Ace awoke early in the morning as the sun rose because the sounds of the streets began at the same time as well. He needed to use the bathroom and quietly walked out of the room, down the stone steps. A woman saw him and almost jumped in surprise. "Where is the bathroom," he asked. She looked at him in confusion, and Ace sighed, remembering that no one could understand a word he said. So he wandered the house, trying to find the bathroom himself.
He opened random doors in the house, made of cheaply cut wood, or simply peered through open doorways. The woman, one of Menes' servants, followed him from afar, afraid he would use his magic to steal something or kill them all. Ace opened a door, and it was simply dry storage for food. He took the fruit and put it in his pocket, ignoring the woman's protests. He opened another door, and this one was just an empty bedroom.
The last wooden door he opened led to Ibis' room. She was naked and wiping down her body. She let out a loud shriek and Ace quickly closed the door. The woman then began to smack Ace, shouting more incoherent words, and Ace tried to get her to stop. She wouldn't and Ace blinked to the other side of the room, and the screaming began once more.
Menes ran into the room, and he and the woman exchanged words. Menes walked right over to Ace and punched him square in the jaw. "Get out," he shrieked. "Get out of my house!"
"It was an accident," Ace shouted. Menes understood the word accident, but he did not believe him. He punched Ace again, and this time, Ace was angry.
His eyes turned black and he glared at Menes, now terrified of Ace and what he would do to his daughter. "Do not take her from me," he pleaded. "Don't hurt her."
Ace walked off, ignoring Menes' words, and continued to search the house until he finally found what he assumed was a bathroom. It was separated from the rest of the house, in a small little shack. It had a stone chair with a hole that went into the ground, a vase filled with water, and cloth rags.
Ace's heart sunk when he had found out that there was no electricity, bare-bones plumbing, and worst of all, no air conditioning. He tried to rinse his hands but felt gross that there was no soap around and prayed he didn't catch anything weird roaming their house.
He went around their home, trying to understand where he was. He found an open area, and in it was a sundial, a plaque with picture-words he could not understand, and a well. People walked about and he followed them to the back of the home, where they seemed to be weaving baskets and making various items to sell at the market. He wandered back into the house and tried to find a way to apologize, but when he returned, two men with spears were there to greet him.
"Take your magic man from my house," Menes yelled.
Ace was terrified. He had no idea where he could go, he accidentally insulted the only people kind enough to help him, and soon he was going to die. Before he could blink away, one of the guards whacked him on the head with the wooden end of his spear, knocking him out. They dragged Ace away, Menes was finally relieved to be done with him.
Ace was now treated like a criminal because technically he was a criminal. They learned of his ability from Menes and drugged him so he was confused as to where he was. He awoke in another strange room, but this one was more beautiful than anything he had seen in his life. Columns were inside the room, with beautiful carvings on them. The bed was soft, and had many pillows, with a canopy roof, and thin linens that draped the sides of it, giving privacy on the bed. It was a huge improvement from Menes's home, but Ace still didn't know where he was, or who would next try to steal things from him or hit him.
It was still slightly humid inside this room, but it wasn't as hot as before. A slight breeze came in from the window, which was simply a square hole cut into the wall. The floors were made of stone, but these were painted, with ornate drawings of winged men and strange beasts. Ace ate the fruit he put in his pocket earlier and wandered around, trying to understand where he had been taken now. He exited the large room and was greeted by a giant staircase, a giant hall with more ornate columns, and many people going about their business.
Some of them turned to stare at him, but they paid him no mind as Ace stood at the top of the stairwell. He saw two hallways, adjacent to where he was standing, and took the one on his right. It led to a room with a large ornate door with a picture painted on it of a man with the head of a bird, and large wings. Ace mumbled something to himself about these people really like birds and opened the door.
It was another naked person, but this time it was a man. A small area was cut into the ground and filled with water, and little ornate tiles of bright red, blue, and white decorated the ground. A woman was bathing the man, and he looked annoyed once someone opened the door, but perked up once he recognized Ace.
"I am so sorry," Ace yelled. He turned to leave, but the man asked him to stay.
"I have been waiting for you to wake up all day," he smiled. "I am so sorry for the rude treatment you were given. I told them I wanted you unharmed."
"You brought me here," Ace asked. The man nodded and Ace was very uncomfortable. A rich man, naked in his own personal pool, being bathed by a woman was requesting him, and his mind could only think it was for a singular and sexual purpose.
"Wait. You can understand me," Ace exclaimed.
"Yes I can, but your manner of speech is quite strange," the man replied. "You seem to be speaking Latin but adding some strange other languages in between." He got out of the bath, and Ace turned away, as he had little shame, and strangely was erect. The woman promptly dried his body and Ace left the room, back to where he was before, embarrassed that now the only person he could speak with was a strange man who possibly bought him.
Trying to avoid another instance of being whacked on the head because he walked in on someone bathing, he returned to the room from before. Ace sat on the bed and closed the drapes, hoping that the man would not return. He did since it was his room, and Ace was too overwhelmed to think clearly. Ace let out a shriek when the man opened one of the drapes and he laughed. "You are the strangest looking Roman I've come upon in my life," he laughed.
Ace looked at him, inspecting him and trying to understand who he was and what he did to garner such importance. Unlike most of the people he had met so far, this man was fair-skinned, with shoulder-length brown hair and brown eyes. He was clean-shaven, wearing only a necklace made of red beads, and a fine linen kilt that went to his knees. He had kohl on his eyes, used as a type of eyeliner, and Ace was confused why this man was dressed as if he were ready to go to a costume party.
"Stop staring," the man sneered. "It's unbecoming." Ace looked away and apologized.
"It's fine," the man smiled. "You are of course, only nervous in the presence of a god." Loud laughter came from Invictus, and Ace wondered if he was about to be stuck with more crazy people as before he arrived, except this time there was no television, no internet, and worst of all, no air conditioning.
The man then took his time, staring at Ace, taking all of him in, curious as to where he was from. "Your hair is so bright," he mumbled. "Your skin is so fair. You are quite possibly the cleanest man I have met in my life."
Ace did not feel very clean, as he had not bathed in a day, and became more self-conscious as the man himself just bathed and strangely smelled of perfume. The man got on the bed next to him, and Ace's eyes went wide, worrying that he had no choice but to stay here, with this man, and do things.
Instead of anything horrible, the man grabbed Ace's purple hoodie and caressed it. Ace turned red, and the man had a strange look on his face as he rubbed the material. "You must be a prince," he whispered. "From a strange land. How else could you afford such rare colors and soft material?"
"I am…," Ace lied. "I am lost and cannot find my way home."
"What is your name and title," the man asked.
Ace did not want to give his real name and hesitated. He decided to give it to him anyway, worried that more lies would only catch up with him.
"I am uh...Acheus. Acheus of Ionadis," he mumbled. "I am the only son of the King… Tyreceus…." The man nodded, and looked grim, now worried that another kingdom would think that he had taken one of their princes hostage.
"I am Titus Cassius," the man replied. "I am a representative of the gods here among the mortals, one of their children."
Ace had heard this claim many times before. That people like him were the children of the gods, that was where they gained their powers from. So Ace smiled, thinking he had found another person like him, an astral, in this strange land.
"So am I," Ace said. "What can you do?" Titus did not expect that reply and turned tomato red.
"You go first," he commanded.
Now comfortable and thinking that he would not be assaulted again, Ace and Titus got off the bed and Ace grinned, waving his hands around, making a big show. Here he was seen as powerful and almighty, while back at home, his ability was seen as dull and common. Titus watched as Ace blipped around the room, grinning and making jokes, easily acting as if this were a normal thing.
When he was done showing off, Titus' heart was beating fast and he was clapping, overjoyed with what he had seen. He held Ace's hands and looked him in the eyes, face flushed and excited. "You will stay here," he declared. "I will give you everything. You will be my consort."
Ace did not know what that word meant and simply nodded, knowing that this was the best it was ever going to get until he found his watch and could return home. Ace looked into Titus' eyes and felt strange.
"Have we met before," Ace asked.
Titus said no.
"I would remember someone such as yourself," Titus exclaimed. "You are amazing!"
"Thank you," Ace mumbled. He pried his hands loose from Titus who was now overly friendly and touchy.
"You must tell me how you made such fine clothes," he said in awe.
"I can't tell you, because I don't know how they made it," Ace replied. "Sorry."
"It is no matter," Titus decided. "I will give you your own quarters, your own servant, and best of all, I will send word to the kingdom of your safety." Ace now knew that he was caught in another lie. He decided it was best to lie again, and came up with a name of a place that did not exist.
"I come from the Kingdom of...Hawaii."
Hawaii was not yet a kingdom, but Ace hoped that Titus' ignorance would make it work, and Ace himself had no idea it was once a kingdom thanks to his own ignorance.
Titus went off and got the first servant he could find. He told them to send a letter to Tyreceus of Hawaii, and that everything was fine, and his son would soon return. This servant was sent on a fool's errand, and would never find this kingdom that had yet to exist.
He would later be punished for refusal to complete a task.
Titus spent the next several days showing Ace around the city of Alexandria. Ace was amazed how a place could be so beautiful, but was still upset that there was no electricity. He visited their grand library and was impressed that there could be a place that rivaled the Academy's library. Titus took him to the port, and Ace grinned, seeing boats, and many fish, most of them extinct in the time he had come from.
At this point, Ace realized that he was still on Earth, just simply a time from very long ago. He had no idea what year it was, but he did not care. Ace was worried about how long he had been gone. After a week he had been there, Ace had become quite depressed. He was stuck in this strange land without his friends, and the only person he could speak to Titus, who was always so excited to see him, he didn't feel like it was truly a real conversation.
Every day Titus Cassius slowly pushed down Ace's many walls, attempting to get him to sleep with him. Ace was finally understanding what a consort was and now mentally prepared himself daily for when Titus would finally make his move. Over the past week, Titus did not, for he was simply distracted by Ace's many tales of electricity, air conditioning, and airplanes.
Ace had switched over to the clothes that everyone else wore because even though his own clothes were more comfortable, it was too hot to keep wearing them. It was very hard for him to get used to not wearing boxers, and he only had one pair that he couldn't wear every day. Titus noticed his sour mood and attempted to cheer him up.
