Baited~ Book 2

17

"THAT SON OF A BITCH!" Virgil jumped up as this massive blast of hot air exploded around his startling Janus who honestly looked as if he had seen a ghost. "After what happened with Patton, WHY THE FUCK WOULD HE..." Virgil's eyes started glowing as his hands shook. "He gave you my curse... and then he... he locked you up. He hurt you."

"Virgil, you don't understand."

"HE HURT YOU JANUS!" Virgil broke as tears fell from his eyes. "I was afraid of this. I was right. He really is just like..."

"VIRGIL, LISTEN TO ME!" Janus stubbled as his breathing went ragged. He fumbled for Virgil's hand with a look of desperation that Virgil felt in his bones. "Something is wrong with him."

"Exactly... he tortured you..."

"Virgil, please." Virgil's anger slowly died feeling the guilt that washed over him. Roman's guilt... as Janus pleaded. "I tried to tell you, it's like he's fighting his own head. He has good days and bad days. Often... Often bad days." Janus swallowed the fear that tore through him. "He's... like me."

"Jan?"

"I could see it. That look in his eyes... One moment he's asking me questions... sometimes he'll even bring me food and smile. He'd ask me if I'm ok... if I needed anything but... then randomly he'll just... snap. His eyes would glow purple and he'd yell. He'd get so angry. But he always felt guilty after. I could see it." Janus laughed softly as Virgil started to tear up. "I don't blame him. He scared the shit out of me but... He wasn't wrong. I'm dangerous. Deceit is dangerous."

"I don't understand... If Roman was hurting you, why are you defending him?" Janus smiled as he squeezed Virgil's hand. 

"It's simple. When he snaps he reminds me of you."

"Roman? Is something wrong?" Everything came to a halt as Roman leaned against the wall wincing as he held his chest. "Ro?"

"It's Virgil. He's angry." Remus frowned as Roman's eyes began to well up. "I can feel it. He's... He's angry at me. Like... Really really angry." Remus's eyes darkened as Roman started to cry. "Deceit must have told him. It's the only thing that makes sense. Why else would Virgil be so angry at me."

"Roman..." Roman scoffed as Remus froze up seeing the purple build in their brother's eyes. "Roman, you need to..."

"He really is going to leave me." Roman wiped the tears away with a broken smile. "He's going to leave me and I'm... I'm just going to... to..."

"Roman!" Remus grabbed Roman's arms startling him out of his thoughts as they held on tight to ground him. "Breathe and count."

"Count?" Remus nodded as they smiled a bit. "Why?"

"Count backward from 10 as you breathe. You don't have to listen to what they are saying. They won't stop... but you don't have to acknowledge them. Right now you just have to count." Roman sighed as he nodded and took a deep breath.

"10." Roman shook as the pain in his chest grew. He wasn't kidding Virgil was royally pissed at him. So angry Roman couldn't help but listen to the voices saying Virgil hated him. "9." The thing is Remus was right though. He doesn't have to listen to them. They've been saying the same things over and over since all this started a year ago. "8." Virgil was angry but that didn't mean he hated Roman. And that didn't mean Virgil was leaving him... all it meant was he was angry. "7." Roman needed to figure out a game plan. "6." He had to find Virgil. He needed to talk to him, to explain what was going on with him. "5." Roman needed Virgil. Just like before. Just like with how Roman help Virgil, Roman needed his dragon. Sure it wasn't exactly the same. Roman helped by subconsciously using his power to nullify the curse but still... Virgil was the only thing that truly made everything better for him. "4." If it weren't for having to spearhead the whole Deceit thing and the whole insanity being an issue, Roman would have taken Virgil far away from the castle. "3." In fact, Roman wanted to take Virgil to the southern kingdom. Back to where his mother was from. He wanted to get married in his mother's garden and see Virgil smile under all those special purple blossom trees. "2." He could even imagine it. Just being there with Virgil as the petals fell over them. Some would land in his hair making Roman laugh as Virgil just pouted at him. Roman would brush the petal off and kiss his love softly on his forehead as the world just seemed to melt away. "1." Remus smiled seeing the purple fade away. 

"It worked." Roman narrowed his eyes hearing the deep distortion from his sibling's voice no longer there. "We were right to suggest it."

"Your voice changed back." Remus nodded as Roman shot him this look. "Why? What happened?"

"Oh... Well, we just simply... it's hard to explain Roman." 

"The demon part had more control before, didn't it." Remus's eyes widened a tad as Roman just smiled. "Virgil's voice would always glitch when his insanity took over. Or when he got too emotional which usually meant he was close to snapping."

"Your voice glitches too..." Roman's eyes darkened as he nodded. "I take it, it's something new?"

"I'm usually good at keeping down. It's only a small bit. It's not as bad as Virgil's used to but if he were to hear it..." Roman sighed as he shook his head. "No, stop that... You don't know how he would react."

"Would you look at that." Remus laughed as they wrapped their arms around Roman loosely. "He's growing up so fast."

"Oh, shut it. I still have much to learn." Remus frowned as they step away with a sigh. 

"Yeah... you do." Roman beamed as he clapped in excitement. 

"Okie Dokie, then... what's next?"

"Well..." Remus smiled awkwardly as they shooked their head with a laugh. "We haven't really done much in the way of channeling. We think the best course of action is to learn how to use that insane energy instead of suppressing it."

"How exactly can I do that?" Roman frowned as Remus just shrugged. "Remus, I'm a druid with a specific kind of magic. It's not like I can just use the energy..."

"How do you know if you don't try?"