"What do you mean I'm actually here?"

Roman was practically vibrating with excitement, but he shrugged. "I don't know for certain, but I've heard of really old magic that allowed some mages to visit others' dreams," he said. "Perhaps you have it. I still can't believe you have magic!"

Virgil winced, moving away from him at that comment. The statement made his skin crawl despite knowing he hadn't meant anything by it. The prince realized his mistake as he turned away. "Wait, Virge-"

"I-I don't w-want to t-talk about it," the dark prince mumbled. He recognized when Virgil truly didn't want to talk, sighing heavily. 

"I know you don't," Roman said, moving to put his arms around him from behind. The dark prince was tense, but leaned into him. He moved his head next to his ear, resting his chin on his shoulder. "We will have to eventually, but you know that I don't think any different of you, right?"

Virgil turned his head away as his throat closed up. "T-That's not true..." he murmured, biting his lip. "You'll never be able to look at me without seeing the way I was at that party... my own father and brother can't look it me the same way. They think I don't see it in their eyes, but I've always see that hidden fear... I just w-wanted you to be different..."

The prince felt his chest tighten as he moved away. He walked around to face Virgil, putting his hands on the sides of his face. "Look at me, Virgil," he murmured, making his breath catch in his throat. "Look me in the eye and tell me you see fear."

The dark prince searched his gaze, heart racing. There was nothing; no fear, no disgust, no horror. Roman's eyes seemed to shimmer with affection and joy, making him start to tear up. All he wanted was for him to still look at him the way he always did, and he'd thought the party had taken that away; but here he was, with that same affectionate gaze. Tears started to drip down his cheeks as the prince smiled at him. Roman pulled him into a hug as he cried into his shirt. 

"It's alright, Virgil," he murmured, rubbing his back.They stayed that way for a while as Virgil began to calm down. Roman suddenly felt a tugging sighing, as he knew he was waking up. "I'm waking up now."

He pulled away to look at the dark prince's face as the tugging grew. "I'm going to come back for you," he promised. "It might take longer than I'd like because I have a feeling the royals will not be content with me coming alone. I won't let them hurt you, I promise."

Virgil nodded shakily as Roman released his hands and the world around him faded. He blinked, finding himself back in the dark castle, the misty black figure next to him. His hand was still gripping his, but upon seeing him back in the present, he dropped it. 

"Better?" the figure asked, voice quiet as the dark prince wiped his cheeks.

He nodded a little, sniffling as he stopped crying. "Thank you," Virgil murmured, looking up from his hands at the figure. He almost couldn't believe the figure had done that for him in his moment of panic. He nodded and they fell into a tense silence before he spoke up again. "Can you please teach me more?"

"Have we reestablished some trust here?" he questioned as they stood up. "I cannot help you if you don't learn to trust me."

"Yes, I trust you," the dark prince said, looking determined. 

The figure smiled, offering his hand. "Good, because there's much we must do."

Roman's eyes fluttered open slowly as he began to wake up. All he could think about was Virgil, still unable to believe that he'd actually visited him in his dream. He sat up quickly, gasping. King Patton and King Logan looked at him in surprise. 

"Roman! You're awake!" Logan exclaimed, rushing forward as the prince quickly tried to get out of bed. He winced, stumbling a little as he did so. His father caught him, steadying him. "Whoa, slow down, Luis and Thorn told us you took a bad hit to your back. You can't move too quickly when you're still recovering.

Roman ignored him, attempting to get past him to the door. "I have to see him," was what he said as the king pulled him back to sit on the bed.

"We know, but first, you need to rest and tell us what happened," King Logan said sternly. "The other royals are not pleased with your disappearance, along with Prince Luis and Princess Thorn. They'll be demanding we send out a proper search party when you go down there."

The prince nodded knowingly, still tense as he clenched his fists. "I have to lead that search party," he said affirmatively. "If I don't, they might hurt him, or kill him. He's just scared, I need to talk to him."

"Roman, can you tell us what happened, and what you know?" Patton asked, voice gentle with understanding of his desperation. 

"The storm is tied to Virgil's emotional and mental state," he started, stating it even though he was certain King Patton already knew that. "The more upset he gets, the more intense the storm is. That's the first problem, navigating it with its sudden spikes of high and low intensity. However, there's another issue; the reason why I got injured. Virgil's found an old castle. I think it was built by old mages of black magic, because one moment it wasn't there, but the next, it appeared out of nowhere. The castle has these guardians. They're massive, two-headed beasts that seem to be something between a bear and a dog. They're powerful, terrifying, and definitely deadly. We were attacked by four of them when we got to the castle."

King Patton looked confused and worried. "If Virgil's inside the castle, why did the guardians attack you three?" he questioned. Roman was at a loss for what to say to that question, resigning to shrugging with a heavy sigh. 

"I don't know about Virgil. All I know is that he's scared, but that's the extent of my knowledge," the prince said, clenching his fists. "Which is why I need to go back out there. I have to talk to him."