Baited~ Book 2

10

"It can't hurt you." Remus went to their knees right in front of Roman who was struggling not to scream against the voices that blasted through his head. Logan tensed seeing the pain in his brother, unable to actually help him. Remus just smiled as their grip tightened. "It can't do a thing."

"It's loud." Roman's voice glitched slightly more noticeably as he forced it through his teeth. "It's too loud. To.. too much."

"Roman, We've seen this dragon." Roman's eyes narrowed as Remus kept a firm grip on him. "Mr. Storm... or Virgil, as you called him. We've spoken to him. We've felt his pain. The trauma he has experienced... It's enough to kill a demon." Roman's eyes widened as the laughter got even louder. "We can only imagine the insanity that was created from that but... It's not yours." Remus grinned as they twisted Roman's hands until his palms were facing up. Remus took a deep breath letting their energy surge a bit as a small green hazy smoke cloud slowly appeared above their hands. "It's not yours."

"Remus..."

"Which means you can beat it." Roman's eyes shot down to see the smoke turning into small figures. One of him and one of Virgil... He couldn't help but smile seeing the small Virgil smiling up at him.

"I don't understand." Remus just laughed.

"It's simple really. You don't have that trauma. You've never experienced that pain. No matter what it shows you or tells you... You are not the one with that hurt. Virgil is." Roman's eyes narrowed as this smoke figure with no real shape appeared beside Virgil. Virgil's face went dark and his expression was filled with immense pain making Roman tense up with worry. "Virgil's past created that insanity. It's from his own pain and torment that it was created. So regardless if he ever got control or not... he would never be free from that. His insanity would always be right there whispering in his ears until..." The small Virgil broke down and fell to his knees obviously lost to everything. It held an all too familiar blank look Roman had seen from him before. "Virgil cannot run from his past. His experiences are going to be with him forever. His insanity will never truly be under control because of that." Roman's eyes were watering as Remus's smile filled with sadness as the Virgil shifted revealing that smoky figure again as it moved over to the small Roman.

"However, with you..." The small Roman tensed and went to cover his ears as the smokey figure seemed to seep into him. "You don't have that same pain. Which means you can fight it. You can control it because it isn't yours to have. You can keep it from hurting those around you." The small Roman took a deep breath and the real one watched as nothing seemed to happen. The small one simply walked over to help the Virgil. "With help Roman, this can just end up being nothing but a crappy voice in the back of your mind spitting intrusive though that you don't have to be afraid of. Without help..." The small one froze still eyes going wide as he seemed to twitch. "Without help, it could corrupt you." The small Roman started to smile pulling his sword out and before it could do anything everything vanished into smoke dissipating into the air. "Roman... Look at us." Roman shook his head his eyes still where the figures used to be. Remus held his hands tightly as they forced Roman to look up. "You can beat this."

"But... But Virgil... and Dee. I was going to give it to Dee." Roman felt his gut twist with immense guilt especially seeing how dark his sibling's eyes got. "What?"

"We told you that we went to the cell thing. There was so much there it... It was alot." Roman's eyes narrowed as Remus looked away. "The one thing that we felt there the most was... this." Remus pointed up at Roman's head making the prince tense up knowing exactly what they meant. "... and also him."

"Dee?" Remus shrugged as they let go of Roman's hands.

"We don't know. We never saw that one just the dragon. We felt the pain though. It was just as strong as he scent on those chains." Roman flinched as Remus looked back up at him. "His pain wasn't as much as the dragons. That much was clear but the trauma was just as real. If you had given it to him he wouldn't have faired any easier. In fact, chances are he would have broken fairly quickly." Roman was stunned. Remus just sighed as they slowly got to their feet. "Between the three of you, Ro... You are the only one that could survive it. You just need help."

"How..." Roman's voice cracked as he looked around at everyone. Logan's eyes fell to the ground knowing full well he couldn't offer any support. He didn't have a clue how to help with this. Patton only smiled as he pointed over at the demon making Roman's eyes widen "You?"

"Well, of course, Bro?" Remus laughed as they held their hand out. "We're the only other person here who is going through the same thing." The room went completely silent as the weight of Remus's words it hard.

"What do you mean... the same thing?" Remus's eyes started to glow brightly as Roman cautiously took their hand. "Remus?"

"Our head is just as unstable. It's just as much of a battle to keep focused." Remus frowned as Roman slowly got to his feet. "We completely understand what it's like to have to hold yourself back from doing something you mind is screaming at you to do. It's just a matter of control."

"I'm still confused." Remus's eyes darkened as Roman narrowed his in confusion. He glanced over at his older brother but Logan wasn't any better. "Does this have to do with why you refer to yourself as we or..."

"I'm a demon, Roman."