Kol Mikaelson – Journey To The Multiverse - Chapter 20

=PART-1

Etruscans were the ancient people of Etruria, Italy, between the Tiber and Arno rivers, and west and south of the Apennines. Their urban civilization reached its height in the 6th century BC. Many features of Etruscan culture were adopted by the Romans, their successors to power in the peninsula.

It all began when the Romans overthrew their Etruscan conquerors in 509 BC. Centered north of Rome, the Etruscans had ruled over the Romans for hundreds of years. Once free, the Romans established a republic, a government in which citizens elected representatives to rule on their behalf.

And so, since Rome had not had the first Emperor yet. It had not yet become the Roman Empire. It was ruled by the Senate, so it was still the Roman Republic.

The time travel spell consumed an enormous amount of magic power. So much that Kol was certain that he would be drained out if he continuously cast this spell around ten times or so. Of course, he would still recover after absorbing enough cosmic energy, but he did not know how many times he would have to cast this spell before finally getting the hang it.

So, Kol decided that it would be best if he first did some more research on the temporal magic before making another attempt at it. He decided to dedicate these two hundred years on this troublesome subject so that he could be certain that it would work next time when he needed to return home after defeating Malivore.

This particular time spell was like a hot potato. Kol would prefer to put it in the water as quickly as he could and free his hand, rather than keep holding it and trying to gain an immunity to high temperature.

When Kol had made this decision, he decided to gain a proper foothold in the Roman empire. After all, it was certain that Malivore would arrive here, and this way, Kol could give it a big surprise.

=PART-2

Now a month had passed since Kol had been living in the city of Sinue, and he had settled down nicely. Life was peaceful, but he decided that it would be best if he now departed for Rome. After all, he did not come here for a peaceful life.

The villa was enough for everyone to live, but it was slightly congested, so after living together for a week, Kol decided that it would be best for Ennius, Laeta, and everyone who originally lived here to move out. They could shift to the villa that Laurus originally owned. Other than Ennius’s villa, that one was the only one big enough.

Now the only people who lived in Kol’s villa were general Sage, sixty vampire soldiers, the humans of various professions that traveled with them, some more staff that was hired here, and the slaves.

Kol had brought a hundred vampire soldiers with himself, but forty of them were living around the villa at different positions, mixed among the locals. They would not only guard the villa against any possible threats from the outside but also gather much-needed intelligence. They were also given another task to spread his name among the public. Now since he had decided to settle down, then he would rather do things properly.

On the other hand, the slaves that were living in the villa were either transferred over from the pirate sh.i.p.s, or they were originally Laurus’ slaves. After Laurus had died, Kol decided to take in his slaves, rather than letting them die.

When Ennius and his family shifted to Laurus’ villa, Kol summoned all the slaves, including the ones from the pirate sh.i.p.s, and those from Laurus’ villa, to gather in the garden of his villa. Then he gave them the three following choices.

1. They could be granted freedom. – They would be given a sufficient amount of money to simply leave and continue the rest of their lives in freedom.

2. They could stay as free people. – They would be granted freedom and would be paid a sufficient amount of money, every month, for their services.

3. They could stay as slaves.

Kol made himself quite clear as he expressed his seriousness on the subject. He made sure that they understood the fact that there were no punishments regardless of their choice. He even explained to them that he was the prince of The Polaris Kingdom that was beyond the endless oceans of the west, and there was no such concept as slavery in his kingdom, so it was perfectly normal for him to release them.

Some intelligent ones chose to stay as free men. They were either from the pirate sh.i.p.s or from Laurus’ villa. Diotimos was among them.

The rest, mostly the ones from Laurus’ villa, chose to continue their lives as slaves. Among these people, some were even born slaves. They had known nothing but to serve their master their whole lives. They were terrified of the prospect of what might happen if they left. They were scared of the outside world and the possibilities that the future would hold if they gained their freedom. They needed the shelter of their master to survive.

=PART-3

After living in the city of Sinue for a month, Kol departed for Rome along with, Ennius, general Sage, eighteen vampire soldiers, and a few humans of different talents.

Among them was Diotimos. Kol recognized him for his intellect and decided to grant him the position of a Diplomat. He was a man of honor and wished for nothing but his freedom. So, when Kol granted him his freedom, Diotimos became grateful to him. Kol could see that he was truly loyal to him. He was also a local and possessed better knowledge of these parts.

After he arrived in Rome, Kol met many kinds of people. This city broadened his horizons. This place was not as peaceful as his kingdom. It was not affected by any wars, but there was a hidden tension here that everyone was aware of, yet they subconsciously chose to ignore it.

This hidden darkness was actually, the difference between the different social classes. Those of the highest standing looked down on the rest. Those of the lower class had no choice but to fear those of higher class than their own. After all, Their lives did not matter as much. Among them lived the slaves who were not even considered human beings.

Those of the highest standing feared that those with enough diligence would one day snatch away their position if they were not careful, so they took their frustration out on those of lower class, mostly slaves.

This society was flawed, and one day people would not be able to take such pressure anymore and start to rise against authority. For a person who came from the modern time, it was all quite obvious to Kol, but such was to be the course of history, perhaps this was evolution. The evolution of society.

More than six months had already passed since Kol had arrived in the Roman empire. Currently, he was getting dressed for the wedding reception of Quintilius Varus, who was a senator of the Republic of Rome.

Upon his arrival, Kol gathered all the intelligence he could get about the senate from not only Ennius, but many merchants and other official figures that he could come in contact with.

Ennius did not have a very prominent position, but he could still contact a few merchants, some magistrates, and other politicians. After all, even the senators were people. They still had many different hobbies and d.e.s.i.r.es and needed to contact people of different positions, regularly.

All it required was a meeting and Kol’s telepathy would come into play. He did not do much except gathering intelligence. As he gained knowledge about the things that interested him, he finally decided to meet a senator.

Quintilius Varus was a man of high standing. His position as a senator was mostly hereditary. He had bis.e.x.u.a.l tendencies that were heightened by his addiction to opium and wine. He maintained a proper image on the outside, but he was a waste of a man from the inside. Kol decided to turn him into his pawn.

There were not many merchants who sold opium in the city of Rome and it was not difficult to track down the one who sold to Varus. Afterward, Kol sent that merchant on the road to the afterlife, and used an illusion spell on himself, to make himself look like the dead merchant.

Kol soon visited Quintilius Varus, and taking advantage of the knowledge that the now-dead merchant possessed about Varus, Kol used an excuse for Varus to meet him in a private room to conduct a secret business. Afterward, Kol simply used telepathy to make Varus loyal to him.

As days passed, with Varus’ help Kol met many senators of the republic, but he did not make them completely loyal to him as he did with Ennius and Varus. That would be too suspicious. He just made sure they would respect him, and make the decisions in his favor, even on the occasions where it would affect their own, interests.

There were hundreds of senators within the Roman Republic, so eventually, Kol was bored. He realized that he needed an occasion where all of them would be in the same place. Perhaps a senate meeting. He needed an excuse for him to participate in a senate meeting. If it was just a simple command like making them more respectful towards him, then Kol’s mental abilities were enough to affect hundreds of people at the same time.

Now Kol lived in Varus’ villa, along with general Sage, Diotimos, eighteen vampire soldiers and other human talents. Of course, Varus lived here as well. He was a senator and this was Rome. News traveled here very fast. Kol did not want to do anything suspicious.

Since he was not such a waste anymore, Kol decided that it was time for Varus to get married. A lot of senators would attend the wedding of another senator, and even if they did not, the voice of the senate, Metellus would surely attend.

Metellus represented the Senate in its political affairs. He had enough authority to get Kol inside a senate meeting. By only controlling Metellus, Kol could get all of the senates at his back and call with just one move.

From the very beginning, Kol’s focus was not on the senate, but all the bodies of the authority of the Roman Republic. For that, Kol had to first join the senate as a senator, because only the senate could come into contact with all the bodies of authority.

In truth, other than the control of the Roman treasury, the senate only held the persuasive power of senatum consultum, the advice of the Senate, which bore the authority of the most experienced and influential citizens of the state, to the magistrates, or the civic Committees.

The Senate, therefore, could not by itself pass law or declare which powers belonged to the Committee of Tribes, the Committee of Plebians and the Committee of Centuries, but actions endorsed by the Senate were routinely endorsed by the appropriate Committees.

That meant that Kol could contact all the committees, and therefore all the authority of entire Rome before it even became an imperial state and had it’s first Emperor. All he needed to do was to become a senator and then live an idle life for the next two hundred years.

The composition of the Senate was determined at every five-year census by the Censors. There were criteria and many requirements, but that was mostly all a big deception. It was there to make the lower class think that they held any power over the senate.

If Kol could get all the senators to side with himself, then he only needed to possess enough wealth and property within the Republic, and that was it. He would become a senator.

After getting dressed up in a roman noble attire, Kol went to the adjoining changing room and opened the door after knocking three times and finally getting the reply from the inside.

————Scene -Sibyl.

As Kol opened the door and went inside, he saw a young girl of about sixteen years of age in a proper noble lady attire, nervously sitting on the side of the bed.

Other housemaids were attending to her. With his super hearing, Kol could hear that the housemaids were trying to comfort her before he opened the door and came in.

The little girl was nervous because she had never attended such a grand occasion before. Especially since the people of high status would be attending. Not to mention, she was not even a noble and she had never worn such luxurious clothes. She was worried that she would make a mistake and embarrass him.

This little girl was Sibyl. She was a young and beautiful Greek slave, rescued from the pirates previously. If Kol had not arrived, then she would be sold to Laurus and would suffer a very tragic fate.

When Kol asked all the slaves to choose for themselves, Sibyl chose to be free, but not leave. At first, she attracted no attention, but as days passed, it was discovered that she possessed no talent. This little one had never bothered to learn any housework and had not even learned the Roman language, so she could be considered illiterate.

She lived in a small secluded village by the shore along with her parents. One day, the pirates slaughtered her village and kidnapped many people, whom they later sold to different people. She was rescued before she could be sold to Laurus.

Kol had taken a liking to Sibyl. She was so innocent and naive that one could only read about in fiction.

But one day, Sibyl went outside the villa and managed to encounter one of the vampire soldiers who was using his vampire ability. At this point, she did not go and confront him, instead, she looked for Kol and told him about her encounter.

This time, Kol chose to tell her the truth. She was just too cute. He could not bring himself to mess with her memories again. Of course, he did not tell her everything. Some things would be too inconvenient for others to know. Like time travel and the like.

However, that still proved to be a mistake. Normally, one would get scared, or try to do something drastic before managing to calm down, but Sibyl was different. She was very calm from the beginning. She started to ask questions.

When Kol came to the point where he was a God, Sibyl started to look at him with stars in her eyes. She believed in the Gods a lot. Especially the ones from Greek mythology.

It could be imagined what happened afterward. Sibyl started to follow him everywhere, and to stick to him like bark to the tree.

Subconsciously, Sibyl reminded him of Rebekah before she became a vampire. Perhaps melancholy was the reason all along why he never pushed her away, or it could be that he was just too bored with his repetitive, predictable life.

Sibyl’s voice was that annoying ray of light that had managed to invade the comfortable darkness of the shut eyelashes. She woke him up and reminded him that there was more to life, and even if he had his plans and goals, he could always take some time off to enjoy himself. Otherwise, what would be the point of becoming a god?

Her presence brought joy to his dull and boring life. Sibyl was very cheerful and was never afraid to express her opinion. Her innocence attracted him, and eventually, Kol started to think of her as a little sister.

As days passed, he got used to her presence, until finally, one day he asked her to address him as the elder brother. Since then, they became close.

Looking at the sixteen years old who was cheerful most of the time, but was currently in a conflicted mood, Kol decided to divert her attention elsewhere.

He spoke in a commanding tone, “Little thing, what are you doing here? Let’s go! hurry up! We are getting late!”.

————Scene END———–