dismounted and knelt to the Roman. She heard mutterings in the

distance as Caeles rode up and dismounted. The barbarians were

close by, but still keeping enough distance to run further. Vivo

rode up and the rest of the column was close behind.



"Damn them all!" Mistura yelled as she scrambled back to her

horse.



Caeles looked down at the man. He wasn't Roman. He was

barbarian who wore stolen armor. The armor had been worn over

the furs and hides of their kind. And they'd still killed him. They'd

sacrificed their own man to...



***



Mistura coughed again. She stopped and shoved Caeles off lightly.

She bent over and put her hands on her knees as she coughed. She

shuddered and looked sideways to Caeles. He said nothing, but got

back under her arm.



"That's when they attacked, wasn't it?" she asked softly.



"Yeah."



***



Caeles clambered back up on his horse and turned it back to

Fragosus. He stopped as he saw what Mistura had seen. The troops

from the city had followed her out along the beach. Along one

continuous front. Spread out. An easy kill.



"By the Gods!" he whispered.



Vivo looked to Caeles and Mistura, who nodded sharply to each

other and spurred their mounts back to the city.



"But what about him?" he shouted as he began to follow.



Caeles and Mistura pulled up short as another flash of lightening

illuminated the hills surrounding the beachfront. At the crest of

each stood a number of barbarians, each shouting in their demonic

tongue, each weapon raised high. At some given signal, they yelled

something else and charged down the hill. Mistura swore and

whipped her sword from her scabbard as she charged into the

group.



Caeles looked at the mass of people as the barbarians began to

clash with the troops on the beach. There had to be something, he

looked around quickly but couldn't see what he was looking for.

There was always a key to every battle...If he could find it...Vivo

whipped past Caeles and into the fray. The horse bucked and

kicked the head of a barbarian who got too close. Caeles clung

desperately in the saddle as the brute bucked at a couple more

adversaries. Blood fountained over the horses' head and onto

Caeles. He stared for a second at the crimson that had splashed on

him, but only until the ground harshly met him when he let go of

the saddle.



He landed roughly on his back, but had taken another barbarian off

his feet in the process. Caeles tried to get up, but ducked as the

horse kicked. There was a wet, muffled crunch as another man

flew off into the rising surf. Caeles rolled to one side and pulled his

sword free. He put it up in time to ram it squarely into the gut of an

attacker. He fell back and let go of the sword, still awash with

blood.



Caeles thought the pounding sound was his own blood in his ears,

but soon recognized the drumbeats he'd heard an hour ago, while

on the battlement. Another barbarian charged up to deliver a blow.

Caeles rolled to his side as the crude ax came down; he raised his

foot hard into the barbarian's nether regions and scrambled up.

This man wanted to kill him! They ALL wanted-There was another

grunt behind him as the horse split another barbarian skull in half.

Caeles turned to the horse.



"Go!" he shouted, "Get out of here! Go!"



Caeles reached down and picked up the crude ax. The barbarian

he'd kicked was staggering to his feet. They WANTED to KILL

him! Caeles felt the anger rise to his face. These men were no

different than his FATHER!



Caeles let his anger surface.



They were like FATHER!



Again.



All they wanted was to USE him or KILL him!



Again.



They wanted to hurt the ones he loved...



Caeles dropped the ax. The barbarian wasn't going to get up again.

Tears came easily, but he had no time to think about what he'd just

done as the attack grew as great as the storm around him. Another

barbarian tackled Caeles into the rushing surf. He pulled himself to

one knee and side stepped the man, who rushed at him again. The

man flopped in the surf and Caeles ducked under the swing of

another. He rushed back up the beach to the first man, who still

had Caeles' bloody sword jutting from his gut.



He grabbed at the sword, but couldn't find purchase on the slick

pommel. The younger attacker pulled him off and threw Caeles

back into the sand. Caeles reached up and brought all his anger to a

punch on the younger man's jaw. He stood for half a second with a

questioning look before he crumbled forward. Caeles shook his

head and jumped over the man to the sword again. He pulled and it

easily came free this time. Caeles wondered for an instant why it

was easier this time. Maybe less than an instant as the other

attacker yelled something in his tongue and charged.



Caeles let his training take over as the barbarian swung

his...Whatever it was...Club? Bludgeon? Caeles ducked under the

swing and thrust the point into the side of the man, ripping a hole

to his back, letting the man's momentum open him up. Caeles

fought down the bitter taste in his mouth and walked over to the

young man who had staggered back to his feet. Caeles stopped.



The rains had come full force now, washing the boy free of the

mud and blood that caked over his body by some religious

sacrifice of his people. The boy looked weary and scared. Caeles

nodded up the coast, away from the battle. The boy looked that

way and began to run. He looked over his shoulder into the

distance, expecting Caeles to kill him from behind, but it never

came. Caeles smiled. Caeles turned back to the battle and was

lifted into the air by a blow he never saw.



Pain washed through his arm as he landed on something sharp.

Caeles winced and coughed from the pain as he tried to crawl to

his sword, which had been thrown up against a nearby hill by the

blow. He looked back to his attacker. A hulk of a man, more like

the orations of Homer than a real man. The beast raised his

massive sword and brought it down hard. Caeles rolled again and

gasped as he felt the earth shake under him from the blow. Caeles

reached out and kicked the hand of the monster, which made him

drop the sword, but did little other damage.



The beast grunted and bent to pick up the sword. Caeles scrambled

up to the hill and recovered his own sword in time to bring it

around in a block that actually worked. The monster stopped in

amazement that Caeles actually blocked him. He smiled a yellow

and black, toothy smile and nodded slightly.



Caeles then had an idea. The monster swung his sword again and

buried it again in the soft earth near Caeles' head. Caeles leaned

forward and sliced carefully at the man's hands, hoping to get

lucky. Caeles dodged and cut, but the man still lunged in great

strides. The man swung his sword with one hand, but when Caeles

moved in for another stab, the man lifted him up the hill with a

great punch. Caeles doubled over in pain and he could hear the

beast laughing a hearty laugh as he tromped up the hill after

Caeles.



Caeles rolled to his back and was met with the man's huge sword

in his face. The man used it to raise Caeles' pained face for a look,

the flat of the sword under his chin.



That's it!



Caeles lunged off the incline of the hill onto the man's arms as he

grabbed at the huge sword. The sword came free as they tumbled

down the hill and Caeles brought it behind him as he shoved the

point into the man. The momentum of both of them rolling down

the hill had the desired effect of shoving the huge sword deep into

his gut. Caeles spit out dirt at the bottom of the hill and pulled

himself to his feet. He collected his nearby sword and looked back

up the hill. He climbed up the hill and silently hoped it would be

enough.



The winds bit as Caeles reached the top of the hill. Some of the

rain now turned to snow as the muck below became wetter and

wetter. There came to Caeles another sound. As he turned around,

a young barbarian came to the apex. They stared at each other, this

one no older than Caeles and probably a good bit younger. Like

Caeles, it looked like this was this young man's first battle, and like

Caeles, he carried a Roman sword, no doubt stolen like the armor

that some of the barbarians wore. Caeles and the boy stared at each

other.



The boy then gurgled as a fount of blood gushed from his mouth.

He looked down at his chest, horrified to see two feet of wooden

spear extended from it. The boy gurgled once more and fell to his

knees and then backward down the hill.



"Caeles!"



Caeles looked down the hill. It was Vivo and a small group of

men.



"Get up here!" Caeles shouted back, "I've got a plan!"



***



"That was the moving phalanx," Mistura said.



"Yeah," Caeles responded, "It seemed like the only way to keep

from losing more people than we already had."



***



"Okay Commander," Vivo shouted back sarcastically, "You've got

us in a damned circle. What now?"



Caeles looked below them and smiled.



"Just watch."



Caeles had gathered as many men up on the hilltop as he could. On

the way, they grabbed spears, the barbarian long swords, clubs or

whatever else could keep troops at range. Caeles then told the men

to form a circle with the hilltop being the middle and face

outwards. It would then be a simple matter to just kill everything

not in the circle. Watch out for comrades, of course, but most of

the targets would be worth killing. Vivo watched as the barbarians

would rush up the hill, but couldn't break the line. Occasionally,

one would leap over the line, which is where a few legionnaires,

including Caeles and Vivo would be waiting to take them out.



"Well Commander, we've got a defensible position," Vivo said,

"Now what?"



"Quit calling me Commander for starters..." Caeles sighed.



He drew several circles in the sandy soil on the hilltop, placing

concentric lines facing outwards, like the face of a sundial. There

was a little point in the center of each circle.



"Vivo, this is what's next," Caeles said as another legionnaire

looked on, "We form these positions on ALL the hills. Then, once

we've got things set, we march slowly down the hills. When we

meet at the bottom of the hills, they're close enough together so

that we should be able to crush the enemy without much problem."



"That's one helluva plan, Commander," the legionnaire behind

them said, "I'll get it to the troops!"



And with that, he jumped over a line and disappeared. Caeles

looked after him, but couldn't see him.



"That is a good plan," Vivo muttered, "One that *I* could have

thought of, but good. Okay, I'll take some troops and we'll take that

hill over there."



Vivo pointed to a nearby hill where some legionnaires had already

followed suit and formed a position. Caeles nodded.



"You just give the signal," Vivo said as he drew his sword and

went back into the fray.



Caeles wished that he could watch all the formations as the

legionnaires used their vastly superior fighting ability and force of

will to take the hills. He had to be satisfied with runners that

occasionally entered the circle. Sometimes a younger barbarian

would leap through the line and it was up to Caeles to run him

through and pitch him back out into the battle. Caeles silently

hoped that one of these cretins would be their leader so that they'd

be demoralized enough not to attack. That didn't seem to be the

case though. More and more barbarians pushed at the walls of the

position and had to be either beaten back or run through.



The time seemed to drag into forever. Caeles didn't want to think

about it. Just to keep the line from collapsing and the formation

straight so that, when the time came, they could simply march

outwards. The lines would thin, but if they marched slowly

enough, if wouldn't matter. He hoped that the others had figured

this out too; otherwise it would be a long day.



"Commander!" a runner called from behind him.



"I'm NOT a Commander!" Caeles yelled as he stuck a barbarian in

the throat.



"Very well Commander," the runner said, "I'm here to tell you that

General Kalendis says to get a move on because everyone's ready,

sir!"



Caeles stepped back from the wall and looked around as he could

to the other hills. Sure enough, as far as he could see, the other

hills were covered with the red of Rome. Then it came to Caeles.

He had no way to signal everyone.



"Move!" he yelled to the next hill, "Now!"



It seemed silly to him to yell like that, but it seemed to work. The

troops moved forward. Sometimes just a sword length, perhaps

even just a hair, but always forward. Caeles spent his time running

all over the hill trying to keep up with the leaks in the wall. He

yelled at men to slow down, but the legionnaires were excited and

had a difficult time keeping still. Caeles sighed. He'd be dead after

this.



Figuratively, of course.



As the legionnaires squeezed the enemy down the hills and into

each other, panic ensued and, just as Caeles thought, the enemy

turned in short order and the ambush that caught them up against

the sea turned into an all out rout. Caeles hacked at another

barbarian who had an ax. His foot caught on something in the

muck at the bottom of the hill and Caeles went down. Pain flashed

quickly on his face and Caeles lashed out blindly with his sword.

When his vision cleared, the barbarian's throat lay open. Caeles

stood as best he could. He felt nauseous.



It worked. The plan worked. They were able to squeeze the enemy

army until they fled. His father would be proud as all those years

of study were put to good use. Caeles chuckled humorously. It was

ironic that the training he received from Vivo was the one thing

that actually saved him.



Caeles looked around him. The blood mixed with the earth in little

rivulets that flowed on the waning storm out to the endless sea.



They had won.



***



"How is she?"



Caeles looked into the warm amber light of the hotel.



"Resting. She took a gash on her side," Certus said, "We have a lot

of wounded like that."



She looked haggard. But then, most of the troops looked that way.

Except for Vivo. He seemed to have endless energy. Caeles

smiled, he was a good man though.



"Then they were doing it on purpose?" he asked.



"Looks like it," Certus sighed and pushed an errant lock of hair out

of her eyes, "By the way, she wants to see you. But, make it quick,

okay? She needs her rest."



***



Lagena pulled her furs up around her. The air coming off the

mountains was wonderfully fresh, but it was also damnedably cold.

She had just come on to the watch, taken her first post at the guard

tower and was looking out over the lands beyond the gates when a

set of horses whinnied from below. Four of them at the main gates.



Lagena watched the legionnaire check the papers that the man had

and the man and his entourage proceeded inside. Who in the world

would be coming in at this hour? Not to mention have the

credentials to make it inside the gates...



Lagena made her way to the front gates.



"Ma'am," the legionnaire said as he saluted.



"Who was that that just came through?" she asked, "It's a bit late

for visitors."



He dropped his salute, but kept his stance at attention. Lagena

smirked. She'd trained these boys well.



"Ma'am, the letter the man carried was from the emperor himself.

Emperor Vespasian," he said nervously, "The man was Effero

Soter."



"And you remember what the letter said?"



"Yes ma'am," he continued, "It said that Proconsul Soter was to

take sole control of Urba Tertius and that he would relieve

Governor Neocorus of command of the province."



Lagena cursed softly and tried to think.



"Not good, is it ma'am?"



"Not good for any of us," she replied, "But all we can do is wait."



"Yes, ma'am."



Lagena looked out into the night and silently hoped that Mistura

would hurry back.



***



Joshua "Gargoyle" Trujillo

"Stone Cold Protector of the Righteous"

"Owner of The Anime Bar & Grille - Mm, mm good!"



Come visit The Anime Bar & Grille!

Now with two locations!

http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Towers/1509

and

http://www.fortunecity.com/victorian/museum/1275







-- 

               .---Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List---.

               | Administrators - ffml-admins@fanfic.com |

               | Unsubscribing - ffml-request@fanfic.com |

               |     Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject    |

               `---http://www.fanfic.com/FFML-FAQ.txt ---'