Chapter 56: Can you do it? 48 BCE

The sky had turned dark, and the stars had shown themselves once again. A group of men and women were sitting in front of a campfire, awkwardly staring at the crackling fire in front of them.

There are two men and two women. The women didn’t talk, they just kept staring at the two men in front of them. The younger one, Arsinone, kept nudging her older sister, Cleopatra, as if telling her to say something, as the silence became unbearable.

But to their surprise, the men spoke first, the one who looked Greek. “You are the queen, why are you sitting with us? '' said the man in the Egyptian language, surprising Cleopatra.

“You know Egyptian?” questioned Cleopatra, also in Egyptian.

“A Ptolemaic member that knew Egyptian? That’s new.” snorted the other man, whose name is Druig.

“I studied it.” said Cleopatra. “If I want to know my people, I need to speak their language.”

“A commendable effort.” hummed the Greek. “The people must love you, huh?”

“I hope so,” said Cleopatra while smiling, looking at the crackling fire. “All my life, I just wanted to see my kingdom prosper, but the threat from the north made us choose a difficult path.”

“Difficult path?” questioned Druig.

“Bribery,” said Cleopatra. “My father spent almost all of our treasury to bribe Roman statesmen, so they won’t invade us.”

“You’re telling us a kingdom’s secret?” questioned Druig, suspicious. “Are you daft?”

“If I want to get an ally, I should learn to trust people,” said Cleopatra. “Even if it means exposing myself.”

“So you want us to become your allies?” questioned the Greek. “To take back your throne?”

“Truthfully, yes.” nodded Cleopatra.

“What makes you think we’ll be good allies?” questioned Druig. He seemed interested in the prospect.

“Your strange ability to mind control people alone would be a great asset.” pointed Cleopatra, looking at Druig. “And with your strength, you’ll be a good warrior.” pointing at the Greek.

Druig chuckled. “Well, let me tell you, this guy alone could decimate an entire kingdom, he did it once…” he said as he patted the Greek’s back.

The Greek raised an eyebrow at Druig, looking at him with a questioning gaze.

“What? It’s harmless.” countered Druig.

“Really?” said Cleopatra curiously. “I haven’t asked your name… what’s your name, Greek?”

“Do you want the fake one or the real one?” questioned the Greek.

“Does that matter?”

The Greek sighed. “Yes, actually. I go by Phobos, Aidoneus, Hades, and Pluto.”

“Pluto?” frowned Cleopatra. “Are you Roman or are you Greek?”

“Neither?”

“I don’t quite understand what you mean.” questioned Cleopatra. His name is Roman, but he said he’s not from Rome?

“It is true.” shrugged Druig. “We are neither.”

“You, I understand… your name does not sound Roman or Greek, but Pluto? That is definitely Roman.”

“Believe what you like.” hummed Pluto.

Cleopatra’s gaze was locked on Pluto, suspicious of him. “How old are you?”

“How old are you?” countered Pluto.

“21” answered Cleopatra.

Pluto was surprised that she answered so quickly. He then looked at Druig. “Hey Druig, how old are we?”

Druig shrugged. “I don’t know…4952 years old?”

Pluto hummed and pointed at Druig. “What he said.”

“Don’t joke with me.” Cleopatra growled. “As a queen I ask you a  question.”

“We spoke the truth,” said Pluto casually, ignoring her glare. “It’s up to you whether to believe it or not.”

Cleopatra frowned. “Say that you spoke the truth… How come you’re still alive until now?”

“It’s complicated.” said Druig. “Simple answer is… we have powers.”

“That’s not helping.”

“Even if we tell you, you wouldn’t understand.”

“Try me.”

Druig cleared his throat. “Because we stopped ageing when cosmic energy filled our bodies.”

Cleopatra was confused. “What is cosmic energy?”

“See, I told you you wouldn’t understand.”

“Then make me understand…”

Pluto sighed. “You want to know what cosmic energy is?”

Cleopatra nodded.

Pluto then grabbed his bident, and pointed it in the direction of a mountain far away from them.

“This is cosmic energy.” As he said that, a golden beam shot through the air from his bident, and hit the mountain, making a rather big hole in the side of it.

Cleopatra was obviously scared by the sight. That weapon, it could destroy an entire army within seconds.

“Understand now?” questioned Pluto again.

“Y-Yeah… I understand…”

Pluto sat down again, making the atmosphere quite tense, as the guards were now looking at Pluto with caution and fear.

It was quiet again, an awkward silence. Only the howling wind and the crackling fire could be heard. Arsinone was scared shitless.

“I- I’m going to go to bed…” she said as she left the campfire.

Cleopatra then was snapped out of her fear, and became curious instead.

“What does it feel to live forever?” questioned Cleopatra. “I remember a poem by an unknown poet in Athens… he said that a true punishment wasn’t death, but to never know its sweet kiss.”

Pluto chuckled. “He must’ve been a genius.”

“I quite like the poem,” said Cleopatra. “It tells a different point of view towards death, like us Egyptians. We view death as the next step in life. Shame he’s only written one poem throughout his life.”

“You don’t even know his name,” said Pluto.

“I don’t have to know his name to appreciate it. He might not even be a he, he might be a she, though Athenians then aren't that known for the rights of their women. But then again, it might just be because of that that the poet never writes anything again.”

Druig suddenly chuckled at the conversation.

“What?” Demanded Cleopatra.

“The poet’s a ‘he’. I can assure you.” answered Druig.

“Druig…”

“You know his name?” questioned Cleopatra curiously.

“He doesn’t know anything.” said Pluto quickly, shutting up Druig. “Anyway, you should sleep now.”

“I’d rather not,” said Cleopatra. “It’s not everyday you get to speak with two immortals.”

“Oh? You believe us now?” questioned Druig.

“I don’t know yet. We’ll have to talk more.” shrugged Cleopatra.

Pluto sighed. “What is there to talk about?”

“I have a lot more questions.” Cleopatra said. “If you’re really immortal, are you present in the Trojan war?”

The campfire was suddenly silent.

“So you are?” asked Cleopatra again, seemingly happy with herself that she hit a jackpot. “Is that real? That the god of the underworld itself burned the city of Troy to rescue his beloved daughter.”

“Why are you so curious about it?” questioned Pluto.

“Honestly, I’m a bit envious of Helen.” shrugged Cleopatra. “If only I had a father that loved me that much…”

“Ah yes, daddy issues, classic.” Druig sneered.

Cleopatra rolled her eyes. “It’s just a childhood envy, I do not feel that way anymore. So, mind telling me the truth of the story if you’re really immortal?”

“The culprit is sitting in front of you.” Druig said bluntly, making Pluto slap himself.

“Shut your mouth Druig.” threaten Pluto, but Druig just chuckled as if it was a joke.

Meanwhile, Cleopatra was confused. “Meaning?”

“Are you really smart?” asked Druig. “Have you heard his name? Hades? The Unseen One?”

“W-Wait what?” stammered Cleopatra. “Y-You two are g-gods?”

“You believe in gods?” questioned Druig. “You don’t seem like the type.”

“W-Well, it was a mandatory lesson back in the palace… but I do not think it exists… because father said that they are just tools to control the masses…”

“We are not gods.” hummed Pluto. “We just helped humanity flourish.”

“So you really burn Troy to the ground?” questioned Cleopatra, curious at his answer. “For your daughter?”

“So what if I did?” said Pluto.

“That’s… Does Helen really exist?”

“She does.” hummed Pluto. “But she died a long time ago…”

“This is… I still can’t believe this…” murmured Cleopatra, speechless at what she just heard.

“Believe all you want, little girl.” said Druig. “But the truth is we exist, we live among you, hidden in plain sight.”

Cleopatra was silent. “Then why? Why did you let us fight against one another?”

Pluto and Druig sighed simultaneously. This is going to be a long explanation…

—

As morning came, Pluto and Druig were about to leave the tent. Cleopatra was in front of them, saying goodbye to them.

“It seems that I failed to bring you as my allies huh?” questioned Cleopatra softly.

“We told you last night. We can’t interfere with human conflicts.” said Druig solemnly.

“Well, at least I tried.” nodded Cleopatra. She then bowed. “It’s a pleasure to meet immortals like thee.”

Pluto just smiled softly. “We had a good talk last night.”

“I enjoyed it as well.” nodded Druig. “It’s been a while since I bonded with a human, I hope you succeed in what you do now.”

“Thank you.” smiled Cleopatra.

Pluto then stared at Cleopatra’s face for a while, and said. “Can you do it?”

“P-Pardon?”

“Take the throne, and be a good queen,” said Pluto. “Can you really do it?”

Cleopatra nodded. “I do not know what I will face, but I am confident in myself.”

Pluto just hummed, and continued. “Say… you want to make a deal?”