He winced suddenly, feeling pain in his lips. He stumbled out of the room and into the other where the kings, Luis, and Thorn awaited his return. The prince was holding his mouth with an unnerved expression on his face.

"Roman, are you alright?" his father asked as he wiped at it. He felt tired all of a sudden, realizing there had to be a spell of some kind of Virgil's lips because they knew he'd try that.

"Y-Yes, I'm fine, but I think whoever's using him put a spell on his lips," the prince explained. He felt dizzy and the room was spinning. They were looking at him in confusion at this statement, so he explained. "Last year, kissing him is what brought him back to me, I tried it this time and it didn't work. I feel really tired all of sudden... I think they knew... I'd try that..."

He fell forward, Luis quickly moving forward to catch him. "Come on, stay awake, stay with us Roman," he urged as he guided him to the bed in the room. He turned to the princess in the room. "Thorn can you heal whatever the spell did?"

"No," Roman said quickly, feeling lightheaded as he shook his head. "No, let me fall asleep. It's just a simple... knock out spell... I'll be fine, but this way... I might be able to talk to him..."

The prince had to take long pauses as he spoke, looking as though he'd fall unconscious at any moment. The kings looked between themselves, both sighing in resignation; though they weren't comfortable with this, Roman seemed to know more about what was going on than anyone. King Patton nodded as the prince fell limp and unconscious.

"I'll be checking his vitals and everything, don't worry," Thorn reassured the kings as she sat down beside the bed to keep an eye on him.

They nodded to her as they left the room to check on Virgil. Luis moved toward him cautiously, clearly wary of him. The dark prince glared at him, raising an eyebrow. "Who are you, pipsqueak?" he asked venomously. The remark almost brought him to tears again, but the younger prince sucked in a breath and sat down.

"I'm your brother, Virgil," he said gently, offering his signature smile. He flinched, looking away. Luis decided to talk to him as if he was really Virgil. Perhaps it would warrant some sort of reaction to treat him nicely. "Everything's going to be alright, okay?"

The dark prince's eyes widened as he shrunk away, shaking. "What kind of spell are you using on me to make me shake?" he snapped angrily.

"I'm not doing anything Virgil, I promise," Luis reassured, moving forward to hold his bounded hands. He flinched, staring down at the contact in shock with his jaw hanging open. "You're going to be alright, I promise. You're just a little scared right now, but you're stronger than you realize, remember? You'll be alright."

He looked scared, no longer angry as he just stared at their hands. Patton's eyes widened as he turned to Logan. "I just realized that whatever's controlling him doesn't fully understand him," he said to the other king. "He didn't realize Virgil shakes a lot, especially is he's scared or worried."

"Dad? I think we should knock him out," Luis called, interrupting their brief conversation. "He's shaking really bad, and maybe knocking him out will make it easier for Roman to contact him."

The king nodded moving forward and snapping his fingers. The dark prince's eyes slipped closed as his head hung limply. They nodded to each other, beginning to pace the room. They couldn't do anything now but wait.

Roman had visited his dark prince in his dreams before. This felt different; when his opened, he didn't find himself in a place. He was standing in some dark space, and he was looking at a blurry scene. When the prince stepped closer, the scene became to sharpen, making his eyes widen as he saw what he was seeing.

Virgil, the real Virgil, was chained in a cage with a muzzle over his mouth along with tears on his face and blood all over him. He was shaking, from exhaustion or fear it was unclear. He was being spoken to be someone else who banged on the cage. The dark prince flinched as he sobbed, backing away from him within the cage.

"I told you stop resisting this! You can't seriously have any hope that you can break my spell," they snapped angrily. Their voice was distorted as they spoke. "After a year, that spell is nearly unbreakable. You're just bringing yourself more pain. What does the naughty boy have to say for himself?"

With a wave of their hand, the muzzle disappeared and Virgil let out a gasp as he panted for breath. The other person was holding their hand in a choking motion, and by the looks of it, he was actually being choked. "I'm s-sorry!" he managed, tears streaming down his cheeks. His voice was slightly distorted too, but the pain in it unnerved Roman as he watched helplessly. "I-I'm sorry!! J-Just please don't m-make me h-hurt them!"

"You'll do as your ordered!" the other person snapped, telekinetically throwing Virgil against the far end of his cage.

The dark prince was muzzled again as they walked away, leaving him to sob as he laid curled up. Roman's heart broke, tears springing to his eyes upon seeing the boy he loved in such pain. He truly took in his appearance, noticing the strangeness of the chains that bound his wrists and ankles. He was wearing a torn black shirt, and in the spots where the clothing revealed skin, he gagged; there were scars from all kinds of tortures that he didn't even want to imagine.

"Virgil..." he murmured sadly.

To his shock, the dark prince froze for a second before struggling to sit up. He was looking around, as if he was searching for a source of sound.

Did he hear me? Roman asked himself, jaw dropping. Do I try again? What if it gets the attention of that person? What if he gets punished again?

When he looked back at the tears in his eyes, along with the shimmer of what seemed like hope. "Virgil?" he tried again, louder. The dark prince's eyes widened as he looked down at his chest and then around for a different reason. He was checking for the person who'd left. When he was certain he was gone, Roman watched him lay down and close his eyes. "Virgil."

He was suddenly back in the gardens, looking around. He gasped upon seeing him laying on the ground. "Virgil! Oh my god!" the prince exclaimed, rushing to his side.

"R-Roman?" he coughed out in response as he tried to sit up.

He winced in pain as he did so, which made Roman hesitate to touch him out of fear of hurting him. He gently helped him to sit up, feeling an electric spark from touching him. Their eyes met for a moment and both of them took in the other's appearance. They both looked like hell.

Virgil noted that the prince's eyes were red, his skin was pale, and dark circles hung under his eyes. When he looked up and down, he felt a stab of sadness, seeing that his suit was slightly loose on his body, implying that he'd not been eating properly and lost weight.

He, however, looked so much worse. His lips were cracked and bleeding. His eyes weren't just red, but bloodshot. He had cuts and bloody wounds all over him. The skin around his wrists and ankles was red and irritated. His neck not only red as well, but held purple and blue bruises. If Roman has lost weight, it was nothing compared to how skinny Virgil was. 

The prince thought his heart was literally going to break upon seeing him like this. Roman let out a whimper as he cried, putting his hands on the sides of his face to press their foreheads together. "What d-did they d-do to you?" he whispered, shaking his head. "W-Why didn't I s-stop them?"

"You c-couldn't have done anything," Virgil replied, sighing at the familiar feeling of his gentle hands.

"You have no idea how happy I am that you're alive," Roman said, pulling away to look into his eyes as tears dripped down his cheeks. "You're alive, Virgil! My Virgil's alive!"

The dark prince smiled for the first time in a year. "And he's been trying to come back to you," he replied, leaning into his hand. His statement made him cry even more. He wanted to hug him, but he looked like he was already in enough pain.

"Is that person going punish you for this?" he questioned urgently.

Virgil swallowed. "If he f-finds out," he answered with a nod. "W-Which he probably will, but this is worth it."

The prince's heart clenched at the thought of him in even more pain. He sighed heavily, hands trailing down to his hands. His thumb brushed over the chains. "What are these?" he questioned.

"They're... complicated..." he said with an emotionless stare as he looked at them. "In order for his spell to work on me, the one that's making me act the way you saw, he had to pull me out of control in Astral Plane. I thought he was going to leave me there like last time, but he used these on me to pull my astral form into the real plane. They keep me bounded to this plane even though I should be in the astral one. It's why I can't fight for control, or at least, why it's so hard and painful to fight for control."

Roman nodded in understanding, realizing something. "Did I hurt you when I pulled you back for that second?" he asked quickly, eyes wide. When he didn't answer immediately, he knew the answer was yes. "God, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"Roman, I know," Virgil cut him off, lifting his hands to touch his face despite his wrists being bound. "I know, and I'd much rather you'd figured it out than just believing that that was me."

The prince nodded even though he felt guilty. "You're in so much pain, Virgil," he murmured, voice heavy with sadness and guilt. "Why didn't I look for you?"

"You thought I was dead?" the dark prince said, meeting his gaze. "I thought I was dead until I woke up in some weird prison... you can't blame yourself for all this."

Roman sighed, nodding knowing he was right. "I should probably w-wake up if I want the slightest chance of him not finding out about this," Virgil said sadly.

The prince's eyes widened, holding his face again. "Before you go, I thought I would never get to tell you," he said. He leaned forward to kiss him gently, earning a gasp from him. When he pulled away to look into his eyes. "I love you, Virgil. I love you so, so much, please hold on. I will get you out of there, I promise."

Tears dripped down his cheeks as he smiled a little. "I know you will," he murmured. He was fading from the dream, but managed to say one more thing. "I love you too, Roman."