#i promise i won't talk too much about this i just want to bookmark tonight.

[astramachina]

"i'm not gonna do any type of formal writing until after i've finished this fi--"

"fuck"

[bleepblopbloop56]

A Prophecy: Den of Thieves au

Part one

Part two

Part three

Warnings: none i think??

Thank you @pathos-logical for helping me edit this! Legit wouldnt be the same without you dude!!!!

They had been at this for an hour. Logan was taking his time waltzing through the maze of shelves, grabbing anything that caught his eye. Occasionally he'd come across an artifact sprinkled in with the books on the shelves and shove it into his satchel without a second thought. Roman was sure the bag was magic; it had to be holding over thirty books by now, and it hadn't so much as grown an inch or weighed down Logan's shoulder even a little.

Roman watched the intruder intently as he ravaged the royal library, flinching at seeing decades’ worth of texts on folklore and science being haphazardly thrown into the man's bag.

“Not that one,” Roman interjected sharply when Logan picked up something worth more than his life. Logan simply made a face of annoyance and threw it back on the shelf without glancing back. It took enormous amounts of self-restraint to stand back and watch his castle get ransacked and picked apart by the vulture in blue.

“Can we please hurry this along?” Virgil snapped, looking up from the picture book he'd been absentmindedly flipping through to pass the time.

“That wasn't the agreement,” Logan said, drifting to another shelf and running his fingertips lightly over the book spines. “I'll give you two some privacy if you wish to have that oh-so-important talk your knight has been asking about for the past thirty minutes.” Without waiting for a response, Logan began taking long strides to the other side of the room, continuing his assault against the royal library.

“Where do I even start,” Roman mumbled under his breath, eyes locked on the floor.

“The beginning,” Virgil said, only having a second before he was whisked away to a table in the farthest corner of the library.

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“Before I start, I need you to swear to me you won't repeat any of this to anyone.” Roman looked him dead in the eyes with a seriousness that Virgil had never seen from him before.

“I promise,” Virgil said, taking one of his hands and holding it to his chest. Roman could feel Virgil shaking under his fingertips, the anxiety of this mission burning holes in his stability.

“Promise me not as Virgil, not as my boyfriend, but as my knight. I want you to take this as a direct order, do you understand?” Roman was being harsh- he knew Virgil would never speak a word of his secrets to the world- but he had to be safe.

Virgil dropped to the floor in a kneel, his head down and a hand over his heart.

“Yes, my prince. I vow not to speak of this to anyone,” he pledged quietly, not looking up until ordered to. A knightly vow was something Roman had never asked him to take. Direct orders were nothing to be messed with when it came to the prince, and Roman had never liked the thought of holding Virgil to one.

Roman took a deep breath and nodded, pulling Virgil up and into an apology kiss he happily reciprocated.

He reluctantly pushed himself away and pulled out a book- thankfully, it had been missed by Logan’s little shopping spree- that had been tucked away on the bottom shelf and ripped it open to a bookmarked page. On the old, brittle paper, there was a drawing of a woman holding two baby boys, all three with crowns on their heads.

The family portrait wasn't a happy one. Both babies were crying as a dragon in the background whisked away the smaller one from the queen's grasp. The writing opposite to the picture told the story of a wicked witch with legendary power who could transform into a dragon. A woman, the text said, who had been cursed by one of her many lovers to have a dark magical connection with her sister's children for her affair with the king of the kingdom.

“‘Angered by the woman's betrayal, her husband placed a curse on the king’s unborn children, linking them forever to her-’” Virgil read aloud before cutting himself off to address the prince directly. “Roman, what is this?” He moved to close the book before Roman caught his hand.

“Don't you see? What if… what if I have a brother, Virgil?” Roman’s eyes looked like they were pleading with him, begging him to see it too.

“It's just a story, Roma-”

“It's a prophecy!” Roman's chair shot back as he stood suddenly, reaching down into his boot and pulling out a paper. “These prophecies have predicted things like the fall of kingdoms. They've never been wrong, Virgil, and my mother-” He took another deep breath, quieting his shouts as he unfolded a piece of paper. “My mother… I found this in her jewelry box in the closet.” He visibly steeled himself for the next words. “It was the last diary entry she ever wrote.” Roman sat down and slid the sheet across the table to Virgil, placing his head in his hands and breathing heavily as if trying not to cry.

“‘The nurses are saying it's twins-’”

“Not out loud.” Roman winced like the words were painful to hear. Virgil closed his mouth and continued reading under his breath. It was embarrassing to admit that it was easier for him to read the words out loud, though he certainly wasn't alone in that- most knights were the same, assuming they could even read at all. Many dropped out of school to start training early or were pulled out by family like Virgil had been. Four generations of knights... Oh, how proud they'd been when Virgil was promoted. If only he'd been promoted for legitimate reasons and not because of his affair with the prince.

The nurses are saying it’s twins, and that they’ll be here any day now. William and I decided on the names: Roman and Patton if they are boys and Anne and Gabriella if they are girls, although I don't know what we'll do if it's one of each.

My sister has come in for their birth and is staying in the castle. I love her, but she's been acting strangely…

Virgil pried his eyes away from the page to look up at Roman.

“Not so crazy now, huh?” Roman laughed somewhat sadly. “I didn't even know I had an aunt… Dad refuses to speak to me about her even existing. I think he's hiding something.” Virgil met his eyes with something like pity shining behind them.

“Roman… You can't think you can find them.” Virgil's words carved their way into Roman’s heart, and he had to look away to lessen the blow.

“I have a brother. A brother I've never even met that's out there somewhere, and my aunt took him… she took him away from me.” Virgil thought he heard the footsteps of their guest nearby but said nothing, instead deciding to take Roman’s hand and hold it tight.

“Roman… What if you're risking your life for someone who's already dead?” Virgil didn't want to have to say it, but if the stories were true, then Roman didn't stand a chance, especially on his own.

“And what if he's out there and I didnt even try?! I have to go!” Roman was yelling now, standing and taking the page back, holding it close to his chest like it was all he had left of his brother.

“Then let me go with you.” Virgil made his way around the table, coming close to him and locking eyes. Roman’s eyes had always been more golden than brown, but Virgil’s... Virgil's were so dark they were nearly black. Dark holes that always bore into Roman’s soul and melted his heart.

“It's dangerous... No one can know where we're going. It's my duty to find out why my father kept this hidden for all these years... There must be a reason for it all.” Roman wrapped his arms around Virgil's waist and pulled him to his chest, needing him to be as close as possible. Virgil was his rock, and he desperately needed something to lean on right now.

“And what will I tell them when the prince is found dead? That his knight let him go off on his own and get killed? That I broke my oath to protect you? Roman, you have to take me.” Virgil was begging now. “If you insist on going off to get yourself killed, I'll be right there protecting you till the end… I love you.” Virgil had to stand on his toes to meet Roman’s mouth, a quick peck to prove a point before he pulled away and looked back into his eyes.

“I love you too…” Roman trailed off before squaring his shoulders. “Alright then, tonight.” A rainbow shone across their faces, stinging their eyes with light. They glanced over to find Logan nearby, inspecting a prism in the light from the window.

“Fascinating,” he whispered before dropping it into his bag and buckling it. “I presume I will be joining you on this silly little quest of yours? I accept your invitation.”

“Literally no one invited you,” Roman mumbled, voice soaked in annoyance and just loud enough for Logan to hear. His one-man-quest had suddenly turned into a journey of three, and he wasn’t all that happy about it.

“Don't make things harder than they need to be. Now, if you would kindly hand over the queen's sword, we may begin.” Logan held out his hand, looking at him expectantly. Virgil snickered and nudged Roman in the side, urging him to give up his sword.

“You're not coming,” Roman insisted even as he handed the sword to Logan.

“We'll see about that,” Logan smirked, setting the sword on the table and pulling out his spell book.

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Also some people asked to be tagged i think so

@Noodlesforlife13

@avacodos26 (okay apperently i cant tag you two????? Sorry)

@lowkeyvirgilobsessed