The Curse of Virgil Sanders

Chapter 7

Roman rushed through the wooded forest, clutching his distressed friend close to his chest. Virgil kept squirming and struggling, desperate to escape the Prince's grasp.
   "It's okay, Virgil. You're okay. You're doing great. Just hang on and it will soon be over. I've got you Virgil," Roman softly reassured. The Prince ignored the burning pain stabbing his legs, only having one thought in mind: help Virgil.
   The creative side vaguely heard the other two sides running behind him, struggling to keep up. They certainly didn't have the same physique as Roman, but Virgil's mumbled cries was their motivator to get to the Dragon Witch's hideout as quickly as possible.
   "We're almost there!" Roman informed the others. As they took a sharp right, a cave decorated with GO AWAY ROMAN signs came into view. Roman abruptly came to stop, startling Logan and Patton. With the Prince's eyes trained on the entrance, he made his decision.
   "You two need to stay up here."
   "What?!" the two sides exclaimed in unison.
   "Roman, we don't have time for this-"
   "I'm not going to leave my son-"
   Logan and Patton went on and on, but the only thing the Prince could hear were the whimpers of his dear friend in his arms.
   "Enough!" he demanded, cutting off his other friends, his family. "I-I can't," he choked out, voice suddenly soft, "I can't have you two get hurt. I-I wouldn't know what to do."
   Roman took in a deep breath, ready to enter the den when a gentle hand on his shoulder prevented the action.
   "And neither will we," Patton said, gaze filled with fiery compassion.
   "Roman," Logan started, voice uncharacteristically soft, "you are our family. You are a spark of confidence and determination that we could never live without.  You're vigorous  personality brings something special, and despite our differences, I see you as one of my greatest friends. Neither Patton nor I are going to let our friend go down there when we know that he might not make it back. We are going with you. We will save Virgil. We will bring him back. But we will only truly succeed if we all make it back."
   And with that, Logan marched on forward into the cave, his stride full of strength and determination.
   Roman couldn't feel his legs, too overwhelmed with this feeling of warmth and love.
   "Kiddo," Patton said, snapping him out of his daze. The two looked at each other, a mutual gaze of understanding between one another.
   Roman could suddenly feel the intense tremors wracking his panicked friend's body. The Prince rubbed his thumb in a circular motion on Virgil's back in an attempt to comfort him.
  "Don't worry Virge. We've got you."

"GET OUT HERE YOU WITCH!" Roman furiously roared. His eyes darted from wall to wall, daring the reptilian beast to reveal itself.
   "COME ON OUT YOU COWARD!"
   No response.
   "WHAT? CAN YOU NOT FACE WHAT YOU'VE DONE?" the Prince cursed at the unseen monster.
    "And can you not realize what you've done?" an invisible speaker hissed back.
"What are you ta-never mind that! Release your curse on my friend at once!" Roman demanded, his figure shaking with rage as he cradled Virgil even tighter to his chest.
"And whose fault was it that he was cursed anyway?" The wall in front of them shimmered, as if it was water rippling. The marble white than transformed into a reptilian green. The green took shape, mutating into a body of a dragon. The Dragon Witch's face was masked with an unnameable emotion; fury, despair, or... maybe just a numbness. As if she couldn't quite comprehend what she was feeling either.
Roman put all of that in the back of his mind.
This is a monster. A true source of evil. She only feels malice and hatred.
"You are the one who cast the spell," Logan replied, keeping his voice calm yet strong. "It cannot possibly be anyone else's fault but yours."
"Yes, but why do you think I did it? Because I'm just some monster. Some beast that stalks the night, hoping to ruin everyone and everything!" she roared.
"Isn't that not what you do?" Roman fires back. "That's what you are!"
The Dragon's face lowered about a few inches from the Prince's, both glaring each other down.
"And who made me this way?"
The question seemed to physically attack Roman, who staggered back a few steps.
"This isn't the real world, Prince Roman!" the Witch spatted out his name venomously. "This is the Imagination! A different realm! Your realm! Everything and everyone here are all created by you. Whatever you say is what happens. You wanted a kingdom, you got a kingdom! You wanted knights, you got knights! You wanted a villain to protect your people from, you got one: me!
"You think I wanted to be the villain? I never got a say in the matter! I'm full of such anger and rage every day, every second, and I want it to stop." she sobbed out, her voice changing from one of rage to one of despair. "I'd love to go out and see the village, possibly befriend a few of the villagers. You know, I don't have any friends. I'm so alone all the time and I just-I just can't do it anymore. So I'll help your friend on one condition: you help me. You make me the hero I've always dreamed about being."
Roman didn't realize he had started crying.
He never thought-
He was the hero, he always-
He is the Prince, he would never-
But he did, he realized. He did this. He did this to this poor beautiful creature so he could what? Have a villain to slay? Be the hero?
What kind of hero would do something like this?
He vaguely felt Patton's arms around him, only focusing on one thought.
"I'll help you," he choked out, "I'm so sorry. I'll help you, I promise." The Dragon Witch then did something Roman had never seen her do; she smiled.
"Thank you. But first, let me tend to your friend."
The Witch's hand emitted an enchanting green, but it seemed different than her other spells. It was more gentle and quite beautiful. She gave the green orb some size, and said one thing before the world was covered in that beautiful, enchanting green.
"Thank you."