Live, Die, Repeat

Chapter 6

The Roman empire was difficult to figure out. I admired much of what they had done, though I thought their methods were often much more brutal than necessary. I spent years fighting both for and against the empire. I fought for them in Gaul, in Britannia and in Macedon. I fought against them in Egypt and Germania and invaded them as part of Hannibal's army when I helped to bring elephants over the Alps. I don't know if I helped them or hurt them, or if I mattered at all. But at the time, I guess I was just playing my part.

The invasion of Italy was amazing to be a part of. I had been in several armies before that, and I had become well versed in the ways of war. My days in Egypt were far behind me, and I could kill a man in any number of ways now. I wasn't proud of that, but it was a part of me now. I didn't make it till the end of the war, as I fell near Cannae, but it was a glorious time. It was one of those wars where I could never decide if I was on the right side or not, but there were a lot of those to come.

That invasion was also the first time that I had hidden treasure to plan for the future. I had a small lockbox filled with coins that I buried deep under an olive tree in a grove near Ariminum. It took over 50 years, but I finally got it back, and it was worth it. I started leaving little caches everywhere after that, and while some were lost to time, erosion, bad luck, or my imperfect memory, I retrieved enough to keep myself wealthy. As time went forward, I became more inventive with my caches, hiding them in crypts or in hollowed out statues. It still wasn't perfect, but it got the job done.

Ash returned to the kitchen after getting Anna into the shower and rummaged through the bags of clothes while I finished cooking the bacon.

"Do you think you got enough stuff for us? Or are you asking us to move in?" she wondered absently while she looked through the options for an outfit to give to Anna.

"I thought I'd give you options. I was pretty close on the sizes, but I didn't want to force you into anything in particular," I admitted. "I didn't want to presume a style."

"Well, you did a good job. I might have to take you with me the next time I go shopping."

"So, you want to torture me?" I asked with a chuckle.

"Nah, but any guy that can guess my shoe, pant, and bra size without checking the tags needs to be on my fashion team," she smiled.

"You have a whole team?" I was kind of surprised.

"Well, I do now that you're aboard!" she said with a wink.

Ah, that made more sense.

"Here, have some bacon. It will tide you over till I cook the rest," I slid the plate of bacon to her and she popped one into her mouth.

"Mmmm, that hits the spot. You have any coffee?"

"I think so, but I'm not sure, I'm more of a tea guy. Still getting used to the kitchen," I really liked both tea and coffee, but if I could only have one, I'd go with tea. I had fond memories of tea shops in Asia from several lives lived there.

She started rummaging through the cabinets until she found a pot and a bag of coffee. "Ahh, jackpot." She got it plugged in and filled with water, then it started filling the apartment with the scent of coffee. As much as I liked tea, I had to give coffee its due on the aroma.

"You prefer eggs, pancakes, or waffles?"

Ash looked at me curiously. "How old are you?"

"18, I'll be graduating in June."

"So, how is it you have a place of your own, you don't take advantage of pretty drunk girls, you sing lovely songs in some foreign language, can be a personal shopper with no help, and you're somehow a short order cook?" she asked, staring at me. Her eyes were as dark as mine, and a little intimidating.