"What if he hadn't?"

Ethan cautioned, 'Watch out-a!' Samuel ducked and slipped into the doorway with Ethan, escaping the night patrol. Ethan unlocked the basement door with his master key. Ethan felt a certain uneasiness, which only calmed after entering the basement and not finding any unexpected surprises. 

Samuel and Ethan were students at Sapienza University, Rome. They had traveled to Naples to research the Castle dell' Ovo and its legends. They were working on the myth about Virgil putting the magical egg in the foundation of the castle. 

Samuel took out his scanners. He tweaked the scanners to optimal resolution and searched the basement. Ethan examined the room for any historical texts to help him. Samuel and Ethan had been searching the room for about an hour and had not found anything when suddenly something appeared in the long-range scanner. It was something huge, approximately 15 feet below the basement. 

Samuel asked, "Do you think this is what I think it is?"

"If not-a, den we would be going to jail forrr nothing-a."

Samuel's forehead puckered, "Are we sure about doing this?"

Ethan growled in affirmation and took out the digging equipment. For some time there was no sound but finally 25 minutes later, the spade struck upon something, and made a dull, woody sound. With trembling hands, they cleared the soil around the area. It was not what they were expecting and it did not seem to be anything better either. It was just a burial site. 

There were two coffins, marked Joanna and Otis. Samuel's eyebrows bumped together in a scowl, "Worthless."

Ethan winked cockily and smiled, "oh-a, it is-a not total-ly worrrthles-s-a. Coffins are a great way to look into the past."

“I don’t know, Ethan. I grew up in a very conservative family, and one thing I learned from my time growing up is that dead shouldn’t be disturbed.”

Ethan didn’t bother and in a jiffy, prised off the lid of Otto's coffin. 

Samuel gasped in horror, "Don't you fear the dead?!"

Ethan managed a deadpan expression and continued examining the coffin. Samuel turned away and recited the holy prayers.

Ethan giggled and clapped, "You have to see tis-a, Samooel-a .Ot-to here was laid to rrrest with this mask on-a."

Samuel turned back but continued his chants. Otto was wearing a mask, but not just any mask. It was a Bauta mask, and it held great importance in the traditional Italian culture. Ethan's curiosity was piqued. The Bauta didn't appear in Italian history until the early 16th century, but the coffin definitely dated back to the 14th century. The ivory designs and inscriptions suggested that it dated to 14th century.

Ethan took out the mask from Otto's impaled face, despite Samuel's displeasure. The Bauta mask was intricately designed and had different ancient symbols inscribed onto it. The design and the fashion of the Bauta mask implied that Otto was a significant figure. While Ethan was cleaning the Bauta mask with the soft brush, Samuel sealed Otto's coffin and placed it back. He refilled the cavity.

After Samuel had finished the work, Ethan waltzed towards him and showed him off the clean and recovered Bauta mask. He handed Samuel his phone and asked him, "Click a pictoorrre of mine with the mask-a."

Samuel reluctantly took the phone and stomped his feet and snorted. He clicked some pictures of Ethan showing off and posing with the mask. He was almost tired when Ethan said, "Last pic-a, prrromise," and put the Bauta mask on. 

As soon as Ethan had put the mask on, Ethan was sucked in a flash of light . 

*** 

The castle walls trembled, and Queen Joanna was woken by the frenzy knocking on the door. It was her lady-in-waiting, Ceana. She was panting. 

Queen Joanna asked, "How dare you disturb your Queen's sleep!"Ceana apologized and explained the reason for her contumacy. A severe storm had developed and caused devastation on the island. It destroyed the natural arch of the island leaving people restless and anxious. 

Queen Joanna was bug-eyed. She ordered Ceana, "Get me my coat and send out a call for royal courtiers." Queen surveyed the damage to the island and castle from the balcony. 

Queen's head guard, Ifor, requested her presence in the basement. He alerted her, "Gooarrrds found a masked man unconscious in de dungeon. He wearrrs weirrrd clothes-a."

The queen was perplexed. She headed down to the basement as fast as her legs could carry her and there he was, the intruder lying on the floor like a lifeless mouse. He looked pretty much harmless, like someone who lost his way and somehow ended up somewhere he shouldn’t be. Except, no one would ever “lose” their way and end up at a heavily guarded and fortified castle. There was something else that caught her attention, he was wearing a mask. That mask was what alerted both Ifor and Joanna that this intruder might not actually be innocent. The Queen tried taking off the intruder's mask, but it wouldn't come out. She ordered the guards to tie and secure him in the dungeon and went away to supervise the removal of rubble. 

Ethan woke up feeling tipsy. His head hurt, and his hands were tied up. He tried to battle his hands-free but to no avail. 

He couldn't remember getting tied up. The basement looked tad different. Candles were lit all around him, and it was a little less mossy than usual. The cameras were missing. The inscriptions which he was searching for were present out in the open. Ethan's headache had subsided somewhat, and by then, he had realized that while the location was the same, the timeline was wrong. Ethan didn't want to believe it, but the mask was a magical time-traveling Bauta mask. Irony had it. He was always skeptical of the idea of time travel, and now, because of it, he knew where he was, but not when. He screamed loudly to attract his captor's attention. Ethan initially felt the urge to dismiss it as a dream, but he couldn't deny the evident facts. 

On hearing screaming and shouting from the dungeon, Queen Joanna, accompanied by, Ifor went down to the dungeon again.  

Ethan was stunned as the Queen walked into the dungeon. He tried to recognize her from his history lessons and it suddenly snapped. He was disheartened when he remembered that she was the infamous matriarchal Queen of Naples. But, despite all the crimes and the bad things that she had done (or not, yet); he couldn’t help but feel attracted to her. He lost himself in the Queen's deep blue eyes, which were like the depths of the Caribbean. There was something about her, her aura that made Ethan almost forget about the fact that he had time travelled to some different era. The paintings and portraits of her had failed to justify her beauty. But the moment was lost as soon as it started. 

Ifor grabbed him by the collar and thrust him onto the nearby wall. Queen Joanna signaled him, and Ifor reluctantly dropped Ethan on the floor. The Queen said, "This is not how we treat our guests. Be they friend or foe," and turning to Ethan, she asked, "Who would you be? A friend?"

Ethan nodded vigorously, "Unquestionably a frrriend."

"Friends don't intrude onto other's castle."

"I humbly apologize for that...Uh?"

"Queen Joanna, and you are?"

It suddenly struck him. It didn’t take him long to connect the dots. The other coffin had belonged to Queen Joanna and he figured that he was struck in the 14th century. 

In an attempt to not pollute the timeline, Ethan blurted out, "Ot-to. Ot-to Benso."

"Otto Benso, hmm. What were you doing in my dungeon, and why are you wearing a mask?"

Ethan didn’t know the first thing about Otto and thus needed a back story. He drew inspiration from the mighty military adventurer Napolean Bonaparte. He introduced himself as an Angevin military adventurer who had come to support her against the Hungarians.  

He heard fierce thundering and assumed it was a storm. He added to his cover story, "I had secrrretly entoied yourrr doongeon to wait out de storrrm-a. My apologies forrr not seeking yourrr poimis-sion-a." Ethan played a dangerous gamble and won since Ifor didn’t have him struggling for breath. 

"Good story, but one thing doesn't check out. We Angevin's don't wear these weird masks."

Ethan quickly made up another excuse, "oh-h-a. I am-a wearrring tis mask forrr ten yearrrs now-a. My face was scarrr-rrred in a bat-tle. My priest asked me not to reveal my face. It is a bad omen."

"Take off your mask and that's an ord-"

Queen Joanna was interrupted by Ceana, "My apologies for the intrusion, Queen, but a crowd has gathered outside the castle and are demanding to see the magical egg."

Ethan recalled his primary objective, the magical egg. On seeing the apprehension on Queen's face, Ethan guessed that they were chasing fairytales all this while; the magical egg wasn't real.

Beads of sweat appeared on Queen Joanna's forehead. 

Queen Joanna took Ethan aside and said to him, "So, Otto, since you say you are a friend of ours, then you must assist me."

Ethan bowed and said, "Anything forrr de queen."

"My courtiers couldn't come because the destruction of the arch has them stranded on the other side of the island, and I want suggestions to appease the crowd."

"I take tat de magical eg-g doesn't exist-a?"

"Shh. Don't say it aloud. Only a handful of people like Ifor know about it."

Ethan's brow knitted in a frown, and he stroked his beard over the mask. He then exclaimed, "Ah-a, you cano make people believe tat you recreated Virrrgil's magic and placed another magic eg-g-a, and since it is an holy object the public cannot see it." and thought, “Thank Goodness for History. Always saves your ass.”

Queen's eye gleamed, "Otto, I knew you’d be useful," and she left the dungeon to make necessary arrangements for her speech to the assembled crowd. Before exiting the dungeon, Queen Joanna instructed Ifor to set up a room in the castle for Ethan and make him feel at home. 

When left alone in the castle room with his thoughts, Ethan dreaded returning to his time and recounting about his time at the 14th century to Samuel. He locked the door to the room and tried taking off the mask in hopes that he would return to the 21st century.  

***

Samuel used his equipment to run extensive searches. The muscles in his face tightened when nothing turned up. It was as if Ethan had vanished into thin air. Feeling hopeless, Samuel was packing up when a strange white light flashed, followed by a loud noise. It was Ethan. 

Samuel hugged him tightly. He said, "Where the hell did you go? I was worried sick."

"I will tell you everything. But first, let’s get out of here. My re-entry must have alerted the guards."

Ethan helped Samuel pack up, and together they slipped past the hurrying guards, into the castle perimeter. They had quite a run and were gasping for breath. They lay on the grass bed together and looked at the stars. 

"So what had happened?" asked Samuel.

Ethan replied, "As soon as I put on de mask-a, I travelled back in time to another era. I know it is- hard to believe but de mask is-a de magical eg-g we were searrrching forrr-a," and showed him the mask.

Samuel stared wide-eyed at the Bauta mask and then looked up at Ethan.

"How can this be possible? Time travel is an idea which the physicists scoff at."

"I know. I was skeptical at firrrst-a, too. Boot den if we can believe in magic, why not time travel."

"Let's say I believe you for a minute, which era did the mask take you?"

Ethan recounted to Samuel the few hours he spent in the 14th century, the fierce storm, the magical egg, and the infamous Queen Joanna of Naples. He also described to him the fictional character Otto who he had created based on Napolean.  

Samuel exclaimed, "So, this Joanna was 'The' Queen Joanna of Naples! Well, she was notorious for her dominating nature and tormenting her subjects. Death always shadowed her. She is bad news."

Ethan maintained eye contact with Samuel, but his gaze became glazed. He tried to hide his feelings for Queen Joanna and dismissed Samuel. "She isn't al-l tat bad." He then tried to steer the conversation from Queen Joanna to something else. He brought up their project. 

"Now-a, tat we know magical eg-g isn't rrreal-a, I was tinking tat we should take up 14thcentoorrry forrr ourrr prrroject-a. We know tat historrry is-a nothing boot biased perspective. We cano corrr-rrrect tat-a. A five day visit to 14th centoorrry and we rrrecorrrd about de daily life and prrresent ano unbiased window into the 14th centoorrry."

Samuel thought for a moment. While what Ethan had proposed was interesting, it was dangerous. They didn't know whether the mask would work again or not, or if it would take them to the 14th century or not. But the benefits, it outweighed the risks. He gave a toothy smile as his approval and consent..

"What about the mask?"

"What about it-a?"

"Are we going to hand it over to the government or something?"

"Arrre you mad-a? We go out and tel-l de worrrld we ave discovered a way to time trrravel into de past and Nazi soop-porrrtois would want to change de face of Worrrld Warrr II. We would decide about the Bauta mask aftoi we finsih de prrroject-a."

Samuel managed a deadpan expression. He didn't agree with Ethan, but Ethan always managed to get what he wanted at the end. Samuel didn’t see a reason as to why he should relent. Samuel acquiesced to Ethan's eccentric ideology. Ethan took Samuel's silence as a yes. 

He said, "Do you want to visit de 14th centoorrry?"

Ever since Ethan had mentioned time travel, Samuel secretly wished to try it himself. Although he despised Queen Joanna, he couldn't miss a chance to visit the 14th century. He eagerly jumped on the idea. 

"I would love to visit the 14th century and check this mask out for myself."

They then hatch an elaborate plan to visit the 14th century. Samuel was to travel to the 14th-century at nighttime and Ethan was to maintain Otto’s presence and increase his importance during daytime. Samuel had to be discreet and avoid the Queen at all costs.  

****

It was the last day of their research project. The project turned out better than expected in many ways. They recorded history in a new way and realized that most parts of history are actually biased and flawed. The project was academically enriching. 

During these five days, Ethan's initial infatuation turned into something more intimate. He and Queen Joanna became very close. She had started to trust him and believe his tales. He aided her in decision-making and retold stories of Napolean as his own. Napolean's stories not only got Otto famous with the Queen but also with the castle guards and other castle staff. Even Ifor dropped his guard and became friendly with Ethan. They even shared drinks one evening. While Otto's popularity and fame reached far and wide, Samuel's resentment for Queen Joanna grew. He didn't like anything about her. He was horrified by the Naples' subjects' condition and blamed Joanna's rule for it. 

Ethan was tasked with saying goodbye to everyone and conclude their 14th-century research. He was in the Queen's chamber, helping Joanna choose the curtains for her royal court. 

He slouched in the chair, thinking of a way to say his goodbyes to Queen Joanna. He suddenly blurted out, in a dull demeanor, "I am-a rrrequirrred to leave."

"When will you return?"

"It is-a oonlikely in nearrr footoorrre. Dooty cal-ls-a."

Queen Joanna slumped her shoulders, "Didn't you say that you had come to assist me in the fight against Hungarians?"

"Yes-a, I did boot I am-a needed elsewhere."

"Otto, stay." Ethan could see the longing in Queen Joanna's eyes. 

Ethan couldn't resist Queen Joanna's pleading glances. It didn't help that he was already overwhelmed by his emotions. He rocked back and forth on his heels. He battled his logic and the sense of friendship and decided to stay.

His heart galloped as he said, "I ave decided and I wil-l stay."

Queen Joanna jumped on her feet and clapped excitedly. She asked, "Will you let me see what's behind that mask?"

Ethan stepped back, and said, "My Qooeen I am-a afrrraid tat if I take my mask of-f-a, den you wil-l become afrrraid of me and nevoi come nearrr me again-a."

Queen Joanna swallowed and accepted the fact that she was never going to see what's behind the Bauta mask. 

Ethan felt guilty for betraying Samuel and deciding not to leave. In the dead of the night, he felt the need to explain himself to Samuel. Ethan returned to the 21st century and entered Samuel's hotel room using the spare key. He crept onto the room and placed a letter and his journals and records of the 14th century for Samuel. 

Samuel had heard him walk into the room and leave with a flash of light. Somewhere in his heart, Samuel always knew that Ethan was fulfilled by the 14th century and that he would try to stay there forever. It was why he hadn't argued when Ethan had proposed taking the last trip to the 14th century. Samuel didn't feel wronged for Ethan taking the mask for himself. He had wanted Ethan to have it from the start. He wondered,"what if Ethan hadn't?"through the night. It was a difficult night, one involving mental battle.

Ethan went back to the 14th century, never to return again. After his death, he was placed next to his beloved Queen Joanna's coffin, under his alias name, Otto.