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#and maybe ros if you squint because he is Determined to be shadow's friend
south-sea · 1 year
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It's me again!! If you so desire to take another art request- if you've got any OCs associated with the Second Chance AU that you've been dying to show off, please draw them! This is your full permission to be self-indulgent.
stumbles in here nearly two weeks late HOW ABOUT A SONIC'IFIED CARETAKER?! i finally got a design for him i can show here
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despite his looks, he has good intentions (probably). all teeth and no bite (except when he actually does). smokes like a chimney when he's stressed (that's the joke, he's always stressed).
he's an inventor/programmer, and thanks to metal, a little bit of a mechanic at this point too. i wouldn't consider him a particularly empathetic or intentionally-kind person, but some would argue his actions suggest otherwise.
a prime example of this being he is more or less responsible for why shadow/metal have a house where they do, given it's also where he himself lives. shortly after he'd taken in metal for repairs, shadow tagged along; he saw the place looks like permanently-night with electric blue nebulas, got a tad emotional about it, stayed the night. caretaker provided him a comically oversized blanket and a suggestion: go seek out the city owner tomorrow and request housing here.
so he did, and it was approved. caretaker here's quite close with the city owner, so he may or may not have put in a good word in advance.
metal, despite seeing him as a caretaker, still ended up "moving in" with shadow instead. caretaker's not exactly one for permanent company in terms of sharing his house long-term, so it worked out for everyone.
above all else, i'd consider him to be hospitable, but ultimately self-interested when you pull back the curtain. he's not a bad person, but he's not exactly a good person, either. he's just learned how to present himself as a fair balance, and occasionally the situation's just right to inspire what empathy he is capable of and directs it into bettering someone else's circumstances.
metal, being a robot, is the ultimate example of this: caretaker relates a whole lot more to machines and whatnot than others. he views metal as some kind of family first and foremost, and something like his own greatest project second.
when they're synced, metal absolutely refers to him as "father" by pure reflex. caretaker lets his slide; it's not really something metal can control, anyway.
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iwrestlenow · 3 years
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Many More To Die
TITLE: Many More To Die
FANDOM: Sanders Sides (Necromancer AU)
SUMMARY: For over a thousand years, necromancy has been forbidden in the Kingdoms, the Necromata--its practitioners--feared, reviled, and punished for a power they never asked to wield. Those Necromata who are not killed in the cradle are taken from their families, stripped of their Name--the core of identity and memory--and imprisoned for the rest of their lives.
Logan was twelve when he entered the palace dungeons. Prince Roman was fourteen when he witnessed the young necromancer being brutalized, imprisoned, and left to suffer.
Roman only wanted to offer the other boy comfort, and perhaps a scrap of dignity. He didn't realize his kindness would follow both of them into adulthood--or that Logan would one day become the only person in all the realms that Roman would be able to trust with his life, his heart, and his very soul.
SHIPS: Logince (Logan/Roman), future Moceit (Patton/Janus) and Dukexiety (Remus/Virgil)
WARNINGS: lots of death because necromancy, slash, and more to come as I figure it out ‘cause it’s late and I’m tired. Also, no betas, we die like men.
NOTES: This is based on the gorgeous piece of art by @gretacticdraws that can be found here. I ended up writing a ficlet for it, and then my brain got swallowed up. Breathe at me wrong, and I’ll write more...hell, who am I kidding? I’ll write more anyway because this? Is self indulgent drivel. XD
Also located at AO3 over here.
1023, A.A.
Necromata.
Sitting in the middle of his cell, twelve year old Logan...Logan choked on tears as his shoulder screamed, his bones ached, and the flickering lights of his cell let his imagination run wild with all manner of monsters and omens of doom lurking within every shadow.
He knew he was lucky—many necromancers were caught in the cradle and killed. Very few survived as long as he had. He could be grateful to his family for that much, that he'd lived long enough to escape a death sentence.
He did have a family. He knew that much—remembered that much. Everything else, they had taken before throwing him into his cell. The prison mage's hand was still a ghost of cold fire against his forehead, worms of icy coal burning through his brain to wipe out every trace of the things that would make him what he was, allow him to be more safely contained.
The name spoken with fear and loathing was all that he had left.
Necromata. The legions of the Animator...the necromancers.
“Psst!”
The hiss echoed off the stone in the corridor, made his heart leap into his chest as he looked around for the source of it.
“Psst! Over here!”
Logan tried to scramble back from the door of his cell, and screamed when he forgot about his dislocated shoulder, collapsing as it gave way under his weight.
“No, don't—please, it's okay. I don't want to hurt you.”
Blinking, Logan squinted into the low light beyond the torches that barely lit his new home. Something bright green flickered there, an outline visible that was vaguely person-shaped.
“Who...who are you?” he asked, curling his injured arm as close to his body as he could so he wouldn't forget again as he got to his feet.
“I...I'm not supposed to say.”
Logan shuffled a little closer to the bars of his cell. “Then how do I know you don't want to hurt me?”
“The prison mage took your Name—you won't understand if I tell you. Just...”
The person-shape on the other side of the bars moved forward, an arm protruding through to set a bowl on the dirt floor of Logan's cell. Inside there was water, and sitting across the rim was a heavy piece of leather.
“I saw what the guard did when you came in. Your shoulder...it happened to me once when I snuck out to hunt for the Lazari.”
“The Lazari don't exist.” Logan replied, reaching up with his good hand to try and wipe some of the tears and snot off his face. “They're a fairy tale, like the Animata.”
“How do you know?”
Logan opened his mouth...then closed it after long moments.
“I...I don't know.” he admitted. “I must have lost it when the prison mage took my Name.”
“Then you could be wrong.” the person-shape insisted, those emerald flecks in the near shadow sparkling with determination. “I'll find a Lazari one day. Just you wait.”
“What does that have to do with my dislocated shoulder?”
“Oh! Sorry—uhm, I did it once. When I snuck out, I fell from a tree and mine popped out. My brother showed me how to use the bars on our window to pop it back in! I threw up, though—and he made me bite a belt so I wouldn't scream.”
The hand appeared between the bars again, nudging the bowl and the leather strap forward a little further.
“I can tell you how to do it.”
Logan shuffled forward a couple more steps, then shifted to kneel in front of the bowl of water.
“I...might know.” He replied, staring at the bowl for a long moment before he peered back into the dark, into the green spark that was his benefactor's eyes. “Thank you.”
The person-shape said nothing for a long moment...
“Berry.”
“What?”
“Berry! The guards called you Logan, right? They took your Name—maybe Berry can be your new one.”
Before Logan could comment, the person-shape grew less distinct, and the flicker of green was gone with the clatter of footsteps scurrying away into the dark.
It was a silly idea—a Name taken could not be restored so easily. Still, the word rattled around in his head along with the one that made his bones ache again.
Necromata. Berry. Necromata. Berry. Berry.
Logan Berry.
Something stirred in the middle of Logan's mind, in his marrow—in the place that magic had scoured out and rubbed raw within the pathways of his brain. Something stirred, settled...
Something slid into place, and all of a sudden the shadows were far less frightening.
Popping his shoulder back into the socket hurt far more than dislocating it had—and yet while he'd sobbed his soul out after being injured, after being robbed of all that made him a person, he shed not a single tear as he put the leather between his teeth, wrenched his joint back into place, and used the fresh water to clean up after he'd emptied his stomach into the corner of his cell.
He even managed to sleep on his pallet of straw, and dreamed of green embers in the dark, drifting into the shadows in his cell and transforming every monster into a friend.
**********
1033, A.A.
“I had the dream again.”
“A kinky one?”
“Sweet leaping gods, Remus!”
The high, strident cackle of his twin brother echoed through Prince Roman's bedchamber, making him wonder yet again why he thought he could talk to the crazy idiot about anything remotely meaningful. Yes, Remus was trustworthy—he gave Roman all manner of hell for the secrets he shared, but had suffered his fair share of indignities to keep his mouth shut—but sometimes he wondered if it was worth the teasing and the laughter to have such a steadfast confidant.
Remus had secrets of his own, after all—the numerous Anima that shared his bed, for one. Like Roman, Remus was fascinated by the Necromata, the true necromancers that all citizens of the Kingdoms were taught to hate and fear. The Anima were little more than pretenders, mages of other disciplines that toyed with the death magic that had been outlawed for over a thousand years.
Still, they had a lot to teach—and made good company, from the way Remus spoke of his dalliances.
“Oh, I'm just yanking your chain, big brother!” Remus assured him, crossing over to drape himself over Roman's back, chin settling on Roman's shoulder to read what his twin was writing as he hunched over his desk. “C'mon now—tell me about the dream, and I'll tell you about the Necromata I fucked last night.”
Roman straightened abruptly at that, unceremoniously sending Remus sprawling to the floor. Turning his chair, he gaped down at his brother and pointed an accusing finger at him.
“You did not sleep with a real necromancer, you lying sack of horse dung!” he hissed. “Why would you even say that in the palace of all places?!?”
“Because the sex was unbelievably good?” Remus offered, shrugging from his place on the floor, flat on his back. “Believe me, Ro Bro, a guy that can't actually feel human contact can keep it up for a nice, long, slow roll in the hay. It's pretty remarkable!”
Roman just huffed, standing from his seat—and promptly sinking to the floor to sprawl out right beside Remus.
“You're lying.” he said simply.
Remus was quiet a long time...then sighed.
“Of course I am. He was just another Animata.”
“Anima. The Animata are a myth, like the Lazari.”
“Since when did you turn into such a brainiac, Roro? We both know I've always been the smart one.”
Roman rolled his eyes with a grin, stretching his leg to kick Remus's ankle—but the truth of the matter was, Remus was right. Between the pair of them, Remus was smarter by leaps and bounds. He was studying the collegiate sciences when he was seventeen, and began his magic training before he'd even reached puberty. The fact that the only part of the sciences he enjoyed were anatomy and mortuary study were entirely besides the point, as was the fact that Remus wasn't actually capable of using magic at all.
He was, as their father lovingly put it, a rogue genius: in possession of an intellect so massive that the rules couldn't restrain him. He either knew too well how to circumnavigate them, or he simply didn't care enough to bother and did what he wanted—what he thought was right, no matter the consequence.
Roman might have been the elder of the twins—by one hour, eleven o'clock of one night where Remus came at midnight the next morning—but he aspired, every single day, to be the maverick that Remus was. He simply lacked the brains...and the courage.
Which was why today, it was Roman their father would be naming as his successor, and not Remus. Roman would be king, would rule by the law and the will of the gods, and Remus would...get to be Remus for the rest of his life, a crown prince without a care in the world.
“Tell me about the dream, Roro.”
Remus's voice was gentle this time, his fingers walking their way along Roman's arm until he could find his hand and weave it into his own.
Roman sighed, staring up at the mural on the ceiling of his bedchamber—a beautifully wrought depiction of the Fall of Death, the final battle between the Animator, the first of the Necromata, and their ancestor, King Thomas Andres, that had saved the Kingdoms over a thousand years ago.
“He was in it.”
“The boy from the dungeons?”
Roman nodded. He could feel Remus watching him...
Just like he could feel the boy from the dungeons watching him every time he had the dream... ********** “He was here again.”
“Jumpin' Jiminy, Lo—are you sure?”
Logan nodded, mostly to himself. Patton couldn't see him, not from the bathtub behind the partition that separated it from the rest of the room, but it hardly mattered—after eight years as cell mates, the two of them had become as close as brothers, as close as twins according to some of the guards that had met the king's identical twin sons.
They had grown so naturally into the relationship, it made Logan wonder sometimes if he'd had a brother before his Name had been taken.
Well...it made him wonder in the early days, at any rate. Logan had stopped wondering many years ago.
Suffice to say, Patton didn't need to see him nod to know that Logan had.
“Well? What'd he do?”
Logan let his mind wander back to the night before—the dream space that he so often occupied, the boy that had come to him in the dark ten years before with a bowl of water, a leather strap, and a name.
The boy he'd come to think of as the Green Man, with those eyes that the dark couldn't fully hide.
“The same thing he always does.” Logan managed to reply, setting down the pen he'd been using in favor of resting his elbows on his desk and steepling his fingers to press against his lips. Among those Necromata imprisoned in the palace dungeons, Logan was quite fortunate: he was allowed a cell mate, access to books and writing implements, even a small window sill garden consisting of plants that couldn't be used for magical purposes.
He was very lucky. Ten years of good behavior had given him an incredible amount of leeway and granted him creature comforts like access to regular bathing privileges. The guards even referred to him by his chosen name.
He was, for all intents and purposes, treated like he was truly human. A prisoner, always, but one the guards and prison mages shared a basic blood connection to, unlike the other Necromata.
“...Lo?...Logan!”
Shaking himself, Logan cleared his throat and tried to beat back the heat he could feel rising in his cheeks, having been caught wool gathering.
“Apologies, I didn't catch that.” he called over his shoulder.
“I said, did he say anything this time?”
Logan shook his head, knowing once again that his actions would be understood rather than seen. Patton asked the same thing every time Logan mentioned the visits, and every time it was the same.
If Patton really knew the content of the Green Man's visitations...
Pressing his fingertips to his mouth again, Logan shut his eyes and let himself remember.
The visits were always in a dream space—for years, before the visitations became more regular, Logan had assumed the Green Man was a guard's son, or the child of some member of the palace staff. Later, when the Green Man came to Logan in his sleep, he figured he was the son of a prison or court mage—who else could manage to dream walk in the mind of even a crippled necromancer like him?
Then again...Logan was different from many prisoners like himself.
In the dream, Logan still cannot see his face. Like those ephemeral dreams from his first few nights in the dungeons, he's little more than shadows with burning points of light the color of fresh shoots just springing from the soil. Over the years, he's become more distinct, but still nothing Logan can give any real definition.
He is a man made of darkness, his eyes reflecting what spark of magic lives within him. They never speak to each other—Logan never dares, secretly apprehensive that disturbing the quiet will somehow end this irregular communion they share.
All the Green Man does is extend a hand, the only part of him Logan can truly see. What was once small and slim fingered has changed over the years into a large hand, broad but lean, tendons standing out below each knuckle and tanned by exposure to the sun. Every time, he reaches out, and every time, Logan takes his hand and just...holds on.
In the dream space, Logan can feel his touch. It's likely a projection, something imagined, but there's strength and warmth in that hand—the pressure of fingers meshing with his own, the heat of palm sealed to palm. There's something under the skin, itchy and trembling, and it makes Logan want to pull away because it's just too much...
The Green Man never lets him. Gradually, the feeling passes, and Logan clings until the feeling returns, crashing over him and sliding back in waves beating the shore of his nervous system.
Logan is always the first to let go. The Green Man makes sure of it—and then he leaves.
“Are you okay, kiddo?”
Logan looked up sharply, twisting to see Patton over his shoulder. His mop of tawny curls is swept back from his face, still dark and wet from his bath, the chill of the cell raising gooseflesh on his bare torso.
He has one hand holding the towel around his waist, and the other resting on Logan's shoulder.
The pressure is barely there, that buzzing awareness of contact easily missed if not expected.
Patton hastily lifts his hand, face screwed up in silent apology. Logan dislikes physical contact, even if he cannot feel it—just like any of the Necromata, so divorced from the living, human populous that they cannot even connect to them through touch.
“Didn't mean to spook you, Lo. Just...you're real quiet. Usually, you got more to say after a visit from You Know Who.”
Logan nodded, then made a point of reaching out to squeeze Patton's hand briefly before letting it go just as quickly.
“Apologies. I suppose I'm just...distracted by today.”
“Yeah—hey, you think the prince'll come down here?” Patton asked hopefully, drawing back to go and find some clothes. “I mean, if he's gonna learn to be king after the ceremony...”
Logan let Patton continue to chatter about the potential for this new ruler to somehow see their plight, somehow be their salvation. He let the words, the hope, wash over him without making contact.
Patton could have hope, because he had no Name. No history, no memory, no past and therefore no future. He was a blank slate, for all intents and purposes, unable to access the power of the Necromata with no life of his own to bind it to.
Unlike Logan. Logan, who no longer wondered if he'd had a brother in his family.
Logan, who could share a dream space, something only mages were capable of.
Logan, who had been given a new name by his benefactor so many years ago, a name that others used daily.
Logan Berry, who even now could feel the essence of every rat behind the dungeon walls, every guard on patrol, every prisoner languishing beneath the lowest floors of the palace...and every noble, every royal, every peasant up above.
Logan Berry, who could not remember his family, but could remember that he once had a brother.
Because, despite the fact that a Name taken could not be restored so easily, Logan had taken a name freely given and made it his own.
A Name, freely given. A life, restored.
Logan could not have hope, because he had the power of the Necromata at his fingertips—and it was only a matter of time before good behavior would no longer be enough to earn him the leeway to stay alive.
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lookimtryingmybest · 3 years
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“How to accidentally die, meet a shady ghost and become a half demon” A story by Logan Freud.
Part 1 Part 2
CW for discussions of blood, needles and digging up someone's death body and using it for weird magic stuff. Also a few graphic descriptions of injuries (Janus's) and a brief scene where Remus almost cuts himself that might be considered self-harm. And casual conversations of murder because yes. This is the weirdest shit I've written so far.
Janus waved his hand over the TV. He just had to get it right enough, and he could turn it on to watch something. It’s not like he had something better to do.
“You’re running out of time.” A husk voice reminded him.
Janus rolled his eyes, not bothering to turn to the voice. He could see its silhouette reflected on the TV’s screen.
“I know.” He said. “I won’t take much longer.”
“You know what will happen to you if you fail.” The voice warned him.
Janus waved it off. “Yeah, yeah, I know, now fuck off, I wanna watch Buffy.”
“I will come by the next full moon. If you haven’t finished by then, I’ll take both of you with me.” The voice said.
“Wait.” Janus frowned. He turned to face those orange eyes he hated. “Both?”
“You.” It said, smiling at Janus. “And your new friend.”
“Logan.” Janus realized. “Leave him out of this, I’m the one who made the deal.”
The demon smiled. “Someone’s coming home. See you around, Deceit.” It said, before dimming out in the shadows.
“Bastard.” Janus said. He turned back to the TV. A month. He had a month. He could get everything right before the month ended, right?
He heard the front door opening.
Logan entered the living room, followed by Virgil. He smiled at Janus.
“I thought you’d be here.” He said.
“Yeah, wow, congratulations. You have braincells.” Janus said, floating above his level. He noticed Virgil holding the wooden triangle to his eye. “What’s he doing? Apart from looking like an idiot?”
“Rude.” Virgil said.
“He can see us.” Logan said. “And hear us.”
“You could’ve warned me about the face” Virgil said.
Janus rolled his eyes. “Oh, I’m sorry my face upsets you, I died in a fire what the fuck did you expect?”
“Sorry.” Virgil muttered. “Anyways I’ll, eh… be in the kitchen for a while.” He said putting the triangle in his pocket. “I’ll talk to you two later.”
Janus waited for Logan to speak. Logan just looked uncomfortably around for a while, before speaking.
“I… apologize for snapping earlier.” He said. “It was out of place.”
“Damn right it was.” Janus said. “What are you going to do, hug me over it?” He asked, floating near him. “Good luck touching me.”
“I did not mean what I said.” Logan said. “Do you want to go back with the others and talk to them for yourself?”
Janus contemplated his options. He didn’t have many. A month was so little time.
“Fine.” He said. “I’ll go get Virgil.”
He floated through the walls into the kitchen. Virgil was unashamedly eating ice cream out of the container. Janus looked around for something to knock over.
He pushed Virgil’s phone. It barely moved. He tried again, and again, and again until it fell to the ground.
Virgil cursed and grabbed it, placing it back on the table.
Goddamnit, he was an idiot.
Janus took another five minutes to push it over the edge again. This time, Virgil grabbed it midair.
He grumbled, leaving the ice cream on the table and pulling the triangle out of his pocket.
He stared at Janus. “Asshole.” He said.
Janus shrugged. “I want to speak to the others as well. Grab a notebook or something, I’ll need you to make a list.”
“A list for what?” Asked Logan appearing through a wall. “Wow. That was so weird.”
“You get used to it.” Janus said. “A list to get shit going, I’ll explain once we’re there.”
Virgil placed the ice cream back in the fridge. “Let’s go. They’re probably waiting.”
“Got any kings?” Patton asked.
“Apart from myself? No. Go fish” Roman said. He was holding three kings, and he refused to let them go.
Something pulled the king of hearts out of his hands, throwing it to the cards pile.
Patton gasped. “You were Lying!”
“Pat, the game is called ‘go fish but we lie about it’” Remus said. “Got any threes?”
Patton grabbed the king as Roman grumbled, grabbing another card from the pile.
“Nope! Go fish” Patton said. A card flew from the pile and hit Remus in the face.
“Rude.” Remus mumbled, grabbing the card.
Virgil entered the room, holding the triangle to his face. “Janus, stop messing with the game.” He said. He received a card to the face seconds later, when he had already sat down at his pillow. “I applaud your determination to hit me with a card.” He turned to the others. “He had to try five times until he managed to lift the card.”
“So he can touch physical objects” Roman said. “That’s creepy.”
“He can, but he has to try over and over cause most time his hand just passes right through.” Virgil said. “Wanna see him yourself?”
“Sure.” Roman said. He left his cards down and moved to sit next to Virgil.
“Here ya go.” Virgil said, giving him the wooden triangle.
Roman inspected it. Something in the back of his mind told him he’d look stupid with the triangle in his face, but he pushed those thoughts away.
He looked through the hole, and nearly screamed.
The ghost, Janus, it was horrible. Skin falling off his face and blood splattered on his clothes. Roman had to hold a gag back.
Virgil looked at him and gave him a sheepish smile. “Yeah, maybe I should’ve warned you…”
“That would’ve been ideal.” Logan said, appearing in Roman’s field of vision. He looked the exact same as he had in the funeral. “Hi, Roman.”
“Hi, Lo.” Roman said, feeling a bit sick. “Hi, erm… Janus?”
“Yep.” Janus said, floating to his level. “You ok there, princey?”
Roman nodded. “Yeah, perfectly fine…”
“Ro, you ass, let me see as well.” Remus said, nudging his brother.
Roman passed him the wooden triangle. “All yours. I need a, fuck, a bin, please.”
Patton stood up to the corner of the room and brought the bin to Roman. Roman didn’t have time to thank him, as he double over it and emptied his stomach. Patton grimaced and rubbed his back.
“Sorry ‘bout that.” Virgil said, offering Roman water once he had finished.
“Jeez, is he that bad?” Remus asked, before putting the triangle to his eye. “Oh�� He is!”
A pause. “It’s not rude if it’s the truth. Also, you’re that kid from the house fire fifty years ago?”
Another pause. “How does he know about this stuff?” Patton whispered to Roman.
“Look, I’m not one to judge Remus’s weird hyper fixations.” Roman whispered back. “He likes crimes and death.”
“So… what’s your plan to get back from the dead?” Remus asked. He listened for a few seconds before turning to Roman. “Get the pen and paper, I’m making a list.”
“A list?” Virgil asked. “For what?”
“For the ritual, duh.” Remus said. “We’re bringing these two idiots back.”
“Ok, ok, we got the incense and the bowl and Virgil and Patton are getting the candles.” Remus said, ticking the things off the list. “Can you get the salt?”
“Yeah, we have to mix it with something else, right?” Roman asked, opening the cupboard.
“No, that’s the weird mix of sulphur and other shit.” Remus said, ticking off the box next to ‘salt’.
“What do we have to mix it with?” Roman said, leaving the salt next to the bowl. He looked over his brother’s shoulder.
“Eh… ivy’s leaves, honeysuckle petals, although those have to be added after burning the other stuff, the incense and…” Remus squinted to read his messy handwriting “virgin’s blood.”
“Wait, blood?” Roman asked. “I thought you said the stuff was easy to get!”
“Well, Janus spoke fast and I copied fast, I didn’t remember the blood part. Nor the virgin.” Remus said. “Besides, the other stuff like a chalk and blackboard are pretty easy to get. We already have one.” He pointed at the blackboard and chalk he had left lying against the wall. He ticked the box next to those items.
“Ok, does it have to be a female virgin? A dead virgin? Cause I’m pretty sure all of us are virgins.” Roman said, taking the list from Remus. “It just says virgin’s blood, didn’t Janus give more details?”
“Not that I remember, let me ask again.” Remus said, taking the wooden triangle again.
“Hey, J-anus.” He said, looking at the space above Roman. Roman shot that space a death glare and hoped it got to Janus. “Yeah, you heard? Anyone’s? What about masturbation, does that count? Good, ok, I can do that. How much do we need? Oh, I thought it was more. Well, I mean, the human body can lose to up six litres of blood. Although you pass out after three or four.”
“Remus, not that I want to interrupt your lovely conversation,” Roman said, taking the triangle from Remus “but we have to keep going. How much did Janus say we needed?”
“Just enough for the bottom of the bowl. Not even a tenth of a litre.” Remus said, moving to one of the drawers and pulling out a knife. “We should put it in the fridge so it doesn’t form clots. Those are nasty.”
“Wait wait wait.” Roman said, practically yanking the knife out of Remus hands. “The fuck you think you’re doing?”
“Getting the blood.” Remus said, trying to get the knife back. “Duh.”
“Not like that!” Roman said. “You’ll need stitches and none of us know how to do them.”
“Well, then, how?” Remus asked.
Then his phone started ringing.
Patton pushed the shopping cart down the aisle. He looked at his phone, at the picture he had taken of Remus’s list.
“Ok, so candles first. Then there’s another few plants needed, which I think we can take from the Twins’s garden.” Patton said “or maybe we have o go to the botanic garden…”
Virgil pulled the cart towards him. “I think the candles are over here.” He said. “Let’s deal with those first. Does it specify how many they need to be?”
Patton read the list. It said ’12 fucking candles’. Of course Remus would be too lazy to write twelve, but would still write ‘fucking’ as if it was necessary.
“We need twelve, but it doesn’t tell me which kind.” Patton said. He grabbed a random candle and smelled it. Lavender. “Will Janus mind if they’re scented?”
Virgil grabbed a black candle. It smelled like chocolate. “I think it doesn’t matter, didn’t it say we also needed sulphur and incense? That should block anything else.”
“You sure?” Patton asked.
“No, but I’m not even sure this isn’t a wild fever dream, so…” Virgil said, getting more black candles.
Virgil’s phone got out of his phone and fell to the ground. Virgil cursed.
“Really Logan?” He grunted as he picked it up. “What are you trying to say?”
“Maybe he wants us to call Remus and ask?” Patton guessed.
“Maybe.” Virgil said. “I’ll do so. Don’t put back the black candles, those are mines for my aesthetic.”
Patton snorted at that, as he watched Virgil dial Remus’s number.
“Hey, asshole, it’s me.” Virgil said. “Yeah, quick question, do the candles need to be scentless?” A pause. “Oh, ok, great, that was all. Thanks.” Another pause. “Why do you need that? Virgin’s what? Never mind, why am I surprised? I should’ve seen this coming. Sure, yeah, I’ll get that as well. Anything else? No? Great, tell Janus he owes me money for this.”
Having said so, he hung up.
Virgil looked at Patton. “He says scentless just in case. They’re probably cheaper anyways.” He took a dozen of candles in his arms and dumped them in the shopping cart. “Now, we need a syringe.”
Patton frowned. “What do we need that for?”
“For the blood.” Virgil said. “Now, where do we get a syringe?”
Patton blinked confused. “In the pharmacy…?”
Virgil nodded and started pushing the cart.
Remus was in the garden grabbing the ivy’s leaves, wearing gloves just in case they were poisonous. He wasn’t sure if they were, but he didn’t want to deal with the consequences in case they were.
Roman was in the kitchen still, making sure they had everything else. And waiting for the other two to arrive.
Remus shiver when he felt something going through him. “Janus?” He asked, barely above a whisper. “What do you want?”
He took off his gloves and grabbed the wooden triangle in his pocket. He placed it to his face and stared at Janus. He was going through the plant in front of him.
“What do you want?” He asked.
Janus floated above his head. “There’s something else I need. It’s right over here.”
“Over where?” Remus asked, pushing his gloves and the bag of ivy’s leaves into his bag pack. He stood up to follow Janus.
“In Virgil’s backyard.” Janus said. “Just follow me, I know a shortcut.”
“That’s not right over here.” Remus complained. “I’ll go get the others.”
“No!” Janus exclaimed, reaching out and passing right through Remus. Remus shivered. “Not for this.”
“…Ok…” Remus said. “If I get murdered I’m blaming you.”
“Fine by me, now follow me.” Janus said.
And so Remus did. Janus led him through the garden, surrounded two houses and crossed the road, right to Virgil’s garden.
Virgil’s garden wasn’t as pretty as Remus’s. His parents didn’t care as much, and just left it to grow as it pleased, only mowing the grass once per month. The grass itself was yellowish and half dead.
Remus liked Virgil’s garden. You could always find cool fungi in it.
“Right over…” Janus said looking at the ground. He pointed at one spot with less grass than the others. “Here. Dig here.”
“I don’t have a shovel.” Remus said.
“There’s one in the shed.” Janus said, pointing at the small wooden house in the corner of the garden. “And they never lock the shed, so…”
“Fine.” Remus said. He pushed the wooden triangle to his pocket for a moment and went to the shed. It was indeed unlocked, but the door was heavy and Remus had to push with his whole body just to open it a few centimeters. He sticked his hand inside and grabbed the shovel that was conveniently near the door.
He went back to the place where Janus had been floating and started digging. It was harder than he anticipated.
At one point, when he had dug a meter, the wooden triangle fell from his pocket and floated in front of him. He grabbed it to stare at Janus.
“Did I dig enough? I still don’t know what we’re searching for.” He asked.
“Ditch the shovel.” Janus said. Remus threw the shovel away. “And grab a handful of dirt. The one at the bottom best.”
Remus sighted and grabbed another plastic bag from his backpack. “Why are we doing this again?”
“I need these, ok?” Janus said. “Now continue digging. With your hands. If you keep using the shovel you will break them.”
“Break what?” Remus asked, as he struggled to open the plastic bag with just one hand.
“My bones.” Janus said.
Remus stopped to stare at Janus. “Your bones.”
“Yes, my bones, can you hurry up?” Janus said, crossing his arms.
“Why the fuck are we digging up your bones?” Remus asked.
“I need something from them.” Janus said. “And I need you to trust me, ok?”
“You’re literally a ghost, how the fuck am I supposed to trust you?” Remus said. “What do you want to do with them? Tell me or I’ll fucking leave.”
Janus grit his teeth. “I’ll only tell you if you promise not to tell.”
Remus sighted. “Fine. Tell.”
Logan followed Virgil to the Twins house again.
He passed through the wall into the kitchen, closing his eyes for a moment. He didn’t like looking at the insides of the walls.
In the kitchen, Roman was placing everything in order as he made sure he hadn’t missed a thing. Remus entered through the door and unceremoniously dumped a bag of ivy’s leaves and honeysuckle petals in the counter. Roman gave him a death glare and colocated them in order.
“Hi Lo.” Remus said. He had taped the wooden triangle to his face. Roman looked at him weird and ignored him.
Janus appeared behind Remus. “So, did they get everything?”
“Yes. Although, may I ask, blood?” Logan said.
Janus raised his hands defensively “hey, I don’t make the rules about rituals, I just follow them.”
Logan rolled his eyes just as Virgil and Patton entered the kitchen.
“Hey, crackheads,” Virgil said “why the fuck do we need blood?”
“Ask Remus.” Roman said, taking the shopping bags from Virgil and dumping the candles on the table. “Why are there extra candles?”
Virgil didn’t reply, only taking the candles and shoving them back to the bag.
Patton laughed at that and pulled out the syringe. “So… blood, huh?”
“Yep!” Remus said. “Janus said it doesn’t matter who the virgin is. Like. We’re all virgins, right?”
“Yeah…” Roman said, looking away and blushing. “Right…”
“Do I want to know?” Logan said, mostly at himself.
“No.” Janus said. “You really don’t want to know the things I’ve seen.”
“You’re just saying that to make me second guess things I’ve done.” Logan said.
Janus tsked. “Touché.”
“…I did not ask for this information.” Remus said, staring at both ghosts. He looked at his brother disgusted and Roman only blushed harder. “Nope, didn’t need to know. I’m gonna go get the final details with J-Anus. You three see if there’s any virgin left among us. Horny fuckers.”
He ignored Roman’s offended noises and went upstairs, grabbing the chalkboard on the way. Janus waved Logan goodbye and followed.
Virgil and Patton looked at each other and erupted in laughter. Roman groaned and hid his blushing face with his face.
“I hate you all.” He said.
“Ok, ok, but I must know, which guy was it?” Virgil asked. “Cause you’re hella gay and can’t deny that.”
“I’m not… look, it doesn’t matter.” Roman said, grabbing the syringe and the cup. “Who’s gonna donate their blood to the cause?”
“I’m not… a big fan of syringes.” Patton said. “Do we even know how to draw blood without fucking up?”
Roman showed him his phone, with a YouTube tutorial on it. “There’s a tutorial for everything.”
“So we need something from you because of your connection to the demon.” Remus guessed. “What about Logan? Do I need to go grave robbing?”
“No. He’s connected to me.” Janus said. “If I succeed, so does he.”
“Why si he connected again?” Remus asked. “Last time I checked, he didn’t even believe in ghosts, nor deal making demons.”
“Yeah, well, now he’s a ghost.” Janus said. “I can’t say for sure, but he saw me before dying, and now he can’t move on, so he must be connected to me, or to someone else from this plane of existence.”
“Oh. Cool, I guess.” Remus said. “And you’re connected to…? Apart from the demon.”
“The demon. And my murderer.” Janus said.
“Wait you were murdered?!” Remus said. “You said you died in a fire.”
“I did. I was murdered. In a fire.” Janus said. He ran a hand through his hair. “Blow to the head, a lot faster than burning alive.”
“You know who it was?” Remus asked.
“Yep.” Janus said. “Not gonna talk about it, cause they died ten years ago.”
“Understandable, have a great day.” Remus said.
“Talk about what?” Logan asked, entering through the wall and shivering for a second. “It’s still weird.”
“It took me a year.” Janus said. “And talk about the ritual. We’re almost finishing reviewing it.”
Remus grabbed the chalkboard where he had written the instructions and showed it to Logan. “See? Resurrection in five easy steps!”
Logan scoffed. “Should I tell the others to go carrying the utilities to the basement?”
“Yes.” Janus said. “We’ll be there in a minute.”
Remus watched as Logan disappeared through the wall again, before turning to Janus. “So… anything else we need?”
“A knife.” Janus said. “That should do.”
“Are you going to leave it there like the shady bitch you are, or are you going to elaborate?” Remus asked.
Janus rolled his eyes. “Hide the knife and hand it to me when I ask you to. Quickly. Also, drop the mixture into the fire at the same time, or the knife won’t do a thing.”
“Ok.” Remus said. He got up and grabbed the chalkboard and his notebook. “Also, I find it disturbing that you watched my brother shag.”
“I didn’t do that.” Janus said. “And about everything related to the situation, that’s what’s disturbing? Not the whole digging my bones out and grinding them to dust?”
“That was… weird, but hey, it was a very educational experience.” Remus said, as he made his way downstairs. “Come on, we have a demon to slain.”
Remus had taken off the stupid wooden triangle of his face by the time he made it down to the basement.
The basement, as creepy as it sounded, was used mostly for storing the old stuff none of Remus’s parents wanted, but were too lazy to throw out.
The four of them had cleared up enough space, pushing the old boxes to the back and cleaned the space.
Remus guided them as they made the salt circle and place the candles, lighting them all on. Virgil volunteered to mix the ingredients, as Roman was still pale from seeing blood and Patton’d rather not get close to poison ivy.
And Remus, of course, set the mix on fire.
As Roman reluctantly read the meaningless words Remus had scribbled on his notebook, two figures started becoming more clear.
Then Roman finished, and both of them fell to the ground.
Logan was able of keeping his balance for a few seconds before slumping against the wall, heaving. Right. Car crash. Broken bones. He should’ve expected the pain. He groaned and looked at the others.
“Hey.” He said oh, so eloquently. “It worked.”
“Not yet.” Janus said, still kneeling on the spot he had fallen. He was panting heavily, grimacing at every little movement he made. He raised his hand to his hair and noticed the wetness. “Concussion, right, I can deal with that.”
He moved to stand up on wobbly legs and Patton made a move to get out to help him. Virgil held him back.
“We stay in the circle. Those were the instructions.” He looked at Patton for a few more seconds before letting him go. “What’s the next step?”
“Next step is” Remus said, “do not panic.”
“Easy for you to say.” Roman said. “This whole experience is going to end me.”
“Roman, shut up.” Janus asked. He looked at the flickering candles. “It’s here.”
“What’s here?” Logan asked, trying to move from the wall.
Janus opened his mouth to answer, when the candles were all blown out. The burning mixture kept going, making everything smell horrible.
And then it stepped in, horns grazing the ceiling as he made his way towards were Janus was standing. And it smiled.
“So the little liar finally came around.” It said, smiling in that way that made Janus shiver. It looked over the four kids in the circle. “Which one of them will it be, Deceit?”
“Wait.” Logan said. “What’s happening here?”
The demon turned to him. “The little snake didn’t tell you? He made a deal. A soul for a soul.”
Virgil was the first to realize what that meant. “You piece of shit!” He yelled, and Janus didn’t even have the decency of looking at him. “I did not agree to this!”
“Stay in the circle.” Janus said, voice barely over a whisper. “It can’t get you if you stay in the circle.”
“One of them will have to come out, if you want to go back to life.” The demon said. “Well, two, if you want your friend to live as well.”
“You set us up?” Patton asked. “Was this your plan all along?”
“No.” Janus said, turning to them. “It was not.” He turned to face the demon again. “I’m not giving you a single thing.”
“Then you’ll die, and so will your friend.” The demon warned.
Janus clicked his tongue. “I don’t think I will.”
The signal, Remus thought, before pulling out the mixture he’d made and dumping it into the fire. He didn’t wait to see how the fired reacted, too busy pulling out the hidden knife from his pants and throwing it at Janus.
Janus tried his best, he really did. But there was only a maximum effort a newly undead body could make. And it wasn’t fast enough.
The demon grabbed his wrist just as the knife was left inches from its face.
“What’s this?” It asked, knowing fully well what was happening. “The little snake thinks he’s strong enough?”
And having said that, he bent Janus’s wrist in an angle that wasn’t supposed to be possible.
Janus screamed as the knife fell from his fingers.
Remus found himself running without second thought, as he did everything in life. With no second thought. And so he punched the demon in the face, making it release Janus.
And stepping out of the circle.
And hurting his wrist.
Then the demon grabbed him by his shirt and threw him against the wall. He heard someone scream his name, probably Roman, as they rushed to his side.
His head ached as he opened his eyes and tried to make sense of what was happening. Roman was fussing over him, talking to him too quick for Remus to understand.
He shoved his brother to the side and tried to focus on the scene in front of him.
Virgil and Patton, both paralyzed with fear, still inside the circle. Both of them trying to protect the other against that thing.
Janus, that little shit, being raised by his neck, struggling with the little strength his damaged body provided.
And Logan, who probably had several broken bones, being the only one to move.
He grabbed the knife from the floor. Without more hesitation, he thrusted it through its eye, straight to where the brain should be if this creature was biologically similar to human beings.
Janus felt to the floor, gasping for air. The demon stumbled back, dissolving into dust.
Logan looked around him, still panting. He could hear his heart beating on his ears.
“Is it… Is it over?” Patton asked.
“No.” Janus rasped. “No, you fools, I told you to stay in the cir–”
And then there was light.
Back when Patton had been five, he had fainted for the first time.
It hadn’t been a pleasant experience, getting sick to the point where you fainted. He had those memories buried in a sea of other, much more pleasant, memories. But he hadn’t forgotten how it felt waking up after fainting.
Waking up after this was fairly similar, only something seemed odd.
Very odd.
He pushed himself to his knees. He was in between boxes, as if they hadn’t moved them in the first place. And he felt… wet. Like he was drained in cold sweat, after a long run in the park when it was freezing outside.
He made it around the corner of the big box, probably containing the twins’s old bunk bed, and came face to face with Virgil.
Or he thought it was Virgil.
His face was a bit more angular, more sharp than before. He had a purplish tint to his skin and bright purple eyes. Eight of them, three smaller ones underneath each ‘normal’ one.
And fangs, Patton discovered, once Virgil screamed and backed away. Patton couldn’t help it and he screamed as well, stepping back.
Once both of them had stopped screaming, which took a few more seconds, Patton stared at Virgil.
“You’re purple!” He said.
Virgil gestured to Patton’s body. “Well you’re green! And frog-like!”
Patton stared down at his hands, noticing the green tint they had acquired. And the fibers between his fingers. And that explained the wetness.
“Oh.” He said. “Oh.” He turned to Virgil. “Do you think this has to do with the ‘killing a demon’ thingie?”
“Maybe? I dunno.” Virgil admitted, inspecting his skin as well. “Where are the others?”
As if on queue, they heard two very distinct voices screaming.
They walked to the back and found what they assumed was Roman and Remus, screeching at each other.
Both of them were on the ground, staring at each other as they screeched. Remus, or whom they assumed to be Remus by the white streak–now more prominent– on his hair and the mustache, had tentacles coming from his back, about six of them. Roman, on the other hand, had bat like wings, plus the spiraled horns that appeared from his head. Both of them seemed to share some characteristics, like pointy ears, sharp teeth, and really loud screeching.
Virgil groaned. “Ok, SHUT UP.” He yelled, his voice becoming louder than he had expected. He shot his hands to his mouth, clamping it close. Both the twins stared at him. “Sorry. But really, you were being too loud.”
“You– you’re…” Roman stuttered, for once in his life lost for words. “You’re… that?!”
Patton rubbed his temples. “Ok, ok, calm the fuck down.” He said, ignoring the gasps that came with him cursing. “There has to be a reasonable explanation for this.”
“Yeah, well I don’t see any!” Remus said. His tentacles shot up in frustration. He grumbled and tried to put them back down. “Why do I get the slimy tentacles and you get the cool wings?”
“Why do I get the horns and he gets the cool voice amplification?” Roman asked, gesturing with his head towards Virgil.
“This… this has to have to do with the whole… demon? Thingie.” Virgil said, running a hand through his hair. “Patton said it, and this whole shitshow went down after Logan killed it.”
“Wait.” Remus said. “Where’s Logan?”
Everyone looked around, as the twins got up from the ground, stumbling thanks to the new difference of balance.
“Logan?” Patton called. “LoLo?”
Then Roman’s phone started ringing.
Logan woke up and looked at the sky. He blinked for a few moments, frowning when Ride’s melody made his way to his ears again.
He sat up, taking off his headphones. He didn’t remember putting them on. Where was he?
He looked around. Oh. That’s where he was.
He got up and ran to the pavement before he got run by a car. Again.
Looking around once he was safe from the cars’s wrath, Logan noticed where he was. In the street in front of the park, where he had agreed to meet up with his friends. Where Virgil had been waiting for him.
He looked to the other side of the street. No one there.
He pulled his phone out of his pocket when he realized. His skin was different.
He might have dropped his phone in shock. He couldn’t exactly tell, staring at his skin as he was.
His skin was like a crystal container where gasses roamed free. No, not gasses. Nebulas. Entire galaxies were spiraling inside his skin.
Logan knew better than to panic right there. Panic could wait, until he was out of sight.
He grabbed his phone from the floor and started going to the Twin’s. That wasn’t the closer one, but he thought that maybe, just maybe, they’d still be there from the ritual. Or whatever that had been. It had not gone as planned.
He checked himself on the camera of the phone as he walked. His eyes seemed to be filled with stars as well, and his hair might have been the only thing that remained like before. Good. He didn’t like changing his hair.
Logan was about to knock on the Twins’s door when he realized they were not likely to answer themselves. Not wanting to scare their parents to death, he pulled out his phone once again and started calling one of them.
“Logan?” He heard Roman say, right after picking up. “Where are you? What happened?”
Logan sighted. “I’m outside your home. Would you mind coming to open the door? I do not wish to startle your parents.”
“So you’ve changed as well?” Roman asked.
“We’ll talk about it when we see each other.” Logan said. He was not willing to have this conversation over the phone.
Five minutes was all he had to wait until his friends came out of the house and tackled him into a group hug.
Logan endured the hug from the ground for five seconds before starting trying to squirm away from it. He sat up and looked at the others.
“So…” He said, noticing their inhuman characteristics as well. “You too, huh?”
“YES!” Virgil said, exasperated. “If you ever dare die in front of me again, I will murder you personally!” To emphasize this, he punched him in the shoulder. Logan pouted.
“Why does Logan get to look pretty.” Roman said. “I wanted to look like a pretty star deity too.”
“At least you can fly.” Patton said, getting up. “Let’s get inside, someone might see us.”
As Logan watched the others made their way back inside, noticing their new… aspect.
Then he noticed, as he entered through the front door.
“Where’s Janus?” He asked.
The others looked at each other, eyes widening with the realization.
“Don’t look at me!” Remus said, when everyone turned to him. “He didn’t tell me this part of his plan, only the stabbidity stab one.”
“Well… where did you wake up, Logan?” Roman asked. “Cause it wasn’t here either.”
“In the middle of the road next to the park.” Logan said.
“Oh, well, then Janus must be at Virgil’s house.” Patton said. Everyone stared at him in confusion. “What? Remus said that Janus died there, in a fire.”
Remus couldn’t help smiling, as he bounced up and down. “You were listening to me?!”
“Eh… yes?” Patton said. “I thought everyone was.”
“I usually tune it out when Remus starts talking of death.” Virgil admitted. “Sorry.”
“It’s ok” Remus waved his hand, dismissing it.
“Well, let’s go to Virgil’s then.” Roman said, grabbing his coat and keys. He stared at the coat for a few seconds and then at his new wings. He then glanced to Remus. “How did you hide the tentacles?”
Remus shrugged. “Just will them to go away, or something.”
“Really helpful.” Roman muttered. He inhaled deeply and closed his eyes. Then opened them. “Nothing? Well, great.”
“Just, I dunno imagine them disappearing or something?” Remus proposed.
“Right.” Roman said. He seemed to concentrate for a second.
The wings disappeared. Roman cheered.
They found Janus asleep on Virgil’s room, laying on the floor.
Remus nudged him with his foot. “Is he… alive?”
Virgil pushed him away. “Of course he is, that’s what the whole ritual was there for.”
Logan kneeled to the ground and pushed Janus to lay on his back.
Janus looked better than he had expected. Yellow scales littered his body, mostly on his left side, were the burnt skin had once been. Apart from that, he didn’t seem to have changed as much, which destroyed Logan’s theory of why he had changed more than the Twins and why the Twins had changed more than Virgil and Patton.
If Janus had changed as much as he did, it would be because they were closer to the centre of the explosion of light, while Patton and Virgil where in the circle, protected, and the Twins were outside but farther from the centre.
He shook Janus gently. “Janus. Janus. Wake up.”
“You sure he ain’t dead?” Remus asked. “The ritual did go shittily, after all.”
“Shittily isn’t an adverb.” Roman said.
“It can be if I want it to be.” Remus said.
Janus groaned, blinking his eyes open. Logan noticed one of them was yellow now.
“What?” He asked. “Where am I?”
“Hey, you’re in my roo–” Virgil started saying, before Janus interrupted him screaming. “Shut UP. Yes, we look different, that’s your fault, now stop overreacting.”
Janus stared at him, then at the others, then at himself. “Scales. Great.” He said, and then grimaced. He sticked out his tongue and stared at it. It was forked. “Snake. Great. Just what I wanted.”
Logan snickered. “Well, none of us could chose anything, you just got unlucky.” He said. “Come on, get up.”
He grabbed Janus’s arm and immediately let go when he yelped in pain. And shoved Logan away. With three arms at the same time.
“Wow, wow, he gets several arms?!” Roman complained. “And pretty scales?! This is so unfair…”
Virgil elbowed him. “Stop complaining, dramaqueen.”
Roman pouted.
Remus rolled his eyes, ignoring his brother and approaching Janus. “Give me your wrist.” He said, crouching in front of him and shoving Logan away.
Janus eyed him wearily, hesitating before accepting. His extra arms seemed to disappear.
Remus gently rolled up Janus’s sleeves and held his bloody wrist in place. He stayed like that for a few moments.
“Is… Is anyone gonna say anything, or…?” Patton whispered, leaning towards Logan.
Janus pulled back and massaged his hand. He looked at Remus and frowned. “How did you do that?”
Remus shrugged. “I dunno, I just repeated what I did earlier when I healed my concussion.”
“Wait, you had a concussion?” Roman asked. “I was worried! You could’ve told me!”
“For what? To worry you even further?” Remus asked. “I’m fine now, so why bother?”
“So… Remus can heal people, Virgil has the weird voice amplification thingie…” Patton said. “We all got powers?”
“It seems so.” Logan said. “Well, now that we are together, we should figuratively tackle the most prominent issue here.”
“You don’t have to say figuratively.” Virgil said.
“Shush.” Logan said, and continued with what he was saying. “Our… new appearances. Might be not so warmly welcome as me coming back from the dead.”
“Honestly I don’t think you coming back from the dead is going to be easy to explain at all.” Virgil said.
“Ooh!” Roman said, bouncing up and down. “I got an idea!”
“Oh, god, I’m scared to ask.” Virgil muttered.
Roman sticked his tongue out at him. He then turned to the others. “Ok, so, if we have cool powers, maybe we can like… hide it? Illusion or something, I dunno.”
Everyone looked at each other for a moment, expecting someone to do some magic trick that would save everyone. Nothing.
“Don’t look at me, I did my healing trick. That’s all I’ve got so far.” Remus said.
Logan sighted, rubbing his temples. “Allow me to try.”
He closed his eyes, and imagined them all, back to how they were. It was hard imagining Janus, without the injuries he had carried as a ghost, but he tried his best.
He felt dizzy for a second, almost losing balance. Janus helped him steady himself, and he opened his eyes.
He stared at his friends, all back to their previous forms. Human. Even Janus.
“I did not expect that to work.” Logan said.
“It didn’t.” Janus said. “Your eyes are different. They’re blue now. Not brown.”
“I think it worked great!” Patton said. “I’m sure no one will notice.”
“It doesn’t matter what you think, Pat.” Janus said. “People will notice.”
“We’ll manage.” Virgil said. “And since when do you get to call him ‘Pat’, huh?”
“VIRGIL? DID YOU INVITE FRIENDS OVER WITHOUT WARNING AGAIN?” A voice yelled from downstairs.
Virgil blushed and turned to the door. “WE’LL LEAVE IN A SECOND MOM.” He glanced at his friends, blushing, and gave them a death glare.
Roman elbowed Patton to stop giggling. He didn’t.
“Ok, darling, don’t stay up late! You’ve got school tomorrow!” Virgil’s mom shouted back.
“Wait. School?” Virgil said.
Logan checked his phone. “It appears to be Sunday again. Eccentric.”
Janus shrugged. “Weird magic doing weird shit.”
“I thought you knew what you were doing.” Roman said.
“I knew. Mostly. I improvised.” Janus said.
“Ok, normally I would care, but you need to get the fuck out of here.” Virgil said. “And figure out a way for Janus to exist now that he doesn’t have any legal documents.”
“Fuck you’re right.” Janus said. “I don’t suppose you’ll let me sleep here, will you?”
“No, we don’t have extra beds.” Virgil said.
“This was my room.” Janus pointed out. “So it would be an extra bed for you, not for me.”
Virgil rolled his eyes. “I don’t care if it was your room, it’s mine now.”
“I’d invite you to my place, but my parents don’t like me having over friends they don’t know about…” Patton said.
“You might come to mine for the night.” Logan said. “I doubt my parents will mind.”
“You mean you doubt your parents will notice?” Janus said. “I’m not a particular fan of your parents.”
“Ok, could you please stop implying you’ve seen every aspect of our lifes?” Roman asked. “You’re creeping me out.”
“Let me think… nope.” Janus said. “Also, that guy? Out of all your options?”
Roman blushed, letting out a series of offended noises. “How dare you?!” Janus only laughed. “Stop it!”
“Ok, as much as I enjoy teasing Roman, Imma have to kick y’all out of here.” Virgil said. “I’ve got shit to process, and y’all ain’t helping.”
“I’ll take a look into getting Janus official documentation.” Patton said. “See ya guys.”
“See ya losers.” Remus said. “Don’t murder anyone with the new powers.”
Janus followed Logan home. As he had predicted, Logan’s parents didn’t even notice his presence. It was like being a ghost again. Only now he had to walk.
“I did not come back to life to do math homework.” Janus complained, looking at the equations in front of him.
“Well, too bad, this is what you get for making deals with demons.” Virgil said. “Math homework.”
“I hate you.” Janus said.
“No you don’t.” Patton said. “Now stop complaining and do your homework.”
“Or, in other words.” Remus said. “Suffer.”
“You’re all so dramatic, it’s just maths.” Logan said. “Maths are easy.”
“Shut up, math gay, you don’t count.” Roman said.
Janus groaned again, considering the option of just knocking himself out. That way he wouldn’t have to do homework.
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msbigredmachine · 7 years
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Come What May - Part 5
Today was supposed to be the happiest day of her life. So why did she feel like she was making the biggest mistake of her life? Roman Reigns/OC/Tama Tonga
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The Sun Will Set For You
Rubbing his face, Roman squinted, trying to adjust his eyes to the growing darkness. Lifting his head slowly, he checked his watch and wondered how long he'd been asleep for. Damn, four hours! He looked around at the untidy suite and groaned. He thanked the Lord that the twins hadn’t returned yet to find him in this mess. They would have ribbed him senseless. Speaking of them, why weren't they back anyway? Certainly the wedding was over by now.
Dread and misery crawled into his stomach as the thought sank in like dead weight. His love, Ashley was now a married woman. He could have nothing further to do with her. He wasn't allowed to think about her anymore or see her in that light anymore, or entertain dreams of having successfully repaired what he had damaged anymore. It was over and done, and he could no longer do anything about it.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw his iPhone on the bed, the screen showing he had a number of missed calls and text messages. Sighing heavily, he unlocked his phone and saw he had a voicemail. He wanted to ignore it, but his gut feeling prompted him to give it a listen instead. He tapped it with his thumb and reached for another beer with his free hand, cracking it open and raising it to his lips.
"Roman, hey. It's Ash."
The instant he heard her voice, he froze, not moving for several moments. Then his heart hardened and he resumed drinking his beverage, trying to block out the dull pain stabbing at him. He contemplated turning off the phone again. Hearing her voice just served to drive home the fact that they were through and he really couldn't handle it.
"I just called to say…I just wanted you to know…the wedding is off, Roman. I didn't go through with it."
The unexpected statement caused him to unceremoniously spit out his drink. Spluttering and wiping at himself, Roman gaped at the talking phone. That couldn't be right. Did she just say that she didn't go through with the wedding? He grabbed the device and replayed the message. Holy shit! He wasn't hearing things. She just said that she called off the wedding. It only meant one thing. She didn't marry Tama! And it only meant one thing. He still had a chance with her.
He stopped thinking and started moving. He flew out of the hotel room and down to the lobby. Finding himself a rental car – which annoyingly took a longer time than normal – he drove off with the speed of a seasoned NASCAR driver.
Roman remembered the directions to the church, which were clearly printed in the wedding invite, but he could find the place with his eyes closed. That showed just how often he used to visit Ashley's hometown. As he drove, he put his phone on speaker and played the message over and over again, as if trying to ensure that his mind was not playing tricks on him. He could hear Ashley's beautiful, mellifluous voice as if she was sitting next to him in the passenger's seat.
"I need you, Ro …It's you I want to spend the rest of my life with." Roman could not help himself. He burst into mirthful laughter, the car reverberating with the relief and the joy that was currently spewing out of him like an overflowing fountain. This was no illusion, not anymore. This was, without doubt, destiny. God was telling him something, something he himself believed the very moment he first locked eyes with her; that he truly belonged with Ashley.
"I can't do it if it's not with you, I just can't. I lost you twice already. I'm not gonna do it again. I mean it."
The traffic light up ahead at the junction, Roman's identified landmark whenever he showed up in these parts, told him he was nearly at his destination. It was showing green. His heart thumped wildly as he fumbled with the little velvet box he kept in his pocket. He brought out the ring and held it up, grinning like an idiot. He had been carrying this thing around for so long, hoping, praying that this day would come. Now it had and he was going to grab onto it with both hands.
"I want to see you, Roman. Please. I want us to talk. Come down to the church. I'll be waiting outside, and I'm not leaving until you get here…"
He envisioned seeing her standing there, looking heartbreakingly angelic in her white wedding dress. He would wrap her up in his arms and kiss her silly before going down on one knee, asking her to put him out of his self-imposed misery and become his wife while they stared lovingly into each other's eyes. All of that was about to become reality. He was so happy he could barely think straight. He could not lose her again. It would tear him apart if he made yet another mistake with her.
I'm coming, Ash, he thought, I'm coming, baby. Hold on for me.
The car suddenly jerked as it ran through a pothole, and the box slipped from his fingers, rolling onto the passenger seat beside him. Briefly taking his eyes off the road, Roman picked up the box, and flicked it open to examine the ring. Everything looked fine, the purple jewels still in their place.
However, he didn't notice that the traffic light had now turned red. As he crossed the intersection a bright gleam of light from his left side suddenly cut into his eyes, snapping his attention back on the road. He winced, shielding his eyes. Then he heard the blaring horn before he could even register where it was coming from. The light grew rapidly brighter and as he looked to his left, his mouth instantly went dry, watching helplessly as the massive Mack truck came at him at full speed.
"Hope to see you. Bye."
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"He ain’t coming, Tama," Ashley said sadly.
Dusk was rapidly blanketing the sky stretched above the duo. After making that nerve-wracking phone call to Roman she had kept to her word and gone back to the church to wait for him. Tama, ever the gentleman, volunteered to wait with her. But time lingered on, and Roman was still a no-show. He hadn't returned the call. There was nothing whatsoever indicating that he had even received it, and soon enough, Ashley's hope began to dwindle, and then after the third hour of waiting it faded completely.
"He'll be here," Tama assured her, but Ashley shook her head rapidly, refusing to listen. "That phone call was a mistake," she murmured, tears of sadness and regret filling her eyes. Once again, she had let her hopes up only for them to be brought crashing back down. She'd had enough. She wanted to just go back home and hide in her room and never show up at work ever again. All she wanted to do was cry her eyes out. So Roman really wanted her to stay away from him then. Was this really how he wanted things to end with them?
"That's it. Come on." Tama got to his feet, reaching out to help her up. "Let's go find him."
"What? No!" Ashley shook her head again, pushing her hair out of her eyes as the humiliation gradually settled into her psyche. "Isn't it obvious? He wants nothing to do with me anymore. If this is what he wants then why should I still bother him again?" She dug her fingers into her hair, pacing back and forth. "God, I'm so stupid-"
"Ash-" Tama said soothingly.
"What makes you think he's coming?" she asked irritably, forcing back the tears that were doggedly climbing up her throat. "Huh? What makes you think he's going to come down here?"
"Because I know my boy," insisted the Bad Boy. "He still loves you, no matter what else he's said before. Besides, when I told you I wanted you to be with the man you want, I wasn't kidding. Come, let's head to the hotel. Maybe he's still there."
She hesitated for a moment, wanting to protest further, to tell him that there was no point, but she caught the familiar glint of determination swimming in his strong dark eyes, and she eventually complied. "Okay."
She got up and was following Tama down the hill when she spotted a car coming – no, scratch that – speeding down the long stretch of road. It didn't slow down until it stopped right at the foot of the hill. Ashley's eyes lit up, her heart pounding with excitement. Oh my god, she thought, going giddy with joy, Tama was right. He's here! Roman’s here!
With lightning speed, she left the third-generation superstar's side as she dashed down the hill towards the road. But as the driver of the car emerged, Ashley skidded to an abrupt halt, feeling the disappointment wash over her, her heart sinking all the way down to her toes.
It was only Kenny Omega, Tama’s friend.
He was running towards them, calling both of their names. Ashley walked towards him, but her curiosity converted into alarm when she took a good look at her young friend. He was bent over slightly, trying to catch his breath, his face reddened from his exertions spent climbing the hill, but he wore this devastated look on his face. His appearance was disheveled, his hair unrulier than usual, and his eyes were red and swollen, like he'd been crying. Something was very, very wrong, Ashley realized with agitation.
"Guys," Kenny choked out, "We…gotta go…right now! We gotta get to the hospital!"
Hospital?! Alarm bells began to ring in Ashley's head, and her insides clenched painfully with fear and terror as the signs became suddenly, sickeningly unmistakable.
Tama had picked up the distress as well. "Hospital? What for? What is it, man?" he asked, his deep voice laden with worry and inquisitiveness.
The young man could barely speak. His pale features were filled with shock and panic, and other combinations of things that Ashley could only decipher as hysteria. But when he managed to regain a part of his composure to address them, she wished he never opened his mouth. She wished he never even came here, because the words that came out his mouth and filtered through her ears would go a long way to destroying her forever.
"It…It's Roman. He's been in an accident…"
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Title from the song "Shadow of the Day" by Linkin Park. Yes, I know. It's not looking like a happy ending. There's only one chapter left to see if there is any hope left for Roman and Ashley. Coming soon, I promise. Looking forward to the reviews!
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