Mosaic Windows

Chapter 25: The Ingredients for the Potion are Very Convenient

"Well, now that that is over with," Roman sighed when they got back to the castle, "We can get back to searching for ingredients."

Virgil fidgeted with his cape. "I'm surprised he didn't try to kill me..." he mumbled.

"Yeah, he was on his way to try again," Remus told them. "I think. We got into a bit of a fight, that's how we tumbled into that hole. I gotta punch him in the face, that was nice."

The prince put a hand to his cheek. "I suppose that's karma. Are you hurt?"

"Nah, nothing serious. I'm walking aren't I?"

"Remus can take heavy hits," Roman said. "Especially to the head since he's got a thick skull."

"I beg to differ, Janus has a thicker skull. I like to think I'm smart. Oh, I never finished checking the rabbit traps, I should go do that." Remus spun around on his heel and started walking back into the forest.

"Watch your step!" Virgil told him. "If he doesn't return in an hour or two, we should check the pit traps."

"You should also mark the pit traps so no one else falls in."

"Yeah, I'll try to do that later. Now, back to ingredient hunting."

~~~

They were surprisingly able to find most of the ingredients in the castle. A lot of the ingredients were really common items, such as; salt, lemon juice, basal, and ginger root. For a moment, Virgil was wondering if this would even work. These things don't have any magical properties of any kind! Not that he was aware of anyway.

The next ingredient on the list was... confusing. It simply read: "something that ties the afflicted to their human past."

"Does it mean... any item?" Virgil wondered aloud.

"Maybe something else, like hair? Oh, I heard witches also use nails in spells and potions," Roman told him.

"Hair or nails? Does it have to be mine?"

Roman put a fist to his chin. "I don't think that would work. It says it has to be your human past. Your hair and nails might not be considered human anymore."

"Then... can it be any human?"

"I don't think so..." Roman bit his lip. "Family could work?"

"Roman... my only family is dead," Virgil reminded him.

A guilty look flashed over his face. "Right..."

The dragon witch frowned in thought for a moment. "But... maybe there's something in my parents room..."

Roman's eyes lit up. "Right! Maybe some hair on a hair brush, or on the bed?"

Virgil's expression hadn't lightened up yet. "Yeah... maybe."

The human noticed this sour attitude and his heart fell. "Oh... I suppose that's one of the rooms I'm not allowed in. I can go searching for the next ingredient while you go get it." He reached for the book to read what the next one was.

"No... It's not that. I just haven't been in that room... in a very long time. No one has but Patton who would occasionally dust in there."

Roman bit the inside of his cheek. He was told not to go in there, and he wouldn't. Not after last time. "Would you like someone to go with you? We can find Patton, I'm sure he'll be happy to help. Or if it's too much, maybe he can go in by himself?"

"No I... I want to do this. I can't be... There's no reason for me to fear that room. I would like some company though..." He gave Roman a welcoming look.

The human's heart melted. "Of course." With such a vulnerable and questioning look Virgil gave him... how could he say no?

Plus Roman was curious what was in the room. Still... going in there even with Virgil was nerve wracking. Logan doesn't seem to forgive him much, the air between them is tense and Roman wasn't blind to the cold looks.

Despite the worry of hurting anyone any further, he followed the prince up the stairs. Virgil made sure not to walk too fast, giving Roman time to catch up on his crutches. The walk was a bit too silent, and Virgil's mind was distant.

Roman's biggest concern was that Virgil is okay. He'd rather someone else go in on their own, but this could be good for him. Hopefully it will be.

The room was dark when Virgil opened the door. Roman couldn't make out much, just shapes of furniture. The prince opened the black out blinds, pulling them to the side, and the room lit up. Dust flew into the air when the curtains were pulled to the side, being illuminated by the sunlight.

There was of course a giant bed, the blanket tousled slightly as if someone small slept in the middle. Was it Virgil when he was younger? Curled up tight, crying as he tried to fall asleep in his new body? The image of it hurt Roman's heart.

He shouldn't be in this room, it holds too much weight. The air felt toxic, as if it was going to suffocate him. He looked over at the prince, who only gave the bed a glance. If this is how he felt, then Virgil must feel worse.

The thought of that gave him enough strength to move on. He's here for Virgil, to give him the strength to look through his parents' things.

The rest of the room was also filled with memories. Two dressers, two vanities with small but expensive items on it, two giant walk-in-closets, and a door that must lead to the bathroom. Roman walked near a vanity that had some jewelry laid on top of it, but didn't dare touch anything.

Virgil disregarded it, only giving the things in the room small glances, never lingering on anything. The air was tense, and Roman didn't dare break the spell by speaking. He only watched as the prince opened the bathroom door.

He cleared his throat before telling Roman, "There might be something in the bathroom we can use."

The human could only nod and follow. The bathroom was, of course, giant. It was literally fit for royals, and Roman couldn't help but stare. There were two more closets, two counters, and between them was a large bath. Above the bath was of course another stained glass window. This one had a phoenix flying above the ocean, the waves multiple shades of blue and even green.

Virgil went straight for the counters and picked something up. It was a hair brush. Of course, there has to be some hair on it still! And as Roman walked closer, he saw there was. Long strands of brown hair... must be his mothers.

"Something that ties me to my human past..." Virgil mumbled. "This should do."

"Then let's get out of here. We have one item left on the list, what's it say?"

Virgil brought the book with him and opened it to the bookmarked page. "Oh, maybe we should have read the whole list before ingredient hunting..."

Roman looked over his shoulder and his face paled. "A horn of a dragon... You're not seriously considering..." He looked up at Virgil.

Thankfully Virgil wasn't thinking what Roman was, and that was clearly shown on his face when he realized what crossed the human's mind. "No! I'm not going to saw off my own horn!"

"Oh thank goodness. But... how will we get a dragon horn? I don't think we can exactly hunt down a dragon, and even if you wanted to, there are no dragons in these parts except for yourself."

"Well... we do have a dragon horn in the castle..."

"You do? Where? And also why?"

"My father would... sometimes hunt for sport. It's not something I ever enjoyed myself. One day he came home with a dragon horn in hand, and said he had 'slayed the beast himself.' It should be downstairs in the sitting room." With the brush and book in hand, Virgil made his way out of the bathroom and his parents room.

Roman frowned frozen for a moment. The former king was a complete mystery to him, but he never expected him to be a hunter. One who has no problem hunting magical creatures no less. Guess he never really thought about what kind of people the king and queen were...