#when commodus killed his father yes YES YES the tiger is free and ready to devour!!!! i wouldn't mind aegon doing a bit of filial torment

[allyriadayne]

Gladiator (2000) // House of the Dragon Season 1

"What is in me you hate so much?"

[flightfoot]

Commodury Chapter 2

First Chapter

“George! Martha!” I cried in relief.

My caduceus had been stolen AGAIN. While I could have sent some demigods on a short quest to retrieve it like I did last time, it wouldn’t have been nearly as effective. As my symbol of power, I could vaguely sense its location, but it wasn’t exact by any means. Between that, the caduceus moving around, AND the fact that I didn’t know who stole it this time... well without a prophecy pointing the demigods to its location, I didn’t expect to get it back anytime soon without retrieving it myself.

Besides, being teased about losing my Caduceus was the LEAST of my worries. With Apollo’s punishment...

I sighed. Zeus had recently decided to turn Apollo mortal and toss him to Earth. Again. For the third time. Never let it be said that Father is CREATIVE with his punishments.

I wasn’t too worried at first - Apollo had been through this twice before, and he’d been alright both times. Heck, the second time he even picked up a boyfriend during the ordeal - but something was different this time. It had never taken this LONG to turn Apollo mortal before. And no one had been allowed to see Apollo during his ‘preparation’, not even Artemis. She’d talked to me about it recently. She hadn’t even been able to sense Apollo properly since Zeus started turning him mortal. With none of us knowing where Apollo was or how he was doing... well I’d been getting antsy. Artemis tried to hold it together, but I’d known her long enough to know it was a front. Those two were really close. As much as they ribbed and teased each other, they cared about each other a lot.

I shook myself. Worrying about Apollo would get me nowhere. Right now I had to focus on my own problems.

Namely, freeing my caduceus.

Martha finally roused herself from her stupor. Alarm bells went off in my head. She should NOT be this exhausted. What had the thief done to my snakes?!

“Hermes... run...”

What?

I turned around and prepared to book it. Contrary to popular belief, I DO sometimes listen to other people. And right now, Martha telling me to run in THAT tone of voice? Made her one of those people.

I got two feet away. Then some sort of leash seemed to activate. As much as I pulled and tugged, I couldn’t get free.

I tried to turn into pure essence and get away that way. I couldn’t do it. Not that I expected that to work. Anyone who was strong enough to trap a god in the first place would plan for that move.

Well if I couldn’t run AWAY, maybe I could...

I lunged at my caduceus. No luck. The leash tightened the rest of the way, leaving me unable to move.

I was trapped.

And no one knew where I was.

No one except my captor.

I looked around wildly. Evil god trappers typically LOVED to gloat.

I wasn’t surprised when a man stepped out of the shadows, smirking.

I WAS surprised at WHO the man was.

“Commodus?” I asked, confused.

Wasn’t he dead? Like a LONG time ago?

Yes, he’d definitely died. I remembered comforting Apollo after he’d come to me crying about needing to kill him.

Yet here he was, clearly not dead.

Did he come through the Doors of Death?

I narrowed my eyes. No...

I paled. Had he really...?

“So you’ve noticed,” he told me, flashing his teeth. “I wondered whether you other gods would realize.”

“Let me go or BE DESTROYED!” I bellowed, trying to keep the fear off my face. It was a bluff of course. I couldn’t move a muscle, I couldn’t manipulate my essence, the most I COULD do was talk. Or scream, in this case. But hey, I could try. Maybe having a god screaming in his face about the doom he’d brought down on himself would be enough to get him to reconsider.

I could dream, couldn’t I?

“Hm. You know what? I’ll take my chances.”

He strolled into the room.

“You know, I wanted to go full glitz and glam in this room. Lots of lights! Tigers jumping through flaming rings! A band heralding my triumph over one of the Olympian gods! But alas, Medea said that would ruin the trap. It’s worth it though, to see you like THIS.”

He moseyed over to me.

“You’re one of the people Apollo cares most about, aren’t you?”

I stayed silent. What was Commodus playing at?

Dread trickled down my back.

He approached, reaching up to touch my head.

I spit at him.

Rage filled his eyes.

Then they went cold.

I became completely paralyzed. I couldn’t even blink.

He drew back a fist.

“I”

He swung.

“Don’t”

I felt something break. Had he reduced my durability with the spell as well, or was he simply THIS powerful as a god?

“Think”

I wanted to cough up ichor. I NEEDED to cough up ichor. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t move even enough for that automatic reaction.

“You”

Commodus seemed to take my lack of response as an indication that he hadn’t hurt me enough.

“Understand”

He hit me again.

“The”

And again.

“Position”

And again.

“You’re

All the while my face remained rigid and impassive, unable to show the pain I was in.

“In.”

It would’ve been funny how futile the efforts to make me crack were, if I were able to laugh right then.

After a few more minutes of him wailing on me and my still not reacting, he stopped and stormed out. I would’ve breathed a sigh of relief if I could, you know, BREATHE.

Martha lifted her head. “I’m sorry, Hermes...” she rasped.

I would have reassured her - it was MY fault this happened, for losing the caduceus, for letting her and George fall into Commodus’s hands - but again, I couldn’t even open my mouth.

I wondered, was this how Ares felt all those long months in the jar?

No. He could yell and scream at least. I didn’t even have that.

But then again, he’d had to sit there, screaming, waiting for help that didn’t come for over a year.

Would I be left to languish that long?

No. No, I couldn’t go down that road. It would do no good.

And so I waited, trying desperately not to think.

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I didn’t know how long it had been. There was no way to tell time in that small room. It felt like forever.

I could feel myself slowly weakening, strength leaving my limbs. Not that it mattered. They were as frozen as the rest of me.

Then SHE entered.

I tried to glare at her as best I could while totally frozen.

“Hmmph.”

She strutted over to me, cupping my chin in her hands.

“Oh, how the gods have fallen,” she tutted. “You know, it’s a pity Caligula is set on being the new sun god. I could have you dissolved and ready to feed to him in a matter of hours.

DISSOLVED?!

I’d considered that one day I may fade. It wasn’t something I LIKED to dwell on, but it had crossed my mind more than once. Scattering seemed more likely, with the wars recently. I’d tried to ignore it, but with as strong as Typhon had been, it was a real possibility.

But what she was describing sounded way, WAY worse than that.

“I suppose we’ll just have to make use of you in a different way,” she declared, sounding uninterested.

I wasn’t sure whether to feel relieved or not. On the one hand, I wasn’t going to be ‘dissolved’, whatever THAT meant. On the other hand, I had a feeling that whatever she had planned would be worse.

She played with my hair, running her hair through it, then cupping my chin in her hands, forcing me to look up at her. Unlike last time, I couldn’t spit at my harasser. I didn’t have the capability.

“Caligula may not want to be the messenger god, but we still need to control communications. Split up the demigods and strike when they least expect it, when they’re unable to call for aid. But in order to do that...”

She approached my Caduceus - approached George and Martha.

I wanted to scream, cry, ANYTHING to take her attention off of my companions. off of my closest friends.

She stroked George. He hissed weakly, but couldn’t do anything else.

She looked back at me. “I needed both you AND your Caduceus. Your Symbol of Power.”

She smiled. I wished I could punch her teeth out. “I don’t limit myself to only Greek or Roman magic. No. If you want to manipulate gods, there are few fields better to study than Egyptian mythology.”

At this point my mind started spewing expletives. The Egyptian Magicians had found ways to control, absorb, and banish their gods. If she had studied their magic and combined some of their knowledge with her own - well I couldn’t say that being dissolved seemed MERCIFUL in comparison exactly, but it seemed like it may be the least worst option compared to whatever she had planned.

“A Symbol of Power like this makes for a good stand-in. It’s even more powerful than a shabti would be in these circumstances. I COULD use it to destroy you completely... but we have better plans. You’re going to work for us. Though I suppose calling it ‘you’ might not be entirely accurate. With what I’m about to do with you... well a mortal’s mind would be destroyed forever, even if they could somehow be freed from the spell. Whether a GOD could withstand it... well. I’d say that it would be interesting to find out, but we’re not planning on ever letting you go free, so it’s a moot point.”

She started chanting, a golden light surrounding my Caduceus.

My mind broke.

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“Oh Commodury~ be a dear and kill these four. As painfully as possible.”

Master had called for me.

I flew in.

When Master called, I answered.

That was my reason for existence.

I looked down on the four Master had ordered to be killed. I had no opinions on them. Opinions were for masters, not slaves. Master had ordered for them to die, and so they would.

Yet I knew that he didn’t REALLY want me to go after them right that moment. I could feel the true intentions of Master’s words. It was part of how he made me such a great slave; since I knew what he wanted, there was no chance of my misinterpreting his wishes.

I was glad for it - as much as a slave could be glad. It made me better at serving Master. That was all that mattered.

One of the four seemed especially horrified at seeing me. He dropped his bow. Not that it made a difference. I could overpower him, weapon or no weapon.

“Mercury...?”

Wait, what?

Mercury... that was my name.

No. No, my name was Commodury. Master had named me himself. I couldn’t be this “Mercury”.

So why wouldn’t the thought leave my head?

Master laughed. I didn’t like it.

Didn’t like...? Slaves don’t have opinions. Slaves SHOULDN’T have opinions. They CERTAINLY didn’t have NEGATIVE opinions of anything about their masters.

So what did that make me?

“Oh no. Not anymore. He’s MINE now. He won’t respond to that name anymore. He is - and as far as he knows - as far as he’s aware of ANYTHING - he always was, and always will be, nothing but Commodury. Isn’t that right, dear?”

Master was right of course. Master was always right. I gave him the response I could feel he wanted. What was expected of me.

“That is correct, Master.”

The boy seemed to grow even more horrified at that. I didn’t like it. I didn’t want him to feel that.

I didn’t understand WHY though. He was no Master. I knew that. Master had ordered me to kill him.

But I... didn’t want to?

“How perfect,” my Master hissed. I was growing to hate his voice. “Do you know what it feels like to be killed by someone you loved? To be killed by someone you thought would never harm you. Do you know how it FEELS?!”

To be killed... by someone he loved?

I... was someone he loved?

But I was a slave. I was a tool. Nothing more. To be used at Master’s pleasure. For whatever he wished of me.

It made no sense for someone to love me.

It made no sense for me to CARE that someone loved me.

Master continued speaking. “Oh, and if he ever DOES manage to get free, he’ll have to live with the knowledge that he killed you himself. And YOU’LL... well I guess you won’t really be around anymore, now will you?”

I wasn’t paying much attention to him at that point, eyes locked on the boy. The one who dropped the bow. I could feel Master wanting me to follow through on the orders now, to kill the boy and his three companions as horrifically as possible. But I didn’t want to.

I didn’t move.

“Commodury. Kill them. NOW.”

I moved. I didn’t have a choice. Whatever Master ordered, I had to obey. Especially when said like THAT.

But I didn’t want to. I really, really didn’t want to.

I focused on the girl with the sword. Master hadn’t specified WHICH of them to kill first after all. And even his mental orders were fairly vague, though they pointed more towards killing the boy with the bow - or without the bow now, since he’d dropped it.

I struck at the girl. She parried every blow. Somewhere inside, I felt a hint of...satisfaction maybe? I wasn’t upset that she was stopping me from fulfilling my orders.

Then the music started.

I heard the boy sing of Hermes sneaking out, defying rules.

Sing of... myself breaking the rules?

Yes. I was a rule-breaker. A mischief maker.

What was I DOING?

I slowed my attacks. I didn’t want to attack this girl. I didn’t want to follow orders.

“YOU USELESS IDIOT! YOU INCOMPETENT EXCUSE FOR A GOD! KILL THEM!” Master bellowed.

Master?

I was Hermes. I was Mercury.

I had no master.

The boy sang of my cattle theft, of the trick I pulled to keep anyone from discovering where I’d hidden my ill-gotten gains. He sang of my creation of the lyre, and how I’d exchanged it for his Caduceus and eternal friendship.

Lyre... Caduceus...

Apollo?

I froze. Commodus continued screaming. I ignored him as best I could, my head pounding.

Apollo. The boy was Apollo.

My friend. My BROTHER.

He’d come.

He was weak, mortal, no divine power left as far as I could tell, but he’d COME.

“Apollo...?” I whispered. “You’re here...”

“Mercury! Hermes!” he shouted.

Hearing my names - my TRUE names - lessened the pounding in my head a little.

But Commodus caught onto the problem.

“YOU. ARE. MINE.” he snarled.

I doubled over.

You are Commodury. You are a slave. You belong to me. You have no will except to please me.

I... what was I doing? Why wasn’t I obeying Master? Master must ALWAYS be obeyed.

NO!

“Leave...” I forced out. “Leave... please. I... can’t.... hold him off... much longer....”

I couldn’t hold off Commodus much longer, couldn’t maintain my identity for long.

But maybe I could hold him off long enough to save my brother.

I HAD to.

“GO!” I screamed.

I hoped he heeded my warning.

You are Commodury You are a slave obey Master please Master KILL THESE KIDS-

I’m sorry Apollo. I can’t hold him back any longer.

I’m sorry.

I’m....

...

...

I’m Commodury. I am a slave. I obey Master’s orders.

He wants me to pursue and kill these intruders.

And so I must obey.

But there are too many of them. I can’t find the real ones.

The fakes vanish after a few minutes.

I failed my Master.

I flew back to him. He already knows.

Anger flashes in his eyes.

“You have been a very naughty boy, Commodury,” he whispers.

I didn’t know what he was talking about.

I didn’t matter.

Master was displeased with me.

His pleasure was everything to me.

“You disobeyed me.”

I did?

Master said it, so it must be true.

“I think you need another lesson on WHO IS IN CHARGE!”

He tackled me to the ground, punching me repeatedly.

I did nothing to stop him.

Slaves don’t fight back.

Whatever Master does is right and just.

He stabbed my legs repeatedly, golden ichor coating his blade.

I gasped in pain.

You deserve this.

Master kept stabbing, going up my torso. More and more ichor poured out, until it almost looked like a waterfall.

You deserve this.

He stopped stabbing once he got to my neck.

“Commodury! Get up!” he yelled.

Slowly, I got to my feet, my legs and torso screaming. The pain was unbearable.

I bore it anyway.

You deserve this.

He had me walk over to a pool.

“Lay down in it,” he ordered.

I did so.

He sat down on the edge of the shallow pool and forced my head under, squeezing my neck until it felt like it was about to pop off.

All the while I watched my Master mouth, You deserve this. You deserve this.

And I did.

I was Commodury.

I deserved anything Master did to me.

...Didn’t I?