Uh oh, what could have happened to them? Did whatever happen to them at the party stick with the reset?? At least you all are mostly safe for now though, right? -♾️
(Open in new tab for readable quality! tumblr hates rn me for some reason)
“Well, good news; They're certainly alive!”
Roman stretches his back for a moment, relieved to finally drop his arms after holding one pose for so long. His eyes still glow with the effects of the divine ritual, but keeping the spell active is not nearly as energy-draining as the initial casting.
Roman looks around the room, eyes still glowing red, and stops on Annie before he can focus on Logan and Remus. She fell asleep about four minutes into the ritual, clearly exhausted from the previous day’s (future day’s?) party. No trace of poison or disease on her, thankfully, though Roman doubts a water nymph could even be poisoned or catch ill.
She was so excited to help, Roman didn’t have the heart to tell her that she couldn’t really cast anything with him. Her sheer delight and determination were so hopelessly endearing, his heart could burst!
(In a way, Roman supposes she did end up contributing to the spell; It’s much easier for a Suneite to draw from Sune’s affection-based divine power when a loved one is being absolutely, heart-stoppingly adorable nearby.)
After taking a moment to make sure she’s still sleeping soundly, Roman finally hones in on Logan and Remus.
He's not sure what he wants to find. If they are poisoned, he can definitely cure at least one of them — Logan, he decides quite easily — but that leaves the issue of who poisoned them, and the more existential question about poisons and time travel that he will leave to his resident magic expert (also Logan). If they aren't poisoned, he doesn't have to worry so much about one of them being in pain, but...how exactly are they going to wake them up?
He trains his enchanted eyes on the two nonetheless, and detects no poison or disease on them. Roman can’t sense the meddling of any fae or demon, either; They’re just exhausted.
…There is a concentration of some sort of pain in their heads, but Roman doesn’t need to tell anyone that. He can’t know for sure if it was psychic damage that took them out, and he’d rather not give Virgil the excuse to blame himself. Not that he ever seems to need one.
He turns to the elf in question to explain his findings. Funnily enough, all three of his waking party members are glowing with the presence of poison; the blades and vials in Virgil’s quiver, the dagger in Patton’s bag, and… what appears to be several venom glands in Dee’s head, throat, and hands?
...That’s odd. A question for another time, though.
“They’re just very tired, basically. I doubt they'll wake until tomorrow, but they’re not hurt.”
“But they will wake up?” Dee asks pointedly, still gently brushing through Virgil’s hair. Virgil seems to have withdrawn into himself, looking and acting much like he had that one night he went ‘sleepwalking.’ His eyes don’t even seem to be focused. But, his ears twitch at Dee’s voice, and Roman has found them to be a much better indicator of Virgil’s attention. He eagerly awaits the answer.
“Oh, you betcha,” Patton smiles first, ever the optimist, “Just give it some time. I’m sure they’ll be good as new!”
Patton directed his answer more towards Virgil than Dee. He clearly wants to comfort their newest friend with a hug, also having noticed the difference in his mood, but he hesitates;
For the last ten minutes, every time either of them has so much as twitched in Virgil’s direction, Dee has fixed them with the most unnerving stare.
Roman just assumes Dee knows something he doesn’t, and is helping Virgil through whatever emotional turmoil has him looking like he’s seen a ghost. They are old friends and ex-lovers, after all, so he must have some experience with these things.
Patton doesn’t seem to agree. In fact, he looks to be getting more and more annoyed with Dee’s tone.
Roman desperately wants to be rid of the tension in the room.
“There is magic powerful enough to ‘heal’ their exhaustion,” Roman muses, “But unfortunately, I haven’t been trained in it. I don’t actually think I could, at my level. My Mamá can, but… Well, there should be someone here who knows the spell. This is a country of clerics, isn’t it?”
Dee smiles sweetly, something unnameable in his eyes as he speaks,
“You could ask around in the central temple. I’m sure there are plenty of priestesses here with that sort of knowledge. In fact, you four should go see to that right now.”
Dee brushes his hand against Virgil’s forehead one more time, then stands and brushes off his pants. As he reaches for his cane, Roman frowns,
“And where are you going?”
“Don't worry your handsome little head about me, Roman,” He grins, “I am just going to have a little chat with our unwanted guest.”
“What??” Roman and Patton shout in unison, and Virgil is already on his feet,
“No! No way—” He hisses so sharply that Roman winces, “Dee, you don't know what she's capable of.”
“Yes I do. You've told me many stories over the years.”
“I'm not letting you face her alone. Besides, she's not the threat here!” Virgil whines, looking borderline desperate,
“She could hear my thoughts just as well as yours. She only went along with my plan because she doesn’t give a damn about the lives or deaths of mortals!”
“What are you saying?” Dee huffs, sounding more annoyed than deterred. Virgil’s back sets straight with an audible crack before he speaks,
“Illia is not here of her own free will! She's being watched and controlled by my M—”
Suddenly, one of Dee’s hands is clasped over Virgil’s mouth. Dee is visibly, furiously livid, and Virgil’s expression has turned something fragile and miserable.
“What are you doing?!” Patton barks in alarm, as though Dee had just slapped Virgil across the face. And, really, he had. Patton is ready to knock Dee flat for it, hopping upright with clenched fists, while Roman has been stunned silent.
Dee’s expression stays vicious, pointed away from anyone else in the room, but his shoulders and hands relax.
“Matron Dhaunarra.” Dee explains in a smooth voice that doesn’t match his snarl at all, “A cruel woman from the colony Virgil was raised in. Nothing more.”
“That’s not what I—“
“I will take care of it.”
Ignoring Patton, Dee releases Virgil, who’s still staring at him like he’s just dropped dead at Virgil’s feet. He opens his mouth to argue, but Dee interrupts him with a raised hand,
“You are not going anywhere near her. I forbid it.”
“No!” Virgil pushes his hand away, a spark of anger returning to his own voice, “I'm not going to just stand back and let her kill you! You're not strong enough to take her on!”
“And neither are you, remember?” Dee rolls his eyes, “Besides, she won't even get the chance to touch me. I am going to the Empress. I will tell her what we know, and we will get rid of her.”
“She…She could stop her, probably…” Virgil nods to himself, over and over again, until it looks more like he’s shaking,
“But what if something goes wrong? What if she remembers like we do, and gets to you first??”
“She doesn’t know where we are. And if she finds out, then I will call you and let you know the same way I called Remus to the ballroom.” Dee sighs. He seems settled back into his skin now, smiling calmly and reaching up to pat Virgil’s cheek, almost in apology.
“Trust me, darling. I can handle this just fine.”
“Uhh. It seems I may be missing some context here,” A lot of context, Roman mutters to himself, still a bit shaken by whatever just possessed Janus to silence Virgil like that, “But I also don't like the idea of you going alone. If you're just going to warn the Empress, why can't we all go together?”
“Because I am the only one here with the charisma to convince Her Luminous Imperial Majesty to act against someone who hasn't technically committed a crime yet.” Janus rolls his eyes, repeating the royal title with just a hint of sarcasm. Before Roman can protest to that particular claim, Dee turns his easy smile on him,
“Besides, someone has to take care of Remus. And to protect Virgil, who is in more pain than he’s currently pretending.”
Virgil hisses at him for a moment, not pleased to be called out.
“I need you two to trust me, and Virgil needs you to be there for him right now. Can you do that for me, sweetheart?” Dee pleads, and if that doesn’t just tug at Roman’s chest like a guitar string.
He’s honestly not completely sold on letting Dee go fight this alone, especially considering the revenge Roman needs to take on whatever evil-doer would dare to snatch Annie away. But, Roman does agree that Logan and Remus should get medical treatment (or at least some real beds) as soon as possible. And, of course, he definitely doesn’t want to leave Virgil alone when he’s being hunted, and acting so…odd.
“Well, of course,” Roman bows slightly, “If it's in service of protecting someone I care about, I don't need to be asked twice.”
“Promise you'll come back.” Virgil demands instead of asks, angry-red eyes trained directly on Dee. The sorcerer smirks in return,
“A promise to the fae? Here? I don't know if that's a good idea.”
“Please.”
The soft, shaky whisper cut through the barn like shattering glass. Dee even seems more winded by it than Roman, if that were possible. Roman’s never heard him sound this upset.
“You're breaking my heart here, darling,” Dee sighs, then reaches up to plant a quick peck on his cheek,
“Of course I will. I promise.”
“We both will,” Patton huffs, a fake smile plastered on his face as he’s clearly still not pleased with Dee at all. Everyone else in the room balks at him — Everyone but Roman, of course, who has known Patton quite a long time.
“No, no, no—” Virgil chants, panicked, but Patton just walks up and takes his hand,
“Don’t you worry about me, Virgil! Dee said before that this Illia lady waited until she could find you to do anything, right? Then why would she attack two random folks out of the blue?” He reasons, patting Virgil’s hand softly, “And now Dee has someone to protect him if necessary.”
“I don’t want either of you to have to face her! This is my fight!”
“We’re just going to talk to the Empress. Right?” Patton levels Dee with a smile that can be described only as devious. Now it is Dee’s turn to look terribly annoyed.
“Right.” His voice is as dry as bone, “But are you certain you want to leave Virgil and Roman defenseless, with your unconscious boyfriend no less?”
“I trust Roman to take care of them,” Patton answers easily, (setting a little butterfly in Roman’s chest fluttering,) ”And they aren’t going anywhere dangerous. Besides, I think the Empress quite likes me!”
“Surely.”
“I still don’t see why we can’t all go, but I do feel better knowing that Patton will be there to help you. Now I’ll know if either of you are put in danger, so I can bring the cavalry in your defense!” Roman boasts, hiding away the part of him that really doesn’t want Patton to go without him.
“Pat, you have to stop using people’s first names.” Virgil sighs, then kneels down to wrap him up in a hug, dropping his head heavily onto Patton’s shoulder.
Patton is startled at first, but recovers quickly, squeezing him so tight Roman could hear his back pop. Virgil doesn’t mind at all, soaking it in for a few moments before pushing himself back upright, expression closed-off and distant again. He really is acting off this morning.
“If she finds you, tell me right away. I...” Virgil shakes his head, “I don’t know how I’ve been doing this shit, but I’ll take us so far back this time that we can avoid this damn place altogether and never have to deal with this.”
Dee grumbles something under his breath, but no one hears him. He clears his throat and repeats,
“That won’t be necessary.”
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Ask 129 (( @rylaenvol , @justsomecatsinatrenchcoat , @lovelivingmydreams ))
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Most Recent Recap, in case you feel like you missed something!
Available for questions: Patton, Roman, Virgil, Janus, and Annie!
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The boys make some plans on how to deal with Remus, Logan, and Illia'Jhaerza!
Virgil and Janus both seem to be acting strangely since the adrenaline wore off, Janus hiding it better than Virgil. Virgil was much more emotionally (psychologically?) affected by the encounter than he let on, but neither they nor Annie seem to have lasting injuries, except for some lingering exhaustion...
