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Virgil was lying on his bed, listening to music, when someone knocked on his door.
He contemplated ignoring it, but he remembered that the last time he'd ignored it Roman had broken into his room to check he was ok. With a sigh, he got up and walked over to his door. He opened it, and a yellow flash darted across his room and curled up in a ball on his bed.
He stood in shock for a moment, before he slammed the door, locked it, and threw up a silencing barrier. He walked over to his bed, pulling back the covers and placing a gentle hand on his boyfriend's back. He rubbed his hand in soothing circles, grabbing the hat off his boyfriend's head and placing it on his bedside table.
After 15 minutes, Janus uncurled himself and sat up, his hair flopping down to cover his scales. Virgil sat beside him, debating whether to talk. When Janus moved the hair off his face, Virgil noticed the tear tracks running down his cheeks.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Janus started to shake his head but paused. Eventually, he nodded,
"Ok, babe. What happened?" Janus took a shuddering breath,
"I told them my name."
Virgil lit up. "I'm so proud of you! I know how hard it is to trust them enough to tell them. Well d-"
"Roman laughed" The broken whisper caused Virgil to fall completely silent. He wanted to scream and rage, but Janus needed to talk it out, and he sensed there was something else.
"Roman laughed at my name, and I- I- " Janus covered his face with his hands "I fucked up". Virgil was starting to get worried.
"What happened?" Janus curled his arms around his boyfriend, burying his face in Virgil's jacket.
"I compared him to Remus..." Virgil sighed internally. That was why he was so upset. Remus was mad at him.
"Remus is pissed?" Janus sat up, nodding.
"He is. I tried to phrase it in a way that wouldn't hurt him, that he would view as a compliment," Janus got up and started pacing, anger and frustration quickly replacing the sadness. "I referenced him as evil, and I was insulting Roman, so it should've been fine" Virgil could see the signs that Janus was trying to keep cool and not get too emotional, but he really did need to get through this.
"Should've?" Janus gestured aimlessly with one hand,
"Yes! But for some reason, he's angry at me and doesn't want to speak to me. And I don't know why!" Janus' hands had started to shake. He needed to express the emotion before it exploded. Here goes nothing.
"And how does that make you feel?" The fact that Janus didn't try and deflect the question spoke volumes about his mental state.
"It-it- I don't know what to do! It's like it's on the tip of my tongue and I don't know how to get it out. It makes me want to scream!"
"Then scream."
"What?" Virgil lowered the sound barrier as Janus took a breath.
"Janus. Scream!" He could feel Patton and Roman right outside his door, and he needed to make sure that they knew who was screaming. Janus was looking at Virgil apprehensively.
"Don't worry about me, Janus. Just scream for as long and as loud as you can. Take as many breaths as you need." Virgil smiled encouragingly, and Janus took a deep breath but seemed to be waiting for something.
"Go!" Janus let out the loudest, most pained scream that Virgil had ever heard. The screaming went on for several minutes, before, finally, Janus collapsed back onto the bed. Virgil knew better than to press Janus to talk after that kind of display. His boyfriend needed to relax, so he replaced the sound barrier and started humming ‘Razzle Dazzle’ from Chicago. Within minutes, his boyfriend was fast asleep.
He stood up gently, so as to not disrupt the sleeping side, and covered him with a purple and black patchwork blanket. He walked silently over to his door and paused, taking a deep breath and calming his emotions. he knew it wouldn’t last long, but he wanted to at least attempt to appear capable of rational thought. Slowly, he opened his door and slipped out, closing and locking it softly behind him.
He turned, Roman, Patton and Remus coming into view. Virgil kept his face carefully blank, gesturing for them to follow him. He started walking towards the deeper mind-palace, Remus trotting after him like an over-eager puppy. Roman and Patton hadn’t moved, so Virgil turned around and gestured again,
“Did you want to discuss this or not?” Patton nodded and grabbed Roman’s wrist, towing him along as he followed the anxious trait.
After five or ten minutes, Virgil stopped in front of a corridor that was darker than the others and bathed in shadow. He waited for a moment, before speaking,
“I need you three to stay here. I will go in first and deal with any lurkers, ok?” Roman looked offended.
“Uh, no. I am the prince, I do the slaying of foul creatures” He materialised his katana and moved toward the shadowy hallway. Before he could enter, a mace barred the entrance. He looked at his brother in annoyance.
“What? It’s my job to do stuff like this.” Remus shook his head, his expression uncharacteristically serious.
“That leads to Virgil’s dream-space, officially known as ‘The Fear-Scape’. I went in there without him once, and if he hadn’t come and got me, I would be toast. And this is ME we’re talking about. I can beat everyone in a fight.” Virgil snorted.
“Yeah, you can beat everyone you’ve ever fought.” Remus looked puzzled,
“But I’ve fought everyone?” Virgil raised an eyebrow.
“You haven’t fought me properly.”
Remus puffed his chest, “I would so cream you, though”
Virgil waved a hand, and some of the shadows from the dark corridor swirled and coalesced to form a tall, pitch-black scythe. He spun it a few times experimentally, before smirking at Remus and walking calmly into the darkness.
Remus sighed and sat down, resting his back against the wall. Patton and Roman stood awkwardly for a moment.
“So… What do we do now?” Remus looked at Patton, a suggestive comment on the tip of his tongue, when Virgil’s voice cut through the silence.
“You watch.”
Remus leapt up, staring at the corridor as the smoke fell away. The three of them crowded around the entrance, trying to see what was happening.
After a moment, they heard Virgil again, “I’ve cleared the corridor, so you can come in, but don’t go past the doorway at the end of the hall. And follow Remus.” Remus pouted but took the lead, mace in hand. Roman tried valiantly to elbow in front, but The Duke wouldn’t hear of it.
“Roman, there are only a few things that kill Nightmares, and a sword isn’t one of them.” Behind them, Patton made a cooing noise. Remus whirled around, throwing a handful of white powder at the black cat. It screamed, melting and twisting back into a formless shadow. The Nightmare shrieked, dissolving into nothing. Patton was frozen in shock, Roman was white as a sheet.
“What- what was that? What did you do to it?” Remus glanced briefly at his brother.
“Salt. One of the few thing that works. Wish I had more.” This snapped Patton out of his daze. He shook his head a couple of times, before clicking his fingers. A large bag of fine, white salt appeared in his grip. Remus’ eyes widened.
Patton looked away. “I do most of the cooking, and food is one of the only things I can safely conjure, so I have a bit of practice.” Remus blinked, summoning a few bags and dividing the salt between them. He handed one each to Roman and Patton.
“Well, this helps. If you see something alive, throw salt at it. Doesn’t matter what it is, throw salt at it.” Roman and Patton nodded solemnly, and the three of them slowly continued forwards.
They got to the end of the hall with no more encounters, and they all looked through the doorway. Remus looked at the unlit room and willed his hair to be covered by neon green flames, in a very Hades-esque fashion. The green flames were just bright enough to chase away the darkness and reveal the room.
The three of them had very different reactions to the interior. Patton screamed in terror at the monstrous black Nightmares, Roman gasped at the purple lightning arcing between monsters, electrocuting them until they collapsed into piles of ash, and Remus squealed and cheered as he recognised Virgil’s scythe flashing from the writhing mass of shadows in the centre of the room.
Roman immediately grabbed Patton to calm him down, and Remus started flinging balls of coloured fire into the room. Roman soon joined in. With Roman and Remus’ conjured flames and Patton’s salt, it didn’t take long for the Nightmares to notice the trio. They started flinging themselves at the barrier, trying to get through. Remus noticed cracks starting to form in the barrier, and so did Virgil.
“Remus, do it!” Remus looked worried,
“I don’t want to-”
“Dammit Remus! DO IT!!!” Remus shrugged, and focused on Virgil, sending thought of hatred and anger into his brain. He saw no change, so he tried harder, telling Virgil through intrusive thoughts that nobody loved him. No reaction. He took a breath and forced memories long repressed to the forefront of Virgil’s brain. Instantly, a tidal wave of black smoke crashed through the room, overwhelming and absorbing the Nightmares until there was nothing left. The smoke then converged on the Anxious trait, seeping into his pores until the room was clear of any shadows.
As soon as the room was clear, Virgil collapsed, the barrier dropping. Remus raced into the room, tackling Virgil and whispering assurances and praise into his ear. Virgil lay on the floor for a moment longer, before getting up. Patton’s eyes widened at the thick streaks of black eyeshadow across Virgil’s face.
“Well, that was fun.” Virgil glanced at Remus, who was silently staring at the floor.
“Thank you, Remus. That was what I needed.” Remus nodded, obviously still feeling guilty. Patton spoke up, trying to break the silence.
“So, what did you want to talk about?” Virgil sighed, summoning four chairs and a table. Everyone took a seat.
“I’m sure that you have some idea of what I want to talk about, but I’m just going to ask, what- and I cannot stress this enough- the fuck happened while I was gone?!” Patton opened his mouth to scold the anxious trait for swearing, but Remus responded first.
“I also want to know. I know that Jan was an asshole, but that was it” Virgil clenched a fist, trying to keep his voice flat.
“Janus was not an asshole, Remus. He was in pain”
Remus scoffed, “Janus never hurts. He’s as strong as an iron spear, ripping into people and laughing as-”
“Remus, Janus was in pain because Roman laughed at his name” Remus went completely still, staring at the tabletop.
“Janus opened up to them, trusted them with something precious, and Roman fucking laughed.” Roman suppressed a flinch at the venom in Virgil’s voice.
“Virgil, why are you so angry? You hate that slimy snake!” Virgil growled, almost too low to hear.
“Roman, we’re dating. Most of the things we say are due to us being in character. We don’t actually mean it.” Roman went still. Virgil waited for some kind of reaction, but when it came, it wasn’t from the prince.
“You’re dating?” Patton’s voice was quivering.
“Yes, Patton. Yes we are” He began to shake.
“You are dating that- that- that monster?!” Roman looked at Patton, shocked at what had come out of his mouth. Remus flinched, curling his hands into fists. Virgil was perfectly still. Patton’s voice rose in volume until he was screaming.
“You are dating that worthless excuse for an existence?!?! I FUCKING TRUSTED YOU!! I BROUGHT YOU INTO MY FAMILY, AND YOU DO THIS!!! YOU ARE A FUCKING DISGRACE!!!!!” Remus started to shake, dropping out of his chair and curling up on the floor, whole body tense. “I SHOULD’VE LEFT YOU TO DIE!!! I WISH YOU WOULD! YOU DESERVE TO DIE LIKE THE FUCKING DARK SIDE YOU ARE! YOU ARE FUCKING WORTHLESS!!!!!!!”
“Enough.” Virgil’s voice was level, but it cut through the noise, stopping Patton’s rage in its tracks. Virgil stood, moving to be in between Remus and the others.
“It doesn’t work on me here. Send it all to me” Remus immediately relaxed, focusing on Virgil with eyes that were a swirl of powder blue, deep plum and his patented electric green. He rested his palm on Virgil’s forehead, fingers curling through his hair.
After a moment, the purple dripped out of his eyes and onto his skin, racing down his arm and into Virgil. The blue and green followed soon after. Remus let go, falling back onto the floor with a sigh of relief. There was a brief flash of black shadows before Virgil settled on the floor beside him. Virgil lifted his head just enough to stare at Roman and Patton
“Out. Call Logan if you don’t know how to get back. Don’t wake Janus up.” Roman nodded, grabbing Patton’s wrist to tow him out of the room.
“Do you want a pillow or something?”
“Nah, I’m good”