The sun dipped below the horizon, casting a warm amber glow over the city skyline.
The cafe stood quietly as ever, unchanging in its timeless elegance. Elian waited by the arched doorway, the bronze coin from Egypt still warm in his pocket, though now another had joined it silver, heavy, etched with Latin inscriptions and the unmistakable image of a she-wolf nursing twin infants.
Romulus and Remus. Rome.
Selene arrived at twilight, dressed in a cloak that resembled a senator's toga, albeit modernized. The edges shimmered faintly with gold thread, and the clasp bore a symbol Elian had come to recognize as her mark: a circle flanked by open wings.
"Ready to see how empires rise?" she asked, offering her arm.
"And fall?" Elian countered, linking with her.
"Inevitably. But it's in the rise that we learn what power does to ideals."
As before, the world dissolved in silence. Time rippled. Light twisted.
When it returned, they stood atop a hill under the Roman sun. The air buzzed with energy from the shouts of soldiers training in the field below to the distant chants of orators. Rome was young here, hungry and unyielding, a lion cub destined for dominance.
They had arrived at the Palatine Hill, the mythic birthplace of Rome. The twin shadows of Romulus and Remus lingered, not as ghosts but as ideas deeply embedded into the stone. Elian stared in awe.
"This is where it began," Selene said, guiding him past villas in construction and fires burning bright within open hearths.
"A shepherd found a kingdom in the teeth of a wolf."
The people moved with purpose. Senators in white togas, bronze-armored legionnaires, slaves hauling marble blocks.
Elian saw ambition in every motion. But also, conflict. Already there were divides. The patricians held themselves above the commoners. The Senate debated daily over territory and war.
They passed a young boy reciting Virgil from memory, his father watching with pride.
"They teach history before it's even finished," Elian said.
"Because here, legacy matters more than truth."
Selene led him through the Roman Forum, a maze of columns and ideals. At the heart of it, a man stood on a platform speaking to a gathered crowd. His voice was commanding, rhetoric sharp.
"Who is that?" Elian whispered.
"Cato the Younger. A defender of the Republic. One of the last."
Cato spoke of corruption, of the moral decay eating through Rome like a plague.
Elian could feel the tension in the air many agreed, many more remained silent. Fear was already settling in.
Later, they watched as Julius Caesar entered the Curia. Not yet dictator, but already dangerous. His stride was sure. His eyes too focused.
Elian felt the weight of fate pressing down.
"He doesn't look like a tyrant."
"Tyranny rarely does at first," Selene said softly. "Charisma blinds better than chains."
They lingered in Rome for what felt like weeks. Elian observed the shift from Republic to Empire. The people celebrated victories they didn't fight. Bread and circuses distracted the restless. The Senate crumbled not with explosions but with applause.
He walked the roads that stretched like veins from the heart of Rome to the world beyond. He heard the clash of swords, the cries of conquered Gauls, the laughter of emperors drunk on divinity.
And then he stood in the Colosseum.
The crowd roared above him. The sand beneath his feet was stained with centuries.
A gladiator raised a broken sword to the sky before being struck down by a rival.
Elian winced.
"This," Selene said beside him, "is the cost of spectacle."
"Why do they cheer?" he asked.
"Because it's easier than crying."
In the final days, he watched Nero light the night with flames that devoured the poor. He watched as Christians were blamed, hunted, and crucified. Power had rotted into paranoia.
"Is this the end?" Elian asked as ashes fell like snow.
Selene shook her head. "Rome never ends. It only changes its name."
They returned to the cafe as dawn kissed the edge of the sky. Elian sat in silence for a long time, the weight of centuries pressing on his chest.
"I thought I'd understand more by now," he confessed.
Selene looked at him gently. "Understanding doesn't come in answers. It comes in questions you never stop asking."
He nodded, eyes distant.
One more coin sat before him now. Gold. Heavy. Carved with the Eye of Horus and a laurel crown.
"Next stop?" he asked.
Selene smiled faintly. "We're gonna see the rise of the Greatest Empire that exists."