Escaped - Sanders Sides

Chapter Fifteen

(POV: Romulus)

I stood as still as possible while trying to combat my sudden twitches from Roman trying to take control. It was becoming almost too much to bear, but I swallowed back my nerves, and continued to act normal.

My head was throbbing, like a hammer was banging on it every ten seconds. My heart was beating faster with the power and energy I used to keep Roman away.

Elden took Janus away. I know he's up to something with that snake. I just have nothing to show for it.

"We have to save Janus," I muttered.

"No," I could hear Roman's tired voice in my head. "We have to go after Virgil! He's in trouble!"

"Oh, and Janus isn't? Everyone is in danger, Roman! It's just up to us to figure out what to do first!"

"Virgil first!"

"No, Janus first!"

"Won't you just listen to me?!"

"Kinda hard not to; you're in my head!"

"Stop! Just...let...me..go!" There was a sudden flash of white, then a coating of black.

(POV: Roman)

My eyes slowly opened and I began to feel more like myself once again. The throb in my head was dull, but my strength felt low and my body heavy. I rolled onto my stomach and lifted myself on to my elbows. I looked up when I heard a low groan followed by a few coughs.

Remus was just starting to stir, lifting himself and rubbing his aching head. When we made eye contact, we both scowled.

"You did this!" Remus grumbled, turning his body to face away from me.

"Oh, stop being such a child and help me find, Virgil!" I told him, pushing myself to my feet. As soon as I did, I realized how weak I was. The floor immediately rushed to my face, while my legs felt numb.

"Way to be a hero, Princey!" Remus snarked.

"Would you shut up? Why are you acting like this? I don't get it!"

"Because, you aren't listening to me!" Remus snapped, whipping his body around so that I could see the small crystal tears roll down his face. "You never do! Everything we ever do is because of you!"

"Untrue! We wouldn't have fused with you if I didn't listen to you! But you tricked me!"

"Well I was wrong! I just wanted to please Elden so Janus wouldn't get hurt but look where we are now!"

I walked over to my brother, putting an arm on his shoulder while he quickly wiped his tears. "I'm sorry, Remus. But you are right. Growing up, we always did what I wanted to do. I'm surprised you've put up with me until now. But, you have to listen to me now more than ever. I was wrong. You are smart and you have good ideas. You wouldn't be an asset of Thomas' creativity if you didn't. Now, what do you think we should do?"

Remus sniffed and looked at me, trying to judge if I was serious or not. But when he saw I was, a tiny smile came onto his face.

"I have to save Janus," Remus muttered.

"Okay. Then that's what we'll do." A small pause grew between us as I began to think of all of the weird things I've noticed about Janus while we were fused. "D-Did Janus seem weird to you?"

"Yeah, a little. He seems a little less...present than he usually does. Like, when we started this plan, he was all for not hurting Virgil. But now, he full on put him to sleep with his magic!? That just doesn't seem like something he would agree to do for Elden."

"I think you're correct, Remus. Something about him isn't right. Like he's being...manipulated."

"I knew Elden was messing with us. We shouldn't have trusted him to go through with this plan, honestly!" Remus yelled, banging the ground with his fist in a fit of rage. 

"Hey, it's okay. You had no way of knowing that would happen. What matters now is that you're trying to fix the mistakes you've made."

"Thank you, Roman!" Remus shoved himself into my chest, wrapping his arms tightly around me. It took me by surprise at first, but I slowly returned his hug, smiling brightly. I missed him, I just didn't know it. "We'll save Virgil too, I promise!"

"I know we will. We'll save everybody." I felt a light in my heart, some sort of spark joining my consciousness with Remus. I shut my eyes, holding on to him tightly while a few small tears fell down my face. And then everything went black.

(POV: Romulus)

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on my feet. My headache was gone and I had one clear voice in my head; my own. Standing guard at the entrance to the Dark Mind Palace just like Elden asked, I smirked to myself.

Don't worry, Janus and Virgil. We're coming.