Chapter Text
Patton had never been in the imagination before. He’d always thought it was kind of scary in there; With all of the dragons and witches and combinations of the two. Trolls lurking in caves and goblins glaring from behind trees.
He’d taken Roman his sword with him. The weapon laying heavy and unfamiliar in his hand as he stepped through the gates that lead him into an open field.
When looking back he saw how the door had disappeared.
The only reason as to why he wasn’t alarmed by this, was because of Remus telling him that this would happen and that he if he simply wished for it to open up again, would see it appear right in front of him the moment the thought crossed his mind.
Questing wasn’t really Patton his thing. And the large shoulder bag he’d taken with him cut into his shoulder slightly as he walked, the bandages and sandwiches and cookies and waterbottle moving around as he walked up a small hill, looking out over a forest, the leaves on the trees a bright green that sparkled as if the sun was hitting raindrops. Though when looking around he found that it hadn’t rained and everything was dry a pleasant temperature and humidity.
“I do get why he likes it here. It’s very pretty” he said to the air and continued to put on a song on his phone. Roman would like it, that he was certain of.
He hummed along while he followed the path, swinging his arms as the soft beat played, the sword on his back making a small clanging noise as it ticked against the bag now and then.
The sun was high even though he’d come there in the late evening, the temperature just right for the clothes he was wearing and the grass he was walking on looked so soft he was tempted to take off his shoes to feel it under his feet. A small smile slowly creeping onto his face as he looked around.
It really was nice. They should just make themselves a home in here! A little cabin or a house with big windows and a garden. Oh, how wonderful that would be!
“Sir? What are you doing in the forest all alone?”
A small boy, he couldn’t be older than eight or nine, waved at him in greeting before running up to him. Patton wanted to coo at the little cape the kid was wearing and vaguely thought about how he should off brought some ‘period typical clothing’ as he knew that the imagination tended to be more dark-ages or renaissance based.
“Oh, I’m looking for my friend! Do you know where a Prince might be wandering around in these parts buddy?”
The kid made big eyes and stared up at him for a solid ten seconds before answering, seeming in awe that he even knew a Prince.
“If he’d be anywhere he’d be in the castle, sir! It’s in my village actually, would you want me to take you there?”
“Sure little guy.”
Patton found it endearing. How easily this kid trusted a stranger. He’d find it a dangerous habit in any other situation. But the imagination seemed nice and Thomas had always had a knack for seeing the best in people. He probably had made whoever was in this little world super nice as well.
Only a short walk and the forest, which Patton thought to be way bigger than this, cleared up to reveal a small village, the houses built on a hill, the top of it crowned with an impressive castle.
“Sir, if you do find the Prince, could you ask him if he could come and defeat the trolls that are haunting our village at night? They keep taking our chickens, sir.”
Patton promised the kid that he would, smiled at him and, after dropping him off by what he’d said was his parent’s house and giving him one of the two cookies he’d packed, he started on his way towards the castle.
The structure was made out of large white bricks and sported an impressive amount of stone statues lining the walls, monsters and goblins and ghouls and evil creatures all standing as if about to attack. It would have been pretty wasn’t it for that fact that Patton quickly found out how lifelike they looked. It gave him the creeps.
He decided on not going into the castle just yet as he’d heard that the Prince would return from an important mission that day.
Instead, he spends his time going to the carnival. All kinds of stands and entertainers were all cramped together on the market place. Joyful music being played by a few people giving it all an even more fun and relaxed atmosphere. He’d bought himself a lollipop and was trying his best to win a stuffed bear for Virgil to bring home when the music suddenly stopped and the ball he’d just thrown to hopefully knock some cans of the table froze in mid-air.
It was incredibly quiet, so quiet that he could easily hear the sounds of two leather boots scraping over the gravel. The person wearing them adjusting his stance.
“Roman! I’m so glad to-” he stopped then, having finally turned around.
The Prince was standing in the middle of the carnival, long red cape barely touching the ground, hood down, hair a mess, clothes dirty with- was that blood? And the sword, a longer and definitely way heavier one than the one Patton had on his back, in his hand, the tip resting on the ground.
“Roman what-”
“You’ve got thirty seconds to explain to me what you’re doing here.”
“I-I came to get you…” Patton said slowly, eyes not leaving Roman his face, staring openly as the Prince frowned as if the cheer idea of 'coming to get him’ was ridiculous.
“You’ve been away for so long and we were getting worried. And then Deceit came and said some things that gave me the heeby-jeebies about how you haven’t been feeling well and we wouldn’t want Thomas to be upset so I thought I would come and get you to-”
“Times up.” Roman cut him off with those simple words and turned around, marching past Patton, shoulders brushing and cape twisting around the moral sides arm before it was gone and Roman walked on.
It took Patton all of five seconds to compose himself and to start in a quick jog to catch up with the Prince who was stubbornly continuing on his path, a quick move of his hand and the people that he’d has made stuck frozen in time started moving again.
The Ball Patton had thrown, had knocked all of the cans over. Though he barely noticed the man in the stand shouting after him to pick his prize.
-
The pub was dark and quite stuffy. The fact that everybody in there was frozen in place didn’t help to lift the tension even the slightest.
“Roman what-” “I need you to leave.”
Patton reeled back as if he had been slapped, feeling the urge to grab for his sword almost. He’d never felt this unsafe in the Prince his presence. But then… He had never seen him like this before.
The conversation he’d had before leaving to go find Roman flooded back to him and now he actually grabbed for his sword, just for reassurance, he told himself. Just for reassurance.
It wasn’t an odd thing for Roman to go on a quest into the imagination. It was liberating, he’d said.
'to escape from reality is the best feeling you can imagine’ he’d said. Shushing Logan when he tried to explain that they, in fact, weren’t and never will be in reality as they themselves are imaginary.
This quest had been the same as any other to them all, though if Patton would’ve paid more attention he might’ve noticed the few things that made this one so very different.
There was the fact that, while he could conjure up any weapon at any given time in there, he always took his own sword with him.
Said sword was laying on the couch that time, the fatherly trait mindlessly picking it up. He had nearly reached the door that leads to Roman his room when he realised that it might be a bit odd for him not to bring it along.
Though he hadn’t thought of it then. Simply shrugged and put it on his bed for him to clean up when he was back in a days time.
Then there was the fact that he hadn’t told them goodbye.
There had been a fight. Or well, Roman had expressed his unease with the fact that Remus was now simply living in the same space as they were while the Prince was so obviously uncomfortable with it.
And while Virgil had stayed out of it, obviously agreeing with Roman but not wanting to be hypocritical, Patton and Logan had both scowled him for being overdramatic.
The whole ordeal had resulted in Roman agreeing with them, though the twitch in his right eye told Patton that he definitely was not fine with it and made for the fatherly trait worriedly watching Roman as he stomped off to his room.
A note on the fridge he’d found the next morning explained that the Prince had gone on one of his adventures. And Patton had sighed and put it on the counter thinking that he needed some time off. Childish, he thought. But acceptable.
It had been four days before they actively started worrying.
“Aren’t you guys worried for him? He’s never been out this long!”
“Oh pat, please. He’s an adult. Surely he can take care of himself.”
“Yes, I totally agree. Roman is so responsible.” Deceit chimed in. Rolling his eyes as if annoyed by the whole situation.
Patton could tell that he was worried though. They all were.
“He’s probably still mad at us for telling him to man up a little. While he did have a feud with his brother, it’s barely an excuse to start acting like a child.”
“Logan come on. I know you two don’t see eye to eye sometimes but that’s hardly-”
“You all know he’s not coming back right?”
Patton his head snapped to where Remus had just entered. The creative trait now leaning against the doorframe in a would-be seductive way if it were not for his overall persona and the fact that he was wearing bright green duck slippers.
“Why wouldn’t he come back?”
Now Logan sounded worried too, and even Deceit was frowning, still trying to act unbothered and failing miserably.
“That place changes you if you’re there for too long. We’ve tried it out before, nearly went insane from being there. Time is different and some things that might be normal here aren’t in there. 4 days is like 4 months in that hell hole. He must’ve completely lost his knickers by now.”
“I’m-I’m sure it’s not-” “He tries to constantly be a hero Padre-” Patton tried hard to not flinch at Remus using the nickname, remembering how it had become a go-to for Roman to use when addressing him. A pet name almost. “-which means he’ll try to save anything and everything. He’s either bleeding out somewhere due to injuries or gone completely mad because of how messed up it is there.”
“H-how about I go and take a peek in the imagination. Just see if I can find him. I’m - I’m sure he’s alright…”
Patton sounded anything but sure. But none of them was sure at that point, so they all agreed.
He’d assured himself that it wasn’t that bad and Remus had shrugged and told him that it was his funeral. A note slid under Virgil’s door informing him that Logan would make dinner that day and off he went.
-
“I’m not leaving you here Ro. You need to come with me. You’re- we miss you.”
“Do you now?”
He sounded so bitter. So… Not himself, that it physically hurt Patton to keep eye-contact. To not focus on-… That.
“Roman. Buddy. Come on. Come home with me okay? We’ll talk it out with Logan. I’m sure he’s seen his wrongdoing now and will gladly apologise.”
Roman scoffed as if he has said something crazy and took a jug out of the hand of a laughing man, the frozen expression giving the probably happy moment a sinister vibe.
“Do you really think this is about that fight we had? You think I’m so spiteful that I’d leave for months just because of some stupid fight?”
“I mean. I didn’t think you’d-”
“Do you really think that little of me?”
Patton reeled back again. That one hurt.
“I don’t, Ro,” He continued, voice soft, expression soft, everything about him soft.
“I think you got hurt and wanted a break for a bit and I think you lost your way in here. But that’s alright, we all have a bit of a breakdown from time to time. That doesn’t mean that your friends won’t try to pull you out of it.”
Roman looked as if Patton his words had physically hurt him, expression pained. “Why can’t you understand? It’s too late. You failed to keep me from drowning and are talking to a corpse. You failed to notice Pat. For months, you failed to notice. And I’m not mad at you I promise. But don’t come in here acting like a white knight when you’ve already failed me.”
Patton stared at him. Racking his brain to try and figure out what his friend meant. Months in here were mere days, Remus had said. So did he mean outside? But he had seemed fine when he was with them. He’d seemed happy… Right?
-
“Roman, you coming down for dinner?”
“I’ll skip this one Pat. I’ve got work to do. And besides, It couldn’t hurt to lose a few pounds, could it?”
Loud crashing noise and a frustrated scream. Patton rushing into the prince his room to find him on the floor, cradling his heavily bleeding hand, smashed mirror pieces around him.
“Roman!”
“I’m fine. Leave me be I’m fine.”
“How could you be so clumsy! Look at the mess you’ve made of yourself! And the mirror! Now really Roman.”
“Sorry.” He’d said, and looked away. Mumbling something under his breath that Patton couldn’t quite catch while fuzzing over the shattered mirror and the bloodied hand.
“Princey, may I say that you look absolutely wonderful today.”
“Thank you Deceit.”
“What he means, Roman is that you look like a hot mess. Did you even get any sleep?”
“Had to finish a project. And you know how I can not rest until all of the work is done!.” He had sounded proud. Though Patton had not found it something to be proud of.
“Roman. The work is never done. You know that.”
“Exactly.” had been his response. And suddenly he seemed a lot less proud and a lot more tired.