Chapter Twenty Seven: Playing Tourist

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Nero had led us down the brick road for a good ten to fifteen minutes now since we left the battle site and the tall walls of Rome were finally coming into view. Which was a good thing, because my feet were already starting to ache from all this walking. You'd think I'd have gotten used to long marches across the country from our time in France, but you'd be wrong! When you have automobiles and helicopters at your disposal, you become spoiled. Anyway, it wouldn't be much longer before we got into Rome and I could finally take a break. We came to a stop upon reaching one of the outer gates and upon seeing their Empress abrupt return, the soldiers at the gate met her with cheers before remembering to bow.

After receiving ample praise from the guards, Nero set off down the road leading us into the capital. As we passed through the gate I cast my eyes to the guards and saw the bags under their eyes and bruises left behind from previous battles. Nero had already mentioned that things weren't going well, but if even the soldiers stationed outside Rome were having a tough time, then things must really be bad. Once we were through the gate and on the other side, there was a loud slam as the gate doors closed shut behind us. I glanced over my shoulder at the gate to see soldiers scurry to reinforce the gate with boards and whatever other objects they had on hand, and it only reinforced the notion that things were bad. I redirected my attention forward and saw several small buildings that looked like homes come into view and further in the distance I could make out another layer of walls. That made me wonder how many more layers of defense we would have to pass through before we could finally rest. I felt my shoulders droop at the thought of more walking...

"What's wrong, Chris?" I heard Jeanne ask and I turned to see she was walking besides me

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"What's wrong, Chris?" I heard Jeanne ask and I turned to see she was walking besides me. I hadn't even noticed her walk up besides me, since my mind was so preoccupied with everything going on. "You're looking kind of down."

"Oh it's nothing." I replied, shaking my head in response. "I was just wondering when we'd finally get to catch a breather." I explained which earned me a slight chuckle from Jeanne.

"This is nothing compared to all the walking we had to do in France though." Jeanne pointed out. That's odd though, I remember a lot of running, more so than walking. "Shouldn't you be used to it by now?" Jeanne inquired.

"Yeah maybe." I replied, scratching my head. "But maybe it's because of all that walking that I don't want to do anymore. Either that or all that time cooped up in my home has made me go soft." I said, which caused Jeanne to chuckle some more.

"Or maybe it's because you're getting old?" Jeanne suggested.

"I'm not even thirty yet!" I exclaimed as I placed my hand on my chest. Jeanne laughed in response, which caused me to ruffle my eyebrows at her.

"Oh my, have I ruffled your feathers Chris?" Jeanne asked with her hand raised to her mouth, behind her hand I could see she was wearing a smug grin.

"You know, I think I've been rubbing off on you and not in a good way." I said.

"I'm just giving you a bit of a taste of your own medicine, Christopher." Jeanne replied with a grin.

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