Monster - Prinxiety [COMPLETED]

Chapter Twenty One

After riding for what felt like minutes to Roman, the search party behind him was practically begging to take a break. The prince knew they'd easily been riding the entire day, though it was hard to tell with the sky colored black. He didn't want to stop. The clouds above them were now a glow with purple linings. His whole body was on edge just looking at the crackling energy.

"Roman, you know we can't keep going," Luis urged, pulling his horse up next to him. "I want to reach him as badly as you do, and those clouds are not helping my nerves about this whole thing, but we're all exhausted. That includes you."

The Prince of Cliste lifted his chin. "I'm fine," he said confidently, though it was clear he was lying. He could feel the exhaustion in his bones just as the other men could.

"Roman..." the younger prince said, giving him a pleading look. "You need to rest."

He turned around, seeing Thorn and the others, all looking like they may fall asleep on their mounts. Roman sighed in defeat, just wanting to find Virgil. He turned his stallion toward the party.

"We will make camp for the night and proceed in the morning," he said, voice strong and authoritative. "We'll need a look out in the case of the castle's guardians attacking us. They can take it in shifts, we need two people to split the night."

Two men raised their hands, earning a grateful nod from the prince as he told them to dismount and set up camp. He jumped off his stallion, feeling the ground shake underneath him. He couldn't tell if it was his own unsteadiness, or the earth was truly shaking. Luis quickly helped him as he stumbled.

"Do you feel that?" Roman questioned, earning a confused look from the younger prince. It was clear it was him, not the ground. Still, the prince leaned down to place his hand against the dirt. Despite his unsteadiness mostly coming from his own exhaustion, there was a slight vibration in the ground under his hand. "It's shaking..."

Luis frowned, kneeling down to do the same. His eyes widened as he felt the vibration too, looking up at the castle in the distance in fear. "This has to do with him, just like the clouds."

Roman nodded in agreement, wanting to go after him even more. However, when he stood up, he was hit with a wave of dizziness. Thorn was there as he started to fall; she and Luis helped him over to a cot that had been laid out.

"You need to rest or you won't be able to walk," Thorn scolded as the prince groaned. "We are going to find Virgil, and we're going to figure out what's going on. We can't do either of those if you can't walk."

He sighed, allowing himself to relax into the makeshift bed. He hoped he would talk to Virgil again, but there was no way to know if the dark prince would visit him. Roman couldn't contemplate it for much longer before exhaustion seemed to drag him into sleep. His eyes fluttered open, finding himself in the gardens of King Patton's palace again. He looked around for Virgil, hoping to see him.

The dark prince's eyes fluttered open again, still stuck looking at himself from the outside. The figure was distracted with telling him what to do, not that he could hear him. He backed away, staying out of sight of him, feeling a strange sense of self preservation come over him. He didn't feel like he was in danger, but he didn't want the figure to see him again. The dark prince closed his eyes, wishing he knew how he'd been able to visit Roman.

Would he even be asleep? Virgil thought as he clenched his fists. It was then that he felt a tugging. It was a tiny bit at first, and he'd thou he'd imagined it.

"Virgil!" Roman called in his dream. He figured it was worth a try. If he was here, he'd have to hear him. When his voice just echoed for a moment, the prince tried again. "Virgil!"

The dark prince felt the tug again, gasping a tiny bit. It was getting stronger. He knew he couldn't be imagining it this time. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and relaxed. Virgil focused on Roman; all his thoughts were of his smile, his voice, his laugh, the way he held him, the slight hint of vanilla that wafted from his clothing, his eyes...

"Virgil?"

His eyes snapped open, finding himself in the gardens, Roman standing in front of him. His jaw dropped a little in shock. "It a-actually worked," the dark prince said, smiling a tiny bit.

"Virgil!" the prince exclaimed, hugging him tightly. It made him gasp, but smile a little more as he hugged him back. "You have no idea how worried I am. Luis and I are coming with a search party to bring you home."

The dark prince felt a spike of fear go through him as he pulled away. "That might not be the best idea," he said, eyes wide as he looked into Roman's.

"What? What do you mean?" he asked, speaking quickly out of fear and concern. "I have to come get you, Virge, I have to bring you home."

"Roman, this is more complicated now," Virgil tried to explain, looking around worriedly. He wasn't sure if the figure would be able to tell he was doing this, and feared what could happen if he heard him. "I... I'm not exactly... alone..."

The prince froze, his whole body going rigid. "He's... he's in my head," the dark prince said slowly. "I think... he's not completely real, and no one can see him but me. He was at the party that night. He made me freak out with a snap of his fingers. It was like no kind of panic attack I've ever felt before. Now he's... he's controlling me."

"What?" Roman asked, sounding furious though he was trying to hide it. He could tell it was because he was angry at the figure.

"N-Not controlling so much as i-influencing me," he said, looking down at his hands. "He showed me how to talk to you while I was having an attack, so I let him in."

The prince took his hands in his own, getting him to look up at him. "I'm not really in control of myself right now," Virgil continued. "It's like I'm watching from somewhere else, in between my mind and reality. He's making me do something, and I don't know what it is, but it feels dangerous. You guys shouldn't be coming for me."

Roman squeezed his hand, trying his best to remain composed as he allowed this new information to sink in. "I'm not going to leave you there," he said firmly, rubbing his hand with his thumb. "We'll figure this out alright?"

That's when he felt Virgil's hands get leave his. The dark prince let out a painful gasp as he appeared to be yanked backwards.

"Roman!" he cried, practically screaming in pain as he started disappear.

Roman's heart raced as he rushed forward. "Virgil!?" he yelled, trying to grab his hand. It went straight through. The dark prince let out one last cry of agony as he disappeared completely. "VIRGIL?!"