Brothers In More Than Name - Part 1 of 5

 Before we start, I do not own this fic. This is a fic a friend of mine gave me permission to post here, and I think it's pretty darn amazing. Enjoy!

Roman-centric fic (brotherly Remus, sympathetic Janus, post-POF, minor swearing)

That...that snake.

He just had to show up and ruin everything.

First he twisted Roman’s mind, and played with his already wounded ego.

Then he shows up and turns Roman into the villain.

But he’s not evil.

But is he really... good either?

Roman growled in frustration, taking another swing at the ground with his katana, really the only one that understood him (he tried not to connect it to Logan and his strange obsession with Crofter’s, because--no--he wasn’t emotionally attached to something like that). His usually pristine white uniform was now wrinkled and tainted brown with specks of dirt. The ground around him was strewn with gnashes in the formerly grassy field, leaving awkward dips in the ground.

Roman didn’t really know how long he had been here. The Imagination didn’t technically abide by normal time unless Roman made it so. He had come out here after Deceit had turned his family against him, twisted their minds. He sunk out with fury bubbling in his stomach, a searing blaze burning through his veins, and it hurt.

His one accomplishment, his one only pride was the fact that Thomas believed in him. A hero. Maybe he was lonely, and maybe he had crippling self-doubt, but it all changed whenever he saw Thomas smile his way, eyes sparkling with a purity so, so rare. But it was shown to Roman. And Roman would do anything in the world to keep that sparkle in Thomas’ eyes.

Well, he tried to do something.

Then Deceit came and made right, wrong. Made black, white. Switched the meaning of everything Roman knew, akin to flipping a turtle on its shell with no means of helping it back up. He didn’t know anything anymore, and he couldn’t seem to ask for help.

Maybe Roman had said one slightly rude thing to the snake, but his insult paled in comparison to everything Deceit put him through. And yet, everyone seemed to forget that Roman was the good one.

“I’m good,” Roman voiced softly, feeling the fire flare up again, this time coiling with some sense of desperation. “I’m good!” His voice crescendoed as he hacked at the ground, limbs shaking with...something bad but something he couldn’t help. It made his eyes burn, and as he slowly came to a stop the only fire that seemed to stay was in his eyes, and it fell out with the contradicting form of water (why is everything contradicting now?).

Roman stabbed his sword into the ground one last time, before using it to lower himself to the ground in a sobbing heap. His chest felt unbearably tight, like he couldn’t take in a single breath (he rarely felt this way, and even then, not to this extent) and his throat was closing up. He dug his fingernails into his palms, desperate to ground himself in some kind of way. But the endless thoughts of what just occurred kept coming and coming, swirling around like a dark storm on the horizon.

Why was he always like this? Why did he always have to feel so...bad? He used to be so confident, but he could barely imagine that now. He didn’t even know what happened to make everything change. Maybe all the times he was proven wrong, or those moments when, at the time felt like offhand, even funny comments, until he would stay up late realizing that he kept insulting and hurting the others in so many ways. Why? Because it made him feel better about himself? He’s so selfish.

Selfish and terrible, and-and...evil.

He’s not a good person.

Roman shuddered as more tears left burning trails on his cheeks, dripping onto the torn up ground. He frantically tried thinking of anything else, desperately wanting to escape the harsh words and panicked feeling. A voice close to Virgil’s broke through his storm thoughts, telling him to take deep breaths. In for four, hold for seven, out for eight. Repeat.

The roaring in his ears seemed to dull, but he was still left panting for air, tears still falling. He looked up, eyes focusing on a figure that seemed to appear from nowhere. He gasped in shock, immediately scrubbing the tears away from his face in an attempt to look slightly more...hero-ish.

Roman stood up shakily, pulling his katana out of the ground and taking a better look at the figure. They were in dark attire, face hidden by a dark shadow, really, their whole body seemed to be a dark shadow. Almost hazy. And their presence felt wrong.

“W-who are you?” Roman asked, still slightly breathless. He certainly didn’t summon this person, and he had no idea what they were capable of.

The cloaked figure didn’t answer, just reached a gloved hand under the folds of their cloak and unsheathing a glinting sword. Roman felt his heart begin to hammer again, and he swallowed thickly. He still felt weak, and his limbs were sore from hacking the ground, even more so, he was tired.

“Back away, f-fiend,” Roman attempted to threaten, lifting his katana to point at the mysterious person.

There was a short pause, and Roman almost thought they would turn away, when suddenly they shot forward, wisps of shadows licking the air behind them. Roman’s eyes widened with panic, and he quickly turned his katana, swinging it just as the other did. The two weapons hit with an echoing clang, and Roman stumbled backwards at the force. He took a deep breath, shocked at the sheer force behind the hit.

Almost immediately, the sword was back, nearly hitting Roman if he hadn’t side-stepped just in time. He narrowed his eyes, this time leaping forward and hitting the figure first. They didn’t even flinch, only meeting the hit midair and pushing Roman back. He found purchase in one of the nashes in the ground, desperately digging his foot in in an attempt to gain the upperhand.

The foe abruptly rolled to the side, causing Roman to fall forward, not expecting the force that was fighting against him to suddenly disappear. The prince rolled onto the ground, hearing footsteps rush forward, he turned as swiftly as possible and brought his katana up just in time to crash into the other’s blade. His chest heaved as he attempted to push the sword back, eyes widening as he saw how close it was to digging into his chest. He wouldn’t last long.

Instead, Roman brought up his foot and kicked the fiend in the groin (it was a dirty move, but he was desperate), who immediately stumbled backwards, surprisingly staying silent. Roman quickly stood up, trying to calm his racing heart. He just has to unsummon them, right? He lifted a hand, doing what he would usually do with a flick of his wrist, but the figure stayed. That...was weird. Why couldn’t he unsummon them?

He was jolted out of his thoughts when he heard the sword swing cleanly through the air, nearly slicing into him. Roman yelped, readjusting his grip on the katana handle before his enemy could get any closer. Okay, so he just had to defeat them himself. It was fine. He’s defeated plenty of villains before.

Roman rushed forward, swinging his legs out in an attempt to trip them, but they only jumped over. Taking advantage of Roman’s off-balanced position, the figure swung his sword. Roman felt pain sear across his chest, and he stumbled back before they could cut deeper. The sword had lightly sliced through his red sash, but luckily the cut was fairly shallow (though, it stretched across his whole chest, and it still hurt like hell). He lifted a hand to heal himself, but the pain didn’t seem to go away. Roman’s eyes widened, feeling more and more alarmed by the second. He saw a flash, and instinctually brought his katana up, barely managing to stop the foe’s blade from slicing into him. Despite being in clear view of the figure, he still couldn’t see past any shadows, he questioned if it was even a person at all.

Roman stepped back, swinging his katana to block any of it’s strikes. He kept being pushed back, and he could feel himself getting more and more exhausted. Their weapons collided once more, but this time the figure did a swift circling motion, easily throwing Roman’s blade right out of his hand. He watched with widened eyes as his precious katana flashed through the air, until it landed on the torn up ground with a muffled clatter. He brought his eyes back to his enemy just in time to see them unrelentlessly swinging their blade.

His foot fell into one rip in the ground, causing him to lose his balance and stumble to the dirt. His back hit the lumpy ground harshly, causing all air to escape his lunges. He desperately clawed for air, whilst continuing to try and back away. He coughed as air finally filtered through, tears blurring his vision. He was so tired, and even his adrenaline was seeping away. The shadow finally reached him, swinging his sword down. Roman attempted to shift away desperately, but the sword slashed cleanly into the muscle too close to his neck for his liking. He cried out his pain, bringing his hands up with a new kind of fear to try and push the sword away with everything he had. His hands wrapped around the blade, but the pain barely registered because he needed to take it out of his shoulder. It slowly kept getting pushed further and further, and all Roman could do was thrash and scream with pain.

There had to be some way out of this. He couldn’t call the others, as he went to a secluded part of the Imagination where no one could find him.

But the sword kept digging in, and he could feel the warm blood surfacing and bubbling around the cold metal. There had to be something.

Remus.

Roman suddenly realised. The two always had a special connection (they were twins after all), it was almost as if their minds were attached by a string. They could sense each other at times, feel emotions that weren’t exactly theirs, even shared thoughts when everything blurred too close together.

With one desperate attempt, Roman grabbed the string in his mind and pulled. He cried out Remus’ name, practically begging his brother to come save him.

The sword was suddenly wretched from Roman’s shoulder, droplets of blood flying with it. Roman gasped, vision whitening as his shoulder exploded with pain. He blinked back stars, seeing the hazy outline of the figure stand over him, lifting their sword high up into the air, preparing to swing down. He closed his eyes, letting the tears drip down his face as he welcomed the defeat.

He heard the sword slice down in one fell swoop, and his whole body tensed, but it was suddenly cut short.

Roman opened his eyes with shock, blinking a few times at the sight of Remus’ infamous morningstar right in front of his eyes. Roman shifted, noticing that it had been what stopped the sword, which instead was dug into the wooden handle. He would’ve cried at the sight, but well, he was already crying so there wasn’t much else to do.

“You interrupted my monster tournament for this douche?” Remus scoffed from above him, and Roman barely even registered what he said. “I’m surprised you couldn’t do it yourself, bro.”

He watched in shocked silence as Remus decided to focus on the fight, pushing his morningstar against the sword until the figure stepped back a view paces. His eyes could barely focus on the two as they practically danced, taking multiple swings at each other, sidestepping and ducking and jumping into the air. Remus finally seemed to gain the upperhand, swinging his morningstar and walloping the figure in the face. Instead of getting knocked to the ground, it merely dissipated into a thin smoke.

“Well that was fun,” Remus sauntered over to Roman, leaning over to look at him in the eyes. Roman just blinked, trying not to pass out, and most definitely trying not to stare at his bloodied shoulder. “Now get up and heal yourself you big baby.”

“I-I can’t,” Roman finally rasped out, swallowing thickly. His eyes finally seemed to focus on his brother, who just seemed confused.

“Huh?” Was all he said, taking his morningstar and poking it not-so-carefully into his side. Roman hissed as it jabbed into his shallow wound.

“I don’t know, but it’s not working,” Roman whimpered, feeling stupidly weak at the moment. “I-I need help, Remus. Please.”

Remus didn’t respond, just unsummoned his morningstar and stooped down to carefully (something Roman didn’t think he was capable of) scoop him up into his arms. Roman hissed as his shoulder jostled, the movement causing more blood to bubble up and drip out.

“Alright, let’s get you to Nerdy Wolverine, Daddy, and Emo,” Remus huffed, causing panic to shoot through Roman.

“No,” He shot back immediately, feeling more tears prick at his eyes. “Things are too...tense.”

“So you’re telling me that you’d rather bleed out than talk to the others,” Remus frowned, then shrugged after Roman stayed grimly silent, “Fine by me! I’ll drop you off at your room and-”

“Remus, please just take me back with you,” Roman’s bloodied hand clenched on his brother’s shirt in an attempt to keep it from shaking. “I’m sure you can patch me up just fine,” he actively avoided staring up at the other.

There was a short pause, then a huff, “You are such a dumbass,” Roman chuckled lightly at that, then cried out as his wound began to sting even more. “Alright, hold on,” Remus sighed, and Roman hunched himself closer to him. Together they sunk out, suddenly reappearing in the Dark Side’s space.

Roman hadn’t ever visited this place before. And, really, it looked completely normal. It was almost exactly like his home, with pictures hung up on the walls, and a couple belongings strewn around the place. Remus carried him into the kitchen, and Roman noticed the various notes left on the fridge, some actual reminders and others just doodles. The sink was full of dishes, and there were a couple of cups and bowls left on the counter. It was surprisingly...domestic.

His brother carefully set him down on the counter next to the sink. He sunk back against the wall with a small sigh, feeling a lot more safe than he’s felt since the wedding disaster. “Double Dee patches me up a ton so I know a little bit,” Remus suddenly said, and Roman’s eyes narrowed at the mention of the snake.

“Why don’t you just heal yourself?” Roman frowned, the pain in his shoulder still prominent, an active throbbing.

“The pain is fun, obviously,” Remus scoffed as if it were obvious, and Roman just shifted uncomfortably. His brother bent down and opened a drawer, pulling out a box that was most likely full of medical supplies. He set in next to Roman, leaning in close to take a look at his shoulder. “Yeesh, that’s a deep one,” he whistled, then poked it. Roman groaned in pain, glaring harshly at his brother who just giggled madly.

“I am so close to passing out right now, and you think it’s a good idea to poke it?” Roman hissed with venom, blinking back stars as the pain evened out once more.

“Eh, I doubt you’ll actually die,” Remus paused, then added reluctantly, “I think.”

“You-”

“What the fuck.”



...Deceit.