CW: nightmare, slight gore and burns, choking, implied "death" (small authors note at the end about that one, though it's a spoiler)
"Remus!" Roman shouted, bags on his back as he ran through the farm. The wheat grabbed at his clothes, breaking off and getting stuck in some places. He needed to get to his brother, he had to get there before he was too late! He fucked up bad.
He didn't know how long he had been running, his legs felt heavy and slow. He had to keep moving though, he had to find his brother first. The monster hunters, who knows what they'll do to him.
"Let me go you motherfuckers!"
Roman's heart dropped. That was Remus's voice, where-? Oh no...
The witch saw his twin, arms being held behind his back as he struggled to get out of their grips. His hair was tied back, some loose locks falling in his face. He had the beginning of a mustache, for some reason he was obsessed with having one as a kid, though blood from a cut on his lip smeared into it.
Roman tried to run forward, but his feet sunk into the ground. He whimpered in fear as he attempted to continue moving, but it was like the ground was holding onto his legs, pulling him deeper.
"Remus!" he shouted, reaching out.
His brother looked up at him, anger being replaced by hurt, which quickly morphed into hatred. "You killed me! Why didn't you help me!" he screamed.
"No, no no!" Roman pulled on the wheat to pull him out, his legs having completely sunk in as his vision was obscured by the plants.
Before he knew it, he was falling through the ground. It was dark in the dirt, but he was only in there for a few seconds, falling as fast as he would if he was in the sky. He somehow got turned around, and before he squeezed his eyes shut as he braced for something.
Only whatever it was, it never came. Instead he found himself in a forest, a very familiar one.
"Roman!" a terrified voice screamed. He spun around and saw Virgil on the ground, being held down by hunters with their faces hidden in the shadows. The witch saw a glint of metal as his friend cried, trying to get free. With teary eyes, the fairy shouted, "Help me! Please help!"
"Virgil!" Roman tried to run to him, but something grabbed him by the waist and pulled him back. He looked down to find a branch wrapped around him. The roots by his feet latched onto him, growing and binding him there. "No, let me go!" He tried using his magic to control it, but it wasn't working. The plants wouldn't listen to him!
"Roman help!" Looking up he saw the fairy reaching for him with his only free hand, the other being held down next to his side. The hunters were holding onto his wings, keeping them still as metal was placed against where the wings and his back met.
Struggling to tear the plants off of him, Roman watched with horrified eyes as Virgil screamed in pain. Smoke came off of the knife as it burned into his skin and feathers, being pressed deeper.
"Let him go! Let him go!" he pleaded, the plants still growing around him. He felt it wrap around his neck and squeeze, cutting off his air. He pulled and tugged, still trying to desperately use his magic. "No, let V-" He couldn't speak, he couldn't breathe. "Virgil..."
The branches grew all around him, covering his eyes and blocking everything out as the last bit of air left him for dead. Keeping him from helping-
Roman gasped as he sat up, shaking as tears filled his eyes. Taking shaky breaths, he pressed the heel of his hand into his eyes to stop his crying. He felt a small wet nose nudge his arm, hearing a soft trilling sound.
"I'm-I'm okay," he told Darrell, looking over as he reached to pet him. "It was just a nightmare."
The witch looked around the room with a small sniffle. He was still at Virgil and Patton's house, both of them insisting he stays over just in case. The only room they had open was their parents room, and even though Roman said he didn't mind sleeping on the couch they let him stay in there.
There was an old perfume smell, faded and almost gone, but still there. Dust covered small decorations, glass animals and jewelry boxes. A lighter sat on a dresser, a tall standing mirror next to it. An old dress was worn by a wire torso, it was fancy and hanging from the headless neck were some jewels. On the wall was a hook that held a man's jacket and straw hat.
It felt wrong sleeping in this room, intrusive. This place held memories of people Roman didn't know. Memories of people that were special to Virgil and Patton. People that were killed because of the hunters from Randsted. Those hunters ruined everything.
Roman stood up from the bed, fixing the blanket as Darrell jumped next to him. He smoothed it out as best as he could before he went over to the door. The moment he opened it, he heard the quiet clink of metal on metal. There were footsteps in the kitchen before a door opened and closed.
Frowning, the witch walked to the living room. He looked at the front door, then to the door that led outside from the kitchen. There was a teapot on the kitchen counter that wasn't there before, the smell of tea leaves filled the air. He had a feeling he knew who was outside, and it was only confirmed when he walked closer to the door and saw through the small glass window in it two dark wings.
He opened it, cringing at the creak it made. Virgil turned around, spotting the witch before looking away again. Something in his hands steamed, it was most likely a mug filled with the tea that he made.
"It's late, you should be sleeping," the fairy said.
Darrell ran over to his side, sniffing at the tea cup in hand before Virgil scratched his head.
"You should be resting too, you used a lot of magic today," Roman reminded him, closing the door. He sat down next to Virgil, setting his feet onto the grass below the wooden porch.
"I don't want to sleep." Virgil took a sip from his mug, still looking out at the vegetable fields.
"Nightmares?" The fairy nodded, and Roman looked down at the grass. "I had a nightmare too. Listen, I'm really sorry that I-"
"Don't. Don't do that. You did help me, we both were strong enough to beat them. So please don't blame yourself for what happened out there, I can feel your guilt coming from you."
Roman laughed a humorless chuckle. "Right, I forget that you use empath magic."
The other shrugged. "I never learned how to stop."
"Doesn't it ever get overwhelming?"
"All the time. But at this point, I'm afraid that if I somehow stop then I'll never learn how to use it again. Funny enough, it helps the most when it hurts, I know when other people are hurting. But other times... it helps my own anxiety. Whenever I feel like I'm annoying someone, I just focus on what they're feeling, and remind myself that people like me."
"It's a double edged sword, huh?"
"Yeah..." Virgil looked down at his cup. "Uh... do you want tea?"
"I'm good, but I'm glad you got something to calm yourself down. When you finish that, you should try to go back to bed."
"Only if you do."
Roman smiled. "That's fair." He reached out and made a blade of grass grow before he plucked it. He twisted it around, tying a knot. "I dreamed about my brother, and the monster hunters."
Virgil looked over with a worried frown. "I'm sorry."
The witch shrugged. "In my dream, my brother saw me and told me that I killed him. He didn't do that in real life, he didn't get the chance then. Before he could sense my magic, I saw him get knocked out. I hide in the wheat field, trying to get to the nearby forest. I somehow made it, but I left him behind. The land was flat, but the trees hid me well enough to escape."
Virgil stretched one of his wings out, engulfing Roman with it. "I'm sure he would be happy to hear you got out alive."
"Is it selfish to hope he doesn't blame me?"
"No, I don't think so. No one wants to be seen in a negative light, and you were only a kid."
"I was seventeen."
"That's still young. But whether it's selfish or not, it can't be changed. You need to live with your choices, even if it hurts, because you grow from them. You didn't run earlier today. They had guns and... and dogs, you were outnumbered, and I could tell you were afraid. But you stayed, prepared to fight them all for me. You didn't have to."
Roman looked down at Virgil's bandaged hand. He held the handle of his mug with his left hand, and steadied it with the tips of his injured hand. The bandages were clean, a bright white against the darkness. "You still got hurt."
"I got hurt because I did something dumb," Virgil laughed. "I should have used my magic, but I got so angry when they shot you that it took over and I tackled them. Hell, I grabbed the iron part of the gun with my bare hand! All without thinking. That was my fault, not yours."
"I wish my potion could heal that, but it's not strong enough to. Injuries like that can only be healed by pure healing magic, not potions."
"Injuries like this?"
"Iron burns or cuts on fairies, silver on werewolves, you know, repellents. It just sucks I guess."
"Yeah, but I'll be fine. I have gloves for a reason, and Patton will help me out if I need it. What about you, are you feeling better?"
Roman rubbed his shoulder. "Much."
Virgil shivered at the night cold, his feather ruffling a bit. "Well, one good thing came out of today."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah, we found out what Darrell's power is." They looked over at the fox, who barked at the sound of his name. "He can grow big and his fur can turn into metal."
"While that is awesome, how does that reflect any part of me though?"
"Well, he only turned into that after you were shot, and I was... yeah. I think he did it to protect and save us."
Roman reached over and scratched under Darrell's chin with a smile. "Our little hero."
Darrell purred as he leaned in.
"He's protective just like you, and he now has the power to protect us," Virgil explained further. "I think that reflects you perfectly, you've become a protector of sorts."
Roman's eyes softened. "I guess I did."
A/N: This has been driving me crazy but both Remus and Janus will be in the story, much later and very much alive