Mythologica - Verg's Diploma Work

[Spinach]

For a long time, I've been thinking that I should make Nero a woman, just to make an in-joke/shout-out to Extra. Should I?

YES

[Erlkonig]

This is an academic work right?

You shouldn't go that Genderbend-happy, if it's such an important work IMO

[Verg Avesta]

I wouldn't say it's that strict. The academies here in Finland are bit different. Essentially I was told to "write a book", and then left with free hands. They appreciate the "artistic license" much in the academy, so, I don't think there'll be actual problems with genderbending. I mean, this is a book that has people punching the Tiber-River dry.

[hero]

If she is a woman you have to add her to harem.

POLITICAL ARGUMENT

COUNTER ARGUMENT

KISS

MAD SEX

[Optimus]

NERO. Genderbent. yes.

Whoa. Well, perhaps you could make it so the Christians are debating wether they should accept Charlemagne's help in the Reconquista, thus becoming part of his empire, or going "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" and try to fend off Charles, and then proceed to battle once again (certain regions of Spain during a certain phase of the Reconquista became pretty much a crossroads between Jewish, Christian, and Islamic culture, and it was highly wanked by historians so it makes more sense than it seems).

[Verg Avesta]

Hey, who wants translations?

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The shadows of the colossal temples dotted the rooftop. I lunged from the sunlight into the darkness and back again, running across the magnificent palace roof. I circled around the courtyard that happened upon me almost like an ambush. Had I not been looking out, I would have experienced a long fall and a nasty landing. However, my instincts were on the edge, so reaching the other end of the rooftop of the palace was not hard.

Unfortunately, a silver-glinted figure appeared in my vision, one that stood before myself and the freedom.

She stood about ten meters from me, on top of a small dome rising from the roof. Her eyes were locked at me, below her. How had I not noticed her?

Seeing the shining silver armor, I felt a lump fall into my stomach. Nasty feeling told me about the fact that all my expectations that I had made about my environment were torn apart like a meat in the mouth of a predator. I knew very well that the graceful, almost fragile-looking medieval armor I saw should not have existed during the times of ancient Rome.

Before me was a knight straight out of the legends of Britain.

Beautiful and kind face, glowing blue eyes and silk-like blonde hair. The beauty of this knight confused even me. Women were not knights. So how come a very beautiful woman now stood before me, dressed in an armor and carrying an ornate-looking longsword in her right hand?

A strange smiled wavered on the knight’s lips. She looked at me like an old friend she was about to kill.

”I must say. You are quite strangely dressed, young man. Personally, I would like to know more about you, but alas…it seems that I will never get a chance to learn your story”, the knight spoke with a deceptively sing-song voice. “I am here, simply following my king’s orders. And they are very clear in one thing.”

I felt my spine freeze due to the power of those carefree-sounding words. For some reason I felt fear, an approaching threat. Bile rose to my throat since somewhere deep inside me I knew that I really wasn’t before a normal human being. Or was that woman a human at all?

“Interesting. It seems that you can grasp the situation without me even saying anything. You’ve got quite honed…no, should I say, “honest”, instincts? Well, whatever. As you might have guessed, that one thing I mentioned is…” The knight raised her blade. “You must die.”

The sword-strike that followed was like a falling petal.

Even when I saw the approaching death I could not help but to marvel at the sword’s, and its wielder’s, beauty. Maybe the gold-haired woman had some sort of mystical aura that made the thoughts of men go completely haywire. Or maybe I just, on my last moment, transformed into completely idiot. Like a cat finding a can full of nepeta cataria.

But…
The petal that tried to pierce me---
Was overpowered by the brilliance of the sun.

The swords struck together and, for a moment, the sparks shone in competition with the air. Stupefied, I fell to the ground, capable of only staring at this spectacle. I had been granted another chance. My momentary meeting with death had only been an illusion. I had been saved by a most unexpected guardian angel.

Armor and a golden breastplate that melted into the dusk around us. Clothing in the color of red and pure gold. Fur-lined cloak that carried as proudly that same red color, the color of the nobility, and golden-leafed laurel wreath symbol. A colossal sword presented that same color-scheme, shaped like a spatha, yet far too long and big to be one of them. But none of that was what captivated my eyes.

No. Like during our previous meeting, what captivated my heart was the face of that centurio.

Chivalrous features, so valiant and at the same time so beautiful. She was like a goddess of war that had descended on to earth to save me. And only after she did save me did I realize that absurd fact that this centurio too was a woman, just like the knight that threatened my life.

”Octavia? Fancy meeting you here, my lady. A pleasant surprise for a pleasant day”, the knight spoke with a smile.

“Mihi ignosceris si, Bedivere, comitatem tuae non reddo. Quoniam facio. Ista luxuria nam tempus liberum postponatur”, my savior, named Octavia, answered.

The knight, Bedivere, giggled.

”And since when did you enjoy free time, dear?”

The enormous spatha was swung, forcing Bedivere to retreat. With one step, Octavia reached her opponent and struck again. She was like a bullet in a middle of a tornado. And to that tornado answered a shining longsword, along with Bedivere’s wild grin.

The swords clashed together, and that noise echoed on the rooftop. In some absurd way Bedivere managed to deflect the much bigger sword with her own, stopping Octavia’s charge like that. Centurio was not about to get closer.

So, Octavia was left with only one choice. She swung her sword wildly and slashed, to my surprise, the empty air.

For a moment I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me as the sun’s reflection started to dance on the blade of the sword, but as a shining arc, one that could not be called nothing but light, was released from the tip, I had to admit it was reality. I was seeing something supernatural. That vision resembled flames, but it was far too clean and bright to be something so barbaric.

The arc of light hit Bedivere straight in the chest and caused her to wince in pain, retreating under the overpowering force of Octavia’s attack. The burn-marks on the knight’s face told me of the power of that supernatural light.

But it turned out that the sword of Bedivere was just as otherworldly. With only one strike she created a curtain of flower petals in which she hid into, giving her more space to retreat. Even though the swords of the duo were different in size, Bedivere still needed more space to use hers, as she stubbornly used only her right hand. But she used it with speed that made the slashes of the swords blur into one wave-like motion in my eyes.

What should have I said in this situation? Witnessing a battle between a knight and a centurio? Witnessing a miracle that should have been impossible?

Thus, I stayed silent. As I watched the battle, how the two of them struck their swords together again and again, I finally understood one very simple truth. My words had no place in this fight. I should just thank my luck when I got to witness this deadly dance of the two, under the setting sun of Rome.

The swords clashed together again and again. Every strike that Octavia struck could have been mortal one. She was not going to do even the smallest of mistakes. But peerless was also Bedivere, who answered calmly to those raging slashes. But her way of fighting was also vastly different.

It was clear as a day that a longsword should have been used mostly on slashes. Thrusts with a sword such as that were just arrogance, stupid theatrics that would get the user dead very quickly in a real battle. And still Bedivere used just those thrust-attacks. If she was really going to attack in such a way, Octavia would finish her in an instant.

”Ha-!, ha-!, ha-!, haa-!”

What?

Instead of the knight, the centurio retreated. Thrusts, ones that felt before like they were on the edge of Bedivere’s speed, became faster and faster. It was a sight straight out of a nightmare. That speed left no room for any mistakes and forced Octavia on the defensive with no mercy.

This was an absurd affirmation for my earlier thoughts. Someone who could strike so fast with her sword that there was not even space to blink your eyes between the strikes…someone like that could not be human.

Ten thrusts melted into thirty and I lost the count. The speed of that knight was just too much. Earlier I called Octavia a goddess of war. Now I had to rethink my metaphor. No, on this battlefield, the goddess was Bedivere. The goddess of sword-rain.

Two thrusts were about to pass through Octavia’s defense, and silently grunting she spun her sword around, blocking the approaching threat. But a move like that would put a strain on anyone’s wrists and reveal a dangerous hole in the defense.

And indeed, that block was a deadly mistake. Octavia’s right side was completely exposed. Seeing that hole, Bedivere lunged forward, intending to finish the battle with one, final strike.

”You’ve been beaten.”

A petal whistled through the air, without mercy.

Yet…

Before the sword-strike skewered Octavia, Bedivere grimaced like she had felt pain and retreated in haste, never finishing her strike. As there was ten meters between the two, the smile on Bedivere’s face crumbled for the first time, and she frowned at her opponent.

”That breastplate of yours…just many blessings is it loaded with? Is that your Regalia? At first I expected it to be that sword but…looks like I might have been mistaken”, she asked with a deceptively calm voice. “Not bad, Octavia. Not bad at all.”

It was clear that under her calm exterior, Bedivere’s anger had sparked.

The longsword exploded into movement, clearly intending to finish the battle. Bedivere, however, had made a mistake. Octavia had had enough time to collect herself. Determined look in the hawk-like eyes of the centurio told that this second act would not end like the first one.

And again the air was filled with the symphony of the swords, the tempo being so fast that I could not even follow it. All I felt was the shockwaves that shook the air as the swords met, nearly throwing me backwards with the force of each strike.

It was as if Octavia had grown stronger from the moment that her breastplate had been identified. She attacked with more power, she was faster and more deadlier, advancing closer and closer to Bedivere with her every strike being as fast as a bullet. Desperately the knight tried to stop the advance of Octavia, but for naught. Soon the two were face to face, and their weapons turned into flashes of steels around them.

It was like the battle was a void that attracted all eyes in itself.

Once more the swords struck sparks, before the sounds of battle died out and the duo took distance to each other. The retreat confirmed my suspicions. Even though Octavia was as fast as the wind, she looked next to Bediver almost helplessly slow. The latter was not as strong, but she made it up with her incredible speed.

”Oh dear…it looks like our time is up. While I would love to fight some more with you, getting caught up by that man you call “father” is not what I consider a good time”, Bedivere said and nodded to Octavia. “I hope you don’t mind I will be taking my leave?”

"Fugis, Bedivere? Si tergum tui vertis, ego te promittam uti Regalia mei”, Octavia nearly spat out those words.

Those words had nearly electrifying effect in the air. The murderous intent that flooded from Octavia was enough to even affect the space around her. The whole world felt like it was freezing and losing all color. My ears were filled with the sound of my heart beating. The centurio’s eyes were like those of a beast, staring straight at Bedivere.

”A pleasant offer, but…”

Once again petals filled the air, but now the result was different. Bedivere retreated and used the confusion in her advantage. She leapt a huge distance to the rooftop of the nearby house. From there, she gave one last respectful gaze to Octavia, nodded her head and disappeared to the streets below. Silence filled the spot that she had left in our surroundings. The wind slowly caressed my cheeks, slowly returning the reality that I thought I had lost when Octavia’s killing intent overflowed like a sea.

Speaking of Octavia…

On the the rooftop of the palace there was no more anyone else but that woman who was like the sun, and I, still unable to completely understand what exactly had passed.

I snapped out of my dream-like thoughts and realized Octavia was standing before me. Even though I had just previously done everything to escape from her, now I could do nothing but stared back at her, stupefied. And she gazed down upon my fallen form with similar confusion. It was like she had never seen a person like me. Like she probably never had. For a moment, the two of us stared at each other.

And finally, Octavia spoke.

"Aliengenus...te debeo."

[Sherrinford]

Is this the beginning? The prologue?

[Verg Avesta]

That's from the first chapter. After landing in Rome (Leo literally falls from the sky), he is chased by Octavia's squad and then this scene happens, after he mimics a little Assassin's Creed.

[Optimus]

Wow. Sugoi, sugoi.

[Sherrinford]

Ah, I see.

Well, I'm almost tempted to try a translation for this Latin... >: )

[Erlkonig]

Awesome Verg, awesome

[Five_X]

Reposting from what I wrote in a VM to Sherrin, since it's fairly pertinent and interesting:

"Aliengenus" is kind of a weird one, since it means, literally and from its root words, "Foreign name." In fact, the word "alienus" does not imply "stranger" so much as "guy I very well may be killing in a second or two" and is actually a pretty harsh term. "Extraneus" is a more generic word for "foreigner."

[ItsaRandomUsername]

Soooo-weet.

[hero]

I'm afraid that if I had the whole text in my hands, I would finish it in just a day.

[Hyarion]

For a long time, I've been thinking that I should make Nero a woman, just to make an in-joke/shout-out to Extra. Should I?

I would avoid it, myself -- not because of anything wrong with Red Saber, but more that it's probably a good idea to stay away from focusing on already established characters or concepts.

Believe me, I've seen otherwise original fiction that went so far with shoutouts it felt like fanfiction to me. You've got a lot of good stuff going on already, but yeah, just a note.

[Verg Avesta]

Oh yeah, FYI. Bedivere in that translated bit is a duuuuuude. Leo just doesn't realize it. Most beautiful of all Arthur's knights alright.

[MssrNeko]

Why is it that I'm always so slow to find threads like this? This is a fantastic project you've got, Verg. To tell you the truth, I would like to see Polynesia get in on the action. But the only hero I know of is Maui, but I guess he makes up for it for being as strong, imo, as Herakles. Dood, lassoed and beat up the sun because it was going too fast.

I hope that you pass with flying colors, Verg. But knowing you, you will pass.

[Verg Avesta]

To be honest, I'm not that worried about the diploma work part. The real deal comes when the thing is finally ready to challenge publishers. Still, I must admit that if my energy and excitement to this story keeps up as it has for so long, it won't be hard to finish.

[Verg Avesta]

Updated the first post with few more profiles.

As for what else is going on, currently mulling over what legendary monster to use. Since a hero should really defeat one if he wants to call himself a hero.

[Spinach]

Legendary monsters... Looking for anything specific?

Also, I absolutely love Little Red Riding Hood from what you've got for her. She sounds so cool. Especially Courtraud.