Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus's Story

Claudius sat down on a bench and sighed. It was such a long way to class, and he didn't want to walk - limp, really - there. But he would have to. Soon Richard Blunt swaggered down the hall. 'Hey, Cl - cl - cl - claudius!' he called out, mocking Claudius's stutter. He sniggered. 'Can't get to class?' Claudius rolled his eyes. He wasn't sure why Blunt was so mean to him. It wasn't like Claudius's original was evil, or anything. Well, some people thought he was. Bullying comes from ignorance, I guess. Claudius thought.

Claudius laughed with Blunt. "Yeah, that's me! Never c - c - c - can quite make it! Glad you got h - h - h - here in time to k - k - keep my spirits up!" Blunt snorted, walking past and finally ignoring the young man. Claudius watched him go. It really was a pity that they didn't get along better. Claudius thought he might like the boy, with his strong sense of justice. Oh, well.

Claudius got up and was limping to class when he found a girl with red hair screaming down the hall. 'Where is the stupid office I want to talk to the administrator of this prison RIGHT NOW!'

Claudius's eyes widened. What a spit-fire! he thought. He smiled. There were a lot of those at this school. She would fit in nicely. He had never seen her before, though. He straightened his uniform, which had been twisted up by his irregular gait. He walked up to the girl. "H - h - h - hello." he said quietly. "I c - c - c - could help you find him, if you want. What's your name?" this last word was punctuated with a particularly bad jerk of his head, but he tried to keep smiling at the girl. He didn't want to intimidate her on what appeared to be her first day.

Frédéric walked down the campus leaning a bit on the wall with a sigh, he did not like what Doctor Louis had told him…nor what Florence had…but for different reasons. “George is back?” he thought to himself with a frown…he really did not know how to act around her now….after all she had left him, but what infuriated him even more was that novelette she had published in the school maganize. He knew, as well as a few others, that the model of the weak, sickly and practically useless Prince in it was based on himself…something so similar that her original had done to his…and had destroyed their friendship. He was a bit afraid it would ruin theirs as well.

He shook that thought out of his head as he heard a commonition near the front of the school gate, with a blink he saw…someone…new? “Is that….a Non-clone?” he thought to himself as he spied the light brown haired girl and heard her shout. He calmly walked up, school bag tucked under his arm.

“Ma’am? Do you require assistance?” he asked her with a tilt of his head, “From…what I over heard you are looking for t headmaster?” he asked as he saw Claudis, “Ah good day Claudis, how are you?” he asked with a smile as he waved to a fellow student, though younger than him.

Zoé felt like breaking things when this student in the school limped up to her and started stuttering. She glared at the guy with detest. What kind of school did her father send her too that let creeps like this in, she thought he must some inbred little freak to be limping around like that.

"H - h - h - hello." he said quietly. "I c - c - c - could help you find him, if you want. What's your name?"

She rolled her eyes and flipped her hair "I don't know how you could help me", she noticed the jerk of his head and she knew that something wasn't right with this kid.

“Ma’am? Do you require assistance?” he asked her with a tilt of his head, “From…what I over heard you are looking for t headmaster?”.

That was when another young man walked up, Zoé couldn't help but smile at this guy he looked a little pale but other than that he was easy on the eyes.

She smiled at him "Well if you could help me, I would like to speak with him so I can get out of here. I need to contact my father and make him take me back." she continued smiling and started to twirl a piece of hair around her finger.

The girl shot a contemptuous look at Claudius. 'I don't know how you could help me,'

Claudius just smiled. "I b-b-b-bet I could b-b-be useful."

Then Frederick walked up. 'Ma'am? Do you require assistance?' he asked the young lady, 'From… what I overheard you are looking for the headmaster?' Claudius liked Frederick. He was a bit old-fashioned, but so was Claudius, and he was so nice and polite to everyone he met. Even the supposedly "evil" clones. 'Ah good day Claudius, how are you?'

Claudius smiled at him. "I'm f-f-f-f-fine, Frederick, how are you?"

Zoe smiled at Frederick, and Claudius sighed. This person obviously had already dismissed him as an idiot because of his stutter. That happened a lot, though, so Claudius was used to it.

'Well if you could help me, I would like to speak with him so I can get out of here. I need to contact my father and make him take me back.' She started twirling her hair. Was she really flirting with Frederick? Claudius felt sick. And maybe a little jealous, too. Wait. Hold on a second. What did she just say?

"Wait." Claudius said, his voice quiet. "Did you just s-say 'speak with your f-f-fa-f-f-fa-f-f-f-'" He couldn't get it out. How stupid he was! How had he not realized that this girl was a non-clone? He stopped, taking a deep breath. "F-father?" He finished with a very violent jerk of his head, his voice hardly above a whisper.

Zoé's concentration on the cute guy was disturbed by the creepy guy that stuttered from before.

"Did you just s-say 'speak with your f-f-fa-f-f-fa-f-f-f-'"

She rose her eyebrow at him waiting for him to finally spit it out.

"F-father?"

"Yes my father" she spat out "Don't you know what that is or are you not familiar with parents" she wasn't sure maybe he was a rich orphan or something. She shrugged "Unfortunately my father shipped me off to this God forsaken place, and I'm going to do whatever it takes to get out" she looked him straight in the eyes.

She was here only a few minutes she had already decided that she was going to hate it here, if she wasn't gonna be able to "persuade" her father to take her back. It was going to be a loooong school year.

Frédéric smiled at the woman, “Certainly, me and my good friend Claudius will be happy to assist you Ma’am.” He commented as he looked at Claudius, “It is good to see you are well. I am…the same.” He said with a shrug, “So fine as well.” He commented with a smile, no need to scare the new girl off right away…speaking of she did not look like anyone of this school…it started to confirm the rumors he had heard.

He seemed, oblivious to the flirting or just ignoring it. In fact notes were swirling in his head at the moment, some he liked some he dismissed. His eyes widened slightly at the mention of father. That confirmed the rumor then. He glanced at her then Claudius, “we both don’t know much about that…both are orphans.” He explained. “while it is not the truth it is also not a lie.” he thought to himself, deciding to keep the fact they were clones a secret. “Aw yes excuse my manners… I am Frédéric…” he said with a slight bow.

“Well then you two shall we be on our way?” he asked with a warm smile on his face. “I am sure the headmaster will straighten things out…though I must say you may grow to like Saint Kleio…it is a rather nice place. Even if god is Russian...” He explained to her, a slight smile on his face at his own private joke about God.

'Yes my father.' the girl spat, 'Don't you know what that is or are you not familiar with parents?'

Claudius recovered himself. "Yes, I know what those are." He said uncomfortably.

The girl continued. 'Unfortunately my father shipped me off to this God forsaken place, and I'm going to do whatever it takes to get out.'

'Certainly, me and my good friend Claudius will be happy to assist you Ma’am.' Frederick said, 'It is good to see you are well. I am…the same. So fine as well.'

Claudius's mouth moved up and down, trying to offer an excuse for why he was so shocked about her talking about her father. But Frederick covered him. 'We both don’t know much about that…both are orphans.' He explained. 'Ah, yes excuse my manners… I am Frédéric…' he bowed.

Claudius sighed in relief. Where would he be without his friends?

'Well then you two shall we be on our way? I am sure the headmaster will straighten things out…though I must say you may grow to like Saint Kleio…it is a rather nice place. Even if god is Russian...'

Claudius nodded. "Y-y-y-y-yes, I have C-c-c-c-c-c-calculus f-first. I really m-m-must be g-going." And with that he turned and limped as fast as he could down the hall, looking forward to seeing Ami in Calculus. She was so kind, and would be like a breath of fresh air after that jerk. When he arrived in class, he sat down, looking for Ami. She wasn't here yet. He sighed. Maybe she would sit down next to him! His heart fluttered, and he fought to control himself. Stop being ridiculous! he thought. She's much too good for you! But a kid could dream, couldn't he?

Zoé smiled as she walked along side the cute guy totally oblivious to the kid from before that happened to slip off saying something about a class. Not that she cared either way but when the cute guy made a comment about her growing to like the school and the something about God that she didn't understand the only thing she could think about was the fact he said she might like it.

"I highly doubt it" she said with an upturn of her nose. "The only reason I'm here is cause my father cant keep his stupid, witch of a mistress's mouth shut. You'd think with all the money he gives her, she'd just shut up and deal with the fact that I'm his daughter and he cares more for me than her" she tried to keep telling herself this, eve though it was obvious now that he preferred her.

She flipped her hair again at that thought no there was no way he would think more of Martha that shameless whore had nothing until she started sleeping with her father. And this was how she repaid him, it was inconceivable to Zoé how the woman could do such a thing and risk her own financial status to banish Zoé to this school.

"I'm sure your school is just lovely, but I don't belong here so the sooner I talk to the headmaster and get out of here the better" she said with a nonchalant tone of voice.

Frédéric looked at Claudius, “Ah latin…could never really grasp that…just like some of French…” he muttered with a chuckle, “Take care Claudius! Tell the others I said hi!” he called out to him. He listened to Zoé as he gave her a soft smile. “Be happy you have a family to complain about, yes I am sure your life at home is far from perfect, but count your blessings…as few as those may be.” He told her as he ran his fingers on the wall.

“Not many can get out…but you may be an exception.” He murmured, after all he had a growing suspicion that she was not…a clone, why he was certain of it in fact! “But if you cannot, just try to look on the Brightside, I am sure you will be able to go home on the holidays.” He commented with a smile as he walked down the hallways, spying Richard Blunt storming by heading…somewhere. He shook his head at that before he led her to the office of the head master who opened the door.

“Ah, Frédéric there you are how is the music writing going?” he asked him. Frédéric sighed, “…slowly, but I am not here to talk about that. This is a…new student yes? She wants to be let out.” He explained, the headmaster shook his head, “I am afraid…well that cannot happen.” He said calmly. “Her tuition has already been paid for you see…and there won’t be any transportation arranged for her departure as you well know of Frédéric.” He explained. “Yes but she is…” he glanced at her, “Well…you know.” He muttered, “Yes I know who and what she is, but you may wish to tell her who you are sooner rather than later.” The headmaster told him, making Frédéric shift a bit uncomfortably.

Abe called back as Jack was walking away

"See you later Jack and you better believe I will try to watch out for baseball bats...Bye!"

Abe asked the others who where going to Calculus

"Hey, I think if we show up in a group late to calculus, it would be better for all of us then showing up late individually. So Ami and Hollis do you want to come with me to calculus? Claudius should already be there."

Zoe had been rifling through her luggage and to no avail she didn't find a cellphone. She sort of slumped down in the midst of the chaos she had made clutching her violin case in her hand. She was trying not to cry but was finding it hard to keep the hot angry tears from running down her cheeks.

“Miss please, do try to calm down…as I said this place is not as bad as you make it sound like! I promise you that…”

She heard the voice come up behind her and noticed it was the cute boy from before, she tried to quickly wipe the tears away before he noticed. His smile was so kind and sincere she had never seen anything like it before.

“Here allow me to help you…I can show you around…or carry your luggage…if non of those suit you, I can give you an ear and listen to you.”

Why was he being so kind to her, she had totally ignored him after he had showed her to the headmasters office. Yet here he was again trying to give her comfort.

"I..." she managed to squeak out before the flood of emotions played out all over her face and she began to sob into her hands. All she wanted to do was go home, but that wasn't going to happen she was stuck here. Here father didn't want her anymore so she had to stay.

---

It didn't take long for Ami and the others to get to calculus, she had actually hurried ahead of Abe and Darcy in hopes that she could get to see Claudius she really needed him at the moment and wanted to talk to him about Gaius. Her face was still slightly tear streaked, and filled with worry for him. She wondered why he had tried to keep his health a secret from them all. Doesn't he know if he doesn't get medical help there's no way he can get better. she thought to herself as she walked up to the class.

She could see professor Einstein tapping his fingers on the desk looking very frustrated with the fact that half of his class hadn't shown up yet.

Claudius was sitting in Professor Einstein's classroom, chin in hand, staring at the board dreamily. He was, obviously, thinking of Ami. Most people around him could tell, because his nose was runny and he had to keep sniffling. It was something that happened when he got excited. Every now and then, his head would jerk to the side, but he would just slowly put it back where it was, undistracted from his thoughts. He was imagining a million situations where he could be the hero, the strong one in their relationship. That thought stopped his thoughts in their tracks. Relationship? He wished they had a serious relationship. They were really just friends at the moment. But he wished for more. It wouldn't happen, he knew. It wouldn't be good if she became associated with him in people's minds. It would ruin her. They would label her an idiot, just like they did to him. He sighed and went back to imagining. In his latest day-dream, she was walking in the classroom, tears in her eyes, talking about how she couldn't help a wounded bird she saw on the sidewalk because the nurses wouldn't let her. He would comfort her, sneak her out of class when the teacher left to make a copy, and go and help the wounded bird anyway. It was a silly day-dream, but aren't all day-dreams silly? His thoughts were interrupted by the late-bell. He jumped, then continued to daydream.

A few pensive minutes later, he heard movement outside the door. He turned to see Ami, Abe, and a new girl walking into Calculus. To Claudius's surprise, Ami actually was crying. He blinked. How... odd. Well, it wasn't that odd, he supposed. Ami was a very emotional girl sometimes. Before they could enter the class, Claudius jumped up. "Good heavens! Exc-cuse me, P-p-professor, I seem to have l-l-l-l-lost hearing in my right ear. May I g-g-go to the n-nurse?" It was actually a common complaint from Claudius.

However, Einstein, who had never had Claudius in his class before, was deeply disturbed. His frustrated look was replaced with one of concern. 'Oh! Um, by all means!' he said.

Claudius nodded gratefully and hurried out the door, catching Ami by the arm and walking her a ways down the hallway, giving Abe and Hollis no more than a glance and a tight smile. "What's wrong?" he said. "I c-can't sit through class with you c-c-c-c-c-crying like that! Tell me what's up."

Just as Ami was about to go into class Claudius came out of the room took her by the arm led her away from the class. It was kind of sudden for her and a swift movement especially for him.

"What's wrong?" he said. "I c-can't sit through class with you c-c-c-c-c-crying like that! Tell me what's up."

She looked him in the eyes, and then she started crying again throwing her arms around him.

"Oh Claudius it was so horrible, poor Gaius he had a seizure in front of Todd's shop this morning. I tried to help but there was nothing I could do then the doctor came and took him away saying something about him not being able to see. How could he be so foolish to keep his health a secret like that. I had no idea he was that bad off" all she could do was sniffle and cry into Claudius's shoulder.

She knew she should go into class but she didn't want to go in the room crying her eyes out Professor Einstein would probably just send her out again. Her tears were starting to get his shirt wet, so she pulled her head up.

"Oh dear here I am making a mess of your shirt" she dug through the pocket of her uniform and pulled out a lace handkerchief and began to wipe the spot she had made. "Maybe I'm just being too silly and over reacting about it all" she still sniffled.

Jack walked swiftly back to the library, humming softly to himself all the way, mind wondering back to his thesis. Then suddenly he was back at his fortress of solitude, or what had once been his fortress. Instantly, he froze, just about having a heart attack where he stood. Everything was a mess, as if someone had taken a battering ram to his fortress walls. Books which had once been neatly stacked in somewhat organized piles were strewn across the table nonchalantly, some had even fallen on the floor, spins bent back in such a way that made him cringe. His notes were scattered everywhere, some even rolled up completely in balls that would be impossible to straighten out and make readable again. It was obvious that someone had been messing with his stuff and had wrecked his whole system.

My thesis, Jack suddenly thought, his heart jumping into his mouth. He sprinted the rest of the way to his table and began digging through the piles of things, desperately searching for his papers. After several minutes of searching, he sank back into his chair with a shaky, defeated laugh, his suspicions confirmed. His paper was gone. He sat there for a moment, feeling numb. Why on earth would anyone want to steal my thesis? His mind immediately jumped to Caligula, and for half a second, he forgot completely about the boy's seizure, thinking that the boy had taken it out of spite for him. But then he remembered the tramatic events of the morning, and discarded the idea of blaming the boy for this occurance. My paper is probably the last thing on his mind at the moment....

He sat still for a time, trying to keep his anger and panic down enough to remember if he had any other enemies other than Caligula. He couldn't think of anyone at the moment. Then another idea struck him. The librarian! She'll know who did this!

He stood up and ran around the place, searching for her. Finally he found her at her computer.

Did you see anyone come in here earlier?

he demanded.

Or was there any disturbances earlier? Anything at all?

She frowned at him, shocked by his angry tone.

Jack, this is a library. People come in here all the time. You can't expect me to know them all. And no, there was no disturbance. Why? Has something happened?

Oh, someone just came in and wrecked my study area and took my thesis,

he rambled, cursing on the inside.

My goodness!

She looked genuinely shocked and worried for him.

I hope you can find your paper. I'll look around if you want. Maybe it just got misplaced around here or something.

Thanks,

he muttered.

I'll just go report this to the office.

He left the library without waiting for a reply, heading swiftly down the hall.

What else could go wrong today? He was so busy fretting over his thesis that he almost ran into his second group of people of the day--Ami and Claudius--who, for reasons unknown to him, just seemed to be loitering about together in the hallway.

Claudius watched her intently, but jumped when she burst out crying and threw her arms around him. He froze, his eyes widening. It was, at the same time, a dream come true and a terrible tragedy. He hated to see her cry, but the opportunity to comfort her, to be the strong one, was what he had always wished for. He hugged her tightly, patting her on the back comfortingly.

'Oh Claudius it was so horrible, poor Gaius - he had a seizure in front of Todd's shop this morning. I tried to help, but there was nothing I could do then the doctor came and took him away saying something about him not being able to see. How could he be so foolish to keep his health a secret like that? I had no idea he was that bad off!' Then she sobbed into his shoulder.

Claudius's brows furrowed. "Gaius?" he repeated. He had no idea Gaius had seizures. He had learned in his Ancient History class that Caligula had epilepsy, but Claudius had assumed that was just from the lead Caligula drank on a regular basis. He never imagined that Gaius would have to go through something like that. He didn't like Gaius very much, because he always made fun of Claudius, but Claudius wasn't one to ever wish anyone ill. He felt bad for the kid. But at the same time he had his doubts. Gaius did like attention. He might have been faking the whole thing.

She pulled her head away from him and pulled out a handkerchief. She dabbed at his shirt. 'Oh dear here I am making a mess of your shirt. Maybe I'm just being too silly and over reacting about it all.'

Claudius laughed lightly. "No, no, no, no." he said, pushing a piece of her hair behind her ear. Of course, she had short hair, and it turned out to be a useless gesture, but it was the thought that counted. "Seizures are s-s-sc-scary things, or so I've heard." His head twitched to the side. He smiled. "And you with your caring heart, of c-course you would be upset..." He watched her wipe at his shoulder. He caught her hand in his, stopping her from furiously wiping at his shirt, and chuckled again. "And don't worry ab-bout the shirt. I can just say... I don't know..." he shrugged. "I c-can just say I got a drink and spilled it on myself. I do that all the t-t-time." That was one of the pros of seeming like a complete idiot. People would believe any story he told, or they would just nod and say that's nice, and not think anything more of it. While Claudius refused to play the fool, that didn't mean he refused to capitalize on false impressions people had of him. He placed his hands on Ami's shoulders. "Now, you go c-cl-clean yourself up, and then come to c-class when you feel like it. I'll tell Einstein that I s-saw you helping Gaius, okay?" He pulled her in for a hug, but C.S. Lewis nearly ran into them and Claudius pulled Ami out of the way. "L-L-Lewis! What's up w-w-with you?"

Jack stumbled back, recovering quickly from his near collision with Claudius and Ami.

L-L-Lewis! What's up w-w-with you?

Claudius asked, pulling Ami out of the way.

Oh, what isn't up with me?

Jack said sarcastically.

First, I don't hear about the fact that non clones were supposed to come to the school and suddenly let slip that we're all clones and freak them out! Second, I'm pretty sure my words triggered Gaius's panic attack which was followed by a seizure. And thirdly, someone has stolen the thesis that I've been working on for months!

Jack stopped ranting, taking a deep breath to calm himself down. There was no need to get angry at Claudius and Ami. It wasn't their fault that everything was going badly today.

Now, I'm just on my way to the principal's office to try to straighten everything out. Sorry I interrupted your...whatever you were doing.....

He moved around them, heading off down the hall again. He had only walked a little ways, when he almost had his third collision of the day, this time with Mary Todd and Abe.

Whoa. Abe...what's u--

Jack, I need to talk to you at lunch so hurry up! Abe was positively brimming over with excitement. Before Jack could question him, he and Mary headed off in the direction of the cafeteria. Jack stared after them, suddenly curious. What on earth could have Abe so excited? he wondered, scratching the back of his head. After a moment he sighed again, and then continued on to the principals office.