The Cast Die

He was tortured by nightmares as he slept. They started off much like the usual ones he had. He was trapped in pitch black darkness, and a cacophony of voices that constantly belittled him. ‘Loser. Orphan. The unblessed. Disgrace of your people. Vacuus is such a fitting name for a hopeless fool like you.’

And then it changed from the usual. Out of the darkness a body appeared in front of him, knocked out while bleeding severely from the head. He could only watch as the body got off the floor and grabbed on. As he tried to shake the body off, it suddenly caught on fire. He screamed as the flames scorched him, and after pushing the body away, saw it morph into the visage of Nero, with burn marks all over his body. In the same vitriolic voice, Nero spat out, “You did this, you proud and reckless fool.”

As he tried to back away, he ran into his grandma. As he moved to hug her, she suddenly slapped him hard enough to knock him to the floor. His voice broke as he muttered, “Grandma, why?”

She fixed him with a harsh glare that was bereft of her usual kindness, and in an icy voice said, “You're unworthy of the Venti name. You're unworthy of being my grandson.”

‘No, No, No!’ He yelled in rage as the world shattered around him, and he found himself waking up in a cold sweat. He looked around in a frenzy, but to his relief his grandma wasn't around. Though she probably had been there when he'd arrived, which meant another awkward conversation. Not to mention what he'd done to Nero. The guy was an ass, but Vac would be killed if he told her what he'd done, or so he thought.

He groaned as he got up. He owed the guy an apology, but he wasn't even sure how he'd go about that. He sighed as he took his ‘tooth brush’ which was really just a stick with small pieces of straw attached, and carefully dipped it in the tooth powder. Once he was done with brushing and rinsing his teeth, he moved to eat a quick bite.

His grandma had thankfully left behind some food for him. He quickly gobbled it up without even reheating it. He had no time to waste, as it was time for him to learn what he'd ignored for so long, now that he had the die. It was time for him to learn magic.

His grandma had given him some notes on it a long time ago, but he'd ignored them. After going over the notes that had long since faded, he got the gist of the main points. Effectively magic was based on a system of ‘sacrifice’. You had to give something to gain power from the gods. The thing you gave would be converted to mana, which in turn would be transformed by one’s blessing. The thing you gave could even be somewhat abstract things like energy.

When he'd used magic before, what he'd given was his body's energy, which was why he'd felt so tired each time. But the most important part was that the thing one gave had to be ‘something one owned’. For example, if he lit a torch on fire, he could sacrifice the flame in exchange for power. But if someone launched a fireball at him; ‘Like the one you threw at Nero, oh shut up’; he wouldn't be able to give that. The interesting thing was, if he caught on fire in his hypothetical scenario, it would technically become ‘his’, and so he could then sacrifice it. Then again, it would be hell to go through something like that. He winced again as he thought of Nero.

He waved that aside as he focused on the next important part, the die-shaped artifact in his possession. This part was obvious now that he thought about it. Six sides, for the six great gods.

First was Jupiter, the king and most powerful of the gods, god of the winds, the sky and freedom.

Second was Neptune, the god of water and life, who ruled the seas.

Third was Pluto, god of illness, healing and the dead, whom few spoke of for fear they would meet him.

Fourth was Ceres, the goddess of earth, plants, and willpower whom all respected for the food she gave.

Fifth was Vesta, the goddess of the flame and the home, hailed as the oldest and wisest of them all.

And of course, last but not least was Minerva, goddess of knowledge and desire, the youngest whom the conquerors of his people worshiped above all.

From what he could figure, the power he used through the die was dependent on the face against his palm while he held it. With some careful experimentation, he found he could somewhat use the magic of all of them except Pluto and Minerva, whose domains were so abstract he couldn't even understand where to begin. But no matter, the power of the other four alone would improve his thefts massively. Things were looking up.

Pisistratus sighed as he studied the latest report from Aeolia. It'd been churning along perfectly well for so long. The energy gained from there was immense, and there were no negative consequences on his people. Moreover it was also a nice location to do tests that the Sicilians could not disrupt. But now one man’s stupidity had ruined one of the most important projects they had underway.

The others on the council would probably harass him about his decision here, but hindsight was always more painful to deal with. With a slight glance at his trusted aide Marcus, he intoned, “Bring him in.”

With a wave of Marcus’s hand, a lanky rat-faced man was brought in. What was his name again? Ah yes. “Epimetheus, you took a precious artifact out of containment before it reached the towers. What were you thinking?”

He watched with a mixture of pity and disgust as the man prostrated before him. Where was the man’s pride? In a shaky voice, Epimetheus said, “Forgive me my lord, my curiosity simply got the better of me.”

He fixed the man before him with a lazy stare. It was probably best to at least get some useful information first. So in a curious voice, he asked, “I understand. We are followers of Minerva after all. Now then, what were you able to find out?”

Despite the fact that his life was very obviously hanging by a thread, this question somehow raised the ratface’s mood. In an excited voice, the man said, “Oh, the results were magnificent, lord councilor! As you'd hoped, the die is unlike any other artifact. Whereas the others merely enhance pre-existing abilities, this seems to tap into the realm of the gods themselves!”

“Hahaha!” He couldn't hold back his laughter as a wide grin spread across his face. This was excellent news. It almost made up for the disaster that had occurred. Only almost, to the unfortunate luck of the man before him. Epimetheus asked in a hopeful voice, “Does this mean, I'm forgiven, m’lord?”

That wiped his smile off his face instantly, as he coldly said, “I'm afraid not. Put him on trial for high treason. And fine his family for the loss.”

He ignored the man's screams of despair and watched with disdain as Epimetheus was dragged away. Curiosity was well and good, but one's actions always had to be carried out with the future in mind. Despite his talents, Epimetheus lacked the foresight necessary. The fool had opened Pandora's box, and it was time to pay the price.

It was time to move on to more important matters, like who he'd send to resolve the issue. He, and likely most of the council, were busy with other matters. The current king of Sicily seemed hell bent on attacking his people, and that was his top priority. Although there was one man he could send… Oh yes, that man was most fitting for this particular assignment.