Mosaic Windows

Chapter 30: Janus May Have Some Regrets

CW: blood, bullet wound, kidnapping

Janus could do nothing but stand as he watched the chaos unfold. Distantly he knew this was his fault, the memory of writing a letter crossed his mind. These are monster hunters, Hunters Against Magic and Monsters, those are their dark green uniforms. He called them here to take care of a dragon witch.

But the dragon witch is good. Harmless at the very least. They shouldn't be fighting, they're not enemies, and Janus should say something about that. He should stop this. But he can't, he just stood there, frozen.

Even when Remus was pinned to the ground, and Logan was restrained. Patton was also pinned to the ground, and the hunters tore Roman and Virgil from each other. He stayed still while a gun was pointed at Roman and watched with mounting horror as Virgil ran towards him.

He flinched heavily when there was a loud blast and red splattered through the room. Roman screamed and caught the dragon witch who fell to the ground, clutching his shoulder. Virgil jumped in front of the bullet, he protected Roman.

But now he's bleeding from his shoulder, screaming in pain. Everyone was shouting now, Roman tried to hold onto him, tears pouring down his face. He was grabbed by two hunters and pulled away, his hands covered in red.

"Virgil!" Patton screamed. "Virgil no!"

Logan pulled the arm off of him but he couldn't even take a step before two more hunters grabbed him and forced him to his knees. He needed to get free, he had to protect the prince. He had to protect his friend who was bleeding out and in pain and needed so much help.

The man in a different uniform from the rest stepped closer to the dragon witch. He was clearly the leader of the group. Janus watched from where he stood as he pulled out a pair of cuffs. They both had a few gems in them, magic repressing gems.

The leader grabbed Virgil's arms, the sudden movement jostling his shoulder and making him cry out in pain. The cry made guilt pool into Janus's chest, this was his fault.

The cuffs clicked onto the prince's arms and the leader dropped them. He stood up and looked at the nearest group of men. "Take it away, keep it alive for now."

"No, don't take him!" Roman shouted, trying to pull himself away from the two men who were holding him. He only had one good leg, if only his other was healed, then he could break out of their grips.

The leader turned to him with a look of disgust as Virgil was dragged out of the room. "It's a monster. Clearly you're under some sort of spell, but don't worry, once he's far away enough the spell will be broken."

Janus couldn't stop himself from mouthing "That's not true." Those crystals on the cuffs would break any spells the dragon witch had placed, even the most complicated ones. Even if the crystals weren't near the dragon witch, a spell wouldn't break from distance alone. Lucky for him, none of the hunters had noticed.

"Janus, tell them he's good!" Remus begged. The hunter holding him down pressed his head tighter against the ground. "Tell them he's harmless!"

"Ah, Douglas!" The leader turned to Janus, making him stiffen. "Thank you so much for sending that letter, you're a true monster hunter now, just like your parents. It's a shame they couldn't be here to see you. We wouldn't be out here if it weren't for you, truly a great hunter in the making. They would be proud."

The room somehow became colder and Roman instinctively glanced outside to see if the weather had changed. Janus did this? This was all his fault?

"Would?" the young hunter whispered.

"Janus?" Remus asked, his voice just as quiet. "You... you did this?"

"I..." he tried to explain, but there was nothing to say. The leader said everything that needed to be said. And maybe more...

"Take the spelled humans away, hold them in a room until the bewitchment fades," the leader told them.

"Traitor!" Remus shouted at Janus. He was yanked up by the ground and he tried to break out of the hunter's grip but another came and grabbed him, twisting his arms behind his back. He never broke his glare at Janus. "I should have known better, you'd never change! You're incapable of it! I can't believe I was such an idiot!"

Janus watched as they dragged Remus out of the room, followed by his brother and their two friends. Patton was once again glaring at him, and Logan didn't even look at him. Roman's expression was far worse, his face was pale and his eyes were unseeing. Just as he left the room though, he looked up at Janus, and he seemed to be silently pleading to him.

He has to tell the hunters the truth, that the dragon witch was harmless. But would they believe him? Or would they think he's under a spell as well and lock him up? For his own safety, he can't say anything.

The thought makes him feel sick to the stomach, especially when he looks at the red that trailed out of the room. The cries of anguish coming from down the hall had gone quiet, so Virgil either had passed out or he was out of the castle now. Remus has a right to hate him.

"Don't let that boy's words get to your head," the leader said as if he could read his mind. He walked closer to Janus, who waited for the man to read his thoughts and feelings and declare him a traitor as well. "This is a good thing you did, who knows when this dragon witch would turn on the nearby town and hurt the people. Clearly we need more monster hunters here if we let a dragon witch go unnoticed for so long. My only question is... what were you doing here?"

"I-" Janus felt his throat close up with fear. He's a fraud of a monster hunter, and clearly this man will see right through him. He cleared his throat and tried again. "He claimed to be good, and so did the humans he clearly spelled. I wanted to keep a close eye on him so I pretended to be fooled. I was waiting for a moment to strike, but there was never a good time." It was a good thing he was so used to lying, it was second nature at this point. But it wasn't his best, so he needed to change the topic fast. "You mentioned my parents earlier, are they not here?"

"Ah... it's a real shame." The leader put his hand on Janus's shoulder. The warmth from it felt like acid burning through his clothes, and the weight added to the guilt on his shoulders. "Your parents, they uh... they were killed in battle. They fought a good fight, it was against a pack of griffins, but they were both taken down."

A hard lump formed in Janus's throat and a cold chill filled his chest. "Oh..."

"But this is why we must take them all down, this is why we can't let a single one go! Because then they'll grow as a species and over take us. We got revenge for your parents, but it doesn't stop with one griffin family. More humans will be attacked if we don't do something. I'm sure your parents would be proud that you're joining us. You are joining us, correct?"

Janus nodded numbly. Well... at least his parents weren't around to be disappointed that he didn't want to hurt the dragon witch. But any trust Virgil, or any of them really, might have had is gone.

The leader patted his back. "I'm happy to hear. We'll be taking the dragon witch to a secure location soon, you should come with us. Grab anything you might need from home and meet us here before sundown. Oh, and you can call me Sergeant Fox."