Scoundrel - Prinxiety [COMPLETED]

Chapter XXII

Roman hugged the pirate back, feeling the trembling pirate sniffling a little against his chest. He felt his heart constricting and swelling at the same time. As much as he didn't want to admit it, the story made sense; not to mention, he couldn't recall anything prior to being nine-years-old in his father's castle. Perhaps, that's what had happened.

"I'm so, so happy you're alive Roman, and you're..." he trailed off as he pulled away to cup his face with his hands. Virgil smiled tearfully, looking overjoyed. "You're so... good. You turned out so amazing that I was falling for you all over again not even knowing it was you."

The prince's breathing hitched as he looked at the pirate in shock. Did he just admit to falling in love with him? "W-What?"

"Surely I've been obvious," the captain said with a chuckle. "Come on, you can't pretend you didn't have an idea that I had feelings for you. I wasn't exactly trying to hide them, Roman."

He was confused, but his heart was racing happily as he was pulled into another tight hug. A smile found his way onto his face as he started to think about it a little more. Now he knew why Virgil seemed so familiar; it was his subconscious remembering him even if he couldn't recall the actual memories. He didn't have to feel guilty for falling for his kidnapper because that's not really what he was. He was his friend from childhood; they just didn't realize it at the time. 

"You... you really like me?" he asked softly.

Virgil smiled as he pulled back to look at him. "Of course I do," he replied as if that was an easy to answer question. "You're you. Not only are you my companion from all those years ago, you're this incredibly kind and caring person, and you just understand me in a way no one else ever has. No one else but you."

The prince felt like he was going to cry as he hugged him again, feeling his chest swell. No one had ever said such things about him. "Come on, we should be heading back to camp," the pirate said. "It's getting late, and you're shivering."

Roman hadn't even realized he was until he pointed it out. He was freezing from the rain that had previously falling down on them, and as he'd said, his body was trembling. As he took a step forward, his leg started to collapse under him, making him fall forward due to the unsteadiness of his body at the moment. Virgil swiftly wrapped an arm around his waist, pulling him up to help him as they walked back to their camp. He was looking forward to sleeping once they'd returned.

However when they got back to the camp, their eyes widened. Their camp had been destroyed; the tent was slashed to ribbons, the tables were smashed, the fire had been disseminated. Everything about the destruction of the scene in front of them said that someone had been here.

"Oh god, what happened?!" Roman gasped, looking around. "There's no way the storm did this."

The captain had gone rigid by his side, shaking his head in agreement as he moved toward the center of the camp. He didn't know why until he saw what he was looking down at; a bright yellow snake with a piece of paper tied to it.

Swallowing, Virgil knelt down and took the paper, causing the snake to slither off into the trees out of sight. "What is it?" the prince asked nervously as he moved to stand in front of him.

"De's been here..." he said quietly.

It was Roman's turn to go rigid. De as in the pirate that tried to rape him not long ago when he and Virgil had gone after the topaz key. He had been here. "H-How?" he whispered, starting to shake for a different reason. "Why? What was he doing here?"

"He must've followed us," the captain said crumpling up the paper and tossing it into the black remains of what had been their fire. "He probably figured out that we would be on our way to the chest."

The mention of the chest made the prince's heart drop into his stomach. He reached up to his chest, feeling for something that was no longer there. "Oh god... the keys!" he gasped, looking around frantically. "Please tell me you have them!"

Virgil shook his head slowly, but didn't look upset. Roman on the other hand was on the edge of a panic, searching for them. He checked under the debris of the smashed tables and the slashed tent, he brushed through the dirt below his feet; there was no sign of them.

"Oh god, oh god! He's got all five keys!" he cried, hyperventilating. "He's going to get to the chest! This is all my fault! What was I thinking?!"

"Roman, hey," the pirate said softly, taking his face into his hands and looking him in the eye. There was nothing that showed he was upset about the loss of the keys. "Hey... it's okay."

The prince tried to pull away as he continued to freak out. "What do you mean it's okay?! How is any of this okay?!" he yelled, tears springing to his eyes again. "This is all my fault! We were so close to getting to the chest! We had all the keys, we were going to do it, and now De's going to get there first because I was stupid enough to just throw away the ruby key like that! What are we supposed to do?!"

"Roman," Virgil said calmly, taking his hand. He looked at him like a lost child, desperate for some way to fix his mistake. "It's okay. It was my mistake too; leaving the other keys out like that was irresponsible. It's going to be okay though."

He shook his head, not understanding. "I- how is it going to be okay? He's going to get to the chest first, and he's going to get what you've been trying to get to for so long," he reminded him.

"Just trust me, okay?" the pirate said, looking into his eyes. "Can you trust me?"

I shouldn't have trusted you. You were a pirate that kidnapped me, and yet, I did trust you, and now I've discovered more about you and my past and I've realized why I felt so connect to you, he thought as he searched the dark brown pools of his eyes. I shouldn't have, but I did. I don't regret it either.

"Yes. I trust you."