CBC - Origins

Part Six - Doorways  (by: Darrin ©07/2005)

My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius. This I know to be true.

But as I stood staring up at the Coliseum, it was the only thing I knew to be true. The last thing I remembered was standing in front of a door that would lead to Elysium, where I would be with my wife and my son. But as I began to push the door open, another hand stayed mine.

"No, Brother, this is not your path," a voice said, a voice that was my own.

"It is mine, I have fought for it to the death," I answered.

"And yet, the answer still is no, Brother. You have a different path. This doorway is mine. That one, however, is yours." The hand that had stopped mine from opening the door pointed in the opposite direction. A similar door stood there, a black mare decorating the front of it.

"And what of my wife and my son?" I demanded. And then I realized I could see myself standing in front of me.

"I shall care for them," he replied.

I did not know what to think. These past few months, my only focus had been to kill Commodus and rejoin my family in Elysium. Now on the cusp of achieving my final goal, to have it taken from me... And yet even as I thought this, I knew also he was right. I did not understand how or why, I did not want to accept it, but I knew I had to. Perhaps this was the gods' sense of humour at play.

We parted company, he through his door, me through mine. Before I stepped through, I stared at the mare, black as night, her mane flowing in the wind, her fore hooves raised slightly in play. Argento, I thought to myself. She looks like my Argento. Could it be that I would be reunited with something from my former life? With these thoughts in my mind, I stepped through the door, smiling.

I found myself in the Coliseum, clothed suddenly in strange garb, leggings and boots and tunic the likes of which I had never seen before. I looked about as I had done only days before, but now the seats were all empty. I had no time to ponder this as I found myself being hailed by a gentleman in strange clothing similar to my own, but with a small shield fastened to his tunic.

"Sir, you'll need to exit. Tourists aren't allowed in this part of the Coliseum."

I did not understand half of what he said, but his gesture was clear. I followed to where he pointed and found myself out in front of the Coliseum, many people walking about hurriedly. And the machines! They whizzed past me with such speed, I found myself mesmerized.

How long I stood there, I do not know. It was fascinating to watch all the activity and ponder why I was standing there. At that time, I had no knowledge of the Movies or the Creator or of my Brothers. But I did know one thing for certain. If my other "self" was to have entered Elysium where Sabine and young Marcus were, then surely this was to be an Elysium for me. I just did not know how.

That is until he arrived.

"Max?"

I turned at the voice, similar to mine, yet so unfamiliar. "My name is Maximus," I said.

"I'm Terence Thorne, I've come to take you home."

"Home? I am not home now?"

"No, sir. You're almost there though. I know you have a lot of questions and I'm going to do my best to answer them. For now, I'm asking you to trust me and come with me."

Trust... I had only just asked Proximo to trust. This man looked so much like me and I felt a deep-seated kinship to him that caused me to nod and then follow him.

We walked, thank the gods, to a nearby building wherein I found many strange things I wanted to examine. Furniture made from materials I had never seen, articles of clothing unbeknownst to me, items on desks and being carried by many people; my curiosity was raging. I was on fire to learn as much as I could. Terence was patient to a degree, but I could sense his need for us to move on to our destination.

The mode of transportation to that destination however, I insisted on learning about. He explained that it was called a "lift" and moved rapidly from floor to floor of the building we had entered. I recalled Juba saying that he did not know men could build such things. If only he could see what I traveled in now. He pointed out a display of numbers that changed on their own by some magic he called "digital images" that I did not pretend to understand at all.

The doors opened when the display read "7" and Terence led the way down a long hall, stopping at a door that read "734". He took a thin small rectangular item and slid it into a corresponding slot in the door's handle. A small red light changed to green and he opened the door. Fascinating.

I was truly in a completely different World than the one I had left. I decided there and then I would learn as much as I could about my new World. Coupled with that thought was the realization that all these changes would help distract me from what I knew would be a difficult adjustment. But accepting changes is the way of a soldier and though I am a farmer at heart, I know my own mind. I would adapt.

Terence asked me if I was hungry. I suddenly realized I was famished. I watched as he smiled and introduced me to an item he called a telephone, showing me how it worked, both of us learning I could read what he called "English" and what I knew as the language of the Britons. He spoke into the telephone and I listened intently as he made a request for many different types of foods, my appetite growing with each new item.

When he had finished, we sat down together at a table.

"Look, mate, we're both soldiers, so I'm gonna lay out some of the details for you and then answer all your questions. I know this is difficult for you to take in, but I also know you can handle it. Okay so far?"

I nodded. It was good I'd be dealing with a fellow soldier. We look at the world differently than civilians.

"There's a lot I don't understand myself. But here's what I do know. There's twenty-four of us. We're Brothers, brought into this world by a man called Crowe. His details we're all gonna be learning together and you're the first so like I say, it's gonna be sketchy. But we're in this thing together. Got that?"

I nodded again. So I was not alone in my confusion, it appeared. That comforted me deeply.

"Thing is, mate, and this is gonna be the hard part, you're from a very long time ago. What for us is ancient history. The year is now 2003. You're from 180 A.D."

"Two millennia?" I whispered. It was too much to comprehend. That amount of time passing in the wink of an eye. He nodded and I digested that for some time. Two thousand years. This would explain the vast changes I had witnessed so far. My father used to remark on how each generation brings to the world something to help it along. In two thousand years, there would be much to show for the great passage of time.

"Mate, you okay?" my companion asked.

"Yes..." I answered slowly. "It is simply too much to comprehend, this many years passing..."

"Well, the beaut part is, you won't have to deal too much with the outside world until you're ready, with where we're going. You can take your time, learn everything at your own pace. And you'll have company. A lot of help."

"Where are we going?"

"A little Village. It doesn't have a name yet, I don't think," he chuckled as he answered, "it's only just been... built, I guess is the right word. I'll let D explain that part, cuz quite frankly I don't think I could even if I did understand it."

"D?"

"Darrin. She's kinda, well, the creator of all this. Like I said, we're gonna be learnin' together how this all fits."

Just then there was a knock on the door and I watched as Terence opened it up and a young man entered pushing a cart in front of him, laden with food. My stomach growled and I felt my mouth salivate. After the young man left, the two of us fed ourselves. I felt as though I hadn't eaten in days. It was the most delicious meal I could remember eating in a long time. As we ate, Terence answered many of my questions, mostly to do with items I had seen I wished to understand. During that conversation, he showed me his "computer" and the "television".

Juba's sentiments were the only reaction I could manage. "I did not know men could build such things."

"Yeah, we've come a long way, General. Some things better, some things not. And in many ways, there hasn't been any change at all. But in the end, I think you're going to like living in the Village. It'll be... peaceful."

"I could do with peace."

He smiled then. "Well, we should get some sleep. You've got an exciting day tomorrow. We're going to take you home."

I did not ask him any more questions. I had enough to think about as it was. We readied ourselves and then slept. One thing is very certain. The beds are much more comfortable than two thousand years ago.

~*~

The next day I was introduced to two of the machines. First, we rode in a "taxi". Terence explained about the "internal combustion engine" and "horsepower". Horse power I understood, but a horse never traveled that fast in my time! Much of the time I simply followed Terence's lead. Time enough to stop him and ask questions during our journey home, I was certain.

When we arrived at our destination, Terence explained about our next mode of transportation. Then once we'd gotten through the crowds, he took me to a window and showed me what he had been explaining. My heart pounded in anticipation. To think, we would be going up into the sky, seated in this machine and travel to another place not connected to Rome in any way but by the ocean... My mind reeled. I am certain he used his small telephone at that point to help calm me and though I had no knowledge of this woman, she did comfort me.

It was an interesting thing to speak into a small device and communicate with someone Terence explained was on the other side of the world. A world that was so much larger than I ever thought it could be.

We did not speak for very long. A simple greeting, an introduction, an assurance she could not wait to meet me. As she spoke, I felt myself calming, as if she were right there, holding my hand and speaking to me, instead of so far away. That boded well for me. To have feminine comfort once I arrived at this Village would indeed be a pleasure, of course it would not be intimate, but even so, I would enjoy not having only men as my companions.

When I returned the small telephone to Terence, he spoke with her briefly. His side of the conversation was enigmatic indeed.

"Hey, D, yeah, we're gonna be boarding in a few minutes. Of course I got us first class, luv. You doin' okay? Good, I'm glad he's good for something then. Okay, we'll see you tonight. Which house are you gonna be in cuz I sure as hell ain't bringin' the General to the Gameboy's. Oh, okay, I didn't remember there bein' a house there. Yeah, I know you'll wait up for us. Have food, bloody airplane grub ain't fit for humans even in first class. Yeah, okay, luv, I miss you too. See you soon." He smiled at me and said, "Sheilas," assuming I'd understand. In a strange way, I did.

I followed Terence onto the airplane. He showed me how to use the fastening device which bound me to the chair in which I was seated. During the wait, he answered more of my questions as I found more and more items I was curious about. Once the machine began to move, however, I found I could not speak.

When we rose into the air, I forgot about everything. All I could think was how marvelous the sensation of flying felt. I watched the clouds below us for hours. It was mesmerizing.

After awhile, I was able to tear my eyes away and Terence gave me his computer, showing me a few things so that I could use the machine for myself, to answer many questions I had of the history of the world in which I now found myself. He was correct. Many things had changed and just as many had stayed the same. Men still fought battles and profited from other mens' misfortunes. But there was much good in this world as well.

Terence had promised we'd learn together and so he and I researched this man Crowe during our trip. We learned of who our Brothers were and I asked Terence how he'd known to find me in Rome and how he would find the rest of us. He admitted he didn't know. But he also said he would when the time was right. So magic played a part in this world as well, even though they did not appear to like to admit it, I thought with a chuckle to myself.

When it was time to land, I stared out of the window again, fascinated with the whole process. Things moved rather quickly after that. We disembarked, gathered what little baggage Terence had brought with him and then found another taxi to take us to our home. I was now eager to meet Darrin and Sidney, whom we had learned about from our research about the Creator. I had come to think of him as such, for indeed he had created us. It was the only explanation that made sense to me from what I had experienced at the doorways.

At last we arrived at the Village. It was beautiful. When the taxi stopped in front of a large home, I was more than ready to eat, rest and begin my new life. First though, it was time to meet Darrin.