Janus rolled their eyes and shook their head slightly, to clear it. Stupid prince. If he really thought he could change Janus' mind on something Janus had resolved never to feel years ago... nevermind.

"Focus, you idiot." Janus hissed to himself. "You're not here for yourself, you're here to make sure Virgil doesn't mess up too much."

Speaking of Virgil, where was the bean pole? He'd gone into the gardens and Janus had just been about to follow him when-

"That stupid prince again." Janus muttered. They kicked at a bush viciously. "Get a grip, Janus. That prince was pouring tar down the steps. You need to warn Virgil."

"Would it make a difference, though?" Janus stopped in his tracks at this thought. Something was going to happen, it didn't matter if Janus told Virgil anything. The inevitable would come to pass.

Janus sighed in annoyance, running a hand through his hair. "I hate this calling." They muttered to themself.

"What am I going to do now?" Janus thought, picking his feet off the ground and sitting in mid-air. "I can't go and tell Virgil cause then what's come to pass is still going to happen. But at the same time, I can't leave him. He's such an idiot he'll forget he's meant to leave at midnight."

"Scales?" A voice called. Janus sighed, turning his head to the side slightly.

"Not this idiot again." They muttered. "You know you could disappear, right?" Janus thought.

"Scales?" Remus called again. "I'm sorry. If I made you upset."

"Your lack of grammar is awful." Janus muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Found you, ha ha!" Remus said excitedly, as if this had been a game. Janus looked over at him from where they were floating.

"You do realise that I'm floating in the air, right?" Janus asked. Remus nodded, unfazed. "This doesn't scare you?"

Remus shrugged. "Beautiful people always have some sort of magic." He said. "It only really makes sense that you can float and know everyone."

Janus rolled his eyes. "Really, I'm not interested." They said. "You pandering to my vanity isn't going to change that."

Remus shrugged again. "Can I float too?" He asked.

"No." Janus said. "Why are you pouring tar down the stairs?" He asked.

Remus crossed his arms. "That's classified information that can be exchanged for a name." He said, grinning. Janus glared at him, unimpressed.

"I'm not telling you my name, it's not important." They said. They put their hand under Remus' chin and tilted his face up. "Why are you pouring tar down the steps, I want to know."

Remus took a step back, his face red. He crossed his arms protectively. Janus rolled his eyes.

"Look, I'm a friend of who you call Vee." They said, forcing down a wince at the word 'friend'. It felt so odd, so foreign. "It's in his best interests that I know what you're doing."

Remus shrugged. "I'm helping Vee reveal his identity." He mumbled.

"You mean forcing him to." Janus corrected. He sighed. "Look, take it from personal experience, forcing someone to tell you something they don't want to tell you never works. And it can get you seriously hurt and even killed." Janus put a hand to their neck as they said this but tried to pass it off and brushing their hair away.

"You okay, Scales?" Remus asked tentatively.

"Yes, I'm fine." Janus snapped. "Whatever, I don't have time for you." He disappeared with a puff of smoke.

How many subplots does this story have?
... I don't know. A lot.
Bye,
Blaize