Reapers

Chapter 37: Nope. Nopity Nope Nope, No!

Roman sighed as he leaned against the counter, rubbing his face. It was early in the morning, but he just couldn't sleep anymore. It's been a few days since their trip to Disney, but his dreams just didn't stop.

He dreamed about Virgil's funeral, losing battles, crying about Virgil, and then finally his death. So many dreams, all awful. Why is he having these dreams? And will they end now that he's finally dead in them?

He just wanted to rest, and worse yet he's afraid that his relationship with Virgil will be affected by these dreams. It seems awkward whenever he's around the reaper now. I mean, he proposed to Virgil in his dream! Sure he liked him and found him amazing, but... he didn't feel that way about Virgil. Did he?

He thought about Virgil dying in his arms. In his dream he was devastated, and he would surely feel that way if Virgil really did die in his arms. He definitely would feel the same way. But did he love him like his dream self claimed?

He looked up when he heard footsteps and saw Virgil. He frowned when he saw Roman, confusion and concern clear on his face. He let go of his scythe, sending it away.

"What are you doing up? Shouldn't you be in bed?" he asked, hesitating a bit before moving forward. He didn't try to touch Roman though, the tension between them making them both feel awkward.

"I couldn't sleep, I had a bad dream," Roman told him with a shrug, looking away and at anything besides the reaper.

"You keep having those lately. Do you... do you wanna talk about it?" He was trying so hard to break the tension. They've been growing apart lately, and that kinda hurt Virgil.

"I don't know," Roman sighed as he rubbed his eyes.

Virgil pulled his cloak tighter before climbing onto the counter, sitting there. "Well, I'll listen. Maybe talking about it will stop your nightmares."

"I just... I don't even know where I would begin! I've been having these dreams for the past month now, and at first they were just normal dreams. But then they turned into nightmares."

"So... you've been having recurring dreams?"

"I wouldn't call them that. It's like... the dream stops and then picks up where it left off when I go back to sleep. Like a story... or someone's most important memories."

"Maybe it's from your past life?"

Roman shook his head with a slight laugh. "There's no way. I mean, I'm royalty in them! And not only that, but I fought in a war!"

Virgil paled slightly but continued. "Many... many nobles have fought before."

"I just really don't think that was me. It has to be something my mind made up! There's no way that could have been my past life."

"Why not? You've been having these dreams for the past month, right? Usually people who remember their past life remembers it through dreams."

"Okay but why was I a roman prince?! I mean, there's no way that was my past life!" Virgil's eyes were wide and he stopped breathing, but Roman didn't notice. "Not only that, but you were there! The roman emperor, my father, assigned you to be my guard and teacher! We were fighting the Germania together, you were stabbed but then I saved you. Then I gave you that purple scarf! We trained together, became friends, and then something more! I fucking proposed to you with an apple! Then you died! Right in my arms and I couldn't handle it! I gave you a funeral and afterwards I just fell apart, then I died! I just... there's no way that was my past life. There's no way you..." Roman froze when he finally looked up at Virgil.

The reaper was frozen, his face pale and eyes wide. His hands gripped his arms so hard his knuckles were white. Worse yet, what made Roman's stomach turn were the tears that had built up in his eyes.

"Virgil?" Roman asked, worry making his voice soft. He reached out but froze when Virgil flinched back.

"R-Romulus?" his voice was wet with tears.

Roman frowned. "How did you know that was my name in the dreams?"

"I-is vere est tiba... proh deos." (I-It really is you... oh gods).

For some reason, Roman understood what he said perfectly. With a start he realized that in his dreams they only spoke in Latin. Oh no... oh all of that was real. He was Romulus, he was a princep! Even more than that... he was engaged with Virgil, and then Virgil died in his arms. All of that really did happen.

"Virgil I-" Roman tried to say, only for Virgil to just disappear. He was gone, as if turned invisible. Roman panicked, not sure what happened or what to do. After a moment, he realized Virgil had probably gone Home.

Still, that only helped to ease his panic a little bit. With shaky hands he pulled out his phone, texting Sal. A small message, asking her to come over. By the time he hit send, he was sitting on the floor. He held his phone tight in his hands, feeling the edges dig into his palm as he sat staring at nothing.

Everything that happened in his dream really happened. All of it happened. He fell in love with Virgil... he was going to marry him... and then Virgil was bleeding out in his arms. There was so much blood...

"Roman?" he heard Sal call, but he couldn't bother to move from his spot. He saw her enter the kitchen and stop for a moment before rushing over. She sat down next to him. "Hey, what happened? Are you okay?" She looked around and pulled out a gun, searching for danger. "Where's Virgil?"

Roman flinched at the name. "I..." he couldn't breathe, it felt like something was stuck in his lungs. He focused on moving his body, not caring that it didn't want to cooperate, breathing in. He wasn't sure how much air he got in his lungs but it was enough to speak. "He left."

"What-what do mean he left? Where did he go?"

Roman felt tears build up in his eyes, and he ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know. He just disappeared. I think he went Home." Several tears fell from his eyes as he let the hurt sink in. Everything hurt so much. He doesn't even know why at this point.

"O-Okay, can you tell me why? What happened?"

"I'm Romulus."

Sal tensed up, eyes blown wide as her breathing got slower. "You're... you're what?"

"I was Romulus. I... Virgil he... we were..."

"How do you know?"

"I had dreams. These dreams... memories... I... we were going to marry? And he died, I just..." Roman had trouble thinking, everything was a mess. How does he even begin to explain what happened when he's still processing everything himself?

"Okay, why don't I call Virgil?" Sal pulled out her phone.

Roman wanted to stop her but he felt too frozen to do anything. He didn't know why he wanted to stop her, but it felt like trying to talk to Virgil would make everything worse. Clearly Virgil didn't want to be there anymore... He... He didn't want to be with Roman.

Sal's phone began to ring out... and it continued to ring... and ring... and ring. Until finally an automotive voice started talking, but she ignored it and hung up. Virgil wasn't going to answer.

The dull but strong pain in Roman's chest got worse, as if his heart was collapsing. Virgil left him, and he wasn't coming back.