The Mark of A Cursed King

4

"The countdown begun." Virgil giggled softly as he sat there beside the prince with a small smile. His eyes met with his tattoo seeing the '6' and he rolled his eyes. "You know Princey... I probably should be doing something right? Training... something. I don't know." His eyes drifted off as he sipped his cup of coffee and sighed. "I will. I will. I know I will. I'm anxiety. The last thing I'm going to do is ignore this. It's just... I don't know. It's hard to wrap my head around."

"I'm still finding it a bit... much to even think about the fact that you kissed me." He swallowed the pain he felt as held his cup tighter. "I mean... You... You kissed ME, Roman. Of all the people and shit in the mindscape... You kissed me."

"I..." Virgil's smile fell hard as he laughed at himself. "I'm sorry you were forced through that." Virgil could hear the way Roman fussed in his bed. The slight groan-like sound that brought even more attention to the fact that... Roman might be sleeping... be he was aware. "There I go again. This is usually where Patton yells at me to stop talking bad about myself. He's uh... He's been pretty busy though."

"He and Logan have been... so distracted. Understandable. Even Janus has been a bit... off. He's just worried about Remus who isn't really taking to all this well but... Ah, who am I kidding? We're kinda fucked without you and it's only been a damn day." Virgil giggled as he shook his head and pointed over at him with a silly look. "Don't you dare let that go to your head, Mister. Your ego's big enough as it is."

"In all seriousness though... Patton's losing his mind. I mean... It's my fault but... I just don't want to tell them." Virgil frowned as he looked at his wrist again, his eyes darkening in thought. "I don't know. I know I should. The more help the marrier. I get that. You're probably screaming at me of this. I mean, if I fail you're stuck like that."

"N-..." Virgil's frown only grew as he looked over to see the pained expression on the prince's face. "D-Don't..."

"It's ok, Princey..."

"Don't care..." Virgil frowned as his eyes narrowed in confusion. Roman gasped and sputtered as he twitched. His legs kicked weekly making Virgil concerned. "Don't care... Don't die."

"How is it easier to have a conversation with you while you're sleeping... but not when you're actually awake?" Virgil laughed trying to mask the pain in him before he just gave up and fell back into a sort of semi-silence. "I thought we were friends, Roman."

"I thought we were... I thought we were friends. But I come to find out you've been cursed since BEFORE I was ever truly came around and... I just..." Virgil let out a shaky breath as he forced his eyes not to water. "I guess we weren't as close as I thought we had gotten." Roman whined as Virgil just stared off at nothing. "Don't worry though. I'm not going to just give up. Even if I was wrong about... whatever it was he had going for us friend wise... I'm not going to let that affect this. For one... I don't want to die." Virgil sipped his coffee as he smiled slimly. "Secondly... I'd rather not be the reason the only friend I THOUGHT I had ended up a sleeping beauty rejected room ornament, you Disney wannabe pirated prince."

"6 days, Princey." The room was absolutely silent save for Roman's slight panting. "6 days till the first 'trail' as Remus called them. Trials... knowing you and your creations. It's either a quest or a battle."

"It's a battle." Virgil mumbled as he let his mind wander. "If it's a quest, I would already have the details necessary for it. It's got to be a battle. A battle against a monster obviously. You've created... a lot too, damn you."

"It wouldn't be anything small. The monsters you've created are all... interesting. The smaller the beast the faster it is. It wouldn't be much of a trial is the very first thing could kill me upon sight. No. It's safe to say it won't me anything smaller than that... giant lion beast you made." Virgil glanced over to see Roman no longer looking pained and he had to laugh. It's almost as if he was thinking about it himself. "That being said it wouldn't be anywhere near the size of a dragon. The bigger they are the stronger and magic is probably off the table for this one at least. Trials are always harder as they go on. Given all that..."

"I'd say griffon." Virgil frowned a bit as he thought about it. "Or a hell hound. They're both beast monster with limited magic ability but strong and durable. Since it IS supposed to be a love's test it would make sense that it's tailored to be for a Prince or King or whatever you would have chosen to love. Love..."

"You know, Princey. That's another thing that just..." Virgil clenched his cup tightly as he tried to calm his breathing. "I know I keep saying this, and it's not to guilt you... just to make a point. But... I really did think we were friends. After all, that with me finally getting accepted, I thought we had gotten close. You couldn't even tell me you had a crush? What the fuck dude? And here I thought the great prince roman, the romantic royal shit-for-brain, would have boasted to the heavens itself about the love he found." Virgil's eyes darkened as a single tear started to fall making him panic a bit quickly wiping it away as he groaned. "Forget it. I need to start getting shit ready. I am not going to end up fighting some... monster unprepared." Virgil pushed himself up heading for the door only to stop feeling that intense fear fill the room. "It's going to be ok, Roman. I won't let you stay like this. I promise." The fear only got stronger as Virgil just sighed with a smile. "Peace out, Princey."

"Virgil?" The youngest froze up instantly as he looked over to see Patton standing there with this near horrified look. His eyes darted to the prince's door before going back to him and Virgil groaned. "K-Kiddo?"

"I was just... Hanging with Princey." Patton paled as Virgil smiled sadly. "It's ok, Pat."

"Virgil, I... Do... Do you... I'm sorry." Virgil's eyes narrowed as Patton hugged himself. "I should have told you something happened to him. I've just been so caught up trying to figure out a way to help him, I just didn't know how to bring it up."

"I'm sure he'll wake up soon." Patton visibly cringed making Virgil's heartbreak in him. "Patton, he's going to wake up."

"I... I hope so, Kiddo. As soon as I can I'll... I'll tell you what happened but right now..." Virgil just shook his head as he walked off towards his room.

"Do what you need to Patton. I have something that need's my focus anyway."