XXX Chapter 12: The Poison

In the end, they decided that it would be best to have Roman and Remus create a poison. That way, they could control exactly what it did. They could make it painless and quick and cause only minimal damage so it wouldn't take Deceit any longer to regenerate than it had to.

The two of them went into the Imagination to work, since it was easiest for them to create things there, and they wanted to make sure they'd get it right.

Just like when they went to find Deceit, Roman couldn't help noticing how uncharacteristically quiet Remus was. The other side hadn't said a word since they'd entered the Imagination, and he had a look of grim determination on his face.

It made sense, he supposed.

Eventually, they made it to one of Remus's labs and went inside. The entire place was dark and covered in cobwebs, with cracks adorning the walls and radioactive goo spreading across the floor. Rats fought over something indescribable in one of the corners, and he was pretty sure he could smell hints of an old fire mixing with the scents of chemicals.

"Well, let's get this over with," Remus mumbled finally.

He went over to a lab bench and started clearing it off, meaning that he essentially pushed everything onto the floor with a loud crash. Roman winced and waved his hand at the mess to get rid of it before joining his brother, who had already started grabbing a series of vials from a nearby shelf.

"Go grab some beakers and shit, okay?"

Roman nodded and turned his head around to look for them, finding a shelf of glassware on the other side of the room. By the time he had returned, holding an armful of beakers and test tubes, Remus had finished selecting the supplies they would need.

"I can make the poison," Remus told him. "But I need you to make it so it won't hurt him. Or. Not hurt him more than it needs to."

"Alright," Roman agreed with a nod, voice solemn.

And with that, Remus grabbed one of the beakers and started measuring things to add into it.

He started with a light blue powder, something that was the color of an Icee but had the same texture as white sugar. Once the blue powder was measured out, he added a few bright red crystals into the same glass before setting it on top of a Bunsen burner. The crystals glittered like gems, but they looked far more fragile, as if touching them would make them crumble away into dust. Then, he mixed two clear liquids, which somehow made them turn into a bright yellow that made Roman wince. It was the same color as Deceit's gloves, the gloves that they had to put back onto Deceit's motionless hands just in case he woke up and didn't want to be without them. Adding a green liquid to that turned the mixture dark blue, almost black, and adding that into the now-melting crystals created a shimmery, purple liquid, and it certainly appeared to be the potion that it was. It didn't look like anything natural, but then again, it wasn't.

Remus spent a long time staring at it after he was done, watching the pearlescent swirls shift and flow throughout the liquid. Roman watched with him, feeling as though they were probably thinking something similar.

Finally, Remus scooped it up and held it out to Roman, the motion feeling like something much more than being passed a bottle.

Cradling it gently, he stared down at it and concentrated. He needed to modify the poison carefully, and he didn't want to risk screwing something up. Fortunately, Roman was quite powerful, even in Remus's side of the Imagination, so he soon felt the shift in the qualities of the poison. He knew it was done when the color began to change one final time, the color beginning to desaturate up at the top and falling down to the bottom until the entire thing was a murky grey.

He placed the bottle back onto the table and stoppered it, making sure they wouldn't spill it as they brought it back.

"I… I guess it's done, then," Roman noted aloud.

Remus nodded.

Neither of them moved to leave.

He could hear Remus take a shaky breath in.

"… I wish we didn't have to do this."

Roman turned his attention away from the potion so he could look at his brother more completely.

"I-I want him back, but I'm going to miss him while he's gone," Remus continued, eyes watering. "God, what if he hates me for this…? What if he's mad that we made him come back?"

He didn't know. He didn't know what they were going to do.

But, looking at Remus now, he did know that he had to comfort him. Right then, it didn't matter how much they fought in the past or whether they got along- his brother was hurt, deeply, and considering what they were about to do… Well, who wouldn't be upset in this situation (Roman ignored the voice that told him that Remus was exactly the kind of person who wouldn't be upset- because he knew that voice was wrong now. So very wrong)?

Normally, words were a tool Roman used, something he could rely on, whether they were lines in a play or things he told himself to remain confident. But there was no confidence here, only sadness and regret, and Roman found that his words were failing him. How was he supposed to convey how he felt, how he wanted to comfort Remus, when he didn't even entirely know how he felt?

So, instead of saying anything, Roman reached toward his brother and pulled him to his chest, holding him tight.

Neither of them spoke a word as Remus sobbed.

XXX

The twins returned a long while after they had gone into the Imagination to make the poison. Even still, he wished it had taken them longer. Patton still wasn't entirely sure if they were doing the right thing or not- they were killing Deceit, but it was to bring him back. And doing it would hurt Thomas, and it would hurt all of them. But it wouldn't be fair to Deceit to leave him like this, would it? Not when they could do something about it, at least.

They returned with matching red eyes and heavy shoulders. Though, Patton did note that the two of them were standing close to each other, Roman having one arm over Remus's shoulder in a half-embrace. The image made Patton's heart clench. It wasn't like he hated seeing them get along, but it was sad that this was what actually made them put aside their differences for once.

"… We finished it…," Roman announced quietly.

Of course, everyone knew what the two of them had gone to do, and the bottle in Remus's hands was more than obvious proof that they were done. Even still, the entire room tensed.

The twins continued to stand there, looking almost lost, and Logan was staring resolutely down at the floor. Virgil was rocking on his heels and fiddling with his sleeves while his eyes darted around, clearly trying to look at anything other than the bottle. Thomas stood stiffly, hands held behind his back as he looked between the rest of them.

It seemed like an eternity had passed before Logan spoke up:

"I suppose… We should go see Deceit."

The words hung over them all, and it took a long time for anyone to dare to move.

It was hard to tell who moved first. It was almost as if they all started to move together, initially taking small steps toward the hallway that slowly got larger. The six of them trudged down the hall silently, and Patton couldn't help comparing their group to a funeral procession.

It didn't take long to reach Deceit's room. It should have taken longer.

Logan was the one who opened the door, trying to make decisions so that the rest of them didn't have to (even though Patton knew this was just as upsetting to him as it was to them).

With the door open, they filed into the room.

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Sorry y'all, I feel like I'm dragging this out, but I did chapter breaks where they felt right, so this is what happened (some later chapters are longer).

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