The Borrower and the Fairy Prince

Chapter 35: And They Got Caught

"It worked, it really worked!" Logan cheered. "The scroll was right, and I didn't even need the other half!"

"Guess it really was a good thing I forced you to take a break," Janus remarked, only to be tackled in a hug by Logan.

"Thank you so much! This only happened because of you!"

Remus hugged them both, saying, "Well, it also happened because you asked all of those nerdy questions, Logan."

"Group hug!" Patton called, joining the hug.

Roman sniffled as he calmed down, refusing to let go of Virgil. The borrower had calmed down significantly too, hiccupping with almost every quiet sob.

The prince pulled back and gave Virgil a kiss on the forehead. "I was so scared of losing you," he whispered. "There's still so much I want to do with you, so much to say."

"I tried so hard to win," Virgil told him. "I swear I tried to win. I had promised you that I wouldn't sacrifice myself for you if I could help it. I swore I'd do my best to protect both of us."

"I know, and I'm so proud of you. I know you did your best, and I love you for that. I love you for that, and so much more."

Virgil tightened his grip on the prince. "You love me?"

"So much, I love you so much! I want to be with you for the rest of my life! I want to hold you and-and spar with you! I want you to be happy, and I want to hear you laugh and comfort you when you're sad! I love you so much!"

Virgil felt more tears gather in his eyes, spilling down his cheeks as he leaned closer into Roman's chest.

"I'm sorry, Roman," he said, making the prince's heart drop. "I broke your one rule long ago, I love you too."

"Don't scare me like that!" Roman laughed slightly, pulling back. "I thought you were going to reject me!"

"That's what you get for making that stupid rule!" Virgil tried to yell, but his voice was too hoarse to actually get very loud.

"That was forever ago and I was joking! Back then I didn't think either of us would fall in love, it was just some stupid banter!"

Virgil laughed, wiping his tears away. "Well who would I be if I didn't mess with you?"

Roman laughed along, wiping his own tears away. He looked up to the giants and said, "Thank you once again. I'm so happy you could help. I'm afraid I didn't catch your name?"

"I'm Nico Flores, and I'm happy I was able to heal him," he replied.

"I'm Prince Roman, and I'm forever in your debt."

"Wait, you're a prince?!" Thomas asked, looking back and forth from Roman and Remus.

Nico laughed, grabbing his boyfriend's hand and ignoring him to tell Roman, "I already told you, there's no need for that. Though, I do have one question, your friend isn't a fairy, is he?"

"I'm-I'm a borrower," Virgil answered. "My name is Virgil."

"And I'm Patton!" The water fairy said, flying up to be eye level with Nico. "I didn't realize humans can have magic! That's so cool!"

"I'm actually not human. I'm a witch, it's similar but different."

"I have so many questions about that myself," Thomas mumbled.

"I'm just glad Virgil's okay, so now we can focus on finding the fairy that did this to him," Remus said. "Once we find Ignis, well he's probably going to be executed for his crimes."

"If the dark magic hadn't consumed him already," Logan pointed out.

Roman stood up, scooping Virgil into his arms who instantly clung onto him. "Well I'll worry about that later. Right now, I want to take Virgil back home so he can rest and-"

"Roman! Remus!" A voice from across the river interrupted. Before they could all look over, roots tore from the ground and pointed at Thomas and Nico in spikes.

"Mom!" Remus shouted, being the first to see her. Her eyes glowed a bright green, and she kept her gaze on the giants.

"Get away from them right now!" she told everyone, finally reaching their side of the river.

Thomas and Nico both tried their best to appear non threatening, Nico keeping an arm in front of Thomas.

"Wait, mom, it's okay!" Roman told her, flying to her level with Virgil in his arms. "They healed Virgil! They're friends!"

"Friends-? Wait, Virgil's healed?" The queen calmed down slightly, the glow leaving her eyes as she moved closer to Roman and Virgil. She looked the borrower up and down for any signs of the black webbing that covered him before. She smiled slightly. "You're okay?"

Virgil nodded, a bit intimidated by her. Looking at the sharp spikes made by the roots, he was glad she was always on his side. She was very powerful, that's for sure.

"The giant's helped us!" Remus explained, flying over. "They're really kind!"

"Oh, I'm so glad you all are safe!" the queen sighed, wrapping her sons and Virgil into a hug. She pulled away, keeping a hand on both of her sons. "Now...-" She grabbed them by their ears. "-What the h*ll were you two thinking?! You didn't bother giving me a warning?! I had a heart attack! I thought Ignis got you! And you went over the river?! You know that's forbidden!"

"Ow ow ow, mom!" Roman whined. Virgil tried to sink lower into his arms, holding his ears slightly since he didn't have a hood to cover them.

"We're sorry! We didn't mean to scare you!" Remus told her.

"You two have a lot of explaining to do!" the queen scolded.

Thomas cleared his throat. "Uh, your majesty?"

The queen let go of her sons' ears and wiped her hands, smiling up at the giants. "I apologize for that, I should introduce myself. I'm Queen Olivia of the fairies. And you are?"

"Oh, uh, I'm Thomas Sanders."

"And I'm Nico Flores," the other giant answered.

Olivia waved her hand and the roots went back into the ground. "Well, now that is all sorted out. I do have a lot of questions, but first why don't you all tell me everything from the beginning?"