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Chapter Text

Flour coated his hands as Patton kneaded the dough. The white powder tickled his nose slightly. The smell of all kinds of baked goods filled the warm air.
Patton loved the bakery. He had worked here for years now. Baking bread, cakes, cookies, cupcakes and so much more for the royal family and their guests. He had never really met any of them. Sure, he had seen them from afar like every other person in the capital but that couldn't be called meeting them.
He didn't mind working for someone he didn't know. Some of his friends questioned that.

Not that Patton had that many friends. Most were more friendly strangers. People he could talk to, who liked him, but he couldn't truly trust.

Maybe that was why he spent most of his time either baking or with dogs.
Patton loved dogs. He also loved cats but sadly he couldn't be around them for long before he had trouble breathing and began sneezing.

Why he spent so much time baking?
For one, it was his job. He needed the money to live.
Second, he loved turning a bunch of ingredients into something delicious and beautiful. It was weirdly fascinating.

But because all of it was for royalties everything had to be perfect. A tray of slightly deformed cookies, a cake that didn't rise the way it should - that was unacceptable. So Patton gave it to the Servants and often the children living near the palace. He loved the way their eyes lit up when they bit into the sweets he offered them. The way they stuffed their pockets to bring their treasures home for their families.
It filled his heart with joy and warmth.

He hummed a melody under his breath of a song he couldn't remember the name of, rolled out the dough and began spreading out a mix of cinnamon and butter on it. Cinnamon rolls. The smell of the expensive seasoning filled the young man's nostrils. He wanted to taste it despite knowing he wasn't allowed to. Bummer.

Patton had just pushed the tray into the oven when a servant entered the kitchen. Patton recognized her. Her name was Gloria, she liked his blueberry muffins a lot.

"Do you need something?", Gilbert the cook, a giant of a man, asked her, his gruff voice somewhere between exhaustion and annoyance.
The woman nodded and turned to Patton: "The King wishes to speak to you."

Patton needed a moment to process that sentence.
"What? Why?", he heard himself ask.
"I don't know, he didn't say", Gloria admitted with a shrug. "But you need to come. Now."

"Can you keep an eye on the rolls?", Patton asked one of the other bakers before quickly following Gloria.

The King wanted to speak to him. He had always assumed that the King didn't even know he existed but apparently, he had been wrong.
Maybe he had done something bad? No. He was fairly sure he hadn't broken any laws and his baking couldn't be the problem either. Could it? Maybe he had accidentally let something burnt get served or had put too much salt into the bread this morning or-
Patton shook off the thought.

Gloria leads him through a part of the castle he had never seen before. To be fair he hadn't seen that much. Only the rooms that had something to do with his job; the kitchen, the storage rooms and the cellar.

Black and white stone tiles covered the floor, large windows on his left allowed Patton to see the garden. On his right were beautiful paintings and elegant wooden doors and he wondered what was behind them.

Finally, Gloria stopped in front of a door and turned to face him again:" Good luck, buddy. I'd hate to see them hang you. You're a nice guy."

She gave him a sympathetic smile and patted his shoulder before vanishing down another hallway.

Patton's hand shook slightly as he raised it to knock. He didn't even get a chance to do so. The door abruptly swung open, almost hitting him in the face. A tall man stepped out. He stopped for a moment when he noticed Patton and despite the dark glasses that were covering them, Patton could almost feel the man's eyes on him.

"Your majesty?", the man called into the room. Judging by his robes Patton guessed he was a sorcerer or something alike. "I think you called the exact right person here." There was a hint of a smile in his voice. Without waiting for an answer he turned around and strolled towards a staircase.

Patton frowned.
A sorcerer had something to do with this?
Magic was something he had been taught since a young age to stay as far away from as possible. So this couldn't be good.

"Come inside and close the door!", an authoritative voice called and Patton hurriedly obliged

Chapter Text

The King sat on a pillow covered bench, clad in elegant fabrics, Patton couldn't even dream of being able to afford. He was an old man, wrinkles telling a long story on his pale face. Thin, white hair was covered by a golden crown.
But as old as he was his eyes held an intensity that made Patton want to hide from their gaze.

There was another person in the room as well. A young man, significantly taller than Patton. His eyes held a similar intensity as the kings and his red hair was pulled back into a short ponytail. Patton recognized him as the eldest prince. Roman, if he wasn't confusing them again.

"What is your name?", the King asked after a moment of awkward silence.

"My-? Patton. Patton Baker, your majesty." he stuttered out and mentally cursed himself for the way he had stumbled over the words. Way to make a first impression.

"What is all of this about, Father?" the Prince spoke up. He had a deep frown on his handsome face and Patton could see confusion in his emerald green eyes. Probably-Roman had crossed his arms eyeing Patton like he was a pink elephant, in the middle of a family portrait, dancing on the mothers head while the child in her lap looks like it's taking a shit. To be fair Patton kinda felt like one. Maybe a blue elephant though.

"The gods have decided to send us a message. A prophecy", the King said dramatically. "Remy informed me of it earlier today."

"I galaxy brained that bitch", someone chuckled behind Patton, making him flinch. He turned to see the sorcerer who had left the room just moments before. Now he was holding a cup and leaning against the wall next to the door. So that was Remy.
Patton tried to make sense of what he had just said. 'Galaxy brained'?
Maybe that's what Mama meant when she said that mages tend to go insane...
Judging by their expressions the royalties didn't understand the statement either.
Remy took a sip of his drink completely oblivious to the looks he was getting.

"As I was saying...", the King continued, trying to recover from the interruption. "Something is going to happen- Something bad. According to the prophecy, the only way to save our Kingdom is with the help of one of the ancient artefacts, the gods bestowed upon us centuries ago."

If Patton was honest, he had no idea what the man was talking about. He wasn't sure whether he was allowed to ask questions though. Or why he was even here. This sounded more like something the bravest knights were sent out to take care of. Not a task for a chubby baker who almost started to cry when he accidentally stepped on an ant. This had to be a misunderstanding.

Probably-Roman seemed to share his opinion: "If this is about the fate of Sallerow why is he here?!"
The way he said 'he' was slightly hurtful but Patton decided to ignore that fact for the moment.

"Because he needs to help save us all. Try to keep up, honey", Remy said sounding almost annoyed, as if he had already said it at least ten times.

"And how am I supposed to do that?", Patton heard himself ask. He was a little proud that he had managed not to stutter this time even if his voice still sounded a little shaky.

"You think I know freaking everything? Well, I hate to disappoint but I don't, sweetie. I just know that you are important. Maybe you stumble over a piece on accident. I don't freaking know!"

"Piece?", Probably-Roman asked.

"The ancient artefacts are said to have been broken into pieces over the centuries", the King spoke hurriedly and Patton realized that he was afraid Remy might try to explain.

"Exactly. So you two are gunna have to look every-freaking-where. Maybe you'll find some of my fucks on the way. Been looking for them ever since the last one disappeared over the horizon", Remy grinned as if he had made a joke but again nobody knew what he was talking about. Maybe that was what he found so amusing.

"You should go and get ready for a long journey", the King said gesturing towards the door. "And, Roman, I want to speak to you for a moment."

Remy opened the door and held it open for Patton who gave the taller man a grateful smile as he passed him. Strolling back towards the kitchen he allowed his mind to wander.
For one Probably-Roman had turned out to actually be Roman. A small victory in the disaster the audience had been.
Patton had always thought he knew quite a lot about Legends and stories yet he had hardly understood anything. His head felt like it was swimming.
He glanced out of the window and froze. It was already dark out. He tried to figure out how that made sense but all he got was a headache. It had been early in the afternoon when Gloria had called him. How could it already be evening?

He made his way towards the kitchen only to find the door locked. What? Gilbert usually locked the door after everything was cleaned up after dinner. That was, when everything went well, late at night. It couldn't be that late already. It didn't make sense.
Patton found his coat on the floor next to the door as he began to look around, together with a note.

I hope you aren't in trouble, kid. You were gone for quite a while. I saved some bread for you.

Gilbert

Patton couldn't help but smile at that. Gilbert was a giant of a man and managed to scare armed man by simply glaring at them, but once you got to know him he was very nice.
He unwrapped his coat and hungrily bit into one of the bread slices that fell out. He hadn't even noticed the pang of hunger up until now.

A cold breeze made him shiver and he pulled the thick grey fabric around himself.
His footsteps echoed loudly as he walked towards the nearest exit.
The door stood open which was weird considering how late it seemed to be.
Patton slowed his pace. Everything was silent and he couldn't see anyone. Maybe a guard had simply forgotten to close it.
Yeah, that had to be it. He tried to ignore the feeling of dread in his stomach and hurried to get home. Nothing happened on the entire way, still, he felt as if someone was watching him. There was a reason Mama had taught him to stay away from magic.

Magic was complicated. It didn't follow any rules and could destroy anything and anyone. Those who dared to use it went insane or fell into darkness.
Magic was dangerous.

Chapter Text

Patton wasn't sure what had woken him up at first. He tiredly rubbed his eyes and failed to suppress a jawn.

"Good morning."

Patton jumped at the sudden voice. He quickly sat up and looked around in the darkness of his room unable to see anyone. "Who's there?"

"Who I am? That er... doesn't really matter? I-I really didn't mean to wake you up. Sorry."

"What-?"

"Also I should probably go now. So... goodbye..."

"Wait!"

Silence.
Patton slowly got up and lit a candle. It took him a few tries, due to his hands shaking before the room was filled with the soft glow. There was no one there.
He would have heard if someone had opened the door. Had he imagined the voice? Or...
Magic.
Of course. For years he had managed to live a perfectly normal life and now magic had decided to ruin it all.
Mama had been right. Getting involved with magic was bad news.
With a sigh Patton decided to get dressed, knowing full well he wouldn't be able to sleep after that anyway.

One of the few downsides of being a baker was that he had to get up extremely early every day. He was used to that. But last night he hadn't gotten to bed until way too late and it was even earlier than he woke up usually.

A slight drizzle greeted him as he stepped outside and he instantly wanted to turn around and go back to bed.
He sighed and noticed that he could see his breath. It was cold. Wasn't it supposed to be summer? Fate really seemed to hate him.

Patton started wandering aimlessly through the city and thought back to the voice. It had sounded like a young man and a little shaky but at the same time smooth and deep. It wasn't Remy's voice and also didn't belong to anybody else he knew. Another mage who had somehow decided to mess with him? Maybe. At least this one had apologized. That was a big improvement from Remy. Well, maybe Remy had apologized. Patton still had no idea what exactly he had been talking about.

He absentmindedly fiddled with the leather band hanging around his neck, his fingers finding their way downwards to the silver amulet. The cold metal had a calming effect on him. Mum had given it to him years ago claiming it was covered in Teronan runes for protection. When he had asked if it was save to carry something magical around she had told him that rune magic was easily controlled and that nothing bad could happen even if Mama wasn't so sure about that. Patton had believed her. And up until now, it had worked.

Patton, unsurprisingly, was the first one at the kitchen, having to wait a few minutes before Gilbert showed up to unlock the door. The cook was glad to see him and promptly crushed him in a hug. Patton loved hugs, even when he couldn't breathe during them. Gilbert was a strong man. Sometimes he reminded Patton of a giant puppy. Lovable and easily exited but not able to restrain his strength properly.

"What did the King want? Or aren't you allowed to tell?", Gilbert asked after they had lit some candles.

Patton hesitated. No one had forbidden him from telling anyone about the audience but how should he?
'He is sending me on a quest because of a confusing prophecy from a crazy guy, who is somehow convinced I will help save us all.'?

No, it was easier not to explain. On the other hand, he should probably warn Gilbert that he would have to go soon. He didn't want the man to worry too much.

"I will have to leave soon to help the prince."
Ok, maybe not the best way to start.

"What?!"

"I... am supposed to travel somewhere with Prince Roman", Patton slowly looked up to see the other man starring at him with wide eyes.

"Are you being serious right now? I mean, this is not a joke, right?"

"No, it's not."

Gilbert fell silent.

"Where are you going? To another island?"
Patton was just about to answer when the door burst open.

"- so I thought it was settled but she decided that somehow that wasn't fine after all and so she told him nothing about it so when I got there-", the young woman didn't even stop to say 'Hello' as she was filling her friend in on something. She made it sound like a theatre worthy drama but Patton had worked alongside Jinala long enough to know that she tended to make things overly dramatic.
Not that he'd ever tell her so.
Her friend, Demin, listened and nodded along but looked like they had heard all of it before and were only being friendly.
Jinala was pretty much always talking. Where she was it was loud and no one else got a chance to speak. Normally this could be unpleasant but right now Patton was kind of glad for the interruption. He really had no idea how to explain his situation to Gilbert. Plus, the man's question had made him realise that he had no idea where this prophecy was taking him. The idea of travelling to another Island scared him. He didn't want to think about it.
So instead he got the ingredients and began to mix the dough for some bread for breakfast.

Slowly but surely the other bakers and cooks arrived and the kitchen filled with the clattering of pots and the humming of voices mixing together. In the familiar atmosphere, Patton found himself relaxing and almost forgetting about the prophecy or the disembodied voice from earlier.

But as soon as the servants had brought the food for breakfast upstairs he was forcefully reminded of it again.
He was whipping down his counter when he noticed the room got quiet. Curious he turned towards the door and almost dropped the cloth.

In front of him stood, in all his glory,
Prince Roman.

Oh. Heck.

Chapter Text

Roman let his gaze wander through the kitchen. When he had been a little kid he used to play hide and seek in here sometimes or try to steal some of the desserts together with his siblings.

The voices he had heard from the hallway had died down the moment he had entered. Of course, they had.
He was Prince Roman. The kings eldest son and heir to the throne.
He tried to tell himself that it was a good thing that they had stopped talking when they had seen him. It was a sign of respect.

At the back of the kitchen Roman spotted the backer he was here for in the first place.
He was a bit shorter than Roman, a little chubby had gold-brown locks and his face and arms were covered in freckles.
He, too, was starring at Roman with wide eyes.

"Your name is... Patton, right?" Roman broke the thick silence and shot the man a charming smile. God, he hoped he had gotten that right. Otherwise, this was going to be awkward.

The man blinked, as if momentarily confused by what Roman had said (Oh gods, that was the wrong name, wasn't it?) before nodding. Oh, thank the gods!

"Good. Then, would you please follow me, Patton?"

Patton whipped his hands on his apron seemingly still unsure but hurried to catch up with him as Roman left the room.
They quietly walked side by side for what felt like forever but judging by the fact they hadn't even reached the stairway, yet, it couldn't have been more than a few minutes.

"Shouldn't you be at breakfast right now?", Patton blurted out after a few more minutes of tense silence. Most of his siblings would probably have punished the baker for asking a question without permission but Roman was grateful for the broken silence.

"Usually, yes, but my father insisted that we leave the castle as soon as possible. We will eat after we leave the capital behind."

"Where are we heading to, anyway? Is there a hint where those pieces are?" Roman was glad that Patton seemed more talkative than he had been the day before. Otherwise, this quest would be dreadful.

"Sadly no. First, we will head to the only place where we might find out more; the Library of Natica."

The baker's eyes widened slightly: "Isn't that on another Island?"

The prince understood why that thought might scare the other. Travelling between Islands could be dangerous. Some of the bridges were old and unstable and too dangerous to repair. Cable railways could be even more dangerous due to the strong winds that tended to howl between the Islands. And if you fall you either became part of a Scullbreakers meal or you fell into the endless void.
No one knew what was down there or what was keeping the Islands from falling.
Well, maybe some mages or the librarians on Natica knew.

Natica, the biggest mountain on the known Islands, was indeed on a different Island. It wasn't even in the Sallerowan territory. The mountain and with it, it's Library were between territory. Everyone could travel there. Whether or not you were allowed into the Library was a different story. A Library holding every book ever written and all knowledge ever obtained needed to have good defences.
Not that Roman worried about them. They were there because of a prophecy, because of a mission. They had to be let in.

"Don't worry the bridges there are well kept", he tried to reassure his companion and hoped that was the truth.

The baker still looked scared. Roman honestly couldn't blame him. He himself had only travelled between Islands a few times and only always between Sallerowan ones. Inside the kingdom, it was easier to keep the bridges save and the prince knew full well that the bridges he had taken had been some of the safest. Still, the winds had almost pushed him into the abyss the first time he had been taken on a hunting trip on a different Island. The memory still made his throat close up whenever he felt the winds tug on his robes and made his feet slip centimetre by centimetre towards certain death.

They shared a few more, mostly meaningless words before they reached the stables. Two horses were already ready to be ridden. A strong brown mare named Amity and a beautiful white stallion named Elysian. The baker gaped at the majestic animals.

"Can you ride?", Roman asked patting Elysian's neck and silently prayed for the answer to be yes. They could make do even if Patton couldn't but it would be a lot slower and a lot more exhausting.

"Yeah, but I haven't in a long time", Patton admitted. "And never on a horse. Just donkeys."

Roman starred at him for a moment. He had never even heard of people riding donkeys. For a moment he contemplated telling Patton so but decided against it.

"There isn't much of a difference", he said instead and hoped that it was the truth. He should probably stop doing that.

"I know. Mum used to tell me that the only real difference is that horses actually listen."
Patton smiled at the memory.

"Alright, then let's go," Roman said and pulled himself onto Elysian's back.
Patton took a few tries to get into the saddle but smiled proudly when he finally managed to do it.

"What is her name?", he asked following Roman towards the castle gates.

"Amity."

"That's a nice name", Patton smiled. "Which way is Natica anyway? I mean, do we have to head towards the fields or the forest after we leave the city?"

"We'll have to ride east. So the forest it is. Don't worry, there are no dangerous creatures around here anymore."

The people stared at them as they rode through the streets. There was some kind of market and the narrow spaces between houses and stalls were filled with more people than logically should be able to fit and all of them stared. Roman smiled at them. It was easy after years of practice.
The crowd forced them to move slowly and Roman didn't fail to notice the curious, envious and in some cases, even hateful looks cast at Patton. Some people leaned towards others and quiet whispers hung in the air.

"Who's that?"

"The prince's new boy toy?"

"Why is the prince travelling with a Nobody?"

Roman hated rumours. They spread like wildfire and could be as destructive. He had learned over the years when to ignore them and when to stomp them out before they became a real problem, but he still hated them. He should have seen this coming. Of course, there would be rumours when the freaking crown prince was seen with an unknown young man. He wondered how fast people would start suspecting Patton was his fiance or something. Julie would never let him live that down.
On the other hand, if everything went well, he could rub in her face that he had been in the biggest library in the world.

It was almost noon when they finally made it out of the city. The air was warm and not a single cloud could be seen in the sky.
It was a beautiful day but Roman was too hungry to really appreciate that fact.

"Let's eat here", he called over his shoulder. "I'm sure the horses would like that as well."

Their meal was quiet, both men too busy eating to talk. Afterwards, they sat back up and rode toward the forest.

Roman turned to get one more look at his home and almost screamed.

Chapter Text

Fire.

The city was on fire.

The castle was on fire.

The flames shone almost as bright as the sun.

Everything was burning.

The people were rioting.

Roman couldn't breathe. He couldn't move. All he could do was watch as his home was destroyed right in front of him.

He needed to get back to the castle. He had to make sure his family was save. He had to-

But you can't.

A voice whispered at the back of his mind.

You have to go. You have a mission. Save the kingdom.

He didn't want to listen to the voice. He was about to dig his heels into Elysians stomach and ride back when he felt a hand grab ahold to his arm.

"Let go of me! I need to get back! Let go!"

"No! We have to go! I how you feel, okay? But we have to do this! It- You won't make it back in time anyway! We have to go." Patton stopped yelling. He sounded desperate.

"But-", he wasn't sure what he wanted to say. Part of him knew that Patton was right. The other part was staring at the flames and was terrified that he would lose everything.

"You're right. But- I can't just- What if there will be nothing left when we come back?" Roman's voice cracked.

"There will be. They will be working on repairing everything and everyone will be fine."

It didn't occur to Roman until much later when the sun had disappeared for the night that Patton had been trying to convince both of them.

The small fire they had lit was slowly burning down. Patton had fallen asleep a while ago. Despite the exhaustion weighing him down, Roman couldn't sleep. He had the weird feeling that they were being watched. It made a shiver run down his spine but it was better than thinking about the fact that maybe he didn't have a home to return to anymore.

The tree he leaned against moved a little in the wind. Except there was no wind. Roman slipped his hand into his pocket and closed it around an iron dagger. There were no monsters on this Island but forests always were strong magical places. He tried to remember if they had damaged a tree or plant. Anything that might have angered them. It was always better to be prepared than to be thrown around by a tree unexpected.

He came up with nothing. Maybe the tree had just moved without a reason. They sometimes did that. He heard a whisper in the air. The trees were talking. It was quiet but he tried to focus. Trees often knew things humans didn't.

"...second one down..."

"...lies...the two kings..."

"...the clock is running..."

Roman frowned. He couldn't make sense of the conversation pieces he heard. It sounded important. Probably some tree business. Part of him had hoped that he would hear something - anything - about what had happened with his family.

When Roman woke up again the sun was already shining through the leaves and a few birds filled the air with songs. He groggily sat up and stretched. His back hurt. Trees really didn't make the best of beds. He suppressed a jawn and realized that he was alone.

The horses were by a small stream close by, drinking but Patton was nowhere to be seen. A feeling of dread crept up Romans throat.

He tried to ignore it. Patton was probably just out of eyesight somewhere maybe he was looking for food or firewood. They still had a lot of food but more wouldn't exactly be an issue.

The ride to Natica should take about four days. Five or even up to two weeks if a bridge was broken. On some Islands, it was hard to find food and while he hoped they wouldn't have to cross one of them it could easily become their only choice. In that case, more provisions could be necessary for survival.

Roman busied himself with packing their camp together, taking care of Elysian and Amity and carving a stick he had found on the ground.

The feeling of being watched was back. He subtly looked around but couldn't see anyone. Maybe someone or something invisible. Or a ghost of some kind.

"Who's there? Show yourself!", he yelled.

"Nobody, fuck off!", a deep, slightly rough voice called back.

"You are the one stalking me!"

"...No, I'm not..."

Roman crossed his arms over his chest: "Yeah, sure. Then why are you watching me while I can't see you?"

"...I'm not. I'm a voice."

Roman pondered over that for a moment. A voice. A disembodied voice. In forests, you should always listen to disembodied voices. They could keep you save. But this one hadn't given him any advice. So, what should he do now?

"Why are you here?", he asked after a moment.

"I don't fucking know."

"That sounds stupid."

"Well, I'm sorry but I'm just an average young disembodied voice trying to get by. I didn't mean to offend you by not knowing why I'm here!"

"Voices can be young?"

"We're getting off topic."

"The topic whether or not you are stalking me?"

"I'm not stalking you! I'm here to deliver a message!"

"Oh. And what's the message?", Roman asked curiously.

"What you are looking for is a lie. A prophecy doesn't make for a good goal. Some are better left unfulfilled."

Roman let the words sink in for a moment.

"Are you saying that I should just leave my home behind and ignore that I could save it?"

"Yes. Give up."

Anger blossomed in his stomach, hollow and burning. Screw everything he'd been taught about listening to voices. As if he'd just leave his entire family to die. Who gave a fuck if some voice had told him to.

He was a prince. It was his duty to protect his father's kingdom and as the eldest, it was his duty to protect his siblings as well.

"How about you go fuck yourself!", he spat.

"Roman?", Roman looked up straddled.

Patton stood at the end of the clearing, holding a bag to his chest. He looked hurt. Why would he- ?

Shit.

"I- I wasn't talking to you! I swear!"

The baker tilted his head in confusion. "Who were you talking to then?"

Roman was about to tell him when it occurred to him that Patton probably wouldn't agree with his decision to ignore the voice's warning.

"Myself", he blurted out. Now Patton seemed concerned. Dammit. He had to change the topic. "Where were you, anyway?"

"Oh...um I just remembered that I um had been around here with my mother before and back then we had stopped at a small cabin and I wanted to see if I could go and um find it. I didn't mean to be gone for so long. Sorry."

Roman had the feeling he wasn't telling the whole truth but didn't call him out on it. It was mutual.

"Very well. We should get going, then. The sooner we get to Natica the better."

They rode in silence for a long time, neither knowing what to say and both of them wanting to avoid the lies they had told earlier.
Romans thoughts drifted back to fire. To the people who had filled the streets with makeshift weapons and screams on their lips. It had been a riot.
That part alone didn't make sense to him. A riot of the people should have a reason. It shouldn't be random, even when a prophecy from a mage who didn't take his job seriously had predicted it.
There was something that didn't make sense about all of this. Something he was missing. And he hated it. He couldn't protect anyone from something he didn't understand.

If there's even anyone left to protect, a small voice whispered. He immediately pushed it aside. He couldn't think like that. They had to be alive.

Otherwise he wasn't sure whether he could see the point in any of this.

Chapter Text

Patton glanced over at Roman. The prince hadn't spoken since they had left their camp. He looked like he was deep in thought.
Patton wondered what he had done the whole day while waiting for him.

He hadn't meant to be gone for so long. He had just followed the lantern.
In hindsight following a random light in a forest probably wasn't the smartest thing. It could have been a trick to lure him into a trap by a fae or a goblin. Magical beings tended to be merciless with humans.

But he had been lucky.

The lantern had led him to a small cabin in which an old woman lived. He had talked to her for a while and found out a few things about what had happened before the fire had broken out.

Patton had actually been planning to tell Roman as soon as possible but the other seemed to have his own stuff on his mind.
Patton wasn't sure if he should ask about it or not.

Roman was a nice person but that didn't change the fact that he was the future king and Patton was just a peasant. Normally they never ever would have spoken to each other. Yet, here they were.
It was weird.

The sun was already starting to go down again but they decided to go on. The next bridge wasn't far and while crossing it in the dark was even more dangerous than in the light, they were going to check whether it was safe enough to cross at all. If not they could head for the next one a few miles south first thing in the morning.

Patton's thighs hurt from riding for so long. After Mum had taught him when he had been about six years old, she had taken him on a few small trips now and then and he distantly remembered the aching in his legs after the longer ones. He wasn't sure if he wanted to find out how bad it would be after multiple days.

He wondered what Mom and Mama would say if they could see him right now. Together with a prince on a quest to fulfil some stupid prophecy.

Mama wouldn't be happy. She would tell him to stay away from that 'magical business' and ask him to come home where it was safe.

Mom would... He wasn't really sure what Mom would say. She might actually give him tips or tell him things about her travels that might be helpful. But nowadays you couldn't be too sure if the things she said were true or just something her confused mind had conjured up.

The thought filled him with melancholy.

"Do you think there is a point in this?" Roman suddenly asked ripping Patton from his thoughts.

"What?" he wasn't sure what Roman was talking about or if he had said something before the question.

"Do you think that there is a point in all of this?" Roman repeated. "Finding that... thing whatever it is and putting it back together..."
He trailed off.

Patton gave him a confused look. " Well, it is supposed to save an entire kingdom. That's a pretty good point, don't you think?"

"...Yeah, it is..."

Somehow Roman didn't sound fully convinced.

"What makes you think it wouldn't have a point?"

"I just... Forget it."

For a moment they remained silent. Neither knowing what to say.

"I found out some things about how the fire broke out," Patton blurted into the tense silence.

Instantly Roman's head snapped up.

"There is a group of people who want to overthrow the king and, well, your family in general."

"So it's a revolution."

"Yes."

Roman narrowed his eyes. "Do you think they might be following us?"
He asked after a moment.

Patton felt like someone had punched him in the stomach. Because that would make a lot of sense.
To fully get rid of the royal family they had to get rid of the heir to the throne. To do that they first had to find them.

"Change of plans! If the bridge is safe enough we are crossing it tonight. I'd rather take that risk than letting revolutionaries catch up with us!" Roman decided firmly and pressed his feet into Elysians calves.
Better to cross the bridge during sunset than after.

Maybe they were being stupid. Maybe there was no one after them just yet but neither man wanted to try finding out the hard way.

Patton tried not to think about what might happen if there was someone on the hunt for them. Or rather if that someone caught them.

Part of him longed to be in his tiny one-room apartment or at his parent's cabin or... anywhere else if he was honest with himself.
But his apartment had most likely been burnt down and the cabin he had grown up in was a few days rides north.

I might never see Mom and Mama again.

The thought hit him like an angry goblin's club to the stomach. He felt sick.
He wanted to change direction. Ride home. See his parents and forget about this whole thing.

But he didn't.

He wanted to, badly, but he didn't.

He continued to follow Roman through the quickly darkening forest towards... something.

An adventure, certain death, fate, Natica.

Or maybe even further than that.

He didn't know.

Wasn't sure whether he wanted to know.

The words 'Ignorance is bliss' came to mind.
Along with 'If you're worried about getting hurt, seek knowledge'.

It sounded familiar in the way of flowers that smell like warmth and safety despite you being sure that you have never smelled them.

It even tasted familiar.

It was unnerving.

By the time they reached the edge of the Island it was almost completely dark.
Patton stared down into the abyss and felt sick. It seemed to go down endlessly.
In the distance, he could see the next Island. A giant rock floating above nothing.
Connected to the one they were standing on only by a slim bridge made of rope and wood. It moved in the wind and Patton was sure he had never been more scared of anything.

Roman climbed of off Elysians back and Patton followed suit.

"It's safer like this," the prince explained. "Less weight in one spot and all that."

Patton nodded. He didn't trust his voice right now.

"Let's do this," Roman murmured, more to himself than to Patton. Then he stepped onto the first wooden plank.

It made a squeaking noise but held. Roman let out a breath and took another step pulling Elysan with him.

After a few more steps he turned back to Patton: "Are you coming or what?"

Patton nervously licked his lips and followed Roman.
The planks felt shaky underneath his feet.

"You can do this", he whispered and stepped onto the next one.

Chapter Text

The wind in the middle of the bridge was incredibly strong. It pushed and pulled at Patton's clothes and hair and body and made his feet slide on the narrow wooden planks. He could only squint if he wanted to see something and his face and fingers were probably frozen at this point.

He was scared. He was so, so scared. His heart was beating so fast he thought it was going to burst out of his chest.
It was getting darker and darker. Soon he wouldn't be able to see anything.
The thought alone terrified him.

But with every step, the wind seemed to lessen again. It was like walking into a hurricane and wanting to give up because every step was nothing but exhausting but simultaneously knowing that if you go far enough you will be safe again. So you cling to that shimmer of hope and force yourself to go on and ignore the way your muscles hurt and your feet are numb and that you could die any moment.

Because if you don't ignore it it's going to swallow you whole, eat away your spirit from the inside out. Leave you empty for death to collect you.

Patton was pretty sure he wouldn't even notice if Roman fell. He couldn't see far enough and the only thing he could hear was the wind. He wasn't even sure if he'd notice the bridge breaking until it was too late.

Even when the wind wasn't violent anymore he was too scared to open his eyes. He kept on blind. Maybe that was risky but he didn't want to see just how deep the abyss underneath him was and how old and worn the bridge was.

Then his foot made contact with solid ground and he almost cried in relief. Amity pushed him fully onto the Island, just as eager as he was to get off that damned shaking wood.
Patton fell to his knees and took moment just to breathe because Dear Gods, I'm still alive!

Roman sat next to him and gave him a shaky smile.

"You know, for your first time crossing between Islands you did really well."

"Please tell me we never have to do that again," Patton breathed.

"Sorry, but I can't do that. There is one more bridge we have to cross to get to D'cal and who knows where we'll have to go after Natica..." he trailed off.

Patton noticed that Roman's deep green eyes were trained on something behind him. Half-heartedly he turned around.
There was light between the trees over on the other Island. Firelight. It was dim but impossible not to notice now that it was completely dark.

"How about we don't lite a fire tonight?" Patton asked. His voice sounded far away to him.

Roman only nodded in response.

They didn't bother to set up a tent either. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky and fewer things to take down the next morning meant being able to be back on horseback sooner which in turn meant a bigger headstart on whoever was on the other side of the bridge.

It was a little cool so Patton buried himself in his blanket and gripped the rune hanging from his neck tightly.
He wasn't sure when he fell asleep but he woke up before sunset because it was too cold and wet to continue sleeping.
His back and legs ached as he sat up and rubbed his eyes with numb fingers.

For a moment he couldn't remember where he was or how he had gotten here. Then his eyes landed on Roman's sleeping figure next to him and the bridge and last night came rushing back to him at the speed of a hunting Japper.

He silently stood up and tried to get a look on the opposite coast. It was near impossible in the darkness but he believed to see the outlines of tents and horses between the trees.

"Roman?" he asked into the silence.

A slight shift and groan but Roman didn't wake up.
Patton carefully shook his shoulder.

"Roman? Wake up! Wake up, kiddo!"

Roman groaned and slowly opened his eyes.

"Did ya' jus call me kiddo?" he slurred, still half asleep.

Patton felt his cheeks heat up in embarrassment.

"I- Sorry, I didn't mean to. I'm really sorry but you have to get up. We agreed to get on the road as early as possible, remember?"

Roman slowly sat up, his reddish-brown hair sticking up in every direction, and pulled his blanket tighter around himself. He blinked at Patton a few times, pupils glossed over from sleep, before he managed to really wake up.

With still tired muscles they packed up their camp and gently woke the horses. Patton felt a little bad about how much stress all of this had to be for the animals but it wasn't like they really had a choice on the matter.
So they tied the rolled-up blankets to the saddles again and by the time the sun crept over the horizon they were already on the move again.

Day three, Patton thought. He wondered, not for the first time, how many it would be in total before he would be home again. 

In fairytales people found true love, wealth and often themselves on quests like this one. But real life isn't a fairytale.

In real life there were no fairy godmothers, only wicked, mischievous fae.
There were no powerful and helpful mages, but crazy, unpredictable people with more power than they should ever have.
No princess - kidnapping or wise, giving dragons, but destructive, violent ones and those that hadn't survived the past hundred centuries because sometimes kindness can be ones greatest weakness.

And there was no such thing as love strong enough to break spells and curses.

He had learned that particular lesson the hard way.

So he didn't expect to find any of those things. Currently, all he could do was pray that they even found part of what they were looking for.

If it even exists.

He shook the thought off. Mages were crazy, every single one of them, but a prophecy was more often than not real. And a Mage at the royal palace had to be one of the best. He wouldn't call something an important prophecy if it wasn't.

A few drops of rain hit his arms and face. Warm after the cold morning dew.
Behind him, in the distance, he could still hear the wind of the abyss and in front of him, leading the way, was Roman, still wrapped in a thick brown blanket.

If he was honest with himself he didn't even honestly consider turning back by now.

Chapter Text

They avoided towns and villages, sticking to the trees, bushes and hidden paths where ever it was possible. But every now and then they were forced to step out into the open.
Roman guessed it was about noon, but it was hard to tell with the dark clouds hanging in the sky. They were walking, guiding the horses, to give them a little rest but not daring to take an actual rest on the open field.

They couldn't be seen from the road, but they could see it a few metres down due to a steep hill. Still better to be overly cautious than regretful. Somehow that attitude felt familiar.

Roman looked back at Patton and couldn't help but feel guilty when he saw how exhausted the baker obviously was.
He was exhausted as well, but he was more adapted to physical strain.

The voice he had heard the day before was still spooking in his head telling him that he should just give up.
He continued to brush it off but the feeling that he shouldn't be dragging someone else into this mess was harder to ignore.

Sure, technical it had been Remy who had decided that it was important for the whole thing that Patton was going with him but it had been him who had followed the mages vague words blindly.

Maybe he should just tell Patton to stay in the next Inn they came across. While he wasn't with Roman the revolutionaries wouldn't be interested in him either. And maybe from there, Patton could go home.

Roman slowed his step until they were walking next to each other.

"Are you from Avlon?"

"Yeah. I am."

"So, if you were to go home you'd have to cross the same bridge again."

"Yeah, good thing I'm not going to do that. I don't think I'd be able to on my own. It's terrifying," he smiled and Roman felt himself smiling back instantly.

"You know, there are more bridges on the way to Natica alone. And probably a lot of them afterwards."

Patton raised an eyebrow: "Yes, I know that, kiddo. I'm not going to just go back through."

"What? Why not?", Roman blurted out.

Patton tilted his head to the side in adorable confusion: "Because we're in this together, kiddo. I know that you don't want to be here. You want to go back and help your family. I want to make sure my parents are safe too, and we will do that. After we find that those thingys and safe our home. I'm with you till the end, Roman."

He had no idea how to respond to that. He tried to think of something, but all that came out was a whispered: "You called me 'kiddo' again."

Patton stiffened and went to apologize but Roman didn't let him.

"No, it's okay, I'm just surprised, cause we're probably the same age or something and your not my father. But I don't really mind."

"Oh, good," Patton visibly relaxed. "It's just a weird habit. I spent a lot of time with young children back home."
The baker's smile fell slightly.
"I hope they're alright," he added under his breath, so low that Roman was sure he wasn't supposed to hear.
He decided not to mention it, for now.

Just when he was about to pick up the issue of whether or not Patton should just go home, again, he heard chattering on the street below. He ducked into the grass and sneakily crawled nearer to the edge to get a better look on whoever was down there. Based on what he could hear it were four horses and at least two men, singing an old travel song off-key.

They came closer. Three men in ill-fitting royal guard uniform, most likely stolen, and a fourth man on a carriage, dressed in what Roman recognized as one of his younger brother's armour. Judging by the big brown feathers on the helmet either Damian's or Pelaak's.

The sight made a dull hopelessness settle in his stomach. He didn't want to think about what it might mean.

"So, pack your bags,
Head south again.
The water's cooling down~"

Patton crouched down next to him.

"Take your girl
Back south, my friend.
Leave ice and snow for home~"

The men were out of sight after barely a few minutes and shortly after Roman couldn't hear their voices anymore.

"We should try to reach the coast before they do. They might destroy the bridge to keep us trapped here. At least that's what father taught me to do if I ever want to catch someone," Roman said and sat up onto Elysian's back again.

"But what if the person you are looking for is already over the bridge?", Patton asked pulling himself back into Amity's saddle.

"Then you have to use the nearest one to follow them, I guess," Roman dug his calves into Elysian's stomach and silently apologized to the stallion.

Hours later he still had the son the men had been singing stuck in his head and found himself humming the melody under his breath every now and then.

They reached the bridge a lot earlier than Roman had expected. It wasn't even dark yet.

Roman hated crossing bridges. It was - like Patton had said - terrifying. He hated the way that his feet couldn't find solid ground and kept slipping. He hated that he had no idea how far he had come and how much further he'd have to go.
He really, really hated crossing bridges.

Patton hugged him as soon as both of them had reached the Island. Lexak, if Roman wasn't completely wrong.
Around here it was easier to hide. Lexak was full of farms and fields and according to his father, it was hard to find criminals who hid here. The two of them shouldn't be too different.

Right?

He had to admit that the thought if hiding here like several gangs of bandits made it more likely to encounter said gangs or not.
Maybe he should try to teach Patton how to use a bow or something like that.
Definitely not a sword or any other close combat weapons. Patton didn't strike him as the type to be able to hurt someone. Not being able to see your opponents face made it easier and having a little distance could help as well.

But he couldn't exactly just give Patton his own bow. The baker was significantly shorter than him and had a lot less upper body strength. He'd need his own.
That could make itself out to be a problem.
Getting to right wood could be a challenge on his own.

By the time it got dark they had found shelter in a barn. Big enough that they wouldn't be found if the farmers got up before them.

The horses were happy about the dry grass being stored in the back but Roman made sure they wouldn't eat too much by tying them to a post and simply giving them a big enough portion.

Patton found some sacks which they used as makeshift beds.
Roman didn't take long to fall asleep, exhausted from the past days making his muscles and eyelids heavy.

Chapter Text

Roman woke up to the sound of voices. He tensed and listened.

"Like this, Papa?", a child's voice asked.

"Yeah, exactly! Very good, Edd!", a man laughed.

The farmer and his son, Roman guessed. He peered over the barrels he and Patton had decided to use as cover for the night.

The farmer was a tall man, skin dark from working in the sun for days on end, clothes dirty and worn.
The boy, Edd, was maybe eight years old, with freckles dusting his cheeks and his big eyes shining with pride at the praise.

Roman ducked again. For a moment he considered to wake Patton up and hide somewhere else, but whatever the farmer and Edd were doing, they were doing it by the front of the barn and he figured Patton deserved a little rest.

After about an hour the farmer and his son left.

Roman found a bucket full of rainwater standing under a hole in the roof and took the opportunity to wash himself. Afterwards, he felt a lot better and decided that it was time to wake Patton.
He shook the other man's shoulder.

"Hey, Pat, wake up!"

Patton groaned and turned to get away from his hands.

"Come on! We have to go before they find us!"

"Wha-? Who?", Patton mumbled still sleepy.

"The farmers."

"The... Oh!", Patton quickly sat up.

"Calm down, padre. We are save for now. Still, we should get going if we want to reach Natica tomorrow," he flashed a smile. "There is some clean water over there, perfect for washing. I'll go check on the horses and get some bread for breakfast."

"Okay!", Patton beamed at him and went to get himself cleaned up.

Elysian and Amity still stood by the pole Roman had tied them to the night before. He gave them some more grass and found another bucket for them to drink from.
Apparently these people really needed to fix their barn's roof.

Patton came back, a lot more awake now, and they ate in comfortable silence.

Roman liked being around Patton even after only knowing the other for about four days. Somehow it felt familiar and - in a weird way - right to spend time with the baker.
Just having the other around made him feel better, more comfortable and more whole.

Maybe this is what puzzle pieces feel like when you put them together?

The thought made him stop for a moment.

What is a puzzle piece?

He frowned at the dry bread in his hands as if it had personally offended him.
It hadn't but he broke it anyway.
He hated having thoughts that couldn't be his own.

If Patton noticed his odd behaviour he didn't say anything.

They snuck out a little later and managed to get to the near woods without being seen. There, in the shelter of the trees, they sat up again.

Roman didn't feel like being left alone with his thoughts so he decided to strike up a conversation: "So, you mentioned you're from Avlon. Are you from Corinn* or...?"
He trailed off.

"I was born in Corinn but grew up in a village near the Pondé mountains. I only moved to Corinn a few years ago."

Roman hummed in acknowledgement: "The Pondé mountains are beautiful, aren't they?"

An enthusiastic smile spread over Patton's face.

"Yes! Especially during Fall when everything becomes colourful and the harvest comes to an end! It's also really pretty in Spring with all the flowers and the birds and animals that come back!"

The smile dropped a little.

"What if we can't find that artefact in time?"

Roman had thought about that question. He just hadn't come to a real conclusion. At least not one that wouldn't completely destroy him.

If it was needed 'to save the kingdom' that could only mean that without it... they wouldn't have a place to return to..

"We will. Don't worry," he was surprised by how certain his voice sounded. He smiled at Patton and the other smiled back.

For a moment neither of them spoke.

Roman noticed someone standing at the crossroad they were headed to.
He subtly let his right hand wander towards the grip of his sword, ready to pull it out, should the need arise.

"Where are you going, strangers?", the person asked when they reached the crossing.

"Why do you ask?", Roman shot back and narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"A few of the bridges broke during a bad storm a few nights ago. Just want to keep people from taking the wrong routes," they shrugged. "And maybe also keep them from staying longer than necessary."

"Why that?", Patton tilted his head to the side a bit. He seemed to always do that when he was confused or curious about something.

"Because my brother is on the hunt for travellers he can rob and whenever he manages to do so he becomes incredibly full of himself and annoying. Think's he's better than me and that kind of stuff. Also, he stole my favourite knife and I want to pay him back for that."

"So you are helping people because you are angry?", Roman raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, I do. Is it a good deed, is it a bad deed? Who knows, I'm doing it anyway!", they grinned. "So, where do you want to go?"

"Natica."

"Well, good thing you met me then! You were going to take the northern bridge because it's a bit closer, weren't you? It's broken. You have to take the one further south. It's not that big of a difference though. Only, like, half a day."

"Thank you, then," Roman said. The stranger was confusing him. Their motives, their attitude. It was strange.

They smiled at him, revealing that three of their teeth were missing: "No problem! Have a safe journey!"

Roman lead Elysian onto the path towards the bridge the stranger had recommended.
Behind him, Patton thanked them again and followed him.

"They were nice," the baker said after a few minutes.

"Weird, if you ask me. Shouldn't they try to get along with their brother?"

Patton shrugged: "Maybe they just need to be angry for a while. They aren't doing anything bad, so I think it's okay."

"I guess. Still a bit weird, though."

The conversation carried on from there. They talked about weird people they had met, strange experiences and stories of their childhoods.

Soon Roman wasn't thinking about doom, danger and strange, foreign thoughts anymore but focused on the story Patton was telling him, about an old monk, a smart pig and almost a ton of honey.

Chapter Text

They only reached the bridge after dark and Roman cursed the storm that had broken the other one.
It was the first choice of most travellers because it was newer, shorter and closer to most other Islands.
This one was old, if still holding, and a lot longer.

Roman could only barely make out the shore on the other side. Not that he'd ever admit it but it terrified him.

They made a fire again, this night, feeling safe enough to do so for the moment. Patton roasted a bird Roman had shot earlier and the latter told him about the time Theresa and Nico had tried to steal a Potion of Growth from Remy.

Roman only realised how long it had been since he had had a warm meal when the smell of cooked meat filled the air and made his mouth water.
Dry bread was good against hunger but was nothing against warm, soft, juicy meat.

They both dug in hungrily.

The prince whipped his mouth on his sleeve: "We should sleep now. Tomorrow we will reach D'cal and then climb Natica to reach the Library."

"Are you sure they will let us in?", Patton asked and yawned.

"They will. They have to."

Both men were too tired to come up with anything else to say. Roman curled up against a tree wrapping his coat around himself and fell asleep quicker than a freezing Shanakle.

------

Patton warmed himself on the fire. He was too tired to do anything but lie there and blink but somehow too awake to fall asleep.

"You're awake."

He jumped at the sudden voice. He recognised it.

"You're the one who woke me up a few days ago."

"I'm sorry about that. Really."

"It's alright," he yawned, "but why are you here?"

"You are in danger. You know that, don't you? I wanted to warn you. Not all that glitters is gold. Not everything said by a wise, powerful person is true. Be careful who you trust, okay?"

"Okay...?"

"Good. Take care."

Patton didn't have to see them to know that whoever had spoken to him was gone.

He fell asleep soon after while contemplating what they had meant.

Patton woke up first the next morning. It was foggy and the air tasted like rain.
Hopefully, they would reach the library without getting wet.

"Roman!", he gently shook the other until he woke up. They ate a small breakfast, bound stricks to the horses' bridles and began the last part of their four-day journey. Roman suggested weighting themselves down against the wind, so they stuffed their pockets with food and other things they found in the saddle pockets before crossing over.

The prince lead, pulling Elysan with him, and Patton wasn't far behind, holding Amity's strick.

After a short while he was forced to close his eyes again. He felt the pull of the wind and made a mental note to hug Roman for the weight idea.
It really helped to keep his feet firmly on the shaky wooden planks.

His hand, holding the strick felt numb. He barely noticed it slipping through his fingers until the knot at its end tugged at his hand.
He pulled at it hoping to get Amity to move faster.

Suddenly the strick was ripped from his grip and he fell against the ropes of the bridge.
His hand brushed rough wood and he held on, now on all fours.

He turned away from the howling wind and managed to open his eyes, if barely.
Underneath him something was falling.
Something too big for a human, white.

Amity.

Something dark almost slammed into the mare and grabbed her. A Scullbreaker.

Patton threw up.

With bile coating his tongue and his entire body shaking like a leave in the wind he crawled over the unsteady bridge.
His muscles were already sore from the past days and he could barely feel his hands or feet but at the same time, he was too scared to stop even for a moment.

It felt like he had been going on for forever when his hand finally made contact with something soft and warm. A hand.

The hand pulled him up and onto his feet. Another hand steadied him when his legs almost gave out underneath him. He opened his eyes once again and found himself looking directly into dark, concerned ones.

"Patton, are you alright?", Roman was still holding him up and checking him once over with his eyes.

"I- Amity- She fell," the baker stuttered out.

"Yes, I noticed. But are you alright?", the prince's voice softened.

"I think- I think so."

Roman didn't believe him. That was fine. He didn't even believe himself.

He couldn't seem to stop shaking. Roman wrapped him into a blanket and sat with him until he could breathe properly again and didn't feel like breaking down and crying anymore.

"Why did people start building bridges? They're dangerous. Why would anyone want to build something like this?", he asked after a while.

"I guess they were curious. Wanted to know what was beyond the Islands they could see. But you're right. Bridges like these are dangerous."

They fell silent again.

"Do you think you can go on?", Roman asked carefully studying him.

"Yeah, I think- I'm good," Patton gave a small smile.

They walked on, Elysian trailing behind them, still bound to Roman with the same strick.

The prince started talking about random birds they saw. Patton was grateful for the small distraction.

He had felt completely and utterly helpless, feeling his way across the abyss.
It had terrified him.

It didn't take long before the path they were on started to get steeper until it fully turned into old stone stairs. At that point, they had to leave Elysian behind. Roman tied him to a tree and patted his neck and they carried on their ascent.

Patton was exhausted. His legs hurt and felt numb at the same time, his hands still hadn't stopped shaking and the supplies in his pockets seemed to get heavier with every step.

At the same time he was sure that, if he were to sit down for even a second, he'd never get up again.

What was amazing on the other hand, was the view. It was breathtaking. He could faintly see mountains in the distance, which he recognised as the Pondé mountains. Somewhere in that area was also his parents' farm.

He had no idea how much farther they had to climb. The staircase was built into the outer surface of Natica and steep. Some steps were uneven and in most Patton could see footsteps from hundreds of feet that had climbed them over the centuries.
He consciously stepped into them and distracted himself with fantasies about the people who had walked here before him.

At noon they finally took a break.

The sun stood high in the sky only occasionally covered by a few small clouds.
The weather was changeable around this time of the year, Patton mused, biting into a dry piece of bread.

He took off his jacket and tied the sleeves together around his shoulders. Cool air met his arms.
It wasn't exactly warm this far up, but the sun combined with the exercise was more than enough to make him sweat.

Getting himself to get up again was hard.
The rest had helped, but he was still tired.

"Come on. It's not far anymore," Roman said and gave him a tired smile.

Chapter Text

The Library of Natica was a big elegant building built with white marble columns and onyx ornaments.
It had been built on the highest place in the world centuries ago and over the years filled to the brim with books, parchments and papers, written by scientists, philosophers, poets and occasionally just people who kept journals about glorious adventures or even simple everyday life.
They were treasures of knowledge, stored in high wooden shelves, cared for by the small society living in the spaces in between and protected by thick stone walls, traps and a heavy gate.
On top of the gate, like a guardian, was the statue of an owl, looking down at whoever came here with the hopes of entering.

The first time Patton saw it, it took his breath away. For a few moments, all he could do was stare and marvel at the beautiful iron flowers, which had been worked into the gate, and the bird, which looked so real, that for a moment he was convinced it would fly down from its place and chase them off the Island.

"Wow," he heared Roman breathe.

"Yeah," he whispered back. There wasn't much else he could say and he didn't have too. Everything had been said that could be put into words.

Roman stepped closer and pulled at a long rope, attached to a bell at the top of the wall.
It's chime sounded over the summit.

They waited only for a moment before a small rose moved to the side revealing the face of an old man.

"Who are you and what is your request?"

Patton and Roman shared a look.

"I'm Prince Roman of Sallerow and this is my friend Patton Baker. We-"

"No," the man interrupted and was about to move the rose back into its place.

"You didn't even hear me out!", protested Roman.

"I don't care. The answer is no. Now go away!"

"Why?", Patton spoke up.

The man hesitated: "What do you mean 'why'?"

"Why is the answer no? We're not here for power or to steal anything from you or whatever it is you are afraid we might do."

"Then what do you want?"

"We are here because of a prophecy-"

The window was closed before Roman could finish.

"Hey!", he exclaimed then added under his breath: "Stupid old asshole."

The the gate opened.

It didn't make a sound as Patton had half expected. Behind it stood an old woman in a simple tunic, leaning on an elegant cane and the man who had spoken to them who was now rubbing the back of his head.

"I apologize for my husband's rudeness. We've been expecting you," she smiled and the wrinkles around her eyes deepened.

"You have?", Roman asked surprised.

"Of course. Now come in so we can close the gate again."

The men pulled a lever as soon as they stepped through the gateway and it closed behind them.

"You must be exhausted. It's a long journey," the woman said leading them towards the entrance of the library. "It's almost time for dinner, too. Would you like to join us?"

"Uh- Yeah, thank you," Roman answered, stumped by the sudden politeness.

Patton was too distracted by the rows upon rows of colourful flowers and herbs growing in front of the building and the few people busying themselves between them.
There were honey bees, bumblebees and butterflies filling the air with buzzing.

It was beautiful.

The woman leads them inside and into a labyrinth of bookshelves. They stood close to each other and were filled to the point where they were as thick as walls with so many corners and niches that Patton was sure that if he were to wander off alone, he'd never find his way back.
Following an impulse, he grabbed hold of Roman's gloved hand.

Finally they reached a small corridor with stone walls and multiple doors.

"This," the woman pointed at one of the doors, "is the dining room. Over here are the guest rooms. There is only one free currently, but it's one with two beds, so I hope that won't be a problem. You'll hear when dinner is ready."

Then she left them alone.

Patton entered the room she had showed them.
It was relatively small with barely any space between the two beds, a small table and the closet.
On the table was a bowl of water and a small towel.

Both of them took the opportunity to wash themselves and without the sweat and dirt from the past two days clinging to him, Patton already felt a lot better.

With a sigh he let himself fall onto the nearest bed. It was soft and after just a few minutes he found himself drifting off to sleep.

Patton found himself standing knee-deep in snow.
Somewhere to his left someone was yelling.
He looked over and noticed that said someone was holding his hand.
They were looking at someone else.
Roman?
Yeah, that was Roman.
For some reason, he couldn't understand what either of them were saying.
Roman looked up at something and Patton was pretty sure that he was shouting something. He looked distressed.
Then the person holding his hand nodded and started running downhill, pulling him along.
Patton wanted to stop and ask who they were and what was going on but found that he couldn't.
All he could do was run and try not to slip and fall.
The thick fog made it impossible to see how far the hill went down but he had a feeling that they were high up.

Patton woke up to aloud banging noise. Confused and startled he shot up.

"I'm just guessing here," Roman said rubbing his temple, "but I think that's what the woman meant by 'You'll hear when dinner is ready'. Just a guess."

"That... would make sense", part of him wanted to just lie back down and keep sleeping. The other part was hungry.
With a yawn, he stumbled to his feet.

Outside, in the hallway, the air was filled with chatter.
More people than Patton could count were here, all of them trying to get into the dining room.
Some were talking and joking while others had their noses buried in book.

Nobody seemed to even notice the two of them.

Inside of the dining room were five long tables with benches at witch the librarians sat down.
Roman took the lead and found a free space for the two of them.
A few men gave out steaming bowls of soup.
It smelled like rosemary and meat.

Chapter Text

The soup tasted even better than it smelled.
It was warm and had a lot of meat and potatoes in it.

Roman found himself listening in on the librarians but realized he barely understood any of the conversations.
Complicated names and bits of languages he had never heard before mixed with the overlapping of voices made it almost impossible to really follow a conversation.

He had hoped to hear more about the revolution and whether his family was still alive or not.
Not knowing was terrifying.

Sure, he could just ask but as much as he wanted to know he also dreaded the answer he might get.
Everyone was occupied by other topics.
It would be rude to just interrupt a conversation.

Yes, that was the only reason he didn't ask anybody.
He wasn't afraid.
Not at all.

He chose to ignore the man at the end of the table who was only mindlessly playing with the corner of the closed book in front of him and the woman at the other end of the room who seemed to only have eyes for her food.

Everyone was occupied.

After a while people started to get up and bring their empty bowls over to a small cart.

Patton finished earlier than him and waited for him.
They brought their bowls away and retreated back to their room.

"Good night, kiddo," Patton yawned and crawled onto the bed, which he had claimed earlier.

"Good night."

Roman wrapped himself up in the covers.
For a moment both of them were silent. Roman could feel himself drifting off.

Then Patton spoke up: "Roman, do you trust me?"

He frowned at the question.

"What do you mean?"

"Do you trust me?", the baker repeated.

"Yes, I do. Why do you ask?"

Patton was quiet for a moment as if thinking over his words.

"Have you ever heard... voices?"

Roman instantly thought of the voice he had heard in the forest. It felt like forever ago.

"...Yes, why?"

"What did it say?"

'It told me to just give up and forget about this entire mess,' he thought.
"Nothing important," he said instead. "Why do you ask?"

"'Cause I've been hearing the same voice every now and then ever since Remy made that prophecy."

"How often?"

"Twice."

"What did it say?", Roman asked, half expecting not to get an answer or for Patton to avoid the question similar to how he had.

"The first time it didn't really say anything but the second time it told me to be careful. That I was in danger."

Sometimes Roman wondered what the point of voices was.
He could understand the ones that warned people of stuff or gave them advice but for some reason, most of them went around pointing out obvious stuff.
As if someone on the run from a revolution trying to fulfil a prophecy didn't know that they were in danger.
Humans weren't that stupid!

"Good night," Patton mumbled against his pillow and a few moments later Roman could hear his breathing even out.
The other had fallen asleep.

Roman's eyelids felt heavy and after a few moments he found himself falling asleep.
It had been a long few days.

The next morning he woke up slowly.
The ache in his legs had dulled overnight and for the first time in five days he didn't wake up feeling cold.

For a moment he was almost convinced that he was back home.

Then he heard Patton shift and turned to look over at the other bed.
He was still sleeping, golden locks sticking up in every direction.
Roman couldn't help but smile at the sight.

He stayed like this for a while, underneath the warm blanket pretending that everything was alright.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed when Patton began to stir.

The baker sat up slowly, rubbing his forehead. Then he noticed Roman.

"Hn, morning...", he muttered not fully awake yet.

"Good morning," Roman replied sitting up as well. His back ached at the movement but he chose to ignore that for now.
He slipped out of the bed and walked over to  the closet, in which he had left their stuff.

After just a moment of searching, which was impressive considering how little he had cared about things such as 'order' or 'system'  the day before, he found a more or less clean shirt and pulled it on.
Patton took a moment longer and some cold water in the face to wake up and get going.

Roman had no idea how late or early it was when they finally stepped out of their room.
There were a few people in the dining room, chatting calmly and some playing a board game, which he had never seen before. He guessed it was Teronan.

"Look," Patton caught him attention, pointing at the old woman, who had let them yesterday.

The baker made his way towards her. Roman followed him. He figured this woman was a good place to start looking for answers.

The woman looked up as they came closer and smiled at them, the thin wrinkles around her eyes deepened: "Good morning. Can I help you with something?"

"Yeah! We were hoping that maybe there is some information about the artefact of the prophecy somewhere here in the library!", Patton said smiling brightly.
For a moment Roman was almost sure that he was actually glowing.

"Oh, I'm sure there is," the woman said. Roman only noticed now that she had never told them her name. "You can ask Valerie, back there. Ancient History isn't really my subject."

The woman pointed over to a small group of people.

"Thank you very much!"

They walked across the room, passing the board game players again.

"Does one of you happen to be Valerie?", Roman asked.

The three looked up.

"Uhm, yeah, I'm Valerie," a young woman with long dark hair and pretty brown eyes answered.

Roman explained their situation as quickly and simply as possible, ending with how the woman had sent them over.

"Oh, sure, I can help," she smiled and got up. "See you later!"

She gave a quick wave to the rest of the group and lead them out of the room and towards the rows and rows upon bookshelves.

"I think I read something about the artefacts of the gods a while ago. I'm not completely sure though," Valerie said and Roman couldn't help but admire the confidence with which she turned at seemingly random corners.

Then they reached a grid-like door, leading into a small room.
Valerie pulled the grid back and gestured for them to come in.

Then she pulled it shut again and pressed a small round button with the number 75 on it.
Roman frowned in confusion.

Suddenly the ground moved down.

Patton yelped in surprise.

Chapter Text

"What the hell is going on?!", Roman blurted trying to regain his balance.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I forgot that other places don't have these!" Valerie exclaimed. "This is a lift. Like they are used for heavy things like rocks when building things but for people."

Roman starred at her in disbelief. He knew the kind of lifts she was describing but it had never occurred to him that someone might be crazy enough to build one for actual living people.

"Don't those crash often?", Patton voiced his doubts and Roman noticed a slightly shaky hand grab his sleeve.

"Well, yes, but don't worry. Even if the ropes snap we won't fall. There are a few security measures to make them safe," Valerie hurried to explain.

"Where are we going anyway? I thought the library had only one story?", Roman noticed.

Patton snickered next to him: "I thought a library was supposed to have tons of stories!"

Roman couldn't suppress a smile at that. He raised an eyebrow at the other in an attempt to keep at least some of his dignity.

"Actually there are over a hundred stories - in both meanings of the word," Valerie said smiling again. "The library fills out the entire mountain!"

Roman starred at her in suprise.

The entire mountain. The entire damn giant mountain.

"How many books are in here?", he blurted out trying to somehow process the information.
Oh gods, and he had thought that the books in the floor he had already seen were too many to ever possibly count, let alone read.
No wonder that the old woman didn't know much about prophecies.
Reading only one section of this library would surely take a lifetime.

"I have no idea, honestly", Valerie said. "I think there is a big one somewhere with every book and scroll you can find in here, but I have never seen it. I think it should be somewhere on the 13th floor."

Patton made an impressed and maybe a bit shocked noise.

Roman found himself agreeing in silence.
He was pretty sure that even if someone were to tell him the actual number he wouldn't be able to count high enough to truly understand how much it was.
Patton probably wouldn't be much better off.

Part of Roman thought that it was crazy, to have so many books stored in one place but to keep their knowledge secret.
Most people couldn't even read.
He had met knights and royals who could barely spell their own name.
For a moment he wondered whether or not Patton could.

The 'lift' came to a halt and Valerie pulled open the grid once more, letting in another person, but made no move to get out.

The stranger pressed on the button with the number 200 and the lift started moving again.

"Good morning, Valerie," the stranger greeted.

"Good morning,"

The two began to chat and Roman quickly suspected that they were friends.

He noticed Patton shift awkwardly.

The lift stopped again.

"This is our stop," Valerie announced pulling open the grid. "See you later, Terrence!"

Roman and Patton followed her. The books down here are old and worn, wrapped in old leather.
Some shelves are filled to the brim with scrolls others even with stone panels.

There are only a few people shuffling by or sitting on desks crammed into the spaces in between and writing or reading.
It was mostly dark, only lit by candles and a few torches.
The floor was worn flat by hundreds of years of people walking over it and only close to the bookcases you could still see the original dark colour and roughness of the stones.

Valerie was walking slower now, paying close attention to the books, looking for the right section.

"Around here should be something," she said vaguely gesturing towards two thick shelves. "There are a few people working on getting everything better organized and stuff but... they weren't here yet."

She turned to Roman: "Can you read Slyn? Or Trouq?"

"I only know a bit Slyn but Trouq - no problem."

"You?", she turned to Patton.

"I barely know Trouq. And uhm... what was Slyn, again?", Patton smiled sheepishly.

"It's an old form of writing. Most of the books here are in Slyn. I don't really know where exactly we can find what you need. We'll have to look for the right book," Valerie explained and bit her lip. "Roman can help look but I'm not sure if you can."

Patton made a guilty sounding noise.

Valerie's gaze fell onto a man sitting by a table nearby.

"Hey, Logan! Are you busy?"

The man looked up, glanced back at the notebook and scroll in front of him and sighed: "I don't seem to get anywhere with this currently so I might as well help you with... whatever you need me to do."

Logan stood up and pushed his glasses up a bit. He was dressed formally in a dark coat and well-fitted pants and shirt.

"Do you happen to know something about a shattered relict of the gods?", Valerie asked hopefully.

"No, not spontaneously", Logan said raising an eyebrow. "Why?"

Valerie filled him in on Roman's and Patton's situation. He nodded seemingly deep in thought and looked the two of them once over.

"Interesting", he muttered when Valerie finished. "I suppose I can help you."

The four of them got to work scanning books for the right information.
Patton quickly realised that his reading skills weren't good enough to understand anything relevant so Valerie gave him a few darts and showed him a small target on a wall before getting back to work.

Roman found that his Slyn was even worse than he had thought and had to stick to the few Trouq books and scrolls he could find.

He also realized that Valerie and Logan were ridiculously quick at reading. By the time he had managed to scan through one book the two of them had gone through about twenty.
He tried to push away the feelings of not-good-enough blossoming in his stomach away.

They were librarians. They read and wrote every day.
Of course, they were good at it.

For some reason that didn't really help.
It never did.

He wondered if Patton felt like this as well. Perhaps even worse.

He didn't check up on the baker though. Valerie did ever so often but he stayed in his spot and tried to figure out what that damn word meant.

Chapter Text

They looked for hours, went through what must have been at least one hundred books and scrolls from multiple shelves and found absolutely nothing.

To say that Roman was frustrated would be an understatement.
He had spent more time reading than his entire life up until now, had gotten at least twenty paper cuts (which sucked) and his back was stiff from sitting in the same position for so long.
At least his muscles weren't aching as badly as the day before.

Logan had told him that "It's illogical to be frustrated simply because we did not find the correct book just yet".
He had never heard someone speak like that, something that was quite surprising considering he had literally grown up in the royal palace surrounded by royalties and people who had been trimmed to talk as formal as possible.

But maybe that was to be expected from a guy who read through a book as thick as Roman's head in about fifteen minutes.

He and Patton followed the librarians back upstairs for dinner.
The smell of cabbages filled the air and made Roman realise just how hungry he is.
He hadn't had the chance to eat anything up until now.

Just like the night before a few people handed out bowls of soup and for a while the only sounds were the clattering of spoons and an occasional slurping.

After a while conversations started up again.
Valerie was talking to a few people and Logan had pulled out a scroll which he was studying now.
Roman recognised it has the scroll he had been working on earlier before Valerie had gotten him to help them.

He furrowed his dark brows and that alone made Roman curious. Whatever was written there had stumped this obviously extremely smart man.

"What are you reading there?", he asked munching on a piece of cabbage.

Logan glanced at him over the brim of his glasses and back down: "It's an old prophecy. I am trying to decipher it's meaning."

"Can't you read it?", Patton piped in and Roman noticed him leaning his head to the side in either confusion or curiosity. He couldn't tell.

"I can. It is in Slyn and in very legible handwriting but as you might have heard, most prophecies are in riddle form or very vague when it comes to their wording. So while I can easily read the text I have been trying for over a year to understand it's meaning," the man explained, somehow a lot more patient than Roman had expected.

"What does it say?", Patton asked trying to catch a glimpse at the writing despite knowing that he wouldn't be able to read it in the first place.

"Do you want me to read it out too you?", the question seemed weirdly genuine.

"Yeah, please," Patton smiled.

Logan looked around for a moment at the other people filling up the room with a frown.

"Perhaps not here. I'd prefer if not too many people were to hear it. Knowledge is power, as they say", he gave a tight smile.

Patton visibly deflated.
Roman could see a mixture of terror and shock in Logan's eyes for a split second. A clear 'Oh gods, what have I done, please forgive me for my crimes'.
To be fair, Roman felt a spike of guilt at Patton's disappointed expression and he hadn't even done anything.

"If you really want to hear maybe I could visit you later tonight?", Logan rushed to say and almost instantly Patton's face brightened.

"Really?"

"I mean, only if it's fine by you and all that and-"

"Of course it's fine", Roman cut him off. "Why wouldn't it be?"

Logan nervously pushed up his glasses. He seemed to do that a lot.

"Well, for one, you might be tired and wish to rest instead of hearing a prophecy that might have already happened several centuries ago. Then, of course, there's the fact that you barely know me and in my experience, most people tend to seek a certain distance, both physically and emotionally, from strangers. This includes wanting to keep them out of their own personal space and bedrooms usually count as personal space since you keep your personal belongings there.
I can come up with a few more reasons but these two are the most significant and obvious."

He pushed up his glasses again, despite having just done so.

Roman just stared at him. He had no idea how to respond to that.
Should he even respond?

Logan looked at them like he was waiting for some kind of reaction but Patton seemed to be just as unsure as Roman on the whole 'how do I react to this' thing.

"It's really fine," the baker finally said.

"Very well, then I shall meet you in your room later. I have something else to attend to first but it won't take long," with that Logan stood up, brought away his bowl and disappeared.

For a moment Roman and Patton sat in silence.

"He's not a mage, is he?", Patton asked obviously confused.

"I don't think so. I can't speak for all of them but the mages I've met are even more confusing. Besides, I'm pretty sure that mages are not allowed in here," Roman told him.

They finished their meal in silence and returned to their room shortly after.

Roman let himself fall onto the mattress and lazily pulled off his shirt. He unceremoniously dropped it onto the ground next to the bed, with the intention to pick it up later or maybe tomorrow morning.
That was a problem for future Roman.

Then there was a knock on the door.

"Come in!", Patton called.

The door opened, squeaking like a mouse that had just been caught by a cat, and Logan came in.

Roman sat up noting the way Logan's eyes drifted down to his chest for just a second too much and the librarian nervously licked his lips.

Patton had sat up too and was patting the spot next to him, as an invitation for Logan to sit down.

He did so and pulled out the scroll.

"What did you mean earlier when you said that you don't want too many people to hear what's written on the scroll?", Roman asked suddenly. He had been wanting to ask that particular question for a while now and he wasn't really a patient person.

"As I said 'Knowlege is Power'. That is why it's so hard to get in here, in the first place. But prophecies are the most valuable. Once you decipher them, they give you a glimpse into the future. Even here within the library, the prophecies are well hidden.

"The only reason that I have one is that I was deemed qualified and reliable enough for this task. So now I'm trying to prove that they were right. Sadly I have yet to understand the meaning of the prophecy."

Patton leaned his head against Logan's shoulder and studied the scroll in wonder.
Slyn was beautiful even if you couldn't tell what the letters meant.

Logan cleared his throat and began to read aloud:
"On a light and sunny day, a kingdom will fall-"

Patton shot up, nearly hitting his head on Logan's and Roman could feel flowers of dread blossom in his stomach. The leaves brushing almost gently against his sides.

"Do you think it's talking about Sallerow?", Patton asked.

Logan raised an eyebrow at him: "What do you mean?"

"Well, when we left Corinn, the city was burning and it was a pretty warm and sunny day," the baker explained shooting a concerned glance over at Roman.

"Oh, that makes sense. That would mean that the prophecy is happening now," Logan pulled out a notebook and hastily wrote something down.

Roman felt sick.

"What else does it say?" he asked and his voice sounds hollow even to himself.

"On a light and sunny day, a kingdom will fall.
In a dark and stormy night a king will be crowned.
On a high and cold mountain two lovers will rise.
In the halls of the castle awaits a surprise.
In the flames lies will grow.
Claimed by a royal the islands will change.
For behind the masks, they hide something strange.
A hidden love turns into hate.
The clock is running - there is no time to wait.
Undamaged skin and all-seeing eyes.
In the sea lies their shared demise.
Fast-moving hands and poisonous lips.
Blood is gushing from their necks
For it was their final kiss.
Twisted words fall deeper and deeper.
Bloody teeth long for freedom.
They say love is a wonderful thing
Unaware of what it might bring.
Unable to stop this terrible sin
And magical blood makes the demons sing.

"That's the whole of it," Logan looks up at them. "Do you happen to have any ideas about the rest?"

"The king, who will be crowned could be Roman," Patton begins, "cause I'm pretty sure that the king of Terona is still very young, isn't he?"

"That's true. He was crowned only about three years ago", Roman agrees.

But if Sallerow has fallen, why and where could he possibly become a king?
Could he reclaim the throne from the revolutionaries?
Did this mean that his father was dead?
The thought made his stomach churn.

"' In the flames, lies will grow' could also be referring to Corinn. As you said, the city was burning. But that brings up the question what kind of lies are 'growing' there," Logan spoke quickly and turned the page of his notebook only to write down even more.

"The people were rioting", Roman heard himself say. "Maybe whoever caused the riot did so by spreading lies."

"That makes sense. I- I guess I should thank you. For the help", Logan smiled awkwardly like he wasn't really sure how to handle the situation.

"You're welcome", Patton grinned back and jawned.

"I should go now, it's late," the librarian stood up and moved towards the door. "Thank you and good night."

With that he left.

Patton blew out the candle and Roman heard him fall back onto the bed.

"Good night, kiddo."

"Night, padre."

He laid back down and starred unto the darkness.
The fear for his home and family, that he had managed to somewhat forget over the long day was back now, stronger than before.
It made its nest in his chest, stretching up into his throat and pressed down on his lungs making it harder to breathe.

He thought of his younger siblings and felt his eyes water.

He couldn't lose them.

He couldn't.

It was his duty to protect them and keep them safe and sound.
He was the eldest.
His father was too ill to do so.
His mother was long gone.
Eric was too young and inexperienced in battle to hold his own against the masses of people Roman had seen on the streets.

Roman closed his eyes and put his hands over his heart in the most common position and prayed to all gods of war, protection and safety he could think of.

Because if he wanted to see his family again he had to put all his trust into the knights, guards and gods.

After what felt like an eternity, exhaustion made its way through the blanket of fear and weighted him down even more, until he finally fell into a dreamless sleep.

Chapter Text

Patton woke up early the next morning, but at least he woke up on his own, slowly and well-rested.

Roman was still asleep and he decided not to wake him up.

Instead he got dressed and slipped out of the room.

The first few people were setting up breakfast. From what Patton assumed to be the kitchen the smell of freshly baked bread filled the air.

The familiarity of it made his chest ache.

He pushed the feeling away, forcing a smile onto his face.
He looked around and spotted Logan at the back of the room, reading.
The smile on his face grew as he made his way over to the librarian.

"Good morning," he said as he sat down across from Logan.

The other man looked up startled.

"Oh, Patton. Good morning. Did you sleep well?", Logan asked and pushed his glasses up.

"Yes, I did. How about you?"

"Fine." "What are you reading?", he tried to catch a glimpse of the writing. It looked like Slyn but he, of course, had no idea what it said.

"It's one of the books about the ancient gods from downstairs. You most likely want to find what you are looking for as soon as possible, so I decided to continue looking for answers," he gave Patton a tight smile. "Prophecies can be very confusing, can't they?"

Patton smiled back at him.

"You're right. But the mage who made it was even more confusing! He kept using words and phrases that I didn't know and was just really unnerving."

That seemed to spark Logan's curiosity.

"You met a mage? A real actual mage? Who was affected by his magic? I have read about them but never actually seen one. They aren't allowed inside the library, after all."

"Well, yes. By 'affected by his magic' you mean that he went insane, right?

"It is usually referred to as 'magical induced madness' but there are theories about it. For example, a famous writer named Emile Picani wrote that the 'madness' seems too similar from mage to mage. They understand each other with no problem, tend to use the same words and phrases and talk about the same nonexistent people and events while insane people usually have vastly different people and events that their minds tell them are real. Plus insanity, in general, can be very different from person to person. Some are violent, some are convinced that they are haunted or cursed - I could go on. Therefore Picani suspects that mages are granted some sort of knowledge others simply don't have access to. Like how for example only fae know how to get to their hills or mers can feel where the next lake or river is. It is quite fascinating."

Patton starred at the other man ramble and couldn't help the fondness blooming in his chest. He still didn't want to have anything to do with mages but the way Logan talked about them, so full of passion and excitement, made him smile.

"Mer can feel where the next body of water is?", he asked, prompting Logan to keep talking.

"Yes! For years researchers have been trying to figure out how, but to this day there are only speculations. It seems to be some kind of instinct, integrated into them since birth. They can also-"

Logan didn't stop for a long time. He didn't stop when the bread was brought out, he didn't stop when he and Patton ate (only for short moments to chew and swallow) and he didn't stop when Roman stumbled into the dining room looking like he had just fallen out of his bed and took a seat next to them.

And Patton just kept listing and smiling at him. He had never known any of the things Logan told him and doubted that he'd ever need to but he enjoyed it.

Only after Logan had finished explaining how Unicorns originally came to existence he noticed Roman's presence.

"I- Good morning. My apologies, I was rather distracted. I did not mean to ignore you", he rambled and pushed up his glasses.

Roman mumbled something along the lines of "it's fine" past the bread in his mouth and pointedly ignored the irritated look Logan gave him at the action.

Patton decided to change the topic.

"So, are we going to go back down today?", he asked.

Logan focused on him again: "Yes, that's the plan. Valerie won't be able to join us today as she has some other business to attend to. Would you like to stay up here and find something else to do as well?"

Patton thought for a moment then shook his head.

"No, I'm fine. I think I'll just pass the time with those darts again. I think I'm slowly getting better!", he smiled.

Maybe he was just imagining it but he could have sworn that the corners of Logan's mouth twitched upwards even just a little.

They took the same elevator down and again Patton couldn't help but feel uneasy at the thought of standing in a box that was being held up only by a rope which might snap at any moment and let them fall through the entire mountain.
It reminded him of the bridges.

Once they stepped out, Logan lead them the right niche and they settled back into what they had been doing the day before.

Patton had no idea how much time had passed (he only knew that he had managed to hit the middle of the target six times) when he heard something other than the flipping of pages and the occasional shuffle from the direction of the others.

"I think I got it!"

Chapter Text

"Really?", both Roman and Patton scrambled over to Logan as quick as they could.

The thick book Logan was holding in his lap was opened on a - as far as Patton could tell - random page. On the left, there was thin text, the lines crammed together like the author had tried to get as much as physically possible onto one page. On the right was a detailed drawing surrounded by more writing.

"What does it say?", Roman asked suddenly full of energy.

Logan cleared his throat.

"It's called the-"

A shrill piercing sound cut through the air.
Patton pressed his hands over his ears but it barely muffled the noise.

"What the hell is that?!", Roman yelled.

"The alarm system! Someone is attacking us!" Logan shot up clutching the book tho his chest and pressing his free hand over his ears. "You need to leave! Now!"

"What? Why?", Patton was pulled to his feet by Roman.

"Because you were chased by rebels on your way here! Who else would attack us right now?!," the librarian yelled. "I can get you a head start but you need to go!"

He led them deeper into the mountain - or at least away from the lift- through a door and suddenly they were in a stone staircase.

"Why aren't we taking the lift?", Roman asked but didn't hesitate to follow Logan down. "And where are we going anyway?!"

"The lifts are most likely full with others going up! And if you want to have a chance to get anywhere you'll need your horses!"

"We left our only horse on the path up to the library! How are we supposed to get there now?"

Logan was breathing heavily by now, not used to running. Patton wasn't much better off and he was sure he would have fallen behind if Roman wasn't still holding his sleeve and pulling him along.

"Your horse was brought to the stables! That's where we're going!"

Logan came to a stumbled halt next to a door  and pushed it open.

Patton's lungs were burning. He gasped for air. It was warm and tasted of animals, hay and straw.

"I don't know which one your saddle is", Logan panted and vaguely gestured towards a small door at the end of the large room.
Roman hurried over and disappeared for a moment before coming back out with the saddle in his arm and the reins in one hand.

There weren't many horses in the stables. Patton saw four, not counting Elysian. Most of the space was taken up by goats, a few donkeys and a sheep with a newborn, separated from the others for safety.

All of the animals were nervous.

Down here Patton couldn't hear the alarm but he was sure they could. Or they could feel the fear in the air.

The baker felt a bit useless watching Roman get Elysian ready and Logan help if only barely. On the other hand, it gave him a moment to catch his breath.
Besides, he didn't know jack about horses. Cows, donkeys and geese were more his field of expertise.

"Okay, where do we get out of here?", Roman asked startling Patton slightly. He hadn't realised that they were done already.

"This way! You'll have to ride towards the Cursed Islands since the bridges to Terona were destroyed and you can't just go back! So just keep left!" Logan led them through an arch and to a gate. With obvious difficulty, he turned a big wooden wheel and the gate began to open. "It- It'll close behind you on its own. I can't hold it for long so hurry!"

Roman swung into the saddle seemingly effortless and pulled Patton up behind himself.
Then he perked up.

"Logan, do you still have to book?!"

The librarian gave him a confused look.

"My bag-", he moved towards the strap of the bag with his elbow, both hands still on the wheel.

Roman seemed to make a decision in seconds.

He crossed the distance to Logan, grabbed him around the waist only to immediately jam both calves into the horse's stomach.

Patton heard Logan scream as he was pulled onto the horse.

The gate almost fell back down and he could have sworn that he felt it just inches from his back.
The crash made Elysian pick up on pace even more.

All Patton could do was dig his fingers into Roman's vest and press close to the prince as they dashed down the last of the mountain.

"What are you doing?!," Logan was yelling, "Let me go! Let me go!"

He was hitting Roman's arm, that was still wrapped around him, and chest.

"Stop that," Roman yelled in return, "or do you want us all to fall down?!"

"Let me fucking go!"

"So you can fall and die?!"

Logan still didn't stop screaming. Patton couldn't blame him.

The coast came into view sooner than Patton had expected and he couldn't decide whether he was glad or terrified by that.

He wanted away from the revolutionaries but the idea of crossing a bridge at this speed with three people on a horse made his stomach do all kinds of spins.
Then there were the Islands beyond the bridge they were headed to.

"Slow down!", he yelled at Roman.

Either the man didn't hear him over the wind and Logan's protest or he ignored him.

Elysian's hoof met wood and Patton scrunched his eyes shut.

He was going to die. He was going to die. He was going to die. He was going to die. He was going to die He was going to die he was going to die he was going to die he was going to die he was going to die he was going to diehewasgoingtodie

He felt Elysian stumble and nearly threw up.
The stallion caught himself if barely.

And then his hooves met solid ground again.

Patton peaked over Roman's shoulder.
Thick green and grey leaves created a shield between them and the sky, casting the forest floor in shadows.

"We made it," he breathed not quite believing it.

How had a bridge leading to an abandoned, cursed Island held a horse with three people at breakneck speed?
How had the wind not blown them down?

Roman let Elysian come to a halt and finally let Logan go, who stumbled before righting himself, and slipped off.
Patton followed the two of them down.

Elysian was panting and around his mouth foam had formed.

Patton looked around at the unnaturally dark trees with an uneasy feeling blooming in his stomach. His mothers had told him stories about these Islands. About the monsters and corrupted animals roaming them, so many that it was impossible for anyone to live here - or even travel across them.

"What the hell were you thinking?!," Logan yelled at Roman, snapping Patton back to reality, his face red in anger. "I need to get back!"

He turned away but Roman grabbed his sleeve.

"We need you! We need the book!"

"I don't care what you need! What I care about is that my home is under attack -because of you two- and I have to help! Find someone else who can read and don't fucking kidnap me, you goddamn prick!"

"And where the hell are we supposed to find a human around here?!," Roman yelled waving his hands at the forest around them. "What do you even want to do now? March back there? The gate we used is closed and the front gate is being attacked! You can't go back!'

"And who's fault is that?!"

"Er... guys?", Patton whispered.

"I was acting on instinct! I'm sorry but it's not like I had time to think it through!"

"Guys?"

"'Acting on instinct'? Oh, of course you did! I doubt you even can think things through!"

Roman gasped scandalised.

"Guys?!", Patton interrupted before either of them could continue the fight.

"What?", Roman turned.

The baker just pointed mutely.

Pointed at the creature hiding between the trees.

It had long thin legs, similar to a spider but thicker at the end where they ended in pointy claws.
Two heads, one as big as a grown man one smaller, with two dark eyes each, starring at them unblinking and one watering mouth on the bigger head.

Roman swore under his breath.

He slowly moved towards Elysian, not taking his eyes from the creature.

"We can't ride him now?" Logan hissed. "He'll collapse before we can get anywhere."

"I know," Roman pulled out a small knife, "but we need the provisions."

He cut off the saddle pockets.

"On my mark, you run", he whispered.

"What mark?", Patton asked.

Roman slammed the side of his knives against the horses behind, Elysian reared and took off running in the exact moment that the monster burst through the treeline.

Logan grabbed Patton's arm: "I'm guessing that's the mark!"

They ran.

Patton looked back and caught a glimpse of Roman holding his sword before he had to turn back to avoid stumbling over a root or fallen branch.

He heard the creature shrieking, followed by Roman cursing loudly.

He was just about to turn around again when Roman caught up to them.

"What did you do?", Patton managed to shout between breaths.

"Cut off one of the thing's legs! Only made it even more angry, though!"

"Great job!", Logan hissed.

"Run now, tell me I'm stupid later!", Roman glanced over his shoulder and cursed again. "The thing's fast for that size!"

Patton was too out of breath to respond. He couldn't keep running like this. He couldn't.

Behind them the monster let out another shrieking noise, it's long legs piercing the ground with every step it took.

Out of the corner of his eye Patton noticed something.

"There!," he gasped, grabbed Roman's gloved hand and tightened his grip on Logan's shirt and pulled them towards the small valley, cutting through the forest.

"What- Where are we-?", Roman cut of abruptly as he lost footing on the steep slope and fell a few meters before he got to his feet again.

Patton only pointed with his now free hand.

Near the end of the valley, where it got even steeper, there was a hole in the mossy stone. A hole big enough for a human but too small by far for the creature.

Logan made a relieved noise.

Leaves rustled loudly behind them and Patton tried to force his body to go faster. Tried to ignore to pain in his chest that seemed to be growing with every pant.

His shoulder smacked painfully against the ragged stone and he stumbled into the cave, Logan directly behind him. Roman followed just a second later.

The monster crashed against the rocks and growled deeply.

One of its legs pushed into the cave, slim enough to fit.

"Shit!", Roman pushed Logan and Patton behind himself stumbling a few steps backwards.

The leg moved around scratching the ground, trying to reach them.

"It can't... It can't reach us here," Roman breathed in relief, the tension leaving his body.

"It might not be our only problem right now," Logan whispered, trying to catch his breath.

Patton followed his gaze to...

a pot.

A pot hanging over a small fire with some kind of soup boiling in it.

"Have you people never heard about knocking before you enter some else's house? Especially uninvited," a voice behind them spoke up. "How rude."

Patton froze.

Chapter Text

Logan turned around slowly.

At the back of the cave, next to a curtain stood a young man.

"Or, like, ringing the doorbell?," the stranger continued, obviously displeased.

"There is no doorbell," Roman said, sounding unsure.

The stranger frowned: "Then at least knock?"

"There is no door either."

At that the stranger looked confused.

"There isn't? Oh, your right," he frowned at them again. "Still rude to just burst in like that!"

"Apologies, but we were being chased," Logan said. The man was being irrational - no one could possibly know that this cave was someones home - but he didn't want to make this nonsense go on for much longer than necessary.

"Chased?", the man asked and stepped closer and into the warm light of the fire. His hair was white making Logan second-guess his age, but his face was too young to be much older than twenty. His dark eyes found the creatures leg at the entrance. "Ah, I see. Can I borrow that for a sec?"

He flicked his hand and Roman's sword moved out of its sheath levitating in the air.

Patton yelped and grabbed Logan's arm tightly.

"I- Sure," Roman stuttered wide eyed.

A mage. This man was a mage. An actual real mage. That would explain the faulty logic and the peculiar home.

The man stepped past them closer to the creature.
It's leg shot out.

"Stop!"

Just a few inches from his head the leg froze. The whole monster froze.
Patton's grip on Logan's arm tightened even more. It was almost painful by now but he couldn't bring himself to shake Patton off.

The mage flicked his hand almost carelessly. Roman's golden blade followed the movement and cut through the monster's leg, just over the dark, thick foot.
Logan only now realised that it was some sort of shell protecting the light grey flesh and forming the long claw.

"Thank you," the mage said and let the sword fly back to its owner, who hesitantly picked it out of the air and almost dropped it when the energy holding it up suddenly disappeared. Idiot.

"Move," the man told the creature. It let out an ear-piercing scream and stumbled back from the cave. With a few gargling sounds it scrambled away and retreated back into the depths of the forest.
It's cut off leg was left frozen in the air.

"Why did that work?," Roman blurted out.

"What?," the man turned back to them and raised an eyebrow.

"You cut off one of the legs. Why did it only become even more angry when I did that?"

"Maybe because you're incompetent," Logan murmured under his breath, low enough that Roman couldn't hear. If Patton heard he was too busy squeezing Logan's arm to react.

"'m guessing you cut off to close to its body," the mage said and plucked the foot that was bigger than his entire torso out of the air. "You see, only the feet are edible but also hard to get so if their legs get cut further up they know that you are not a predator and it can eat you."

"Why would they hunt something that already managed to do damage?", Logan asked.

"The closer to the heads the cut is, the faster they can regenerate the leg."

Fascinating.

The mage seemed to be investigating the shell of the foot, letting his fingers, full of silver rings, run over the smooth looking surface. Then he perked up.

"Wait a minute- who are you?", he stared at them. The way he said the words seemed oddly deliberate like an impression or something alike.

"My name is Roman, this is Patton and-"

"Logan, pleasure meeting you," Logan interrupted. Roman shot him an annoyed look and he just glared back.

The mage went back to inspecting the foot.

"What is your name?", Logan asked after a few moments of silence.

"Me? I uhm... Virgil," the man - Virgil - looked weirdly surprised at the question which only strengthened Logan's assumption that he was in a state of Magically Induced Madness. His fingers were itching to write down the way Virgil behaved and compare it to other papers about MIM.

"I guess I have to thank you now...," Vigil muttered obviously displeased. "For the minimum effort meat and shell and shit..."

His eyes wandered around the cave and eventually landed on the pot hanging over the fire.

"Are we even if I share with you? Ya know, invite you to dinner - no strings attached - kinda thing?"

Out of the corner of his eye Logan could see Roman open his mouth and quickly cut him off before he could say something stupid like 'Yes'.

"If we also get to stay the night."

He didn't miss the shocked look on Patton's face nor the annoyed - borderline disgusted - one on Virgil's.

"Fine," the mage spat unhappily after a moment, "but you don't get to use the Netflix! No Netflix and Chill in my house. Don't give a shit if you're married or whatever."

With that he stalked past them again to the curtain.

"And don't come in here!" he added and let the heavy fabric fall back into place behind himself. The foot he had taken with him.

"Are you crazy?", Patton whispered still wide-eyed. "We can't just stay at some crazy mage's place!"

His hands were shaking and Logan realised that the reason Patton had squeezed his arm was fear.
Patton was afraid of Virgil.

"It is a lot safer than trying to find shelter somewhere else," he began. He wanted to say something soothing but human emotions never really had been something he understood. "And I doubt he will attack us unless we make him angry or injure him first."

That was only a half-lie.
Logan really had the impression that Virgil wasn't the kind of person to actively pick fights, more the kind who avoids people altogether (He was living in a hole on one of the Cursed Islands. That was some pretty solid evidence for that impression).
But, then again, Logan didn't know people.

He knew books and the theory behind behaviour and the ways the human mind worked.
But actual human emotions?
They were confusing, often so irrational and going against any kind of logic.

He had had the impression that Roman was rather friendly until he had pulled him onto that damn horse and figuratively ripped him from his home.

He could only hope that he wasn't wrong about Virgil and a small part of him feared that he might be wrong in his assessment of Patton as well.

Patton seemed to be very kind and an all-around good person. He liked Patton.

"Do you really think so?", Patton asked, glancing over to the curtain. He sounded unsure.

"I do," Logan told him.

Patton's grip softened and he dropped his hands to fiddle with the hem of his shirt.
After just a moment one moved back up to trace an amulet hanging around his neck instead.

Logan felt a dull ache where Patton's hands had been but ignored it in favour of looking around the cave.

There wasn't much there that hinted to this being someone's home other than the pot, some firewood, a small clay pot with closed lid and some dried plants and herbs hanging from the ceiling, high enough that Logan was sure he'd have trouble getting them down if he wanted to.

His gaze wandered to the curtain again.
The material looked thick and heavy, like something that could easily shield off the cold in winter and keep the warmth inside. It was dark blue and purple with tiny white dots forming something similar to star constellations but he saw none that he recognised. It was more like someone had made them up simply as decoration.

It struck him as odd.

Both dark blue and purple were hard to make, after all.
For one, if someone was making something so expensive they could at least look up the actual constellations.
Then there was the fact that it was hanging in a cave.

He wondered if the mage had made it.
There were mages who could create entire new Islands or bring back the Dead - the Island they were standing on itself was said to have been beautiful and peaceful before getting cursed and turned into to  nightmarish death land it was now.
Surely it was possible to dye fabric with some spell.

"What do we do now?", Roman asked into the silence.

Logan scoffed.

" 'We' do nothing. You two can have the book and go where ever it is you want to go. I will return to Natica tomorrow morning," he glared at Roman.

"Do you honestly think you can make it back there on your own?", Roman shot back. "Or even find your way? Who knows how many monsters are hiding in the shadows 'round here! You'd die without even getting near the bridge!"

The problem wasn't that Roman was being preposterous.

It was that he was right.

And Logan knew it.

For some reason hearing the words out loud still felt like a punch in the stomach.

He couldn't go back home on his own.

His best chance to even make it of this Island was to stick with Patton and Roman.
That or staying in the cave.

He felt distantly ill.

Chapter Text

After about half an hour of tense silence between the three of them Virgil came back.

He had somehow removed the shell and unceremoniously dumped the chopped up meat into the soup.

"That should take like... ten minutes? Who knows," he said but it seemed more like he was talking to himself than them.

Despite the cold fear that crept up Patton's spine whenever Virgil came too close, he was grateful for the broken silence.

He wasn't sure why Virgil seemed so much more dangerous than Remy.
Maybe it was the fact that he actually had seen Virgil use magic.

"Why are you people even here?", Virgil asked biting at his thumb. He looked tired, his eyes small from exhaustion and dark rings underneath them.

"It's... complicated," Roman said hesitantly. His voice sounded heavy.

"Oh, I see. Didn't have to get that specific, you know?", Virgil deadpanned.

Roman clicked his tongue in slight annoyance: "The short version is that we are looking for something and are being chased by people who will most likely kill us when they get the chance."

Virgil's eyes narrowed.

"What people?"

There seemed to be something else in the question like an underlying threat.

"Revolutionars."

"Where are you from?"

Roman glanced over at Patton and met his eyes for a moment.

"Patton and I are from Sallerow-"

"Where is that from here?", Virgil cut him off.

"West," Logan answered. "Same direction as Natica."

"Natica is south from here. West is just more dead land," Virgil frowned. "Which one is it?"

An irritated or maybe confused look crossed Logan's face.

"I'd guess it's south then but how can Natica be south from here? The bridge we crossed leads north, sure, but we ran East for quite a while. It should at the very least be Southwest!"

Virgil shook his head.

"These Islands don't do logic. They're cursed. There's a reason people call them that. You can't expect everything to work the way you think it should around here."

Patton's hand wrapped tightly around his amulet.

"Then how did you know what direction it is?," Roman asked.

"How the fuck am I supposed to know?" Virgil looked at him like he was the insane one. "Magic, I guess?"

"Why do you live here?," Patton asked and wished he hadn't when Virgil's eyes focused on him.

"I don't know. Very few visitors, lots of cool plants and animals and stuff and lots of magic in basically everything," he shrugged.

"What do you mean by that?", Logan asked. "'Magic in basically everything'?"

Virgil frowned and gestured vaguely: "It's like- There was a mage here, who cursed the Islands and the animals and some of the people and like- basically everything. So now... there is magic - from the curse - in everything. Does that make sense?"

More than most of the stuff you've said, Patton thought.
He just nodded instead of saying that though.

"There were people cursed?", Logan asked. He sounded surprised.

"Yeah, I guess. Seems a bit unlikely that every fucking bug was cursed and no human, don't cha think?"

Logan nodded seemingly deep in thought.

Virgil turned his attention back to the pot stirring a little in it with a wooden spoon.

Patton turned to Roman who was leaning against the stone wall and frowning at Virgil.
Well, at least he wasn't the only one uncomfortable around the mage.

"Do you know who cursed the Islands?", Roman asked.

"What is this? Twenty questions? And how would I know? I haven't always lived here!" Roman looked taken aback by the suddenly aggressive answer.

"Dinner's ready," Virgil muttered and the pot moved away from the fire landing in the middle of the 'room'.

Virgil disappeared behind the curtain and came back a moment later with a few mismatched bowls and spoons. One was made of porcelain with a beautiful pattern of silver and blue, two were made of wood, one carved unevenly obviously by a beginner, the other was smooth with what looked like letters around the bottom and the last bowl looked like glass but Patton doubted that. Glass for a bowl. That was ridiculous.

Virgil handed three of the bowls to Patton, keeping the badly made one for himself.

Logan took the other wooden one and Patton noticed him inspect the letters on the bottom curiously. So they were letters then. He wondered what it said.

Roman took the probably-not-glass one with some hesitation and shot Patton a questioning look to make sure he was fine with that.

He was.

He had never eaten out of a porcelain bowl before - the material was way too expensive for him to afford - and he preferred it over something that most likely had been made with magic.

Virgil filled their bowls and told them to take more if they wanted to before plopping down near the fire.

The soup smelled weird. It wasn't really a strong smell, only really noticeable from up close, but it was foreign and Patton couldn't even place a single ingredient.

Hesitantly he nipped at the milky liquid.

The taste was a foreign as the smell but surprisingly good.
It was warm but somehow not hot anymore and tasted like nothing Patton had ever eaten before.
It was also weirdly thick but somehow that wasn't bad.

He tried one of the pieces of monster meat swimming in the soup.
It was soft and tasted similar to duck meat mixed with hazelnut.

Weird.

Weird but somehow good.

His stomach only now seemed to realise that he hadn't eaten anything since breakfast (it felt forever ago) and he emptied two and a half bowl before he finally felt full.

Roman and Logan seemed to be just as hungry while Virgil barely ate at all, instead, just he just watched them.

Patton tried to ignore it as best as he could.

When they all had finished Virgil took the bowls back to where ever he had gotten them from and came back with a bunch of blankets. At least twenty.
Patton wondered why he had all this stuff if he hated having guests and lived alone.

With a mumbled "Goodnight" Virgil disappeared again and they were on their own.

Roman took initiative and laid out a few blankets as makeshift mattresses.
It was warm enough due to the fire so each of them only took one blanket and the rest made for a pretty good bed.

Patton took the spot between Roman and Logan. On one hand, because he didn't want them to tear each other apart in the middle of the night, on the other hand, it gave him a sense of security.

Win-win.

He fell asleep quickly, exhausted from the long day.

He woke up again with both Logan and Roman hugging him and if he pretended to be asleep so he wouldn't have to move, then frankly that was his business and no one else's.

Chapter Text

Roman woke up slowly.
His face was pressed against warm, sweet-smelling fabric.
He slowly opened his eyes and realised with a start that the fabric was Patton's shirt and that his arms were wrapped tightly around the baker.

He flushed deep red and moved to pull his arm away.
Patton made an unhappy noise.

Okay, then he wouldn't move.

Logan was on Patton's other side and had an arm draped over him as well.

Roman didn't want to look at Logan. He knew that he had been in the wrong when he had forced Logan to come with them but his pride wouldn't let him admit it.
And it was true what he had said, they needed the book and they needed Logan.

They still hadn't had the chance to actually take a look at the book and now they had no plan and no idea what to do.

They couldn't go back to Natica, they couldn't go back to Sallerow and they couldn't stay here, either.
The only place they could go was Terona.

He didn't know much about Terona, besides of the fact that there had been a war between Sallerow and Terona, that had ended when he was about three or four years old, the current king was very young and his father hated everything teronan with a passion.

Most people in Sallerow hated Terona.

He wouldn't be surprised if it was mutual.

Still, safer than here.

His thoughts took him back to Corinn and to his family.
Either they were already dead or held captive by the revolutionaries.
He wasn't sure which was the better option.
His father was already ill and weak, who knew how long he could survive in a prison cell.

He was snapped back to reality by approaching footsteps. The curtain was pulled back and dirty black boots entered Roman's line of sight.
He glanced upwards and his gaze met small dark eyes, half-hidden behind messy white hair.

"Jesus fucking Christ, I thought you were hallucinations," Virgil muttered. "And please tell me you didn't fuck last night."

Roman sat up, careful not to wake Patton.

"Why do you think we're together?", he asked. He recalled Virgil saying something about them being married the day before.

"Aren't you?"

"No!"

"So the whole cuddle party was just dudes being pals?"

Roman frowned.

"I don't know what that means."

"...I don't know how to explain it."

For a moment both men were just looking at each other, both unsure what to do.

"Quick question - I barely remember anything that happened yesterday - why are you here again? I mean, I remember that you are looking for something or were chased - not sure about that - but why are you here?", Virgil broke the eye contact and the silence.

"Do you mean this cave?"

"No- well, yes - but more... Why are you on these Islands? Surely there are better ways to get where you want to go?"

"Not really. I'm not even sure where we want to go. Probably Terona. That's actually the only place we can go right now, I think. We were in Natica when the revolutionaries attacked and the bridges to Terona were destroyed so... We came here."

Virgil made a noise of acknowledgement.

"And what are you looking for?"

Roman snorted: "We don't know yet."

Because in a very cruel way it was funny. They were on a wild goose chase with no way back and with no idea what they were trying to find.
Who knew if they hadn't walked right past one of those stupid pieces already without even noticing?
It was stupid.

"And why are you looking for this mystery thing?"

"Because of a prophecy. It's supposed to save the kingdom. An ancient artefact of the gods."

"You don't sound very convinced."

Roman sighed.

"I'm not. I have no idea if there is any point to this. For all I know, it might be too late already... And I'm scared to know."

He rubbed his hands over his face, tried to rub off the tiredness that was starting to sink into his bones only overcome by rushes of adrenaline while running from the danger that kept chasing them.

How long had it been since he and Patton had left Corinn?

Seven days?

It felt like an eternity.

"Are you alright?", Virgil asked hesitantly.

"Just... tired."

"Do you... I could give you something... that helps... Do you want that?"

"A spell?"

Virgil shook his head.

"Closer to a potion but it's not magic."

"Okay," Roman shrugged.

Virgil turned and held open the curtain with an inviting gesture.

The part of the cave Roman stepped into was giant.
There was only a dim light, that seemed to come from minerals in the walls and the ceiling and a few glowing balls hanging over part of the cave, connected by a thin string.
There were a few shelves, some made of wood, some of metal and a few made of both. They were filled to the brim with books, flasks and all kinds of things Roman couldn't name.

Virgil moved towards a wooden plank hanging from delicate iron chains.
On it was a weird apparatus and a box with a few small white boxes in it.

"A cup..," Virgil muttered and a mug flew into his hand from the nearest shelf, "... of coffee...", he poured a dark liquid into the mug from a can he had taken out of the weird apparatus, "... and one of these...", he took a small pill out of one of the white boxes. "There!"

"What is that?", Roman asked.

"A cup of coffee and an antidepressant."

"And what does that mean?"

"The drink wakes you up and the pill makes the world seem less hopeless, simply put."

Roman took both.

"If the coffee is too bitter for you just tell me. I can add some milk and sugar," Virgil added.

Roman swallowed the pill, took a sip from the warm 'coffee' and made a face: "This is disgusting!"

"Too bitter then," a bottle with milk and a container of sugar flew through the air and added themselves to the coffee. A spoon moved to stir it as Roman watched.

The liquid was now more a light brown than black.

He took another sip.

The taste was still strong and a bit bitter but at least it was drinkable now.

Virgil poured himself a cup as well without milk or sugar and for a while, it was quiet as they drank.

And Roman had to admit that he felt a lot better afterwards.

He still had no idea what to do but somehow he felt less like the uncertainty was crushing him.

Chapter Text

When Logan woke up he didn't know where he was.

He was laying on a warm and soft surface, that smelled like honey and wrapped in a thin blanket.

It wasn't his bed - it was too hard and warm for that, not to mention that his bed didn't smell like this - but he couldn't recall falling asleep somewhere between the rows upon rows of books.
It had happened before but also wouldn't explain blanket and smell.

He opened his eyes and blinked against the light that shone through the slim uneven entrance.

"Are you awake?," a soft voice whispered.

Patton.

Suddenly Logan realised where he was and the events of the past day came back to him like a robber who had hidden in the bushes until his victim was distracted.
He shot up into a seating position.

The cave around him was a blur of mostly greys and he felt for his glasses.
He recalled putting them somewhere to his left, slightly out of arms reach to avoid accidentally hitting them or rolling on top of them in the middle of the night.

"Here," Patton said and he felt the cool material against the back of his hand.

"Thank you," he took the glasses and put them on.

Patton sat close to the makeshift bed and gave him a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Where's Roman?" he asked. Part of him wanted to ask Patton if something was wrong. The other part wanted to avoid talking about feelings.
The latter won.

"With Virgil," Patton pointed to the curtain. "He said that he was tired and Virgil offered him something that's supposed to help."

"And what would that be?*

"I don't know. Something non-magical."

Logan made an acknowledging sound. He grabbed his bag, that he had left half-hidden behind the closed pot, and pulled out his notebook, a Scullbreaker feather and a small bottle of ink.

He wanted to write down what had happened over the last two days. If he was stuck on this quest, he might as well use it to learn more about the Cursed Islands and mages.

Part of him was excited to be here. To be on the outside of the thick stone walls he grew up in.
He had read so many stories of travellers and explorers over the course of his life but never once imagined himself to ever be one of them.

"Roman doesn't believe in the prophecy."

Logan looked up startled.

"What?"

"He told Virgil so. That he isn't convinced that the artefact we're looking for is even real."

Logan starred at Patton.

"How do you know that?"

"I was awake. Pretended to be asleep. I just... thought you should know... and... I wanted to know what you think. I mean, you found it, didn't you? In the book?"

"Well, I can't be completely sure, since your prophecy is rather vague, but I have found an artefact that was shattered into multiple pieces, that would have the power to either destroy or save an entire kingdom if it were put back together. So I'm assuming that it's the one."

Patton nodded thoughtful.

"That sounds like it."

"Exactly. But I guess we should wait until Roman is back, so I don't have to translate it twice," Logan pushed up his glasses.

"Translate it?", Patton asked and leaned his head to the side.

"It's a very old scripture, back then most people didn't speak Komar. It has only been the main spoken language for about a hundred years now."

"What did they speak?"

"The languages were vastly different depending on where you went. This book is written in Jaklen, for example. It's not certain where Jaklen was spoken but there are a lot of books in it, so it must have been a very rich region."

"I see..."

They both looked up at the sound of the curtain being pulled back.

"Good morning," Roman greeted and pushed his hair out of his face.

"Good morning," Logan and Patton echoed.

There was an awkward tension between the three of them.

Behind Roman Logan noticed Virgil lingering in the shadows.

The mage looked different now. His bangs were hanging in his face, almost hiding his eyes and he was slouching.
There still were dark shadows under his eyes but somehow he seemed a lot more awake and attentive.
Logan also noticed that he was spinning one of his rings around his middle and ring finger in an eight with magic.

It reminded him of the way Patton played with his amulet - a nervous tick to keep oneself busy.

"We should probably make a plan," he started. "We need to settle on where to go and how to track down the pieces of this artefact."

"So you are coming with us?", Roman asked sounding surprised and hesitantly sat down.

"You yourself pointed out that I can not go back and if this artefact is as powerful as it's said to be then it might also help me restore the library if the attackers managed to do any damage. So I see no reason not to join you on this quest. Besides, neither of you can read Slyn and I assume no Falé either so you are likely to run into some trouble sooner or later."

"What kind of trouble?", Patton asked a thin line forming between his eyebrows.

"Understanding street signs can be crucial."

"Oh."

"What is it anyway?," Roman asked, eyes trained on the book in Logan's lap.

"Right," he flipped it open and quickly found the page. "It's called the 'Sphere of Live'. The stories about how many pieces there are differ but it's usually six or eight."

He turned the book for Patton and Roman to see the drawing.

"As you can see it has very interesting markings. They are most likely our best shot to identify the pieces. Unfortunately, we can't really rely on the round shape, as it's said to change form depending on how it's needed and what for.

"As for where to find it... I found this paragraph, " he turned the book back around and quickly scanned the page, " I quote; ...and they broke it apart, deeming it too precious and too powerful for mortal hands, and spread it across the lands, for no mortal shall ever have the gift to cross the borders they had drawn and reassemble the Sphere..."

He looked up again.

"In other words, they are spread over the Islands, most likely far away from each other."

Patton nodded slowly.

"How do you know that the abyss between the Islands is meant by 'borders'?," Roman asked.

"The term is often used that way in myths from the time and the story of how the gods supposedly 'drew these borders' is in this book as well, using that same phrase."

"So, where do we start?" Patton asked. "The Islands are big and there are a lot. Who knows how many cursed Islands there are-"

"13."

Patton looked up at Virgil startled.

"What?"

"There are 13 Cursed Islands," the mage fiddled with his sleeve. "And about 28 broken pieces of Islands but that number changes all the time."

"Why that?", Logan inquired.

Virgil shrugged.

"They sometimes collide and break again or sometimes pieces turn over and fall into the abyss and then I don't count them anymore."

"Sallerow is made up of thirty Islands," Roman supplied.

"If I'm correct Terona should be about thirty Islands big as well. With D'cal that adds up to about 75 Island not counting the broken ones you mentioned," Logan huffed. "That's a lot."

The room was silent for a moment as they all turned the number over in their heads and wondered if there was any place where they could start.

"It also says that the pieces are far away from each other, right?," Patton suddenly asked.

"Well, yes."

"That limits it a little, doesn't it? I mean, if you wanted to spread eight pieces of something over 75 Islands you wouldn't use Islands like for example Juka, that are kinda close to everything, right?"

Logan thought for a moment.

"You might have a really good point there. If we had a map or something maybe we could actually figure out which Islands are the most likely to have a piece on them and which are completely unlikely."

He grabbed his bag again and tried to find any kind of map.
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Roman do the same with the saddle pockets he had cut off the day before.

"Dammit," the prince cursed after a few moments. "I don't have one."

"I thought we had a map?," Patton asked with a confused head tilt.

"Amity's pockets," came the response.

"Oh," Patton went slightly pale.

"I don't seem to have one either," Logan murmured. He turned to Virgil who was still lingering by the curtain. "Do you happen to own a map?"

Virgil just shook his head.

"I guess the best course of action would be to travel to Terona and get a map there, then," Roman suggested.

"Sounds like a plan," Patton nodded.

"Or at least the beginning of one," Logan added but found himself agreeing anyway. "Just one problem."

Roman and Patton shot him questioning looks.

"How do we get to Terona alive and best case scenario unharmed?"

Chapter Text

Patton bit his lip.

It was a good question.

They had barely been here for a few minutes when they had been attacked and he didn't want to find out what other kinds of monsters lived here.

Behind him the curtain closed and a glance in the direction told him that Virgil was gone again.

"Neither of you can fight and I can't protect both of you on my own. Especially not against things that can regenerate their limbs," Roman muttered, more thinking out loud than actively talking to either Patton or Logan.

"Except if we had someone who knew their weaknesses," Logan added.

"And where would we get-," Roman stopped himself. "Oooh. You mean..."

He trailed off and turned towards the curtain.

The realisation what - or rather who - he was talking about hit Patton and he could feel the hairs at the back of his neck stand up.

"Precisely," Logan confirmed. "Think about it; if anyone knows these Islands and the creatures inhabiting them, it's him. Plus, he has proven yesterday that magic is highly effective against these monsters. If we could convince him to come with us, we'd have a much better chance to survive this. And I believe all of us want that."

He pushed up his glasses waiting for the other two to respond.

Patton bit his lip.
What Logan said was true, of course, it was, but he still couldn't shake off the uneasy feeling that bloomed in his stomach at just the thought of being close to Virgil for a long time.
Staying in this cave for one night was one thing, actually travelling with a mage as their only guide something entirely different. Something a lot scarier.
The things he had been told about mages echoed through his head.
They were dangerous, unpredictable.
You couldn't trust them.
Just because Virgil hadn't done anything to them yet, didn't mean he wouldn't do so in the future, if he got the chance.

"I guess your right," Roman spoke and pulled Patton out of his thoughts, "but how should we do that? Convince him, I mean. He didn't seem too thrilled to even let us stay here so what could possibly make him come with us?"

That was another good question.

Part of Patton was glad about the chance that Virgil wouldn't come with them, the other listed off the facts Logan had stated earlier.

"I'm not sure, but we can at least ask, can't we?" Logan said. "If he says no, we can think of something."

With that he stood up and crossed the distance to the curtain with a few large strides only to hesitate.

Roman stood up as well and Patton followed their lead.

"What's wrong, kiddo?," Patton asked at Logan's hesitance.

The librarian slowly turned around and shot him a confused look.

"'Kiddo'? I believe we are about the same age, so why would you call me kiddo?"

Patton felt heat creep up his cheeks and ears.

"I- I'm sorry. It's an old habit. I didn't mean to, I swear!," he sputtered out.

Logan still looked confused.

"There is no need to apologize, Patton. I was merely wondering why you would call me a pet name, usually reserved for children."

He looked slightly amused.

"He called me 'kiddo', too, a while ago," Roman spoke up.

"I just usually rather spend time with children and it's kinda become a habit," Patton could still feel the blush burning on his cheeks.

"It's fine, really. And to answer your question... I'm not sure if we should just enter. He told us not to go in yesterday, after all."

"Just call him, then," Roman suggested.

Logan seemed to contemplate his options for a moment more before he did.

"Virgil?"

No answer.

"Virgil?!"

Again nothing.

Logan huffed slightly and turned to face Roman.

"You were in there before, right? Would you happen to know if the cave goes much deeper into the Island or something? That might explain why he can't hear us."

"Well, the cave is very big," Roman scowled. "Guess we'll just have to go in then."

He pushed the curtain aside and stepped through.

Patton gripped his amulet tightly and followed him with Logan right behind him.

'Very big' was probably too still to small to describe the cave.
Where it went even deeper Patton could even see a small underground lake. He wondered if the water was clean enough to drink.

The glowing stones all over the cave caught his attention and he leaned over to Logan.

"Do you know what this is?" he asked in a hushed tone. Still, his voice echoed around the room.

"It could be Rulins, but it usually appears in much smaller amounts. Perhaps it's because of the curse..," Logan trailed off.

Patton had no idea what Rulins was but it was pretty.

"Oh my, guests!" a voice suddenly exclaimed making Patton jump. "What a unique occurrence!"

The voice pronounced the words weirdly and Patton looked around, trying to find the speaker.

"I am here, on the shelf."

Patton let his eyes wander over the shelf. A few bottles with weird-looking potions, a few feathers, a sword hilt, a skull with weird markings...

"Hello," said the skull.

Patton jumped back.

"Excuse me, I didn't mean to startle anyone. I just can't remember talking to anybody other than my maker since I died."

"Y- Your maker? Do you mean Virgil?," Roman stuttered.

"Yes, I do. He enchanted my skull," the skull explained. "May I have your names?"

The wording struck Patton as wrong. It seemed too fae. Like if he agreed, he'd grant the skull power over himself he couldn't afford to give.

"No, you may not," he told the skull with narrowed eyes.

"Bummer."

"What are you doing back here?," another voice spoke up behind them causing Patton to spin around.

Virgil looked less than pleased.

"I told you not to just come here."

"Apologies," Logan said and pushed up his glasses, "but we were looking for you."

Virgil raised an eyebrow and glanced behind them at the skull.

"Just go back. I'll come," he murmured. "And you," he pointed at the skull, " should stop trying to steal people's names. We talked about this."

With that he turned and stalked over to the curtain.

Patton, Roman and Logan followed him.

"Sorry about him," Virgil said once they were back in the smaller part of the cave.

"Why was he talking so weirdly?" Patton asked.

"He has a British accent. Though I have to admit that it sounds a lot better when he's speaking English."

Patton glanced over at Logan, who looked just as confused as he was.

"What's English?," Roman asked what they all were thinking.

"A language."

"And... British is a dialect?"

"It's a nationality."

Roman nodded in understanding.
They still didn't know where British people came from but it was better than nothing.

"So, what do you want? Why were you looking for me?," Virgil asked.

"We want you to come with us," Logan said.

Chapter Text

"No."

"Please! We need someone who knows the Islands if we want to have any chance of survival!", Roman exclaimed.

"That's true," Virgil said crossing his arms over his chest. "But I'm not coming."

"Why not?," Logan asked.

"Because I don't want to go on a most likely impossible quest with a group of people who I hardly know and who broke into my house."

Logan had to admit that that was a very good argument.

"How about we make a deal?" he suggested after a beat of silence. "We will leave this place and not come back if you lead us to the teronan border. From then on you can go wherever you want to and we continue our search. Does that sound satisfactory?"

"And what would I get from that?" Virgil scowled. "I can make you stay away from here if I really want to. If we're gonna make a deal I want to benefit from it as well. That's kinda how deals are supposed to work."

Logan didn't miss the underlying threat, regardless of how casual it had sounded.
He didn't doubt that Virgil could do a lot to them if he wanted.
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Patton grab Roman's gloved hand.

"You'd have company for a while," he said.

Virgil frowned at him.

"And what the hell makes you think I want that?"

"You've enchanted a skull to talk to you and you let us stay here for the night without much complaint. I think, deep down, you're just lonely and can't admit it."

Logan pushed up his glasses and hoped that he hadn't gone too far. He barely knew Virgil. He had no idea where the lines were and no idea whether or not he had just crossed one. Or maybe more.

Virgil's glare told him that it were most likely more.

"I'm fine with being alone," the mage gritted out.

"There's a difference between being alone and being lonely."

"I'm not lonely."

"Yes, you are."

Logan felt static in the air. It smelled like smoke all of a sudden.

Magic.

Angry magic.

The small closed pot by his feet shattered as if something had blown it up from the inside.

Logan stumbled backwards.

He had gone too far, far too far.

Patton was now pressed against Roman's chest and Logan couldn't explain the weird feeling at the sight.

Now was not the time for feelings.

He turned back towards Virgil.

To his surprise the mage didn't look angry anymore. Rather like was actively trying to calm down. Eyes scrunched closed, taking deep breaths.

The static in the air disappeared.

After a beat of tense silence Virgil opened his eyes again. He didn't look at any of them, only the pot he had shattered.

"Fine."

It sounded resigned.

"But after that, you leave me alone."

"Deal," Logan managed to say. He couldn't name the whirlwind of feelings in his chest. Not like he actually wanted to. He just pushed it back and tried to forget it.

"So, you won't kill us," Roman said. It sounded like a question.

"I won't."

The silence returned, much less tense this time.

"If we want to encounter as little creatures as possible, we should head out at sunset. Most of them don't like the night. Depending on which route we take the way to Terona should take about five to twenty days," Virgil said.

"That's quite a difference," Logan noted.

Virgil shrugged.

"I wouldn't suggest the twenty-day route."

"We barely have enough food and water left for seven days," Roman remarked.

"That won't be a problem," Virgil said. "I know where to find both. You can fill up your water right here in the cave. And food can be found everywhere if you know how to cook it."

"Like the foot last night?," Roman asked.

"Exactly."

They spent the rest of the day with preparations. Filling up bottles with water and soup, since there was still a lot leftover from the night before, switching out the saddle pockets for actual bags, which Logan was pretty sure were both enchanted judging by how much fit into them without making them any heavier. When his own bag, stuffed to the brim with books, suddenly became significantly lighter he decided not to question it.

Virgil didn't have any kind of map, only two star-maps, one with constellations Logan recognised, one with ones that resembled the ones on the curtain.

The skull, that apparently was called Alfred, didn't try to steal their names again but switched to a foreign language at some point, Logan assumed was English.

There were a lot of curious things in Virgil's cave.

A violet glowing lantern - walking stick hybrid, a collection of bones and stones, a thing that - according to Roman - made a beverage called 'coffee' and a stack of shiny cylinders that Virgil referred to as 'energy drinks' when asked.

They left as soon as the sun disappeared behind the trees, leaving the warm cave behind. They left the fire burning behind them, but soon the only light source was Virgil's lantern.

"They don't like it," he had said when Patton had hesitantly asked if that wouldn't attract unwanted monster attention.
He didn't explain and they didn't ask again.

If Logan had felt uneasy being on this Island in the day, then that was nothing compared to now.

Occasionally there was a rustling in the bushes or a clawing at the trees above them and the fact that he had no idea what could possibly be hiding in the shadows only made it worse.

"What if the lantern goes out?," Patton whispered into the silence between them.

"It won't. To extinguish this flame you'd need to kill a man," Virgil said.

Logan had a feeling that he didn't mean it as a metaphor.

After a few hours Logan began to regret staying up the entire day.
He was tired and had to fight a jawn. The by now blue light of the lantern wasn't helping much either.

He had spent plenty of nights awake reading but walking the entire time was a lot more exhausting.

Next to him Roman jawned.

At least he wasn't the only one then.

"Do you want to take a break?," Virgil asked, looking back to them.

Patton nodded.

"Is it safe to just rest here?," Logan asked but sat down anyway.

"Don't worry," Virgil told him, leaning against a tree. "That's my job."

Logan fell asleep before he could wonder whether Virgil meant that he'd keep them safe or that the worrying was his job.

Chapter Text

Roman woke up early the next morning, which was surprising because of two reasons.

One, because he was sure that it had been long after midnight when he had fallen asleep and two because he hadn't expected to actually survive falling asleep in this forest.

He sat up, ignoring the pain in his neck for now, and scanned the small clearing.

Patton was curled up tightly under one of the blankets, still sleeping.

Logan was still asleep as well, with his blanket wrapped around him and his book bag serving as a makeshift pillow.
Roman was pretty sure that that couldn't be very comfortable.

Virgil was slumped against a tree, his lantern lightly in his grip. The flame was yellow now, but still not the colour a flame was supposed to be.
Roman wondered if there was any pattern or reason to the colours or if they just changed because Virgil had felt like enchanting a lantern at some point.
He had a lot of questions he wanted to ask the mage but after the way, he had reacted when Roman had asked about the mage responsible for the mess that were these Islands he had decided to be more careful with them.

There were no other living beings on the small clearing they had chosen to sleep in.

Roman let his gaze wander towards the shadows of the trees.

Five red eyes stared back.

They blinked individually but Roman could make out the shape of the creature.

It had one small head, with its eyes scattered across it as if someone had dropped a handful onto it with little care for how they landed.
Its torso looked human-like if you ignored the many arms on its back.

Roman felt frozen in place.

The creature blinked again. This time in a different order.

Roman blinked.

The creature lunged.

It crashed against an invisible wall and snarled loudly.

Roman stumbled backwards.

What the hell?!

The creature growled and clawed at the air somehow unable to come closer.

To his feet Roman could hear Logan and Patton begin to stir.

"Mhm," Virgil mumbled suddenly standing next to him. "It's been a while since I've seen one of those."

"What is that?!" Patton exclaimed and scrambled to his feet, the moment he saw the monster.

"I call them Karen, cause they're hella annoying," Virgil yawned seemingly unconcerned. "No need to freak out. She can't get through the barrier anyway and she only eats plants. Used to be a bumblebee."

"That thing used to be  a bumblebee?" Logan asked wide eyed.

"But bumblebees are small," Patton whispered, " and fluffy and adorable and peaceful and..."

He trailed off.

Virgil shrugged.

"The curse just brought out the worst in everything affected."

Roman hadn't believed that the Cursed Islands had used to be beautiful until this point. But if that cursed had turned a small insect into the terrifying thing in front of him... what had it done to the Islands themselves?
And what had it done to the people who had lived here?
Why would anybody do something like this? What kind of monster had the mage been who had corrupted this place and created this death world?

Roman felt sick.

"We should get going," Virgil snapped him out of his thoughts. "It's no good to let yourself empathize with them. Believe me, it'll destroy you."

The prince forced himself to look away from the no longer bumblebee and instead focused on the mage. Virgil somehow looked even more tired and the question why he was living in a place like this came to mind again.

But he didn't ask.

They ate, packed up their things and left the clearing behind.

"Have you ever seen a cursed human around here?" Logan asked after a while.

Virgil only shook his head.

They walked in silence again after that and the need to say something burned on Roman's tongue like acid. But he couldn't seem to find anything appropriate or interesting enough.

The tension grew worse.

"Are there any bridges around here?" Patton suddenly asked, shattering the silence like a dropped plate.

Roman could have kissed him.

"Not really," Virgil said. "There are only a few safe ones left, but that shouldn't be a problem. Why?"

"I don't like bridges," the baker admitted. "They're scary."

"Have you crossed them often?"

"No. Not really," Patton leaned his head to the side slightly. "Actually never, before this journey. But by now it has been three times I think. Right?"

He turned to Roman.

"Yeah. Two bridges on the way to D'cal and one to get here," he confirmed.

"What about you?" Virgil asked, dark eyes focusing on Logan.

"This is my first time outside of Natica in general. I never had the opportunity to cross any bridges before, so I've only been over one."

"You're from Natica?"

"Yes, I am."

"Is it true that mages aren't allowed there?"

"Well, yes. Mages already are very powerful people and given the access to the library they could become unstoppable."

Virgil bit his thumb nail.

"You're aware that if a really powerful mage wanted to visit your little library there wouldn't be anything you could do to stop them, right?"

Logan frowned at the question:" What do you mean by that?"

Virgil gestured at the forest around them with the hand that wasn't holding the - by now dark purple - lantern.

It was answer enough.

"'Even a powerful mage can be killed with a silver blade'," Roman recalled what his father had told him a thousand times when he had been younger.

Virgil frowned at him.

"Silver is for monsters," he said.

Roman shrugged.

"It's a sallerowan saying. I didn't make it up. I know that silver is used for killing monsters."

"Would you use silver to kill me?" Virgil asked seriously.

Roman blinked in surprise.

"Your sword is silver, isn't it?" the mage added.

"I don't see why I should kill you in the first place!" Roman exclaimed. "And even if I had a reason, I wouldn't use silver! You're no monster!"

He wasn't sure if he imagined it or not but he could almost hear a "Good to know" coming form the mage.

"Your sword is silver?" Patton asked, clearly trying to change the direction this conversation was going.

Again Roman had the overwhelming urge to kiss the baker's perfect pink lips.

Again he resisted.

Chapter Text

Patton had managed to steer the conversation away from 'murdering each other' towards 'family' and it was probably one of the proudest accomplishments of his life so far.

Roman had talked about his siblings and the stuff they got up to for a while, mentioning to Virgil in passing that he was a prince, and now Logan was explaining the way Natica worked and how children were raised there.

No murder in sight.

It was dark in the forest, despite the fact that it wasn't even noon yet, since the leaves seemed to shield off every last bit of sunlight.
So, again, their only light source was the clearly magical lantern.

For some reason Patton didn't really mind.

Well, he did mind that he could barely see two metres into the woods and had no idea what was in the shadows beyond but the fact that the lantern was magic?

For some reason that was fine.

The fact that he was walking right next to a mage was sort-of-maybe-in-a-way fine.

Somehow Virgil didn't seem as dangerous as he had back in the cave anymore. As when he had blown up the pot and made the air thick with energy.

Patton still stayed closer to Roman and Logan and made sure not to come into direct contact with the mage but he felt more like he had to be a little careful than like Virgil might turn him into a Gobbler if he breathed wrong.

He let his eyes wander over the little ground he could see and stopped abruptly.

"What's that?"

The other three stopped as well and turned to him with questioning looks.

Patton pointed at the thing, half-hidden behind a flower's fleshy leave.

"Looks like a dragon nest," Logan pushed up his glasses and leaned closer. "It most likely fell out of a tree. Dragons don't build their nests this close to the ground, usually. It's too dangerous since predators might rob the eggs."

"Is that an egg?" Patton asked inspecting the green-brown thing bedded in the nest.

"Looks like it. But I doubt it will ever hatch if it's even still alive. The parents most likely abandoned it."

"What?" Patton turned to Logan with shock written all over his face. "Why would they just abandon it? It's their baby, isn't it?"

The thought alone made his heart ache. Who cared if it was a human child or a dragon. No child deserved to be left behind by their parents. Especially not if they had never even gotten a chance.

"As I said, the egg most likely died due to the fall or the parents had to leave the area because of a change in climate or a new predator. Perhaps they had no choice but to leave it," the librarian rambled. "Either way there isn't anything we could do about it."

"He's right. We should go on," Roman agreed.

They got moving again.

Patton clenched his jaw.

Logan picked up where Patton had interrupted him in his story.

Patton unclenched his jaw.

Roman made a comment on something Logan had said.

Neither of them noticed when Patton hurried to catch up with them again.

Neither of them noticed the bulge in one of Patton's jacket pockets.

Hours of walking and a short meal later they finally broke out of the darkness of the forest.
In front of them, the Island ended in a steep cliff and in the distance Patton could see the next Island.

Virgil took a path to their right, explaining that there should be a safe enough bridge that way.

"Is this a natural coast?" Logan asked curiously.

"Yeah, the broken ones look different," Virgil mumbled. "More Deadpooly."

Patton had no idea what that was supposed to mean but he didn't question it. He had a feeling that the answer would only lead to more questions.

"So are you two together?" Virgil suddenly asked gesturing between Patton and Logan.

The baker could feel his cheeks heat up.

"What?"

"Well, Princy said that the three of you aren't but he didn't say nothing 'bout you two," the mage shrugged.

"We met two days ago," Logan protested. "We hardly know each other!"

"So? Would be like Snow White. Or rather Rapunzel. Just that the tower is a mountain. And you're neither prince nor thief."

"Look, no idea what you just said, but none of us are together," Roman cut in.

Virgil pouted: "You sure?"

"Yes, we're sure!"

Patton noticed the way Virgil's eyes seemed far away ant the way he was looking more through them than at them.

"Are you okay?" he asked hesitantly.

"I'm not okay," Virgil grinned. "I promise."

"Ah," Logan noticed. "Magically Induced Madness. I was beginning to wonder why he seemed more clear yesterday and this morning. Apparently the intensity of it varies."

"You talk like a nerd," Virgil told him. "The Harry Potter glasses don't help."

His words sounded odd in Patton's ears, like when he had first come to Corinn and had realised that the people there spoke an entirely different accent than in his hometown.
Just that Virgil's accent reminded him more of a sing-song than the harsh way people in Corinn spoke.

"I have no idea what you mean," Logan told him but Virgil either ignored him or didn't hear him.

"And you should really kiss pretty, pretty Goldilocks. Or Princy. Or both. Both. Both is good."

"Am I Princy?" Roman asked.

"Who else? Try to keep up, we already established that neither Goldilocks nor Glasses gay are princes."

"You talk a lot like Remy right now," Roman mused.

"Remy? Who's that? I know a Remy. Wait - no - two Remys. Ones a rat. Both are gay."

"How would you know that both are happy?" Patton asked.

"I mean gay as in homosexual."

"The Remy I mean is a mage who works for my father," Roman cut in.

"Then I know him. Always wearing sunglasses and addicted to Starbucks, right?"

"I don't know what Starbucks is."

"He's always drinking from cups with this symbol on it," a round, green symbol appeared over Virgil's hand.

"Yes, exactly."

"That's Starbucks."

The words were slightly slurred now and Patton noticed that Virgil was leaning onto his lantern more and more with every step.

"Trs te bridge."

Patton looked up at the surprisingly steady looking bridge, spanned across the abyss.

"Are you sure it's safe to cross it?" Logan asked eyeing Virgil.

It was pretty clear that he meant Virgil's state.

"'m good," the mage slurred.

Roman sighed and pulled Virgil's arm over his shoulders, half carrying the other due to the height difference.

"Let's just hope this works," he mumbled and took the lead over the bridge.

Patton followed him with Logan right behind him.

Chapter Text

When Roman had held him and they had dashed over the bridge he had hardly registered any of it.

This was different.

He had had no idea that wind could be this strong. He could hardly breathe. It was as if someone was pressing a cloth against his nose and mouth and eyes.

He held onto the rough rope despite the way it burned against his skin.

Logan could understand now why Patton didn't like bridges.
He had to admit that they were frankly terrifying.

Blindly he felt his way over the bridge until his foot hit grass again.

"I did not expect that thing to hold," Roman breathed. By now he was completely holding Virgil up.

Logan nodded in agreement.

"Surprisingly well kept."

"Which way do we go now?" Patton asked.

They turned to look at Virgil.

"I'm pretty sure he's gone," Roman said resigned.

"Oh dear Gods," Patton mumbled at the sky.

Logan looked up. The sun was high above them now.

"We could try to orient ourselves by the sun," he suggested. "I know that the curse messes up the cardinal directions but it can't be too bad, right?"

"I guess it's worth a try," Roman said. "Let's just hope we don't completely mess this up."

He adjusted his grip on Virgil and looked up as well.

"Have either of you done this before?" Patton questioned.

"No," Logan admitted.

"Yes," Roman said at the same time.

"I know the theory of it," Logan added slightly embarrassed. He knew the theory to a lot of things he had never gotten the chance to actually do before.

"The sun is going down that way," Roman noted, pointing in the direction of the bridge.

"So, that's West," Logan finished. "I'm guessing that this is South then." He added gesturing in the direction.

"And we most likely have to go East for now," Roman nodded to himself. "This way then."

He holstered Virgil onto his back, grabbed the lantern as support and took the lead again.

Logan had to admit that Roman was a good leader. He wondered if he had been born that way or had been raised into it. Both would make sense for a future king.

He let his eyes wander to Virgil again.

The more he learnt about it, the more he wanted to know about the effect magic had on its users.
The fact that MIM varied from time to time was new to him but he guessed it somewhat made sense.
He doubted any mages would survive for long otherwise.
Of course, the question then was if there were any reasons for the changes.

Why had Virgil been so much less rational and aware of his surroundings the first time they had stumbled into his cave compared to the next day and why had he suddenly slipped so quickly to the point of unconsciousness?

Would something like this happen often?

And how long would he stay unconscious?

Logan hoped that it wasn't a regular occurrence and would be over soon.
Otherwise, there wouldn't have been much of a point to taking Virgil with them, would there?

"Isn't he too heavy?" Patton broke the silence.

"Not at all," Roman mused. "He should eat more. My brother is about his size and weighs at least twice as much."

"How many siblings do you have?" Logan asked. Roman had spoken of them a few times and what Logan had gotten from the prince's stories up until now was that they were chaotic and that there were a lot of them.

"Not counting the times either of my parents cheated on each other, I have six siblings. Four brothers and two sisters."

Logan raised an eyebrow.

"Your parents have children with other people? Isn't that considered immoral and a sin?"

"Not only that but it's against the law," Patton answered obviously shocked by the thought that King and Queen could have committed adultery.

"They rule the country. Can't really be punished. Besides, they both do it - well in father's case did - and they both know it."

"And how many half-siblings do you have?" Logan asked. He wasn't really interested in the laws or regents of Sallerow but getting away with a crime simply because of royal status seemed awfully corrupted to him. That kind of people should not be in charge of a country in his opinion.
Who knew what else they could get away with?

"Thirteen that I know off," Roman sighed. "Can't say I'm happy about it either but it's not their fault. A few of the royal advisors say that I shouldn't consider them my siblings but they are, aren't they?"

"I see your point," Logan agreed.

He himself had no siblings. He considered the children he had grown up alongside his people but never his family.
The idea of having nineteen younger siblings was strange to him. It sounded stressful.

But not uncommon for royal families. As a king, it was important to have an heir after all.
And if one died there had to be another one able to step up.

The idea of Roman as a king seemed strange too.

In most books he had read the Kings were old men, cold and distant.

None of those words fit Roman.

He was young, seemed to have a fire in his eyes and, despite the way he had kidnapped Logan, the librarian had the feeling that he was a good and kind person.

But the King of Terona was young as well.

From what Logan knew, he had been forced to take the crown after his mother's death, the old King having died a few years prior.
According to the few news that made it to Natica he was good at what he did, though, and had managed to lead the country back towards wealth after the war with Sallerow that had left the country a mess, that his father hadn't been able to clean up.

War. With. Sallerow.

Logan stopped dead in his tracks.

Roman and Patton turned towards him.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Logan asked.

"What?" Patton asked.

"The last time Sallerow and Terona really had any contact it was in war! Both of you are clearly sallerowan not to mention that you are the crown prince! I doubt we will be greeted with open arms if we get there!"

"I know," Roman sighed. "But we don't really have any other options! Besides, it's not like they have to know that I'm the prince! We can just say that we fled from the revolution or something."

"I completely forgot about that war," Patton mumbled to himself.

"Are you sure that will work?" Logan asked sceptically.

"It's our best shot," Roman shrugged as much as was possible with a person on his back. "If you come up with any better ideas do tell me!"

Logan bit back the remark he was about to fire back. Fighting wouldn't do them any good.
If they weren't lucky they'd just end up attracting some monster's attention.
And they hadn't really been lucky enough for the past few days to risk it.

He wasn't sure how Roman managed to be so nice and then so infuriating from one moment to the next.

Virgil's remark about them being together came to mind and he tried to force it out. Virgil hadn't been thinking straight. It had been nothing but nonsense.

He hardly knew these people.

Chapter Text

Movement.

Why movement?

Body moving?

No. Body still.

On floor?

Warm floor.

Sitting.

Why sitting?

No floor.

Night.

No, day.

Twilight?

No.

No vampires.

No. Other twilight.

Open eyes.

Eyes? What eyes?

My eyes. Open eyes.

Can't open.

Too dark.

No, bright.

----------

Roman adjusted his grip on Virgil once again.

He hadn't been lying when he had said that Virgil was very light but after a few hours of hiking through the wild overgrown forest his arms and back were starting to ache.

"Let's take a break," he suggested slightly out of breath. "Were been walking for a while."

Patton hummed in agreement. Logan only nodded.
Both were obviously exhausted.
Roman guessed that made sense.

Patton wasn't used to long periods of walking and was significantly shorter than either of them and had to walk a bit faster to keep up with them.

Logan was even less used to it, having never been in an actual forest before and only having walked through the paths of the library.

Roman had been hiking through woods since he had been young, learning how to hunt or getting shown the most important towns and places of Sallerow.
Just usually without a person on his back.

This was a disaster.

There was no way they'd be able to cross all those Islands and find all the pieces in time.
And around here they also had no way to know if it wasn't already too late.

He wondered if Virgil had any of those 'antidepressants' in his bag. He hoped so. And he hoped that the mage would wake up soon.

He sat Virgil down carefully and let himself slump against a tree.

He wanted to be back at home, without the ache in his back and limbs and without the hollow feeling in his stomach. His pants had ripped over his left knee and his shirt and gloves were stained with dirt and sweat. He had had another shirt, but as far as he was concerned that was still in the guest room in Natica.

They had already lost too much when Amity had fallen and then been forced to leave things behind when the revolutionaries had attacked the library.

Thanks to Virgil they had water and soup for at least a week and enough blankets again but things like for example their map remained gone.

Patton fished one of the soup containers out of his bag and filled it into three small bowls. Roman took it gratefully.
He had no idea what was in the stuff but it was food and it made the hunger go away.

It was quiet as they ate, every man focused on their meal and nobody wanting to stop long enough to say anything.

Somewhere in the leaves above them a bird sang.
It was a strangely normal and innocent sound for these Islands.
It wasn't a bird he recognised but it sounded not too different from a Wallwatcher or a Robin.

Logan was writing something again.

Patton had closed his eyes and was tapping his fingers against his knee.

Roman focused on his breathing, waiting until it was even and his muscles relaxed.

He didn't dare to close his eyes too scared that something would use the opportunity to attack them and kept one hand on the sword grip ready to pull it out at all times.

He almost jumped when Virgil slipped and ended up with his head on his leg.

The mage was still unconscious. He seemed peaceful like this looking so much younger somehow.

Roman studied the rings and bracelets on the mage's hands and wrists. They were all silver and rather simple kept, only a few having small blue gems imbedded in them.
Virgil also had a few earrings, most just simple thin rings and one with a small chain and a pinky nail big, blue gem, the same as the ones on the rings.
It was a lot of jewellery for a guy living in the woods.

Roman wondered where he had gotten it from.

He looked up at the sound of Logan closing his notebook.

"We should get going again," the librarian suggested. "The sooner we get to Terona the better."

Roman forced himself to stand up again and pulled Virgil onto his back, stumbling slightly. The lantern helped him a little to keep his balance. It had been moss green since Virgil had fallen asleep. Maybe the colours did have a meaning after all.

"You two should learn how to defend yourselves," he noticed after a while.

"What? Why?" Logan asked.

"Because we're in very dangerous territory and I can't fight these beasts on my own. You should at least know how to fight a little," Roman reasoned.

"I guess you have a point, kiddo," Patton agreed. "But I'm not really a fighter."

"I know. I wouldn't suggest any close combat for you. No offence, but there are plenty of people significantly stronger than you, I'd guess," Roman said.

"None taken," Patton smiled and Roman felt his heart melt. "You're probably right."

"I believe I wouldn't be suited for close combat either," Logan spoke up. "I'm too light and by far not strong enough."

Roman hummed in acknowledgement.

"You said that you got good with those darts, didn't you, Patton?"

"I- I guess, kinda, but I don't think that's any good in a fight!"

Roman shrugged as best as he could.

"Poisonous darts can be pretty good. It wouldn't even have to be a fatal poison. There are a lot of stories of a gang of robbers who mostly use knock-out darts to rob carriages."

"Okay...," Patton still sounded unsure.

"And if you build up a bit of upper body strength, I could see you with a bow or something like that," Roman told Logan.

The librarian didn't look convinced either.

"When would we even find the time for something like that?" he asked. "We currently spent most of our days walking and with a few small breaks. We shouldn't use the breaks because it's important to rest if you want to keep functioning properly and we can't afford to cut down on the walking time if we want to reach our goal as soon as possible."

"Good point..." Roman muttered. There went that idea. "You could try to take over on carrying Virgil for a bit," he added.

Logan frowned.

"Alright, I guess I could do that."

Roman hadn't expected him to agree.
Getting Virgil onto Logan's back was a bit complicated but they managed.
They had to slow down a little but it wasn't too bad.

Maybe they could get something done in the time they had after all.

Chapter Text

Patton let his fingers run over the perfectly smooth surface of the dragon egg.
It had been warmed up by his coat and hand by now.
He hoped Logan had been wrong when he had assumed that it was already dead.
He didn't quite understand why he so desperately wanted the dragon to live, to at least get a chance at life.
He just did.

And it gave him something to focus on, other than the pained noises coming from across the small clearing he sat on.
Roman swore through clenched teeth as Logan pressed the wet cloth onto the deep cut in his arm again and Patton felt sick.

He had no idea what the thing had been that had appeared out of the shadows seemingly out of nowhere.

He hadn't even gotten an actual look at it.

He only knew that it had long thin blade-like claws, and that only because one of them had stayed deep in Roman's arm as it had fled from the prince's sword, and that it bled green judging by the stains on the silver blade.

Logan was carefully cleaning the wound, muttering apologies whenever Roman hissed in pain.
Softly explaining why he was doing it, why it was important and that it would be okay, in an attempt to calm someone.

Patton couldn't tell if that someone was Roman or Logan himself.

Maybe Logan didn't know either.

He tried to focus on the egg again.

Tried to think about what kind of dragon was hidden behind the shell instead of whether Roman could die from a wound like that or if a human was supposed to bleed that much.
He couldn't remember the last time he had actually bled but he was pretty sure that blood wasn't supposed to stain an entire white sleeve crimson red.

Dragon.

Focus on dragon.

Logan wrapped a strip of one of the blankets that he had cut off tightly around the wound.

"You need to give it some time to heal if you don't want it to rip open over and over again," he told Roman and Patton noticed the way his hands shook. "We should stay here for the night. We're all exhausted and as long as Virgil isn't conscious we can't get far anyway."

"Sounds good," Roman said barely above a whisper. He was pale from the blood loss and leaned heavily against the tree he was sitting under.

"What if any of those things come again?" Patton asked.

"Then we have to defend ourselves," Logan said and his voice sounded heavy. He grimly stared at the blood on his hand.

They didn't light a fire again and instead warmed up their soup over the lantern. It didn't work as well as an open flame might have but was better than nothing.
Roman fell asleep quickly afterwards and Logan and Patton were on their own, Roman's sword and dagger between them.

There was a tension in the air and for a while, neither of them said a word.

"Will he be alright?" Patton finally asked.

"I hope so. If the wound doesn't get infected or worse, most likely," Logan sighed. The blood on his hand was beginning to dry and made them sticky as he tried to rub it off.
The metallic stench made him want to throw up. "We should take shifts. One stays up until midnight, then wakes the other who then stays up until morning."

Patton didn't feel like sleeping but he could see Logan's point.

"I can take the first shift," he told Logan. "You can go to sleep."

"Are you sure? If there's an emergency do not hesitate to wake me up."

Patton only nodded and picked up the knife.
It was heavy in his grip.

Logan wrapped a blanket around himself: "Good night and good luck."

"Good night," Patton responded.

And then he was alone with two weapons and three people who trusted in him to keep them alive until midnight.

He sighed and shifted into a more comfortable position. He'd be here for a while.

For a long time nothing happened.
Patton sat there and listened, glancing up at the sky every few minutes, waiting for the moon to appear directly above him.

He was tired and his feet hurt from the long hike but he kept his grip firm around the knife and didn't let himself doze off.
The fear won over the fatigue.

Then, the trees began to whisper.

It was different from the quiet whispers one could hear in the forests of Sallerow, where it could almost be mistaken for the leaves rustling in the wind.
No, this was deeper.
Patton could feel the vibrations of the voices in the ground and even in his bones but he couldn't understand the words.
It was all around him, drowning out all the other sounds and making him shiver.
Even the lantern flickered slightly and turned dark blue.
Patton tried to press his hands over his ears but it did nothing to mute the voices.
It was like they weren't just around him but also inside of him.

It scared him.

He had no idea how long it had been when they finally stopped.
The ground stopped vibrating.
Patton couldn't seem to stop shaking.

He wrapped a blanket around himself and glanced up again to get an idea of what time it was.

By now the moon was in the opening between the trees.
It was almost a full moon. Or it had been lately.
He had known the difference when he was younger but couldn't tell for sure these days.

He wished midnight would come faster.
He wished he could wake up Logan and talk to him.
He wished...

He wasn't sure what he wished for.

Maybe he just wanted for this to be over and to be back at home.

He wondered what Mama would say if she could see him now. Dirty, tired, on the run with a dragon in his coat pocket, lying next to a prince and a mage.

This situation was almost too strange to be true.

Patton took the knife and watched it shimmer in the moonlight.
He lightly touched the blade.
It was cold.
He felt a sting and pulled his hand back.
There was a small cut on his fingers.
A dark drop fell onto his lap.

Oh.

Chapter Text

The moon stood high in the sky when Patton woke Logan up.
The backer then wished him a good night and curled up to a ball on the other side of the clearing.

Logan rubbed his face.
He had dreamt something but with every second he remembered it less until he wasn't even sure whether it had been a good dream or a bad one.

The air was chilly and he kept his blanket over his shoulders. Patton had given him the knife and he absentmindedly played with the handle.

The light of the lantern was blue now, which was in a way surprising. He had begun to assume that it would stay green until Virgil woke up and the mage was still asleep in the same spot he had been in when Logan had gone to sleep.

Roman was asleep as well which was good, he supposed. Sleep was the best medicine, according to some of the few medical books he had read.
He wished he had read more of them. Then, maybe, he could actually do something to help, either by speeding up the healing process or by relieving some of the pain that would come with the cut.

With a sigh he leaned back against the tree he was sitting under.

He had approximately six hours until dawn.

The feelings that thought woke in his stomach were irrational.

He had known this would be the case. It had been his suggestion.
He shouldn't feel dread and whatever else this was.
Sadness? Why?
Loneliness? He wasn't alone!

Feelings were a science of their own. One he would never understand in the slightest.
Which again made feel frustration.
Also irrational. No human being could possibly hope to master everything.
And he was very good at a lot of other subjects.
He never had had a problem with his inability to understand feelings before either.

This was Roman's fault.

For dragging him into this and being absolutely infuriating and at the same time nice and charming and stupid with his longish red hair and intense deep green eyes and strong built and broad shoulders and -

Logan stopped himself.
He wasn't supposed to think this way. Not about someone he had met four days ago.

His gaze landed on Patton again.

Virgil had called the baker 'pretty' but Logan disagreed.

Calling Patton 'pretty' was an insult.

Beautiful was more accurate, though Logan still thought that it wasn't quite adequate.
He racked his brain for a truly fitting word but couldn't seem to find one. Gorgeous, mesmerizing, divine, enchanting; they all weren't enough.

Logan wasn't a religious man but Patton could easily be referred to as 'a gift of the Gods' or a miracle in his opinion.

Logan felt his cheeks heat up.

He hated emotions.
He hated the feeling in his stomach when Patton smiled and Roman grinned.
He loved it.
He absolutely loathed it.

He needed something to distract himself from feelings.

Just preferably nothing that would potentially kill him, he thought glaring into the darkness of the forest.
He was not planning on dying tonight.

A small crack sounded from across the clearing and Logan instantly sat up straight.

Another crack.

It was quiet but close.

A bigger crack like something had been broken.

Logan strained to hear anything else and tried to see anything in the soft light.
At least some kind of movement.

Another small noise and Logan realised that it was too close to be coming from the forest behind Patton.

He focused on the baker's sleeping form.

Movement.

Something moved in Patton's coat pocket.

Logan tightened his grip on the knife and carefully moved closer not taking his eyes off the man's coat for even one second.

Something tiny, shimmery, barely as long as Logan's hand clumsily climbed out of the pocket and onto Patton's arm.

It had a small head, thin body that ended into a long thin tail, four uncoordinated legs and two small wings.

A dragon.

It climbed over Patton's upper arm and slipped down his shoulder landing on his chin.
Patton stirred.

The dragon made a noise and poked at Patton's face with two of its legs. Interestingly enough not the two front legs. It used one front and one back leg and almost lost its balance again.

"Wha-?" Patton mumbled slowly opening his eyes. He turned and stared at the dragon on his chest for a moment as if his tired mind couldn't quite grasp what it saw. "What's going on?"

"I think it hatched from your coat," Logan whispered.

Patton's eyes widened as if that suddenly made sense.
He sat up, careful to catch the dragon which purred and curled into a ball in the baker's hand. With the other Patton reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of shell.

"You are alive," he whispered to the dragon. "And you like me."

The dragon made a noise that sounded almost like an agreement.

"What is the meaning of this, Patton?" Logan asked.

"I- uhm... Do you remember that dragon nest we found? Earlier?"

"Yes, I do," Logan said and a split second later he finally realised what Patton was saying. "You took it?!"

Patton shushed him looking around into the forest frantically.

"I couldn't just leave it there," he then whispered.

Logan wanted to argue because of course, Patton could have just left it, but the words die on his tongue.
This was an emotional issue.
Not the kind he knew anything about.

The dragon looked up again. Looked at him this time and made another noise similar to the ones it had made to get Patton's attention.

"Hello," Logan said awkwardly.

Patton giggled and it was the most beautiful thing Logan had ever heard.
He wanted to hear it again.

Slowly he reached towards the dragon. It met his finger with one of its front legs and Logan could feel the dull beginnings of claws digging into his skin. It didn't hurt.
The dragon pulled a little and Logan gave in.
It then bit into his finger - or at least tried to because its mouth was too small and it didn't seem to have any teeth yet.

Still Logan gasped and pushed it's head back a little.

"That aren't very good manners," he told the dragon. "You can't just bite people."

If he didn't know better he'd say that the dragon looked ashamed.

"Did it hurt you?" Patton asked with worry laced in his voice.

Logan shook his head.

"Don't worry, I'm fine."

He pet the dragon's head with one finger.

The dragon made a delighted noise.

Patton giggled again.

"I think we just adopted it," he said.

Logan could only fight to hold back a smile, not fully progressing the words until hours later when Patton is asleep again just this time with a dragon baby on his chest underneath his shirt.

Patton had said it so casually but essentially he was right.

Many animals thought of whoever they saw first after birth as their parents and the dragon had certainly acted like that was the case.

Logan had accidentally become a dragon's adoptive father.
He had scolded it for biting him. And pet it.

And then Patton had giggled and smiled at him and it had blocked off all logic and had done all kinds of weird things to him.

This whole thing was not going as planned.
Not at all.

He wasn't supposed to get emotionally attached.

Though he guessed it was too late for that now.

Chapter Text

When Roman woke up he had almost forgotten about the cut.
At least until he tried to sit up.
Pain shot through his arm and he swore.

"Are you alright?" Logan was next to him suddenly.

"Fine," he gritted out and took a look around.

Patton and Virgil were both asleep and the first light was creeping through the thick leaves mixing with the purple light of the lantern.

"Just hurt a little."

Logan still looked worried.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, just wasn't careful. Did anything happen tonight?"

"No attacks," Logan told him.

"No attacks doesn't mean nothing happened," Roman said with a raised eyebrow.
He noticed Logan glance over to Patton.

"Nothing bad happen."

"So, something good happened?"

Logan glanced at Patton again.

"Maybe."

Roman was starting to get annoyed.

"Are you gonna tell me or do you want me to keep guessing?" he huffed.

"I believe Patton should explain."

Roman frowned at the answer.
He wasn't a very patient person.

A soft groan made him look up. Virgil was sitting up.
That was good.
With his arm, there was no way he would have been able to carry Virgil and Logan couldn't handle the weight for an entire day. Plus, it meant that they finally had actual directions again and someone who could fight, now that Roman couldn't. At least until the wound fully healed.

"Welcome back to the land of the living," he jokingly called.

Virgil jumped and whipped around, staring at him with wide eyes only to relax immediately when he realised that it was Roman.
He then looked around the clearing, somewhat confused.

"Where are we?" the mage asked and rubbed his head as if trying to soothe a headache. "What time is it?"

"It is morning and we ended up here after we crossed the bridge and attempted to go East," Logan quickly explained.

Virgil nodded slowly.

"I fucking hate hangovers," he mumbled to himself.

"What's a hangover?" Roman asked.

Virgil turned to look at him but his gaze stopped at the bloodied sleeve.

"What the hell happened?" he asked and Roman wasn't sure if he just imagined the worry laced in the words.

"Some creature with blades for arms attacked us. I cut its arm off and it cut mine," Roman shrugged and his arm stung a bit at the action.

A deep frown darkened Virgil's features and he crawled closer.

"Is it deep?"

"Kinda, but it could be a lot worse," Roman wasn't sure how to deal with this obvious display of concern from the mage. He had assumed that Virgil didn't like them.

"I cleaned it and bandaged it," Logan added.

"Is it a long cut?" Virgil asked again frowning at the bandages as if he hoping if he glared long enough they would grant his view of the wound hidden underneath.

"About a hand long," Logan said and Roman wondered how he was sure. The librarian had only touched him with the cloth.

"Did ya stitch it up?"

"Did I what?"

"Put stitches on it. Cause it sounds like the kind of wound that needs it," Virgil picked at his sleeve, still not looking at either of them.

"First of, we don't have any medical supplies. Second, I have no idea how to do that," Logan said.

Virgil looked up at Roman's eyes.

"Do you want me to do that? It would help the cut heal properly and keep the wound closed as long as you don't rip the stitches."

"Can you do that?"

Virgil shrugged.

"It's been a while but I should manage."

"You've done this before?"

"On myself only. But yeah."

Roman frowned.

"Why on yourself?"

"I've lived around here for a while," was all Virgil said but it was enough to get the point across. "So, do you want me to do it or not?"

"Okay," Roman agreed.

Virgil reached out for his arm, only to stop himself.
Roman thought he could hear a whispered 'nope' come from the man and then his bloody sleeve began to move on its own, sliding up his arm until the bandages below his elbow were completely visible.
He had bled through them over the night.

Virgil hummed to himself as he let the bandages unwrap themselves.

The cut looked awful. Part of the blood had formed a crust but ripped off with the bandages were removed and pus covered almost his entire arm.

Roman made a pained noise.

"Oh, Jesus fucking Christ," Virgil muttered and a needle and thread flew out of his bag and hovered over the wound.

"Wait, you meant literal stitches?" Roman sputtered.

"Yes, of course. Trust me. It's gonna hurt a bit but I need you to stay still, okay?"

Roman nodded.

Virgil began to hum again.
The thread slipped through the hole of the needle easily and the needle itself bent until it was curved.

Roman propped his arm onto his knee.

He flinched when the needle dug into the sensitive skin around the wound.

"Keep still," Virgil told him softly.

Roman bit his lip and winced as the needle slipped out again and he could feel it pull the thread with it.

"Can you get something to clean up the blood?" Virgil asked Logan but Roman couldn't hear the response because of another pained grunt slipped past his lips as Virgil made the second stitch.

"Can't you - you know - just heal it - with magic?" he gritted out between clenched teeth.

"I'm sorry," Virgil whispered. Roman guessed that was a 'no'.

Another stitch and pull of thread.

Roman swore under his breath.

Logan returned with a wet cloth and it moved from his hand towards the wound.

Roman gasped when the burn of water on the cut and the pain of the needle mixed.
He was breathing heavily and had to concentrate not to pull his arm away like every instinct in his body told him to.

He felt a hand on his gloved one.

Another stitch and he winced.

"That should do it, I think," Virgil whispered adding one more and letting the thread tie itself to a knot. "Six stitches. Be careful not to rip them open."

Roman made a noise at the back of his throat. He hoped Virgil could tell that it was meant to be an 'okay'.

Virgil kept humming to himself as he cleaned up the blood and pus.

Roman realised that the hand on his own was Logan's.

Huh.

A fresh stripe of fabric wrapped itself around Roman's arm.

"Sorry," Virgil mumbled again before moving away.

"Thank you," Roman managed to say between breaths.

Virgil looked at him in confusion as if he couldn't understand why Roman would thank him.
Before he could ask or Roman could explain Patton began to stir.

The baker sat up with a jawn and rubbed his eyes.

"Morning...," he mumbled. His eyes landed on Virgil. "Good morning, kiddo."

Roman half expected the mage to tell Patton off and tensed slightly.

"Morning, Dad."

Next to him Logan let out a surprised breath that he apparently had been holding.

Patton seemed to wake up enough to process the conversation too because his eyes widened and a pinkish blush covered his cheeks.

"Did you just call me 'dad'?"

Virgil seemed to shrink into himself.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

"No! No, it's fine!" Patton assured him. "You can call me dad if you want to... kiddo."

Virgil gave a tight smile.

Something moved under Patton's shirt and Roman moved to grab his sword only to be stopped by the pain flaring up in his arm.

"What the-?!"

A small head peeked out of Patton's collar.

"Oh, right," the baker smiled sheepishly. "You remember that dragon egg we saw?"

"Did you take it with you?" Roman asked shocked.

"I- Yes, I did. And it hatched last night. And I think it thinks that Logan and I are its parents."

Roman swore again.

Chapter Text

Virgil half wished he hadn't offered Roman to stitch him up.
But it was his fault that Roman even had gotten hurt so it didn't matter if his headache had dubled now. It was his fault.

They were walking again. Logan had taken Roman's bag, ignoring the other man's protest. The dragon baby was occasionally looking out of Patton's pocket.

He wouldn't let them get hurt again. So he kept reaching out. Held contact with the incorperal strings he had spun all over his Islands over the years.
Nothing could come even close to them without stumbling over his everpresent web - without alarming him.
And once he knew that something was there, he didn't let whatever it was get any closer.

'It's a simple spell but quite unbreakable,' Benedict Cumberbatch's voice rang through his mind and he had to fight a smirk at how well the meme fit.

From what he had gathered he had passed out somewhere on the bridge.
What happened before was all a blur. He was pretty sure he had told Logan to kiss the other two though.
He wished he didn't remember it.

The more time he spent with Roman, Logan and Patton, the more he considered changing the original plan.
He had some business in Terona anyway so if they headed in the right direction... maybe he could travel with them a bit longer.

Still there was no doubt in his mind that their ways would part eventually.

Just because they were nice and all cute in their own ways didn't mean that their quest had to become his aswell.
He had told Roman to give up and Patton to be careful.
That had been the most he had wanted to do with this whole issue.
He couldn't risk it interfering with his own plans.

Not when finally everything was starting to come together.

So, Terona and if it worked out a bit further.

A not-anymore butterfly flew into his web.
He hummed a melody that came to mind and at the first note three of the creatures deformed wings were pierced through.
He only kept going because he felt like it.

"What song is that?" Patton suddenly asked startling him.

"Not one you'd know," Virgil told him.

"Yeah, I kinda figured that much but I want to know the name."

"Numb", he gave in.

A look of confusion crossed Patton's face.

"What?"

"The closest translation would be 'numb' I guess," Virgil explained. "It's in English."

"That language that that skull in your cave speaks?"

"Yeah."

Patton nodded thoughtfully.

"Can I ask where you learned that language?", Logan asked obviously interested.

Virgil opened his mouth and closed it again. The most honest answer he could give would probably be 'I don't know' but that wasn't really the case either. He did know.
He just didn't know how to put it into words that Logan would understand.
And he doubted that Logan would be satisfied with that kind of answer.
Except he hadn't really asked for an explanation. He had asked a simple 'yes' or 'no' question.
Virgil guessed there were perks to long contact with fae after all.

"No," he responded.

Logan blinked in suprise, obviously not having expected that answer.
He pushed up his glasses.

"Very well," no matter how much Logan was trying to hide his disappointment and how well he was doing so, he was in Virgil's web. There was no way the mage would have missed it the same way he couldn't have missed a mammoth jumping on a trampoline made of those screaming chicken toys that he was pretty sure were originally meant to be dog toys.

He hated disappointing people but sometimes it just couldn't be avoided.

Even if 'people' was a cute nerdy guy.

It wasn't like he ever had a chance with Logan anyway, so who cared.

"So, what's your baby's name, anyway?" he asked trying to change the topic. Parents liked to talk about their children, right?

"It... doesn't have one yet," Patton frowned and somehow still looked adorable doing so.

"Then why don't you give it one?" Roman asked.

Patton and Logan shared a look. The baker reached into his pocket and pulled it out.

"Would you like a name?" he asked bringing it up so they were face to face.

A soft purr came from the small creature.

"And what do we name it?" Logan asked.

For a moment they walked in silence, both dragon parents pondering over a name.

Virgil's mind spit out a bunch of names but he refused to say any of them. He wouldn't suggest naming the poor thing Geralt of Rivia, Hulk, Smaug or Shrek.
Not happening.
Not even he was that cruel.
Then it occurred to him that it might not be a male.

"Is it male, female or neither?" he asked.

"I don't know," Patton admitted and held the dragon a bit higher trying to get a glimpse at the space between it's back legs.
It curled up, obscurity the view and Patton brought it back down to his chest with a defeated sigh.

"Maybe we can just pick a name that works any way," Logan suggested.

They lapsed into silence again.

"How about Elliott?" Patton suddenly asked. "Would you like to be Elliott?"

The dragon let out another purr.

"Elliott it is, then," Logan said and tried not to smile.

Patton let Elliott slip into his pocket again.

Virgil hummed and made a not-quite fox that had come a bit too close for liking turn and flee.

"It's impossible to tell the time around here," Roman said after a while and looked up at the almost black looking leaves. "It's always so dark."

"It will be noon soon," Virgil told him. It was true that the light didn't betray where the sun stood in the sky but there were other signs.
The trees, the creatures, the tension in the air and even the mud could tell you plenty of things if you knew how to read them. And the only way to learn was experience.
He had no idea how long he had stumbled across his Islands disoriented and utterly lost before he had learned from the way animals behaved and the stories of the trees .
It wasn't a time he liked to remember.

"I feel like it should already be evening," Roman whined.

"You lost a lot of blood earlier. It's only logical that you're exhausted now. Your body needs its time to recover properly," Logan stated and pushed up his glasses.

Roman groaned.

"This sucks. I hope, whatever that thing was, it at least suffers a little from the cut off arm!"

"Don't say that, Roman!" Patton scolded.

"Is it wrong to wish that someone who hurt you suffers as well?" Virgil asked. "I mean, if they just hurt you without any reason?"

Patton looked unsure.

"It's not nice! Even if they hurt you - maybe there was a reason."

Virgil scoffed internally.

"Or even if they had no reason - wouldn't hurting them back make you just as back?", the baker continued.

"I think it largely depends on the given situation," Logan spoke up. "And what exactly you want to happen to them."

"I only wanted to complain," Roman interrupted. "I didn't mean for this to turn in a philosophical debate!"

"Isn't all of life a philosophical debate?" Logan asked and at Roman's groan a satisfied smirk crossed his face.

Virgil liked Logan.

"Have any of you ever been to Terona?" he asked and hoped that the answer was no. If they didn't know Terona he had an excuse to travel with them at least until they came to a town where someone selling maps lived.
Virgil knew how to avoid meeting traveling salesman.
They wouldn't be a problem.

"No, never," Roman shrugged.

"I believe that it has been made clear that neither Patton nor I have ever really travelled," Logan raised an eyebrow. "Have you been there before?"

"A few times," he said. It was technically the truth. He just had left out that his second stay had been multiple years long.

"Do you know where we could buy a map there? Preferably somewhere near the border? Could you show us?" Logan asked.

"I guess I could," he shrugged and pretended not to care.

"Will you?" Patton stared at him with big eyes.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see the bottom of the flame turn into a purple and blue gardient.

"We'll see."

The flame expanded its colour scheme to orange-yellow-green-blue-purple.

Traitorous damn bastard.

At least no red and pink yet.

Chapter Text

Patton smiled.
For some reason he was glad that Virgil considered sticking with them.
He was still a little scared of the man's magic but if Virgil wanted to hurt them he probably would have done so by now.

And according to Logan he had done something to help Roman's wound.

In Patton's pocket Elliott had fallen asleep.
The dragon let out small puffs of smoke with every breath and made cooing noises every now and then.

Roman was a little pale and a thin layer of sweat gleamed on his forehead. He held his injured arm close to his chest and the sleeve was dark red.
But he had stopped complaining and hadn't fallen behind either so Patton guessed it couldn't be too bad.
He still felt bad for the prince.

After a while Virgil declared that it was noon and Patton wondered how he could tell. There wasn't anything noticeable that had changed apart from the colour of his lantern.
Maybe that was what the colours meant?

They sat between the trees, ate, drank and Logan changed Roman's bandages.
Patton couldn't bring himself to look at the wound.
The thought alone made him feel sick.
He had never been good at dealing with sick or hurt people.
He wanted to help but couldn't bear to watch them suffer.
It was the same with Mom.

Patton pushed the thought away before it could anchor itself in his consciousness again. Pushed it back and distracted himself because he knew that if he didn't he'd break down.
He couldn't do that now.
So he wouldn't.

After a few more minutes they went on.

Somehow they'd managed not to come across any corrupted animals since the encounter with the blade-thing.
Maybe the gods had decided to grant them a little peace.
At least like this they didn't risk any more injuries or for Roman's to get any worse.
In Patton's opinion the cursed creatures could stay as far away as they wanted to.
They were scary.

Virgil walked ahead, somehow sure of the way despite not having a map, compass or even visible paths to follow, Roman was next to him, breathing just a bit to heavily.
Logan walked next to Patton.

The baker was sure that by now all of them were tired.
The break had helped as much as a twenty minute break could against hour long hikes through uneven and dangerous woods could possibly help.
It was better than nothing but by far not enough.

Suddenly the treeline broke and an almost fleshy looking cliff came into view.
It looked... wrong.

It reminded Patton of the edge of ripped fabric or the claw marks Mama had shown him after a werewolf had tried to gat into their stables one winter.

"Is this... where this Island broke?" Logan asked.

"Good guess," there was something weird in Virgil's voice but Patton was too focused on the breaking point. Despite of how long ago it must have happened he could almost feel the static in the air left over from the curse and it made him shiver.

Logan narrowed his eyes.

"Why is it connected to the coast on the other side?" he asked.

Patton realised that he was right.

Both left and right he could see the coastline stretch until it reached the other side in the distance.

Virgil stepped closer: "It's not really a complete break but more like a large chunk of land has been ripped out."

"Incredible," Logan breathed.

"There used to be a city here," Virgil added.

"What?" Patton blurted out.

"What happened to the people?!" Roman spun around to face Virgil.

"I don't know," the mage didn't look at any of them. "I don't even know what the town was called or how many people lived here. I just know that the houses, the gardens and even the fields were ripped out."

Patton shuddered at the thought.

Not for the first time he wanted to ask whoever had done this why?
Why turn a beautiful place into a death trap?
Why twist innocent animals into monsters?
Why rip apart these Islands?

"Did the city fall?" Roman asked and his voice sounded hollow.

"I don't know," Virgil repeated. "Let's just keep going. Please."

Patton looked up at him.
He looked upset.

"You're a mage too, aren't you?" he heared himself ask. "Can't you fix it? Lift the curse?"

"Let's just keep going," without another word Virgil turned away leaving them with no other choice but to follow.

Patton noticed that his grip on the lantern had tightened and that his free hand had closed to a fist.

He wasn't sure how to interpret that. Was Virgil angry at him for asking? Was he upset with himself for not being able to lift the curse or could he and simply didn't want to?
Then again, why wouldn't he want to?

Patton shook off the thought.

In his pocket Elliott began to stirr and let out a jawn showcasing the tiny white beginnings of stubby teeth.
He opened his eyes and blinked up at Patton.
Or was it 'her' eyes?

"Are you a boy?" he asked quietly.

Elliott shook and let out a small growl.

"No? A girl, then?"

Again Elliott reacted with a growl.

"Are you... neither?" Patton asked slightly confused.

For a moment Elliott hesitated only to make one of the cooing noises they seem to always make when happy.
They climbed out of the pocket and - with a bit of help - onto Patton's shoulder.

"Logan, I found out what pronouns to use for our baby!" Patton announced happily. "They!"

"Our baby?" Logan choked and a blush painted his pale cheeks bright red.

"Well, they are our baby, aren't they?"

Roman chuckled.

"I- uhm... I guess in a way,"  Logan stammered and the blush crept down his neck. He pushed up his glasses and turned up his collar as if to hide behind it.

Elliott made a noise and streched out a leg towards the librarian.

"I think your kid wants to go to you," Roman grinned.

The long suffering groan he got in response made Roman laugh out loud.
Still Logan held out his hand for Elliott to climb on and let the dragon curl up around his neck behind the collar.

Patton grinned at the sight.
He guessed there were worse people to have a child with shortly after meeting them.

Chapter Text

Part of Logan couldn't quite believe that this was the third day of their journey to Terona and they hadn't died yet.
Most people didn't survive these Islands for even a single day.

They spent most of their time talking in order to fill the silence and distract themselves from the occasional shuffle in the bushes or far away scream.
Logan was fairly sure that none of them wanted to know what was screaming or why.

He had at some point begun reciting old fairy tales and legends.
He tried to avoid the gruesome ones for Patton and Elliott, since the dragon had shown a surprisingly good understanding of the human language and was just a few days old.

He also avoided any legends that involved prophecies.
On one hand because that wouldn't be much of a good distraction from their current situation, on the other hand because he didn't want Virgil to hear any of them.

Prophecies were far too valuable to just hand them to an already powerful person.

His impression of Virgil didn't matter - he simply couldn't take that risk.

So instead he told stories like 'The Time Princess', 'Ferel, Silverblood' and the legend of how the gods had first created the world.
It were light-hearted tales taking place in long gone times, each with at least some sort of lesson hidden between the lines.

"... and to this day, she resides in the night sky, watching over her people, for when the time is come she will return and protect her kingdom again."

"I love that story," Patton said with a smile. "I've never heard it before but it's beautiful!"

Elliott gave a huff that sounded vaguely like an agreement.

"You haven't heard it before?" Virgil asked with suprise in his voice. "My mother used to tell it all the time when I was younger. I liked it until my father claimed that the Time Princess also punished children who spoke up against their parents."

He chuckled but it didn't seem very happy somehow.

"I was terrified that my brother would die for like half a year until mother finally convinced me that it wouldn't happen."

Roman chuckled: "My mother used to do something similar with 'Ten rats in the clock'. She said that the same thing that happened to the cat would happen to us if we didn't go to bed when she wanted us to."

"That's a bit mean, isn't it?" Patton frowned.

Roman just shrugged.

"Didn't your parents ever do something like that?" Virgil asked curiously.

Patton shook his head no.

"No, never. Why would they?"

Logan watched the exchange with a weird feeling building up in his chest.

Parents.

He had parents. Of course he had. A child couldn't possibly be born without them.
It shouldn't matter that he didn't know them. The older librarians had raised him well and always been good to him.
He shouldn't be longing for people he had never met. Who wouldn't even recognize him if they saw him. Who might as well already be dead.
Hearing Roman, Patton and Virgil talk about their parents shouldn't make him feel jealous.

So why did it?

Logan sighed quietly.

Why did feelings have to be so confusing? Why couldn't they just follow at least some sort of logic?

He felt Elliott press their head against his neck and a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

He wondered if Elliott would one day feel like this.

Right now they were convinced that Logan and Patton were their parents but surely once they grew older they'd understand that that was not the case. That they didn't know their parents and had instead been raised by two humans who had found them completely by chance.
But Logan would be damned if he didn't do his best to raise Elliott well.
He didn't want to mess this up.

"Naaan," Elliott nuzzled their nose against his jaw line.

Logan couldn't help but smile this time.

The tree line broke before them and they were once again standing at a coast. A natural one this time.

In the distance Logan could see the next one, just as dark and unsettling as the one they were currently on.

"Is there a bridge around here?" Roman asked looking around.

"Nope."

"Then how will we get over there?" Roman frowned.

"I can take us over the abyss," Virgil said.

"And how would you do that?" Logan already had a sneaking suspicion but clung to the small figurative shimmer of hope he possessed.

"With magic," Virgil's eyes were sharp and focused but Logan couldn't help but worry. "Don't worry, it's perfectly safe. - Well, safer than standing around here for too long anyway."

He glanced at the forest behind them.

"If you're sure about that..." Roman trailed off.

"I am. Just hold on to your stuff."

A gust of wind swept around them throwing a few loose leaves and a bit of dirt around.

Then - without further warning - the ground was ripped right from under Logan's feet.
A surprised shout slipped from his lips.

Suddenly he found himself hanging head down over the abyss looking down into the endless nothing for no more than the fraction of a second but still enough to make his heart beat loudly in his ears.

He caught a glimpse of Patton then he was was falling through thick leaves. Twigs scratched at his hands and face and hit against his back.

Then he could see the ground again and prepared himself to crash into it painfully only for his fall to stop abruptly just a few inches from the damp moss that covered the earth and the roots sticking out of it.

For a moment he found himself hovering in midair before he was carefully set down.

Logan stumbled, prompted his hand against one of the trees for support and threw up.
He coughed until his stomach was empty and he was left with nothing but a foul taste covering his tounge.

Breathing heavily he turned to face Virgil.

The mage looked concerned, hands hovering in the air, wanting to help but not sure how to or if it even was welcomed.

"No offence to your magic," Logan gasped out, "but let's never do that again."

"Agreed," Roman said somewhere to his left. He hadn't thrown up but looked suspiciously green.

"Sorry," Virgil mumbled. "Forgot you people aren't used to roller coasters and that kinda stuff."

He looked genuinely guilty.

"I- It's alright," Patton stuttered.

Logan distantly wondered what 'roller coasters' were but if they were similar to whatever Virgil had done exactly to hurl them over here he wasn't sure if he really wanted to know too much about them.

He doubted they were a very enjoyable topic.
Maybe some kind of torture device.
Then again, why would they be used to a kind torture?
Did Virgil typically socialise with people who were?

He hoped not.

And he hoped he'd never meet that kind of people.

Chapter Text

Roman tried to swallow down the sick feeling crawling up his throat.

The pain in his arm was stronger again and seemed to spread from the cut, down to his hand which was shaking ever so slightly and up to his shoulder.
He held his arm tight to his chest but the position was starting to get exhausting.

If they happened to get attacked right now he'd be about as useful as a newborn baby.

His eyes flickered over to where Elliott had curled up behind Logan's collar. In even intervals puffs of smoke came from the dragon's mouth.

Scratch that, he'd be even less useful than a newborn.

They really had to get other weapons. He let his gaze scan the ground for a fallen branch that could be turned into a bow.
Taking from the trees directly would be suicide even if it would have been easier to get good wood that way.

For a bow you couldn't just use any type of wood. It had to be strong, thin, long and bendable. Otherwise it wouldn't work.

And even with the right wood, they had no strings.

Making arrows was a problem for entirely different reasons.
Finding wood for that would be easier but they would also need something to make arrowheads and feathers for the ends.

Making darts would require the same materials.

They could most likely buy weapons in Terona but only if they actually made it there alive.

It was around noon now. Two and a half days more they would be here and that only if everything went well.

He had no idea what would happen if Virgil got weird again or one of them got hurt bad enough to not be able to walk properly.
The cut in his arm hurt like hell and had rendered him defense less but he could still walk without a problem.
A leg or foot injury could cost them their lives if they weren't lucky.

Roman didn't want anyone of them to die or get hurt like that. He couldn't let that happen.

Somehow he felt like he had know the others for forever or at least more than a few days.
Maybe it was because going through live-or-death situations together tended to bond people to eachother or because he already knew so much about them.

He knew that Patton had grown up on a farm with his two mothers, that his one mother used to travel a lot but then got sick and that he had come to Corinn when he had been fifteen years old.

Logan had told them about how he had grown up in Natica, about how the society in the library worked and had told plenty of stories about the people who had raised him even if he had never really said something about his actual parents.

Roman didn't know all that much about Virgil yet though. Virgil didn't talk much especially not about himself.
He had only mentioned his mother and brother offhandedly.

Roman wanted to know more.

"Where are your parents anyway?" he asked.

Virgil looked up surprised.

"Mine?"

Roman nodded.

"They... They're dead," Virgil looked away from him. "Have been for a long time."

"Oh... I'm- I'm so sorry," the forest seemed to fall quiet.

"It's fine. I hardly remember them anyway," the mage said but Roman could almost taste the lie.

Silence layed itself over them, thick and heavy and pressed down on the prince's shoulders together with guilt.

He shouldn't have asked. Roman tried to think of a way to change the topic or apologize.
He couldn't find a good one.

"Sorry," Virgil finally broke the silence. "I didn't mean to bring the group down."

Somewhere to the left, a bit too close for liking, something shrieked and Roman could see dark drops of something hit a tree.
Blood.

"What was that?" Patton blurted out.

"A bunny," Virgil murmured. "Now it's an Ex-Bunny."

"What killed it?", Logan nervously pushed up his glasses.

"I did. It got to close and reeked of bloodlust," Virgil's deep voice was hollow.

Roman frowned.

"How did you do that?"

"Magic. How else?"

"Is that why we haven't been attacked since you've woken up?" Logan asked.

Virgil just shrugged.

Roman noticed Patton move closer to him, away from Virgil.

"How did you know it was even there?" Logan asked again.

"What do you think?"

"Magic?"

"Ten points to Ravenclaw."

Logan raised an eyebrow.

"I hope you know that I have no idea what that means."

Virgil shrugged again.

"You're clearly a Ravenclaw."

"I'm pretty sure that I'm human," Logan argued but Roman guessed that Virgil didn't actually mean an actual raven's claw.
He had no idea what the mage could possibly mean.

"More or less," Virgil shrugged.

"More or less? I am human. How would I be more or less human?"

Logan didn't get an answer this time.

Again silence streched over the four of them - five if Roman counted Elliott but he wasn't sure if a baby dragon should count or not.

Probably. He kinda considered them Patton and Logan's child so they should count as part of the group.

"Naaaan," came a delighted noise from Logan's collar.

In that case Elliott definitely was the happiest person around even if likely was Patton a close second.

Logan didn't really smile as far as Roman could tell so it felt like he shouldn't even get third place in this ranking but then again the remaining two were an orphaned, part-time insane mage who lived all alone on a cursed death Island with only a skull to talk to and a maybe orphaned prince who might have already lost his entire kingdom, all of his siblings, friends and in general everyone he really knew and had begun to wonder if it would be easier to just cut his throat or jump off an Island than keeping going.

Roman sighed. That ranking was pointless anyway.

He tried to come up with something else to keep himself occupied. Preferably something that wouldn't remind him of the fact that he was basically on a suicide mission.

He only noticed now that the light of the lantern was grey now.

It must've changed gradually for him to miss it so completely.
Roman wondered when it had begun to drain of it's colour.

He didn't like the grey.

It was cold and dim compared to the other colours and made it harder to make out details of things that had been perfectly clear before.

Chapter Text

Logan glared at the back of Virgil's head. He knew that he wasn't going to get an answer but that didn't mean that he didn't want one.

There were multiple species that could be referred to as 'more or less human' if one really wanted to.
Halflings, Elfs, Fae, Changelings, Dwarfs, Giants, Vampires, Werewolves, Witches...
The list went on and on.

But Logan was none of that.

He had no problems with salt, sunlight, silver or any other weakness one of those would typically have.

He was human.

Maybe the MIM was getting worse again though he hoped that that was not the case. He doubted they'd be lucky enough not to go in the completely wrong direction again and he wasn't sure if they could survive being on the Cursed Islands for too much longer.

Logan's feet hurt. He guessed this was largely because he wasn't used to walking for this long and because his shoes were by no means made for this either. 

He glanced over at Patton. The backer had been traveling like this for far longer than him.
Sure, Patton and Roman had had horses but that didn't make it much easier. Riding was exhausting too as far as he was aware.

Logan wondered what had happened to the horse that they had let go.
The spider creature had followed them but there were a lot of other creatures on these Islands.
It was more probable for the horse to be dead by now than alive.

"It's about two days more until we  reach Terona, right?" he asked.

"If we keep walking at this speed. If we speed up a little it might be less," Virgil murmured. "Or if we find something that we can ride."

Roman perked up.

"In the not sexual way," Virgil added quickly.

Logan only now realised how Virgil's sentence could have been interpreted and felt his cheeks heat up.
Why the hell would any of them think something like that?

Patton made a confused noise.

Nobody wanted to explain it to him.

"Is there any animal around here that can be ridden?" Roman asked stumbling over the last word after Virgil's comment.

"A couple. Unicorns, Pegasus, corrupted horses..."

"And how would we find them?" Logan asked curiously.

"They find us or we're extremely lucky. Unicorns especially tend to avoid humans. Unless they come across someone who is 'pure of heart' or whatever," came the answer. "I know for sure that I don't fall in that category. Who knows if one of you does. Unicorns are picky as hell. Don't tell them but I suspect that they actually are like in Gravity Falls - assholes who pretended to be the purest of the purest."

Patton shot Logan a confused look but he only shrugged. Elliott made a delighted noise at the movement and let his tail flick from side to side like an excited dog.

Virgil looked up at the noise and his dark eyes seemed to sparkle in the suddenly rose colored light.

"Or maybe we find an adult dragon and manage to convince it to take us to Terona! It would have to be a big enough one though... Or more than one. And a species that understands human speech," he rambled.

"Are you being serious right now?" Logan interrupted him suddenly.

"Yeah, duh!"

Logan stared at Virgil in disbelief.

"We can't ride a dragon", he argued.

"What? Why not?" Virgil seemed genuinely confused.

"Why not? Hundreds of adventurers and thrill seekers have tried to tame and ride dragons before. They tried in all imaginable ways, each coming up with a different creative and elaborate plan. All in vain. Not a single one survived long enough to even touch a dragon. Not to mention ride it!"

Virgil narrowed his eyes at him.

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, really!" Logan was starting to lose his patience.

"Then what's that nuzzling itself against your neck? Touching you?" the mage smirked at him and the only time Logan had wanted to punch a person more had been when Roman had pulled him onto that stupid horse.

"Elliott's different," he snapped. "They believe Patton and I to be their parents. Other dragons don't."

Virgil just shrugged.

"My point still stands. You can't tell me that no one has ever touched a dragon while you are doing it yourself! And those adventurers only died because they were morons. Are you a moron?"

"No, I'm not!"

"Then you'll be fine."

"Why do you call them morons?" Patton asked.

"Huh?" Virgil shot the baker a questioning look.

"Lo said that they came up with really good plans, so they couldn't habe been completely stupid, right?"

"If the plans were that good the morons wouldn't have died. So, yes, they were completely stupid."

Logan wanted to argue with that.
Just because a plan failed didn't automatically mean that it had been a stupid plan. Sometimes even the best of plans failed simply because whatever one had tried to do was impossible. Even the best people failed sometimes and it wasn't their fault.
Virgil was wrong. He was being unnecessary harsh to people he likely had never met and it confused Logan to no end.
He couldn't understand the mages reasoning in the least and while he wanted to chalk it up to MIM Virgil's eyes had been clear and focused.
Apparently he tended to irrational thinking even when he was completely sane.

"Let's just stick to horses and the like!" Roman declared before Logan could say anything. "Do you know if there are any around here?"

"Not right now," Virgil responded leaving them to wonder whether he meant that no horses in the area or that he had no idea if there were any.

Logan sighed in frustration.

Elliott gently rubbed their head against his cheek.

"Maaa," they made and Logan could feel them lightly nibbling at his chin. "Maaam... Maaam?"

"Could it be that your kid is trying to call you 'Mom'?" Roman asked.

"Mooom," Elliott said.

Logan could feel his cheeks heat up.
Mom.
Elliott couldn't mean it like that, right? They most likely were simply making noises and mimicking what Roman had said, right?

"Mooom~"

Logan turned to look at them and Elliott let out a delighted noise.

"Mom!" they rubbed their nose against his, pushing themselves up with their forelegs against his lower lip. "Mom!"

Oh dear gods.

They meant it like that.

Logan couldn't quite seem to recall the next few hours no matter how hard he tried to later.

Elliott had called him 'mom'.

Chapter Text

Patton was pretty sure that Logan hadn't blinked since Elliott had called him 'mom'. Or stopped smiling.
He wondered if Logan being Mom made him 'dad'. The thought alone brought a small smile to his face.
Then he remembered that Virgil had called him dad. So he was part of their weird little 'family' too. Though Patton doubted that Virgil saw Logan as his mom.
He also felt that Roman should be part of the family but wasn't sure where he fit in.
Maybe also a child?
He did respond to Patton calling him 'kiddo' by now.

But some part of Patton didn't want to think of the prince as his son. He couldn't quite explain it but it was the same kind of feeling that made him smile at the thought of raising Elliott together with Logan.
It made him want to stay close to the two men, reach out for them, take their hands in his own and run his fingers through their hair. Logan's short and dark hair and Roman's longish red locks.

Was this love?

Patton had never been in love before. He had had crushes, too many to count because he couldn't seem to stop making heart eyes at almost every attractive and nice man he met until they turned out to be not that nice at all.
But somehow he was convinced that this was different.
Or maybe his heart had just decided to take a liking in the most unavailable men he'd likely ever meet.

Roman was a prince. Not only that but the crown prince. He was going to rule an entire kingdom one day and Patton would be just one of many peasants who looked up to their king. Roman would marry some woman of royal standing. There was no changing that.

Logan might not have been a prince but he still hasn't seemed to forgive Roman and Patton for dragging him into this. He seemed to keep his distance, keeping all of his emotions locked up except for anger. And Patton was pretty sure that he wasn't interested in other men either.

The baker sighed quietly.
He hoped it was just a crush and that it would go away soon.
He didn't want to end up hurt.

Roman caught his glance and smiled at him. It was a tired yet genuine smile and it made Patton's heart skip a beat.

He quickly looked away and chose to stare at Virgil's back instead.
He tried to count the messy stitches that held the plaid patches in place. They seemed to be spelling out a name in one spot but Patton wasn't sure. It wasn't Trouq and didn't really look like Slyn either but seemed too deliberate to be just random stitches.

Patton only realised that Virgil had stopped walking when he collided with the others back.
Surprised he stumbled back a few steps.

"What-?" he was cut off by Virgil lifting a finger to his lips and pointing at something to their left, not taking his eyes of it.
Patton followed his stare.

Between the tree stood the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
It's white fur seemed to glow in the darkness.
It had the majestic body of a horse and from it's forehead an elegant horn sprouted.
It's dark eyes were focused on them, framed by long beautiful eyelashes.

Next to Patton Roman swore breathlessly but the baker couldn't bring himself to scold him.

He couldn't take his eyes of the Unicorn infront of them.

The tales he had heared as a child and the paintings he had seen had all failed miserably to describe just how breathtaking and mesmerising the creature was.

"Hello," a voice clear as a bell sounded in his head. "It has been a long time since we've seen so many humans around here. Where did they come from, we wonder. Why are they here?"

"None of your fucking business," Virgil spat. There was anger in his voice and Patton was sure that if he would have been able to tear his gaze away from the Unicorn he would have also seen it on the mages face.
He couldn't understand why.
How could anyone feel anger towards something so wonderful and perfect?

"We wonder what gave the dark one the right to speak to us."

"My Islands, my rules," Virgil retorted. "Now go the fuck away."

"The dark one is foolish. Surely he must know that the Islands belong to us, now that there is no king anymore. But we have better things to do than teach him a lesson," the Unicorn threw it's head back. "The humans have stolen a child of a scaled beast."

It dawned on Patton that the Unicorn meant Elliott.

"We-" he stopped abruptly when the Unicorns focus landed on him.

"We allow the human to continue."

Patton swallowed. His mouth suddenly felt dry.

"We didn't steal them. Their parents were dead. We just took them in," he told the Unicorn.

It leaned it's head to the side.

"Scaled beasts have to take care of their offsprings on their own. It is not the humans duty. We wonder why they were so foolish as to do it anyway."

It shook it's head again and it's perfect white mane flew around it's head.

"But that is not why we let the humans see us. The dark one is guiding them over our home and we do not want the dark one here. We wonder how we can get rid of him. Quickly."

"Fucking kill me, you coward," Virgil hissed.

"We need him has a guide but if you want to get rid of him, maybe you could help us get to Terona quicker!" Logan suggested before the Unicorn could decide to follow Virgil's advice.

"Is the human suggesting that we give it and it's companions a ride? We hope it is aware that we don't just let any human onto our backs and that even we can not carry four humans at once."

"Maybe you could call help then?" Roman spoke up.

The Unicorn was quite for a few moments.

"We have thought about it and come to the conclusion that perhaps the humans suggestions aren't too foolish. We advise them to wait here until we return," with that it turned around and disappeared into the shadows again.

The light of Virgil's lantern glowed in a dangerous dark red.

Chapter Text

Roman had absolutely no idea how long they had been waiting when the Unicorn finally came back with three other creatures in tow.

Two horses with big, strong wings sprouting from their backs.
One Pegasus brown with dark spots, the other a soft red that seemed to glow in the light of Virgil's lantern.

And behind them trailed something that looked like someone had taken the vague idea of a horse and turned it into a living nightmare.
It had two heads, one almost normal if it wasn't for the smoke coming from its mouth and the too many teeth, some of with were sticking out to the side, not finding room in the mouth.
The other head was little more than a skull. Its flesh was rotting and its skin was stretched over its head and neck was ripped in some places and looked as if someone had poked holes into it.
Its body was in a similar skeletal state and two of its legs were... wrong. As if someone had ripped them off their original owners and rammed them into the horse, deep enough that they wouldn't slip out again.
Its left back leg looked like an oversized dog leg and its right back leg looked like it had originally belonged to a giant bird.

"We have found others willing to help the humans. Even someone willing to help the dark one which we did not expect," the Unicorn declared. "We will only allow a pure human to climb onto our back."

"And who of us is pure?" Roman asked.

"This one definitely not," the Unicorn looked down at him. "These ones... more like it. But we will not carry a scaled beast."

Elliott hid deeper in Logan's collar.

"Don't bully the poor kid!" the brown Pegasus protested and stepped infront of Logan. "Get on. I don't mind the dragon."

While the unicorn's voice had sounded like it was only in Roman's head the Pegasus had actually spoken.

The unicorn made an offended noise but let Patton get closer.
Roman had to Patton up onto the tall creatures back before he pulled himself onto the other pegasus.

Roman had been riding horses since he had been a little kid. At first just sitting infront of a rider and as soon as he had been tall enough to sit in an actual saddle he had been riding on his own.
Different horses were different to ride. Some were faster or slower, some were more or less submissive, some were better in forests, open field and others were in their element in the mountains.
Yet Pegasus something entirely different.

He wasn't sure whether he was flying or riding and the forest around him was nothing but a blur of gray and black.
Roman pressed himself close to the pegasus' neck.
It was even faster than when Virgil had brought them over the abyss.

And then suddenly the Pegasus came to a halt.

Roman's knees felt weak as he dismounted.

"Whoo! We were the fastest!" the Pegasus cheered. It turned to him. "Who are you anyway? It's been so long since I've actually talked to a human!"

Roman leaned against a tree in order to regain his balance. Just a few meters next to him was the abyss.

"I'm Prince Roman of Sallerow," he introduced himself and on instinct straightened up a bit.

"Another prince?" the Pegasus laughed. "My name is Quil. Nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you, too, Quil-" he was going to say more but was cut off but the sound of hooves.

The Unicorn came to a halt next to them, followed by the second Pegasus and the corrupted horse.
Roman was surprised that the misformed animal with its mismatched legs had managed to keep up with the other two.

They thanked the animals, the Unicorn and Pegasus disappeared into the forest again and the cursed horse laid down in the high gras completely ignoring their presence.

"So that's Terona," Patton muttered staring at the Island in the distance.

"Let's hope that there's a town close to the bridge," Logan said and turned to Virgil. "Do you happen to know if there is?"

"There's a small village but I'm not sure if you can buy a map there. If not the nearest bigger town would actually be the capital," the mage shrugged.

"I suggest we only go to the capital if we have to," Roman spoke up. "Sallerow and Terona don't exactly have the best relationship and, I don't know about you guys, but I don't really want to have another group after our heads."

They crossed the bridge and Virgil took the lead again.

After wandering through the thick forests of the Cursed Islands the light of the sun seemed almost too bright and hot.
Still, there was no dangerous tension in the air and they walked on an actual even path instead of stumbling over roots and other things they didn't want to know what they were.

After a short while they came to the village Virgil had mentioned.
The people stared at them and a few mothers pulled their children closer.

Roman had to admit that they probably were quite the sight.
Between their dirty and tattered clothes, his bloodstained, ripped sleeve and Virgil's now purple lantern it was only natural fr the people to stare.
Not to mention that they could most likely tell where they had just come from.

There was no map in the village but they did end up buying some clothes. Or rather Virgil bought them some clothes.
When Roman asked where he had gotten the money from the mage had just threw a shirt in his face.
He didn't bother asking again.

It was a relief to wear something clean again.
The blood on his sleeve had dried and made the fabric stiff and scratchy to the point where the skin that wasn't wrapped in makeshift bandages had become irritated and red.

The only problem was that they were now going to the capital of Terona.
Roman only hoped that no one would find out who they were.

Chapter Text

Elliott had not been a fan of Logan's new shirt at first. Not at all.
The librarian hoped that no one was going to ask him about the small bite marks on his collar. Because somehow over the last few days Elliott's teeth had gotten a lot sharper.
At least they didn't bite people anymore.
They had eventually tired themselves out and fallen asleep in one of his coat pockets.

It was warmer here in Terona than Logan was used to.
Up on Natica the air was cool, even when the sun shone and in the dark forest of the Cursed Islands where no sun light ever reached the ground it was never really warm either.
However here it was warm even in the shadows.
It made Logan sleepy.

They walked on a road between tall thin trees and at almost every crossroad there was a small fountain framed by clay bricks and signs pointing the way to cities and places, some of which he had heard of and some he hadn't.
Virgil didn't seem to pay any attention to the signs but kept taking the path towards Onsteda.
Logan wondered how many times he had gone there.

It was late in the afternoon by now and the buzzing of insects filled the air when they finally reached the city.

The buildings were painted in bright colours and seemed to be stacked on top of, leaned against eachother.
Children ran around in the stone paved streets and adults filled the many small shops that lined the street.

Logan had read about cities, had read about how many people lived in them, but actually seeing all these people was weird.
He had never seen so many people in his live.

"How are we supposed to find a cartograph around here?" he asked trying to take everything in.

Patton shrugged next to him.

"I know that there is one who lives in the castle," Virgil said. "Not sure if there's another one."

"We can just ask someone," Roman suggested. "Cause I'd rather not go there. Too risky."

"Sounds good to me!" Patton agreed and went straight to the nearest person. "Excuse me, can you tell me where I could buy a map around here?"

He smiled at her and Logan was pretty sure that he was actually glowing.

"There's a cartograph in the palast. You can just ask the guards where exactly. They're quite helpful," the woman smiled.

"Is there any other place where we can find a map?" Patton asked again.

"No, I don't think so," she replied shaking her head. "There used to be one near the market place but she retired a few years ago."

"Oh, okay. Thank you very much!", Patton turned back to them. "Guess we don't really have a choice..."

Roman swore under his breath. As the crown prince he could be very valuable to the teronan king if he planned to pay Sallerow back for the last war between the two kingdoms.

"Let's just be careful," Logan said. "And maybe you should hide your sword hilt."
He gestured at the golden sun worked into the hilt of the weapon.
"I doubt they'll trust someone who's carrying a sword with the sallerowan crest on it."

Roman quickly tugged his shirt over it.

"While we're here we could also look try to find a bow or something for one of you," the prince suggested.

"I have something else to do, so how about we just meet back here in two hours?" Virgil spoke up fiddling with his sleeve.

"Sounds like a plan," Logan agreed.

Patton and Roman nodded.

"See y'all later then," with that and a weird handgesture the mage disappeared into the crowd.

"Two hours," Roman repeated. "Let's go!"

The shops of Onsteda were incredible.
Salesmen were offering all kinds of goods, from clothes, over jewellery, food that looked delicious and filled the streets with its smell, tools for every possible craft, pots in a shapes and sizes, toys for children, candy, plant seeds, charms covered in runes similar to the one Patton had, books, paper and flasks of ink in all colours of the rainbow.
Logan absolutely loved it.

However he had to admit that the small shop of weapons they had found made him a bit nervous.

Roman was inspecting the ware while Patton and Logan manly just stood around unsure what to do until the prince turned back to them.

"What do you want anyway? I mean, what would you guys be most comfortable with?"

"I don't really know," Patton rubbed the back of his neck. "Maybe... something like a bow?"

He shot Logan a questioning look.
Logan just shrugged.

"Bow and arrow are hard to use," Roman told them. "You need a lot of upper body strength, learn to aim and all that... You're gonna need a lot of practice. Think you can do it?"

Patton looked unsure but nodded anyway.

"Alright," Roman smiled. "Then let's find one that's the right size, shall we?"

--~--

They didn't end up finding anything for Logan, which the librarian was secretly grateful for.

He couldn't imagine carrying a weapon the way Roman carried his sword or Patton now carried his bow and quiver.

Virgil was already waiting for them when they got to the corner where they had split up. He had a small bag with him and Logan wondered what was in it but didn't get the chance to ask.
It was already very late and they wanted to get what they needed before the gates were closed for the night.

There were two guards at the gate, both carrying spears and the sight made Logan nervous.
He had no idea how strictly they checked who went in and out of the castle.

One of the guards straightened up as they got closer.

"Who are you and what do you want from his majesty?" the guard asked.

Logan nervously bit his lip. He expected Roman to answer since he was pretty sure that the prince had the most experience with these kinds of people and knew best what was safe to say and what wasn't.

To his surprise it was Virgil who stepped forward.

"They're with me," he simply said.

Logan noticed the way the guards eyes widened slightly.

"M-my apologies," he bowed and his armour rattled at the movement. "Please come in."

Once again Logan wondered just how well Virgil knew this country and who exactly he even was.
He glared at the back of the mages head as if the man's unruly white hair would somehow tell him everything he wanted to know.

There were less people inside of the castle walls than outside on the streets. Just a few servants hurrying from one place to another, a girl in an expensive looking dress who was with no doubt royalty playing with a group of younger children and a man with an air of authority around him who was bossing around a few guards.

The mans eyes fell on them.

"I am going to have-," his eyes landed on Virgil and he stopped abruptly. "I- Apologies, welcome back!"

He too bowed.

Virgil looked indifferent to the gesture.

"Do you know where my brother is?" he asked his voice cracking slightly on the word 'brother'.

"Yes, of course, he should be in the garden right now. If you wish I could-"

"Thank you. You don't need to do anything. Where is Talyn at the moment?"

"They already retired for the night, if I'm not mistaken. Should I send a maid to them or-"

"Thank you, that won't be necessary," Virgil interrupted again, seemingly eager to end the conversation. He went towards a small path that Logan guessed lead to the gardens, leaving his lantern behind. Somehow the lantern remained standing.

Logan send Roman and Patton a questioning glance.
Roman just shrugged and went to follow Virgil.
Patton and Logan weren't far behind.

Logan wondered what kind of person Virgil's brother was.
Was he a mage too?
It was rather likely.
Perhaps he was the royal mage, that would explain why Virgil was treated with so much respect.

At least Logan assumed so much.
Royal mages were in a position of power and even though they were feared greatly they were also very important figures for a kingdom.
It'd only make sense for their families to be treated with respect as well.

Chapter Text

The garden was beautiful with exotic plants, colourful butterflies and somewhere between the trees Logan could hear a fountain bubble.
They followed Virgil down a stone path, passing a few marble benches and pavilions until they heard two voices.
Shortly after Logan could also see the two men, who were discussing something in hushed voices, with a few guards standing at attention just a few feet away.

One wore fancy robes, similar to the man Virgil had talked to earlier.

The other wore a yellow robe with black embroidery and a golden crown.

The king.

The first man looked up as they got closer and trailed off with whatever he was going to say.

The king followed his companions stare.

The left side of his face, that Logan hadn't been able to see at first, was disfigured.
It was covered in yellowish scales, his eye was surrounded by pinkish flesh and the iris was bright yellow with a slit pupil.

He made a dismissing gesture towards his companion, who immediately stood up and hurried away.

The king himself stood up as well.

"What do I owe the pleasure of you visiting again after all his time?" the king asked and looked Virgil over. Logan saw a thin, split tounge dart out for just a second.

The mage shrugged.

"Had to lead a few people off the Islands and I knew that if I stayed away too long you'd have me beheaded."

The king laughed and pulled Virgil into a hug.

Oh. Logan supposed that was an even better explanation for why Virgil was treated the way he was.
His brother was the king.
Which would make Virgil a prince.

But why the hell would a teronan prince live on the Cursed Islands?

"And who are these people?" the king's voice pulled Logan out of his thoughts.

A shiver ran down his spine as the man's yellow eye focused on him.

"A sallerowan prince and baker and a natican librarian," Virgil answered without hesitation.

The king's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Throw them in the dungeon," he said coldly.

"Wha-," Roman tried to protest but was grabbed roughly by two guards.

Strong hands grabbed Logan's arms and he had barely time to register what was going on before he was shoved down one of the many paths of the garden, towards on of the entrances into the castle.

What the actual hell..?

While Logan was still trying to keep up with what was happening, Roman was cursing loudly and struggling against the guards hold all the while trying not to injure his arm further.
Logan had never even heard most of the curses the prince spat.

One of the guards ripped his bag from his and took Patton's and Roman's weapons and bags too before handing them to a young boy and telling his to bring them to the armory.
The boy nodded and dashed off.

The guards almost pushed them down a set of narrow stairs and through a heavy wooden door into the dungeon.

The long corridor was lit by torches and sometimes dripped down from the ceiling. Logan hoped it was water.
They passed a number of cells and criminals, guilty of all kinds of crimes, stared at them from the shadows.
A man whose face was more scars than anything else almost threw himself at the bars and laughed when Logan jumped and Patton yelped.

One of the guards unlocked an empty cell, they were pushed inside and behind them the lock was closed again.

"That goddamn son of a bitch!" Roman swore and pulled at his hair.

"Roman!" Patton half scolded.

"What?! Am I wrong? He fucking betrayed us! He knew that this would happen!" Roman yelled throwing his arms out only to wince slightly and pull the injured one close to his chest again.

"You can't know that for sure!" Patton argued back weakly. "Maybe he expected a different reaction!"

"Unlikely," Logan cut in. "The king is his brother. He most likely knows his well. At least well enough to know how he reacts to certain events. As much as it pains me to say it, I think Roman might be right; Virgil purposely ratted us out."

"He also lied to us!" Roman added and Logan noticed how his eyes seemed to burn in anger. "He said that he had been in Terona 'a few times'. But as we know now, this is his fucking home!"

A hiss cut Roman off before he could go into a full rant.
Elliott slowly crawled out of Logan's pocket, obviously displeased at having been woken up just like that.
They hissed at Roman again, seemed to almost choke and spat a small amount of fluid.
The spit hit the ground instead of its intended target and all three men jerked back when it burned a small hole into the already uneven stone floor.

Logan stared at Elliott wide eyed.

"Did you just spit acid at Roman?" he asked in slight disbelief. He had a feeling that this day couldn't get any more confusing or crazy at this point.
Or maybe he was just jinxing it by thinking that.
He hoped not.

Elliott gave a small 'Nan' and looked very proud of themselves.

"I think that's a 'Yes'," Patton mumbled.

"Your kid spit fucking acid at me," Roman huffed.

Patton punched him his shoulder.
"No cursing infront of my child," he declared.

"Yes," Elliott agreed, the word slightly mispronounced as if they had a lisp.

Patton's face lit up in delight.

Elliott looked even prouder and continued to repeat the word again and again.

Logan huffed and leaned back against the cell wall, letting himself slide down into a seating position.
Elliott took the opportunity to roll up on his stomach and he lightly scratched their head.

Patton sat down next to him and Roman took the spot across from them.

"Do you think we could use their acid to break out?" he suggested after a moment.

Logan thought about it. It could potentially work. But there was also the possibility that Elliott's acid wouldn't destroy the metal or that they couldn't produce enough to open the lock. Or that they couldn't produce any at the moment, having just spit at Roman.

"We could try it," he finally conceded. "But let's wait till tomorrow. We're all tired and I doubt a breakout would be successful right now."

Patton nodded: "If we break out, we're going to have to run and I don't think I can do that right now."

"Alright, we rest and as soon as the sun sets we get out of here. We'll just have to get a map elsewhere... Or we steal it."

Patton shot him an aghast look.

"Think about it, we're going to have to steal our stuff back anyway. Might aswell get a map too. We'd just have to be extremely careful and make sure that our breakout goes unnoticed for as long as possible so the guards wont be alarmed!"

"And if the guards don't know we don't have to fight our way out," Logan added. "And I doubt that the three of us would be able to do that."

Roman nodded.

"Good, then we have a plan!"

Chapter Text

"New guards?" Virgil asked past the forming lump in his throat.

"No," Janus sighed. "I am totally not sorry."

"It's fine," Virgil muttered. He was a good liar but not always good enough to trick someone cursed to lie everytime he spoke. And while Virgil still felt wrong when he called Janus his brother, perhaps they knew each other as well as actual siblings by now.

"I can just explain it to them. They'll probably understand. They've seen on my Islands what curses can do. Besides, it's not hard to guess that you have been cursed," he added before the other could call him out on the lie.

Janus' hand came up to trace the scales on his cheek on reflex and he sighed.

"How about you join us for dinner first?" he then asked. "I'm sure Persephone hasn't missed you in the least."

Something nagged Virgil that he shouldn't. That he should go down to the dungeon right now but he had no idea whether it was a hint of the thing that in a stronger form made him and others tampering with magic, whether they were mages, sorcerers or witches, spit out prophecies or just the anxiety.

He looked back at Janus, whose eyes seemed to beg him to say yes, almost desperate and really didn't have a choice.

"Alright, what's for dinner?"

--~--

Sleeping in the dungeon was awful.
Horrible.
A thing of impossibility.

The ground was hard and uneven at times. It was too cold and moist - from what Roman didn't want to know.
He heard the man in the cell next to them piss against the wall and almost gagged.
He tried to avoid touching the ground using his clothes but it was still gross.

His arm was hurting again, pulsating after the way he had struggled earlier, but he didn't dare to remove the bandages.
Not in a place this dirty.
His gloves were simply disgusting by now too and he decided to ditch them as soon as they broke out.

Next to all the physical reasons he couldn't sleep was also the emotional whirlwind in his chest.

Shock, Anger, Frustration. Because they had trusted Virgil and he had betrayed them without even thinking twice and they were now imprisoned in the place they had thought would be the safest.

Sadness, Disappointment, Hurt. Because, gods damn him, he had trusted Virgil! The mage had helped them, guided them, had even taken care of Roman's wound... only to backstab them as soon as he got the chance?

Roman tried to blink back the tears that welled up in his eyes. Pushed back the sadness and tried to turn it into anger.

The discussion they had had after he had gotten hurt came back to him.
Whether it was alright to wish someone who had hurt you pain or even hurt them yourself.
Virgil had been for yes.

Roman bit his lip.

Oh, he would pay the bastard back.

Silver was for monsters and he would make sure that Virgil got a taste of it.

They would make their escape quiet but Roman had already decided that there would also be blood.

--~--

"You're here!" Persephone cheered and hugged Virgil tightly.

He could feel the stares of the new guards in his back as he hugged the young witch back. She seemed to be buzzing with magical energy opposed to the humming he knew she felt from him.

"I heard they call you the Dragonwitch now," he grinned as he pulled back.

She grinned proudly.

"I know, it's a great title if you ask me!" she told him and let herself fall into her seat at the table.

"What did I do to end up with this family?" Janus sighed but the words had no real bite to them.

"Says the guy with the permanent Two-Face cosplay," Virgil shot back. "You really should get nominated for the Darwin Awards for that shiz."

"What year is it?" Persephone asked and Virgil raised an eyebrow at her.

"Two thousand-" he cut himself off. "Wait... No..."

He frowned. What... year...?

"It's 836," Persephone told him gently.

Virgil shot her a small grateful smile.

"Guess we're all a little screwed up," he mumbled. His eyes wandered to the empty spot next to him. "Have either of you heard of him?"

He didn't have to explain who he meant. They all felt that it was too quiet like this.

"No," Janus claimed.

"Just once," Persephone elaborated. "About a year ago."

She shook her head with a huff.

"If one of us is screwed up it's totally not him," Janus mused.

"Is that a challenge?" Virgil smirked and turned the wine in his glass into Gatorade.

Janus groaned and let his head fall against the table, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like a bargain to the gods.
Persephone just laughed at him.

--~--

Roman had no idea when he had actually managed to fall asleep but he woke up early and sore.

He gently shook Patton and Logan awake and the latter carefully woke up the dragon toddler on his stomach.

Elliott definitely was no morning person. They hissed and looked close to biting someone but luckily cooperated when Patton asked them to spit acid onto the cells lock.

They watched the sizzling liquid burn through them metal until the lock fell to the floor with a loud clatter.
All four of them froze.

Some prisoner complained that he wanted to sleep but otherwise, it remained silent.
No guards came to check on the noise.

Careful not to make a sound Roman pushed open the cell door and slipped out into the hallway.

Listening for any approaching footsteps he lead the other two towards the staircase.

"The armoury should be near the staircase too," Patton whispered.

Roman shot him a confused look.

"Why do you think so?"

"Because the kid that was supposed to bring away our stuff went up the stairs while we went down. And there was another closed door there," the baker explained.

"I didn't even notice that," Logan muttered.

"Me neither. Good job, Pat," Roman shot Patton a smile.

They passed through the same door they had been lead through the day before and true to Patton's word found another door at the foot of the stairs.

Roman pushed against it. The hinges creaked miserably and he froze, listening for a guard.
Still nothing.
They were surprisingly lucky today.

He pushed again until the door was open wide enough for them to slip through before kicking a bucket in the gap to keep it open and to be able to hear if anyone came down the stairs.

The armoury was filled not only with weapons and armour but apparently also everything that had been taken off the prisoners.

"Let's look through this stuff," Logan whispered. "We might find something useful."

Roman couldn't agree more.

He found his sword and after a quick inspection of the silver and the ornaments in the handle and sheath attached it to his belt. It felt good to have it back.

Logan let out a small cry of victory as he found their bags and checked the contents.

"Everything's there," he announced with a small smile.

Roman found Patton's bow and a slightly bigger quiver with better arrows. He still took the one they had bought in town. More arrows couldn't hurt, especially since Patton needed to practice before he'd be able to use the bow properly.

"Guys?" the baker suddenly spoke up and Roman could basically hear the grin on his face.

"What is it?" he turned around.

Patton wordlessly held up his find.

A detailed map.

Roman grinned.

"Perfect!"

His smile fell the second he heard the footsteps.

Someone was slowly coming down to the dungeon.

"Let's get out of here," he hissed taking one of the bags from Logan and handing Patton his weapon.

Slowly he moved the bucket away from the door, still holding it open and listened.

Only one person.

Good.

That meant he could take them out. If he was lucky before they managed to call for help.

He motioned for Patton and Logan to follow him and quietly moved up the stairs.

Anticipation made his stomach churn.

Two more steps and suddenly he was face to face with the one person he had almost hoped they'd encounter on their escape.

And he had the upper hand.

Virgil stared at him in surprise as he already closed his grip around the sword hilt.

The silver blade flashed in the firelight.

Virgil gasped and heavy, dark drops of blood hit the stone steps.

The mage stared down at the blade Roman had pushed into his stomach.

The fabric around the wound rapidly grew dark.

Roman pulled the blade back out with one sharp tug.

Virgil stumbled, his shoulder hitting the wall and slowly sank down.

"You deserved that," Roman spat, sheathed his sword and hurried upwards without another glance back.

He only stopped to wait for the other two when he had reached the garden.

Patton was white as a sheet but Roman didn't let them stop. Not yet.

They were almost at the gate which was just being opened for the day when somewhere in the castle a woman screamed.

The guards by the gate hurried past them in the direction of the noise, not even sparing them a glance.

As soon as they were outside of the gates Roman broke into a run.

Chapter Text

Janus felt numb.
He stared at his little brother, at the dark blood coming from his stomach and his sister who kept trying to keep Virgil awake.

He wanted to do something. Help somehow.

But he had no idea how to. So all he could do was watch.

Ironic how he kept finding Virgil like this.
Covered in blood, barely or not any more conscious and with guilt darkening his eyes.

Back when he had first met the other, again shortly after his father had died, then after his mother had died, the day he had gotten himself cursed...

Sometimes it was Virgil's blood sometimes someone else and Janus had no idea which cases he preferred.

"Jan!" Persephone's voice cut through his thoughts. "Three-lobe beggarticks! I need Three-lobe beggarticks! And lavender! Now!"

"Can you fix him?" he asked.

"Not if you don't get me three-lobe beggarticks and lavender!" she yelled back.

--~--

Patton gasped for air, his sides were burning. He couldn't breathe and felt like he was about to throw up.

The blood had almost burned itself into his mind.

"You...," he finally managed to take a deep breath. "You killed him! Oh gods, you killed him!"

"He deserved it," Roman hissed much less out of breath than Patton and Logan were.

They had ran all the way out of the city and by the time Roman had finally let them stop they had left the castle far behind them and were in the woods again.

"Falsehood," Logan said sharply. "To 'deserve' death I believe one has to do something far worse than deceive and betray a group of strangers. If you killed him you've certainly committed the worse crime."

Roman huffed and opened his mouth to retort but stopped when close to them a branch cracked.

"Criminals, huh?" a bald man carrying a club stepped out of the trees. "Then we can't get punished for killing you."

He laughed and around them more armed men closed in on them.

Roman swore.

Patton wanted to scream but all that came out was a whimper.

"Give us your stuff and we won't harm you," another bandit promised. "Just cooperate and no one gets hurt."

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Logan asked his voice shaking slightly.

"You'll just have to trust us. Because let's face it, there's no way the three of you could beat us. You might be able to hurt some of us though, so if you just give up it's best for everyone," the man smiled predatory.

Patton, Roman and Logan exchanged looks.

"Fine," Roman spat and let his sword fall to the ground.

Patton let his bow and quivers fall too and stepped closer to Logan. He felt safer by the others side.

Two men got closer and picked up their weapons.
Then strong hands grabbed Patton from behind.
For a moment he was back in the palace garden. He tried to reach for Logan who had been grabbed too.
Their fingers barely brushed but it sent a soothing sensation through Patton's whole body.
His back was ripped from him and his pockets looked through and he saw Logan and Roman get the same treatment.

One of the men grabbed his amulet.

"Please, don't!" Patton cried out.

"What? You want to keep this?" the man sneered and his voice sounded scratchy.

"Yes, please!"

The man laughed.

"Boss! This one is trying to resist! Should I kill him?"

"Wha-?" Terror ran through Patton's veins freezing him in place.

"Go for it!" the bald man smiled.

"You said you wouldn't harm us!" Roman yelled and tried to struggle and let out a pained noise when the man holding him grabbed right into his wound.

"Shut up or you're next!" the bald guy laughed.

Patton was forced on his knees.
His whole body was shaking now.

He didn't want to die. There was so much he still needed to do. He wanted to see his parents again, introduce them to Logan and Roman. He wanted to tell the two how much they meant to him. He wanted to-

The man pulled his sword and held it high over Patton's head, ready to strike.

"Any last words?"

--~--

"He'll be fine," Persephone sighed and Janus felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. "He's going to need some time to recover but knowing him he's going to be gone again before it fully heals."

Janus nodded.

He had no idea why both of his brothers were like this. Why they couldn't just stay at home for a while without growing restless.

Well, not that Virgil really considered the castle his home.
Janus knew that he never would.
At least the mage knew that he could come back here whenever he needed help by now.

"Aren't you going to send soldiers after them?" Persephone asked staring at him with deep hazel eyes.

"Yes," he answered curtly.

She frowned.

"Why not? They almost killed him! I don't even care if they thought he did them wrong first!"

Janus sighed. "If I were to send soldiers out to hunt them down, you should know that Virgil would hunt my troups."

Each word seemed to burn on his tongue but he needed her to know that this was serious. He needed to tell the truth, no matter how hard it was and how many new scales would form.

Persephone was silent for a moment, the humming of her magic filled the air and seemed to wrap itself around him, to the point where it was the only thing he could hear.
She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths until the humming was only a background noise, quiet enough to dismiss.

"I guess you're right," she conceded and looked back at Virgil's sleeping figure on the bed. With another sigh, she turned on her heel and headed for the door.
"I need to write a letter. Even if we can't have them hunted down, I won't pet them get away with trying to murder him."

Janus wanted to tell her that he agreed but his tongue already burned and he couldn't bring himself to say the truth again.
So instead, he just kept quiet.

--~--

"Please don't," Patton whimpered and the blade came rushing down.

Chapter Text

"Please don't," Patton whimpered and Logan heard himself scream.
Next to him Roman kicked the man holding him in the shin.
Much too late to do anything as the bandit's sword met Patton's neck.

And shattered.

Shards of metal flew in every direction.

The bandit stumbled backwards staring at the broken sword in his grip.

"What the-?" the boss crossed the distance in a few large strides, took a long swing with his club and smashed it against Patton's head.

The heavy wood burst.

The man who had held Patton down let the bag he was holding fall to the ground and stumbled back.

"What is this witchcraft?" another yelled panicked.

"I'm out of here!" one ran into the woods letting the bag he had stolen slip from his shoulder.

"Me too! I don't wanna die!"

"Hey!" the boss yelled after them. "Get your asses back here!"

But Logan could see the sweat forming on his forehead even from across the five or six meters between them.

His men didn't listen. They fled back into the forest leaving their things behind, too scared to stay rational or organised.

The boss was alone now.
He looked down at his broken club, at Patton who was still covering on the floor and Logan could see his breath quicken. He stumbled backwards and ran.

Logan scrambled over to Patton as soon as the bandit had disappeared in the trees.

"Are you alright?" he asked and tried to get a good look at Patton's neck and head.

"I'm- I'm fine... I think," Patton stuttered. Logan gently turned his head and froze.

Not really because Patton didn't have any injury, only a few wood splinters in his hair, but because the moment his hand had touched the others chin light blue glowing markings had spread all over the bakers skin and darker blue ones over his own arms and - judging by how Patton stared at him in shock and awe - also his face.
From the markings a soothing sensation filled his body.

"What the actual fuck?!" Roman's voice ripped him from his thoughts.

The prince stared at them wide eyed.

"This looks familiar," Patton mumbled tracing the markings on Logan's arm.

"You're right...," Logan realised but he couldn't remember where he had seen them before. He felt slightly dazed but in a good way.

"Holy-," Roman scrambled over to where the bandits had dropped their bags and began looking through Logan's things.

"What are you doing there?" Logan complained and got up. The moment he wasn't touching Patton anymore the markings and with them the weirdly familiar feeling disappeared again.

"No, stay together!" Roman called and came back with one of Logan's books. Or rather the book with the Sphere of Live in it. He kneeled down next to them and quickly flipped through the pages. Logan almost expected one of the old pages to rip.
Then Roman found the page he had been looking for.

All three of them looked at the drawing of the sphere with all its markings.
The markings that matched with the ones on Logan's and Patton's skin.

"How-?" Patton cut himself off. "What's the meaning of this?"

"The sphere is said to change form...," Logan recalled numbly. "So maybe... It changed into people..."

--~--

It hurt.

It hurt like a bitch.

Virgil frowned at the bandages wrapped around his torso.

He shouldn't have listed to Janus.

He should have gone down to the dungeon.

Who cared if he hadn't seen Janus and Persephone in years?

He should have just listed to that damn feeling.

Roman probably had no idea just how right he had been when he had said 'You deserved that'.

How would he?

Virgil tried not to look at the exposed skin of his arms.

He'd rather be wearing a bloody shirt than be forced to look at the tally marks littered all over his body.
He had tried to count the tiny scars a lot of times but had never managed to.
If he was honest with himself he didn't even want to know how many they were.

He sighed and the wound stung painfully.

Virgil heard the door open but didn't bother to look who had come in.

"Hi, Jan," he simply greeted.

"How are you feeling?" the young king asked.

"Like someone stabbed me," Virgil deadpanned. He could hear Janus sigh. Then after a beat of silence, he spoke up again.

"Do you want me to punish them?"

The question hung in the air between the two of them. The 'just say yes, I'll make them sorry' went unspoken but still both of them knew it was there.

"No," Virgil shook his head. "I had it coming. It was my fault..."

He trailed off.

"And?" Janus prompted.

"And I don't want them to get hurt."

Silence stretched itself over them for what felt like forever but probably wasn't more than a few moments.
Virgil wasn't sure. His grip on time was slipping again.

"You won't have to tell that to Persephone."

At that Virgil finally looked at his not-quite brother.

"What do you mean by that?"

"She totally didn't want to write a letter..."

Virgil narrowed his eyes.

"To who?"

"Oh, I'm sure you have no idea," Janus retorted.

Virgil sighed and it hurt again.

"Wishful thinking. Of course, she'd write to him... Can I talk to her? Please?"

"I won't tell her that you want to talk," Janus turned to leave again.

It still was foreign to see the golden crown rest on his dark brown hair and Virgil doubted he'd ever get used to Janus being a king, not a prince.

He looked up at the white ceiling and tried to count the dark dirt spots until Persephone came. There was no way he'd be able to go to her himself right now.

He got to 41 when the white ceiling began to fade away and he instead found himself looking into a bright blue sky with only a few tiny clouds here and there.
He could feel the sun shine down on him and a slight breeze ruffled through his white bangs.
The smell of barbeque filled the air and made his mouth water.

--~--

When Persephone entered Virgil's room he was gone.

Not literally of course but his eye were glazed over and she knew that he was seeing something other than the dirty ceiling. Something she wouldn't ever be able to see.
As a witch she didn't have the same benefits of being able to simply bend her magic to her will like a mage could but at least she didn't have the same problems either.
She wondered how Virgil had survived in his years on the corrupted Islands.
Her gaze wandered to the tally mark scars on his arms and she decided that she didn't want to know.

--~--

"So, what you're saying is that we aren't looking for actual pieces of anything but people?" Roman asked sceptically.

"I don't know what else this could mean," Logan shrugged.

"That... changes things."

Chapter Text

Roman wasn't sure when he had begun to see beds as a luxury.
Probably somewhere between sleeping in the sallerowan forests and sleeping in a cold wet dungeon.

They had rented a room a small inn with the money the bandits had most likely stolen from other people but dropped when they had ran away.
Patton hadn't been too happy about using stolen money but had given in at the promise of a warm meal and a safe place for the night.

Logan sat on the floor studying the map. He had marked his and Patton's birthplaces and was trying to figure out where else they might find others.

From what they had discussed earlier and tested out it seemed that nothing could injure Patton anymore.
The baker had recalled that his and Logan's hands had brushed before the bandits had tried to kill him and Logan had noted that his eyesight had drastically improved all of a sudden so they guessed that touch was the trigger for... whatever exactly had happened.

It was weird to see Logan without his glasses. He had put them down since he didn't seem to need them anymore.
The librarian would move to push them up ever so often only to be reminded that he wasn't wearing them.

Patton sat on the other bed and tried to teach Elliott how to talk. The little dragon seemed to pick up the words quickly and Roman made a mental note not to swear infront of them.

He himself was lying on the bed he had claimed for himself and, now that he had switched out the bandages around his arm, was slowly dozing off.
The stitches hadn't ripped but the blood crust had broken and he had bleed through the old bandages.
He was still useless in a fight.

Even though he guessed it wasn't that bad now that Patton was more or less invincible he still felt guilty. Like a dead weight.
And now there most likely were teronan soldiers after them too.

Compared to when they had been running from the revolutionars they were at a disadvantage now.
They didn't know these lands, had no horses, couldn't fight and this time there were trained men on their heels.

He really ought to teach Patton how to use that bow...

He glanced out of the window. The forest was close by, there they could practice... And if they wanted to it be better to do it now than when it got dark...

--~--

So they had found out the truth.

Virgil bit his lip.

That wasn't good.

He wished Roman had listened to him, wished he had just given up.

Because now all three of them had brought themselves in the middle of the conflict he himself had been part of for years.

Now there was no way back.

Their fate was sealed.

He doubted that they had any idea what they had gotten themselves into.

He hadn't known either back then. But to be fair nobody had warned him and he had been five.

But this was war. It wasn't fair, it wasn't kind. It took and it took and still couldn't still it's hunger for blood. It forced people to dye their hands red to survive.
It had been quiet for a long time, slowly boiling and soon it was going to boil over.

There would be blood.

Another massacre most likely, similar to the one that had drafted him against his will.

Another king would fall and he already knew by whose hands.

The question was just if it'd really be only one king who was going to die.

As much as he rejected the idea of Janus being his brother, he cared about the other. Plus, he owed him a life debt.
Janus had insisted that it was nothing, that anybody would have done the same but Virgil had spent too much time living with fae to ignore his debt.

He had bribed Persephone into giving him the strongest healing potion she knew, using the fact that she had sent the letter against her.
Combined with his own magic keeping the wound closed and the pain small he was planning on leaving tomorrow.

If he didn't want most of his life to be in vain he had to be at the right place when the king fell.

The journey to Sallerow was a long one, especially when you had a hole in your stomach.

The sooner he left, the more time he would have to get exactly where he wanted to be. To set his plan into motion.

He hoped that they wouldn't head back to Sallerow. He'd hate for them to get caught in the crossfire.
But it wasn't exactly unlikely.

He'd just have to make sure of that himself then.

His hands already were bloody enough and it wouldn't matter much it the massacre happened sooner or later. He'd end up even more of a monster by the end of it anyway.

He had asked Roman if he'd use silver to kill him for a reason.

--~--

By the time Roman and Patton went back inside the inn it was getting dark and Patton was drenched in sweat. If he wasn't invincible his fingers would likely be bleeding considering how many times Roman had made him shoot.

"This is hard!" Patton exclaimed.

Roman chuckled.

"Believe me, I know."

Logan looked up as they entered the room. He looked excited. And he was wearing his glasses again.

"I thought you didn't need those anymore?" he asked and set the quiver he had offered to carry down.

"Oh, I don't but it's weird to not wear them so I removed the lenses," Logan pushed them up and Roman had to fight a smile. Logan simply was too adorable.

Patton let himself almost fall onto the librarian and nuzzled his face into his neck. Two different shades of blue lit up the room, dim but still bright enough for Roman to see Logan smile and run a hand through Patton's golden locks.

Oh.

So they were...

A knot formed in his stomach.

He needed to get out of here. He didn't want to see this.

"I'm getting us some food," he announced and left the room quickly, closing the door behind him a bit harder than necessary.
As soon as he was outside of the inn he let himself fall onto a bench.

He was being stupid. He shouldn't feel like this! Why couldn't he just be happy for them?
He wasn't even jealous or anything. Why would he be? It wasn't like he liked either of them!

He didn't.

He didn't.

He didn't.

Hadn't, didn't and never would.

Because if he didn't he had no reason to be sad. No reason to feel like his heart was breaking in his chest.

He couldn't like them.

He didn't want to break.

A sob shook his body and he hid his face in his arms.

Roman only came back with food much later and immediately went to bed. If Patton or Logan noticed the faint tear tracks on his face or how his eyes were a bit too red and puffy they didn't mention it.

Only Elliott crawled into his bed a little later and curled up against the prince's stomach.
They purred softly until he fell into a deep dreamless sleep.

Chapter Text

Patton woke up early the next morning tangled in Logan's long limbs.
He felt comfortable like this with the soft blue glow on his skin wrapping him in a blanket of contentment.
But his shirt still smelt of sweat and he felt dirty so he carefully extracted himself from Logan and headed out to the lake he had seen while practicing last night.
His arms and shoulders were sore. He hadn't expected it to be this hard to fire a single arrow.

The lake had clear and cool water and even if it took a moment to get used to the temperature it felt nice against his skin.

He took the opportunity to wash his clothes then himself.

It had been longer than he wanted to admit that he had actually had a bath.
His hair was way too dirty for his liking so he held his breath and completely submerged his head in the water.

His fingers brushed over the back his neck.

There was no cut, no bruise not even a scratch.

He wasn't sure how he felt about this fact.

They had tested whether he could be harmed with Roman's silver sword too but it hadn't worked either.

Without the calming effect of touching Logan the knowledge of what he was felt like a boulder crushing him underneath itself.

Was he even an actual human?

He rapidly stood up and gasped for air.

The lack had begun to burn in his lungs.

That was something very human, wasn't it? An artifact didn't have to breathe. Right?

He didn't want to be anything but a normal human.

Patton left the lake and realised that he had no dry clothes with him so he pulled on the wet ones again and hurried back to the inn with the wet fabric clinging uncomfortably to his skin.
A breeze tussled his wet hair and he felt cold.

Shards didn't feel cold. Only living beings like humans could shiver. He was sure of that.

Logan was still asleep when Patton entered the room they had rented for the night.
Roman was up polishing his sword and raised an eyebrow when he saw Patton come in soaked in water.

"Did something happen or...?" he trailed off leaving the question open.

Patton just shrugged and searched his bag for dry clothes.
He found pants and underwear and even some socks but to his disappointment no shirt.
Did he really have only one shirt with him by now?
Darn it.

"Do you happen to have a shirt I could borrow?" he asked Roman sheepishly.

The prince once again looked up from his sword with a raised eyebrow.

"Please?" Patton added.

Roman set the sword besides and sauntered over to his own bag: "I should have one. Let me check. It's probably too big for you though."

"Thank you," Patton smiled at him. "Even if it's big, better than not wearing one."

Roman chuckled at that.

"I guess you're right. Not sure Logan would complain if you went topless though."

Patton blushed at the comment.

He wasn't sure what he and Logan were now.
They had shared a bed and cuddled and Logan had even pressed a short kiss against his temple.
Did that mean that they were in a relationship now?

Patton would have to ask the librarian later when he woke up.

He was brought back to reality by Roman tossing a bundle of fabric towards him.

"It's not completely clean but the best I can offer right now," the prince told him combing through his red hair with one hand.

"It's fine. Thank you!" Patton got changed as quickly as possible with the wet fabric sticking to his skin. It was a lot warmer.

Roman's shirt was as expected too big for him so he had to tug it into his pants and roll up the sleeves a bit.
The fabric was softer than he was used to and Roman's scent clung to it.
Patton found that he quite liked that.

When Logan still made no moves to wake up Patton decided to dig out one of the soup bottles and some bread for breakfast and get some water from the villages well.

By the time he came back Roman had woken Logan up and even Elliott greeted him tiredly before curling up around his neck mumbling something that sounded a lot like 'Dada' and made Patton's heart swell.

They ate in silence until Logan declared that he had an idea on what to do next and where to go.

"First off," he began, "we still need to find about four or eight others like us. We can assume that the others are around our age but seeing how little that narrows it down and since we can't exactly go around touching every person we think might be in the same age group as us I believe we shouldn't make looking for them our first priority right now.

"Instead I suggest we head to Sallerow. I know this might not sound reasonable but let me explain: Around here we are probably being hunted by the military by now so the best option would be to leave the country as soon as possible. There are three - no, actually four ways to leave Terona.
A) We go back to the cursed Islands. I would not suggest doing so since we almost died the first time and the only reason we survived and actually managed to get here is either dead or unable to sit up on his own. Not to mention that we're not on good terms with him.
B) We just jump off the next coast. I wouldn't recommend this either since as far as I'm aware none of us are suicidal and we all still have goals to fulfill. I'm just mentioning it to have all possibilities on the list.
C) We head back to Natica. Would be a good option but the bridges were destroyed and we have no guarantee that they have been rebuilt by the time we get there. Most likely they haven't. If the army is on our heels they could catch us in a dead end there.
And lastly D) We head back to Sallerow. There are only three bridges directly connecting Sallerow and Terona. Here on the map they should be somewhere under Natica. If we go there the teronan army won't be able to follow us without risking a war since they don't know about the revolution and we'll be far enough from Corinn that the people won't know what Roman looks like and we won't be attacked or hunted down."

Patton nodded. That made sense.

"And what do we do once we reach Sallerow?" Roman asked.

"Easy, if necessary we claim your kingdom back and then use your influence as a king to find the others. If the revolution was unsuccessful we can skip the reclaiming the throne bit," Logan explained and pushed up his glasses. "Or if we mess up, we die."

--~--

He felt only slightly guilty as he ripped the stolen shirt in two.
Patton could make do without it and he had never had much of a problem with stealing.
He pulled out a small knife and cut the fabric into the shapes he needed it to be.
This kind of stuff wasn't his field of expertise and way out of his comfort zone so he was extra careful with every cut and stitch he made even going so far as to doing them by hand.
This needed to be perfect.
He needed a reliable way to track them.

Chapter Text

Silence streched over the four of them when Logan had finished.

"You make that sound so easy," Roman said and his voice sounded weirdly hollow.

"I'm fully aware that it's not but right now it's our best chance. Besides, even if Patton and I are only two of about eight I believe there's plenty of magical power between the two of us. We just have to figure out how to use it then we could use it to our advantage."

Logan studied Patton's and Roman's faces. He wasn't good at reading people but he wanted to know if they trusted him with this.

Patton looked unsure, scared even, but he nodded slowly.

Roman was biting his lower lip.

"Alright," he finally said with a sigh. "Let's just hope we won't have to do that and that we'll just have to convince father. But that shouldn't be to hard once he sees you two glow."

"How long should the journey back to Sallerow take?" Patton asked.

"Not longer than the journey here if all goes well. But we'll have to go through a swamp and soon. If we keep a good pace most likely even today," Logan pointed at the Heratc swamp on the map. "But there should be marked paths so it's significantly less dangerous than the Cursed Islands."

"Then let's get going," Roman said and stood up.

They packed quickly having unpacked barely anything in the first place. They still had a lot of food too (one thing they could thank Virgil for if they ever saw him again) but Roman insisted on buying a loaf of bread from a small bakery.
Logan noticed the distant look in Patton's eyes as they stood in the small shop but decided not to mention it.
He missed the library too.

Instead he took Patton's hand in his own once they had left the village behind.
Emotions were complicated but he hoped that the marks would help somewhat.
Patton shot him a small smile so Logan assumed that it was working.

The walk was rather uneventful to Logan's surprise.
Not once did they spot soldiers in the towns and villages they passed through or in the distance behind them.

It was actually quite nice.

Terona was a beautiful country with fascinating flora and fauna, wonderful architecture and interesting sights.
Compared to the dull and scary hike through the cursed forest walking without having to fear for once life was great.

Logan hoped that they'd be able to walk like this for as long as possible.

It was early in the afternoon when they caught sight of the swamp in the distance and about an hour later they reached it.

There were wooden footbridges through the whole swamp and signs to keep travelers from getting lost. There were also a few warning signs not to fall for fairy lights, pixies trying to lure humans into the swamp or kelpie that might be found.

The water around them was almost black and smelt foul. The trees reminded Logan of the ones on the Cursed Islands in how they seemed too dark and old.

"I don't like this place," Patton mumbled.

"Me neither," Roman swatted a fly away.

"I don't think anyone would like a place like this," Logan agreed even if part of him was fascinated by it. He still didn't want to stay here longer than necessary.
Or go in the water.

For a moment he thought he saw movement just next to the footbridge in the dark water.
It was still weird just how much he could see now but even he couldn't tell just what had moved there. It had seemed too big for a fish.
He decided not to mention it.
Whatever it was likely wasn't hostile and he didn't want to cause Patton and Roman any unnecessary worries.

The deeper they got into the swamp the mistier it got.
At some point Roman stopped and pulled a rope out of his bag.

"Tie this around you wrists so we won't lose eachother," he instructed.

"The mist isn't that bad," Logan argued but took the rope anyway.

"Well, I already can't see further than maybe two metres and it could get even worse. Soon we might not be able to see at all. Better safe than sorry, right?"

Logan couldn't argue with that even if he himself could see a lot further than Roman could.
He said so aswell.

"Really?" Patton asked squinting into the mist.

"Guess you'll have to take the lead once Patton and I can't see anything," Roman shrugged and they went on.

Roman had been right about the mist getting worse.
Logan took the lead when he himself could barely see past the figurative five metre mark.

Again he noticed something shift in the water but again ignored it. Whatever that was didn't matter right now.

In the distance a light appeared over the water.

"That's a fairy light," Logan told Patton and Roman before either of them could even get the idea of following the light.

A wild cackle cut through the air and made all three of them jump.
There was a splashing noise and something laughing so hard that it seemed to have trouble breathing.

"That's... not a pixie," Roman frowned.

Logan forced them to go faster. He had a feeling that he didn't want to know what it was.

They reached a crossroad and Logan paused. His Falé was rusty and the old signs were hard to read after years of humid surroundings but he managed.

'Certain Death!'

'Yunip'

'Witch Temple'
'Not so certain Death'

He scowled at the signs but pulled Patton and Roman down the path that lead to Yunip.

After a while he noticed that the mist was starting to clear and relive washed over him.

"I can see again!" Patton noticed a bit later.

They could speed up now that Patton and Roman didn't have to completely rely on Logan to guide them.
And maybe just pulling them along at the rope hadn't been the best thing to do on his part, he realised a little too late.

"How far can you see?" he asked after a while wanting to get a picture of just how big the difference was.

"Up to that... post? It's a post right?" Patton squinted at where he only saw a silhouette.

"So about three metres," Logan noted. So they saw about four metres less than he did.

The mist cleared even further.

For the third time he saw something move under the surface of the swamp.
Something big moved past them and suddenly a tentacle shot out of the muddy water.
It crashed onto the footbridge and mud sprayed in every direction.

Logan stumbled backwards.

That couldn't be good.

Chapter Text

The tentacle curled around the footbridge and for a moment Logan feared that that - whatever that was - was going to destroy the bridge.

Then the body broke through the surface of the muddy swamp water.

An arm - a surprisingly human arm - grabbed at the bridge and it pulled itself up.

The tentacle was pulled back to the body and disappeared in a surprisingly human torso.

The man - or at least it looked like a man -  stood up and turned to face them.

He grinned showing off his too-sharp teeth and his light green eyes seemed to glow in a deranged sorta way that made Logan want to get as far away from the man as possible.
He had a feeling that the man was all too comfortable with violence.

And nudity judging by his lack of clothes.

The man stood tall, legs a shoulder width apart and hands on his hips, facing them and he was completely naked.

Logan tried to keep his focus on the man's face or at least his muscular chest but his eyes kept slipping down against his will.

He noticed a leech sucking at the man's shoulder (and inner thigh) but the man himself ignored the creatures completely.

"Hello there!~" the man grinned cocking his head to the side. Mud water sprayed from his hair at the quick motion. "Not often I get... company around here!~"

He winked and made a circle motion with his hips.

Logan heard Patton gag behind him. He couldn't blame him.

"Who are you?" Roman asked warily.

The man giggled.

"Oooh~ So demanding!~"

"What's your name?" Roman tried again.

"Whatever you want it to be, big boy~"

Roman physically recoiled at that.

"Jokes aside!" the stranger laughed like a mad man. "My name is Remus."

He gave a bow pressing one hand to his chest, still grinning at them.

"Remus of Terona, second to the throne, if you're into that formal stuff."

Logan felt light-headed.

Of course.
Of fucking course, they couldn't just escape from the teronan army and royal family after what they had pulled back at the castle! No, instead they just had to run into one of Virgil's older brothers.

"And who are you?" Remus asked with a wink.

Logan was beginning to wonder if that sharp grin was permanently etched into Remus' face or if he did it on purpose just to be disturbing.

"Just some travellers passing through," Roman responded curtly.

Remus scowled and jawned theatrically.

"Yeah, sure. You know my older brother has this curse thing that makes him a permanent liar," Remus told them cleaning out his ear with one finger, suddenly just looking bored. "And even though I know that Jan-Jan always lies," Remus inspected his finger before turning to look at them again," he's a lot more convincing than you."

A grin broke out on Remus' face again as Logan noticed Roman tense.

"Soo, could it be that you are the people Perse wrote about?" Remus pulled a mace out of seemingly nowhere. Logan vaguely wondered who 'Perse' was. "The ones that stabbed Virgin?"

Patton flinched at the accusation and Remus lunged with a feral cry.

Roman pushed Logan and Patton back and pulled his sword.
Logan noticed his slightly wince and realised with a start that Roman's injured arm was his sword arm.

Remus laughed like a maniac as he swung his mace. It crashed into one of the nearest supporting pillar and the wood burst.

Roman cut the rope tying his to Patton to get more room of movement and tried to find an opening.
He couldn't block right now.
To his surprise, Remus left lots of openings.

Whenever the heavy mace crashed into wood and he had to pull it back up he left his entire body open.

Logan couldn't understand why Roman didn't just take the damn strike.

Next to him Patton pulled an arrow from his quiver.
The baker's hand's were shacking.

"Can you do this?" Logan asked.

Patton pressed his lips together and shrugged and fired.

The arrow was stopped midair by a green slimy tentacle coming from Remus' back.

"What the fuck are you?" Roman blurted out.

"I don't know!" Remus laughed. "Something not human."

He shrugged pulling his shoulders up to his ears.

"How can you not know what you are?!" Patton shouted and even Logan recognised the fear in his voice.

Remus let the head of his mace drop to the ground not minding that the wood almost broke through.

"Well, you see, I was human. Once. But that was boooring. So," he shrugged again," I decided not to be boring anymore. Who knows what worked!"

Logan stared at the man flabbergasted.
In theory, there were plenty of ways to become 'something else'.
Rituals, poisons, spells, potions or curses.
But most people avoided those due to the risks they brought with them and this guy... had actively sought them out?
Whatever doubts Logan had had about the man being completely insane vanished.

Remus holstered his maze back up and swung at Roman again who jumped backwards landing at the edge of the footwalk.

Remus giggled.

"Looks like someone's gonna take a bath!~" he took a swing, aiming for Roman only to
collapse like a puppet whose strings had been cut. The mace crashed onto the bridge again.

For a few tense seconds none of them dared to move.

Then Roman hesitantly got closer, crouched down and poked Remus' shoulder (the one without a leech) keeping his sword ready to strike.

Logan gasped when green glowing lines appeared on Remus' naked body.

The madman was one of them.

His gaze wandered over to Roman, frozen in something that was neither surprise nor really shock, staring down at the red glowing swirl on his own hand.

"What the heck?" Patton whispered next to him almost inaudible.

"Roman?" Logan asked barely louder.

The prince looked up as if shaken out of a trance, green eyes wide.

He tried to say something but seemed to choke on the words.

"What-?" was the only thing the prince managed to say before he bent over and threw up into the swamp.

Chapter Text

Roman's head was spinning.
He still sat on the damp wood and he was pretty sure that he wouldn't have been able to get up if he wanted to.
The red glow had burned itself into his mind.

Gods, how stupid was he?
He had been on this goddamn quest for what? Two weeks now?
And the entire time had been looking for something that was right in front of him.
Including himself.

And this fucking freak that was now lying infront of him, motionless except for the rising and sinking of his chest.

"What do we do now?," Patton asked quietly. "I mean, with him. We can't just leave him here, can we?"

"I doubt we can convince him to come with us either," Logan stated with a frown. "It's understandable that he's angry at us."

Roman just listed.

He felt weird. Like something was... different. Not wrong per se, but different.
Patton had said that suddenly being invincible hadn't left him feeling any different but Logan had complained about an itchy feeling behind his eyes.
Was this something like that?
But then it wouldn't be spread over his entire body like this, would it?

"But I would like to ask him a few questions. He mentioned a certain 'Perse' who apparently told him about us and he mentioned that his older brother was cursed. Which, if he was telling the truth, would be the king," Logan continued.

"So, we just wait for him to wake up?" Patton asked.

"If both of you agree to do so, yes," Logan looked at Patton and Roman expectantly.

"Yes," Elliott said from where they were curled around Patton's neck.

Roman realised with a start how much bigger they had become. Elliott's head was about as big as his fist now.
When had they grown so much?

"Fine by me," Patton shrugged a little, his shoulders weighted down by the dragon. "We haven't had dinner yet anyway so we might as well eat now."

The attention shifted to Roman.

"Soundgoodtome," he said. The words sounded too fast even to him.

Patton tilted his head to the side in confusion.

"What?"

"Sounds good to me," Roman repeated. He didn't even try to say it slower but somehow he did.

So Patton and Logan sat down and the baker pulled out one of their many soup bottles.

As much as Roman liked the soup he was glad they had gotten to eat something else to eat yesterday at the inn and part of him hoped that they'd run out soon. He was getting kinda sick of soup.

Elliott jumped into the water at some point and came back up with a small fish in their mouth. They ate it whole and for a while Roman expected them to spit out the boles and scales like a cat but they didn't.
Instead a bit of smoke left their mouth similar to when they had dissolved the lock or the cell floor.
Acid then.

"Ugh," someone groaned next to him and Roman's attention snapped back to Remus in an instant.

The teronan prince sat up slowly rubbing his head.

"Fuck that hurt!" he complained.

"Fuck?" Elliott repeated and for a moment Roman feared Patton would murder the guy for teaching his kid that kind of language.

He didn't but instead shot Remus a glare.

"The fuck is that?" Remus asked looking at Elliott. "A lizard?"

"They're a dragon," Logan corrected.

Remus seemed to only notice their presence now.
His surprised expression quickly shifted into a glare.

"What are you still doing here? Do you want me to mace your faces?"

"No," Logan answered seriously. "But I wanted to ask you a few things."

Remus' eyebrows crept higher with every word.

"And what makes you think I won't just kill you?"

It was a pretty good question in Roman's opinion.

"You haven't so far and you body is relaxed. If you were to attack I'd see it coming," Logan replied pushing up his glasses.

"Oh, really?" Remus cocked his head to the side.

A tentacle shot out from his back towards Logan only to freeze millimetres before him.

Remus frowned.

"You didn't even flinch," he said, confusion and a bit of disappointment slipped into his tone.

"Why would I?" Logan asked. "If you'd intend on hurting me you would have done so just now. But for some reason you didn't. Why? And why did you just pass out earlier? Could it be that the two things are connected?"

Remus flinched.

"So they are," Logan concluded. "Would you mind telling me how?"

"You're scary," Remus said with wide eyes and moved to hide behind Roman.

Roman stared at the other prince. This man who wasn't human anymore, who had tentacles and sharp teeth and who had almost beaten him to death just about an hour earlier, who was now seeking shelter behind him from a librarian who had paled at the thought of having to buy a weapon for himself.
He felt like it should be funny but couldn't bring himself to smile.

Logan looked surprised too.

"Why do you think I'm scary?" he asked.

"Too smart."

Logan seemed to think about that for a moment.

"To us, you are scary," Patton said hugging his legs close to his chest.

"Let's just get this over with," Logan spoke up again after a few moments of awkward silence. "Who's Perse?"

Whatever questions Remus had expected, that wasn't one of them judging by his face.

"My little sister," he finally said. "Persephone. But some people call her the Dragon Witch these days."

Logan nodded to himself.

Roman couldn't understand how he was so calm. If a witch was part of the royal family then they were even more fucked then they had thought.
What kind of royal family was this even?
A king with a snake face, a non-human freak, a witch and a mage.
Roman hoped that they wouldn't find out about any more family members like a fae cousin or maybe a demon aunt.

"You also mentioned that your older brother was cursed," Logan carried on. "Care to elaborate?"

"Wait, you don't know about that?" Remus exclaimed. "Did you miss the fact that half his face has scales?"

"Well, sorry we didn't make the connection that he was fucking cursed," Roman snapped at him.

"Fucking!" Elliott repeated.

Roman didn't dare to look over at Patton. Logan send him a disapproving look but even without looking he could feel Patton's glare.

"What kind of curse is it?" Logan continued.

"Oh, he pissed off the former royal mage once by lying to him so the guy was like 'Fine, I've you're gonna be a liar be a liar, you fucking snake!' and since then Jan-Jan always lies even if he doesn't want to. Except for if he really, really wants to. Then he sometimes manages to tell the truth. And because the guards are too stupid to get it there usually has to be one of us nearby to correct them. Well, except for Virge. He's no good when it comes to that."

"So," Logan hesitated a little, "if he were to say 'Throw them in the dungeon' what would he mean?"

Remus shrugged.

"Probably something like 'bring them to their rooms', I guess. Why?"

"Fuck," Patton cursed earning him shocked looks from the other three men.

"Fuck," Elliott repeated.

Chapter Text

Virgil didn't regret stealing from Patton. Not one bit.
Rituals were more witchcraft than pure magic like he used it but over the years of living together he and Persephone had both picked up certain things from eachother.
Still he didn't have too much faith in the talisman like thing (he didn't know what it was actually called and quite frankly he didn't give a shit) he had sewn together.
Still he had considered it his best chance to keep track of them.
He had chosen to track Patton because he had deemed him the one least likely to get left behind or abandoned by the other two. And he hadn't felt like stealing from all three and making this weird thing three times.

To be honest he hadn't expected the thing to work this well - if at all.
The distress it was radiating was about a subtle as the Big Ben's chimes when you're standing just next to it. Like, so close that it actually hits you in the face while chiming and breaks your nose.

The problem was that Virgil had little to no idea what to do.
Should he ignore it?
Take action?
If yes, what should he do?

He decided to find out what was going on first.

Giving in to the slight pull of a coming high he slipped out of his body.
It was hard to actually describe it - especially since he didn't want to use vague terms like 'soul' - but this in-between state of being-there and nonexistence was what mages sometimes used to imitate voices to influence people subtly. Just that actual voices couldn't physically interact with the world around them at all and tended to have no ulterior motives while giving their advice.

With little regard for how his body collapsed onto a heap of leaves he followed the magic connecting his talisman-thing to Patton.
With body it would have likely taken much longer to cross the distance between them and him but barely existing came with a few perks such as being able to cross over twenty miles in a few seconds.

The first thing he took note of was the thick fog of a swamp.
The second was Remus.

Remus looked... different.

That he was naked wasn't much of a shock, Remus had a weird habit of loosing his clothes in strange ways or for - at best - confusing reasons.
They had learned to just deal with it eventually.

The difference was more that Virgil hadn't seen him since when he had barely hit puberty.
Remus had gotten tall and wide. He had filled out and instead of the lanky teen Virgil remembered he was now looking at a muscular young man.

Then there was the fact that apparently he had managed to fulfill the goal he had set out to complete.
There was energy running in his veins.

And he was swinging a mace at Roman.

Jesus fucking Christ.

Persephone was going to pay for this.

Virgil collected magic, taking advantage of the noise of his adoptive brother trying to murder his crush and almost murderer, and let it go in a burst just next to Remus' head.

Using magic in this state was slightly uncomfortable and Virgil cringed at the feeling in his hand (?) as Remus collapsed onto the wood.
Then he pulled him into the in-between.

"What the hell?!" Remus looked around frantically and tried to poke his own motionless body.

"Stop that," Virgil told him. "We need to talk."

Remus looked at him in surprise, blinking a few times.

"Virgil?" Remus looked back down at his body and seemed to put two and two together. "Why did you stop me? They stabbed you, didn't they?"

Virgil sighed.

"I deserved it. And I stopped you because I don't want you to fucking kill them. I can protect myself, you know?"

He couldn't help the anger slipping into his voice but did his best not to yell.
Yelling was too close to screaming. He didn't want to risk crossing that line.

"Yeah, yeah, calm down," Remus puts up his hand in a gesture of surrender. "I get it. I won't kill them."

Virgil took a deep breath to calm down.

"But what makes you think you deserved to get stabbed?" Remus asked. "According to Perse it's a pretty bad wound."

"I fucked up. Roman was right to stab me. Besides... Do you know who his father is?"

Remus gave him a confused look.

"No. What does it matter?"

Virgil created a flickering image in the space between them of the man as he remembered him with a low hum.

"Oh," was all Remus said.

Virgil let the illusion fade and noticed Remus frowning at him.

"What?"

"If I can't kill him, can I at least kill that bastard?", Remus gestured to where the image had been just moments before.

Virgil shook his head.

"No. I want to do that myself," he decided, leaving no room for argument.

Remus pouted.

"Fine!" he then agreed, crossing his arms. "But you better make it really fucking painful!" he added and something dark glimmered in his eyes.

Virgil smirked.

"That was the plan."

He gave Remus a slight push back into his body and watched him stir before deciding that his job here was done.

He pulled himself back into his body and almost threw up.

Turns out letting ones body collapse in the middle of a forest to talk your adoptive brother out of murder was kind of a stupid idea with a god damn hole in ones stomach.
He had bled through his shirt and the pain was paralyzing.

Holy Gerard Way.

He brought a shaking hand to his stomach and screamed as the pain flared up.

Virgil hated using magic like this. Hated turning screams into energy even if it was so much easier compared to speech or humming.
And pained whimpers had never been good for it at all.

Trying not to let the darkness tugging at the edge of his vision take over he wrapped the magic around the wound tightly to stop the bleeding. The pressure made the pain even worse and he lost the battle against unconsciousness, slipping into the darkness.

Chapter Text

Patton didn't like Remus very much.
Simply the fact that he didn't seem to have any clothes made the baker extremely uncomfortable. The tentacles and the behaviour didn't exactly help.

So he couldn't say that he was disappointed or sad when Logan had asked Remus to come with them and Remus had laughed manically and told him that there was no hecking way he would.

He hadn't said 'hecking' but Patton still felt guilty from swearing earlier and even if he hadn't been the one to do it he also felt guilty for Roman stabbing Virgil, so he didn't want to make it any worse by swearing even more.

Sure, they hadn't known about the king's curse and it would've been nice if someone could have told the guards and they hadn't have to sleep in the gross dungeon, but there was a high chance that Virgil could die because of them.

Patton remembered the blood that had dripped onto the stairs and felt sick. There had been so much.
Too much.

Remus refused to tell them why he didn't want to come with them (Patton guessed it was the stabbing-thing) or why he had so suddenly given up on killing them, no matter how many pointed questions Logan asked.
He just told them that he'd head back to the castle and then he jumped back into the swamp.
Black water sprayed onto the footwalk and Patton barely managed to protected his face form it.

Somewhere in the fog he heard Remus cackle and the sound send shivers down his spine.

Patton grabbed Logan's hand and let all the bad feelings be washed away.
Logan shot him a confused look so Patton forced a smile onto his face to silently reassure him that he was fine. It was a lot easier with the comforting touch and seemed to convince Logan.

Elliott had curled around his shoulders. They had not only gotten a lot bigger since the last time they had done so but also heavier, not that Patton minded.

"So..." Roman spoke up staring into the fog where Remus had disappeared. "Let's just... move on, then."

He stood up and hesitantly offered a hand to Patton and Logan.

Patton took it, feeling like he could use the help getting up, and regretted it immediately.

Touching Logan was like being wrapped up in a warm, soft blanket and held while the marks his skin softly glowed, like distant stars in the night sky.

Touching Roman as well was like being hit by a giant, incredibly fluffy, overly excited dog and tackled to the ground while the marks lit up like a match being held into a candle.

Logan and Roman dropped his hands at the same time and once he had regained his balance somewhat Patton saw the confusion he was feeling on their faces.

"That was...," Logan adjusted his glasses, seemingly looking for the right word, "a lot."

"Maybe we shouldn't do that," Patton suggested. "Or at least not suddenly."

Roman nodded, staring down at his hands as if the tiny scars and callouses could spell out an explanation to this entire situation.

They mostly walked in silence even after they finally left the swamp behind them.
The sun stood low over the horizon, bathing the entire country side in an orange and yellow hue.

It reminded Patton of the late summer evenings on his mothers' farm and paintings he had seen in temples or in the castle, except that the paintings only showed how beautiful the gras and trees looked in this light and not how flattering it was on people.

Patton tried not to stare at the other two men and failed miserably.

Logan's features looked softer like this and his dark hair contrasted against his pale skin. A few strands fell into his face after the long day and they had gotten a bit wavy from the moist swamp air.
His lips were thin and Patton wondered what they'd fell like against his and tried to shake of the fantasy before his blush became too obvious.

Roman's skin looked almost golden like dark honey. He had rolled up his sleeves and Patton noticed a few small freckles on his arms where they weren't covered by bandages.
His hair looked like fire in the sunset and most of it had slipped from the short ponytail, framing his face nicely.

Being around them felt like home.
It felt like winter evenings by the fire place, cuddling up to Mum and Mama and eating sweets. It felt the way a freshly baked bread smelt and butterfly wings fluttering over his skin, surrounded by fields of flowers.

Thinking about it he realised that - despite of the disgust he had felt - part of him had been disappointed when Remus had disappeared.

Did that mean...
Where these feelings only because they were part of a bigger whole?
Wasn't this love after all?

Was he even capable of actual love?

A broken piece wasn't supposed to feel anything like love.
So what if he only felt drawn to people because he longed to be complete?

No.
He loved his mothers'. He loved puppies and kittens. He loved baking and flowers and butterflies and he loved snow and he loved so many things.
Those feelings were his. They were real.

Right?

The doubt hung itself over him like a cloud, curling around itself, ever moving.

Without even thinking about it he grabbed onto the nearest hand.

Roman's eyes landed on him, the right one framed by a red glowing spiral and he gave the baker a small smile, squeezing his hand gently.

Patton forced himself to smile back before letting his gaze drift down to the light blue crescent moon like shape on the back of his hand.

He missed the way Logan's eyes narrowed at their entwined hands.

"We should reach a city called Yunip soon," he announced. "There we'll most likely find a place to stay for the night but we should be careful to avoid any unnecessary attention."

"We should also try to avoid any soldiers or guards we might see," Roman agreed and let go of Patton's hand, who silently mourned the contact.

Chapter Text

The city of Yunip was almost as busy as the capital though Logan supposed that might just be because of the late hour. From what he had read about Yunip it was 'never sleeping' and a city that had been built with the only intention of trade.
The main street was split in two by a river with multiple boats tied to landing stages.
Apparently this was not at all common since both Patton and Roman clearly hadn't seen something like it before.
Which in turn allowed Logan to study them react to something new (harmless) for the first time.

Roman raised an eyebrow at first but Logan quickly noticed him studying the boats out of the corner of his eye and leaning ever so slightly towards anybody talking about the boats or hiring sailors, even if he looked elsewhere.
Logan had the sneaking suspicion that - should the circumstances align - Roman wouldn't hesitate a second to steal a boat.
He hoped it wouldn't come to that and made sure to keep an eye on the prince.

Patton seemed to keep forgetting about it whenever he didn't look at the water for a while and Logan counted 27 instances where Patton moved to cross the street before remembering.
Judging by how the baker got increasingly unhappy with it he obviously was aware of this himself.

Logan had the urge to grab both of their hands - purely to keep Roman from doing something illegal and to make sure Patton wouldn't land in the water of course - but reminded himself that there was no way they'd stay unnoticed if he did.

"There are a few hotels around here but I wouldn't be surprised if they fill up real quick. We should get a room quickly and then get something to eat or something," Roman told them after they had been wandering around for a bit.

Logan was glad that he had paid attention to more things than which boat would be the easiest to steal.

They entered the first hotel they came across.
The lobby's walls were painted in a creamy orange, at a desk sat a young woman flipping through a book and two children ran around trying to catch eachother.
A set of stairs lead up to the rooms.

"Excuse me," Patton began, startling the woman slightly, before she gave them a practiced smile, "do have a room for three?"

"No, I'm sorry, all rooms are taken," her face didn't seem to move as she spoke and her eyes looked empty, passive, as if her mind was far away.

"Are you sure? You didn't even check anywhere," Logan questioned. He wasn't really an expert on the matter but at the last place they had stayed at the man had looked around for 'the list' for a few moments before being able to tell them that they could have a room.

"No, I'm sorry, all rooms are taken," she said with the exactly same inflection as before, except that she turned her head ever so slightly as if to make it seem like she was looking at him but her eyes were trained on a spot next to him and far behind him. "If you were willing to wait I could clear out a room for you."

"Uh, no, thank you. Thanks anyway!" Patton forced a smile.

"Animals are not allowed in the rooms," the woman said. "Please bring your pet into the stables."

"No!" Elliott protested from their spot in Patton's bag.

Their head was sticking out. For how long had they been peaking out? Had anyone noticed that Patton was carrying a toddler dragon around?
Nobody had tried to talk to them and Logan didn't recall any weird stares following them around the town.
Then again, his focus had been on a lot of things instead of the people and most people didn't go towards potential danger.

"We're already leaving," Roman frowned, his tone wary, putting one hand on Patton's shoulder to gently push the baker towards the exit.

"Have a nice day. I hope you enjoyed your stay. Come again soon," the woman turned her head again to look past Roman, her smile unwavering.

"Bye," one of the children called as they passed a smile identical to the woman's on their face.
And maybe he was just freaking out but there was something wrong with the child. Logan could have sworn that their skin had a weird shine to it and that their movements weren't quite right.
A child but slightly to the left.
The other child didn't seem to be aware of the men at all, their eyes glazed over.

"That was weird," Patton mumbled once they were back outside on the street, shivering slightly.

By the twenty-fifth hotel Logan was beginning it accept that they'd be sleeping outside tonight.
They had done so in the forest but the streets were a lot dirtier. At least not as filthy as the dungeon.

Still he followed Patton into the small tavern.

The sun had gone down by now and cold air and fog were rising from the river.

A large woman was cleaning the counter and at the tables the townspeople sat, drank and played cards.
It smelt of alcohol, grease and fish and before they even made it to the counter a fight broke out between two men at one of the tables.
One slammed the other's head against a window and the sound of shattering glass made Logan jump.
Some people laughed.

"Excuse me," Patton almost had to yell to be heard over the noise.

"One second," the woman put up a finger. "Cleaves! I saw that! You're paying for that window!" she screamed across the room before turning back to Patton. "What can I do for you?"

"The sign outside said that there were rooms here for people to stay over night. Do you happen to have enough room for the three of us?" Patton gave her a smile and even though it wasn't even directed at him and he could barely see it Logan felt his knees go weak.

"You're lucky," the woman said and bent down to fish out a key from under the counter. "One room left. Four beds. How long will you be staying?"

"Just this one night."

"Alright, that'll be 56,84 Shel."

One of the men who had been fighting waddled up to her clearly drunk.

"Sorry, 'mantha," he mumbled and slid some money over the counter.

"Go home. Your husband's waiting," she told him and counted the money quickly. "And he won't be happy that you're broke again."

"'m not broke," the man protested but stumbled towards the door, passing a wealth looking man coming in. "Or drunk!"

Logan payed for the room since he currently held their money, having been voted the most responsible to do so.

"The room's up the stairs to the left at the end of the hallway," the woman explain and went over to another customer to fill up his drink.

The stairs were steep and dread curled in Logan's stomach at having to climb them, his legs aching painfully.
With a sigh he grabbed the railing.

"Excuse me, do you have a place for the night?" the man that had just come in asked ' 'mantha' behind them. He had a sallerowan accent similar to Roman's.

"No, sorry, last room was just taken," she said without looking up.

"Oh, fiddlesticks," the man muttered making the word sound like a curse.

Patton shot Roman and Logan a look and Logan only shrugged in response.
Patton seemed to take it as an agreement.

"Actually, sir, we have a bed more than we need! You can have it if you want to," the baker offered.

The man's face lit up.

"Really? Thank you so much! I promise I won't bother you! Remy claims I snore sometimes but I'm pretty sure that's the bear!" he smiled.

Roman flinched slightly at the name and Patton's eyes widened.
The name sounded familiar but Logan wasn't sure where he had heard it before.

The man seemed to notice too and his smile fell.

"Oh, dear. Do you know my husband?"

"Probably not!" Roman forced a smile. "It's a common name, isn't it?"

"It's not," Logan told him. "Not at all."

Roman's eyes got a bit wider.

"Let's just go upstairs to our room!" he blurted out. "It's been a long day!"

Patton followed him immediately.
Logan stared after the two in confusion.

"Yep," the man popped the 'p' and sighed. "They know my husband."

When Logan and the man got upstairs Roman and Patton were waiting for them. Logan shot them a questioning look to with Roman responded with a curt "No key."
Logan rolled his eyes and unlocked the door letting the other three in before letting himself fall onto the nearest bed.

"By the way," the man piped up, "my name is Emile. Emile Picani. Thank you for letting me stay with you."

Emile Picani.
The name was a lot more familiar than 'Remy'.
Logan slowly lifted his head to study the man.

Glasses, soft features, older than any of them, expensive and soft looking clothing in pale tones, worn leather suitcase, ink stains on his fingers, curious bright eyes.

"You mean as in Dr. Emile Picani, author of several essays about magic, it's different forms and Magically Induced Madness?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah. I like to think I'm the only Dr. Picani around," he smiled.

Logan sat up in an instant.

"Your paper on MIM is incredible! The analysis of words commonly used by mages is unparalleled! How did you manage to figure out so much about the meanings of those so called 'slangs'?"

Emile looked surprised before a smile broke out on his face again.

"Well, Remy was a lot of help with that. After living with him for a while I started to kinda  notice in what contexts he used words like 'yeet' so I was able to figure out what it might mean. Can I ask where you've read my works? Not many people your age have read them."

"I grew up in the Library of Natica," Logan shrugged. "And they were very interesting. So I read all of them. If you know some of those words could you perhaps help me with something?"

He began to search through his bag for his notebook.

"Depends with what."

"Well, I met a mage not too long ago and I wrote down some of the things he said that confused me, so I was wondering if you could tell me what they meant," Logan explained as he flipped through the book until he found the right page.

"I can try my best," Emile shrugged.

"What does 'Netflix and Chill' mean?"

The smile fell from Picani's face.

"Oh, dear... In what context was that?"

"Well, he told us 'No Netflix and chill in my house' as we were staying there for a night."

"Uhm, that basically means that... He didn't want you to have sex," Emile looked deeply uncomfortable.

Roman choked on air and Logan wasn't sure if he was laughing or coughing.

"What's sex?" Elliott spoke up, looking out of the bag again.

Logan saw the exact moment when Emile spotted the dragon, eyes going wide in surprise, and the exact moment Patton registered the words and his face morphed into a mask of terror.

"A vegetable!" the baker blurted out.

"That's just a snake!" Logan blurted in turn trying to move in between Emile and Elliott even if that meant getting up from the bed.

Picani might be someone he had looked up to and admired for years but the fear that he might do something - anything - bad to Elliott made his throat close up.

"I'm not a snake!" Elliott stumbled slightly over the 's'.

Roman had recovered enough from his coughing fit to pull his sword close.

Logan only managed to appreciate the gesture for a moment before the realisation that that was a mistake hit him.

Because Emile's eyes widened even more at the sight of the sword.
The damn sword that still had the sallerowan crest on it and was a national treasure.

Apparently a relaxing night in safety was just too much to ask for, Logan thought bitterly.
They hadn't even gotten the chance to eat.

Chapter Text

Everything hurt.
Fuck, had he been hit by a bullet train or something?
Was he in an Isekai now?
God, he hoped not.
Slowly he opened his eyes and the pain in his head got worse.
He was either malnutritioned or thirsty. Or both.
At least there were no cat girls in sight.

Virgil tried to take a deep breath only to find that he couldn't.
With a lot more effort that it should have taken he managed to lift his head and look at his chest.

There was no rhino sitting on him to his surprise but a dried blood stain on his shirt.

Oh.

OH.

"Fucking hell," he gritted out between clenched teeth and adjusted the incorperal magic tourniquet until he could breathe again.

There was no sunlight filtering through the leaves above him. Only his lantern burned with bright magenta flames.

He grabbed it and stemmed it into the dirt to lift himself up and get into a sitting position, trying not to scream in pain.
His vision swam and he had to cling onto the lantern to avoid just falling back down.

After a few minutes he finally managed to get his breathing under control.

Fuck, how long had he been out?

It was night now, so a few hours at least.

Part of him wanted to get up and make up for the lost time but the other part knew that his body wouldn't make it for long.
Mortal human bodies were too fragile after all.

"Guess I'm spending the night here," he sighed and his throat felt like sandpaper.

His eyes fell onto the talisman that once had been Patton's shirt.
If these idiots had gotten themselves killed while he was out he'd find a way to bring them back only to kill them again.

And maybe check out, but that was besides the point.
In movies the hot people were always shirtless during torture. There was probably a good reason for that.
That wasn't hot sweaty abs, though Virgil wouldn't complain if that was the only reason.

When had he gone from protecting straight (well, not really) to torture?

Jesus Christ, he was horrible at this.

-~-

"I knew I had seen you before, Prince Roman," Emile hadn't taken his eyes off Roman's sword.

It had been a while since someone had actually called him by his title, Roman realised. Probably because there was a revolution against his family.

"That also explains how you know my husband," Emile continued and Roman wished he could read the man. He had no idea whether Emile was happy, angry or sad about the revelation.

"What's a prince? And what's a husband?" Elliott asked, oblivious to the tension in the room and tried to crawl further out of the bag.

Emile's focus shifted over to them.

"You know, I can tell the difference between a snake and a dragon. I've seen a few dragons before on my travels."

"Don't hurt them," Logan tried to sound commanding but came out as more of a plea.

"Don't worry! I won't hurt them! Giges Invitum are already too rare! They're such beautiful creatures!" Emile held up his hands as if to show that he was harmless.

Roman watched Logan and Patton relax.

"And as for you," Emile turned back to Roman," Remy told me about what happened at the capital. I am... so sorry for your loss."

The words were spoken gentle and heavy with meaning.

They wrapped themselves around Roman, paralyzing him, squeezed his throat and all he could do was sit there and stare as his world fell apart.
The tears came slowly, gathering in his eyes until they finally spilled over.

"What?" his voice cracked.

Emile's eyes went wide.

"You didn't know? I- I'm so sorry! I thought- I'm sorry-," he gathered himself before speaking again. "I'm sorry to tell you but your brother, Damien, is dead. He died defending the king."

Roman couldn't breathe. His vision swam.

"Roman?" Logan asked gently and slowly put a hand on his shoulder.

He flinched away from the touch.

"I- I need," Roman choked on the words. "I need some air."

He stumbled towards the door.

"Roman, I don't think you should be alone right now," Logan insisted gently.

"I want- I want to be-," Gods, he couldn't fucking breathe. The walls of the room were suddenly too close and he needed to get out out out-

Roman was half aware that he nearly fell down the stairs but it didn't matter. The air down here was even thicker.
Cold air hit his face and suddenly he was outside.
There were so many people- too many- why were there so many people here? He wanted to be alone!

He ducked into the nearest alleyway until the shadows hid him and finally allowed himself to collapse.

"Why?" he tried to ask but nothing came out. "Why? Why? Why? Why?"

No one answered.

"I was supposed to protect them! So, why-? Why him?"

Sobs shock through his entire body.

"He's too young. He can't- He's too young!"

He desperately tried to get air back into his lungs and looked up into the blurry night sky.

"Why did you take him away? Why?"

No one answered. None of the gods he had prayed to to keep his family safe answered.

"You- You're not supposed to take children! You're supposed to protect them and keep them safe and he was a child!"

Roman tried to wipe away his tears.

"He was just a child..."

He had no idea how long he sat there but by the time he finally stopped crying he was shivering and his head was pounding and he realised that Emile had said nothing about the rest of his family. Were they gone too?

A chirping noise caught his attention and a scaly head pressed itself against his elbow.

Hey, Elliott," Roman's voice was raw. "What are you doing here?"

They nudged his cheek gently.

"Mum said you shouldn't be alone," they explained. "Why is your face wet?"

Roman gently scooped them up.

"I cried. That's something people do when they are very sad," he explained. "Let's go back inside, shall we?"

Elliott nodded and he felt it more than saw.

So Roman staggered to his feet and took a few steps towards the exit of the alleyway before stopping.

"Hold on, I can't just walk in there carrying you like this," he realised. "It would cause a riot."

"I don't know what that is but Dad said I should stay hidden too. So I found another way out!" Elliott sounded proud of themselves. "It's on the other side!"

They pointed with one clawed paw.

"Good job, kid," Roman pat their head. They were so young in such a cruel world. Roman would keep them safe. They deserved the world and he'd be damned if he didn't do his fucking best to give it to them. The way he had failed to with Damien. New tears threatened to spill but he blinked them away. Part of him that he had cried out every last tear inside of him but apparently he still had some left.
His breath hitched slightly.

Elliott turned their head, looking up at him with round, black eyes.

"What's wrong?" they asked.

"Nothing," Roman lied.

He rounded the corner and Elliott wiggled excitedly in his arms gesturing wildly at the old set of stairs that led up to an even older door on the second floor.
They climbed up onto Roman's shoulders, something the prince was secretly grateful for; in their excitement Elliott had hit against his wound a couple of times. It hadn't reopened or anything, but it still hurt.

The stairs creaked under Roman's weight but luckily didn't give in.

"It's open," Elliott told him as soon as he stood in front of the door. "You just have to push a little."

Roman followed the instructions and the door gave in with the sound of brittle wood breaking. He managed to keep it from falling over and leaned the two biggest pieces against eachother to make it look like the door was closed. A few smaller splinters had fallen to the floor and he kicked them outside.

He was on the other end of the hallway from their room. From downstairs he could hear music and voices overlapping until they were one big white noise, interrupted by the occasional laughter.

It was weird. For him, part of his world had fallen apart tonight, but for those people this night was like any other. They kept drinking and laughing and joking and singing along to the music, completely unaware of his breakdown.
He passed the stair case leading down to the bar and felt like he was looking into another world, so incredibly far away, yet he'd only have to walk down maybe fifteen steps and he'd be there.

Though, who knew if he'd even make it down if he tried?
He could fall and die, or turn into a tree, never to move again, or fall apart at the seams, so that thousands of parts would fall over the stairs or he could get stabbed, like he had stabbed Virgil.

He didn't try.

Instead he knocked on the door of their room.

"Who's there?" Logan's voice called.

"It's me," Roman responded.

Footsteps, a key being turned in a lock and then the door opened.

"Mum!" Elliott exclaimed and jumped off of Roman's shoulder, flapping their wings and landed in Logan's arms.

"Hello, sweetheart," he greeted and gave Roman a worried look.

"I'm - Okay, I'm not fine," Roman admitted, closing the door behind himself, "but I feel a little better right now. I'm just... tired."

He didn't even have to look at Patton to feel the worry radiating off of the baker.

"Are you sure, kiddo?"

"Yeah, I just need some sleep right now."

"Drink something," Logan instructed. "It'll help with the headache."

"How did you know I have a headache?" Roman raised an eyebrow, but took Logan's advice. The guy must've learned something in that library.

"Deduction. You're eyes are bloodshot and...," he trailed off. Not that it really mattered all that much to Roman.

"I'm really sorry you had to find out this way," Emile said hesitantly. "As far as I'm aware your parents and other siblings are alive and well, if that helps in anyway."

"Thanks," Roman mumbled. It was good to hear but he couldn't really show it. He felt drained from crying. "Good night, or whatever."

As he closed his eyes he heard Elliott quietly ask: "What's a riot, Mum? And what's a prince? And a husband?"

He didn't hear Logan's response anymore before exhaustion won and pulled him into a deep dreamless sleep.

Chapter Text

Patton watched Roman's breathing even out. He wanted to do something, help somehow but couldn't think of a way how to do that.
He barely payed attention to Logan answering Elliott's many questions.

While Roman had been outside they had explained their situation to Emile, carefully leaving out the fact the they were in fact the pieces they had been looking for.
Emile seemed nice but he'd have to prove himself to be trustworthy before they told him about that.

In turn he had told them everything he knew about the revolution.

"Remy said that people must've been planning it for a while, with how many were in on it from the start," Emile had begun. Patton still couldn't believe that he was married to the mage that had gotten them into this whole mess. "That's why the fires were spread so quickly. Someone set the stables on the castle on fire to cause a distraction and they stormed the castle."

"So they probably had someone on the inside," Logan had interjected. "Probably a servant or something."

The thought didn't sit right with Patton. He knew most of the people working for the royal family, except maybe for the consultants or knights. He couldn't picture any of those people committing treason.

"Most likely," Emile had nodded," but like I said, I wasn't there. The knights fought against the intruders while Remy tried to get the royal family to safety. But nobody except for the king knew where Roman was, so his siblings didn't want to leave him behind and by the time his majesty told them he also declared that he wouldn't hide from his subjects. That they couldn't harm him in any way that would matter now."

That was another part that seemed weird to Patton. Sure, the king was old but when Patton had met him he had still seemed like a strong smart person. In his opinion there were plenty of ways the revolutionars could harm him. On the top of that list was killing him. Surely the king must be aware of that? So why would he say that they couldn't harm him in a way that would matter. What did that mean?

"Remy said that he was very close to cursing the king but decided that I would probably lose my funding and didn't," Emile had looked absolutely smitten at that sentence before regaining his composure. "Apparently that's when a small group of revolutionars burst into the room. Prince Damian fought to protect his family and according to Remy without him the king would be dead but..."

Emile had trailed off and looked over to the bed where Roman had been sitting before he stormed out.

Patton sighed. He wasn't sure which of the princes Damian had been. Any of the options were far too young to die.

He wondered what would have happened if he hadn't stopped Roman from going back on that day. Would he have been able to safe his brother? Or would he have simply died himself?

Roman shifted in his sleep.

Patton didn't want to think about him dying. He wanted to stay with Roman for a long time. He didn't want to see Roman leave this world.

With shaky legs Patton stood up and moved over to Roman's bed. Gently he draped the blanket over the prince's sleeping body and pushed a lock out of his face.

Again Roman shifted, pulling the blanket tighter around himself.

Patton went to bed not long after. Elliott curled up on his chest, letting out small puffs of smoke as they slept.
He wasn't sure how much later Logan and Emile decided to call it a night.

When he woke up he couldn't remember what he had dreamt but it left the aftertaste of a nightmare and he remembered feeling a cold pressure choking him.
Patton sat up, shivering.

Sunlight shone through the thin curtains and outside he could already hear a crowd of people.

Logan and Emile were still asleep but Roman stood by the window, looking outside.

Patton was careful not to wake Elliott as he stood up and walked over to Roman.

For a few minutes they just stood side by side looking out onto the busy street.

Roman looked tired. The bags under his eyes had become a lot darker since... since the last time Patton had bothered to really look at him.

"How are you feeling?" Patton asked softly.

Roman sighed. "I don't know. I don't- I don't know what to do."

He rubbed over his face.

"I guess the only option is to stick to the plan for now. Go back and figure it out from there. But I still feel like I should do something more."

"I think I know the feeling," Patton said hesitantly. "My Mum is very ill. Has been for... years now. And I know that there's nothing I can do except try to make her happy while she's still here but I still feel guilty. Like I should do something instead of just accepting it."

"Really?" Roman looked over at him.

"Yeah, but I think maybe it's better to accept it. Some things can't be changed. It's not your fault that he's dead. It's not my fault that Mum's sick. We just have to learn to life with it."

Roman looped an arm around Patton and pulled him close. The prince was warm and heavy as he leaned against Patton.
Outside salesmen built up their stalls, the sun slowly crept higher into the sky and for a short eternity they were at peace.

Logan, Elliott and Emile woke up a while later and with Elliott hidden in Patton's bag they left the room.
Emile wanted to pay them back for letting him stay in the room but Logan argued that the price could hardly be split between four, so Emile insisted on paying for their breakfast instead.

"None of us ate anything last night," he said, "and without you I wouldn't have slept either so it evens out."

Patton wasn't sure how correct that was but he was too hungry to argue.

So Emile lead them to a small shop with teronan pastries and foods.

Patton had to admit, teronans knew how to bake. He tasted all kinds of spices and tried to figure out how the dough seemed to be made of thin crisp layers.
When he was full he asked the shop keeper who laughed and offered to trade receipt for receipt. And if his ears were a little too pointed and the colour of his eyes lightly too golden then Patton ignored it in favour of the trade.

Mama would have scolded him for that.
Weirdly, walking out of the shop with a few pages of a cook book that Logan had promised to translate into Trouq for him and leaving behind the best cinnamon roll, bread and apple pie receipts that he knew, Patton found that he didn't really care.

"Where are you going now?" Emile asked conversationally.

"We're headed back to Corinn, so we'll probably take the bridge leading to Aurmu," Logan explained.

Emile frowned. "Can I offer you something? As a friend?"

"Depends on what it is," Logan decided.

"You're trying to get to Corinn as quickly as possible but also as inconspicuously as possible, right?"

Patton nodded.

"Then you shouldn't go over Aurmu."

"It's by far the quickest way," Logan protested. "We can't afford any of the detours the other options would require!"

"I know a few shortcuts, paths you won't find on any maps. If you wanted to and if you believe that you can trust me enough, I could smuggle you. Probably even all the way to the Pondé Mountains."

"Do you honestly think you can smuggle three grown men and a dragon toddler?" Logan asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I've smuggled weirder and bigger things. Being married to Remy can be quite the adventure."

To Patton it sounded like a good offer. Maybe if they were by the Pondé Mountains he'd even get the chance to see his mothers.

"You heard what happened to the guy who lead us over the Cursed Islands?" Roman asked warily.

Emile nodded. "The young not-really-prince. Of course."

Patton wanted to ask what he meant by that but Roman spoke faster than he could.

"Very well," the prince agreed.

"Where do you suggest we go if not to Aurmu?" Logan asked and Patton's chance to ask why Virgil wasn't really a prince was gone.

"I'd suggest the cable railway from here to Abje.  It's a long ride but nobody checks who takes the railways. On the bridges by the border there are guards and I wouldn't be surprised if someone of them have been replaced by revolutionaries."

"Isn't it pretty stupid not to control the railways?" Roman asked.

"You'd have to tell that to your father," Emile shrugged.

Roman narrowed his eyes. "Are you sure that you're not on the side of the revolution?"

"Your father is a horrible regent. That's a fact. But I have faith in the rest of your family. I want him off of the throne but if you replace him and do it better I have no problem. If you don't..." he shrugged. "Then we'll see. But for now I'm on your side."

"Very reassuring," Roman murmured.

"What do you mean that the king is horrible?" Patton asked, tilting his head to the side.

Emile glanced at Roman. "Can you stomach some criticism of him?"

The prince shrugged.

"Well let's begin with his greatest mistake. The war against Terona," Emile began just as they left the last few houses of Yunip behind. "You're probably all to young to really have understood what was going on back then. The war was mostly fought on chronal Islands despite the fact that Chronal refused to get involved. Today those Islands are called the Cursed Islands."

"We know that," Roman snapped. "We were on them. Some mage was pissed, cursed the Islands which ended the war and the entire population of Chronal disappeared. Everyone knows that!"

"Did you also know that it was directly your father's fault?" Emile asked a lot calmer than Patton would have expected. "Or that most of his army was cursed as well?"

The anger seemed to seep out of Roman as fast as it had come.

"What are you talking about?"

"King Marley stormed the chronal capital. Nobody really knows how far they got in their attack since he forbade anyone from speaking about it but it ended with the curse. From what I know magic cast by a dying person tends to be stronger so my theory is that the soldiers killed a mage living there who used his last moments to make them pay. Quite a few of the soldiers fighting in that battle died years later after suffering from a 'mysterious illness'. Just enough to be suspicious."

Silence followed Emile's words.

"But that makes absolutely no sense," Logan finally spoke up. "If that mage wanted vengeance, why did they curse the Islands? Why would they destroy their home?"

"I don't know," Emile shrugged. "It's just a theory. I don't know their intentions or situation. Maybe they were just lashing out. Sometimes magic can be... uncontrollable from what I've heard."

Patton almost asked what he meant by that but decided against it. He didn't want more examples of the horrors magic could create. Maybe it was one of those things that were neither good nor bad. Maybe that was the whole problem. The reason why so many people were so afraid.
Because unpredictable and scary are ugly sisters, often so very hard to tell apart.

Chapter Text

Logan played Emile's words over in his head and tried to match it up with what he knew about Chronal or 'the Cursed Islands'.
It had never been a topic he had really looked into, except maybe for the mythology and a few chronal scientific papers.

As a child, he had heard about the war but to him, it might've as well been a story in a book. It hadn't affected him and he was probably one of the only people in his generation who could say that.

Sure, it had been weird to suddenly hear that Chronal was gone and the view had changed but other than that he mostly missed it.

Even as he had grown older it had never seemed very interesting.
None of the politics meant anything to him.

In Terona the economy was in shambles? Bad for them.

Sallerow lost most of its army? Too bad.

Chronal is officially non-existent? Not his problem.

Except that, apparently, now it was his problem.
He had been dragged into the conflict he had never wanted anything to do with and now he was a wanted criminal for assisting in a potential regicide. After all, helping with the getaway counted as assistance as far as he knew.
Teronan laws. Yet another subject he regretted not looking into more.

Unfortunately, Emile's rant about Roman's father hadn't really made him more trustworthy so Logan suppressed the urge to hold either Roman's or Patton's hand.
Because as if he didn't have enough on his mind already he kept feeling himself drawn to them.

Most likely just because of their magical connection but it still irritated him.

"Mum?" Elliott pulled Logan out of his thoughts. "I want up!"

Their pronunciation was improving incredibly fast just like their growth.

"Of course, dear," Logan let them climb up to his shoulders. They had put on a lot of weight too and he wondered for how long he'd be able to carry them like this.

He had used to think people were exaggerating when they talked about how 'quickly' children grew but at least in Elliott's case it turned out to be true.

A thought crossed his mind.

"Emile, do you happen to know how big Elliott might grow?"

Emile leaned his head from side to side.

"Depends a bit on the environment and how much food they get but the smallest Giges Invitum I ever heard of was about the size of a small house. Or a peasants kate."

"The smallest?" Logan echoed. Dear gods, Elliott was going to be huge.

"The biggest to ever live supposedly was as big as an Island," Emile shrugged. "But that's more a legend than a proven fact."

Logan felt slightly dizzy.

"I'm gonna grow tall?" Elliott chirped. They sounded excited at the news.

"Very tall," Patton muttered.

Elliott hopped on Logan's shoulders and nearly brought him to his knees.

"Sweetheart, could you please not do that?" he forced himself to speak gently.

"Huh? Why?"

"You're already pretty big and I can't carry you when you jump like that," they were a child but that didn't mean that calmly reasoning wasn't effective, right? He just had to keep it simple enough for them to understand.

"Oh, okay," Elliott curled a little tighter around his neck. "Sorry..."

"It's alright, dear," Logan patted their head and they purred.

In a way it was overwhelming. Not the soft noise or the weight but rather what they made him feel.
It was like he had been filled to the brim with happiness and fondness and love and it was threatening to burst out of him.
He didn't notice when his hand started drumming against his thigh but it was nice and he found that he didn't want to stop.

Hours later, around noon, it began to rain. Not badly, barely more than a slight drizzle, but enough for Elliott to take shelter in Logan's bag and for the men to look for somewhere dry to eat their lunch.

They passed a few trees, but none with dense enough canopy to keep the ground underneath sheltered.
So they kept going.

For hours they wandered through the rain and in spite of how little it was soon they were all drenched.

Logan hated it. He was cold, hungry and tired and his clothes had begun to stick to and rub against his skin uncomfortably.

He noticed Roman scratching at his arm, just over the bandages. He remembered being told that healing wounds tended to itch but slapped Roman's hand away anyway.

"Stop that. You'll re-open it," he mumbled, too tired to speak loudly.

Roman sent him a half-hearted glare but stopped, thrusting his hands deep into his pockets.

"You're injured?" Emile asked.

"Cut. It's itchy," Roman grumbled.

Emile hummed in acknowledgement and the group lapsed into silence again.

Logan noticed the rain get stronger and sighed. At least it couldn't rain on his glasses anymore since the lenses were gone. Otherwise, he would be practically blind.

On Natica it didn't rain often. Usually, it snowed. They only got rain in the summer or on very warm spring or fall days, but Logan had just enough experience with it to know that glasses and rain - or water in any form if he was honest - weren't a great combo.

He buried his hands in his pockets to keep them warm and his fingers brushed over his notebook.
The notes he had taken over the past week were probably the most interesting.

From the Cursed Islands to Patton's invincibility and his own suddenly extraordinary sight there were so many things he yearned to study properly.
There was also the question why apparently nothing had changed with Roman and if it had, what had changed. Or Remus.

Though Remus probably required his entire own set of tests to figure out what he even was. Finding out which of his traits were because of being a part of the sphere would be difficult too but maybe if Logan did enough tests on the rest of them to understand how that worked first... It should be possible.
Still a nice challenge but possible.

--~--

Andy leaned on his spear.
It was quiet in the castle yard, which was nice after the dungeon breakout and the very angry but very confusing speech the king had given before him and the other new guards.

But today was quiet.

Sure, the clouds in the sky promised rain but it had been a while since the last one so it would do good for the plants and crops.

"Rain is our lifeblood," his father had used to say.

Plus when it began to rain the princess would likely go inside which would mean that Andy could too.
When he had been assigned to watch over the princess he hadn't really expected for her to spend hours sitting on a bench making small dolls out of string, straw and something that looked suspiciously like human hair.

Andy tiredly looked up when someone entered through the gate.

A man.

Correction; a naked man.

Double correction; a naked man with a handlebar moustache, a wide creepy grin and a dead chicken.

The princess looked up too and instantly jumped up with a gasp.

Right, Andy had to protect her-

"Remus!" she yelled.

"Perse!" the man screeched and a thick green tentacle shot out from his body. It wrapped itself around the princess and yanked her towards the man. As soon as she was close enough the man enveloped her in a tight hug.

"What the hell?" Andy whispered and frantically looked around for one of the more experienced guards.

Polly stood just a few metres away and looked about as bothered as a koala bear, chewing on its leaves.

"What do we do?" Andy hissed in her direction.

She just shrugged. "Guess someone should get the king. Why don't you do that quickly, kid?"

"But- I have to protect-!"

"She'll be fine. Now go!"

Andy shot one more concerned look towards the princess and hurried inside.

"Tell him his brother's here!" Polly called after him.

... brother.

"What the hell is wrong with these people?" Andy breathed. "Dad was right; I should have just become a monk."

He entered the throne room a bit faster than was strictly appropriate.

The king looked up at him and Andy was once again sure that that snake eye could look into his soul.

"My apologies, your majesty," he quickly bowed. "But your brother is here."

The king's eyes widened.

"Virgil is back?"

"Er, no. It's...," Andy tried to remember how many siblings the king had. Just a sister and two brothers, right? "the other one."

The king had rushed past him faster than he could blink.

"Gods, why?" he asked under his breath and jogged after the king.

As he got outside the tentacle man, who apparently was one of the princes, had wrapped up both the king and the princess tightly in a tentacle hug.

"What is wrong with this family?" Andy asked Polly, slightly out of breath.

She chuckled.

"You're too young to have met their mother, aren't you?" she asked.

Andy felt the colour drain from his face. He had heard vague stories of the late queen. Most said she was very good at her job but there were a few... weird ones.

"She would have been so proud of them," Polly continued.

Andy forced a smile.

He should have never taken this job.

Chapter Text

It had been a while since Virgil had sung.
Right now it was probably the only thing that kept him going.

Singing had different meanings to different people, he had found over the years. Some sang when they were happy, when they were celebrating, others sang when they were sad or mourning. People sang during travels to pass the time and they sang while working. They sang in groups or duets or alone.

To Virgil singing meant magic.

He wasn't even sure if he could sing without doing magic. He had never tried.

Theoretically it didn't matter what he sang but he had begun to consciously pick out the right songs years ago.
If he sung for magic it was usually something that had to be powerful and in his opinion using a song with a polar opposite topic of what he wanted to do just wasn't acceptable.

Probably one of the best parts of knowing as many languages as he did was that he could learn so many songs.

Other people collected postmarks or old coins or Pokémon cards, he collected songs.

Under his boots a Scull breaker flew it's rounds and eyed him warily. It wasn't sure if he was prey or what he was even doing.

He gave it the double birds.

Walking through air was probably the most wonderful idea he had ever had.

Who needed bridges and all that crap if you could just sing a song and turn off physics and gravity for yourself?

What wasn't going well currently was that Patton and the others were holding a steady pace. He had expected them to be slower, since they didn't know the territory they were in but somehow they had found the fastest way.

Had they asked someone?

It seemed rather unlikely, given that they probably wanted to avoid attention but the best he could come up with.

His feet met solid ground again and Virgil duked into the safe darkness of the trees.

He was home.

His Islands hadn't changed since he had left and while he could have predicted that it was a nice reassurance. They didn't change. They didn't get any worse. He had all the time in the world figure out how to fix them, once King Marley was dead.

Virgil remembered a song from many many years ago. It had been sung after executions of criminals that had terrified the people. Sometimes even before.
A song to celebrate a violent death.

He skipped the second verse, the words long forgotten, even though he was pretty sure it had been his favourite back then.

Maybe he was being a bit rash to celebrate just yet but maybe it wasn't all that bad to be optimistic once in a while.

--~--

Having Remus back at home was wonderful and a catastrophe at the same time.
Virgil had once described things like this as 'a train wreck'. As something horrible that you just couldn't look away from.

Janus had no idea what a train was but it sounded like a good description.

Remus was pretty much the same as he had been when he had left. Well, personality wise.
He had obviously grown up and had new fangs and tentacles but the wide grin, the deranged laugh and the morbid humour were the same they had always been.

Janus managed to convince him to get dressed (not that he was expecting it to last long) and had told the maids to set the table for three today again.

"I met Virgin just a few days ago!" Remus announced happily as he bit into his steak. "It was a bit weird!"

"That is totally not interesting," Janus murmured and pointedly ignored that Remus had eaten his fork. That didn't matter anyway. It wasn't the first time either.

Janus listened carefully as Remus recounted his encounters in the swamp and gave Persephone a pointed look when Remus mentioned her letter.

In turn they told him in detail about what had happened at the castle when Virgil had come to visit.

Remus cackled in delight when he heard about Janus accidentally sentencing Patton , Roman and Logan to prison.

"So that's why they asked what that would mean!"

Janus noticed the newer guard standing by the entrance flinch at Remus' laugh.

"Yes, so funny," he drawled.

"Where did that fucker even end up at?" Remus asked.

Persephone shrugged. "Probably left the country as fast as he could. He wasn't a complete idiot after all. And if he hasn't he's probably long dead."

"True, you and Vi woulda killed him within weeks, no matter how good his protection spells were. A little sad though. I used to like Remy. He taught me how to steal bracelets while shaking people's hands."

Janus bit his lip. Most of his memories of the former royal mage were great.
Mother hadn't always had time for them after Father's death and after the war. During that time Remy had usually looked after them and taught all four of them quite a few slightly to horribly illegal things.
Not to mention the swear words.

"See all those people swarming around your mother? They're ass kissers. All of them. They think if they suck up to her enough they'll get money and titles and favours. Otherwise they would be complete fucking dicks," he recalled Remy telling him one day. It had stuck with him to this day. And once Remy had pointed those royals out to him he had begun to notice their behaviour himself.
Especially once he had been crowned king.

"You see, your mother is a smart woman. So she gives the money and titles and all that other shit to people who actually deserve them. That's why the ass lickers don't like her. Sometimes it's better to be a good regent than a popular one," Remy had continued and taken a sip from his 'Starbys'.

"But if people hate their regent they will eventually do something about it," Janus had frowned. "That's what Mama said."

"Your mother is unpopular with the other royals but her subjects love her. Ask any guard or maid or servant or farmer. So even if the royals were to try something, they'd have the entire country against them."

Janus had looked over the the guards standing at the doors.

"Anyway, kid," Remy had put an arm around his shoulder, "have I ever show you how to get someone to do something they don't want to in just five minutes?"

The memory left a bitter aftertaste and Janus tried to wash it down with his wine.

His hand brushed against his scales and a lump formed in his throat.

A small part of him still didn't want to believe that the man, who he had come to see as family, who had taught him profound life lessons one second and illegal tricks the next, who had helped Persephone and Virgil with their magic and had been his Mother's closest confidant, and the man, who had done this to him, were the same person.

Maybe people were right. Maybe he was still too childish to be king.

Chapter Text

Roman was pretty sure that he was going to murder the next person who made a sound. The sound of his own footsteps on the muddy path was pissing him off and if anybody tried to talk to him he would lose it.

It was getting dark.

It was evening.

It was fucking evening and they had been walking through ice cold rain for hours without a pause because where could they make a pause?
Everywhere was fucking flooded!

Patton sneezed and Roman nearly snapped at him.

The bandages around his arm were soaked and scrubbed against the stitches. He tried to keep the arm as still as possible.
If the wound ripped open out here in the middle of nowhere he'd might as well just cut the stupid fucking thing off.

Logan stopped abruptly and Roman crashed into his back.

"Don't fucking do that!" he snapped.

Logan ignored him.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" Roman yelled. At the same time, he felt like bursting out in tears.

"There's a house," Logan said numbly. "I can see lights down there. Fire lights."

"Really?" Patton asked with what would probably have been excitement if he wasn't as exhausted as he was.

"How far?" Emile asked, squinting in the direction Logan was looking in but not able to make out anything.

"Maybe a kilometer? Not far," Logan started walking again and the other three followed him, desperate for rest.

Patton sneezed again.

Roman's legs burned but somehow he had gotten to a point where standing still hurt worse than walking. And now he even had an actual goal to head towards.

He just hoped that the bread wasn't completely soaked in his bag. At least the soup was probably fine.

His foot slipped on some wet leaves and he barely caught himself before landing face first in the dirt.

After a while he could finally see the lights Logan had mentioned.

"Are we sure those aren't fairy lights?" Emile asked, clearly out of breath. "Or something else like that?"

Roman cursed under his breath. He hadn't even thought about that but it was more than likely.

Logan shook his head.

"It's a house. I'm sure of it."

"Thank the gods," Roman heard Patton mutter and silently agreed.

The house was big and dark. The overgrown garden framed by a fence of metal spikes.

Usually it would have probably creeped Roman out and he'd stayed away but right now he couldn't really bring himself to care all that much.
The roof looked waterproof and there was light inside and that was all that mattered.

The four of them stumbled through the garden gate and up the few steps to the door.

Logan knocked twice.

The small canopy shielded them off mostly and Roman tried to wipe down his face. It didn't work since both his face and his hand were slick with water but at least he succeeded in pushing the wet hair out of his eyes.

The door opened slightly to a small old woman, with long white hair framing her face.
There were small wrinkles around her eyes from smiling.

"Well, that's an unusual site at this time of day," she commented letting her deep blue eyes wander over the men. "What brings you to my door?"

"We're sorry for intruding but could we perhaps stay the night?" Logan asked. "We've been walking through the rain for... a few hours and we saw the lights."

The woman seemed to think for a moment.

"I can't offer you beds but if all you need is a dry and warm place to rest, I think I can help you."

"Thank you so much," Patton breathed out in relief.

"Come on in then, before you freeze out there. Leave your wet clothes by the door, I'll get you some dry things," she ordered and went up a stairway.

They shuffled in and Emile closed the door behind them.
The warm air seemed to burn against Roman's freezing skin and he felt feverish as he struggled to get his clothes off.

The bandages mostly came off with his shirt and he removed them completely.
The wound underneath looked better than it had a week ago but the blood crust was soggy and gross around the stitches. It was also coming off in some places and he was bleeding a little again.
He knew that they had more bandages in Logan's bag but those would have to dry before use too. Maybe the woman had something he could use.

He noticed Patton staring at him and look away as soon as their eyes met.

Meanwhile Logan was struggling with his pants. He was even paler and thinner underneath the layers of clothes and Roman could see his ribs clearer than was normal as far as he knew.

Patton on the other hand was small and round and soft. His freckles covered his entire body and while Roman hadn't been aware that people could have them on their stomachs he found it very pretty.

Emile cleared his throat and snapped Roman out of his thoughts.

"I appreciate young love and all but could you please not do that in front of me?" he asked looking extremely uncomfortable.

"Do what?" Patton asked oblivious.

"Stare at eachother and... drool?" Emile offered looking more and more like was hoping for the ground to open up and swallow him by the second.

Roman frowned and ignored the heat on his cheeks.

"We weren't doing anything like that!" he protested.

"You were. Just accept it," the old woman said, suddenly appearing next to him again and making him jump. She was carrying a few simple, knee-long shirts and towels, which she set down before returning into what appeared to be the kitchen.

Patton was first to dry himself and get dressed and so he made it his job to check on Elliott who had been hiding in Logan's bag and hadn't shown face since the rain had started.

Roman opted for gently wrapping one of the smaller towels around his arm. It was a bit rough but better than nothing he supposed.

"Hey, kiddo!" Patton smiled as Elliott crawled out of the bag. Then he paused. "Kiddo, how didn't you get wet?"

Roman looked over.
Patton was right. Elliott was as dry as before the rain.

"It's not wet in there," they responded and gently clawed at Patton's hand. "The water doesn't get in."

"You mean the bags are waterproof?" Logan asked.

"I don't know that word," Elliott climbed onto Patton's lap.

Roman grabbed his own bag, not bothering to listen to Logan explaining what waterproof meant. He reached inside...
Dry.
Dry bottles, dry fabric, dry cloth.
All of his stuff had been completely protected from the rain.

"Your bags are enchanted too?" Emile asked. "Remy enchanted mine forever ago so I can fit everything in and don't have to worry about it getting to heavy or anything. I had him limit it a bit though after I accidentally smuggled a few Treacherous Oknorfs."

"Well, we knew that we could fit a lot in," Logan began, "but none of us knew they were weatherproof."

"Didn't whoever enchanted them tell you?"

Roman, Patton and Logan shared a look.

"No?"

"Can you tell us how else they might be enchanted?" Patton asked and sneezed. Roman hoped he wouldn't get sick.

"Not for sure. I know what is possible but there's no way to tell for a non-magic person what was done and what wasn't," he shrugged.

"Whatever," Roman mumbled. "I'm starving. Let's just eat and think about magic or whatever tomorrow."

The others agreed.

The woman, who introduced herself as Linda, let them warm up their soup over her fire and then left them alone in the main room, that was a mix between kitchen and living room, to sleep.

Logan wrapped fresh bandages around Roman's arm, careful not to touch him with Emile around while the other two laid out a couple of blankets for them to sleep on.

As soon as Roman laid down and tugged one of the blankets over himself, he was gone.

He stood in a long hallway with heavy stone walls.
A dusty blue carpet was laid out on the floor, worn thin by generations of people walking over it.
He recognised the place as a castle but definitely not a Sallerowan one.
The windows were too small, the stone looked different and he could see the white shine of fresh snow outside.
A distant sound caught Roman's attention.
Slowly he wandered down the hallway towards where it had come from.
The castle seemed like it had been devoid of live for years, everything around him silently telling stories about distant times, trying to share their faded memories.
Roman went down a small uneven staircase and stopped abruptly.
A child was lying on the ground infront of him in a puddle of blood.
Their dark eyes were half closed and stared blankly into the distance.
The child was dead.
If Roman had to guess he'd say that they were about Abby's age. So about six. Roman tried not to imagine his little sister like this and failed.
They wore heavy yet simple clothing and the still light, fresh blood seemed to be coming from their stomach.
Roman felt sick.
He wanted to get away from this child but his legs were glued to the spot.
He felt like he should do something but there wasn't much he could do for a dead child.

"I'm sorry," he finally choked out. He didn't know what he was apologizing for.

The child didn't react.
Of course not.
They were dead.
But Roman's legs finally responded again so maybe it had been the right thing to say.
Just a few strides down the hallway he found the next corpse.
A young man in a thick winter coat who had been slashed open across the torso, slumped against the wall, with a rusted spear still in his slack hand. His eyes were small, yet wide in terror.
Roman didn't want to know what he had been looking at when he died.
He was sure it had been something horrifying.

"I'm so sorry."

Chapter Text

Patton woke up slowly.
When he realised that he was awake in the first place he had no idea for how long he had been but it felt like an eternity.
His throat felt dry.

Rain was still hammering against the roof and he wondered if he had even slept at all.

Elliott was curled up against him and playing with one of the edges of his blanket. They were about as big as a young chicken now.
With one leg they scratched at their side and Patton gently stopped them.

"Don't do that," he whispered and pressed a soft kiss against their neck. "You might hurt yourself."

"But it itches," they complained. "I itch all over."

Patton frowned. That didn't sound normal.

"Is your Mum awake?" he asked.

Elliott nodded.

"Why don't you go and tell him? He might be able to help you with that," Patton suggested. Between Logan and Emile someone had to know what was wrong, right?

"Okay," Elliott agreed and jumped over Patton, staying in the air longer by flapping their wings a few times.

He wasn't sure why but it almost made Patton cry.
They were beginning to learn how to fly.
His baby was making their first attempts at flying...

Before he could actually tear up he sneezed loudly.

"Are you alright?" Roman asked sleepily from behind Patton.

"Yeah, I-" he cut himself off with another sneeze. "I may have caught a little cold."

He chuckled and looked over at Roman who was still mostly hidden by his blanket.

"What time is it?" Patton then asked hoping it would make Roman stop staring at him like that because having those eyes, dark with sleep, fixated on him like that did thing's to him he didn't want to think about.

"Er... I'm not sure. But it's morning," Roman shrugged and looked over at the nearest window.

Outside it was brighter than it had been last night but the sky was still dark and grey. It didn't seem like the rain would stop anytime soon.
Patton didn't look forward to getting on the road again.

"Linda said that the cable railway isn't far from here," Roman said and gave Patton an encouraging smile. "She said we should be able to get there in just a few hours and then we won't have to walk for at least three days!"

"The ride is three days long?" Patton asked. From what he had heard cable railways weren't all that fast but that still sounded like a long distance.

"Yeah, I'm looking forward for a chance to rest," Roman smile widened slightly and Patton wondered what those lips would feel like against his own.

Maybe Emile and Linda had been right about the staring thing.
He just hadn't realised it was that obvious.

Patton sat up and waited until the lightheadedness disappeared before he trusted himself not to fall over and stood up. His legs protested but he ignored that.

By one of the windows Logan sat with Emile, both men leaning over Elliott. They were talking quietly.

"Yeah, definitely," Patton caught Emile say.

"You know what's up with them?" he asked hopefully.

"Elliott is shedding," Logan answered and pushed his glasses up. "Considering how much they've grown it's astounding that they didn't do so earlier. So, while it's not pleasant, it's nothing bad. I believe warm water should help the scales come off easier."

"I get to bathe, Dad!" Elliott added happily.

Patton smiled and pat their head.

"We need to get you something to bathe in first, sweetheart, and-" he cut himself off with a coughing fit.

By the time he managed to stop, his head hurt.

"Are you alright?" Logan asked with a frown.

"Fine," Patton rasped. His throat hurt. "Can I have some water?"

Logan got up quickly and handed him a small flask just a moment later.

The water was cold enough to hurt but he still downed it greedily.

"Thanks," Patton breathed heavily and wiped over his mouth with his sleeve.

A cool hand touched his forehead and a wave of calmness washed over him.

"You're warm," Logan noticed and moved his hand to his own forehead. Patton almost whined at the loss of contact. "Way too warm."

"Why is Dad warm?" Elliott asked. "Is that bad?"

"How about you go and ask Roman what a fever is," Logan advised them before turning back to Patton. "How are you feeling?"

"I...," he trailed off. How was he feeling? "Bit tired and... my head kinda hurts. It's not bad thought."

"Do you think you can walk to the railway station?" Emile asked suddenly. "It's about a two hour march away. Do you think you can do that?"

"Yeah, yeah I think so. Roman said we can rest afterwards, right?"

"Exactly, then you'd have three days to recover. Otherwise we'd have to stay here until you're in good condition again."

"I can do it," Patton confirmed.

Logan insisted that he took his coat on top of his own and when both Patton and Roman protested that he would just get sick too he settled for simply wrapping a blanket around his shoulders.

They thanked Linda again for the night and for letting them bathe Elliott in her tub but she just shook her head and told them to take care of themselves.

"We live in weird times. If you ever need shelter you're welcome to come back here."

Patton wondered if he'd ever even be on this Island again but didn't say anything.

Elliott took their place in Logan's bag again after declaring that rain was horrible and even worse because it had 'made Dad bad-warm'.

Roman had taken Patton's bag and shut down any protest by simply saying 'No' whenever Patton tried to say something against it.

Ever since Logan has tested Patton's temperature Emile had been staring at them weirdly. He'd probably ask about the glowing markings sooner or later but for some reason he waited. Maybe he didn't want to do it during their hike?

In all honesty, Patton hadn't expected it to be this exhausting. Everything hurt, his head was swimming and despite how much he was sweating under the two coats he was also freezing.

He had no idea how long they'd been walking or how much longer they'd have to walk but he really wanted to take back what he had said earlier.
He couldn't do this.

The cough was getting worse to the point where he had trouble getting the chance to breathe between fits.

They came to a set of old stone steps and Patton was vaguely aware of his feet being lifted of off the ground and a touch against his cheek that felt like sunlight on a summer evening. Or maybe like the taste of fresh honey. Or like the heat of a campfire.
He wasn't sure but he liked it.

He leaned into the sun-honey-fire touch and let his heavy eyes drift shut.

Chapter Text

Roman carried Patton for most of the way to the railway station.
He was stronger than Logan had expected.

Patton was barely conscious.

It had been a dumb idea to go on. Logan shouldn't have trusted Patton's judgement on how well he was.

He also was well aware of Emile staring at the marks. For some reason, he hadn't asked about it yet and Logan wasn't sure if he wanted him to just hurry up and get it over with or just never ask.

If he had been curious at first, the moment he actually saw the cable railway he wanted to turn around. It looked like the next gust of wind could make it fall apart.

It was probably safer to just go back to the castle than spend three entire days on this wreck.

The metal was covered in rust and woodworms had filled the wooden parts with holes. Spiderwebs had been woven between the cabin and the railway and the door of the station lay on the ground, rotten and covered in moss.

"You don't honestly expect us to get on this thing?" Roman exclaimed as soon as he saw it.

"Don't worry, it'll hold!" Emile just answered. "I've used it plenty of times."

"No wonder nobody guards the borders here," Logan muttered under his breath.

Emile cut away a few tendrils of ivy that had grown over the door of the railroad car and forced it open.
Logan half expected it to just fall apart immediately but it held.
Emile got on.

The structure creaked and a bird fluttered up at the loud noise.

"That really doesn't look safe," Logan called and cringed at another loud creak. "Maybe we should just find another way?"

"No, really! It's fine, look!" Emile answered and to prove his point jumped.

The entire thing shook when he landed but somehow didn't collapse.

Emile jumped again, again making Logan's heart skip a beat in terror but it still held.

"Now get on. It'll depart soon," Emile instructed them with a smile.

Logan shot Roman an unsure glance.
Roman shrugged and adjusted his grip on Patton before slowly stepping into the wagon.
Logan hesitantly followed him.

He had to admit, it was nice to get out of the rain, even with his heart hammering in his chest.
The metal floor under him was swaying slightly and Logan struggled to keep his balance.

"Wait-" he began, Emile's words only now sinking in. "What do you mean it'll depart soon?"

"Wait," Emile said, his eyes trained on the still-open door.

Then the mist outside moved. It curled around itself and eventually formed the shape of an old rough-looking man. He was tall and ghostlike and his footsteps made no sound as he got closer. They didn't even press the grass down.

He moved to close the door and even though he didn't even touch it slid shut as easily as if it had just been oiled.

"All aboard?" he asked without opening his mouth and it felt as if someone was scratching at the inside of Logan's skull.

"Yes, thank you very much," Emile said. "Will you please let us pass safely, good sir?"

"You may pass," the man said and dissolved into mist again.

For a moment it was quiet and then the railway started moving with a jolt.

Logan nearly fell over but an arm snaked around his wrist before he could.

"Th- Thank you," he muttered and glanced over his shoulder at Roman.

Patton was now lying on the ground covered by Logan's jacket like a blanket. When had Roman had time to put him down?

"What was that?" Logan asked Emile instead.

"A ghost," came the answer immediately. "He died during the war. If you don't ask for him to let you pass he lets you die, because the soldiers forced him to bring them across and then killed him."

"Soldiers from which side?" Roman asked.

"Does it make a difference?" Emile asked back and sat down. "Everybody does terrible things in war. Just usually the winners afterwards cover up their own sins by telling the story in a way that makes them the hero." He sighed. "War is a horrifying thing."

Roman bit his lip and sat down next to Patton, his back turned to Emile.

Logan contemplated for a moment before sitting down next to him.

He put his hand on Patton's forehead again and cursed under his breath. The baker was burning up.

"He's getting worse," he told Roman.

The prince began rummaging around his bag.

"Take off his jackets," he instructed. "They might be wet, either from sweat or rain and he really doesn't need that right now."

Logan raised an eyebrow but complied.

"Since when are you an expert on this?" he asked. Perhaps it was a bit harsh, he was aware that Roman wasn't a complete idiot, but he really didn't seem like one to know much about taking care of sick people.

"I have a ton of siblings. Someone gets sick all the time and since our parents are too busy I usually stay by their side," Roman shrugged. Logan noticed the way his shoulders sunk at the thought of his siblings. "I don't do most of the care taking but I picked up a few things here and there. Plus, anyone who has ever had a fever will be able to tell you that it makes you sweat.

Once they had gotten Patton's jackets and shirt off (though Logan was almost certain that it was one of Roman's shirt), they wrapped him up in a blanket. The entire time they made sure to avoid touching him at the same time. Neither wanted a repeat of the weird overflow of icky, complicated feelings that had happened in the swamp.

"So," Emile eventually broke the silence, "what's with the glowing?"

Logan sighed.

He understood why Emile asked but wasn't sure if he should answer honestly.

He glanced over at Roman who shrugged.

Great.

"It's a bit complicated," he began and pushed up his glasses.

Emile nodded for him to continue.

"A mage from Sallerow made a prophecy a while ago-"

"Remy, to be exact," Roman interrupted him.

Emile's eyes widened slightly at that.

"My husband?" he asked. "Oh, dear."

"Well, yes. According to said prophecy, an ancient artefact will be able to save the kingdom or something similar to that. I wasn't there. Roman and Patton then came to Natica for information and took me with them," he continued more firmly.

Both Roman and Emile remained silent and listened as Logan explained what they knew about the sphere, or rather themselves, so far.

It was a long story for the barely ten days Logan had been part of it.

When he finally finished Elliott had crawled out of his bag and taken a seat on Roman's lap who gently stroked their head.
Their scales were a darker shade now and had a new shine to them, Logan noted.
He'd have to remember to get their old skin out of the bag later.

"That's... That explains a lot actually," Emile nodded to himself.

"Wait, we just told you that we're part of an ancient artefact and you think that explains things?" Roman asked flabbergasted.

Emile shrugged.

"It explains how Logan spotted Linda's house. And it explains why the hell you glow."

Logan had to admit that he was right about that.
It was a weird explanation but at least it was one.

"Is the glowing bad?" Elliott asked confused.

"No, it's just that people other than your parents, me and the guy in the swamp don't glow when they touch each other," Roman told them.

They just looked even more confused.

"But the other one glowed too!" they protested.

"What? Who?" Logan asked immediately.

"Back in the black forest. That one."

Logan frowned.

Black forest? What black for-?

Oh.

Virgil.

-~-

"What is the dark one doing on our lands?"

"Has he not learned that we don't welcome him here?"

Virgil wanted to throw up. Gods, he hated Unicorns.

"This is not your land," he hissed at them only realising a moment later that he had quoted a vine.

"The dark one is foolish," one said.

"Surely he must know that as long as the king is dead the land belongs to us," the other added.

"If you don't want me around, then why do you stop me every time I pass through?" he snapped.

Years ago he had been convinced that they would kill him sooner or later but he had since learned that they were far too egotistical to do that kind of dirty work themselves. And since no other sentient species wanted to do them a favour they left him alone.

"Foolish of him to think he may ask us questions."

"So very-"

"Then let me through!"

The Unicorn looked beyond scandalised at having been interrupted.
Neither answered and they froze in their pacing.

"Thank you very much," Virgil said and pushed past them.

If the Unicorns were attacked by a group of former spiders just as soon as he was out of hearing range, then he would deny any and all involvement.

That he had been humming the Spider Dance was a mere coincidence.

When he finally arrived by his cave he stopped only for a few minutes to greet Alfred and to find a piece of paper. Or anything of similar use.

He found parchment that he couldn't remember ever getting or summoning but it would do the trick.

Virgil wrote his message (writing with an astronaut pencil on parchment had to be some kind of aesthetic) and folded it into a simple paper aeroplane.
It would do the job and was easier than trying to find a pigeon still able to work as a carrier pigeon.

"Bye, Alfred!" he called over his shoulder as he left the cave again. "If I'm not back in three weeks, assume I'm dead," he added after a moment.

The skull was his only friend, so it seemed only fair to give him a warning.

Chapter Text

Janus looked up at the sound of something colliding with the window.
The white thing tried again and again.
Slowly Janus got up and opened the window to let it in.

It flew past him, unfolding in the air and landed on his desk.

Janus followed it and picked it up.

It was a weird paper, thicker and darker than the kind he was used to and dark blue ink stared back at him.

He recognised Virgil's handwriting immediately.
There was no other person that wrote this neatly and yet unreadable.

"Did you get mail?" Remus' voice startled him.

"No," he lied. "It's not from Virgil. I can read it."

"Want me to get Perse?"

"No... Or yes! I won't go to her. It's not at all easier," he decided.

Remus followed him out of the room and threw an arm around his shoulder.

Janus had almost forgotten how his touch felt when they had skin contact.

It was a thrill in his stomach, his entire body seeming to shake with a mix of excitement and anticipation.

When they had been children Persephone had always complained that she didn't glow when she touched them.
To this day Janus didn't know what Mama had told her to make her feel better, but it had worked. She had never complained again.

They found her in the garden, carefully removing moss from a tree trunk.

A few guards looked at them weirdly, caught themselves staring and pretended to turn away.

Janus broke the contact and the yellow glowing lines on his skins vanished.

"Do you need something?" Persephone asked, putting the moss in a small jar.

"Virgil didn't write a letter and I don't need your help to translate it," he told her.

Her mouth formed an O as she got up.

"My pendulum is in my room," she said and began to lead the way.

They left the guards behind outside of the room and Janus and Remus watched as she got to work with a sheet of paper, that had all letters in a circle and one of her many pendulums. She always used the same one to translate Virgil's writing. It was made of a similar stone to the one in his jewelry.

After a while she put it down again and looked at the other paper where she had been writing down the translation.

"What does it say?" Remus asked.

"Well," Persephone began and looked up at them seriously, "I think you should ready our troops, Jay."

-~-

Patton woke up again for a little while a few hours later.

They didn't tell him about the revelation that Virgil was one of them, all deciding that it would be better to wait until he had recovered.

Roman also pointedly tried to shield him from seeing the worst of the damages to the wagon.
He didn't need to worry about that at the moment.

They ate together and few minutes later Patton was asleep again.

Emile pulled out a book and began to write something.

Roman watched him for a while.
He couldn't tell what he was writing from the distance but was pretty sure that he wouldn't be able to read it either way.

"Hey, Logan," he said slowly.

"Yes?" the other looked up.

"Could you... Could you teach me how to read Slyn... better?" Roman asked hesitantly.

"I- Sure," Logan shrugged. "I think I have a few simpler texts with me."

He dug through his bag for a moment before pulling out a book thicker than Roman's head and a pen.
He scooted closer to Roman until their knees touched and opened the book between their laps.

"This is an old collection of short stories from Chronal," he continued. "So, it's all in Slyn. Can you read what this says?"

Roman frowned at the curved letters. They were connected. He hated connected Slyn. He remembered Mother telling him that it didn't make a difference how he connected them, as long as he did since it looked nicer.
Next to the useless letters it was probably his biggest problem with the writing system.

"I... I'm not sure," he frowned. "This is 'castle' right?"

It was more a guess than anything else.

"Correct," Logan nodded, silently urging him to continue.

"Is it the chronan castle?" Roman asked. "This looks like it could be 'Chronal'."

"Yes, very good," Logan praised with a smile. "It's written differently because it's an adjective, so good job."

Roman scoffed. "I have no idea what the rest says though."

"That's okay. It's a start. I doubt anyone ever took the time to actually teach you."

He wasn't exactly wrong about that, Roman mused.

Logan moved even closer to Roman, until there was no more room between them, the markings on their skins glowing softly and began to quietly explain.

He didn't just tell Roman the letters, he went into detail.
He explained why the letters were connected the way they were, what the useless ones were for (as it turned out they weren't actually useless) and how letters had changes through history, even going as far as to pull out even older books to show Roman the differences.

If Roman was being honest then he hardly understood most of the changes and anecdotes but he didn't dare to interrupt.

Logan was so obviously excited and enthusiastic about it. There was a spark in his eyes and he was moving his hands more and more as he spoke.
At some point he had begun to lean his head on Roman's shoulder and Roman leaned his own head on his in turn.

Logan jawned in the middle of a story about some monarch who had invented some symbol to write his initials in one letter. Roman wasn't entirely sure which letter it was, but it didn't seem all that important to him.

Roman's eyes own were growing heavy but he forced himself to stay awake.

Elliot had fallen asleep draped over his and Logan's shoulders and they were snoring quietly.

Logan continued on to the next letter but trailed off after a short while.

Roman tried to get a look at his face without waking up Elliot but didn't manage to.

"He's asleep," Emile spoke up from the other side of the wagon. "I guess you'll have to stay there for a while."

He smiled over at Roman and Roman smiled back.

"Not a problem," he whispered back, afraid he might wake Logan up. It was the opposite of a problem actually.

He shifted a little until he sat more comfortably and let his eyes drift shut. He only hoped that he wouldn't dream of dead people again.

Chapter Text

Logan woke up slowly.
He felt warm and safe as if he had fallen asleep while reading in an armchair in front of a fireplace.

His mouth felt dry and he realised that it had been hanging open. There was dried drool on his chin and his vision was blurry when he finally opened his eyes.

He had to blink a few times until it cleared up and he became aware of his surroundings.

The memory of where he was and how he had gotten here hit him suddenly but the impact was softened by another wave of warmth.

Logan tried to move only to realise that he was leaning against Roman who in turn was leaning against him.
It would be impossible to move away without waking him up.

The book they had been reading had fallen off their laps and Elliott had taken its place.

Emile was asleep across from them, his coat rolled into an arm long roll and draped over his chest.

Logan frowned.
He couldn't imagine that being comfortable. It must fell like an arm or...

Or maybe that was the point. Emile probably slept with his husband on nights he was at home. Maybe he missed him.

Logan glanced over at Roman again.

Sleeping against him had felt nice and secure, but that was probably just because of their magical connection, right?

He wanted to tell himself "Yes" but it tasted like a lie.

Elliott began to stir and they pushed themselves up. They were about as big as a small lamb now and also about as heavy.

"Mum?" they asked quietly upon noticing that Logan was also awake.

"Yes?"

"Is it bad that the other one, Virgil, glowed too?"

"No, its not," Logan pet their head. "Why do you ask?"

"You didn't want to tell Dad and you didn't look happy when I told you," Elliott leaned their head against his hand.

"We were just surprised and Dad needs as much sleep as possible right now, but it's nothing bad. Don't worry," Logan tried to explain.

"And the yellow one?"

"The what?"

"The one who glowed with Virgil!" Elliott was getting a little frustrated.

"I didn't see Virgil glow," Logan said. "Can you describe the person who glowed yellow?"

Elliott thought about it.

"I know he had a weird thing on his head," they finally said. "It looked sharp and shiny."

"Do you mean a crown?" Logan asked.

"I don't know what a crown is."

Logan pulled his notebook out, careful not to jostle Roman too much and sketched a crown. It wasn't his best sketch but to be fair he had only seen a real one once and hadn't really payed much attention to it at the time.

"This is a crown," he showed it to Elliott. "They can look different, but that's the basic shape of one."

Elliott nodded eagerly.

"Yeah, he had one of those. A crown."

So King Janus was one of them too.

Weird, that they supposedly were spread over the Islands and then three of them were siblings.
Though Logan remembered Emile mentioning that Virgil wasn't really a prince.

He made a mental note to ask him about it later.

"Thanks for telling me that," he pet Elliott and they purred softly.

Roman awoke just little later and immediately woke up Emile when Logan told him about Janus by shouting "Are you fucking kidding me?"

If he had woken up Patton Logan would been obliged to punch him, but luckily he didn't.

Since all four of them were awake now, they decided to eat something.
The sun was just beginning to rise and fell through the dirty windows of the wagon.

Once they were done Roman picked up the story collection again and Logan carefully checked on Patton.

His fever had gone down slightly. That was a relief.
Logan hoped that he would really be fine again by the time they reached Sallerow.

Otherwise they'd have to stop in the nearest town, find someone schooled in medicine and wait for who knew how long.
Maybe it was just a rumour or trope but in most books Logan had read that featured sallerowan healers they scammed people and sometimes even poisoned their patients to earn more money.

Roman seemed to be doing fine reading on his own, even if there was a deep line between his eyebrows from concentration. If he needed help he could just ask, so Logan decided to ask Emile a few questions.

"What do you want to know?" Emile asked before Logan could even open his mouth.

"A few days ago you said that Virgil wasn't really a prince. What did you mean by that?" he asked. It didn't matter how Emile had known that he had questions in the first place.

"You really don't know? It was pretty big back then," Emile fiddled with his pen and answered himself under his breath, "though... you Naticans usually don't care about that kind of stuff. I doubt it reached most people in Sallerow either."

"What was big?" Logan tried to keep him on topic.

"Just after the war ended he was suddenly there. Nobody knew where he came from, the royal family just said that he was one of them and there were a ton of conspiracy theories," Emile gestured widely.

"What kind of theories?"

"You know, that the king had committed adultery, that someone had brainwashed all of them to make them think he was part of the family, that kind of stuff," he waved his hand dismissively.

Logan frowned. "And what's the truth?"

Emile shrugged. "I don't know. You'd have to ask one of them... or the former royal mage. They might be able to tell you. There's a lot going on in that castle people wonder about. To this day nobody knows how the queen died. One day she was just gone."

"Do you know who the former royal mage is?" Logan asked. It wasn't his biggest problem by far but it did sound interesting. If he got the chance he'd definitely look into it.

Emile hesitated.

"I... Yes, but... That's also a complicated story. It's probably a lot easier to just talk to the royals."

Logan wanted to ask what he meant by that but Emile already opened up his notebook again, making clear that the conversation was over.

He was hiding something, Logan was sure of it, but now wasn't the time nor the place to figure out what.

Patton woke up a few hours later and stayed awake for a while this time.
He seemed to be doing much better now. The long rest had helped a lot.

"My Mum used to always say that sleep is the best medicine," he told Logan with an exhausted smile.

"I'm pretty sure that there are a lot of better ones," Logan tried to argue. "Even if rest is very important."

"No," Patton decided. "Sleep is the best."

He pouted and his locks stuck to his forehead with sweat, so Logan didn't argue further.

"If you say so," he simply shrugged and let Patton lean against him until he fell asleep again.

Logan watched the Skullbreakers fly past the wagon and rip eachother apart over a small animal. He couldn't tell what it was through the dirty glas.

One of the giant birds flew by just inches from the window and the entire wagon swung away from its flying wind.

Slowly the sky turned red again, they ate dinner and the second night on the cable railway fell.

This time Logan fell asleep alone, wrapped in a blanket.
When he woke up again he felt lonely.

Chapter Text

By the time the end station finally came into sight Patton's fever had broken, Roman had read through three of the stories in Logan's book and was seriously doubting that they were meant for children and Elliott had discovered that they had small retractable spikes on their tail.
It was not a good thing for them to find out.

Roman watched Logan untangle their tail from one of the bags for the fifth time in less than a hour.

"So, did I miss anything?" Patton asked suddenly. He was still a bit pale and looked exhausted but his eyes were clear again.

"Err, not much," Roman said. "Well, a little bit we uhm... We found two more pieces."

Patton's eyes widened.

"Not much? What? Who is it?!"

"Virgil and King Janus."

Patton gaped at him before frowning.

"But that makes no sense! They are siblings," he turned to Logan. "I thought it said that we were spread over the islands?"

Logan shrugged, finally freeing Elliott from the bag.

"I've been trying to figure out how that's possible too. Emile said that Virgil wasn't born to the royal family and instead just showed up one day but I can't figure out how Janus and Remus can both be pieces."

"But then they probably know about the glowing, right?" Patton asked. "I mean, I'm not an expert but siblings touch each other, don't they?"

"Oh, definitely," Roman agreed. "When I was six one of my brothers liked to sneak up on me and just throw himself on me. I doubt it's possible to have siblings and not at some point get poked in the cheek until you try to push them away, they fall even though you didn't even push that hard and then you get in trouble."

"That never happened back at home," Logan frowned.

"Be glad about it."

"So," Patton interrupted, "what do we do about them being pieces? I mean, we don't even know if Virgil is alive or not! And if, how do we get on the good side of someone we've stabbed? And his family?"

"That is a very good question," Logan said. "Not one I can answer but a good one."

"Mum," Elliott called and tried to wave their tail only to slide the entire bag around with them. "I did it again."

"Have you considered," Logan tried to figure out how to untangle them without hurting them or ripping the strap of the bag in two, "to maybe retract in your spikes?"

"But like them."

"Then maybe try to keep your distance from the bags?"

Elliott looked disappointed but agreed.

"So, do we just stick to the plan?" Roman asked, getting back on topic. "Go to the castle and go on from there? Or do we change the plan, now that we know three others? Six people in total is already a lot!"

"I think we should stick to the plan for now," Patton said. "They won't just let us march back into the capital but from the castle we can send a messenger or something, right?'

"That's true," Logan nodded.

"They also can't just kill the messenger or imprison them," Emile added. "It's common law that you can't punish the messenger for the news they bring or from whom they bring news."

"Really?" Patton asked surprised.

"Yes, would be pretty shitty if you had to bring a bad message and then got punished just because you did your job, wouldn't it?"

"My father hates that law," Roman scowled. "I'm pretty sure he's broken it too. He only doesn't change it because then other people could pick up on what he's doing."

He noticed Logan frown slightly at that but ignored it.

"I doubt King Janus would just break it," Emile said. "It's your decision but I think it's the safest option currently."

"I agree," Logan said.

Patton nodded and Roman shrugged.

"Then it's settled."

The cable railway came to a stop, Elliott crawled into Patton's bag this time and the ghost man appeared at the door again.

He opened it and waited for them to get out.

Roman felt like his lifeless sunken eyes were staring deep into his soul as he walked past him. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

He almost lost his balance on the firm ground after the days of swaying from one side to the other.

Emile thanked the ghost with a small bow.

The ghost nodded and closed the cabin door again. Slowly the railway began moving again and he disappeared into the fog as if blown away by the wind.

Emile took the lead again, over a path that had long since been reclaimed by nature.

"There's a village just a little further inland. We can spend the night there," he explained. "It used to be a commercial town but after the ferryman was killed and trading between Sallerow and Terona stopped they went broke. Now there are only a few people left there. They're very welcoming to smugglers so they probably won't question us."

The thought of sleeping in a bed again was tempting and when the passed the first old sign, overgrown with ivy, that Roman could actually read he couldn't help but smile.

They were finally back in Sallerow.

It made him feel like he was almost back at home. Like this quest was almost over.
And then things could go back to normal.

Maybe not the same normal they had been before but normal nonetheless.

Maybe it could even become a better normal.

The village they reached was made up mostly of abandoned buildings and part of Roman expected more ghosts to appear in the dark windows. A few times he could have sworn he saw shadowy figures or movement but it was gone as soon as he blinked.

Emile lead them to a small building in the centre of the town. The sign hung by the door but the paint was so chipped that it was impossible to tell what it had once said.

Emile knocked, a young person opened, recognized him and greeted him like an old friend.

"Do you have beds free for the night?" Emile asked. "I'm smuggling these men into the country so it'd be great if we could do this off the books."

"Sure, sure. No problem. How many beds will you need?"

Emile gave the three of them a questioning glance.

"Four, obviously," Roman hoped that nobody could see him blush in the darkness.

"Four beds off the books, alright."

"Thanks, Han," Emile said.

"Don't sweat it," Han waved off and lead them inside. "Just tell your husband that he still owes me for last time, when you see him."

Emile chuckled. "Alright, I will."

Han showed them a big room with at least twenty beds. Roman could see people sleeping in a few of them but most were free.

From there Han also showed them the kitchen so they could eat and left again when someone knocked at the door.

Logan found some bread in one of the cabinets that was already a little hard so they dunked it into the rests of their soup as dinner.

"We'll have to buy more food," Patton noted. "Are there any shops in this town?"

Emile shrugged. "There was one last time I came through here but we'll have to see. Even if not, there are many villages around here. If not here we can get something in the next one."

Once they were done they went back to the dormitory and Roman fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

--~--

"This is a stupid idea," Virgil told himself. Not really because he expected himself to stop doing it but rather so that he couldn't try to convince himself later when it went to shit and ruined everything that he hadn't known.

He really should just get back on the path to the capital.

It had been his initial plan, it made sense considering that the king was in the capital but he didn't go back to the path he had left about an hour ago.

According to the talisman they were in Sallerow now too. If he could meet them halfway and stop them from going to the capital it'd make things easier for not only him but mainly them later down the line.

Getting the plan over with sooner wasn't worth risking them interfering.

He tried to think of it like a side quest he'd do before the main one. Just that he wasn't sure if I'd give him a better chance.

Killing a king was easier said than done, after all.

Chapter Text

Patton woke up late the next morning.
He felt even better than he had the day before.

The dormitory was empty and so he wandered to the kitchen where he found Han washing some fruit he didn't recognize.

"Look who's finally up," Han grinned. "I was almost getting worried. Hard journey behind you?"

"Yeah," Patton sat down next on the bench to him. "I was sick the past few days."

Han made an acknowledging noise and inspected one of the fruit. They were big, round and yellow and had a slight fuzz on them.

"What are those?" Patton asked. "I've never seen them before."

Han chuckled. "I can imagine. They're highly illegal here in Sallerow. Over in Terona it's easier to get them but still a hassle."

"Why that? Are they poisonous?"

"Not really. But their juice is better than most love potions. If you give someone even just a small piece to eat it'll make them completely and utterly devoted to you. How long it lasts can depend on how much they ate and on themselves a little but usually not less than a week."

Patton stared at the fruit in surprise. It looked innocent enough. He could imagine it being very sweet and had contemplated if it could be baked into a pie but maybe that wouldn't be the best idea after all.

"Do you want one?" Han asked suddenly.

"What?!"

"You can also have more. I have way too many this year."

"I couldn't make someone eat that," Patton protested.

"You sure?" Han raised an eyebrow. "It's not really my business but you don't seem to be in the best situation. They might just come in handy sooner or later."

Patton bit his lip. He could actually imagine that very well.
Considering their past luck.

They also still needed to get Virgil, Janus and Remus on their side...

He shook his head. He wouldn't do that.

Not unless there was absolutely no other option.

Maybe...

"Okay," he said hesitantly.

Han grinned. "I'll pack you a few once I've cleaned them, then."

Patton nodded nervously. "Thanks... I guess."

"The others went out by the way. They should still be in Uness on the market. That's a village not far from here, just a few minutes by foot. There a signs too. If you don't want to wait you can go there," Han continued after a moment.

"Ah, thank you," Patton smiled gratefully and almost fled out of the room.

He looked around until he found the first sign and followed them through a small forest. He saw a few squirrels fight over a berry and smiled to himself.

These were the kind of forests that could be found everywhere at the feet of the Pondé mountains. The kind of forests he had grown up in.
Around here he could recognize the birds by their calls and the animals by their tracks.
The normalcy was almost strange to him.

A slight breeze ruffled his hair and he could almost hear Mama's voice, singing along to the birds, with texts of fairy tales and stories that had been passed down for generations.

Patton hummed to himself until Uness came into sight.

It was surrounded by wheat fields and even from the distance Patton could tell that it was a lot more lively than Han's town.

Traveling merchants had built up their stalls on the streets and farmers sold their harvest.

Patton made his way through the crowd, stopping at a stall here and there to get a look at the offered goods, all the while keeping watch for Logan, Roman and Emile.

He finally spotted Logan, who towered over most of the people around him, by a fabric merchant's stall.

As he got closer he also saw Emile and Roman.

Roman was clearly haggling with the merchant. Logan looked vaguely terrified. Whether of Roman or the merchant, Patton couldn't tell.

"Fine!" the merchant finally gave in and snatched the money from Roman's hand, almost throwing the fabric they had been arguing about at him.

Roman grinned proudly.
He rolled the fabric up in his arms and turned away from the stall, spotting Patton.

"Hey! You're up!" his grin widened even more. Patton was pretty sure that this was the happiest he had ever seen Roman. He wanted to see him like this more often. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah, much! Why are you buying fabric?" Patton took ahold of one of the edges, inspecting it. It was thick, thicker than any of their blankets.

"Well, Emile said that we need warmer clothes for the journey over the Pondé mountains, since they are often covered in snow. So we didn't want to pass up the opportunity," Logan answered and pushed up his glasses.

"Where did you learn to haggle like that?" Emile asked bemused.

"My Mother," Roman answered. "She's the queen now but she told me that her family wasn't exactly wealthy when she was young and that no matter the title you can end up poor very quick. Father always says she is being paranoid but can't stop her from teaching us stuff like this."

"Interesting," Logan said but it sounded more like 'terrifying'.

"So, what else do we need to cross the mountains?" Roman asked.

"Did you get a Shee-pipe?" Patton asked.

"What's that?" Logan asked.

"There are a lot of dangerous areas in the mountains and to communicate over long distances people developed these special whistles, the Shee-pipes," Patton explained, trying to show how big they were with his hands. "If we want to make it over the mountains savely we need to have one!"

"Really? How do you know that?" Logan asked.

"I grew up on the other side of the mountains. My parents had one and we always used it when we went up the mountains to bring the cattle up in spring and down in autumn!"

"That's good," Emile said. "Then you know at least a part of them. I have a Shee-pipe but we should get at least one more. Just in case we get split up or one of them breaks or something like that. Better safe than sorry."

"Where do we get them?" Roman asked.

"Not around here. For that we're still to far from the mountains. Our best chance to get one is actually in the valleys on the mountains. So we'll have to cross the first mountain with only one," Emile explained.

"The smaller ones aren't that dangerous," Patton added. "The big ones, in the centre, those are the ones we'll have to worry about. They are mostly uncharted and there are a lot of avalanches. They aren't as big as Natica but a lot more dangerous."

"We got over the Cursed Islands," Roman said, "we'll make it over the Pondé mountains!"

"But on the Islands we had Virgil," Logan said so quietly that Patton didn't think he had meant for anyone to hear.

"Let's go back to Han's place, pack our bags and head towards the mountains," Roman said. "I'm sure we'll make it!"

Chapter Text

Mountains he didn't know towered over him like sleeping giants. At their tips he could see snow and it made his heart leap.

"Thank you," he told the horse he had 'borrowed' and let it go (let it gooo). With a little melody he made sure it'd run back home on its own.

If he took it with him, up to the mountain peaks he couldn't guarantee that it survived and he didn't want to actually steal the poor creature.

What he heard didn't match with what he saw. It hadn't for hours so he just did his best to ignore the Victorian British party he had partially drifted off to, even if the gossip the ladies were sharing was scandalous. How could that bold sailor boy just lay a hand upon-! He slapped himself to focus again.

The mountains were a welcome surprise, not just because of the snow, but also because up there it'd be easy to get them off course. To slow them down, if he did it right even by a month or more.
A month would be more than enough to execute his plan.

Virgil let the rings around his fingers become fluid and swirl around his arms. The stones pulped towards eachother like magnets, now that they weren't embedded in the metal anymore. He let them but kept them away from the earring. He wouldn't let the gem become whole again.
He couldn't.

--~--

Logan had never stood by a mountain and looked up at it before.
He had stood on top of one and looked at the world down there or at the stars far above but never up at mountains.

They had something intimidating about them.

Thick forests became darker the further up he let his gaze wander and eventually fell away, making room for meadows where he could just barely make out cattle. And even further up was the snow.

The mountains behind it where distant and snowy.

Logan wondered how many they'd have to cross to get to the other side.

His mind wandered to the prophecy in his pocket. He hadn't thought about it in a while.
There was a portion about a mountain in it too.

On a high and cold mountain two lovers will rise

He was sure that the prophecy was happening at the moment, so it wasn't unlikely that they'd witness whatever the verse meant.

Logan decided to read through the prophecy again the next time they stopped somewhere. Just to see if he could figure out more of its meaning now with everything that he'd learned since that night in the guest room.
It felt like an eternity ago.

The path they followed wasn't very steep but definitely more exhausting to walk than an even one. At least the surroundings were nice.

Both Patton and Roman were so much happier here in Sallerow than they had been before. Logan hadn't been aware of how nice Patton's laugh was, like a clear melody, or how beautiful Roman looked when he honestly smiled.
It was... confusing. Or at least what it made him feel was. He wasn't sure how to handle it.

Patton grinned at him and before he knew what he was doing Logan was smiling back at him, which only made Patton's smile widen even more.

Logan's heart stuttered in his chest.

He wasn't sure what the conversation was about anymore, he hadn't been paying attention in a while.

His eyes met Emile's who smiled knowingly.

Logan quickly looked away.

So, maybe he did have feelings for Roman and Patton that weren't just because of their magical bond. So, what?
It wasn't like he was going to act on these feelings any time soon.
Or ever.

Roman gestured widely and something about that seemed weird to him. He just  couldn't put his finger on why it was off.
Roman was a very expressive person. Of course he gestured widely and spoke with his entire body, almost hitting whoever he was talking to in the process.

Just usually with one hand.

Because his left arm had a giant gash in it.

And it hurt him.

Logan watched him throw his left arm around Patton's shoulders and finally understood what was wrong here.

Wounds that deep didn't heal this fast.

Just days ago Roman had held the arm close to his chest to avoid moving it too much. He shouldn't be able to pull Patton against himself with it as if it had never hurt yet.

Was this what the touch with Remus had changed in him?

Logan studied him from behind.

There were no scratches anywhere he could see but he wasn't sure if there hadn't been any in the first place. The only way to be sure would be to take a look at the cut itself.

Another thing he decided to do during their next break.

Now seemed neither like the time nor the place to bring it up.

They kept a steady pace, only slowing down slightly when the path got steeper.

Emile said that it would be better to spend the night in a village in the valley behind the mountain they were crossing and all three of them agreed wholeheartedly.

Still, the hike up the mountain was exhausting and Logan was short of breath, as if he had been running for too long.

They stopped a few times to drink and once to eat a little but not much longer than that.

When they finally reached the summit Logan's legs were aching again. They had gotten better while on the cable railway and he hadn't missed walking until he could barely stand anymore. The snow that was almost knee high up here didn't help.

Underneath them was the valley.

It wasn't too deep but the houses still looked tiny from up here.

Roman had cut the fabric they had bought in four pieces and each of them was wearing one wrapped around their shoulders.
Logan had pushed his up to also cover the lower half of his face and his ears.

It was still cold.

He hoped the other mountains wouldn't be much colder but didn't have too much faith into that wish.

Down wasn't better than up, much to Logan's disappointment.

They had to be careful not to slip and fall into the deep and at one point Emile fell face first into the snow after speeding up too much on a steeper part of the path.

The snow became less again and a while later they finally reached the first trees.
Here the path was clearer and they could put the thick coats back into their bags, where they didn't weigh as much anymore.
Emile kept his on for a little longer, his clothes still wet from snow.

They passed meadows with cows, sheep, apoun and goats and a few times people watching over the animals.

They shepherds generally didn't acknowledge them, only a few raised a hand in greeting.

The sun set quickly behind the mountains and the valley was engulfed in soft shadows.

In the village the people lit lanterns and torches, lighting up the streets almost as brightly as at day.

It was a beautiful sight, the group of tiny lights in the quickly growing darkness.
Like a harbour they were headed to, a promise of safety even if just for one night.

Emile seemed to know his way around the narrow streets and led them to a small farm on the other side. He greeted a few people on the way, most by name and Logan wondered how often he had been here.

When he had been younger he had dreamt of a life like Emile was living it. Traveling around the world, meeting the most interesting people, discovering beings no one had seen before and studying the ways of the universe to write about and then share with everyone just as thirsty for knowledge, just as desperate to know everything there was to know and understand everything there was to wonder about.

A child opened when Emile knocked at the door of the farmhouse and smiled brightly as soon as they saw who was there.

"Uncle Emi!" they cheered and threw themselves against him for a hug. They barely reached his chest, their face pressed into his stomach.

Emile chuckled and bent down to hug them properly.

"Hello, troublemaker," he greeted with a wide smile and picked them up. "Uff, you've gotten bigger again while I wasn't paying attention, haven't you? Unacceptable."

The child giggled.

"Mom says soon I'll be a real young man!"

"I bet. If I'm not careful you'll be taller than me soon!"

The boy laughed again and Emile set him down again.

"I'll go and tell Mom and Dad that your here! And that you've brought guests!" he exclaimed excitedly and raced towards the barn.

"Is that your nephew?" Roman asked.

"Oh, no. We're not related. I'm just a close friend of his parents and he likes to call me his uncle," Emile chuckled.

A few moments later the boy came out of the barn again, dragging a woman who was clearly his mother towards them. She had the same wide mouth and laughter lines.

"Emile!" she greeted and hugged him as soon as she was close enough. "I was starting to think you were avoiding us or something!"

"Don't worry, Tris! You're not getting rid of me that easily!"

"As if we'd want to," she said as she pulled away. "Who are your guests?" She looked at them with a friendly spark in her eyes. "Or are they the anonymous kind I didn't even see?"

Emile seemed to transport people a lot. Logan wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Well, if any of those revolutionaries are here I don't even know who you're talking about," Emile shrugged.

"There were a few," Tris said with a frown. "Unfriendly boys. They left again a week ago. Closer towards the border to watch over the bridges I think."

Logan felt as if a small weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

"In that case," Roman began holding out his hand - the left one again, Logan noticed - for her to shake, "I'm Roman. Nice to meet you."

"Do you mean as in the prince?" Tris' eyes widened. "Oh dear gods."

"I'm Patton," the baker introduced himself. Logan noticed how similar his accent sounded to Tris'. That made sense, he supposed.

"Logan," he introduced himself curtly.

"Alright," Tris led them into the house. "I don't have beds for all four of you but one is big so that shouldn't be a problem. You can just go to your usual room, Emile."

Emile nodded and vanished into a small room, while Tris led the three of them to another door.

"My eldest, Gana, is making supper, I'll let her know that we have guests. Morrel will probably come get you once it's done. I have to go back and help my husband now but if you need anything just ask Emile," she said and left them standing there.

Patton opened the door and went in first, Logan and Roman following just behind him.

The room was rather small and mostly taken up by the bed that Tris had mentioned.

Roman loudly let out a breath of air.

"Guess we'll be sharing a bed then," he said. Logan could see him blush again. Though Roman's was much more subtle than Patton's and likely his own too. "Not too different from Virgil's cave."

That wasn't true and all three of them knew it. The blankets had been a lot different than sharing an actual bed. Not to mention that they had had more room on them.
And the way Logan felt about both of them had changed a lot as well.

He had a feeling that he wouldn't be getting much sleep tonight.

Chapter Text

Patton felt like he was about to spontaneously go up in flames.

They were pressed together tightly because the bed wasn't quite big enough for three people and the marks on their skins lit up the entire room in blue and red.

Patton was in the middle and Roman and Logan were on either side of him, their arms wrapped around him to avoid falling off.

Back at the swamp they had been forced to let go after just a split second of all three of them touching because it had been too overwhelming but this time it wasn't so bad. It was still a lot but bearable. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that none of them were in shock.

Still Patton's face was burning and he was terrified of moving and pushing against either Roman or Logan even more.
He couldn't do this.
Not for the entire night.

How was he supposed to sleep with two of the most attractive people he knew in the same bed?

Why had Tris thought this bed would be big enough for them?

He should have brought it up over dinner and asked if there really was no where else to sleep. If there was no other way he'd even sleep in the straw. He'd only have to use one of his blankets to lie on and it'd be a perfectly good bed.

But he hadn't done that.

Neither had the other two.

They had eaten, Logan had volunteered to help clean up afterwards and Patton and Roman had gone out for Patton to practice with his bow and arrows again.

And then, suddenly, it had been time for bed and the entire family had gone to sleep, leaving the three of them to share a bed.

Elliott was still in one of the bags - Patton wasn't sure which one anymore - and hadn't come out all day. He hoped they were comfortable in there.

Roman shifted and pulled Patton closer in his sleep.

Logan made a small noise and shuffled closer as well.

Patton wondered how they could both be asleep right now. At the same time he was glad that they weren't aware of his burning face.

He sighed softly.

"Why couldn't it just be a crush?" he whispered to himself and whatever love god decided to make him fall for these two.
He didn't get an answer.

At some point in the night he must've eventually fall asleep but the only reason he knew was because he woke up again.

Roman was gone but Logan still held him close in his sleep.

Patton attempted to get away but Logan made a disgruntled noise and pulled him closer again.

Patton frowned at the sleeping man and resigned himself to staying.

He looked around the room that was now lit up by morning light but his eyes kept drifting back to Logan.

Logan had kissed him on the forehead once, hadn't he?

Back in the small rented room in Terona.

Patton's eyes flickered to his lips.

Just a small kiss couldn't hurt, right?
Maybe not on the lips, that felt like too big a step, but a small peck on the cheek?

He leaned closer and closed his eyes.

Logan smelled nice.

Patton pressed his lips against his warm cheek.

Slowly he pulled back again and opened his eyes.

Logan blinked at him.

"That was not how I expected to wake up today," he muttered, his voice heavy with sleep.

Patton yelped and scrambled backwards until there was no more room on the bed and he fell hard onto the stone floor.

He groaned at the pain pulsating through his skull.

"Are you okay?" Logan asked."I didn't mean to startle you."

"F-fine," Patton forced out. The pain was already fading again making way for embarrassment.

Logan watched him as he sat up and it made his cheeks burn even brighter.

"Are you interested in a romantic relationship?" Logan asked just as Patton was about to apologize.

"What?" he stuttered, caught off guard.

"Are you interested in the pursuit of a romantic relationship?" Logan repeated, clearing his throat. "With me?" he added after a beat of silence.

"I-" Patton choked on air. "Yes, I- I'd like... that."

Logan smiled at him softly.

"I am... happy to hear that," he went to push up his glasses only to realise he wasn't wearing them and awkwardly put his hand down again. "I would be honoured to be your partner."

Patton pinched himself to make sure he wouldn't just wake up any second now.

It hurt.

He didn't wake up.

Logan was still smiling at him.

Patton smiled back and tackled him in a hug.

Tears formed at the corners of his eyes.

Happy tears for once.

--~--

Roman stared at the door his hand still raised to knock, lingering over the wood.

He swallowed against the clump in his throat.

Swiftly he turned around again and hurried down the hallway.

He needed just a moment alone.

Just a moment to be sad.

Afterwards he'd be happy for them and congratulate them and say something like "about time" so nobody would notice how red hie eyes were.

Just a moment to cry then he'd smile again.

"I'll be back in a few," he mumbled as he passed Emile, his voice cracking slightly and hurried out of the door.

--~--

Andy was two seconds away from quitting.

If necessary he'd also just run away and open a small shop somewhere where no one knew his name.

The war against Sallerow had been pointless then and he was sure that the battle they were preparing for would be no less pointless.

He didn't want to die like that.

He had better things to do than to throw away his life for a conflict the generation now too old to fight had begun.

A tentacle curled around his ankle. Again. For the fifth time in an hour.

Prince Remus didn't make it a secret that he was trying to disturb as many people as possible and simply out of spite Andy forced himself to stay calm and made sure to keep his breathing even.

"You know, I fucked a Vampire once," Prince Remus said conversationally. "Was kinda annoying. He kept trying to drink my blood and didn't even try to make it fun!"

Andy really wished he was one of the knights who could just ignore a member of the royal family talking to them and weren't required to respond.

"Oh, really?" he said dryly.

"Yes!"

"Sounds awful."

"It was, so then I bit him for a change!"

Dear gods, whichever one Andy had pissed off, he hadn't meant it.

"His face was hilarious!" Remus cackled wildly.

Andy was definitely going to quit.

Chapter Text

Roman was well aware of the worried looks Patton shot him but he ignored them in favour of tracing the form of the new pipe in his pocket.

They had been walking again for a little while, Patton and Logan had been holding hands ever since they had left the village behind.

That was fine.

They were in love and happy together and they didn't need Roman getting needlessly jealous.
It was weird to want a relationship with two people at the same time anyway. That didn't work.
He shouldn't be wishing for that to happen.

Was this why his parents constantly cheated?

Was he just like them after all?

No.

He couldn't think like that.

Not to mention he didn't want to.

He didn't want to be like that.

He wanted to stay true to whoever he'd marry one day.

So why was he yearning for two people?

Not to mention that both were men.

Roman had always liked men or when he had been younger boys.
And that was fine.

He'd have to a marry a woman one day but he had always assumed that he'd eventually start liking them romantically.

Yet he still didn't. He still only felt for men.

Maybe he should just give up thinking about this.
Maybe he should just accept that he was messed up.

His eyes wandered to Emile.

He had married a man. Roman wished that were an option for him as well. But kings were supposed to have heirs. They had to have children. They didn't get to choose.

During their lunch break Logan and Patton seemed to quietly discuss something. At first Patton frowned and Logan looked confused but after a few moments they seemed to come to an agreement and smiled at eachother again.

Then Logan stood up and sat down next to Roman.

"How are you feeling today?" he asked.

It didn't seem like the kind of question Logan usually asked.

"Fine," Roman mumbled with a shrug.

"May I take a look at your arm?"

Roman frowned in confusion.

"I guess," he thrust his arm out towards Logan.

"Didn't that hurt just now? Moving it like that?" Logan asked, slowly pushing his sleeve up, careful around the bandages.

Roman opened his mouth and closed it again.

It hadn't.

Come to think of it it hadn't hurt in a while.

Logan unwrapped the bandages as if Roman's arm was delicate and even though he tried to be annoyed by it it made his heart flutter.

"Huh," Logan made and Roman looked back at his arm.

The cut was gone.

There was a long, thick scar in its place and the skin was bright and pink against Roman's usual skin colour.

"It shouldn't have healed yet," Logan muttered, his fingers ghosting over the scar, barely enough for Roman to feel and the marks to flicker weakly. "It was way too deep for that. There should at least still be a shallow cut."

Roman looked at Logan's face again.

He looked completely concentrated. Utterly beautiful.

Patton was a lucky man.

Logan looked up surprised.

"Why that?" he asked.

"What?"

"You said that Patton was a lucky man. Why do you think that?"

Roman contemplated stabbing himself.

He felt like Logan was staring into his soul with those intense wonderful eyes.

"Because- I uhm..." Roman tried desperately to find an acceptable answer. He came up with nothing.

"Are you referring to Patton and me being in a relationship now?" Logan's eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

Was he upset? It would make sense for him to be upset about this, right?

"No, I meant, you're lucky."

Logan raised an eyebrow.

"So, you'd be interested in Patton?"

"No, I-"

He had messed up. He had messed up bad. Logan would get upset and Patton would get upset and they'd hate him and they'd want to split up and-

"Or both of us?"

And-

"What?"

"Would you want to be in a relationship with Patton and me?"

The bluntness of the question caught him of guard.

"I-" he nervously licked his lips and looked down before quietly responding. "Yes, I'd like that."

He expected Logan to yell at him, get away from him or do anything but for a few moments it was simply quiet between the two of them.
Roman hesitantly glanced over at the other to see his reaction.

Logan looked up to where Patton was talking to Emile and Elliott.

"I am rather new to relationships of this kind but I know that communication is important. Patton and I talked earlier and we came to the conclusion that we both feel the same way about you," he said. He looked awkward as if he had no idea how to handle the topic. "That is why I asked."

He looked over at Roman again.

Roman felt like he should say something but no words came to mind.

So instead he slowly leaned forward and pressed a kiss against Logan's cheek, half expecting Logan to pull back from him at any moment.
But he didn't.

Roman moved back again, staring at Logan unblinking.

Logan smiled at him, soft and earnest.

If he'd continue to look at Roman like that, then maybe he could stay messed up for a while longer. Maybe it was worth it even if they'd never get to marry.

Whatever spell he was under, keeping him from looking away from Logan, it suddenly broke when someone dropped down next to them.

Patton threw himself around Roman's neck with an exited noise.

Roman wrapped his arms around the other in a tight embrace.

Patton was soft and round and his head fit perfectly against Roman's shoulder. His locks smelled just as sweetly as they had last night.
Roman could get used to this smell.

He wasn't sure how long they stayed that way. It felt like hours but still way to short when Logan muttered that they'd have to get walking again and they all pulled back.

Elliott climbed onto Roman's shoulders as he stood up. They had gotten heavy since the last time Roman had held them but not too heavy for him.

"Are you my other Mum now?" they asked.

Roman chuckled surprised.

"I don't know," he admitted. "If you want me to be?"

They dropped their head onto his chest.

"Okay, Mama," they said and Roman almost broke down in tears.

Yeah, this was fine.

-~-

Virgil hated everything but the snow.

He hated the hole in his stomach, he hated the wind that made it hard to breathe, he hated himself because old habits and that bullshit and he hated the pixies that kept trying to lead him somewhere even though he had been ignoring them for almost five hours now.

But the snow was good.

It reminded him of home back when it had really been home.

How old had he been back then, when everything had changed?

Five?

Yes, he must've been around five.

The tally marks on his skin prickled and stung and he tried to distract himself from those thoughts.

The snow brought him back to better memories with a bittersweet taste to them.

Chapter Text

Logan stood still as he watched the mass of snow roll down the neighbouring mountain and mow down trees on its way.
It was the second avalanche they'd witnessed in three days.

Emile blew a signal into his pipe, the loud noise echoing through the valley.
From what little Logan understood about the signals he had likely let other people in the area know where the avalanche had come down and that they wouldn't be able to help.

According to Emile and Patton they were almost on the other side of the mountains by now. Logan had no idea how they knew, every mountain looked the same to him, but he hoped they were right.
Around here it was freezing.

They had been forced to make fires just to unfreeze their water to be able to drink for two days now. Simply eating snow was also too cold. They couldn't afford to let their bodies cool down like that with no reliable way to warm up again.

Logan stumbled over something buried deep in the snow and barely managed to catch himself from falling.

He was shivering uncontrollably and sneezed into the crook of his elbow for what felt like the thousandth time.

Roman took a hold of his hand and Logan wished they could take of the gloves to have actually skin contact.

"Hey!" Patton suddenly called over the howling wind. "I think there is something!"

Logan followed his gaze.

A lantern bopped steadily towards them, the flame a bright purple colour.

He squinted trying to get a better look at it.

It seemed awfully familiar.

The realisation where he knew it from felt like a boulder dropping into his stomach.

"No way..."

"What is it?" Roman asked.

Right, the others probably could barely make out the light if anything at all.

"That's Virgil's lantern," Logan yelled to make sure they could hear him.

Even with the cloth covering most of it Logan could tell that Roman's face fell.

Logan watched Virgil come closer as they walked on.

He was limping and using the lantern as a improvised crutch.

The wind stilled suddenly, leaving the snowflakes it had been whipping around hanging in the air, awkwardly tumbling around themselves with no guide to show them where to go.

Virgil was just a few feet away now and stopped as he saw them.

"Hello," he broke the tense silence. "It's been a while."

Logan moved a little closer to Roman.

"I heard you're dating now."

Even more silence followed his words.

"You're alive," Roman finally said. Logan couldn't tell if he was relieved or disappointed. Or perhaps afraid.

"Surprise, bitch. I bet you thought you'd seen the last of me," Virgil stepped down to them, putting most of his weight on the lantern, without breaking eye contact.

"My husband likes that phrase," Emile said.

Virgil turned to him, confusion written over his face.

"What-?"

"My husband. He's a mage too. Have you been using a lot of magic? You seem pretty far gone already."

Logan watched the two of them cautiously. It made sense that MiM got worse the more someone used magic but as far as he could tell Virgil looked fully aware of what was happening around him.

The Mage opened and closed his mouth a few times.

"There's a hole in my stomach," he finally said and pointed at Roman. "Because he stabbed me. But it's fine. I had it coming. And Remus tried to eat them to avenge me."

Emile just nodded in understanding.

"Wait!" Patton interrupted. "How do you know about that? And how did you know we were dating?"

Virgil didn't react as if he hadn't even heard him.

A small gust of wind swirled up a few snow flakes.

"There'll be hail soon," Virgil said looking up at the grey sky. "There's a cave a bit further up. I think I'll go there. If you want to you can join me."

With that he turned around and went back towards where he'd come from.

"Should we follow him?" Logan asked. "If he's right and it's really going to be hailing we should definitely seek shelter."

"I agree," Emile said, nodding. "And he doesn't really seem as angry as you'd expect from someone you tried to kill. I'd know. Remy showed me Kill Bill."

"Okay," Patton shrugged and turned to Roman. "Are you coming?"

Roman glared at Virgil's retreating back.

"Fine," he finally agreed.

The cave Virgil had mentioned had a slim entrance, barely visible from the outside.
Inside the air was warmer and the bright glow of the snow outside wasn't bright enough to sting in Logan's eyes anymore.

Virgil's lantern shone softly on the ragged stone walls, the bunny skeleton and the hibernating bear.

"Come in," he said. "Have a seat. Don't mind Lady Hasting. She really enjoys her gossip."

Maybe Emile was right about the MiM.

Patton watched the bear warily but sat down.
Logan took a seat next to him and Patton leaned against his shoulder with a sigh.
Roman sat on Logan's other side and put an arm around him.

Logan let his eyes slip shut for a moment before he forced himself to open them again.
He didn't want to risk falling asleep in a cave with a bear.
If they weren't lucky it'd wake up for a little to eat. Then they'd be the nearest possible food.

He doubted Virgil's magic was of any use right now and he had no idea if either Roman or Patton could kill a fully grown bear.

From what he had read about them, Patton's arrows would probably just make it angry.

He heard Virgil gasp and looked up.

"They shared a bed?" the mage whispered.

Logan frowned before deciding that he was probably hallucinating.

"Are we even sure it'll hail?" Roman asked quietly. "We might be in here for nothing."

Emile shrugged.

"We might as well use this for a break," Logan said. "I believe we all need it. We'll go on later."

Roman still didn't look to happy but didn't disagree.

He simply shuffled closer to Logan and leaned against him.

Logan took his hand and gave it a light squeeze as Patton nuzzled his head against his shoulder.

Again his eyes wanted to drift shut and he fought against it for maybe twenty minutes before they become too heavy and he gave himself over to unconsciousness.

"They didn't," was the last thing he heard Virgil say before he finally fell asleep.

Chapter Text

Roman wasn't sure how he felt about seeing Virgil again.

Relieved that he hadn't killed him after all and that there still was a way for them to fulfill their quest?

Angry that he was back as if nothing had happened and they were stuck with him again?

Afraid that he could hurt them or betray them again, worse than the first time?

Maybe a mix of all three and hints of other feelings he couldn't or maybe didn't want to understand.

He just knew that he didn't trust him.

It had hailed, just as Virgil had predicted.

They went on as soon as it stopped and even though they were going in the direction Virgil had come from he went with them without hesitation or anyone even asking him to.
Roman couldn't help but wonder what his motive was.

He was glad that his arm had healed, even more so now. Like this he could finally fight properly again if the need arose.

They reached the summit and Roman could barely make out anything in the thick mist.

After a while he heard sleigh bells in the distance.

"We should try to stay away from whoever that is," he suggested. "Who knows if they're friend or enemy. Better not risk anything."

"You're right," Logan agreed. "It's already dangerous enough out here."

The bells came closer and they tried to steer away from them as best as possible, with how steep the path went down and the wind carrying the sound around making it hard to place where it came from.

"Hey!" a rough voice called and they froze.

A few metres over them stood a figure, dressed in sallerowan armour.
Their beard prevented them from closing the helmet. Not a soldier.

"Revolutionary," Roman whispered, hoping the others could hear him.

"So enemy," Patton whispered back.

"Who are you?" the man called.

"Just travelers!" Emile told him. "We're crossing the mountains to get home to our village."

"Which village are you headed for?" the man asked on, getting closer. Roman subtly made sure his sword was completely hidden.

"To the Mossgarden," Patton answered quickly. "It's a small village further up the Jein. I doubt you know it."

"I don't," the man admitted and his eyes wandered over them restlessly. "You don't look very sallerowan," he finally said and pointed at Virgil. "Who are you?"

"He's deaf," Logan claimed saving Virgil from having to tell the truth or come up with something on the spot. "We don't know where he's from but he's useful so we let him stay with us. We don't know his goal either."

Other than the deaf part it wasn't even a lie. Roman couldn't help but admire Logan's answer a little.

"Completely deaf?"

"As a rock," Roman nodded before turning to Virgil and yelling at the top of his lungs. "Aren't you?!"

Virgil smiled nervously but didn't react otherwise, playing along.

"Are you carrying any illegal goods or weapons?" the revolutionary asked on.

"I just have a bow and arrows," Patton spoke almost too quickly.

Elliott was in Logan's bag, weren't they? Roman was pretty sure Patton wasn't carrying anything else he wasn't supposed to.

"You?" the man asked on.

"Just two knives," Emile shrugged. "One for cooking, one for emergencies."

"I'm unarmed," Logan continued.

Virgil watched a few slow snowflakes as if the conversation had nothing to do with him.

"So is he, as far as we know," Logan added, jabbing a thumb at him.

"And you?" now he was looking directly at Roman.

"Just a sword," he said. "For self defense. We've been through dangerous territory already."

"Can I see?" the revolutionary asked and stepped closer. "A friend of mine had his stolen a little while ago."

He noticed Roman frown and continued.

"I'm not saying you did it but maybe someone traded it to you or switched them out or something," he reached out a hand for the sword.

"I'm sure this is my sword. I've had it for years," Roman said and glanced over at the others for help. Maybe he could knock out the man and they could make a getaway.

Logan subtly raised five fingers, put them down and put them up again, waved his hand slightly and made a circle motion with one finger, pointing all around them.

Roman understood.

About ten people surrounding them.

"I just want to make sure," the revolutionary insisted.

Knocking him out wasn't an option. It'd just end in a fight.

Showing him the sword and risking that he recognised it was even worse and probably would end in a fight too.

Running away? Who was he kidding. They were surrounded and they'd probably slip and fall and break their necks.

Continuing to refuse?
The man would get suspicious or maybe even angry and probably force Roman to hand it over.

Maybe knocking him out was the best option after all.

Then, at least the fight would involve one person less.

"Show it to me!"  the man demanded again.

Roman glanced towards the others again.

"Sorry," he heard himself say and punched the man as hard as he could.

He fell back onto his back and blood dripped from his nose, running down his face.

Roman heard Logan swear and then all hell broke loose.

From all sides people appeared out of the shadows and Roman quickly pulled his sword.

Logan had been wrong, he noticed numbly. There were at least thirty.

He quickly ducked down and pulled the revolutionary's sword out of it's sheath.

He wasn't a master at fighting with two swords but there were only so many people he could fight with only one. Like this he could block and strike at the same time. Block with the stolen sword in his right, strike with his own in his left.

He noticed Patton draw his bow.

No, that wouldn't work.

Patton's aim was improving quickly but by far not quick enough for an actual fight. He couldn't be hurt himself, but he could still run out of arrows or accidentally shoot one of them without meaning to. Especially in the wind.

Emile seemed to be armed with something Roman didn't recognize and Virgil created a vortex of snow and energy that threw around a handful of soldiers.

But Logan was completely unarmed.

"Patton!" Roman yelled over his shoulder at him. "Take Logan and get further down!"

He heard Patton protest but couldn't understand what he said over the sound of a sword clashing against his own.

Logan said something but Roman just hoped that it wasn't directed at him.

A soldier with a mace swung at him and he stumbled back, the hit landing in the snow to his feet and throwing up bits of it.

Before they could pull it back up Roman thrust his sword's pommel against their chest.

He could almost feel something crack and they screamed.

The swordsman used the opportunity and his blade cut through Roman's coat, digging into his ribs.

He jumped back.

Red drops landed in the snow.

To his left a vortex of snow and lightning ripped apart a sleigh and people screamed.

He focused on his opponents.

The swordsman and the soldier with the mace stood about six feet apart.

"Don't let them escape!" someone called and Roman glanced down.

Logan was holding Patton's hand and stopped for a split second.

"We'll find a way to help you!" he yelled up at Roman.

"You do that!" he yelled back.

A crash made him look up again.

Virgil's vortex seemed to almost pulsate, like a beating heart.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" Roman called up to him and glanced back down.

"Go! Now!"

He saw Logan nod. Then they disappeared down into the fog.

--~--

Patton recognised this scene.

He'd seen it before in a dream.

Logan swore as he almost lost his footing on the steep slope.

Patton tightened his grip on his hands, trying to stabilise both of them.

Behind them someone else screamed and Patton forced himself to go on. He was no use in battle, except maybe as a human shield. Logan was right about that.
They'd have to find some other way to help.

"Fuck!" Logan swore and slithered to a stop.

More figures became visible in the fog and Patton tightened his hold on Logan again.

Six armed men surrounded them and Logan pulled Patton closer.

Two swordsmen, a spearman two with clubs and one with knives.

"Patton," Logan whispered and Patton forced himself to look away from the weapons and focus on Logan's face.

"Yes?"

"Patton, I love you," Logan stared back at him. There was fear in his eyes.

He wasn't expecting to survive.

The realisation hit Patton like a ton of bricks.

He would probably make it - it wasn't like these people could actually do anything to him - but Logan was far from invulnerable and neither of them could defend themselves.

"I love you so much."

"I love you too," Patton answered and grabbed at Logan's collar, pulling him down so their faces were inches apart. "So much."

Logan surged forward, their lips meeting -

and the world melted away.

--~--

A blast of energy ripped at Roman and he barely managed to bring up his arm to shield his face.

He squinted into the sudden wind but all he could make out was a bright light, further down hill.

It seemed to grow bigger and brighter until it filled Roman's vision completely.

Then - just as sudden as it had appeared - it was gone again.

The wind stopped abruptly, leaving a deafening silence in its wake.

It had blown away the fog and snow flakes, giving Roman clear vision for about a hundred metres.

He sucked in a breath of air at the sight below him.

The revolutionary soldiers were frozen in place like incredibly realistic ice sculptures - even the ones he'd been fighting just moments ago.
Farther down they stood in a circle, surrounding a pile of humans on the ground.

Logan and Patton were slumped on the snow in their middle.

"What was that?" Emile whispered. The silence nearly swallowed his words.

He was bleeding from a head wound, Roman realised as he glanced over.

"The Sphere of Life," Roman thought.

He hurried down to the circle of statues an d fell to his knees next to his partners.

"Guys?" he gently shook Logan's shoulder.

He didn't react.

"They're unconscious!" Roman called up to Emile and Virgil. "We should get them out of the snow."

Virgil frowned at the blood dripping over Emile's face.
Roman could tell what he was thinking; Emile wouldn't make it far.

Abruptly Virgil turned to Roman again.

"I know you don't trust me right now," he began, "but right now three people might die if we screw up so I'm gonna need you to at least believe me!"

Roman frowned but didn't disagree.

"We can use one of their sleighs! I can lift them and the horses out of the snow. You get them over to it," Virgil gestured to one of the sleighs, buried in the snow from the shock wave Logan and Patton had caused.

Roman hesitated for a moment looking from his boyfriends' unconscious bodies, down hill to where he could barely make out a tree line but couldn't tell how far they still had to go, to Virgil who was looking at him expectantly.

"Fine!" he finally relented and began pulling Patton's limp body onto his back.

His knees almost buckled as he tried to stand up.

"Sorry, Lo," he grit out between clenched teeth. "You're gonna have to wait a bit."

He heard Virgil's voice over the wind and the carriage-like sleigh was lifted in the air slowly and gently sat down again, the door that had broken off fixed itself and the horses' legs snapped back into position.

"That's... That's gross," Roman mumbled, staggering through the snow.

"Get in," Virgil told Emile and turned to Roman. "Have you ever ridden a sleigh?"

Roman shook his head.

"No, never," he let Patton down on one of the benches. "You?"

"Too long ago. But there's another option," he muttered walking over to the horses.

Roman watched him go before going back to get Logan.

Logan's lips were slightly blue and Roman picked him up bridal style, trying to rub his arms to warm him slightly.

A horse dashed past him and Roman stumbled back a little. He turned back to the sleigh.

"Did you release the horses?" he yelled flabbergasted and hurried to stumble back over, depositing Logan next to Patton.

"You can't ride it, I can't ride it; we don't need them."

"I said I've never done it before! I know how it works! How are we supposed to move it now!"

Virgil climbed onto the coach box.

"Magic. Duh."

Roman climbed up next to him.

"You don't have to be up here," Virgil said.

"Yeah, maybe. But I don't trust you."

"Fair enough."

Chapter Text

Roman took the now loose hanging leather reigns, partly  because having something to hold on to made him feel slightly safer, partly to keep them out from under the skids.

"If we die I hope we won't get punished in the same level of hell," Virgil muttered.

"What?" Roman asked.

Without answering Virgil grabbed the reigns and began humming a soft melody.

Slowly, barely noticeable at first, the sleigh began to move, getting faster as Virgil got louder until he began to sing in a language Roman didn't know and the sleigh moved at about the speed of a walking horse.

It... wasn't as bad as Roman had expected. Virgil had way more control over the movement than he'd expected.

They rode towards the dark tree line and Roman relaxed slightly.

For a moment he contemplated climbing into the inside of the sleigh to check on his boyfriends and Emile but decided against it. Just because the sleigh ride shaped up to be a lot safer than he had expected didn't mean that he could trust Virgil yet.

As they reached the tree line Virgil stopped singing for a moment, the song he'd been singing over, and the sleigh kept moving with its momentum.

Roman relaxed into the leather cushion of the coach box and pulled his coat higher over his face to shield it from the wind.
He glanced over to Virgil who seemed to be contemplating. So far Roman was pretty sure that he was using magic by singing so he was probably contemplating what song he could sing.
As long as he decided before they crashed into a tree, Roman didn't care.

Virgil began again, louder from the get-go this time with something that sounded more like talking than singing.
A jolt went through the sleigh and it moved faster again, speeding up with Virgil's voice and dodging the trees.

Roman subtly examined the wound where he'd been stabbed earlier and froze.

He could watch and almost feel the muscle knitting itself back together and the skin stretch to heal. It itched and prickled weirdly.

Suddenly Virgil began to actually sing and the sleigh gained even more speed.

"Woah!" Roman let out. "Slow down!"

Virgil didn't seem to hear him.

They sped up further.

"Slow down!" Roman tensed as the trees began to melt together as they dashed past, dodging closer and closer. The snow whipped against his face again.

The sleigh raced over a fallen tree, covered in snow and flew into the air.

Roman screamed.

They were headed straight for a tree, they were going to crash, they-

A bright, green flash of light filled his vision and suddenly they crashed into a flowery field, their momentum making them race past a large group what looked like people but was gone to quickly for Roman to actually see.

Another, ice blue, flash and they were back on the mountain, nearly toppling over to the side before crashing back down.

"Slow the fuck down!" Roman yelled, holding onto the reins for dear life. "You're going to get us all killed!"

He could hear his own panic in Virgil's voice but he still didn't slow the sleigh.

He sped it up.

He sang faster and faster, the more scared he seemed, as if having completely forgotten that his voice was making the sleigh move this fast in the first place and that he was the only one who could slow it again.

Another pink flash of light and they hit something slimy that let out a high pitched scream and rolled over the front of the sleigh before hitting Roman in the chest.
Slime hit his face and he managed to stop screaming long enough to spit some of it out.

"Stop the fucking sleigh!" he screeched.

His answer was another beige flash of light and suddenly they were falling through the air, towards a city of high grey towers and some made of glass.

Some small black thing flew past them.

Maybe it squawked but Roman couldn't hear over his own screams ringing in his ears.

The ground got closer and closer and Roman scrunched his eyes shut.

He heard the light more than he saw it this time.

Snow flew up and hit him in the face and he blinked his eyes open to clear his vision.

They were back on a mountain but he couldn't be sure if it was the same one they had started out on.
He hoped it was.

"Virgil, stop the fucking sleigh!"

They were going to die. They were so going to die. They had escaped the revolutionaries but they were still going to die.

The sleigh hopped a little and Roman heard wood burst.

Roman whipped his head around but he couldn't see what had broken. The wind brought tears to his eyes and stung.

What had he been thinking to let Virgil take control?

Emile had said that he was far gone, it had been obvious too, so why the fuck had Roman thought for even a second that he could trust this mad man with their lives?

Whatever had possessed him, he hoped that it too was trapped on the sleigh with them.
It seemed like a good punishment.

And suddenly the world around him slowed down.

"What-?" Roman looked around.

They were still moving, the snow was still falling but so slow it might as well have stopped.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Roman hissed at Virgil, his voice cracking a little after screaming so much.

Virgil didn't react.

Roman glanced over at him and realized that he was slowed down too.

"What the actual fuck...?"

Roman pushed himself up from his slumped position.

With a start everything went back to normal and he was thrown back against the hard cushion, his breath getting knocked out of him and his head slamming against the wood.

His vision blurred.

Suddenly the sleigh tilted, few up in the air again, spinning out of control and crashed into a snowbank.

Roman was thrown in the air and landed hard on his back, sinking into the snow.

Slowly he blinked up at the light grey sky.

He could still feel the world spin around him and didn't dare to move until it finally came to a halt.
Then, he slowly sat up, his head and back throbbing, and looked around.

The sleigh was a few metres away, laying on its side, the skids broken and their pieces scattered in the snow.

Roman managed to get up and stumble over to it.

"Guys?" he wanted to ask but his voice failed him halfway through the word.

Coughing he looked around again.

Virgil was a few metres away, staggering to his feet.
He shook off the snow like a wet animal and slowly came over to Roman. His eyes seemed unfocused now.

"I can't believe we survived," Virgil croaked.

"Now I can fucking kill you," Roman barely managed to answer.

Chapter Text

Princey did not end up killing him.

Virgil couldn't decide whether to be relieved or mad at that. He wasn't sure whether he was in pain either so maybe he should just wait until he wasn't high anymore to decide.

The nice part of being alive was that he got to watch Princey climb up the sleigh and get Rapunzel, Goldilocks and the other guy out.

Other-guy had passed out at some point during the ride and neither Rapunzel nor Goldilocks had woken up, but from what he could make out of what Princey told him they hadn't gotten hurt.
Virgil wanted to ask Princey if he was blind - other-guy clearly had just stopped bleeding from that wound on his head- but all that came out was a small noise.

He squinted trying to figure out if he was just seeing things shake again or if Princey was actually shaking.

He probably was.

The gossiping ladies he was listening to would probably be shaking too if he told them about November 2020. Even if he limited it to the first week.

To Princey the sudden world jumps had probably been just as confusing. Or maybe he'd touched a vein in the in-between. Virgil had done his best to keep them in worlds but it wasn't impossible.
If he had touched a vein it couldn't have been a big one or Princey would be about as useful as Virgil was right now.

But he wasn't.

Now that no one was in the sleigh leftovers anymore he began collecting fire wood and lit it after a bit of struggle, as Virgil watched and tried to focus to keep himself from drifting off completely.

He saw Princey speak but all he could hear was the Victorian party.

He was also pretty sure that he was supposed to feel his winter coat and cold air in his face instead of a tight laced but still comfortable corset and the warm air filled with perfume to cover up the smell of sweat from dancing.

As much as he liked the Victorian era of world #47h149s58ofw^π - it was kinda fun - he also still had shit to get done in his own world and time.

Princey began digging through one of the bags and pulled out a bread, wrapped in cloth. He cut a few slices and roasted them over the fire a little before handing two to Virgil, keeping the others to himself.

Virgil tried to say "Thanks" but he couldn't hear himself so he wasn't sure if he succeeded or not.

The dragon crawled out of a different bag. It was about the size of a lamb now and it's scales had dulled from the strong forest green they had had at first to more of a matte olive green.
It looked nice on them.

They stayed on the bag for a moment before carefully touching the snow with one foot and pulling it back immediately, eyes going wide.

Virgil was pretty sure he chuckled.

Ellie looked over at him and tilted their head to the side similarly to how Goldilocks did.
They opened their mouth a few times - Virgil guessed they could talk by now - and waited. Probably for an answer.

Too bad that Virgil couldn't lipread dragons. He already sucked at reading humans lips - dragons could pterodactyl screech or have a deep philosophical discussion about the implications of Sallerowan royalty wearing gloves and the different types of gloves expected from the different kinds of royalty and Virgil would guess that they were ordering Champagne at a flute shop either way.

So he just stared back at Ellie and tried to synchronise his blinking with theirs.

After a while they apperently grew bored of staring at him and turned to attend to more important matters - namely the weird cold white stuff surrounding them.

They pressed their foot into it again, deeper this time until their leg was encased and some of the snow touched their stomach.

Startled they jumped back like a cat at a cucumber behind them and landed on their stomach in the snow.

Now Virgil was sure that he was snickering and they were making terrified noises, jumping around but always landing in the snow again until Princey caught them out of the air and cradled them to his chest, saying something.
Maybe he was explaining what snow was.

Ellie tried touching it again and slowly lowered themself into it. They walked a bit, flicked the snow with their tail making a few flakes fly up and looked delighted.
They began to flick up more and jumped around in it.

Virgil saw Princey laugh.

Ellie tumbled over their own tail and landed at Virgil's feet, shaking off the snow that had fallen onto their head.

Virgil managed to get their attention and scooped up a handful of snow.

They watched intently as he moulded it into a ball.

He showed it to them, they looked at him confused and Virgil grinned. He glanced up at Princey who was still watching them but looked slightly confused as well.
Unsuspecting.
Good.

Virgil threw the snowball and it hit Princey square in the face.

He sputtered and stared at Virgil flabbergasted for a moment. Then his eyes narrowed, he said something and grabbed a handful of snow.

It fell apart a few times in his hands because he was still wearing gloves and when he finally got it to stick together it was clumpy and awkward but he didn't let it stop him and threw.

Virgil felt it faintly as the snow hit him in the face.

Ellie jumped excitedly and began scraping snow together.

They ended up winning by climbing up into a tree and shaking the snow off the twigs onto them.

Then Princey lit the fire again and Virgil managed to use just enough magic to suck the water out of their clothes.

He jumped as Ellie climbed in his lap and curled up there.

Princey searched through his bag until he found a paper and a pen, scribbled down something and held it up.

Wake them and you're dead

Virgil nodded and pat Ellie's head gently.

-~-

They moved on after a few hours of neither Logan, Patton nor Emile waking up, using the rests of the sleigh to carry them, by pulling it along behind them. It was heavy and didn't move well thanks to the damage their ride had caused but it worked.

Roman kept glancing over to Virgil, just to make sure that he didn't pass out suddenly.

Elliott had tired themselves out and was sleeping on the coach box, unbothered by the cold.

"Sorry," Roman heard himself saying, "for stabbing you. I was mad but it was uncalled for. I hope it'll heal well. And that you can forgive me."

He knew that Virgil couldn't hear him. But he wasn't sure if he'd be able to say it if he could.

Following an impulse he grabbed Virgil's arm, marks lighting up on both of them, and pulled it over his shoulder to support him.

"Merci," Virgil grinned lopsidedly.

"Mer-what?"

Virgil didn't react.

The marks on his skin were deep purple and he had half circles just under his eyes, sparkling. It looked nice on him.
He looked less tired and less weary like this.

Slowly they wandered down hill towards what Roman hoped was the end of the Pondé mountains.

He wanted to ask Virgil if he knew where they were but he didn't seem to be aware of much so Roman probably wouldn't get a real answer.

Chapter Text

Patton woke up to a dull headache and a throat so dry it felt like sandpaper.

The wooden floor under him moved at a steady speed and someone was holding him tightly. He recognised the feeling of the marks on his skin and Logan's smell.

Slowly blinking he opened his eyes.

They were inside what looked like a carriage. Or maybe a sleigh.

He shot up.

The revolutionaries! Had they been kidnapped?

A hand reached up and pulled him back down.

"Stay calm," Logan whispered. "We're fine."

"But what's going on?" Patton asked.

"I don't know. But if we're in captivity, why are our bags and weapons still with us?"

Patton turned and noticed their luggage, including Roman's sword, his bow and Virgil's lantern, piled up behind him, next to a hole in the sleigh, that looked as if it had been hit hard and shattered.

Emile was there too and held up a hand in a silent greeting, fresh looking bandages wrapped around his head messily.

"Where's Roman?" Patton asked on.

"Maybe outside," Logan shrugged. "I don't really know."

Through the hole Patton could see snow with a few weak plants poking through to get even just a little sunlight. They had to be way further down the mountain by now.

The movement stopped and they heard muffled voices coming from outside. Someone distanced themselves and for a few moments all was quiet.

Then footsteps came closer to the door and Patton felt Logan tense.

The door was forced open roughly, a brittle piece of it falling off.

"Ach, verdammter Mist" Virgil muttered and kicked it away. "Ah, you're alive," he noticed. "That's good. How's it going? Did ya have a nice nap?"

"Nap?" Logan asked confused.

"Yeah, okay, fair. Nap probably isn't the right word," he shrugged and pulled one of the bags out. "Anyway, we're gonna eat soon. You can join if you want."

"Wait, how long were we out?" Logan asked getting up and pulling Patton with him.

"Not sure, I was out for a while too but maybe two days?" Virgil shrugged heading back towards the front of the sleigh.
From the outside it looked way worse than it had looked from the inside.

Patton wondered what the hell had happened to it.

Virgil plopped down next to a small stack of twigs and began digging through the bag.

"Roman and Elliott are getting some more firewood. They should be back soon," he told them.

Patton sat down across from him. He wasn't sure how trustworthy Virgil was.

Logan stayed by his side and Patton leaned against him tiredly.
Odd how he was tired after being unconscious for multiple days.

After a while he heard footsteps come closer through the woods.
Patton sat up and spotted Roman carrying dead sticks and dry leaves. Elliott was jumping around him, keeping up without a problem. They jumped into the snow, crawled out again, only to shake it off and do it again, looking absolutely thrilled the entire time.

"Dad!" they shouted and barreled at him.

"You're awake!" Roman lit up.

Elliott knocked the air out of Patton as they collided with him.

Roman dropped his wood and tackled both Patton and Logan in a tight hug.

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly.

Patton felt Logan nod.

"We're okay. Are you alright, dear?"

"Fine as can be," he tightened his hold.

The campfire lit up and Roman pulled back again.

"We found a rabbit," he told Virgil. "I don't think it's enough for all six of us but we can still cook it, right?"

"Yeah, that's good! Better than eating the bread dry."

Virgil took the rabbit and sang a small melody, stripping it of his skin and removing the organs.

"Do you want this?" he offered the organs to Elliott who quickly began to eat the liver.

"What do you say?" Roman asked them.

"Thank you," Elliott said sheepishly.

"You're welcome," Virgil scratched their head and Elliott let out a purr, leaning into the touch.

Patton felt a spark of worry at how willingly Elliott trusted Virgil.

Roman on the other hand barely paid the two of them any mind. Instead he pulled Logan and Patton close again, showering them in pecks and kisses.

He pressed on on Patton's neck and he couldn't help but giggle.

"Stop, that tickles."

"Mhm, but I so enjoy hearing your laugh, beautiful," Roman murmured.

The warmth in Patton's chest turned into a wild fire burning away the worry.

"Oh, by the gods, I love you more than I can handle," he whispered.

"Mmh, maybe you can show me then. That might help."

"A sound theory," Logan smiled.

So Patton did.

-~-

Janus watched the soldiers through the window and his grip on his cane tightened.

When the last war with Sallerow had begun he hadn't even been a year old; when it had ended he had been six.

His memories of the time were mostly blurred and missing pieces, but many were still clear as day.
Seeing soldiers on the castle grounds like this was one of them.

It tasted bitter on his tongue and brought back others he had thought he'd forgotten long ago.

With a sigh he turned away from the window and wandered into the room.

He couldn't stop Virgil from doing this if he wanted to - he was well aware of that - but the prospect of war hung over his head like a dark cloud. He felt sick at just the idea that it was something that couldn't be avoided.

But it was.

At least it was unless the entire Sallerowan population had changed completely since the war.
And he doubted that that was even possible.

People didn't change that quickly.

The only way Terona and Sallerow could ever live in peace with eachother was if they were united.
Combined into one country.

In a perfect world Chronal would also be part of this union but the world wasn't perfect - far from it - Chronal had been wiped out years ago and Sallerow and Terona were once again at the brink of war.

Janus left the room and wandered down the hallway.

What would Mother do now?

The question repeated itself in his head over and over again but he couldn't come up with an answer.

Maybe Mother would have stopped Virgil.

Maybe Mother would have talked everything over with Remy.

Maybe, maybe, maybe.

But no solution.

No matter how he tried to look at it he just couldn't come up with the perfect solution.

War wasn't his way.

It had been his father's way and had been his end, the frustration and anger over the war ending without a winner bringing him to his deathbed.
But it hadn't been Mother's, who had brought so much better times for Terona, healing and nurturing the land and it's people until they were okay again.
And war wasn't his way.

At least he didn't want it to be.

Chapter Text

"Nice," Virgil whispered under his breath with a sly smile.

Logan shot him a questioning look.

They were on the move again now, having left the wrecked sleigh behind.
They had left the snow behind a while back as well, now walking through a green forest instead.

Virgil had announced that he would split off from them as soon as they reached the foot of the mountain. Elliott had tried to convince him to stay and even Roman had seemed disappointed but Virgil hadn't given in.

Nobody had answered Emile's questions about what exactly had happened while they had been out cold.

Virgil had just told them that the kiss had somehow taken out the revolutionaries and that they shouldn't worry about how they'd gotten down and Roman had nodded in agreement, a distant look of horror on his face.

Logan wasn't sure if that made him more or less curious.

When they stopped for a late lunch on a small clearing he finally remembered to pull out the prophecy again, as he'd been meaning to for nearly a week now.

On a light and sunny day a kingdom will fall.
In a dark and stormy night a king will be crowned.

This part he was still sure was about Sallerow burning. And the coronation was likely Roman's unless Janus was to suddenly die.

Or it was Janus'.

Logan furrowed his brows.

There was nothing indicating that the coronation had to be after the kingdom's fall.
He just had no idea on what kind of day Janus had become king, a sunny or a rainy one. All he knew was that it had been a day after his mother's funeral.

On a high and cold mountain two lovers will rise.

Logan resisted the urge to hit himself with his notebook.

That was him and Patton.

He was sure.

The mountain was the very mountain they'd been attacked on and the 'rise' was whatever had happened when they'd kissed.
At least he couldn't think of anything else.

In the halls of the castle awaits a surprise.
In the flames lies will grow.
Claimed by a royal the islands will change.
For behind the masks they hide something strange.
A hidden love turns into hate.
The clock is running - there is no time to wait.

These passages were as much as a mystery to him now as they had been the last time he'd read them. That the clock was running was pretty straight forward but the rest of it?
He still couldn't make sense of that.

Undamaged skin -

Logan glanced up at Patton.

Was this referring to him?

Technically someone who was invincible could be described as having undamaged skin, right? It couldn't possibly be damaged after all.

- and all seeing eyes.

His hand wandered up to his glasses, now just useless frames because he was too used to them to just stop wearing them. He let his gaze wander over the trees, watched ants carry small sticks around on the other side of the clearing and looked up in the sky, where even now he could see billions of stars.

It was a slight hyperbole but still fitting.

He couldn't see all but he came close enough.

Logan looked back down at the scroll.

In the sea lies their shared demise.

The words felt like a sudden punch in the stomach.

He'd read them countless times before always knowing that they were about someone's death but never once caring much.

Now they made him feel sick.

If he was right and this was about him and Patton-

Were they going to die together?

In the sea.

Drowning.

They would drown.

With a quick movement he rolled up the scroll and stuffed it deep into his bag.

"Mummy?" Elliott asked coming closer. "Are you okay?"

They sounded worried.

Logan forced a smile.

"I'm okay, sweetheart. Don't worry about me."

He let Elliott crawl into his lap and held them.

How much longer would he get to hold them like this?

And would it end because they became to big or because he-?

He shook off the thought.

For all he knew he'd have another forty years and at old age die with Patton by his side. There was absolutely no reason it had to be soon.

He glanced over to Patton who was leaning back against Roman while chatting with Emile on the other side of the clearing.

Whatever happened, he wouldn't leave Patton. He couldn't do that.
Even if he was sure that watching Patton die would tear him apart, he couldn't let Patton watch him go.

"Let's get going," Roman suggested. "If we're lucky we might make it all the way down before it gets dark."

Logan forced himself to smile again and nodded.

Elliott jumped off his lap to let him stand but stayed as close to him as they could without walking into him.

Logan was glad when they finally reached the foot of the mountain, well into the time of day that was impossible to say for certain whether it was late afternoon or already evening.
Finally they could leave the Pondé mountains behind.

As beautiful as they were, he was tired of the slopes, steep paths and the freezing cold.

On the other hand... There were no seas in mountains.

"There's a village nearby," Patton interrupted his thoughts. "They often let strangers sleep in the Awlas temple in exchange for sacrifices."

"Awlas is a god of travel, correct?" Logan asked. He didn't care much about the Sallerowan gods but it was a better topic of conversation than the one occupying his mind.

Patton nodded.

"Yeah, xe will protect us for the night."

Logan noticed Roman frown.
He wasn't sure why.

Roman and Patton believed in the same gods and he'd heard Roman pray a few times before.
Patton prayed silently but Roman whispered the words. They weren't meant for anyone but the gods but sometimes Logan found himself listening still.

He'd heard him pray to Awlas too, back on the cursed Islands.

So why was he frowning now?

Patton confidently led the way.

"When I was little we'd often climb in those trees," he said pointing at a small spot of forest in the middle of a field. "I remember my friend tried to build a treehouse once."

"You lived in that village?" Logan glanced at the small settlement they were heading towards.

"Oh, no! My parents' farm is a few villages over," Patton smiled. "I went to school there though. And we always came here to play because it was more fun."

Logan tried to imagine that.

Having to walk to school, meeting with other children and going around to find the best place to play.

He faintly remembered a child his age wanting to go out of the walls of the library once to play.
The adults hadn't let them. It was against the rules for children to leave.

Back then he'd thought of that child as foolish.

Now he wondered if maybe it was the rule that was foolish.

Patton continued telling stories of his childhood, of how he had run around, caught frogs in the streams and discovered the world together with his peers.

And more and more Logan longed for childhood memories like that for himself.
He'd been taught about the world by books and stories. Sometimes he'd been shown things in the gardens and he'd been promised that maybe one day he'd get the chance to see the world for himself.

But he didn't know of a single person that had ever left the library, neither in his lifetime nor ever before.

Did they just not want to leave? Or were they simply not allowed? Was it a lie that they could?

Come to think of it - why hadn't he left before?

He was an adult. From what he'd been told he should've been allowed to for a long time.

Why hadn't he?

Why had he fought when Roman had taken him with them?

Why had he been so desperate to go back immediately?

He had spent so long dreaming of traveling the world. So why had he tried to turn down the chance as soon as it had presented itself?

They reached the village just a few minutes later, Elliott climbed into Logan's bag and they walked past simple houses and kates.

A young woman sat in front of a house, sewing a patch onto something. She looked up as they came and her eyes widened in suprise.

"Patton?" she set down what she was working on and stood up quickly. "I thought you were in Corin! We were all so worried when we heard about the fighting!"

She pulled him into a tight hug.

"I'm okay, Hattie," Patton hugged her back. "But my friends and I have been traveling for a while now. Can we stay in the temple for tonight?"

"Oh, of course! Wait, did you cross the mountains? You must be exhausted!" Hattie spoke quickly as she led them towards the town centre. "Who are your friends?"

Patton glanced at them questioningly, as if unsure whether he should answer or not.

"It's a bit complicated," he said hesitantly. "But we did cross the mountains, yes."

"Where did you come from before that?" Hattie cheerfully asked on.

Patton shot them another look.

"From Terona," Roman answered.

"Terona? Are you teronan? That's so exciting!"

"I am not teronan," Roman shook his head, barely suppressing a smile.

"Me neither," Logan said.

"Sallerowan," Emile said.

"It's complicated," Virgil shrugged avoiding eye contact.

They finally reached the temple.

It wasn't as fancy as one would expect but still a lot nicer that the houses around it.
Over the door was a statue of the god, holding a hiking stick and a basket.
On the steps leading up to the door lay flowers and dolls made of straw.

"Thank you, Hattie," Patton said before she could ask anything else. "Have a good night."

"Goodnight," she waved and headed back to where they'd come from.

Patton knocked at the door three times before opening it.

There was no one inside.

In the middle of the room was an empty fire bowl and the floor was covered in cloth.

"What should we offer?" Patton asked walking towards the bowl. "We should leave something for each of us."

Virgil wordlessly stepped forward and pulled out a small pouch. He let his lantern stand on its own, pulled something small out of the pouch and dropped seven of whatever that was in.

"That should do," he muttered.

"What is that?" Patton asked with a frown.

"Small treasure," Virgil shrugged. "Your god should know its value."

With that he headed to a wall and let himself slide to the floor.

Patton still looked doubtful but seemed to accept it.

He went to kneel by the altar to pray.

Roman sat by Virgil's side, pointedly ignoring the altar.

Elliott crawled out of Logan's bag and went over to Patton while Logan sat down next to Roman.

"Why aren't you praying too?" he wanted to ask but didn't. He leaned against Roman's shoulder and closed his eyes.

He stood by the edge of an Island.

In front of him the land fell away and the deep abyss made his heart speed up in his chest.

He heard noise behind him and turned around.

A man, with his back to Logan slowly came closer.
He was surrounded, Logan realised. Surrounded by shadowy figures that looked a little like hunched over humans. But mostly they just looked like monsters.

The man took another step back now inches in front of Logan.
He seemed terrified.

One of the monsters lurched forward and the man jumped back, colliding with Logan and the next thing he knew was that he was falling.

Air whipped past him, grabbed at his clothes, hair and limb as he twisted in the air without any control, pummeling towards nothing.

He landed suddenly but surprisingly softly in a chair. An armchair, he realised.

Confused Logan looked around.

He was in a large room now, sitting in front of a big table.
On the other end of it sat a figure made entirely of glass shards, their sharp edges facing outward and rubbing against eachother as the humanlike figure shifted.

On both sides of Logan were armchairs identical to his own and in them sat lifesize fabric dolls. The one to his right dressed in Patton's clothes, with his glasses barely holding onto the dolls face, the one to his right dressed as Roman, it's head hanging at an odd angle that made Logan shiver.

The glass figure moved again, lifting it's arm and pointing at him. The light caught in the glass, giving it something ethereal.

Logan felt something cold around his feet and glanced down.

Water was quickly rising to his ankles and knees.

He tried to stand up but found himself unable to move even an inch as the water rose and rose.

He managed to take one last deep breath before he was under the surface.

Bubbles rose up around him.

The Patton doll seemed to float above it's seat, light as a feather.
The seams of the Roman doll came loose and the white stuffing oozed out.

Logan felt his lungs screaming for air, the instinct to breathe barely suppressed by his will to live.

He woke up with a start, a silent scream on his lips.

It was dark now and the others were all asleep.

Breathing heavily Logan gently ran his fingers over Roman's bare hand.

Dark blue and red marks flicked slightly.

Roman's skin was rough around his knuckles and dry but it was skin.
Not fabric filled with white stuffing.

It was real.

Logan leaned his head back against the wall and tried to breathe.

Chapter Text

Patton woke up slowly.
He looked around in the temple.

The early morning sun shone in through the windows and painted everything in soft warm shades.

Something was off.

Patton frowned and made another sweep of the room.

Roman and Logan were slumped against eachother, fast asleep.
Elliott was still in Patton's lap, also sleeping, the occasional puff of smoke escaping their mouth.
Emile had fallen asleep in a corner, arms wrapped around himself tightly and muttering incoherent nonsense to himself.
Virgil was -

Virgil was gone.

The spot next to Roman where he'd sat last night was empty, his lantern no longer stood by the fire bowl and his bag was nowhere in sight.

Patton frowned.

He'd announced that he'd leave them, sure, but disappearing in the night without even saying goodbye seemed unfair somehow.
Had he been scared that Elliott and Roman would convince him to stay with them after all?
Or had he just wanted to get away from them as fast as possible?

With a heavy heart Patton watched the light crawl over the altar as the sun rose higher into the sky.

He waited for about an hour before the others woke up.

Patton saw the sadness in Roman's eyes when he realised that Virgil was gone and Elliott hid in Patton's bag. Their tail hung out and shook slightly.

He wished he could help them but as soon as his fingers brushed their tail, they pulled it into the bag.

Maybe they just needed a little time to themselves. Patton hoped they knew that they could always come to him with their sorrows.

With little else to do they ate the last of their bread in the temple and left the village behind again, managing to avoid anyone who might've recognised Patton and showered them in questions.

Part of him wished they could go by his parents' farm but if they wanted to reach the capital soon, they couldn't afford a detour like that.
Also he was a little scared how Mama would react.

How could he ever explain all of this to her?

'Yeah, Ma, this is the crown prince and a librarian from that legendary library, they're my boyfriends. This is my child, Elliott. Yes, they're a dragon. I love them very much. Also I found out I'm part of an ancient holy artifact. Anyway, we need to get back to Corin now to save the kingdom from something, not sure what yet. Good to see you again, love you.'

He cringed. Maybe not.

If news of the riots had made it out here Mama had definitely heard them too. She was probably worried out of her mind.

Patton gripped his amulet.

"How long does it take to reach Corin from here?" Logan asked.

"About three days by horse. By foot maybe four if we hurry," Patton answered.

"Then I suggest we hurry," Roman spoke up. "In the castle we might finally get a chance to relax."

And wasn't that a tempting thought.

-~-

Alfred the Skull would probably be yelling at him if he could see him now.

Something along the lines of him being a disaster and running away again, with every curse Alfred could think of mixed in between.

But Alfred the Skull wasn't here so Virgil didn't have to listen and could just keep going.

His stomach throbbed painfully with every step he took but he kept going.

Everything hurt these days.

But that was okay. Because once this was over he could die. Just one more thing to take care off and he could join the others.

By the next village he stole a horse. He didn't even lie to himself that he was just borrowing it this time. This time it was definitely stealing.

It bucked and pulled at the reins, unwilling to let a stranger ride it.

"I've got a government to take down, you useless beast," Virgil hissed. "Are you in or are you out?"

He wasn't sure if the horse had any idea what he had said but somehow it did the trick.

"Anarchist horse," Virgil muttered. "Nature can be beautiful after all. You're still a bitch thought."

The horse bucked and he almost threw up from the sudden jolt of pain.
He gasped for air, desperate to regain his breath.

The horse seemed to notice now that he was injured and calmed its pace slightly.

"This is... why you're... a bitch," Virgil heaved.

This time the horse didn't buck.

Instead it fell into a smooth gallop and Virgil quietly renewed the magic keeping his guts from spilling out of him.
It lifted some of the pain and he took a deep breath.

The flame of lantern had been flickering slightly for hours, but now it finally stilled.
That was good.

Not actively dying was always a good thing.

Virgil had never actually been to the Sallerowan capital. Before he'd barely crossed the border to Sallerow at all.

The childish part of him that had been hurt so deeply the wound would never heal, no matter if he got his revenge or not, had always been too scared of going further inland.
Had been scared of meeting more soldiers with suns of their shields, terrified they'd finish what they'd begun.
Or worse, that he'd meet the sun king himself and would be just as powerless as he'd been back then.

But, oh, he was so far from powerless.
He'd learned how to use the power dripping from his lips like poison, and unless they cut it out of his throat, his voice would be the last thing the sun king would ever hear.

"Run, boy," the words still rung in his mind even if the face was blurred. "Run and never come back here."

Back then he'd had no choice but to listen but as soon as he was dead, he'd be able to go back. To go back home.

It took Virgil a day and a half to reach the city.

Some buildings were partially burned or stained black from flames.
People were rebuilding and Virgil wondered how much had been destroyed by the fires that there was still so much to do.

The horse carried him through the streets. It seemed to know where it was going so Virgil let it.

A few people shot him weird looks. He glared back and they pretended to never have noticed him at all. Motherfuckers.

"Excuse me," Virgil stopped the horse and looked down at the speaker, a man so thin and shaky, he looked like the slightest breeze might knock him down.

"Yes?" Virgil asked, making his voice annoyed to hide the nervousness.

"Are you a sorcerer?"

Virgil choked on his spit.

"Am I a sorcerer?" he repeated aghast. "Bitch, do I look like a motherfucking  tryhard bastard to you? Am I a sorcerer?" -he mocked the man's tone-" I'm a mage!"

"Oh," the man's face had fallen slightly. "I just thought- I am a sorcerer and-"

"Get fucked," Virgil flipped him off and pressed his heels into the horse to get it to move again. "Fucking sorcerers. Just a bunch of magician wannabes."

He didn't even care if the man heard him say that or not.
What did he care about a fucking sorcerer's opinion.

Just a few minutes later they finally reached the castle.

Virgil slid out of the saddle, pat the horses neck and headed towards the gate, using his lantern as a crutch.
Behind him he heard the horse leave.

"Halt!" one of the guards at the gate exclaimed and lowered his spear at Virgil. "Who are you and what do you want?"

Virgil rolled his eyes.

"I am a prince," he began and the guard relaxed slightly, "and I am here to kill your king."

And suddenly the guards weren't relaxed anymore.

Chapter Text

They had made the journey quicker than Patton had anticipated, having walked late into the nights. Later than Patton usually did when he traveled to the capital at least.

The streets of Corin were full of life.

Merchants and workers mingled, all going about their business.

There weren't as many children as there had been in Onsteda and the people seemed busier.
Though Logan was pretty sure that could be blamed on the fire damage everywhere. Everyone was probably eager to fix their homes.

Furthermore many of the citizens recognised Roman while in Terona Virgil had passed nearly unseen.
Again Logan could easily guess why. Virgil spent most of his time on the Cursed Islands, Roman had always lived here and was the crown prince, rather than the youngest.

The people recognised Roman and let their eyes wander over the rest of them, curiosity and silent questions almost tangible in the air.
Some whispered among eachother, but were quiet enough that Logan couldn't pick up on their words.

As soon as the castle gates came into sight Roman sped up. Logan wasn't sure if he was even aware of it.

The guards lowered their spears when they noticed them approach but hastily pulled their tips up again when they recognised Roman.

"Your Majesty!" the younger exclaimed. "You're alive!"

"Hello, Theodore," Roman greeted, but didn't bother to stop. "Could you have someone inform my father that I'm back? Thanks."

The guard nodded rapidly.

Logan and the others followed Roman into the courtyard and Logan took a moment to look around.

The castle was so different from the Teronan one. The windows were slimmer, the stone darker and the decorations were less delicate. They held their own beauty, but more in the way of a mountain's beauty than a forest's.

"Babe!" a shout from somewhere above made Logan jump.

He looked up, trying to find whoever had shouted in the windows but couldn't see anyone.

Moments later the door to the main building burst open and a man came barreling through, running directly for Emile.

"Remy!" Emile lit up, lifting his arms for a hug.

Logan barely managed to connect the dots that this was his husband before Remy collided with Emile, not slowing down in the slightest.

Somehow - Logan assumed that it was a skill learned through trial and error - Emile managed not to topple over, but instead caught Remy and spun him around until the pair lost their momentum.

Remy clung to Emile like a monkey, showering his face in kisses. Emile kissed back with just as much enthusiasm, grinning brightly.

"Sweetheart," he finally interrupted the kissing session, "shouldn't you be working right now?"

Remy got off his husband, still standing as close as physically possible and rolled his eyes.

"Who gives a fuck? The king can wait for all I care," he pulled Emile even closer somehow and pressed their foreheads together. "How can I care about an assassination attempt when I've got someone as beautiful as you in my arms?" He pressed a kiss against Emile's cheek, earning a giggle. "I missed you, my fucking cinnamon apple."

Logan looked away in discomfort. He noticed people walking by as if this was completely normal, giving little to no attention to the pair.
They probably repeated this whenever Emile came home.

"Wait, what did you say?!" Roman interrupted them.

"Since when do you care about my love life?" Remy raised an eyebrow. His tone was suddenly way harsher than when he'd been talking to Emile.

"You said something about an assassin," Roman continued undeterred. "What's that about?"

Remy groaned and threw his head back. "Some assholes showed up, said he wants to kill the king, now he's locked up and gonna get executed. I don't know more cause I don't give a fuck. Can I get back to welcoming my husband now? Thanks."

With a huff he turned back to Emile.

Roman opened his mouth to ask more but seemed to realise that he wouldn't be getting anything more from Remy and closed it again with a sigh.

"As long as nobody else is dead," he whispered and turned towards the main building.

Logan followed him inside, Patton just behind him.

He wasn't sure where they were going but Roman seemed to know so they probably had somewhere to be.

Portraits of former Kings and Queens hung high on the walls looking down at him, some looking impassive, others displeased.
All of them held an intensity in their eyes and had an air of power.
The artists must've enchanted the portraits somehow, Logan guessed.

"Roman?" a voice startled Logan and he spotted a young woman dressed in clothes entirely too fancy for her to be anything but a princess. "Oh dear gods, you're alive!"

She threw herself against Roman, hugging him tightly.

"We thought you were dead!" her voice trembled with emotion. "First Father wouldn't say where you were and then they went to hunt you down and you were gone so long and then -!"

She cut herself off with a strangled sob, burying her face in Roman's shoulder.

"Hey, hey, Jul, look at me," Roman spoke softly. "I'm okay. I'm here."

"You really are okay?" she asked pulling back slightly.

"I am. I need to speak to father but afterwards I can tell you everything you want to know, okay?"

'Jul' glanced over at Patton and Logan, back to her brother and nodded.

"Okay. I... I should tell the others that you're home," she forced a smile but it didn't quite reach her eyes.

"See you in a bit," Roman watched her leave with a smile. As soon as she rounded the corner he let it slip and sighed.

"We're going to talk to the King?" Patton asked.

"Yeah," Roman shrugged, crossing his arms over his chest. He seemed to avoid touching the left one for a moment before he remembered that it was healed. "I mean, that was the plan, wasn't it? Convince him to help us look? Or I guess find a truce with Terona?"

Logan nodded.

"That would be ideal."

Roman led them further down the hallway.

Logan wondered where the King was. He recalled having read about castles before and the throne rooms tended to be the centre of the building, especially in Sallerowan ones. But if he hadn't lost his sense of direction, they were moving away from the centre.

Finally Roman stopped at one of the heavy doors, took a deep breath and knocked.

"Come in," a voice answered after a moment and Roman pulled one door open and held it open for Patton and Logan to go in first.

Logan scanned the room and felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand.

He'd been here before.

Not really. Not in real live.

But in his dream.

The long table, the throne at one end and chairs at the other. The thin windows, like columns of light, shining in.

There was no glass figure in the throne, but a man.

He looked old, very old, his skin pale and thin, hanging off his boney face as if it didn't quite fit anymore, his fingers thin and knuckles swollen red.

On his head, nested in thin silver grey hair, sat the golden crown, decorated with countless gems.

It shone in the light, as if trying to rival the sun, that Sallerowan royalty had been trying to reach for centuries.

Something about the King's appearance struck Logan as wrong but he couldn't put his finger on it.  There was something he was missing.
He just didn't know what it was.

"Have a seat," the King ordered.

Logan sat on the right, just so he wouldn't have to sit across from the King, like he had in his dream.

Roman sat to his left, across from his father.

Logan glanced between them.

Roman didn't look like the King.

Not at all.

Not just because of the King's age, but rather the facial structure.
Roman's cheekbones were higher, the bones over his eyes more pronounced and his jawline rounder.

The only similarity was the eye colour.
Not even the eye shape. Just the fact that they both had green eyes.

Odd.

The feeling that something was wrong got stronger.

Logan tried to shove it down and listen to Roman as he recounted what had happened to them so far, leaving out more than Logan would have expected him to.

He didn't mention Virgil, didn't even mention that they had gone over the Cursed Islands, didn't mention that they had been in prison or that Remus had tried to kill them - he just said that they had seen the Teronan royals and had found out that the King and Princes were parts too.

When he finished a silence settled over the room.

The King seemed to think every word over, considering.

"You want to make peace with Terona," he stated, deducing the request even though Roman hadn't stated it.

Roman nodded.

"Impossible," the King said dismissively.

"What?" Roman startled. "Why not? It's been years! Don't you think it's time to end this conflict?"

"We'll put it to rest once they do. That brat came here to kill me and he will die for it."

Roman stopped.

"What brat? That assassin is Teronan?"

"If you can call a prince an assassin," the King replied cooly.

The realisation hit Logan like a punch in the face.

"Virgil?!" Patton blurted out. He shrunk into himself as the King's eyes landed on him.

"You know him?"

"We met briefly," Logan spoke, taking the King's attention away from Patton. He could take the piercing gaze. "But we had no idea he was planning an assassination."

The King made an acknowledging noise.

"Not that it matters. He'll die tomorrow morning. Maybe that'll give the people something more fun to talk about again."

Fun.

The word made Logan feel sick.

He'd heard about people watching executions for fun. He'd read recounts of it.

But there was this disconnection between some person he'd never met dying and someone he actually knew.

"Can we talk to him?" Roman asked. "Please?"

The King considered before answering.

"I believe you should talk to your Mother, but if you decide to see this criminal instead, that's your choice."

Roman flinched slightly.

"You may leave," the King dismissed them.

Roman hesitated, opening his mouth to say something else but decided against it.
Instead he stood up and Logan followed him and Patton back outside.

"I really should go see Mother... And I promised Jul-" Roman muttered.

"You can go do that," Patton spoke up," and Logan and me go down to talk to Virgil and find out what he's doing."

Roman was still frowning but nodded slowly.

"Okay... Yeah, okay, we can do that," he said. "I- You know how to get down there?"

Patton nodded.

"I passed the door on my way to work plenty of times. We'll just have to convince the guard to let us past."

"Just tell them I sent you. They shouldn't refuse then," Roman instructed. "See you later, then."

"Good luck," Logan said.

Roman gave a tight smile and headed down the hallway.

Patton took Logan's sleeve, careful not to touch him, and began leading him down another hallway to a staircase.

They headed down until they were below ground level.
Around here Patton moved much more confidently.

"The kitchen is just over there," he pointed towards a door from which Logan could hear all kinds of noise. "It's weird how long I haven't been in there."

Patton forced a chuckle.

Logan was tempted to take his hand but even down here there were too many people that would ask too many questions.

The reached another door, guarded by a woman. Logan guessed she was half ork. She was just a little too small to be a full ork.

"Uhm, hello," Patton greeted, fiddling with his amulet.

"What do you need?"

"Prince Roman sent us," Logan spoke up. "We are to interrogate the assassin."

The guard raised an eyebrow.

"Really?"

Logan nodded firmly.

"Alright then," she shrugged and turned to open the door. "Down to the left."

"Thank you," Patton said and slipped past her. Logan followed him.

"Knock four times when you want to be let out again,' the guard told him quietly. "The door's too heavy for humans."

"Got it. Four times," he nodded.

Then she let the door fall shut behind them with a loud bang.

As different as the castles themselves were, the Sallerowan dungeon was very similar to the Teronan one.
Just as damp, just as filthy, just as many prisoners staring at them with dead or crazed eyes.
Many had likely been imprisoned during the riots.

Logan scanned the cells for Virgil, trying not to make eye contact with any of the prisoners.

Finally he spotted a head of white hair a few cells over.

He tugged at Patton's sleeve and gestured towards the tiny cell.

Patton went to go there but Logan held him back.

"How do we know we can trust anything he says?" he whispered, to make sure no one else could hear.

Patton frowned, thinking for a moment before he lit up slightly.

"I think I have an idea," he whispered back. He sounded hesitant and a guilty expression crossed his face.

"Okay," Logan said it like a question.

Patton began rummaging through his bag until he pulled out a small knife and a big yellow fruit.

"What's that?" Logan asked but got no answer.

Instead Patton cut out a small piece of the fruit, frowned at it and cut off an even smaller one, just barely the size of a walnut.

He considered it for a moment and handed Logan the rest of the fruit.

"Don't eat it," he instructed, looking for something else in his bag.

Logan inspected the fruit.

He didn't recognize it. The peal was fuzzy and bright yellow, the pulp a soft orange colour. In the cut Patton had made he could see juice gathering and it smelled sweetly.

"Patton, what is this?" he whispered again.

Again he didn't get an answer right away. Patton cut off a piece of bread he'd found in his bag and hid the fruit piece inside.

"I'm not sure but it might make him be more honest if we can get him to eat it. At least with me."

Logan wanted to ask on what he meant by that but Patton was already moving towards Virgil's cell.

"Hey, Virgil," he greeted.

Virgil looked up. His eyes were slightly unfocused.

"Hey there, Goldilocks," he answered. "And Rapunzel."

"Are you hungry?" Patton asked hesitantly.

Virgil raised an eyebrow.

"Gotta be honest. Not what I expected you to ask."

"Are you?"

Virgil shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess," he finally answered and took the bread Patton offered him.

"So... Attempted assassination..." Logan spoke up, unsure how else to approach the topic.

"Bullshit," Virgil said around a mouthful. "Didn't attempt shit yet. Only said I was going to."

"Why?" Patton asked once he had swallowed.

"Cause he deserves a present. The present being death."

Patton frowned confused.

Whatever that fruit had been he was expecting it to do something that it wasn't.

"Why do you want him dead?" Logan took over. "Why do you even care about the king of Sallerow?"

"That's his fault," Virgil said darkly.

Chapter Text

Patton followed Logan back out of the dungeon.

He'd hoped the fruit would help somehow but it hadn't done anything at all. Maybe Han had lied to him.

"What do we do now?" he asked as Logan knocked on the door.

Logan seemed to think.

"I'm not sure," he said.

The door opened for them and Patton gave the guard a small wave as they slipped past her.

"If we could figure out why Virgil wants the king to die, maybe we could save him from being executed. But he certainly doesn't want to tell us," Logan continued once they were out of earshot. "If only we knew more about him or the king."

He groaned and put his face in his hands.

"Are you okay?" Patton asked.

"If I was back on D'cal this would be so much easier," Logan bit out. "If there was a book or a scroll about all this I could just figure it out!"

Patton gently put a hand on his arm.

"Well, there isn't, but I'm sure we can figure it out anyway," he tried. "There's something going on here, we know that much. I'm sure, together we'll figure out what it is."

Logan let his hands sink and looked at him for a long moment.

"Are you sure?"

"As can be," Patton smiled at him.

Logan sighed and let some of the tension slip from his shoulders.

"Okay," he said, nodding, as if to reassure himself. "We should find Roman first. Maybe he knows more."

Patton nodded. "Alright. Let's find him."

They headed back the way they'd come to try and figure out where Roman had gone after they'd split up.

And they couldn't just open doors to try and find him. Some guards were already eyeing them weirdly just for wandering around and going up and down some hallways and Patton didn't want to risk disturbing any royals.

After almost an hour of wandering around aimlessly they stopped in the gardens and sat in the grass close to the door.

Patton picked a flower and turned it in his fingers.

"Do you think we'll get to stay here in the castle over night?" he asked.

"Most likely," Logan was watching the trees. "You were sent out to find us after all. It would be pretty stupid to send us out again immediately."

Even though Patton had been in two rooms outside of the basement he knew how the others were. He'd heard about it from butlers, maids, servants and even some pages who came down to the kitchen to eat leftover goods and complain about their work.
They'd spoken of floors that had to be polished until you could see your reflection in them, bronze bathtubs that had to be kept shiny and golden, beds framed in curtains that were washed twice a year and took a week to get clean and dry each.

He had thought about what it would be like to sleep in one of those beds but he'd never considered it possible.

The realisation just how much had changed since he'd left hit him suddenly.
How much he'd seen that he never should have because Patton was just some baker from a tiny village and his journey to Corin should've been to longest of his life.

Knights and Princes went out on adventures. Peasants stayed where they were born and told the stories.

"Do you think one day there'll be a book about us?"

---

It was Roman who found them in the end.

He looked exhausted but claimed to be fine when Patton asked.

"Is there somewhere where we could talk in private?" Logan asked. His gaze flickered over to the windows through which Patton could only see shadows  but Logan could probably make out all the guards and servants going about their business.

"Of course," Roman took the lead again, back into the building and moving through the stone labyrinth with a lifetime of experience and confidence.

The room they ended up in was high in one of the towers and just a glance down into the courtyard made Patton feel ill. He pointedly turned away from it and took in the rest of the room instead.

The floor and the walls were mostly covered in carpet - on one Patton could make out a family tree but he couldn't decipher the names - in the middle of the room were a large bed and a cushioned bench.

Roman sat down heavily.

"So, what did you find out?" he asked, undoing his ponytail and combing his fingers through his hair.

Patton sat next to him.

"Nothing really," he sighed. "Virgil believes that he's in the right but he wouldn't tell us why. I don't think he'll try to claim innocence either."

Logan nodded grimly.

Roman cursed.

"That's... not good," he muttered. "I don't think there's anything we can do then... They'll have the guillotine standing by noon."

Tense silence settled over the three of them, leaving each of them stew in their own thoughts.

No one dared to break it before a bell rung through the halls, informing them that dinner was served.

Even Roman seemed overwhelmed when they entered the dining hall. The long table was decked with more food that Patton had seen in months and it wasn't even a special occasion.
The royal family as well as Remy and Emile were gathered around and two seats had been reserved for Logan and Patton.

Patton noticed an empty seat, covered in black cloth. Dead child.

He turned away, a lump forming in his throat.

The King and Queen sat at the far ends of the table, across from eachother.

To Patton's suprise she looked much, much younger than her husband.
Closer to his mothers, in that her hair was beginning to gray and the first wrinkles were forming around her eyes, but they still held a sparkle of youth and her hands were strong and steady.

She was beautiful too.

She smiled at one of the younger princesses and Patton saw Roman in the soft expression.

Her gaze met Patton's and while he looked away quickly, he didn't feel like she was staring into his soul like he did when the King looked at him.

Patton bit into a piece of bread and almost sighed.

How long had it been since he'd eaten good fresh bread?

The crust was perfectly crunchy but the inside was soft and airy. He tasted a bit of nut and recognised Gilbert's favourite recipe instantly.

Patton blinked back the emotion that welled up inside of him. He wouldn't burst into tears over bread.

Once everyone had eaten their fill the King ordered a servant - Nathel, Patton recognised him, he liked food that burnt his tongue not with heat but spices imported from Terona via the less legal way - to show Logan and Patton to the guest rooms that had been prepared for them sometime over the afternoon.

Roman waved at them before one of his many brothers pulled him away in the other direction.

They walked through the hallways in silence.
The shadows were longer and deeper now, chased away only by old torches, flickering in a draft from somewhere.

"These rooms are for you," Nathel eventually broke the silence.

"Thank you," Patton smiled tiredly.

Nathel looked over his shoulder nervously.

"You er... You didn't hear this from me, but... You shouldn't leave your rooms tonight. If someone comes in... I don't know. Maybe try to hide. But don't go out. Don't get noticed," there was an edge in his tone, a sharpness carved by fear and concern.

Patton wanted to ask why but before he could Nathel gave a tight smile and hurried away.

Logan frowned at his retreating back.

"Good night," Patton said after a long moment to stop the tension in the air from building eben more.

"... Good night," Logan said. He was deep in thought.

Patton made sure that they were alone before giving Logan's hand a firm squeeze and slipping into one of the rooms.

It was large, the bed in the middle even bigger than the one he'd shared with Roman and Logan in the mountains and far softer.

It felt too big. Too cold.

Patton found himself drifting between sleep and consciousness, reaching out a few times only to for his fingers to find nothing but cool sheets.

Light shone in through the crack under the door and he wanted to go out, go to Logan, just so he'd be less cold.

He stayed where he was. Watched the crack.

Footsteps came down the hallway, heavy and echoing.
A shadow fell over the crack.

Patton held his breath.

Whoever was out there stopped. They shuffled, facing his door.

For what felt like hours but was probably just seconds the person stayed there then they moved on.

Patton let out a shaky breath and wrapped himself up tighter in the blanket.

He wasn't sure when he fell asleep.

The breakfast was similar to dinner except that a few of the princes and princesses didn't seem fully awake yet.

Afterwards Roman pulled Logan and Patton outside before any of his siblings could steal him away again.

"Let's try and talk to Virgil again," he said, heading towards the staircase. "Maybe he'll talk today... It's not like he'll have much opportunity tomorrow..."

A bitterness entered his voice at the last sentence.

Patton swallowed.

He knew, the blade of the guillotine was being sharpened as they spoke.

Another guard was standing by the door today. Patton didn't know their name but they had a sweet spot for red berries of all kinds.

"We're here to speak to the assassin," Roman told them confidently.

"Forgive me, your Highness, but I was under the impression the royal mage was to talk to him alone?"

"We'll let them talk," Roman assured them. "Now please let us past."

The guard hesitated only a moment longer before they opened the door.

Logan took the lead, since Roman didn't know which cell they were looking for.

The prisoners they walked past looked dazed and as they went deeper into the dungeon Patton could feel a tension in the air like in a storm just before lightning strikes.

At the last corner Logan stopped.

"- I'm sorry," Patton heard Remy say. His voice sounded heavy and like he'd just finished a long apology.

Silence fell over the dim hallway.

"I don't think it's my job to forgive you," Virgil finally answered. "And I don't know if I want to."

Remy laughed bitterly.

"Not gonna mend any bridges before you die, kid? I guess I can respect that."

"I'm not going to die that easily," Virgil said.

Another beat of silence.

"I was hoping you'd aim for not dying at all," Remy said. "Don't give me that look. I do still care about you."

Virgil remained silent for a moment.

"You know that you deserve to grow old, right?" Remy asked.

Silence. A sigh.

"I guess I'll see you at noon."

With that footsteps shuffled and began heading towards them.

Patton felt a hand on his forearm and suddenly wind rushed in his ears, stealing his breath for just a moment.

It stopped and Roman held him close.

Patton turned his head to look around. They were way further down the dungeon. In the distance he heard Remy knock on the door.

"Did you do that?" Logan asked quietly.

Patton felt Roman nod slowly.

"I don't really know how," he whispered back and loosened his hold on both of them. "Maybe... Maybe we shouldn't talk to him..."

Patton wanted to say something but he wasn't sure whether to agree or disagree.
He just followed Roman when he began heading out another way where they wouldn't have to pass Virgil.

He wanted to know what was going on.

It felt like all the answers were just behind a curtain but he couldn't seem to just reach out and pull it back.
Because what would he find on the other side? What if the answers left him with more questions or regretting that he'd ever asked in the first place? What then?
He wouldn't be able to just pull the curtain back and forget what was behind it.

---

The sun stood high in the sky, bathing Corin in bright light and warmth.

In the middle of the courtyard, on a wooden pedestal, stood a guillotine.
It's blade had been freshly sharpened, shining in the light and blinding whoever looked directly at it.

People had gathered around it, the air filled with whispers, excitement and anticipation.

It made Logan feel sick.

For the royal family a second pedestal had been built. Shared by him, Patton, Emile and Remy.

An executioner stood next to his guillotine already, checking every aspect of it. Because this was a show and he couldn't risk disappointing his audience or their thirst for blood.

The king sat relaxed, looking impassive but once in a while Logan thought he could see something akin to glee shine in his eyes.

Roman sat next to him. His fingers drummed against his thigh in a steady beat, his other hand traced the sun on his sword.

Next to Logan Patton was holding his amulet, tracing the runes and pulling at the string around his neck. Logan almost told him to stop pulling, that he'd hurt himself, before he remembered that that wasn't possible.

If a sword couldn't break his skin, the string wouldn't either.

Logan looked back to the guillotine.

This was the second time a blade would be raised over the neck of someone he'd befriended on the Cursed Islands.
Maybe the curse was also a bad omen for friendship.

The crowd suddenly fell silent, pulling Logan out of his thoughts.

Two guards, both human, made a path through the crowd and pushed Virgil up the steps to the guillotine.
Iron chains bound his hands behind his back and kept him in place.

Logan couldn't see Virgil's eyes past his hair, bright like the moon in the harsh light.

He barely heard the man announcing what crime Virgil was being executed for past his own heart beat.

Virgil lifted his head and Logan finally got a glimpse of his eyes.

There was a glint of something in them that Logan wasn't sure how to name. Anger? Determination? Amusement?

None of them made sense.

Virgil opened his mouth and Logan felt the magic before he saw it.

One sharp sentence, too quiet to be understood and the chains came to live.

One of the guards screamed as the metal melted around his wrists.

The other one didn't have a chance to before it wrapped itself around his neck, choking the man mercilessly.
He stumbled, clawing at the unforgiving metal but it would budge or give.
He managed a strangled noise as he stepped into air and fell, crashing onto the courtyard.

People screamed, scrambling to get away from the pedestal.

"Guards!" Logan heard the King yell.

"I don't think so!" Virgil answered.

The wooden planks shifted and moved, trapping the executioner and pushing him towards his own instrument of death.

Even past the mask Logan could see the terror in his eyes as the wood moved, trapping him under the blade he had cared for and polished.

The irony tasted bitter on his tongue.

"It's hard to get close to you, your Majesty!" Virgil called, stepped towards the edge of the platform. The wood shifted to where he stepped, making a path just for him. "Scared of your people? Or do you just don't want to be on the other side of history?"

Logan's gaze flickered over to the King.

"What are you talking about?" the King hissed.

"Oh, come on!" The spark in Virgil's eyes was growing into a wildfire. "You're not that old, are you? Don't tell me you forgot about Chronal?"

The King's eye twitched.

"What do you care about Chronal?" his tone became defensive.

"What do I care- ?! I care because you took everything from me! You murdered my people for a war they wanted nothing to do with!" Virgil's voice got louder with each word. "You slaughtered them!"

And all of a sudden fear sparked in the King's eyes.

"You should have killed me too when you had the chance!" Virgil now stood just before the King. "You shouldn't have the magic brat run!"

The air cracked with magical energy.

"Guards!" the King tried again but no one moved.

Couldn't move.

"Do you remember me?" Virgil asked, a feral grin spreading over his face. "I want you to know my name when Death asks you who sent you. I want you to know who made your life a living hell over the last decade!"

The King only stared.

"Do you? Do you remember me?!"

"I sent you into the woods," the King bit out. Regret laced his voice and dulled the intended edge. "So the animals would kill you. You're Eleors' youngest brat."

"And I'm here to take his jewel back," Virgil reach for the crown, grabbing at one of the gemstones. A deep blue one, almost as blue as the night sky. "Because Chronal is mine. Not yours."

With a loud crack he ripped the gem out of the crown, closing his fist around it.

The King reached for Roman's sword faster than his fragile bones should allow and the gold flashed in the sun light.

Logan heard someone scream - he only realised later than it had been he himself - as the blade few through the air towards Virgil's neck -

It froze inches before it met its destination.

"Sorry, but I can't let you kill him, Father," Logan hadn't even seen Roman stand up, but his hands were on the sword, one over his father's, the other on the blade, gripping around the edges.

Shock painted the Kings face.

"This is treason," he gritted out.

"And you have committed a genocide," Roman hissed and ripped the sword from his father's grip.

"What are you doing, Roman?" one of the princesses stood up. The one who had greeted Roman yesterday. Logan couldn't recall her name.

"Assisting regicide," Virgil grinned wickedly. The crown fell with a crash as the King's head fell against his chest. "The Sun King is dead!"

The people left in the courtyard erupted in chaos.

Shouts of panic and grief mixed with Virgil's laughter and the sound of the guillotine falling.

A hand grabbed Logan by the collar of his coat and pulled him out of the crowd, away from the screaming and death.

He couldn't tell who it was, as guards pushed past him and the sounds echoed in his ears. All he could see was the golden crown on the floor and the shadow in the basket by the guillotine, sprayed with blood.

Fear built in his throat and he needed to get away from the yelling and pushing and all he could do was follow the hand leading him to the shadows of the castle gardens.

Chapter Text

'The Sun King is dead.'

The words echoed through Roman's mind but he couldn't seem to make sense of them.

'The Sun King is dead.'

Blood had splattered on his face and arms and clothes, warm, but slowly getting dry and cool.

'The Sun King is dead.'

The hand on the sword grip under Roman's was limp. He held it as much as he held the sword.

Father is dead.

His gaze fell on the blood splattered wood floor.

And you helped.

He stumbled back and threw up. Bile burned in his throat and his chest felt tight.

Was it regicide?
No, patricide.

A hand grabbed him by the shoulder, pulling him back, away from the fresh blood.

It had sprayed onto the crown as well, deep and dark against the gold and fitting in perfectly between bright rubies and iridescent mermaid scales.
Like the crown had been made to be bathed in blood, whether it's wearer's or their enemies.

The sight burned itself into his mind.

---

Roman came without resistance as Remy grabbed him. He was pale and bile stuck to his lips and Remy doubted he was aware of much at the moment.

Neither was Virgil, for entirely different reasons.

Both princes were covered in King Marley's blood, but instead of shock Virgil's eyes shone with mania.
He was grinning wildly, chuckling to himself every few steps.

Remy gave him maybe two minutes before the rush faded and he broke down.

In that time they had to get as far away as possible.

Once the guards realized they could move again they'd be out for blood. Not to mention the king's little rats that hid everywhere around the town and probably the surrounding villages as well.

Remy had underestimated them up until -
Well, until they set the town ablaze.

He should've seen it before, looking back, but it had taken a fire for him to realize that these bastard's were fucking insane.

They wouldn't take the king's death well.

Remy pulled Roman and Virgil into the gardens, where Emile was already waiting with the other two.
The taller had thrown up.
Remy wondered if he'd ever seen that much blood before

"Sorry, babe," Remy attempted a grin. "Guess I can't stop committing treason."

Emile smiled wearily.

"Keep him alive long enough to take the crown and maybe we won't get exiled," he pointed at Roman. He said it like a joke but Remy was too aware of the truth behind his husband's words. From here the only option for him were the Cursed Islands or the abyss.

He had just enough of a sense of self preservation not to go back to Janus and the nerds of Natica were too cowardly to let mages anywhere near their precious books.

"That way," Remy took the lead through the pathways and bushes.

---

Patton wasn't sure why they were running but he really really didn't want to stop.

Every part of him screamed to get away from the gruesome scene.

He was glad that Emile hadn't let go of his hand.

Everytime he glanced over at Roman his stomach turned.
There was so much blood on him alone.
Not to mention that something in his hair that Patton could only assume was brain.
And wasn't that a horrible thought.

Even though they were running Patton didn't really feel his legs ache or his lungs strain for breath.
Everything seemed hazy, almost like a dream. Too soft and slightly to the left of reality.

Before he knew it they were already in the streets of Corin, running towards... somewhere.
He wasn't sure.
The direction felt familiar but under the buzzing softness he couldn't make out why.

Hopefully it was somewhere away from the blood and screaming. Somewhere nice and safe where they could stay for once.

The rain began just a few hours later. It wasn't strong, more of a soft drizzle really, but just cold enough to wake Patton from the distant state he'd slipped into at some point.

They were walking through a town.

He didn't recognize the buildings and couldn't quite remember how they'd gotten here but he didn't ask.

Roman looked pale as a sheet, hugging himself tightly and staring through the buildings they passed.

Patton reached out and hooked their pinkie fingers.

The red lines on Roman's skin looked duller than usual and he didn't react other than a slow blink.

Remy and Emile were discussing something in hushed tones, Remy nodded and squeezed his husband's hand.

Out of the corner of his eye Patton noticed Logan. Their eyes met and Logan forced a smile that was perhaps meant to be comforting.

By the time dusk fell and tinted the world in shades of blue and orange, they'd reached a forest.
Patton's calves were burning and his throat was dry.

Mud squirted under his feet with every step.

The sound mixed with the rustling of the leaves and Virgil's quiet humming.

It sounded like a mournful song. Soft and slow.

It felt fitting.

"Where are we going?" Logan finally broke the half silence.

"Away," Remy answered curtly.

"Why?"

The royal mage stopped abruptly and sighed.

"Do you- You don't know about the inner politics in Corinn. It's a mess. It's a brutal mess and at least a hundred people probably want the two of you dead right now," he pointed at Roman and Virgil.

Roman flinched and looked up. He seemed disoriented at being addressed directly.