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4. The Bittersweet Truth

Here's the point when I make you hate two characters without ever having met them before now.

TW: swearing, crying, abandonment, mentions of kidnapping, lying, abuse,

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"What do you mean my parents have done awful things?" Roman asked. "How have I not heard of this before?"

"I'm sure you've heard it before," Virgil said. "They just tell a different story about what happened. Tell me about what they say happened to your brother."

"When we were seven and I was.." Roman froze in thought. "Wait- where was I? I think I was at home, but for some reason Remus and our parents weren't there. When they got back Remus wasn't with them. They told me that villains had come onto the isle and kidnapped him. I never saw him again, and they didn't say who it was."

"Well, that's not exactly what happened," Virgil said quietly. "You might want to sit down."

"Why?" Roman asked, hesitantly sitting down.

"The truth sucks," Virgil said. "Anyway, here's what happened. On that day the palace got a call. One of the villains who had been patrolling said that they saw some... not so nice stuff happening. Two people were hitting a child, they said, and yelling at him. They even tried to force the child out of the barrier, which is extremely painful. When one of villains finally got there, the child was already covered in bruises and crying. The child was was Remus... and the two people were your parents. They were yelling at him for being wicked in their eyes, when yes, he was a little troubled, but nothing like what they said. They claimed he was psychotic, and instead of helping him they tried to get rid of him."

"What happened to him?" Roman asked quietly.

"The Evil Queen had never had a child, so she ended up raising him," Virgil said. "He's alright now, but it could've ended much, much worse."

"Does... does she treat him well?" Roman's voice was so faint that Virgil could hardly hear it.

"She treats him like he was her own," Virgil murmured. "He couldn't have gotten a better mother on the mainland."

"I'm glad," Roman whispered. "He deserves it."

"And what about you?" Virgil sat down next to Roman, keeping the distance between them in case he wasn't comfortable with it, but to his surprise Roman latched onto him immediately. He cautiously wrapped his arms around Roman, trying to provide at least some sort of comfort. "It'll be fine, Roman. He's safe now. I'm more worried about you."

"I'll be fine," Roman whispered. "It's not like I have a choice. There's no where I can go, and it's not like I can get off of the isle. I won't be as lucky as Remus. There's simply no way out for someone like me."

"I can get you out."

"No, you can't," Roman said. "It's fine though. I'm used to being here. I'm used to having to hide anything less than what's deemed moral and I'm used to the lectures. This is nothing compared to some things. I'm fine."

"But you aren't fine," Virgil said. "And this place isn't right at all. I can get you off, if you'd like."

"I should be going home now," Roman muttered. He stood up and turned to walk back home.

"Roman, the offer is there. If you decide you want out, I can get you out."

"Thank you, but I'll be fine," Roman said quietly.

~

"Oh, good, you're home." Roman just nodded as he walked inside the house. It was small, but it was still home. "You took longer today than usual to get home. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Mom," Roman said. "It just took longer than usual."

"Something seems wrong, are you alright?" Cinderella asked. Roman flinched when she reached forward to offer him a hug, making her freeze up. "What's wrong?"

"What really happened to Remus?" Roman asked. Cinderella's smile faltered, but then it was back to normal.

"You know what happened, hun," she said. "You know the villains took him." Roman just nodded with a broken smile.

"You know, I wanted to hear the truth from you, but instead you just lied to me again. I didn't think you'd still lie, but fine, if that's how you want to play it than that's how it is I guess," Roman stated. He ignored Cinderella as she followed him, and locked the the door of his room behind him. He didn't want to deal with it anymore. He thought he could face them, but there was no way.

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