The Impossible Death

CHAPTER 23 - ROMANS REFLECTION

After Virgil and Deceit ran off, Roman was the next to sink out.

He didn't even want to pace his room. Instead he just collapsed onto his bed face first and let out a muffled scream into his lush, velvet comforter.

He still remembers what he did to Deceit and Virgil all those years ago and after years of hard work, he had nearly forgotten it had happened. However, since Virgil started showing up again, so did the painful memories. He did his best to try and squash them down again and was almost successful. Again.

Then Deceit showed up, covered in scars and exhausted by the weight of his own thoughts. Thoughts he wouldn't have even had if he had just treated him decently.

He knew he couldn't fully blame himself. The event had happened before he and Remus had split, back when they were still just Prince.

Yet the guilt was still eating away at him after almost two decades.

With a great sigh, Roman flipped onto his back to stare up at his high vaulted ceiling.

Maybe he could fully blame himself. He didn't exactly treat the snake side with any kindness after the split. He wasn't as innocent as he was trying to convince himself.

But, thinking of the way that the others had treated Deceit, Roman knew that, objectively speaking, he wasn't the worst. Virgil had reacted venomously at any mention of the side for years now and Patton... well, he hadn't done anything necessarily wrong. He always made it clear, however, that he didn't like Deceit or his purpose directly to his face.

Logan didn't seem to mind Deceit as much. He was at least able to recognize that lying, in some cases, had its perks and that Deceit represented more than just lies. He still always reacted negatively when he would appear, but Roman suspected that may be some kind of psychological reaction he had developed after watching the other side's reactions.

He groaned and ran a hand down his face. He really should have zoned out on Logan's smarty pants psychology rant while Deceit was sleeping, he didn't want to start thinking like Logan.

He let out a small chuckle, knowing that Logan would have already started to lecture him if he'd been there and if Roman had spoken out loud.

However, Roman didn't hold onto that distraction for long before he started to think about Deceit again.

Flashbacks of how he had reacted to Deceit's appearances in the past went through his head and he frowned.

Multiple (some would say "dramatic") exclamations of villainy and vileness. He never greeted him in any other way. Not a single 'how are you' or even a simple 'hello.'

His mind couldn't help but jump to his brother. He wondered how Remus greeted him. Probably the way he greeted everyone, which was an unpleasant experience to say the very least.

Roman's mind felt foggy as he tried to sort through everything going on in his head.

Sleep. He needed sleep. Tired. He was so tired.

Pulling the throw blanket that was on his bed over top of him, he curled up underneath it and closed his eyes as he tried to empty his mind.

But sleep never came. Instead, he sat there with his eyes closed for what felt like hours, but was probably only minutes as he tossed and turned. A headache of emotional pain weighing on him so heavily he felt suffocated by his own mind.

A loud thud and crack from outside his window, however, had him upright in a second.

He stared at the window, both curious and scared at the same time.