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15. Reality

You know, I'm so glad I had that idea, because otherwise this book wouldn't have progressed as much as it has

TW: swearing, mentions of fainting, pain, talk of all of the blood/gore/etc from the last chapter, crying,

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Virgil jumped up as Roman let out a bloodcurdling scream, rushing over the the bed. He was curled up and shaking, his eyes wide and full of fear. He was muttering quiet 'no's' under his breath as he shook.

"Roman, can you hear me?" Virgil asked quietly, his voice soft and careful. He didn't want to make Roman freak out even more, but he needed to calm him down before he screamed again and someone took notice. "Roman, I need you to listen to me."

"V-Virgil?" Roman asked quietly. "I-is it you?"

"Yes, it's me," Virgil murmured. "Can I touch you?"

"Please," Roman whispered. He latched onto Virgil immediately, crying into him as he shook. His head hurt and images were flashing in his mind. He couldn't get the picture of all the blood out of his head, nor how it all ended.

"What happened?" Virgil asked softly. "You just fainted here and... Roman I was terrified. You've been asleep for three days. What happened to you?"

"I don't know," Roman muttered. "It was all so awful. So- so grey. There was no color. No color anywhere except for the blood."

"Blood?" Virgil was concerned. After being asleep for three days, Roman woke up and started screaming immediately Of course he'd be concerned. Clearly something happened. "Roman are you okay?"

"I don't know." Roman whined as his head started to throb. "It hurt. There were so many dead. The entire isle was grey. Everything except for the blood. They were torn apart. I hated it. Then- then I found my friends. It was so awful."

"I'm so sorry, Ro," Virgil murmured. He held him comfortingly, trying to help him calm down. There was nothing he could do until Roman was calm. "You're safe now. It was just a nightmare."

"No," Roman whispered. "It wasn't a nightmare. There was a date, Virgil. June 21. Our time is running out."

"You can't mean-" Virgil froze as Roman nodded. "Oh dear god. Oh fucking hell. That's not much time. Oh fuck."

"How do we manage?" Roman asked quietly. He shivered, the image of the sword imprinted in his mind. "There's so much we have to do. So much to try."

"I know." Virgil sighed, hugging Roman closely. "I know. But we'll manage. We have to. There's clearly something you aren't telling me, though. I can see how you're shivering, Ro. I know that it wasn't just the deaths that got to you. If you're comfortable telling me, what happened?"

"Someone was there," Roman said quietly. "Whoever it was, they had a sword. I didn't realize they were even there. I was too busy crying to notice the footsteps. The next thing I knew, I looked up and there was a sword coming for my head. I didn't have time to move. Then I woke up."

"I'm so sorry, Roman," Virgil murmured. He started running his fingers through his hair, trying to comfort him in the only way he could think of. "You're safe now. I'll keep you safe. No one can hurt you here."

"I'm scared, Virgil. Everything is so different here, and in a good way, but also in a bad way. This is so much. I never thought I'd ever get off of the isle, let alone get involved in all of this."

"I'm sorry," Virgil said quietly. "This is my fault. I brought you here, and it's my fault you're involved in all of this. It's my fault the spell got fucked up, and now you've seen awful things because I fucked up."

"Don't blame yourself," Roman said. "I agreed to this. I knew the risk, and I would chose to do it again. I don't like what it's brought, but I wouldn't go back from my choice. This is something that has to be done."

"You say you're not a prince, and yet you act like more of one than me," Virgil murmured. "You're brave and wouldn't go back, even after everything. You'd be a good king."

"I'm not a prince, and I definitely won't be a king."

"We'll see about that."

727 words.