💫💀Drowning (rewrite) | Sanders Sides

Chapter 12

"Roman!" I scream to try to get my brother's attention. I run as fast as my legs will allow, calling out to him, feeling the steam practically flow from the ground below me.

"Roman! Roman, I'm here!" As I get closer, I slow my movements, until I'm behind Roman with my hands on my knees, hunched over and panting. "R-... Ro... Roman," I wheeze, "Hey... c-can you... can you hear me?"

Before I can speak, he sighs. He sounds so... empty.

"Do you remember this place, Remus? Do you have any of our memories?"

He tugs at the grass below our feet. A shiver runs through my spine. "We were right here, over 20 years ago."

He raises his hand and I see two little holograph boys sitting on the cliff next to us, dangling their feet over the edge. They look like us, but much smaller. We must've been a few months younger than 10 years, right after we split.

The boy on the right speaks first. "Whatcha thinkin', bro-bro?" That's Roman, one hundred percent. Roman always called me bro-bro, but when he stopped out of pride, I started doing it in hopes he'd catch on.

Little me shakes his head, and a tear falls from his eye down the cliff.

"Hey, you can tell me. I'll always be here for you, Re, prince's honor."

"That's the thing," Little Remus croaks, sniffling. "What if you're not always here for me? I mean, look at us. There are two of us if you haven't noticed. And every time I talk to Morality about my ideas, he looks at me like my head's gone chopped off. He likes you and not me, and sooner or later, he'll kick me out."

"No... no, that's not true." Little Roman puts a hand on my shoulder for comfort. I can feel the guilt radiating for him, even if it may be a hallucination of some kind. "Remus, I'm sure it'll just take some time for him to get used to the idea of two-"

Little Remus covers his ears and cries, "STOP IT!" and the world falls silent.

"Roman, I overheard them talking. When we turn 10, this fantasy ends and I have to leave everything behind. You're the only person I can count on and then you're just gonna leave me, too? You won't even have a choice! They're just gonna take me and Deceit and Anxiety and force us out! What are you gonna do about that, huh, Prince Charming? Nothing! And it's all... it's all because I'm the 'special case.' I'm a 'special boy,' and I've got 'special interests,' but their definition of special changes when you come around."

And then the boys are gone, their voices fading out of my range, little silver confetti particles falling.

Another shiver runs down my spine. The air's getting colder.

I'm losing him.