Ego prowled around him, smirking and gloating as Roman sat in the chains and didn't move; his eyes staring at nothing.
"It was so easy to get you here, Roman," Ego purred. "I made sure your adventure was as easy as possible."
He trailed a knife along Roman's upper back, opening another long, shallow cut, but the Prince was only dully aware of the physical pain. It was the emotional pain that was real in that moment, the only thing that mattered. He was the villain. Roman Sanders, the supposed hero, was the bad guy all along.
"So simple," Ego continued, his voice echoing in the empty throne room. "I knew the moment you started your adventure. I waited for years to get at you, but it was always Remus that faced me. You're the weak link, Roman. And I finally have you to myself."
How could he have been so blind? All those times he had gone on adventures and come out on top had been a lie. He wasn't a hero, and he never had been. He was the villain, the enemy of everybody, and there was so much proof of that.
"I killed the Northern warriors before they even got out of their camp, before you stepped a foot in the Wicked Woods," Ego sighed.
Roman had blamed Virgil for so much, for so many things. He had never seen what he was doing, how he was blaming Virgil to hide that he didn't know or understand certain things. He had done so even after he'd discovered how important Virgil was for Thomas. Yes, he'd done it less, but when Logan had attacked Janus, he'd blamed Virgil for not stepping in to stop them. Who's to say that Roman would have stopped Logan if he'd been free? He could just as easily have done nothing. But he'd had an excuse, somebody to fault for his own weakness. But Virgil hadn't been weak. He'd known what he was doing. Roman hadn't trusted him. That was the problem. Roman had been at fault, not Virgil.
Ego continued, smiling as he twirled his knife. "I cleared the bog of the Will-o'-the-wisps and the Bunyip before you even got there so there was no chance of you getting a scratch."
Logan. Good lord, he had been just as blind with him. He'd been struggling for weeks, maybe even months, feeling sad and out of place and confused about the feelings Thomas was experiencing with his new relationship and where he fit into the puzzle. And Roman hadn't noticed. But if he had, would he have helped? Probably not. Because Roman was selfish. He wanted to keep dreaming, and even now he cared very little for logic. He preferred his own fantasies. What kind of hero put himself before others? He wasn't a hero. He was a monster.
"To tell the truth, Blue put up a hell of a fight," Ego said thoughtfully. "But I defeated him. I carved out his eye for his sass, and I left him to suffer. I'll let him keep his souvenir to remind him just who is in charge of the Imagination now."
And speaking of monsters, he'd seen Janus as a monster from the moment he saw him. He'd known of him for years, but actually seeing his reptilian features had absolutely disgusted Roman. From the moment he'd clapped his eyes on him, Janus had been labeled as a monster. He'd given Janus no chance. Was it any wonder that he'd been ashamed of his scales, disgusted by his animal attributes? Roman knew now that Janus hated himself, and he also knew he had fed into it, making the hatred fat like a bloated tick ready to burst. How could he do that to another Side? He hadn't understood Janus and he hadn't even tried. Once again, Roman had proved that he was the bad guy, that he wasn't heroic at all. A hero was supposed to care about others' feelings, and he hadn't even thought that Janus was capable of feeling.
"The dragon was pathetic. A purple fire drake. So weak, so easy," Ego crooned. "And once she was incapacitated, I crushed her eggs in front of her eyes. She was ready to die when you came by. She had as much fight left in her as you do now."
Patton. He'd dismissed him so many times. Patton loved the Imagination, loved to explore and create, but Roman had always considered it to be a burden when he brought him in, but there was so much he could have done to let Patton go wherever he wanted. He'd seen him on adventures, knew he was capable, but he hadn't taught him anything. He'd locked the Imagination and guarded the key so that Patton couldn't get in. What if Roman couldn't get into the Imagination, couldn't create and dream? It was too horrible to think about. And when Patton had gone in, he had torn him to shreds by berating him and calling him stupid. Roman had deserved everything Patton had done to him that day. Because Remus was right. He should have taught Patton and Logan what they needed to know.
"And now you're here, and you're all mine, Roman." Ego stopped in front of him and smirked. "I get to do whatever I want to you. And you can't stop me. For so long, you and Remus have kept me from getting what I deserve. I should rule. You two are useless. All you do is fight."
And Remus. How could he have hurt Remus so badly? His brother's cold words echoed in his head."Go and have your adventures without me. That's what you wanted." Remus was devastated by what he'd done. He knew that. When he'd been bleeding and broken, swelling from his soap allergy, pounding desperately on Janus's closed door, the only pain Remus could compare to what he was feeling was Roman leaving him alone. It was the worst thing Roman had ever done. He'd turned and never looked back. He'd told Janus that his door was always open for his brother, and he'd thought that was true at the time. But if Remus had walked through his door, he would have turned away again. And Remus knew it. So he never came.
"So, Roman," Ego said, leaning forward. "We have all the time in the world together. Because you and I both know that nobody is coming for you. So you're stuck with me. And I want to have a bit of fun." The knife gleamed in the sunlight as Ego leaned forward and dug its point into his shoulder, twisting it to draw blood.
Roman wasn't a hero, he thought numbly to himself. He was a villain. And villains always deserved what they got in the end.