I pledge my life and loyalty to Venus, and to Esquiline.
I humbly request your aid, so that in return I may give you mine.


Amarilla woke abruptly with a snort, rising out off of her pillow in surprise. Her hair was a mess; she had been tossing and turning all night long amid odd dreams and a strange phrase that had up until recently, remained absent from her mind. But now it seemed to come at more frequent intervals, and her mouth seemed to want to say the words that rang in her head more and more fervently each time it prodded her.

The pink haired girl lay back down on her pillow, flopping her arms out on either side of her. What did it mean? Pledging her life to Venus, well that could just be her becoming a knight in the first place. But requesting aid? From who?

Well she couldn't sleep now, not with a two line poem rambling through her skull. She rolled out of bed, and decided that instead of waking her roommate with incessant noise associated with being awake at an ungodly hour, she would power up and see what the night had to offer to a girl in orange and yellow.

She hadn't made it two blocks from her apartment before the words came back to her. I pledge my life and loyalty to Venus, and to Esquiline.
I humbly request your aid, so that in return I may give you mine. It was almost as if her brain was trying to make her say it. Like..it was important. She pulled the hair ornament from its location on the top of her head, and stared at it a moment. It seemed to hum with excitement, or power. She sighed and shook it a couple times, but the feeling didn't dissipate. In fact, it seemed to get stronger. She stared at her pretty useless weapon, and slowly whispered the words she had been hearing for days on end.

"I pledge my life and loyalty to Venus, and to Esquiline.
I humbly request your aid, so that in return I may give you mine."

She felt a rush of air, and then for a minute, nothing at all. Not even the ground under her feet. She gasped and flailed, whirlwinding her arms when her shoes met solid earth once more. She fumbled and swayed,determined to keep her balance in case anyone else was around.

Upon looking for the first time, she realized that there wasn't anyone around. There was hardly anything around.

She was on top of a hill, and other hills splayed out in various locations in the distance, covered with pock marks and mist. Sticking up from the distant hills were ruins, jagged and rugged and altogether rather formidable looking. Esquiline shivered before turning around and facing the top of the hill behind her. If the ruins in the distance looked scary, these were down right terrifying.

It must have been a large mansion built of rock and mortar, or perhaps brick. The horizon line of the ruins looked like an erratic heartbeat; up and down, up and down in a jagged, broken way. Walls of various heights loomed over her, only to completely disappear and allow her to see right through them just as suddenly. Intertwined with the large chunks of rubble on the floor were twisted plants, brave souls who fought against destruction for their place in the world. They were hardy things, wending and weaving their way through cracks to find the elusive and necessary sun. Esquiline remained rooted to her spot, taking in the location she had landed at. Was this Esquiline Hill? THIS was what she was supposed to protect?

She seemed to be a little late on that.

The mist gave her the chills, and she wrapped her arms around herself, hugging away the mixture of fear and fascination. She took a tentative step into the husk of the mansion, and then another, picking her way around large rocks and slippery footholds. She also avoided the plants, after all, they had worked so hard to get here.

Upon exploring for an hour, she found that she was mistaken on her original assumption that this was a mansion. While large, it didn't seem to have the feeling of someone's home. In fact, from the rubble she managed to turn over, it looked like every room was a bathroom. A bathhouse maybe? Tiles glittered behind years of dirt and destruction. When she scuffed away at the crust with her foot, she discovered a myriad of colored tiles littered the floor, though which belonged there and which were on walls and possibly ceilings, pink haired Esquiline could not discern. All she could see was destruction around her. What had happened here?

There was a shift in the mist, and Esquiline spun, heart pounding high in her throat. The mist was swirling around a specific pile of rubble, one that jutted up from the floor. Something flickered, and a shape began to form from air. The shape of a female, judging by the curves. Esquiline though that she might pass out from fear. A smile crossed the semi-transparent face. She spread her arms wide as a gesture of innocence, or peace, and then pointed at the rocky rubble. Esquiline paused, then began to walk toward where the apparition pointed. At first glance, there was nothing there. Just rocks and shiny bits of tile. Esquiline looked to the apparition, only to find her gone. How strange.

She dug a bit, and found that the rubble was what remained of an alter, or something to that effect. Among the rocks, Esquiline found a ring. It was a simple thing, made of gold and inset with a pink jewel that was almost the exact shade of her hair. There was an inscription inside, but the knight couldn't make out what it said. She turned the ring over in her hand a couple of times, then placed it on her finger. It was quite lovely. Suddenly she got the shivers. Th air seemed to swirl and twist, and Esquiline didn't want to be there any longer. She stared at the ring on her finger, then pulled out the hair ornament again. If it worked the first time, maybe it would work again. She thought of home, and immediately felt her feet leave the ground.

She landed roughly back on Earth, and stumbled once. Exhaustion hit her limbs, and she dragged herself home, powering down before climbing back int through her window. She flopped onto her bed, and rolled over, staring the pink gem on her hand. What exactly had she found on Esquiline Hill?

Word Count: 1,121