Baited~ Book 2

16

"IT'S NOT ABOUT PUSHING IT DOWN, ROMAN!" Remus yelled as Roman went flying into a wall. This was pathetic. Truly... Roman groaned as he tried to pick himself up only to find a mace moments from his face. "You're acting as these thoughts are not you're own."

"They aren't." Roman threw his arm out blasting Remus back who willing took the hit with narrowed eyes. "They aren't my thoughts. It's His!"

"Insanity isn't a separate person, Roman. These thoughts are indeed you're own..."

"NO, THEY AREN'T!" Roman screamed out summoning a purple sword that condensed so much it wasn't transparent like the other creations he's made. "That isn't me. I'm not that kind of person."

"I'm not saying you are." Remus held his hand out creating a haze of dark green smoke. "I'm saying you have to accept that this insanity is now a part of you. You can't just get rid of it like you did for Virgil. You have to accept that's it's there. If you keep separating and suppressing it like a personality it's going to break you." Roman's eyes shot open as the memory of the night in Ceit and frowned. That's... That's exactly what happened to Virgil.

"But..." Roman felt his chest tighten as the voices yelled at him. "I don't want to... I don't want to think that I could..."

"Everyone is capable of darkness, Roman. People are just as likely to commit unspeakable evil as there are acts of pure good." Roman narrowed his eyes as he pushed himself up with a sigh. "It's about the actions you take... but most importantly the emotion behind it. Example..." Remus threw this ball over causing Roman to jump to the side to avoid getting his as it exploded. "When I was younger I met a boy... He was kind but damaged." Remus spun around swapping their mace for a bo staff before going to attack their brother. "Despite the pain he harbored he was always trying to help. I once found him defending this small kitten. It was starving and clearly sick but he still tried to protect it against these men who wanted to hurt it."

"I don't understand the point of this story." Roman groaned as he stumbled trying to dodge attack after attack. Right now it was just his sibling that he was fighting but he knew from past lessons those demons they created aren't just for show.

"My lesson is... I could feel how much he wanted to hurt those men. I could feel his rage just as strongly as their malice. I knew he had the strength to do so to... I've seen it. However, he took the beating they gave him and stood there protecting that kitten with clenched fists." Roman paused in confusion only for the staff to connect with his cheek sending him flying to the floor with a grunt. "He didn't let his rage control him. He didn't let his thought change his actions. You need to understand there never going to go away but you DON'T have to listen." Roman pushed himself up till he was just putting all his weight on his arms and frowned.

"How... How do I do that?"

"It's not easy, Roman. I won't lie and say it is. You will slip more times than you will even notice. The point is to not hate yourself and regress.  And yes... I talk from experience." Roman jumped up throwing up a shield as the staff came down threatening to take off his head. "Example..."

"Example... I once smashed I burned a man's hand because he picked me by my shirt." Janus frowned as Virgil laughed a bit. "Then I threatened him with a broken bottle."

"Virgil!" Janus let out a broken sigh as leaned back against a tree. They were in a garden that framed the temple. Virgil thought going out there would help relax them both as they spoke. "I don't understand the point of this.

"Jan, all I'm trying to say is things are going to happen. Even with control... or in my case a much control as I could muster with my curse." Janus tensed as he stared at his hand in thought. Virgil could see the gears turning in his head. "Jan? What's wrong?"

"What exactly was that curse?" Janus's eyes narrowed as he watched his hand encase with a yellow light only to glitch and waver. "What did it do?"

"It made it so I couldn't control myself. Not entirely anyway." Janus's frown grew worse as Virgil started to get worried. "With Lya's help, I learned some semblance of control. It made it so I couldn't truly get a grasp over my insanity. Or my power to shift into a dragon... which was why I was always a dragon during the day."

"Wait, that was a power." Virgil nodded as he took a deep breath and Janus's eyes shot wide seeing wings spread out from Virgil's back. Virgil just smirked at the awe that filled Jan's eyes. "Shit... that's cool." Virgil laughed as he let his wings disappear and shake his head. "At least you could still shift you know? This is all I can manage right now." Janus held his hand out summoning a small snake that curled up around his wrist before glitching out and disappearing. "At least, it's all I can do when I'm trying anyway."

"What do you mean?"

"Well... R-Roman he... On his bad days, he would try to upset me." Virgil's eyes narrowed as Janus hugged his knees. "It wasn't hard. He would mock that I was manipulative so this... lack of control must suck." Virgil's eyes shot wide as Janus buried his chin into his arms. "It does... Especially when I do get upset. It's like my powers turn against me. Roman seemed to like it when I lost it. Of course, that was only on his bad days. On his good days, he might try to calm me down."

"You don't have control?" Janus shook his head as he met Virgil's horrified expression. "Did Roman ever... tell you why?" Virgil held back the broken gasp as Janus nodded.

"He wanted me to experience the pain you did. So... he told me he transferred your curse to me." Janus let out a broken laugh as he smiled sadly. "Looks like I'm crushed by my own anvil huh?"

"THAT SON OF A BITCH!"