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Janus woke up slowly. Of course, that wasn’t entirely different from how he tended to wake up. What could he say? He was a sucker for listening to your body’s needs, and he wasn’t one to force himself awake in the morning.
What was different was that he came to awareness sitting up. He never slept sitting up. Also, he didn’t think his pillow had the softness of a brick wall, last time he checked. Blearily, he blinked himself awake. His head spun as the light invaded his eyes. Janus went to shield his eyes with one of his hands, but they weren’t listening to him. Glancing down, he realized that his hands were tied together. That certainly would complicate things.
Slowly, his eyes accommodated, and he began to realize that he had no idea where he was. It appeared to be some sort of prison cell, if the dim lighting, the tied-up arms, and the prison bars were to be of any assistance.
Worst of all, he had no memory of how he got here. The more he tried to think about it, the worse the pain in his head got. It wasn’t worth worsening his migraine to get nowhere, he concluded. With a brief shake of his head to reorient himself, he suddenly realized how foolish he was.
“Remus,” Janus called out, “I know you’re behind this. You can give it up now.”
When no response came, his throat tightened. Surely this was Remus. They’d laugh about how Remus got Janus good this time and head back home.
“Remus, I’m serious,” Janus said, frustration creeping into his tone, “You’ve had your fun. But I really need to get back to my room. I’ve got… business to attend to.”
Of course, there wasn’t really business for Janus to attend to. Thomas could surely fend for himself for a little while. He was on that whole mission to be more truthful or something. Janus actually just wanted to take a nice, long bath to scrub off the dankness of the cell he found himself in.
Laughter echoed off the concrete walls. “Oh, silly little snake, your dear Duke isn’t behind this scheme.”
Janus sat up straighter, glaring into the dark, “Roman, I didn’t think you were still mad enough to go this far. But seriously, it isn’t funny anymore. We can settle this like adults. But then again, I know how much you loathe to do that, seeing your track record.”
The laughter picked up again. Janus was beginning to hate the condescending sound. “It isn’t Princey either, my serpentine friend. You really are so naive.”
“Then show yourself,” Janus demanded, growing tired of the back and forth while he could barely keep track of it. The pounding in his head was just getting worse.
“Did I hit you in the head too hard?” The Dragon Witch said, finally revealing herself, “I really thought I was being obvious with this one.”
Janus snarled at her, “What is the point of this? What do you hope to gain from tying me up in this prison cell?”
The Dragon Witch smirked before crossing her arms, “I was hoping to lure one, if not both, of the creativities here. As you know, I want to gain more control of the Imagination, and if I have you as a bargaining chip, well, I just might be able to get that. Roman is too noble to put any other side at risk, and I doubt Remus would want to leave you in my clutches, especially if I do this.”
She flipped a switch on the wall.
Janus braced himself, squeezing his eyes shut.
After a moment of nothing happening, he opened one eye cautiously and looked around. The Dragon Witch cackled with glee.
“Oh no, my dear snake. It’s not some booby trap like Remus would come up with. This switch has turned on my latest invention. It’s a device that functions like an AC unit, but rather than just lowering the temperature to be slightly cooler, it recreates winter-like conditions in a single room. Soon, the temperature will drop well into the 20s. I hope you’re ready for a winter unlike Florida’s seen before.”
Janus felt the cool air blow past his back, eating away through his layers. He shivered and gritted his teeth. As a snake, he wasn’t built for cold temperatures. After a certain point, he can’t stay awake any longer, and his body enters a sort of hibernation mode. It was extremely uncomfortable, but luckily, it had only happened to him once, when Thomas had gone to the Northern part of the country to visit family. He was fortunate that Thomas lived in Florida, which stayed relatively hot throughout the years.
The Dragon Witch watched him shake before turning away from him, “Good night, little snake.”
With a “bang,” the heavy door shut, and Janus was left alone to his own thoughts. His head felt like sharp daggers were digging their way into his brain. He couldn’t remember what day it was or what he had been doing prior to his capture. And now, the temperature of the room was in freefall, he assumed that in a few minutes’ time, he’d be able to see his own breath. In addition to all of this, he was getting really, really sleepy.
Maybe a quick nap wouldn’t hurt.
Janus let his eyes fall shut, hoping that after a quick rest, he’d be able to devise a plan to get out of here.
He awoke to shouting.
Janus couldn’t open his eyes fully, as the tiredness dragged his eyelids down. So, he let his ears do the watching.
“Release him at once, foul witch!” A voice called out.
“If he’s hurt at all, I’ll make you regret ever being born.” A higher-pitched voice sounded out.
“Oh, it’s much too late for that, my dear Duke. You’d better find him before it’s too late.” A feminine voice responded slyly.
Janus heard a dark growl before the sounds of fighting rang out again. Iron against iron, spells being cast.
He must have fallen asleep again because he woke up to being shaken awake.
“Double D?” Remus asked him, using both hands to prop him up.
Janus blinked at Remus in response. He felt someone holding his wrists gently. Looking down, he saw Roman using his sword to cut the ropes that held Janus’ hands in place.
“Look at me, Jan Jan,” Remus said again, more forcefully.
“Does he have a concussion?” Roman asked, looking up at his brother.
Remus wiped some blood from Janus’s head. He hadn’t even noticed his head was bleeding. How out of it was he? The Duke then grabbed onto the deceitful side’s chin, tilting his head upward to look directly into Janus’ eyes.
“It’s looking like it. I think the first priority is warming him up, though.” Remus said thoughtfully.
“We can do that,” Roman said, looking at Janus worriedly.
Janus’ eyes felt heavy; he didn’t think he could fight the urge to sleep any longer, and it seemed that the creativities were able to pick up on it.
“Just sleep, Janus,” Roman said softly, “You’ll be warm and safe when you wake up, I promise.”
And with that, Janus let his eyes slip closed once more.