Chapter Six
Zipline
Lucius assured Tom that he could stay at a slightly lower rank, even though the original deal was the loser of the fight would have to leave. After all, no one expected Logan would be so powerful. Tom, however, left the Dark Sides in shame, claiming that only the king should be able to best him in combat. Logan had not come out of his new room for even a minute since he left the meeting hall after fighting Tom. At first, Judas thought that Logan felt insulted after they all backed away from him when he rolled back in on the chair everyone now agreed was his, but Logan had allowed Remus into his room and sent his reassurance with the duke that he was working on a very important project and that if he was insulted, he would have told them. At first, Judas didn't think anything of it. Logan was a man that none of them could ever hope to understand. He was just too intelligent, he was on a different level than them and Judas was smart enough to at least understand that. He was sure Logan was working on a 'cure' for Roman, a way to bring him back and since Logan was so dedicated to even the smallest of things, it made sense that he may spend days or even weeks at a time working on this project. But it had been almost two months, and Logan still hadn't surfaced. Now, Judas was worried for his sanity and health. It had been Halloween when everything had happened. Roman came back dead, Logan resurfaced broken, Patton fought tooth and nail through the subconscious, Virgil was thrown into the task of keeping them all together and failed, Logan joined the dark sides, and Tom was bested in battle and left the Dark Domain in shame just as the hands of the clock reached twelve. Thomas went back home with Joan and their sides watching out for him. Joan came up with the idea to have Austin visit Thomas's mind every once in awhile to give him a creative boost to help him with his projects. At first, Thomas declined, refusing to let Austin overwork themselves like that, but they insisted and Thomas relented. He was getting back into a fairly normal routine. Every once in awhile his thoughts would go fuzzy for a moment and Remus would go yell at Logan's door to take a nap. It was roughly two weeks from Christmas, and the spirit of the season had yet to settle upon the Dark Domain. Then again, it rarely did. Remus, bless him, tried to get everyone in the mood. The whole of the Dark Domain looked like a scene that would come of a live action Nightmare Before Christmas, and at nearly any given time, Remus could be seen and heard belting slightly warped versions of Christmas carols and started demanding that Judas and Nate eat dinner with him at the dining room table like a goddamned family for once. Apparently, he had tried to convince Logan to come out and join them but the intellectual side couldn't be bothered by trivial things like eating or sleeping besides the bare minimum until he had finished at least one of his projects.
"Nate! Remus!" Judas called. "Dinner's not done!" He was placing the last dish on the table as he said this. He always cooked for the other dark sides. He was the only one of them that should ever be allowed in the kitchen anyhow. Lucius, of course, refused to eat the food that he made. Judas knew he wasn't a great cook, but he felt he may be a bit better than Lucius made him out to be. Remus and Nate rose up excitedly, practically throwing themselves into their chairs. Judas rolled his eyes but chuckled slightly at the two sides he had come to care for as his own family. He too sat down for dinner and served himself a small portion of food. He didn't eat nearly as much as the other two, and they always served themselves first. Looking up, however, he noticed that Remus had only taken a bite out of his food yet. That was odd, Remus typically ate even more rapidly than Nate.
"Is everything all right Remus?" Judas asked. Nate paused half way through shoveling just about half his plate into his mouth to look over at his friend.
"Oh yeah, I'm fine." He nodded dramatically. "It's just-" He cut off abruptly, frowning slightly and stabbing at his food with his fork. "Logan and I broke up today." Nate nearly choked on the food he had just been about to swallow, and Judas was sure he would have too, had he taken a bite yet.
"The two of you were dating?" Judas asked.
"Well… no. Not really… I mean… I'm not sure what we were." Remus admitted, shaping the rice on his plate into a face with his fork. "I thought we were dating, but I guess we never really said we were. We just kina fucked a bunch of times."
"I guess that explains why he kept letting you into his room." Nate jeered.
"Yeah… we fucked like basically every time." Remus nodded shamelessly.
"So… what happened?" Judas asked. "Today." He added hastily when Remus's eyes lit up mischievously. Remus pouted.
"You're no fun." Then he sighed and said, "Logan told me that he didn't want to keep fucking with me." He shrugged. Judas felt his cheeks heat up slightly despite his best efforts.
"He said that?" He asked.
"Well, basically. What he actually said was," Remus pulled himself up into a stiffly straight posture and continued in a mock-Logan voice, "I don't feel that it would be within our best intrests to continue on with sexual relations in the future." Nate snickered and Judas rolled his eyes.
"Do you know why?" He asked softly.
"Oh, he probably found a better coping mechanism." Remus said offhandedly.
"What?" Nate asked, confusion evident in his voice. Judas felt even more confused than Nate sounded.
"I kinda knew he used sex to keep himself from hurting emotionally. Can't say it doesn't hurt to be rejected though." Remus shrugged.
"Dude, that's rough." Nate said.
"Nah, I'm basically over it." And with that, Remus set himself to scarf down his food as quickly as humanly possible. Judas felt strangely conflicted. He wanted to kick Logan's ass for doing that to Remus, he was absolutely too terrified to even go near Cunning Hall when Logan so clearly wanted to be left alone, he was sad for Remus that he was unhappy, and he was oddly satisfied and happy that Remus wasn't involved with Logan any longer. He hated feelings. Then again, who didn't. Remus and Nate were playfully fighting over the serving spoon for the fried rice, both already wanting seconds. Remus smiled slightly to himself. At least he'd gone through the conversation without embarrassing himself and choking on his food. He lifted his fork to his mouth, and as he was about to swallow, he heard an elegant, wintery voice from behind him say;
"Excuse my interruption, gentleman, but I figured I would drop into see you." He choked, because of course he did, and Remus and Nate froze.
"Logan!" Nate squeaked. "You're here! Awesome! You wanna come eat with us?" Judas noticed that Remus and Nate had both whipped their hands away from either of the serving spoons when Logan made himself known. Logan frowned.
"Exactly, what time is it? Do you know?" He asked.
"Uhm…" Judas looked at his watch. "It's not 7:53 PM." He replied, suddenly feeling slightly nervous. He knew logically that Logan was not going to lash out at any of them but he couldn't help but be terrified that if he did or said something wrong, Logan would hurt him. Besides, he technically was Chief Reign of Fear now, which meant only Lucius was higher up than him. Logan's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly in thought for a moment.
"I would love to, but unfortunately I do have business that must be attended to and it really cannot wait." He held up his hand for illustration, in which he held a journal. "Besides that, I fear I have impeded quite enough on Remus's enjoyment of the evening."
"No way!" Remus said, almost too quickly. "I want you to eat with us too." To that, Logan smiled softly.
"Thank you, Remus, I cannot tell you how happy I am that you harbor no ill feelings about the situation, but I really must take this to Lucius." The stench of a lie wafted through the air, and Logan locked eyes with Judas again.
"Please don't say anything." Logan's voice said, as his lips remained unmoving.
"Yes, sir." Judas replied mentally. Logan frowned slightly but nodded to the three of them, turned, and left.
What do you think was in the journal?" Nate mussed out loud once Logan was gone.
"I have a clue." Judas replied.
Logan wasn't bringing anything to Lucius. In fact, he knew Lucius would likely be angry with him if he knew what he was doing. Logan was sure he had figured out a fool proof way to bring Roman back, so he was going to the Light Domain to bring them his findings. It felt oddly surreal, to be in the position he was in. Here he was, Chief Reign of Fear, buzzed slightly from the whisky he had had a half an hour earlier and the after effects of the pills he'd taken again hours previous… right after he broke it off with Remus The Duke, taking a possible cure to a dead man to his enemy nation that also happened to be his very best friends. If someone had told him four months ago that he would ever end up this way, he would have directed them to a psychiatrist. Now, however, it seemed he was the one in need of a psychiatrist. paused at the main entrance to the Light Domain. Would they want to see him? Likely not, but they would want his information.
"Patton, Virgil" Logan called softly. "I have something that might be of interest to you." Surprisingly, Virgil was the first to respond. He'd appeared suddenly as usual, but glaring at him suspiciously the way he did to the other dark sides. Logan supposed he deserved that. Next, Patton rose up slowly, timidly, shying away from him ever so slightly. And Logan knew he deserved the stab of emotions directly through his chest, because anyone who could make Patton feel like that deserved pain and a long, excruciating death. Too bad he couldn't die. He opened his mouth intending to explain his presence, but Patton's squeak was enough to stop him.
"Oh, Logan, what happened to you!" He sobbed. Logan was struck in the chest by something heavy and found himself with a Pat wrapped around him. "You're so thin, you look like you haven't eaten in days!"
"I probably haven't." Logan replied honestly.
"Are they hurting you?" Virgil demanded immediately. "Did they make you go with them? They're forcing you into this aren't they?"
"No, no." Logan attempted to soothe them. "Nothing like that." He awkwardly hugged Patton back. Even now, he couldn't stop hurting everyone around him. Wonderful. "I've just been so busy wi-" Patton pulled away from him abruptly, but didn't back up any.
"Lo… why do you smell like alcohol?" He asked uncertainly.
"Likely because I was drinking not too long ago." He replied. Patton and Virgil both looked shocked. One more reason for them to hate him. "Now, I really must tell you, I believe I know how to bring back Roman in a way that will not traumatize him." Virgil and Patton both perked up at that.
"Really?" Patton asked excitedly.
"I told you I would be working on it, did you not believe me?" Logan wouldn't admit it, but he felt slightly hurt.
"Of course we believed you, kiddo!" Patton squeaked excitedly. "It's just so fast for something like that." Logan shrugged.
"I've been working almost non stop." He said in explanation. Patton's eyes widened in worry.
"Oh, kiddo." He sighed. "You slept and ate right?"
"Rarely." Logan shrugged. "But I should hurry and explain before Lucius realizes I'm not in the Dark Domain any longer."
"You're going against Lucius to bring Roman help?" Virgil asked.
"Of course… you don't think Lucius wants him well, do you?" Logan tilted his head slightly.
"Right." Virgil mumbled. Logan opened his journal.
"There are a few ways I can see that we can go about this. They all involve both of you and your abilities in corelation to your relationship with Roman. In order to understand why any of these will work, we have to-"
"Didn't you say you were in a hurry?" Logan stiffened at the sound of Winston's voice and snapped his journal shut. Winston was smiling serenely at him. "Perhaps leave the explanation for a later date."
"Perhaps you ought to come back at a later date. As in when I'm not here." Logan snipped.
Winston tutted, shaking his head.
"Where are your manners Logan?" He asked with humor in his voice.
"Back wherever the fuck my sanity is I suppose. Hanging from a noose somewhere." He bit back. Winston rolled his eyes.
"You think you could muster some sort of respect when you're not even one of us anymore." He wrinkled his nose at him as though he was looking at something that smelled rather unpleasant.
"Winston, that's a lot more than enough." Patton said suddenly. "Logan's still one of us, and he always will be." Winston huffed.
"Likely." He said sarcastically. "Light sides don't get high and drunk and fuck the first person willing to take them just because they can't handle a little bit of stress." Everything within Logan's vision blurred and dulled, besides Wimnstion who seemed colored far more vibrantly than normal. Everything seemed like it had slowed exponentially. He cast aside the journal, watching with disinterest as it came to rest by Patton's feet. He launched himself forward, grabbing Winston by the throat and thrusting him against the wall nearest them, relishing with a sick sort of satisfaction the resounding crunch that followed. Time was behaving normally again, and Logan snapped back to himself. Winston wasn't breathing properly, his face was red and his eyes looked almost glassy. He released him and stepped back. Patton's eyes were wide and holding emotions Logan could only guess at. Fear, hatred, disgust, anguish, likely all of those.
"I'm sorry." Logan said roughly. "That I'm not like you. I'm sorry that I can't be like you. I did try, I swear to you I did. But I'm not… good. And I'm sorry I couldn't be." He swept out of the Light Domain without looking back. They had the journal. One of the fixes had to work and they were all relatively easy to pull off. Roman would be fine.
The rotten stench of lies flooded Judas's senses, mingled with the fresh linen smell he'd come to associate with Winston. Wisdom was lying. To anyone else that would likely seem a shock, but Judas could always smell lies lingering around him, he just didn't know what they were about. When logan claimed that Winston wasn't really wisdom, Judas felt that he was likely on the right track, but he couldn't know for sure. Dinner had been over for a bit, but Judas was keeping some food warm on the stove for Logan when he got back. He knew the intellectual hadn't had nearly enough to eat for quite a while. The doors to the commons area flew open, banging against the walls, causing Judas to jump nearly out of his own skin. It was Logan, and he was clearly in a rage.
"Whatever he said to you was the truth." Judas said automatically. He definitely didn't want Logan so angry, especially when Remus and Nate were likely getting rowdy in the sitting room of the commons. Logan froze, blinked, and turned to look at Judas properly. The hurt and rage that were still swirling in his eyes was enough to kick Judas into his mom mode and he suddenly found himself ushering Logan into a seat and placing the food he'd kept in front of him. "Eat some dinner." He ordered. "I'm not going to make some tea for us, and I don't want you to tell me what happened." Logan was looking at him strangely, but nodded and began slowly eating. Judas smiled at him, then swept into the kitchen to make two mugs of tea. When he returned he was pleased to find that Logan had eaten at least a quarter of the plate already. He smiled approvingly at him again and gently slid the mug of tea across the table. "Now, tell me everything." And Logan, though seeming slightly hesitant, recounted how he had gone to give the light sides the processes he thought could cure Roman, how Winston had showed and provoked and baited him into attacking him, and how Patton had looked so scared and so disgusted at what Logan had done. Judas nodded sympathetically. "I have no idea how that feels." He said softly. "I know if you were aware, but Roman and I were not very close at all when we were young, and when my scales started appearing it brought us much closer together. He didn't think I was some insane monster or anything like that." Logan nodded in what Judas dared to mentally describe as glumly. But then he froze and sat impossibly straighter.
"I'm like you." He whispered. Judas didn't know what the truth was here, much less did he know what Logan wanted to hear. It appeared he didn't have to say anything though, because Logan's face broke into a small, reserved smile. "That's it! We're alike! Thank you so much Judas, you have no idea what you've just contributed to." He jumped up to his feet. "I'll be back out tomorrow morning." And he rushed off toward his room. Judas blinked, then looked back down at the table. Logan had eaten almost half of his food and barely touched his tea. Judas shook his head and busied himself with clearing the table and washing dishes. At least Logan said he was going to be back tomorrow morning.
True to his word, Logan was out of his room again that morning. And he was the first one awake, practically breaking down Judas's door with the enthusiasm of which he knocked on it. Judas, trying his best not to grumble or seem grumpy, opened the door to see Logan with his arms full of charts, diagrams, and journals.
"Uhh…"
"Shh, shh, shh, wait." Logan shushed him enthusiastically. "I figured it out! I can give you your ability to choose back!"
"What?" Judas asked.
"I can give you back your ability to tell the truth." He clarified.
"W- wha- really?" Judas sputtered. The prospect of being able to truly voice what was in his head was too great for him to fully comprehend. He didn't remember what it was like to speak freely. He didn't remember what it was like to be able to choose. He wanted to feel it again so badly.
"Judas, you know I'm not lying." Logan smirked confidently. "Now, it's a difficult and long process, but it isn't painful in the slightest and I have teste-"
"How did you test it?" Judas interrupted without thinking. He flinched when he realized what he did, expecting Logan to hit him, or worse decide he wasn't going to fix him after all, but relaxed slightly when he only smiled softly and somewhat detachedly at him. He chuckled a bit and replied;
"I stole Lucius's spell book, cursed myself, and cured it." Judas felt his jaw drop and a new found awe and appreciation for Logan's stubborn determination and spectacular intelligence roared to life within him.
"I- you- you did that? For me?" Judas felt himself tearing up an damnit if he didn't try to stop, but no one had ever tried to do anything like this for him before.
"Of course, Judas." Logan gestured for him to seat himself on the floor. "I want to help you. You were good to me when I arrived here, I didn't expect it, and you were ready to defend me. You, Remus, and Nate. The three of you can consider yourselves under my protection. Judas felt his face growing warm, but he felt he should tell Logan exactly how the dark domain works. It wasn't quite fair for him, seeing as he had come from such a place as the Light Domain. He wouldn't just assume or naturally understand what big of a sacrifice that was to them.
"Logan… I don't at all feel you should know… well, that's something dark sides do. It isn't seen as a sign of weakness to be protected by someone else. The dark one will be happy, and he's not likely to target you for it." He said softly. Logan frowned slightly and nodded.
"I understand that Judas, and if it insults you it isn't necessary, but I assure you, Lucius poses no threat to me." His voice was confident and factual, and Judas couldn't smell even a hint of uncertainty about his statement.
"In that case, I don't appreciate your protection." Judas said sheepishly. Logan smiled softly again.
"Wonderful." He held out his hands and Judas took them, feeling slightly silly sitting cross legged on the floor like he was. "This is a less scientific approach than I would have cared for, but it does work and that's what matters." Logan confided in him. Judas smiled and tried to nod in agreement. Instead, he shook his head, but he knew Logan understood. Loogan confidently smirked back at him and Judas felt his cheeks heating again. Even if Judas wasn't interested in him at all, he had to admit, Logan was kinda sexy. He closed his eyes slowly, the smirk still in place. Judas swallowed nervously, and as he was ready to close his eyes, he noticed pockmarks littering the left hand side of Logan's face. Daring to push his luck and curious beyond belief, Judas asked;
"Logan… what happened to your face?" Logan's eyes snapped open, and for one horrifying second, Judas thought he was angry with him. Instead, Logan frowned as though confused. After another second, his eyes lit up in recognition.
"Oh, yes!" He said. "I'd forgotten. When the curse was placed upon me the left side of my body was covered in brown feathers, similarly, I believe, to your scales. I plucked every single one off after I lifted the curse." Judas blanched.
"Are you okay? That can't have hurt!" Logan waved him off.
"It was nothing." He said. And Judas didn't catch a whiff of deception from him. "You do not have to remove your scales after I lift the curse for the cure to be successful, however if you wish to have them removed I am more than happy to aid you." Judas thought for a moment. He hated his scales, always had, but he had had them for so long and Lucius hadn't intended to give them to him as part of the curse. They felt like a part of him now, like his hair or his fingers, and they also made his discolored eye look less… random and awkward. But they were still a mark of how he'd been branded by evil. He didn't know what he wanted. "You don't have to decide now, we'll cure you first and you can take all the time you need to decide." Logan said softly, reaching out for his hands again. "And if you choose to keep them and at any time you change your mind, the offer will still be open." Judas felt a huge rush of gratitude as he gently placed his hands in Logans'. "Close your eyes, Judas." Logan instructed softly. Judas obeyed the command. "All you have to do is focus on your breathing." Logan told him. "If you relax, it will help along the spell." His voice was soft and soothing and Judas was close to falling asleep. "I'll lead you through so breathing exercises to start with, okay?" Judas would have nodded, but that would require moving, and he really didn't feel like it right then. "Breathe in, two, three, four." Logan counted softly, his voice drifting away until it sounded like he might be talking calmly from across a gently moving river. "Breathe out, two, three, four." His voice continued to get quieter and quieter until Judas vaguely noted that he had probably fallen asleep. He hoped he hadn't ruined the spell.
Judas woke later than his usual time of seven thirty. It was around nine and he was feeling thoroughly disappointed. He was in bed, under the covers, in his black and yellow pyjamas just like every other morning and thus, he came to the conclusion that he had dreamed that meeting with Logan. Of course he did, good things didn't happen to him. So he got dressed and made to go to the kitchen to make breakfast for the others, hoping that Logan would come out of his room and eat with them. That side really did need to put on some weight. He opened his door, and the sweet smell of crepes hit him like a train. Who the fuck was cooking? Was it Logan? He swept into the kitchen, cursing himself for sleeping in. What if Nate or Remus caught the stove on fire and hurt themselves? And who the hell in the Dark Side knew how to make crepes? The scene he expected to see in the kitchen was a disaster. Ingredients and tools all over the floor and counters, burn marks and scorched towels and washcloths. What he actually saw upon entering was sparkling clean countertops, and empty, clean sink, and a plate on the table with a stack of warm, sweet smelling crepes and a folded note written in neat, looping cursive that could probably pass as calligraphy. Curious and slightly confused, but fairly sure the note wasn't for him, Judas snatched in up and read it. 'I made breakfast for the others since you fell asleep, we've already eaten so you don't have to worry about us. Have as many as you like, there's a custard in the fridge, make sure you get some protein. -L' Judas felt his heart warm. Logan had thought of him even though he was asleep and could easily make his own breakfast when he woke. He smiled, took a plate from the cupboard and a fork from the cutlery drawer, sat down, and bit into one of the soft, still warm pasties. It was the very best thing Judas had ever tasted in his life. The pastry sheet was sweet and soft with just a little bit of crisp to the very edges and Logan had, predictably, filled it with Crofters jam. Specifically, the strawberry one. The second one he had taken had been filled with chocolate cream and sliced strawberries. The third was blueberries, cream, and honey. Judas put the plate with the rest of them back in the fridge, covering it with a glass bowl so they would be protected and, remembering Logan's note he did take the custard out and ate part of it. That too was utterly delightful. It had maple syrup and brown sugar mixed in and tasted heavenly. He put plastic wrap over the custard cup and put that back in the fridge as well. Then another thought occurred to him. Logan had written "since you fell asleep" in his note, which would indicate Judas had been awake earlier and Logan was distinctly notorious for being very specific. Maybe- he hardly dared to get his hopes up- just maybe, it wasn't a dream at all. He decided to test it.
"I can tell the truth." He said. For a split second he was overjoyed, but then he realized that that could be a lie and he didn't know it. He was about to try something else when a resounding crash shook the ground coming from the fathomless room. The fathomless room was called that because the walls and ceiling there were so high you couldn't see where they ended, and though Remus claimed to have found the top after climbing for four straight days, Judas believed no one would ever see the end to it. He rushed into the room, expecting to have to break up a fight or bandage Nate or Remus up again, but instead he found Logan kneeling by a dazed looking Nate lecturing both him and Remus on why ziplines further than six feet off the ground definitively needed harnesses while seeming to be checking Nate for a concussion. Confused, Judas looked up. Sure enough there was a very frail looking make-shift zipline secured between the walls, starting at, at least eleven feet off the ground. Logan made a tutting noise, apparently deciding Nate was okay and helping him to his feet. He narrowed his eyes up at the rope that made the zipline and shook his head.
"Besides," He added. "This is all wrong." Remus and Nate pouted but didn't protest which could only be a testament to how scared of Logan they were. "Tell you what." He said, closing his eyes. "The three of you clear out for an hour or two and I'll have a fully functioning, perfectly calibrated zipline waiting here." Nate and Remus's eyes lit up.
"Really?" Remus asked excitedly, nearly dancing on the spot.
"I don't see why not." Logan shrugged. "I needed something to do today."
"Are you sure that's safe?" Judas asked automatically.
"Well, right now it isn't." Logan said, thoughtfully. "The angle of trajectory is all off, you can't build up the proper amount of speed with that slope. There's nowhere to properly push off or stop, I'd need to put together a harness, and of course I'd have to use steel cables. Ropes are just simply too unreliable, and don't even get me started on that… thing they have in place of a stop block." Logan grinned. "I think having a zipline here is a marvelous idea, but it has to be done right."
"Can we help?" Nate asked. Logan began shooing them towards the door.
"Please, allow me. I've wanted to build something like this for years, and it would be incredibly dull work for you anyway, there's a lot of math and physics involved. Sheets and sheets of numbers, I don't think you'd be interested." Nate nodded in agreement.
"Thanks!" He called, as Logan closed the door. "Judas, did you eat?" Logan turned to him with a caring look.
"Yes." Judas replied. Then he felt his eyes widen. "Oh my god it worked!"
"Always with the tone of surprise." Logan said playfully.
"My god, Logan, thank you!" Judas felt as though his chest might explode with all the emotions he was feeling. "You're amazing! Thank you! Thank you!" He wrapped his arms around the slightly smaller side, hardly even registering that he was doing that.
"You're welcome Judas." Logan replied, giving him a small, slightly awkward squeeze in return. Judas stepped back for him, embarrassed.
"Will you cover for me if I go to the light side and just start yelling everything I've always wanted to say to them?" He asked, too excited to care about what Logan might think about him doing that. Logan nodded.
"You're helping me with the zipline by collecting necessary tools for me from the subconscious."
"Thank you!" Judas yipped again. "I appreciate it. And I appreciate that I can say that!" Logan chuckled.
"Okay, okay." He said fondly, gently directing Judas out the door. "Go bother the light sides and tell them I sent you." Judas grinned.
"Sure thing!"
Of course when he got to the Light Domain and stated quite plainly and bluntly that Logan had sent them to bug him. Virgil and Patton didn't think he was telling the truth, and all of the compliments he was saying to them were taken as insults- though in fairness quite a few of them were back handed- until he stated a plain fact that got them all to believe he could now tell the truth. He then took to following Patton around for an hour and a half, talking non-stop. He felt a bit like Remus, but honestly he couldn't give a shit, because he could actually say and express that. Like, out loud! Was he entirely sure he was probably still going to lie a lot after the novelty of telling the truth wore off? Yes. But right now he just wanted to scream everything he could before at the top of his lungs. Patton finally convinced Judas to leave them alone for awhile by saying that Winston had finally puzzled out one of Logan's ideas for a way to bring Roman back to life and that he was needed to test it. He was telling the truth, no surprise there, so Judas left to go bug Thomas. He announced his presence by yelling quite loudly;
"I fucking love you!" And pulling him into a tight hug randomly from behind.
"Holy heck Judas!" Thomas squeaked. "Wait… if you're so mad at me, why are you hugging me?"
"I'm not mad." Judas shook his head. "Logan fixed me." He said proudly.
"How do I know that's the truth?" Thomas asked suspiciously.
"Your name is Thomas Sanders, your birthday is April 24, 198, and you are currently wearing your favorite shirt." Judas replied.
"Woah! Judas, that's so cool!" Thomas exclaimed loudly. "I'm so happy for you!"
"I appreciate your support and I love that I can tell you that!" He said honestly. "Do you know how freeing this is?" He asked.
"No, but I can imagine!" Thomas replied excitedly.
"... Judas would think about this." Lucius's voice drifted into Judas's awareness.
"Hold on someone's talking about me." He told Thomas, concentrating on Lucius's voice.
"Ugh, where is he? Judas! Come here!"
"The dark one is summoning me." He said quickly. "I'm sorry I can't stay." And he sunk into the throne room to see what his ruler wanted him for. "My liege?" He questioned. He would have to be careful and not let Lucius know that he could tell the truth again. Good thing Deceit was literally his middle name.
"Judas, good, where were you?" He demanded sharply.
"I was not helping Logan by collecting supplies from the subconscious for him while he did calculations for his project." He replied steadily. Lucius nodded absently.
"And what exactly is this project of his?" He followed up.
"He is not making a zipline in order to entertain Remus and Nate." He answered.
"And why would he do this?" Lucius asked.
"I don't believe that he wanted them to be quieter and to break less things while he worked or read." Judas replied, hoping that Logan would have the sense to formulate some sort of excuse like that. Lucius nodded.
"Were you aware that someone has been making trips to the Light Domain?" He asked sharply.
"I was, my lord." Judas swallowed unconsciously. Lucius frowned but nodded again.
"Were you aware that someone had stolen my spell book?" He asked again. Judas nearly froze up. Of course Logan didn't ask Lucius for his spell book, he had enough sense to know the dark kind would never allow it.
"I was." He replied, hoping his momentary pause didn't seem suspicious. Lucius's frown deepened. "Is it at all possible that it was misplaced?" He asked timidly. Lucius glared at him, then sighed and rested his chin on his hand.
"I suppose so. I have had a lot going on lately." He replied.
"I hadn't noticed, my lord." Judas said earnestly. "It can't be exhausting and overwhelming ruling over us dark sides on your own. Logan may not be able to help you. He doesn't possess a unique power to be able to reach across Thomas's mind to acquire lost or far away objects." That way Logan couldn't be caught stealing the book.
"Then why did he ask you to collect objects from the subconscious?" He asked suspiciously.
"His power extends to the subconscious." Judas replied immediately. Lucius nodded, clearly buying the excuse.
"That sounds to be a solid idea." He commented. "And even if it was stolen, Logan will still be able to retrieve it, correct?"
"I don't believe so." Judas replied.
"Good, good." Lucius said absently. "Logan." He called. Logan rose up slowly and gracefully, straightening out his cape as he did so.
"You called?" He swept into an elegant bow.
"I seem to have misplaced something of great importance." Lucius said tiredly. "It's my spell book, I need you to retrieve it for me. Judas says you have a gift for finding lost and stolen objects."
"Of course, majesty." Logan bowed gracefully again. His eyes fell closed and he reached his hand out to his side. His hand dissolved and fully disappeared before reforming quickly with a spell book in his grasp. "My lord," He knelt and offered the book up to Lucius who graced him with a pleased but malicious grin.
"Thank you, Logan, now go, both of you." Judas scrambled out of the hall, Logan walking professionally behind him with a refined smirk and confident posture. Neither of them said a word until they were three hallways away from the throne room, then Judas exploded.
"That was crazy!" He whisper-screamed. Logan chuckled lowly and lightly. His smirk had turned to more of a smile.
"What? You haven't deceived your master before?" He asked quietly.
"I couldn't have, I didn't have the option." Judas reminded him. Logan froze. His face was utterly blank until an almost calculating look took over it.
"Of course." He mumbled. "I need to talk to Caesar." Judas blanched.
"Caesar?" He asked. He knew that he was one of the two responsible for Logan's trauma and suffering. "Are you sure?" Logan nodded absently. But then he stopped.
"Not yet. I need to be sure first. If word gets to the dark one…" Logan was muttering like he wasn't even talking to Judas. "Nevermind, come help me with the ziplines." Logan's mannerisms changed entirely and he was back to a semi cheery professional. Judas felt as though he had gotten whiplash from the change but just nodded anyway. They walked on toward the fathomless room.
"Wait, ziplines… as in plural?" Judas asked him. Logan grinned.
"I may have gotten carried away." He said sheepishly. Judas felt his jaw drop as they entered the commons area. All the doors to the rooms had been taken off of their frames. There were large holes expertly carved in the stone far above them where steel cables criss crossed never getting closer than about seven feet from each other and sturdy looking wooden platforms were secured to the walls with large metal bolts and what looked to be steel support beams. On each platform there were boxes overflowing with stop block handlebars and harnesses. There was a single zipline that ended only three feet above the ground in this room that connected the vast network above with the ground.
"How the fuck did you do all this in under three hours?" Judas asked amazed.
"I sent Nate and Remus off to the imagination on a special mission that is entirely unnecessary and pointless and used my telekinesis and perception bending abilities to set all this up. All we really need now are some ladders up to the lowest platforms and bridges connecting the others. By the way, the kitchen is the only room in the commons area that doesn't have the zipline network in it. You can get to it directly on one of them, but I felt ziplining around knives and potentially hot stove tops was unwise." He explained factually.
"Holy shit!" Judas crowed. "That's awesome." Logan smiled proudly, straightening his posture.
"I thought it would make an adequate Christmas gift for Remus and Nate." He divulged.
"They'll love it." Judas said earnestly.
"They're going to be back in an hour, so I do need to finnish up and have it in working order so they can test it. If you'd like to help you're welcome to." Logan smiled softly. He made his way over to stand below the lowest platform in the room.
"Sure I'll help." Judas said quickly.
Nate and Remus were checking in on the condition of the imagination. Apparently, Logan needed the insight on Roman's state of mind in order to track the progress of some sort of project Logan had launched. They didn't understand the specifics, but Logan told them he'd have been surprised if Wisdom could understand them, and all they had to do was go to every place on the checklist, describe the aura it gave off, and snap a picture. There were a lot of places on the list and it would likely take them a few hours, but they were happy for a few reasons. One, they got to go running around a dark, broken down version of the imagination like psychos. Two, they were helping Logan who had quickly become part of their little family. And three, the zipline would be done when they returned. There was one place left on the checklist. The lair of the dragon witch. Remus had his mace ready and Nate was practically armed to the teeth. He had heard Roman's stories of the huge dragon with the warty green scales and the deadly magical spells it cast upon its enemies. He was ready to fight tooth and nail to get back out of there. Normally, he wouldn't have gone - probably only because Judas wouldn't let him, if he was honest he was itching at the chance to fight her- but Logan said this overview was a necessity and that he would have gone but he felt Remus was better suited for the job. The two of them, quietly as possible, slunk into the cave of the dragon witch. They were shocked at what they found. They would have assumed it had been one of her victims if not for the tattered witch's hat and cape. It was the gargantuan skeleton of a long deceased dragon. One of the toe bones was bigger than Nate's entire arm. Remus snapped a picture and Nate began jotting notes down about the bone-chilling sorrow and spine gripping fear that perpetuated the air.
"Let's get this back to Logan and see if that zipline is up and functioning yet." Nate suggested. Remus held up his finger, signalling for him to wait a minute. He climbed up the skull of the dragon, wiggled out three of her teeth, and attempted to shove them in the bag he'd brought with him. "That won't fit." Nate called up to him.
"I'll make it fit!" Remus declared. And apparently he succeeded, because the teeth disappeared after a moment. "Logan will go batshit over these!" Remus grinned.
"Yeah…" Nate agreed after a minute. "What if we brought back living imaginary animals for him to observe? All the normal ones are dead without Roman's magic and all the weird ones are mutating. He'll want to know why, right?"
"Totally!" Remus agreed. "Look! There's one!" He pounced down from the skull onto a rat-lizard-bird hybrid that was scrabbling across the stone. He wrestled with it for a second- It was slightly bigger than a football- until he finally had it around the stomach, with two fingers on either sides of its throat.
"We could just bait them into cages." Nate suggested.
"What cages?" Remus challenged.
"Bro! You're a creatiwin! We're literally in the Creativity!" Nate sighed exasperatedly.
"Oh yeah." Remus grinned and conjured a cage for the specimen he'd acquired.
The hold on Roman had been weakening rapidly over the last half an hour. Someone had to be trying to cure him. That couldn't be allowed to happen.
"Guardians and ghosts and spirits of the land, by new, crescent, full moon light, demonstrate for me your might and return this cursed soul to my hand." The cauldron in the center of the room began to bubble over, and an all might wailing, painful sound echoed around the room. The marinet Roman had made of himself for the Learning New Things About Ourselves video was suspended over the cauldron by one of his sashes tied around its neck like a nuse.
Nate and Remus were fighting with each other, pushing and shoving to be the first one into the Dark Domain Entrance to deliver the information and specimens to Logan. Logan was waiting there for them, his sleeve rolled up above his elbows, secured with little buckles that Nate had hardly noticed he'd added to his sleeves. He had taken off his cape and chains as well, which he was now putting back on.
"Oh there you are boys, did you complete the list?" He asked pleasantly. Nate and Remus both nodded eagerly, scrambling to show their new Chief Reign of Fear how well they'd done on their first assignment.
"I even brought back bits and pieces for you to study if you wanted." Remus bragged.
"Hey, what?" Nate yipped. "It was my idea!"
"No way!" Remus argued. "It was totally mine."
"No need to argue, both of you did very well." Logan said with a slight fond hint to his voice. "I knew you would. What kind of things did you bring back?" There was a small note of curiosity this time. Nate and Remus beamed devilishly as they proudly showed off the caged animals and the plant clippings and dragon teeth they'd collected. Both of them noticed and took pride in the way Logan's eyes lit up.
"That's spectacular!" He declared. I'm going to take these to my lab-" Remus cut him off with a hasty;
"We can help!" Logan smiled.
"Thank you." He told them. "I will likely be studying these for at least an hour before I go to make lunch-" He was then interrupted by Judas saying;
"I can make lunch!" In an almost anxious tone. Remus and Nate both blinked, confused.
"Of course you can make lunch." Nate said dumbly.
"Why can't you? Do you have dysentery?" Remus followed. Judas flushed on the human side of his face.
"I think we would all know if one of us fell to dysentery." Logan began. "And Judas was not claiming to be unable to make lunch. Earlier this morning, I cured him," He said pleasantly, "but don't you go mentioning that to the dark one." He finished sternly. Nate and Remus's eyes widened in awe.
"Yes, sir!" Remus said giving Logan a mock salute. Nate seemed to be struggling with something in an almost physical way.
"Oh, yes of course." Logan said. "I'd forgotten." He slipped a vial out from the pocket of his shirt, it was full of a thick, purple liquid. "If you drink this in one go, it will reverse the effects of the potion Lucius forced down your throat when we were young." He offered it to Nate who, without question or hesitation, downed it. Logan smiled at him.
"Better?" He questioned.
"Dude, what the fuck? I didn't even realize I was so tense before!" Nate claimed. "I feel fucking fantastic!" Logan smiled proudly.
"Wonderful! Now, if you two will help me set up all these cages in my lab, you can go check out the ziplines or whatever else you wanted to do until lunch. Judas, you can help me if you want to, but I do enjoy cooking." Everyone nodded with an affirmative, then Nate said;
"Hold up! Did you say ziplines? With an s?" He asked. Logan just smirked and led them into the commons area, where their two jaws dropped. Logan and Judas had gone a little overboard with ladders and rope bridges. Judas even suggested rope swings, but Logan shot that down as incredibly risky. There were nooks in the walls filled with cushions and pillows with nets around them both for climbing and to catch someone incase they lost their footing. The zipline network had become more complex, with all the green cables drawing the rider upward along the line (courtesy of a bit of perception bending). There were tiny, thin, red cables in pulley system set ups with baskets and some sort of very tiny sky bucket cars on the platforms they connected to- which were also pretty small. Logan gestured to these, explaining he was training his rat friend Daylan to 1) respond to his name and come when called and 2) ride a sky bucket up and down to different nooks. Remus and Nate were speechless for a minute, then Remus lost it.
"Holy shit! That's so fucking cool!" He was already starting towards the nearest ladder when Judas grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back.
"Hold on a minute, you told Logan you'd help him move everything into his room." Judas said sternly.
"Oh, let them go." Logan said dismissively. "I have telekinesis." He picked up the notebook and camera in his hands, and the cages and carrying cases floated up out of Nate's arms and off of the ground.
"I can help you set them all up." Judas offered.
"Thank you." Logan said to him.
Logan's room had a clean, crisp, surgical smell to it, like a hospital. He had shelves and long white tables lining the walls. The amount of white in the room was overpowering and almost felt blinding. One corner of the room- he had moved things around a little- had his bed. That side had a more homely look to it and looked actually liveable. The bed was beautiful and immaculately put together with ebony posts, a dark blue comforter, and shiny gold throw pillows that looked like they were made of silk. There was a black, soft-looking rug covering the floor of that small corner. Next to the bed was an ebony nightstand. There was a lamp on it, a small, dainty, practical, silver one, as well as a silver crown and two large, leather bound books. On the shelf area of this corner of the room, there was a large wire cage that had several platforms with places for climbing and, mirrors, little animal toys, a good dish, a water bottle, a slightly smaller version of a hamster wheel, and the cute creature that apparently lived there. He was a chubby rat with extremely round eyes and a smooth, clean coat of brownish grey fur. The little label on the cage- because of course Logan would label his pet's cage- said 'Daylan'. To the left of the cage was what seemed to be an ebony sliding door that Judas was pretty sure was a closet. There was a large desk on the closest corner of the rug. That too was made of ebony and shone as though it were regularly polished or cleaned (seeing as this was Logan's room that was very possible). It was positioned so the chair at it was positioned between the bed and it, but it looked like it was the kind that had many drawers. What Judas could see of it's surface was mostly taken up by organized chaos. Papers and charts and journals and pens and pencils and, surprisingly, two bottles of whiskey, one empty and one half full, an empty glass, and a pill bottle. Seemingly oblivious to Judas's reaction to seeing that, Logan was directing the cages to different spots on the surrounding counter. Judas mentally shook himself and went to help place and position them. The creatures were incredibly odd looking ones, he expected that when Remus seemed excited, they all seemed to be some sort of mashed-up hybrid of normal and common animals. Besides two of them. One was a seemingly perfectly normal snake and the other was a strange puff ball with peach colored feet that kept giving off high pitched humming and whistling sounds. Logan thanked Judas earnestly after everything was set up and ushered him out in a friendly way with a promise to help with lunch. Oddly enough, Logan exited the room as well.
"I'm off to find some equipment from the subconscious." He said in explanation. He grabbed hold of a pair of handlebars, and was drawn upwards of the green cable they hung on.
"What happened to harnesses?" Judas called up to him, amused. He assumed Logan wasn't going to answer, but when he was almost through the hole and in to the next room, he called back;
"Screw harnesses!"
