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piliiiiiconfusionf · 5 months ago

Text

The Beginning ~ Sanders Sides fic

Wc: 3942

Characters: Roman Sanders/ Dragon Witch/ Mentioned Logan Sanders/ Mentioned Remus Sanders /Mentioned Virgil Sanders/ Mentioned C!Thomas Sanders/ Unknown to the Narrator voices.

Warnings: Slight mentions of violence and injuries (though they aren't really real) mentioning blood, stabbing, but without a knife.

Summary: Roman, as Thomas' creative side, has always been familiar with nightmares. Not in the way of him having them himself but… quite the opposite. He fought against the nightmares his friends had.

Or better said…with what was left from them.

He was absent when it came to being part of Thomas' nightmares, never being able to understand and see by himself what was happening in them, all because of his brother, Remus, the other half of creativity, being in charge.

He got frustrated by that, always, struggling to help and guide Thomas to his dreams, to what felt right.

But... this time, after so long... It was different.

~*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.~

The Beginning

Roman, as Thomas' Creative side, has always been familiar with nightmares. Not in the way of him having them himself but… quite the opposite.

He fought against the nightmares his friends had.

Or better said…with what was left from them.

Most nightmares were vivid, prompted by his brother, Remus, the embodiment of dark Creativity and Roman's opposite, while Virgil ended them, the latter waking Thomas up in an anxious mess, while Logan tried to reassure them with facts to remind them it was only a dream, helping them to go back to reality and calm down.

Once they were mildly recovered, if needed, Roman would do his best to distract Thomas the best he could. Roman was the one that was always up to save Thomas from them, sometimes helping him with particularly bad dreams, if it wasn't by Thomas calling for him in the middle of the night to make up lighter scenarios to go back to sleep, it was trying to help him to see the nightmare more positively, getting inspired from whatever his brother decided to annoy Thomas with, instead of ignoring them, since Logan Insisted was the best way to avoid intrusive thoughts.

But again, Roman was absent. He struggled to understand the nightmares, sometimes even refused to, just for the pride of not being like Remus, which he had to fight for, just for his love and loyalty towards Thomas, but it still made the mission of finding out how exactly to help Thomas the best he could be harder than he would like it to be.

Sometimes, he even wished he could actually …be there. It was frustrating to see his friends hurting from nightmares, it was frustrating that he couldn't stop Remus from doing it in the first place, to not understand later and have him being explained over and over, having to ask the logic side to remind him of details he sometimes messed up with, repeating, reminding them of the bad time, because it was frustrating that he was affected by something he couldn't understand and above all, it was frustrating to not be able to help, especially when Virgil refused to talk about it and leave it alone to not trigger Thomas.

He was the prince, the Hero of the story supposed to be there when he was needed; the one others could rely on; the one others could trust. How could he help if they didn't let him know?!

He got frustrated, over and over. He was not good at hiding it when something made him upset, but… he cared about his friends, even if he didn't want to admit it, and did his best to not add even more to the pile. He had to be strong when things went bad, that is what heroes did.

He tried, his best, to just accept that things were like they were, but the hope of doing something more was still there. He was the embodiment of hopes and dreams after all, he couldn't lose that.

He tried not to think too much about it. This was something he didn't have any power on, he couldn't take his brother's place, no matter how frustrating that was. He tried not to focus, to ignore.

But… this time, after so long… it was different.

When Roman opened his eyes, darkness embraced him. It was dull, hollow, and confusing in a way that he didn't even know when his eyes were open. He tried looking around, walking around, running forward, walking forward, slashing with his sword around, trying to summon a candle that didn't appear… he was met with nothing, no matter what he imagined, which told him this was somewhere different from the Imagination or the Mind Scape.

Realization struck him. The last memory he recalled was him calling it a day as he read some Disney book he found. Probably Inside Out, he thought at first, being reminded of the darkness where each emotion met in the movie.

But then he felt something different. Dreams, the dreams that he created, weren't dark, weren't hollow, in the slightest. His dreams were bright, imaginative, out of this world, full of adventures and mysteries to solve that would leave both him and Thomas with an open ending haunting them forever.

This one, even though it was a mystery, was just … different.

This one was not made by him.

The darkness was uneasy but that probably was because Roman wasn't one to be in the darkness, he didn't like it much. That was more of the Emo Nightmare Virgil thing where he would either enjoy the time there or be overwhelmed by something Remus did, to scare Thomas.

Remus…this was more of his thing…

And if it was a dream, that Roman didn't make…

This was a nightmare.

Roman found himself with his last feeling of sleepiness off, traded by pure adrenaline burning in his chest with that thought. He gasped at the realization and perked up, following his first thought when he kept running forward.

That could get him somewhere right? That's how a dream worked, he had to move, continue the plot, a made up plot that he didn't have any power on, that the person dreaming didn't have power on, but if it was vivid enough, like this one, could choose its path by themselves… Roman knew how dreams worked and this one was vivid, he could finally choose by himself, in a nightmare,finally by himself.

Finally a change to help.

To be the hero.

After so long, after so long hoping- was it possible?

No need to question it, he thought. He wasn't Logan, dreams didn't follow logic. Hope was born in his chest again, gently warming his chest up.

In the middle of his undeniable excitement, Roman tried to remind himself of how nightmares worked. Dreams were a thing, but Nightmares had a factor that explained why they affected a side like the embodiment of Anxiety himself the most.

They were supposed to know someone to their deepest, the strongest fears, their weaknesses…

…

And Roman was a hero. He was brave, he fought his weaknesses, he beat them, and that made him invulnerable. Who else was more appropriate to face a situation like this, if it wasn't him?

A nightmare was just another, darker, dream right? Just like fighting yet another monster, another adventure, another mission.

Easy.

Roman kept running, a grin on his face as his hope kept trying to tell him where he had to go.

First, he had to find out whose nightmare it was, or… which side was the one contributing the most. As far as he knew, no one of the sides feared the darkness, including him, so what must be the problem here was: what was in the darkness, right?

And what he needed to see that was light.

He ran and ran, and could swear he started seeing light far away when he hurried himself. Feeling pride by his confirmed thought.

It was simple.

This was finally…the time.

His time.

"DO NOT WORRY!" Roman shouted confidence in his tone as a warning. His voice echoed around the darkness, surprising him and reminded him of when he was exploring caves. Hearing his own echoed words, he doubted them a bit, continuing with the same tone "OR ABSOLUTELY DO, ACTUALLY, IF YOU ARE A VILLAIN." He put his sword up.

"RETREAT, OR…" he laughed at his own thought "WE WILL MAKE THIS EVEN MORE EXCITING!"

Roman, indeed, was getting excited as he felt a fire of pride coming on his chest.

He strengthened his run. The light seemed to be getting closer with every step and the feeling on his chest did the same.

He ran with widened eyes, his eyes shining, his smile brightening, he put his hand towards it in an attempt to reach the light and jumped, feeling like he was flying as he slowly floated forward to it.

He took his time to look at it. Allowed himself to breathe, to curiously investigate it. Waiting.

Yeah, he thought it would be easy, that it was just another goal to achieve…but he wouldn't expect it to be boring. Too easy.

Suddenly, the growl that he was expecting came. He expectantly looked up, and smiled.

'There you are' Roman thought. His smile brightened even more.

From the above, a huge dragon with a black cloth and hat appeared as it threateningly flew in circles towards the light. It reminded Roman of how Logan described vultures used to fly around before eating their prey. A last mock from a creature of nature to another in its last minutes of life.

Roman chuckled.

He should be the one doing that.

"I'M READY!" Roman shouted to the Dragon Witch, his nemesis, his long sworn enemy and opponent. He wasn't surprised by her appearance in the first nightmare he remembered being part of. This creature, even if Roman always had to fight it and represented the villain of his stories, was who reminded Roman of his ego, of his purpose.

To protect. To guide people to their dreams.

Roman looked down to the light again, steady and lonely from where Roman first found it. It didn't seem that it had moved itself, not even a little, like it was shocked in place, small as it was. The small…star? Was weakly glowing in place, like a little kid so overwhelmed by a crowd, this little star not realizing it was the reason why there was light in the darkness, light that it couldn't feel itself.

Roman urged to where it was, allowed the weird atmosphere where he was to allow him to float to where the light was, which moved for the first time, backing off, but Roman didn't push it, saving a bit of distance between them, and then struggling to control his movements like he was floating in air. To his experience, it felt like swimming in the water, imagining himself as what would it be if the prince from the little Mermaid would do if he was transformed into a mermaid instead of Ariel into a human.

But Roman had to shake his head and come back to the situation at hand. This was a cool scenario and he was sure that it was also worth it for a Disney production scene if he tried.

With pride, he put himself between the light and the dragon who was coming with a speed that he didn't remember ever seeing her being able to reach, but didn't have time to think about that, she was coming for him.

Roman put himself on guard and charged with a war shout to the dragon too.

Once both were just in front of each, Roman tried slashing while the dragon blocked with her claws. The struggle between them lasted a bit like that until the dragon managed to take Roman by surprise and scratched him on his neck, pushing him back.

Roman groaned with shut down eyes, putting his hand on his neck from the pain. Surprisingly, there was no blood, no physical symptoms aside from the pain, and he had to notice fast when he saw the dragon charging towards the star again.

Roman yelped, and ignored his struggles trying to go as fast as he could towards the dragon-

'You are losing'

A voice echoed in his mind, taking Roman off guard. This voice didn't sound like anyone in particular,at least not someone he could recognise… he just waved it off.

Losing? No, he wasn't. The prince shook his head, and charged once more. He would prove it otherwise.

The dragon noticed Roman behind him, and looked back with a ball of fire charging in her mouth as a last warning for Roman to realize he had to dodge.

It was a struggle, once again, but this time the adrenaline took control and Roman dodged the next attacks rolling in the air with an experience that he knew he didn't have in reality, like he was flying and had been for the entirety of his life.

Welp, that's how dreams worked, he thought. He wasn't surprised that Remus' would work the same.

Speaking of witch-

Suddenly, probably because of his thoughts, the Dragon's laugh started sounding like Remus'. His brother's laugh followed by a high pitched screech coming from the dragon echoed in Roman's mind, and it was making it even more frustrating than it had to be, making his ears sore.

He shutted his eyes down against his will and tapped his ears as he groaned-

'You are a FAILURE.'

Roman flinched.

Among the noises, the voice that spoke to him before came back with more strength.

For a moment, Roman struggled, feeling how the words affected the warm feeling of pride that was still burning in his chest. It didn't hurt, but for a tiny bit he felt a pang of pain as the words settled in his mind.

He wasn't a failure.

Ignoring his clear uneasiness and how he felt like the darkness around him moved, Roman charged towards the dragon again. He had determination in his eyes, his internal fire pushing him to keep fighting and trying to muffle the laughs that kept getting stronger. He put his attention on the tiny star, and pushed harder.

He had someone to protect. Recognition and pride were things that he needed as Thomas' ego but this star needed a savior, and there was him.

'Are you sure about that?'

The voice asked, mockingly, and distracted Roman for a second, only a second.

When he looked down he regretted doing so.

In a way that couldn't be possible, the dragon was way too close to the star now. Roman widened his eyes and ignored everything as he charged again.

Or tried to.

'Not too fast.'

The darkness suddenly trapped him from behind and took him by surprise as he tried to fight it. The thick black darkness pushed him into it like tentacles that reminded him of his brother's obsession with octopuses. They were strong, and coming out from them didn't seem like an easy task, so he better got himself out there quick, or else-

Suddenly, one of the tentacles moved from his back.

'How could they trust you if you can't even do this right?'

Roman felt a sharp , luckily quick pain in his back to his stomach, like he had been stabbed, pain that didn't give him time to scream about it after he was left on the floor with a gasp.

He crouched down, breathing accelerated at the dull pain. He felt kinda grateful that it didn't hurt as much as it probably should, but when he checked down his torso, the wet he could swear he felt wasn't there. For a second he even expected a hole-

He weakly shook his head and closed his eyes.

A nightmare, Roman thought This is just a nightmare, and blood and all that is not your thing, you know this, you are doing this right, helping, finally, they– he kept trying to reassure himself when the voice pushed back again with force

'How could YOU expect them to trust you like this?'

Roman looked up.

From the darkness, one of the tentacles moved up and Roman could swear that it was a perfect black representation of Deceit's face. The prince looked confusedly at it for a second and then gasped, as the fire that once helped as determination, now started to burn him from the inside.

"Between you and Remus, I wouldn't know who the evil twin is"

Deceit

Roman groaned.

He wasn't evil. He knew that-

"I'm the most important Side here!"

Logan

WRONG! Roman thought, but couldn't find in himself to speak.

The fire kept growing in him, keeping him in place because of the pain. He felt tears coming down his cheeks as the darkness left him on the floor, action he barely noticed in the shaky, vulnerable way he was kneeling down on the floor. The fire just kept growing.

‘’Roman, you get super insecure for some reason and when you do, the work suffers’’

Virgil

Roman heard the voices but not quite acknowledged them, pushed them down. The fire kept growing and as the teary mess he was he didn't know how to make the feelings stop.

Insecure.

Virgil, the one that was always in fear, always the one that Roman thought held Thomas back, called him, actual ego,…insecure.

‘How could you expect them to feel secure around you if you are insecure?’

Roman looked down.

He knew better now. Knew better from Virgil, knew better than to take everything Virgil said seriously or in a negative way when he didn't mean it, like it was in this case, learnt to respect him. To see pass his role, to see what his intention was.

But..the feelings, even if they felt distant, they were real. Every time he tried to push them down, they didn't do anything but push back up.

He knew he could mess up sometimes, he did more than he would like to admit, like-

'Did you really do the right thing?'

Ah, yes. What were nightmares about, again?

Weaknesses.

His first thought was the wedding. The feelings there, the weight, the doubt, the thought of 'I don't want to be here.' that weightened him.

Roman hated this. He hated the regret that embraced him when thinking about it, but…he was the one who chose that, right? That was…right, even if it hurt… it was the right thing.

Right..?

He… he deserved it, he gave his word, he–

"Roman, it's ok"

Suddenly a voice that he couldn't recognise snapped him out of his thoughts. For a moment, everything was silent, Roman widened his eyes in shock, unable to react until the voice sounded again.

"We l—- y—u..."

...

Wait what was that-?

Who in the–?

The voice was distant, glitched, so blurry that for a second he thought his mind made it up trying to get himself out of the torture this nightmare was making him deal with, but the fact that he kept trying to understand what he heard didn't allow to forget, pushing forward to focus. He could even feel how his body weirdly calmed down at it–

This thought, even if it wasn't on purpose, seemed to also help to distract his mind enough to stop the memories. The fire didn't hurt anymore, the darkness around seemed to stop trying to reach for him, but he felt weak, tired, a deafening sensation embracing his whole body, kind of dizzy and cold now that the fire seemed to have ceased. He posed his hand on his neck and flinched slightly at the faint pain he felt from the attack he received earlier.

Speaking of which.

Further from where he remembered he was, he barely could catch the light that he swore to protect. He felt the adrenaline rush in his chest again, but found out his mind was working faster than his body.

Damnit.

He focused, and feeling a weird numbness in his chest, he slowly stood up. But to his surprise ,the next thing he knew was that he was standing next to the star. Star that, differently from what he remembered, was weak, a barely there light blue light that shily glowed through Roman.

Roman, disoriented at first, gulped, and uncomfortably looked behind him expecting the Dragon to keep looking for him, but found her crumbled on the floor, without making a sound.

Did he…did he do that–? When-

The star slightly glowing harder for a moment called his attention back to it. Like Roman, it also seemed… tired? More seconds passed by, and Roman could swear he saw how it was slowly also getting smaller. Roman rushed,reaching out, and gently put his hands below it, so it could stay there.

The star seemed to oblige, as it stayed there, without moving. Roman took the opportunity to kneel and take a closer look to it when… it also seemed to be losing color.

Roman felt a weird urge of emotions flowing through him again. A small drop coming from his eyes again, this time with no apparent reason.

Why was he crying?

Why did he feel so…sad? Was that it?

He knew better than to question nightmares, especially if prompted by Remus but- what was all of this?? Did it even have a meaning?

Maybe–

As he processed, he noticed the star was losing form. Little particles floating around Roman's arms like glitter and embraced him like they were tiny stars, and Roman was like that one Disney short, a kid in the space trying to reach the stars in the darkness of the night.

'Woah, Yeah uh…Logan would love this' he thought with a tiny smile as he sighed at the sight of it. That stoic perfectionist logic side could have some appreciation for these things, especially when he didn't have other ways to experience it. He…was able to understand that what Roman did, even if it was different…was also important… that it wasn't nonsense. The thought helped to distract Roman a bit from the hopelessness he was starting to feel.

It was not right for him to feel hopeless…it didn't feel right.

He looked down at his hands again, where the tiny last glow stayed.

Roman looked at it, and sniffled against his will. He gently took one hand out and pointed to the star, hesitantly. The light didn't move, and for the last seconds, it was like time stopped.

Darkness embraced him again after the last touch, and this time, he didn't do anything to fight it.

…

The next thing he knew was that he slowly, so slowly, opened his eyes and was found by many tiny familiar figures on the ceiling, and posters on the walls.

He was in his room.

He didn't even feel like moving. He looked up, trying to catch what had just happened.

After a bit, he looked aside, to his bedside table. There was the book he remembered reading last night, and above it, his notebook. He always left it there, always waiting and prepared for him waking up with ideas or for when he came to bed and had the 3 am thoughts, always getting inspired in the least preferable moments-.

This dream seemed like one of those, the ones that he would feel the urge and need to write down for Thomas, especially when it was about the first nightmare he felt he was part of.

A nightmare that … seemed to be about him. About Roman. This was his nightmare, that was…without saying. He just…didn't know what the heck did it mean, it felt more than just- his insecurities.

He focused on the notebook…actually unfocused.

He just felt…so weird.

He kept staring at the pencil next to it too.

He just-

He was…this was not good.

Something was missing.

He looked back to the ceiling, processing the feeling.

The fire on his chest… he didn't feel it. He couldn't feel it. What- why–?

…

Oh.

Wait a second-

This was- the feeling of the lack of a feeling he well knew pushed him forward. That had a name, and it was–

Oh.

Holy. Sh—cheezits and bagels.

Roman Sanders, Sir Sing A Lot, Thomas's creativity, hopes and dreams, his ego…was feeling…

Unmotivated.

The royal pain he couldn't help to feel and killed him from the inside out. He lost his damn sparkle.

He had no motivation.

He couldn't do his job. Couldn't help Thomas-

That was definitely not good.

~*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.~

***

-Author's note: HELLO THERE!! phew I hope you enjoyed this! This is a story that has been in my mind for quite a long time now- I'm a really slow cook, bear with me-- XD started around last year and keeps kicking- 🤣 I have a lot of plans for this! I wouldn't want them to simply get lost in my documents haha 😂

The gist of it, to give a better understanding of this part in particular, is a Side being forgotten. Roman doesn't know said Side in this story, it's like he never met him... Why could that be? Any thoughts? :)

Anyway! Thanks for your time and reading! Would love to know what you guys think! :D might see more about this thing around in another time, consuming my mind at the time XD See you!

And special thanks to @fandombead for helping me post this, I'm just a little guy that wants to make stories once in a blue moon and doesn't know how this works BWAHA ty fren

-Pili F.

***

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the-aerispace · 20 days ago

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HEAR ME OUT!!!!!!!!

Dungeon meshi Sanders sides fic.... what if what if what if....

"I-is this cannibalism??" Watching Janus, a half-naga eat a basilisk.

"So," Remus starts. "Which one of your parents fucked a snake?"

Janus blinks, and sighs. This will be a long fucking journey.

There's also the idea to make Janus the mad mage?? Or make the Dragon Witch the mad mage? Making creativitwins the descendants of the golden kindgom?? Possibilities are ENDLESS

#dunmeshi #dungeon meshi #delicious in dungeon #dungeons and dragons #janus sanders #sanders sides fanfiction #roman sanders #virgil sanders #logan sanders #sanders sides #sasi #thomas sanders #remus sanders #ao3 here i come #ao3 fanfic #Let me fucking have this #Tagging this was a nightmare but #Idk if I'll have the motivation but I really want to #ae's musings

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anartisticexpression · 2 years ago

Photo

The Sides of Sanders and their dragon counterparts!

Ko-fi / Red Bubble / Commissions

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oliviaischillin1204 · 1 month ago

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to defeat a dragon (tickletober day 14- "lose")

word count: 1,667 words

this was an old wip that i repurposed for tickletober! it also ended up being in the same verse as day 7 for no reason other than the vibes. wahoo!

"Had enough, puny knight?"

The Knight of Gold looked up from his position kneeling in the dirt. "By the love of my sword, you shall never defeat me!"

"It looks like I already have," the Dragon Snake hissed in return. The vile creature was crouching on the edge of the cliff just above the knight, glaring down with his deadly gaze. "It's only a matter of time before my partner has defeated your fellow knight--"

"I'm not dead yet!" the Knight of Hearts chirped from across the battlefield, although admittedly his prospects looked grim: he was perched atop the Wheel of Safety, standing tall with his sword raised in defense against the Dragon Beast, who was circling the wheel and occasionally attacking with his own weapon among his villainous cackles of laughter.

The Knight of Gold grimaced. Not dead yet, but stuck. Which meant it was up to him to rescue the dragons' treasure.

He must've given away his train of thought, eyes flicking to the high tower for just a moment, but it was enough to make the Dragon Snake give a cocky laugh.

"Oh, yes, you shriveling fool," he said. "It looks like the poor princes will have to stay here forever!"

On cue, the Dark Prince clanged his own weapon against the slats of his cage. The Wise Prince was silent-- probably reading his book again, which was kinda annoying since the Knights were literally fighting to the death to save him from the Dragons, and the least he could do was pay attention to the battle, but whatever. The Knight of Gold was too busy being an awesome hero to worry about spoilsport Princes.

He flinched as the Dragon Snake slammed his stick-- sword, or, uh, maybe it was a staff, he couldn't remember-- against the ground.

"Enough talk!" he yelled. "Rise and fight!"

Right! Fight! The Knight of Gold rose and rolled his shoulders once before lunging forward. He took a swipe at the Dragon Snake, making him stumble back with a yelp. Step, retreat, step, step, retreat-- he landed a few good blows, but the Dragon Snake was fast, and eventually the two of them were nearly face to face as they pressed their swords against each other.

"Any... last... words?" the Knight of Gold grunted. The Dragon Snake hissed.

"You haven't won yet, puny knight!"

"Oh, yeah? What are you gonna do about it?"

This was it. The Knight of Gold knew the battle was soon to be over. He'd beat the Dragon Snake, then he'd help slay the Dragon Beast, and save the princes, and-

Suddenly the Dragon Snake shot a claw out towards the Knight of Gold's stomach. He gasped, bracing for impact... but he wasn't prepared for a flurry of scratches all along his midsection instead.

The Knight of Golden yelped, then squeaked, the fell unceremoniously onto his butt in the dirt.

"Ha!" said the Dragon Snake, standing tall above the fallen knight. "Is that all it takes to be a knight?"

"Janus!" Roman whined, color rushing to his cheeks. "Stop cheating!"

From behind them, the noise from the battle between the Knight of Hearts and the Dragon Prince came to an abrupt halt.

"How's he cheating?" Patton asked, hopping off the tire swing and letting the end of his pool noodle sword fall to the ground. Remus continued to harmlessly whack at it with his own pool noodle, but he, too, had halted the game to watch the interaction between his brother and Janus.

"I'm not cheating," Janus replied. "I beat Roman, and he's being a baby about it."

"I'm not a baby!" Roman protested, crossing his arms as he glowered up at Janus. "You're just a cheater."

"So every time I win, it's cheating?"

"No, only when you cheat, duh."

"How did he cheat, dummy?" Remus asked again. From above them, he could see Virgil and even Logan peeking between the wooden slats of their tree house to investigate what was going on. Roman clamped his mouth shut.

"Doesn't matter," he mumbled, staring at the dirt and hoping his cheeks weren't too dark. "Just... don't do it again."

Janus replied with a smile that made Roman's stomach flip-flop with... some weird feeling, he'll think about it later. Instead, he needed to focus on what was happening right now-- like how Janus was suddenly taking another step towards him.

"Wait!" he blurted, scrambling to his feet. "Wait, wait, we're not playing like that--"

"Why not?" Janus asked. Roman stepped to his right, and Janus mirrored him. He stepped do his left, and again he was blocked.

Janus' smile was bright and a little bit sharp. "Better run, puny knight, or I'll sink my claws into you!"

With that, he lunged forward, tackling Roman back to the ground, and Roman barely had a second to register that his shirt definitely was gonna get mud stained again before Janus' hands were digging into his stomach.

His laughter exploded out of him-- that loud, squawky laugh that made him feel hot all over-- but it was hard to think about being embarrassed when Janus was freaking tickling him!

"Nohohoho!" he begged-- no, commanded, because Knights didn't beg. "Stohohohop!"

He could hear Remus and Patton laughing somewhere behind them, and even though he couldn't see or hear Virgil or Logan, he knew they were probably laughing too. He wanted to be angry, but he couldn't find it in himself to yell at them when Janus haphazardly shoved his hands directly under Roman's arms.

"Na-hahahaha!" he gasped as he shuffled backwards on the ground. "Hehehehelp! Come on, Janus, ahahaha! You jerk-- help mehehe!"

Remus cackled louder. "No, this is great! Let's torture him to death, Janny!"

"Wait!"

Remus looked back at Patton, confused by his outburst. "What?"

"I think..." Patton whispered loudly, his hand on his chest. "The Knight of Hearts... is getting a second wind!"

And with that, he lunged at Remus with a wide smile, grabbing him around the waist and immediately digging into his sides.

"Ah-hahahaha!" Remus squawked. He tried to fall to his knees, but Patton only followed him down. "Patton!"

"There is no Patton here, there is only the Knight of Hearts!" Patton cheered. "Tickle tickle, evil dragon!"

The backyard was taken over by Remus' screams and squawks, but Roman could only barely hear them over his own laughter. He tried to wrestle Janus off of him but there was nothing he could do, especially when Janus shoved his thumbs under Roman's arms and wiggled them mercilessly.

"Na-ahahahahahaha!" Roman wailed. He was giggling and laughing and squealing and he couldn't stop for anything. This was not how the game was supposed to go! He was meant to be a brave knight, not a dork getting tickled to death!

"Hehehehelp!"

But no help was coming. Patton was too caught up with tickling Remus, and Janus wasn't showing mercy anytime soon. This is it. The Knight of Hearts was about to be slain on the battlefield.

Until suddenly Janus's face disappeared from above Roman; he blinked up at the sudden sunlight that blinded his vision, but all he could hear was Janus' "oof", a flurry of fabric, a lot of weird hissing noises, and finally-- Janus' laughter.

"You ssssssssstupidhead!"

Roman, catching his breath, pushed himself up from the dirt and looked to the side. There was Janus, lying on his back just like Roman had been-- only now, there was someone sitting on top of him, holding onto Janus' sides for dear life as the older boy screamed and kicked.

"Dark Prince!" Roman gasped. "What are you doing out of your tower?"

Virgil glared at him. "Saving your life, dummy." He punctuated this with another scrabble at Janus' sides, no matter how loud his older brother screamed.

"Virgil! I'm gonnahahaha-- gonna tell Mom! Stohohohohop!"

"Surrender!" Virgil-- the Dark Prince-- yelled in defiance at the Dragon Snake. Roman watched, unable to do anything to help as he skillfully took down the evil enemy. "Say mercy!"

He pressed his thumbs into Janus' ribs, and Janus squealed, scrabbling against the ground desperately.

"Okayokayokayokahahahay! I give up! We give uhuhuhup!"

And just like that, it was over-- Janus taking heaving breaths, his hands clenched onto Virgil's wrists. Virgil didn't move yet, though, continuing to crouch over Janus with his hands pressed against his sides.

"Do you swear you're not gonna get me back?" he said. "Or Roman?"

Janus huffed. "I said I give up, jerkface."

Virgil tazed his sides again, sending Janus back into gasping laughter. "Swear it!"

"I swear! I swear, I give uhuhup! Stop I swear I won't get you back plehehehease!"

Finally Virgil relented, rolling off his brother and landing in the dirt next to Roman.

"Are you okay?" he asked, eyeing the child still laying on the ground. "Are you dead?"

Roman flushed a little and pushed himself onto his knees. "I'm okay.

"I'm not," Janus snapped, shooting his brother a masterful scowl. Virgil gave him an identical look.

"You baby," he said. "I barely even tickled you! Roman lasted way longer than you!"

"So did I!" The three of them looked up to see Remus and Patton standing above them, arms around each other's shoulders like they hadn't just been enemies locked in fearsome battle. "You're really ticklish, Janny."

"Shut up!" he hissed. "Everyone's a jerkface today."

"What did Logan do?" Patton asked. All five of them looked up to the jungle gym, where their friend's face was still buried in his book.

He must've sensed them looking at him, because he suddenly looked up. "Oh. Are you finally done?"

No one spoke. Roman and Virgil looked at each other. Patton giggled. Janus stood up, and Remus cracked his knuckles.

Bless Logan's heart; he put the pieces together just a bit too slowly.

"Wait-- wait! Not all at once, not all at ohohohohonce!"

Well, if Logan wasn't paying attention to the game before, he certainly was now. Looks like the Wise Prince wasn't so wise after all.

#my posts #my writing #tickling #tickle fic #sanders sides tickling #lee!roman #ler!janus #lee!remus #ler!patton #lee!janus #ler!virgil #to defeat a dragon #tickletober 2024 #augtickletober2024 #tt24 #drafted on september 1 2021

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gavotte-paradisio · 2 months ago

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"Random thought that I came up with in my head: An au where the dark sides are raised by the dragon witch, who's a terrible parent but is trying her best."

July 1, 2019

#quotev archive #quotev #sanders sides #the dark sides #the others #virgil sanders #janus sanders #remus sanders #virgil sanders sides #janus sanders sides #remus sanders sides #dragon witch

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ironwoman359 · 3 months ago

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Our Own Villain Ch. 9

Prologue, Ch.1, Ch.2, Ch.3, Ch.4, Ch.5, Ch.6, Ch.7, Ch.8, Ch.9, Ch.10

Word Count: 5,570

Chapter Summary: Everything Roman has worked for threatens to crumble around him as Logan puts his plan to save his friends into motion.

Pairings: Logicality, could be read as romantic or platonic, platonic Moxiety

Chapter Warnings: Anxiety, guilt, isolation and anger, overworking, fantasy violence, just generally unhealthy thought patterns going on for Roman.

Check the reblogs for a link to read on AO3!

AN: IT'S HERE! As always, I cannot post this story without acknowledging the incredible @theinvisiblespoon, who helped me edit this and resulted in over 400 extra words of flavor for this chapter. They're the absolute best! Also, shout out to @teacupfulofstarshine for helping me get over some writers block with a few of these passages, she's an absolute darling <3

— — —

“I’m sorry, Your Highness.”

The captain of the guard bowed low before Roman, a faint tremor in his posture betraying his nerves.

“I’ve had my men up all night, searching the city from top to bottom,” the captain continued, “but there’s been no sign of the fugitive.”

The man kept his head low, glancing tentatively up at Roman who paced back and forth across the floor of the throne room, arms crossed across his chest. He barely noticed the captain’s discomfort, lost entirely in thought.

Where could Logan be? There was no way he could have left the Imagination, so how had the guards not found him yet? Roman supposed he could have snuck out of the city somehow, but there was nothing for him out there but wilderness, and it was cruel, even for Logan, to run away without even trying to rescue Patton and Virgil. No, he had to be hidden somewhere, somewhere that he thought was clever enough to escape Roman’s notice.

“Keep searching, Captain,” he ordered. “He must be somewhere in the city. Perhaps he has enlisted the help of one of the townspeople and is being kept out of sight. Issue a decree that anyone found to be harboring criminals will face charges of treason. I want every-”

“Your Highness!” a new guard burst into the room, and Roman spun around with a glare.

“What is it now? Are you men so utterly incompetent that you’re incapable of following the most simple of commands? I said that I was not to be disturbed!”

“It’s just, your highness,” the guard stammered, cowering in the face of Roman’s rage. “There’s an attack at the gates–”

“What on earth makes you think I care about the gates right now?” Roman exclaimed. “There is a traitor loose in the city, corrupting the people and conspiring against me. Nothing at the gates could possibly be more important than finding–”

A roar pierced the air, and Roman went rigid, his hand automatically gripping the hilt of his sword.

“Dragon Witch,” he hissed, and the guard nodded frantically.

“She was spotted flying down from the mountains, your highness. The gate guard sent me to warn of her attack.”

Roman slammed his fist down on the table.

“Of course she would strike now, when we are distracted and unprepared. Captain, send criers through the streets to order your men to mobilize at the main gate. And bring me my armor! We must not let her take the city!”

The soldiers scrambled from the room, and for a moment, Roman stood alone. After everything he’d done, everything he’d worked for, he now was faced with this. His oldest and strongest enemy, coming to challenge him when he was at his weakest. Did she think he would simply cave before her might? He was Roman, Prince of the Imagination, Thomas’s Hero, the last bastion of goodness left for the entire mindscape. He wouldn’t be overthrown by a mere construct. He laughed to himself. No one was around to hear it.

The next several minutes were a flurry of activity, and soon Roman was on his horse, his silver breastplate glinting in the first red rays of sunrise poking over the horizon as he cantered through the city streets.

The thought of Logan somehow escaping the city during the battle briefly crossed his mind, but he pushed the idea away. They would find the logical side eventually; after all, there was nowhere for him to run.

Outside the city wall, the Dragon Witch let out another roar, and Roman urged his horse forward, drawing his sword.

Right now, Logan didn’t matter.

What did matter was making sure that his realm did not fall. He was Roman, Creativity, creator of this realm and Prince of the mindscape. He was a hero, the only hero Thomas had left after all the others had fallen prey to the wicked machinations of those accursed Dark Sides.

And nothing, not the others, not the Dragon Witch, nothing, was going to stand in his way.

— — —

Screams rang out through the streets as another of the Dragon Witch’s roars shook the city. Seth pressed himself up against the wall of the alleyway, peering out from behind a corner. The palace drawbridge lowered and Prince Roman and his guards in full armor appeared. The thunder of the horse’s hooves on the cobblestone and with the blare of the soldiers’ warhorns echoed all around Seth, and he ducked out of the way as the battalion rode past his hiding spot.

The market was quickly emptying as merchants and shoppers fled the streets, and he intended to take full advantage of the chaos. Now that he had secured a place by the square, he hoped to pilfer enough foodstuffs from the merchants to be set for at least a week. Seth waited until the last terrified shopkeeper had disappeared from sight, then he crept out from the alleyway into the square.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed his shoulder and roughly pulled him back into the shadows. He spun with a cry, his fists up in an instant ready to strike, but he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw who had attacked him.

“Maddie?”

“We had a deal, Seth,” the girl said, glaring at him.

“But I saw you…the Arachnids…”

“Show me the servant��s entrance, please,” Maddie interrupted, folding her arms.

“What, now? We’re in the middle of a siege! Come on, let’s comb through the market and see if we can get any–”

“Seth, if you don’t show me that servant’s entrance right now, I will ensure that you spend every waking moment for the rest of your life fighting tooth and nail for that market spot. I said it was yours once you showed me the entrance, and unless you take me right this second–”

“Okay, okay!” Seth said, raising his hands in surrender. “Sheesh, Maddie, what’s gotten into you?”

“It is vitally important that I gain access to the palace. The reason why doesn’t concern you,” Maddie said as Seth led her up the street towards the palace walls.

Luckily, the entire city guard had ridden out to the gates with the Prince to fight the Dragon Witch, and the barred gate where Seth met his contact on the palace staff stood unprotected.

“There’s a door on the other side of the garden that the servants use,” he said, pointing through the courtyard. “Though I don’t know why that would matter to you, it’s not like you could get in. There are easier places to steal food from, especially since the city is under attack right now?”

Maddie didn’t bother answering, she just pushed past him and pulled experimentally on the gate. It was locked and didn’t budge, but she didn’t seem put off by that fact.

“Thank you, Seth. Our deal is complete. The spot by the market is yours. Now, I suggest you take cover; as you so aptly pointed out, the city is under attack.”

“What about you?” Seth asked.

“I have something I need to do,” Maddie answered, pulling a small glass vial from her dress pocket. She uncorked the bottle and poured a few drops of its contents on the gate’s lock, and Seth stared in awe as the metal melted away like ice on a summer’s day.

“Now go,” Maddie ordered. “I’ll explain later…if we ever manage to resolve this whole ordeal.”

Part of Seth wanted to stay and see what on earth the girl was up to, but just then the very sky seemed to explode, bright purple lightning and blue streaks of light flashing all around as the ground shook. Seth became overwhelmed with nausea, and he fell to his knees, retching. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Maddie still standing, seemingly unaffected by whatever strange spell had caused the world to fall apart around them. He tried to call out to her, but she slipped through the gate and disappeared into the palace grounds before he could force his mouth to form words.

As soon as it began, the lightning stopped, and after a moment of gasping, Seth regained his bearings. He looked at the open palace gate, but then another roar rang out, and he turned and ran back through the city towards his new market spot. Maybe after he scavenged what food he could, he’d risk the gangs and take cover in the sewers until this was all over. Whatever had Maddie acting all weird, he didn’t want to know about it. He’d have a hard enough time surviving the Red Sun as it was.

The Dragon Witch’s roar echoed through the streets and Seth stumbled as he skidded around a corner.

When would this madness end?

— — —

“Prince Roman!” the Dragon Witch called out, her voice reverberating through the city. “Show yourself and face me!”

She hurled a spell at the city walls, and they buckled and folded beneath the weight of her magic. She stretched out her wings and roared, the very sound of her fury sending a squad of guards who were approaching to draw back in fear. A few of the gate guards tried to stand their ground, but she batted them away easily with a swing of her tail.

Slowly, she stalked into the city, giving the peasants in the streets plenty of time to run screaming from her mighty presence. The slower and more dramatic she was in her approach, the more time it would give Prince Roman to muster his entire guard and ride out to face her.

After a few minutes of her lazy destruction, the sound of battle horns rang out in the distance, and the Dragon Witch smiled. Looking up, she caught sight of Prince Roman’s black and red banner fluttering in the breeze, signaling that her quarry was coming within her grasp.

“Ready, little hero?” she asked quietly. She felt the grip of the human sitting on her back tighten.

“As I’ll ever be,” came the answer, and the Dragon Witch chuckled.

“Don’t worry,” she reassured. “Just stick to the script we practiced and you’ll be fine.”

Prince Roman came into view then, and she had to give him credit where it was due. Even in this mindset, when the very fabric of her reality was changed because of his pain and anger and frustration, he was personally leading the charge against her. How many tyrant kings would send their armies out to die in a battle that they wouldn’t dare to risk themselves?

He wants so badly to be good, she thought as the prince stared up at her, his face twisted in a look of disgust. Not just good. Perfect. If only he could see the truth.

“So it comes down to this!” Roman called up in a loud, clear voice. “I have to admit, I didn’t think you capable of this level of betrayal, Logan.”

He spat the name out like it was poison, and the Dragon Witch felt her passenger tense.

You can do this, little hero, she thought. Save us all.

“Prince Roman!” Logan’s voice was firm and unwavering, and the Dragon Witch couldn’t help the small swell of pride she felt at the sound.

“Release your prisoners and surrender, or see your realm destroyed!”

— — —

Roman stared up in disbelief as the Dragon Witch sneered down at him. Of all the possible outcomes, of all the ways that he’d expected a confrontation with the last remaining free Light Side to go, he’d never expected this.

Logan sat on the Dragon Witch’s back, staring down at Roman with a determined expression on his face. He looked almost comical, in his simple polo shirt, tie, and glasses while riding atop such a majestic and mighty beast, but Roman wasn’t in the mood to find humor in the situation.

“Release my prisoners?” Roman repeated. “And why, exactly, would I do that?”

“Because if you don’t, we will destroy the realm,” Logan repeated simply.

“If you think that I and my forces won’t be able to defeat the Dragon Witch before she destroys the city, let alone the realm, then you’re sorely mistaken.”

Logan frowned, tilting his head.

“You would risk your entire world’s existence, rather than accept defeat?”

“I’ve not been defeated yet!” Roman shot back. “Besides, I made this world. If it is destroyed, then I will simply make it again. Your threat is meaningless!”

“And the lives of the people living in it?” Logan demanded. “Are they meaningless too?”

Roman opened his mouth to reply, but before he could speak, the world split apart. Purple lightning filled the sky, and he let out a cry of anguish as a wave of emotion slammed into the walls he’d placed up between his realm and Thomas.

There was the same fear and anxiety from Virgil as there had been before, but there was also sadness, doubt, and guilt, manifesting in bright blue flashes throughout the storm. The guilt was somehow even more debilitating than the fear, and as he fought to keep the emotions from reaching Thomas, he could feel his grip on the realm itself slipping.

No… he thought, desperately trying to hold on to his composure. No, no, no…

— — —

It has to be perfect. If it’s not perfect, then I’m just a fraud, I’ve basically been lying to my fans this entire time, and I can’t let that be true, I won’t let them down like that, it has to be perfect.

Thomas let out a gasp as his creative flow slammed to a halt, replaced by an overwhelming sense of dread.

“It will be good enough,” he said aloud to his empty room, but the swirling thoughts of dread and despair only grew stronger.

But what if it isn’t? What if you’ll never make anything worth watching again and all the sacrifices you’ve made, all the friendships you’ve harmed along the way, all of that will have been for nothing? Your dreams will never come true and your friends will all abandon you. You’ve never really been that good a person anyway, why on earth would they stay? You’ll end up all alone for the rest of your life, and it will be your fault.

“What is going on?”

Thomas started to reach out for his sides, but he wasn’t sure who exactly to summon. Who could be responsible for this type of thinking? He’d never felt like this before, as though his thoughts were being forcibly pulled out of his control, except…

Except for that time when Virgil had ducked out. He hadn’t been as aware of it, but his thoughts had felt just like this: foreign and strange and fully divorced from what he was directly experiencing.

Thomas frowned, and decided that the best thing to do would be to summon all the sides together. He started to reach out with his mind, but before he could contact anyone specific, somebody appeared in the corner of his vision.

Unfortunately, it was the last side he wanted to see.

“Janus?” he asked. “What are you doing? What’s going on?”

“I think you should take a break, Thomas,” Janus said quietly. “Put the laptop away and try to get some rest.”

“What? No,” Thomas said, shaking his head. “I need to keep working on this, it’s my best idea ever. It could completely change the course of my creative career, I just have to get these feelings under control and then I’ll–”

“Thomas,” Janus interrupted sharply. “You’ve been working for fifteen hours straight.”

Thomas glanced at the time on his laptop and was startled to see that Janus was right; it was nearly three in the morning, and he couldn’t recall the last time he’d stopped to take a break.

“You need to stop,” Janus said, his voice firm. “Your magnum opus can wait until tomorrow.”

“I guess…” Thomas said slowly. “But what’s going on with the others? I felt…strange, just now.”

“Get some sleep,” Janus said. “If everything goes right, you’ll feel better in the morning.”

Thomas frowned, giving Janus a skeptical look.

“Is that my Deceitful side lying to me, or is it the truth?”

“At the end of the day, does that really matter?” Janus asked with a tight smile. “Either way, you need the rest.”

“I suppose,” Thomas said, stifling a yawn even as he spoke.

Janus watched as he closed his laptop and got up, a strange expression on his face. Thomas tried not to pay him much attention, quickly swapping his jeans out for some pajama pants before falling into bed.

“Summon the others tomorrow,” Janus said as Thomas closed his eyes. “By then, they should have things straightened out.”

Thomas was already drifting off, and he felt more than heard Janus’s final words.

“I hope.”

— — —

Roman was losing his control. He looked up, and he could see the imagination around him beginning to crumble away. He noticed bits and pieces from his room, the bright white of his bedspread, the shine of the lights around his mirror, the blood red of his sash where he’d thrown it on the floor. The fantasy around him– his soldiers, his city, the Dragon Witch, even Logan himself– it was all flickering in and out of existence as the mental barrage continued.

“NO!”

Roman stopped trying to channel the emotions away and instead closed his eyes and pushed, forcing his mental walls back up, stronger and better than before.

“You won’t take this from me!”

He opened his eyes, only to see that the outburst of energy had reverted the Dragon Witch into her human form. She stood before him, leaning heavily against her magic staff, Logan now on his hands and knees at her side. Roman drew his sword, pointing it at the pair with a shaking hand.

“You. Can’t. Take this from me!”

Logan’s entire body was trembling, but he looked up and met Roman’s gaze, glaring at him even as a tear rolled down his cheek.

“You’re insane,” he whispered.

Roman let out a bitter, hollow laugh.

“If you just now figured that out, then you’re…” he trailed off, looking down at the shaking side.

He had begun to fade away as Roman’s control over the imagination loosened, but he was fully solid again now. His breath was ragged and his skin was pale, as though he’d just attempted to run a marathon while running a fever.

“You’re…not part of this realm,” Roman said slowly. “You’re part of Thomas. You shouldn’t have disappeared.”

Logan still looked ill, but at Roman’s words he pushed himself to his feet.

“What was that word he used?” Logan asked, looking over at the Dragon Witch, and a small, triumphant smile spread across his face as he looked back to Roman. “Checkmate.”

Roman’s eyes widened, then the Dragon Witch lashed out suddenly, her staff glowing as she swung it towards him in a wide arc. Roman threw his sword up and blocked her strike, and her spell went ricocheting off through the city.

For a moment, all his attention was on the fight, on blocking and parrying and counter attacking, but he’d sparred with the Dragon Witch dozens of times, in both of her forms. By the third strike from the witch, he’d settled into a familiar rhythm, and turned his attention back to Logan…or what he’d thought was Logan.

“Who are you?” he shrieked. “You can’t be him! He shouldn’t have disappeared! So you must be–”

“Meaningless?” asked a voice he’d never heard before.

Roman pushed the Dragon Witch away and took a step back, staring in disbelief as Logan’s form began to flicker, just like the rest of the imagination had, just like all the other characters Roman had designed to fill his vast fantasy world had done when he was losing his control over the scene. But he was back in control now; this shifting had another cause. He’d barely had enough time to form the thought before the image of Logan was gone.

In his place stood a barefoot girl in a tattered dress, her hair a wild mass of curls and her fists clenched at her sides. She looked somehow…familiar, and Roman tilted his head.

“Do I know you?”

The girl didn’t answer, but she didn’t need to. He remembered now, for the longer he looked at her the more he recognized where she’d come from. When he’d first created the town surrounding the castle, he’d decided it needed citizens to make it feel more lived in. He’d made soldiers, peasants, shopkeepers, tradesmen and artisans, and then, to make the place more realistic, he’d made a handful of street urchins.

He’d scarcely given the creations any thought after forming them and setting them loose in the city, and why would he? They weren’t meant to be important; the girl had no family, no backstory, no real role to play in his realm. So how on earth had she ended up here, fighting alongside the Dragon Witch and impersonating one of Thomas’s sides?

She looked up at him and he could see fear in her eyes, but there was a quiet strength too. The girl folded her arms and took a step towards him, and the Dragon Witch held out an arm, as if to shield her.

“Careful, little hero,”she murmured, and Roman looked back and forth between the two in disbelief. The girl ignored the witch and took another step, looking up at Roman with a determined expression.

“Like I said,” she repeated. “Checkmate.”

Roman turned and ran, knowing even as he did so that he’d never make it back to the palace in time.

Stupid, stupid, stupid, he should have known something was wrong! Why else would the Dragon Witch attack now when she’d never attacked during the Red Sun before? Why else, except to draw him and all his guards away from the palace, leaving the castle vulnerable to an unseen enemy, a more crafty enemy…

A shadow fell over him, and he glanced up as he ran to see the witch in her dragon form flying along above him, the little girl on her back once more. She quickly overtook him, and landed in the market square, spreading her wings out and blocking his path to the castle.

“You’re too late, Prince Roman,” the Dragon Witch declared.

“I’ve defeated you before,” Roman cried, shifting into a fighting stance. “I can defeat you again!”

“You can defeat me all you like,” the Dragon Witch replied, her mocking voice echoing his own inner thoughts. “But you’ll never be able to outsmart him.”

— — —

Logan had no idea what was causing Roman’s realm to fall apart, but he was exceptionally grateful for it.

The few remaining guards inside the castle were too overwhelmed by the effects of their very fabric of reality unraveling around them to notice a small girl running through the corridors searching for the dungeons.

He found the correct door after only a few minutes of searching; Roman’s penchant for the dramatic meant the one door that very obviously looked as though it led to a dungeon did in fact lead to a dungeon, and he pulled the vial of acid the Dragon Witch had given him out of his pocket. Technically, the Dragon Witch had described the liquid inside as a magical potion that would dissolve any substance besides its own container, but the ‘potion’ was functionally identical to a freakishly effective vial of hydrochloric acid.

Tomato, Solanum lycopersicum, Logan thought as he poured a few drops onto the door handle of the dungeon. After a moment of sizzling, the lock dissolved away and he pushed the door open.

The room was dark, faint torchlight flickering ominously off the stone walls. Six cells lined the room, and the two at the end of the row were occupied.

“Patton?” he called. “Virgil?”

The prisoners looked up, and relief flooded through him when he saw their faces.

“Maddie?” Patton cried, jumping to his feet. “What are you doing here?”

“Who is that?” Virgil whispered to Patton, but Logan ignored the question.

“Not Maddie,” he said breathlessly. “It’s me.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out another vial, downing its contents in a single gulp. A strange tingling sensation enveloped his body, and he had to admit that in this case, he didn’t have a scientific explanation for the shapeshifting potion that the Dragon Witch had given him.

“Logan?” Virgil asked in disbelief.

“Watch your hands,” Logan said, stepping forward to pour the remainder of the acid on the locks on their cell doors.

“I knew you’d figure something out,” Patton said, his eyes shining with pride. “I just knew it.”

In a moment, both cells were open, and Patton rushed out, pulling Logan and Virgil both into a bone crushing hug. For once, Logan didn’t think, didn’t analyze or worry, he just wrapped his arms around his friends and let himself slump into them.

They were all safe, and they were all together. For one, shining moment, that was all that mattered.

“Are the two of you alright?” he asked when he eventually pulled back. “You’re not injured, are you?”

Patton shook his head.

“We’re fine, Logan,” he said, and Virgil nodded in agreement.

“My head will be a bit sore for a few days, but I’ll live. What about you? We heard the Dragon Witch attacking…”

“I’m fine,” Logan reassured him. “In fact, the Dragon Witch attack is my own doing.”

“What?” Virgil exclaimed.

“The potion…” Patton said, his eyes widening. “That’s where you got that potion that made you look like Maddie, isn’t it?”

“Technically, the potion made me look like myself, as it was an antidote to the spell that she cast to make me look like Maddie–”

“Hang on, where is Maddie?” Patton interrupted.

“She’s with the Dragon Witch…pretending to be me.” Patton’s jaw dropped open, and Logan grimaced. “I know! I tried to tell her that it would be safer if she stayed behind in the cave, but she insisted. She said that the distraction would hold Roman’s attention for longer if I appeared to be aiding the Dragon Witch directly in her assault.”

“Back up,” Virgil said, holding up his hands. “You let the Dragon Witch cast a spell on you?”

“She is Roman’s biggest villain,” Logan said simply. “Asking her to help us defeat him was the only logical choice left.”

“To be fair,” Patton admitted, “It’s not that much crazier than what we tried to do.”

Logan frowned.

“What you tried to do?”

“We’ll tell you on the way out,” Virgil said. “Right now, we should move, before the guards come back.”

Logan nodded, and the three turned and began making their way out of the dungeon.

“Remember what happened on the bridge?” Patton asked as they climbed the stairs, and Logan nodded. “Well, I had a feeling that it wasn’t Roman who caused it…I thought it might have been Virgil. And it turns out I was right!”

“You caused the Imagination to fall apart?” Logan asked, looking back at Virgil. “How?”

Virgil shrugged.

“I’m not exactly sure. I had an overload of anxiety, but something was blocking me from channeling it away the way I normally do.”

“Roman’s cutting off our access to Thomas,” Patton added. “I think that’s also why we can’t sink out. Reach out for him now; you can’t feel him, can you?”

They’d reached the top of the stairs, and Logan paused. Normally, he was at least subconsciously aware of whatever external stimuli Thomas was experiencing, so that he could filter through the information and assist with decision making. He’d been so distracted by the quest to save Virgil and Patton that he hadn’t even noticed the lack of that awareness.

“I can’t,” he said aloud, and Patton nodded.

“I can’t either. Whatever Roman’s done, it’s making him our only access point to Thomas. So we’ve been waiting for the right time to try overloading that access point.”

“When we heard the Dragon Witch attacking, we thought it would be our best shot,” Virgil said. “And for a minute there I thought we would actually do it, but just before we could break through, the wall went back up again. Somehow, Roman was still stronger than the two of us put together.”

“Perhaps…” Logan mused. “But nonetheless, the two of you did have a strong effect on the Imagination. I wonder…would it be successful if all three of us tried to breach that barrier?”

As they spoke, Logan led them outside and through the palace gardens to the servants’ gate in the side of the wall. The three stepped out onto the street, and Virgil looked around hesitantly.

“So…now what?” he asked.

Logan opened his mouth to answer, but was cut off by a familiar roar sounding from the market square. He grimaced, and looked back at his companions.

“Our original plan was to try and sneak out of the city. But simply escaping from Roman isn’t actually going to solve this problem.”

Patton glanced at Virgil, and at a small tilt of the anxious side’s head, he locked eyes with Logan and nodded.

“You’re right,” he said firmly. “This whole thing happened because we’ve been ignoring this problem. The only way we’re going to bring an end to this is if we confront it head on.”

“Guess we’ll get a chance to test out your hypothesis, Logan,” Virgil added as they hurried towards the square.

“If it comes to that,” Logan agreed. “I do still hope that we’ll be able to use reason with Roman, though after all we’ve done to reach this point, I don’t know if that will be effective.”

“Probably not,” Patton said quietly, and Logan glanced at him.

Patton met his eyes for a moment, and Logan was surprised at the amount of melancholy he saw there. All through their ordeal, Patton had maintained a level of optimism that bordered on recklessness. As much as Logan had found that to be unrealistic, he also had relied on it for strength more than he’d realized. That Roman had somehow managed to dampen that was almost more offensive than the fact that he’d locked Patton and Virgil up.

Before Logan could think of an appropriate response, the trio rounded the corner into the square, then immediately skidded to a halt. Patton let out a gasp and Virgil swore under his breath; all Logan could do was stand there blankly and take in the scene.

Guards in full regalia lined the square, blocking off every possible avenue of escape. The Dragon Witch lay sprawled out on the ground, a deep wound in her side causing her breath to come in quick, pained gasps.

Roman stood over her fallen body, and the red sunlight shining down on his silver breastplate made it look as if he was bathed in blood. His face was twisted in a terrible mix of fury and triumph, and he brandished his sword at his defeated foe, as though daring her to stand and challenge him again.

She was in her dragon form, but as her wound spilled blood down onto the cobblestones, that body fizzled away, revealing the humanoid woman Logan had first met outside her lair. Her robes were torn and bloody and her face was deathly pale, but her eyes still blazed with a defiant fire as she stared up at her opponent.

“Any final words, Witch?” Roman asked in a steely voice.

The Dragon Witch opened her mouth, but before she could speak, a high pitched cry rang out through the square.

“Stay back!”

Maddie darted forward, putting herself between Roman and the witch’s body, gripping Dragon Witch’s staff tightly in both hands. The thing was nearly twice her height and she brandished it clumsily, but Roman still paused in his advance.

“Out of my way, girl,” he said, but Maddie shook her head.

“I said back!” she insisted, shaking the staff towards him.

“Run along now, little hero,” the Dragon Witch coughed, reaching weakly towards the girl as if to pull her back. “Your part is done.”

Maddie shook her head again, and Roman frowned.

“I won’t tell you again. Stand. Down,” he said coldly.

Maddie shifted her feet and gripped the staff more tightly, but she did not move, and Roman sighed, raising his sword.

“Enough!” Logan shouted before he could bring the blade down.

Roman looked up, his eyes flashing with hatred as they landed on his three fellow sides. Logan’s confidence faltered as the full force of that glare landed on him and he swallowed, his throat suddenly dry.

What if it doesn’t work? What if it’s not enough? I have no more tricks up my sleeve…if this plan fails, then what are we going to do?

Logan’s racing thoughts were pulled to a stop with a sudden, simple touch. He looked down and saw that Patton had stepped forward and intertwined their fingers. The moral side glanced up at him and nodded, a slight waver in his smile the only sign betraying his own nerves. Virgil stepped up beside them, locking eyes with Logan as he wordlessly took Patton’s other hand. An understanding passed between them, and Logan smiled, giving Patton’s hand an encouraging squeeze. He looked back to the square, and took a deep breath.“Enough, Roman!” he repeated, his voice steady and strong. “This ends now!”

— — —

AN: So I know that LAST time I updated I said I wanted to update the fic more and then almost 5 years passed, but I can say with confidence that THIS YEAR chapter 10 at least will be released, if not the entire end of the fic (I won't actually know whether the conclusion takes one or two chapters to write until I, you know, write it, but it's outlined, I promise). I've been trying to finish this story for so long, and I know it looks like nothing happened between these updates, but rest assured, I thought about this story and how much I wanted to finish it often during these past few years. Thank you so much for being patient with me, and thank you to anyone who still has stuck around to read this, even after all this time. I love each and every one of y'all <3

(If you were on the Our Own Villain taglist, I will be tagging you in a reblog, tagging has changed so much in four years that my taglist copy-paste doesn't even work anymore)

#our own villain #sanders sides #thomas sanders #tss #tss fic #tss fanfic #sanders sides fanfic #my writing #roman sanders #logan sanders #patton sanders #virgil sanders #janus sanders #the dragon witch #tss dragon witch

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blackoutbugza · 8 months ago

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an au idea i had

patton is a father of four. he’s a usual dad; funny, protective, into sports, sweet to everyone, doesn’t swear or the one that says “there’s no swearing in this household!” he is against alcohol, but he doesn’t confront logan about it harshly.

logan is his husband. he’s a wine and cig momma obviously. tired, never wearing efficient clothing, swears the most, and the kids call him mom because they already call patton dad. he drinks way too much but tries not to expose the kids to anything. he tries to be a good parent, but he’s still trying to get his life together.

roman and remus are their two oldest, being 15. roman has the passion and love of patton but the anger issues of logan. remus has the upbeat energy of patton, and the feral swearing of logan. the two always fight, but can get along when looking after the younger two.

virgil is the middle child, being 12. he gets really nervous around logan because of his aggression so he depends on roman and remus for a lot of things and was basically raised by them and patton. he nerds out to remus about a lot of things and plays a lot of games with roman.

emile is the youngest at 8 years old. he is a little quiet like logan but they’re both great listeners. he has patton’s happiness, loving personality, and smile. roman got him into disney and remus and virgil got him into cartoons. he looks up to his parents the most.

janus is logan’s brother and the kids’s uncle. he also drinks but not as much. he comes to visit every little while and knows a lot more than everyone. him and patton are friendly, and remus sees him like a third dad. janus’s daughter is named dolores, the dragon witch.

dolores is the kids’s cousin. they call her the dragon witch because of her obsession with the wings of fire series and the dark academia aesthetic. she’s very intelligent for her age, being 14 years old. she’s very close with the twins, mostly remus, since her and roman don’t get along too often.

#i might draw this later :)#sanders sides #ts sides #sasi #thomas sanders #patton sanders #logan sanders #roman sanders #remus sanders #creativitwins #virgil sanders #emile picani #janus sanders #dragon witch #original au #alternate universe #my au

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aideneverybody · 4 months ago

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OKAY

I’ve got a lot of fanart made so far for Sanders Sides and I’m making a lot more, but this is one of my favorites so far and my sister really likes it so I’m happy bc she really likes Janus :)

It’s Janus but in an outfit from a lil fanfic we made, he got a onesie because they dressed him up as the Dragon Witch

As you can see, he’s not very enthused.

And gee golly gosh it’s mg first time using my marker since a while, soooo, yeah.

Edited this to tag TS

( @thatsthat24 if you see this I’ll scream)

#thomas sanders #janus sanders #ts janus #dragon witch #sasi art #sasi #tss fanart #tss #hey it’s aideneverybody

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bee-moth-ack · 2 months ago

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Hear me out hear me out

Spider paranoia because its web affects every part if your life...

BUT Crow Anxiety/Virgil because while yes they're an omen of death that's not all they are and wings represent freedom

And both Virgil and Thomas are more free from the grips of fear and panic

#sander sides #virgil sanders #thomas sanders #I may be going crazy here #don't mind me #Anytime there is even a scrap of symbolism I start foaming at the mouth #Janus' whole thing has me going wild and I must do it to every other character #Just you wait #no one is safe #Dragon Roman is next and you can fight me on it

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anxiouslyfred · 2 years ago

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Riverside Cave

For mine and @lostcephalopods dragonau

Summary: The avali siblings explore a riverbank and Remus ends up jumping into a cave that happens to be a dragons home.

/\/\

“It's a cave!” Remus declared from the bank opposite Roman. He was halfway up a rocky outcrop, looking down at something out of view to Roman.

The river was a fair depth and width but easy enough for either of them to cross if they so desired. Roman didn't desire. Joining up with Remus was always a matter of coincidence more than deliberation and they'd doubtless be separating directions soon enough.

Still, he supposed, brothers can be good entertainment occasionally. “Dare you to explore it.” He goaded, carrying on further along the river.

With Remus readily jumping down into the cave, any reply given was too muffled and distorted by echoes for Roman to understand. He wasn't bothered or about to cross the river just to jump down a hole. It would mess up his feathers to enter a cave like that. Perhaps if he saw an area further along that could be a cave entrance he'd explore and see if it joined the one Remus was now doubtless deep within.

/\/\

If avali are skilled at anything, it's falling. Well, it's not, but Remus had worked hard to turn the slow flights they could achieve into an ability to end up every jump and fall stood firm upon whichever surface he reached.

That's why he so cheerfully exploring the cave by jumping feet first into it.

He could see the ledge, perhaps a boulder, not to far down and aimed for that, even while looking around curiously. It was already obviously more than just a cave and the ledge definitely wasn't just that.

This was a series of caves, deliberately extended and arranged into rooms and Remus was thrilled.

There had to be someone new to meet, who might just have the impressive anger at an unexpected intrusion he could argue with.

/\/\

“Why are you staring at the other riverbank?”

Roman startled at the words, looking around in confusion before spotting the white and black face peering up at him from the water. “Who are you?”

“Procyon guard of the river. Why are you staring at the other bank? What are you doing in my forest?” The procyon identified easily, but glared as he repeated the question.

“Another avali decided to explore a hole he declared is a cave. I'm trying to see where he'll come out again since he never leaves by the same entrance he goes in through.” Roman didn't hesitate to explain, stepping back when the procyon moved as if to reach for a weapon.

Instead he pushed himself out of the water, revealing a mer tail, and dagger tied to it that was being gripped but not drawn now as the tail was fully pulled from the water. “An avali tribe is moving into the forest?”

“Nope. We're on our own. Just exploring.” Roman quickly explained, noticing but not understanding when the procyon glanced back over the river.

After a few more suspicious looks over Roman, the procyon nodded. “The branch hanging low to the water just along there; that's where the other avali will come out opposite. Wait for him then leave our forest.” There was a threat in the words, but mostly it was concern of the dangers avali might bring to the area.

“He's not going to be rushing through there.” Roman stated, ruffling his feathers up in preparation for flight. “If you want us to leave, I better go find him.”

“If he has any brain, he'll be out here before -” The procyon's speech was cut off by a loud yell reverberating through the caves that Roman could hear was a lot larger than anything he'd been imagining. “Well, before that.”

Roman had taken off, almost in instinct. He might not hold any true care for his brother, no avali generally did for their family, but he did pride himself on rescuing people under attack “Who is that?” He demanded, yelling back to the procyon, before realising he was keeping pace with his flight, swimming below him.

“Local dragon. Is this other avali loud? I'd have thought he'd have had longer before getting discovered in there.” The procyon asked, seemingly unconcerned there was an annoyed dragon, in contrast to his preparation to fight at the thought of an avali tribe entering the forest.

/\/\

Now when talking about the many people of the world, Remus had been told not to disturb a large number of them. Avali are relatively small in comparison to most of them, and similar enough to some prey animals that they'd had conflicts with, and stolen technology from almost all the others.

Dragons particularly came with the warning, not to disturb them, to avoid entering their homes where possible and definitely never ever enter the room a dragon stores their hoard.

In jumping into this cave, he seemed to have managed to do all of those things. Granted he disturbed the dragon deliberately, recognising what was curled on a pile of blankets opposite and deciding to introduce himself.

What was odd however was that the dragon didn't immediately turn to face him.

“Sooo, should I just wait for you to wake up properly, or can you really not see?” He decided to ask a few moments after the roar that came from waking them up.

“What are you? Who let you into my caves?” The hiss came back, now directed just to the right of Remus. He wanted to reach out and make them face in the right direction, but was sure that would end up in his death and didn't feel like that right now.

Instead he folded his legs under himself to sit down. “I'm Remus, an avali. Roman's probably looking for your normal way in now, but we were just exploring and I saw a hole that looked like it could be a cave. Didn't realise it was what, a ventilation hole? For your home.”

“I suppose I can introduce myself too. I'm Janus, a river dragon.” They introduced, scenting the air again. “At least you're the only one in here currently. Don't avali have feathers?”

“Yes, I'm very good at controlling any time I fall or jump.” Remus happily replied. It wasn't the provoked yelling he'd been hoping for but befriending a dragon sounded marvellous too.

Janus shook their head. “I mean that you coming through a ventilation gap Thomas decided was needed is all well and good but if Roman tries to find the main entrance he'll get soaked on the way in.”

“Got any flour or other powders I can throw at him then? He'll look a mess for weeks if I manage it right.” The idea was simple but that made it all the more sweet to try.

“Then you'll leave?” Janus was clearly aiming to demand that but Remus decided it was an unwilling request.

He jumped up, patting the dragon's side as he wandered in the direction of a room that seemed similarly sparsely decorated, hoping if he could avoid finding their hoard, then he could remain longer. “Doesn't sound like you want that and I don't want to sooo, only far enough to get like a shelter in the woods made. Then I can come visit again tomorrow.”

“Sorry for intruding Janus.” The call came from a room a few away from the one Remus was walking through now, and had the dragon soon catching him up.

“If you've brought the other avali this one is speaking about, then it's a welcome intrusion. Perhaps both of them will be on their way now.” Janus called back, herding Remus to move faster with his tail.

Remus crossed his arms, pouting when he couldn't get over the tail to reach any of the flour he spotted in the kitchen. “No fair. I want to make friends with you, not get pushed out.”

“Do so outside of my cave then.” Janus nodded.

/\/\

Roman was only listening to the conversation echoing through the caves absently, more focused on the space he'd had to swim a short way to enter and on ensuring his feathers would dry smoothly as quickly as possible.

It was more comfortable than he'd expected a dragon's cave to be, and had furniture that he wouldn't have expected. Dragons never usually took on bipedal forms, so why were there tables and chairs clearly intended for bipedal people?

“Excuse me, please can my brother be forgiven for the intrusion. I know I was the one to dare him to explore the cave but we had no idea that this was your marvellous home.” He called out when he could see the dragon's snout.

Remus cackled in response. “I don't think Janus is too upset about it. They're just herding me out of here not yelling or even grumbling currently.”

“Then you should be counting yourself lucky that that's the case.” Roman scolded. He didn't waste time in grabbing Remus's arm with the intent to pull him out of there, but he couldn't prevent the yell Remus let out.

“I'll be seeing you tomorrow Jan-jan and Racoon-fish.”

Suddenly Roman didn't want his path with Remus to diverge, if only in order to stop the other from insulting someone who would kill him.

#dragonau #dragon janus #virgil sanders #roman sanders #remus sanders #janus sanders #avali remus #avali roman #procyon mer virgil

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pestilentbrood · 1 year ago

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i don't even need to explain my lore when i can just sum it up like this honestly

#almost posted it when i finished at 3am last night but decided against it SHGKJH #flight rising #yes this is in reference to that ghost stories dub clip #fr obelisk #fr nocturne #//dragon: nimbus #//dragon: jinx #//dragon: janus #//dragon: shesha #//dragon: daisura #//dragon: jekal #clamart #//clan: Acolytes of the Arcanist

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ryoko1232 · 10 months ago

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dark side's DnD session

Re:"Can I throw my axe at it?"

Jan:"Remus Virgil has the axe, not you."

Re:"Oh, so what do I have?"

Jan:"With your weapons still at the blacksmith? Only your burglar's pack and-"

Re:"Can I throw my burglar's pack at it?"

Jan:"..."

Re:":)"

Vi:"Can I hit him with my axe?"

Jan:"I'll allow it."

Re:"what did i do?"

#sanders sides #virgil sanders #remus sanders #janus sanders #dnd #dungeons and dragons

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dragonjanusisthebestjanus · 4 months ago

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The Two Princes, Part 1

Pairing: Janus x Logan x Remus (Intruloceit)

Twin princes Roman and Remus meet The Dragonlord

Trigger warnings: Fire, depictions of violence, Remus being Remus.

Read it on ao3 here!

Taglist: @prince-rowan-of-the-forest @sleepy-nova-tea

“Bet your horse can’t trot as fast as mine!”

Roman chuckled as his brother took off.

“When will he learn, Desponia? You’re much faster than your brother,” Roman snapped at the horse's regions. “And so am I!”

He took off after his brother with a hyah! Desponia trotted as fast as she could, easily following Remus and Airon’s tracks. He soon caught up with his brother, who smirked at him.

“Bet your horse can’t jump as high as mine!”

“What? The only thing to jump around here is- Remus!”

Remus smiled and took off for the ravine.

“By the gods. He’s going to kill himself one day.” Roman muttered.

He cantered after his brother, trying to conserve Desponia’s energy. They were on a three day hunting trip after all. By the time he made it to the ravine, Remus was already on the other side.

“Come on Ro-bro! I’ve got something to show you!”

Roman chuckled. “Ready, Desponia?”

The horse whinnied in response. Roman backtracked a few steps, and with a bounding leap he and Desponia cleared the ravine.

“Ha! Remus, you should really know by now, anything you can do, I can do better!”

“Even hunting a dragon?”

“Of course! Of course! One would have to leave The Dragonlands, though. And that hasn’t happened in over a thousand years!”

Remus smirked and dismounted his horse, Airon. Roman followed suit, and followed Remus a few steps into the forest.

“Explain that, then.”

Roman couldn’t believe what Remus was pointing to. It was indeed a large footprint, with three toes and three claws protruding from it. Could it be? Could a dragon be in Roman and Remus’s kingdom?

“It can’t be.”

Remus smiled and shrugged. “Only one way to find out.”

Roman nodded in agreement. The two princes returned to their horses, gathered their weapons, and slowly followed the tracks. The pair moved in sync, as they had so many times before. The Princes were experienced hunters, having trained since they were young.

Their Aunt Patty demanded it be so.

Roman and Remus’s parents were killed when they were very young. A group of assassins snuck into the castle on the eve of their fifth birthday. Their parents had thrown them a grand ball. Remus was sneaking around the castle, trying to avoid a punishment from their governess. Roman had been dancing with his mother in the ballroom.

His mother must’ve heard the pistol cock. He remembered her messing up the dance, putting herself in front of the assassin. The coward shot her in the back, causing her to fall on to Roman.

“Messalina!” Their father attempted to run to her aid, when another shot rang out, killing him as well.

Roman had clung to his mother as the ballroom erupted into chaos. He kept his eyes closed as people ran into him as they tried to escape.

“Mother? Mother, please wake up,” he begged. He knew she would know what to do. “Mother?”

Remus was wandering the halls, laughing as ‘Nanny Red’ chased him.

“Remus Capet! Your parents are waiting for you! You come put on your formal wear this instant!”

“No! I won’t and you can’t make me!”

Remus wishes he had. Then maybe he could’ve said goodbye.

He rapidly turned a corner and ran into a mage wearing a dark robe.

“Hey! Watch where you’re going Mister!”

The Mage chuckled. “Prince Remus, I presume?”

“What’s it to ya?”

The Mage started an incantation, and threw a blue glow in Remus's direction. Remus jumped out of the way, laughing.

“Ha ha ha! Can’t catch me! Can’t catch me!” The Prince avoided every spell the mage threw at him, before finally running off and hiding in a cupboard.

That’s where ‘Nanny Red’ found him hours later, after the entire staff had searched the castle high and low for him. And with the assassins in the wind, they had all feared the worst.

“What? What could I possibly have done this time?” Remus asked.

‘Nanny Red’ dragged him into his room, where he was met with a crying Roman.

“Ro-bro?”

“Re-Re!”

Roman had enveloped him in the tightest hug. They were locked in their room until the next night, when their Aunt Patty came to be their guardian and regent until they came of age.

A day that was quickly approaching.

“The tracks end a few feet away,” Remus whispered.

Roman nodded in response. He started to walk towards the end of the trail until he heard a CRACK!

The Princes stopped.

CRACK!

Roman pointed to their right, and Remus nodded. They slowly headed towards the noise, readying their weapons, when a loud roar echoed throughout the forest.

“WHO DARES ATTACK A DRAGON'S MATE!?!?”

Roman had enough foresight to grab his shield before the fire began. He and Remus hid behind it until the fire stopped.

“Well, guess we found the dragon!” Remus cackled.

“Janus! You should not have come this far from the cave!”

A mage with broken glasses, disheveled hair, and torn clothes appeared from the bushes.

A large, golden dragon landed next to him and nuzzled into his arms.

“I’m sorry my love, but I heard them following you and worried you might’ve been in danger.”

The mage chuckled. “Who, these two? Please! I could take them in my sleep.”

Roman made a noise of offense. “Excuse me? I am the crown Prince, Roman Capetian of Reston. I have training in all forms of combat. There is no way a scrawny mage like you could ever defeat me.”

The mage scoffs. “Scrawny? Please. A few months in this wilderness may have affected my body, but my mind is still brilliantly inact, your highness.” The mage whispered an incantation, which sent Remus flying into the air. He landed back next to Roman, laughing and clapping his hands.

“Again! Again!”

The mage rolled his eyes. “Come, Janus, you should not be this far from the cave.”

“Not so fast,” Roman pointed his sword at the mage. “Who are you, and why have you brought a dragon into my kingdom?”

The dragon growled and stepped between the mage and the sword.

“Janus,”

“Drop the sword, highness.” The dragon spat.

“Not until you leave.”

The dragon growled, and Roman drew back his sword.

“Janus!”

The dragon and the prince lunged for each other. The mage quickly cast a spell, causing the two to freeze.

“Whoah, how’d you do that ?” Remus asks.

“M-magic! Now, could you please, please get your brother away from Janus? I can’t hold this spell forever!”

Remus nodded and pulled the sword from his brother's hands. He took hold of Roman’s chest, and nodded to the mage. He released the spell, causing Roman to thrash in Remus’s arms, and the dragon flew into the trees.

“Remus! Unhand me this instant!”

“Sorry Ro-bro, no can do! I wanna find out more about these two hot tamales.” Remus winked at the mage as the dragon flew back to them.

“Logan, what was that for?” He growled.

The Mage, Logan, scoffed and crossed his arms. “I’d prefer it if we didn’t cause an all out war between Reston and the Dragonlands. Especially in the state we’re in.”

The dragon huffed and sat down next to Logan. “I suppose.”

Roman continued to struggle in Remus’s arms. “See? They’re giving up! Let me go!”

Remus rolled his eyes. “Roman, stop it. They’re clearly not here to cause us harm. Will you please stop?”

“Never! A true warrior never gives up!”

Remus gave a slow whistle, and soon their horses came galloping through the woods. The dragon snarled at them, but they remained unphased.

“Logan, would you be so kind as to get into the left saddlebag? There should be some rope in there we can-“

“Remus! How dare you! This is high treason! I’ll have you arrested!”

Remus rolled his eyes again. “Oh please. You and I both know I commit way more treasonous things than this daily, and you have yet to have me arrested.”

Logan graciously got the rope and tied an intricate knot around Roman’s wrists. Remus had the horses kneel and sat Roman atop of Desponia.

“Allow me to introduce us more properly. I am Remus Capet, Prince of Reston. This asshole is Crowned Prince Roman the Idiot. And you two,” Remus took Logan’s hand and kissed it. “Are two of the most beautiful creatures I’ve ever seen.” He offered his hand to Janus, but the dragon either didn’t know what it meant, or had no intention of giving him his hand. Or… claw? Remus wasn’t sure what the proper terminology was.

The mage and the dragon shared a look. A long look. Finally the mage turned back to Remus.

“Greetings, your highness. I am Logan Crofter, student at the Le Fey School of Magic. And this is Janus, The Dragonlord.”

Remus’s eyes widened. “The Dragonlord? As in, ruler of all dragons?”

The Dragon nods.

“No offense, but what the hell are you doing here? I mean, we’re very happy to have you, but, what the hell are you doing here?”

The dragon looked away from them. Logan sighed.

“We were attacked. Other dragons got… jealous of Janus and I’s relationship. We were driven out and Janus… Janus was wounded.”

The dragon growled.

“Well I’m sorry Janus! But it’s true! You’re injured and there isn’t a damn thing we can do about it because we lost The Fire Ruby!”

Janus growled even louder, then took flight. Logan sat on the ground and put his head in his hands.

“You ok Lolo?” Remus sat down next to the mage.

“Please, please don’t call me that.”

Remus nodded. “You alright, Logan?”

“Janus has been… difficult since his injury. Dragons are proud creatures. He doesn’t want to admit he needs help. I admit it… can be rather difficult. It took me almost failing a class to understand that…”

Remus chuckled. “Well, what if you’re the one who asks for help?”

“Wh-what?”

“Well, if Janus is as attached to you as I think he is, if you were to say, come back to the palace with me, wouldn’t he follow you?”

“Perhaps, but,”

“Well then,” Remus stood and offered Logan his hand. “I would like to officially invite you and the dragonlord to the palace. So we can help you, of course.”

“I…I accept.”

“Wonderful.” Remus winked as Logan accepted his hand. He helped the mage to his feet and led him over to the kneeling horses.

“No! Remus! I refuse to have them in my castle! Remus, are you even listening to me? Remus. Remus!”

…

Janus had begrudgingly come back to the palace with them. He refused Remus’s generous offer to allow Logan to ride with him, and instead insisted on flying the whole way there.

“Janus, this is ridiculous! You’re wasting an unnecessary amount of energy! Energy you could be preserving to help yourself heal.”

“You know that that’s impossible.” The Dragonlord growled.

“Since you refuse to let me try, I refuse to believe it.”

They made it back to the palace two days later.

“Your highnesses! Is everything alright? You weren’t expected back for- holy heracles! Is that a dragon?”

Several guards raised their weapons towards Janus, causing him to become startled. He hurried to stretch out his body, allowing himself to look bigger than he was.

“Ah! Janus!”

In his haste, Janus threw Logan off of his back. Remus leapt off of his horse, somersaulted, and managed to catch Logan in his arms.

“Oh, um, thank you, Remus.” Logan said. “You ah, you can put me down now.”

“Ugh, if I have to.”

“Let me GO!”

The guards managed to get some nets around Janus’s muzzle, and one began stabbing at his injured leg.

“No! Don’t hurt him! Please!” Logan tried grabbing at one of the guards, who easily shook him off.

“Enough! Guards, stop this!” Remus demanded.

The guards immediately stopped. Logan pushed past them and started pulling the nets off of Janus.

“Your highness,”

“As long as they’re here, no harm is to come to the mage OR the dragon! They are my official guests. Understood?”

“Yes, your highness.”

“Good. Do me a favor, deposit his royal asshole-iness to his chambers will you?” Remus handed the horse's reins to a guard, then ushered Logan and Janus past them all.

“Remus! They cannot stay here! Remus, Remus!!”

…

Remus opened the doors to an old barn.

“Nobody uses this place anymore. Not since…”

Not since his parents died.

“Anyways, you can stay here. Unless you’d prefer a small cramped room in the castle?”

Logan and Janus looked around.

“No. This will be just fine. Thank you, Remus.”

…

Remus didn’t hate to admit: Logan cleaned up very nicely. The Mage had been in and out of the castle over the past few days, haggling various things off of servants. Soap, hot water, food, and books just to name a few.

“You know, I can assign a servant to you. Might save you the trouble of having to haggle with everyone.”

The Mage looked up from a book he had been reading. “Oh, um, that would be nice, I suppose. Thank you, Remus.”

Remus’s heart fluttered every time Logan said his name.

Well, his heart and his dick.

It didn’t bother Remus that The Dragonlord already had a claim on Logan. If anything, that made him even more alluring. I mean, the literal ruler of dragons being your lover and protectorate? Where could Remus sign up for that?

“You know, I think that’s the third time this week I’ve seen you read that book.” Remus says.

Logan tucked his hair behind his ears and blushed.

“Yes, well, it’s, it’s the only one I’ve managed to get. I suppose I should return it-”

“Nonsense! If you like it, it’s yours! In fact, follow me! There’s something I should show you!”

Remus grabbed Logan’s hand and raced through the castle.

“Remus! How many times have I told you- no running in the castle!”

“Sorry Aunt Patty!” Remus hollered back.

“You-you have an Aunt Patty too?” Logan asked.

“Of course! I think everyone has an Aunt Patty, don’t they?”

Logan didn’t know how to respond. Remus continued running, cutting corners quickly and throwing open doors. Finally, he reached a large set of double doors, where he stopped.

“Oof. Well, ok, Logan. We’re here.” Remus turned the knob on one of the doors, and let Logan inside.

“Oh. My. Gods.”

After Remus caught his breath, he followed Logan into the castle library.

“I-I can’t believe it. I’ve never seen so many books in all of my life!” Logan looked around the room with wonder.

“Do you like it?” Remus asked.

“It’s…it’s wonderful!” Logan replied.

“Then it’s yours.”

“Wh-what?”

“It’s yours. Nobody ever comes in here. There’s honestly probably more cobwebs than books,”

Logan interrupted him with a kiss.

“I-I’m sorry. That was inappropriate. I just…no one has ever done something this nice for me. Well, except for Janus, I suppose. But, I mean, he hasn’t done anything like this!”

Remus grinned from ear to ear. “Logan,”

“I…I should go.”

“Logan,”

But the mage turned away, and left his book behind.

…

That night, Remus woke up with claws against his throat. He opened his eyes, to see bright green ones glaring back at him.

“How dare you.”

Remus made a small choking sound, despite Janus’s light grip. He supposed he could scream for the guards, or even grab his morningstar he stashed under the bed. But honestly? Remus wanted to see where this was going.

“How dare you corrupt my darling Logan? With your… flirtatious jokes and -and your books?” Janus hissed.

“I’m sorry. I-I didn’t mean to cause you-”

“Well you did! I mean, inviting him here? Giving him that library? Are you trying to steal him away from me?”

“What? No!”

Remus sat up, causing Janus to let go of his throat. He took in the dragon’s halfling form. He maintained his golden wings and tail, as well as some golden scales across his face. His nails were actually claws, and his bright green eyes were reminiscent of his dragon form.

He was gorgeous.

“Then… Are you using him to get to me? Lord some sort of power over me? I’ll have you know it won’t work. I’ll burn this entire castle to the ground before you can harm a single hair on his head!”

“No! Where the hell are you getting all of these ideas?”

Janus slid back a bit, giving Remus more space to sit up.

“I… I don’t understand. What is your game then, Prince?”

Remus laughed. “Game? There’s no game! I just think Logan’s hot as hell! I wanna blow his back out! And you,” Remus leaned forward and closed the space between them. “You could blow out mine.”

The dragon blushed. The dragon blushed! It was so cute! Remus couldn’t help but run his fingers over the now pink-tinted scales on Janus’s face. The dragon once again met his eyes, then quickly darted out of Remus’s bed and out the window. Remus huffed and laid back down.

“Damn it.”

…

Remus knocked on the barn doors the next morning.

“Hey can we, can we talk?”

Janus was still in his halfling form. He and Logan were sitting on a large pile of hay, bodies entangled as Logan read a book.

A new book. From the library.

“Yes of course, Remus. Come in.” Janus said.

“I just uh, I just want to apologize for yesterday. I’m sorry if I overstepped. With the library and the uh…”

He didn’t know what to call what transpired between him and Janus.

“Anyways, I uh, I wanted to know if there’s some way I can make it up to you? Not in a weird way, I mean. I uh, I should just leave you two alone. I’m sorry. I’ll go,”

Janus shot out of the hay, toppling over Logan. He grabbed Remus’s hand and whispered “don’t”.

“A little warning next time?” Logan stood up and brushed the hay off of him.

“I’m sorry darling. I just didn’t want him to walk away.” Janus took Remus’s face in his hands. “While your methods were… questionable, your intentions were… romantic?”

Logan scoffed. “The same could be said of you, Janus.”

“Yes yes, I suppose. The point is, Logan and I have discussed it. You’re a very powerful ally to have, Remus.” Janus pulled Remus in for a kiss. “And we want you to be with us.”

Remus didn’t know what to say.

“Remus? Are you alright?”

Remus pulled Logan into a kiss.

“I’m wonderful.”

…

Remus spent the next several days with his new lovers. For once, Roman was happy with them, as they somehow managed to keep Remus away from his usual hijinks.

“Come on come on come on come on! You have to see the vault! There’s some jewelry down there I cannot wait to-”

“Please, Remus, spare me the details.” Roman sighed. “Besides, this is NOT a pleasure visit, in any sense of the word. It’s our annual budget discussion with Aunt Patty. To section out how we’re going to spend all this gold to better the kingdom? You do realize this, right Remus?”

Remus didn’t seem to be listening. He was now entranced by Janus’s fully human green eyes. His wings had been too wide to fit down the stars. He held Remus’s hand as they descended down the stairs, pretending his right leg didn’t ache with every step.

Eventually, they reached the bottom of the long, winding staircase. Roman entered the code to the vault, and they all stepped inside.

“Oh, oh my.” Janus literally licked his lips at the sight of all the gold.

“Don’t worry, we don’t keep much of it. We re-distribute it as equally as we can back to every town in the kingdom, so they can spend it on what they need.” Remus said. “We find that the more improvements we make for our people, the more we get in return!”

Janus seemed to be unable to contain himself. “Remus,”

“ I don’t know what you’re thinking, but go for it Jannie!

Janus shifted into a smaller version of his dragon form, then literally dove into the large pile of gold.

“Ah yes. I suppose this is quite like your horde back home.” Logan says.

The dragon nods and dives back into the gold.

“Oh! Lolo! There’s a beautiful sapphire necklace around here somewhere. It’s going to look so good on you while you-”

“La la la la! No details Remus!” Roman called.

“Remus, what, what’s this?”

Logan held up a red gem. Janus stopped and stared at it.

“That? I think it’s a ruby from Frogtown. Hey! Frogtown borders the dragonlands doesn’t it? You can totally have it if you want it, Lolo.”

Logan nodded and turned to Janus. “Is it-”

Janus nods. “It’s lost its power, but it’s a-”

“Fire Ruby.” The two say in unison.

“Huh? What’s that?” Remus asks.

“I thought, I thought you had the last one?”

Janus shook his head. “Apparently not. Give it here.”

Logan tossed Janus the ruby. Janus dove back into the pile of gold, and re-emerged a moment later. He had attached the fire ruby to a golden chain, and was handing it to Remus.

“This is a Fire Ruby. It is the only thing powerful enough to heal a dragon. I reactivated it with my fire breath, and melted this chain to it.”

Logan helped Remus fasten the necklace around his neck.

“I want you to have it, Remus. To keep it safe. Can… Can you do this for me?”

Remus wiped away a few tears and held the necklace in his hands.

“Yeah, yeah I can do that, Jannie.”

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