Revealed

Chapter 2: To Live With A Curse

     Roman took a deep breath, knocking on Patton's door before looking around the hall to make sure he hadn't been followed. "Come in!" Patton called, and Roman did, surprised to see everyone, including Remus and Janus, wearing pyjamas and eating various snacks. "Hi Roman!" Patton cheered as Virgil made a small wave from a beanbag chair in the back corner. "I... Patton what is this?" Roman asked, disliking the nerves he was starting to feel. This wasn't something he was used to, but he supposed if Logan could be short tempered and Virgil could be brave, he could feel nervous.

"A slumber party! We figured since Thomas is just house sitting this weekend," Patton began explaining, gesturing to Thomas who was laying down on a sofa. Thomas waved at the mention of his name, and Patton continued. "We figured we could use the weekend to listen to your story!" He cheered. "Everyone?" Roman asked, feeling concerned as he looked around the room. "They promised not to judge. If they do, I'll yell at them." Patton assured him. "Alright... Is Remus caught up?" He asked, causing Remus to look up from the drawing he was attempting to make by melting crayons onto paper. "No, I haven't caught him up." Janus replied. "How do I respond to you?" Roman asked honestly, Janus simply shrugged.

"Alright then, I'll just assume the hand snake here caught Remus up. That or Remus doesn care." Roman muttered, stopping himself from tapping his foot. "I guess it works for Remus to be here considering we're at the part of the story where he shows up." He added. "You look nervous, come sit with me, I'll protect you." Patton offered, and Roman nodded before sitting down. Patton then handed Roman an IPhone, which Roman looked at in confusion.

"Pro tech you!" Patton explained with a grin, causing Logan, who sat on the other side of Patton on a second sofa, to rub his face. Roman laughed, usually quite put off by Patton's humour, but this time it helped to release some tension on his shoulders. "Alright then, let's get started." Patton cheered. "I'm really excited! I hope Ro-Ro got my goodside!" Remus cheered as he ate from a bowl of popcorn he had melted crayon wax over. "Do you even have a- you know what, never mind. Less conflict the better." Roman muttered before starting.

***

"Remus give it back!" Virgil yelled, chasing his adoptive brother up the tower's spiral staircase that led to their shared bedroom. "Ha ha you can't catch me!" Remus taunted, holding up Virgil's staff over his head. "Remus I can't practice without that!" Virgil complained. "Then use magic to get it back!" Remus countered. "You know I can't use magic without my staff!" Virgil reminded him, causing Remus to stop and stare at the staff with a grin. "You're right, what was I thinking? Catch!" Remus cheered, throwing the staff at Virgil as it slowly transformed into a snake, causing Virgil to scream and fall off the stairs.

"What is going on here!?!" Janus demanded after hearing a loud bang, opening the door that led to his study and finding Virgil on the ground by the stairs, groaning from pain. "Remus, what did you do?" Janus prompted, glaring up the staircase at the laughing man that leaned over them to watch Virgil's suffering. "Brat... I'll get him back for this." Virgil grunted as Janus helped him up. "What did transform this time?" Janus asked, allowing the snake to draw up his arm and wrap itself around it. "My staff." Virgil answered, glaring towards Remus who was already retreating to the bedroom.

Janus pinched the bridge of his nose, fighting a headache as he unraveled the snake and snapped his fingers, returning it to Virgil's staff in a puff of smoke. Virgil nervously accepted it, thanking his adoptive father before going outside to practice. "Be careful! Don't forget your gloves!" Janus called after him. Once the door clicked shut, Janus frowned towards the upstairs bedroom, then smirked before summoning his own staff and walking up the spiral staircase. He hummed to himself, getting louder the closer he got to Remus and Virgil's bedroom, where Remus was attempting to escape out of the window.