Unified

Chapter Sixteen: The River of Truth

They all stared in silence. Remus looks down at himself, holding his hands up, and he frowns, "Hey, what gives? Where did my scales go?"

"Do you even know what you just jumped into?" Virgil groans, shaking his head as he crosses his arms.

Roman can't look away from Remus. Without the scales and the eyes of the Dragonwitches, they could be identical except for Remus' mustache and the green color of his eyes. Remus finally turns to face the rest of them, and Roman's not the only one who sees the uncanny resemblance. Logan stares at him with a look between shock and intrigue while Patton just looks confused. Janus and Virgil exchange concerned glances.

Remus frowns, crossing his arms, "What? I don't look that ridiculous, do I?"

"Who are you?" Roman frowns, "What trick is this?"

"I'd also like to know." Logan states.

Remus looks back at Roman with blatant confusion, "We already did the introductions, Princey boy. My name is Remus."

"Why do you look.. Exactly like me?" Roman asks, his uncertainty creeping into his voice.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Remus blinks.

"Look at your reflection." Virgil says, "He's not wrong."

Remus glances back at him and sputters, "Fine! Whatever!"

He leans down over dramatically until his nose is almost touching the water and he stares into rippling water, watching the reflection stare back at him. They were right, he realized. He looks just like Roman, and he doesn't react well. He slams his fist into the water, dispersing the reflection in ripples, splashing the water onto his face. He stands to his full height once more and gruffly wipes the water from his face, glaring at Roman, "What did you do to me?"

"What?!" Roman scoffs, putting an offended hand to his chest, "I did nothing!"

Logan takes a step forward and Virgil smirks, "I wouldn't if I were you."

Logan frowns and meets Virgil's gaze, "Why?"

"Virgil..?" Patton speaks up, moving closer to him, "Do you know what happened?"

"Not.. Exactly," Virgil sighs, "But this river strips all who touch its waters of their magic."

"The River of Truth." Logan's eyes widen and he looks back at the waters in fascination, "I had read tales of it, but I never expected to find it, or for it to actually be real.."

All the more, Logan's tempted to jump into the river despite Virgil's warning. His magic had always been a curse rather than a blessing. His mother died for it, for the mistake he made. He and everyone else around him would be better off without it.

"So the river turned me human?" Remus asks, turning back to his friends after fruitlessly arguing with Roman.

"Most likely not," Janus muses, clear temptation shimmering in his golden eyes.

"That doesn't make sense," Virgil shakes his head, "The river strips you of magic, it can't change what you are entirely."

"So.. What happened to Remus then?" Patton asks.

Virgil frowns, "I don't know. The only way the river could turn him human was if he already was, but that doesn't make any sense."

Remus frowns but says nothing, seemingly lost in thought.

"Well.. You all stay there, and Remus, Patton and I will cross and look for a bridge of some sort." Roman states.

"Um.." Patton clears his throat softly and bows lightly to his prince, "S-sorry, Young Highness, but uh.. I.. I also technically have magic, so.. I can't cross.."

"Oh," Roman nods, "I wasn't aware. Alright, I guess it's just Remus and I then."

"Fine, whatever." Remus shrugs, "I don't wanna play in the water here anymore."

He almost seems to be pouting, "I want my scales back."

"I won't cross and come with you," Janus offers.

Virgil scowls. hissing, "Janus!"

Janus stares at Virgil almost in surprise before his eyes narrow, "It might not get rid of my curse. I say it's not worth a try."

"You don't know it will work!" Virgil shakes his head, "Who knows what it will do to you!"

"Your name is Janus?" Patton suddenly speaks up.

Janus averts his gaze, opting not to answer despite how obvious it is.

"Janus?" Roman snorts and one heated glare from Virgil shuts him up.

"Come on, Remus, let's try to find our friends another way across." Roman sighs.

"Well.. I might actually be able to get us all across." Patton says, "It won't be fast, but.. I might be able to do it. The river doesn't seem.. To far across."

"Are you certain you are capable of that?" Logan inquires.

Patton shrugs lightly, "Maybe."

"It might still be too risky." Virgil says softly, "How are you going to get us across?"

Roman ushers Remus to follow him across the river, standing around in it wasn't going to help. Patton rubs his hands together nervously, "I can.. Kind of glide a little.. It's quite windy today, so.. I think I can get us all across just fine."

"I'm not going first." Virgil states harshly and Patton looks away from him, nodding lightly, "That's perfectly fine."

"I won't go first." Janus says, looking back at him at last, "That way if it does work, those who don't actually want to keep their magic may be unable to."

Patton meets his gaze, smiling in relief and he mouths a quick thank you, to which Janus returns with a nod.

"Whenever you aren't ready, Patton." he says.

While Patton was grateful for the support, the truth is that he's uncertain if he can actually get them across. With the wind, he can get himself across no problem, but he's never used his abilities with someone else. He doesn't want to let them all down, though it was hard enough knowing that Logan didn't even want him to come in the first place. But he's willing to do anything if it will prove he can be useful to their quest. Patton takes a few deep breaths, closing his eyes to ground himself. He lets the wind blow over him, feeling the weight of it as it races across his skin and through his hair. He can do this, he can do this.

I can do this.

Patton opens his eyes, taking one last deep breath, he nods to let Janus know he's ready. Janus nods back, "Don't tell me what to do."

"Just.. Be very still, no matter what." Patton replies, "Don't struggle once we're off the ground, okay? I don't know if I'll be able to keep a hold of you if you start flailing and I really don't want to drop you."

Janus nods, the smallest smile pulling at his lips and if Patton's heart wasn't already racing with adrenaline, that smile surely would have done it. Patton nods back and takes one last deep breath before he lets the wind carry him and he leaps up into the air.