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Chapter Text

Ever since that day, two years ago, Roman had been unbearably angry.

He was mad at the dragon that had killed Virgil.

He was mad at Virgil for leaving his Patton broken and mourning.

He was mad at himself for not being there on the hunt that day and protecting Virgil, killing the beast there and then.

However, since the day he found out the news and saw how devastated Patton had become, he had vowed that he will be the one to kill the dragon, it’s head mounted above his fireplace in pride to show that Virgil will never be forgotten and that he had been avenged. Despite this want for glory, two years of hunting every night for the stupid dragon had given him nothing. He’d barely even spotted the dragon, but he had now seen an animal too large to be a bird in the sky a total of three times, and no matter how good his archery skills are, the animal seems to know that he can’t be killed from such a distance.

Roman found it peculiar that the beast hadn’t attacked anyone before prince Virgil, finding the thought of the dragon wanting its first kill to be a prize all too realistic, sickening him to the pit of his stomach. This thing had to be stopped before it became a danger to everyone, before it decided its one prize wasn’t enough.

Roman had ventured into the open forest every single night for 738 days in total and Patton had even asked him to stop at this point. But, the broken face of his youngest sibling broke Romans’ heart and he couldn’t bare the thought of Patton never getting closure, of him never seeing the dragon brought to justice and so, with little energy left and his trusted sword, Roman once again sought out the dragon.

He had wondered around the forest for hours - maybe three? He didn’t know at this point - and had began walking back home when he heard it. A slight rustling sound, almost like a bush was being shaken awake. He paused, took a breath, and turned. There was a bush, softly shuttering in the distance, a rabbits tail poking out from beneath it. Roman sighed in dismay.

How many rabbits are there in this fucking forest?

The amount of times Roman had crept up to a tree or bush, fully armed with his sword held above his head ready to slay a mighty dragon only for a small wild rabbit to pop out from under the leaves and stare at him is utter confusion was becoming insane.

He tip toed twards the bunny, not wanting to scare it any more than he had to, and found himself only ten metres away when he saw it. The bunny looked a little confused now, noting that Roman wasn’t a predictor, but the poor thing didn’t see the large, unnaturally large eyes, glaring at the small forest creature. Roman had frozen, instantly comprehending that this was the dragon. He had found it and thankfully, it hadn’t seen him. It seemed so caught up in what must had been a snack for the huge animals body mass, that it had been totally oblivious as Roman drew his sword, knowing full well that this beast could kill and would most likely take this snack back to its hide out and then he’d be back to square one.

He had to act fast.

Without thinking of much else to do, he waited until the beast had decided to pounce, jumping on top of the bunny like it was a toy. The poor creature hadn’t done anything, and now it had befallen such a terrible fate and Roman couldn’t help but wonder if this is what the beast was like with Virgil. How scared the normally chatty, outgoing man must have been is inconsolable. Roman hates the image in his mind, but with that as motivation, he charged, landing his freshly sharped sword straight through the dragons left wing, hearing a howl of pain from the beast that sounded - oddly enough - like a wounded puppy.

Roman hated that he felt a little bad after hearing the noise, after all this animal did have to eat just like humans did. However, this beast had killed Romans’ soon to be brother in law, and that was unforgivable. Roman had proceeded to drag the sword through the dragons wing a bit, rendering it completely useless and the dragon himself, flighless.

Roman didn’t have time to dodge the enormous tail swinging towards him, and he barely even registered the hit until his was slumped against a tree fighting for his own consciousness. He had groaned at the disgustingly painful throbbing in his head and rubbed it silently. His eyes scanned the forestry for the beast, and he had seen it staring at him, a look of uncertainty on its face.

For some reason, Roman felt as though he knew those eyes, the deep black colour almost comforting him in a way, and it’s unwillingness to just abandon Roman surprised him greatly. He didn’t know what to do, but the beast had then clearly sent him an apologetic look before limping off into the woodland again.

Roman was still seeing stars, his vision slightly foggy and his mind even more confused over his internal conflict between wanting the beast dead for its crimes and wanting to befriend the thing since it had been so kind to him (besides the whole “throwing him at a tree” situation). However, which ever one he chose, he was not stupid enough to allow the beast to get away. With every ounce of strength left in his aching body, he struggled to pull himself up against the tree, quickly locating his sword on the ground and grabbing it before looking in the direction the dragon had gone.

Nothing. He couldn’t see those eyes, that tail, it’s beautiful purple scales, it’s odd little piece of hair that Roman himself somehow found endearing. Nothing, except a trail of dark red.

Roman gulped unintentionally. He had done that. He had made the animal bleed, and if he didn’t find it and kill it mercifully then it would probably bleed out - a slow and painful death, and Roman believed no one, not even this dragon, deserved a fate so brutal.

He looked back towards the castle where he knew Patton would be waiting for his return. Patton eagerly awaited his arrival back home every time Roman left to go on these daily hunts. He had expressed his distaste towards Romans adventures many times calling them dangerous, pointless and even going as far as saying they’re suicide since he desperately wanted Roman to stay. However, even Pattons gracious smile when Roman reurned home every morning at 8am didn’t reach his eyes. And he so desperately wanted Patton to be happy again, so, with one final longing look to where his brother would most probably be worrying about him, he walked.

And at 7:36am, Roman followed the trail of blood deeper into the forest.

Chapter Text

Roman had been walking for what felt like days when he finally came across a sign that he was getting nearer to where he had to be. As he had walked he had noticed a few things. The trees had gotten increasingly closer together and thicker, but his pathway was happily carved out but trees that had been bet or torn down to make way for a large dragon coming through. He had also noticed that the blood trail was thinning out, which could be thought of as good or bad. Good because if the blood was getting less frequent, that meant the wound had mast likely began clotting so the dragon wouldn’t bleed out. However, if the wound managed to stop bleeding lo together, the dragon would then be lost.

And this was not an option.

Roman quickened his pace to try and catch up a bit on the dragon, but he supposed that having large legs and being well over 20x the six of Roman had its perks when it came to clearing distance. However, distantly he could hear the sounds of deep growls and stumbling, trees falling over too. He wondered how wounded the dragon actually was and before he could really help himself, he felt terrible. He wanted nothing more than to get to the dragon and kill it in a quick fashion, not allowing the creature to suffer so much. He hated that he had been the cause of the beasts distress but what else could he do other than try and follow the dragon as quickly as possible.

The noises became so much clearer after ten minutes of walking at a faster pace, he was so sure he was only a hundred metres behind the dragon, and even though he couldn’t really be sure because of the thick forestry, he was almost positive he could see purple in the distance.

Virgil, he renewed with a start, almost losing his balance as he lost focus and stumbled over a loose branch. Virgil loved purple.

Roman didn’t understand why his realisation made him want to help the dragon more. He was still the one who killed Virgil, still the ferocious reptile who ate Virgil whole, and yet he felt a strange urge to help the dumb creature. Roman didn’t understand, not at all, but it’s colour so closely resembled Virgil’s trademark cape that he almost stopped following the dragon at all, allowing its escape and hoping that it made it alive at the end of the day.

But no, Patton. He had to think of Patton. His sweet, broken, sad, heartbroken Patton, who is only in this state because of the stupid dragon he was following.

It had to be killed, because he couldn’t let anyone else go through what his family had gone though.

He continued on his way, following the animal until he saw it, loud and clear, climbing up the side of a mountain - or trying to - to get to a cave. Roman had hurried along, noticing how hard the dragon was trying and how the bleeding, although much slower, hadn’t even come close to stopping. This worried Roman a great deal since he only had the necessary equipment to tend to a wound on a human not an animal as large as-

He was supposed to kill it, so why did Roman keep thinking do ways to help it?

With a new found determination, Roman began attempting to climb the same mountain as the dragon, now only a few feet beneath it. He was tempted to stab it again, as this would most probably result in it falling and being easier to kill, however he was all about fiar fights and he didn’t want to be innoble and force his victim any more pain before death.

By this point, the dragon was lying on the small amount of flat land between the entrance to the cave and the cliff side, and Roman quickly met it there, sword readied to stack and once and for all being this dragon to its knees. He stumbled over to its head, noticing its eyes were closed and it was breathing rather erratically, it’s body was stiff and tense all over, slightly shaking from the forcefully tightened muscles. And, for a solo second, Roman sword a tear fell from the dragons eyes just before hey opened, and settled on Roman, almost begging for Roman to just do it.

Roman raised his sword, staring at the dragon with wide eyes. He could see the shadow of something behind those eyes, and he once again felt that rush of comfort since he was sure he knew those eyes. He looked to the dragons chest to see it was still breathing hysterically, however, it’s face looked oddly calm, almost as if this was what it wanted, like it had been waiting for this day to come for a long time and it was ready. It looked nearly happy, and this simple fact made roman drop his sword and instead, try to push the dragon back into its cave, hoping to find the source of that water sound somewhere inside.

Maybe if he used his T-shirt and that water source, he could help clean the dragons wounds and calm it down a little, help it recover faster. This sporadic breathing wasn’t doing the dragon any favours, nor was its tense muscles and hefty weight and size. Roman tried to push it into the cave but he could onto move it a few feet before it growled in disagreement and pain.

“Look, buddy, I can only do so much, I can help you if you just work with me here and move into the cave” Roman said, still struggling to push the beast into the cave. He was a mere centimetre infirm the edge when Roman felt the dragon go limp on the ground and without a second to process what was happening, Roman feared the worst.

He rushed around the dragon, noting its closed mouth and shut eyes, looking around to the stomach and stopping in fear. However, he quickly saw the steady raise up and down of its chest and a sigh of relief could be heard coming past Romans lips.

“Well, looks like I’m on my own” Roman muttered to himself, using all of his strength the push the dragon backwards a good few centemetres and within the moment of the dragon getting shaded, Roman felt a weird energy. An almost tingly feeling coming from the dragon himself, and it was quickly beginning to sparkle as Roman pulled away in fear.

He knew dragons were mostly magical beings, so he had no doubt that this one possessed such magic too, however this seems different, and Roman would never admit that a small squeak left his lips as the dragon in the floor quickly shrunk down until it was no more than a small limp frame on the ground. But not a dragon, oh no. Something much worse.

Lying there, barely covered by the cave’s walls, was the body of a human.

Chapter Text

Roman didn’t move for a while. He just watched the figure unconscious on the ground wondering how the hell a simple hunt had turned into this. I mean sure, he went looking for a giant dragon that had previously eaten his brothers fiancée leaving him in a completely broken mental state, but even that’s easier to comprehend than this?

Roman had to think, but before he had to think, he had to make sure he was actually awake and breathing and not dreaming. So, with his left arm, he reached over and punched his biceps silently hoping that he hadn’t found the dragon, that he had gone home to see Patton, hugged him before being sent to bed since he hadn’t rested in weeks. It wouldn’t be a surprise if he woke up to find he had slept for forty eight hours straight and yet,,,

Pain.

Roman felt the pinch as his fingers clamped down around his skin, but in frustration, he refused to unclasp his fingers iron grip. Instead, he punched down harder until he was sure he had left a bruise, and he was one hundred percent positive that this wasn’t a dream.

The dragon, the beast that had eaten his brothers fiancée, his Virgil, his friend, his future brother in law. The dragon was actually a human. Well, Roman considered this thought for all of three seconds before dismissing it. This, whatever was on the floor in front of him, was not a human. Maybe a witch? A warlock? A wizard? Yes, but human? No.

However, Roman had sworn long ago that he wouldn’t kill anything that wasn’t a beast, and the skinny figure slumped on the ground didn’t seem quite as threatening as the giant purple dragon that had murdered Virgil in cold blood. Although Roman could only see the back of their head, they didn’t look like a murderer, and Roman couldn’t physically bring himself to kill this man-witch? warlock? Whatever- and so, he just thought.

This thing in front of him, had taken Virgil from their lives. It must have some sort of magic, and maybe that’s how Roman had only rarely spotted it since the incident. It could’ve been in the village, walking around even though it had caused such pain throughout.

Virgil was beloved throughout the small town. He was smart, funny, confident in an outgoing type of way. His smile was so bright, he was never sad. He made everyone around him happy, especially Patton. God, Roman could remember Patton gushing about the outgoing young man he had met that morning, stating how his hair was so soft and well kept, and his handsome face was to die for.

He was taken away too young, by whatever is in front of Roman and he couldn’t stand the thought.

Roman would never see pattons beautiful smile ever again. Roman would never see Virgil’s well kept, silky soft hair. He looked at the thing on the floor, it’s hair unkept, unevenly cut and dirty, locks of grease and filth running though it. But the colour was the same as Virgil’s, and that sent a pant of pain through Romans heart. He couldn’t stand the thought of Virgil looking anything like this monster on the ground, although, the more Roman stared, the more the similarities stood out.

Virgil’s cape had looked almost identical to the one covering most of the person on the floor, except Virgil’s was a rick purple, full of colour and life and the one Roman could see right now was full of dirt, torn almost everywhere and the colour had faded. Roman almost worried that the beast had taken Virgil’s cape as a sort of trophy.

Roman felt sick at the thought.

He looked at the unconscious body on the floor, noticing little thing like- wait. Unconscious... unconscious?! Roman had completely forgotten the the dragon had passed out before transforming into someone else. However, he wasn’t sure if going up to the murderer would be completely safe, but he imagined that since the magician was asleep, and his sword was ready to be drawn, he had no reason to worry.

He took a small step forward, cringing at the echoes around the cave. He almost felt bad that there was a person living here, not a dragon. He spotted a small cage in the corner of the room, a few small birds trapped inside supposedly for safe keeping. Another two steps and he was close onough that he stopped walking. He could see the monsters skin, and as much as he wanted it to be green, blue, scaley or whatever, it wasn’t. It looked like normal human skin, granted very pale, but undoubtedly human.

Damn.

Now Roman really couldn’t kill this monster, however, he could hopefully keep it trapped somewhere, or take it back and lock it up. He took two more steps before freezing. This face, it looked almost too familiar for Romans liking. It was obscured by the cape, and that the body was facing away from Roman, but a shiver was sent down his spine at the resemblance.

He knelt down, ready to turn the figure over before just taking him in a bit. Him, yes, because Roman know this man. He looked at his sunken cheekbones and overly defined jawline. Too skinny to be healthy. Another look at the skin told him the man was malnourished, possibly going into a state of hyperthermia due to its almost blue tint. That cape had the same small patterned flowers covering it.

If Roman hadn’t a already done it, he would have punched himself.

His hand hovered over the body for a second, and just as he went to touch the young man in front of him, he flinched back and jumped to his feet. The man on the ground groaned, rolling over in obvious discomfort before mumbling something that made Romans heart sink.

“Mmmm Patton no, please no” before the man fell back unconscious. Roma was left in silence, just the steady flow of water in the distance in the cave, and Virgil’s unconscious body lying limply on the ground in front of him.

The beast. The beast was Virgil.

Chapter Text

Roman had always been good at telling when someone was lying. For some reason, he always seemed to get a sort of fuzzy feeling in the back of head whenever someone lied. Patton had found out from a young age that Roman would call him out for lying. He learned to just be a very honest person from then on, believing that lying was wrong.

Roman hadn’t always found the gift to be a good thing though. For example, when his eldest brother, Thomas, had told their father that he was gay. Roman had been please to not feel anything as their previous king had complimented Thomas for his bravery in telling their father. He also felt nothing when his father announced he was proud of his son, but Romans head almost ached when his father had said he was sure the kingdom would except Thomas too.

Of course the king wasn’t sure how the public would take it, and initially they were fine with Thomas’ sexuality. However, after Patton and Roman had both come out - Roman as bisexual and Patton as gay - the kingdom soon had something to say.

Roman hated that time, hated being able to tell when people were lying to him about him going to make a good king someday. Everyone had wanted him to fall for a woman, but he still hadn’t found anyone he was particularly infatuated with.

By now, as Roman stood in front of an unconscious body, he wished more than anything that it would wake up. Then, he could simply ask it questions and see if it was lying.

There was one thing Roman felt confident with, this thing - whatever it was - was not Virgil.

His Virgil was strong and confident and happy. This man, lying before him unconscious on a dirty floor, looked anything but. He had dark under eye circles, almost black as if they were intentional, but Roman could spot sleep deprivation when he saw it.

This man on the floor was thin, far too skinny to be his Virgil. The Virgil Roman was to be related to, that man had a healthy frame and combined with pattons cooking, he had ended up a little on the bigger side. Now, on the floor in front of him laid an underweight, pale man.

Virgil had always been comfortably tanned, always in the sun being sociable with everyone in the kingdom. He was the life and soul of the party. He wouldn’t be seen dead curled up helplessly on the floor of a dirty cave.

And then there were those eyes. Those sad, desperate eyes that begged Roman to kill him. Virgil wasn’t the type to beg. He would’ve fought. And he wouldn’t have left Patton alone and grieving. No.

This man, this man was not Virgil.

However, this then raised the question that Roman needed answers to. Who the hell was lying on the floor in front of him?

He assumed at first that it would be a wizard or witch of some kind. That would explain the vibrantly coloured dragon, and the shifting between dragon and human forms. It would also explain the ability to look like Virgil. Witches could cast spells right? And one who could also be a dragon - a freaking dragon-witch - that had to pretty damn powerful. Definitely powerful enough to look like one of its victims.

But that didn’t explain the eyes. Nothing could explain those eyes. There were so hollow, as if someone used to live there but had left a long time ago. They were begging Roman to kill the man, they so desperately wanted to be killed at the hand of Roman that Roman almost caved, thought it best to put it out of its misery.

However, he could not kill this thing while it was still looking like his brother. Or would-have-been brother.

He needed it to wake up, but anything with magic was dangerous. Although Roman had remembered the way the dragon had looked at him after hurting him. A strong scent of regret emitted from its eyes. Sorrow. Apologies that died on the beasts tongue. This beast didn’t seem to want to kill him, and Roman didn’t really want to kill it.

He did need to get it to a more compromised place though, like a corner, so he could over power the beast if he needed to.

Upon the thought, Roman had taken a shaky step towards Virgil. No. Not Virgil. He hated having to look at his face, it was times like this, when Roman could see him so young and youthful, so innocent but scared, even while unconscious. This reminded him that Virgil never deserved to die. He was too young.

After two more shaky steps and a lot of deep breaths, Roman was hovering uncomfortably over Virgil’s unconscious body. This poor man had been ripped from their lives, taken so cruelly and suddenly that it had torn Patton and himself in half. It also greatly effected the royal advisor, Logan, however he was much more reluctant to show his distress freely.

Roman cautiously leant down in front of the body, looking it over as a soft sob escaped his lips. He couldn’t stand this. It looked too real, too much like the boy he was excited to welcome into his family. The boy he was more than happy had asked Patton to marry him. This man was meant to be living with him now, the two arguing playfully while calling each other stupid names. Roman will never forget what he always used to call him.

Princey.

He missed it, and as another sob broke loose, Roman reached over and pushed one of the longer strands of dirty hair behind Virgil’s ear. This whole situation was just reminding Roman that he never got a goodbye. He never got to thank for virgil for making him and Patton and even Logan so fucking happy while he was alive. He never got to hear princey fall from Virgil’s lips and know it was the last time. He hated it, he hated that he was gone but still in front of him.

This felt like a goodbye.

This felt like the goodbye that had been ripped from him two years ago. And as much as Roman knew it was a dumb thing to want, he wished that this figure would know the playful knickname, and would know how to banter back and forth harmlessly with him. He wished this figure could just be his Virgil and that they could live happily ever after together, he would finally have his brother back and Patton would smile again.

By this figure wasn’t Virgil. He had to remind himself. This figure is the reason his Virgil is gone. This is a monster. Another sob broke free from Romans chest and he finally looked away for the sunken face to Virgil’s - not Virgil, he had to remember that this wasn’t Virgil - arm, noticing an odd damp patch coated his sleeve.

Without thinking much of it, Roman reached over and touched it, recoiling back as the figure on the floor hissed in pain and rolled onto his side. Roman had momentarily froze, looking at his hand, it being coated in a small layer of a red, metallic smelling substance.

Blood.

Roman had completely forgotten that he’d attacked this beast. The wound must have remained on the now humans body, but Roman had barely any time to be horrified at his actions as the body on the floor was still moving. Awake. Groaning in pain.

“Fuck princey, that’s one way to wake me up Jesus” and just like that, Roman had stopped to really take in what he saw. This man, Virgil, looked like he had been living in a cave for about two years with no means of washing. He looked homeless, and then he realised what he had just said. The words finally processed in his mind just before he fainted.

He had called Roman, princey.

And then, nothing but black.

—

Roman blinked awake slowly, his vision sort of coming back only to see Virgil above him. Virgil, the real Virgil. Or what he really fucking hoped was.

“Virgil?” Roman had asked groggily, still sluggish and lying on his back since virgil had one arm currently available which was subconsciously rubbing Romans arm comfortingly.

However, no matter how out of it Roman was, he noticed the panic in Virgil’s eyes, the stalling, the stumble to find the words. He noticed how Virgil hesitated and looked down, ashamed of himself.

“No” he answered sadly, a stray tear rolled down his dirty cheek, leaving a clear pathway for the more that were probably soon to follow.

And Roman world had been crushed. All he had wanted was for Virgil to be alive, and his stupid brain had tried to make that a reality. Of course this wasn’t Virgil, why on earth would Virgil leave them? Leave him? Leave Patton!? No, it was obviously not Virgil, not the kind man that-

But before he could even finish the thought, his mind exploding with one of the worst head aches he had ever gotten.

He was lying. This man was lying.

“So your, ah” the man stumbled, his voice gravelly and rough as if out of use for a long time - which it probably was. “Your lie detector still works huh?” He smiled sheepishly at Roman, that same sadness in his eyes seeping though and Roman had to wonder...

What on earth had happened to him?

Chapter Text

Roman was completely star struck and for once in his life he was utterly speechless. He made no move to hug Virgil, to hit him, to make any sort of contact. Frankly, he was afraid of him right now.

He was afraid that this was all a dream, or an illusion made up from two years of sleep deprivation and heart ache. He was scared that if he touched Virgil he would simply float away, or that he would morphe into something evil and attack.

Right now, in this moment, roman was more than happy to just admire him - well, more like analyse. He took in his shaggy hair, longer than when he had last seen him but not long enough that it hadn’t been cut in two years; curious. Roman had to wonder though, if he could cut it, why didn’t he wash it?

His hair was thick with grime and mud, almost dripping in grease and sticking up in all directions as if it was static. Roman almost couldn’t look at it anymore, and so he lowered his gaze to Virgil’s face which was eagerly avoiding eye contact - very strange. The Virgil roman knew and missed and loved, that man would never cower, or avoid looking at roman. This man looked scared, and Virgil never got scared.

Virgil’s unabashed bravery had been something that roman had greatly admired for years. To see it so obviously lost in this man was devastating and when he tried to analyse this mans eyes, all he could focus on were the large bags and smears of dirt underneath them.

It looked as though Virgil hadn’t slept the whole time he had been away. Like he hadn’t even tried. The obvious dirt under his eyes looked like they had been smeared accidentally while trying to rub away his tired eyes. Roman wanted to feel sorry for him, but no matter how crushed and small and vulnerable this man looked, he had abandoned them.

“Why?” Roman said without even meaning to speak aloud. However, after he did, he noticed that Virgil had flinched at the anger clearly seeping into his words. Virgil still refused to make eye contact, and hunched in on himself further if that was even possible at this point.

“Why what?” His low grumble of a voice came, sounding severely like Virgil hadn’t talked in years. The more roman listened to it the more he didn’t reckocnise it. The more he wanted to call out this imposter for not being the Virgil he knew, the one that was dead. But it was, and deep down, roman knew that.

“You know what I’m asking” he said much more saddened this time, the anger almost completely gone from his voice giving Virgil enough confidence to meet his eyes.

And in those empty black holes roman only saw himself. His reflection looking dejectedly back at him, but he saw something further back, that sadness that he hated, and so roman broke the eye contact first.

“Why didn’t you come back?” Roman had asked finally, sounding utterly devastated. He had missed Virgil, their banterous chats. He had misssed his witty ways and most of all he way he made Patton laugh.

“Why?” Virgil had replied, confused. “Isn’t it obvious? I did it to save Patton. I did it to save you, Roman” and that startled roman enough that he met Virgil’s gaze.

In the lengthy time Virgil and roman had known each other, Virgil had only ever called roman by his name twice: once when they first met, and once when he asked roman permission to marry Patton. Other than those two times, it had always been “princey” or some Disney related nickname.

Virgil only called roman by his name when he was being serious, but roman didn’t understand.

“To save us?” He asked, the anger coming back, except this time Virgil didn’t cower away from it - he challenged it.

“Yes” he said with authority. “You think Patton would be happy living in a fucking cave with me?” Virgil scoffed. Roman was slightly taken aback by the swear, Virgil had always hated swear words since Patton didn’t like them. He had practically trained himself to to say any bad words, so for the the f word slip so easily past his tongue was shocking.

But roman was more confused about what virgil was implying.

“Why wouldn’t you just come home with us?” He asked confused, his voice losing some anger but still firm.

Virgil scoffed and stood up shakily, roman not attempting to help or stop him when he began wobbly walking over to where the sunlight hit the cave floor. “You don’t think I’ve tried?” He said softly, a chocked sob in the back of his throat.

“But every time I try” he said bitterly, before taking a step into the sunlight and instantly a glow of light surrounded him as he began to shake and morphe before Romans eyes for the second time that day.

And then he was the beast again, his head turned to face roman, a sad desperate look in those eyes almost begging roman to see his point and then it all clicked on Romans mind.

As Virgil softly stepped back into the shade, his body changing once more until he stumbled and hit the hard floor, roman suddenly saw everything so much clearer than he had a few moments ago.

“But Patton would- he would-“ Roman began, desperate to try and help Virgil now.

“Yeah” Virgil cut in. “He would, but he doesn’t deserve to have to. I’m not letting Patton leave everything behind for me. I won’t. Patton cannot know that I am alive, because if he does, he would follow me into this cave in a heart beat, and I can’t let him do that to himself.” Virgil sighed deeply as a stray tear slipped down his cheek unnoticed.

“He deserves better” he muttered turning back to roman to see the man hunched on the floor looking at Virgil with such pity.

“He’s miserable without you” roman tried. He looked to the floor as he breathlessly whispered “he hasn’t smiled or laughed since-“ and then he trailed off, leaving an eerie silence in the cave, only filled by the soft breathing of the two men.

Virgil considered that Patton would mourn him, but he had assumed he would’ve moved on my now, forgotten about him. Found someone better or more deserving. And there was still time for him. He would never allow Patton to give up his freedom for Virgil. He would never allow Patton to give up everything for him, so with one final shake of the head, roman had noticed Virgil’s eyes shift from sad and angry to completely emotionless within one blink.

“He’ll move on.” He stated with a flat voice, one that reminded him a lot of Logan. Virgil reached his torn sleeve to his eye and fiercely wiped away any stray tears before glaring at roman, his eyes still void of anything that roman could understand.

“They always do”

Chapter Text

After the initial shock of Virgil denying coming home, Roman had remembered that he himself had to go home soon. Patton had probably been waiting up all night and there would be search parties out soon if he wasn’t careful. Patton always hated it when he was late home after hunting, he had always worried the beast had taken him too.

Little did Patton know that the beast was his dead fiancée.

If Virgil would’ve only let Roman bring Patton to him, Roman knows that Patton would’ve been over the moon about him being alive. He misses him. He’s hurting because he misses him so much, and Roman misses his happy pappy Patton.

But as he silently waved Virgil goodbye, a promise of seeing him again sounding so confident on his tongue, Roman had to wonder if Virgil was even the same person anymore.

Patton had fallen for a happy, confident, funny young man who was so sure of himself he outshined Roman with his confidence and charm. He was amazing at conversations, never allowed anyone to be alone and was one of the most open people Roman had ever met. Honestly, Roman was surprised he himself didn’t fall for Virgil, he was such a caring young man that his death had destroyed the village. Patton was completely crushed by the news, but the children in the town wondered where the kind man who always gave them sweets went. The elderly ladies who always met up for coffee on Tuesdays missed Virgil coming and buying them all a round of coffee. Everyone missed him, but they slowly moved on the longer he was gone.

And Patton had fallen for the man who gave sweets to kids and coffee to elderly ladies, not the man who refused to even say goodbye to Roman as he hoped out of the caves opening. This man was sad, anxious and lonely. He struggles with conversations, doesn’t care about his image, and seems to be easily angered. Roman can’t imagine this man having sweets in his pockets all the time.

Would Patton even still love him?

Virgil clearly still loved Patton. That seemed to be the only thing that didn’t change about him. He still loves Patton and Roman can tell. From the way his eyes light up at the name, from the way he refuses to let Roman tell Patton of his whereabouts. From the way he seemed to have convinced himself that Patton doesn’t need him anymore. He still loves him, and Roman can respect that.

But now, as he walked through the deformed forestry he was reminded of why Virgil had changed so much in two years. He was cursed, and Roman didn’t even know who did it to him. He became a dragon as soon as he left the safety of the cave, so he was forced to be alone for two years. No contact to the outside world, no knowledge of how much people missed him.

Roman couldn’t blame him for changing.

As the castle walls can into view over the tree line, roman couldn’t help but sigh. For starters, he would have to come up with a story to tell Patton about why he was so late coming home. And secondly, he didn’t know how long it would be until Patton allowed him back out again, so he could go and see Virgil.

Roman wondered forward at a sluggish pace, trying with every brain cell he had to come up with a story, hoping with every fibre of his being that Patton didn’t even notice his late arrival home.

But as Logan’s deep brown eyes hidden behind think lenses looked disapprovingly at him from the large castle doors, Roman knew that Patton had been worried sick.

“Where were you?” Logan said, not allowing his eye contact with Roman to falter for a second.

“Not even a hello, specs?” Roman muttered under his breath, a humourless laugh that sounded more like a grimace accompanying it as he hoped that Logan just wouldn’t question him for once in his life.

“What’s on your hand?” Logan gestured to the slightly stained skin from...

“Virgil’s blood” Roman unintentionally breathed aloud, looking to his skin in wonder as if he had completely forgotten that Logan even existed in front of him. Logan seeing the mark was enough conformation to Roman that he hadn’t dreamt or hallucinated the whole thing. Virgil is alive.

“What?” Logan’s voice faltered, he hadn’t heard that name in over a year.

“N-nothing” Roman said quickly, pulling his sleeve over his hand and walking past Logan through the doors to the castle. He noticed Patton looking sadly from a window, quickening his pace to reassure him he was okay but stopped as his arm was grapped in an iron grip.

“I am not deaf, Roman. I know the name you just said... god how could I forget” Logan breathed the last part, emotion slipping into his words unintentionally. Roman sometimes forgot that Logan and Virgil had been friends.

“You said... you said ‘Virgil’s blood’... what the hell does that even mean?” And he suddenly sounded desperate, as if the name alone struck a chord in his heart and he was suddenly not a robotic, emotionless advisor.

And Roman couldn’t help but feel bad about yanking his arm from Logan’s grip and storming his way into the castle without another word. He needed to speak to Patton and not about Virgil, other wise he would break down.

As he made it through the doors, he quickly headed towards the stair case leading to pattons bedroom, but as he reached he bottom steps, he noticed Patton standing at the top with a disappointed look in his eyes.

Roman felt so small beneath his stare. He couldn’t help but hunch his shoulders.

“Patton please-“

“No” Patton said without much force. In fact, it sounded more like a cry or whimper.

“No, you don’t get to explain yourself. I’ve asked you- I’ve asked so many times for you to just stop! I don’t care about the stupid dragon anymore! I never did!.. I’ve already lost a husband..” pattons voice broke at the end, and Roman climbed the first few steps as a way to show Patton that he was here and okay.

“I can’t lose a brother too” he muttered finally, trying to hide his tears beneath his glasses. Romans heart broke instantly. He began running up the stairs taking them three at a time to get to Patton. Within a moment he had gone from being on the floor to holding Patton as he cried into Romans shoulder as he whispered “I’m here, I’m okay. You’ll never lose me shh” over and over again.

“Please” Patton said while tears were streaming down his cheeks. He was struggling to get his words out and Roman could feel Logan’s uneasy eyes on the back of his head from the bottom of the staircase as Patton finally muttered, “please don’t go out again”

And as much as Roman wanted to say “okay. I’d do anything for you patton because I love you more than anything and I know this will make you worry about me less and it will make you happy again.” He couldn’t. Because Patton wouldn’t be happy if roman stopped going out every night. He would be happier, but not happy.

And Roman had found something that could make Patton happy again, so he couldn’t let it go.

And with a final breath of hesitance, he muttered a final “I can’t” and Patton held him tighter as he cried. And cried. And cried.

Chapter Text

It took two hours for roman and Patton to finally part ways, and Logan had only seen them both this desperate for each other’s touch one other time in his eight years of working for them. Virgil’s death had been catastrophic to the entire kingdom, and Patton and Roman had received endless love and support from both the entire town and each other.

Logan recieved nothing.

He would pretend that he didn’t mind. Of course he did. It wasn’t like anyone would actually care if he had told them of his and Virgil’s close friendship. Logan had always been a happy young man who enjoyed people’s company, and Virgil was an endlessly happy and kind man who attracted others like him, so it was really no surprise that Virgil and himself hit off so well after just a week of exchanging few words to one another. Logan enjoyed talking to the young prince, his intelligence shining through his speech in a beautiful way that left Logan astonished. The prince knew what he was talking about no matter what the subject matter was and Logan thoroughly enjoyed their debates.

It began with the two man simply smiling in the corridors as a way to show acknowledgment and for them to be polite to each other. Slowly, however, Virgil seemed to want to talk to the advisor. This was abnormal to Logan, he hadn’t ever had friends. He had roman and Patton yes, but since Logan worked for Patton and Roman, he never had that strong friendship with then. They had been forced into a friendship that wasn’t natural. That didn’t make it any less real, and Logan did truly care for both princes, however his friendship with the late prince Virgil had been chosen. It had been a mutual decision, and Logan had loved that. He had felt wanted.

Although Logan was outgoing and happy, he was never one to make friends. He worried about getting hurt and was scared that if he allowed someone to have a part of his heart they would then be able to hurt him with it. So Logan had initially been closed off with Virgil, trying to remain professional and trying to remain unharmed. By the end of the first week, Logan and Virgil were engaging in debates about large topics daily. Both parties couldn’t deny that the other put up a strong fight and they often ending in a mutual “agree to disagree” situation. Logan loved talking to the witty prince. Their conversations often left him buzzing and energetic, a smile always on his lips after they parted ways. They had a friendship that couldn’t be overshadowed by anything else.

Except it was.

Patton and Virgil had fallen for each other fast. In the quick time Virgil had gained Logan’s trust and affection, he had gained pattons loyalty and love. They had both began spending enormous amounts of time together, leaving Logan’s debating partner unable to attend their meet ups anymore. Logan didn’t mind, or at least pretended not to mind. He wasn’t even supposed to be friends with the prince, never mind miss his presence. And Logan did. He missed his presence so much that when they finally got to see each other again Logan nearly cried.

He never resented Virgil or Patton because of their love for one another. In fact, he rather admired it. He could sense that they would die for each other in a heartbeat. It was beautiful and Logan had once told Virgil this himself, shyly looking away when he had asked when they would get to spend time debating with one another. Virgil had smiled happily at him in response, not at all offended that his friend had wanted to spend more time with him and was worried about his relationship. Virgil had then promised that after him and Patton were married, they would meet up weekly for debates. Logan looked forward to it.

They were close since then. The pair growing fond of one another in a platonic way; Virgil debating with Logan and teaching him how to play chess on the tattered chess board Logan had owned for years (Logan quickly becoming much better than Virgil himself) while Logan gave Virgil subtle advice about things Patton liked for breakfast and what his favourite flower was. It was a great friendship that Logan had never had before, so he ended up giving Virgil that little piece of himself silently. He didn’t mean to, he had held onto it with all the strength he had, but after Virgil had gotten him that classic wooden chess board he had been wanting since a child for his birthday, Logan gave up fighting and allowed himself to truly love Virgil. And he did. He loved Virgil.

And then Virgil died.

Logan had truly shattered that day. He had known that giving himself away like that was a mistake, but he couldn’t help it. He threw the chess board under his bed never wanting to see it again and vowed to himself never to let himself be vulnerable ever again. He stopped playing the game he was quickly fond of in favour of studying nothing in particular. He became increasingly more monotone and lifeless as the days passed and he silently missed moving the small pieces across the board. But he refused to play again. In fact, he vowed to ever show his emotions, vowed that he would make himself unapologetically unapproachable so as to ward off anyone who could get to him. And he had succeeded for two whole years.

He quickly found himself not calling Patton and roman by their names, but rather “sir” and “your highness” and other formalities. While the brothers comforted one another, Logan fell. He fell further into his pit of self loathing and pain until he was sure he truly didn’t care anymore. Until he was almost positive that he really had managed to get rid of any feelings he had ever felt in place of logical thinking and factual information. He believed himself to be a robot.

But when those words accidentally slipped past Romans lips, logan had felt something he didn’t even know he still could anymore. Something deep inside him with all of his other regrets and emotions. They all lay forgotten and until it was suddenly being wretched up into his throat. He hadn’t felt this much in years and the worst part was that he didn’t doubt Romans words. The prince was an infamously bad liar, and Logan had seen the anguish and disbelief in his own voice at muttering Virgil’s name.

Of course he had to wonder what he meant, Virgil was dead and he wasn’t coming back alive anytime soon, but roman had clearly seen something that night, and he had to have seen something related to Virgil’s death. That was the only explanation Logan could even hope to offer up. Virgil’s blood? Logan didn’t get it. But he would.

He uselessly paced around his room, angrily stomping on his wooden floor as he thought but every time he did an image of the once happy prince came to the forefront of his mind leaving him paralysed and filled with unwanted emotion. He didn’t understand it and he hated not understanding. All he had left was his intelligence at this point, so he needed to know everything.

And if he needed to go behind roman and Pattons back and follow roman when he next ventured into the forestry to hunt for that ruthless dragon, then so be it.

He had lost more than his friend that night.

He was refusing to leave his questions unanswered.

Chapter Text

Virgil was an interesting man. He was alone, in solitude, for multiple years. Left to think every day. His only activity was calving another line into the wall or going hunting, and it wasn’t surprising when Virgil learned that transforming his body structure into that of a dragons was pretty painful. And yet he did it.

He transformed multiple times a day, sometimes o lay for a few seconds before changing back - an equally painful process that left him winded each time. He didn’t mind the pain.

He thrived off the pain.

He needed to feel something, anything at all that reminded him that he was still the same old him. He was the same person who was betrayed by Nara all those years ago. He could still feel the pain of transforming just as much as he did that first night. But that’s the funny thing about pain, after a while, you become intolerant.

You don’t feel it anymore, and Virgil longed for something that would make him feel.

He was only human within the cave walls of his cell. Outside of this cave he was a beast. A killer that was forced to strip living beings from their life for his own selfish needs and hunger. He was nothing more than a monster. And he needed something to make him feel an emotion - any emotion - just to prove that Virgil still existed inside the monster somewhere.

And then some idiot prince stabbed him.

Of course Virgil had reckognised prince roman, his future brother in law. He hadn’t changed much since Virgil had last seen him. He wore the same red sash, but he had added gold trimmings to his outfit, along with a sword. Virgil’s old sword.

When Virgil had first clocked the fact that he had been stabbed by his own weapon he was mad. How dare roman steal from him. But after considering it from Romans point of view he understood. Roman was mourning him, and he had no idea why.

Virgil was nothing. He was worth nothing and he didn’t feel like anything. He wasn’t human but he wasn’t a dragon. He didn’t quite fit anywhere anymore. He used to have a place, a future, a lover, a family. And now? He has himself. And Virgil hates himself.

He didn’t used to. Virgil used to appreciate what he brought to the table; he was confident, cunning and never backed down. And yet here he was now, just a mere two years later cowering in a cage stupidly hoping that the prince will return so that he isn’t alone anymore. Virgil foolishly wanted to reform a friendship, but his gravely voice that he could barely use and his now underdeveloped social skills had left him useless. He was now not a friend, but a burden.

He was anxiety.

He was a mess of anxious thoughts and self loathing and he hated Nara for doing this to him. He hated Patton for never finding him. He hated roman for not looking hard enough for him. He blamed Logan for never worrying about him. He blamed himself for not looking after himself. Virgil used to be a handsome young man who had taken pride in his looks. He was fit, athletic and good at most things. He was intelligent and helpful and kind. And now what was virgil?

Virgil was now an anxious mess that nine times out of ten struggled to even find a reason to stay alive. He was a coward. He was a fake. He was a lie. He wasn’t human. He wasn’t a beast. Me was Virgil, aka anxiety personified.

He wondered what he would do if Patton were to show up. Roman had no obligation to listen to virgil when he had told him that Patton was better off not knowing he existed. Roman didn’t need to return at all in fact, but what if he did? And what if the love of Virgil’s life was right there next to him?

Virgil pictured it perfectly. Patton would walk in, beautiful with a glow around him that lit up the darkness of the cave. His face would be filled with hope, a loopy smile on his face as he looked quickly through the cave in search of his lost loved. And then, when Virgil would step out of the shadows and into visability, Patton would cry.

Patton would cry not because he had missed Virgil. Not because he had fallen in love with him all over again. Not out of disbelief that he was alive. He would cry out of anguish and fear and sorrow, because the man he loved was dead.

Virgil sanders died two years ago, and now Patton had to watch this thing, this imposter, wear his lovers face around like a mask. And Patton would cry. He would run to roman and sob into his shoulder and roman would call him names and leave as Virgil heard Patton say “I wish he really was dead” and Virgil would break.

He would snap into two pieces. One part hope, love and dreams. The other part fear, cowardice and helplessness. And then they would fight for dominance, but the happy glowing piece of him would follow Patton and roman out of the door, leaving only the broken mess behind.

And Virgil would die. He would die out of pain. A broke heart or maybe he would find a way to end it all himself. He had thought about it, considered it, but that piece of hope had always told him “maybe Patton will still love you. Maybe Patton will still want you” and he had stopped himself.

And without that hope, Virgil would die without hesitation.

So no. Virgil couldn’t allow Patton to see him. Not now, not ever. And maybe prince roman won’t ever return, Virgil honestly didn’t mind anymore. He wasn’t used to people, he was used to nothing. He was used to hearing his own breathing and trying to could the number of ants crawling on the wall. And he didn’t like change. He liked routine.

So maybe if he could convince roman to never return, maybe Patton would never find the broken remains of what was once a promising husband. He needed that hope to live, and Virgil was honestly afraid to die. He didn’t want to. But he would. He would if he didn’t have Patton.

And so, with that thought in mind, virgil walked to the edge of his cave and breathed in deeply for four seconds. He held it for seven, and released for eight. He then took a step forward and a groan of pain emanated from his lips without consent due to the agony changing form entailed.

And then he was a dragon.

And then, he was a dragon with a plan.

Chapter Text

Patton hadn’t been the same in the two years that Virgil had been dead. It hadn’t been a surprise to anyone that he would take it hard. Patton was an emotional man, always wearing his heart on his sleeve and falling head first into love - which more often than not left him upset.

He had mourned for months, he still was mourning, but he had no closure. A body was never found, assumed to be eaten by the beast whole. All Patton had was a small piece of his fiancés cloak. A small patch of purple plaid. On the first night after hearing the news Patton had cried, of course, but he willed himself to hold it in until his plans were finished. Patton placed the small piece of fabric on the table beside him while he worked.

For three hours he sketched and rubbed stuff out, and lined and coloured until finally, using his fiancé’s cape as a reference, he had designed a suit. A wedding suit, that he would wear to his lovers funeral.

Patton tried to be strong, like Virgil would’ve wanted. He would have asked patton to move on and get married with someone else. He would ask him to fall in love again and look after everyone. He would ask him to let his emotions out in a safe way that made Patton comfortable. He would tell Patton he loved him, and Patton needed that more than anything nowadays.

Patton relied on Roman’s company so much during those first two weeks, so when roman left him too, he felt completely isolated.

On the first day Roman set out, Patton had been scared, terrified, that he wouldn’t return. That the dragon would kill him too, steal him from Patton who so selfishly wanted roman to never leave his side. But he had relented upon seeing that this was Romans way of mourning.

Romans outings became common, and he always returned at 8am every morning, tired and irritated. Patton rarely bothered him besides a hug after his outings. He quickly learned that when Roman came back he wasn’t ready to talk. Roman just wanted to sleep away whatever had happened.

But Roman had always been the one to comfort him when he felt isolated, when he missed Virgil’s presence too much and when it all over whelmed him.

Now, without someone to distract him during the lonely nights where the bed felt too big and the room too small, Patton simply watched.

He watched the clock, tick tick ticking away in the corner of the room. He watched the moon dance across the sky illuminating the gardens somewhat. He watched his reflection, willing himself to see Virgil standing behind him. He never did.

Patton became used to the darkness, the loneliness. Roman slept all day and hunted all night, their advisor, Logan, had completely closed himself off from everyone after Virgil’s death - Patton believes they might have had a friendship somewhere- so Patton was alone most of the time. Mara would talk to him about once a month, and she would simply ask if he was okay and then she would leave again.

He had to give Mara credit, throughout all this, she had been remarkably strong. She hadn’t needed to mourn Virgil and Patton could tell she was genuinely happy. She had survived and she took over all of patton's duties as the next in line to the thrown upon seeing his state. She ran it like she was queen, and the more Patton considered it, the more he thought she would make an excellent queen.

She was strong, kind and honest. She was patton's rock even if she was busy all the time doing patton's jobs.

But Mara wasn’t around much, just like Roman and Logan. They all abandoned Patton. Oh who was Patton kidding? He was selfish for wanted them to stay with him. They had lives. He didn’t even deserve their sympathy, he was just being a baby. If Virgil hadn’t of passed, he probably would’ve realised what an absolute baby Patton was and dumped him. Patton didn’t deserve anything. He didn’t deserve vi-

“Sir, there is an emergency outside, please come quick!” Logan said fast, panting as if he had run up the stairs in desperation. Patton lifted his head, wiped his tears from his eyes and followed Logan in a haste. He should be more like Mara, strong and reliable, and less like Patton, fragile and breakable.

They ran down stairs and Patton wondered how Logan had even survived running up all of these steps and how he had done it without falling to his death too. The stone walls went past in a blur as Logan sped up even more and Patton was left trying to catch up. This was important, Patton could sense it, but he didn’t know why he was needed. But his thoughts were halted quickly when he got nearer to the large castle doors. Shouts and screams could be heard vividly through the stone walls of the castle and Patton couldn't help but hear the fear weeping through the screams.

He didn’t know what to do. What was happening outside? A fire? A flood? A storm? Strong winds? A riot? Patton couldn’t fathom what would make his kingdom so upset and afraid, but the look on his advisors face told him it was bad.

“I am sorry that I don’t have time to explain fully but to summarise, someone has been taken” Logan said, his fear and distress evident even though he was obviously trying to hide his emotions. Patton wore his hesitance and fear like a mask.

“What do you mean taken? By who?” Patton didn’t want to say what. He didn’t want to hear what was coming but as Logan took patton’s temporary hesitance as a sign to open the large wooden doors at the front of the castle, Patton saw chaos. Pure and utter chaos.

People were running, screaming, shouting, crying. People were comforting each other and others were shouting at Roman who was trying to calm the crowd down. He looked exhausted having had only gotten back late last night from his venture into the forest again. His hair was messy as if he was been pulling at it and his clothes were faded slightly. When everyone saw Patton emerge, their hatred and anger turned to him swiftly. He was corned by vile language and insults and he turned to Logan for guidance. For any sort of help he could offer at all but all Logan could offer was a sigh and a look of apologies.

Patton readied himself to hear what was going to fall from Logan’s lips, but no matter how much preparation he tried to do, he was still speechless and shaking afterwards.

“Someone from the kingdom was kidnapped by the dragon” and after a small pause of reluctance and a small look of apology, he added,

“Again”

Chapter Text

Emile Picani.

He was just some random guy from the village that happened to look somewhat similar to Patton. And Virgil wasn’t trying to get to Patton and kidnap him, he honestly wasn’t even planning on kidnapping Emile, he had just wanted to see his lovers face for the last time.

Virgil hissed slightly from the pain in his wing. Romans cut had reopened sometime during the flight home and Virgil wasn’t exactly the most comfortable in this much pain.

You see, Virgil just wanted to go. He couldn’t stay in the village for long, Roman knew exactly who he was, but if he attracted the attention of all the royal guards, then maybe they could send out an army. Anything would be good. They could save Emile, and Virgil could finally be free of this terrible life. He didn’t want to be a dragon anymore, he was done. But he wanted to see Patton one more time.

Virgil had remembered Emile from before he was transformed. Emile was the local guide; he offered advice and guidance to whoever needed it. Ironic that Virgil chose to kidnap him. He had just wanted to make a scene. To be completely honest, he had no intentions of even bringing Emile all the way back to his cave - he was just going to leave him somewhere close to the village. But for some reason Virgil carried Emile all the way to the edge of his cave before he delicately dropped him.

Emile has been protecting his family when Virgil had taken him. He had proudly stood between Virgil and his son but his face still showed no sense of fear. It felt like Emile was asking to be taken, so Virgil simply complied. In one fast swiping motion Emile was being held between Virgil’s claws and Emile’s son was howling in distress. But Emile was calm. Strange.

Virgil had landed a few feet away from Emile, barely even looking at him as every time he did he was filled with guilt. This poor man probably believed he was going to die. But no, Virgil was.

And yet now, Virgil just had to wait. He had to stay in his dragon form, which meant that he couldn’t enter the cave at all, and he had to stay on the outskirts in the daylight. But the ledge outside of his cave that was basked in the light was small, and Virgil was large. He had tried to curl into himself to give Emile more room, but Emile simply brushed himself off.

He made eye contact with the dragon for a moment, he was looking for something, Virgil was sure of it. Emile stopped his movements as he saw Virgil cringe slightly. He turned fully to face him and scanned the rest of his body, seeing a large cut in his left wing. It had looked old, and practically healed, but Emile could see that it had reopened and was causing this dragon pain.

Without hesitation, he held his arms up in front of him in a placating manor, and took a slow step in Virgil’s direction. Virgil’s eyes narrowed dangerously upon being approached. He didn’t want to be touched, and Emile couldn’t help him.

“It’s okay” Emile said softly, his hands ransomed completely still. He wasn’t afraid. “I won’t hurt you, but it looks like someone else did”

Virgil blinked at Emile for a moment, but Emile seemed to take the fact that he wasn’t being brutally attacked as a good sign, and continued.

“You know, my son gets in all sorts of trouble bac in the village” he spoke softly, still taking slow steps towards Virgil as Virgil eyes him carefully. “He’s always getting cuts and bruises from falling out of trees. Mind if I take a look at that?” He nodded towards Virgil’s wing, which Virgil quickly tucked behind his back. However this jerky movement seemed to be a bad idea, as a second later Virgil was whimpering and Emile was trying to calm him down.

“Hey hey, it’s okay! I won’t touch you if you don’t want me to! I’m assuming you can understand me? I’m Emile.” Virgil appreciated this guys honesty. He always spoke about how lying is wrong but to a dragon? One that supposedly killed royalty just over two years ago? Virgil didn’t exactly think the same rules applied. And yet, Virgil trusted Emile. He slowly moved his wing out from behind his back, taking deep breaths so as to not whimper again, and he allowed Emile to look.

“Jesus, this doesn’t look great” Emile said, concern filling his voice. Virgil hardly felt he deserves concern. He had just kidnapped this man! Oh god, he was a terrible person! And yet looking into those chocolate eyes, Virgil could swear he calmed down instantly. Emile pauses to think for a moment, but Virgil could already see him looking around for the sound of running water.

No. Virgil couldn’t go in the cave. He’s transform, and Emile would be scared and confused. He might try to protect Virgil when the guards come to kill him but he was so tired.

“Hey, I think there’s water in your cave. Do you mind walking a little so we could clean you up?” Emile asked kindly, his eyes glistening with hope and Virgil simply couldn’t say no to this man. He reminded Virgil a lot of Patton. Endlessly kind and forgiving. Never putting himself first. Always willing to do good no matter the consequences. So without think about it virgil was standing and walking towards the shadows.

In a moment he would change. He would change and Emile would know everything. The temperature dropped as soon as Virgil’s face was covered by shadows, and Virgil was hyper aware of Emile’s hand that held him even though he was hardly giving the massive dragon any support. Virgil couldn’t let Emile get too close during the transformation, he had no idea how it would affect him if he was too close to the glow.

As the temperature drop fell to the edge of his tail, Virgil pushed Emile away so as to protect him. Emile looked hurt for a moment but after making eye contact with Virgil he saw something.

And then he saw nothing except light.

__

“We can’t, Logan!”

“I don’t see why not! It’s a danger and we need it gone!”

“We just can’t!”

Roman and Logan had been arguing for an hour about what to do about the disappearance of Emile at the the hands of the dragon. Patton had joined them but stayed silent, observing the two and confused about roman endlessly. Roman had been obsessed with killing this dragon for two years now. He had given up everything to kill it for Patton, even though Patton didn’t even want it’s head or whatever roman planned on bringing back for him. And yet now, when it finally did something again, Roman wants to protect it.

“You make no sense roman! This is completely illogical! The dragon needs to die!” Logan rubbed the bridge of his nose in annoyance and adjusted his tie quickly, both of his eye brows furrowed in anger.

“Logan, we can’t!” Roman looked desperate and sad. He hadn’t given any reasoning but Patton could see something there. Some knowledge that was eating away at roman. Something had made him change his mind about the beast, and Patton couldn’t help himself.

“Why?” He asked innocently. Both parties looked at him, Logan looked annoyed and disbelieving and roman looked sad and full of desperation. And then he sighed, and his hands fell into his head.

“Yes, roman. Why do you suddenly care about the beast?” Logan asked impatiently, tapping his foot on the ground and crossing his arms.

And just barely above a whisper, Roman muttered with a voice so despertare and defeated that Patton almost wanted to cry, and Logan looked confused.

“The dragon isn’t a beast. The dragon is a prince”

Chapter Text

Silence is a funny thing. Silence is the absence of sound, and yet that a sense of sound can be the most deafening thing in the world. That heavy feeling where all you can hear is your own thoughts and your own breathing can be the most suffocating feeling in the world and yet silence is often associated with calm.

But after the calm, there is a storm.

“What?” Logan asked angrily. He had been completely ready for roman to give him and Patton no excuse, and just simply stand there begging him not to help the people of this town, he was begging him not to save Emile and now he had been given the most ridiculous excuse as to why he should allow the beast a life. No, Logan wasn’t angry. He was livid.

“I-I can’t explai-“

“No, you cant.” Logan cut him off through gritted teeth. How dare he suggest such nonsense and then not even attempt to justify himself. “Of course you fucking can’t because it’s all a load of bullshit” and Logan slammed his hand into the table, the resounding thud startling the two other occupants in the room out of silence.

“Logan calm down-“ Patton tried to help but was quickly interrupted again.

“No I will not calm down! This, this imbecile is trying to convince me that the dragon, the damn beast that killed my best friend is royalty? I don’t give a flying fuck if the queen of Britain killed him, he’s dead and it’s that- that monsters fault!” And Logan barely noticed his eyes watering or a shaking Patton stand up and approach him like a wounded animal.

He only barely registered a hand on his shoulder before he all but feel into their arms. He refused to cry, but took the opportunity to hide his face from roman who would surely question him about his breakdown. Gosh, he really needed to stop letting his emotions get the better of him. Emotions fucking hurt.

“It’s okay, you can cry if you need to” Patton soothed, a hand coming up to cradle Logan’s head even though the man was taller then him. He had wanted to badly to see his fiancé again that he hadn’t thought someone else may have been close to him, and of course Logan and Virgil were friends. Patton could see similarities between them with just a glance. Patton has been so selfish as to allow himself to mourn for so long without helping anyone else through their grief.

“I don’t need to cry Patton,” Logan pulled away from the embrace, holding himself up and looking to roman with a glare that held no anger, as much as he tried. All it held was desperation. “I need justice for him.”

Roman looked down, debating what on earth he should say or do, because if he took anyone to that damn cave, Virgil might be seen in his dragon form, and then he’d be dead before sunset. He couldn’t allow that, but he needed proof, or else no one would believe him. Witch craft wasn’t common anymore, so seeing it used in such a bold manner would be shocking.

Roman felt sorry for poor Emile. He had probably assumed that this was his end, and then he’d witness Virgil turn into himself again. Emile was an older man, so roman prayed that his heart was still in good health. He knew deep down that Virgil would never hurt anyone, except of course himself, so he hadn’t yet feared for emile’s safety. But of course Patton and Logan we’re both scared that they had lost another. They had no clue, and, now that he thinks about it, mara had been busy lately with all the work Patton had neglected in favour of mourning. She probably didn’t know, and she needed to be informed.

“Logan, I-“ he paused as Logan sighed and blinked slowly in his direction. “I’m sorry, but you have to trust me.” Logan’s eyes wandered for a moment before his shoulders dropped in defeat.

“Okay, Roman. You have my trust.” He said, sounded completely unsure of himself.

“And mine” a quiet, much more promising confirmation came from Patton.

“You’ll need to inform mara, I don’t think she’s aware of the attack, and then I can take you all to the dragon.” He said confidently, looking at Logan’s shocked face and seeing patton's disbelief.

“You- you know where the dragon lives?” Logan asked, astonished. And roman smiled mischievously in return, a hint of sadness covering his face that left Logan and patton unsure.

“Logan, Patton, you have no idea what’s about to happen”

~~

The silence that fell after the light had gone away was that heavy silence that followed you. The silence that felt like it would never end even though it only lasted a few seconds.

And then a pained groan ended it.

Emile was startled into action and ran forward to help the poor man on the ground. He was bleeding, even as a human, although the cut was much more manageable at this size. And he was also a damn human.

Emile hadn’t ever imagined this happening to him, and he couldn’t quite believe it now, and yet he ignored all of his feelings in favour of helping this man.

“Are you okay? Do, do you have anything I can cover it with?” He approached with caution but still didn’t stand back. He asked if he could touch the man and he had grunted, which Emile took as an agreement. And then he was ripping his own clothing and wrapping it around the wound and Virgil hissed, looking at the man for the first time making him freeze for a moment in confusion.

“I-“ Virgil’s voice was weak and gravelly but it was still unmistakable to Emile, “I could’ve been dangerous” he said, slightly panicked with this mans level of trust towards a complete stranger who had kidnapped him less than 24 hours ago.

Emile simply smiled, continuing to wrap up Virgil’s wound but now doing it with a slight upturn of his lips.

“But you’re not, are you,” he looked up and met the scared gaze of a man he knew all too well.

“Prince Virgil.”

Chapter Text

“You can’t be serious?!”

“Oh I assure you, Prince Roman, I am one hundred percent serious right now” Mara seemed furious. An uncharacteristic amount of rage had filled her eyes after she had heard the news about the dragon taking someone. Roman had found it admirable that she had cared so much about someone she had never met before. Patton has found it comforting to know she cared so much. Logan had found it horrendously suspicious.

You see, when Logan had first gone to Mara, she was alone in her room. She seemed happy enough, a small, slightly forceful, smile was placed upon her beautiful face. Logan had studied body language enough to know when he was interrupting something, but it didn’t seem like anyone else was in the room.

Logan had told her there had been an attack, and she had looked shocked. Shocked, not angry. She had asked for more detail and it was only when Logan mentioned a dragon that her face really fell into one of anger. She tried to hide it behind worry and distress, but it was clouding her eyes. A firm rage was present and undeniable even in the face of her dishonesty. Logan hated how the distress felt like an act.

She had asked about the dragon in more depth. She wanted detail on the colouring, the scales, the tail, hair, flight, and actions that this dragon had done. Logan was purposefully vague. He didn’t like how she was acting.

When Patton has been told the village was attack he was distraught. He was angry, yes, but devastated to think that someone in his village had been hurt and taken away, possible to never be seen again. And patton’s reaction had been so undoubtedly real that it had left Logan breathless. The loss of Virgil had made Patton’s reaction more extreme and you could see the empathy that he left with them family even though he hadn’t met them yet. He was just so real.

When roman had first spotted the dragon he was afraid. A picture perfect expression of fear crossed his face and if you had blinked you would have missed the little flash of guilt and confusion there too. But he quickly recovered from being afraid, and he was quickly determined. He wasn’t angry at all, which confused Logan, but there was nothing fake about how roman was. He was acting so much like roman no one would’ve ever doubted that he was real.

Mara, Mara was completely fake.

Her eyes looked on in anger as she shouted across the discussion table - a large, round, wooden table surrounded by a multitude of neglected chairs because everyone was too emotional to sit. She was furious, but not at the table, or the people standing opposite her. She was furious that the dragon was back. Patton has tried to comfort her, tell her it was okay and that roman had a plan but Mara hadn’t even listened. She had just stated that no one would leave the castle.

The castle would be officially locked down until the dragons head was brought back to the kingdom.

While announcing this, Mara seemed resentful, a flash of guilt warping her anger for a moment before it was gone and replaced with self satisfaction. She was doing the right thing in her mind. But Logan feared it was in her mind alone.

He suddenly had no trust for the person who had been so heavily in charge of their kingdom, her posture showed her lack of confidence. She seemed so unlike herself and he had to wonder what had triggered this deep anger to settle over her. She was burning a flaming red and Logan had no clue how to calm her.

“You can’t expect us to just sit and wait like nothing is happening, someone - someone has been taken, your majesty!” Logan had said, as soon as Mara had announced her plans of locking the kingdom. She looked at him then, a look of resentment crossing her features and if looks could kill Logan would’ve gotten to see Virgil again.

“And You can’t expect me to just allow you three to go gallivanting off into the woods to search for a deadly dragon” she said calmly, her anger replaced with a sickly monotone sound.

“But it’s not dangerous! If you would just-“ roman was cut off abruptly.

“Not dangerous?! That- that beast killed my brother! And now he’s killed someone else, too?!” Mara had practically screamed causing Logan and roman to automatically flinched back but Patton hadn’t moved from his position a step away from the table, curled in on himself like a lost puppy.

“We don’t know if Emile’s dead” Patton offered weakly. Not even looking up to join the conversation properly.

Mara had turned to him, her eyes stone cold and forceful. “He’s dead Patton. Get over yourself.”

“Hey!” Roman has suddenly slammed his fist into the table, making Mara look back at him, her stone cold eyes cracking slightly under the weight of Romans anger. “You dare talk to my brother that way.” He added firmly. Mara simply stared ahead, as if she hadn’t heard a word.

“Look, I know it sounds impossible but I found the dragon! I know where it lives and if you would all just follow me I can-“

“You expect us to follow you?!” Mara had once again raised back to a shouting level. Clearly done with this conversation as she placed both of her palms on the table threateningly. She managed to make everyone in the room shrink in on themselves and Patton hated that he felt sorry for Virgil for having to live with this person for so long. She had been so helpful and Patton was being so judgmental. She simply cared.

“You expect us to skip along with you holding hands into a dangerous Forrest to track down some dragon with a murder history all because you think you saw it one time while you were out trying to kill the thing?! Got you’re an even bigger idiot than I thought!” Mara said. No one replied, everyone simply considered what she had to say and waited for her next attack.

“And you, Logan? You’re really believing the absolute bullshit coming out of this guys mouth right now? You were going to follow him?! God, and I thought you were the smart one.” She scoffed at him, turning to face Patton who still refused to look up.

“And you, Patton. God, it’s been two years. I’ve been running this damn place his whole time singlehandedly and you can’t even stop crying for a second? You might as well just give me the crown and retire. You were never meant to be king, Patton. Never.” And with that, she ran a hand through her hair slowly. She looked at each of the men in front of her and smiled slightly, knowing that no one would see. And then she walked to the door, turning around at the last minute to call “this castle is on lock down until I say so. Deal with it.” Before she slammed the door shut behind her.

The loud noise brought roman out of his trance first. He knows he didn’t imagine seeing Virgil. Seeing the magic and he blood and the sadness. Those empty eyes would haunt him for ever, and yet her words still got to him. But he shook his head one time forcefully and focused on what was important. Proving Mara wrong.

“That bitch can insult me all she likes, she can’t stop me though.” He said confidently, looking over at Logan and Patton to find both of their eyes set on him, clearly looking for guidance.

“What’s your plan...” Logan paused, looking seriously into Roman’s eyes before adding, “Prince roman?”

And roman stood taller at that, proudly arching his back and dusting off his white outfit before looking back over at their faces. Two faces of people who now had complete trust in him. The only thing mara had succeeded in doing was making them all doubt her. Not enough to call her out on it, but enough to rebel against her.

“We’re going to leave this damned castle and find that fucking dragon.” Roman said, a slight upturn of his lips becoming visible. Roman stretched out a hand, holding it. Waiting. “You in?”

Patton and Logan both looked sceptical and unsure, but neither hesitated to add their hands to Romans.

“We’re in”

Chapter Text

Roman had no intention of letting Patton and Logan come with him on his quest.

For a start, Patton was the one in charge right now, and although Mara rules her kingdom, Patton was the one everyone looked to in times of need. He had Virgil’s crown as a gift from the kingdom and with it came his power as king. He wasn’t king, but he had all the qualities besides the title and Mara clearly didn’t like him getting all the credit. He was important to the kingdom and roman couldn’t risk him getting hurt on this trip. It was too dangerous. Plus, if Mara comes to check on everyone someone will need to stay here and convince her that everything is fine.

And roman couldn’t let Patton see Virgil because he had done one of the dumbest thing a prince can do.

He made a promise, so Patton could not come with him.

And Logan couldn’t come with him because he would be in the way. It was obvious to everyone that Logan wasn’t a fighter. He got out of situations with facts and words, never a sword. Although he would be useful after roman had gotten to Virgil, right now, roman just needs to make sure Virgil is safe, and Logan provides no support in that wish.

So yeah, roman planned to go alone. He wanted to sneak out in the dead of night behind the other twos backs pretending that he was on lookout, and then he’d return in the morning before they woke up and everything would be okay. And yet here he stood, his leg halfway out of a window and two pairs of eyes staring at him in confusion.

Logan looked more awake than Patton, his eyes more focussed and seeing. Disbelieving. Patton’s were glossed over with fatigue and as he looked at roman he just looked confused, clearly not pleased with being woken up but also concerned because roman was dangling out of a window.

And roman wanted to play it off cool. He was just trying to get a better angle of the courtyard or he thought someone was coming, but no. Roman just stood there like a deer in the headlights.

Roman, to his credit, had a pretty solid plan for the night. He was going to wait until four am, so that he was sure everyone was asleep. Then, he would go out into the corridor and try the windows, if they didn’t work, he would go downstairs and see what doors would open. Mara had threatened to lock down the castle, but clearly she didn’t think someone would be dumb enough to climb out of the window that was a couple metres of the ground.

And roman had felt pretty confident about his plan right up until he put his first leg out of the window, when he felt something move from the force of his foot and a plant pot was sent hurling to the ground before it shattered on the floor. Romans heart sank at the noise and his instinct was to freeze, hold his breath until he was sure no one had woken up to the noise.

Rustling. Footsteps. A desperate attempt to get his leg back inside. A door creaking open swiftly followed by a second. And here hey we’re, the three allies all looking at each other in disbelief.

After he had been caught, roman had tried to get his leg back inside by himself, but it took all three men to finally fit his foot back through the window, and roman didn’t even have tome to thank them before he was being questioned.

“We’re you leaving without us? I thought we had a plan” said Logan, very matter of fact. His face held firm and his eyes looked menacingly over his glasses at roman, who blushed at the attention and tried to look away from the glare.

“I was- just trying to help” he replied, taking his hand and scratching the back of his neck in discomfort. He could probably handle Logan’s wrath at not following the plan - Logan was an advisor, he got shouted at by him a lot - but one thing he couldn’t handle, was his brothers betrayal.

“You we’re going to leave us behind?” Patton had whispered, and roman had almost dropped to his knees to beg for forgiveness before he remembered why they couldn’t come. Roman was a prince, and princes didn’t break promises.

“I have to. I’m sorry” and as soon as he said those words he took off, flying down the hallway and out the door. Patton went to follow him instantly, but a hand landed over his arm and stopped him.

Patton looked to Logan in question, “we can’t let him go alone, Logan.” And Patton was quite right, Roman would most probably get injured if he went alone. Logan sighed and turned to quickly check to make sure no one had seen their interaction.

“Get your coat first, it could be a long night”

~~~

“You don’t understand”

“Well how can I understand if you don’t tell me?”

“You wouldn’t get it!”

“But you don’t know that”

Virgil huffed once more at Emile’s insistence. His voice was starting to ache from over use, but he refused to back down. He wasn’t going to tell Emile anything if he could help it.

“You don’t know what it’s like to be- taken from your loved ones like that” Virgil sighed, before looking over and seeing Emile give him a knowing look. It dawned on Virgil then that he still hadn’t helped Emile get back home. He had taken Emile from his family and he had completely forgotten that he needed to get home. He needed to be safe and resume everyone because everyone probably thought he was dead. Everyone probably though Virgil killed him-

“Breath in for four seconds, hold for seven, out for eight.” Emile smiled. His eyes were laced with concern but his body and voice was calm, so Virgil followed his instructions for a little while, before his breathing had evened out.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t. I just- I can’t”

“I understa-“

“No! You don’t!” And now Virgil was angry. He didn’t know why, maybe it was the sudden memory that Emile would be gone soon and he would once again be alone or maybe Virgil was just so full of hate that not even this insanely happy man could make him smile, but Virgil was angry.

“You don’t understand anything that’s happened in the past two years, you don’t even know the full story! Do you know who it was? Who turned me into this- this thing!” Virgil’s voice faltered for a second, and he was even more mad at the fact that Emile hadn’t even flinched since had started shouting. He just sat there, calmly, taking it all in and listening to Virgil rant.

“It was my damn sister!”

Silence. Virgil breathing could be heard, as he worked through that breathing thing again. He needed to calm himself down before he revealed anything else. He needed to be calm.

“Your sister... Mara?” Emile asked, his voice betraying him and showing his curiosity despite his calm exterior. Virgil wasn’t surprised to hear disbelief. Mara was probably queen right now, and Emile has most likely been following her rules and values for the last two years without knowing that she’s a witch. And a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

“Yeah... Mara”

The silence that settled between the two men after that was neither comfortable nor uncomfortable. It was merely silent while the two thought separate things about the same topic. Virgil wished he hadn’t gone on that hunting trip all those years ago. He wishes he had allowed Mara to have the crown even though father didn’t want that. He wishes that he could’ve said a proper goodbye to Patton. He was slowly starting to wish that he hadn’t kidnapped Emile and made the entire kingdom want his blood.

Emile was thinking about his family. How they were still in close proximity to a murderer who wielded magic. He wondered if prince Patton know that the rightful king was still alive and well, hidden in a cave and trapped in a body that wasn’t his own. He wondered if Mara was still evil. If we was still willing to kill to get to the thrown or if it was a one time thing. Emile wondered how broken Virgil’s mind was for him to kidnap Emile with the intent of giving him back soon after.

Virgil let our a long sigh, before turning his head slowly to Emile. “We should really get you back to your family before th-“

Virgil stopped at the sound of water being splashed by boots. The sound of footsteps in the cave wandering deeper and deeper and closer and closer to Emile and Virgil himself. Emile sent him a questioning look, his hearing not as tuned to the cave but he seemed to understand that he needed to be quiet.

“Hide” And with that, Virgil stood, and took a few steps towards the caves entrance. The footsteps were loud and confident, moving like the person knew this cave better than Virgil did. Behind him, Emile had stood and watched Virgil from behind.

Virgil noticed the lack of movement and turned, much more serious this time, “hide.” And Emile did.

Virgil turned back towards the caves entrance, and waited, taking three more steps before stopping. The footsteps were now accompanied by a shadow, the outline making Virgil panic for a moment. Then his blood ran cold as he headed a voice.

“Virgil~ come out come out where ever you are” and Virgil looked around to make sure Emile was truly hidden. After Virgil couldn’t see him, he faced forward again just in time to see a darkly dressed figure he knew all too well walking towards him.

Mara stood at the entrance of the cave, and Virgil was almost instantly doused in anger and fear respectively.

“Ah, so this is where my little brothers been hiding all these years huh?”

Mara smiled, and Virgil glared right back.

Chapter Text

Logan has been right. It had been a long and tiring night of walking, tripping, helping one another back onto their feet again, and then continuing their walk. Pattons feet were aching and Logan’s trousers had tears in them from when he had tripped and fell into a rose bush near the beginning of their journey.

Patton breathed a long sigh as he still saw no sign of an end. All that was coming up for them was more trees. This journey simply felt like it would last forever, and Patton was tired. So, so tired. He was tired of crying, he was tired of grieving and he just wanted to go home and mourn some more, even though he knew it would be unproductive and Logan would probably berate him for dumping his responsibility’s on Mara again.

“I’m sorry” came the quiet, subdued voice.

Patton startled for a moment, “why are you sorry?”

Logan sighed heavily, refusing to look at Patton. His eyes were full of desperation and dripping a soft sadness that Patton had never seen before. I’m fact, the more he thought of it, he hasn’t ever seen Logan show sadness.

“You lost your fiancé, and I wasn’t there for you” he replied, softly speaking towards the dirt. Leaves crunched beneath their feet, but still Patton could hear the soft rhythm of Logan’s breath and he could almost see the cold swirl of air evaporate from his lips.

“We were all mourning” Patton sighed. If he was being honest, he wished Logan had handled the loss better, and he knew they were friends, but he didn’t understand why Logan had felt the death as much as he did. But still, he was being selfish and unfair on his companion.

“No,” Logan spoke firmly, “you lost a lover, I lost a friend. It was unfair for me to react as much as I did. And I’m sorry”

Patton looked softly over to Logan to see a damp trail down his cheek glisten in the setting sunlight. He almost couldn’t believe how he had missed just how badly Logan was being affected. He had become withdrawn, sure, but he was always a serious man. Always stern and wearing a necktie, never a joker and Patton hardly ever heard him laugh. So to see him cry, it was like Patton was truly seeing him for the first time.

“What was he like?” Patton asked quietly.

“What? Patton you knew him.”

“No, from your perspective. What was he like with you?”

Logan’s mouth made an o shape as he realised what the question was, and then he smiled. A real, genuinly happy smile. But there was still a sadness there, a longing. And Patton knew what the felt like.

“He was incredible,” Logan breathed, “so incredibly kind and patient. He taught me how to play chess you know? Even got me my own chess board. I wish we could’ve played more. He was good at chess.”

Patton smiled to himself, but looked to Logan with disbelief, “I didn’t even know he played.” Patton laughed, a wet, sad laugh but a chuckle non the less.

The two men looked at each other, and both silently asked if the other was okay. Neither replied, but both knew somehow, that this conversation was welcome, and they were both at the stage where they felt they could share funny stories now.

“I’ll tel you what, one time, me and Virgil were alone in my bedroom, and the door was open. We wanted to kiss each other goodnight, but I was too comfortable to shit the door and he was too lazy - he was always tired, supposedly,” Patton laughed, “and so we just quickly kissed goodnight to each other, only the kiss lasted a little longer than expected and then roman walked in! We were so embarrassed we hid under the covers until he went away laughing saying that he wasn’t going to tell anyone. I like those memories” Patton smiled, and looked to Logan to see him looking back with awe in his eyes.

“You really loved him” he breathed, disbelief was evident on his tongue.

“I really did” Patton smiled.

“Oh and this other time-“

A crack cut off patton’s sentence, and the two suddenly stopped where they were, looking ahead. They hadn’t noticed, but there was a large mountain ahead of them that they were approaching quickly, and after another crack sounded, both parties set off in the direction of the sound.

——

Roman had been walking for a while, trying to make sure he had lost Patton and Logan. He really didn’t want to break his promise, as he felt it wasn’t very noble to break one. However as he slowly stepped on some snapping twigs, he heard another noise, faint, but there.

Words.

Someone was talking, and if the voice wasn’t so well spoken he would’ve guessed Virgil was talking to himself, as he was coming up to the caves entrance in just a few seconds. But no, the voice was high pitched, well spoken and... distinctly female.

Distinctly Mara.

He was confused, but quickly guessed that she had found the cave first, even though roman had come from a direct route. And he found it odd that he couldn’t hear any other muffled voices, just mara. No army, no backup. Nothing.

And then came Virgil’s reply, “get the fuck away from me”

Roman was shocked Virgil felt it was appropriate to speak to his sister like that, and why he wouldn’t like her in the first place. Mara, besides her not letting roman go and help, had always seemed nice enough. And Virgil hadn’t seen her in over two years, and before he “died” they were on good terms. Roman was confused, so he got closer, and listened more.

“Come now virgie, hows the afterlife treating you?” She said with a hint of joy, as if it was some inside joke. Did she know he was alive? How? Why didn’t she tell Patton? What’s was going on?

“You” cane Virgil’s short but passionate response. “You turned me into this, this thing!” He shouted and his volume was quickly replaced with laughter that seemed to echo around the cave walls.

“Virgil, come on. You did this to yourself. I told you to not marry Patton and yet you agreed to anyway. You ignored me, you got what was coming to you” her voice smiled, and roman was no longer content to just listen.

He slowly stepped three large steps as silently as he could, and peeked his head around the corner of the wall.

He saw Mara, wearing a fitted pair of trousers and a glowing top, her hand raised and Virgil with his arms by his sides, clearly frustrated with himself. And when roman caught sight of the faint glow in Maras hand and the same glow surrounding Virgil, roman could see why he was so frustrated.

Mara was a witch. Mara made Virgil what he is.

“Now as much as I’m loving this conversation, apparently you have some idiot from our village that I need back, and I’ll also need to kill you, but you understand, right?” She smiled, walking slowly towards Virgil who seemed to struggle more.

Just as she took her first step, Virgil’s eyes locked into Romans, and he subtly shook his head as if you warn roman away. Roman took no notice. He wasn’t letting this, this villain get away with hurting his future brother.

However it seemed roman didn’t have to be dramatic, as Mara quickly whipped her head around and also met romans eyes.

“Ah, a spectator. How nice, why don’t you introduce yourself-“ she was cut off by Romans battle cry and a small blade being thrown in her direction. Startled, she turned to completely face roman and stopped the blade midair while also throwing roman to the side of the cave. He slammed I pry he wall and slumped down, not horrifically injured, but he had the wind knocked out of him for sure.

Virgil looked on in horror, but as soon as the blade was being held, he felt his own ties getting weaker, and it barely took him any effort to break them and run towards roman.

Mara noticed, of course. But she wasn’t fast enough. As soon as Virgil got close to roman, he stuck his hand out of the cave slightly and into the sunlight, whispering that it was going to be okay to roman, and then allowing his body to morph and change into the beast that Mara had created.

Roman slowly got up, readying his sword for a proper fight, while Mara angrily clapped out her hands and filled them with that same glow.

And without and of them knowing, just when the clock struck twelve, Mara threw her hand forward, roman charged, and Virgil roared.

Chapter Text

I'm so sorry but i simply don't enjoy writing this book anymore. i know a few people enjoyed it so i thought id notify you that this story will not be continuing unless someone else wants to take over.
i haven't left he fandom and will still be writing other books, like the one i posted today. i just hate my writing in this and haven't ever had a plan for the story. I'm really sorry, please give my other books a chance and don't hate me. ill leave a summary of what would've happened in the next chapter of this book and then the book will marked complete. if someone wants to finish the book for me you are more than welcome. by reading the next chapter you will see all the spoilers of the book that were planned in my head, you have been warned.

Chapter Text

what would've happened:

Mara would've gotten Virgil and nearly killed him but would've been stopped by Patton and Logan. she then would've played the victim and pretended the dragon was going to kill her, and Logan and Patton would've been prepared to join her. Roman would've told them that the dragon is Virgil and they would've not believed him until Mara shoots magic at Virgil and he cries out, stumbling into the cave. since he was out of the daylight, he turned back into his human form and they would've seen who it was. Mara would've then targeted Patton Logan and Roman. she would've taken out Logan and Roman by holding them up to the cave walls with her magic, and would've tormented Patton by holding him still and threatening to kill them all in front of him. just as she goes to cut his face, she stops and drops the knife as everyone is released. turns out, Virgil in his human form had grabbed Roman's weapon from earlier on had stabbed her in the back, however after Mara drops to the floor, so does Virgil. he is caught by Emile who gently lowers him down as Patton rushes over.

he is severely injured from Mara's magic and is very clearly dying. him and Patton have a moment where Virgil says "at least i get to say goodbye this time" and Patton is hysterical. just before Virgil fully dies, Mara, who is just barely alive, allows her magic to flow into Virgil and save him. she states just before dying that "I'm sorry, if anyone is supposed to rule the kingdom, its you two." she then dies, and Virgil tries to save her but cant. Virgil tries to tell Patton that he's different now, but Patton asks if his love for Patton has changed. Virgil looks at him and says that it couldn't if he tried.

they all venture back out towards the kingdom where spectators are all shocked at the reveal that Virgil is alive and well. the final chapter would've been Virgil's wedding where he would've made some romantic speech about how distance makes the heart grow fonder. and they all live happily ever after (except Mara lol whoops)

sorry for not writing it!

Chapter Text

Roman charged forward, sword in the air as the three met in an epic collision of fire, magic, and steel.

He swung his sword desperately, trying with all his might to slay the witch who had taken Virgil away from them for so long... but to no avail. Every swipe with the sword, every blow merely glanced off of a seemingly impenetrable wall of magic that not even Virgil's fire could overcome.

It had only taken a moment.

A small, short moment in which both Virgil and Roman slowed their onslaught, tiring for just a second - barely half of a second! - but it was enough.

In that short second, Mara dropped her shields and let out a blast of magic.

- - - - -

It shot outwards in a flash of purple light, slashing across the room and blasting the two back into the cave walls. Virgil was quick to shake off the spell, rearing to fight back at the witch, Roman at his side-

Roman?

He turned his head to look for his absent companion, finding him slumped on the ground against the cave wall, his princely uniform tattered and dirty.

Roman!

He had to help him, had to make sure he was okay -

Behind him, Mara chuckled menacingly as she formed yet another orb of magic, preparing her killing blow...

- - - - -

Bam!

The hilt of a knife struck hard against the back of Mara's skull as she fell to the ground, revealing Logan and Patton standing behind her. Virgil took the opportunity to hide around the edge of the cave, still in the sunlight but not within eyesight of the pair.

"Um, Logan? Are you sure you should have done that?"

"Not entirely, but the fact is, she was glowing with magic, and considering we're looking for a dragon, that perhaps wasn't the best sign."

He flourished the knife casually before putting it away and turning the witch on her side, seeing her face.

"... Patton?"

"Yes?"

"I... think I have made a rather serious mistake."

Patton glanced down to see Mara, the current stand-in queen of the kingdom, lying at Logan's feet.

"Yeah, I think that's a safe assumption to make. But what was she doing here?"

A pained groan interrupted him, and he looked up to see Roman sprawled against the wall about twenty feet away.

"Roman! What happened to you?"

The two men ran to his side and kneeled next to him as Roman's head lolled awkwardly to the side. Patton caught him in his arms as Roman's eyes opened, murmuring a short word that caught Patton's and Logan's breath in their throats.

"Virgil..."

A different voice broke the two men out of their stupor.

"Patton? What are you doing here?"

"Your majesty -" Logan tried to speak but was cut off.

"I wasn't talking to you. Patton, what are you doing here?"

"Looking for Roman! And just in time, it seems! What in the world is going on here!"

"I was wondering the same thing, your majesty," Logan said. "I apologize for attacking you, I was unaware of your identity, only that you were glowing with... magic..." he trailed off, connecting the dots silently.

"It's not what it looks like! Besides, I don't have to defend myself to the likes of you."

"Well, it looks like you were trying to attack Roman. You wouldn't happen to be able to explain that, would you?"

"Attack Roman? No, of course not! Didn't you see the dragon?"

And yet again, Logan and Patton were struck speechless. The dragon? The object of Roman's quest for two years? The beast who had taken Virgil from them in what felt like a lifetime ago?

Logan rose to his feet, pulling a dagger out of his boot. "Where is the dragon." It killed Virgil, and now it had almost killed Roman. It was time for the beast to die.

"Right here..." Mara smirked as she raised her hand and sent a blast of purple magic to the side. The magic shot out of the cave, reaching its target out of eyesight of the people within, but the roar of pain was proof enough. Patton stood by Logan's side as they prepared to fight the dragon that had caused their pain for so long...

"No! Don't listen to her!" Emile burst from the back of the cave, waving his arms frantically in an attempt to get their attention. "She's lying!"

The two men hesitated a moment, turning to look at the villager.

"You're not seriously telling me you'd listen to him over me, are you?" Mara said incredulously. "He hit his head! He's delirious! This is the beast you're looking for!" Her eyes glowed for a moment before she reached out, making a pulling motion with her clawed fingers. And as they watched in horror, a rope of pure magic formed, pulling the dragon into sight.

"Look at him and tell me he isn't a monster, isn't the beast that we've all known and feared for so long!"

But as Logan gazed into the eyes of the dragon, he didn't see rage, or bloodlust, or any of the things that would have marked the dragon as anything like the bloodthirsty monster of their imaginations. Instead, what he saw was pain and fear, fear of the woman in front of him, fear of... him?

The great dragon was afraid of him?

Without fully realizing it, Logan lowered his dagger, staring into the eyes of the dragon. He knew those eyes, he realized. Beneath all of the pain and fear, there was a sense of familiarity he couldn't shake off.

"Don't hurt him..."

Logan almost didn't hear Roman's voice because it was so faint. He and Patton had to bend down to listen to him.

"Don't hurt Virgil."

Patton and Logan glanced up quickly to stare suspiciously at Mara.

Her guise of fear and rage quickly dropped, replaced with annoyance.

"Ah, well, I should have expected he'd let it slip," she said. "Here's your beast, indeed." And with a final blast of magic, the dragon was knocked into the shadows of the cave. Only, it wasn't a dragon anymore.

As they watched, the dragon slowly morphed into a small figure, a human, sprawled on the stone ground. As Patton and Logan quickly rushed to the figure, Patton gently took hold of their shoulder, adjusting him so he could see their face.

It was Virgil.

- - - - -

The two men fell back in shock as Virgil's eyes opened. He immediately shot backward, running into the nearby wall. "What are you- what are you doing here?! I told Roman not to bring you here!"

The words hit Patton like an arrow to the heart. Why would Virgil not want to see him? The love of his life, his betrothed, the one who would be his husband?

But he didn't have time to think about that as Mara shot her hand forward yet again, expelling a burst of magic that flung Logan, Roman, and Emile into the air and pinned them against the wall. Patton was frozen in place, literally unable to move as Mara held her fist out, holding him still.

"I had hoped none of you would be here for this, but alas," she smirked, "collateral damage."

"This was supposed to be a whole 'no witnesses' affair, but I suppose killing you all will have to do," she sneered. "Imagine the story - what a tragedy! Two princes and the royal advisor, killed on a rescue mission by the very dragon who had slain their precious Virgil two years prior. How poetic."

Her fist tightened as the three men began to cough and choke, their throats slowly crushing under the weight of her magic.

"Tell me," she said to Patton. "is it worth it? Seeing your betrothed one last time, only to watch as not only he but your brother, friend, and an innocent villager all die? Right in front of your very eyes. I'll have to kill you too, of course, but it will be more fun saving you for last." She pulled a knife out and walked towards Patton slowly.

"Don't touch him!" Roman choked out, but a wave of Mara's hand quickly silenced him.

"I can do as I please, thank you very much," she said, as she delicately placed the tip of the knife on Patton's cheek and dragged downwards. A small whine of pain escaped Patton's lips as blood welled up from the shallow wound.

"And I do enjoy this very much -"

Her mouth fell open in shock as the tip of a knife emerged from her stomach. And there she fell, Roman's discarded knife buried in her back, placed there by none other than-

"Virgil," Patton breathed out, barely aware of the fact that the men behind him were suddenly free.

And it was Virgil. Behind the haunted eyes and all too pale expression, Patton could still see the vestiges of the man he had loved, his fiancé.

"Pat..."

And Virgil collapsed. Emile rushed to his side just in time to catch the pale man as Virgil let out a cough, a small stream of blood flowing out of his chin. Patton was the first to kneel next to him, holding Virgil's head in his hands as the two finally were face to face, for the first time in two years.

"Oh no, no Virgil, no, you'll be okay, you have to be okay!"

"I'm so sorry that you had to see me like this... I didn't want-" Virgil was cut off by another string of coughs.

"No, shh, shh, it's okay, it's okay," Patton said, tears flowing down his face as he gently ran his fingers across Virgil's cheek. Virgil reached up weakly to brush a lock of hair out of Patton's face, carefully avoiding the cut on his cheek.

"I would have gone to you, I would have stayed with you without a moment's thought-"

"I know," Virgil said. "I know, and that's why I didn't tell you. I didn't want you to have to deal with me, a dragon, and I didn't want Mara to hurt you too-" As if suddenly reminded of her presence, Patton glanced over to see Logan kneeling over the witch, only to look back as Virgil continued speaking.

"Every day I thought of you, there wasn't a day that passed that I didn't want to see you one last time..."

"I know, oh gosh I know, I love you so much, Virgil!"

"And I, you. I hoped you would move on, find another man, forget me. I thought I was doing the right thing-"

"I would never forget you," Patton choked out beyond the tears. "Never."

"-but now it's over," Virgil finished, a tear running down his own face now. "It's over, and I'm dying, and I'm sorry-"

"No, no," Patton murmured, "never apologize. You did what you thought was right, as you always have. You have always been the kindest soul I'd ever known-", here he cut himself off with a sob, sending a venomous glare to Mara, "and that witch could never take that away. Never. I love you..."

"I love you too. At least I get to say goodbye this time..."

"No, not goodbye, never goodbye, Virgil? Virgil?!"

And as Virgil's now-limp hand fell from Patton's cheek, and his head slumped slightly in Patton's arms, a scream filled the air. A scream of pain and grief that had been pent up over two years and had finally hit its peak, a scream in which the sheer force of agony could never be expressed in a thousand words or a million poems. It took a while for Patton to realize it was him, he was the one screaming, and even longer to stop.

Tears ran unbridled down the faces of the three men who stood around the tragic duo. After all this time living without Virgil, it was even more painful to lose him a second time. How cruel life was, to dangle hope in front of their blindly trusting faces, only to dash their hopes in a crushing blow.

And as Mara heard the scream of pain, she let a final smirk cross her face before breathing her last.

Chapter Text

Magic is a fascinating thing. It's not quite a supernatural thing, as is usually believed, but rather pure energy bent by the will of unique individuals. The thing is, even though those who use magic may die, energy, and therefore magic itself, cannot be destroyed. As such, when Mara finally died, all her magic flowed out of her body into the ground around her. Much of it soaked into the nearby flowers and trees, sprouting dozens of wildflowers and coaxing the fruit trees into producing big, bright apples that were unbefitting the season. However, the vast majority flowed towards where it was needed most - the prone figure on the cave floor.

You see, Virgil wasn't quite dead yet. He had passed out, but he still had precious minutes left before his heart would finally stop. And the magic took advantage of this, seeping into his bones, his blood, his heart, healing every injury, magical and nonmagical, inflicted upon him. The others had no way of knowing this, of course, as they continued to grieve for their fallen companion. But the magic was running its course nonetheless.

Eventually, however, the magic wore out, and Virgil was left to finish the last step of waking up on his own.

- - - - -

Virgil awoke to darkness.

Where am I?

"You're in your head, idiot."

He jumped at the sound of another voice, turning to see... himself?

"You're me," he said dumbly.

"Yes, and you're me, blah blah blah," he (Virgil?) smirked. "I'm the part of you who's going to have to force you to make a choice."

"A choice?"

"Well, no duh. You're dead right now. Well, kind of dead."

"What's the difference," Virgil snorted, unamused.

"That you can make it back if you want to."

"I - what?"

"You heard me. The question is, do you want to go back?"

"Of course I-"

"Stop. Think about it. Do you? You're not the same person anymore, you know that. Are you sure Patton will love you still? Would you want to live in a world where Patton didn't love you?"

He had a point, although Virgil desperately didn't want to think about it. There had to be hope, he had to go back!

"No, you don't. You can make the easy choice, you know. Your friends will mourn, but they'll get over it. Patton will too, in time. Isn't that what you wanted anyway?"

It had been, before. Before everything had happened, before he finally got to talk to Patton one last time, before he had (almost) died in Patton's arms.

But now...

"I want to go back."

"Very well, your choice." Virgil(?) smirked. "Hope you don't regret it." The other him snapped his fingers, and Virgil awoke with a start.

- - - - -

It was, to say the very least, a shock to everyone when Virgil, who had been unresponsive for almost two minutes, took a deep breath as his eyes fluttered open. However, said breath was knocked out of him barely a second later as with a shriek of "Virgil!", Patton caught him in a bone-crushing hug.

"Can't... breathe..."

As Patton reluctantly let go of Virgil, he grabbed the back of Virgil's head gently and pressed their foreheads together as his tears ran anew. Eventually, he released him as they stared at each other with delight and confusion.

"I thought you were dead! You were- you-"

"Yeah," Virgil said, an awed chuckle escaping his lips. "Me too." The small smile slipped his face, though, when he remembered something that "other him" had said. "Patton..."

"What?" Patton responded, suddenly concerned. "Are you okay? Are you still hurt? Virgil -"

"No, it's not that. I'm okay, I swear. I just... I just wanted to say..." Virgil paused and looked down ashamedly. "I've changed a lot in the two years I've been... gone. I'm not the same person you fell in love with anymore." He refused to look up, even when Patton gently lifted his chin to look at him.

"Virgil, look at me." Almost unwillingly, Virgil met his eyes, red and puffy with tears. "You have gone through a lot, but not even Mara could pollute your kindness, your love. You are, and always will be, the man I fell in love with. I guess the only question now is, do you love me?"

Virgil's eyes widened with shock as he saw the sudden insecurity on Patton's face as he uttered the last question. "Pat- of course I love you! I couldn't stop loving you if I tried for a thousand years." And with that, Patton lurched forward in an awkward attempt at a hug that only resulted in knocking both himself and Virgil into the ground, giggling the whole time.

And that was when they remembered that they weren't alone. Logan, Roman, and Emile stood near them, tears running down their face still- but now they were tears of joy rather than of grief. Their fallen companion was alive.

"Well," Virgil said, in the sudden and rather awkward silence, "perhaps it's time we head back? I'm sure everyone has been wondering where we were." And as everyone stood and walked out, Virgil froze for just a moment. He stood paralyzed, staring at the small division between light and shadow, the borderline between him and his home, between him and Patton.

And as Patton turned, he saw the desperate fear and indecision on Virgil's face which broke his heart.

"It's okay. It'll be okay, Virgil. Step into the light."

And he did. He gritted his teeth, waiting nervously for the painful transformation he was sure would come - but it never did. And as Virgil let out a surprised laugh of relief, the enormity of the situation hit him. For the first time in two years, Virgil was free.

- - - - -

As soon as they got back, the wedding plans commenced. Emile had been returned safely with nothing more than a few scratches and bruises to go along with the stories he told. When the village heard the news, they had been outraged at the betrayal of Mara, but their outrage had been eclipsed at the joy of hearing about Virgil's safe return. Their beloved prince had returned to them.

The wedding plans were a bit rushed, as both Virgil and Patton were incredibly eager to finally get married. After all, they had waited more than two years already, wasn't that long enough?

So, less than three months later, the happy couple stood beneath a weeping willow, decked in flowers and lace. Patton wearing a silver and blue suit, and Virgil in a black and purple suit. And now, it was time for the vows.

Patton started first.

"I'm going to keep this short, since if I said everything I could ever hope to say... well, we'd be here a while." The crowd tittered with laughter, and Patton waited for it to fade before continuing.

"Virgil, ever since I first met you, I always knew you would be the one. You were, and are, the kindest, most loving, most gentle, and most incredible man I have ever met, and I am so grateful to have the incredible opportunity to marry you. I love you so much."

The crowd awwed as Virgil's face blushed a deep scarlet. He fumbled awkwardly to get some notes out of his pocket before frantically reorganizing them and getting them in order.

"Patton, I... oh screw it!" he muttered, throwing the notes to the side, much to everyone's surprise.

"I'm not going to read my wedding vows off of a bunch of parchment." he said. "Some words scribbled on a paper could never express how much Patton means to me. He was, and is, the light of my life. And I know full well if it weren't for him, if it weren't the hope I felt every time I thought about Patton in those dark two years, I wouldn't be standing here in front of you today."

As Virgil spoke, Roman glanced down and Logan discreetly wiped away a small tear. Neither of them wanted to live in a world without Virgil ever again.

"They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, and maybe there's some truth to that, because god I missed you," he said, gazing at Patton. "And in all that time, you never gave up hope."

"And I never will give up on you, Virgil."

Yet again, the crowd let out an aww of appreciation as the officiant, a man named Peter Cook, smiled happily.

"And with that, Patton, do you take this man Virgil to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do!" Patton said excitedly, as Virgil let out a small chuckle.

"And Virgil," the officiant continued, a small grin on his face, "do you take this man Patton to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do," Virgil said, suddenly bashful as he gazed at the man he loved through his dark bangs.

"Then Patton, Virgil, it is my great pleasure to now pronounce you man and husband. You may now kiss the bri- groom! The groom!"

The crowd laughed and Patton and Virgil shared a mirthful grin before, for the first time in what felt like forever, they collided together in a joyful, long-awaited kiss.