Escaped - Sanders Sides

Chapter Nineteen

(POV: Janus)

"Well, well, well," Elden purred, making me growl, "Turns out you truly are just a snake in the grass, Janus!"

"You don't have a right to call me that! Only my friends get to call me that, and you are far from being my friend!" I hissed harshly.

He rolled his eyes, waving his hand a bit as it began to glow orange. He sent a blast at all of us, which we were easily dodged.

That must've set Remus off, as he whipped his mace behind his head and charged at the manipulative side. Roman, Virgil, and I exchanged looks. But Roman smirked and lined up to join him.

Virgil's hands grew purple as he brought them together to fire at Elden. I grabbed his hands and lowered them. His head met my eyes, hurt littered in them. "Virgil, you need to go to Logan and Patton!"

"No! A-At least, not right now. He's way too close for comfort and I'm not letting you and the twins get hurt by him again!" Virgil screamed.

"Virgil, please," I begged. "I don't want you to get hurt."

"How is it any different then? I can't let you get hurt!"

"Because I- I want you to be safe," I sighed, holding back what I really wanted to say. "After everything I've done, I truly want things to become better between us. To at least be friends again."

Virgil looked up at me with wide eyes. His dark hair hid most of his face, but I could see a faint smile underneath it all. "Me too, Janus." The purple glow faded from his hands and I relaxed. Through his dense bangs I could see the warm, happy glow I used to know in his eyes. But like a change in the tide, it turned cold.

"Virgil-?"

"Forgive me!" His hands reignited with a bright purple flame. The blast happened so fast, I could hardly register the pain. A purple fireball landed directly on my thigh, making me squirm and squeal. I sat on both of my knees to try and cool the burn. However, Virgil grabbed the back of my head, and everything went black.

(POV: Virgil)

With my left, and more powerful hand, I cupped the back of Janus' head and slammed it into the ground in front of him. He immediately slumped forwards as I barely grabbed his chest with my other hand.

The tears in my eyes were so heavy, it almost hurt to not blink. I laid him down easily, seeing his unconscious face look up at me and only making me feel worse.

"I'm sorry, Janus. But it's my turn to protect you!" I yelled in a whisper.

Upon standing back up, I could see that the twins were running out of steam against Elden. I rushed up to help, shooting fireballs left and right as warning shots. Elden hit Remus back, sending him a couple feet away as he rolled backwards and lost sight of his mace.

I ran up next to Roman, doing my best to surround Elden with my magic.

"Where's Janus?" Roman asked, shooting me a side glance.

"Not the most important concern right now, Princey!" I warned.

Elden whipped around, smacking Roman in the face, sending him back. Remus got up and went to help him, leaving the manipulative side with me.

"Well well, trying to be the hero, are we?" Elden cooed, blasting at me to which I hopped over it, getting the tips of my shoes singed. That seemed to aggravate him as nonstop blasts were starting to be sent my way.

It almost seemed like a game at first. He would blast and I would jump it. But he took me by surprise, nailing me right in the gut. I doubled over, coughing at the smoke coming up from my burning shirt.

"You'll never win, Virgil. No matter how hard you try. No bad guy can play the hero," He roughly grabbed my hair, pulling my face up, "I learned that a long time ago."

Taking a risk, I shut my eyes and formed a hot ball of magic in my hand. Tightly shutting my eyes, I shoved it into Elden's chest, listening to him gasp out in surprise and pain. He let me fall back now, only to be caught by my underarms by Roman and Remus.

While Elden was hurt, I took a second to wrap my arms around the twins. "I'm so glad you two are okay! Don't freakin' scare me like that!" I said, fighting back tears of fear.

Out of nowhere, Elden loomed over us. We split up, Roman and Remus' weapons appearing again while my magic flared up. "How cute. But you've yet to win and I refuse to lose!" He growled. Elden jammed his foot into the ground, creating a power blast that sent us flying back towards where Janus was.

I landed with a low groan as I rolled over, seeing Roman clutching his sides while Remus looked super dizzy. "I-I don't think we can beat him by ourselves. We need more to actually stop him!" Roman yelled to me. "Where are Patton and Logan?"

"We're right here!"

(POV: Logan)

"We're right here!" Patton announced as we walked in. We set our bags down on the floor in front of us, being greeted to the terrifying scene playing out. Elden was charging up his powers, laughing in a maniacal way. Virgil, Remus, and Roman were all trying to stand up again, all of them seeming to be hurt in one way or another.

Then there was Janus. He was on the ground away from everyone else. He wasn't moving, but I could see his relaxed breathing and deep unconsciousness. Patton and I ran over to the others, helping them to their feet.

"Thank god for you two! It's about time you arrive!" Remus hollered, giving me a suffocating hug. I gave him a small one in return, doing my best to comfort him. I was not the ideal side for feelings, but I did all I could to help him out. I can't imagine the experiences he's been through these past few days.

"Don't worry, guys. We're here to help!" Patton declared, helping Virgil onto his feet.

The five of us turned to face Elden, anger in all of our eyes. We would not stop fighting until Elden was stopped. Thomas did not have much time left if things got any worse.

Patton's hair turned dark blue as he summoned his own form of magic. Meanwhile, I began summoning my own. Roman held his sword high in the air while Remus swung his mace around in front of him as he cackled. Virgil formed a violent thunderstorm above his head and sneered.

Elden didn't stand a chance against us. It was five to one. The odds were in our favor.

There was a soft grunt behind us followed by the rustling of clothes. Virgil's eyes pooled with tears, and he spun around to face the sound, his storm dissolving.

"Janus!" the anxious side cried, crouching down beside his friend. Virgil helped him up and hugged him, trying his best to hold back his tears. "I'm so sorry for doing that, b-but Logan and Patton are here now. I'm so glad that you're okay. I-I did-didn't know if m-my powers would..."

"It's alright, Virgil. I'm okay," he smiled down at him.

When I turned back to Elden, he had a dark and smug look on his face. I didn't like it at all, but before I had the chance to attack, he blew us all back with fire.

Virgil and Janus cautiously looked over at us. While I patted my clothes that were close to burning, I heard a panicked scream. Elden had his hand pointed out towards the snake, seeming to be causing his pain. Virgil clutched to him, trying to do anything he could to help him.

Eventually, the screaming stopped and Janus held his head in his hands.

"Janus? Are you okay? What happened?!" The anxious side cried, shaking his shoulders.

But Janus just smirked and lifted his head revealing his two glowing yellow eyes.