This was inspired by @scenecipriano poston Roman being able to use the hurt incantation and Remus being able to use the healing incantation from Tangled so go check them out!
(I made art to go with this yay)
(let’s pretend the dark and light sides got along more or less at some point but had a fallout at some point)
How they figured out they could do the incantations :
Summary: A soft mountain of pillows and blankets, plenty of food, boxes of tissues, a few close friends, and plenty of unshed tears. Sounds like a recipe for a lovely evening in the library.
Word count: 2013
Note:reading on mobile can remove the paragraphing sometimes. Use desktop site or visit my Ao3 page if it bothers you as much as it bothers me.
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“Are you sure you want to sell all this, kid?” Pete questioned, eyeing the pile of electrical equipment, parts, a handheld gaming system and a chunky, old laptop. “Won’t you need most of this for work?”
“I need the money more.” The younger man snapped and pointed aggressively at each object, hood low and concealing his face. “The parts and tools are versatile, and any techie would be happy to use them. The laptop may be old, but it runs fine and is already wiped. Jesus, I even got the game working even though it only accepts one cartridge. There will be some nostalgic nerd willing to play only Pokémon blue for the rest of that systems little life. This is good stuff, Pete. What can you get me?”
Scratching his chin in thought, Pete tapped at his keyboard absently. In the few months Virgil had been around, he had never seen the man so desperate for money. The parts boxed up before him would certainly be useful for his other workers but would put Virgil out of commission.
“Kid, if you need the money, just pawn this stuff and come back la-“
“Take the hint, Pete, I’m not coming back.”
Glancing down at Virgil’s shaking hands, the older man sighed and opened the till to retrieve a collection of notes.
“If that’s the case, and this is farewell, take this.” He placed $500 in cash on the counter and slid it towards Virgil. “You do good work, kid. It’s a shame to see you go.”
“And it’s a shame you’re such a fucken cheapskate.”
It was meant to be an insult, but Pete saw a tear drip from his chin as he turned and stormed out with the money. It was nothing but an act to spare the kid from the pain of leaving. Grabbing the bag of items, Pete walked them out the back and placed them safely on a pawning shelf; writing a tag with Virgil’s name and only removing the gaming device to add to inventory. Despite what they had said, Pete wasn’t about to let Virgil throw everything away. He had been rough on him to teach him about the harshness of the industry, but he wasn’t completely heartless. He only hoped Virgil would find the strength to come back.
********************
The once full plates of food were emptier as the group leaned back on beanbags in the library reading area. Patton nestled against Roman’s chest, eyes red from crying after he had spoken about his guilt and thoughts of being a bad omen. The group had listened as Patton finished with the points Roman and Katie had given him the days prior, before Roman pulled him close to his chest.
Logan remained silent. He didn’t know how to respond to Patton’s admissions, all of which were predominantly his fault.
“You are nothing but a good omen to me.” Roman whispered, planting a kiss on his head and continuing to soothingly stroke his shoulder.
“A-agreed.” Logan added, clearing his throat as his voice broke slightly. “I’m sorry if my actions ever made you feel less than what you are worth, Patton. You know how much you mean to me, right?”
Patton shifted on Roman’s chest and extended his hand out for Logan to take.
“I know, Lo. I’ll try not to let myself forget again.”
Giving their hands a final squeeze, the pair let their hands drop so Patton could return to his comforting position against Roman’s chest.
“Perhaps, I should speak next,” Roman offered and looked to the others for their nod of approval.
“Okay, little brother. What do you need to get off your chest?”
“Not Patton, for one.” He joked, giving his partner a squeeze before his tone became surprisingly sombre. “Well… I think it is time I apologised to you…Katie.”
The eldest looked confused as Roman met her eye with a small smile, before he lowered his gaze to focus back on the man on his chest.
“What do you have to apologise for?”
“You said your biggest regret was being…overbearing and overprotective. That your biggest accomplishment over the last few months was not messaging us every few hours religiously, but… I’m the reason you started that in the first place.”
“Roman-”
“Katie.” Logan warned, fixing her with a stern look. “Remember the rules. We speak openly and without interruption.”
After mumbling an apology, Katie gestured for Roman to continue.
“I was meant to tell you about Sasha’s party, but because I didn’t end up going with Jason, I never told you. And, to make matters worse… after Jason’s death, I…” taking a shaky breath, Roman found Patton’s hand to grip for support. “I acted rashly and caused you more stress. I put myself in unnecessary danger on multiple occasions and if it wasn’t for Patton, I’d probably still be party hopping and getting in car wrecks. It was selfish of me and I’m sorry it took me so long to get my head out of my ass and treat you like a human. You’ve been there for me and I should have been there for you…I hope I can do better.”
The figurative weight slid off Roman’s chest as he looked up and saw his older sister smiling, a single tear trailing down her cheek.
“Thank you, Roman.” Swiping the tear away, Katie chuckled quietly to herself. “It really means a lot that you see me as a human.”
“Yeah, well, you’re not always a dragon witch.”
Logan felt his mind wandering; beginning to obsess over the message Virgil had sent. There was such an undertone of anger and he started going through what he’d done wrong. Part of him hoped it was referring to his offers of food and monetary support, which he could easily back away from. Thinking more logically, he figured it was probably his sudden obsession with over sharing and using an acquaintance as a sounding board instead of going to actual therapy. Regardless, he didn’t know for certain and it was eating him up inside.
“Logan?”
Ethan’s voice cut through Logan’s thoughts like a hot knife through butter and he suddenly registered the silence in the room. Everyone else had shared now; their grief and guilt finally aired fully and unapologetically. He was the only one still left to share and it dawned on him just how afraid he was to do as he had planned earlier that afternoon.
“Are you ready to share?” Patton gave his hand a comforting squeeze before allowing Logan to pull away and begin shuffling through his bag.
“I don’t know if I’m ready but,” he pulled his laptop out and began loading the files Virgil had saved, “it would be selfish of me to avoid this any longer.”
The group had a silent exchanged of concerned glances and then moved closer so they would be able to see the screen after Logan set it down. Only Logan spoke as the images from earlier began scrolling across the laptops screen.
“We all remember that night before the fire vividly, I’m sure. Roman was roaming the streets in ignorant bliss; E was enjoying the alcohol Oskar had provided; Katie finally had her feet up; and I was driving a sniffly Patton home. We all know our sides, but I’ve kept one side a secret this whole time, and for that…I am sorry.”
Hitting play on Jason’s video, Logan moved aside to ensure everyone had a clear view of the screen. Colour drained from Katie and Roman’s faces as Jason’s ghostly voice filled their ears and they saw what he had been like in his final moments of life. As the screen froze on Jason’s face the library was left in silence; tears leaving their traces on cheeks as they soaked into the fabric of clothes and blankets.
Katie’s cracked voice finally broke the silence; “why?”
When Logan didn’t respond, Katie tore her eyes away from the screen and looked at him with harsh sadness.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Moving closer, she placed her hands on Logan’s damp cheeks and forced his eyes to meet her own. “What purpose did hiding this serve?”
“Nothing.” Logan’s eyes were void orbs, eyes red and strangely dried. “It only supported my belief that I wasn’t good enough for him and I didn’t want to be convinced otherwise.”
“You stupid man.” Fresh tears welled in her eyes as she pulled Logan into a crushing embrace. “Stupid, bloody, idiot. You were more than enough for him, you fucking fool.”
Though he returned the hug, Logan’s eyes remained glassed until more limbs began joining the embrace. Each body of warmth a physical reminder that though he had lost the face on his computer screen, he still had the family surrounding him. Sobs soon shook his whole frame; eyes squeezing shut as raw emotion was set free and all secrets were finally laid out. No more words were needed now. They had each aired their truths and now clung to each other, raw from it all.
Katie felt Logan’s weight growing as his sobs slowed, and she smiled to herself at the idea of Jason watching over them now. Roman moved back when Patton shifted and wiped his face before gesturing toward the soft spaces they had each been sitting before. Acting on silent instruction, Roman helped change their circle of beanbags and pillows into one soft pile while the other two continued holding Logan’s quivering form.
“He’s asleep.” Ethan whispered in shock as the siblings helped guide Logan to a more comfortable position.
“I doubt he has really slept in a while, Ethan.”
Patton accepted the exhausted man from Roman and laid back on the makeshift bed, removing the other man’s glasses before he instinctively snuggled closer. “That’s it, Logie. Let us take care of you, now.”
“Good job, Pat’s.” Removing Patton’s own glasses, Roman kissed his forehead before settling down behind him.
Ethan watched the scene before him and felt a pang of jealousy at the closeness of the group before Katie’s hand was guiding him over to Logan’s other side. Laying the blankets over everyone, Katie finally took her place on the end; mentally saving the image of the group before relaxing back on the soft cushions. Sleep wouldn’t come easy as a sleepy sob escaped one of the others, but eventually the library was silent, and Katie drifted off in relative peace.
*********************
Leaning his aching body against the cold steel of the dumpster was a relief for a moment, but the cold was soon to leave Virgil shivering. Dried blood gripped his clothes, but he couldn’t bring himself to sneak into the library until a later hour; certain the meeting would still be going. Tears had blended with the blood on his face, making his skin stiff; the feeling uncomfortable as he grimaced and repositioned.
Virgil cursed his luck when the world spun again; head pounding harder than it had when Ben had shoved him into the wall. The $500 from earlier had done nothing to help his situation; only cemented the fact that he couldn’t stay any longer. After a visit to the bank he’d sent $150 to his aunt with an apology for being a burden; $250 had been sent to Ben and the final $100 would have hopefully gotten him through until he got a job in the next town.
“I’m such an idiot.”
Curling in on himself, Virgil sobbed. The memory of Ben and his friends faces haunted his mind as he drifted into a light exhausted sleep.
“Saw you found a new friend. Would hate for anything to happen to them in your absence.”
“I did work for him. That’s all.”
“Like we’d believe a fucken faggot like you.”
“It’s true! He’s just a clueless science geek with a busted computer.”
“I’ll believe it when I see it…I want my money by Monday. Got it?”
“That’s impossible. I’ve given you everythi-“
“If you enjoy pain, I’d keep up the excuses. Wouldn’t everyone love to know you’re the son of a murderer.”
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End Note
Hi…It’s me…Snail. No, I didn’t abandon this fic (even though it was getting pretty close to a year since I updated). Why was I gone so long? Simple…I couldn’t keep up the dangerous cycle of sitting at a computer for hours to do work and then following that up with hours of writing and editing. It really turned unhealthy. So, I switched gears a little. I started writing in smaller bursts (actually have up to chapter 14 done) but I held off from posting until I reached a point were I could post within a reasonable time so you weren’t left on a major cliff hanger as this fic reaches its designated end (which looks to be at around chapter 16 or 17).
Anyway, I haven’t been completely out of the story telling game. I got into Cosplay and telling stories through TikTok (It’s Emily’s -stopitanxiety- fault. I loved her writing and saw her TikTok’s and wanted to be part of that world). It’s a little harder to tell stories using audios and acting out everything, but it’s a lot more on your feet. I actually realised I have the clothes to Cosplay Virgil from this universe and I am considering just vibing as Virge or making it an actual TikTok au story. I dunno yet.
Back on topic, next chapter should be up by the end of the week (just gotta tweak some things that I ended up changing). Warning for the next chapter – alcohol abuse is entering the tags.
Thanks again for reading. Happy timezone, friend
Tag List (let me know if you want to be removed. It has been so long I understand if you don’t wanna hang around)
You Promised(oneshot - prinxiety angst/injury/near death)
Sides of a Hero(Completed Fic - sides are fusions of impulses and aspects of Thomas. Virgil has a depressing past that he is forced to face thanks to Deceit and Rage. Was canon compliant at the time of completion)
The Shield to your Sword(WIP - A fantasy/magic au - Prinxiety (Royal Roman and orphan Virgil - they’ll admit to their love eventually), Virgil angst, non binary, healer Logan, *spoiler* Patton)
This was inspired by @scenecipriano poston Roman being able to use the hurt incantation and Remus being able to use the healing incantation from Tangled so go check them out!
(I made art to go with this yay)
(let’s pretend the dark and light sides got along more or less at some point but had a fallout at some point)
How they figured out they could do the incantations :
When Tangled the Movie came out, Roman sang/hummed the healing incantation all the time. Although he tried to heal stuff while singing it, it never worked. Even in the imagination, it didn’t work for him.
One day, Roman and Remus fought in the common room(again) but Remus pushed Roman a little too hard and he ended up hitting the corner of the table, leaving a huge gash on his forehead.
While Remus can’t hurt the other sides, Roman and Remus can hurt each other (unless they’re in the imagination), although they heal faster than humans since they’re not real. So the cut was there to stay and needed to be treated.
So Roman is laying on the ground, groaning and tearing up in pain and Remus runs towards him and kneels besides him in a panic
Remus panicking and rambling all the worse possibilities of the cut getting infected and green with pus to the point where Roman will get really sick or maybe maggots will start to- suddenly that stupid song that Roman sings keeps playing in his head,(Probably because Roman was also panicking and wishing that the incantation would work and like I feel like any song stuck in your head would be in Remus’s domain)
Remus starts unconsciously singing it and unaware as the white streak in his hair and his eyes starts to glow.
Roman is watching in awe as his brother sings the incantation, glowing like Rapunzel’s hair in the movie, but instead of the hair doing the healing, Remus has a glowing aura that starts to heal Roman’s cut.
When Remus ends the incantation, he looks and see Roman looking at him with stars in his eyes and the cut gone with no scarring. (There’s still blood everywhere but that’s a different problem for later)
Roman is a little jealous but generally super excited that Remus can do the incantation starts to bombard Remus with questions and basically fanboying over the power while Remus is slightly confused but also glad that Roman is okay.
When they told the other sides, they didn’t believe the twins because “Surely Roman would be the one who can use healing/good magic, right?” So Remus did the first thing that came to mind.
STAB ROMAN IN THE GUT.
The others(Patton and Virgil) started to scream in worry but before they could try to help, Remus started to sing and glow. They were in awe (except Logan, who was confused as magic defied logic) as the stab wound healed itself and a pleasant feeling washed over them.
They praised Remus on his new found power (but Janus and Patton soon started to tell him that maybe he shouldn’t just stab Roman out of nowhere and give everyone a heart attack.)
Roman, on the other hand, found out he could do the hurt incantation in the worstpossible way
When Tangled the series showed the episode with the incantation, Remus found it so cool and would sing that and luckily for everyone, it didn’t work.
He even came up with a first verse to match the healing incantation.
Roman would start to sing the healing incantation for fun and Remus would sing the hurt incantation either after or they would alternate lines.
One day, everyone was hanging out in the common room to binge Tangled together, at the twins insistence. When Rapunzel started to say the hurt incantation the twins followed with her
It started out nice at the first time, but in the dark of the room no one noticed how Roman’s posture became stiff and how a tuft of dark hair that he usually keeps dyed, slowly turned pure black.
Everyone started to shiver and it got harder for them to breath. When the tv began to glitch out and eventually turned off completely, Remus stopped to look around confusingly.
The other sides were struggling to get up or even make a noise of pain. Well, all the sides but Roman whose eyes were black as night and a face with endless tears, staring blankly at the tv, singing the incantation and even using the lyrics Remus came up with.
Remus, who was barely being affected by Roman, tried to yell at him to stop but it was like Roman couldn’t even hear him or stop himself.
So Remus, thinking there was no other way, summoned his morningstar and knocked Roman out.
When Roman came to, he was horrified when the others told him what happened. Even though everyone told him it wasn’t his fault and Remus excitedly told him it’s cool how he could do it, Roman felt like a monster and a villain for hurting his friends and vowed to never sing that incantation again.
When they use the incantation:
Remus usually uses it when he and Roman play a little too rough and hurt one another and they don’t want to deal with the wounds healing on their own
Although he’ll start singing it randomly but because he can control it, he can stop whenever.
Roman NEVER uses it, even when he’s in imagination and surrounded by monsters
He’s too scared since he can’t stop once he starts singing.
But unconsciously, when he’s super stressed or thinking very negative thoughts, he’ll start to think of the song or mumble a couple words. To Roman, it’s like the magic is tempting him to use it and that’s what scares him out of the trance as soon as he feels the cold grasp of it.
Bonus: Post- POF episode because we need a little more angst in our lives
After Roman sunk out of the living room, he went to his room and fell to his knees sobbing.
He wasn’t Thomas’s hero, he made fun of Janus’s name because his own insecurities, stress and past hurt feelings made him scared to trust Janus again.
The thoughts of Patton being wrong about Janus, how no one listened to him when he tried to get Thomas to talk to Lee and Mary Lee before the wedding, how they only listened to Janus, who hasn’t been there all the time to help Thomas in the other videos, say the same things he tried to say and how he’ll always be wrong, no matter what side he chooses and Janus’s comment of him evil like Remus. They all hurt him. It wasn’t fair.
Roman heard knocking on the door but he wasn’t ready to face anyone yet so he fled to the imagination and into his castle, his safe haven.
With all the thoughts surrounding and engulfing him, Roman fell on his throne and started to mumble words that forced their way out of his throat. Not noticing that it was the hurt incantation.
Slowly but surely, he went from mumbling a few words to singing the whole song. The room got chillier and his eyes and tuft of hair turned black. Tendrils of darkness and decay spreading from his throne outward to the kingdom and all his creations.
But Roman didn’t care, the magic not only took away his control, it took away any thoughts he had and it was like he was nothing but an empty doll now, a broken record on repeat.
YOOO lets do a Roman angst trade. You hit me with Roman angst and I’ll hit you with Roman angst. Can be a headcannon, an angsty theory, or a angst moment or whatever. I don’t care the medium, just come at me with your worst and ill do my best to match or one-up you. please do it I am very bored.
HC: the more Roman feels like fake for pretending to be okay and happy for the other sides, the more he turns into a porcelain doll. For example, his skin starts to turn to porcelain after pretending to be happy with the decision with what happened in the courtroom. Eventually it goes away as Roman forgets the problem or starts to feel better.
Imagine if he never gets better after making the decision to go to the wedding, Remus making it worse when he hits Roman because he hits him causing cracks in his skin. After POF, he tries to stop the spread of the porcelain and goes to the others but he overhears them talking and laughing with each other without him and even an off hand comment/joke how it’s a little more peaceful without his dramatic inputs. So he tries to deal with it on his own, not noticing cracks blooming from his chest, and tries to change himself to be better for the other(making the porcelain spread faster).
The others eventually come to check on the creative side that’s been missing for weeks, only to find a smiling, cracked, unmoving, procelain prince with strings attached to his limbs, laying peacefully on the bed and never to move again.
,, Well, who do we have here ? Dear ol’ Virgil came to visit me ? “ - Mer!Deceit: Giant Moray Eel Mer!Virgil: Black cap basslet fish - ! CLICK FOR BETTER QUALITY PLEASE ! @officialwaterfairy ya like mermaids? - @thatsthat24
Roman: The Nutcracker Prince, Heir to Toyland. Wooden jointed doll, and captain of the guard. Not yet king. Thinks his twin is evil because the Mouse Queen is evil.
Remus: Mouse King of the Clockwork lands. Once a Nutcracker Prince too and Roman’s twin until the Mouse Queen tried to curse them both but Remus took both curses to spare Roman and was exiled when he began to change into a clockwork mouse. No memory of his twin but searching for him- kidnapping every king in the land to find him.
Logan: Ice King of the land of Snowflakes. Rules over ice cream, frosting and snow. Is kidnapped and is very affected about it like come on he has things to do!
Patton: Father Ginger. King of the gingerbreads and Cookiesland. Many many cookie children to adore. Very married to Logan. Went to look for him when he was kidnapped and oopsiedoodles now he’s imprisoned too.
Virgil: Sugarplum Faerie, King of Candies. First to Roman’s aid against the Mice. Not yet kidnapped, trying to infiltrate.
Janus: Drosselmeyer (but like only barely). Used to be King of Clockwork toys until he created the Mouse Witch who exiled him to the human world and used his powers to take over as queen. He in the human world is only able to repair both broken toys and clockwork for both sides. Rightful clockwork King.
Thomas: Takes the role of Clara (sort of). A teenager in this. An orphan, he has lived with Janus and helped him repair things. Has no idea he’s part of the toy and candy world. Dragged to the toy world with Janus and sent to help rescue his dad and the other kings from remus.
This drawing of Virgil and his cats represents my near future A fanart for amazing @kkachi35 ! She created Sanders sides AU where other sides are cats, except Virgil and Thomas and I think it’s just so adorable I couldn’t resist drawing some nice cuddle time Hope you like it! :,) @thatsthat24
