Work Text:
There was a grave in the Imagination. Roman’s grave, to be specific. The first time it popped up, it was on the edge of the forest that led to Remus side of the Imagination. So Roman, although unnerved, ignored it, thinking it was some sort of prank Remus did to scare the wits out of him. Well, the joke was on him, because it most certainly did not scare the wits out of him. So Roman passed by the grave, expecting it to be gone the next time around.
It was not. The next time around, actually, the Dragonwitch was the one who found it, who, highly disturbed, called her good friend, Roman’s Fairy Godmother, who then called a confused Roman, demanding an explanation. Roman laughed the whole thing off as just a remmenant of a prank Remus forgot to clean up.
The next time he encountered the grave, the horse he was riding tripped over it, and Roman was thrown from the horse, and almost broke his leg and his neck, so Roman, summoned Remus, etiquette be damned. Remus just as confused, claimed that this wasn’t his work, and to prove a point, increased the size of the grave til it was as big as a church. Roman, aggravated and just wanting the cursed thing gone, snapped the grave out of existence, and Remus of the Imagination. And that was the end of it.
Roman invited Remy, and his friend Emile, to the edge of the forest, as it was a beautiful spot on top of the hill, with a lake to swim in, and plenty of grass to run around in, and trees to climb. There were plenty of flowers and strawberries, and Roman had cooked up the food for the picnic himself! So imagine the disappointment and surprise he felt, when Remy and Emile, of all people, refused to go there, because the forest was “cursed” Roman pleaded, and whined and begged, but alas, they would not go. So, Roman, sulking, went off to the forest all by himself, because there was nothing wrong with the forest, and if there was, Roman could handle himself!
But Roman did not enjoy his picnic, and it wasn’t just because of his friends. To put it in a Virgil way ‘the vibes were rancid” there. The forest was too quiet, and it seemed the lake would start and stop running. The animals acted very odd, and he even spotted what he thought was a squirrel eating another squirrel although when he looked back it was gone. There was a cool mist that would spring up out of nowhere, and it chilled the mighty prince to the bone.
The next time Creativity returned to the forest, the gravestone was back. He destroyed it with a sledgehammer. A week later, it was back. He blew it up. It was there once again a day later. He had Remus take care of it. An hour later, it was still there. He snapped the entire forest area out of existence and back in again. A second later, it was there.
He found that he couldn’t physically tell the other sides about it. Whenever he tired to open his mouth, about even the forest area itself, he felt his throat tightening, almost as if Deceit was working his powers on him. And that wasn’t the only strange thing about it. Experienced travelers of the Imagination went missing for days in the forest area, and recalled nothing about how they got lost in the first place. Newly formed Imagination villagers went missing there and never came back. There were even rumors that a so called orange side, fresh after coming into being died in the forest. (Roman didn’t know about those rumors. If he had, then maybe he could prevented things.)
Roman’s ceased his investigation when Janus was accepted into the light sides. After all, there were many haunted locations in the Imagination, and just because it was a bit odder than the other haunting and had Roman’s grave in it, wasn’t much to pay attention to when your whole worldview was being uprooted. The grave wasn’t even a nice grave, just a roughly carved rock with Roman’s name, and a couple of bad,y drawn roses, and that was it. (Honestly, it was kind of insulting.) Things got better as things always do, and Roman once again started visiting the mindscape, and with company. But even then, he still didn’t go near the forest. (Something, deep down, told him, that if he went there, bad things would happen).
Instead, he forged his own happy memories there in the Imagination, making places of good luck. He helped Virgil with his fear of flying, and helped him meet Gerald Way. He and the Fairy Godmother had tea with Patton, and went swimming. The Prince and his royal advisor took lessons in astrology and astronomy from the great Dragon Witch. He went on a literal piggy back ride with Remus. He hosted concerts with Janus. He built LEGO castles with Thomas, and hosted several weddings (including his own) there.
But just as with everything, there is a begging and an end. And so one fateful day, the final curtain closed upon Roman’s play. He was traveling near the forest, when a group of bandits attacked, and forced him off his horse. Roman, in a moment of hubris, refused, thinking this was just like the old days, and he, an old man armed with only a sword, could take on several armed young people in their prime. The bandits, horrified at what they had done, left their prince in the forest, being young and full of panic. (If they hadn’t, he might have lived to fight another day.)
Roman Sanders, died at the ripe old age of 97 on November 2, at 03:04 in the afternoon, due to blood loss. No trace of his body was found. There was only a grave soaked with blood, and Roman’s journal and sword, alone in a field of roses.