The King - Sanders Sides

Chapter One

Heavy tears dripped down his face like hot tar as he rose back up in the mind palace. He could hardly see; just blurry outlines of the friends he thought were his family. The air in the room felt cold like all love had left it. Maybe it had. Maybe that was his fault.

Roman took a few steps forwards, hitting the stair's railing. He grabbed onto the post like his life depended on it. In an odd way, he felt like it kind of did. He felt so empty and alone. Everywhere he looked, people's backs were towards him. Nobody cared for him anymore. How could they when he didn't even care about himself at the moment.

"Princey?" A gruff voice asked from behind him. Roman whipped his head around, seeing Virgil standing there with a confused look plastering his face. He had one hand on his headphones which were now around his neck, while his other hand was reaching out to Roman. The Prince stared intensely at his pale skin, almost taking it as a threat.

The creative man stood on his own, turning away from Virgil who almost seemed hurt. "Ro?" He asked again, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. Roman immediately reacted, snatching his hand and throwing it away from him. Crazed fear and anger laid deeply in his eyes, Virgil could tell. He recognized the look from elsewhere.

"Don't touch me!" Roman yelled, making Anxiety's lip quiver. "Stop pretending like you care! You don't; just admit it!"

"Woah, w-what? Roman what happened out there today?! This isn't like you! This...this isn't like you at all!"

"Shut up." He commanded, once again taking Virgil by surprise.

"Roman, talk to me. Who said what to you?"

"Was I not clear?! I thought I told you to-!"

"Roman, that is quite enough!" Came a monotone voice from near the kitchen. Virgil was panting and shaking, looking back and forth between the Logical side and the Mad Prince. Roman seemed to take a step back, realizing what he was doing. After surveying the situation, he took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, Virgil," He said after a while, rubbing the back of his head.

"I'm not so sure you are," Virgil said in response. He then walked over to Logan, giving him a tight hug. Logan never broke his gaze with Roman while he calmly rubbed the anxious boy's back.

"I think you should take a breather, Roman. If things escalated even further after what I saw today, you and Patton both need some time to yourselves." Logan suggested, walking into the kitchen with Virgil still in his arms.

Roman looked down at his feet. The thoughts in his head were whirling, making him almost dizzy. He looked back up, seeing a memory from his mind start to play again in his brain. He stood in his usual spot. To his right was Patton and on his left today, was Deceit. Or...who was once Deceit.

"Janus?!" He could hear his voice echo through stifled laughter. The hurt faces of Thomas and Patton stung like tattoos to his psyche. "What are you? A middle school librarian? It's a stupid name!"

Janus sighed, rolling his stone-cold eyes before quickly retorting, "Oh, Roman, thank god you don't have a mustache. Because...between you and Remus, I wouldn't know who the evil twin is!"

Roman's heart hurt all over again. It felt like an arrow to the chest. A physical pain he felt on an emotional level. All of him hurt. All of him wanted to forget.

With anger beginning to well up inside him, he marched upstairs, letting his heavy tears finally pool down his cherry cheeks. He ran into his room and slammed the door. Even in his own room, he didn't feel safe. The walls were judging him. The floor was hating him. The ceiling wanted him to leave.

His hands latched onto his head, covering his ears and part of his eyes. An involuntary scream left his mouth. Everything was so much. All he wanted was for it to stop. His feelings. His emotions. His thoughts. All of it. Why wouldn't it go away?

"Get out of my head!" He yelled out! His hair flew up as he lifted up his head harshly. His eyes were bright green, glowing brightly while he locked eyes with himself in the mirror. For a moment, he relaxed, understanding what was happening. Understanding the feel burning inside him. Understand what was coming out.

Another scream came from him. With his fist recoiling, he launched himself at the mirror.

There were shards of glass flying out everywhere. His fist was holding a liquid that was leaking down his arm. It was red. It was blood. Leftover glass pieces stared back at him. His breath was heavy. But he hurt a lot less. And for some reason, he wasn't sure exactly why.

When he released his fists, he could see the red ooze out of his hand. However, that didn't scare him the most. His sleeves were partially black, the color was melting down his outfit. He let out a gasp, watching as the darkness recoiled and leaving his outfit back to its pearly white normalcy.

The shock was enough to take his breath. Stumbling back a bit, all he could hear was the sounds of his shoes crunching against the broken glass. At that moment, he walked to his bed, sitting on it while trying to process everything that was happening.

The weight from the situation was enough to break bricks. No matter how hard Roman tried to push back his fears, doubts, and worries, they cam back to him. But why wouldn't they? They'll always be apart of him. No matter how much he wished otherwise. The person he really was was in there. And he was starting to break free.

Roman leaned back in his bed, taking many deep breaths to try and calm his screaming head. From the minute he shut his eyes, he went to sleep, the black darkness watching over him.

And it felt like a metaphor.