The Timeless Prince

73

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TW~ Flashback to Roman's death right off the bat, Blood, Panic, Hallucinations

Black... That's all he saw. A pitch-black nothingness. Then again what else would you see when you're blind. The problem was it was all he could focus on. As if the pitch emptiness spilled into his mind corrupting his very thought. No thought seemed to reach past the murky black, always dying out before it could even take flight. Empty... numb... Lost with no direction... He felt alone.

Words tugged at his mind but it all sounded muffled... as if the murky pitch endlessness was the unforgiving icy touch of Hell's high waters, pulling him farther and farther down into the nothingness below. He felt like he was drowning under it all. His instinct was to kick... to flail... to do something and yet he felt constricted. as if bogged down by tightly woven rope, his own weight causing him to slip further under the waves.

He felt something pressed into his hand and his mind clawed at the rope. He knew something was wrong. Something was very very wrong. The cold hard wooden handle chilled him to the bone as he desperately fought against the crashing waves of his mind. 

"VIRGIL!" He tensed hearing his love's voice slice through the black as if his first breath of air. He knew something was wrong. He felt his hand grip the knife tighter and it all came crashing down around him. He couldn't stop himself from stepping forward. "Virgil..."

"R-Ro?" He tried to pull back. He tried to fight the rough and crushing grasp that held him hostage. He wanted so bad to drop the knife but his hand only held tighter in his shakey grasp. "What am... what... what am I doing?" He screamed out against the black, clawing at the maddening pressure, and yet no sound was made... his advancement never ceasing... and that when his mind finally grabbed hold on what he was being forced to do. "Roman?" His heart cracked as he realized there was no getting out of this.  "Kill me."

"No!" He withered internally at the broken sound of his love's voice. "I won't hurt you."

"BUT I'LL HURT YOU!" He tried... He tried so hard to stop himself but that tug only pulled harder and soon he felt himself slipping back under the waves. "ROMAN, PLEASE?!"

"You won't hurt me, Love." His love's voice started to fade away again as his movements started to loosen. He couldn't stop. He wasn't going to stop. He was going to end up killing his love. No. NO! PLEASE! "You won't hurt me." Time faded away as the voices sounded underwater again. The only thing that brought him back was the feeling of resistance against the blade in his hand. His eyes snapped up as he felt arms wrap around him, and tears came to his eyes as he realized what had happened. He really did it... He really stabbed his own soulmate. His love... and he... he...

"You didn't do a thing." He felt the words against his mind just barely hitting the surface. Magic swirled around him as if a soft brush gently painted its way through his mind, covering the bad with its new beautiful art. It covered him completely as he felt lips press one last sweet kiss to his own. "You didn't... You..." All that weight finally fell away and with it went the black murky waters against his mind. He blinked trying to latch on to the picture the magic had painted before snapping back to reality at the sound of his love... the smell of blood. "V-Virgil... I-I'm sorry..."

"ROMAN!" Virgil bolted up in bed, tears streaming down his face as he clutched his shirt so tight his knuckles turned white. He whimpered and cried as he curled up unable to get the dream out of his mind. He didn't kill Roman. He didn't kill Roman.  He didn't...

"Angelus meus tenebris?" Virgil let out a very broken sob as Roman quickly pulled him in against him, rubbing gentle circles on his back. "Shh, My love. It's ok." 

"No, it's not. No... no..." Virgil whined as he gripped Roman's shirt as tight as he could. "I didn't do it. I didn't... Tell me I didn't..."

"Didn't do what?" Virgil flinched as he pulled back to look into Roman's eyes only. Panic flooded his system at seeing how covered in blood his love was. He let out a broken sob as Roman quickly took his head in his letting his magic flurry around them both. "Breathe, Virgil. It's ok." Virgil felt that familiar stroke of magic as if paint over his mind and watched as the hallucination slowly faded away until all he could see was his love sitting there before him. "It's ok. I don't know what your seeing... but everything is ok."

"R-Roman?" Roman let out a tense breath as he smiled with a nod. 

"I'm here, Baby." Roman gently tanged his fingers through Virgil's hair as the older melted into him. "I'm right here."

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." 

"Shh, My love. I don't have a clue what you're apologizing for." Roman laughed as he just shook his head and held Virgil close. "It was just a nightmare. I don't know what it was about. But I promise you that's all it was. It's just a nightmare."

"Just a nightmare." Virgil repeated as he pressed his ear to Roman's chest listening to the steady beating of his love's heart. "Just a nightmare. You're ok. You're ok."

"Oh, hun... of course I'm ok. Was that what it was about? Did you think something happened to me?" Virgil whined as he held Roman even tighter breaking his love's heart. "Hey. I made you a promise, remember. Rule 3 right? I made you a promise and I intend of keeping it."

"Don't leave me."

"Never." Roman purred softly as he played with Virgil's hair. "Nothing will separate us again. For that, I swear to you."

"Roman, you can't-..."

"I will spend forever with you and that is a simple fact." Virgil hummed as Roman pressed a kiss to his hair. "I love you, Angelus meus tenebris."

"Amica mea..." Virgil lulled as he nuzzled into Roman's chest. "My Husband... My soulmate..."

"My forever." Roman added ghosting his lips gently against Virgil's skin. "Is all well now? Did I help to calm your mind?"

"Roman, you never fail to make me feel better." Roman's eyes lit up as he smiled so full of fondness. "Thank you."

"Of course, my love." Roman gave Virgil another kiss as he spoke so softly against his lips. "I will always be here to help you. Never forget that."