Janus yawned as he pulled his eyes open and caught sight of the mossy cement wall that separated his and Remus's cell from the empty one next to them. Janus and Remus were being kept completely separate from the rest of the captured citizens, the leader of the attack thought that if they hadn't been separated then the two might try something. They thought that keeping leaders away from the people they govern was a smart move that would mean avoiding a revolt. So far they were right, none of the citizens have tried anything in fear that their prince might be killed for it and Janus couldn't do anything alone, nor would he as that would risk everybody's safety.

The crown prince sighed as he placed his hand to Remus's head. In his sleep, the other prince sank into the touch, a small smile appearing on his face. Janus smiled back, Remus's fever had broken. That was good, Janus would just have to keep doing what he had been doing and hope that it would be enough for Remus to keep healing.

Janus slipped out from underneath the thin blanket and let Remus take the cot completely for himself, not to upset about it at all as it would hopefully mean that Remus got better sleep than when they had been sharing the narrow bed. Janus smiled weakly as he sat against the wall next to the bed and ran his fingers through Remus's hair, pushing it away from his eyes and making the other wrinkle their nose as the loose hairs began to tickle their skin when they fell back down. He stopped when Remus swatted his hand away and sleepily mumbled for him to stop.

"Sorry Love," Janus whispered as he pulled his hand away and placed them back in his lap. He looked down at them, wincing when he caught sight of the bandages on them. They were poorly bandaged and the bandages hadn't been replaced since they had been captured. Probably the only reason they were bandaged in the first place was that Janus threatened that if Remus died he'd do whatever it took to get out of here, and when the medic came in they had seen no reason not to look at his hands.

Wizards like Janus, Virgil, and Logan couldn't do magic if their hands were hurt too badly. During the attack, his magic had backfired on him after he tried preforming to difficult of a spell, and he ended up burning them real bad. It didn't help that his left hand was covered in scales and it had made that damage to that hand much worse and more painful.

He probably would benefit from some medicine but the leaders of the attack had told them that if Janus got medicine for his hands than Remus wouldn't get any for his injuries. Janus would rather lose his hand and never be able to do magic again then have Remus die from his injuries. So he didn't get any medicine and was forced to deal with the pain on his own.

He sighed as he held his hands close to his chest, never being able to do magic again might soon become a reality if his hands didn't heal correctly. Janus's vision became blurry, and chest felt tight as he let out a sob. His shoulders shook with fear, anger, and sadness as he broke apart, not being able to hold himself together anymore.

Remus was sick and could die. He might never be able to do magic again. He was an orphan now. His kingdom had been attacked and torn apart. Citizens had been torn away from their homes and families just to become prisoners in some sick unasked for war that had never even been given a chance to negotiate away. He didn't even know if the citizens were okay or not. He wasn't allowed to be the leader he was supposed to be. He was just supposed to sit here and be a good little obedient prisoner, a life to hold over his people's heads. Because his people wouldn't do anything if it meant that the last known royal could be at risk. Virgil was missing! He got away but he could still be dead. He may not have survived the woods or what if he ran into some bandits or if he hurt himself while running and couldn't move?

Janus didn't know.

He didn't know what he'd do if really was the last surviving member of his family.

But for right now, until he did know, he just needed to hope. He needed to hope that Virgil was okay, that he had found their uncle, and made some sort of plan. That they were building the kingdom up, and that sometime soon they would come here with an army and save them all.

"Please Virgil," He found himself whispering, with his hands still held close, "Please hurry. We need you V, we need you."

"mmm, Dee?" Remus mumbled, "What's wrong?" he asked as he tried to sit up, "Please don't cry, it's gonna be okay. We're gonna be okay"

"Remus, go back to sleep Love, you need sleep" Janus said, barely managing to keep his voice even as he hid his face from the other.

Remus shook his head as he struggled to move towards Janus. He shuffled over, nearly tripping on himself as he sat down again, "No, I need to be a good boyfriend" Remus whispered as he pulled Janus into a hug, "You've been taking such good care of me. It's my turn to take better care of you"

"Remus, sleep please" Janus begged.

But Remus just shook his head again, "It's okay baby, you can cry. I'm here. It's okay to cry"

"Remus... please," Janus said. Another head shake before Janus gave in and allowed Remus to hold him as he sobbed into his arms. Remus had his eyes closed as he wrapped his arms around Janus, and whispered soft things to him, telling him he knew and understood. Making promises that neither of them were completely sure about, and every once in awhile cracking a joke or making a comment that would cause a small laugh to interrupt the sobbing even if it was just for a moment.

They stayed like that for an hour before Janus finally fell asleep. Remus pulled the blanket off the cot and wrapped it around both of them as he settled himself next to Janus and closed his eyes, slowly he drifted off as well.

"Ann?" Patton asked softly as they tried to wake up the boy without touching him. They had agreed that Patton should wake him since Virgil seemed to be most comfortable with them and if they did need to touch Virgil to wake him up then Patton would scare him the least. Logan was cooking some food while Roman was feeding the horses. "Ann kiddo, time to wake up." Virgil twisted and turned in his sleeping bag. "Come on, wakey, wakey eggs and-"

Patton was interrupted when Virgil sleepily pushed his hands on Patton's face and lightly pushed him away. Patton, who had originally been squatting and balancing on his toes, fell back onto his bottom and laughed slightly.

"Not a morning person Emo?' Roman asked from the horses

Virgil shook his head before raising his hands and signing, 'Didn't get much sleep last night'

"Aw, why not kiddo?"

'Anxiety. Kept thinking of Dee and 'Mus. Worried'

"Well, perhaps breakfast will soothe your thoughts," Logan said as he dished out plates with bread, chopped and cooked potatoes, and an odd tea that Virgil thought smelled a lot like the nearby bushes.

In the end, only Logan drank the tea while everyone else dumped it, laughing a bit as he went onto say how tea was good for you and why. The potatoes were a tad plain but they didn't have many seasonings and didn't want to use it all at once. The bread tasted good though, it was sweet and Logan had held it over the fire so it was warm as well. Virgil was surprised to learn that Patton had made it before they left the castle, though he probably shouldn't be seeing as he's already seen that Patton was extremely talented in the kitchen.

As they ate, they discussed where they should head next and maybe try and find a few more clues as to which direction the army had gone after the attack. Logan wanted to head southeast as that seemed to be where the most attacks had been. But the attacks that had been in the southwest were in larger towns and villages where most of their exports and imports came in or out of those towns seeing as that's where the ocean was. Virgil knew that if those towns had been left in a state of too much ruin, his whole kingdom could end up in a famine. So while going where Logan wanted would result in helping the people who needed it the most now clearing up any issues that were going on by the ports could fix later issues before they became too big of a problem.

Patton didn't know which way to go, he just wanted to help as many people as possible. So the deciding vote came down to Roman. Roman could see both of the points the two were arguing. This seemed like one of those ethical problems his parents would throw at him at random times to test his 'future king skills'. Do they help the people who need help immediately or go help prevent a famine that could cause problems for the whole kingdom in a few months?

It really was a good question and Roman had no idea what to do. He was a prince, and so was Virgil, shouldn't they be able to just snap their fingers and be able to fix everything just like that? Roman sighed a bit, wishing it was that easy. But it wasn't, he knew that. If it had been then Virgil wouldn't have needed the Light Realms help and they probably never would have met. (Which would mean that Roman would still think his brother was dead and he'd still hate the Dark Realm because of what he'd heard about them) And because it wasn't that easy Roman had to decide.

He sighed dragged his hands across his face, "Okay, let's go to the ports. Virgil's right, if we don't stop the problem before it happens then it'll be harder to stop later," Logan opened his mouth to make another argument but Roman stopped him before he could, "We could always go there on our way back, worst case scenario we don't get enough clues from the ports and we go there anyway. But this needs to happen first"

There was silence for a moment before Patton took the stolen map and folded it up before handing it to Logan, who had become the unspoken map holder. "Okay, let's get a move on kiddos," Patton said.

Virgil stood up to follow but froze and fell back as he had another vision. "Ann!" Roman said with concern, he was the closest to the prince and was at his side the soonest. He hovered over him worriedly, taking note of how Virgil's eyes had changed colors, but didn't make any move to touch him.

Patton and Logan joined them soon and eventually, Virgil's eyes went back to normal and he was left panting on the ground. "Ann, are you alright kiddo?" Patton asked. Virgil nodded, then shook his head, then nodded again before stopping.

"Do you want to tell us what you saw?" Logan asked.

"You don't need too" Patton added quickly, the others nodded in agreement.

Virgil froze again, hand half-way up to his head before he glanced at Roman worriedly. The others noticed the gaze and Roman frowned, "Is it about me?" he asked, Virgil hesitated to shake his head. "Remus?" The seer slowly nodded. Roman lurched forward, about to grab Virgil and beg him to tell him what he saw before he stopped just before reaching him and shot to his feet, muttering under his breath as he did.

Virgil, who had jumped away from Roman when he had nearly been grabbed, stared after the other prince before curling up on himself slightly. Logan and Patton whispered to each other before separating, one going towards one of the princes. Patton kneeled down in front of Virgil while Logan stepped toward Roman, each of them trying their best to comfort the other.

"Hey kiddo, it okay alright?" Patton assured, "I know what you saw was scary and you're worried about Remus but it's gonna be okay"

'They hurt him' Virgil signed 'Janus is-' he stopped and hugged his knees to his chest

"Remus is a very strong person Ann. Even if whoever took them did hurt him I know him. Remus is never gonna quit too easily. Not on life, not on escape, not even on you." Patton smiled at Virgil, gesturing for the other to try and look at them, "And you know what? I may not know your brother, and I may not have known you for very long Ann. But I do know that you're a very strong and brave and smart young man. And you said so much about Dee that I have no doubt that he must be so much like you. Strong, brave, and smart right?"

Virgil nodded, 'Yeah, more than me'

"See? I didn't even think it was possible to be so amazing! So Dee is going to be okay, and we're gonna find him. And then we'll go get help and save all of them!"

Virgil smiled slightly and nodded again. Patton smiled back and stood up, holding his hand out to Virgil and hoping he would take it. Virgil did, accepting the help to stand and then keeping his hand linked with Pattons for a few seconds before letting go. Patton squeezed it assuringly before he did and they walked up to Roman and Logan. Roman glanced at them, wiped a hand across his face, and climbed onto his horse.

Virgil walked up to him, tapping on Roman's boots so the other would look down. 'He got hit with something. I don't know what though. He was protecting Dee. And the man who hit him, I know them.' Roman's eyes widened and he was about to ask who but was stopped 'I mean I know I know them. It didn't show me their face. Heard their voice. I know their voice. Don't know who it is but I know them. Make sense?'

Roman nodded, though by the look on his face Virgil knew that the message had gotten lost in translation. He looked towards Patton and Logan, hoping they had understood and could translate for him but they hadn't. Virgil hurriedly pulled his (Logans technically) notepad from his bag and scribbled the message down.

'I...' Virgil paused before continuing, 'Pattons right. I don't think he's dead. It feels different when I see someone die.'

Roman sighed with relief and came off the horse, "Thanks Ann, I-I needed to know he was okay," Virgil nodded in understanding "Can I hug you?" Virgil immediately shook his head and backed away from Roman, earning himself a chuckle from the Light Realm Prince, "Okay, I get it You don't want to be infected by my awesomeness, that's fine. More for me"

Virgil rolled his eyes, 'You said it wrong'

"Said what wrong?"

'Ego' Virgil answered 'You said awesome, it's pronounced E-GO' If you could annunciate sign language then Virgil had done it. Patton giggled while Roman gasped and stepped back.

"I'm glad both of you are happier now and that Remus and Janus, while not safe, are at still alive. However, we must keep going if we intend to reach the first port town in a timely fashion" Logan interrupted. The others frowned slightly but nodded. They each boarded their horses and began moving towards the port towns, Logan and Virgil leading the way.

*****

"Remus," They whispered with concern and fear, arms held him back and prevented him from moving towards his now unconscious lover.

A man stepped closer to Janus. He was an older man, but fit and strong. Age had not stopped him yet. "Answer the question or we will separate you" the man threatened.

Janus turned his head towards the man, "There is a reason my father and uncle banished you,"

"Your father was weak-"

"My father was strong!"

"If he was so strong he would have had me killed," the man argued. Janus said nothing, he knew it was at least somewhat true. If his father had only been stronger and done what was now so obvious then this wouldn't be happening. "Well?"

"You're a monster,"

"That's rich coming from you," The man lifted his chin and twisted Janus's head as if to take a better look at the scales on Janus's face. Janus winced as the man's fingers not so gently pressed against a cut on his scaled cheek. He attempted to pull away and the man let go, "Last chance, I doubt that psychopath will last long on his own. Weak" The man went up to Remus, nudging the young man with his boot.

"Remus" Janus said again, he tried to free himself of the arms holding him but failed.

"Was he here? Did he see?" The man asked him. Janus had tears in his eyes as he looked back at the man, he nodded. "Use your words, Janus, you're a prince act like one"

For a moment Janus didn't say anything, he had already given his answer there was no need. But the man lowered himself to the ground, now hovering closely over Remus, threateningly, "Yes okay!?! Virgil saw, he saw you hurt us. Your horrid plan worked okay?" Janus cried loudly "But it worked and I did what you said so leave Remus here with me,"

The man frowned as he stood and turned away from Janus and Remus, "Unfortunately that is not the answer I wanted" The man said

"What?" Janus asked, "Y-you made her-me- Remus" Janus couldn't get words out. Virgil and Remus.

The man sighed in annoyance, he looked towards a woman who stood by the gate to the cell. "Can anybody do their job correctly?" He asked the women didn't answer, "How many people have we sent after that boy and how many have failed!?! He's a boy, not a man. He's weak not a warrior. I want him here now. I can not continue unless I have both of them. We can not move to the Light Realm until I have them both. And I was told he was already dead!" The man pointed to Remus's body.

"It is not my fault that those you have sent have failed," the women responded

"Like you did any better," the man spat, "And who do you suggest we send?"

The woman rolled her eyes, "Might I suggest someone with magic instead of a sword? After all, you should know that the king made sure that his sons were proficient in at least one of those, and since we already know the youngest princes' magic is defective, we know he could combat those with swords. Send someone with magic"

Janus was tense as he listened to the conversation in front of him. No. No. No! Janus knew his brother. He knew that at least if his brother had his sword and was fighting others with swords he might have a chance. But not with magic. Even with his sword then not with magic. Maybe the man sensed this. "Fine," The man said, "Send one of yours then."

"No!" Janus yelled at the answer.

He was ignored and the man exited the cell, the women following from behind. The guards released Janus and he fell. He tried to get to the door but they pushed him back into the cell and he heard the footsteps receding. "And if you can get me, Hollis, as well then even better," Janus heard the man say as he walked away, "It is time for me to take my place in the Dark Realm. And with us taking the Light Realm as well... get me Virgil, and nothing can stop me"