Chapter Text
It began, as everything does, with the sunrise.
Despite the early hours and the late evening last night, Roman lay flat on the edge of a cliff top above a lake on his side of the imagination looking up and watching the sun make its slow, treacherous journey throughout the morning sky. He didn’t need to be here. He could see other sunrises. In fact, he could make a thousand sunrises and watch them all one after another if he so pleased. Perhaps that was why he enjoyed being in the imagination so much. It was the one place he had full control.
But control was not the reason that Roman had found himself here before dawn, before any other side had decided to awaken. Even Logan was still tucked firmly into his galaxy duvet. No, the reason Roman lay here now was plain and pure and simple - He was exhausted.
Not the kind of exhaustion he was used to, the gentle blanket that settled over his head after a long night of brainstorming. Nor the kind that brought him home after a particularly long and tiresome quest. It wasn’t even the kind that made him content to lay under his bedsheets for hours on end, listening to the hustle and bustle outside as the the world continued spinning but let him slow for a while.
This exhaustion was different and new and, if Roman was thinking about being honest to himself, absolutely terrifying. This kind of exhaustion sunk into his bones, infecting every part of his body and gnawing at his very core. It consumed him like a parasite, leaving only the parts of him that were angry and tense and completely done.
The worst part about this new exhaustion was that it never waned. It grew larger and more uncontrollable with each dismissal, each eye roll, each and every attempt to shut him up and make him go away - and perhaps the cruelest thing of all was that it refused to let him sleep, or relax.
That was why Roman now sat, almost motionless, and watched. Watching was one of the few things he had energy left for. If he asked himself, he wasn’t quite sure when it started. That would be a lie however, as he knew perfectly well deep down that he wouldn’t be in this mess if they had only listened to him about the stupid callback.
Because that’s all the callback was now, a stupid idea that he had come up with that would never work, because nothing Roman created anymore would ever work. At least according to the others.
And so he stayed there, following the sun as it made its way upwards until it was directly above him. He must’ve been there for hours, sitting, not moving but it only felt like minutes. No one came to get him for lunch but he didn’t expect them to.
No one came out of their room for lunch now anyways. Gone were the days where you would walk downstairs and find Logan in the living room watching some weird documentary that he swore was interesting while Virgil and Patton battled over how many chocolate chips could go into the cookies. When you would find Janus in the armchair in the corner of the room, deep into his latest philosophical book and just enjoying the atmosphere while trying to tune out Roman and Remus’ argument about what film to watch that night, because he knew they would end up watching Cinderella as always -
There hadn’t been a movie night in weeks. It was like the mindpalace had become empty overnight, all signs of life long gone. Roman hated the silence more than anything, but what could he do? So long as Thomas kept listening to everyone else instead of him, nothing would change. He missed seeing his family, seeing them happy and together, but that was gone now.
For the first time since that morning, he averted his gaze from the sky above and instead focused his attention on a small rock placed beside him. It was small and smooth, and looked like it would fit perfectly in Romans palm so he picked it up, and just held it for a second. The rocks surprisingly heavy weight helped ground him, reminding him of a golden coin he had used in one of his quests once, where he had to throw it into a well in order to make a wish.
Remembering now the blue lake that swayed gently below him, and in a childish flash of desperation, Roman slowly stood up and brought the rock to his mouth.
“I want to fix everything”, he whispered to it, before throwing it into the depths, watching it fall and then make a crash in the waves below.
He suddenly felt his face go hot red as he realised how stupid he was being once again. Wishes were dreams, he told himself, and dreams were pretend. This was real life, and the only way to make Thomas listen to him for once was for Roman to…kidnap him? He snorted at the thought. Like that would ever happen.
But the more he thought about it, the thought didn’t seem so stupid anymore. Instead, a feeling instead of exhaustion for the first time in weeks flooded through him, a feeling of hope. Maybe this could work? Maybe the others would understand? He knew it sounded crazy at first but if he could help Thomas and save him from ruining his own life, then surely they would understand.
He cared for Thomas just as much as the rest of them did, and if he could just show them that his ideas weren’t useless…
Heading towards his castle, Roman attempted to quiet the small part of him that was telling him to think, to slow down.
“Only for a little while”, he thought to himself, “just until they understand”. They would understand, even if Roman had to resort to slightly unorthodox ways in order for them to do so.
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Thomas was not having the best morning. He had woken up feeling off and the feeling had only gotten worse when he realised he was out of his favourite granola. It didn’t help that he stubbed his toe walking back upstairs to brush his teeth, and it certainly didn’t help that he had checked his phone only to see in his calendar that he was supposed to go out with his friends that night. If there was one thing Thomas was not feeling up for right now, it was human interaction.
His morning was so bad that it was perhaps why, when he was suddenly dragged downwards into the imagination he could only sigh. He only sighed harder when he felt himself being bound to a chair.
“Remus this is very funny and all, but I’m not in the mood for… this right now, can we schedule this in later?” He said, rather politely in his opinion, to the flash of black royal attire he saw out of the corner of his eye. He braced himself for the duke to
reveal whatever sick horror he had decided to inflict upon thomas this time, so when a minute had passed and nothing had happened, and he couldn’t here even a a peep from the usually talkative mustached version of himself, he was decidedly confused.
“Remus?” He called out tentatively, only now realising the setting he had found himself in. It was a throne room, much like the one Remus had proudly shown off to him many times before, but oddly there was no slime, or blood, or any hints of green. Instead, the walls were bathed in swooping maroon sheets, like the ones you would find at a theatre. The carpets bore a similar colour but also depicted intricately sewed designs with a golden thread that shone in the light, and was definitely not Remus.
Whatever this place was, it had nothing to do with him. Now feeling a slight hint of panic begin to settle in his stomach, he was about to call out again, when he heard a voice behind him that caused his hairs to stand on end. A hauntingly familiar voice he hadn’t heard in weeks.
“Wrong twin, I’m afraid.”
It was a chilling tone he had never heard from that voice before, that shook him so terribly, he immediately swung around, only to come face to face with -
“Roman?!?”